DL Open Thread: Thursday, March 9, 2023
Cali To Walgreen’s: “Drop Dead”. I’m with Cali. Walgreen’s corporate has bowed to threats from Red State assholes and has unilaterally decided not to distribute abortion pills in 20 states:
Newsom called this week for a review of all contracts between California and Walgreens after the pharmacy chain committed to not selling mifepristone in states where it had received legal threats from Republican leaders. The contract being halted allows California state agencies — primarily the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation — to procure specialty prescription drugs from Walgreens and was due for renewal May 1, the governor’s office said in the statement.
Walgreens said it is “deeply disappointed” by the state’s decision and that after it receives certification to distribute mifepristone it plans to do so in states where it is legal, including California.
Delaware? You’re on the clock.
Biden, Dems, Abandon Principles, Screw DC. So predictable. So feckless:
Republicans saw advantage in the division among Democrats. “Led by the president, the Democrats are in full retreat on the D.C. criminal law issue,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters on Tuesday.
House Republican Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., told reporters on Wednesday morning that Democrats are “scrambling,” and that Democrats who voted against the resolution in the House “now have to explain to their constituents how they are in the most radical, pro-criminal members of their party.”
“Make no mistake: Democrats remain the pro-criminal, anti-law enforcement party. This is some serious Monday morning quarterbacking from the party that knows its soft-on-crime policies have led to losses in the past two election cycles,” Emmer said.
Yep, the D’s are ‘pro-criminal, anti-law enforcement’ party. Except when it comes to overthrowing the government. Something not mentioned by even one feckless D.
Carper Took Over $30K From Norfolk Southern, Will Chair Hearings On Train Wrecks. Hey, there’s a reason why Congress never imposed tougher safety standards. Those very reasons will now try to grandstand against Norfolk Southern’s longstanding failures:
Norfolk Southern’s corporate PAC has donated more than $375,000 to members of the Senate committee set to grill the railroad’s chief executive on Thursday about the toxic derailment of one of the company’s trains in East Palestine, Ohio.
Seven of the nine Republicans and four of the 10 Democrats who sit on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee have cashed campaign checks from the PAC over the course of their careers, according to a HuffPost review of Federal Election Commission records dating back to 2000. The Republicans’ campaign committees and leadership PACs have collected $304,000 from Norfolk Southern, while the Democrats have received $75,000.
Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), the committee chair, promised earlier this week to “hold Norfolk Southern accountable” at the hearing. Biden administration officials and Democrats want to keep the focus on Norfolk Southern and are broadly wary of Republicans using the hearing to take shots at Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who has admitted to mishandling the political elements of the response, or President Joe Biden, who has yet to make a promised visit to East Palestine.
For instance, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), the ranking Republican on the panel, called the federal response to the derailment “miserable” earlier this month.
Carper and Capito have both taken money from Norfolk Southern’s PAC. Carper is the Democrat who received the most cash, banking just over $30,000. Capito received $60,000.
Add this to Carper’s Corporate Jumpsuit:
I’m still researching Norfolk Southern’s ‘gifts’ to Delaware legislators. Bobby Byrd is their lobbyist, and they lobbied hard against the state’s $15 minimum wage.
The Kristian Kabal Against Trans Rights. Just as Jesus would have wanted it:
On a Saturday afternoon in August 2019, South Dakota Republican state Rep. Fred Deutsch sent an email to 18 anti-trans activists, doctors, and lawyers withthe text of a bill he planned to introduce that would make it a felony for doctors to give transgender children under 16 gender-affirming medical care. “I have no doubt this will be an uphill battle when we get to session,” Deutsch warned the group. “As always, please do not share this with the media. The longer we can fly under the radar the better.”
The message was one in a trove of emails obtained by Mother Jones between Deutsch and representatives of a network of activists and organizations at the forefront of the anti-trans movement. They show the degree to which these activists shaped Deutsch’s repressive legislation, a version of which was signed into law in February, and the tactics, alliances, and goals of a movement that has sought to foist their agenda on a national scale.
