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marmar
marmar's Journal
marmar's Journal
November 4, 2022
(Guardian UK) Rich countries must sign a “historic pact” with the poor on the climate, or “we will be doomed”, the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, has warned, as a deepening gulf between the developed and developing world has put climate talks on the brink.
The stark warning comes as world leaders start to gather for the UN Cop27 climate summit, which opens on Sunday in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, but which even the hosts admit will be the most difficult in at least a decade.
Cop27 is taking place amid the worst geopolitical tensions for years, over the Ukraine war, a spiralling global cost of living crisis, and deepening economic gloom.
But the gulf must be bridged if humanity is to have a hope of avoiding the worst ravages of climate breakdown, Guterres said.
“There is no way we can avoid a catastrophic situation, if the two [the developed and developing world] are not able to establish a historic pact,” he told the Guardian in an interview on the eve of the summit. “Because at the present level, we will be doomed.” ..............(more)
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/04/un-chief-antonio-guterres-climate-crisis-cop27
UN chief warns 'we will be doomed' without historic climate pact
(Guardian UK) Rich countries must sign a “historic pact” with the poor on the climate, or “we will be doomed”, the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, has warned, as a deepening gulf between the developed and developing world has put climate talks on the brink.
The stark warning comes as world leaders start to gather for the UN Cop27 climate summit, which opens on Sunday in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, but which even the hosts admit will be the most difficult in at least a decade.
Cop27 is taking place amid the worst geopolitical tensions for years, over the Ukraine war, a spiralling global cost of living crisis, and deepening economic gloom.
But the gulf must be bridged if humanity is to have a hope of avoiding the worst ravages of climate breakdown, Guterres said.
“There is no way we can avoid a catastrophic situation, if the two [the developed and developing world] are not able to establish a historic pact,” he told the Guardian in an interview on the eve of the summit. “Because at the present level, we will be doomed.” ..............(more)
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/04/un-chief-antonio-guterres-climate-crisis-cop27
November 4, 2022
US Traffic Safety Is Getting Worse, While Other Countries Improve
The rising rate of road deaths in the US continues to defy global trends. Here’s what traffic planners in other nations could teach their American counterparts.
By David Zipper
November 3, 2022 at 9:00 AM EDT
(Bloomberg CityLab) A few months ago the United States Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg unveiled Momentum, a new federal program created “to help countries around the world learn from our best practices in planning and modernizing transportation.”
It was a curious move for a country whose mobility network seems more likely to inspire pity than admiration when viewed from abroad. The US road transportation system is a climate bomb that generates more than twice as much carbon dioxide per capita as the roads of the European Union, thanks to the dominance of personal vehicles. American efforts to build cleaner alternatives such as high-speed rail — which is common across Japan, China, and many EU countries — have consumed billions of dollars with little to show for it.
The US underperformance in road safety is especially dramatical: 11.4 Americans per 100,000 died in crashes in 2020, a number that dwarfs countries including Spain (2.9), Israel (3.3) and New Zealand (6.3). And unlike most developed nations, US roadways have grown more deadly during the last two decades (including during the pandemic), especially for those outside of cars. Last year saw the most pedestrians killed in the US in 40 years, and deaths among those biking rose 44% from 2010 to 2020.
Instead of touting its own approaches, USDOT would be better off studying why other countries’ roads are so much safer and figure out how to apply those lessons at home. ................(more)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-11-03/why-us-traffic-safety-fell-so-far-behind-other-countries?srnd=premium
US Traffic Safety Is Getting Worse, While Other Countries Improve
US Traffic Safety Is Getting Worse, While Other Countries Improve
The rising rate of road deaths in the US continues to defy global trends. Here’s what traffic planners in other nations could teach their American counterparts.
By David Zipper
November 3, 2022 at 9:00 AM EDT
(Bloomberg CityLab) A few months ago the United States Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg unveiled Momentum, a new federal program created “to help countries around the world learn from our best practices in planning and modernizing transportation.”
It was a curious move for a country whose mobility network seems more likely to inspire pity than admiration when viewed from abroad. The US road transportation system is a climate bomb that generates more than twice as much carbon dioxide per capita as the roads of the European Union, thanks to the dominance of personal vehicles. American efforts to build cleaner alternatives such as high-speed rail — which is common across Japan, China, and many EU countries — have consumed billions of dollars with little to show for it.
The US underperformance in road safety is especially dramatical: 11.4 Americans per 100,000 died in crashes in 2020, a number that dwarfs countries including Spain (2.9), Israel (3.3) and New Zealand (6.3). And unlike most developed nations, US roadways have grown more deadly during the last two decades (including during the pandemic), especially for those outside of cars. Last year saw the most pedestrians killed in the US in 40 years, and deaths among those biking rose 44% from 2010 to 2020.
