Rubbing It In

Red States Want Government to Leave Them Alone . . . That is, Until They Need a Bailout

In the Texas border community of Del Rio, (population 36,000) American Airlines pulled out of their “international” airport, forcing people in the area to drive nearly three hours to the nearest airport in San Antonio.

“Talk about a low blow,” Republican Representative Tony Gonzales, the congressperson for Del Rio, said in an interview. “I’m frustrated to no end. … If these major companies want rural America to thrive, they need to be investing in rural America, not pulling the rug out from under us.”  Local leaders believe that a lack of air service threatens a teetering rural America that already feels forgotten by the rest of the country. It’s also driving city officials to plead with state legislatures and Capitol Hill for help.

Imagine thinking that “major companies want rural America to thrive.”  Aren't Republicans the party of laissez-faire economics, where business is supposed to have unfettered and unregulated access to whatever the hell it wants?  And look at that those libertarian and conservative elected officials (with their overwhelmingly conservative/libertarian electorates) now begging the government to bail them out. And if such a thing were to happen, where would the money come from? From the same places that have been subsidizing rural America for far too long—the urban cities they loathe so much.

You’d think rural voters would be grateful for all the nice things they have because of urban subsidies. They already dominate the Senate and have an unfair advantage in the Electoral College, which gives rural voters a larger say by design. They drain blue states dry of resources, as they need far more services to survive in remote, low-density areas. Economies of scale are a thing.

For a crew that likes to pretend they don’t need no stinkin’ government and fantasize about violent revolution, they’d rather go crying to that same government for help over the hardship of driving a couple of hours to an airport.  

Have they heard of the internet? That connects people, which by the way, is already subsidized by urban America (as well as phone service). Related, House Republicans just passed a budget bill that slashes veterans services, specifically telehealth technology and services that benefit rural veterans. These services are especially important because more than 180 rural hospitals have closed since 2005.

And for physical travel, given the massive demand these small communities claim to have for air travel, maybe some enterprising soul can shuttle people back and forth in a van or bus. If an actual functioning airport is that essential for that community’s lifeblood, they can raise their own taxes to subsidize a carrier. But the last thing Washington needs to do is exacerbate the urban-rural, red state-blue state financial divide. Urban, Democratic areas already subsidize those communities. (In fact, like we just saw in Arkansas, red states love to cut taxes, then demand the federal government make up the balance.)

But ultimately, driving two or three hours to a bigger-city airport shouldn’t be as devastating as these whiners claim. Many people commute that far daily for their jobs. Many drive even further to attend a Trump rally. Doing it every once in a while while traveling shouldn’t be an issue, given how self-sufficient rural conservatives claim to be. 

There is another option—one in which all of America makes sure everyone, wherever they live, gets to share in the nation’s prosperity.  Under this option, billionaires would pay their fair share. Elon Musk wouldn’t pay $44 billion to turn Twitter into conservative Truth Social. Instead, some of that money could be paid in wealth taxes to (for example) make sure communities are connected. It might be subsidized air or bus service, or a broadly expanded rail network. This America wouldn’t feature rural conservatives sneering at their supposed moral superiority over urban dwellers.

Instead of crying about ‘wokeness’ and clinging to Republican culture war narratives, they could actually wake up and engage in a truly democratic and equitable America. Start working to find solutions to their problems, rather than literally be the reason we are where we are today. Because they keep voting for reactionary Republicans-- and as all farmers and ranchers should know, you reap what you sow. It’s not Democrats cutting taxes on the rich, Republicans did that. And it’s not Democrats demanding veterans' services in rural areas get slashed, Republicans are doing that. The very Republicans they dutifully vote for time and again.

 

Lewis Capaldi - Wish You the Best

Elon Musk's Starship Explosion a Disaster for Texas

Over the last week, shocking videos posted online showed Elon Musk's Starship rocket spraying debris all over the southern Texas coast as it powered off the launchpad. The massive 395-foot rocket powered into the air from sunny Boca Chica, but burst into flames just four minutes after takeoff.

The explosion sent debris flying at thousands of miles an hour, damaging a car parked miles away and sending a dust cloud over the Gulf of Mexico on an otherwise sunny day.  Footage from thousands of feet away shows the dust cloud slowly engulfing the area, sending debris flying and sending palm trees swaying in the heavy winds before it ultimately starts to dissipate.  Pictures also showed the colossal crater and wrecked launch pad left in the rocket's wake.

The failed flight also sparked a 3.5-acre fire in Boca Chica state park.  In addition to the fire, large concrete chunks and sheets of stainless steel were among the objects found thousands of feet away. Officials also found that a plume of pulverized concrete deposited material 6.5 miles northwest of the launchpad.

