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marmar
marmar's Journal
marmar's Journal
July 5, 2021
(Salon) This week, a conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court that has dedicated itself to making it more difficult for Americans to vote struck again and drove a nail further into the heart of the already-gutted Voting Rights Act. As Republican state legislatures nationwide continue to pass restrictive laws that place additional burdens especially on voters of color, this Court, over a decade of shameful, pinched jurisprudence, has slowly eviscerated the crucial tools enacted to curb the worst instincts of lawmakers.
In a 6-3 decision that broke along sadly predictable partisan lines, the Court upheld on Thursday a pair of voter suppression laws from Arizona that banned ballot collection and severely regulated out-of-precinct voting, despite clear evidence that these laws disproportionately burdened minority voters.
The burdens and racial intent in these cases were clear to lower courts and less determined partisan judges. Arizona officials relocate the voting precincts of Black and Latino residents at a wildly higher rate than white precincts, resulting in considerable and predictable confusion. And Native American and rural Arizonans — where household mail service is rare and often unreliable — rely on volunteers and community members to return their ballots. There has been no — zero — proof of fraud in this important service.
None of that mattered to this Court, and indeed, the decision is not surprising to those following the Roberts Court's steady trajectory rightward in voting cases and other civil rights. ..........(more)
https://www.salon.com/2021/07/05/the-roberts-court-is-destroying-voting-rights--winning-back-state-legislatures-is-the-only-answer/
The Roberts Court is destroying voting rights -- winning back state legislatures is the only answer
(Salon) This week, a conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court that has dedicated itself to making it more difficult for Americans to vote struck again and drove a nail further into the heart of the already-gutted Voting Rights Act. As Republican state legislatures nationwide continue to pass restrictive laws that place additional burdens especially on voters of color, this Court, over a decade of shameful, pinched jurisprudence, has slowly eviscerated the crucial tools enacted to curb the worst instincts of lawmakers.
In a 6-3 decision that broke along sadly predictable partisan lines, the Court upheld on Thursday a pair of voter suppression laws from Arizona that banned ballot collection and severely regulated out-of-precinct voting, despite clear evidence that these laws disproportionately burdened minority voters.
The burdens and racial intent in these cases were clear to lower courts and less determined partisan judges. Arizona officials relocate the voting precincts of Black and Latino residents at a wildly higher rate than white precincts, resulting in considerable and predictable confusion. And Native American and rural Arizonans — where household mail service is rare and often unreliable — rely on volunteers and community members to return their ballots. There has been no — zero — proof of fraud in this important service.
None of that mattered to this Court, and indeed, the decision is not surprising to those following the Roberts Court's steady trajectory rightward in voting cases and other civil rights. ..........(more)
https://www.salon.com/2021/07/05/the-roberts-court-is-destroying-voting-rights--winning-back-state-legislatures-is-the-only-answer/
July 4, 2021
Professional golfer Gene Siller was shot and killed on Saturday while at the Pinetree Country Club in Kennesaw, Georgia, according to local reports and the Georgia State Golfing Association.
"All of us at the GSGA are deeply saddened by the tragic events that occurred earlier today at Pinetree CC. Our thoughts and prayers are with Gene Siller’s family and friends," the Georgia State Golfing Association tweeted on Saturday.
Siller, who was in his 40s, was a member of the Pinetree Country Club staff and had previously worked as the director of golf and head golf pro at Summit Chase Country Club, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post. Kennesaw is about 30 miles northwest of Atlanta. ..........(more)
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/pro-golfer-shot-killed-georgia-country-club-golf-course-n1273075?
Pro golfer shot and killed on Georgia country club golf course
Professional golfer Gene Siller was shot and killed on Saturday while at the Pinetree Country Club in Kennesaw, Georgia, according to local reports and the Georgia State Golfing Association.
"All of us at the GSGA are deeply saddened by the tragic events that occurred earlier today at Pinetree CC. Our thoughts and prayers are with Gene Siller’s family and friends," the Georgia State Golfing Association tweeted on Saturday.
