Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
marmar
marmar's Journal
marmar's Journal
May 28, 2021
Two men visiting from Florida punched a West Maui man in an altercation over masks, Hawaii News Now reported. The incident occurred on Saturday, May 22.
Humberto Cardenas, a 21-year-old resident of Lahaina in West Maui, said that he was waiting at a Panda Express when a family visiting from Florida entered. Cardenas noticed that two members — a father and son — were not wearing masks
He asked the family whether they had masks, and pointed out a sign on the front door of the Panda Express that said that it had the right to refuse service to anyone without a mask.
“The father was like, ‘Do you work here? Mind your own business.’ He was telling me to leave them alone,” Cardenas told Hawaii News Now. “So, I let them know again, ‘You have to have a mask; you’re in Hawaii. You’re not back in your hometown.’” ...........(more)
https://www.sfgate.com/hawaii/article/Mind-your-own-business-Florida-men-assault-16208985.php
'Mind your own business': Florida men assault Hawaii resident after reminder to wear masks
Two men visiting from Florida punched a West Maui man in an altercation over masks, Hawaii News Now reported. The incident occurred on Saturday, May 22.
Humberto Cardenas, a 21-year-old resident of Lahaina in West Maui, said that he was waiting at a Panda Express when a family visiting from Florida entered. Cardenas noticed that two members — a father and son — were not wearing masks
He asked the family whether they had masks, and pointed out a sign on the front door of the Panda Express that said that it had the right to refuse service to anyone without a mask.
“The father was like, ‘Do you work here? Mind your own business.’ He was telling me to leave them alone,” Cardenas told Hawaii News Now. “So, I let them know again, ‘You have to have a mask; you’re in Hawaii. You’re not back in your hometown.’” ...........(more)
https://www.sfgate.com/hawaii/article/Mind-your-own-business-Florida-men-assault-16208985.php
May 28, 2021
(Bloomberg) -- Last August, when Brazil had emerged as among the worst hit nations by Covid, Pfizer Inc. offered the health ministry to set aside as many as 70 million doses of the vaccine it was developing. It got no answer. So it made the offer again. And then a third time.
The next month, the company’s former Brazil head, Carlos Murillo, told congress, Pfizer’s global chief put the offer in writing to President Jair Bolsonaro with copies to the vice president, chief of staff, ministers of health and economy and ambassador to the U.S.
He never heard back.
The severity of Covid in Brazil, with 16 million cases and 450,000 lives lost, has often been attributed to Bolsonaro, who still wades unvaccinated and maskless into crowds. A congressional probe is making clear, however, that his neglect has been matched by incompetence at nearly every level of government in key processes -- negotiations with drug companies, relations with other countries and supply chain management. ............(more)
Read more at: https://www.bloombergquint.com/onweb/brazil-let-70-million-shots-get-away-and-sealed-its-covid-fate
Brazil Let 70 Million Shots Get Away and Sealed Its Covid Fate
(Bloomberg) -- Last August, when Brazil had emerged as among the worst hit nations by Covid, Pfizer Inc. offered the health ministry to set aside as many as 70 million doses of the vaccine it was developing. It got no answer. So it made the offer again. And then a third time.
The next month, the company’s former Brazil head, Carlos Murillo, told congress, Pfizer’s global chief put the offer in writing to President Jair Bolsonaro with copies to the vice president, chief of staff, ministers of health and economy and ambassador to the U.S.
He never heard back.
The severity of Covid in Brazil, with 16 million cases and 450,000 lives lost, has often been attributed to Bolsonaro, who still wades unvaccinated and maskless into crowds. A congressional probe is making clear, however, that his neglect has been matched by incompetence at nearly every level of government in key processes -- negotiations with drug companies, relations with other countries and supply chain management. ............(more)
Read more at: https://www.bloombergquint.com/onweb/brazil-let-70-million-shots-get-away-and-sealed-its-covid-fate
May 28, 2021
(The Nation) Alarm bells are ringing about the dangerous implications of the behavior of the Republican Party. By doubling down on defense of the Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen, punishing any members who reject that lie, refusing to support an investigation into the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol, and unleashing a fusillade of voter suppression legislation across the country, many see these actions as an ominous new trend in American politics that threatens the foundations of our democracy itself.
Viewed through the lens of history, however, none of this is new. The hard truth is that whichever United States political party has been most rooted in the fears, anxieties, and resentments of white people has never cared much about democracy or the Constitution designed to preserve it. Those who do want to make America a multi-racial democracy must face this fact with clear eyes and stiff spines to repel the ever-escalating threats to the nation’s most cherished institutions and values.