The Federal Aviation Administration has now grounded all of SpaceX's Starship rockets as it investigates the disastrous project.  The explosion has left some elected officials questioning whether there is a need for more commercial spaceflight regulation.

House Transportation Aviation Subcommittee Chair Garrett Graves, a Republican from Louisiana, has said he does not want to do 'anything that impedes the progress of innovation for commercial space.

"But obviously, you've got to balance that with safety," he told Politico-- adding, "And so we're going to continue working with the National Transportation Safety Board."

 

Inspired

Continuing Haiti Crisis: Mob Justice for Gang Members

A group of 13 suspected gang members has been beaten and burned to death by a mob in Haiti's capital after being seized while police were searching their vehicle.   

The suspects were  beaten with gasoline-soaked tires before being set alight in Port-au-Prince on Monday.  Police say they confiscated weapons from them just before the incident.  They have not explained how members of the public got hold of the suspects.

Haiti has descended into increasing lawlessness since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021. The United Nations said in a report that insecurity in the capital has reached levels similar to countries at war.  Armed gangs continue to compete to expand their territorial control and that clashes with police and rival gangs have "become more violent and more frequent," claiming many civilian lives, it added.

Gang violence led to the death of nearly 70 people, including 18 women and two children, between April 14 and 19 alone, according to the UN.  Many schools and health centers have been forced to close and the violence has also affected access to many goods and services. "The people of Haiti continue to suffer one of the worst human rights crises in decades and a major humanitarian emergency," the report reads.

Since Moïse's assassination, the Caribbean nation has been led by Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who has failed to rein in the gangs that now control an estimated 60% of the capital. Henry and UN officials have repeatedly called for the deployment of an international force to help police in their fight against the criminal gangs.  So far, no country has offered to lead such a force. The United States has been trying to convince Canada to take on the role but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has so far resisted.  Henry has said it is key to providing security so that long-postponed elections can be held.

Hey Tucker!

What the Heck is Going on in Sudan?

The fighting that has erupted in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country is a direct result of a vicious power struggle within the country's military leadership. The clashes are between the regular army and a paramilitary force called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The fighting is the latest episode in bouts of tension that followed the 2019 ousting of long-serving President Omar al-Bashir, who came to power in a coup in 1989.  There were huge street protests calling for an end to his near-three decade rule and the army mounted a coup to get rid of him. But civilians continued to campaign for the introduction of democracy.  A joint military-civilian government was then established but that was overthrown in another coup in October 2021, when Gen Burhan took over. And since then the rivalry between Gen Burhan and Gen Dagalo has intensified. A framework deal to put power back in the hands of civilians was agreed last December but talks to finalise the details have failed.

Since the 2021 coup, Sudan has been run by a council of generals, led by the two military men at the centre of this dispute: Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of the armed forces and in effect the country's president and his deputy and leader of the RSF, Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti.  They have disagreed on the direction the country is going in and the proposed move towards civilian rule. The main sticking points are plans to include the 100,000-strong RSF into the army, and who would then lead the new force.

The RSF was formed in 2013 and has its origins in the notorious Janjaweed militia that brutally fought rebels in Darfur, where they were accused of ethnic cleansing. Since then, Gen Dagalo has built a powerful force that has intervened in conflicts in Yemen and Libya. He has also developed economic interests including controlling some of Sudan's gold mines. The RSF has been accused of human rights abuses, including the massacre of more than 120 protesters in June 2019. Such a strong force outside the army has been seen as a source of instability in the country.

The shooting began on April 15 following days of tension as members of the RSF were redeployed around the country in a move that the army saw as a threat. There had been some hope that talks could resolve the situation but these never happened. It is disputed who fired the first shot but the fighting swiftly escalated in different parts of the country with more than 400 civilians dying, according to the World Health Organization.

Even though the conflict appears to be around the control of key installations, much of it is happening in urban areas and civilians have become the unwitting victims. It is not exactly clear where the RSF bases are, but it seems that their fighters moved into densely populated areas. The Sudanese air force has mounted air strikes in the capital, a city of more than six million people, which is likely to have led to civilian casualties.  Several ceasefires have been announced to allow people to escape the fighting but these have not been observed.

 

Netflix Courts Controversy With Casting Choice in Cleopatra Documentary

Adele James in "Queen Cleopatra"

A fairly polarizing topic in entertainment these days is “race-swapping,” or intentionally changing the race of established characters. Recent examples include “Velma” from Scooby-Doo (an originally white character being depicted as Indian in the new HBO Max series), and the Little Mermaid (an originally white character in the Disney animated movie being portrayed by an African-American actress in the live-action version, later this year).  Given the cultural and political changes of the last few years, it should come as no surprise where the backlash is coming from--there are certain segments of society who cherish purist (to put it kindly) ideals and don’t like agendas being pushed on them.