The emails demonstrate close collaboration between groups working behind the scenes to push bills banning transgender health care, including ADF—which has defended state-sanctioned sterilization of trans people in Europe—and the ACPeds—which has opposed adoption by gay couples and supported conversion therapy for LGBTQ youth. In recent years, ADF has drafted legislation banning trans children from using school restrooms or playing on school sports teams that align with their gender identity. (Both groups are also staunchly anti-abortion; ADF, which drafted the Mississippi abortion ban at the heart of the case that overturned Roe v. Wade, is currently representing ACPeds in a closely-watched lawsuit to ban an abortion pill, mifepristone, nationally.)
These findings – based on a model developed by a team of researchers at institutions including the University of Washington – show that, across the contiguous US, the neighborhoods burdened by the worst pollution are overwhelmingly the same places where Black and Hispanic populations live. Race is more of a predictor of air pollution exposure than income level, researchers have found.
“What we’re seeing here is segregation,” said Julian Marshall, professor of environmental engineering at the University of Washington, co-director of the Center for Air, Climate and Energy Solutions and one of the team of researchers that created the computer model. “You have segregation of people and segregation of pollution.”
Why Does Wilmington Hate Those Who Park In The City?
While a federal civil rights lawsuit aims to lay bare how Delaware’s largest city violates drivers’ constitutional rights by allowing companies to tow cars, scrap or sell them and keep the proceeds, a host of other issues with Wilmington’s parking enforcement practices continues to plague visitors and residents alike.
Drivers have received collection notices and delinquency letters for parking tickets that are dismissed; been cited late fees on parking tickets while they’re appealing them; and, in some instances, weren’t provided information on how to appeal the city’s administrative decisions to court in the first place.
Ken Grant, a parking advocate and public affairs professional, remains skeptical that the reforms will quell the problems with the appeal process. Wilmington has refused to publicly discuss parking issues and instead, worked behind the scenes with a handful of city council members to come up with changes.
That’s as Delaware Way as it gets. John Carney approves.
What do you want to talk about?
Wow! Can relate! Band practice was moved to a condo in Wilmington, got a ticket the first time I went up there. It showed a traffic cam shot of a car running a red light that had a six number plate, at the time mine was four digits. Took two months to get the clowns to cut it out, including the usual threats. While I admit I hate going to Dover, Newark or “Da Beach” in general Wilmington leads my list of go to hell and take your traffic court with you.
Bureaucrats’ mediocre performance are a headache / heartache across DE’s many jurisdictions. Special interests seem to ALWAYS rule the day with these mofos. What percent of these payrolls are patronage jobs?
Guess who’s protecting this status quo –
Anti-nepotism ordinance receives pushback from members of Wilmington City Council
https://www.wdel.com/news/anti-nepotism-ordinance-receives-pushback-from-members-of-wilmington-city-council/article_a2964ee2-bd7f-11ed-a180-d3e1172952fb.html
Also, what about LNG? Potential mass casualty is one LNG train, truck, or ship explosion away. US is sitting on hands over the risks for populations near LNG transit. DE didn’t raise a peep over the new southern NJ LNG port on the Delaware River.
And the legal fights seem to be still ongoing between DE environmentalists and the refinery over the oil train expansion.
Mile-long tank trains full of crude are routinely spotted for 12-48 hours on NS tracks between 13-40 split and bear. The demographics don’t lie, NS has made it clear that the lives, property and safety of low income and/or brown people are just the cost of doing business.
I’ll never forgive Walgreens for taking away Happy Harrys…. this is just icing (crust?) on the dog-crap cake.
Alan Levin wanted to sell. Nobody in his family wanted to take up the mantle. Walgreen’s gave him the deal that most protected the employees at that time.
Walgreen’s has since merged with a British retailer, Boots Alliance. Under Walgreen’s, everyone in upper management had to have had pharmacy experience. That is no longer the case. Management has no clue as to how pharmacies should be run, and doesn’t give two shits about attracting and retaining top-notch employees.