This is Good News Friday, where we find some good economic, energy, and environmental news and share it with PP readers. Please send any positive news to [email protected] with subject header “Good News Friday.” We will save and post weekly. Enjoy!
Economy
Is the Five-Day Office Week Over? (TS)
In the Survey of Business Uncertainty — by the Atlanta Fed, Stanford and the University of Chicago — employers predicted that post-pandemic, 27 percent of their full-time employees would continue working from home, most for a few days a week. Other surveys of firms have shown that they expect at least 40 percent of employees to keep working remotely.
Across organizations, work was most effective when employees were home one or two days a week, found research by Humu, a tech company run by Google’s former chief of human resources.
Fueled by protests, school districts across the country cut ties with police (sv)
“The reason why we want to move forward without Denver police is simple: We don’t want our schools to be ground zero for the school-to-prison pipeline,” Anderson said. The board voted unanimously Thursday night to phase out police in schools over the next 18 months.
Some school leaders say the right training and the right arrangement can mitigate many of the concerns civil rights activists have raised.
These Cities Are Stopping Police From Responding to Homelessness, Drug Use, and Mental Health Issues (sv)
Similar initiatives also got a boost from President Donald Trump’s executive order on police reform this week. The Trump administration plans to direct resources toward so-called “co-responder” programs that “increase the capacity of social workers working directly with law enforcement agencies.” But the executive order was vague on what that would look like.
Low, moderate alcohol consumption may improve cognitive function (Sparky1)
“Our study suggested that low to moderate drinking was associated with better total cognitive function and better … word recall, mental status and vocabulary among middle-aged or older men and women in the United States,” the study authors wrote.
“Low to moderate alcohol use was also associated with slower rates of cognitive decline,” they said.
Boston Just Banned Its Government From Using Facial Recognition Technology (sv)
“I think that there’s a good reason to ban this technology right now — because it’s unreliable — and moving forward, we have to also consider whether just because something is possible, that it’s the right thing to do,” Councillor Liz Breadon said in Wednesday’s meeting. “Surveilling our population at large and doing facial identification is not necessarily the way we want to go in a free society.”
Money actually can buy happiness, study finds (TourGuideDC)
The findings challenge the “Money can’t buy happiness” adage, which had been supported by other studies, including a widely cited 2010 Princeton University report showing that at levels higher than $75,000, a rise in income is not associated with greater happiness.
The GSS did not ask exactly the same question as that used by the Princeton study, which asked participants how they had felt the previous day and whether they were living the best possible life for themselves.
How a Ruling on Gay and Transgender Rights May Help the Climate (Bill M.)
Some Supreme Court justices have argued that the Environmental Protection Agency lacks the power to broadly regulate greenhouse gases because the authors of the Clean Air Act did not specifically address climate change.
Now, though, Justice Gorsuch’s decision “will surely be used,” Professor Carlson wrote, to persuade the court that broad regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act lies squarely within the text of the statute.
Massachusetts directs agency to study phase-out of natural gas (Bill M.)
In a petition filed with the DPU, Healey’s office said Massachusetts would have to make large cuts in its use of fossil fuels to meet the state’s goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and that the decline would require natural gas distribution companies to make substantial changes to their business models.
“There has been little public discussion of the resulting business planning and financial implications of building electrification,” the petition said.
Board of Colorado Springs Utilities OKs plan that will close coal plants, expand renewables (Bill M.)
A skilled workforce will be required for this energy transformation, Benyamin said. “As we look to the future, training opportunities will be available and transition plans will provide employees new and exciting opportunities. That is a benefit of a four-service, community-owned utility,” he said.
Colorado Springs Utilities said that the plan was largely delivered by utility employees who built comprehensive financial and technical analyses and took into consideration public input, growth forecasts for the city and future environmental regulations.
New Rule in California Will Require Zero-Emissions Trucks (Bill M.)
Oil companies, together with farming and other industries, opposed the measure, calling it unrealistic, expensive and an example of regulatory overreach. Truck and engine manufacturers also opposed the rule, and began a last-ditch effort in March to delay it, saying companies were already suffering from the effects of the Covid-19 crisis.
West Coast States Are Teaming Up to Build an Electric Highway (sv)
The report calls for electrifying main shipping routes across the region by installing charging stations for freight trucks. It’s projected to cost some $850 million in total. However, these types of infrastructure updates are a worthy investment as governments begin planning their economic recoveries from the coronavirus crisis. The pandemic has created an urgency around green development that can spur economic growth and recovery.
