Month: November 2021

My path forward, through the mists, maybe, probably not

benfell

Climate crisis


Fig. 1. Cartoon by Matt Pritchett in the Telegraph, November 3, 2021, fair use.

I think it’s generally understood that the the Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26) needed to accomplish something besides generating ever yet more hot air about the climate crisis. And George Monbiot has already noted the discrepancy between deeds and rhetoric.[1] But when even a cartoonist for the conservative Telegraph sees that discrepancy, you gotta know it’s bad. Really bad.

Pennsylvania

Despite my ongoing extreme frustration and rage with the job market,[2] it is, personally, a good thing I moved to Pittsburgh. My immediate family and I had moved here when I was in the middle of the fourth grade and then back to San Francisco a little before I finished the sixth grade; moving back here has helped me to resolve a number of lingering questions, some of which I didn’t even realize I had, about my life and about this place. I understand myself and my own personal story a little better for this odd little window into a time I was old enough that I actually still remember it reasonably well.

After over two years here, I have mostly re-learned to drive, so Pittsburgh driving isn’t quite as stressful. An old lesson from California is to never, ever be the fastest driver on the road, and I stick with that here, but here as in California, some speed limits are a lot lower than they need to be, and it’s nice to know I can safely ignore them—everybody else here does. For all the mistakes I’ve made—and some have been doozies—I’ve yet to get a traffic ticket. But the Pittsburgh Left?[3] Yeah, that’s still a tough one.

And one consolation of driving for Uber and Lyft is that I have actually learned my way around Pittsburgh fairly well, a feat that would astonish my mother, who grew up here. She tells me that when my father first moved here for graduate school—this is when they met and he ultimately washed out of his Masters’ program—he would get in a car with two friends. Between the three of them, one would drive, one had a map to navigate, and the third was tasked with watching for all the signs. Yes, Pittsburgh is that kind of a place. Still.

But Pennsylvania politics are distressing. I felt Governor Tom Wolf did a reasonable job with the pandemic—I’d have been stricter—but voter backlash has trimmed his emergency powers.[4] What I see is a bright Trumpian red ring enclosing mostly the city of Pittsburgh with Dormont, Mount Lebanon, Wilkinsburg, Sewickley, Millvale, and probably—only probably—Bellevue and Avalon. Even in Upper Saint Clair, where I live now, I look out my kitchen window and see two thin blue line flags, on two separate properties. My landlord keeps a Donald Trump campaign sign in his garage below my apartment.

It appears the margin of those municipalities is enough to keep Allegheny County Democratic.[5] And indeed, Pittsburgh elected Ed Gainey mayor.[6]

But while I’m glad I moved to Pittsburgh, that doesn’t mean it’s where I want to stay. If I do, and I ever have the money, Sewickley is a lovely town with a vegan-friendly-enough Chinese restaurant and I think that’s where I’d buy a house. As it is, I’m closer than I particularly want to be to that vegan restaurant in North Strabane run by a Jewish family whose patriarch is a brilliant chef but gets his news from the same sources as anti-Semitic white supremacists.

I’m not sure I want to be anywhere near Pittsburgh if Trump or his ilk wins in 2024. The Trumpian “fuck your feelings” and “make a liberal cry” ethos with testosterone pickup trucks[7] being driven recklessly down Route 51 is now only barely in abeyance. In combination with the gun nuttery, it feels like a lot of people here have an archetypal Wild West mentality.

Then there’s the lumberjack version of incomprehensibly toxic masculinity: There are a lot of places around here where you can go to get drunk and throw axes. Kids celebrate birthdays rarely by going to a deafening Chuck E. Cheese pizza joint, more often to a deafening “escape room,” where I gather they can engage in simulated combat.

You’ll have to forgive me if I alternately pine for civilization and a place deep in the spectacular Pennsylvania woods where I can ignore my neighbors. The latter is unlikely; I want better Internet access than is likely to be had there.

With the voting trends now in evidence,[8] if I stay in Pennsylvania, I wonder if I should move closer to Philadelphia.

Deb Erdley, “Red wave in Western Pennsylvania ring counties leaves Allegheny a blue island,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 6, 2021, https://triblive.com/local/westmoreland/red-wave-in-western-pennsylvania-ring-counties-leaves-allegheny-a-blue-island/

Public restrooms

Driving for Uber, I find myself holding it. A lot.

Yeah, I know where the convenience stores are that have restrooms. Yeah, I keep a supply of disposable urinals that I can use if I find a sufficiently remote location where I can also reasonably be assured of finding a trash can a few minutes, but not immediately because time is needed for the chemicals to do their thing, down the road.

But mostly, I’m in a sufficiently precarious situation as an Uber/Lyft driver that I don’t dare take a break. So it isn’t just a question of who we permit to be in public, as Elizabeth Yuko rightly points out,[9] but how we treat even those people we depend upon.

The answer to the latter question is, frankly, like shit. The pay and precarity are quite bad enough.[10] But the restroom situation[11] reinforces a sense that we are disposable, to be flushed down the toilet when passengers are done with us.

Elizabeth Yuko, “Where Did All the Public Bathrooms Go?” Bloomberg, November 5, 2021, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-11-05/why-american-cities-lost-their-public-bathrooms

