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Month: September 2014

No such thing as an undue burden?

No such thing as an undue burden?

by digby

Jeffrey Toobin has written an informative piece in the New Yorker about the disappearing “undue burden” standard for access to abortion in the federal courts.  He gives a useful recent history of cases that have challenged the concept all the way up to the most recent in Texas in which is looks as thought the conservative 5th Circuit will whittle it away to nothing.  As he writes:

[T]he members of the Fifth Circuit panel seem to believe that anything short of a nationwide ban on abortion does not amount to an undue burden on women’s rights. This is the argument that will soon be heading to the Supreme Court. Will the Court’s conservatives—who appear to have, with the addition of Anthony Kennedy, a one-vote majority on this issue—define the “undue burden” test into meaninglessness? Or will they junk the test altogether and give states an even freer hand to restrict abortion rights?

The good news is that liberals are winning the culture war so I’m quite sure this could never happen. Right? After all, once a right has been secured — as reproductive rights have been for the past 40 years — there’s no going back.

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It’s getting hot in here

It’s getting hot in here

by digby

I realize that we often have heat waves in LA at this time of year.  But this one is way worse than usual:

Following an excessive heat warning, the Los Angeles Unified School District cancelled outdoor sporting activities for Monday and Tuesday, while over 100 schools in San Diego had shortened days to protect students from high temperatures. Around 120 schools in the San Diego Unified School District do not have fully implemented air conditioning. The LAUSD’s decision to cancel all outdoor athletics could continue into Wednesday. […] 

San Diego does not usually have a need for air conditioning. Neither does Santa Monica. But I have sure wished I had some this past week.

These decisions are the result of a heat wave that has gripped Southern California since last week. Due to high levels of humidity, Tuesday’s heat value index is between 100 and 110 degrees. Over the weekend, temperatures in Los Angeles reached the high 90s and went up to the low 100s in the surrounding San Fernando Valley, while temperatures in the San Diego area also reached into the 100s. 

On Monday, the temperature in the San Fernando Valley hit 106, while downtown Los Angeles and San Diego were 93 and 97 degrees, respectively. The average temperature for September in Los Angeles is around 73 degrees. 

On Monday, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said that consumers set a record for energy use and are expecting the record to be broken again today. The previous largest energy demand on a single day in Los Angeles was in September 2010 when temperatures in downtown Los Angeles reached 113 degrees. On Monday, temperatures only reached 98 degrees. Through Sunday and Monday, the LADWP said that over 6,000 residents lost power, due to overheated equipment. The LADWP general manager, Marcie Edwards, said that consumers need to conserve their energy use through actions like avoiding the use of large appliances and setting air conditioning to 78 degrees. 

Brett Albright, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said that the current temperatures in Los Angeles are about 15 degrees higher than average. He said that autumn heat waves are not unheard of in the region; temperatures in October and November have reached 100 degrees in the past. While heat waves are common in Los Angeles, temperatures throughout the state have been climbing. 

Earlier this week, climate scientists announced that January-August 2014 were California’s warmest first eight months of a year since data collection began in 1895. The average temperature for the 8 month period, 62.6 degrees, was four degrees warmer than the 20th century average for the same span of time. California’s increased temperatures, and the drought that has been accompanying them, have been linked to global warming. 

Climate scientist Jonathan Overpeck said that higher temperatures could cause more and longer droughts, including possibly a decade-long “megadrought.”

About that drought — it’s not just about me sweltering while I blog.  Everyone will be affected:

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Going past the VSPs

Going past the VSPs

by digby

Dean Baker gave a talk the other day.  And it was a scathing take-down of all the Very Serious People (especially deficit hawks) who nobody should listen to. But what is sure to make them very angry is the fact that people went around them and thwarted their plans by taking the issue directly to … average citizens.

If people working outside of the mainstream of the profession are going to have any impact on economic policy debates in the United States it is essential that they understand the forum in which the debate is taking place. This is not a contest of ideas where the best arguments and evidence win out. If we are talking about a debate within the economics profession, think of debating the morality of abortion with the pope in front of the College of Cardinals. That is pretty much what it is like to try to challenge any of the main precepts of economics within the economics profession.

The route for making progress is to get outside of the profession. For this it is necessary to appeal to people in policy positions, to reporters, to the general public, or to people who might follow economic debates, but don’t have extensive backgrounds in economics. And it is important to recognize what you are asking these people to do. You are asking these people to accept your claims over the claims of the most prominent economists in the profession.