However, a more recent trend has had filmmakers race-swapping actual historical figures. A notable example is Cleopatra from an upcoming Netflix series. Cleopatra’s ancestry has been traced to the Macedonian Ptolemaic dynasty — these are people generally considered bronze, olive or honey-skinned. When the trailer dropped last week for “Queen Cleopatra,” people noticed Cleopatra was a black woman, played by Adele James.

The film’s director defended her casting choice by saying it was very intentionally conceived, saying, "Why shouldn’t Cleopatra be a melanated sister? And why do some people need Cleopatra to be white? Her proximity to whiteness seems to give her value, and for some Egyptians it seems to really matter,” Gharavi told Variety. “We need to have a conversation with ourselves about our colorism, and the internalized white supremacy that Hollywood has indoctrinated us with,” Gharavi added.

To be clear-- Cleopatra was neither white nor black. But Gharavi doesn’t seem to care because, by the sounds of it, she’s fighting racism with her decision to cast a black actress. No one needs Cleopatra to be anything-- it's a question of what she was. If you're making a documentary, the only thing anyone needs is accuracy.

Regardless, Egypt has decided that they’ve had enough with the rewriting of their history-- and they might be suing. According to Newsweek, top-dog Egyptian lawyer Mahmoud al-Semary is asking the country’s public prosecutor to sue Netflix and the makers of the docuseries. “Most of what [the] Netflix platform displays [does] not conform to Islamic and societal values and principles, especially Egyptian ones,” al-Semary said.

Cleopatra was a source for pride for Egyptians and it shouldn't be unexpected that they’re going to take offense when you decide to blackwash her. The show advertises itself as a documentary on “prominent and iconic African queens”. Then in the trailer itself, somebody is heard saying “I don’t care what they teach you in school: Cleopatra was black”.

And that is the problem. If Cleopatra was a fictional character where race wasn’t important then race-swap as much as you want. But if you're going to base something on a historical figure you should probably stick with their actual race.

 

Montana Republicans Clutch Their Proverbial Pearls in a Lame Attempt to Silence a Trans Lawmaker

Montana’s House speaker is refusing to recognize and allow transgender lawmaker Zooey Zephyr to speak on the House floor until she apologizes for saying lawmakers would have “blood on their hands" if they supported a bill to ban gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth.

To add insult to injury, many of the conservative lawmakers are deliberately referred to her using male pronouns.  Representative Zephyr said she will not apologize, creating a standoff between the first-term state lawmaker and Republican legislative leaders.

The issue came to a head when Zephyr told lawmakers if they supported an anti-Trans bill, “I hope the next time there's an invocation, when you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands.”  She made a similar comment when the House debated the bill the first time.  House Majority Leader Sue Vinton (and utter snowflake) rebuked Zephyr, calling her comments inappropriate, disrespectful and uncalled for.

Speaker Matt Regier refused to acknowledge Zephyr on Thursday when she wanted to comment on a bill seeking to put a binary definition of male and female into state code.  “It is up to me to maintain decorum here on the House floor, to protect the dignity and integrity,” Regier said. “And any representative that I don’t feel can do that will not be recognized.”  Democrats objected to Regier's decision, but the House Rules committee and the House upheld his decision on party-line votes.  “Hate-filled testimony has no place on the House floor,” snowflake Republican Rep. Caleb Hinkle, a member of the Montana Freedom Caucus (which has also demanded that Zephyr be censured), said in a statement.

Zephyr said she stands by what she said about the consequences of banning essential medical care for transgender youth.  The bill would ban transgender minors in Montana from receiving puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones or surgical procedures. Those are treatments for gender dysphoria, the clinically significant distress caused by feeling that one’s gender identity does not match one’s biological sex. Medical professionals who provided such care would lose their medical licenses for at least a year.  “When there are bills targeting the LGBTQ community, I stand up to defend my community,” Zephyr said. “And I choose my words with clarity and precision and I spoke to the real harms that these bills bring.”

Regier also declined to recognize Zephyr when she rang in to speak about another bill, which was unrelated to LGBTQ+ issues and seeks to reimburse hotels that provide shelter to victims of human trafficking.   “The speaker is refusing to allow me to participate in debate until I retract or apologize for my statements made during floor debate,” Zephyr said.

The Montana Freedom Caucus demanded that Zephyr be censured n a letter that called for a “commitment to civil discourse” in the same sentence in which it deliberately misgendered her in the same sentence. The caucus also misgendered Zephyr in a Tweet while posting the letter online.

“It is disheartening that the Montana Freedom Caucus would stoop so low as to misgender me in their letter, further demonstrating their disregard for the dignity and humanity of transgender individuals,” Zephyr said in a statement.

