The Evening Blues - 3-19-21



eb1pt12


The day's news roundup + tonight's musical feature: Snooky Pryor

Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features Chicago blues harmonica player Snooky Pryor. Enjoy!

Snooky Pryor - Come On Down To My House

"Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other."

-- Oscar Ameringer


News and Opinion

Report: FBI Now Probing Cuomo’s Corporate Immunity Law

Federal law enforcement officials are scrutinizing New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s controversial move to help his donor shield nursing home executives from legal consequences during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report. The probe follows a Daily Poster investigative series detailing how one of Cuomo’s biggest donors, the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA) — a lobby group that represents hospital systems and nursing home operators — said it “drafted and aggressively advocated for” the corporate immunity provision. Cuomo’s administration quietly inserted the measure into his state’s budget as thousands lay dying from COVID-19 in New York nursing homes. ...

On Thursday, THE CITY disclosed that federal investigators looking into Cuomo’s handling of nursing home policy are now specifically asking questions about the immunity provision. The New York news outlet reports:

FBI investigators probing the Cuomo administration’s handling of nursing homes during the pandemic last spring are seeking information about a state budget provision that gave operators legal immunity, THE CITY has learned.

In recent weeks, FBI officials have been looking to interview members of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s staff and other state officials about the eleventh-hour addition to the state budget last March, according to three people familiar with the matter. The measure granted nursing homes and hospitals broad legal protections against lawsuits and criminal liability for care provided to residents and patients during the pandemic.

FBI officials started to make house calls this month, showing up at people’s residences and leaving business cards, according to the three sources.

Investigators’ questions have focused primarily on the nursing home immunity provision and how it “got in the state budget,” said one legislative source, who did not want to be named because of the ongoing probe.

...

A recent report from New York Attorney General Letitia James’ concluded that “the immunity laws could be wrongly used to provide any individual or entity from liability, even if those decisions were not made in good faith.” The report added that the provisions “provide financial incentives to for-profit nursing home operators to put residents at risk of harm by refraining from investing public funds to obtain sufficient staffing to meet residents’ care needs, to purchase sufficient PPE for staff, and to provide effective training to staff to comply with infection control protocols during pandemics and other public health emergencies.”

Melissa DeRosa, a top Cuomo aide whose father, brother, and sister all work for a lobbying firm that represents GNYHA in Albany, admitted last month that the governor’s administration withheld nursing home casualty data from state lawmakers as he was being celebrated by the national press corps and getting ready to hawk a book touting his leadership during the pandemic. Not long after, the Albany Times Union reported that the FBI and federal prosecutors had started probing Cuomo’s handling of nursing homes during COVID.

Defense secretary Austin to North Korea: US is ready to ‘fight tonight’

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned Thursday that American forces are ready to “fight tonight,” in response to North Korea slamming drills resuming between the US and South Korea.

The US and South Korean forces have resumed military drills after pausing the exercises more than a year ago over coronavirus concerns.

“Our force remains ready to ‘fight tonight,’ and we continue to make progress toward the eventual transition of wartime Operational Control to a [Republic of Korea]-commanded, future Combined Forces Command,” Austin said. ...

Washington-led diplomacy efforts focused on denuclearizing North Korea have remained stalled over sanctions disputes. Experts are weighing a potential compromise that would freeze the dictatorship’s nuclear activities in exchange for relaxing sanctions. ...

The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un rebuked the Biden administration earlier this week while slamming the war drills, which Pyongyang views as an invasion rehearsal.

'Nope' - Biden doesn't regret calling Putin a 'killer', says White House

Putin offers Biden public talks after U.S. president says he thinks he is a killer

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that he and U.S. President Joe Biden should hold live online talks in coming days after Biden said he thought the Russian leader was a killer and diplomatic ties sank to a new post-Cold War low. ...

Putin said he had last spoken to Biden by phone at the U.S. president’s request and that he now proposed they had another conversation, on Friday or Monday, to be held by video-link and broadcast live.

“I want to offer President Biden that we continue our discussion, but on the condition that we do it live, online, without any delays,” Putin said, when asked in a television interview about Biden’s comments. ...

Putin then spoke about U.S. history, talking about what he called the genocide of Native Americans, slavery and the ill treatment of Black people, and the U.S. dropping atomic bombs on Japan at the end of World War Two. “They think that we are like them, but we are different, we have a different genetic and cultural-moral code,” said Putin.

“We will work with them in the areas in which we are interested on terms that we consider advantageous to ourselves. They will have to deal with that regardless of all their attempts to stop us developing, regardless of the sanctions, and regardless of the insults”.

US and China publicly rebuke each other in first major talks of Biden era

The United States and China publicly rebuked each other in the first face-to-face talks between senior officials from the two countries since Joe Biden took office, with one senior US official accusing their counterparts of being “intent on grandstanding” and “violating protocol”.

The strained relations of the global rivals were put on rare public display in Alaska on Thursday during a highly unusual extended back-and-forth in front of the cameras when US secretary of state Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan opened their meeting with China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi and State Councilor Wang Yi.

“We will ... discuss our deep concerns with actions by China, including in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyber attacks on the United States, economic coercion of our allies,” Blinken said in blunt public remarks at the start of the first meeting. “Each of these actions threaten the rules-based order that maintains global stability,” he said.

Yang responded with a 15-minute speech in Chinese while the US side awaited translation, in which he lashed out at what he called a struggling democracy in the US, poor treatment of minorities and foreign and trade policies. “The United States uses its military force and financial hegemony to carry out long-arm jurisdiction and suppress other countries,” Yang said. “It abuses so-called notions of national security to obstruct normal trade exchanges, and incite some countries to attack China,” he added.