Instead of touting its own approaches, USDOT would be better off studying why other countries’ roads are so much safer and figure out how to apply those lessons at home. ................(more)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-11-03/why-us-traffic-safety-fell-so-far-behind-other-countries?srnd=premium
November 4, 2022
Elon Musk's "blue check" debacle: His brain has been broken by whiny incels
For Twitter's angry nerds, the blue check is like a girlfriend — it's infuriating because you can't buy it
By AMANDA MARCOTTE
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 4, 2022 5:55AM (EDT)
(Salon) Aweek after Elon Musk acquired Silcon Valley's bluest white elephant, Twitter, the tech billionaire appears determined to live up to all the dark suspicions people harbor about him. His ideas on how to run the company seem to be borrowed directly from the worst people on the internet, dudes who spend most of their time toggling between spewing racial slurs into "Call of Duty" and griping on Reddit about how woke bitches won't have sex with them. That's because Musk's brilliant idea for making Twitter profitable is — don't laugh! — charging people a monthly subscription fee for having a blue check mark next to their name.
If you spend enough time in the disorienting chocolate factory-like hellscape that is Twitter, you will soon discover a shocking amount of resentment from right-wing nerds about the existence of the aforementioned blue check. Musk himself is channeling this resentment, claiming he was doing this to end the "lords & peasants" system. But, as Edward Ongweso Jr. of Vice points out, by "elites," Musk — the richest man in the world — "more or less means journalists." He may think he's a man of the people, but he's a rich brat who cannot believe that anyone is allowed to talk back to him.
The little blue symbol is affixed to profiles, in theory, to indicate that "this person is who they say they are." In truth, it's become increasingly difficult to get one in recent years. It usually requires both having a relatively robust public profile and an employer who is willing to vouch that your persona matters to their bottom line or institutional standing. (I got mine because Salon organized it for every editorial employee with a prominent byline, for instance.) It's supposed to give Twitter readers a little more confidence that the person who's talking feels some protectiveness over their reputation and therefore won't be talking entirely out of their ass.
In practice, Twitter gave checks to people like Daily Wire head Ben Shapiro and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, individuals for whom the ass does literally all the talking. As a gauge of information quality, it is deeply compromised. Still, combining the blue check mark with a quick look at someone's profile can help a user decide whether a tweet is trustworthy or not. Blue check mark plus a Twitter bio saying you work for NBC News? Probably OK! Blue check mark plus a job as a Republican official? Don't believe a word they say! ............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2022/11/04/elon-musks-blue-check-debacle-his-brain-has-been-broken-by-whiny-incels/
Elon Musk's "blue check" debacle: His brain has been broken by whiny incels
Elon Musk's "blue check" debacle: His brain has been broken by whiny incels
For Twitter's angry nerds, the blue check is like a girlfriend — it's infuriating because you can't buy it
By AMANDA MARCOTTE
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 4, 2022 5:55AM (EDT)
(Salon) Aweek after Elon Musk acquired Silcon Valley's bluest white elephant, Twitter, the tech billionaire appears determined to live up to all the dark suspicions people harbor about him. His ideas on how to run the company seem to be borrowed directly from the worst people on the internet, dudes who spend most of their time toggling between spewing racial slurs into "Call of Duty" and griping on Reddit about how woke bitches won't have sex with them. That's because Musk's brilliant idea for making Twitter profitable is — don't laugh! — charging people a monthly subscription fee for having a blue check mark next to their name.
If you spend enough time in the disorienting chocolate factory-like hellscape that is Twitter, you will soon discover a shocking amount of resentment from right-wing nerds about the existence of the aforementioned blue check. Musk himself is channeling this resentment, claiming he was doing this to end the "lords & peasants" system. But, as Edward Ongweso Jr. of Vice points out, by "elites," Musk — the richest man in the world — "more or less means journalists." He may think he's a man of the people, but he's a rich brat who cannot believe that anyone is allowed to talk back to him.
The little blue symbol is affixed to profiles, in theory, to indicate that "this person is who they say they are." In truth, it's become increasingly difficult to get one in recent years. It usually requires both having a relatively robust public profile and an employer who is willing to vouch that your persona matters to their bottom line or institutional standing. (I got mine because Salon organized it for every editorial employee with a prominent byline, for instance.) It's supposed to give Twitter readers a little more confidence that the person who's talking feels some protectiveness over their reputation and therefore won't be talking entirely out of their ass.
In practice, Twitter gave checks to people like Daily Wire head Ben Shapiro and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, individuals for whom the ass does literally all the talking. As a gauge of information quality, it is deeply compromised. Still, combining the blue check mark with a quick look at someone's profile can help a user decide whether a tweet is trustworthy or not. Blue check mark plus a Twitter bio saying you work for NBC News? Probably OK! Blue check mark plus a job as a Republican official? Don't believe a word they say! ............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2022/11/04/elon-musks-blue-check-debacle-his-brain-has-been-broken-by-whiny-incels/
November 4, 2022
WE’RE WITNESSING THE POST-TRUTH MIDTERMS
This cycle has been awash in lies—about everything from the last election to litter boxes to the assault on Paul Pelosi—and an Elon-owned Twitter could further fuel the right’s alternate reality.
BY MOLLY JONG-FAST
NOVEMBER 3, 2022
(Vanity Fair) On Friday, in the middle of the night, a 42-year-old man broke into the San Francisco home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “Where is Nancy?” David DePape yelled. His intended target was in Washington, DC, but her husband, Paul Pelosi, was home. Pelosi managed to get into the bathroom and call 911. The police arrived at 2:27 a.m., in time to witness DePape assaulting the 82-year-old Pelosi with a hammer. DePape is said to have also had a second hammer, along with a roll of tape, white rope, a pair of rubber and cloth gloves, and zip ties. His plan, he reportedly told authorities, was to hold Nancy Pelosi hostage; he’d let her go if she told “the truth,” and break her kneecaps if she “lied.”
