American Politics VII: Virginia Reel

[Great Algerstonia]

This, unironically. West Virginia's statehood is completely unconstitutional. It's admission to the Union violated Article IV, Section III, Clause I.

Maybe Virginia should have thought of that before trying to secede.

The US never recognized Virginia's secession. They only recognized the Confederates as rebels and insurgents. Legally, Virginia was still part of the Union according to the US, and thus a state was formed out of a different state's territory.

[North Saitama]

Who else thinks that DoorDash should be nationalized and put under the control of the United States Postal Service?

This way we don't have a middle man trying to make profit off of customers, businesses, and drivers. Customers and businesses can be assured that prices are not inflated by Door Dash keeping prices relatively lower and competitive, and drivers can be assured a decent pay (and since most people can sign up to be drivers, this could even serve as a semi, partial, or pseudo job guarantee, since we apparently are unwilling to establish a true job guarantee). We could also use this service as a way to provide healthy meals to people whom are elderly or disabled, or groceries for people in general during lockdowns due to pandemics or other emergencies.

Sure, let's steal from those that own it and destroy it. Just to fulfill a socialist dream, no matter how many people are now making no money at all after it goes belly-up.

[Lord Dominator]

Maybe Virginia should have thought of that before trying to secede.

The US never recognized Virginia's secession. They only recognized the Confederates as rebels and insurgents. Legally, Virginia was still part of the Union according to the US, and thus a state was formed out of a different state's territory.

They did however recognize the WV breakaway government as being the government of Virginia prior to it breaking off Virginia itself.

[Tarsonis]

I don't think they mean Uber eats, but rather bean pod. Some people can't go to the grocery store and rely on services to bring their food to them.

Uber Eats also does grocery delivery. So does Doordash. Uber bought Postmates. I don't know what's going at Grub Hub, which is sad because they were doing this before it was cool. I remember getting Grub Hub deliveries when I was in San Francisco and that was forever ago.

Fair enough, the point was they're not talking about getting a 12 challupas at 3am because you smoked a fatty and are too stoked to drive.

[Kowani]

Israeli Diplomat and Rep. Kathy Manning (D-NC) tried to pressure the University of North Carolina to remove a graduate student from teaching a course on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over Tweets that criticized Israel

THIS AUGUST, Israeli consular officials in the southeast U.S. arranged meetings with a dean at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to discuss a graduate student teaching a course on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. According to two UNC professors with knowledge of the meetings, who asked for anonymity for fear of retribution, the Israeli official accused the Ph.D. student of antisemitism and said she was unfit to teach the course.

The intervention by an Israeli government official, Consul General to the Southeastern United States Anat Sultan-Dadon, followed a pressure campaign by right-wing pro-Israel websites and an advocacy group to remove the graduate student, Kylie Broderick, from teaching the history department course called “The Conflict over Israel/Palestine.” The websites and pro-Israel advocacy group pointed to postings Broderick had made on Twitter that criticized Israel and Zionism and, without evidence, cited the postings as evidence of antisemitism. In addition to the intervention by the Israeli government, the school faced pressure from a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, the two UNC professors told The Intercept. The professors said Rep. Kathy Manning, D-N.C., also met with the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences to exert pressure over Broderick’s course.

“It is not a new phenomenon where outside parties have tried to stifle academic freedom on this subject,” Broderick said. “But these people have never seen me teach, never seen my past evaluations which have said that I treat students fairly, and thus have no right to dictate what I say inside the classroom.” [...] “I think that a representative of a foreign government attempting to police an academic class is, in the first place, ridiculous, and an obvious overreaction to what is essentially an issue that started on Twitter,” Broderick said. “I also think it is strange that the Israeli consulate general was granted an audience. If this was a class on Hungary or Australia, would the university have permitted the attempted interference of a foreign government? The fact that this meeting happened at all is clearly a threat to academic freedom.” The controversy started over several tweets sent by Broderick that were highly critical of Israel and U.S. foreign policy, including support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israel. Broderick rejected accusations leveled by Israeli consular officials that her criticisms of Israel on social media constituted antisemitism. “A critique of Israel and the political ideology of Zionism does not constitute bigotry any more than a critique of Iran, which calls itself an Islamic Republic, constitutes an Islamophobic attack,” Broderick said. ”States are not religions, nor are states a people.”