Read the whole thing to see the examples he provides. You won’t be sorry.

Astro-fracking North Carolina by @BloggersRUs

Astro-Fracking North Carolina
by Tom Sullivan

Courtesy of its GOP-led legislature, the great state of North Carolina is exploring fracking Triassic Basin shale deposits in the center of the state. Gov. Pat McCrory this summer lifted the moratorium on the practice in place since 2012. The bill he signed also made revealing the chemical components of fracking fluids a misdemeanor (an earlier draft made it a felony). A friend already has a T-shirt listing fracking chemicals on the back. The front reads, “This T-shirt is illegal in North Carolina.”

The Mining and Energy Commission is taking public comment on fracking in the state, naturally. Last week, they held their last public meeting in the mountains at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee. About 550 people attended. Opponents, mostly, and a few astroturf fracking supporters.

Few pro-fracking supporters made themselves visible. People favoring the drilling technology were booed and hissed at during previous fracking hearings. There were some, however. Three or four from America’s Energy Forum and N.C. Energy Forum, groups that receive financial support from American Petroleum Institute. And there was Winston-Salem resident Christian Bradshaw, who said he made the three-hour trip to support “energy-creating jobs” for North Carolina.

According to news reports (and friends who were there), about 18 men arrived wearing “Shale Yes” T-shirts, but seemed unaware of what fracking is. At least one had come from a Winston-Salem homeless shelter because “he had been told it would help the environment.” As a friend described it, once the Army veteran realized he’d been duped, he couldn’t believe he’d sold out for a sandwich.

“The energy industry keeps claiming that there is support for fracking in WNC. What they fail to mention is that they have to bus the clueless ‘supporters’ in,” said Betsy Ashby, who helped organize Jackson County Coalition Against Fracking.

One of the men apologized to Ashby, saying “I didn’t know they were trying to do this to me.” Another indicated he had just done it for the money.

“They’re being exploited seven ways to Sunday,” Ashby told reporters.

Whether the issue is women’s health, school funding, Medicaid expansion, or preserving voting rights and the environment — the Moral Monday Movement’s fusion agenda — that’s pretty much how it goes. Among the tens of thousands of Moral Monday protesters, a thousand were willing to be arrested to oppose the NCGOP’s radical agenda. The Koch brothers, Art Pope, and the rest of the Midas cult have to buy support. Boy howdy, can they afford to. And even then, they are exploiting people.

(h/t Ashevegas)

What if everybody misses?

What if everybody misses?


by digby

I love hearing Americans moralize about barbarism among people in other cuntries.  Because we are so civilized.For instance, in Wyoming they just voted to bring back the firing squad due to all the unpleasantness surrounding killing people with lethal injection lately.  Here’s an example of the superior moral framework we operate under here in the US:

State Rep. Stephen Watt (R) was one of the lawmakers who voted against the firing squad bill last week. He was shot and seriously wounded while serving with the Wyoming Highway Patrol and said his opposition was based on his personal experience. 

“We’re all operating under the assumption that this is going to be instantaneous death,” Watt said, according to the AP. “What happens if everybody misses?”

It could be very messy. Of course, it would be very messy anyway with the bullets tearing into the person’s flesh and pieces of their body flying all over the place and all that blood. But hey, here in American we’re used to that. Gunfire is actually pretty common and the carnage it creates is considered to be the price we pay for our freedom to carry deadly weapons anywhere we choose.

Honestly, if the big question about the death penalty by firing squad is “what if everybody misses” I’m pretty sure everybody has already missed the point.,

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“He didn’t drop one tear”

“He didn’t drop one tear”


by digby

Oh dear lord, this makes me feel like crying:

There are pictures of this little boy at the link — he’s a baby really, only 4 years old — with bloody cuts all over his thighs.

Adrian Peterson released a statement saying that he is not a child abuser. But it’s quite clear from that text message in which he is proud that his horrible beating did not produce any tears from his tiny little son (as well as the somewhat depraved act of forcing leaves into his son’s mouth as he whipped him with a piece of wood) show that he is, even if he’s never thought to define himself that way. It’s a sick power trip that would make a 6’1 inch 220 pound professional athlete draw blood on a 4 year old as a punishment, regardless of how he rationalizes his intention.

