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October 19, 2022
Is Human Composting the Future of Funerals?
BY LIZZIE O’LEARY
OCT 18, 202210:59 AM
(Slate) If you’ve ever composted your kitchen scraps or garden clippings, you are probably familiar with the basic process. It requires greens (aka your nitrogen-rich leftover broccoli stems or apple peels) and grounds (the carbon-rich stuff like dry leaves or wood chips). When they’re combined, microbes get to work and things start to break down. When it comes to natural organic reduction—aka human composting—the process is surprisingly similar. A body is washed and dressed in a biodegradable gown, then placed in the composting vessel.
The process of human composting is new and somewhat controversial. The traditional funeral industry and state governments have been slow to embrace it, and many people remain skeptical about the concept of composting human remains. But Eleanor Cummins, who wrote an article in the Verge about Return Home, a leader in the human composting industry, says natural organic reduction could be a greener alternative to traditional burial methods—one that centers the grief of the living while allowing the dead a level of control over the process that has been missing.
On Sunday’s episode of What Next: TBD, freelance science journalist Eleanor Cummins took me inside the world of human composting, a movement that’s pushing for a greener way of returning us all to the earth. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Lizzie O’Leary: What goes into the composting vessels, other than, of course, the body?
Eleanor Cummins: Really anything biodegradable can be placed alongside it. The first time I ever met the CEO, Micah, he was like, “You can put anything in—love notes or ham sandwiches.” The body and all of those other materials are placed on a bed of alfalfa, sawdust, and straw. That’s going to be the browns of the compost, if you will, and the body is the greens. The vessel is closed and all of the microbes in your stomach are actually going to do the work of decomposition. When those microbes are no longer eating our food, digesting that for us, they start to digest us. Those microbes, they really just need a little bit of heat, moisture, and a lot of oxygen so that they can perform what’s called aerobic digestion.
....(snip)....
Traditionally, the burial process in the U.S. involves embalming and preserving the body, and I would imagine in this case that there is none of that because it has to decompose. What’s the environmental impact of this process?
The traditional American Christian funeral has a lot of upfront environmental costs, according to its critics. All of that has turned on its head in human composting, and the goal is actually how quickly can we accelerate this process of returning to soil, so to speak. I think that environmentally, that’s a huge pull, especially in the Pacific Northwest, where I’m from.
Some of the ways that they have created a greener process are, obviously, they’re removing a lot of these permanent elements from burial like the casket. They are reusing the vessels. One person passes through in about 30 days. The next person can then come in. The facilities tend to be run on green energy that’s purchased from the grid, and then all of the outputs from the process are also scrubbed on the back end, so any emissions coming out of the facility are going to be fairly neutral because they’ve been able to ground carbon emissions. Also, just the smelly, volatile organic compounds that make the smell of decomposition. All of those things are being strained before it’s released. They’ve really tried to reduce the impact at every stage. ................(more)
https://slate.com/technology/2022/10/human-composting-natural-organic-reduction.html
Is Human Composting the Future of Funerals?
Is Human Composting the Future of Funerals?
BY LIZZIE O’LEARY
OCT 18, 202210:59 AM
(Slate) If you’ve ever composted your kitchen scraps or garden clippings, you are probably familiar with the basic process. It requires greens (aka your nitrogen-rich leftover broccoli stems or apple peels) and grounds (the carbon-rich stuff like dry leaves or wood chips). When they’re combined, microbes get to work and things start to break down. When it comes to natural organic reduction—aka human composting—the process is surprisingly similar. A body is washed and dressed in a biodegradable gown, then placed in the composting vessel.
The process of human composting is new and somewhat controversial. The traditional funeral industry and state governments have been slow to embrace it, and many people remain skeptical about the concept of composting human remains. But Eleanor Cummins, who wrote an article in the Verge about Return Home, a leader in the human composting industry, says natural organic reduction could be a greener alternative to traditional burial methods—one that centers the grief of the living while allowing the dead a level of control over the process that has been missing.
On Sunday’s episode of What Next: TBD, freelance science journalist Eleanor Cummins took me inside the world of human composting, a movement that’s pushing for a greener way of returning us all to the earth. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Lizzie O’Leary: What goes into the composting vessels, other than, of course, the body?
Eleanor Cummins: Really anything biodegradable can be placed alongside it. The first time I ever met the CEO, Micah, he was like, “You can put anything in—love notes or ham sandwiches.” The body and all of those other materials are placed on a bed of alfalfa, sawdust, and straw. That’s going to be the browns of the compost, if you will, and the body is the greens. The vessel is closed and all of the microbes in your stomach are actually going to do the work of decomposition. When those microbes are no longer eating our food, digesting that for us, they start to digest us. Those microbes, they really just need a little bit of heat, moisture, and a lot of oxygen so that they can perform what’s called aerobic digestion.
....(snip)....
Traditionally, the burial process in the U.S. involves embalming and preserving the body, and I would imagine in this case that there is none of that because it has to decompose. What’s the environmental impact of this process?
