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Submitted at 09-26-2020, 07:52 PM by Forensic | |
5 Comments | |
In August, the likely Trump nominee delivered a key ruling blocking many gig workers from suing in court when tech companies deny them overtime pay. | |
Submitted at 09-26-2020, 06:48 PM by Xiphias | |
Wildlife Photographer of the Year excludes a winning image for featuring a taxidermy specimen. | |
Submitted at 09-26-2020, 04:50 PM by Xiphias | |
Submitted at 09-26-2020, 04:14 PM by Xiphias | |
The fat bears have grown exceptionally fat, even for fat bears.
A prodigious, record-breaking salmon run in a major river feeding Alaska's Katmai National Park and Preserve provided the brown bears — who are livestreamed on explore.org — an abundance of fish this year. The bears munch the skin, red flesh, and brains of the salmon throughout the summer, amassing fat stores to survive their long winter famine (aka hibernation).
On Friday, Katmai and wildlife webcam operators explore.org released the 2020 Fat Bear Week bracket, comprised of 12 bears. The 2020 competition, which starts next week and is voted on by the public, is robust.
"The competition is going to be between the fat bears and the really fat bears," said Mike Fitz, the resident naturalist for explore.org and a former park ranger at Katmai.
"All the bears are fat this year," he said. | |
Submitted at 09-26-2020, 01:35 PM by droog | |
My family picnic could use that kind of . . . | |
Submitted at 09-26-2020, 08:33 AM by A Fistful Of Double Downs | |
Neoliberal culture has no idea what to do with losers or has-beens who don’t present themselves as saved, reformed, or at least rehabbed. As Robin James writes, “Neoliberal melancholia is the inability to adapt to crises and transform them into healthy, social opportunities.”14 Sean Young isn’t making meaning for any mythical audience. She isn’t “healed,” or triumphant, nor is she making anyone feel that society has progressed into a less sexist, less exploitative version of itself. No, Young has chosen instead to restage her greatest humiliation and end with an unadorned and confrontational gaze back at the tabloid camera that had defined her life. | |
Submitted at 09-26-2020, 07:16 AM by somedongus | |
More than a year after Amazon, New York developers lose second major battle in the AOC era.
(Ignore Politico’s developer-friendly tutting and celebrate the left’s steady advance into the great halls of New York) | |
Submitted at 09-26-2020, 07:29 AM by Disruptive Emotional-Support Pig | |
The Palm Beach County state attorney abandoned Thursday morning what was left of the criminal case against Patriots owner Bob Kraft, declining to pursue any further the charges against Kraft related to the Orchids of Asia prostitution bust in February 2019. So that’s how it all fizzles out, all of that, the whole big salacious scandal—piddly little misdemeanor charges quietly toggling from open to closed on the clerk’s office case-tracking web portal...
So what was once the explosive story of one of the NFL’s most powerful owners—and, by extension, one of the handful of most powerful people in North American sports—involved in the genuine abomination of human trafficking has instead turned out to be just another story of reckless and illegal policing. The collection of video evidence was sleazy and improper. The self-glorifying talk about thwarting human traffickers was entirely trumped-up bullshit, almost certainly utilized from the beginning in order to allow police to overstep in their investigation. The giveaway there, beyond the utter lack of evidence of trafficking, was how authorities treated the people they’d referred to as “victims” of what State Attorney Dave Aronberg described as “evil in our midst”: The therapist who allegedly treated Kraft was charged with felony prostitution and eight more misdemeanor counts of offering to commit prostitution, and had tens of thousands of dollars of personal savings seized from a safe deposit box.
The difference between this instance of police abuse and all the others is that this time, in the extremely narrow case of solicitation charges against Robert Kraft, the police were thwarted. It happened because this time the person they tried to railroad is rich as hell. Compare the results in Kraft’s case to the charges filed against the women who worked at the massage parlor who were not rich as hell. Lei Chen, 45, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of offering to commit prostitution, per the Palm Beach Post, and the cases against Shen Mingbi, 60, Hua Zhang, 59, and Lei Wang, 41, are still open, according to online court records. | |
Submitted at 09-26-2020, 04:02 AM by sleeppoor | |
Submitted at 09-26-2020, 04:52 AM by Xiphias | |
A state investigation into the country's largest natural gas utility is steadily piecing together details of how the company may have cloaked its advocacy by recruiting local politicians and minority groups to promote fossil fuels at California ports, according to people familiar with the probe and documents obtained by POLITICO.