  1. [1]George Monbiot, “Groundtruthed,” November 5, 2021, https://www.monbiot.com/2021/11/05/groundtruthed/↩
  2. [2]David Benfell, “About my job hunt,” Not Housebroken, n.d., https://disunitedstates.org/about-my-job-hunt/↩
  3. [3]Katie Blackley, “How The Pittsburgh Left Became Embedded In City Driving,” WESA, July 28, 2020, https://www.wesa.fm/post/how-pittsburgh-left-became-embedded-city-driving↩
  4. [4]Ballotpedia News, “The State and Local Tap: Pennsylvania voters pass constitutional amendments to limit governor’s emergency orders,” May 22, 2021, https://news.ballotpedia.org/2021/05/22/the-state-and-local-tap-pennsylvania-voters-pass-constitutional-amendments-to-limit-governors-emergency-orders/↩
  5. [5]Deb Erdley, “Red wave in Western Pennsylvania ring counties leaves Allegheny a blue island,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 6, 2021, https://triblive.com/local/westmoreland/red-wave-in-western-pennsylvania-ring-counties-leaves-allegheny-a-blue-island/↩
  6. [6]Julia Felton, “Ed Gainey declares historic victory with commanding lead in Pittsburgh mayoral race,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 2, 2021, https://triblive.com/local/gainey-grabs-early-lead-in-pittsburgh-mayoral-race/; Charlie Wolfson, “Pittsburgh elects its first Black mayor,” Public Source, November 2, 2021, https://www.publicsource.org/gainey-pittsburgh-mayor-announces-victory-moreno/↩
  7. [7]Angie Schmitt, “What Happened to Pickup Trucks?” CityLab, March 11, 2021, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-11/the-dangerous-rise-of-the-supersized-pickup-truck↩
  8. [8]Deb Erdley, “Red wave in Western Pennsylvania ring counties leaves Allegheny a blue island,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 6, 2021, https://triblive.com/local/westmoreland/red-wave-in-western-pennsylvania-ring-counties-leaves-allegheny-a-blue-island/↩
  9. [9]Elizabeth Yuko, “Where Did All the Public Bathrooms Go?” Bloomberg, November 5, 2021, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-11-05/why-american-cities-lost-their-public-bathrooms↩
  10. [10]Bryce Covert, “Can Anyone Stop the Uberization of the Economy?,” New York, October 18, 2021, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/10/can-anyone-stop-the-uberization-of-the-economy.html; Laura Forman, “Uber and Lyft Need a Sharper Turn,” Wall Street Journal, April 13, 2021, https://www.wsj.com/articles/uber-and-lyft-need-a-sharper-turn-11618311794; Laura Forman, “Ride-Hailing Companies Get Some Drivers’ Ed,” Wall Street Journal, August 17, 2021, https://www.wsj.com/articles/ride-hailing-companies-get-some-drivers-ed-11629200461; Laura Forman, “An Uncomfortable Proposition for Gig Economy Investors,” Wall Street Journal, August 23, 2021, https://www.wsj.com/articles/an-uncomfortable-proposition-for-gig-economy-investors-11629754144; Laura Forman, “At Uber and Lyft, Ride-Price Inflation Is Here to Stay,” Wall Street Journal, October 4, 2021, https://www.wsj.com/articles/at-uber-and-lyft-ride-price-inflation-is-here-to-stay-11633345381; Laura Forman, “Gig Companies Can’t Take Everyone for a Ride,” Wall Street Journal, October 30, 2021, https://www.wsj.com/articles/gig-companies-cant-take-everyone-for-a-ride-11635602401; Andrew J. Hawkins, “California labor commissioner sues Uber and Lyft for alleged wage theft,” Verge, August 5, 2020, https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/5/21356096/uber-lyft-california-labor-commissioner-lawsuit-driver-classification; Steven Hill, “The broken business model of Uber and Lyft is taking a heavy toll on society,” Fortune, December 19, 2020, https://fortune.com/2020/12/19/uber-lyft-business-model-proposition-22-worker-benefits/; Sam Levin, “Uber drivers often make below minimum wage, report finds,” Guardian, March 5, 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/01/uber-lyft-driver-wages-median-report; Farhad Manjoo, “The Uber I.P.O. Is a Moral Stain on Silicon Valley,” New York Times, May 1, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/01/opinion/uber-ipo.html; Dhruv Mehrotra and Aaron Gordon, “Uber And Lyft Take A Lot More From Drivers Than They Say,” Jalopnik, August 26, 2019, https://jalopnik.com/uber-and-lyft-take-a-lot-more-from-drivers-than-they-sa-1837450373; Alexa Noel, “Revised MIT Study Says Uber, Lyft Drivers Make About $8 or $10 per Hour,” Points Guy, March 8, 2018, https://thepointsguy.com/2018/03/revised-mit-study-says-uber-lyft-drivers-make-about-8-or-10-per-hour/; Edward Ongweso, Jr., “Uber and Lyft Can’t Find Drivers Because Gig Work Sucks,” Vice, July 8, 2021, https://www.vice.com/en/article/7kvej4/uber-and-lyft-cant-find-drivers-because-gig-work-sucks; Jeong Park, “Fact check: Will Uber, Lyft drivers get paid less than minimum wage under Proposition 22?” Sacramento Bee, September 24, 2020, https://www.sacbee.com/article245931545.html; Jeong Park, “Court rules California gig worker initiative is unconstitutional, a setback to Uber and Lyft,” Sacramento Bee, August 20, 2021, https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article253647838.html; Kari Paul, “Uber drivers plan shutdown over ‘poverty wages’ as company goes public,” Guardian, April 25, 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/apr/24/uber-drivers-strike-ipo; Kari Paul, “Uber and Lyft drivers to join day-long strike over working conditions,” Guardian, July 21, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/jul/21/uber-lyft-drivers-strike-app-based-work-gig-economy; Preetika Rana, “California Ballot Measure That Classifies Uber, Lyft Drivers as Independent Ruled Unconstitutional,” Wall Street Journal, August 20, 2021, https://www.wsj.com/articles/proposition-22-is-unconstitutional-california-judge-says-11629512394; Rida Qadri and Alexandra Mateescu, “Uber and Lyft: woo drivers with stable pay, not short-term honeypots,” Guardian, June 20, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jun/20/gig-economy-companies-uber-lyft-drivers-pandemic; Margot Roosevelt and Suhauna Hussain, “Prop. 22 is ruled unconstitutional, a blow to California gig economy law,” Los Angeles Times, August 20, 2021, https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-08-20/prop-22-unconstitutional; Faiz Siddiqui, “Where have all the Uber drivers gone?” Washington Post, May 7, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/05/07/uber-lyft-drivers/; Faiz Siddiqui, “You may be paying more for Uber, but drivers aren’t getting their cut of the fare hike,” Washington Post, June 9, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/06/09/uber-lyft-drivers-price-hike/; Faiz Siddiqui, “California judge rules unconstitutional the measure classifying Uber and Lyft drivers as contractors,” Washington Post, August 20, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/08/20/uber-lyft-prop-22-unconstitutional/; Faiz Siddiqui, “Lyft built a brand on being the nice gig work app clad in pink. Its drivers paint a different picture,” Washington Post, September 21, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/09/21/lyft-driver-shortage/↩
  11. [11]Elizabeth Yuko, “Where Did All the Public Bathrooms Go?” Bloomberg, November 5, 2021, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-11-05/why-american-cities-lost-their-public-bathrooms↩

Surprise! Surprise! ‘Progressives’ get rolled yet again

benfell

Climate crisis

George Monbiot notes the discrepancy between the rhetoric at the Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26) and governments’ support for fossil fuel extraction.[1] Reading this, I couldn’t help thinking of Joe Manchin’s steadfast support for coal extraction and fossil fuel industries.[2]

George Monbiot, “Groundtruthed,” November 5, 2021, https://www.monbiot.com/2021/11/05/groundtruthed/

Infrastructure

The bipartisan infrastructure framework has now passed the House of Representatives and goes to Joe Biden’s desk for signature.[3] It is not being held to the same standard as the “Build Back Better” reconciliation package,[4] which Joe Manchin and Kyrstin Sinema have promised to support only if it does not add to the budget deficit.[5] I’m pretty sure that Manchin and Sinema are lying,[6] which is to say that so-called “progressives” in the House have gotten rolled yet again.