“Let me say here that in front of the Chinese side, the United States does not have the qualification to say that it wants to speak to China from a position of strength,” Yang said.

The Raging Twenties: Globalized Hell and Hope (w/ Pepe Escobar)

Brazil's Lula Urges Biden to Call Emergency G20 Summit to Promote Global Vaccine Equity

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is urging U.S. President Joe Biden to call an emergency G20 summit on the coronavirus pandemic to ensure a more equitable global distribution of vaccines.

"I couldn't ask that of Trump, but Biden is a breath for democracy in the world," Lula told CNN's Christiane Amanpour during an exclusive interview set to air in full on Thursday.

Speaking from São Paulo, Lula noted that the U.S. has an excess supply of vaccines and suggested that the surplus "could be donated to Brazil, or other countries even poorer than Brazil that cannot afford to buy the vaccine."

"The responsibility of international leaders is tremendous so I'm asking President Biden to do that because I don't believe in my government," added Lula, who just last week denounced Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro for his catastrophic mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic and ensuing economic crisis in the hard-hit South American country. ...

Covid-19 has claimed the lives of nearly 285,000 people in Brazil—the world's second-highest death toll, after the U.S., over the past year. Earlier this month, following consecutive days of record deaths that have pushed the country's hospital system "to the brink of collapse," Bolsonaro told citizens to stop "whining."

Meanwhile, the U.S.—in addition to hoarding vaccines and refusing to donate them to countries in need—is one of a handful of rich nations that is blocking a widely supported India and South Africa-led proposal to share vaccine recipes and boost global production by temporarily waiving an intellectual property rights agreement at the World Trade Organization.

Progressives Introduce Med4all Bill After All Leverage Is Gone

Drugmakers Promise Investors They’ll Soon Hike Covid-19 Vaccine Prices

The U.S. pharmaceutical firms behind the approved coronavirus vaccines — Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, and Pfizer — have quietly touted plans to raise prices on coronavirus vaccines in the near future and to capitalize on the virus’s lasting presence.

While the companies have enjoyed a boost in goodwill from the rush to develop vaccines, drug industry executives have noted, the public is still sensitive to drug pricing and the reputational risk has, so far, curtailed their ability to reap large financial rewards.

But that environment, they hope, will change once the pandemic ends: a date that drugmakers themselves reserve the right to declare. Pharmaceutical officials, speaking at recent conferences and on calls with investors, say they expect the virus will linger, morphing from a pandemic into a perennial endemic. And as Covid-19 mutations continue to spread and booster shots may be required on a regular basis, leaders from the three companies are enthusiastic about cashing in.

“As this shifts from pandemic to endemic, we think there’s an opportunity here for us,” said Frank D’Amelio, the chief financial officer for Pfizer, at a conference. Additional factors, such as the need for booster shots, present “a significant opportunity for our vaccine from a demand perspective, from a pricing perspective, given the clinical profile of our vaccine.”

Moderna and Johnson & Johnson have also pledged affordability for their vaccines for the duration of the pandemic but have indicated to investors that they plan to return to more “commercial” pricing as early as later this year.

Columbia University Caught Lying For Biden Over Stimulus Bill

GOP Senator Blocks Democratic Effort to Shield Covid Relief Payments From Debt Collectors

Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania on Thursday single-handedly blocked Senate Democrats' effort to pass legislation that would prevent private creditors from garnishing coronavirus relief checks to pay off people's outstanding debts.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) requested unanimous consent to pass the bill (pdf) Thursday afternoon, but Toomey—a major recipient of financial industry cash—objected, declaring that debt collectors moving to snatch relief payments meant to assist struggling families are simply acting on "valid legal claims."

Wyden, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and a lead sponsor of the legislation along with Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), warned on the Senate floor ahead of Toomey's objection that "predatory debt collectors will continue to seize relief payments for everything from credit card to medical debt" if Congress doesn't act immediately to shield the checks.

"We know that millions of American families are hanging on by a thread," said the Oregon Democrat. "They are counting on these payments to make rent, pay for groceries and medicine."

But Democrats are also coming under fire for waiting so long to start a fight over the issue, which Wyden and other lawmakers knew was looming as the American Rescue Plan made its way through Congress.

According to the Treasury Department, 90 million direct payments have already been sent out, and that number is expected to rise quickly in the coming weeks—meaning that any legislative protections for the payments would likely be too late for many people. Around 280 million Americans are expected to be eligible for a payment under the recently approved coronavirus relief package.

"Amazing to me that... we're having this conversation AFTER 90 million checks have been cut," The American Prospect's David Dayen tweeted Thursday. "The House hasn't done ANYTHING on this, despite no supermajority restriction. What are they waiting for?"

In a statement earlier this month, Wyden said the rules of budget reconciliation—the byzantine process Democrats used to pass the relief measure without GOP support—prevented the inclusion of a provision barring debt collectors from garnishing the relief payments. Both the House and Senate approved such protections for the $600 checks approved in December, but that bill did not pass through reconciliation.

To approve protections for the checks, Senate Democrats will likely need to win the support of at least 10 Republicans—an unlikely feat, given that not a single GOP senator voted for the American Rescue Plan.

"It's not clear if Democratic leaders want to bother with running the Brown-Wyden bill through the cloture process, which can take several days," HuffPost's Arthur Delaney reported. Brown told Delaney he will "keep trying."

"We know predatory debt collectors are already lining up to try to take a cut of those checks," Brown said in a floor speech Thursday.