At the end of the contentious House session, Democratic Rep. Marilyn Marler asked that the House majority allow Zephyr to speak on the floor going forward.  “This body is denying the representative ... the chance to do her job,” Marler said.   Before adjournment, Majority Leader Vinton engaged in his own special form of immature and petty bullying, saying "I  will let the body know that the representative ... has every opportunity to rectify the situation.”

 

Foo Fighters - Rescued

So True

757 Million Apologies From Faux News

Fox News shocked the world by settling its case with Dominion Voting Machines, and agreeing to pay $757.5 million in damages.  It was an obvious admission that they were caught dead to rights and didn't want any of their blowhard talking heads on the witness stand.  The settlement amount is about 5% of Fox News’ total revenue for 2022, but I think they'll manage.  After all, this is a company that seems to have survived endless lawsuits over sexual harassment of its employees, just one of which cost it $90 million.

After the settlement was announced, Fox’s attorneys issued a statement admitting, “We acknowledge the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false.”

 

The other voting machine maker Smarmatic still has its case against Fox and its case against conservative news outlet Newsmax pending in the courts-- so this isn't over by a long shot. 

 

Secret Limits Placed on Pharmacies Force Needy Patients to Scramble

Patients diagnosed with conditions like anxiety and sleep disorders have become caught in the crosshairs of America’s opioid crisis, as secret policies mandated by a national opioid settlement have turned filling legitimate prescriptions into a major headache.

Limits are now in effect that flag and sometimes block pharmacies’ orders of controlled substances such as Adderall and Xanax when they exceed a certain threshold. The requirement stems from a 2021 settlement with the US’s three largest drug distributors (AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson Corp.)-- but pharmacists said it curtails their ability to fill prescriptions for many different types of controlled substances, not just opioids.

Independent pharmacists said the rules force them come up with creative workarounds. Sometimes, they must send patients on frustrating journeys to find pharmacies that haven’t yet exceeded their caps in order to buy prescribed medicines.  “I understand the intention of this policy is to have control of controlled substances so they don’t get abused, but it’s not working,” said Richard Glotzer, an independent pharmacist in Millwood, New York. “There’s no reason I should be cut off from ordering these products to dispense to my legitimate patients that need it.”

Drug makers and wholesalers were always supposed to keep an eye out for suspicious purchases and have long had systems to catch, report and halt these orders. The prescription opioid crisis, enabled by irresponsible drug company marketing and prescribing, led to a slew of lawsuits and tighter regulations on many parts of the health system.  One major settlement required the three largest distributors to set thresholds on orders of controlled substances.  Even if an order isn't suspicious, it may result in a particular pharmacy exceeding its limit for a specific drug over a certain time period. Any order that puts the pharmacy over its limit can be stopped. As a result, patients with legitimate prescriptions get caught up in the dragnet.

Adding to the confusion, the limits themselves are secret. Drug wholesalers are barred by the settlement agreement from telling pharmacists what the thresholds are, how they’re determined or when the pharmacy is getting close to hitting them.  The exact limit for each pharmacy is kept secret in order to prevent pharmacists from gaming the system, according to Krista Tongring, leader of the DEA compliance practice at Guidepost Solutions and a former agency attorney.  The purpose, she said, is to keep pharmacies from manipulating “their ordering patterns so as to get around the thresholds.”

Without detailed information on the daily, monthly and quarterly limits set by the DEA, it’s impossible for pharmacists to predict when they are going to have to turn patients away.  “You don’t know what you’re going to get” when you place an order, Glotzer said. “It’s no way to do business, let’s put it that way.”  Glotzer said that he’s had trouble getting all attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder medications including Concerta and Ritalin. Supply chain issues had already created scarcity of the drugs. Adding on to those troubles, Glotzer can’t order them even when they are in stock from one of his wholesalers, Cardinal. In February, they only sent him 100 pills because he hit his threshold, compared to about 3,700 the month before, he said. He was able to get some from McKesson, but not nearly enough for all of his patients, he said.

Amiright?

 

Why Hasn't Clarence Thomas Resigned?

 How much more scandal and corruption do we have to endure before the Supreme Court is ashamed enough to force Clarence Thomas to resign?

Last year, I outlined the conflicts of interest that Clarence Thomas faced, due to the shennanigans of his wife Ginni Thomas.  Her role as a right-wing activist and a lawyer for a political lobbying firm secured victories for her allies in a number of highly polarizing cases—on abortion, affirmative action, and gun rights.  

Then came reports last week that Thomas accepted luxury trips virtually every single year from from billionaire GOP megadonor Harlan Crow, including international travel on his private jet and yacht and annual retreats at his plush Adirondacks resort. 