Southern California Gas was already facing accusations of charging customers for its advocacy at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports, which have long worked to reduce their air pollution. But public misrepresentations of campaign efforts may be against the law, and state utility watchdogs are examining whether SoCalGas acted unlawfully in its lobbying efforts as the company fights the state's transition away from oil and gas.
The Public Advocates Office, an independent branch of the California Public Utilities Commission, launched an investigation last year when it found SoCalGas spent ratepayer dollars to start a group opposed to cities phasing out or banning natural gas in new buildings. The company "is working to undermine state policy through lobbying and other efforts to misinform the public and encourage the continued usage of natural gas," the PAO wrote this summer.
The PAO probe has since widened to include other SoCalGas activities, including the company's relationship with Imprenta Communications Group, a public affairs firm focused on issues in minority communities.
Three years ago, SoCalGas and Imprenta recruited Latino and Asian American politicians to support natural gas-fueled "near-zero emission" trucks, rather than electric ones favored by environmentalists.
Newly obtained internal company emails show SoCalGas worked with Imprenta throughout 2017 to enlist politicians of color ahead of a key climate vote by the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the busiest in the country, as they sought to reduce emissions from ships, trucks and other infrastructure.
The company ultimately scored a win as port officials exempted natural gas trucks from a fee levied on other trucks this year. Officials also allowed port users to meet stricter rules for new trucks in 2023 by buying natural gas vehicles, which environmentalists wanted to be banned entirely. | |
Submitted at 09-26-2020, 12:23 AM by sleeppoor | |
Submitted at 09-26-2020, 12:13 AM by droog | |
A Canadian whose widely-publicized account of conducting executions for ISIS fueled public outrage and debate in the House of Commons has been charged with allegedly making it up.
Shehroze Chaudhry, 25, who has portrayed himself as a former ISIS member living freely in Canada, was charged with faking his involvement in the terrorist group.
The Burlington, Ont. resident is to appear in court on Nov. 16 to face a terrorism hoax charge. He declined the comment. | |
Submitted at 09-25-2020, 10:19 PM by Mr.Piss | |
PENINSULAR MALAYSIA (AP) — Jum’s words tumble out over the phone, his voice growing ever more frantic. Between sobs, he says he’s trapped on a Malaysian plantation run by government-owned... | |
Submitted at 09-25-2020, 09:49 PM by Xiphias | |
The controversy over a white professor passing herself off as Black reveals an underlying contradiction in how we view race, Peter C. Herman writes. | |
Submitted at 09-25-2020, 09:25 PM by nocash | |
On Saturday, Proud Boys from around the country plan to rally in Portland, a city the hate group has torn through repeatedly since 2017.
Update: Just after this story was published, news broke that Oregon Gov. Kate Brown declared a state of emergency in Portland for the rally. The move puts Oregon State Police and the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office in charge of rally response, circumventing Portland's ban on tear gas.
After waging a pitched political battle on the streets for years, their aims have become all too predictable: to provoke confrontations with counterprotesters, blame any resulting violence on the left, and press for further repression and retaliation against those they consider their political adversaries. While antifascists stand at the top of that list, journalists, Black Lives Matter activists, anti-capitalists and anyone organizing and protesting peacefully for economic and racial justice are included as well.
After months of nationwide protests and the looming possibility of a contested election, Americans are anxious about the road ahead. In a nationwide survey recently conducted by the Southern Poverty Law Center, 77% of respondents reported that they are concerned about civil unrest. Sixty-one percent said they feel the country is on the wrong track. | |
Submitted at 09-25-2020, 08:26 PM by Xiphias | |
Nice to see what Demi Adejuyigbe is up to. | |
Submitted at 09-25-2020, 07:43 PM by Forensic | |
Kentucky state Representative Attica Scott was arrested Thursday during protests in Louisville after the grand jury declined to charge three officers for Breonna Taylor's death.