The traditional American Christian funeral has a lot of upfront environmental costs, according to its critics. All of that has turned on its head in human composting, and the goal is actually how quickly can we accelerate this process of returning to soil, so to speak. I think that environmentally, that’s a huge pull, especially in the Pacific Northwest, where I’m from.
Some of the ways that they have created a greener process are, obviously, they’re removing a lot of these permanent elements from burial like the casket. They are reusing the vessels. One person passes through in about 30 days. The next person can then come in. The facilities tend to be run on green energy that’s purchased from the grid, and then all of the outputs from the process are also scrubbed on the back end, so any emissions coming out of the facility are going to be fairly neutral because they’ve been able to ground carbon emissions. Also, just the smelly, volatile organic compounds that make the smell of decomposition. All of those things are being strained before it’s released. They’ve really tried to reduce the impact at every stage. ................(more)
https://slate.com/technology/2022/10/human-composting-natural-organic-reduction.html
October 18, 2022
More people rode the N.C. Department of Transportation’s intercity passenger rail service in September than any previous month in the 32-year history of the NC By Train service.
The Carolinian and Piedmont trains handled 48,488 passengers last month, which marks an increase of 32 percent over the average pre-pandemic monthly ridership levels from 2014 to 2019. The service is operated by Amtrak.
“It’s great to see record ridership on North Carolina’s passenger rail,” Gov. Roy Cooper said. “A strong and growing state needs efficient transportation options and it’s clear that more people are choosing NC By Train. We should continue to invest to connect our communities with high-quality passenger rail.”
NC By Train provides multiple trains throughout the day between Raleigh and Charlotte with stops in Cary, Durham, Burlington, Greensboro, High Point, Salisbury and Kannapolis, as well as daily service connecting Charlotte, Raleigh and New York via the Carolinian. The service has operated since 1990. .................(more)
https://www.masstransitmag.com/rail/press-release/21284136/north-carolina-department-of-transportation-ncdot-nc-by-train-service-sets-record-for-ridership-in-september
NC By Train service sets record for ridership in September
More people rode the N.C. Department of Transportation’s intercity passenger rail service in September than any previous month in the 32-year history of the NC By Train service.
The Carolinian and Piedmont trains handled 48,488 passengers last month, which marks an increase of 32 percent over the average pre-pandemic monthly ridership levels from 2014 to 2019. The service is operated by Amtrak.
“It’s great to see record ridership on North Carolina’s passenger rail,” Gov. Roy Cooper said. “A strong and growing state needs efficient transportation options and it’s clear that more people are choosing NC By Train. We should continue to invest to connect our communities with high-quality passenger rail.”
NC By Train provides multiple trains throughout the day between Raleigh and Charlotte with stops in Cary, Durham, Burlington, Greensboro, High Point, Salisbury and Kannapolis, as well as daily service connecting Charlotte, Raleigh and New York via the Carolinian. The service has operated since 1990. .................(more)
https://www.masstransitmag.com/rail/press-release/21284136/north-carolina-department-of-transportation-ncdot-nc-by-train-service-sets-record-for-ridership-in-september
October 18, 2022
The Surprising History—and Deadly Consequences—of Right Turn on Red
BY ABIGAIL WEINBERG
OCT 18, 20225:45 AM
(Slate) It’s an obsolete relic of the 1970s oil crisis. It’s dangerous to pedestrians. And, if you drive a car in the United States, you likely do it every day. It’s time to get rid of right turn on red.
If you roll up to a red light in a car in Europe, you have to wait for the light to turn green before taking a right—unless the posted signage says otherwise. In Great Britain, where drivers use the left side of the road, left turns on red are not permitted. But in the United States, drivers are generally permitted to turn right at a red light, if there’s a big enough gap in the traffic for them to squeeze into. In fact, you’re likely to get honked at if you don’t.
That freedom sounds like a good way to keep traffic moving. Still, sometimes drivers fail to yield to pedestrians who have the right of way in the intersection. The data on right-turn-on-red crashes might be scarce, but the existing studies suggest that these types of collisions—while rare—frequently involve a pedestrian or cyclist. Cars, instead of hitting other cars, often hit humans. Now, there’s a growing movement for cities to do away with the traffic law altogether.
In early October, the D.C. city council voted to ban right turn on red at most city intersections (and to allow cyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs). If Mayor Muriel Bowser signs on and the bill receives Congressional approval, D.C. will become the second U.S. city after New York not to allow RTOR. D.C., which has struggled to curb traffic fatalities, hopes that ending RTOR will make its streets safer for cyclists, pedestrians, and wheelchair users.
So, why do U.S. cities allow RTOR in the first place? Blame the oil crisis. ............(more)
https://slate.com/technology/2022/10/right-turn-on-red-oil-crisis-environment-dc.html
The Surprising History--and Deadly Consequences--of Right Turn on Red
The Surprising History—and Deadly Consequences—of Right Turn on Red
BY ABIGAIL WEINBERG
OCT 18, 20225:45 AM
(Slate) It’s an obsolete relic of the 1970s oil crisis. It’s dangerous to pedestrians. And, if you drive a car in the United States, you likely do it every day. It’s time to get rid of right turn on red.