BRODERICK HAD EXPECTED scrutiny some of her teaching, as Israel is always a hot-button issue in the United States. What she did not was the degree to which the smear campaign against her would balloon, up to and including interventions from officials of two governments.
In a statement to The Intercept, Sultan-Dadon confirmed the meeting with the dean of UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences about Broderick. Though Sultan-Dadon declined to comment on the specifics of the discussion, she doubled down on her view that Broderick was antisemitic and unfit to teach a course on the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“Regarding the matter of the course ‘The Conflict over Israel/Palestine’ at UNC Chapel Hill taught by PhD student Ms. Broderick, I do have significant concerns regarding public statements that have been made by Ms. Broderick on this subject matter, some of which are not only heavily biased, but fall clearly under what is defined as antisemitic by the IHRA working definition of antisemitism,” Sultan-Dadon said, referring to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s heavily contested definition of antisemitism.

The consul general went on: “I think it should be of concern to anyone who stands against antisemitism, and for academic freedom, that an individual who has not only made public antisemitic statements in reference to Israel and the Israeli Palestinian conflict, but also publicly stated that she does not believe there are two sides to this conflict and does not want to teach her students both sides, is the selected teacher for a course on ‘The Conflict over Israel/Palestine.’” Manning’s congressional office did not respond to a request for comment on the meetings with UNC officials. Manning’s website is short on foreign policy positions but says that support for Israel is a key issue for the U.S. House member.

The dean’s office and UNC declined to comment on the meeting with officials. However, UNC officials appear to be holding firm despite the heavy outside pressure over Broderick’s teaching of the course. An email from the chancellor’s office this August, circulated online by pro-Israel groups, indicated that the course would go forward as planned, and Broderick has since begun teaching without controversy or complaints from students.

THE CONTROVERSY OVER Broderick’s teaching of the course began this summer, after the pro-Israel website Algemeiner did a story focused on a series of tweets Broderick had made that were highly critical of Israel or deemed by the author, Peter Reitzes, to have been “crass.”

The issue snowballed from there as other activist news websites picked up the issue and began spreading it in their networks — even reaching mainstream news. In August, a local ABC affiliate broadcasted an investigative story by journalist Jonah Kaplan. Kaplan quoted students saying that Broderick’s tweets criticizing Israel were reminiscent of the rhetoric that fomented the Holocaust, describing them as a “new mutation of what anti-Semitism is today.” Another student told Kaplan, regarding Broderick’s tweets, “Just replace Zionist with Jew and it’s pretty obvious it’s anti-Semitic.”

[Corrian]

That above post sounds like shit a Republican would do, what the fuck?

[The Black Forrest]

I don't remember any democrat saying "Trump is in favor of the vaccine so we shouldn't get id".

Kamala Harris, amongst others.

Your evidence?

[Washington Resistance Army]

That above post sounds like shit a Republican would do, what the fuck?

The Israel Lobby has its claws in both parties.

[Rusozak]

That above post sounds like shit a Republican would do, what the fuck?

Simping for Israel has always been a bipartisan issue.

[Lord Dominator]

The behavior given on the part of the consular officials is certainly disturbing, but the tweets the article cites/links to as being part of the controversy are hardly innocuous.

[The Black Forrest]

What is good about that man? If you are such an "American Patriot Citizen" and "Pro-Trump Conservative", you could tell me something that I am wrong about, no?

Except there is nothing good about Trump. At least not anything relevant to everyone, as I'm sure was stated before.

Fact: There are millions of American Patriot Citizens of the USA with Pride and Honor. who strongly agree with me, they are not imaginary Persons as a certain leftist posted too me and a few certain Persons agreed with him on. They are real Persons, American Patriot Citizens of the USA, with Pride and Honor. I strongly respect your Freedom of Speech and Democratic Rights to strongly disagree with me and us. I don't tell any Persons I am right and they are wrong on any issues, world leaders and VIPs. I just strongly and respectfully agree or disagree with them. Peace over and out. GMS.

And again. Nobody can explain MAGA nor can they even list out five great things he has done. The funny thing. There have been Presidents in the past people did not like and yet they can point out good if not great things they have done.

So again a simple test. List out five great things he has done.

[The Black Forrest]

Who else thinks that DoorDash should be nationalized and put under the control of the United States Postal Service?

This way we don't have a middle man trying to make profit off of customers, businesses, and drivers. Customers and businesses can be assured that prices are not inflated by Door Dash keeping prices relatively lower and competitive, and drivers can be assured a decent pay (and since most people can sign up to be drivers, this could even serve as a semi, partial, or pseudo job guarantee, since we apparently are unwilling to establish a true job guarantee). We could also use this service as a way to provide healthy meals to people whom are elderly or disabled, or groceries for people in general during lockdowns due to pandemics or other emergencies.

Yeah, but then someone would come along with the big brain idea of making them pay their pensions a 100 years in advance or something and then go, "Look how broken the DoorDash system is!!!"