The reality of what happened seems clear: A man consumed by conspiracy theories, ranging from the 2020 election to Covid vaccines, targeted the female speaker of the House, a political figure who had been long demonized by the right. It looks like violent rhetoric, alongside rampant misinformation, led to actual violence. But on a corner of the internet—the right-wing echo chamber—the most rational explanation for events was quickly drowned out by wild and reckless claims. And there’s potential for the conspiracies swirling in that chamber to get an even bigger audience now that Elon Musk is running Twitter.
On Sunday morning, around 8:15 a.m., Musk responded to one of Hillary Clinton’s tweets by sharing a story from the Santa Monica Observer, a site “notorious for publishing false news,” as the Los Angeles Times has described it. The story Musk shared, according to The Washington Post, “unspooled a lurid tale about nudists and a tryst gone terribly wrong” and “speculated about Pelosi’s medical condition and the security at the home he shares with the House speaker in San Francisco’s tony Pacific Heights neighborhood.”
Such is the trajectory of information today: The world’s richest man, using a global communications platform he just bought for $44 billion, promotes a story featuring baseless claims to his more than 112 million followers. Musk wasn’t alone in muddying the waters around the Pelosi assault, with Senator Ted Cruz of Texas using Twitter to cast doubt on the motivation for the attack, thus entering the murky post-truth zone where the GOP base operates in its own alternate reality. (Meanwhile, DePape faces several state charges, including attempted murder, residential burglary, and assault with a deadly weapon, to which he’s pleaded not guilty. He’s also facing federal charges, including attempted kidnapping, to which he has not yet entered a plea in court.)
....(snip)....
This shift into unreality will ripple out in unpredictable and potentially dangerous ways. DePape hoped that the House speaker being “wheeled into Congress” would serve as a warning. This is the kind of unreality that cultural theorist Jean Baudrillard wrote about in his 1981 treatise, Simulacra and Simulation: “We live in a world where there is more and more information, and less and less meaning.” We are swimming in a sea of content, but it’s being rejected by a segment of the population because it just doesn’t fit into their reality. In a post-truth world, everything, including fact, becomes subject to opinion. Kids aren't identifying as cats and Paul Pelosi wasn’t having some kind of love affair with David DePape. Sometimes, actually, most of the time, the most obvious answer is correct. ...........(more)
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/11/the-post-truth-midterms-2022-nancy-pelosi-elon-musk
We're Witnessing The Post-Truth Midterms
WE’RE WITNESSING THE POST-TRUTH MIDTERMS
This cycle has been awash in lies—about everything from the last election to litter boxes to the assault on Paul Pelosi—and an Elon-owned Twitter could further fuel the right’s alternate reality.
BY MOLLY JONG-FAST
NOVEMBER 3, 2022
(Vanity Fair) On Friday, in the middle of the night, a 42-year-old man broke into the San Francisco home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “Where is Nancy?” David DePape yelled. His intended target was in Washington, DC, but her husband, Paul Pelosi, was home. Pelosi managed to get into the bathroom and call 911. The police arrived at 2:27 a.m., in time to witness DePape assaulting the 82-year-old Pelosi with a hammer. DePape is said to have also had a second hammer, along with a roll of tape, white rope, a pair of rubber and cloth gloves, and zip ties. His plan, he reportedly told authorities, was to hold Nancy Pelosi hostage; he’d let her go if she told “the truth,” and break her kneecaps if she “lied.”
The reality of what happened seems clear: A man consumed by conspiracy theories, ranging from the 2020 election to Covid vaccines, targeted the female speaker of the House, a political figure who had been long demonized by the right. It looks like violent rhetoric, alongside rampant misinformation, led to actual violence. But on a corner of the internet—the right-wing echo chamber—the most rational explanation for events was quickly drowned out by wild and reckless claims. And there’s potential for the conspiracies swirling in that chamber to get an even bigger audience now that Elon Musk is running Twitter.
On Sunday morning, around 8:15 a.m., Musk responded to one of Hillary Clinton’s tweets by sharing a story from the Santa Monica Observer, a site “notorious for publishing false news,” as the Los Angeles Times has described it. The story Musk shared, according to The Washington Post, “unspooled a lurid tale about nudists and a tryst gone terribly wrong” and “speculated about Pelosi’s medical condition and the security at the home he shares with the House speaker in San Francisco’s tony Pacific Heights neighborhood.”
Such is the trajectory of information today: The world’s richest man, using a global communications platform he just bought for $44 billion, promotes a story featuring baseless claims to his more than 112 million followers. Musk wasn’t alone in muddying the waters around the Pelosi assault, with Senator Ted Cruz of Texas using Twitter to cast doubt on the motivation for the attack, thus entering the murky post-truth zone where the GOP base operates in its own alternate reality. (Meanwhile, DePape faces several state charges, including attempted murder, residential burglary, and assault with a deadly weapon, to which he’s pleaded not guilty. He’s also facing federal charges, including attempted kidnapping, to which he has not yet entered a plea in court.)