Stanford students create Farmlink project, a nonprofit that connects farms and food banks (sv)
“We saw these images of millions of gallons of milk going to waste and hundreds of thousands of eggs being smashed, entire produce fields that were being plowed under. We just wanted to say, let’s connect one farm to our local food bank and if we can do that, that’s a model that we can bring the other places,” Kanoff said.
It is now a model known as Farmlink. The idea, which was started by a handful of philanthropic students from Stanford, has now expanded into a nationwide movement.
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18 Comments
Fri, Jul 03, 2020 - 6:55am
You and your spouse fighting off the mob
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Fri, Jul 03, 2020 - 9:33am
Understanding Supremacist Thought, Dunning School
I hadn't heard of the Dunning school of thought before today and upon researching it am dumbfounded that I was so ignorant of the 'intellectual' history of our society and it's legacy resonating in the headlines today.
https://unm-historiography.github.io/intro-guide/essays/20th-Century/The-Dunning-School-of-Thought.html
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Fri, Jul 03, 2020 - 3:00pm
Government plan to reopen the economy
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Sat, Jul 04, 2020 - 5:11am
Happy Independence Day !
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Sat, Jul 04, 2020 - 5:51am
Free?
Question?
In relation to the freedom Amerikaans had in 1789, how free are they now?
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Sat, Jul 04, 2020 - 7:42am
a good reminder
Given recent loss of liberties Tom's post is a good reminder of what it takes to fight for liberties. Freedoms have to be fought for over and over again. It is never a given. We as a country are too distracted and ironically too comfortable and we are getting a hard lesson right now. We took it for granted I think. Happy 4th of July to those who celebrate.
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Sat, Jul 04, 2020 - 10:38am
THC and Now the Rest of the Story
As Paul Harvey would say, and which indicates there is a lot more to tell.
It was a very stirring, patriotic tale you've spun. Unfortunately it bears little resemblance to the truth. As has often been said history is written by the victors. Myths soon follow especially hundreds of years after the fact. No doubt there were sacrifices made. Some voluntarily and some not. The signers of the Declaration no doubt were risking a great deal but that calculation was based on economics. John Hancock was a slave owner. He instigated the Boston Tea Party because the British were killing his business by importing East India tea which was cheaper than the Dutch tea Hancock was "importing" Importing is in quotes because he was a smuggler of all kinds of goods. Including rum. It seems smuggling rum has a long history in Massachusetts.
http://www.boston-tea-party.org/smuggling/John-Hancock.html
It might be worth noting that independence was reserved for rich white guys. No women signed the Declaration. No blacks or indigenous people did either. Nor were women, blacks or indigenous people included in the constitution, (except for the three fifths clause.)
I think it is useful to get an accurate representation of history rather than rely on self serving myths. I think Howard Zinn's "People's History" should be a basic history book in schools. I think we should acknowledge that Trump participated in an Independence Day celebration at Mt Rushmore in the Black Hills which have been sacred for hundreds of year to the Lakota. It should be noted that that land was given in TWO treaties to the Lakota, "for as long as the sun shines , the grass grows and the rivers flow". The Lakota have never ceded this land to the US.
We may wish to remember that the fireworks we are exploding today were invented by the Chinese.
So after all that here is the "rest of the story". Happy independence day where you can take the drugs you wish, carry the weapons you wish, be safe and secure in your person and papers etc.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-price-they-paid/
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Sat, Jul 04, 2020 - 11:34am
You Can Tell How People Were Taught...
I suppose you understand the 3/5th rule was deliberately installed in the Constitution by slavery hating abolitionists as a way to take power away from the slave holding States, right? Non-slaves were all counted as 1.
The Lakota Nation is a foreign country, and NOT part of the United States, and its people were not citizens until the 1920s. This is why the two treaties you mention are between foreign governments, and may be abridged at any time by either government involved..or simply ignored, or absolved.
If the Lakota Nation thinks its treaties have been abused, or violated, their delegation may address the U.S. Government, which may...or may not...listen. It would seem no one is listening, as Mt. Rushmore has been around for quite some time. If we have taken the place by conquest...so be it. The Lakota can take the land back, if their military forces can do so.
....Now if the land was taken from a citizen of the U.S., it would be a different story...but the citizen would probably be compensated in some manner according to U.S. law.
Amazing how our systemic racist culture, is so deeply rooted in our souls, we had States voting to make slavery illegal and fought political battles to prevent any new territories from allowing slavery...we had massive abolitionist movements dedicated to the ridding the U.S. of slavery...we abolished slavery...we voted everyone into citizenship...we instigated civil rights acts...
Basically, if we white peoples were as racist as is claimed...it would still be illegal to educate Blacks, and they would still be bought and sold.