We use them unfortunately and they are rather mediocre at best.

We used to use Safeway for certain basics. Safeway used to have their own delivery people. Never had issues. Free market supporters said HEY WE CAN OUTSOURCE!!!! More profit!!!!!!! Enter Doordash. We have yet to have a delivery that is correct. The customer service is crap.

[Cannot think of a name]

Yeah, but then someone would come along with the big brain idea of making them pay their pensions a 100 years in advance or something and then go, "Look how broken the DoorDash system is!!!"

We use them unfortunately and they are rather mediocre at best.

We used to use Safeway for certain basics. Safeway used to have their own delivery people. Never had issues. Free market supporters said HEY WE CAN OUTSOURCE!!!! More profit!!!!!!! Enter Doordash. We have yet to have a delivery that is correct. The customer service is crap.

I use to love Safeway delivery because when I was using it I lived on an island and going to the store was a hassle because it was not on the island. I ended my time with Door Dash when I got like three fucked up orders missing something and on the third one they went, "Well, you've had too many complaints so we can't do anything." I was astounded, "We've fucked up so often that we're just gonna stop caring now."

I needed to stop having deliveries anyway. Grocery deliveries aside from nuggets like people unable to find canadian bacon because they're looking at actual bacon or can't find the root beer because they're looking at the actual beer (both real, both more than once) but I don't get sized apparently so I keep getting too little of things like sour cream and way too much of mixed greens.

[Page]

Who else thinks that DoorDash should be nationalized and put under the control of the United States Postal Service?

This way we don't have a middle man trying to make profit off of customers, businesses, and drivers. Customers and businesses can be assured that prices are not inflated by Door Dash keeping prices relatively lower and competitive, and drivers can be assured a decent pay (and since most people can sign up to be drivers, this could even serve as a semi, partial, or pseudo job guarantee, since we apparently are unwilling to establish a true job guarantee). We could also use this service as a way to provide healthy meals to people whom are elderly or disabled, or groceries for people in general during lockdowns due to pandemics or other emergencies.

In the long run I'd like to see capitalism end altogether but there are more urgent things to be nationalized: I'd start with the health care industry. I'd also like to see payday lenders replaced by a public service that doesn't charge exploitative interest rates.

[Maricarland]

Who else thinks that DoorDash should be nationalized and put under the control of the United States Postal Service?

This way we don't have a middle man trying to make profit off of customers, businesses, and drivers. Customers and businesses can be assured that prices are not inflated by Door Dash keeping prices relatively lower and competitive, and drivers can be assured a decent pay (and since most people can sign up to be drivers, this could even serve as a semi, partial, or pseudo job guarantee, since we apparently are unwilling to establish a true job guarantee). We could also use this service as a way to provide healthy meals to people whom are elderly or disabled, or groceries for people in general during lockdowns due to pandemics or other emergencies.

In the long run I'd like to see capitalism end altogether but there are more urgent things to be nationalized: I'd start with the health care industry. I'd also like to see payday lenders replaced by a public service that doesn't charge exploitative interest rates.

Agreed

[Kowani]

I am not DeJoyful

Americans who have been frustrated with the slow service of the U.S. Postal Service since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic probably won’t be thrilled to hear this:

The service is about to get even slower.

Starting Friday, the Postal Service will “implement new service standards for First Class Mail and Periodicals,” spokeswoman Kim Frum said in an email to USA TODAY.

The changes mean an increased time-in-transit for mail traveling long distances, such as from New York to California. Frum said that “most first class mail (61%) and periodicals (93%) will be unaffected” by the changes. Single-piece first-class mail traveling within the same region will still have a delivery time of two days.

The Postal Service defines first-class mail as “standard sized letters and flats,” Frum said. That’s different from first-class packages, which are typically used for shipping smaller, lightweight packages. Currently, first-class mail and first-class packages have the same delivery standards, but that will change beginning Friday. The changes to service standard times are part of the Postal Service's 10-year strategic plan, which was announced by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in March. The plan has drawn heavy criticism from elected officials.

DeJoy took his position in June 2020 despite no previous Postal Service experience. The position of postmaster general is not appointed or nominated by a president but rather appointed by the independent Postal Service Board of Governors. The Postal Service has been riddled by financial problems for years, and the coronavirus pandemic has only worsened the situation.

By making this change, Frum said, “the Postal Service can entrust its ground network to deliver more First-Class Mail, which will lead to great consistency, reliability and efficiency that benefits its customers … whether it’s 300 miles or 3,000 miles, the current standard for (first-class packages) require 3-day service for any destination within the contiguous U.S. with a drive time greater than six hours. This is unattainable and forces us to rely on air transportation, yielding unreliable service. With this change, we will improve service reliability and predictability for customers while also driving efficiencies across the Postal Service network.”