Siller, who was in his 40s, was a member of the Pinetree Country Club staff and had previously worked as the director of golf and head golf pro at Summit Chase Country Club, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post. Kennesaw is about 30 miles northwest of Atlanta. ..........(more)
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/pro-golfer-shot-killed-georgia-country-club-golf-course-n1273075?
July 3, 2021
(Guardian UK) The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday that the US economy added 850,000 jobs last month. Hidden by this encouraging figure is the hint of an unusual trend: people are beginning to quit their jobs in extraordinary numbers.
June’s numbers, in combination with last month’s figures, suggest that the economy is continuing to recover at a steady pace. The rate of unemployment was 5.9% and 9.5 million people remain unemployed.
This latest update, along with projections of positive economic growth, was met with notable optimism from the White House and record highs on Wall Street.
Joe Biden, in response to the report, was eager to point out the changing power dynamic of the labor market.
“The strength of our economy is helping us flip the script. Instead of workers competing with each other for jobs that are scarce, employers are competing with each other to attract workers,” he said. ...........(more)
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jul/03/us-jobs-report-june-trend
'The Great Resignation': June's US jobs report hides unusual trend
(Guardian UK) The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday that the US economy added 850,000 jobs last month. Hidden by this encouraging figure is the hint of an unusual trend: people are beginning to quit their jobs in extraordinary numbers.
June’s numbers, in combination with last month’s figures, suggest that the economy is continuing to recover at a steady pace. The rate of unemployment was 5.9% and 9.5 million people remain unemployed.
This latest update, along with projections of positive economic growth, was met with notable optimism from the White House and record highs on Wall Street.
Joe Biden, in response to the report, was eager to point out the changing power dynamic of the labor market.
“The strength of our economy is helping us flip the script. Instead of workers competing with each other for jobs that are scarce, employers are competing with each other to attract workers,” he said. ...........(more)
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jul/03/us-jobs-report-june-trend
July 3, 2021
(Guardian UK) The record heatwave in the Pacific north-west is forcing a reckoning on the climate crisis, as many living in the typically mild region consider what rising temperatures mean for the future.
A “heat dome” without parallel trapped hot air over much of the states of Oregon and Washington in the United States, and southern British Columbia in Canada, in past days, shattering weather records in the usually temperate region.
Temperatures in tiny Lytton, British Columbia, hit 49.6C (121.3F) and set a Canadian all-time record, days before a wildfire tore through the town. Roads buckled under the heat in Washington and Oregon. Heat and heavy air conditioner use knocked out power for tens of thousands. The dead, thought to number in the hundreds, are not yet counted.
In Washington and Oregon, largely liberal, climate-conscious states, efforts to combat global heating have long been popular. The Washington governor, Jay Inslee, put himself forward as the “climate candidate” during the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. He argued residents of the region would, in the absence of federal leadership, “do our part to address a global problem”. .............(more)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jul/03/pacific-northwest-heat-dome-climate-change
'We thought it wouldn't affect us': heatwave forces climate reckoning in Pacific north-west
(Guardian UK) The record heatwave in the Pacific north-west is forcing a reckoning on the climate crisis, as many living in the typically mild region consider what rising temperatures mean for the future.
A “heat dome” without parallel trapped hot air over much of the states of Oregon and Washington in the United States, and southern British Columbia in Canada, in past days, shattering weather records in the usually temperate region.
Temperatures in tiny Lytton, British Columbia, hit 49.6C (121.3F) and set a Canadian all-time record, days before a wildfire tore through the town. Roads buckled under the heat in Washington and Oregon. Heat and heavy air conditioner use knocked out power for tens of thousands. The dead, thought to number in the hundreds, are not yet counted.
In Washington and Oregon, largely liberal, climate-conscious states, efforts to combat global heating have long been popular. The Washington governor, Jay Inslee, put himself forward as the “climate candidate” during the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. He argued residents of the region would, in the absence of federal leadership, “do our part to address a global problem”. .............(more)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jul/03/pacific-northwest-heat-dome-climate-change
July 3, 2021
(Grist) The Champlain Towers South condo building in Surfside, Florida, collapsed last week, killing at least 18 people with 145 others unaccounted for. It’s too soon to say whether climate change had anything to do with the tragedy. But the collapse has shone a spotlight on Florida’s unique vulnerabilities to climate change and raised questions about whether the state’s coastal infrastructure is equipped to handle the flooding that comes with sea-level rise.