....(snip)....
This shift into unreality will ripple out in unpredictable and potentially dangerous ways. DePape hoped that the House speaker being “wheeled into Congress” would serve as a warning. This is the kind of unreality that cultural theorist Jean Baudrillard wrote about in his 1981 treatise, Simulacra and Simulation: “We live in a world where there is more and more information, and less and less meaning.” We are swimming in a sea of content, but it’s being rejected by a segment of the population because it just doesn’t fit into their reality. In a post-truth world, everything, including fact, becomes subject to opinion. Kids aren't identifying as cats and Paul Pelosi wasn’t having some kind of love affair with David DePape. Sometimes, actually, most of the time, the most obvious answer is correct. ...........(more)
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/11/the-post-truth-midterms-2022-nancy-pelosi-elon-musk
November 4, 2022
WE’RE WITNESSING THE POST-TRUTH MIDTERMS
This cycle has been awash in lies—about everything from the last election to litter boxes to the assault on Paul Pelosi—and an Elon-owned Twitter could further fuel the right’s alternate reality.
BY MOLLY JONG-FAST
NOVEMBER 3, 2022
(Vanity Fair) On Friday, in the middle of the night, a 42-year-old man broke into the San Francisco home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “Where is Nancy?” David DePape yelled. His intended target was in Washington, DC, but her husband, Paul Pelosi, was home. Pelosi managed to get into the bathroom and call 911. The police arrived at 2:27 a.m., in time to witness DePape assaulting the 82-year-old Pelosi with a hammer. DePape is said to have also had a second hammer, along with a roll of tape, white rope, a pair of rubber and cloth gloves, and zip ties. His plan, he reportedly told authorities, was to hold Nancy Pelosi hostage; he’d let her go if she told “the truth,” and break her kneecaps if she “lied.”
The reality of what happened seems clear: A man consumed by conspiracy theories, ranging from the 2020 election to Covid vaccines, targeted the female speaker of the House, a political figure who had been long demonized by the right. It looks like violent rhetoric, alongside rampant misinformation, led to actual violence. But on a corner of the internet—the right-wing echo chamber—the most rational explanation for events was quickly drowned out by wild and reckless claims. And there’s potential for the conspiracies swirling in that chamber to get an even bigger audience now that Elon Musk is running Twitter.
On Sunday morning, around 8:15 a.m., Musk responded to one of Hillary Clinton’s tweets by sharing a story from the Santa Monica Observer, a site “notorious for publishing false news,” as the Los Angeles Times has described it. The story Musk shared, according to The Washington Post, “unspooled a lurid tale about nudists and a tryst gone terribly wrong” and “speculated about Pelosi’s medical condition and the security at the home he shares with the House speaker in San Francisco’s tony Pacific Heights neighborhood.”
Such is the trajectory of information today: The world’s richest man, using a global communications platform he just bought for $44 billion, promotes a story featuring baseless claims to his more than 112 million followers. Musk wasn’t alone in muddying the waters around the Pelosi assault, with Senator Ted Cruz of Texas using Twitter to cast doubt on the motivation for the attack, thus entering the murky post-truth zone where the GOP base operates in its own alternate reality. (Meanwhile, DePape faces several state charges, including attempted murder, residential burglary, and assault with a deadly weapon, to which he’s pleaded not guilty. He’s also facing federal charges, including attempted kidnapping, to which he has not yet entered a plea in court.)
....(snip)....
This shift into unreality will ripple out in unpredictable and potentially dangerous ways. DePape hoped that the House speaker being “wheeled into Congress” would serve as a warning. This is the kind of unreality that cultural theorist Jean Baudrillard wrote about in his 1981 treatise, Simulacra and Simulation: “We live in a world where there is more and more information, and less and less meaning.” We are swimming in a sea of content, but it’s being rejected by a segment of the population because it just doesn’t fit into their reality. In a post-truth world, everything, including fact, becomes subject to opinion. Kids aren't identifying as cats and Paul Pelosi wasn’t having some kind of love affair with David DePape. Sometimes, actually, most of the time, the most obvious answer is correct. ...........(more)
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/11/the-post-truth-midterms-2022-nancy-pelosi-elon-musk
We're Witnessing The Post-Truth Midterms
WE’RE WITNESSING THE POST-TRUTH MIDTERMS
This cycle has been awash in lies—about everything from the last election to litter boxes to the assault on Paul Pelosi—and an Elon-owned Twitter could further fuel the right’s alternate reality.
BY MOLLY JONG-FAST
NOVEMBER 3, 2022
(Vanity Fair) On Friday, in the middle of the night, a 42-year-old man broke into the San Francisco home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “Where is Nancy?” David DePape yelled. His intended target was in Washington, DC, but her husband, Paul Pelosi, was home. Pelosi managed to get into the bathroom and call 911. The police arrived at 2:27 a.m., in time to witness DePape assaulting the 82-year-old Pelosi with a hammer. DePape is said to have also had a second hammer, along with a roll of tape, white rope, a pair of rubber and cloth gloves, and zip ties. His plan, he reportedly told authorities, was to hold Nancy Pelosi hostage; he’d let her go if she told “the truth,” and break her kneecaps if she “lied.”