If you roll up to a red light in a car in Europe, you have to wait for the light to turn green before taking a right—unless the posted signage says otherwise. In Great Britain, where drivers use the left side of the road, left turns on red are not permitted. But in the United States, drivers are generally permitted to turn right at a red light, if there’s a big enough gap in the traffic for them to squeeze into. In fact, you’re likely to get honked at if you don’t.
That freedom sounds like a good way to keep traffic moving. Still, sometimes drivers fail to yield to pedestrians who have the right of way in the intersection. The data on right-turn-on-red crashes might be scarce, but the existing studies suggest that these types of collisions—while rare—frequently involve a pedestrian or cyclist. Cars, instead of hitting other cars, often hit humans. Now, there’s a growing movement for cities to do away with the traffic law altogether.
In early October, the D.C. city council voted to ban right turn on red at most city intersections (and to allow cyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs). If Mayor Muriel Bowser signs on and the bill receives Congressional approval, D.C. will become the second U.S. city after New York not to allow RTOR. D.C., which has struggled to curb traffic fatalities, hopes that ending RTOR will make its streets safer for cyclists, pedestrians, and wheelchair users.
So, why do U.S. cities allow RTOR in the first place? Blame the oil crisis. ............(more)
https://slate.com/technology/2022/10/right-turn-on-red-oil-crisis-environment-dc.html
October 18, 2022
Ted Cruz reimbursed himself $555,000 after successfully challenging a political spending law at the Supreme Court
(Business Insider) Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas received $555,000 from his campaign account two months ago, according to new documents filed with the Federal Election Commission.
And the one-time presidential candidate and two-term senator has the US Supreme Court to thank for it.
When Cruz first ran for the United States Senate in 2012, he loaned his campaign over $1 million of his own money amid a heated primary campaign against then-Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst of Texas. Cruz would go on to win a run-off against Dewhurst.
However, the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act — championed by the late Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona — set a $250,000 limit on the amount of money that candidates could raise after the election for the purpose of paying off personal loans to their campaign committee. .............(more)
https://www.businessinsider.com/ted-cruz-campaign-funds-fec-supreme-court-corruption-2022-10
Ted Cruz reimbursed himself $555,000 after successfully challenging a political spending law at SC
Ted Cruz reimbursed himself $555,000 after successfully challenging a political spending law at the Supreme Court
(Business Insider) Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas received $555,000 from his campaign account two months ago, according to new documents filed with the Federal Election Commission.
And the one-time presidential candidate and two-term senator has the US Supreme Court to thank for it.
When Cruz first ran for the United States Senate in 2012, he loaned his campaign over $1 million of his own money amid a heated primary campaign against then-Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst of Texas. Cruz would go on to win a run-off against Dewhurst.
However, the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act — championed by the late Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona — set a $250,000 limit on the amount of money that candidates could raise after the election for the purpose of paying off personal loans to their campaign committee. .............(more)
https://www.businessinsider.com/ted-cruz-campaign-funds-fec-supreme-court-corruption-2022-10
October 17, 2022
This election isn't about inflation or abortion. It's about whether democracy can survive
Of course the economy and reproductive rights are important. But in the shadow of fascism, they almost don't matter
By HEATHER DIGBY PARTON
Columnist
PUBLISHED OCTOBER 17, 2022 9:28AM (EDT)
(Salon) We are three weeks out from the midterm elections and by all accounts many races are within the margin of error. It's pretty clear that the "red tsunami" everyone was expecting has not materialized. Republicans are still favored to win (at least in the House) but it's looking more and more as if it will be a very narrow victory if they do — and there's a decent chance they won't.
So, of course, Democrats are going on television arguing that everyone is doing it wrong. It's just how they roll. The latest disagreements come from those who think candidates should focus on the old saw, "It's the economy, stupid," because inflation has people so spooked. Sen. Bernie Sanders appeared on "Meet the Press" over the weekend and gave his familiar spiel about income inequality and big corporations, suggesting that some Trump voters would be open to that argument. He begged Democrats to focus more intently on the economy and attack the Republican threats to Social Security and Medicare.
Others believe that the best issue for Democrats this fall is the Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade, which has already been shown to motivate women of all demographics in the primaries and special elections. And some believe the fascist turn of the GOP and its assault on democracy is the most important issue and must be addressed head-on.
....(snip)....
So yes, Republicans have gone back to the deep well of racism once again, obviously believing that's what motivates their base. They aren't wrong.