I understand that there’s a chance he’s so damaged himself that he truly didn’t know any better. But that doesn’t mitigate the essential cruelty of his act or his attitude about it.

That poor little guy couldn’t even let himself cry.


Update:  This by Will Saletan

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Just don’t call them a rubber stamp

Just don’t call them a rubber stamp

by digby

So here’s our grand congressional debate and respect for the separation of powers that everyone’s been clamoring for. I’m sure you’ll be shocked to know that they’ll ok the operation, after all. They just want the president to file some reports on a regular basis to keep them in the loop:

House Republicans expect to unveil legislation Monday evening that would give President Obama the authority to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels, but with some limits on that authority.

The House Armed Services Committee is drafting the bill in consultation with the administration. It is expected to take the form of an amendment to a stopgap-spending bill that would keep the government funded through Dec. 11, according to a senior committee aide.

Votes on the spending bill and the Syrian aid could come as soon as Wednesday.

The measure includes several provisions intended to satisfy Republicans and Democrats worried about giving the administration blanket authority to arm and train rebel groups, who would be used in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

It would require Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to submit the administration’s plan for training the moderate opposition 15 days before the commencement of any such activities, the aide said. That requirement was put forward by the administration, the aide added.

After that, Hagel would have to submit an update to lawmakers every 90 days.

Members want to “keep tabs” on the number of Syrian rebel troops trained and deployed, as well as how effective they are on the battlefield and what’s happened to the equipment they’ve used, the aide explained.

I guess they told the president what was what. Glad we have the congress fully engaged on this important matter of war and peace.

Oh, and by the way, if there’s one thing on which these congressional over-seers do disagree with the president it’s his unwillingness to put boots on the ground.

Republicans like war.  Most Democrats do too. If the polls say the people are for it you had better bet they will be too.

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It sure is a good thing we’re past all that messy race stuff

It sure is a good thing we’re past all that messy race stuff

by digby

This is depressing but not unexpected when you consider what we’ve found out about the political and law enforcement system in the area:

A new public opinion survey of St. Louis County residents shows the public perception of the death 18-year-old Michael Brown and its aftermath is sharply divided along racial lines.

The survey, released Monday morning by the Kansas City-based Remington Research Group, found that 65 percent of African-American county residents believe that Ferguson Police officer Darren Wilson acted unjustly when he ended Brown’s life Aug. 9 on a Ferguson street.

Conversely, 62 percent of the white residents surveyed by Remington believe the shooting death of Brown was justified.

The fissure broke even wider when surveyors asked if Wilson should be “arrested and charged with a crime” with 71 percent of African American residents responding “yes” opposed to the 71 percent of white survey-takers who believe the police officer should not be held liable.

This is, naturally, a result that proves African Americans are reverse racists.

It’s disillusioning to see this since the media has been all over this story and has exposed a lot of the systemic racial biases in the county. I can see how decent people in their everyday lives might not have been aware of it before. But they should be now.

But then it’s probable that the numbers were even more starkly divided before …

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Kris Kobach: a man with a mission

Kris Kobach: a man with a mission

by digby

My piece for Salon today tackles yet another “vote fraud” fraud — the Kansas Secretary of State, Kris Kobach:

Following up on my post on Friday about the long illustrious history of conservative vote suppression it’s interesting that one of the nation’s foremost activists in the field should be in the spotlight going into the November election. Indeed, he’s right in the middle of one of the most interesting races in the country.

I’m referring to Kris Kobach, the Republican Kansas Secretary of State who was sued last week by the former Democratic candidate for the Senate who dropped out of the race in favor of an independent. If you haven’t heard about this wild turn of events, in a nutshell, the Kansas GOP is imploding under the disastrous leadership of the ultra-conservative Governor Sam Brownback. It’s so bad that GOP leaders in the state are defecting from the party and it looks as though a former Democrat-turned-independent may just unseat long term Republican incumbent Pat Roberts. Seeing the opening for an upset, the Democrats in the state persuaded their candidate to drop out and he agreed to do it. He followed all the rules for withdrawal but Kobach’s office says no dice: you’re staying on the ballot whether you want to run or not.

Koback is a real piece of work — the guy who helped the notorious Russell Pierce draft Arizona’s AB 1070. Needless to say he’s doing everything in his power to insure that the Kansas GOP’s rebellion isn’t successful. He’s just the kin of Republican a lot of these folks are getting tired of.

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