Additionally, starting Oct. 3 through Dec. 26, the Postal Service will temporarily increase prices on all commercial and retail domestic packages because of the holiday season and its increase in mail volume. Those price increases will not affect international products, Frum said.

[Alcala-Cordel]

That above post sounds like shit a Republican would do, what the fuck?

Democrats are neocons who will occasionally go out of their way to make pointless symbolic gestures and sabotage their own attempts to create progress in favor of preserving the status quo, it really shouldn't be too surprising

[Kilobugya]

Democrats are neocons who will occasionally go out of their way to make pointless symbolic gestures and sabotage their own attempts to create progress in favor of preserving the status quo, it really shouldn't be too surprising

Honestly I don't think we speak globally of Democrats like that anymore. That used to be mostly true in the Clinton era, yes (with a few exception), but nowadays the "progressist wing" of the Democrats isn't that small anymore. The Democrats are torn apart between two wings that are very different, as we can see currently with all the internal struggle within the Democrats in Congress.

[North Washington Republic]

That above post sounds like shit a Republican would do, what the fuck?

Democrats are neocons who will occasionally go out of their way to make pointless symbolic gestures and sabotage their own attempts to create progress in favor of preserving the status quo, it really shouldn't be too surprising

If Democrats were neocons, then we wouldn’t see the shit-show of withdrawal of Afghanistan.

[Blargoblarg]

Who else thinks that DoorDash should be nationalized and put under the control of the United States Postal Service?

This way we don't have a middle man trying to make profit off of customers, businesses, and drivers. Customers and businesses can be assured that prices are not inflated by Door Dash keeping prices relatively lower and competitive, and drivers can be assured a decent pay (and since most people can sign up to be drivers, this could even serve as a semi, partial, or pseudo job guarantee, since we apparently are unwilling to establish a true job guarantee). We could also use this service as a way to provide healthy meals to people whom are elderly or disabled, or groceries for people in general during lockdowns due to pandemics or other emergencies.

In the long run I'd like to see capitalism end altogether but there are more urgent things to be nationalized: I'd start with the health care industry. I'd also like to see payday lenders replaced by a public service that doesn't charge exploitative interest rates.

This sounds good, and I'd like to see the energy industry and the fossil fuel corporations nationalized too. Though ultimately capitalism itself needs to end and be replaced with a socialist system where the workers own the means of production.

[Kilobugya]

In the long run I'd like to see capitalism end altogether but there are more urgent things to be nationalized: I'd start with the health care industry. I'd also like to see payday lenders replaced by a public service that doesn't charge exploitative interest rates.

This sounds good, and I'd like to see the energy industry and the fossil fuel corporations nationalized too. Though ultimately capitalism itself needs to end and be replaced with a socialist system where the workers own the means of production.

I agree with both of you, I'm all for getting rid of capitalism itself and collective ownership of the means of production, but I understand the need to prioritize and some fields, like healthcare, transports, education and energy are more important to nationalize first.

[Gravlen]

There's always money in the banana stand

131 Federal Judges Broke the Law by Hearing Cases Where They Had a Financial Interest

More than 130 federal judges have violated U.S. law and judicial ethics by overseeing court cases involving companies in which they or their family owned stock.

A Wall Street Journal investigation found that judges have improperly failed to disqualify themselves from 685 court cases around the nation since 2010. The jurists were appointed by nearly every president from Lyndon Johnson to Donald Trump.

About two-thirds of federal district judges disclosed holdings of individual stocks, and nearly one of every five who did heard at least one case involving those stocks.

Alerted to the violations by the Journal, 56 of the judges have directed court clerks to notify parties in 329 lawsuits that they should have recused themselves. That means new judges might be assigned, potentially upending rulings.

When judges participated in such cases, about two-thirds of their rulings on motions that were contested came down in favor of their or their family’s financial interests.

In New York, Judge Edgardo Ramos handled a suit between an Exxon Mobil Corp. unit and TIG Insurance Co. over a pollution claim while owning between $15,001 and $50,000 of Exxon stock, according to his financial disclosure form. He accepted an arbitration panel’s opinion that TIG should pay Exxon $25 million and added $8 million of interest to the tab.

In Colorado, Judge Lewis Babcock oversaw a case involving a Comcast Corp. subsidiary, ruling in its favor, while he or his family held between $15,001 and $50,000 of Comcast stock.

