US Politics Mega-thread - Page 5055

An interstate gasoline pipeline has ruptured in central Alabama, spilling 338,000 gallons of fuel in an ecologically sensitive area and threatening fuel shortages across the eastern US. So far governors in Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina have declared states of emergency.

The line runs from Houston to the New York harbor, and experts say the line’s owner, Colonial Pipeline, was extraordinarily lucky: the spill happened 500ft from the retention pond for a mining company, and all the fuel flowed into it. That spared the Cahaba river system, one of the most biologically diverse spots in the country, prized by scientists for its concentration of endangered species.

“Yeah,” said James Pinkney, a spokesman for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He gave a wry laugh. “You really couldn’t have planned it any better than this. There are no homes nearby, and it’s fully contained. It’s so fortunate.”

The fuel could have flowed all the way to Mobile Bay on the gulf coast, bringing destruction for hundreds of miles. “Along the way it would have impacted all the wildlife living in it and drinking from it,” said Myra Crawford, executive director at Cahaba Riverkeeper, an outfit that monitors the ecological integrity of the watershed. “And plants like the Cahaba lilies – this is one of the only remaining sites where they are found. It could have been so destructive.”

Instead, she said, environmental workers have only found a few animals killed by exposure to the fuel. “A few raccoons,” she said. “It’s absolutely minimal. A miracle.”

The greatest danger from the spill, and what led to the declarations of emergency, is the likelihood that fuel shortages will affect states across the eastern US, starting in the southeast. The executive orders will loosen restrictions on fuel trucks, allowing them to supply gasoline where the pipe would have normally. Truck drivers will be able to work longer shifts than usually allowed by the US Department of Transportation.

On September 20 2016 22:02 {CC}StealthBlue wrote:
“Yeah,” said James Pinkney, a spokesman for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He gave a wry laugh. “You really couldn’t have planned it any better than this. There are no homes nearby, and it’s fully contained. It’s so fortunate.”

Candy maker Skittles was left sour Monday after being pulled into the mire of the 2016 presidential race by Donald Trump Jr.

The Republican presidential nominee's son tweeted an image Monday that used the popular rainbow-colored candy to make a policy argument against admitting refugees into the United States.

"If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful," the image read. Trump added his own commentary on the message, tweeting, "This image says it all. Let's end the politically correct agenda that doesn't put America first. #trump2016."

Skittles parent company Wrigley Americas distanced itself from the tweet with a terse response opposing Trump Jr.'s premise.

"Skittles are candy. Refugees are people. We don't feel it's an appropriate analogy," Vice President of Corporate Affairs Denise Young said in the statement. "We will respectfully refrain from further commentary as anything we say could be misinterpreted as marketing."

On September 20 2016 22:06 Dan HH wrote:


http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/skittles-donald-trump-jr-tweet-skittles-are-candy-refugees-are-n651051

This truly is a special electoral campagin

The Labor Department will hand out $5 million in grants to fund job centers for people coming out of jails, part of a broader Obama administration initiative to help reduce recidivism, NPR has learned.

"The earlier you start investing in people who are incarcerated, the better the odds of a successful outcome," Labor Secretary Thomas Perez said in an interview.

The new batch of funding means that 41 such grant projects in a number of states have now won federal funding, known as Linking to Employment Activities Pre-release.

The awards come a day after Perez made a stop in New Haven, Conn., to check in on a program that helps formerly incarcerated people re-enter the community.

Perez heard from about a half-dozen inmates at the New Haven Correctional Center. They're part of an onsite program with a goal to prepare people like Liam Daly, from Groton, Conn., to get out with a plan and hopefully a job at the end of his sentence.

"I got 30 days left and go back out," Daly said. "And this workshop, I heard about it so I came down, volunteered to take it, and it's the best move I made. I think it is one door closes, another one opens, so to speak."

The program opened in February. It'll serve 175 inmates who are within six months of the end of their sentence. So far, 34 have completed the curriculum, which includes preparing for job interviews. More than half are now working.

Perez told a group of inmates he's seeing an increase in the number of employers across the country who are willing to hire ex-offenders.

"What they want to see is the ability to work with a team, making sure you're there on time, and that work ethic," Perez said. "I think you all have it. And we're working hard to make sure that there's more employers out there. And the good news is, there are. That's why we're trying to connect with you here, so that you're ready Day 1."