The reality of what happened seems clear: A man consumed by conspiracy theories, ranging from the 2020 election to Covid vaccines, targeted the female speaker of the House, a political figure who had been long demonized by the right. It looks like violent rhetoric, alongside rampant misinformation, led to actual violence. But on a corner of the internet—the right-wing echo chamber—the most rational explanation for events was quickly drowned out by wild and reckless claims. And there’s potential for the conspiracies swirling in that chamber to get an even bigger audience now that Elon Musk is running Twitter.
On Sunday morning, around 8:15 a.m., Musk responded to one of Hillary Clinton’s tweets by sharing a story from the Santa Monica Observer, a site “notorious for publishing false news,” as the Los Angeles Times has described it. The story Musk shared, according to The Washington Post, “unspooled a lurid tale about nudists and a tryst gone terribly wrong” and “speculated about Pelosi’s medical condition and the security at the home he shares with the House speaker in San Francisco’s tony Pacific Heights neighborhood.”
Such is the trajectory of information today: The world’s richest man, using a global communications platform he just bought for $44 billion, promotes a story featuring baseless claims to his more than 112 million followers. Musk wasn’t alone in muddying the waters around the Pelosi assault, with Senator Ted Cruz of Texas using Twitter to cast doubt on the motivation for the attack, thus entering the murky post-truth zone where the GOP base operates in its own alternate reality. (Meanwhile, DePape faces several state charges, including attempted murder, residential burglary, and assault with a deadly weapon, to which he’s pleaded not guilty. He’s also facing federal charges, including attempted kidnapping, to which he has not yet entered a plea in court.)
....(snip)....
This shift into unreality will ripple out in unpredictable and potentially dangerous ways. DePape hoped that the House speaker being “wheeled into Congress” would serve as a warning. This is the kind of unreality that cultural theorist Jean Baudrillard wrote about in his 1981 treatise, Simulacra and Simulation: “We live in a world where there is more and more information, and less and less meaning.” We are swimming in a sea of content, but it’s being rejected by a segment of the population because it just doesn’t fit into their reality. In a post-truth world, everything, including fact, becomes subject to opinion. Kids aren't identifying as cats and Paul Pelosi wasn’t having some kind of love affair with David DePape. Sometimes, actually, most of the time, the most obvious answer is correct. ...........(more)
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/11/the-post-truth-midterms-2022-nancy-pelosi-elon-musk
November 4, 2022
Starbucks’ Aggressive Union-Busting Is a New Model for American Corporations
Their tactics go beyond even Amazon’s, and they’re getting away with most of it.
BY STEVEN GREENHOUSE
NOV 03, 202211:16 AM
(Slate) In June, Starbucks permanently closed its busiest store in Ithaca, New York, after the newly unionized baristas there went on a short strike to protest unsanitary conditions. In July, Chipotle shuttered a restaurant in Augusta, Maine, shortly after its workers petitioned for a vote to become the nation’s first unionized Chipotle. In August, Trader Joe’s closed its wine shop in New York City’s Union Square just days before that store’s workers were to unveil plans to seek a union election. Also in August, Amy’s Kitchen shut down its 330-employee frozen-food operation in San Jose as a union drive was gathering momentum.
Labor leaders have denounced these closings as deliberate moves to discourage and defeat unionization—to warn workers at these corporations’ other stores and operations that bad things can happen if they seek to unionize. But company officials insist that these weren’t union-busting moves, but rather innocent steps to close operations that had problems. Union officials see a calculated strategy at work here: Corporations know that such high-profile closings—as well as moves like firing prominent union supporters—frighten workers and make many too scared to vote for or campaign for a union. The Starbucks union says the company has fired more than 100 pro-union baristas, not just to retaliate against them for their union activities, but to chill overall enthusiasm about unionizing. Federal law makes it illegal to fire a worker in retaliation for supporting a union.
These types of heavy-handed, anti-union moves highlight three big problems. First, they create an atmosphere of fear that often prevents something that federal labor laws seek to guarantee—free and fair unionization elections. Far too often, all the closings, firings, and other anti-union moves destroy the “laboratory conditions” that the National Labor Relations Board says are needed to assure workers a “free choice” when voting whether to unionize.
Then there’s a second big problem: Companies like Starbucks often seem happy to take one illegal anti-union action after another—like firing workers for supporting a union—because under federal law, they can’t be fined one cent for doing so, and their executives can’t be punished. (At most, companies can be ordered to pay backpay to workers who were illegally fired for backing a union.) Top corporate officials must tell themselves, When you can’t be fined, why not break the law to stop unionization? The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which President Joe Biden has endorsed, aims to remedy this by creating substantial fines for employers’ labor law violations, but a GOP filibuster has doomed that bill’s chances. ...................(more)
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/11/starbucks-union-busting-tactics-workers-labor-wave-nlrb.html
Starbucks' Aggressive Union-Busting Is a New Model for American Corporations
Starbucks’ Aggressive Union-Busting Is a New Model for American Corporations
Their tactics go beyond even Amazon’s, and they’re getting away with most of it.