The climate stakes for Floridians are high. By 2050, buildings in South Florida may be inundated by 2 to 3 feet of sea-level rise, plus 4 or more feet of storm surge. By 2100, the flooding will be even worse. Some counties might be able to afford to raise their roads and build sea walls. But adapting to rising seas is expensive, complicated, and, ultimately, unsustainable — especially in coastal states like Florida, which will experience intensifying Atlantic hurricanes in addition to sea-level rise.
Preventing future tragedies means acting now, said Randall W. Parkinson, a coastal geologist at Florida International University in Miami. He thinks it’s already time to start thinking about moving residents away from the sea. A certain amount of sea-level rise is baked in, given current atmospheric carbon levels, he says. The longer Florida waits to organize the systematic withdrawal of people and assets from the coast, the more chaotic that eventual retreat will be.
This retreat-oriented attitude isn’t widely shared in Parkinson’s home state. When he gives presentations on the inevitability of mass migration inland from Florida’s coast, attendees have verbally accosted him and called him “Dr. Doom” — a moniker he rejects. He’s even received threatening messages at his house, he says. “It’s just a terrible, terrible shame in this country how we’ve responded to climate change,” he said. “There’s no leadership.” ............(more)
https://grist.org/climate/the-surfside-tragedy-could-be-a-bellwether-moment-for-managed-retreat/
The Surfside tragedy could be a 'bellwether moment' for managed retreat
(Grist) The Champlain Towers South condo building in Surfside, Florida, collapsed last week, killing at least 18 people with 145 others unaccounted for. It’s too soon to say whether climate change had anything to do with the tragedy. But the collapse has shone a spotlight on Florida’s unique vulnerabilities to climate change and raised questions about whether the state’s coastal infrastructure is equipped to handle the flooding that comes with sea-level rise.
The climate stakes for Floridians are high. By 2050, buildings in South Florida may be inundated by 2 to 3 feet of sea-level rise, plus 4 or more feet of storm surge. By 2100, the flooding will be even worse. Some counties might be able to afford to raise their roads and build sea walls. But adapting to rising seas is expensive, complicated, and, ultimately, unsustainable — especially in coastal states like Florida, which will experience intensifying Atlantic hurricanes in addition to sea-level rise.
Preventing future tragedies means acting now, said Randall W. Parkinson, a coastal geologist at Florida International University in Miami. He thinks it’s already time to start thinking about moving residents away from the sea. A certain amount of sea-level rise is baked in, given current atmospheric carbon levels, he says. The longer Florida waits to organize the systematic withdrawal of people and assets from the coast, the more chaotic that eventual retreat will be.
This retreat-oriented attitude isn’t widely shared in Parkinson’s home state. When he gives presentations on the inevitability of mass migration inland from Florida’s coast, attendees have verbally accosted him and called him “Dr. Doom” — a moniker he rejects. He’s even received threatening messages at his house, he says. “It’s just a terrible, terrible shame in this country how we’ve responded to climate change,” he said. “There’s no leadership.” ............(more)
https://grist.org/climate/the-surfside-tragedy-could-be-a-bellwether-moment-for-managed-retreat/
July 1, 2021
... but so is Brad Gilbert and those annoying f**king nicknames.
Glad Wimbledon is back.......
... but so is Brad Gilbert and those annoying f**king nicknames.
July 1, 2021
The Los Angeles Police Department apparently aren't heeding warnings from the city's fire department. Wednesday, the LAPD confiscated fireworks from someone shooting them off ahead of the July 4 holiday.
It wasn't just a few fireworks, however, it was 5,000 pounds of illegal fireworks, both homemade and from China, police said.
"A bomb squad was called in to destroy some unstable devices while the boxes were loaded onto a tractor-trailer to be taken away for disposal," said KTLA.