Contemporary analysis of domestic politics is obscured by the historical fact that white Americans fearful of the ramifications of equality for people of color have moved their political home from the Democratic Party, which was their preferred vehicle at the time of the Civil War, to the Republican Party, where they reside today. In the 19th century, Democrats dominated the South, led 11 states to secede from the Union, and waged a murderous multiyear war against their fellow Americans. Today, it is the Republicans who are the standard-bearers of the modern-day Confederate cause.
....(snip)....
Today, 82 percent of Republican voters are white, and the party has comfortably won the white vote in every single presidential election since Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act in 1965. The political home of the defenders of the Confederacy and white power has shifted, but the strategies and tactics of that constituency and its leaders has not.
While none of this new, fortunately the efforts to defend and expand democracy also extend back over a century, offering important lessons about how to repel efforts to destroy our democratic institutions. ..............(more)
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/democracy-race-power/
The Party of White Grievance Has Never Cared About Democracy
(The Nation) Alarm bells are ringing about the dangerous implications of the behavior of the Republican Party. By doubling down on defense of the Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen, punishing any members who reject that lie, refusing to support an investigation into the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol, and unleashing a fusillade of voter suppression legislation across the country, many see these actions as an ominous new trend in American politics that threatens the foundations of our democracy itself.
Viewed through the lens of history, however, none of this is new. The hard truth is that whichever United States political party has been most rooted in the fears, anxieties, and resentments of white people has never cared much about democracy or the Constitution designed to preserve it. Those who do want to make America a multi-racial democracy must face this fact with clear eyes and stiff spines to repel the ever-escalating threats to the nation’s most cherished institutions and values.
Contemporary analysis of domestic politics is obscured by the historical fact that white Americans fearful of the ramifications of equality for people of color have moved their political home from the Democratic Party, which was their preferred vehicle at the time of the Civil War, to the Republican Party, where they reside today. In the 19th century, Democrats dominated the South, led 11 states to secede from the Union, and waged a murderous multiyear war against their fellow Americans. Today, it is the Republicans who are the standard-bearers of the modern-day Confederate cause.
....(snip)....
Today, 82 percent of Republican voters are white, and the party has comfortably won the white vote in every single presidential election since Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act in 1965. The political home of the defenders of the Confederacy and white power has shifted, but the strategies and tactics of that constituency and its leaders has not.
While none of this new, fortunately the efforts to defend and expand democracy also extend back over a century, offering important lessons about how to repel efforts to destroy our democratic institutions. ..............(more)
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/democracy-race-power/
May 28, 2021
(Detroit Free Press) It took awhile — 17 years — but a unique population of bizarre-looking, flying insects known as Brood X cicadas have finally begun their emergence to the surface in Michigan.
The big show is still to come later in June, when by the millions the cicadas with fire-engine-red eyes take to the trees, the males in a droning, buzzing chorus, trying to attract a mate. But some earlier arrivers have been reported at multiple wooded sites over recent days, particularly around Ann Arbor.
In a phenomenon scientists still don't fully understand, the Brood X cicadas — in southern Michigan, the District of Columbia and 14 other eastern U.S. states — spend 17 years in larval form underground, feeding on the sap of tree roots; then almost in unison emerge in their 17th spring.
Scientific research has shown the soil reaching a temperature of 64 degrees down to 8 inches deep seems to trigger the cicadas to emerge from the ground en masse. They climb into trees, molt into their adult, winged forms, and then it's loud buzzing, mating, laying eggs and dying for about a month. ...........(more)
https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2021/05/28/cicadas-2021-michigan/7471201002/
Brood X cicadas have begun emerging in Michigan. But the big show is yet to come.
(Detroit Free Press) It took awhile — 17 years — but a unique population of bizarre-looking, flying insects known as Brood X cicadas have finally begun their emergence to the surface in Michigan.
The big show is still to come later in June, when by the millions the cicadas with fire-engine-red eyes take to the trees, the males in a droning, buzzing chorus, trying to attract a mate. But some earlier arrivers have been reported at multiple wooded sites over recent days, particularly around Ann Arbor.
In a phenomenon scientists still don't fully understand, the Brood X cicadas — in southern Michigan, the District of Columbia and 14 other eastern U.S. states — spend 17 years in larval form underground, feeding on the sap of tree roots; then almost in unison emerge in their 17th spring.
Scientific research has shown the soil reaching a temperature of 64 degrees down to 8 inches deep seems to trigger the cicadas to emerge from the ground en masse. They climb into trees, molt into their adult, winged forms, and then it's loud buzzing, mating, laying eggs and dying for about a month. ...........(more)
https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2021/05/28/cicadas-2021-michigan/7471201002/
May 28, 2021
A member of Canada’s Parliament who last month was caught stark naked during a virtual meeting of the House of Commons has suffered a second mortifying online incident.