BY STEVEN GREENHOUSE
NOV 03, 202211:16 AM
(Slate) In June, Starbucks permanently closed its busiest store in Ithaca, New York, after the newly unionized baristas there went on a short strike to protest unsanitary conditions. In July, Chipotle shuttered a restaurant in Augusta, Maine, shortly after its workers petitioned for a vote to become the nation’s first unionized Chipotle. In August, Trader Joe’s closed its wine shop in New York City’s Union Square just days before that store’s workers were to unveil plans to seek a union election. Also in August, Amy’s Kitchen shut down its 330-employee frozen-food operation in San Jose as a union drive was gathering momentum.
Labor leaders have denounced these closings as deliberate moves to discourage and defeat unionization—to warn workers at these corporations’ other stores and operations that bad things can happen if they seek to unionize. But company officials insist that these weren’t union-busting moves, but rather innocent steps to close operations that had problems. Union officials see a calculated strategy at work here: Corporations know that such high-profile closings—as well as moves like firing prominent union supporters—frighten workers and make many too scared to vote for or campaign for a union. The Starbucks union says the company has fired more than 100 pro-union baristas, not just to retaliate against them for their union activities, but to chill overall enthusiasm about unionizing. Federal law makes it illegal to fire a worker in retaliation for supporting a union.
These types of heavy-handed, anti-union moves highlight three big problems. First, they create an atmosphere of fear that often prevents something that federal labor laws seek to guarantee—free and fair unionization elections. Far too often, all the closings, firings, and other anti-union moves destroy the “laboratory conditions” that the National Labor Relations Board says are needed to assure workers a “free choice” when voting whether to unionize.
Then there’s a second big problem: Companies like Starbucks often seem happy to take one illegal anti-union action after another—like firing workers for supporting a union—because under federal law, they can’t be fined one cent for doing so, and their executives can’t be punished. (At most, companies can be ordered to pay backpay to workers who were illegally fired for backing a union.) Top corporate officials must tell themselves, When you can’t be fined, why not break the law to stop unionization? The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which President Joe Biden has endorsed, aims to remedy this by creating substantial fines for employers’ labor law violations, but a GOP filibuster has doomed that bill’s chances. ...................(more)
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/11/starbucks-union-busting-tactics-workers-labor-wave-nlrb.html
November 3, 2022
Welcome to The Convent, a wellness oasis and Airbnb in a former Detroit nunnery
Massage therapists, clairvoyants, and psilocybin healers have set up shop in the building helmed by the owners of The Schvitz
By Randiah Camille Green on Thu, Nov 3, 2022 at 8:00 am
(Detroit Metro Times) A flag of the Black Madonna blows in the wind at the entrance of The Convent — a new health and wellness community in Detroit.
Rather than nuns, the former convent on the edge of Detroit and Hamtramck is now occupied by private massage therapists, estheticians, visual artists, and even a psilocybin journey facilitator.
The owners of Detroit’s formerly infamous bathhouse The Schvitz purchased the convent in July of 2022 and quickly renovated it into a healing oasis where practitioners serve private clients in rooms that were once nuns’ quarters. A former chapel on the first floor will be used as a gallery space for art openings, yoga classes, and other events.
The owner of The Schvitz and The Convent, Paddy Lynch, says it will give affordable studio space to wellness practitioners and artists.
“A lot of the people who’ve been working out of The Schvitz for a number of years now have done really well there, but a lot of them are either mobile or working out of their homes,” he says. “I felt like not a ton of people had combined art and wellness, and this would be a nice space to make up for that. Healers and wellness practitioners aren’t really seen as artists, but they kind of are. It’s like the healing arts.” .............(more)
https://www.metrotimes.com/arts/welcome-to-the-convent-a-wellness-oasis-and-airbnb-in-a-former-detroit-nunnery-31500256
Welcome to The Convent, a wellness oasis and Airbnb in a former Detroit nunnery
Welcome to The Convent, a wellness oasis and Airbnb in a former Detroit nunnery
Massage therapists, clairvoyants, and psilocybin healers have set up shop in the building helmed by the owners of The Schvitz
By Randiah Camille Green on Thu, Nov 3, 2022 at 8:00 am
(Detroit Metro Times) A flag of the Black Madonna blows in the wind at the entrance of The Convent — a new health and wellness community in Detroit.
Rather than nuns, the former convent on the edge of Detroit and Hamtramck is now occupied by private massage therapists, estheticians, visual artists, and even a psilocybin journey facilitator.
The owners of Detroit’s formerly infamous bathhouse The Schvitz purchased the convent in July of 2022 and quickly renovated it into a healing oasis where practitioners serve private clients in rooms that were once nuns’ quarters. A former chapel on the first floor will be used as a gallery space for art openings, yoga classes, and other events.
The owner of The Schvitz and The Convent, Paddy Lynch, says it will give affordable studio space to wellness practitioners and artists.
