October 19, 2020

Florida Man Crashes Boat Into Marina in Viral Video

https://twitter.com/davenewworld_2/status/1317950636378521607?s=20

(Newsweek) AFlorida man who smashed his boat into a marina while allegedly drunk has been arrested on charges of boating under the influence.

Brendan Sheridan, 32, was arrested and charged after police say he struck other boats at a Sarasota marina on Saturday.

In the viral video, he can be seen pulling into the Bayfront Park Marina in Sarasota around midday on Saturday, reversing at high speed. ...........(more)

https://www.newsweek.com/florida-man-crashes-boat-marina-viral-video-1540143

October 19, 2020

Historian Timothy Snyder warns that America is already in its own "slow-motion Reichstag Fire"

(Salon) Donald Trump continues to make it clear that he does not intend to leave office peacefully if he is defeated by Joe Biden and the Democrats on Election Day. Moreover, Donald Trump considers any election in which he is not the "winner" to be null and void. Trump's appointment of Amy Coney Barrett to the United States Supreme Court is an obvious quid pro quo to secure his "reelection" if his attorneys and other agents can sufficiently sabotage the vote on Election Day and beyond.

On Thursday, Trump again followed the authoritarian's playbook when he bragged to his supporters at a rally in North Carolina that U.S. Marshalls essentially executed Michael Reinoehl, an anti-fascist activist accused of killing a right wing paramilitary member during protests in Oregon last August.

Celebrating the extra-judicial killings of one's political "enemies" is a common feature of fascist authoritarian regimes and the types of leaders admired and imitated by Donald Trump.

Donald Trump's commitment to and use of political violence is a matter of public record. Two of the most recent examples include how Trump's followers in Michigan allegedly planned to kidnap and possibly murder Michigan Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer. During his debate with Joe Biden, Trump also commanded white supremacist paramilitaries to be prepared to attack his and their "enemies" if he loses on Election Day or is otherwise removed from office.

....(snip)....

How can we better explain to the Democrats that Trumpism is a type of political and social movement, and normal politics, those old rules, no longer apply here in America?

History shows that people can learn to like pain. They can also learn to like inflicting pain on others. That is what the Democrats are up against. They are not competing against some theory of politics where voters and the public are purely rational and motivated by "the issues."

Donald Trump is a president who happily circulates as much pain as he can on the rationale that his people are going to suffer for him — and they're going to enjoy suffering because of their idea that other people are suffering more. Trump's supporters are suffering for a cause which is other people, Black people, immigrants, some Other, suffering more than they are. ...............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2020/10/18/historian-timothy-snyder-warns-that-america-is-already-in-its-own-slow-motion-reichstag-fire/

October 19, 2020

Trump is falling way behind with female voters. His response? "Lock her up!"

Trump is falling way behind with female voters. His response? "Lock her up!"
Misogyny helped Trump in 2016, and he wants to repeat by attacking Gretchen Whitmer — but so far it's not working

AMANDA MARCOTTE
OCTOBER 19, 2020 5:26PM


(Salon) Donald Trump is getting hammered, badly, by female voters in the national polls. In the latest NPR/PBS poll, Democratic nominee Joe Biden is leading Trump among women by 25 points. The Washington Post/ABC News poll shows a similar spread, with Biden beating Trump by 23 points with women. Even the Fox News polling data puts Biden ahead of Trump by 19 points among female voters. Trump is doing much better with male voters, but considering that women tend to vote at higher rates than men, Trump simply can't count on male support to push him to another Electoral College victory.

Facing a very high chance that female voters will send Trump packing in November — FiveThirtyEight's odds of a Biden victory, as of Monday morning are at 88% — how did the pussy-grabbing president react? By laughingly encouraging a crowd in Michigan, at another of his largely mask-free rallies, to chant, "Lock her up!"

"Lock her up? Lock them all up!" Trump responded in glee.

That chant was a Trump-rally greatest hit in 2016, aimed at Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton on the fallacious grounds that she had supposedly committed some crime for which she was escaping justice. (As usual, this was pure projection from Trump, who knew at the time he was a tax fraud and serial sexual assailant, whereas decades of effort to turn up some kind of malfeasance to pin on Clinton have resulted in bupkis.) This time, even that thin pretense was dropped, as the chant was aimed at Michigan's Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer, who hasn't been accused, even falsely or facetiously, of committing any crimes.

Whitmer's only "crime" is being a woman — and a conventionally attractive woman, at that — who Trump can't control. Trump has spent months publicly lashing out at Whitmer, who, like most Democratic governors, rejected Trump's demands that she ignore public health recommendations to slow the coronavirus spread. Instead, Whitmer instituted restrictions that have likely saved tens of thousands of lives. Trump and his loyal followers haven't let go of this, and keep obsessing over what he clearly sees an unforgivable act of female defiance. ..............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2020/10/19/trump-is-falling-way-behind-with-female-voters-his-response-lock-her-up/

October 19, 2020

Fear of Job Loss Haunts Half of World's Workers as Crisis Rages

(Bloomberg) -- More than half of workers around the world are worried about losing their jobs, according to a survey measuring labor-market insecurity wreaked by the coronavirus crisis.