Julia Rock: GOP Govs OUTRAGED Stimulus Bill Won't Let Them Cut Taxes Of Rich

'Poverty Is Killing Us': Progressive Caucus Uses White House Meeting to Push Biden on $15 Wage

Members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus—led by Rep. Pramila Jayapal—used a private meeting with White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain on Wednesday to pressure the Biden administration to support whatever procedural maneuvers are necessary to pass a $15 federal minimum wage, a proposal Senate Democratic leaders stripped from the recently approved Covid-19 relief package. ...

During Wednesday's meeting, according to Politico, progressive attendees offered two potential alternative ways to push through the long-overdue pay raise for 32 million workers: Eliminating the Senate's archaic legislative filibuster, or attaching the minimum wage proposal to must-pass government funding legislation later this year.

Jayapal, the chair of the CPC, told Politico that while "there was no consensus around" the best strategy, the progressive lawmakers "got a very clear sense that this is a real commitment for the White House, and they're very willing to work with us on what that looks like."

The Washington Democrat offered a similar assessment on Twitter, calling the meeting "productive" and welcoming "the opportunity to share ideas on how we pass the boldest legislation through Congress so every American has the opportunity to thrive—not just survive." ...

Following Wednesday's meeting, Bush—a freshman member of Congress and progressive firebrand—wrote on Twitter that she asked Klain "to share what's in my heart with the president: the fight for at least $15 is a matter of life and death in St. Louis."

"Poverty is killing us," Bush added. "We agreed to work together on this. Thank you, Mr. Klain." ...

Politico reported that progressives also pushed for a commitment that Biden's coming jobs and infrastructure plan "will address not only transportation but climate change, healthcare, and so-called family infrastructure, things like child care and paid leave."

Echoing the concerns of progressive climate groups, Jayapal warned the Biden administration not to ditch bold climate proposals in a likely futile attempt to win bipartisan support for the new package, which the White House is reportedly considering breaking up into as many as three separate bills.

Krystal Ball: New Details On Why Katie Porter Was PUNISHED By Dem Leadership

Who could have imagined? Predatory capitalists act like predatory capitalists!

Group of junior bankers at Goldman Sachs claim 'inhumane' work conditions

Junior bankers at Goldman Sachs say they are facing “inhumane” conditions at the investment bank, including 100-hour work weeks and “abuse” from colleagues which has severely affected their mental health.

The responses from the poll participants – 13 investment banking analysts in the US – have shed light on the gruelling demands on first-year analysts, a cohort that features some of the brightest recruits hired annually by Goldman.

The survey, presented to the bank as a slideshow in February, is now circulating on Twitter. Its contents suggest that at least one division of Goldman Sachs is still struggling with the long hours, high-pressure culture that was exposed when a 22-year-old analyst at the bank took his own life in 2015. ...

The analysts in the survey said that on average they were working 95 hours a week but up to 105 hours mid-February when the poll was conducted. The group said they were only getting five hours of sleep a night after going to bed at about 3am.

The majority said they had also faced workplace abuse. A small proportion were frequently sworn or shouted at, while at least half were ignored in meetings, or faced unwarranted public criticism, they said.

Reddit investors use GameStop proceeds to help protect gorillas

Gorillas, elephants, pangolins and sea turtles have been handed a lifeline by amateur investors who played the stock market at its own game. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent helping endangered animals by users of a Reddit trading tips community, giving conservation organisations across the world a much-needed financial boost during a difficult year.

The money came from users of the WallStreetBets subreddit, who earlier this year bought small volumes of shares in the retailer GameStop en masse. ... Many of those small investors have spent their gains on animal conservation.

Gorillas have been the biggest beneficiaries, partly due to the sad story of Harambe, which still persists as a meme. In a typical weekend, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund gets 20 new gorilla adoptions. But since Saturday it has received more than 3,500 adoptions worth $350,000 (£252,000). Many were made out to fictional names including “Fuck Melvin capital” and “Jim Cramer’s Tears” that took potshots at hedge fund managers. ...

The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, best known for running an orphaned elephant rescue centre in Kenya, received an unusual $10,000 rise in donations last weekend. “It’s a new supporter base for us, for sure, one that we’re extremely thankful for,” said the trust’s Amie Alden. “We’ve currently got more than 90 dependent orphaned elephants in our care and it’s an expensive undertaking.” ...

The donations have proved particularly welcome because many conservation programmes have been hit hard by the Covid pandemic. Virunga national park lost nearly 40% of its revenue overnight when tourism activities closed. The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust’s income from educational visits dried up when its Nairobi nursery was forced to close last year.

Derek Chauvin trial: jury grows after $27m settlement to Floyd family

Concern appears to be fading that a massive settlement for George Floyd’s family will derail the trial of a former police officer accused in his death, with most potential jurors saying they avoided news of the settlement or could set it aside.

Two jurors seated before news of the city’s $27m settlement broke last week were dismissed on Wednesday after being re-questioned by Hennepin county judge Peter Cahill, but five others were retained and two were added later in the day.

Both sides presented arguments on Thursday about whether the prosecution can call a forensic psychiatrist to tell the jury about Floyd’s behavior during the fatal encounter.

Prosecutor Jerry Blackwell said Dr Sarah Vinson, of Atlanta, should be allowed to testify how Floyd’s reactions to the officers’ attempts to put him into the squad car were consistent with any reasonable person’s anxiety or panic during a traumatic event. Police officers who confronted Floyd after he allegedly tried to pass a counterfeit $20 bill at a convenience store put a gun in his face, and he told police he had claustrophobia.