“A lot of the people who’ve been working out of The Schvitz for a number of years now have done really well there, but a lot of them are either mobile or working out of their homes,” he says. “I felt like not a ton of people had combined art and wellness, and this would be a nice space to make up for that. Healers and wellness practitioners aren’t really seen as artists, but they kind of are. It’s like the healing arts.” .............(more)
https://www.metrotimes.com/arts/welcome-to-the-convent-a-wellness-oasis-and-airbnb-in-a-former-detroit-nunnery-31500256
November 3, 2022
Is America ready to trade democracy for cheap gas? That's fascism in a nutshell
Americans understand that democracy is in dire peril. That doesn't mean they believe in it, or give a damn
By CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 3, 2022 5:45AM (EDT)
(Salon) This recent New York Times headline offers a perfect prospective epitaph for America's ailing democracy and its potential imminent demise: "Voters See Democracy in Peril, but Saving It Isn't a Priority."
The details are grim. Voters "overwhelmingly believe American democracy is under threat, but seem remarkably apathetic about that danger," with relatively few calling it "the nation's most pressing problem," according to a new poll conducted for the Times by Siena College. More than one-third of independent voters in the poll "said they were open to supporting candidates who reject the legitimacy of the 2020 election," because economic concerns were more urgent. While 71 percent of voters agreed that "democracy was at risk," only 7 percent said that was the country's most important problem.
The Times' analysis conformed to a depressing current of conventional wisdom, concluding that "for many Americans, this year's midterm elections will be largely defined by rising inflation and other economic woes," reflecting a deeply rooted "cynicism" about government. This particular portrait reinforces what political scientists and other experts have long known about voting and other political behavior in this country.
Most Americans are relatively unsophisticated in their understanding of politics and public policy, and tend to be disengaged on issues beyond the few that appear to be of immediate concern to them, their families or their communities, barring a national emergency or crisis that demands collective attention. But even that kind of increased salience does not necessarily translate into an accurate or factual understanding of the policies in question. For example, the COVID pandemic certainly became a major national issue, but also fueled widespread disinformation about vaccines and public health measures. The 2020 election transfixed the nation for weeks, but Donald Trump's Big Lie narrative about that election has not faded away. ..............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2022/11/03/is-america-ready-to-trade-democracy-for-cheap-gas-thats-fascism-in-a-nutshell/
Is America ready to trade democracy for cheap gas? That's fascism in a nutshell
Is America ready to trade democracy for cheap gas? That's fascism in a nutshell
Americans understand that democracy is in dire peril. That doesn't mean they believe in it, or give a damn
By CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 3, 2022 5:45AM (EDT)
(Salon) This recent New York Times headline offers a perfect prospective epitaph for America's ailing democracy and its potential imminent demise: "Voters See Democracy in Peril, but Saving It Isn't a Priority."
The details are grim. Voters "overwhelmingly believe American democracy is under threat, but seem remarkably apathetic about that danger," with relatively few calling it "the nation's most pressing problem," according to a new poll conducted for the Times by Siena College. More than one-third of independent voters in the poll "said they were open to supporting candidates who reject the legitimacy of the 2020 election," because economic concerns were more urgent. While 71 percent of voters agreed that "democracy was at risk," only 7 percent said that was the country's most important problem.
The Times' analysis conformed to a depressing current of conventional wisdom, concluding that "for many Americans, this year's midterm elections will be largely defined by rising inflation and other economic woes," reflecting a deeply rooted "cynicism" about government. This particular portrait reinforces what political scientists and other experts have long known about voting and other political behavior in this country.
Most Americans are relatively unsophisticated in their understanding of politics and public policy, and tend to be disengaged on issues beyond the few that appear to be of immediate concern to them, their families or their communities, barring a national emergency or crisis that demands collective attention. But even that kind of increased salience does not necessarily translate into an accurate or factual understanding of the policies in question. For example, the COVID pandemic certainly became a major national issue, but also fueled widespread disinformation about vaccines and public health measures. The 2020 election transfixed the nation for weeks, but Donald Trump's Big Lie narrative about that election has not faded away. ..............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2022/11/03/is-america-ready-to-trade-democracy-for-cheap-gas-thats-fascism-in-a-nutshell/
November 3, 2022
(Detroit Free Press) Opponents of Proposal 3 — a ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights in the Michigan Constitution — call it a "Pandora's box" that goes far beyond restoring the national right to an abortion lost when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade this summer.
The proposed constitutional amendment — which appears on the Michigan ballot as "Proposal 22-3" — would allow children to undergo "gender change therapy without parental consent," Citizens to Support MI Women & Children claims in a tweet. Citizens to Support MI Women & Children is a coalition campaigning against Proposal 3 that includes prominent abortion rights opponents, including Right to Life of Michigan and the Michigan Catholic Conference.
What Proposal 3 actually says
If voters adopt Proposal 3 in the upcoming Nov. 8 midterm, it would add about 300 words to the Michigan Constitution. The amendment contains no explicit reference to gender-affirming care or parental consent.
"Every individual has a fundamental right to reproductive freedom, which entails the right to make and effectuate decisions about all matters relating to pregnancy," the amendment states. It provides some examples of what the right to reproductive freedom includes: "prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, sterilization, abortion care, miscarriage management, and infertility care."
....(snip)....