Tony Romm, Marianna Sotomayor, and Mike DeBonis, “Congress approves $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, sending measure to Biden for enactment,” Washington Post, November 6, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/11/05/house-infrastructure-reconciliation-vote/

Pandemic

(Inter)national

Brent Kendall and Sabrina Siddiqui, “Federal Appeals Court Temporarily Blocks Biden Administration Vaccine Rules for Private Employers,” Wall Street Journal, November 6, 2021, https://www.wsj.com/articles/federal-appeals-court-temporarily-blocks-biden-administration-vaccine-rules-for-private-employers-11636226904

Pennsylvania region

So, even after losing three white supremacist gangsters to COVID-19,[7] and exposing an unknown number of civilians to the disease,[8] Pittsburgh and Allegheny County gang unions resist a vaccine mandate, challenging it in court,[9] even filing a grievance with the National Labor Relations Board.[10]

That’ll be something to remember the next time you hear somebody call them “Pittsburgh’s finest.” They’re not alone of course; white supremacist gangsters are resisting the mandates across the country,[11] even as the disease claims five times as many gangster lives as gunfire.[12] But of course the “feared for their life” excuse, an excuse utterly belied by their vaccine refusal,[13] is the one they use to justify shooting and killing so many Black people.[14] Which is how you know I’m right to call police ‘white supremacist gangsters’ and their departments ‘white supremacist gangs.’

Megan Guza, “Pittsburgh police union file grievance over covid vaccine mandate,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 5, 2021, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-police-union-file-grievance-over-covid-vaccine-mandate/

White supremacist gangs

Odette Yousef et al., “Active-duty police in major U.S. cities appear on purported Oath Keepers rosters,” National Public Radio, November 5, 2021, https://www.npr.org/2021/11/05/1052098059/active-duty-police-in-major-u-s-cities-appear-on-purported-oath-keepers-rosters

  1. [1]George Monbiot, “Groundtruthed,” November 5, 2021, https://www.monbiot.com/2021/11/05/groundtruthed/↩
  2. [2]Daniel Boguslaw, “Joe Manchin’s Dirty Empire,” Intercept, September 3, 2021, https://theintercept.com/2021/09/03/joe-manchin-coal-fossil-fuels-pollution/; Geoff Dembicki, “Joe Manchin Makes $500K a Year From One of the Dirtiest Coal Plants in West Virginia,” Vice, July 28, 2021, https://www.vice.com/en/article/z3x8bw/joe-manchin-senator-millions-coal-grant-town-west-virginia; David Moore, “Manchin Bailed Out a Power Plant That Helps His Family Profit From Coal Waste,” Truthout, August 7, 2021, https://truthout.org/articles/manchin-bailed-out-a-power-plant-that-helps-his-family-profit-from-coal-waste/↩
  3. [3]Tony Romm, Marianna Sotomayor, and Mike DeBonis, “Congress approves $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, sending measure to Biden for enactment,” Washington Post, November 6, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/11/05/house-infrastructure-reconciliation-vote/↩
  4. [4]David Dayen, “Manchin’s Cherry-Picking of Budget Estimates,” American Prospect, November 5, 2021, https://prospect.org/infrastructure/building-back-america/manchins-cherry-picking-of-budget-estimates/; Glenn Kessler, “Why Biden says his plan is ‘fiscally responsible,’ while Manchin decries ‘gimmicks,’” Washington Post, November 2, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/11/02/why-biden-says-his-plan-is-fiscally-responsible-while-manchin-decries-gimmicks/↩
  5. [5]Tony Romm, Marianna Sotomayor, and Mike DeBonis, “Congress approves $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, sending measure to Biden for enactment,” Washington Post, November 6, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/11/05/house-infrastructure-reconciliation-vote/↩
  6. [6]David Benfell, “If you seek justice, don’t blame the U.S. Senate Parliamentarian,” Not Housebroken, November 5, 2021, https://disunitedstates.org/2021/09/20/if-you-seek-justice-dont-blame-the-u-s-senate-parliamentarian/↩
  7. [7]Ryan Deto, “Three Pittsburgh Police officers have died of COVID in just over a month,” Pittsburgh City Paper, November 2, 2021, https://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/three-pittsburgh-police-officers-have-died-of-covid-in-just-over-a-month/Content?oid=20485841; Megan Guza, “Pittsburgh police lose 2nd officer to covid-19,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, October 21, 2021, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-police-lose-second-office-to-covid/; Megan Guza, “Pittsburgh police sergeant dies after covid complications,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 2, 2021, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-police-sergeant-dies-after-covid-complications/↩
  8. [8]Zak Cheney-Rice, “The Police’s Farcical War on Vaccine Mandates,” New York, October 22, 2021, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/10/the-polices-farcical-war-on-vaccine-mandates.html↩
  9. [9]Sarah Boden, “Experts question the science of police union’s challenge to Allegheny County’s vaccine mandate,” WESA, October 20, 2021, https://www.wesa.fm/health-science-tech/2021-10-20/experts-question-the-science-of-police-unions-challenge-to-allegheny-countys-vaccine-mandate↩
  10. [10]Megan Guza, “Pittsburgh police union file grievance over covid vaccine mandate,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 5, 2021, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-police-union-file-grievance-over-covid-vaccine-mandate/↩
  11. [11]Fola Akinnibi, “NYC, other big cities confront police-union blowback on vaccine mandates,” Sacramento Bee, October 20, 2021, https://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/national/article255158627.html; Eric Berger, “Police departments face a shortage as unions enable officers to refuse vaccines,” Guardian, October 18, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/oct/17/police-shortage-vaccine-mandate-unions-seattle-chicago; Mark Berman, “As coronavirus cases mount and vaccine mandates spread, holdouts plague police and fire departments,” Washington Post, October 2, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/10/02/police-firefighters-resist-vaccination/; John Byrne, “Chicago police union official compares vaccine standoff with mayor to ‘Hunger Games,’” Sacramento Bee, October 20, 2021, https://www.sacbee.com/article255157522.html; Zak Cheney-Rice, “The Police’s Farcical War on Vaccine Mandates,” New York, October 22, 2021, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/10/the-polices-farcical-war-on-vaccine-mandates.html↩
  12. [12]Ryan Young, Jason Morris, and Ray Sanchez, “Five times as many police officers have died from Covid-19 as from gunfire since start of pandemic,” CNN, October 16, 2021, https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/16/us/police-vaccine-covid-deaths/index.html↩
  13. [13]Fola Akinnibi, “NYC, other big cities confront police-union blowback on vaccine mandates,” Sacramento Bee, October 20, 2021, https://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/national/article255158627.html; Eric Berger, “Police departments face a shortage as unions enable officers to refuse vaccines,” Guardian, October 18, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/oct/17/police-shortage-vaccine-mandate-unions-seattle-chicago; Mark Berman, “As coronavirus cases mount and vaccine mandates spread, holdouts plague police and fire departments,” Washington Post, October 2, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/10/02/police-firefighters-resist-vaccination/; John Byrne, “Chicago police union official compares vaccine standoff with mayor to ‘Hunger Games,’” Sacramento Bee, October 20, 2021, https://www.sacbee.com/article255157522.html; Zak Cheney-Rice, “The Police’s Farcical War on Vaccine Mandates,” New York, October 22, 2021, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/10/the-polices-farcical-war-on-vaccine-mandates.html↩
  14. [14]There are so many of these stories that at some point, I stopped keeping track of them. I suspect there are many more in my archive: Ta-Nehisi Coates, “Blue Lives Matter,” Atlantic, December 22, 2014, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/12/blue-lives-matter-nypd-shooting/383977/; Kimberly Kindy and Kimbriell Kelly, “Thousands dead, few prosecuted,” Washington Post, April 11, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2015/04/11/thousands-dead-few-prosecuted/; Trymaine Lee, “Eyewitness to Michael Brown shooting recounts his friend’s death,” MSNBC, August 12, 2014, https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/eyewitness-michael-brown-fatal-shooting-missouri-msna388411; German Lopez, “Cleveland police shooting of Tamir Rice: city to pay $6 million after 12-year-old’s death,” Vox, April 25, 2016, https://www.vox.com/2014/11/24/7275297/tamir-rice-police-shooting; German Lopez, “East Pittsburgh police officer charged for shooting of 17-year-old Antwon Rose,” Vox, June 27, 2018, https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/6/20/17484480/antwon-rose-east-pittsburgh-police-shooting-video; Eliott C. McLaughlin, “Video: Dallas police open fire on schizophrenic man with screwdriver,” CNN, March 19, 2015, https://www.cnn.com/2015/03/18/us/dallas-police-fatal-shooting-mentally-ill-man-video/index.html; Eliott C. McLaughlin, “Woman streams aftermath of fatal officer-involved shooting,” CNN, July 8, 2016, https://www.cnn.com/2016/07/07/us/falcon-heights-shooting-minnesota/index.html; Kyle Paoletta, “Listen up, police officers: Real life isn’t like ‘Breaking Bad,’” Salon, April 13, 2014, https://www.salon.com/2014/04/13/listen_up_police_officers_real_life_isnt_like_breaking_bad/; Rich Phillips, “Florida deputies shoot man they mistook for car thief in his own driveway,” CNN, August 1, 2013, https://www.cnn.com/2013/07/31/us/florida-police-shooting/index.html; Sandhya Somashekhar et al., “Black and Unarmed,” Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/national/2015/08/08/black-and-unarmed/; Tampa Bay Times, “Informer, not neighbor complaints, led up to fatal Tampa pot raid,” July 15, 2014, https://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/informer-not-neighbor-complaints-led-up-to-fatal-tampa-pot-raid/2187316/↩