Last Friday, we learned that Nazi-lover Harlan Crow purchased Thomas’ ancestral home in Georgia where his mother still resides from him for an inflated price, ProPublica reported. While Thomas had listed his interest in the home on his financial reports in the past, he did not disclose the sale to Crow as required by law. It is unclear why a complete stranger to Clarence Thomas would buy his mother's residence, but the fact that Crow invested further into the property-- and bought surrounding parcels to improve it-- leave raise serious additional ethics questions.

“He needed to report his interest in the sale,” Virginia Canter, a former government ethics lawyer now at the watchdog group CREW told ProPublica.  “Given the role Crow has played in subsidizing the lifestyle of Thomas and his wife, you have to wonder if this was an effort to put cash in their pockets.” There’s no denying that the sale put cash in Thomas’ pocket. There’s also no denying that it’s keeping cash in the Thomases' pockets; Crow has paid the property taxes on the house Thomas’s mother Leoloa Williams is still living in, about $1,500 annually according to county tax records viewed by ProPublica, since the sale. Clarence and Ginni Thomas previously paid those taxes.

The $133,363 Crow paid for the Thomas properties appears to be well above fair market value for property on that street at the time, and well above what Thomas valued the at.   Judiciary member Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, suggested, “It would be best for the Chief Justice to commence a proper investigation, but after a week of silence from the Court and this latest disturbing reporting, I’m urging the Judicial Conference to step in and refer Justice Thomas to the Attorney General for investigation.”

Now there is new reporting that Thomas and his spouse have collected up to $750,000 in income from a company that hasn't existed since 2006.  Thomas has refused to publicly comment on why he would try and report income from a ghost company (no surprise, given the rarely talks during the High Court's oral arguments)-- but it raises questions whether he is doing so to hide income from other unethical (or criminal) sources.  While there may be plausible explanations for this latest lapse in judgment, there's no plausible way that Clarence Thomas can claim that he believed a real estate transaction in which notorious Republican political activist Crow purchased property from him didn't require legal disclosure.

It's quite obvious Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has contempt for the whole notion of filing the required financial disclosures, and that despite being among the most powerful figures in all the nation, he apparently has neither the mental fortitude nor enough legal assistance to fill out government paperwork.  If his day job is keeping him so busy that he can't take the time to follow the law, maybe we should relieve him of that burden.  

As the Rich Swarm Costa Rica, Monkeys are Being Electrocuted

Around the early 1970s, an outsider arrived to a region of Guanacaste south of Tamarindo.  An American investor acquired a huge swath of land, with plans to create a golf course and residential community. The plan failed, but other development continued. The first road was constructed in 1979, and electricity followed closely behind.  By the mid-2000s, the town of Nosara, ,Costa Rica had become a destination. The New York Times named Nosara one of 45 places to visit in 2012, and from there, tourism increased dramatically, multiple residents said. The pace hasn’t slowed.

Over the years, Nosara steadily attracted more and more visitors, each wave seemingly richer than the last-- with the pandemic only accelerating the trend. Rental prices in sought-after areas have nearly doubled, locals say, while mega-mansions are selling for $7 million or more.  One casualty of that explosion is the wildlife that inspired much of the region’s popularity to begin with. Howler monkeys are suffering particularly gruesome deaths, from dog attacks, car accidents, and electrocutions caused by uninsulated power lines.

Because of dwindling habitat monkeys are, “forced to travel either on the ground, where they're vulnerable, or on the power lines, where they get killed,” said Robin Heubel, a retired wildlife biologist who now lives in the area. The electrocutions could largely be prevented by spending a few hundred dollars to insulate each transformer, but nobody is putting up enough money to do it.

 Depending on whom you ask, multiple parties are to blame: the power companies, the government, the developers, the home buyers.  But there is no disagreement that the surge of foreign transplants is exacerbating the problem. “With every new building, there’s higher voltage needed, because people are now building two and three story homes,” said Vicki Coan, founder of the nearby Sibu Wildlife Sanctuary. “[And] they want them totally air conditioned.”  The result, she continued, is that “this has been the worst year ever of electrocutions.”

The issue extends beyond Nosara, both along the coast and deeper into the country. In Tamarindo, two hours north, tangles of wires line the streets, a testament to the town’s growing popularity but a perilous new reality for the monkeys.  It’s difficult to estimate the exact number killed each year. Francisco Sánchez Murillo, veterinary director for International Animal Rescue Costa Rica, said that a monkey is reported dead from electrocution roughly every three days along a portion of the coast in the northwestern province, where Nosara and Tamarindo are located. Many deaths go unreported-- meaning that across the country the tally is likely many multiples higher. One 2020 report claimed that 7,154 animals were electrocuted “in a single year.”