Instead of taking them back to the police station and dunking them in water or holding onto them until California isn't under a dangerous drought with threats of fire, the LAPD exploded them in the residential neighborhood. ......(more)
https://www.rawstory.com/lapd-stupid-fireworks-drought-danger/
LAPD explodes fireworks in a residential neighborhood during a drought
The Los Angeles Police Department apparently aren't heeding warnings from the city's fire department. Wednesday, the LAPD confiscated fireworks from someone shooting them off ahead of the July 4 holiday.
It wasn't just a few fireworks, however, it was 5,000 pounds of illegal fireworks, both homemade and from China, police said.
"A bomb squad was called in to destroy some unstable devices while the boxes were loaded onto a tractor-trailer to be taken away for disposal," said KTLA.
Instead of taking them back to the police station and dunking them in water or holding onto them until California isn't under a dangerous drought with threats of fire, the LAPD exploded them in the residential neighborhood. ......(more)
https://www.rawstory.com/lapd-stupid-fireworks-drought-danger/
July 1, 2021
June 29, 2021 at 5:47 a.m. EDT
As United Airlines Flight 5365 was readying to take off from Los Angeles International Airport on Friday evening, 33-year-old Luis Antonio Victoria Dominguez of La Paz, Mexico, leaned over to the woman sitting next to him and whispered that he was going to jump out, she said.
"I’m serious,” the woman remembered him telling her.
Victoria Dominguez then allegedly sprinted to the front of the plane and tried to enter the cockpit, banging on the door. When he was unsuccessful, he delivered on his promise: He opened an emergency exit door and leaped out of the plane, court documents state.
Now, Victoria Dominguez faces a 20-year maximum sentence in federal prison on the charge of interfering with the flight crew, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in the Central District of California, which filed a complaint detailing the incident Sunday. It was not immediately clear whether Victoria Dominguez had a lawyer to comment on his behalf. ......(more)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/06/29/los-angeles-airport-cockpit-breach/
Man who jumped from a moving plane at LAX tells FBI he bought 'a lot' of crystal meth before the fli
June 29, 2021 at 5:47 a.m. EDT
As United Airlines Flight 5365 was readying to take off from Los Angeles International Airport on Friday evening, 33-year-old Luis Antonio Victoria Dominguez of La Paz, Mexico, leaned over to the woman sitting next to him and whispered that he was going to jump out, she said.
"I’m serious,” the woman remembered him telling her.
Victoria Dominguez then allegedly sprinted to the front of the plane and tried to enter the cockpit, banging on the door. When he was unsuccessful, he delivered on his promise: He opened an emergency exit door and leaped out of the plane, court documents state.
Now, Victoria Dominguez faces a 20-year maximum sentence in federal prison on the charge of interfering with the flight crew, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in the Central District of California, which filed a complaint detailing the incident Sunday. It was not immediately clear whether Victoria Dominguez had a lawyer to comment on his behalf. ......(more)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/06/29/los-angeles-airport-cockpit-breach/
July 1, 2021
The Dream of Florida Is Dead
The Miami condo collapse is a crisis for the entire state.
BY MARY HARRIS
JUNE 30, 202112:40 PM
(Slate) Danny Rivero was one of the first reporters on the scene of the Champlain Towers South condo collapse in the town of Surfside, Florida, not too far from Miami Beach. He’s been there almost every day since, chronicling what is still, technically, a search and rescue mission. The death toll now stands at 12, but 149 people are still unaccounted-for. And Rivero says the initial shock of the event is “starting to wear off,” turning to grief—and anger. “This didn’t happen for no reason,” he says. “Even though it came out of nowhere, in a sense, it did not come out of nowhere. There were reasons behind why this happened.”
On Wednesday’s episode of What Next, I talked to Rivero, a reporter for the local public radio station WLRN, about the decisions that led up to the disaster, the role of climate change, and what it all means for the state of Florida. This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Mary Harris: An important thing to know about Champlain Towers South is that it’s a condominium. Different people own individual units, and when repairs need to be made to the building as a whole, they’ve got to find a way to pay for them collectively. They elect a board to manage these kinds of decisions. All the way back in 2018, the condo board retained an inspector who assessed the stability of the tower. He found a “major error” in the integrity of the bottom floor of the building. Residents were informed of the problem but spent years negotiating how and whether to fix millions of dollars of damage.