The poll of 12,430 people for the World Economic Forum showed 54% of them are either “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned” that their employment will cease in the next year. Respondents were from 27 countries spread around the world, including almost all of the Group of 20 economies. .........(more)

https://www.bloombergquint.com/onweb/fear-of-job-loss-haunts-half-of-world-s-workers-as-crisis-rages

October 19, 2020

Transit officials consider future of Minnesota's Northstar rail line

MN: Transit officials consider future of Minnesota's Northstar rail line
Local bus and light-rail ridership has also slumped due to the virus, but not as sharply as Northstar’s free fall.

Janet Moore
Star Tribune (TNS)
Oct 19th, 2020


After several dozen passengers boarded the 4:27 p.m. Northstar Thursday at the Target Field stop, the locomotive edged forward and departed right on time.

If it weren’t for passengers wearing telltale masks, it could have been any other fall afternoon. But ridership on Northstar, a commuter train that connects downtown Minneapolis to Big Lake while running through the Twin Cities’ northern suburbs, has plunged about 95% since the COVID-19 outbreak.

As the Metropolitan Council considers harsh budget realities for public transportation next year, the fate of Northstar has come into sharper focus. Should it be shut down temporarily? Should buses replace train service? And what’s the status of the long-proposed extension to St. Cloud?

“All options are on the table at this time,” said Met Council Spokeswoman Terri Dresen, in an e-mail. ...............(more)

https://www.masstransitmag.com/rail/news/21158799/mn-transit-officials-consider-future-of-minnesotas-northstar-rail-line

October 19, 2020

Support for racial justice protests drops when protesters are identified as Black

Support for racial justice demonstrations drops notably when protesters are identified as Black — and vanishes almost entirely among Fox News viewers.

According to a poll by the Public Religion Research Institute and the Brookings Institution, 61 percent of those surveyed agree the country is made better when Americans speak up and protest unfair treatment by the government.

However, when protesters are identified as Black Americans, support for those protests drops nine points, to 52 percent, and that supports drops from 61 percent to 47 percent among white Americans. .............(more)

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/10/support-for-racial-justice-protests-drops-when-protesters-are-identified-as-black/

October 19, 2020

Michigan: John James fundraised at DeVos family home while trying to downplay financial ties

(Salon) Michigan Republican Senate candidate John James attended a fundraiser at the home of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' brother-in-law while trying to downplay the financial help his campaign has received from the family.

James attended a fundraiser at the home of DeVos' brother-in-law, Dan, and his wife, Pamella, last month. Though James was well-distanced from the crowd, none of the attendees appeared to be wearing masks, according to a photo published by former Allegan County Republican Party Chairman Kevin Whiteford to Facebook.

James has extensive ties to the DeVos family, which has poured money into his race against Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich. His campaign recently hired Betsy DeVos' niece, and his wife has worked at the DeVos family's Amway empire for years. Members of the DeVos family have directly donated tens of thousands to his campaign.

The DeVos family has also funded the Better Future Michigan Fund, a super PAC which has now spent at least $7.1 million to help James defeat Peters. Dan and Pam DeVos have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the super PAC. ............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2020/10/19/michigan-republican-fundraised-at-devos-family-home-while-trying-to-downplay-financial-ties/

October 19, 2020

Rudy, Rudy, Rudy

Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, admitted that he gave a controversial story about Hunter Biden to the New York Post because editors there wouldn’t spend “all day” fact checking it or trying to contradict him.

Giuliani personally explained his thinking about where to publish the story, according to The New York Times.

“Mr. Giuliani said he chose The Post because ‘either nobody else would take it, or if they took it, they would spend all the time they could to try to contradict it before they put it out,'” the report said. ..........(more)

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/10/rudy-giuliani-admits-he-gave-hunter-biden-story-to-ny-post-because-it-wouldnt-be-fact-checked/?

October 19, 2020

Don't let Trump and his minions get away with this -- or it will happen all over again

Don't let Trump and his minions get away with this — or it will happen all over again
Historian Jill Lepore thinks a post-Trump "truth commission" isn't needed because America's doing A-OK. Hello?

HEATHER DIGBY PARTON
OCTOBER 19, 2020 12:42PM


(Salon) After Richard Nixon resigned from office in the wake of the Watergate scandal, the Congress set out to create numerous reforms designed to rein in future presidents. After all, Nixon had set forth a view of the presidency that was downright un-American: "If the president does it it's not illegal," essentially saying that no law can apply to the executive branch.

The legal system had worked, up to a point. Twenty-two members of the Nixon administration were convicted of crimes pertaining to Watergate. Most of them did time in prison, including the White House chief of staff and the attorney general. Nixon himself was guilty of numerous crimes but was never tried for any of them because he was pardoned by his successor, Gerald Ford. But much of what Nixon did wasn't illegal. It was unethical, immoral and totally disrespectful of any and all norms of decent leadership. It turns out that those kinds of transgressions are even harder to check than rank criminality.