To Coan, each death is a unique trauma. “The pain and the suffering, I internalize that,” she said. When people visit her sanctuary, she often asks them the same jarring prompt: “Have you ever touched a little outlet and you got a little shock and you screamed and it hurt? Can you imagine hanging on to that until it melts your skin to the bone?’”   Recently, she said, she got a call about an electrocuted monkey. “Somebody's saying, ‘Yeah, his hand’s on fire and it melted and then [he] dropped.’  Unless it's super-high voltage, that death is not instant.”  Added Sánchez Murillo, of the brutal injuries, “It's been my nightmare for the last six years.”

Coan first visited in the 1990s. While driving, she recalled, “I heard the howlers [monkeys], and I said ‘Stop the car.’ I got up kind of on the roof.” Howler monkeys are among the loudest land animals on the planet, and immediately, she said, “I was mesmerized.”  At the time, Nosara was idyllic. “It was a diamond in the rough back then. It was just an amazing place. You had this pristine seven-kilometer sand beach and gentle waves, and you had jungle and then maybe a small little B&B.”  

The tourism dollars were much needed for the neglected region of Costa Rica, but they had major drawbacks . . .

They & Kacey Musgraves - Wait on Me

Dow Inc. Caught Lying About its Recycling Program

In 2021, petrochemical company Dow Inc. announced it would partner with the government of Singapore to collect used shoes and recycle the rubber soles, Reuters reports.  But in 2022, journalists from the news agency tracked several pairs of donated shoes and discovered they weren’t being recycled; they were instead being resold.

Dow’s program was simple: it would place donation bins all across Singapore to receive used shoes, then transport them to a recycling facility. The soles would be removed, ground up, and the rubber would be used to create durable surfaces for athletic facilities in Singapore, including tracks, playgrounds, and sports fields.  However, according to Reuters, Dow has lied about its recycling efforts in the past. In 2021, the company was found to be burning plastic waste that it said was being recycled into clean fuel, and a project to recycle plastic waste from the Ganges river shut down because of failing equipment. 

So journalists from Reuters decided to test the new recycling program by placing hidden trackers in several pairs of shoes and donating them through Dow.  What they found was that the sneakers were not being sent to recycling plants. Instead, the donations were picked up by secondhand clothing exporter, Yok Impex Pte Ltd, and sent to Indonesia, where they were resold. 

Reuters journalists were able to buy back several pairs — even though importing secondhand clothing to Indonesia has been illegal since 2015 due to sanitation concerns.  When Reuters contacted Dow about the issue, Dow said Yok Impex would be removed from the project. However, there is no clear reason for a secondhand goods exporter to have been a partner on the project in the first place.

“Dow promised to pick up these shoes and grind them into materials and make them into playgrounds, and instead, they’re being found all over another country. They literally cannot be believed,” Jan Dell, founder of the nonprofit The Last Beach Cleanup, told Reuters.

Dow’s deceptive recycling programs are just one example of greenwashing — when companies try to appear more eco-friendly than they really are in order to get good press and drum up business.  For buyers trying to live a green lifestyle, and for donators trying to be responsible with their used belongings, greenwashing can seriously undermine their efforts and take away their ability to make informed choices.

If you’re looking for an actual eco-friendly recycling program for your used shoes, try GotSneakers, which will pay you for every pair and also gives cleaned-up, refurbished shoes to people in need.  It also sends some pairs to SneakerCycle, an online thrift store just for shoes that keeps them out of landfills.

 

Arrest of Rapist/Murder Sparks Protests in India

Police in India have arrested a man who raped an eight-year-old girl before strangling her to death and hacking her corpse apart to dispose of her remains.  1-year-old Kamlesh Rajput was arrested on suspicion of rape and murder after police officers investigating the disappearance of the girl discovered bloodstains by Rajput's house in Lopda village, near Udaipur city.   

Investigators later found plastic bags containing the girl's remains in a patch of isolated wasteland not far from the farm of the victim's family.  Rajput was taken into custody and later confessed to kidnapping the girl from the farm, taking her to his family home and raping her. He then admitted he strangled her and hacked her body apart to dispose of her remains.

A sea of protesters from Lopda village and surrounding towns took to Udaipur's city streets this week to demand a death sentence for Rajput and greater protections for women and girls.

Udaipur police superintendent Vikas Sharma told the Times of India: 'When [the girl] did not return home on March 29, her family members lodged a missing complaint at the Mavli police station. Since she was a minor girl we lodged an FIR and started searching for her.  Our men in plain clothes made a visit near [Rajput's] house and found blood spots. Hence, on the basis of suspicion he was detained."

"Later, we recovered the [remains] of the girl at an isolated place near his house on Saturday evening. The accused was questioned and he confessed to have kidnapped, strangulated the girl to death and later chopped off her body parts in several pieces."  Sharma added that Rajput was a 'high-school dropout' who appeared 'unperturbed' by the heinous crime he had committed.

