Category: Money, Class, and Poverty,

‘I can’t afford to leave my home’: evacuating too costly for some in path of Hurricane Florence

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

‘I can’t afford to leave my home’: evacuating too costly for some in path of Hurricane Florence | World news | The Guardian

In any forecast that portents of a weather related diasaster there is always the plea to evacuate. …Which serves as a cue for a lot of well off white people to opine about how inconsiderate and irresponsible anyone who chooses not is.

There is never mention of how emergency services and FEMA types do not shore up damaged property or prevent lotting. There is never mention of how long a person must stay in exhile while their property is destroyed by continued exposure and lawlessness.

Apart from a few references to the “Cajun Navy,” there is hardly a mention of the folks who stay behind to provide serves the government does not.

And it is simply not discussed that evacuating is very. very expensive. There are few places that people can just go and be welcomed in without paying for the privilege.

For a family of six on a fixed income with no relative’s who will take them in, where are they supposed to go? Say their budget allows for seven hundred dollars for housing. Are they supposed to not pay their rent or mortgage that month so they can all stay in a hotel or motel while they are evacuated? Does anyone think a bank or a landlord will just forgo collecting money that month? What happens a few days into the evacuation when all of the money is gone? Where are they supposed to stay? How are they supposed to find a place that will accept their pets anyways?

For those without a car, how are people supposed to get to where ever they should be evacuating to?

The folks who look down their noses and judge people for not evacuating… They do understand evacuation is open ended, correct? Do they imagine everyone in the world has unlimited funds to pay for hotel and motel rooms with?

It’s obnoxious elitism.

Secret Service buys Harley Davidson motorcycles despite Trump feud

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

President Donald Trump may be calling for Americans to boycott Harley-Davidson Inc., but U.S. Secret Service agents who protect him will continue to ride Harley’s motorcycles.

This week, the Federal Business Opportunities website posted the Secret Service’s plans to purchase a new Harley that could be paired with a sidecar. 

Secret Service buys Harley Davidson motorcycles despite Trump feud

Thankfully the Secret Service doesn’t do politics.

Apple’s bigger iPhone XS is getting slammed for being ‘sexist’

On By peanutgallerynhIn Chick Stuff,, Money, Class, and Poverty,, Science and Stuff,Leave a comment

Apple’s bigger iPhone XS is getting slammed for being ‘sexist’

Oh, come on! Why would anyone assume apple or any other tech company would take women’s preferences or needs into account. Tech bros hate chicks and they’re not gonna give a shit if the phone is to big for the pockets in women’s clothing or anything else.

This hardly qualifies as news.

Cato Institute lauds New Hampshire as one of freest states, points to ways to get even better

On By peanutgallerynhIn Granite State,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

“less-skilled workers priced out of the market by minimum wage laws”
Cato Institute lauds New Hampshire as one of freest states, points to ways to get even better | New Hampshire | watchdog.org

Oh come on Cato crew, that is fucking ridiculous. How about minimum wage workers priced out of the housing market by decades out of date wages?

Double speaking, duplicitous, simpletons.

Billionaire Sackler Family, Blamed for Opioid Addiction Epidemic, Secretly Owned Second Drug Company

On By peanutgallerynhIn Addiction,, Drugs & Drink,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

Rhodes Pharma is of one of the largest creators of off-patent generic opioids. The company produces several opioid-based painkillers that contain addictive drugs including oxycodone, hydrocodone and morphine.

Billionaire Sackler Family, Blamed for Opioid Addiction Epidemic, Secretly Owned Second Drug Company: Report

sigh….

OxyContin Maker Given Patent for Opioid Addiction Treatment

On By peanutgallerynhIn Addiction,, Drugs & Drink,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

Purdue Pharma has long been criticized for aggressively marketing opioid painkiller OxyContin, which many believe has lead to the current opioid addiction epidemic. And now it seems the company is looking to get in on profits from treatment, too. Richard Sackler, whose family that owns and operates privately held Purdue Pharma, has been granted a patent for opioid painkiller addiction treatment.

OxyContin Maker Given Patent for Opioid Addiction Treatment | Fortune

Perdue Pharma get an endless source of money, treating a problem they created and the American public gets even more lifetime prescriptions/doctor induced addiction to opioids.

Why the hell treating opiod dependence with more opioids makes sense to anyone other than the douchbag who stands to make twice profit off all of the misery they’ve caused is beyond me.

Agggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh

A year later, no details on where Trump’s surplus inaugural funds went

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

Nearly a year after President Trump’s inauguration, the committee that raised a record $106.7 million for the event has not disclosed how much surplus money it still has or provided a final accounting of its finances.

…Presidential inaugural committees are private fundraising vehicles that pay for the concerts, balls and other festivities that surround the swearing-in.

…Adelson was among an array of wealthy individuals and corporate giants contributing to the celebrations, including the Bank of America, AT&T, Dow Chemical, Boeing and Quicken Loans.

…Fred Wertheimer, of the Democracy 21 watchdog group, said the committee, as a nonprofit, can’t legally convert any of the funds to personal use, such as paying legal expenses for Trump aides caught up in the special counsel and congressional probes into Russian involvement in the 2016 election.

…“It is alarming that you would potentially have at least $50 million left over and no sense of how it was spent.”

A year later, no details on where Trump’s surplus inaugural funds went

hmmmm

Inflation hits 6-year high, wiping out wage gains for the average American

On By peanutgallerynhIn Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

Prices rose at their highest clip since 2012 over the past year, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The cost of food, shelter and gas have all risen significantly in the past year. Gas skyrocketed more than 24 percent, rent for a primary residence jumped 3.6 percent and meals at restaurants and cafeterias rose 2.8 percent.