The Sacramento Bee calls for California to take over Pacific Gas and Electric

benfell

Pacific Gas and Electric

Pacific Gas and Electric’s criminal record is longer—a lot longer—than I thought and it’s pretty damned rare for a mainstream newspaper, like the Sacramento Bee, to defy capitalist ideology and call for a state takeover, as the paper does today.[1] I’d be the last one to argue.[2]

Sacramento Bee, “PG&E has destroyed enough California communities. It’s time for a public takeover,” November 5, 2021, https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/editorials/article255555496.html

Gig economy

Electric vehicles

Joann Muller, “Why the electric car era is a threat to Uber and Lyft,” Axios, November 5, 2021, https://www.axios.com/why-the-electric-car-era-is-a-threat-to-uber-and-lyft-ab9318a3-b049-4e29-b04e-06cd7784ef7d.html

Infrastructure

For a long time, it has been clear that Joe Manchin and Kyrstin Sinema are the chief obstacles to the reconciliation package that is supposed to accompany the bipartisan infrastructure framework to passage. What hadn’t been quite so clear was what exactly they were objecting to.[3]

This actually wasn’t quite the mystery it was made out to be and gradually, it emerged that Manchin and Sinema mostly objected to the overall cost of the reconciliation package.[4] But what if Manchin is using a different standard to evaluate the bipartisan framework he supports from the one he is using to evaluate the reconciliation package? It turns out he’s doing just that.[5]

Which is to say, Manchin and, I’m pretty sure, Sinema don’t actually object to what they call “fiscal irresponsibility.” They’re just desperate to oppose a social safety net bill on whatever pretext—money usually works—they can come up with.

David Dayen, “Manchin’s Cherry-Picking of Budget Estimates,” American Prospect, November 5, 2021, https://prospect.org/infrastructure/building-back-america/manchins-cherry-picking-of-budget-estimates/