 

Shocking Ethics Violations: Undisclosed Gifts to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas by Nazi-loving GOP Megadonor

There have been shocking revelations that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, has accepted luxury trips virtually every single year from from billionaire GOP megadonor Harlan Crow, including international travel on his private jet and yacht and annual retreats at his plush Adirondacks resort. It was revealed that the value of a 2019 trip to Indonesia could have cost Thomas more than $500,000 if he had chartered the yacht and jet himself, and that his failure to disclose such gifts appeared to violate federal gift and travel disclosure requirements.

"The extent and frequency of Crow’s apparent gifts to Thomas have no known precedent in the modern history of the U.S. Supreme Court," ProPublica reported.

Since 2004, such trips and other gifts from Crow appeared nowhere on Thomas’ financial disclosure reports, according to a USA TODAY review of the annual forms on Friday.

A staunch conservative, Thomas was appointed to the nation's highest court by Republican President George H. W. Bush and has served since 1991. In a public statement, Thomas said he was "advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the court, was not reportable."  Ethics experts have said the hospitality exemption was actually intended for the receipt of small personal gifts from longtime friends, not lavish gifts like week-long resort stays and international jet and yacht trips.

Furthermore, legal experts and Democratic lawmakers have said that Thomas' explanation raises a lot more questions than answers.   "And these are questions that he should answer under oath, under penalty of perjury," said Lisa Graves, the former deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Policy.

"He needs to name every person he spoke with who gave him such advice, and whether they're in government or outside the government," Graves told USA TODAY. "Because I would be shocked if he actually told any official the specifics of what he was doing and that they said it was okay not to disclose it."

On the heels of those disclosures, comes even more shocking news-- that Thomas' billionaire buddy Harlan Crow is a sick Nazi lover who is obsessed with fascist rulers.

Easter Greetings

 

Pilot Under Arrest in Mexican Tragedy: Girl Leaps From Burning Balloon to Save Her Life

A pilot has been arrested after jumping from a burning hot air balloon leaving a family to die.  Victor Guzmán was detained after leaping 16 feet from the aircraft over the weekend. The man was placed in custody after receiving treatment for second-degree burns to his face and arm.

On Saturday, 50-year-old Jose Nolasco surprised his wife, Viridiana Becerril with a ride through the sky with their 13-year-old daughter, Regina Itzani,  The balloon glided over the pre-Hispanic pyramid site of Teotihuacán, Mexico.  The family rented the balloon for a surprise birthday trip.

However, the fun day out took a lethal turn when an issue with the balloon’s gas system caused the cabin to become engulfed in flames after it departed around 8 am.The c ouple, Jose and Viridiana, were burnt to death, leaving behind their daughter, Regina, who was reported to have bravely jumped from the fire to the ground below.  The terrifying moment was captured on film, as onlookers watched Regina and Guzmán leap as the couple perishes in the fire.  Regina is currently being treated in the hospital for a broken arm and second-degree burns.

Guzmán faces two alleged homicide charges, telling agents assigned to the State of Mexico Attorney General's Office that he had abandoned the family as he didn't know how to respond to the emergency, the Mexico Daily News reported.  Viridiana’s mother, Reyna Sarmiento, told the Mexican national newspaper Milenio that Regina hugged her parents just before she leapt from the carriage.

“The girl told us that the gas tank there, the hydrostatic gas tank, started to light up, and that was what started to burn,” the grandmother said.  “She says her parents hugged her, but she turned away from them, and she jumped.”

The Federal Aviation Agency is leading the investigation and looking into whether the company, Autocinema Retroviso, is licensed to operate hot air balloon service and if it’s covered by insurance in these kinds of accidents.  “It is imperative that these same authorities act effectively in order to cancel the operations of companies that, unfortunately, operate outside the legal framework and sometimes in hiding, affecting the safety of the operations of all of us who operate in the immediate vicinity of the archaeological site of Teotihuacán,” the federation said.

 

Depeche Mode - Ghosts Again

Pissed Over Poop Bags

A brutal note left for local dog walkers by an angry resident has sparked a huge debate on Reddit over a common habit many have been guilty of.

It's a struggle that every dog owner can relate to-- trying to find a suitable bin to put their pooch's poo in while out on a walk.  Often times walkers will find suitable bins in their local parks or fields, but when out and about, they may resort to other options. Wheelie bins can often be a deposit for dog poo bags. Suppose it's better than leaving shit on the ground, right? Well, maybe not, according to this Reddit thread.

It's not illegal to put dog poo in somebody else's bin, but it could be seen as rude, apparently.  One resident got particularly riled up with this and left a poison pen letter to dog walkers on his bin, blasting dog owners in his area for depositing poo in his bin.  The note reads: "I will find out who you are throwing your dog shit in my rubbish. Shame on you take it to your home. Rude bitch."

