Delaware Liberal

DL Open Thread: Monday, August 16, 2021

Yo, Joe, Stop This Pipeline Now.  They voted for you.  The filthiest oil in the United States, headed here ‘courtesy’ of a Canadian corporation, will soon flow through Indigenous lands if you allow this.  5 billion gallons of water diverted,  760,000 barrels of crude per day to flow through across 14 counties in northern Minnesota.  Was the appointing of an Indigenous Secretary of the Interior just for show? Sure looks like it:

Indigenous and environmental activists say the pipeline not only poses a grave risk to Minnesota’s environment but hinders the state’s transition to clean energy and violates the long-held treaty rights of Native tribes that depend on the land for their cultural identities and livelihood.

More than 700 demonstrators have been arrested this summer during acts of civil disobedience, according to the Pipeline Legal Action Network, an organization that coordinates legal support for Line 3 protesters. Those acts include incidents where protesters chained themselves to drills, climbed inside sections of pipe still waiting to be laid in the ground and blocked access to construction sites by hosting Indigenous ceremonies in the middle of roads used by Enbridge workers.

But as activists dug in their heels, they were met by equally increasing hostility from police, who say they’re simply carrying out the laws that have been put in place by the state’s elected officials and top regulators.

In June, protesters accused police of using a low-flying helicopter as a form of intimidation. In July, several demonstrators were sprayed with chemical irritants and shot with rubber bullets by law enforcement after the activists scaled a fence meant to keep people out of an Enbridge construction site. And last week, one demonstrator was reportedly knocked unconscious by police in Pennington County during a trespassing arrest, according to a social media post. The video on the social post showed the young activist being aggressively pulled to the ground by officers.

Yo, Joe, or any of his officials–Please read this paragraph:

Many had hoped the Biden administration would intervene, as it did with the Keystone XL pipeline in January. Those hopes were dashed after the Department of Justice filed a legal brief in late June that defended the project.

Biden’s Justice Department is defending the despoiling of Indigenous lands in Minnesota.  Just thought you’d like to know.

Everybody Knew That Kabul Would Fall, Going Back At Least A Decade. They just didn’t tell us. Yet, we stayed.  To what purpose?:

In fact, according to documents obtained for the forthcoming Washington Post book “The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War,” U.S. military officials privately harbored fundamental doubts for the duration of the war that the Afghan security forces could ever become competent or shed their dependency on U.S. money and firepower. “Thinking we could build the military that fast and that well was insane,” an unnamed former U.S. official told government interviewers in 2016.

Mr. Anderson’s five-person firm, which takes its name from the German airship that blew up in 1937, is a newbie in the world of finance. Founded in 2017, Hindenburg specializes in publishing detailed reports about publicly traded companies, poking holes in their stories and alerting investors to potential malfeasance. The boom in special purpose acquisition companies has provided Hindenburg with fertile ground.

It’s not an act of public service. Hindenburg, which has the backing of several investors, also makes financial bets that the stocks of the companies Mr. Anderson is targeting will fall after the firm issues its research. When the stocks do fall, Hindenburg makes its money in what is called a “short” trade.

Just what is a ‘special purpose acquisition company’?  It’s a scam on wheels that rarely moves:

Sometimes called a “blank check” company, a SPAC raises money from investors through a public offering and has two years to find an operating business to merge with. Many companies that go public via this route undergo far less scrutiny than they would in initial public offerings.

You know what? On balance, I admire this guy.

You Ever Watch ‘Bar Rescue’?  It was kinda like ‘Cheaters’ (replete with surreptitious footage), with shitty bars standing in for adulterers.  This should guarantee that you don’t watch the reruns:

“I have a friend in the military who trains military dogs, Laura. And they only feed a military dog at night. Because a hungry dog is an obedient dog. Well, if we’re not causing people to be hungry to work then we’re providing them with all the meals they need sitting at home. I’m completely with you Laura. These benefits make absolutely no sense to us.”

Oh No! Climate Change Impacting Coffee.   The heartier, but more bitter, robusta bean is being planted more heavily while the arabica bean is feeling the effects of climate change:

It also promises to gradually alter the flavour of the world’s coffee over the coming years as more of the harsher and more caffeine-charged robusta variety, widely used to make instant coffee, makes its way into the pricier ground blends currently dominated by arabica.

Folks, we gotta do something!

Does Delaware Really Need A ‘Meat Kingdom’?  This upcoming restaurant appears to be challenging the trend.  I like a good steak as much as anyone, but I eat a whole lot less of it than I used to, and I suspect I’m not the only one.

15 Of NCC’s 25 Highest Paid Employees Are Cops.  Tom Gordon may be gone, but his influence remains.

What do you want to talk about?

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