This week in progressive state blogs is designed specifically to focus attention on the writing and analysis of people focused on their home turf. Let me know via comments or Kosmail if you have a favorite state- or city-based blog you think I should be watching.
Inclusion of a diary does not necessarily indicate my agreement or endorsement of its contents.
At The Mudflats of Alaska, Jeanne DeVon writes—Obama Comes to Alaska: We Have to Break the Ice, so We Can Save It:
As I drove, I imagined having to explain to a Secret Service agent that the reason my boots set off the sniffer dog is because the last two places I wore them were a pig farm and a gun show respectively. So, there was a perfectly good explanation why I smelled of gunpowder, and fertilizer. “No really! I swear! I still have the pictures on my phone!” I was glad I had allowed extra time.
I had allowed so much extra time, it turns out, that I was the first member of the press at Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson (JBER) and waited in my car for over an hour to be escorted in to see the landing of Air Force One. Eventually news vans, and cars filled with journalists and photographers pulled in and congregated in a huddle behind my car. I got out and received my White House press pool pass, but missed out on the cool Air Force lanyards which were all gone. The early bird got a stupid safety pin. [...]
The [president's closing] speech had been a good one, I thought. It didn’t really tell Alaskans what we don’t already know. We have eyes, and memories. I’ve lived in Anchorage for 25 years now, and I’ve seen changes. An 80 degree day used to be almost non-existent. This summer we had plenty of them. Record snows, record heat, record everything it seems. Coastal and interior areas show the changes too. Plants where they never used to be, animals where they never used to be, permafrost and glaciers disappearing. Walruses being forced to haul out on dry land, and polar bears drowning due to lack of sea ice. But that speech was not for the benefit of Alaskans. Alaska is the bellwether, the canary in the proverbial coal mine. This conference was to send a message to everyone else. This is what is coming.
You will find more excerpts and links from progressive state blogs below the orange gerrymander.
At Scrutiny Hooligans of North Carolina, Tom Sullivan writes—How y’all doin’?
Eat black-eyed peas? Sure. Grits? Occasionally at Waffle House. Collard greens? Never. Say y’all? Once in a blue moon. Maybe. A lot of things you pick up over time. Y’all wasn’t one of them.
When as a kid I moved South, the mannerisms, food, and culture (and religion) were pretty foreign. As were the accents. Over time, though, like Henry Higgins I could pick out what part of town people were from by their accents. There are few things more annoying than hearing some blond-haired, southern Californian actor attempting one of those one-size-fits-all, made-for-TV southern accents. The variations are too rich and subtle for that. Although inmigration has watered down accents somewhat overall, occasionally you can still hear one like this from a feisty friend of mine. (Underestimate her because of her accent at your peril.)
Writing in Salon yesterday, Cameron Hunt McNabb examined theories of how the ubiquitous Southernism y’all came into being. Commonly thought a contraction of “you all,” that doesn’t exactly work.
At
Democratic Diva of Arizona,
Donna writes—
Anti-Choice Zealots Are Out to Replace Planned Parenthood with Clinics that Don't Offer Birth Control:
A lot of very naive people hold a cherished illusion that the abortion debate can be solved through respectful dialog leading to a truce where the pro-choice side cedes ground on things like later term abortions and parental consent and the anti-abortion side agrees to stop opposing birth control and sex ed. This will lead to a glorious permanent state of first term abortion remaining legal while gradually fading away, as formerly irresponsible women (the trollops!) will have finally reined in their capricious behavior, upon realizing how serious a thing abortion is!
As I’ve exhaustively explained here too many times to count, the naive illusion ignores how those compromises on abortion are actually terrible and imperil real women* and how relentless the anti-choice movement is in its quest to return America to the legal climate of 1964, when it was still legal for states to ban birth control. Opponents to full reproductive rights of women are not interested in a compromise. They are interested in a solution. Theirs. And they are highly adept at exploiting how little average people know about how laws and public policies work, while expertly taking advantage every possible way to game the system in their favor. [...]
Anti-choice zealots have always hated birth control, which is why the very notion of them being amenable to allowing it as a way to blunt the abortion war is simply a ludicrous proposition. A recent proposal for a “pro-life” replacement for Planned Parenthood makes this abundantly clear. In the wake of the bogus Planned Parenthood “secret video scandal!” right wing politicians and pundits have been pushing the line that there are “thousands” of clinics that offer the same health screening and contraceptive services to women minus providing abortion, thus Planned Parenthood isn’t necessary. (This is, of course, bullshit.)
At
Ohio Daily,
Anastasia Pantsios writes—
Kasich the Not-So-Formidable Presidential Candidate:
Desperate for some semblance of sanity in a GOP race now totally dominated by kooks (Donald Trump) and extremists (Trump, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz), some pundits followed up the first GOP presidential debate in August by announcing that Kasich appeared ready to win over a wide spectrum of voters and that he was the “grownup” in the room.