....(snip)....

Unfortunately, those reforms were of limited utility. The Iran-Contra scandal and the pardons that followed mocked the idea of intelligence oversight. The CIA black sites and torture program program during the George W. Bush administration pretty much destroyed the illusion that Congress had any control over the intelligence services. Throughout this period, the War Powers Act, which was enacted over Nixon's veto in the first place, has been a joke. As for campaign finance and ethics reforms, well, those were nice ideas. The Supreme Court took care of the first with the Citizens United ruling, and the second turns out to be almost entirely dependent on a sense of shame — a thing that turns out to be easily discarded.

....(snip)....

When Trump says "I have an Article II that says I can do anything I want," he didn't get that idea from reading the Constitution. He has obviously never done that, and wouldn't understand it anyway. He has been told this by people who believe very strongly in unaccountable presidential power: "If the president does it, it's not illegal." Barr's covering for Trump's obstruction of justice in the Mueller probe, the White House refusal to cooperate with Congress, the assertion of novel rationales that render oversight null and void and the Department of Justice claiming that personal cases against Trump come under the rubric of presidential immunity, among many other instances are not just exercises in Trumpian corruption. They are assertions of executive power way beyond anything that Nixon, Reagan or Bush ever thought of.

That's not Trump. It's a Republican power grab, and it's just one of many we've seen coming from the right in recent years. This authoritarian strain of thought has been with us at least since the Nixon era and it's metastasizing. .............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2020/10/19/dont-let-trump-and-his-minions-get-away-with-this--or-it-will-happen-all-over-again/

October 18, 2020

This Crisis Makes Clear: We Need a Four-Day Work Week, Now

This Crisis Makes Clear: We Need a Four-Day Work Week, Now
A shorter work week could help create a more thriving society. But to work it must be equitable.

ANNA BIANCA ROACH OCTOBER 16, 2020


(In These Times) The pan­dem­ic inspired politi­cians and coun­try lead­ers across the world to speak in favor of a reduced work week. New Zealand Prime Min­is­ter Jacin­da Ardern has brought it up, as has San­na Marin, the Prime Min­is­ter of Fin­land. Germany’s largest trade union, a met­al­work­ers’ union, is push­ing the idea hard, with sup­port from the country’s Fed­er­al Min­istry of Labor and Social Affairs. The Euro­pean Com­mis­sion is con­sid­er­ing a wage sub­sidy pro­gram to short­en work­ers’ hours.

Accord­ing to a study by the Cana­di­an Labor Eco­nom­ics Forum, low-income work­ers in Cana­da expe­ri­enced both the sharpest decrease in work­ing hours and the sharpest increase. That’s because the Cana­di­an Emer­gency Response Ben­e­fit (CERB), a month­ly stipend of 2,000 Cana­di­an dol­lars, was avail­able to any­one who lost work due to the pan­dem­ic, and whose month­ly earn­ings were now 1,000 Cana­di­an dol­lars or less. But it didn’t apply to any­one who vol­un­tar­i­ly left their job.

Among those who kept their jobs were essen­tial work­ers, most of whom are paid para­dox­i­cal­ly low wages — they saw their jobs become more demand­ing and more dan­ger­ous. For non-essen­tial work­ers whose work shift­ed online, where their work­ing hours did increase, this may have been mit­i­gat­ed by the decrease in com­mute time. Every­one in between — peo­ple whose pan­dem­ic-relat­ed job loss brought them under the $1,000 thresh­old — sud­den­ly had more income and more time. Some actu­al­ly saw an increase in income, as the CERB amounts to more than a month­ly wage at the fed­er­al min­i­mum wage. Leah Gazan, a Mem­ber of Par­lia­ment in the province of Man­i­to­ba, has put forth a motion to con­vert the CERB into a uni­ver­sal basic income with­out cut­ting oth­er social sup­port networks.

Politi­cians aren’t alone in think­ing about the ben­e­fits of short­er hours. Among the loud­est pro­po­nents for cut­ting hours is a New Zealand hedge fund that tri­aled a four-day week and saw an increase in pro­duc­tiv­i­ty. Oth­er firms have seen sim­i­lar results, espe­cial­ly in office set­tings. Employ­ees work­ing exces­sive hours are tired, stressed and more vul­ner­a­ble to men­tal ill­ness or dis­eases. Work­ing exces­sive hours also means we strug­gle to meet our own needs — like social­iz­ing, exer­cis­ing, eat­ing prop­er­ly or even hav­ing hob­bies. As a result, work­ers com­mod­i­fy things they would oth­er­wise do for fun, like car­ing for chil­dren or cook­ing din­ner. They hire migrant work­ers for pal­try wages or buy ready-made din­ners assem­bled by under­paid fac­to­ry workers. ...........(more)

https://inthesetimes.com/article/reduced-work-week-pandemic-relief