TOP NEWS: 'Powerful Example': California Backs Fossil Fuel Nonproliferation Treaty

 

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September 01, 2023 Top News As Auto Strike Looms, Biden Admin Puts $15.5 Billion Toward Just Transition to EVs "We are glad to see the Biden administration doing its part to reject the false choice between a good job and a green job," said the United Auto Workers president. Jessica Corbett 'Powerful Example': California Now Largest Economy to Back Fossil Fuel Nonproliferation Treaty "We hope this move locks in real action on ending the era of fossil fuels in California, and spurs other regions, states, and countries to join forces in tackling the root cause of the climate crisis," said one activist. Jessica Corbett 'A Welcome Relief': Transportation Department Suspends Trump-Era LNG 'Bomb Trains' Rule While celebrating the forthcoming review, campaigners also argued that "Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg should put a new rule in place that restores the ban on LNG by rail once and for all." Jessica Corbett Watchdog Calls On Judge With Pharma Investments to Recuse From Drug Pricing Case "Any chance that Judge Rose evaluates this case in his own personal financial interest, rather than by the letter of the law, is a significant threat to judicial ethics." Jake Johnson Trump's Last-Minute Attack on Old-Growth Trees Was Illegal, Judge Rules The federal judge said that the "highly uncertain effects of this project, when considered in light of its massive scope and setting, raise substantial questions about whether this project will have a significant effect on the environment." Olivia Rosane 'Big Tech's Best Friend': Progressives Target Top Democrat on House Antitrust Panel Rep. Lou Correa "betrayed consumers and left small businesses at the mercy of Big Tech and other monopolies," reads a mailer sent by an arm of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. Jake Johnson

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Opinion How the Media Turns Migrants Into Monsters As long as the U.S. continues to manufacture conditions ripe for mass migration in Latin America, news readers must come to grips with how today’s journalism coaxes Americans into hating migrants. Lara-Nour Walton Defend Direct Democracy to Save Abortion Access For years, extremists and the special interests who fund them have made it clear that they are willing to shut down the use of ballot measures if it means making short-term gains to restrict progress on issues like reproductive rights. Hannah Ledford Peace Is Just as Possible as War On International Peace Day this September 21, imagine an unstoppable wave of peace actions sweeping across our country. H. Patricia Hynes

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Judge’s removal sought following incident at Brewster bar

By Ethan Genter

Posted Oct 6, 2020 

BOSTON — The state’s Commission on Judicial Conduct is weighing a hearing officer’s recommendation that a Probate and Family Court judge be retired or removed from his post in response to allegations that he inappropriately touched a court employee without her consent at a Brewster resort last year.

The commission held a virtual hearing Monday on the recommended discipline against Judge Paul Sushchyk, who was charged with engaging “in willful judicial misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice and unbecoming of a judicial officer.”

Sushchyk denied intentionally touching the woman who filed a complaint claiming the judge pinched her buttocks while the two were at a judicial education conference at Ocean Edge Resort in Brewster in April 2019.

The commission will make its final recommendation to the Supreme Judicial Court within 90 days, Judge Julie Bernard said at the hearing.

The alleged incident happened at Bayzo’s Pub — a pub at the resort — after the conference’s daily events and a court-sponsored dinner.

The woman claimed that she was at a barstool at the table when Sushchyk came up behind her and grabbed her buttocks. She did not bring it up at the time, but soon left the pub and texted her sister about the incident, according to hearing officer Bertha Josephson’s report.

Sushchyk — who had a flask of whiskey at the time — denied intentional contact and supplied a written statement saying when he was visiting the woman’s table he placed a hand toward her chair at one point to try and steady himself and momentarily came in contact with a portion of her lower body, the report read.

Later, under oath, Sushchyk denied any contact with the woman, intentional or otherwise — an inconsistency Josephson pointed out in her report.

“Given his misconduct and the public awareness of it, it is extremely unlikely that he would be able to command the respect and authority essential to the performance of his judicial function,” Josephson wrote. “The sanction recommended is not an effort to punish Judge Sushchyk so much as an attempt to maintain the trust and confidence in the judiciary and the mechanisms designed to protect the public against judicial wrongdoing.”