A picture of the potty-mouthed note made its way onto Reddit, as a fellow dog owner wrote: "A huge argument has kicked off in my town's Facebook group regarding putting dog poo bags in someone else's wheelie bin.  Personally I don’t mind when people put their dog poo bags in my wheelie bin, especially if it's out on the pavement ready for collection.  I'd much rather it be in my bin than having dog poo all over the pavement. What are your opinions regarding wheelie bin dog poo drop offs?"

This sparked a debate on Reddit, although most seemed to side with the man writing the note, as they agreed it wasn't advisable to put trash in other's bins.  One commenter wrote: "My opinion is don't do it. Bag it, take it home or use a public bin.  Nine times out of ten it's fine in someone else's bin, but that one time means you've put it in the 'wrong' bin and they won't be able to have their bins emptied."

Another commenter said, "Other people's wheelie bins are theirs, and importantly their responsibility, they're not there for your convenience."  "I don't personally ever use them as general public waste bins, and certainly wouldn't for 'offensive' litter like dog poo," opined another.

Another person took things a step further as they commented: "Anyone who does this deserves to be made to live in the bin with the festering poo for a fortnight until the next collection. I went to get my recycling bin yesterday and someone had put a bag of poo in it. Not only is that going to stink, but it messes up the recycling and if the binmen see it they'll refuse to take the bin."

 

Trump Arraigned - Twitterverse Responds

Media Gives Trump the Full OJ Treatment

 As Trump continued his journey to join the likes of convicted felons Allen Weisselberg, Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, Roger Stone, Michael Flynn and Michael Cohen, the news media gave him the full OJ treatment:

One of the Biggest Journalism Blunders of the Year

CBS and 60 Minutes faced major criticism and anger over the announcement that the Sunday night news program would be airing a Lesley Stahl interview of nutjob Marjorie Taylor Green-- many accusing the show of platforming an extremist, engaging in “both sides coverage”, and even being “complicit.”  If this is what 60 Minutes is reduced to in order to stay relevant, it's probably time for CBS to take them off the air.

 

My Kind of Hiker

Footnotes in the Fentanyl Fight

It's bullshit that police officers are overdosing on fentanyl by touching it or simply getting near to and “inhaling” it. There is nothing but evidence to the contrary, in fact. This is not to say that there aren’t law enforcement officers suffering panic attacks as a result of misinformation leading to unwarranted fears. Another myth surrounding fentanyl is that the best way to fight against the scourge of fentanyl-related addiction and death is to beef up law enforcement apparatus and shut down immigration from just about everywhere.

This week, the United States Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of California announced that a San Jose Police Union Executive, Joanne Marian Segovia, is charged with the attempted illegal importation of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. The 20-year employee of the San Jose Police Officers Association is alleged to have, over many years, been using both her home and work computers “to order thousands of opioid and other pills to her home and agreed to distribute the drugs elsewhere in the United States.”

The 64-year-old Segovia is suspected of ordering various opioids “disguised as chocolates, wedding favors and makeup,” from places like Singapore, India, Hungary, and Hong Kong, and then flipping those to others throughout the United States. The United States Attorney says that Ms. Segovia has been running this drug distribution operation since at least October… of 2015. According to the complaint, the investigation into Ms. Segovia began after her name and address came up during a larger investigation into contraband being brought in by way of the San Francisco Bay Area. This investigation included all kinds of illegal cargo, including “hundreds of parcels, destined to 48 states, originating from this network.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection records revealed that, between July 2019 and January 2023, Segovia’s address was the intended destination of five shipments that officials seized and opened. These packages contained the following controlled substances: 1.55 kilograms of Zolpidem (around 4,000 pills), 1.42 kilograms of Tramadol, 614 grams of Tapentadol, 432 grams of Tapentadol, and 1.16 kilograms of Tramadol.  Agents also discovered that, according to CBP records, between October 2015 and January 2023, Segovia had 61 shipments mailed to her home.

Reportedly, Segovia was interviewed concerning all of these allegations in February 2023. On March 13, 2023, federal agents seized a parcel in Kentucky, containing valeryl fentanyl, addressed to Segovia. The package allegedly originated from China on March 10, 2023, and declared its contents as a ‘clock.’

Segovia’s interactions with one suspected drug dealer who seems to have been getting his supply from Segovia, revealed his phone number was tied to a website that “advertises the sale of medications and pills, including ‘Tramadol,’ ‘Adderall,’ and ‘Ambien,’ and offers ‘[c]heap’ prices and ‘[o]vernight shipping.’” This website lists Segovia’s address in its “contact us” section.