The prosecution wants to show that he might have been unable to comply with the officers’ orders, rather than resisting arrest. But defense attorney Eric Nelson argued that if the prosecution gets to present that evidence to the jury, the defense should be able to tell the jury about Floyd’s drug arrest a year earlier, when he did not resist getting put into a squad car.

US House passes bill that would give Dreamers a path to citizenship

The US House of Representatives has passed a bill that would give undocumented immigrants, including “Dreamers”, a pathway to citizenship.

The House on Thursday voted 228 to 197, largely along party lines, to set up a legal pathway to citizenship for Dreamers – people who came to the US as undocumented minors and who received temporary protections under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) program.

The bill, called the American Dream and Promise Act of 2021, would also grant green cards for many immigrants who have fled war or natural disasters and are residing in the US with a temporary protected status. In all, it could make 4.4 million people eligible for permanent residence in the US, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

Nine Republicans joined Democrats in support of the measure.

Representatives also voted 247-174 Thursday on a second bill, which would grant legal status for undocumented farmworkers. Both measures passed in 2019, as well, with some Republican support – but the measures are likely to join a growing list of legislation that will hit a wall in the evenly divided Senate, where Republicans have vowed to block proposals with the filibuster.

Matt Taibbi & Katie Halper's Useful Idiots with Daniel Ellsberg



the horse race



Politics is a Game of Fear: The Chris Hedges Interview

Cuomo scandal: sexual harassment rife in New York state capitol, female reporters say

Female reporters have said that sexual harassment is “as pervasive as air” in New York’s statehouse in Albany, amid Governor Andrew Cuomo’s harassment scandal. ... Female journalists who covered New York politics said the behavior described by former staffers is in keeping with what they experienced while reporting on his administration.

Last week, journalist Jessica Bakeman, who covered the New York statehouse, wrote an essay for New York Magazine accusing Cuomo of sexual harassment and said that his departure from office “will not end the legacy of sexual harassment in Albany”.

Bakeman described numerous instances of Cuomo touching her inappropriately during her years in Albany and said she was only able to speak out because she now worked in Florida. “It wasn’t about sex,” Bakeman wrote. “It was about power. He wanted me to know that I was powerless, that I was small and weak, that I did not deserve what relative power I had: a platform to hold him accountable for his words and actions.”

Laura Nahmias, a New York Daily News editorial board member, tweeted that sexual harassment “was as pervasive as air” in Albany.

The Daily Beast spoke to women currently covering the statehouse, who asked not to be named, and they described a “hyper-masculine” environment in the statehouse.

“Jim Crow in New Clothes”: Raphael Warnock Slams GOP Assault on Voting Rights In First Senate Speech



the evening greens


Plummeting sperm counts, shrinking penises: toxic chemicals threaten humanity

The end of humankind? It may be coming sooner than we think, thanks to hormone-disrupting chemicals that are decimating fertility at an alarming rate around the globe. A new book called Countdown, by Shanna Swan, an environmental and reproductive epidemiologist at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, finds that sperm counts have dropped almost 60% since 1973. Following the trajectory we are on, Swan’s research suggests sperm counts could reach zero by 2045. Zero. Let that sink in. That would mean no babies. No reproduction. No more humans. Forgive me for asking: why isn’t the UN calling an emergency meeting on this right now?

The chemicals to blame for this crisis are found in everything from plastic containers and food wrapping, to waterproof clothes and fragrances in cleaning products, to soaps and shampoos, to electronics and carpeting. Some of them, called PFAS, are known as “forever chemicals”, because they don’t breakdown in the environment or the human body. They just accumulate and accumulate – doing more and more damage, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day. Now, it seems, humanity is reaching a breaking point.

Swan’s book is staggering in its findings. “In some parts of the world, the average twentysomething woman today is less fertile than her grandmother was at 35,” Swan writes. In addition to that, Swan finds that, on average, a man today will have half of the sperm his grandfather had. “The current state of reproductive affairs can’t continue much longer without threatening human survival,” writes Swan, adding: “It’s a global existential crisis.” That’s not hyperbole. That’s just science.

As if this wasn’t terrifying enough, Swan’s research finds that these chemicals aren’t just dramatically reducing semen quality, they are also shrinking penis size and volume of the testes. This is nothing short of a full-scale emergency for humanity.

Lots more details at the link:

Oil firms knew decades ago fossil fuels posed grave health risks, files reveal

The oil industry knew at least 50 years ago that air pollution from burning fossil fuels posed serious risks to human health, only to spend decades aggressively lobbying against clean air regulations, a trove of internal documents seen by the Guardian reveal. The documents, which include internal memos and reports, show the industry was long aware that it created large amounts of air pollution, that pollutants could lodge deep in the lungs and be “real villains in health effects”, and even that its own workers may be experiencing birth defects among their children.

But these concerns did little to stop oil and gas companies, and their proxies, spreading doubt about the growing body of science linking the burning of fossil fuels to an array of health problems that kill millions of people around the world each year. Echoing the fossil-fuel industry’s history of undermining of climate science, oil and gas interests released a torrent of material aimed at raising uncertainty over the harm caused by air pollution and used this to deter US lawmakers from placing further limits on pollutants. ...

In internal memos and reports, Imperial Oil, an Exxon subsidiary, acknowledged in 1967 the petroleum industry was a “major contributor to many of the key forms of pollution” and took surveys of “mothers who worried about possible smog effects”.