…For workers, more pain may be coming, as economists are concerned that prices could rise further due to …tariffs on many foreign imports. Trump put a 20 tariff on foreign washing machines earlier this year, and the inflation report Thursday showed more than a 13 percent spike in laundry equipment over the same period last year.

…Wage growth has been lackluster since the Great Recession. …Typically, companies raise wages sharply in this kind of environment, but average hourly earnings are still stuck below 3 percent, a low level historically.

Inflation hits 6-year high, wiping out wage gains for the average American – Chicago Tribune

hmmmm

Much of the US Electric Grid Could Go the Way of the Landline Phone

On By peanutgallerynhIn Infrastructure and Transportation,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

Making electricity, in other words, is becoming a less profitable business. And Garg worries that these costs will eventually reach consumers and send ripples throughout the economy. “You don’t need a huge amount of people to leave to cause a huge issue with the grid,” he says.

Unlike in the phone industry, an enervated electric grid can hurt just about everybody. Even most folks with solar panels on their roof still need that baseload power when the clouds block the sun long enough for the fridge to suck their Powerwall dry, or wires onto which they can shunt their excess power whenever the panels are generating more juice than any home can use.

…“The regulatory structure basically paid utilities to build power plants, and charge customers for the cost of those plants through bills, but didn’t provide much incentive for the utilities to be efficient,” says Seth Blumsack, who studies energy policy at Pennsylvania State University. So long as you didn’t have any competitors eyeing your market share, why innovate or look for cheaper fuel sources?

…Another tack would be changing the way the industry is regulated, all over again. Even with restructuring and deregulation, government policy still rewards big capital expenditures like new power plants or miles of transmission line. Regulations could easily be written that reward companies that make the existing grid operate more efficiently. However, the current administration hasn’t really caught up to what the market is saying.

Much of the US Electric Grid Could Go the Way of the Landline Phone | WIRED

hmmmm

Federal Court: First Amendment Protects Sharing Food With Homeless People

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Local Interest,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

In a colorful decision that managed to invoke the Boston Tea Party, Lady Macbeth and Jesus of Nazareth, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Wednesday that feeding the homeless is “expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment.” The decision revives a challenge brought by a local chapter of Food Not Bombs, which sued Fort Lauderdale, Florida for requiring a permit to share food in public parks.

…“The court’s opinion recognized sharing food with another human being is one of the oldest forms of human expression,” said Kirsten Anderson, litigation director at the Southern Legal Counsel and lead attorney on the case. “We think this decision strengthens our message to cities across the country that they need to invest in constructive solutions to homelessness instead of wasting government resources on punishing people who seek to offer aid.”

Federal Court: First Amendment Protects Sharing Food With Homeless People

hmmm

Cost of New E.P.A. Coal Rules: Up to 1,400 More Deaths a Year – The New York Times

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Environment,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

The Trump administration on Tuesday made public the details of its new pollution rules governing coal-burning power plants, and the fine print includes an acknowledgment that the plan would increase carbon emissions and lead to up to 1,400 premature deaths annually.

…The new proposal …would also let states relax pollution rules for power plants that need upgrades, keeping them active longer.

…Compared to the Obama-era plan, the analysis says, “implementing the proposed rule is expected to increase emissions of carbon dioxide and the level of emissions of certain pollutants in the atmosphere that adversely affect human health.”

…The [Obama era] Clean Power Plan aimed to curb planet-warming greenhouse gases by steering the energy sector away from coal and toward cleaner energy sources like wind and solar. According to its calculations, the decreased coal burning also would reduce other pollutants like sulfur dioxide, which poses respiratory risk, and nitrogen oxides that create ozone, which, in the form of smog, can damage lung tissue.

Mr. Obama’s E.P.A. also estimated that, by 2030, the Clean Power Plan would result in 180,000 fewer missed school days per year by children because of ozone-related illnesses. Asthma instances would also drop significantly, according to the analysis.

By contrast, the Trump administration analysis finds that own its plan would see 48,000 new cases of exacerbated asthma and at least 21,000 new missed days of school annually by 2030 because those pollutants would increase in the atmosphere rather than decrease.

Cost of New E.P.A. Coal Rules: Up to 1,400 More Deaths a Year – The New York Times

hmmm

Michael Cohen plea deal

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

Michael Cohen said in a plea deal that “in coordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office” he kept information that would have been harmful to the candidate and the campaign from becoming public.

…As part of the plea deal with federal prosecutors in the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, Cohen is expected to plead guilty to multiple counts of campaign finance violations, tax fraud and bank fraud, according to three sources. The deal would include jail time and a substantial monetary fine.

…Prosecutors said in court their investigation is into Cohen’s personal financial dealings. The search warrant authorizing the FBI raid referenced Cohen’s taxi medallion business, the identity of banks that loaned him money and payments made to suppress negative information during the presidential campaign.

Michael Cohen plea deal – CNNPolitics

hmmmm

Paul Manafort found guilty on eight counts

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been found guilty on eight counts of financial crimes, a major victory for special counsel Robert Mueller.

But jurors were unable to reach a verdict on 10 charges, and Judge T.S. Ellis declared a mistrial on those counts.

Manafort was found guilty of five tax fraud charges, one charge of hiding foreign bank accounts and two counts of bank fraud.

…He still faces a second set of criminal charges in a Washington, DC, federal court, of failure to register his foreign lobbying and of money laundering conspiracy related to the same Ukrainian political work that was central to the Virginia case.

Paul Manafort found guilty on eight counts – CNNPolitics

hmmm