TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalBorder wall construction in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is a travesty
Border-wall construction is starting within Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, a national park unit, in Arizona this week. Workers will use machinery to rip saguaro roots out of the sandy soil, pinching and twisting the thick cactus skin.
They’ll tear apart creosote bush, coating their clothes in the unmistakable smell of petrichor — razing hundreds of years of botanical mastery. A mere five minutes will decimate this unique example of a species’ astonishing evolutionary ability to thrive in the Sonoran Desert.
Members of the Tohono O’odam Nation harvest saguaro fruit and perform their sacred salt ceremony in and around Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. But the monument will still get two new miles of border wall in August and September. In October, it will gain dozens more, as will the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge that sits to the west. The construction will also slice through the San Pedro Riparian Conservation Area. The border wall here is likely to function as a dam, potentially clotting the last free-flowing river in Arizona. All these lands contain indescribable richness, both in biodiversity and in Indigenous culture and ceremony.
Meanwhile, with the flood of Pentagon funds, approved a mere three weeks ago by the Supreme Court, the Rio Grande Valley and the Butterfly Center in Texas could once again be targeted by attempts by the Trump administration to erect the wall.
Read more: https://www.hcn.org/articles/opinion-borderlands-border-wall-construction-in-organ-pipe-cactus-national-monument-is-a-travesty
(High Country News)
Far-right extremists appropriate Indigenous struggles for violent ends
Just minutes before a massacre at an El Paso, Texas, Walmart earlier this month left 22 people dead, a hate-filled anti-immigrant manifesto appeared online. In it, the author, whom authorities believe to be the alleged shooter, claims to be defending his country from white American “replacement” and an “invasion” at the U.S. border as well as from environmental destruction and corporate power.
“Some people will think this statement is hypocritical because of the nearly complete ethnic and cultural destruction brought to the Native Americans by our European ancestors, but this just reinforces my point,” reads the manifesto. “The natives didn't take the invasion of Europeans seriously, and now what's left is just a shadow of what was.”
For decades now, warped ideas about Indigenous struggles have buoyed conservative rhetoric and white nationalist fantasies and been used to justify racist violence. And while the far and extreme right share a hollow, disingenuous affinity with Indigenous people, their appropriation of Indigenous victimhood and rights language is providing long-burning fuel for everything from right-wing propaganda on Fox News to extremist manifestos and movements worldwide.
In 2011, for instance, a far-right terrorist in Norway killed eight people in a bombing and another 69 at a youth camp. In his 1,500-page manifesto, the killer argued that the rhetoric of white nationalism was ultimately doomed to fail due to its connections to Hitler. Instead of using language and ideas associated with Nazis, the author chose to exploit an “untapped goldmine” of Indigenous rights language. “We are no more terrorists than Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse or Chief Gall who fought for their people against the imperialist General Armstrong Custer,” reads the manifesto. “Our struggle will be a lot easier if European nationalist use smart and defusing arguments instead of using supremacist arguments which can be efficiently squashed through psychological warfare propaganda or by anti-Nazi policies.” To the author, embracing the language of Indigenous rights and victimhood was a softer, even sympathetic, strategy that would embolden efforts to reclaim European land and culture from immigrants.
Read more: https://www.hcn.org/articles/tribal-affairs-far-right-extremists-appropriate-indigenous-struggles-for-violent-ends
(High Country News)
US operation aggravates tensions over South China Sea disputes
The US Navy conducted another “freedom of navigation” operation (FONOP) on August 28 to demonstrate Washington’s rejection of Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea. The provocation involved the guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer entering the 12-nautical mile “exclusion zone” around two Chinese-held islets in the Spratly Islands, Fiery Cross Reef and Mischief Reef. In doing so, it would most likely have passed in close proximity to other islands and reefs held by rival claimants, including Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan.
The two territories selected for the FONOP are among the most sensitive in the disputed area. The Chinese military has reclaimed land and constructed bases on both. Fiery Cross has radar installations, a port, hardened shelters for anti-aircraft and anti-shipping missile systems and a runway that can be landed on by strategic bombers. It is most likely garrisoned by 300 or more troops and other personnel. Mischief also has a long runway, a port and, the US has alleged, operational anti-aircraft artillery and missile batteries.
A US defence official told CNN that a “Chinese military vessel” had followed the US ship.
A press release issued by the Japan-based US Seventh Fleet asserted that the Wayne E. Meyer had been deployed to “challenge excessive maritime claims… All operations are designed in accordance with international law and demonstrate that the United States will fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows… FONOPs are not about any one country, nor are they about making political statements.”