In an internal technical report in 1968, Shell went further, warning that air pollution “may, in extreme situations, be deleterious to health” and acknowledging the oil industry “reluctantly” must accept that cars “are by far the greatest sources of air pollution”. The report states that sulphur dioxide, given off by the burning of oil, can cause “difficulty in breathing” while nitrogen dioxide, also given off by vehicles and power plants, can cause lung damage and that “there will be a clamor to reduce [nitrogen dioxide] emissions, probably based on suspected long-term chronic effects”.

Small particles given off by fossil fuels, meanwhile, are the “real villains in health effects”, the Shell report admits, as they can bring toxins, including carcinogens, “deep into the lungs which would otherwise be removed in the throat.” These microscopic specks of soot and liquid, known as particulate matter, are expelled when fuels are burned and inhaled by people. In 1971, Esso, a forerunner to Exxon, sampled particles in New York City and found, for the first time, the air was rife with tiny fragments of aluminium, magnesium and other metals. Esso scientists noted that gases from industrial smokestacks were “hot, dirty and contain high concentrations of pollutants” and suggested further testing was needed for symptoms including “eye irritation, excess coughing, or bronchial effects”.

House Dems Urged to Cut 'Fossil Fuels and False Solutions' From CLEAN Future Act

As a U.S. House panel held a hearing Thursday on clean energy legislation introduced earlier this month by key Democrats, more than 300 environmental and justice organizations sent a letter to Congress raising alarm about the role of "false solutions" including fossil fuels, biomass, and nuclear power in the proposal.

The Climate Leadership and Environmental Action for our Nation's (CLEAN) Future Act is being spearheaded by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee Chair Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.) and Energy Subcommittee Chair Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.).

According the advocacy groups' letter (pdf), "The CLEAN Future Act (H.R. 1512) is a prime example of the type of half-measure we must avoid."

Specifically, they assert that the legislation's nationwide Clean Electricity Standard (CES), which would require all retail electricity suppliers to obtain 100% clean power by 2035, "should rigorously define clean energy to include proven solutions like wind, solar, storage, and efficiency—and exclude all fossil fuels and other false solutions."

"Sacrificing the very definition of 'clean' in order to achieve 100% clean energy is self-defeating," the letter says, which furthers warns that the bill "contradicts itself" by including "encouraging environmental justice provisions that would benefit communities disproportionately exposed to pollution and climate impacts," but also pushing policies "that do not stop emissions or other pollution at their source."

Pallone and the other sponsors made clear when unveiling the legislation that they believe overhauling the U.S. energy system is essential. He said the bill's introduction "promises that we will not stand idly by as the rest of the world transitions to clean economies and our workers get left behind, and that we will not watch from the sidelines as the climate crisis wreaks havoc on Americans' health and homes."

While the measure received some praise from climate campaigners, progressive green groups have reiterated concerns raised when Pallone put forth the bill during the previous congressional session.

In the words of Mitch Jones, policy director at Food & Water Watch, "While this bill has been marginally improved, it fails to grasp the fundamental truth of fighting climate change: We must stop extracting and burning fossil fuels as soon as possible."

The letter—whose signatories include Food & Water Watch, Friends of the Earth, the Center for Biological Diversity, several Our Revolution and 350.org chapters, and scores of other organizations—argues that fossil fuels, biomass, and nuclear power are not clean energy, "carbon capture and storage (CCS) is not a climate solution," and "false solutions do not align with the principles of environmental justice."

Feeding cows seaweed could cut their methane emissions by 82%, scientists say

Feeding seaweed to cows is a viable long-term method to reduce the emission of planet-heating gases from their burps and flatulence, scientists have found.

Researchers who put a small amount of seaweed into the feed of cattle over the course of five months found that the new diet caused the bovines to belch out 82% less methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere.

The finding builds on previous research that showed that seaweed could reduce cows’ methane output over a shorter timespan. “We now have sound evidence that seaweed in cattle diet is effective at reducing greenhouse gases and that the efficacy does not diminish over time,” said Ermias Kebreab, director of the World Food Center and an agricultural scientist at University of California, Davis.

Kebreab conducted the research, published in Plos One, with Breanna Roque, a PhD graduate student.

Cows produce methane via microbes in their stomachs as they digest their fibrous food, in a process a little like fermentation. Methane is shorter-lived in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide but is more than 30 times as effective in trapping heat, making it a major greenhouse gas. A type of seaweed called Asparagopsis taxiformis can partially counteract these emissions from cows.


Also of Interest

Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.

U.S. Aggressiveness Will Accelerate Its Demise

Of Course Putin Is A Killer. So Is Biden.

Caitlin Johnstone: Money Is Made Up And We Can Change The Rules Whenever We Want

Freedom Rider: Ending Poverty in the United States

A Brief List Of Official Russia Claims That Proved To Be Bogus

Kamala Harris, Police Accountability, And A Trigger-Happy Cop

How the US considered helping France nuke its way out of an embarrassing military defeat

US House of Representatives holds hearing on Texas winter storm disaster

Texans Reject Grid That Brought Disaster

Dems Introduce Bill to Let Puerto Ricans 'Determine Their Own Political Future'

Trump EPA Invited Companies to Revise Pollution Records of a Potent Carcinogen

Second vessel in two weeks appears to float above UK waters

Myanmar's anti-coup protests: A humanitarian catastrophe in the making

Jimmy Dore: AOC Says "Mobilize For Student Debt" While She Does Nothing

Saagar Enjeti: Ford LIED To Union Workers, Moving Plant From Ohio To Mexico

Rising: FB Exec CAUGHT Admitting They Should Be Broken Up

D.C. Representative: Capitol Fencing MUST Come Down Now, 'No Credible Threats'

President Joe Biden FALLS multiple times while boarding Air Force One


A Little Night Music

Snooky Pryor with Mel Brown and the Homewreckers - Headed South

Snooky Pryor - Crazy 'Bout My Baby

Snooky Pryor - Boogie Twist

Snooky Pryor - Someone To Love Me

Snooky Pryor w/Homesick James - Time Waits On No One

Snooky Pryor - Mind Your Own Business

Snooky Pryor - Judgement Day

Snooky Pryor - Rollin' And Tumblin'

Snooky Pryor - Walkin' With Snooky

Snooky Pryor - Work With Me Annie

Snooky Pryor - Goin' back to Arkansas


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18 users have voted.