  1. [1]Sacramento Bee, “PG&E has destroyed enough California communities. It’s time for a public takeover,” November 5, 2021, https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/editorials/article255555496.html↩
  2. [2]David Benfell, “Sorry, PG&E, but sorry is not enough,” Not Housebroken, December 4, 2019, https://disunitedstates.org/2019/12/03/sorry-pge-but-sorry-is-not-enough/↩
  3. [3]Igor Bobic and Arthur Delaney, “Progressive Democrats Stare Down Moderates In Battle Over Biden Agenda,” Huffington Post, September 30, 2021, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nancy-pelosi-infrastructure-vote_n_6155b857e4b0487c855b9a42; Jonathan Chait, “Joe Manchin Has Put Biden’s Presidency in Mortal Danger,” New York, September 2, 2021, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/09/joe-manchin-pause-biden-presidency-failed-danger-congress-democrats.html; Jonathan Chait, “Kyrsten Sinema Threatens to Kill Her Own Infrastructure Bill,” New York, September 20, 2021, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/09/kyrsten-sinema-threatens-infrastructure-bill-biden-build-back-better.html; Democracy Now! “‘We Need to Deliver’: Anger Grows at Sens. Manchin, Sinema over Obstruction of Democratic Priorities,” September 21, 2021, https://www.democracynow.org/2021/9/21/35_trillion_spending_bill_ro_khanna; Olivier Knox, “It’s Bernie vs Manchin as spending breakthrough remains elusive,” Washington Post, October 7, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/10/07/its-bernie-vs-manchin-spending-breakthrough-remains-elusive/; Marianne Levine and Burgess Everett, “Democrats grit their teeth after Manchin lists demands,” Politico, September 30, 2021, https://www.politico.com/news/2021/09/30/democrats-grit-teeth-manchin-demands-514836; Kristina Peterson and Lindsay Wise, “Democrats’ $3.5 Trillion Budget Framework Exposes Party Tensions,” Wall Street Journal, August 11, 2021, https://www.wsj.com/articles/democrats-3-5-trillion-budget-framework-exposes-party-tensions-11628704569; Greg Sargent, “Bernie Sanders erupts at Joe Manchin, and a deeper dispute is revealed,” Washington Post, October 7, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/10/07/sanders-manchin-reconciliation-democrats/; Marianna Sotomayor, “Waiting for ‘Manchema’: House liberals grow exasperated with two Democratic senators as Biden agenda struggles,” Washington Post, September 30, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/manchin-sinema-reconciliation-liberals/2021/09/30/3aa2b376-2130-11ec-8200-5e3fd4c49f5e_story.html; Daniel Strauss, “Can Pramila Jayapal Stare Down Manchin and Sinema?” New Republic, September 29, 2021, https://newrepublic.com/article/163811/pramila-jayapal-infrastructure-manchin-sinema; Paul Waldman, “Kyrsten Sinema needs to show us what she believes in,” Washington Post, September 20, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/09/20/kyrsten-sinema-needs-show-us-what-she-believes/↩
  4. [4]Mike DeBonis, “Joe Manchin gets all the attention. But Kyrsten Sinema could be an even bigger obstacle for Democrats’ spending plans,” Washington Post, September 15, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/sinema-reconciliation-manchin/2021/09/15/8c583f96-162d-11ec-9589-31ac3173c2e5_story.html; Hans Nichols, “Manchin backs as little as $1 trillion of Biden’s $3.5 trillion plan,” Axios, September 8, 2021, https://www.axios.com/scoop-manchin-backs-as-little-as-1-trillion-of-bidens-35-trillion-plan-91d079e0-84a7-4f8f-94d4-212827a61339.html; Tony Romm, “Sens. Manchin and Sanders square off as Democrats clash over $3.5 trillion economic package,” Washington Post, September 12, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/09/12/manchin-sanders-reconciliation/↩
  5. [5]David Dayen, “Manchin’s Cherry-Picking of Budget Estimates,” American Prospect, November 5, 2021, https://prospect.org/infrastructure/building-back-america/manchins-cherry-picking-of-budget-estimates/↩

‘Vaccine Nazis’ (sigh)

benfell

Pandemic

There is a new blog post, entitled, “Marjorie Taylor Greene’s obvious illogic.”

Shira Hanau, “Marjorie Taylor Greene blames ‘vaccine Nazis’ for ‘ruining our country’ months after Holocaust museum apology,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, November 3, 2021, https://www.jta.org/2021/11/03/united-states/marjorie-taylor-greene-blames-vaccine-nazis-for-ruining-our-country-months-after-holocaust-museum-apology

Nancy A. Youssef, “Thousands in Air Force, Space Force Seek Exemption From Covid-19 Vaccines,” Wall Street Journal, November 3, 2021, https://www.wsj.com/articles/thousands-in-air-force-space-force-seek-exemption-from-covid-19-vaccines-11635968785

Eli Rosenberg, “White House vaccine rule would require companies and workers to comply by Jan. 4,” Washington Post, November 4, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/11/04/white-house-vaccine-mandate/

Gig economy

Electric vehicles

It appears unlikely that Tesla has the capacity to fill Hertz’s order for 100,000 Model 3s by the end of 2022. The two companies are negotiating this but a delivery rate of 10,000 per year would be more normal. Hertz may also seek to acquire electric vehicles from other manufacturers.[1] How this affects its deal with Uber[2] is unclear.

Emily Glazer and Nora Naughton, “Hertz Will Have to Wait for Teslas, Just Like Other Buyers,” Wall Street Journal, November 4, 2021, https://www.wsj.com/articles/hertz-will-have-to-wait-for-teslas-just-like-other-buyers-11636028622

  1. [1]Emily Glazer and Nora Naughton, “Hertz Will Have to Wait for Teslas, Just Like Other Buyers,” Wall Street Journal, November 4, 2021, https://www.wsj.com/articles/hertz-will-have-to-wait-for-teslas-just-like-other-buyers-11636028622↩
  2. [2]Fred Lambert, “Tesla order could double to 200,000 Model 3s to satisfy deal with Uber, says Hertz CEO,” Electrek, October 28, 2021, https://electrek.co/2021/10/28/tesla-order-double-200000-model-3s-satisfy-deal-uber-hertz-ceo/; Joann Muller, “A big EV push for Uber drivers,” Axios, October 27, 2021, https://www.axios.com/a-big-ev-push-for-uber-drivers-358a720f-f1ba-4c28-9a83-1bb86061c9e4.html↩

None of this is helping people who need help

benfell

Election

It very much appears that the Republicans turned out their voters and the Democrats didn’t.[1] In New Jersey, that seems still to have been good enough.[2] Virginia is another matter.[3] So now Democrats are arguing, as they always do, over whether progressives or centrists are to blame.[4] None of this is helping people who need help and it’s hard to argue that the Democrats’ failure to deliver had nothing to do with it.[5]

Sean Sullivan, “Reeling Democrats see threat to House and Senate control as Republicans crack their 2020 coalition,” Washington Post, November 2, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/virginia-democrats/2021/11/02/c204c8ca-3843-11ec-9bc4-86107e7b0ab1_story.html

Julia Ioffe, “The G.O.P.’s Critical Race Theory Bazooka,” Puck News, November 3, 2021, https://puck.news/the-g-o-p-s-critical-race-theory-bazooka/

Gregory S. Schneider and Laura Vozzella, “Republican Glenn Youngkin wins Virginia governor’s race,” Washington Post, November 3, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/virginia-governor/2021/11/02/ba9c3ccc-36b2-11ec-91dc-551d44733e2d_story.html

Jimmy Vielkind, “New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy Wins Tight Election Race,” Wall Street Journal, November 3, 2021, https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-jersey-governor-race-is-still-too-close-to-call-11635940355

Space

Jon Kelvey, “75 Years Ago, A Nazi Rocket Took the First Photo of Earth From Space,” Inverse, October 24, 2021, https://www.inverse.com/science/first-photo-of-earth-from-space

Gun nuttery

History does not support conservative justices’ preferred conclusion, so our allegedly ‘originalist’ Supreme Court[6] seems set to rule the way it wants to anyway.[7]