Read more: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/30/schs-a30.html
Five Star Movement and social democrats to continue attacks on Italian working class in new governme
Five Star Movement and social democrats to continue attacks on Italian working class in new government coalitionItalian President Sergio Mattarella formally granted Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte the authority to attempt to form a new government Thursday after the Five Star Movement and the Democratic Party (PD) reached an agreement to establish a coalition.
The stock exchanges and financial markets responded with relief. Interest rates for Italian government bonds declined to a record low, while the Milan stock exchange rose by 2.1 percent, reaching its highest level since the beginning of the month. The formation of the government is “from the point of view of investors the best thing that can happen in Italy right now,” remarked a markets analyst from the Commerzbank.
European Union (EU) representatives, together with politicians and media outlets, were also jubilant at the prospect of a new government, which, they claim, will stall the progress of former interior minister and leader of the right-wing extremist Lega, Matteo Salvini.
The official line was first presented by PD General Secretary Nicola Singaretti, who claimed on Wednesday night that the new government would end “this period of hate, horror, scheming, and egoism.” Although the forming of a new government would be “no walk in the park,” it must put a stop to “the shameful behavior … which has violated human rights and damaged the rule of law.”
Read more: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/30/ital-a30.html
A Bill in California Has Split the Democratic Party
A state bill that would reclassify most independent contractors as employees is revealing fractures between Obama-era Democrats and those seeking to lead the party into the future.On Wednesday, a caravan of Lyft and Uber drivers, some 200 in total, arrived on the steps of the state capitol building in Sacramento. It marked the most recent stop in a multiday demonstration that started Tuesday, as drivers have traversed a route from Los Angeles to Uber’s headquarters in San Francisco, then on to the capitol, all in support of AB-5, a bill currently under consideration in the California State Senate.
If passed, that bill would reclassify Uber and Lyft drivers as employees, rather than independent contractors, a decision that could have profound and lasting consequences for both drivers and ridesharing companies themselves, along with numerous other companies that use freelancers or independent contractors. For the 220,000 Uber and Lyft drivers in the state, some of whom have been shown to make far less than minimum wage and all of whom are without benefits, reclassification as employees could result in significant increases in pay; for the ridesharing companies themselves, an increased cost of labor would make things even more difficult as they struggle to turn anything resembling a profit even currently. The decision could send shock waves not just through Silicon Valley, but through the gig economy broadly.
Drivers aren’t the only ones taking a keen interest in the bill. It’s quickly become a political litmus test for Democrats at the national level. And it’s fracturing the Democratic Party along battle lines, with Obama-era Democrats lining up behind Uber and Lyft while the presidential candidates and recently elected Democrats stump on behalf of AB-5.
The strange, fractious coalitions that have emerged tell the story of the embattled soul of the Democratic Party in miniature. On one side, the presidential candidates have marshaled their support of the bill, which is being backed by SEIU, a powerful and important labor union whose endorsement many are courting. Support from Elizabeth Warren, who proclaimed that “all Democrats need to stand up and say, without hedging, that we support AB 5 and back full employee status for gig workers,” and Bernie Sanders, who introduced a comparable proposal at the federal level and has endorsed AB-5 unequivocally, come as no surprise.
Read more: https://prospect.org/article/bill-california-has-split-democratic-party
(American Prospect)
Hurricane Dorian Spares Puerto Rico, but Trump Does Not
Trump used Hurricane Dorian to launch another series of reflexively puerile insults against Puerto Rico, San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, and the island’s mainland-enabled corruption. Days earlier, science writers lunged at their keyboards to respond to news of the president’s query about breaking up the storms with nuclear weapons—a discredited idea that occasionally resurfaces during hurricane season. This all before an inch of rain from the storm hit Puerto Rico.
One man died preparing for the hurricane; the island escaped severe damage and its infrastructure was not tested. Still, some on Twitter disputed official reports about power outages—the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority claimed that that service was “better than a normal day.” The storm is moving toward Florida and is currently expected to make landfall as a major hurricane.
Dorian did lay bare more evidence of Trump’s continuing abuses of power and the inability of Congress to confront and end these repeated eruptions of presidential malpractice. Only Trump could manage to link his administration’s abuses of migrants in southern border concentration camps to a Puerto Rico threatened by its third hurricane in two years.
The administration ordered the Department of Homeland Security to move $271 million, including $155 million from FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund, to ICE to increase migrant detention and hearing facilities. Earlier this summer the department redirected $200 million from DHS agencies to ICE. In 2018, the department had steered roughly $10 million to ICE.
Read more: https://prospect.org/article/hurricane-dorian-spares-puerto-rico-trump-does-not
(American Prospect)
Ruling opens New Mexico medical pot program to outsiders
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A judge has ruled that New Mexico's medical marijuana program is open to people from outside the state who qualify based on a medical condition.