Scott was arrested at First Unitarian Church in downtown Louisville. Although the city had been placed under a curfew which began at 9:00 p.m. EDT, churches were exempt from the deadline. Some protesters, including Scott, were arrested while trying to enter the church.
In a tweet, State Representative Josie Raymond called for the release of Scott and community organizer Shameka Parrish Wright. | |
Submitted at 09-25-2020, 07:27 PM by Xiphias | |
Submitted at 09-25-2020, 07:30 PM by Xiphias | |
The Trump administration has finalized a plan to open previously protected areas of the Tongass National Forest in Alaska to logging. | |
Submitted at 09-25-2020, 07:18 PM by sleeppoor | |

In August, the likely Trump nominee delivered a key ruling blocking many gig workers from suing in court when tech companies deny them overtime pay.
Wildlife Photographer of the Year excludes a winning image for featuring a taxidermy specimen.
The fat bears have grown exceptionally fat, even for fat bears.
A prodigious, record-breaking salmon run in a major river feeding Alaska's Katmai National Park and Preserve provided the brown bears — who are livestreamed on explore.org — an abundance of fish this year. The bears munch the skin, red flesh, and brains of the salmon throughout the summer, amassing fat stores to survive their long winter famine (aka hibernation).
On Friday, Katmai and wildlife webcam operators explore.org released the 2020 Fat Bear Week bracket, comprised of 12 bears. The 2020 competition, which starts next week and is voted on by the public, is robust.
"The competition is going to be between the fat bears and the really fat bears," said Mike Fitz, the resident naturalist for explore.org and a former park ranger at Katmai.
"All the bears are fat this year," he said.
My family picnic could use that kind of . . .
Neoliberal culture has no idea what to do with losers or has-beens who don’t present themselves as saved, reformed, or at least rehabbed. As Robin James writes, “Neoliberal melancholia is the inability to adapt to crises and transform them into healthy, social opportunities.”14 Sean Young isn’t making meaning for any mythical audience. She isn’t “healed,” or triumphant, nor is she making anyone feel that society has progressed into a less sexist, less exploitative version of itself. No, Young has chosen instead to restage her greatest humiliation and end with an unadorned and confrontational gaze back at the tabloid camera that had defined her life.
More than a year after Amazon, New York developers lose second major battle in the AOC era.
(Ignore Politico’s developer-friendly tutting and celebrate the left’s steady advance into the great halls of New York)
The Palm Beach County state attorney abandoned Thursday morning what was left of the criminal case against Patriots owner Bob Kraft, declining to pursue any further the charges against Kraft related to the Orchids of Asia prostitution bust in February 2019. So that’s how it all fizzles out, all of that, the whole big salacious scandal—piddly little misdemeanor charges quietly toggling from open to closed on the clerk’s office case-tracking web portal...
So what was once the explosive story of one of the NFL’s most powerful owners—and, by extension, one of the handful of most powerful people in North American sports—involved in the genuine abomination of human trafficking has instead turned out to be just another story of reckless and illegal policing. The collection of video evidence was sleazy and improper. The self-glorifying talk about thwarting human traffickers was entirely trumped-up bullshit, almost certainly utilized from the beginning in order to allow police to overstep in their investigation. The giveaway there, beyond the utter lack of evidence of trafficking, was how authorities treated the people they’d referred to as “victims” of what State Attorney Dave Aronberg described as “evil in our midst”: The therapist who allegedly treated Kraft was charged with felony prostitution and eight more misdemeanor counts of offering to commit prostitution, and had tens of thousands of dollars of personal savings seized from a safe deposit box.
The difference between this instance of police abuse and all the others is that this time, in the extremely narrow case of solicitation charges against Robert Kraft, the police were thwarted. It happened because this time the person they tried to railroad is rich as hell. Compare the results in Kraft’s case to the charges filed against the women who worked at the massage parlor who were not rich as hell. Lei Chen, 45, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of offering to commit prostitution, per the Palm Beach Post, and the cases against Shen Mingbi, 60, Hua Zhang, 59, and Lei Wang, 41, are still open, according to online court records.
