DL Open Thread: Saturday, June 24, 2023

Need To Repost This.  You know, with the relentless heat wave in Texas and all:

In a week when parts of the state are getting triple-digit temperatures and weather officials urge Texans to stay cool and hydrated, Gov. Greg Abbott gave final approval to a law that will eliminate local rules mandating water breaks for construction workers.

House Bill 2127 was passed by the Texas Legislature during this year’s regular legislative session. Abbott signed it Tuesday. It will go into effect on Sept. 1.

Supporters of the law have said it will eliminate a patchwork of local ordinances across the state that bog down businesses. The law’s scope is broad but ordinances that establish minimum breaks in the workplace are one of the explicit targets. The law will nullify ordinances enacted by Austin in 2010 and Dallas in 2015 that established 10-minute breaks every four hours so that construction workers can drink water and protect themselves from the sun. It also prevents other cities from passing such rules in the future. San Antonio has been considering a similar ordinance.

Texas is the state where the most workers die from high temperatures, government data shows. At least 42 workers died in Texas between 2011 and 2021 from environmental heat exposure, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Workers’ unions claim this data doesn’t fully reflect the magnitude of the problem because heat-related deaths are often recorded under a different primary cause of injury.

Utterly inhumane.  Those who passed this can’t be human–can they?

A Literal Circular Firing Squad?  Yes, please:

Russian President Vladimir Putin, citing a threat to his nation, said he had ordered the military to squash a rebellion led by Wagner mercenary boss Yevgeniy Prigozhin. Prigozhin claimed early Saturday to have taken control of the Russian military command base in Rostov-on-Don in the south. Meanwhile, the governor of the Voronezh region further north said a “counterterrorist operation” by the military there was underway. The U.K.’s defense ministry said that Wagner units were “moving north” through the Voronezh region, “almost certainly aiming to get to Moscow.”

Putin promised harsh consequences for the organizers of Wagner’s Saturday operation: “Everyone who deliberately embarked on the path of betrayal, who prepared an armed rebellion, chose the path of blackmail and terrorist methods — they will suffer inevitable punishment,” Putin said in a five-minute speech.

A Figurative Circular Firing Squad?  Fox vs. Tucker Carlson.  Yes, thank you:

Fox News and its longtime prime-time star at loggerheads as Tucker Carlson broadcasts on Twitter from a barn in Maine while the network that fired him demands he cease and desist.

This month, Carlson debuted Tucker on Twitter. By Twitter’s count, that first 10-minute, conspiracy-laced monologue has been viewed nearly 120m times. Four episodes have followed, addressing Trump’s federal arraignment; attacking Biden; and ridiculing US support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.

But Carlson remains under contract to Fox. A cease-and-desist letter was sent, Carlson’s lawyers responding with defiance.

Fox has struggled to fill a hole in its primetime schedule as guest hosts try to replicate or replace Carlson’s blend of preppy ties and hard-right invective. But on Twitter, viewer numbers have fallen for Carlson too. Carlson’s most recent episode, on Hunter Biden’s plea deal on tax and gun charges, attracted fewer than 15m views.

Rail Workers Get Paid Sick Days–Shout Out Biden And Bernie:

“We’re thankful that the Biden administration played the long game on sick days and stuck with us for months after Congress imposed our updated national agreement,” Russo said. “Without making a big show of it, Joe Biden and members of his administration in the Transportation and Labor departments have been working continuously to get guaranteed paid sick days for all railroad workers.

“We know that many of our members weren’t happy with our original agreement,” Russo said, “but through it all, we had faith that our friends in the White House and Congress would keep up the pressure on our railroad employers to get us the sick day benefits we deserve. Until we negotiated these new individual agreements with these carriers, an IBEW member who called out sick was not compensated.”

On Feb. 8, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, wrote a letter to the leaders of six Class I railroads, urging them to guarantee at least seven paid sick days for all of their workers.

“Last year, the companies you lead made over $22 billion in profits,” Sanders wrote, noting that they had cut 30% of the workforce over the last six years. “Guaranteeing seven paid sick days to rail workers would cost your industry just $321 million.”

Russo is grateful that Sanders stepped in. “We truly compliment his effort to bring dignity to workers in the rail industry,” he said. “Without it, we very likely would not have gotten what we have gained today.”

‘Kind Of A Drag, DeSantis’ Bill Has Hit A Snag’.  Wonder how much this bill will ultimately cost Florida’s economy…

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked a new Florida law targeting drag shows that was championed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell granted a preliminary injunction stopping the law from being enforced until a trial is held to determine its constitutionality, and he denied a Florida licensing and regulatory agency’s request to dismiss it.

The complaint was brought by the owner of a Hamburger Mary’s restaurant and bar in Orlando, which regularly hosts drag shows, including family-friendly performances on Sundays where children were invited to attend. The restaurant owner said it violated First Amendment rights by chilling speech, was written vaguely and was overbroad.

Ayatollah you so.

Yes, You Could Place A Bet On The Submarine’s Fate.  I can’t even…:

Since Wednesday, users of Polymarket, a crypto-based futures trading platform, wagered over $300,000 on whether the “missing submarine” would “be found by June 23.” Naturally, this prompted online discourse about the ethics of profiteering from an event that was likely to turn out fatal.

Truth is, you can bet on almost anything on Polymarket: propositions as light as where French soccer superstar Kylian Mbappé will play next year; ones as as dark as whether Russia will detonate a nuclear bomb by 2023 (betting “yes” and expecting to collect seems like a leap of faith); and the bizarre, like taking odds on if a former sexual partner of NBA power forward Zion Williamson will release a sex tape. So it’s not surprising that a global news story ended up generating bets on the platform.

Wanna know what kind of sickos place such bets? Read the story.

Chamber Fat-Cats And Legislative Lackeys Celebrate Bills ‘Streamlining’ Projects By Bypassing The Public:

Submitted Photo

Gov. John Carney and stakeholders that contributed to Delaware’s “Ready in 6” initiative celebrate the signing of House Bill 104 June 6. The legislation was introduced by Rep. Bill Bush, D-Dover, with co-sponsorship from Sen. Jack Walsh, D-Stanton, and Sen. Spiros Mantzavinos, D-Elsmere.

Bleaghhhh!!

What do you want to talk about?