Thursday: Bad Girls
One thing before I go any further…look just above these words, below this post’s title and to the right of the date of publication. See the name ‘Rayne’? That’s me, that’s my byline. Please note there are multiple contributors here at emptywheel. The entire site is eponymously named for its owner, Marcy Wheeler, whose online name and byline is the same as this blog. Check the byline on our posts if you haven’t done so in the past. You’ll note we have different voices and opinions, different writing styles. I tend to be the most open about my dislike for what the Republican Party has become since 1978, when I last toyed with being Republican. Marcy and the rest of the crew tend to be more generous or less open in their vituperation. Take note of the byline when when you read and comment, thanks.
Still indulging in female artist K-pop, choosing this video for a very specific reason…
TWO DAYS
That’s it, what’s left of today and all day tomorrow — that’s all the U.S. House will be in session for July. Outstanding job this week trashing the EPA with bullshit riders, GOP members. Way to fucking go with extending your run serving corporations ahead of the people.
Tick-tock.
BAD GIRL (UK edition)
After today’s wash list of badness, I can hardly wait to hear what comes of May’s visit on Friday to Scotland.
- New UK PM Theresa May doubles down on the stupid naming Priti Patel to Dept of International Development (The Independent) — In spite (or because) of Priti Patel’s 2013 opinion that the DofID should be eliminated and focus aimed solely on trade. Patel’s been referred to as a “Tory ‘robot’.”
- David Davis, named ‘Brexit Czar’, already beating drums for trade negotiations now () — taking an offensive stance on Article 50, wanting deals BEFORE executing the article, in essence extending the two-year period for negotiations. That’s not what the Lisbon Treaty specifies, though. And European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has already warned the UK the EU won’t negotiate at all before Article 50 has been filed.
- May abolished the Department for Energy and Climate Change, absorbing it into the new Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (The Independent) — Wow. Pure climate denialism combined with fascism. Stunning level of stupidity.
- Anna Leadsom, new Environment Secretary, advocates burning everything down (The Independent) — Not really, but bloody close to that given her support for fox hunting, selling national forests, and climate change denialism.
BAD GIRL (domestic edition)
- Michigan Gov. Snyder appoints former BP external affairs pro to Environmental Quality (Detroit Free Press) — In a move mimicking UK PM Theresa May’s oppositional defiance and idiocy on the environment and climate change, Snyder does the exact opposite of what’s needed to save the environment and picks someone with background in environmental damage. Keep in mind there’s an ongoing conflict about an ruptured Enbridge Energy oil pipeline* running beneath the Mackinaw Straits between two of the largest bodies of fresh water in the world. [* not ruptured but at risk of rupture, and very little accountability on its operation in spite of its age and sensitivity of the water and land it travels. Enbridge is responsible for the largest inland oil leak in the U.S., near Kalamazoo MI.]
PokéGone
The list of accidents resulting from distraction by Pokémon GO grows by leaps and bounds. These are among the worst so far. Just a matter of time before a fatality occurs.
- Two guys fall over a 90-foot oceanfront bluff chasing Pokémon characters (LAT) — How do you miss a cliff that high, let alone the roar of the ocean below?
- Guy glances at his phone to check for Pokémon, wraps his car around a tree (Consumerist) — Wakes up in hospital, lucky to be alive. Just look at the car.
- Guy falls into Prospect Park pond while chasing a Pokémon (Cosmopolitan) — Hey, do you see a pattern here, besides Pokémon?
Wheels
- California regulator nixes Volkswagen’s 3.0L passenger diesel fix (Ars Technica) — No surprise to me whatsoever. I’ve said repeatedly there’s no clean diesel technology. Still isn’t. Just buy the cars back and tell consumers to buy a hybrid instead if they want clean passenger transportation.
- Consumers Reports tells Tesla to eliminate “Autopilot” label on self-driving technology (Phys.org) — Too confusing to so-called drivers in spite of warnings they should pay attention to driving at all times.