Comments

Due to 'environmental factors'
no more sperm, no more babies.
What kind of future is this?

no reason to procreate?
Sheesh

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11 users have voted.
Lily O Lady's picture

@QMS

It may be the best thing for planet Earth and all her other species.

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10 users have voted.

"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

@Lily O Lady

more chances for the chosen ones
or so does they thinks Wink

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6 users have voted.
joe shikspack's picture

@QMS

i sure hope that dupont, chemours, basf, et al enjoyed their profits. too bad there won't be future generations of little capitalist exploiters to pass them on to.

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6 users have voted.

@joe shikspack And...you and all should know that there are some major problems with the data and conclusions of the sperm count study. I follow an epidemiologist at the University of Washington, Carl Bergstrom, who is also the coauthor of a book on recognizing bad science/data interpretations called "Calling Bullshit". If you are interested, you can read the longish twitter thread below to see what's up. It doesn't mean there isn't a problem, there is, but the data that was used to draw the conclusion is pretty bad. The interpretation is even worse.

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8 users have voted.

@QMS
the assisted reproductive industry? Collect and freeze sperm and eggs now. Just in case.

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3 users have voted.
lotlizard's picture

@QMS  
in a poem called “Nightmare for Future Reference.”

https://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2019/11/15/stephen-vincent-benet-nightm...

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1938/04/02/nightmare-for-future-refer...

Turns out in one way his vision was probably too optimistic in that poem — he thought that as soon as they realized what was happening, the women of the world would rise up and overthrow all the governments and their militaries.

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5 users have voted.

Joe is showing once again that he is not up for the job.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f49vc3UugGg]

Of course his handlers have a response.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/544050-biden-100-percent-fin...

Biden slipped while jogging up the steps to the presidential aircraft on Friday morning. When he caught his footing, he stumbled again, dropping to a knee and taking a moment to collect himself before continuing to the plane.

"I know folks have seen that President Biden slipped on his way up the stairs to AF1, but I’m happy to report that he is just fine and did not even require any attention from the medical team who travels with him. Nothing more than a misstep on the stairs," White House communications director Kate Bedingfield tweeted.

Deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard the plane that Biden was "doing fine."

"It was very windy," she said. "I almost fell coming up the steps myself. He is doing 100 percent."

He has been the subject of ridicule.

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15 users have voted.
snoopydawg's picture

@humphrey

Putin’s comeback to he’s a killer was most satisfying.

Heh...

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9 users have voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

@snoopydawg Almost as if he is being given the Bernie treatment.

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7 users have voted.
snoopydawg's picture

@humphrey

Twit is having a blast with the videos and it’s really tickling the Biden bros off. The excuses for why he tripped or now do Trump. Danny did.

Guess what? That, "He had a bad day" statement that cop made? He was quoting from what the suspect told him. Aaron Ruper cut the tape and left that piece out. Talib or Tashib, or you know one of the squid wrote a diary on DK about it. Lots of people have only to see that once again the media lied.

Cop killed at the capital. Wrong.
Trump told Georgia something totally different from what he actually said.
Now this. I’m sure I’m leaving lots out, but the drift is there.
Jane Maddow lied for 5 years as did many members of congress on both sides and tons of intelligence goons and lots of journalists. Not one has ever been given a ‘this tweet might not be accurate' like Trump did.

Oh yeah and Jack the Twit is wondering when Twitter should ban world leaders. WAT? There are more coming? Swell.

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10 users have voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

@snoopydawg This is the first and only time that enjoyed her laugh.

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5 users have voted.
snoopydawg's picture

@humphrey

I thought there is no way I can get through 4 years of her laugh. It grates on EVERY nerve of mine. But speaking of laughing...

Omg you should have seen Sam today at the stream. It’s probably 100 yards long and squiggly and she ran up and down over and over without stopping. I video'd it and just crack up watching it. There’s another one just not as long and she played as hard in like the other one. It’s like a little kid running and jumping in puddles and laughing and giggling. So damn cute. I don’t know how to use YouTube. Hard?

Just now another omg and are you kidding me? I take pills at 6 every night and Sam is usually sleeping and gets up with me. She gets a milkbone. Tonight she was outside playing and came in just after I got them and sat back down. Walked in all confident that there would be one in the spot. She actually stood there and looked at it then looked at me. Gave it to her, she ate it and went back out.

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11 users have voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

@snoopydawg always sounds like a wine-soaked giggle to me.

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7 users have voted.

NYCVG

snoopydawg's picture

@NYCVG

But taking 4 long years of Psaki is going to be as bad.

The question: It takes one to know one pointing to....

Psaki's answer:....President Biden perspectives on their countries and how to approach engagement in the world, but where they agree is how to work together as was noted in president Putin’s comments and there are areas of mutual interest.