A state investigation into the country's largest natural gas utility is steadily piecing together details of how the company may have cloaked its advocacy by recruiting local politicians and minority groups to promote fossil fuels at California ports, according to people familiar with the probe and documents obtained by POLITICO.
Southern California Gas was already facing accusations of charging customers for its advocacy at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports, which have long worked to reduce their air pollution. But public misrepresentations of campaign efforts may be against the law, and state utility watchdogs are examining whether SoCalGas acted unlawfully in its lobbying efforts as the company fights the state's transition away from oil and gas.
The Public Advocates Office, an independent branch of the California Public Utilities Commission, launched an investigation last year when it found SoCalGas spent ratepayer dollars to start a group opposed to cities phasing out or banning natural gas in new buildings. The company "is working to undermine state policy through lobbying and other efforts to misinform the public and encourage the continued usage of natural gas," the PAO wrote this summer.
The PAO probe has since widened to include other SoCalGas activities, including the company's relationship with Imprenta Communications Group, a public affairs firm focused on issues in minority communities.
Three years ago, SoCalGas and Imprenta recruited Latino and Asian American politicians to support natural gas-fueled "near-zero emission" trucks, rather than electric ones favored by environmentalists.
Newly obtained internal company emails show SoCalGas worked with Imprenta throughout 2017 to enlist politicians of color ahead of a key climate vote by the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the busiest in the country, as they sought to reduce emissions from ships, trucks and other infrastructure.
The company ultimately scored a win as port officials exempted natural gas trucks from a fee levied on other trucks this year. Officials also allowed port users to meet stricter rules for new trucks in 2023 by buying natural gas vehicles, which environmentalists wanted to be banned entirely.
A Canadian whose widely-publicized account of conducting executions for ISIS fueled public outrage and debate in the House of Commons has been charged with allegedly making it up.
Shehroze Chaudhry, 25, who has portrayed himself as a former ISIS member living freely in Canada, was charged with faking his involvement in the terrorist group.
The Burlington, Ont. resident is to appear in court on Nov. 16 to face a terrorism hoax charge. He declined the comment.
PENINSULAR MALAYSIA (AP) — Jum’s words tumble out over the phone, his voice growing ever more frantic. Between sobs, he says he’s trapped on a Malaysian plantation run by government-owned...
The controversy over a white professor passing herself off as Black reveals an underlying contradiction in how we view race, Peter C. Herman writes.
On Saturday, Proud Boys from around the country plan to rally in Portland, a city the hate group has torn through repeatedly since 2017.
Update: Just after this story was published, news broke that Oregon Gov. Kate Brown declared a state of emergency in Portland for the rally. The move puts Oregon State Police and the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office in charge of rally response, circumventing Portland's ban on tear gas.
After waging a pitched political battle on the streets for years, their aims have become all too predictable: to provoke confrontations with counterprotesters, blame any resulting violence on the left, and press for further repression and retaliation against those they consider their political adversaries. While antifascists stand at the top of that list, journalists, Black Lives Matter activists, anti-capitalists and anyone organizing and protesting peacefully for economic and racial justice are included as well.
After months of nationwide protests and the looming possibility of a contested election, Americans are anxious about the road ahead. In a nationwide survey recently conducted by the Southern Poverty Law Center, 77% of respondents reported that they are concerned about civil unrest. Sixty-one percent said they feel the country is on the wrong track.
Nice to see what Demi Adejuyigbe is up to.
Kentucky state Representative Attica Scott was arrested Thursday during protests in Louisville after the grand jury declined to charge three officers for Breonna Taylor's death.
Scott was arrested at First Unitarian Church in downtown Louisville. Although the city had been placed under a curfew which began at 9:00 p.m. EDT, churches were exempt from the deadline. Some protesters, including Scott, were arrested while trying to enter the church.
In a tweet, State Representative Josie Raymond called for the release of Scott and community organizer Shameka Parrish Wright.
The Trump administration has finalized a plan to open previously protected areas of the Tongass National Forest in Alaska to logging.