- New bug bounty offered by Fiat Chrysler (Naked Security) — First of its kind offered by any Detroit automakers, the bounty comes after Chrysler vehicles featuring the wireless UConnect entertainment system were hacked by white hats last year.
Keep an eye on this topic
- U.S. SDNY’s Judge William Pauley ruled evidence collected by DEA using Stingrays is inadmissible (New York Law Journal) — Pauley wrote,
Absent a search warrant, the Government may not turn a citizen’s cell phone into a tracking device. Perhaps recognizing this, the Department of Justice changed its internal policies, and now requires government agents to obtain a warrant before utilizing a cellsite simulator.
I’m sure there will be more on this case in the near future.
Catch you tomorrow for the last in-session day in U.S. House.
It’s not just the EPA and Flint, the dorks are not going to fund Zika research either. What a bunch of dirtbags.
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Hometown boy Gerry Ford turn your head, or sweet Jimmy Carter turn you off? Ford’s pardon of Nixon burned him for me. ’78 was a curious year to flirt with the Repubs. Please tell us more, inquiring minds want to know. Was it Reagan’s ascendancy?
Lest we forget, it was Carter who started funding the mujahedeen–BEFORE the USSR invaded Afghanistan–according to Brzezinski [The CIA’s Intervention in Afghanistan | http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/BRZ110A.html%5D
Good case on the Stingray. Also of note is today’s Second Circuit decision quashing a subpoena to Microsoft for user emails stored overseas—another good win for privacy advocates. Bit by bit, the courts are nibbling away at the government’s over-broad interpretations of statutes and the Constitution. Thank you, Edward Snowden !!
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“Marcy and the rest of the crew tend to be more generous or less open in their vituperation.” No … really? Who could have guessed that, from today’s musical selection? :)
Rayne, appreciate all you, especially tracking federal and state negligence and malice wrt fresh water.
May seems to be taking a leaf from the venerable Reagan-era Republican playbook (the Democrats long ago obtained a copy). Page one commands the appointment of ministers who most want to undo the departments they are given to lead. But May’s merging of the Dept. of “Energy and Climate Change” into a new ministry for “Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy” is a remarkably vicious attack on reality. It tells her political patrons, BP, Shell, GM/Vauxhall among them, exactly what they want to hear, while erasing the words “Climate Change” from the ministry list. It will also create a department in which to bury horribly expensive and mismanaged projects, such as the Hinkley Point nuke plant in Somerset (not far from Bath and Bristol). Neoliberal Britain might need to be rephrased as Neolithic Britain.
On Flint (and all of the other poisoned cities we have in GOP states): until Snyder and his emergency manager are sent to jail and sued as well for the damages their decisions made (plus the coverups) there will be no incentive for improvement. However high the bar is for gross negligence in legal terms, they were clearly warned and had less expensive options that were cleaner. This is also one of Obama’s principal mistakes in not prosecuting Shrub’s WH or even doing the Truth Commission to get all of the cesspool disinfected by the sunlight. However, Obama looked the other way and since there was no accountability of any kind we have Trump and a merry band of teabaggers ready to destroy the USA from the inside.
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On the UK, I think the Reagan WH idea is apt, but why May thinks this will help with Scotland and/or the EU mystifies me. I thought politicos were slightly smarter than that since in a parliamentary system the opposition really cannot be silenced and there are a lot of voices with mics. The press there is partisan, spread across the various organizations, so it’s not possible that corporate control of the editorial boards will stifle dissent. The Kaiser’s Germany tried to frighten the world to get its “place in the sun” by building dreadnoughts prior to WW1 and all it did was harden the alliances before Sarajevo’s assassination set it all off. While the bullying policy can feel good in domestic politics, internationally it will fail if anyone is willing to fight back.
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Until Pauley’s ruling is blessed by SCOTUS, don’t count the battle as being won.