When you see all of that laid out, you might think we were dealing with a standard issues-based election, more or less, however critical those issues are and however extreme the Republicans have become. Certainly, the media is trying to treat it that way. But this is an election like no other and it's got nothing to do with "issues" in the normal sense. The Republicans are intent upon electing hundreds of election deniers to office, and are bent on destroying our election system as we've known it for the last half-century or more. ........................(more)
https://www.salon.com/2022/10/17/this-isnt-about-inflation-or-abortion-its-about-whether-democracy-can-survive/
This election isn't about inflation or abortion. It's about whether democracy can survive
This election isn't about inflation or abortion. It's about whether democracy can survive
Of course the economy and reproductive rights are important. But in the shadow of fascism, they almost don't matter
By HEATHER DIGBY PARTON
Columnist
PUBLISHED OCTOBER 17, 2022 9:28AM (EDT)
(Salon) We are three weeks out from the midterm elections and by all accounts many races are within the margin of error. It's pretty clear that the "red tsunami" everyone was expecting has not materialized. Republicans are still favored to win (at least in the House) but it's looking more and more as if it will be a very narrow victory if they do — and there's a decent chance they won't.
So, of course, Democrats are going on television arguing that everyone is doing it wrong. It's just how they roll. The latest disagreements come from those who think candidates should focus on the old saw, "It's the economy, stupid," because inflation has people so spooked. Sen. Bernie Sanders appeared on "Meet the Press" over the weekend and gave his familiar spiel about income inequality and big corporations, suggesting that some Trump voters would be open to that argument. He begged Democrats to focus more intently on the economy and attack the Republican threats to Social Security and Medicare.
Others believe that the best issue for Democrats this fall is the Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade, which has already been shown to motivate women of all demographics in the primaries and special elections. And some believe the fascist turn of the GOP and its assault on democracy is the most important issue and must be addressed head-on.
....(snip)....
So yes, Republicans have gone back to the deep well of racism once again, obviously believing that's what motivates their base. They aren't wrong.
When you see all of that laid out, you might think we were dealing with a standard issues-based election, more or less, however critical those issues are and however extreme the Republicans have become. Certainly, the media is trying to treat it that way. But this is an election like no other and it's got nothing to do with "issues" in the normal sense. The Republicans are intent upon electing hundreds of election deniers to office, and are bent on destroying our election system as we've known it for the last half-century or more. ........................(more)
https://www.salon.com/2022/10/17/this-isnt-about-inflation-or-abortion-its-about-whether-democracy-can-survive/
October 15, 2022
Donald Trump planned and directed the whole damn thing — why is anybody still defending him?
Final Jan. 6 committee hearing yields no blockbusters but a clear narrative: It was all planned in advance. By him
By HEATHER DIGBY PARTON
Columnist
PUBLISHED OCTOBER 14, 2022 9:42AM (EDT)
(Salon) The Jan. 6 committee's final public hearing before the midterm election ended with a bang, not a whimper. At the conclusion of the hearing the committee's nine members voted unanimously to subpoena former President Donald Trump to testify. After their two-and-a-half hour presentation, it's hard to imagine how they ever could have contemplated doing otherwise. They presented a meticulously documented case which showed that Trump had a premeditated plan of many months to deny losing the election, plotted a coup to overturn the results if he did, incited a violent insurrection when that was thwarted, and then refused for hours to respond to the violence as he watched it unfold on television. Whether he will respond to the subpoena remains to be seen, but either way it's another black mark on his uniquely corrupt and dishonest political career.
For most of us who closely followed events in real time, both on Jan. 6 and through the subsequent investigations and revelations, much of this was not news. But it's been a while since we focused on some of these details, and to see it presented in narrative form, with so much video and documentary evidence, is still powerful. For instance, the fact that Trump had planned to contest the election if he lost was no secret. Indeed, he had signaled back in 2016 that he would never concede defeat, famously declaring in the days before that election, "I will totally accept the results of this great and historic presidential election — if I win." For years after that victory he insisted that he'd actually won the popular vote but had been victimized by millions of immigrants illegally voting in California. He even convened something called the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity to try to prove that case. Even his hand-picked hacks couldn't turn up any evidence, and the "commission" was quietly disbanded without even issuing a report.
As 2020 approached with Trump down in the polls and the pandemic wreaking havoc around world, he began to lay the groundwork for denying his loss once again. For months he railed against mail-in ballots — which were being instituted in many states in response to the pandemic — setting up a narrative that they were inherently fraudulent. He threatened to withhold federal funds from states that used mail-in voting and accused California of setting up massive fraud by sending out ballots to all registered voters. Trump's 2020 campaign manager, Bill Stepien, told the committee that he couldn't be talked out of his irrational opposition to voting by mail, even though there were numerous states where it would likely benefit him and Republicans in general.
....(snip)....
The cumulative effect of all the Jan. 6 hearings, culminating in Thursday's wrap-up of the central narrative, has made clear that Donald Trump set up the coup before the election, was personally involved in the various attempts to execute it, understood that violence was possible on Jan. 6, and incited the crowd to storm the Capitol and refused to take any action to stop them. Everything that happened came at his direction and was done in his name. ..................(more)
https://www.salon.com/2022/10/14/donald-planned-and-directed-the-whole-damn-thing--why-is-anybody-still-defending-him/
Donald Trump planned and directed the whole damn thing -- why is anybody still defending him?