David G. Savage, “Supreme Court looks to medieval England in gun rights case,” Los Angeles Times, November 2, 2021, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2021-11-02/supreme-court-looks-to-medieval-england-in-gun-rights-case

Robert Barnes and Ann E. Marimow, “Majority of Supreme Court appears to think N.Y. gun law is too restrictive,” Washington Post, November 3, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/gun-rights-case-supreme-court/2021/11/03/6b9a75d8-3c13-11ec-a493-51b0252dea0c_story.html

White supremacist gangs

Ryan Deto, “Report says a Pittsburgh Police officer requested to join extremist group Oath Keepers,” Pittsburgh City Paper, November 3, 2021, https://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/report-says-a-pittsburgh-police-officer-requested-to-join-extremist-group-oath-keepers/Content?oid=20486134

Voting rights

Mike DeBonis, “Senate Republicans block debate on a third major voting rights bill,” Washington Post, November 3, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/senate-voting-john-lewis/2021/11/03/de00974e-3cc5-11ec-bfad-8283439871ec_story.html

  1. [1]Julia Ioffe, “The G.O.P.’s Critical Race Theory Bazooka,” Puck News, November 3, 2021, https://puck.news/the-g-o-p-s-critical-race-theory-bazooka/↩
  2. [2]Jimmy Vielkind, “New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy Wins Tight Election Race,” Wall Street Journal, November 3, 2021, https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-jersey-governor-race-is-still-too-close-to-call-11635940355↩
  3. [3]Gregory S. Schneider and Laura Vozzella, “Republican Glenn Youngkin wins Virginia governor’s race,” Washington Post, November 3, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/virginia-governor/2021/11/02/ba9c3ccc-36b2-11ec-91dc-551d44733e2d_story.html↩
  4. [4]Julia Ioffe, “The G.O.P.’s Critical Race Theory Bazooka,” Puck News, November 3, 2021, https://puck.news/the-g-o-p-s-critical-race-theory-bazooka/; Sean Sullivan, “Reeling Democrats see threat to House and Senate control as Republicans crack their 2020 coalition,” Washington Post, November 2, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/virginia-democrats/2021/11/02/c204c8ca-3843-11ec-9bc4-86107e7b0ab1_story.html↩
  5. [5]David Smith, “‘We need him to deliver’: Biden faces wrath of disappointed supporters,” Guardian, October 23, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/oct/23/joe-biden-disappointed-supporters-approval; Cleve R. Wootson, Jr., “Virginia went big for Biden, but on eve of another pivotal election, many voters say Democrats have not delivered for them,” Washington Post, November 1, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/virginia-biden-mcauliffe-youngkin/2021/10/31/aa8c6d62-384b-11ec-8be3-e14aaacfa8ac_story.html↩
  6. [6]David G. Savage, “Supreme Court looks to medieval England in gun rights case,” Los Angeles Times, November 2, 2021, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2021-11-02/supreme-court-looks-to-medieval-england-in-gun-rights-case↩
  7. [7]Robert Barnes and Ann E. Marimow, “Majority of Supreme Court appears to think N.Y. gun law is too restrictive,” Washington Post, November 3, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/gun-rights-case-supreme-court/2021/11/03/6b9a75d8-3c13-11ec-a493-51b0252dea0c_story.html↩

Ed Gainey will (now officially) be Pittsburgh’s next mayor

benfell

Pandemic

Pennsylvania region

Mourn not these white supremacist gangsters. They are part of the problem and not only on COVID-19.[1] I hope that Mayor-elect Ed Gainey[2] keeps this in mind.

Megan Guza, “Pittsburgh police sergeant dies after covid complications,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 2, 2021, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-police-sergeant-dies-after-covid-complications/

Evictions

Pennsylvania region

Rich Lord, “Landlord-tenant cases inch up as eviction curbs end,” Public Source, November 1, 2021, https://www.publicsource.org/developpghbulletins-pittsburgh-allegheny-county/

Gig economy

Electric vehicles

Anywhere from 50,000 to 150,000 of these Teslas that Hertz says it is purchasing are meant for Uber drivers.[3] Elon Musk criticizes the hype, denying that a deal has been made and pointing out that demand for Teslas already far outstrips his company’s ability to produce them,[4] but if Liam Denning is right, the hype is precisely what funds the purchase of these Teslas, via a stock market bubble.[5]

The rich play their games, even starting a space race to escape the planet they destroy.[6] The rest of us will be left with the resulting mess.

British Broadcasting Corporation, “Elon Musk says Tesla has not signed deal with Hertz,” November 2, 2021, https://www.bbc.com/news/business-59132512

Liam Denning, “With Avis, Tesla’s Cars Now Buy Themselves,” Bloomberg, November 2, 2021, https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-11-02/with-avis-and-hertz-tesla-s-electric-cars-now-buy-themselves

Right-wing militia

Kimberly Kindy, “Boosted by the pandemic, ‘constitutional sheriffs’ are a political force,” Washington Post, November 2, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/constitutional-sheriffs-elections-trump-pandemic/2021/11/01/4c14c764-368b-11ec-91dc-551d44733e2d_story.html

Ed Gainey

Now we shall see if Ed Gainey, who is all but certain to have won the race to be Pittsburgh’s next mayor,[7] delivers.

Julia Felton, “Ed Gainey declares historic victory with commanding lead in Pittsburgh mayoral race,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 2, 2021, https://triblive.com/local/gainey-grabs-early-lead-in-pittsburgh-mayoral-race/

Charlie Wolfson, “Pittsburgh elects its first Black mayor,” Public Source, November 2, 2021, https://www.publicsource.org/gainey-pittsburgh-mayor-announces-victory-moreno/

Climate crisis

There is a new blog post entitled, “The very small chance to avert climate catastrophe.”