You lying sack of.... Russia has said that they see no reason to work with the US because they are bat shit insane. Actually someone in the Russia government did say something close to that. Add it to what China said to Blinken yesterday and didn’t Kim say something too in those lines? Basically they all told us to stick it. lol.

Here is the information on the killer having a bad day.

If true, not cool. Slander? Defamation of character?

The Post lied about what Trump said in Georgia which might have cost republicans the senate and the author skates? Did Obama’s executive order on propaganda come because they planned on Russia Gate? Democrats lied to the world about Trump, Putin and Russia and lots of it lied along with them. No accounting for anything anymore. Cuomo will probably skate on killing the elderly and disabled. He put people in disabled places too as did many governors. Meat packing CEOs will skate as well as nursing home ones even if NY congress rolls it back because congress is going to give every company immunity because they have already said they were. Maybe, just maybe that would wake up a few more. Congress has only bought time for everything to collapse still and the bonfire waiting for a match is getting bigger. I think a few not so connected people might be nervous. How big is the Hampton's police department?

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9 users have voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

@snoopydawg The entire foreign policy of the USA is unbearable. Biden and Psaki are the puppet messengers. I expect nothing acceptable from either one.

Iran? omg, the USA has gotten that wrong from 1953.

Israel? an apartheid theocratic oligarchy where Bibi is likely to win his 4th election this week and prepare for a fifth election to follow. It is barely possible that he will be acquitted at his ongoing trial and be eliminated.
(Bibi is the blueprint that Trump and now Cuomo, attempted to replicate here)

Not to mention our bombing Syria, etc etc etc

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5 users have voted.

NYCVG

joe shikspack's picture

@humphrey

i am guessing that biden is a tough old bird and has the sheer cuss power to hold on for a couple of years. but, then again, his mind could snap offline any day now.

thanks for the joke tweet. Smile

have a great evening!

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6 users have voted.

@humphrey for how long until Kamala is installed. Extra points for predicting how they remove Biden.

I know there are people out there who think this is some conspiracy, but come on, man. Before he was sworn in, your only see mention of Biden’s decline outside the mainstream, left and right. You’d practically be a pariah for mentioning it. Now, they’re obviously priming the pump for his removal due to those same issues.

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5 users have voted.

Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.

Lookout's picture

I joked several years ago that the elites plan for a heating climate was nuclear winter. I hope I'm not correct.

The Hedges conversation is good too. Long form discussions are not everyone's cup of tea, but hey there's a pause button. I've misplaced my MP3 player. That has been my trick. Download and listen while mowing, driving, and so on. Otherwise I'll put on a clip and do chores and such around the house.

Spring evolves in the south, and hope you're all having a good last day of winter!

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9 users have voted.

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

joe shikspack's picture

@Lookout

i haven't gotten all the way through ellsberg, yet, chores called. hedges was quite excellent as always.

i guess a heating world will be good for sponges and some other critters. i guess that's good news. Smile

have a great equinox!

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6 users have voted.

and thank you for the Cuomo coverage. People are starting to get the accurate picture now, I think.

Here's my NYC take: Cuomo will not resign.

Both of the so-called investigations are already doomed. They are marked by the identical corruption that landed Cuomo's 9 associates in prison. Both bogus pretend trials feature the same cast of Cuomo loyalists pulling all the strings.

(Which includes Carl Heastie, the (D) Speaker of the NY State Assembly. This is a fact which I can support but will spare the reader and myself unless anybody really wants to get into the weeds.)

Cuomo will serve until the last second of the last day of his term. Which is January 1, 2023.

Trump redux.

I can only hope that I've got this wrong.

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8 users have voted.

NYCVG

@NYCVG

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8 users have voted.
joe shikspack's picture

@NYCVG

as i drove back from the rib shack tonight, the radio said that an eighth woman harassed by cuomo has come forward with allegations.

i don't think that cuomo will call it quits because if he quits he won't be able to use the levers of power to assist his cause.

on the other hand, the worse this thing looks, the more that political types are going to find cuomo too radioactive to be near and the more they will distance themselves and call for his removal.

i don't think that he's going to make it to the end of his term. there's just an awful lot going on.

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6 users have voted.

@joe shikspack to god's ears, as my grandmother used to say.

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3 users have voted.

NYCVG

ggersh's picture

one of them on their own or a concerted effort by them all, humanity loses.

Here is one WS effort

https://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/

"What makes the silver (and gold) manipulation the perfect crime are a number of elements; short term price control through High Frequency Trading, compliant regulators and the fact that most victims don’t even realize they are being had, as the sellers are mostly just reacting to the deliberately-set lower prices.

It’s hard to end an ongoing crime in progress when so many don’t realize it is in progress. Worse, there are still some who profess that there is no manipulation underway.

And for the few who do realize what’s really going on, what can you do about it when the regulators are in bed with the manipulators? Perhaps the options are limited, but that’s not the same as non-existent."

Ted Butler, Busting the Perfect Crime

thanks for the blues n news Joe

have a great weekend and stay safe everyone!

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10 users have voted.

I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

@ggersh

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7 users have voted.
joe shikspack's picture

@ggersh

heh, why any little guy would gamble in the ws casino and expect to consistently win is a mystery to me.

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7 users have voted.
Pluto's Republic's picture

....where China agreed to meet on US soil. (Former Russian soil, to be precise.)