Donald Trump planned and directed the whole damn thing — why is anybody still defending him?
Final Jan. 6 committee hearing yields no blockbusters but a clear narrative: It was all planned in advance. By him
By HEATHER DIGBY PARTON
Columnist
PUBLISHED OCTOBER 14, 2022 9:42AM (EDT)
(Salon) The Jan. 6 committee's final public hearing before the midterm election ended with a bang, not a whimper. At the conclusion of the hearing the committee's nine members voted unanimously to subpoena former President Donald Trump to testify. After their two-and-a-half hour presentation, it's hard to imagine how they ever could have contemplated doing otherwise. They presented a meticulously documented case which showed that Trump had a premeditated plan of many months to deny losing the election, plotted a coup to overturn the results if he did, incited a violent insurrection when that was thwarted, and then refused for hours to respond to the violence as he watched it unfold on television. Whether he will respond to the subpoena remains to be seen, but either way it's another black mark on his uniquely corrupt and dishonest political career.
For most of us who closely followed events in real time, both on Jan. 6 and through the subsequent investigations and revelations, much of this was not news. But it's been a while since we focused on some of these details, and to see it presented in narrative form, with so much video and documentary evidence, is still powerful. For instance, the fact that Trump had planned to contest the election if he lost was no secret. Indeed, he had signaled back in 2016 that he would never concede defeat, famously declaring in the days before that election, "I will totally accept the results of this great and historic presidential election — if I win." For years after that victory he insisted that he'd actually won the popular vote but had been victimized by millions of immigrants illegally voting in California. He even convened something called the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity to try to prove that case. Even his hand-picked hacks couldn't turn up any evidence, and the "commission" was quietly disbanded without even issuing a report.
As 2020 approached with Trump down in the polls and the pandemic wreaking havoc around world, he began to lay the groundwork for denying his loss once again. For months he railed against mail-in ballots — which were being instituted in many states in response to the pandemic — setting up a narrative that they were inherently fraudulent. He threatened to withhold federal funds from states that used mail-in voting and accused California of setting up massive fraud by sending out ballots to all registered voters. Trump's 2020 campaign manager, Bill Stepien, told the committee that he couldn't be talked out of his irrational opposition to voting by mail, even though there were numerous states where it would likely benefit him and Republicans in general.
....(snip)....
The cumulative effect of all the Jan. 6 hearings, culminating in Thursday's wrap-up of the central narrative, has made clear that Donald Trump set up the coup before the election, was personally involved in the various attempts to execute it, understood that violence was possible on Jan. 6, and incited the crowd to storm the Capitol and refused to take any action to stop them. Everything that happened came at his direction and was done in his name. ..................(more)
https://www.salon.com/2022/10/14/donald-planned-and-directed-the-whole-damn-thing--why-is-anybody-still-defending-him/
October 14, 2022
What the GOP’s embrace of Herschel Walker says about the state of our political culture
No Exceptions. Except for Herschel.
By Abdul El-Sayed on Wed, Oct 12, 2022 at 5:42 pm
(Detroit Metro Times) “So, does this change anything?” asked Dana Loesch, the former firebrand spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association, on her radio show after The Daily Beast published proof that Herschel Walker had reimbursed a former girlfriend — and mother of his child — for an abortion after pressuring her to get it.
“Not a damn thing,” she answered. “How many times have I said these four words–these four very important words: ‘Winning. Is. A. Virtue.’”
It’s not just conservative political commentators who rallied around Walker. Sens. Tom Cotton and Rick Scott announced that they’ll be joining the football-has-been-turned-candidate on the campaign trail in Georgia this week.
You might think that the self-styled party of “family values” might care if one of their candidates paid — in their own formulation — to have his mistress murder their child. Indeed, in the pre-Trump era, political careers were destroyed over less.
But in 2022? Nope. What does this say about the state of our politics? Of the state of the GOP?
Donald Trump never succeeded in building his wall — the one at the southern border, at least. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t build any walls. Rather than a wall of metal and concrete separating the U.S. from Mexico, he built an ineffable wall in the minds of MAGA voters that separates a person from their persona. His wall allows them to maintain an indelible cognitive dissonance about the politicians they support. It renders those politicians immune to charges of hypocrisy. What the person does is unimportant — it’s the persona they’re supporting, anyway. MAGA politicians can recklessly and completely violate the very standards they campaign on and face little to no consequences. ............(more)
https://www.metrotimes.com/news/what-the-gops-embrace-of-herschel-walker-says-about-the-state-of-our-political-culture-31322111
What the GOP's embrace of Herschel Walker says about the state of our political culture
What the GOP’s embrace of Herschel Walker says about the state of our political culture
No Exceptions. Except for Herschel.
By Abdul El-Sayed on Wed, Oct 12, 2022 at 5:42 pm
(Detroit Metro Times) “So, does this change anything?” asked Dana Loesch, the former firebrand spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association, on her radio show after The Daily Beast published proof that Herschel Walker had reimbursed a former girlfriend — and mother of his child — for an abortion after pressuring her to get it.
