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MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE by Michael Wolraich Order today at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop |
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About 1 in 8 voters say Trump acts in an unpresidential way — and also approve of his presidency
.....Harris’s exhumation of busing was greeted over at Fox News with the delirium usually reserved for striking oil in one’s own backyard......with the possible exception of the Civil War draft, no program has been more hated by working-class Democrats — more whites than blacks, but plenty of blacks as well.......One by one, its candidates have embraced losing issue after losing issue. First came reparations for slavery, a noble idea lacking only popular support and practicality .....another attempt to right a wrong with money. Before that, the various candidates raised their hands in support of Medicare-for-all, which could strip millions of people of their private insurance plans.
@ TheGuardian.com, July 8, with video
The frugging feathered friend may look like a pogoing punk, but he has no fewer than 16 moves – including a moshpit-ready headbang
Doctors warn health services in danger of meltdown and facing ‘existential threat’
By Denis Campbell @ TheGuardian.com, July 8 (their headline story right now)
Hospitals are having to cancel operations and cancer scans are going unread for weeks because consultant doctors have suddenly begun working to rule in a standoff over NHS pensions.
Doctors say the dispute is escalating so quickly that it will send NHS services “into meltdown” and is so serious that it poses “an existential threat” to the health service’s survival. Changes to pension rules in 2016 mean rising numbers of consultants are receiving large bills linked to the value of their pension. Some are having to remortgage their homes to pay.
Waiting times for treatment, already the worst on record, are worsening as hospitals struggle to find senior doctors prepared to work more than their planned shifts, which could lead to them receiving a pension tax bill of as much as £80,000. NHS bosses fear the total number of patients in England waiting for non-urgent care such as a hip replacement or hernia repair, which already stands at 4.4 million, could soon head towards 5 million. [....]
By Amy Goldstein @ WashingtonPost.com, July 7
The judges of the marbled appellate courthouse in the heart of New Orleans once upended civil rights law, issuing rulings that propelled desegregation. This summer, they could upend health-care law and with it, the roiling politics of health care in Congress, the White House and the 2020 campaigns.
On Tuesday, the Trump administration and 18 Republican-led states will face off against a score of Democratic-led states over the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act — the sprawling law the Supreme Court has upheld twice but a federal district judge in Texas ruled invalid late last year.
If the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit hearing these arguments agrees with the lower court, the “win” for Republicans, who have sought for nearly a decade to ditch the ACA, could perversely cause the GOP the greatest trouble, according to analysts from both parties [....]
By Michael Harriot @ TheRoot.com, July 7
[....] Harris’ plan would offer down-payment and closing cost assistance of up to $25,000 to renters and families living in redlined neighborhoods. The policy proposal also requires credit reporting agencies to include payment histories for rent, phone and utility payments, which would address credit problems for people who don’t have auto loans or credit card accounts. The Harris campaign calculates that this plan could help four million borrowers own homes and increase the median wealth of black families by $32,000, the New York Times reports.
“A typical black family has just $10 of wealth for every $100 held by a white family,” Harris said in New Orleans on Saturday, according to Politico. “So we must right that wrong and, after generations of discrimination, give black families a real shot at homeownership—historically one of the most powerful drivers of wealth in our country.” [....]
Supply is plentiful again, report the UN and EU, and tech-savvy young people are the principal buyers.
By Leonid Bershidsky @ Bloomberg.com, June 27, with interactive graphs
“Uberization of the cocaine trade”? That’s not a joke. Fresh reports on illegal drug use from the United Nations and the European Union show that the cocaine market is growing rapidly, and technological progress has a lot to do with it.
The opioid epidemic remains largely a U.S. phenomenon, driven by the high availability of medical opiates and poor policy responses; in Europe, opioid use is going down consistently thanks to pragmatic harm reduction policies that decrease the stigma of drug use and stress treatment rather than enforcement. In contrast to opioids, the use of cocaine is on the rise in both major markets, North America and Europe, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime [....]
Uh, is this normal? "The VP disappeared, but we can't tell you why - trust us. 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 8 weeks... don't call us, we'll call you"
Hope he's not at a bone saw holiday clinic in the Saudi desert, or getting the Trotsky treatment in Mexico City. With Trump getting lifestyle & governing & family relaions tips from Kim Jong-Un the job just got tougher.
By 4-member reporting team @ LATimes.com, 8:40 pm PDT
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Southern California Friday night, the second major temblor in less than two days and one that rocked buildings across Southern California, adding more jitters to an already nervous region.
The quake was centered near Ridgecrest, the location of the July 4th 6.4 magnitude temblor that was the largest in nearly 20 years. It was followed by an aftershock [....]