July 15, 2021

Michigan GOP plans "shocking" scheme to ram through voting restrictions over Whitmer's veto

(Salon) The Republican leader of the Michigan State Senate says the party will try to push through its proposed voting restrictions, using a unique loophole in state law, despite a near-certain veto by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Republicans have already introduced 39 voting bills in the State Senate and dozens more in the House, three of which have already passed. Whitmer has vowed to veto the proposed restrictions. Senate Republican Leader Mike Shirkey told local news outlet JTV earlier this month that Republicans do not have the votes to override the veto but would instead pursue a scheme to use the state's citizen initiative process to circumvent the veto.

"You heard it here first, keep your eyes and ears open for the potential of a citizen initiative driven by the state party on some of these more important election laws that need to be considered," Shirkey said.

But state Sen. Erika Geiss, a Democrat, warned in an interview with Salon that "citizens will never actually see this question on their ballot."

....(snip)....

Michigan's unique "adopt and amend" procedure allows the state legislature to adopt a citizen initiative and then pass it into law with a simple veto-proof majority. The scheme only requires about 340,000 signatures, or 8% of the total votes cast in the last gubernatorial election, meaning that Michigan's heavily gerrymandered Republican majority and less than 4% of the state's population can circumvent the governor's power without ever putting the question before the public. ...........(more)

https://www.salon.com/2021/07/15/michigan-gop-plans-shocking-scheme-to-ram-through-voting-restrictions-over-whitmers-veto/

July 15, 2021

Amazon rainforest now emitting more CO2 than it absorbs

(Guardian UK) The Amazon rainforest is now emitting more carbon dioxide than it is able to absorb, scientists have confirmed for the first time.

The emissions amount to a billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, according to a study. The giant forest had previously been a carbon sink, absorbing the emissions driving the climate crisis, but is now causing its acceleration, researchers said.

Most of the emissions are caused by fires, many deliberately set to clear land for beef and soy production. But even without fires, hotter temperatures and droughts mean the south-eastern Amazon has become a source of CO2, rather than a sink.

Growing trees and plants have taken up about a quarter of all fossil fuel emissions since 1960, with the Amazon playing a major role as the largest tropical forest. Losing the Amazon’s power to capture CO2 is a stark warning that slashing emissions from fossil fuels is more urgent than ever, scientists said. ...........(more)

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/14/amazon-rainforest-now-emitting-more-co2-than-it-absorbs

July 14, 2021

Whitmer kidnap suspects don't want jury to hear comments in video

(Detroit Free Press) A man accused of plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said he wanted to kill cops — "as many of those mother f------ as I can" — prosecutors allege, though the defendant doesn't want jurors to hear any of that.



Neither do his alleged cohorts, who are fighting to keep the jury from hearing those comments, which are part of a video that prosecutors want to show jurors when the case goes to trial in October.

According to the government, the video captures defendant Brandon Caserta expressing frustration with law enforcement and government, and allegedly instructing his “coconspirators" that if they encounter police during a reconnaissance, "they should give the officers one opportunity to leave, and kill them if they did not comply.”

The defense argues that the conversation had nothing to do with the alleged plot to kidnap the governor, but was merely tough talk by an angry citizen venting his frustration over traffic tickets.

The defense argues this video is " irrelevant," "unfairly prejudicial," and "has nothing to do with kidnapping the Governor." .............(more)

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2021/07/14/what-gretchen-whitmer-kidnap-suspects-dont-want-jurors-hear/7954135002/

July 14, 2021

Norwegian Cruise Line sues Florida surgeon general over vaccine passport ban

(CNN) — Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings is suing Florida's surgeon general over the state's law that prohibits companies from requiring customers and employees to provide documentation of Covid-19 vaccination status.

According to the complaint filed Tuesday, NCLH says the lawsuit is a "last resort" because Florida had indicated it would prevent the company from "safely and soundly resuming passenger cruise operations" next month. It described the state law as an "anomalous, misguided intrusion."

CNN has reached out to the Florida Department of Health for comment.

The NCLH complaint names Surgeon General Dr. Scott Rivkees in his capacity as "the responsible state official."

In April, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order banning the use of Covid-19 passports in the state. The order prohibited any government entity from issuing vaccine passports and blocks businesses from requiring any such documentation. ............(more)

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/norwegian-cruise-line-sues-florida/index.html

July 14, 2021

What counts as a heat wave? It's a life-or-death question.

(Grist) You know a heat wave when you feel it — oppressively hot weather that makes you desperate for an ice-cold drink, or better yet, air conditioning.

But nailing down what counts as a heat wave is surprisingly tricky. Temperatures vary widely from place to place — normal summertime weather in Las Vegas would be considered scorching in Seattle. Then there’s the matter of climate change. How do you even say what “normal” temperatures are when heat records are getting obliterated, sometimes over a weekend?

This isn’t a matter of semantics. It’s a matter of life and death. Excessive heat, according to the National Weather Service, is the number one weather-related killer in the United States. Defining a heat wave helps cities know when and how to respond to deadly temperatures — issuing heat advisories, sharing tips for surviving the heat, and opening up cooling centers.