Never mind that this narrative was spun out of 10-15 minutes of limited speaking time in which Kasich was lobbed softball questions on which to express a phony compassion that belied his actual extreme policies. Fine to say you attended a same-sex wedding and would support your daughter if she were “that.” Not so fine to help propel Obergefell vs. Hodges all the way to the Supreme Court and block any efforts to pass a nondiscrimination act in Ohio.
The trouble is, while the media loves to paint Kasich as a sensible moderate who can get things done by working with a wide range of people — the same lie the Cleveland Plain Dealer spread in its completely fabricated editorial endorsing Kasich in 2010 — that Kasich doesn’t actually exist.
At
Bold Nebraska,
Mark Hefflinger writes—
Landowners File Opening Brief in Lawsuit Against TransCanada’s Eminent Domain for Keystone XL:
Lawyers for Nebraska landowners submitted written arguments in Court on Monday, August 31st. They contend a 2012 Nebraska law unconstitutionally authorizes TransCanada, a foreign pipeline company, to use eminent domain and to take their land.
Landowners won temporary injunctions halting eminent domain proceedings in February 2015. The highly publicized Keystone XL Pipeline project has been stalled since then by the Nebraska lawsuits, and a veto by the President of the United States.
If built, the pipeline would dissect Nebraska from north to south.
Briefs were filed on Monday with Holt County District Judge Mark D. Kozisek.
In Nebraska, four members of the State Supreme Court ruled for a landowner group in a previous challenge to strike the law down. But 3 members refused to vote on the merits, resulting in no definitive decision. The Nebraska Constitution requires 5 of 7 Justices must concur to strike down a state law.
At the
Dakota Free Press,
caheidelberger writes—
Coyotes Gotta Compete! USD to Pay Athletes Stipends Beyond Scholarships:
The jockocracy expands its reign, as the University of South Dakota seeks to expropriate another three quarters of a million dollars of the common wealth to pay young people for our gladiatorial entertainment. USD President Jim Abbott says USD just has to pay its scholarship athletes an additional “cost of attendance” stipend, not to enhance educational achievement, not to improve graduation rates, not to meet state workforce needs, but just to ensure closer games against its chosen Division I opponents:
“It seems to be a necessary move to meet the competition,” Abbott told the Press & Dakotan on Friday, hours after USD announced it will provide cost of attendance stipends in all 17 sports beginning with the 2016-17 season.
The additional aid for Coyote student-athletes is a sign, the president said, that USD is committed to succeeding at the D-I level.
“I don’t see much point going into a machine gun fight with a bow and arrow,” Abbott said. “If it’s a machine gun fight, you want to be able to be equal to the competition”
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At
Bleeding Heartland of Iowa,
desmoinesdem writes—
Iowa AG Miller to GOP lawmakers: No authority to investigate fetal tissue transfers:
Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller has informed 56 Republican state legislators that his office has neither "jurisdiction over transfers of fetal tissue" nor the "authority to investigate or demand information about the transfer of fetal tissue." In a letter dated today, Miller noted that "Iowa does not have any state laws governing the transfer of fetal tissue," which means that only offices of U.S. Attorneys are able to enforce federal laws in this area.
Last month, the GOP lawmakers asked Miller's office "to investigate current and planned abortion operations within Iowa to ensure compliance with the law." Their letter set out ten detailed questions regarding the disposal, donation, or possible sale of body parts following abortions. Miller directed the legislators to contact U.S. attorneys' offices in Iowa if they "have reliable information that federal laws relating to fetal tissue are being violated." [...]
Many Iowa Republicans will be furious, not only because Miller will not act on their unfounded suspicions, but also because the Attorney General's Office responded to their query in what appears to be a textbook late-afternoon, pre-holiday-weekend news dump.
At
TxSharon's BlueDaze,
TxSharon writes—
Video: Uncontrolled Methane Releases from Fracking Accelerate Climate Change:
Natural gas is methane. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that sticks around in our atmosphere for 100 years. Methane’s global warming potential GWP is 86 times more than CO2 for the first 20 years it is in our atmosphere, then its GWP is about 25 times more then CO2.
Methane is a surrogate gas that brings “hitchhiker” volatile organic compounds (VOC) with it. These VOCs harm health and pollute the air. VOCs and NOx combine with sunlight to create ozone.
These emissions trespass onto neighbor’s property and cause unpleasant odors and health impacts. Eighty to ninety percent of over 500 peer-reviewed studies confirm that fracking harms health, air and water.
I recently made two trips to the Eagle Ford Shale to do an air investigation. These are the videos from only the first trip. I will post videos from the second trip next week. Most of these videos show ongoing releases of methane and VOCs over a period of several days.