George Monbiot, “Surface Tension,” November 2, 2021, https://www.monbiot.com/2021/11/02/surface-tension/

Election

It appears that Republicans have prevailed in statewide races in Virginia with voters citing what they call “critical race theory” (but really isn’t[8]) in education.[9] The theme appears elsewhere with voters wary of the caricature of critical race theory and of defunding white supremacist gangs.[10]

Gregory S. Schneider and Laura Vozzella, “Republican Glenn Youngkin wins Virginia governor’s race,” Washington Post, November 3, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/virginia-governor/2021/11/02/ba9c3ccc-36b2-11ec-91dc-551d44733e2d_story.html

  1. [1]Megan Guza, “Pittsburgh police lose 2nd officer to covid-19,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, October 21, 2021, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-police-lose-second-office-to-covid/; Megan Guza, “Pittsburgh police sergeant dies after covid complications,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 2, 2021, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-police-sergeant-dies-after-covid-complications/↩
  2. [2]Julia Felton, “Ed Gainey declares historic victory with commanding lead in Pittsburgh mayoral race,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 2, 2021, https://triblive.com/local/gainey-grabs-early-lead-in-pittsburgh-mayoral-race/; Charlie Wolfson, “Pittsburgh elects its first Black mayor,” Public Source, November 2, 2021, https://www.publicsource.org/gainey-pittsburgh-mayor-announces-victory-moreno/↩
  3. [3]Fred Lambert, “Tesla order could double to 200,000 Model 3s to satisfy deal with Uber, says Hertz CEO,” Electrek, October 28, 2021, https://electrek.co/2021/10/28/tesla-order-double-200000-model-3s-satisfy-deal-uber-hertz-ceo/; Joann Muller, “A big EV push for Uber drivers,” Axios, October 27, 2021, https://www.axios.com/a-big-ev-push-for-uber-drivers-358a720f-f1ba-4c28-9a83-1bb86061c9e4.html↩
  4. [4]British Broadcasting Corporation, “Elon Musk says Tesla has not signed deal with Hertz,” November 2, 2021, https://www.bbc.com/news/business-59132512↩
  5. [5]Liam Denning, “With Avis, Tesla’s Cars Now Buy Themselves,” Bloomberg, November 2, 2021, https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-11-02/with-avis-and-hertz-tesla-s-electric-cars-now-buy-themselves↩
  6. [6]Christian Davenport, “Richard Branson and his Virgin Galactic crew are safely back from space, ushering in a new era,” Washington Post, July 11, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/07/11/richard-branson-virgin-galactic-live-updates/; Franklin Foer, “Jeff Bezos’s Master Plan,” Atlantic, November 2019, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/11/what-jeff-bezos-wants/598363/; Adam Gabbatt, “Bezos blasted for traveling to space while Amazon workers toil on planet Earth,” Guardian, July 20, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/jul/20/bezos-space-travel-blue-origin-amazon-criticism; Tristan Greene, “Here’s the stupid reason Elon Musk wants to nuke Mars,” Next Web, August 16, 2019, https://thenextweb.com/distract/2019/08/16/heres-the-stupid-reason-elon-musk-wants-to-nuke-mars/; Michael Hiltzik, “The Bezos-Branson-Musk space race is a huge waste of money and scientifically useless,” Los Angeles Times, July 6, 2021, https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-07-06/jeff-bezos-richard-branson-elon-musk-space-race; Jasper Jolly and Gwyn Topham, “Richard Branson’s quest: to boldly go where no billionaire has gone before,” Guardian, July 10, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/jul/10/richard-branson-virgin-galactic-flight-billionaire-space-tourism-race-jeff-bezos; Rafi Letzter, “Why NASA’s Annoyed About Elon Musk’s Giant Rocket,” Live Science, October 5, 2019, https://www.livescience.com/starship-crew-dragon-spacex-nasa-bridenstine.html; Samantha Masunaga and Andrew Mendez, “Jeff Bezos launches new era of space travel with Blue Origin ride,” Los Angeles Times, July 20, 2021, https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-07-20/jeff-bezos-launches-blue-origin-new-shepard; George Monbiot, “Surface Tension,” November 2, 2021, https://www.monbiot.com/2021/11/02/surface-tension/; Daniel Oberhaus, “How did Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin fail to dominate the billionaire space race?” Guardian, October 16, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/oct/16/jeff-bezos-blue-origin-billionaire-space-race-sexism-safety-concerns; Samantha Rolfe, “Elon Musk’s Starship may be more moral catastrophe than bold step in space exploration,” Science X, October 2, 2019, https://phys.org/news/2019-10-elon-musk-starship-moral-catastrophe.html; Joey Roulette, “Space tourism rivalry gets extremely petty ahead of Branson’s spaceflight,” Verge, July 9, 2021, https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/9/22570287/space-tourism-virgin-galactic-branson-blue-origin-bezos; Erik Shilling, “Richard Branson Didn’t Go To Space,” Jalopnik, July 12, 2021, https://jalopnik.com/richard-branson-didnt-go-to-space-1847274538; Shannon Stirone, “Mars Is a Hellhole,” Atlantic, February 26, 2021, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/02/mars-is-no-earth/618133/; Shannon Stirone, “Space Billionaires, Please Read the Room,” Atlantic, July 7, 2021, https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/07/space-billionaires-jeff-bezos-richard-branson/619383/; Derrick Bryson Taylor and Kenneth Chang, “Jeff Bezos Will Fly Aboard Blue Origin’s First Human Trip to Space,” New York Times, June 7, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/07/business/jeff-bezos-space.html; Sam Wolfson, “Metaverse, Mars, meditation retreats: billionaires want to escape the world they ruined,” Guardian, October 29, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/oct/29/metaverse-zuckerberg-mars-billionaires-escape-world↩
  7. [7]Julia Felton, “Ed Gainey declares historic victory with commanding lead in Pittsburgh mayoral race,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 2, 2021, https://triblive.com/local/gainey-grabs-early-lead-in-pittsburgh-mayoral-race/; Charlie Wolfson, “Pittsburgh elects its first Black mayor,” Public Source, November 2, 2021, https://www.publicsource.org/gainey-pittsburgh-mayor-announces-victory-moreno/↩
  8. [8]David Benfell, “Talking about critical theory—and critical race theory,” Not Housebroken, July 1, 2021, https://disunitedstates.org/2021/06/11/talking-about-critical-theory-and-critical-race-theory/↩
  9. [9]Gregory S. Schneider and Laura Vozzella, “Republican Glenn Youngkin wins Virginia governor’s race,” Washington Post, November 3, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/virginia-governor/2021/11/02/ba9c3ccc-36b2-11ec-91dc-551d44733e2d_story.html↩
  10. [10]David Leonhardt and Ian Prasad Philbrick to The Morning list, “Good morning. Republicans had a very good election night,” New York Times, November 3, 2021, https://messaging-custom-newsletters.nytimes.com/template/oakv2?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20211103&instance_id=44456&nl=the-morning&productCode=NN&regi_id=97793637&segment_id=73373&te=1&uri=nyt%3A%2F%2Fnewsletter%2F65537957-40fd-5c7f-aa66-b34c91f85030&user_id=087ade925ce15f15a24824418c4789ce↩

A bad day for Texas anti-abortionists in the Supreme Court.

benfell

I neglected to mention, the day before yesterday, a new blog post entitled, “Getting what I deserve.” I tightened up some phrasing yesterday but the argument, at least as intended, is entirely the same.

