DL Open Thread: Friday, June 25, 2021

A Message To You Rudy:  You can’t practice law in New York State:

In its 33-page decision, the court said that Mr. Giuliani’s actions represented an “immediate threat” to the public and that he had “directly inflamed” the tensions that led to the Capitol riot in January.

“The seriousness of respondent’s uncontroverted misconduct cannot be overstated. This country is being torn apart by continued attacks on the legitimacy of the 2020 election and of our current president, Joseph R. Biden,” the decision read.

‘Apple Doesn’t Fall Far From The Tree’ Department:

Michigan Rethugs Surrender: Trump Lost.  Ex-GOP Official: Arizona Audit ‘Should Not Be Trusted’.  Georgia Judge Dismisses Most Of Trump Voter Fraud Lawsuit.  Bad day for The Big Lie.

Georgia Voter Suppression In Action.  Further enabled by recently-enacted Georgia laws.  Rethug activist tries to get over 30,000 Cobb County voters thrown off the rolls.

A Gathering Of Deplorables.  More behind-the-scenes reporting on how January 6 turned into a full-scale riot.

Break Up Amazon.  More proof they’re purveyors of fake news:

Amazon is the only company I’ve dealt with that has directly lied to me,” said one tech writer, recalling instances when Amazon boasted of warehousesafety guidelines in ways that journalists who had spoken with rank-and-file employees had found not to be true.

“They’d often lie about things we had proof of,” said another reporter, citing times they had visual evidence contradicting the communications teams’ claims. “There will be videos of these big walkouts and they’ll say only a few workers participated.”

I Don’t Think The Surfside Condo Collapse Is Much Of A Mystery.  A tragedy, yes.  However:

Another issue at hand for the Surfside community is one shared with all of Miami Beach: The towns are built on a barrier island. Climate scientists and geologists have long warned that these islands cannot be developed responsibly. They are made of a loose mixture of sand and mud and provide a natural protection for the shoreline…

An analysis of satellite images taken of Miami Beach, which includes the town of Surfside, found that the area had moved slightly each year through the 1990s, according to a study published in the journal Ocean & Coastal Management in April 2020. The report noted that these issues can lead to greater flooding and hazards for local communities.

Americans have built approximately $3 trillion worth of property on barrier islands and coastal floodplains, according to “The Geography of Risk,” a book by Pulitzer Prize winner Gilbert Gaul that analyzes the real estate investment in beach communities over the past century.

“It’s a tough conversation to have, but the building shouldn’t have been there,” Pilkey said, “along with a lot of other buildings. We’re due for a real awakening.”

Fate Of Magazine Capacity Ban Uncertain.  Because, as Sen. Sokola pointed out, the bill as amended that passed the House is essentially a new bill.  What is certain, however, is that some of these so-called D’s in the House must be primaried.  I’ll start calling them out as soon as this session of the General Assembly wraps up.

How Everybody Fucked Up The Marijuana Legalization Bill.  Utterly pathetic:

The bill won’t be voted on this year because of a dispute among Republicans, the bill’s authors and Black lawmakers over a proposed business licensing program, as well as lobbying efforts from police and Gov. John Carney, who opposes the bill, according to interviews by Delaware Online/The News Journal with more than 15 lawmakers, lobbying interests and those close to the measure.

The bill spiraled once lawmakers realized — months after introducing the bill — that a “social equity” fund attached to the proposal meant that 75% of lawmakers in both chambers would have to vote yes.

Originally, they thought they only needed 60%, which was already a hard number to reach.

In Delaware, any public money going to a business needs 75% of lawmakers’ approval, according to the state constitution… (I guess the ‘Economic Development slush fund’ is immune from this provision.)

…Lawmakers haven’t only taken issue with the loan program. While Democrats hold 60% of both chambers in 62-member Statehouse, some Democratic lawmakers don’t support legal weed at all — enough, in fact, to keep the bill from passing. (Primaries, pipples)

As a result, Osienski has had to resort to scraping a few votes from the other side of the aisle while still appeasing to progressives, forcing him to engage in what some in Legislative Hall have described as a head-spinning game of weed-sanctioning “whack-a-mole.”

As usual, both Carney and the cops lobbied against the bill:

When asked about Carney’s lobbying efforts with lawmakers, his spokesman Jonathan Starkey said Carney has “technical concerns (bullshit) with the legislation around finances and tax collection, public safety and public health.”

“We have raised those issues with legislators,” Starkey said.

Regulating legal sales would cost the state more than $3 million a year, according to an official financial analysis of the bill. Officials did not do an analysis on how much revenue it would bring by taxing sales at 15%.  (Of course not.)

Police oppose the bill because they can use marijuana as a way to catch criminals who are dealing harder drugs such as heroin because they sometimes smoke marijuana, Brackin said. He could not provide exactly how often police are able to do this.

“Law enforcement is often able to precipitate investigations based on the presence, the obvious presence of marijuana in someone’s possession,” he said. “It’s a regular course of business that at times marijuana has led to more serious charges.”

This fucking State.

What do you want to talk about?