Danny Rivero: There were structural deficiencies identified that probably went back all the way to the construction of this building. And a lot of it has to do just with the fact that the pool deck was built flat, which is a huge no-no. I mean, even me, as a non-construction person, knows you don’t build flat.
....(snip)....
This was in addition to the fact that just having a building on the beach means it’s subject to harsh conditions because you have all the saltwater and salt air.
Right. We do know that properties that are right on the beach get more corrosion from the salt that comes from the salty air, from the saltwater that intrudes every once in a while from just harsh winds and hurricanes. But at the same time, this is a structural issue that, like I said, likely goes back to the very building of this building. And there is also the inability of the condo board to get residents on board for paying for these repairs.
....(snip)....
And I mentioned earlier that condo building is our state’s industry. I literally mean that. The state of Florida was basically considered a wasteland until developers figured out that they could sell the dream of Florida. I’m not exaggerating on this. Our economy over history has basically been a pyramid scheme of developers and people marketing the dream of Florida, to come down to Florida, it’s so beautiful, it’s so carefree. Well, now we have something to care about. This is a serious thing that this tragedy has brought to the forefront, and I think we’re going to be dealing with it for a very long time. .............(more)
https://slate.com/business/2021/06/miami-condo-collapse-florida-building-industry-crisis.html
The Dream of Florida Is Dead
The Dream of Florida Is Dead
The Miami condo collapse is a crisis for the entire state.
BY MARY HARRIS
JUNE 30, 202112:40 PM
(Slate) Danny Rivero was one of the first reporters on the scene of the Champlain Towers South condo collapse in the town of Surfside, Florida, not too far from Miami Beach. He’s been there almost every day since, chronicling what is still, technically, a search and rescue mission. The death toll now stands at 12, but 149 people are still unaccounted-for. And Rivero says the initial shock of the event is “starting to wear off,” turning to grief—and anger. “This didn’t happen for no reason,” he says. “Even though it came out of nowhere, in a sense, it did not come out of nowhere. There were reasons behind why this happened.”
On Wednesday’s episode of What Next, I talked to Rivero, a reporter for the local public radio station WLRN, about the decisions that led up to the disaster, the role of climate change, and what it all means for the state of Florida. This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Mary Harris: An important thing to know about Champlain Towers South is that it’s a condominium. Different people own individual units, and when repairs need to be made to the building as a whole, they’ve got to find a way to pay for them collectively. They elect a board to manage these kinds of decisions. All the way back in 2018, the condo board retained an inspector who assessed the stability of the tower. He found a “major error” in the integrity of the bottom floor of the building. Residents were informed of the problem but spent years negotiating how and whether to fix millions of dollars of damage.
Danny Rivero: There were structural deficiencies identified that probably went back all the way to the construction of this building. And a lot of it has to do just with the fact that the pool deck was built flat, which is a huge no-no. I mean, even me, as a non-construction person, knows you don’t build flat.
....(snip)....
This was in addition to the fact that just having a building on the beach means it’s subject to harsh conditions because you have all the saltwater and salt air.
Right. We do know that properties that are right on the beach get more corrosion from the salt that comes from the salty air, from the saltwater that intrudes every once in a while from just harsh winds and hurricanes. But at the same time, this is a structural issue that, like I said, likely goes back to the very building of this building. And there is also the inability of the condo board to get residents on board for paying for these repairs.
....(snip)....
And I mentioned earlier that condo building is our state’s industry. I literally mean that. The state of Florida was basically considered a wasteland until developers figured out that they could sell the dream of Florida. I’m not exaggerating on this. Our economy over history has basically been a pyramid scheme of developers and people marketing the dream of Florida, to come down to Florida, it’s so beautiful, it’s so carefree. Well, now we have something to care about. This is a serious thing that this tragedy has brought to the forefront, and I think we’re going to be dealing with it for a very long time. .............(more)
https://slate.com/business/2021/06/miami-condo-collapse-florida-building-industry-crisis.html
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Gender: MaleHometown: Detroit, MI
Member since: Fri Oct 29, 2004, 12:18 AM
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