It was my impression that China hoped to partially stabilize trade by clearing some of the reactionary tariff crap that was levied back and forth with Trump. The truth is those tariffs have been dragging on US GDP recovery, while China's economy has been running hot. In my mind that was a good, generous starting point for a low-key re-engagement. They can deal with the wacky sanctions another time. But then,,,,

The United States and China publicly rebuked each other in the first face-to-face talks between senior officials from the two countries since Joe Biden took office, with one senior US official accusing their counterparts of being “intent on grandstanding” and “violating protocol”

So, the Chinese delegation arrives in Alaska and get slapped in the face with sanctions while the American delegation sits there and mocks the Chinese' confusion and gullibility for falling face first into the ol' bait and switch prank.

I simply assumed the Chinese knew the kind of assholes they are dealing with, and didn't give it another thought. After all, China has waded though an entire year of lies, cheap smears, and propaganda. The Chine diplomats have been trained to sit in the same room and haggle with the scum-of-the-earth, which populates the US government. The Opium Wars have just ended, on China's time scale, and they have barely emerged from their Century of Humiliation.

So, I must say, I was really surprised to see how hurt they were. WTF?

The rest of the meeting was short and went nowhere. The delegations did not share a meal. And the Chinese flew home the next day. No comments.

Maybe they should go to one of those mythical re-training prison-camps in Xinjiang for a refresher course in hard-ball diplomacy.

Or, am I reading this wrong?

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11 users have voted.

____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
joe shikspack's picture

@Pluto's Republic

perhaps the chinese were overestimating the effect of the idiot trump leaving the stage, maybe assuming that there would be some sort of sea change in the culture of diplomacy.

or, perhaps they are just shocked at the stupidity of a dying empire in denial about the true nature of their relationship with a rising empire.

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8 users have voted.

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10 users have voted.
joe shikspack's picture

@humphrey

it would be nice if bolivia's court system investigated u.s. involvement in the coup and transparently reported on it.

of course the wapo and the times would throw a fit.

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8 users have voted.

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9 users have voted.
dystopian's picture

Hi all, still working here so I gotta fly... hope all are doing well!

Hey Joe, that Barbecue Bob was the bomb! Awesome player. I don't what tuning he was using but he was outstanding. He really created a unique sound. Great stuff. Thanks for that!

Be well all!

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7 users have voted.

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein

joe shikspack's picture

@dystopian

i am pretty sure that barbecue bob used what was referred to as an open spanish tuning - tuning up the d, g and b strings up to where they would be if you were fretting an "a" chord.

if you like his stuff, you might also want to check out curley weaver.

take it easy and have a great weekend!

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6 users have voted.
snoopydawg's picture

I liked it better when I could just pick one tweet so you don’t repeat so much.

Some stenography:

one senior US official accusing their counterparts of being “intent on grandstanding” and “violating protocol”.

My gawd the STONES on some people.

“We will ... discuss our deep concerns with actions by China, including in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyber attacks on the United States, economic coercion of our allies,”

Good for Yang.

“Let me say here that in front of the Chinese side, the United States does not have the qualification to say that it wants to speak to China from a position of strength,” Yang said.

Sad when you applaud the people you shouldn’t and despise the ones you should applaud.

“Let me say here that in front of the Chinese side, the United States does not have the qualification to say that it wants to speak to China from a position of strength,” Yang said.

He basically told us that he knows that with Biden as president we look weak. I’m sure that is a lot of why Blinken’s posturing made him look like such an asshole. I read comments on the Yang video and I see that I’m not alone in cheering the wrong team. People really are tired of our boorish bullying.

Top comment.

perhaps the chinese were overestimating the effect of the idiot trump leaving the stage,

Bet they aren’t alone in thinking that.

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8 users have voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

Pluto's Republic's picture

@snoopydawg

...when broadcast news technology first came along, anyone who possessed an opposable thumb could immediately see the pressing need for a Fairness Doctrine to keep the Media honest. That one simple regulation made sure that the voting public would get to hear both sides an issue that had impossible opposing facts. This was not about opposing opinions. Rebuttal time on air was granted when there were opposing sets of facts — and one set needed to be to be debunked. So, when a corporate reporter or CIA-asset described an issue with lies and twisted facts, a concerned citizen could get airtime and correct the fake news for fellow listeners.

All that truthful radio and TV was happening during those decades that the Middle Class was well-paid in the US. People were also well informed. They could just tell when some politician was going to betray them, and would vote against him.

Now here's a rebuttal of what I just wrote:

It was pure genius when President Reagan revoked the Fairness Doctrine in 1987. Suddenly more corporations became patriotic and began contributing to US elections, which helped the people learn about the issues because there was more money for advertising. Finally American businesses could better explain some of the counter-intuitive issues. For example, TV ads could explain why air pollution was really good because it would make American businesses the world's most profitable, too. They could broadcast an ad right in the middle of the evening news to teach listeners that when businesses paid extra-low taxes the government would magically be flooded with a lot of extra money that could be used to protect the United States from communism.

If the Fairness Doctrine had still been in place, Americans would have never learned how business math really works! People would now know to vote for profitable things because thats what boosts Capitalism. Jesus wanted Capitalism in the world, so there would be extra money available to feed the poor.

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8 users have voted.

____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato

@Pluto's Republic

except for the inconvenient fact
that the poor are starving

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5 users have voted.

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11 users have voted.
joe shikspack's picture

@humphrey

we are pleased to welcome one and all to the event of the season, the heavyweight morality pissing contest. as a safety precaution for the viewers at home, please don a raincoat.

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8 users have voted.

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6 users have voted.

@humphrey

the reality in the one I temporarily inhabit
testing and vaccination do no not exist
except in glorious statements by the press
trying to get either in this neighborhood
is a waste of time

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6 users have voted.