DL Open Thread: Monday, July 12, 2021
I have heard a number of TV weather types speaking openly of climate change. Better late?
Heatwaves both sides of the country made it the hottest on record, in the U.S., reports the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Records go back 127 years.
The average June temperature across the contiguous U.S. was 72.6 degrees F (4.2 degrees above average), making it the hottest June in 127 years of record keeping and surpassing the record set in June 2016 by 0.9 of a degree.
Eight states — Arizona, California, Idaho, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Utah — also saw their hottest June on record. Six other states — Connecticut, Maine, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming — marked their 2nd hottest June.
The average June precipitation across the U.S. was 2.93 inches, matching exactly the historical average for the month, though some states had extremes in rainfall — either too much or too little. For example, South Dakota saw its driest June on record while Mississippi had its second wettest.
Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will begin on Friday July 23, 2021 and ends on Sunday August 8. As a kid I LOVED the Olympics. Now Jim McKay is dead and they only seem to cover sports that the USA is sure to medal in. #boring #oldguycomplaints
Nigeria stuns Team USA basketball in Olympic tune-up for one of biggest upsets in international history
Part of me likes the real life proof of Darwinism, but the idea that these dumb meat sacks are breading a super variant bothers the fuck out of me.
Almost all new COVID-19 cases are among people who have not been vaccinated
Speaking of dumb meat sacks, Brazil’s President has out Trumped Trump.
“If the government had bought vaccines early, we would have saved a lot of lives. We have a President who does not believe in science. He believes in herd immunity.” The senator insists his inquiry is not partisan. “The virus does not choose political parties,” he told us. “Everyone is dying.”
From the outset of the pandemic, the Brazilian leader has been dismissive of Covid-19, calling it “a little flu.” Asked last year about deaths from the virus he replied “that’s a question for a grave digger”.
Nicaraguan President and one time Ronald Reagan Boogeyman, Daniel Ortega, is fucking up.
Police in Nicaragua have arrested two student activists and three members of the Farmers’ Movement in its latest crackdown on the opposition.
Among those arrested on Monday night was Medardo Mairena, who was planning to run for the Nicaraguan presidency.
His arrest brings the number of presidential hopefuls detained since the beginning of June to six.
President Daniel Ortega is expected to stand for a fourth consecutive term in the election in November.
Police said in a statement that the activists detained on Monday were under investigation for allegedly threatening Nicaragua’s “sovereignty” under a controversial new treason law introduced in December.
If it seems like the fundraising never ends, it is because the fundraising never ends. And yet, I love this appeal from Sarah McBride. “Big wins start early”
https://actblue.com/Sarah 600 days
Ironic that people who don’t believe in evolution are being decimated by a newly evolved virus. “The good thing about science is that it’s true even if you don’t believe in it.”
Biden’s comments reached FDR rhetorical territory while signing the executive order on competition:
Capitalism without competition isn’t capitalism; it’s exploitation… what we’ve seen over the past few decades is less competition and more concentration that holds our economy back. We see it in big agriculture, in big tech, in big pharma. The list goes on.
Rather than competing for consumers, they are consuming their competitors. Rather than competing for workers, they’re finding ways to gain the upper hand on labor.
Biden correctly identifies Reaganomics as the kickoff of the current anti-competitive environment. Reagan used to be a sacred cow but now that he has been rejected by Trumpublicans, it is time to re-evaluate the harm Reagan policies and their successors have done:
Yet over the last several decades, as industries have consolidated, competition has weakened in too many markets, denying Americans the benefits of an open economy and widening racial, income, and wealth inequality.
Biden also addresses the right-wing “socialist” bulls**t:
I’m a proud capitalist. I spent most of my career representing the corporate state of Delaware. I know America can’t succeed unless American business succeeds.
But let me be very clear: Capitalism without competition isn’t capitalism; it’s exploitation.
I haven’t digested the executive order yet, but it is encouraging, specifically pledging to pursue anti-trust law, and calling out pharma, telecom/internet providers, and even banks. (Joe, your phone is ringing, it’s Chris Coons).
Read the whole thing: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/07/09/executive-order-on-promoting-competition-in-the-american-economy/
Thanks for the link. Good stuff.
I wish more Dems could put this kind of language into their campaigns.
I inadvertently posted the link to the order itself. Here’s the link to Joe’s signing remarks which impressed me so much:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/07/09/remarks-by-president-biden-at-signing-of-an-executive-order-promoting-competition-in-the-american-economy/