I had a Baptist pastor in my car yesterday, who reminded me to live life rather than “let life live you.” Her point is that I should be in control of my life, which I’m manifestly not. I’m living to work. That’s it. I come home to not even a cat. There is no joy in this life for me.

But, fraudulent as they are, Uber and Lyft are, as near as I can find,[1] the only companies that will allow me any income whatsoever. So I live to work. Nothing else. And with absolutely no hope for anything better.

Now, you tell me, why should I endure this? What is the point?

Anarchism

George Scialabba, “Were the Earliest Societies Anarchists?” review of The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity, by David Graeber and David Wengrow, New Republic, November 1, 2021, https://newrepublic.com/article/163941/dawn-everything-book-review-earliest-societies-anarchists

Abortion

Roman Catholic Church

Anugrah Kumar, “Biden takes communion in Rome after saying Pope Francis called him a ‘good Catholic,’” Christian Post, November 1, 2021, https://www.christianpost.com/news/biden-takes-communion-in-rome-after-pope-calls-him-good-catholic.html

Courts

I guess it isn’t just great minds that think alike. I was wondering about the very question Brett Kavanaugh posed:

During oral arguments in the case, [Brett] Kavanaugh suggested a hypothetical situation in which a liberal-led state government could write laws stating that owners or sellers of AR-15 firearms could be held liable by private citizens in state courts.

“Anyone who sells an AR-15 is liable to any private citizen for a million dollars,” Mr Kavanaugh said, describing the hypothetical law.[2]

Texas’ solicitor general had to concede the point.[3] And it appears in general that this was not a good day for Texas anti-abortionists,[4] but the Mississippi quest to overturn Roe v. Wade has yet to be heard[5] and the prospects there seem much more ominous.[6]

Robert Barnes, “Supreme Court seems willing to allow challenge of Texas’s restrictive abortion law,” Washington Post, November 1, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/texas-abortion-supreme-court/2021/11/01/548c7ea2-3b0c-11ec-bfad-8283439871ec_story.html

Irin Carmon, “The Texas Abortion Ban Could Lose at the Supreme Court,” New York, November 1, 2021, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/11/texas-abortion-ban-could-lose-at-the-supreme-court.html

John Bowden, “Kavanaugh flags a major catch in Texas anti-abortion law for conservative gun owners,” Independent, November 2, 2021, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/kavanaugh-supreme-court-texas-abortion-b1949460.html

Infrastructure

Glenn Kessler, “Why Biden says his plan is ‘fiscally responsible,’ while Manchin decries ‘gimmicks,’” Washington Post, November 2, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/11/02/why-biden-says-his-plan-is-fiscally-responsible-while-manchin-decries-gimmicks/

  1. [1]David Benfell, “About my job hunt,” Not Housebroken, n.d., https://disunitedstates.org/about-my-job-hunt/↩
  2. [2]John Bowden, “Kavanaugh flags a major catch in Texas anti-abortion law for conservative gun owners,” Independent, November 2, 2021, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/kavanaugh-supreme-court-texas-abortion-b1949460.html↩
  3. [3]John Bowden, “Kavanaugh flags a major catch in Texas anti-abortion law for conservative gun owners,” Independent, November 2, 2021, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/kavanaugh-supreme-court-texas-abortion-b1949460.html↩
  4. [4]Robert Barnes, “Supreme Court seems willing to allow challenge of Texas’s restrictive abortion law,” Washington Post, November 1, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/texas-abortion-supreme-court/2021/11/01/548c7ea2-3b0c-11ec-bfad-8283439871ec_story.html; Irin Carmon, “The Texas Abortion Ban Could Lose at the Supreme Court,” New York, November 1, 2021, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/11/texas-abortion-ban-could-lose-at-the-supreme-court.html↩
  5. [5]Robert Barnes, “Supreme Court seems willing to allow challenge of Texas’s restrictive abortion law,” Washington Post, November 1, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/texas-abortion-supreme-court/2021/11/01/548c7ea2-3b0c-11ec-bfad-8283439871ec_story.html; Irin Carmon, “The Texas Abortion Ban Could Lose at the Supreme Court,” New York, November 1, 2021, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/11/texas-abortion-ban-could-lose-at-the-supreme-court.html; Ed Kilgore, “Is Roe v. Wade Now Doomed?” New York, May 17, 2021, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/05/is-roe-v-wade-now-doomed.html; Adam Liptak, “Mississippi asks the Supreme Court to overrule Roe v. Wade,” New York Times, July 22, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/22/us/politics/mississippi-supreme-court-abortion.html; Nia Prater, “Supreme Court to Hear Case That Threatens Roe v. Wade,” New York, May 17, 2021, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/05/supreme-court-to-hear-case-that-threatens-roe-v-wade.html; David G. Savage, “Supreme Court agrees to hear major abortion case challenging Roe vs. Wade,” Los Angeles Times, May 17, 2021, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2021-05-17/supreme-court-agrees-to-hear-abortion-case; Ariane de Vogue, “Mississippi asks US Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade,” CNN, July 22, 2021, https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/22/politics/mississippi-roe-v-wade-abortion/index.html↩
  6. [6]Irin Carmon, “The Texas Abortion Ban Could Lose at the Supreme Court,” New York, November 1, 2021, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/11/texas-abortion-ban-could-lose-at-the-supreme-court.html↩

White supremacist gangs defunding themselves

benfell

Pandemic

(Inter)national


Priscella Vega, “Sheriff warns vaccine mandate causing ‘mass exodus’ among personnel,” Los Angeles Times, October 31, 2021, https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-10-31/despite-sheriffs-warning-of-a-mass-exodus-county-officials-holding-firm-on-vaccine-requirement

Evictions

Pennsylvania region

Chris Hoffman, “Hundreds Facing Eviction This Week As Allegheny County’s Eviction Moratorium Expires,” KDKA Television, October 31, 2021, https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2021/10/31/eviction-moratorium-allegheny-county/

Democrats

Cynics might suggest that this is precisely why Democrats desperately want to lose: When they win, voters expect results. In Virginia, they aren’t seeing them.[1]

Cleve R. Wootson, Jr., “Virginia went big for Biden, but on eve of another pivotal election, many voters say Democrats have not delivered for them,” Washington Post, November 1, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/virginia-biden-mcauliffe-youngkin/2021/10/31/aa8c6d62-384b-11ec-8be3-e14aaacfa8ac_story.html

  1. [1]Cleve R. Wootson, Jr., “Virginia went big for Biden, but on eve of another pivotal election, many voters say Democrats have not delivered for them,” Washington Post, November 1, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/virginia-biden-mcauliffe-youngkin/2021/10/31/aa8c6d62-384b-11ec-8be3-e14aaacfa8ac_story.html↩