The final ruling Thursday by Judge Bryan Biedscheid responds to a petition by two Texas residents and the Arizona-based CEO of the largest chain of medical cannabis dispensaries in New Mexico in his capacity as a patient with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Reforms this year to the state's medical cannabis statutes deleted the in-state residency requirement for prospective marijuana patients. The office of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham says that change was unintended and plans to appeal.
The ruling puts New Mexico's medical pot program within close reach of visiting Texans and citizens of neighboring Mexico. Texas limits the psychoactive element THC in its medical marijuana.
Read more: https://www.oaoa.com/news/state/article_3a9b3010-64f7-5d6b-a3c6-6567203b1e6a.html
(Odessa American)
Fort Worth attempts to limit small box discount stores
Fort Worth is taking steps to limit the number of “predatory” dollar stores popping up across the city.
That’s the word used by District 5 councilmember Gyna Bivens during a recent City Council work session. “We don’t need a single one in my district,” she added.
Her sentiment is echoed by other city leaders and residents who are concerned about the growing number of dollar stores, also known as small box discount stores. “Between east of I-35 and the Arlington city limit in District 8, 4, and 5, there are 100 dollar-type stores,” said District 8 councilmember Kelly Allen Gray.
In Gray’s district, homeowners’ association leaders and other residents have complained that there are too many of the stores in their neighborhoods. That’s a problem, because the dollar-type stores don’t support the city’s push for healthier lifestyles and better food choices, they say. Dollar stores also tend to push out traditional grocery stores that offer produce and fresh meat products. As a result, city leaders are looking for ways to rein in the number of future dollar stores.
Read more: https://www.fwweekly.com/2019/08/28/the-buck-stops-here/
Florida attorney John Morgan threatens to sue Andrew Gillum if he runs again for office
John Morgan, a political rainmaker and perhaps Florida's most well-known attorney, on Wednesday threatened to sue Andrew Gillum, if last year's Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate runs for office again.
Morgan’s remarks to the Tiger Bay Club in Tallahassee were an escalation of a public tirade over Gillum’s decision to sit on more than $3 million ahead of the November election, which the Democrat narrowly lost to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
In October 2018, Morgan contributed $250,000 to Gillum’s political committee, Forward Florida. When the powerful Orlando trial lawyer asked Gillum for his money back, Morgan said he was told “no.”
“If he does decide to run again, I do believe I have a cause of action,” Morgan told the crowd of political insiders on Wednesday. “I do believe I will sue him to get that $3.7 million back to the ones that gave at the end. I do believe that.”
Read more: https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2019/08/29/florida-attorney-john-morgan-threatens-to-sue-andrew-gillum-if-he-runs-again-for-office
As Hurricane Dorian approaches Florida, insurers lift medication refill limits
Floridians concerned about running out of medication during or after the storm will get relief in knowing some insurers are allowing members in all counties to get an early refill of their medications.
Florida Blue said its members can get a 30-day emergency supply of medication from in-network pharmacies through Sept. 28. In addition, should their doctors offices close, members can members can use the Florida Blue website or mobile app, or call Florida Blue, to find care at an alternative participating provider.
United Healthcare also said its plan participants who need help finding a care provider in the UnitedHealthcare network or who want to obtain early prescription refills can call customer care at the number located on the back of their medical ID cards.
Doctors are encouraging anyone who may be impacted by Hurricane Dorian to have a minimum of a two-week supply of any necessary over-the-counter or prescription medications.
Other suggestions from Florida Blue:
• Place medications in a water-tight container.
• Stock extra medical supplies used on a regular basis such as blood testing strips or oxygen tanks.
• Keep a list of all medications, dosages and prescribing provider with other important documents in a safe, dry location.
• Keep a copy of your health insurance cards and doctor’s orders and/or style and serial numbers of medical supplies you may use.
• Make a medical contact list with phone numbers for your doctors, pharmacy, medical facilities and other providers.
• Prepare or restock a first aid kit. Make sure nothing in it has expired. The first aid kit should include items such as antihistamine (oral and creams), ace bandages, adhesive bandages of all sizes, antibiotic cream, anesthetic spray or lotion, exam gloves, tweezers, non-adhesive pads and adhesive tape. Also make sure you have items such sunscreen, aloe and bug repellent on hand.
• Have ice available for medications that must stay refrigerated (such as insulin). Consult with your doctor and/or pharmacist about storage requirements for your medication before the storm.
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/weather/hurricane/fl-ne-florida-blue-20190829-ij3zd3zpdbfivdyhegz7kyx7x4-story.html
(South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
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