Recent heat waves across the West have helped fueled wildfires now raging in Oregon, Washington, and California much earlier in the summer than usual. The Southwest blistered in its third heat wave of the summer last weekend, driving temperatures to new record highs. Death Valley had what’s thought to be the hottest 24-hour-period on the planet, averaging 118.1 degrees on Sunday. .............(more)

https://grist.org/extreme-weather/what-is-a-heat-wave-climate-change/

July 14, 2021

Biden blasts GOP's attack on voting rights -- Fox News doesn't air it

(Salon) Fox News, the conservative cable heavyweight, elected not to dedicate air time to President Joe Biden's Tuesday address in Philadelphia, which blasted Republicans for their efforts to restrict voting rights across the country. That didn't stop Fox News, along with many other conservative pundits, finding ample time in the day to counterattack the president's speech.

During his speech at the National Constitution Center Tuesday afternoon, Biden described Republican efforts to limit access to the ballot box as a "21st century Jim Crow assault."

"They want to make it so hard and inconvenient that they hope people don't vote at all," Biden said of GOP efforts to roll back voting rights. "That's what this is about. This year alone, 17 states have enacted, not just proposed but enacted, 28 new laws to make it harder for Americans to vote, not to mention nearly 400 additional bills Republican members of the state legislature are trying to pass," he added.

"The 21st-century Jim Crow assault is real. It's unrelenting," Biden stated. "And we're going to challenge it vigorously."

Biden went on to characterize the GOP-led push for stricter voting rights laws as "pernicious." The president said, "Some state legislators want to make it harder for you to vote. And if you vote, they want to be able to tell you your vote doesn't count for any reason they make up. They want the ability to reject the final count and ignore the will of the people if their preferred candidate loses." ............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2021/07/14/biden-blasts-gops-attack-on-voting-rights--fox-news-doesnt-air-it/

July 14, 2021

Two Weeks Before Olympics, Tokyo's Outdoor Swimming Venue Stinks

(Bloomberg) In less than two weeks, Olympic swimmers will dive into Tokyo Bay to compete in the triathlon. For residents who live near the shore, that’s an unappealing thought because, despite months of efforts to clean up the water, the bay stinks.

Known for its shoreline of gleaming skyscrapers and iconic Rainbow Bridge, the “futuristic landscape” was selected “at the strong request of international sporting organizations,” according to the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee. But in the run-up to the games, problems began to emerge.

In August 2019 a test for the swimming part of the Paratriathlon was canceled after E. coli bacteria was found in the water at more than twice the limit set by the International Triathlon Union, now called World Triathlon. As one athlete put it, the venue “smelled like a toilet,” the Asahi newspaper reported. Since then, the host city has taken drastic steps to try to repair its tarnished image.

It dumped 22,200 cubic meters of sand into the bay to create an environment for organisms that help clean the water. And it’s designed three-layer polyester screens to protect the Olympic swimming venues from E. coli. On top of that the city was already building huge storage tanks to capture flood runoff, so that it can be treated before reaching the sea. .............(more)

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-13/two-weeks-before-tokyo-olympic-swimming-event-the-water-stinks?srnd=premium

July 14, 2021

A Texas family joins the list of more than 500 people arrested in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

(NYT) Among the more than 500 people arrested so far in the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, there have been several married couples and any number of parent-and-children teams. There have even been sets of siblings charged.

On Tuesday, however, in what seemed to be the first move of its kind, the Justice Department unsealed a complaint against almost the entire Munn family of Texas, accusing the father, the mother and three of their children of illegally breaching the Capitol through a broken window.

Prosecutors say that Thomas Munn, the family’s patriarch, began writing about going to Washington for a pro-Trump rally in late December, posting an image on Facebook with a caption reading, “POTUS HAS REQUESTED YOUR ATTENDANCE WASHINGTON DC JANUARY 6TH 2021.” .................(more)

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/13/us/politics/texas-family-arrested-capitol-riot.html?

July 13, 2021

Stop tossing your pet goldfish in lakes, officials warn. 'They grow bigger than you think'

(USA Today) A city in Minnesota wants residents to give their pet goldfish to a "responsible friend" instead of throwing it in a waterway.

The city of Burnsville tweeted that it recently found large groups of goldfish at Keller Lake, and suspects residents could be the cause.

"Please don't release your pet goldfish into ponds and lakes! They grow bigger than you think and contribute to poor water quality by mucking up the bottom sediments and uprooting plants," the city said in a tweet.

The city has partnered with the city of Apple Valley and Carp Solutions to conduct a fish survey on Keller Lake to assess populations of invasive goldfish and other fish in the lake.

"Instead of releasing your pet goldfish in a local lake or pond, please consider other options for finding them a new home like asking a responsible friend or neighbor to care for it." the city of Burnsville said in a Facebook post. ...........(more)

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/07/13/giant-pet-goldfish-minnesota-lake-invasive-species-causing-harm/7948133002/

July 13, 2021

Florida Manatees Dying of Starvation in 'Unprecedented' Numbers