At
Calitics,
Steve Smith writes—
AB 219 Closes Wage Loophole on Public Construction Projects:
California has long been committed to ensuring that anyone employed on a public works construction project earns a living wage. That just means the wages paid to women and men who build the public structures we all use aren't driven into poverty. The wages are set by region based on cost of living and other factors to ensure that both workers and taxpayers are protected. It's this kind of stability and fairness that ensures these important projects are completed on time by skilled professionals who do the job right.
But, like with many laws, there are loopholes. Drivers of ready-mix cement trucks who are employed by manufacturers are not covered under the state's prevailing wage law, meaning those drivers don't receive the same fair wages that other drivers doing the exact same work receive. [...]
But today, the state legislature took an important step to rectifying this inequity by voting to close the loophole with AB 219 (Daly) so that all cement truck drivers working on public projects earn the same fair wage. Earlier this week, dozens of workers from the State Building and Construction Trades unions and the Teamsters lined the halls of the Capitol to urge legislators to close this loophole and support good jobs. Their message was simple: all workers on a construction site deserve fair treatment on the job and a decent wage to support their families.
While passing this bill may seem like a no-brainer to most, it's no shock that corporate lobbyists were coming out of the woodwork to oppose. Some big corporations like the loophole because it allows them to underbid responsible contractors who do the right thing by paying their employees a decent wage and offering healthcare and retirement benefits
At
The Seminole Democrat of Florida,
The Seminole Democrat writes—
Rick Scott's "Lexus Lane" Agenda Will Kill This State Unless You Act:
I have been asked to help in the fight against Rick Scott's/GOP's Lexus Lane agenda in Tampa. A non-profit group named the Sunshine Citizens has formed from a coalition of neighborhood associations, small businesses and concerned citizens, and the Tampa Heights Junior Civic Association.
WE have already lost this battle here in Orlando with the monstrosity that began last April. Lexus lanes are being constructed as we speak. Essentially, they are toll roads that will vary in price by how congested the roads are. They are a ploy by special interests to keep you behind the wheel and BY DESIGN are to make the roads as congested as possible. Miami has suffered for years under this.
WHY? Because if the highway isn't congested, there is NO INCENTIVE to pay high toll prices. The more congested, the higher the prices will be! (And the more money is made!) And I mean they will by sky high!! This means that the rich folks will be driving by you in their Lexi; whizzing down the highway on their OWN freaking lanes while you sit in a carbon-monoxide parking lot.
At
Michigan Liberal,
Eric B. writes—
Stepping sideways into the dumbest FOIA exemption on Planet Earth:
A few years ago, during Leon Drolet's avowed campaign to recall anyone and everyone who voted in favor of the income tax hike (scalps collected: 0), there was some question about whether on of Andy Dillon's staffers was doing anti-recall work on the public dime or on vacation time. Drolet said he was being paid to be a legislative staffer while the staffer said he was taking vacation time. The entire thing could have been cleared up pretty easily with a simple FOIA request: a copy of the staffer's time sheet, as turned over whatever office in the House processes the things. But nope.
In Michigan, transparency in government ends at the Capitol building, where the governor and Legislature have conveniently exempted themselves from the state’s Freedom of Information Act. The exemption gives lawmakers and the governor broad discretion in what information they release to the public, and what they keep secret.
That should change. As elected officials, the governor and legislators work for the public. Very little they do should be blocked from public view, and when information is held private, it should be for very well defined reasons.
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You can see why the leadership of our ongoing experiment in the Dunning-Kruger effect wouldn't think this a hot idea. In the Lansing bubble, it is taken as Gospel that they alone possess the wisdom to rule and that the rest of us in the lumpen rabble should be happy to accept whatever turd they polish up without input. This is harmed to the degree that they have to answer for how they conduct their affairs, and obvioiusly the prospect of having their cozy relationship with lobbyists placed before the public forebodes poorly.
At
Blue Mass Group,
charley-on-the-mta writes—
"Boston’s roads aren’t meant for bicycles":
You can count on Jeff Jacoby to be a lagging indicator of cranky-old-man conservative thought in the Globe. But I have to say that today’s column, an anti-bicycle diatribe (Boston’s roads aren’t meant for bicycles – The Boston Globe), is not 100% wrong … only about 90%.
I’ll get the good thing out of the way first. Here’s the true part:
Busy thoroughfares aren’t meant for cyclists. They are meant for the cars, trucks, and buses that transport the vast majority of people moving through the nation’s cities. Those vehicles weigh thousands of pounds, operate at 300-plus horsepower, and are indispensable to the economic and social well-being of virtually every American community. Bicycles can be an enjoyable, even exhilarating, way to get around. |
It is true that our roads in Greater Boston were not designed for bicycles. (You can make a strong case that they weren’t even designed for cars, either.)But here’s where Jacoby reaches a logical Mobius strip: On one hand, he cites statistics saying that bikes are trivial in number. On the other hand, What are all these @#$%@ing bikes doing in my way!!! Welp, these two things just don’t go together.