“Not a damn thing,” she answered. “How many times have I said these four words–these four very important words: ‘Winning. Is. A. Virtue.’”
It’s not just conservative political commentators who rallied around Walker. Sens. Tom Cotton and Rick Scott announced that they’ll be joining the football-has-been-turned-candidate on the campaign trail in Georgia this week.
You might think that the self-styled party of “family values” might care if one of their candidates paid — in their own formulation — to have his mistress murder their child. Indeed, in the pre-Trump era, political careers were destroyed over less.
But in 2022? Nope. What does this say about the state of our politics? Of the state of the GOP?
Donald Trump never succeeded in building his wall — the one at the southern border, at least. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t build any walls. Rather than a wall of metal and concrete separating the U.S. from Mexico, he built an ineffable wall in the minds of MAGA voters that separates a person from their persona. His wall allows them to maintain an indelible cognitive dissonance about the politicians they support. It renders those politicians immune to charges of hypocrisy. What the person does is unimportant — it’s the persona they’re supporting, anyway. MAGA politicians can recklessly and completely violate the very standards they campaign on and face little to no consequences. ............(more)
https://www.metrotimes.com/news/what-the-gops-embrace-of-herschel-walker-says-about-the-state-of-our-political-culture-31322111
October 14, 2022
(Slate) The Elon Musk–Twitter saga had seemed to have entered a quiet period over the last week or so—in court, anyway. But on Thursday, the Delaware Court of Chancery unsealed an Oct. 6 filing by Twitter’s lawyers alleging that the Tesla and SpaceX CEO is under federal investigation related to his attempted purchase of the social-media company. Twitter would like to see Musk’s correspondence with federal authorities. So would Slate’s Elon Musk Shenanigans Watch, which comes to you now in its inaugural edition. (Officially, that is. What has the past year of Elon Musk news been if not one big shenanigans watch??)
According to Twitter’s lawyers, Musk’s team has been playing “hide the ball” with the correspondence, claiming that the documents lie outside the scope of discovery in the suit. It then goes on to describe the company’s almost comically lengthy attempts to get those communications, which Musk’s lawyers still had not produced less than two weeks before the start of the trial that would determine whether Musk would be forced to buy the platform. This delay isn’t necessarily important, though it’s fun to imagine Musk’s very serious counsel coming up multiple new versions of the dog-ate-my-homework excuse. Let’s call this stuff shenanigans-adjacent.
What’s important is who might be investigating Musk and why. The Twitter filing isn’t clear on either, though it drops some clues. According to Reuters, “In late September, Musk’s attorneys provided a ‘privilege log’ identifying documents to be withheld from discovery. The log referenced drafts of a May 13 email to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and a slide presentation to the Federal Trade Commission, Twitter said.”
But the existence of investigations by those agencies isn’t a revelation: The Wall Street Journal broke the news back in May. The SEC, for its part, found it suspicious that Musk was late making the required disclosures to the government when he amassed 5 percent of Twitter’s stock earlier this year. As Slate’s Alex Kirshner wrote at the time, the government had a “nearly airtight, mostly pointless case against Elon Musk.” The FTC was also investigating Musk’s initial purchases of Twitter shares—eventually he reached 9 percent—on antitrust grounds. It could be that there are other SEC or FTC investigations, or that some other agency is looking into Musk right now. ............(more)
https://slate.com/technology/2022/10/elon-musk-federal-investigation-twitter-shenanigans-watch.html
How Bad Are Elon Musk's Latest Twitter Shenanigans?
(Slate) The Elon Musk–Twitter saga had seemed to have entered a quiet period over the last week or so—in court, anyway. But on Thursday, the Delaware Court of Chancery unsealed an Oct. 6 filing by Twitter’s lawyers alleging that the Tesla and SpaceX CEO is under federal investigation related to his attempted purchase of the social-media company. Twitter would like to see Musk’s correspondence with federal authorities. So would Slate’s Elon Musk Shenanigans Watch, which comes to you now in its inaugural edition. (Officially, that is. What has the past year of Elon Musk news been if not one big shenanigans watch??)
According to Twitter’s lawyers, Musk’s team has been playing “hide the ball” with the correspondence, claiming that the documents lie outside the scope of discovery in the suit. It then goes on to describe the company’s almost comically lengthy attempts to get those communications, which Musk’s lawyers still had not produced less than two weeks before the start of the trial that would determine whether Musk would be forced to buy the platform. This delay isn’t necessarily important, though it’s fun to imagine Musk’s very serious counsel coming up multiple new versions of the dog-ate-my-homework excuse. Let’s call this stuff shenanigans-adjacent.
What’s important is who might be investigating Musk and why. The Twitter filing isn’t clear on either, though it drops some clues. According to Reuters, “In late September, Musk’s attorneys provided a ‘privilege log’ identifying documents to be withheld from discovery. The log referenced drafts of a May 13 email to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and a slide presentation to the Federal Trade Commission, Twitter said.”