At an Ohio-based appeals court, Judge Julia Smith Gibbons wrote an opinion that favored Ford Motor Co. in a trademark dispute while her husband held stock in the auto maker. After she and the others on the three-judge appellate panel heard arguments but before they ruled, her husband’s financial adviser bought two chunks of Ford stock, each valued at up to $15,000, for his retirement account, according to her disclosure form.

Don't worry though, there will be zero repercussions for any of the judges, who're all appointed for life.

[Great Algerstonia]

I am not DeJoyful

Good one Kowani

[North Washington Republic]

I am not DeJoyful

Americans who have been frustrated with the slow service of the U.S. Postal Service since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic probably won’t be thrilled to hear this:

The service is about to get even slower.

Starting Friday, the Postal Service will “implement new service standards for First Class Mail and Periodicals,” spokeswoman Kim Frum said in an email to USA TODAY.

The changes mean an increased time-in-transit for mail traveling long distances, such as from New York to California. Frum said that “most first class mail (61%) and periodicals (93%) will be unaffected” by the changes. Single-piece first-class mail traveling within the same region will still have a delivery time of two days.

The Postal Service defines first-class mail as “standard sized letters and flats,” Frum said. That’s different from first-class packages, which are typically used for shipping smaller, lightweight packages. Currently, first-class mail and first-class packages have the same delivery standards, but that will change beginning Friday. The changes to service standard times are part of the Postal Service's 10-year strategic plan, which was announced by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in March. The plan has drawn heavy criticism from elected officials.

DeJoy took his position in June 2020 despite no previous Postal Service experience. The position of postmaster general is not appointed or nominated by a president but rather appointed by the independent Postal Service Board of Governors. The Postal Service has been riddled by financial problems for years, and the coronavirus pandemic has only worsened the situation.

By making this change, Frum said, “the Postal Service can entrust its ground network to deliver more First-Class Mail, which will lead to great consistency, reliability and efficiency that benefits its customers … whether it’s 300 miles or 3,000 miles, the current standard for (first-class packages) require 3-day service for any destination within the contiguous U.S. with a drive time greater than six hours. This is unattainable and forces us to rely on air transportation, yielding unreliable service. With this change, we will improve service reliability and predictability for customers while also driving efficiencies across the Postal Service network.”

Additionally, starting Oct. 3 through Dec. 26, the Postal Service will temporarily increase prices on all commercial and retail domestic packages because of the holiday season and its increase in mail volume. Those price increases will not affect international products, Frum said.

Dejoy doesn’t even pretend to be a smug asshole. He is most likely doing this for two reasons. The motherfucker hates the USPS, and he wants to troll the nation because we didn’t kiss Donald Trump’s fat-ass like he did.

[Outer Sparta]

There's always money in the banana stand

131 Federal Judges Broke the Law by Hearing Cases Where They Had a Financial Interest

More than 130 federal judges have violated U.S. law and judicial ethics by overseeing court cases involving companies in which they or their family owned stock.

A Wall Street Journal investigation found that judges have improperly failed to disqualify themselves from 685 court cases around the nation since 2010. The jurists were appointed by nearly every president from Lyndon Johnson to Donald Trump.

About two-thirds of federal district judges disclosed holdings of individual stocks, and nearly one of every five who did heard at least one case involving those stocks.

Alerted to the violations by the Journal, 56 of the judges have directed court clerks to notify parties in 329 lawsuits that they should have recused themselves. That means new judges might be assigned, potentially upending rulings.

When judges participated in such cases, about two-thirds of their rulings on motions that were contested came down in favor of their or their family’s financial interests.

In New York, Judge Edgardo Ramos handled a suit between an Exxon Mobil Corp. unit and TIG Insurance Co. over a pollution claim while owning between $15,001 and $50,000 of Exxon stock, according to his financial disclosure form. He accepted an arbitration panel’s opinion that TIG should pay Exxon $25 million and added $8 million of interest to the tab.

In Colorado, Judge Lewis Babcock oversaw a case involving a Comcast Corp. subsidiary, ruling in its favor, while he or his family held between $15,001 and $50,000 of Comcast stock.

At an Ohio-based appeals court, Judge Julia Smith Gibbons wrote an opinion that favored Ford Motor Co. in a trademark dispute while her husband held stock in the auto maker. After she and the others on the three-judge appellate panel heard arguments but before they ruled, her husband’s financial adviser bought two chunks of Ford stock, each valued at up to $15,000, for his retirement account, according to her disclosure form.

Don't worry though, there will be zero repercussions for any of the judges, who're all appointed for life.

Yet they are perceived to be "independent and non-partisan." Judges are politicians, and every judge has a partisan bias.