Perez made a second stop where he spoke with ex-offenders and their employers.

"We want to be smart on crime, and the revolving-door system of criminal justice where you lock them up, you give them no training, and you pretend to be surprised when they become frequent fliers in the justice system, that is poor public policy at a minimum, and it's poor criminal-justice policy," Perez said in the interview.

He said wardens and jail employees he has met support the workforce programs because they improve officer safety and inmates' morale.

On September 20 2016 17:29 iPlaY.NettleS wrote:
Give me Corbyn over the Blairites anyday, Give me Sanders over establishment dems like Clinton anyday.Integrity still means something.This election is about establishment vs anti establishment, if you think the dems core will turnout anywhere near 2008 or even 2012 levels you're smoking some strong stuff.

On September 20 2016 22:14 Blitzkrieg0 wrote:


What makes people believe that Bernie isn't part of the establishment? He's a career politician.

On September 20 2016 22:16 Plansix wrote:

He says he isn’t? And to be fair, he is elected in Vermont. We constantly forget they are a state except when we make pancakes or waffles.

COLUMBIA - A new law went into effect Sunday that now requires students across the state of Missouri to say the pledge of allegiance daily.

House Bill 1750, sponsored by Shane Roden (R- Cedar Hill), specifies publicly funded schools in Missouri must recite the Pledge of Allegiance at least once a day. The previous Missouri requirement was to only say the Pledge once a week.

After House Bill 1750 officially went into effect, some schools had to change their schedules so they could accommodate the bill’s requirements. New Haven Elementary School Principle Carole Garth talked about her school handling the change.

Garth mentioned kindergarten through second grade already said the pledge every morning. Third through fifth graders previously only said the pledge on Friday mornings. Now, they are all saying the pledge each morning in their classrooms.

“Since the beginning of the school year, the teachers understood that the new law would be coming into effect most likely and so they had ordered [flags] for their classrooms,” said Garth.

The bill had been proposed a few times before it passed. Columbia Public School Community Relations Director Michelle Baumstark said CPS will work with each school in the district individually to help them find the time in their respective schedules.

“Each school kind of has its own climate culture for how they [find the time],” said Baumstark.

Though publicly funded schools will be required to have time to recite the pledge every day, students will not be required to say it. Flags may be provided by voluntary donation and must be in every classroom.

On September 20 2016 22:35 Plansix wrote:
Let us force our children to pledge allegiance to the Republic and stand during for a song that has the word “the land of the free” in the finally. The home of the brave, where our greatest fear is our children will have different ideals that we do.

On September 20 2016 23:06 Simberto wrote:


What the fuck, does that seriously happen?

Maybe it is my countries history, but i would be majorly freaked out if school children would be required to participate in some daily propaganda ritual.

On September 20 2016 15:39 Danglars wrote:

It's a little hard to follow your line of thought here ... the third way was deeply political and he found great political strategy maneuvering between Bush and Perot in a vibrant economy that would be safe platform to try out a Democrat. Obama is the more movement-progressive brand to '92 and '96 Clinton's politician brand. When Newt came in for Clinton, he stood out in front pushing the message that he had heard the voters and would adjust. The 2010 wave under Obama provoked no such change. Contract with America and the results in welfare reform and the resulting vetoes I think showed true political differences then as well.

House Bill 1750, sponsored by Shane Roden (R- Cedar Hill), specifies publicly funded schools in Missouri must recite the Pledge of Allegiance at least once a day. The previous Missouri requirement was to only say the Pledge once a week.

...

Though publicly funded schools will be required to have time to recite the pledge every day, students will not be required to say it. Flags may be provided by voluntary donation and must be in every classroom.

On September 20 2016 14:04 GreenHorizons wrote:


I bet Democrats don't blow off supporters of someone like Bernie next time around if Trump wins, If Hillary wins, you can count on her going even further to the right over the course of her term (it would be what Democrats told her she could/should do).

On September 20 2016 23:06 Simberto wrote:


What the fuck, does that seriously happen?

Maybe it is my countries history, but i would be majorly freaked out if school children would be required to participate in some daily propaganda ritual.

On September 20 2016 22:06 Dan HH wrote:


http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/skittles-donald-trump-jr-tweet-skittles-are-candy-refugees-are-n651051

This truly is a special electoral campagin