I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
And so the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're goin' through

Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Linkee-poo late on Wednesday, Sept 23

Gale Sayers, and so it goes.

"A vast fishing armada of Chinese vessels just off the Galápagos Islands logged an astounding 73,000 hours of fishing during just one month as it pulled up thousands of tonnes of squid and fish, a new report based on data analysis has found."

"As COVID-19 cases in the U.S. have declined in recent weeks, after record highs during the summer, health officials are bracing themselves for a tough winter when Americans move back indoors and the seasonal flu begins to circulate. Seriously complicating the issue is how public trust in the federal response has eroded after a summer of chaotic messaging and unwarranted optimism by Trump and his top advisers."

"President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that the United States would not impose a lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus following additional new measures imposed on businesses in the U.K." Well of course not, silly. You didn't impose a lock down before. You left that up to the governors.

"Then the New York Times published a new exposé revealing that Trump officials had overruled medical researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, forcing the agency to publish misleading and dangerous information designed to discourage people who have been exposed to the virus from being tested."

"U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Tuesday that the country was at a 'perilous turning point' and he had to act now to stop the spread of the coronavirus… In a marked change of tone, Johnson reversed the lifting of some lockdown measures in England, telling people to work from home once again if possible. It comes just weeks after the prime minster repeatedly urged people to return to the office." Oopsie.

"Police put up concrete barriers and fencing. The mayor declared a state of emergency. More businesses nailed plywood to their storefront windows… Downtown Louisville’s preparations and closures seemed more reminiscent of an approaching hurricane than a grand jury decision… Louisville is bracing for an anxiously awaited decision on whether any police officers will be charged in the March 13 shooting death of Breonna Taylor, the 26-year-old unarmed Black woman fatally shot by police who has become a national symbol of racial injustice."

"Following months of outrage, activism and anticipation, a Kentucky grand jury has decided to indict one of the three Louisville Metro Police Department officers involved in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor in March… Brett Hankison, who was terminated in June, has been charged with three counts of wanton endangerment over shooting into neighboring apartments. Bond was set at $15,000."

"Around 20 Department of Homeland Security open source intelligence reports were recalled in the aftermath of revelations this summer that the department had potentially collected and disseminated intelligence on US journalists, according to a department official familiar with the review… The intelligence reports, which had already been shared with state and local officials, were pulled back because they didn't meet the department's requirements, the official said. Although the nature of the reports is unclear, it speaks to the recent turmoil inside the department's intelligence division." Totally normal (intense side-eye).

"President Trump on Tuesday said he had expanded a ban on racial sensitivity training to federal contractors… His administration had instructed federal agencies to end such training earlier this month."

And to just hammer the point home, over at the National Review… "Systemic Racism? Make Them Prove It." Points to all of US history, redlining, slavery, race riots/massacres, Jim Crow… Yes there are people just this stupid, and they tend to congregate on the right-wing of the spectrum.

"Nationwide protests have cast a spotlight on racism and inequality in the United States. Now a major bank has put a price tag on how much the economy has lost as a result of discrimination against African Americans: $16 trillion… Since 2000, U.S. gross domestic product lost that much as a result of discriminatory practices in a range of areas, including in education and access to business loans, according to a new study by Citigroup. It's not an insignificant number: By comparison, U.S. GDP totaled $19.5 trillion last year." That's a heckofalotta money for something that supposedly doesn't exist.

"Her story is an especially stark example of how pandemic financial stress is playing out. But the poll found many people reported problems with housing, health care and unsafe workplaces, and a high percentage of Americans — 46% — said they're having 'serious financial problems.' Nearly one out of three respondents had used up all or most of their savings."

"Are you in the top 1%, 5% or 10% of the U.S. income and wealth scale? If you are, congratulations on being rich and economically successful. Good for you too for not being a big part of our current economic challenges. You’re protected from the headwinds affecting the other 90% of your fellow citizens… It’s easy to hate the rich for all that they have and all that you don’t, but the rich aren’t the problem." Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. "Taxes on the wealthy could certainly be higher. Taxing the rich will provide more funds to pay for the government and to pay for interest on the government’s debt. But unless those monies are deployed such that they can create jobs and growth, the problem of the trapped poor and middle class will remain unchanged and may worsen." And we again hear about how government would just waste the money, so we shouldn't tax the rich. Thanks for coming. And all you poor people better start earning more money to save the economy for rich people!

"Shay Chandler did not plan to buy what seemed like the last full-sized refrigerator in all of San Antonio. When her old one broke a few weekends ago, she discovered she'd have to wait almost two months for a replacement."

"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin clinched an agreement Tuesday to take the threat of a government shutdown at the end of the month off the table… The bipartisan accord, which comes after several days of back-and-forth between Democrats and Republicans over the stopgap funding measure, would fund the government through December 11." It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

How's that swamp draining going? "The consulting firm where the wife of acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf is an executive has been awarded more than $6 million in contracts from the Department of Homeland Security since September 2018, according to records on the federal government website USA Spending."

"Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf is set for a confirmation hearing on Wednesday in front of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, and if he is confirmed, he'll be the first Senate-confirmed secretary in more than a year." I'm sure it went well.

"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her top lieutenants on Wednesday unveiled a sweeping anti-corruption package that they're billing as a successor to post-Watergate reforms — updated for a potential post-Trump Washington… The measure, a 158-page Democratic wish list that includes curbs on pardons for close associates of the president, a requirement for campaigns to publicly report many foreign contacts and a requirement for courts to prioritize congressional subpoenas, is House leaders' version of an antidote to what they see as weaknesses in democratic government exposed by President Donald Trump." Sure it's only a political move, but it's a smart one.

"When Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg returns for the final time to the Supreme Court on Wednesday, an army of more than a hundred of her former clerks will meet the casket and accompany it up the stone steps leading to the great hall where the liberal icon presided for almost 30 years."

"For a year, Senate Republicans have teased a bombshell investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden that could rock the former vice president’s campaign for the White House… But an interim report, issued by Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) less than six weeks before the presidential election and released publicly on Wednesday, is largely a compilation of previously public information — some of it rehashed anew by witnesses who already testified during the House’s impeachment inquiry last year — as well as news articles and strongly worded insinuations with little evidence to back them up." Because they've got nothing.

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