But the existence of investigations by those agencies isn’t a revelation: The Wall Street Journal broke the news back in May. The SEC, for its part, found it suspicious that Musk was late making the required disclosures to the government when he amassed 5 percent of Twitter’s stock earlier this year. As Slate’s Alex Kirshner wrote at the time, the government had a “nearly airtight, mostly pointless case against Elon Musk.” The FTC was also investigating Musk’s initial purchases of Twitter shares—eventually he reached 9 percent—on antitrust grounds. It could be that there are other SEC or FTC investigations, or that some other agency is looking into Musk right now. ............(more)
https://slate.com/technology/2022/10/elon-musk-federal-investigation-twitter-shenanigans-watch.html
October 14, 2022
Somebody had to do it! Jan. 6 committee wraps with a bang — and a subpoena for Donald Trump
Laying out an irrefutable case that Trump planned it all, committee answers its own call to hold him accountable
By AMANDA MARCOTTE
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED OCTOBER 13, 2022 5:38PM (EDT)
(Salon) "Our nation cannot only punish the foot soldiers who stormed our Capitol. Those who planned to overturn our election, and brought us to the point of violence, must also be accountable."
In her opening statement of the final hearing of the last House Jan. 6 committee before the midterms — and perhaps the last one, period — Rep. Liz Cheney, the no-longer-exactly-Republican congresswoman from Wyoming, laid out the stakes. Donald Trump was "the central cause of Jan. 6," she said, not just the inspiration.
Over the next couple of hours, the committee carefully painted a picture of Trump as a conductor who brought many different forces together and forged an insurrection. Yes, various other people — longtime Trump lackeys and loyalists like Roger Stone and Steve Bannon — evidently act as go-betweens, translating Trump's desires for an insurrection to the extremely online right-wing goons he needed to actually do the thing. But from beginning to end, this was Trump's plan: To declare the election rigged or stolen, even before votes were cast or counted, and to use those bogus accusations as excuses for his judicial appointees to steal it for him. When that wouldn't work, he turned to Republican all over the country, trying to badger or coerce them into falsifying or invalidating the election results.
That didn't work either, so Trump moved on to his biggest and most audacious plan: Unleash a violent mob on the Capitol, and quite likely show up in person to claim the crown. He was unable to break through the security bureaucracy (and, very likely, his own cowardice) enough to actually get that done. But new evidence introduced on Thursday demonstrated that Trump's vision involved him actually standing at the head of his violent MAGA army, in a cosplay update of Benito Mussolini's March on Rome.
....(snip)....
This hearing offered another riveting spectacle, along with an overwhelming amount of evidence that Donald J. Trump is guilty as charged. The committee did their best to keep things crisp and organized, using both what they identified as Trump's "seven point plan" to overthrow the election and a straightforward timeline. Two arguments stood out as those likeliest to sway timid centrists and normies who remain unwilling to accept that this really did happen in the US of A. First, the committee made the case for extensive premeditation: Trump and others plotted for months to steal the election, well before it happened. Second, the committee provided even more evidence that Trump envisioned himself as the leader and figurehead of the mob he had incited. ..........(more)
https://www.salon.com/2022/10/13/somebody-had-to-do-it-jan-6-committee-wraps-with-a-bang--and-a-subpoena-for-donald/
Somebody had to do it! Jan. 6 committee wraps with a bang -- and a subpoena for Donald Trump
Somebody had to do it! Jan. 6 committee wraps with a bang — and a subpoena for Donald Trump
Laying out an irrefutable case that Trump planned it all, committee answers its own call to hold him accountable
By AMANDA MARCOTTE
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED OCTOBER 13, 2022 5:38PM (EDT)
(Salon) "Our nation cannot only punish the foot soldiers who stormed our Capitol. Those who planned to overturn our election, and brought us to the point of violence, must also be accountable."
In her opening statement of the final hearing of the last House Jan. 6 committee before the midterms — and perhaps the last one, period — Rep. Liz Cheney, the no-longer-exactly-Republican congresswoman from Wyoming, laid out the stakes. Donald Trump was "the central cause of Jan. 6," she said, not just the inspiration.
Over the next couple of hours, the committee carefully painted a picture of Trump as a conductor who brought many different forces together and forged an insurrection. Yes, various other people — longtime Trump lackeys and loyalists like Roger Stone and Steve Bannon — evidently act as go-betweens, translating Trump's desires for an insurrection to the extremely online right-wing goons he needed to actually do the thing. But from beginning to end, this was Trump's plan: To declare the election rigged or stolen, even before votes were cast or counted, and to use those bogus accusations as excuses for his judicial appointees to steal it for him. When that wouldn't work, he turned to Republican all over the country, trying to badger or coerce them into falsifying or invalidating the election results.