Apparently the pipeline rupture is hypothetical and they are doing financial risk assessments of same. In other news, BP says deepwater cost is 61.6 Billion pre tax.
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Rayne:
OK – yeah I see the pattern: Sexist, rad-fem blogger cherry picks her stories to make it look like only guys are P-GO idiots. Try these:
OK, the “pattern” just got vaporized and the sexist bias of the blogger exposed.
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Comment to Weds Rayne post:
Rayne post Thurs:
Coincidence?? I think not . . .
Apparently the state of Michigan is touting its business friendly environment with these numbers:
#10 in “business friendly climate”, whatever that is
#6 in “entrepreneurial opportunity”, whatever that is (probably some libertarian survey)
and…
The elimination of 2000 useless regulations since 2005.
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However, I do not see the employment numbers spiking higher, especially against their more progressive neighbors.
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I haven’t seen the post-mortem of May’s meeting with FM Sturgeon in Scotland, but as I had noted yesterday, such imperialistic bullying only works if no one fights back, but I think France, Germany and Ireland (maybe looking to get Ulster in the deal, but is perfectly willing to be difficult for Westminster, just because) for starters would be willing to be tough on May’s government and any “pre-filing” deals they want to ram through. This is important because the Lisbon Treaty requires unanimous approval of the terms of the exit by the signatories.
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There was a parish priest in Ireland listening to a confession of a rugby player, with greater and greater concern for the soul of the young man as each outrage was confessed, until he inquired about who they were playing.
The lad: “The English, Father”
The padre: (smiling) “Oh well, boys will be boys….”
Denis (9:09) — Hey, nice to see you dropped in to make sure I got my quota of dickish behavior in comments before noon.
The links I shared were the ones that surfaced to the top of my aggregator pulling from national sites, not local ones. Don’t like it? Too fucking bad. You’re free to write your own blog.
As for Stingray story: one of the other commenters asked me about it nicely. I pulled the actual case and read it and posted the link to it. Again, don’t like it? Too fucking bad. I am not accountable to you, last I checked my income statement. You can hit your browser’s Back button any time.
greengiant (11:53) — You’re right, I can’t find the story that crossed my feed some time ago about a suspected leak. I’ll tweak the post. Still extremely worrying that Enbridge, which was responsible for a massive oil leak in Michigan, resists efforts to ensure it protects the Straits and the Great Lakes.
rugger9 (11:26) — Really tough for employment numbers to come back up when the GOP-led government here does everything possible to excise what makes this state appealing. Healthy and well-educated population? Nope, let’s screw around with funding on health care and education. Slow down falling property values? Nope, let’s ignore state banks’ desire to refinance properties; let’s encourage TBTF to continue its vampiric practices, like the financing of an unneeded waterline to collapsed Flint while ignoring urgency of water crisis. This state doesn’t even like to feed kids and has to go begging to do so, let alone ensure the lead-poisoned ones get safe drinking water. State legislators here are too wrapped up in checking people’s genitals against the bathroom they wish to use.
Haven’t see a postmortem on May’s visit to Scotland either, but the Scots+Brits I chat with regularly are highly skeptical. There’s no way May can deliver on Brexit and preserve Scots’ desire to remain in EU, unless May figures out how to call staying in the EU ‘Brexit2’.
Maybe we’ll get as many as there are Rocky or Star Trek movies.
Rayne: “Don’t like it? Too fucking bad. You’re free to write your own blog.”
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Mercy, for someone who spends so much time attacking others, ya’ sure
got a thin skin when you’re called out yourself. Yeah, I do write my own
blog, that’s why my tag is a link.
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Rayne: “You can hit your browser’s Back button any time.”
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Best advice I’ve ever had from an uber-fem. I mean ever.
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Let me close out with a couple of relevant quotes:
It’s not the pissing-off of the pig that concerns me, it’s the wasting of my time.
Be well, do good work, and keep in touch. . .
You can stop that kind of treatment of the host here, or you will be gone. It is not acceptable, and it’s really that simple.