There's battle lines being drawn.
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong.
Young people speaking their minds
getting so much resistance from behind

Friday, September 16, 2022

Linkee-poo Friday Sept 16

"The coffin of Queen Elizabeth II left Buckingham Palace for the last time Wednesday, borne on a horse-drawn carriage and saluted by cannons and the tolling of Big Ben, in a solemn procession through the flag-draped, crowd-lined streets of London to Westminster Hall. There, Britain's longest-serving monarch will lie in state for the world to mourn."

"Following the teaser trailer for the live-action version of Disney's The Little Mermaid, parents of young Black girls are posting videos across social media of their children's reactions to seeing Halle Bailey as Ariel." And now racists are arguing that a black mermaid is historically inaccurate. I don't think I could make that up.

"Discoveries involving a lab accident, venomous snails and a scientific instrument made from paper are some of the obscure, quirky or convoluted advances honored Wednesday with awards that celebrate research that ultimately had a big, if unexpected, impact on society."

"Now health plans and self-insured employers — those that pay workers' and dependents' medical costs themselves — may consider imposing cost sharing for preventive services on their members and workers. That's because of a federal judge's Sept. 7 ruling in a Texas lawsuit filed by conservative groups claiming that the ACA's mandate that health plans pay the full cost of preventive services is unconstitutional."

"We've known for some time that Ford was looking to shake up the way people buy its EVs in the US, moving all its EVs into a new business unit called Model e, with another called Ford Blue that will be responsible for internal combustion vehicles and hybrids. In June, CEO Jim Farley said: 'We've got to go non-negotiated price. We've got to go 100 percent online. There's no inventory, it all goes directly to the customer. And 100 percent remote pickup and delivery,' during a presentation to investors."

"The United States may be hurtling toward a freight rail strike, one that could spill over into passenger service in much of the country. Railroads are cutting shipments; Amtrak has stopped some passenger routes. The sticking point isn't pay. It's the tough lifestyle that railroading imposes on people who drive trains — long shifts, lots of nights away, and the need to be on-call, able to get to work in two hours or less, for weeks on end."

"As a major rail strike looms, rail executives have been reluctant to meet workers’ demands for better pay, benefits, and time off. At the same time, the CEOs of five of the largest railroad conglomerates have been paid more than $200 million in the last three years, and company shareholders have been boosted by nearly $200 billion in stock buybacks and dividends over the last dozen years… The rail industry has defended the gap between worker pay, executive payouts by arguing that workers haven’t contributed to their skyrocketing profits." Again, unions are not formed or go on strike as a result of pay, but as a matter of disrespect by the executives and owners.

"A tentative agreement announced Thursday looks likely to head off a strike that would have brought freight trains across the U.S. to a screeching halt. But the concern generated by the possibility of such a disruption highlights how fragile the nation's supply chains remain 2 1/2 years after they were first upended by the COVID-19 pandemic."

"AT&T has admitted it will not upgrade 'older' phones and tablets—some released as recently as June—as it rolls out its newly acquired midband 5G frequencies, going back on public statements it made as recently as late August."

"The billionaire founder of Patagonia has given his company away to help fight the climate crisis, according to a Wednesday announcement… Chouinard and his family have transferred their ownership in the company, worth about $3 billion. Patagonia's new owners are environmental nonprofit the Holdfast Collective and the Patagonia Purpose Trust, created by Patagonia 'to protect the company's values.'" This was led originally by stories saying "Billionaire no more" which is bullshit. This guy is still a billionaire, at 85 years old, he's giving up his future profits and transferring control to a trust.

"Lyudmyla Vorona says her hometown of Balakliia, in northeastern Ukraine's Kharkiv region, was not prepared when the Russians took control in early March… So, when Ukrainian troops took back Balakliia late last week — the first of a string of towns they swiftly liberated as part of their recently launched counteroffensive in the east — residents were thrilled."

"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the northeastern city of Izium has become the latest location where the Russians have left behind mass graves… Zelenskyy said Thursday that Ukrainian authorities have found a mass burial site near Izium in the recently recaptured Kharkiv region."

"Joe Biden has slammed Ron DeSantis for 'playing politics with people’s lives' for flying Venezuelan migrants to the wealthy liberal island community of Martha’s Vineyard without warning, while the legality of the Florida governor’s move is also under scrutiny… In what immigration activists and Democratic politicians have decried as a 'political stunt', Republican governor DeSantis, who is expected to run for his party’s presidential nomination in 2024, arranged for two charter planes of about 50 migrant adults and children to fly from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard on Wednesday." Just to be clear, the Florida governor used Florida tax-payer funds to lure migrants (with false promises) in Texas to board a chartered airplane to Massachusetts.

"Federal officials are examining whether the employee who reported an explosion at Northeastern University may have lied to investigators and staged the incident, law enforcement officials said Wednesday… Investigators identified inconsistencies in the employee's statement and became skeptical because his injuries did not match wounds typically consistent with an explosion, said one official."

"The FBI says it has made an arrest in connection with a hoax bomb threat against Boston Children's Hospital… U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins identified the person arrested as Catherine Leavy of Westfield, Massachusetts. She is charged with one count of making a false telephonic bomb threat in connection with a threat made to the hospital on Aug. 30."

"With abortion now illegal or severely restricted in a growing number of states, groups that help patients travel for the procedure as well as those who oppose abortion and offer assistance with unintended pregnancies, are reporting more calls for help." The question really wasn't "will they offer services" but can they offer enough.

"While the current obsession with Satan was boosted in part by the QAnon community, partisan media and conservative politicians have been instrumental in spreading newfound fears over the so-called ritualistic abuse of children that the devil supposedly inspires, sometimes weaving the allegations together with other culture war issues such as LGBTQ rights. Those fears are powering fresh accusations of ritual abuse online, which are amplified on social media and by partisan media, and can mobilize mobs to seek vigilante justice."

"Attorneys for an FBI agent and families of victims killed in the shooting continue to dig at that question Friday… For the third day in a row, Brittany Paz, a corporate representative for Infowars’ parent company, Free Speech Systems, is on the stand testifying about Infowars – with questioning focusing on the website’s traffic, content, and revenue."

"Supporters of a legal challenge to completely upend our electoral system are citing a fraudulent document in their brief to the Supreme Court. It’s an embarrassing error — and it underscores how flimsy their case really is."

"The Justice Department is appealing part of a judge's order that would give a special master authority to review documents the FBI collected at Mar-a-Lago last month… Prosecutors say they have serious concerns about handing government secrets to a third party."

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