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Sat, Jul 04, 2020 - 11:35am
discernment
As I read Tom's posting #4, which I had read in the past, I felt an emotional pride swelling in myself, to be part of, even distantly, such a noble undertaking and sacrifice as the creation of our Nation. Then I actually caught myself. And applied the discernment developed, partially, by my time here on PP. I thought- "This feels too good, and easy, and agreeable". MM's post with the Snopes assessment- I know Snopes has its issues- brought me back to earth. Just another lesson: emotionally triggered- check yourself out! That being said, I do believe there will soon be a time where it is incumbent upon us to stand and be counted. May it be enough....Wishing all a reflective Independence Day. Aloha, Steve
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Sat, Jul 04, 2020 - 11:55am
Less Free...Less Rational...Less Educated...MORE Emotionally Conditioned
THAN we have probably ever been.
As a result, we now face a new Civil War between those following Collectivist fallacies, and those, who actually know what a "fallacy" is.
War is the only option, when Reason no longer functions, and FORCE becomes the final arbiter of Truth, instead of Existence.
Harden your hearts for what is coming.
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Sat, Jul 04, 2020 - 12:14pm
in 1789, almost no one lived in cities
I think MMs question brings forward the idea of reviewing society historically within context. In other words, in 1789, almost no one lived in cities, big or small. Of the 5% of the population that did live in cities, 4% were masons, carpenters and barkeepers, apprentices, indentured servants, and slaves. Almost none of these people owned anything, much less their home or place of business.
For the rest of the 99%, they farmed. Most of these people did not own their land either. They had little control over their environment or their health. Everyone smelled. Heavy drinking? It was probably better than the water. Violence was common. Just about everything was local, small scale, one-on-one.
Were these people of 1789 free? Does this depend on how one defines “free?” Is freedom something that slides along a scale? Some were a bit freer, others not at all?
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Sat, Jul 04, 2020 - 12:22pm
And Mohammed, what about Planned Parenthood?
The founder, Margaret Sanger, believed in eugenics just like Hitler. Today the percentage of black babies aborted exceed the percentage of blacks in the US population. The Christian right wants these babies saved.
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Sat, Jul 04, 2020 - 12:28pm
Might makes Right
Yes clearly you are absolutely correct. Those with the most brutal methods, largest and best arsenal and the will to apply them will certainly be the conquerors.
For everything they gain there is one thing which will always elude them. Morality
"What profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul"
Matthew 16:26
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Sat, Jul 04, 2020 - 12:44pm
thc0655 said:
https://babylonbee.com/news/americans-prepare-to-celebrate-independence-day-while-confined-to-their-homes-by-the-government
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Sat, Jul 04, 2020 - 12:54pm
No riots for these
An 8 year old black boy. Was the shooter black (when no race is mentioned that’s usually because the shooter is black)?
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/07/04/alabama-mall-shooting-8-year-old-killed-3-others-injured/5376155002/
A 28 year old white man.
https://bluelivesmatter.blue/oklahoma-cops-charged-with-murder-after-tasing-man-over-50-times/
Police officer falsely accused of racism.
https://bluelivesmatter.blue/naacp-accuses-cop-of-racism-then-police-chief-releases-video-showing-truth/
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Sat, Jul 04, 2020 - 1:19pm
I’m so bored with the USA
Every 4th I like to put this on when the patriotic twits start lighting off the fireworks in our neighborhood.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQkq9GLZs64
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Sat, Jul 04, 2020 - 3:32pm
Good One
Nothing like some good in your face rock n roll to celebrate.........well just about anything. Should we stay or should we go?
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Sat, Jul 04, 2020 - 6:13pm
Ision said:
Might always makes the law and always shall.
Just ask the Lakota elders, who invaded the Black Hills and took the land from other tribes by force in the 18th Century. Only after they won the land in battle did it become "sacred."
The treaties you speak about were never recognized by the U.S.Government and the Lakota did try to take the land back by force. They lost. They now have no claim, whatsoever, on the Black Hills...just as the tribes they took it from have no claim upon it.
The Lakota are not more "holy," nor "righteous," for having lost land to a stronger tribe...they are just weaker. They enjoy the same morality they applied when THEY took the land...as those who took it from them.
Now, this land seems to be quite sacred to the U.S..
Personally, I have absolutely no consideration for whatever "soul" is...and doubt this term has any tangible meaning.
The profit is what is gained, and enjoyed, in this life, without regard to fretting about undefined and unintelligible, non-concepts, about non-events after one no longer exists.
If one wishes to be moral and apply rational values to the creation of profit, where coercive force is not used and sacrifice is not demanded of others to do so, their profit is free of any taint and guilt. And, such profit has no obligation attached to it...such as the silly notion of "giving back."
You want to write the rules...win the war.
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