That didn't work either, so Trump moved on to his biggest and most audacious plan: Unleash a violent mob on the Capitol, and quite likely show up in person to claim the crown. He was unable to break through the security bureaucracy (and, very likely, his own cowardice) enough to actually get that done. But new evidence introduced on Thursday demonstrated that Trump's vision involved him actually standing at the head of his violent MAGA army, in a cosplay update of Benito Mussolini's March on Rome.
....(snip)....
This hearing offered another riveting spectacle, along with an overwhelming amount of evidence that Donald J. Trump is guilty as charged. The committee did their best to keep things crisp and organized, using both what they identified as Trump's "seven point plan" to overthrow the election and a straightforward timeline. Two arguments stood out as those likeliest to sway timid centrists and normies who remain unwilling to accept that this really did happen in the US of A. First, the committee made the case for extensive premeditation: Trump and others plotted for months to steal the election, well before it happened. Second, the committee provided even more evidence that Trump envisioned himself as the leader and figurehead of the mob he had incited. ..........(more)
https://www.salon.com/2022/10/13/somebody-had-to-do-it-jan-6-committee-wraps-with-a-bang--and-a-subpoena-for-donald/
October 13, 2022
Jan. 6 Committee’s fact-finding and bipartisanship will lead to an impact in coming decades, if not tomorrow
Published: October 13, 2022 8.21am EDT
Claire Leavitt
Assistant professor of government, Smith College
The committee formed to investigate the role of former President Donald Trump and key aides in last year’s Capitol insurrection faces high stakes as it holds its 10th and possibly last public hearing on Oct. 13, 2022.
Since the committee debuted its evidence in prime time on June 9, 2022, Vice-Chair Liz Cheney of Wyoming, one of two Republicans on the committee, lost her House seat in a primary election. The other GOP committee member, Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, announced last year that he isn’t running for reelection.
Should Republicans regain the House majority in November’s midterm elections, presumptive Speaker Kevin McCarthy could disband, or reconstitute, the committee. Some GOP House members have indicated that they might use their newfound control over investigations to probe the committee members themselves over how they have conducted their work.
Thus, the committee faces a ticking clock as it wraps up its hearings and finalizes its report, which may recommend criminal charges against Trump and crucial election security reforms. However, it is possible that there will be no immediate legal, policy or political ramifications of the committee’s work.
....(snip)....
Courting the public
Political scientist Paul Light argues that the most “high impact” investigations over the course of American history achieved their success “through a mix of fact-finding, bipartisanship, and strong leadership.” The Jan. 6th Committee took an approach that emphasized facts in presenting its case to the American people.
It dampened charges of partisanship leveled by Trump and his GOP supporters by granting Republicans Cheney and Kinzinger prominent roles. Cheney chaired the committee’s final prime-time hearing this past summer. And the committee showcased extensive testimony from officials whose Republican bona fides are unimpeachable, such as former Attorney General William Barr, former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. ..............(more)
https://theconversation.com/jan-6-committees-fact-finding-and-bipartisanship-will-lead-to-an-impact-in-coming-decades-if-not-tomorrow-192324
Jan. 6 Committee's fact-finding and bipartisanship will lead to an impact in coming decades........
Jan. 6 Committee’s fact-finding and bipartisanship will lead to an impact in coming decades, if not tomorrow
Published: October 13, 2022 8.21am EDT
Claire Leavitt
Assistant professor of government, Smith College
The committee formed to investigate the role of former President Donald Trump and key aides in last year’s Capitol insurrection faces high stakes as it holds its 10th and possibly last public hearing on Oct. 13, 2022.
Since the committee debuted its evidence in prime time on June 9, 2022, Vice-Chair Liz Cheney of Wyoming, one of two Republicans on the committee, lost her House seat in a primary election. The other GOP committee member, Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, announced last year that he isn’t running for reelection.
Should Republicans regain the House majority in November’s midterm elections, presumptive Speaker Kevin McCarthy could disband, or reconstitute, the committee. Some GOP House members have indicated that they might use their newfound control over investigations to probe the committee members themselves over how they have conducted their work.
Thus, the committee faces a ticking clock as it wraps up its hearings and finalizes its report, which may recommend criminal charges against Trump and crucial election security reforms. However, it is possible that there will be no immediate legal, policy or political ramifications of the committee’s work.
....(snip)....
Courting the public
Political scientist Paul Light argues that the most “high impact” investigations over the course of American history achieved their success “through a mix of fact-finding, bipartisanship, and strong leadership.” The Jan. 6th Committee took an approach that emphasized facts in presenting its case to the American people.
It dampened charges of partisanship leveled by Trump and his GOP supporters by granting Republicans Cheney and Kinzinger prominent roles. Cheney chaired the committee’s final prime-time hearing this past summer. And the committee showcased extensive testimony from officials whose Republican bona fides are unimpeachable, such as former Attorney General William Barr, former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. ..............(more)
https://theconversation.com/jan-6-committees-fact-finding-and-bipartisanship-will-lead-to-an-impact-in-coming-decades-if-not-tomorrow-192324
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