"They're spending an awful lot of time and effort talking about matters that do not relate to pregnancy which are outside the scope of this proposal," Steve Liedel said during a recent news briefing. He said Reproductive Freedom for All has asked stations to stop airing the ad from Citizens to Support MI Women & Children that claims Proposal 3 would allow children to obtain prescriptions for puberty blockers without their parents’ consent or knowledge. ....................(more)
https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/11/02/michigan-proposal-3-parental-consent-gender-change-therapy/69611266007/
Fact check: Proposal 3 would not allow 'gender change therapy without parental consent'
(Detroit Free Press) Opponents of Proposal 3 — a ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights in the Michigan Constitution — call it a "Pandora's box" that goes far beyond restoring the national right to an abortion lost when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade this summer.
The proposed constitutional amendment — which appears on the Michigan ballot as "Proposal 22-3" — would allow children to undergo "gender change therapy without parental consent," Citizens to Support MI Women & Children claims in a tweet. Citizens to Support MI Women & Children is a coalition campaigning against Proposal 3 that includes prominent abortion rights opponents, including Right to Life of Michigan and the Michigan Catholic Conference.
What Proposal 3 actually says
If voters adopt Proposal 3 in the upcoming Nov. 8 midterm, it would add about 300 words to the Michigan Constitution. The amendment contains no explicit reference to gender-affirming care or parental consent.
"Every individual has a fundamental right to reproductive freedom, which entails the right to make and effectuate decisions about all matters relating to pregnancy," the amendment states. It provides some examples of what the right to reproductive freedom includes: "prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, sterilization, abortion care, miscarriage management, and infertility care."
....(snip)....
"They're spending an awful lot of time and effort talking about matters that do not relate to pregnancy which are outside the scope of this proposal," Steve Liedel said during a recent news briefing. He said Reproductive Freedom for All has asked stations to stop airing the ad from Citizens to Support MI Women & Children that claims Proposal 3 would allow children to obtain prescriptions for puberty blockers without their parents’ consent or knowledge. ....................(more)
https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/11/02/michigan-proposal-3-parental-consent-gender-change-therapy/69611266007/
November 2, 2022
Opinion: We crafted Prop 3. Here's what it really does.
Loren Khogali, Somer Foster and Nicole Wells Stallworth
(Detroit Free Press) With Election Day approaching, misinformation regarding Proposal 3 is flooding the airwaves and filling mailboxes. As the leaders of three distinct and very different statewide organizations supporting reproductive freedom, we are compelled to set the record straight so that people will know the truth about what they are voting on.
It is really quite simple: When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade earlier this year, the door was opened wide for the reactivation of a draconian 1931 law that criminalizes abortion in our state, even in cases where the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest. Anticipating that decision, we’d already been working to craft Proposal 3 as a commonsense response to the Supreme Court taking away abortion rights that have been in place for nearly 50 years. What Prop 3 does is retain for Michiganders the reproductive freedom established for all Americans when the Court first decided Roe in 1973.
There’s nothing extreme about that.
We believe that decisions regarding reproduction are up to individuals and their healthcare providers. Politicians should have no role in determining the outcome of such a highly personal decision. When complications arise during pregnancy, or there’s a medical crisis, doctors must have the freedom to act without being forced to look over their shoulders. Prop 3 ensures doctors can provide a full range of reproductive care without interference from lawmakers in Lansing.
There’s nothing extreme about that.
In fact, Prop 3 is being fully embraced by the mainstream medical establishment. The Michigan Nurses Association, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the Michigan Academy of Family Physicians are just a few of the state and national organizations endorsing Prop 3. In addition, more than 1,500 health care professionals have joined in urging people to vote “yes” on Prop 3. ..............(more)
https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2022/11/02/opinion-we-crafted-proposal-3-this-is-what-it-does/69596499007/
Opinion: We crafted Prop 3. Here's what it really does.
Opinion: We crafted Prop 3. Here's what it really does.
Loren Khogali, Somer Foster and Nicole Wells Stallworth
(Detroit Free Press) With Election Day approaching, misinformation regarding Proposal 3 is flooding the airwaves and filling mailboxes. As the leaders of three distinct and very different statewide organizations supporting reproductive freedom, we are compelled to set the record straight so that people will know the truth about what they are voting on.
It is really quite simple: When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade earlier this year, the door was opened wide for the reactivation of a draconian 1931 law that criminalizes abortion in our state, even in cases where the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest. Anticipating that decision, we’d already been working to craft Proposal 3 as a commonsense response to the Supreme Court taking away abortion rights that have been in place for nearly 50 years. What Prop 3 does is retain for Michiganders the reproductive freedom established for all Americans when the Court first decided Roe in 1973.
There’s nothing extreme about that.
We believe that decisions regarding reproduction are up to individuals and their healthcare providers. Politicians should have no role in determining the outcome of such a highly personal decision. When complications arise during pregnancy, or there’s a medical crisis, doctors must have the freedom to act without being forced to look over their shoulders. Prop 3 ensures doctors can provide a full range of reproductive care without interference from lawmakers in Lansing.
There’s nothing extreme about that.
In fact, Prop 3 is being fully embraced by the mainstream medical establishment. The Michigan Nurses Association, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the Michigan Academy of Family Physicians are just a few of the state and national organizations endorsing Prop 3. In addition, more than 1,500 health care professionals have joined in urging people to vote “yes” on Prop 3. ..............(more)
https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2022/11/02/opinion-we-crafted-proposal-3-this-is-what-it-does/69596499007/
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