William Amos on Wednesday “urinated without realizing that I was on camera,” the Liberal Party lawmaker tweeted in an apology on Thursday.
Amos said he was temporarily “stepping aside” from his committee assignments and his role as parliamentary secretary to Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne “so that I can seek assistance.”
In April, a screenshot of Amos naked during a virtual Commons meeting was taken by a fellow lawmaker. It ended up online and went viral, sparking demands for an investigation because the footage was only broadcast on an internal feed visible to lawmakers and staffers. .........(more)
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/william-amos-video-calls-apology_n_60b09f99e4b0f2a82ee82467?
Canadian Lawmaker Caught Naked On Video Call Has Another Mortifying Virtual Moment
A member of Canada’s Parliament who last month was caught stark naked during a virtual meeting of the House of Commons has suffered a second mortifying online incident.
William Amos on Wednesday “urinated without realizing that I was on camera,” the Liberal Party lawmaker tweeted in an apology on Thursday.
Amos said he was temporarily “stepping aside” from his committee assignments and his role as parliamentary secretary to Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne “so that I can seek assistance.”
In April, a screenshot of Amos naked during a virtual Commons meeting was taken by a fellow lawmaker. It ended up online and went viral, sparking demands for an investigation because the footage was only broadcast on an internal feed visible to lawmakers and staffers. .........(more)
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/william-amos-video-calls-apology_n_60b09f99e4b0f2a82ee82467?
May 28, 2021
The Scarborough subway extension will start “major construction” in June after receiving federal money and choosing a company to bore its tunnel, the province says.
The announcement came almost eight years after Toronto City Council dropped a previously planned light-rail line to extend the Bloor-Danforth subway to Sheppard Avenue.
“Next stop: groundbreaking,” Scarborough-Agincourt MPP Aris Babikian said in a video released May 26.
Strabag, the company awarded a $757.1 million-contract by Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx to design and dig the tunnel, won’t start “major tunnel boring” until Spring 2022. .........(more)
https://www.toronto.com/news-story/10402698-scarborough-subway-starts-major-work-in-june-tunnelling-next-year-province-says/?
Toronto: Scarborough subway starts 'major' work in June, tunnelling next year, province says
The Scarborough subway extension will start “major construction” in June after receiving federal money and choosing a company to bore its tunnel, the province says.
The announcement came almost eight years after Toronto City Council dropped a previously planned light-rail line to extend the Bloor-Danforth subway to Sheppard Avenue.
“Next stop: groundbreaking,” Scarborough-Agincourt MPP Aris Babikian said in a video released May 26.
Strabag, the company awarded a $757.1 million-contract by Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx to design and dig the tunnel, won’t start “major tunnel boring” until Spring 2022. .........(more)
https://www.toronto.com/news-story/10402698-scarborough-subway-starts-major-work-in-june-tunnelling-next-year-province-says/?
May 27, 2021
Pent-up demand to travel, along with the spread of vaccines, should help Amtrak regain lost ridership by 2023 or 2024, and even grow, Amtrak President Stephen Gardner predicted Tuesday.
He visited Seattle's King Street Station, then Everett Station, to celebrate the return of daily trips this week on Amtrak's two most popular long-distance lines — the Coast Starlight to Los Angeles, and the Empire Builder to Everett, Spokane and Chicago.
Each route had been slashed to three trips a week, like others nationally, after the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in March 2020. "We lost 97% of our business in the course of a month," Gardner said. Rides have rebounded to about 42% of normal on the long routes, he said.
Gardner said he's optimistic about young adults, who are driving less than older generations. If train times are competitive — by improving frequency and higher priority sharing of freight tracks — they'll see rail as "productive" time to go online, look out the window, eat or walk around, he argued. ..........(more)
https://www.masstransitmag.com/rail/news/21224523/wa-amtrak-strives-to-roar-back-from-pandemic-as-it-restores-more-seattle-service
Amtrak strives to roar back from pandemic as it restores more Seattle service
Pent-up demand to travel, along with the spread of vaccines, should help Amtrak regain lost ridership by 2023 or 2024, and even grow, Amtrak President Stephen Gardner predicted Tuesday.
He visited Seattle's King Street Station, then Everett Station, to celebrate the return of daily trips this week on Amtrak's two most popular long-distance lines — the Coast Starlight to Los Angeles, and the Empire Builder to Everett, Spokane and Chicago.
Each route had been slashed to three trips a week, like others nationally, after the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in March 2020. "We lost 97% of our business in the course of a month," Gardner said. Rides have rebounded to about 42% of normal on the long routes, he said.
