Gerrymandering - Is it really legal?

[SleeplessinSoCal]

So much damage is caused by it beyond voting. The lack of a voice in Washington in a district already hurt by poverty and suppressed by policing ought surely to be unconstitutional.

Despite it being about states, this article caused me to think on one area - having a voice to combat the lack of attention to vital issues. How many others are there?

States have delayed ordering hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses available to them even as coronavirus outbreaks escalate — a sign the nation is moving past its supply pinch and now faces more acute challenges related to demand, staffing and inoculation of hard-to-reach populations.

The question that defined the early weeks of the vaccine rollout was why states were taking so long to administer the doses they got from the federal government. Four months into the effort, what’s most mystifying is the number of states waiting to order all the doses they’ve been allotted, based on their adult populations and the supplies available that week.

When Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) last week asked White House officials if they would consider sending more vaccine doses to her state during a deadly surge, the state appeared not to have ordered 360,000 doses then available — a single-day snapshot that nonetheless puzzled federal officials who advised her to work with experts to make sure Michigan’s supply was being deployed effectively.

Michigan’s chief medical executive, Joneigh Khaldun, said late Friday the doses were almost all quickly drawn down, as state officials explained to the White House, noting the federal government had deposited a large number of doses in the state’s account in anticipation of their later use at a mass vaccination site. She said other doses were being preserved to address a mix-up of first and second doses by some providers.

More here:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/04/09/vaccine-distribution-delays/

[milestogo]

1. No vaccine on the horizon for me.

Its available in my state (Wisconsin). I live in a city of 250,000 and the pharmacy appointments here are totally booked. For how long, I don't know. But I do know that loads of people much younger than me have already had 2 shots.

Its frustrating.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

4. same thing with my 97 year old mother.

She actually had Covid when she was allowed by age to get vaccinated. But was told to get it now, and can't get an appointment.

She just needs one jab.

[dsc]

2. partisan gerrymandering is legal

sadly that has been upheld by the SCOTUS. In my state this will wind up being a disastrous decision because here the legislature is given all the power in terms of drawing seats. Our only saving grace here is that the state Supreme Court is in Democratic hands so we might see an egregious gerrymander thrown out under the state constitution.

[rickyhall]

3. This has been a problem since the founding. Why is it allowed to continue? Makes no fucking sense.