Gardner said he's optimistic about young adults, who are driving less than older generations. If train times are competitive — by improving frequency and higher priority sharing of freight tracks — they'll see rail as "productive" time to go online, look out the window, eat or walk around, he argued. ..........(more)
https://www.masstransitmag.com/rail/news/21224523/wa-amtrak-strives-to-roar-back-from-pandemic-as-it-restores-more-seattle-service
May 27, 2021
An alligator from Louisiana was discovered on a South Texas beach over 400 miles away, raising questions about how it got there
(CNN) When members of the National Park Service's (NPS) turtle patrol were scouting the South Texas shore for sea turtles, they spotted an unusual visitor -- an American alligator.
The alligator was discovered on the sandy Malaquite Beach on the Padre Island National Seashore in Corpus Christi on Monday. The reptile is thought to have floated across the Gulf of Mexico from Louisiana, as indicated by the notch of its tail and tag on its foot, according to park officials.
"We are kind of speculating that perhaps it was washed out during one of the flooding events in Louisiana," Kelly Taylor, Padre Island National Seashore public information officer, told CNN on Wednesday. "It had a significant amount of algae on it's back that leads us to speculate that it was floating in the Gulf for a while."
Alligators spend time basking in the sun which helps keeps the algae off, Taylor added, which makes them believe this reptile was in the water for quite sometime. ...........(more)
https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/26/us/alligator-found-south-texas-beach-trnd/index.html?
An alligator from Louisiana was discovered on a South Texas beach over 400 miles away.....
An alligator from Louisiana was discovered on a South Texas beach over 400 miles away, raising questions about how it got there
(CNN) When members of the National Park Service's (NPS) turtle patrol were scouting the South Texas shore for sea turtles, they spotted an unusual visitor -- an American alligator.
The alligator was discovered on the sandy Malaquite Beach on the Padre Island National Seashore in Corpus Christi on Monday. The reptile is thought to have floated across the Gulf of Mexico from Louisiana, as indicated by the notch of its tail and tag on its foot, according to park officials.
"We are kind of speculating that perhaps it was washed out during one of the flooding events in Louisiana," Kelly Taylor, Padre Island National Seashore public information officer, told CNN on Wednesday. "It had a significant amount of algae on it's back that leads us to speculate that it was floating in the Gulf for a while."
Alligators spend time basking in the sun which helps keeps the algae off, Taylor added, which makes them believe this reptile was in the water for quite sometime. ...........(more)
https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/26/us/alligator-found-south-texas-beach-trnd/index.html?
May 27, 2021
Who Is Samuel Cassidy, Gunman In San Jose Mass Shooting At VTA Rail Yard?
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) — The man who shot and killed eight people at a Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) light rail yard Wednesday was identified as Samuel Cassidy, 57, a San Jose resident and VTA employee.
Cassidy died at the scene of the mass shooting at the Guadalupe maintenance yard at 101 W. Younger Ave. Santa Clara County Sheriff Deputy Russell said it’s believed Cassidy took his own life with a self-inflicted gunshot wound since responding officers did not exchange gunfire with him.
Cassidy had worked for Valley Transportation Authority since at least 2012, according to the public payroll and pension database Transparent California, first as a mechanic from 2012 to 2014, then as someone who maintained substations.
Cassidy earned more than $114,000 in regular and overtime pay along with an additional $46,000 in benefits in 2019, according to public records. ............(more)
https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2021/05/27/samuel-cassidy-gunman-vta-rail-yard-san-jose/
Who Is Samuel Cassidy, Gunman In San Jose Mass Shooting At VTA Rail Yard?
Who Is Samuel Cassidy, Gunman In San Jose Mass Shooting At VTA Rail Yard?
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) — The man who shot and killed eight people at a Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) light rail yard Wednesday was identified as Samuel Cassidy, 57, a San Jose resident and VTA employee.
Cassidy died at the scene of the mass shooting at the Guadalupe maintenance yard at 101 W. Younger Ave. Santa Clara County Sheriff Deputy Russell said it’s believed Cassidy took his own life with a self-inflicted gunshot wound since responding officers did not exchange gunfire with him.
Cassidy had worked for Valley Transportation Authority since at least 2012, according to the public payroll and pension database Transparent California, first as a mechanic from 2012 to 2014, then as someone who maintained substations.
Cassidy earned more than $114,000 in regular and overtime pay along with an additional $46,000 in benefits in 2019, according to public records. ............(more)
https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2021/05/27/samuel-cassidy-gunman-vta-rail-yard-san-jose/
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: Detroit, MI
Member since: Fri Oct 29, 2004, 12:18 AM
Number of posts: 77,078