At the hearing on Monday, attorney Michael Angelini read a statement from Sushchyk, who again denied nonconsensual, intentional physical contact and noted he has not faced any other allegations of inappropriate behavior.

“I have learned invaluable and hard lessons since the complaint was made against me,” Sushchyk said in the statement. “I have been reminded that while serving as a judge, I must conduct myself in a manner, at all times, befitting my office, 24 hours a day and seven days a week. I have been reminded that I must be cognizant and mindful of all acts and statements, and especially in social settings.”

RSN: In Bernie's Brooklyn, Political Revolution Was Mainstream

21 July 20

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In Bernie's Brooklyn, Political Revolution Was Mainstream

Theodore Hamm, Jacobin
Excerpt: "To many Americans, Bernie Sanders's brand of socialism seemed to leap onto the national stage from out of nowhere. But in the postwar Jewish Brooklyn where he grew up, the socialist tradition and a veneration for the New Deal were central touchstones of mainstream politics."
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Workers in a Miami McDonald's before the Covid-19 pandemic. (photo: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

Across the Country, Essential Workers Are on Strike for Black Lives
Bryce Covert, Vox
Excerpt: "Racial injustice and Covid-19 have collided for many essential workers. Today they're on strike."
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Mitch McConnell. (photo: M. Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO)

ALSO SEE: Battle Over Covid Aid Consumes Congress' Final Sprint to Recess

GOP Coronavirus Bill Likely to Include Payroll Tax Cut and Tie School Money to Reopening Plans
Erica Werner and Robert Costa, The Washington Post
Excerpt: "A new coronavirus relief bill being crafted by Senate Republicans and the White House would tie school funding to classrooms reopening and is likely to include a version of the payroll tax cut sought by President Trump, a person briefed on the package said Monday."
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U.S. federal judge Esther Salas and her husband, defense attorney Mark Anderl. (photo: Vice)

Son of Federal Judge in Epstein Deutsche Bank Case Shot Dead
David Gilbert, VICE
Excerpt: "Judge Esther Salas was appointed to the case last Wednesday. On Sunday, her 20-year-old son, and her husband, were shot at home." 

Judge Esther Salas was appointed to the case last Wednesday. On Sunday, her 20-year-old son, and her husband, were shot at home.

he son of U.S. federal judge Esther Salas was shot and killed at her home Sunday afternoon by a man dressed as a FedEx delivery driver.

Salas’s husband, defense attorney Mark Anderl, was also shot during the incident, which took place at the family’s home in North Brunswick, New Jersey, at around 5 p.m. ET on Sunday. Salas reportedly escaped injury because she was in the basement at the time of the attack, according to a report from NBC New York.

She is a former public defender who was nominated to the federal bench during the term of former U.S. President Barack Obama in 2010. She was recommended to the position by New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, who knew the family. Just last week she was appointed to oversee the Deutsche Bank case involving Jeffrey Epstein, and she previously handled the high-profile case involving Teresa Giudice, a star of "Real Housewives of New Jersey," who along with her husband Joe was sentenced to jail for financial fraud in 2014.

Salas' son Daniel Anderl, 20, opened the door Sunday to the gunman, according to a law enforcement official speaking to CNN, and was met with “a hail of gunfire” before the gunman fled. Mark Anderl was standing right behind his son, the official said.

The 20-year-old, who was a student at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., died at the scene after he was “shot through the heart,” North Brunswick Mayor Francis Womack told ABC.

Mark Anderl, who is a prominent criminal defense attorney, was shot multiple times and rushed to Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick, where he underwent surgery.

It is currently unclear if the gunman, who remains at large, was a FedEx employee or simply dressed as one to avoid suspicion. “We are aware of the media reports and are fully cooperating with investigating authorities,” the company said in a statement on Sunday.

Both the U.S. Marshals and the FBI are investigating the incident.

“We are looking for one subject," the FBI said in a statement. "We are working closely with our state and local partners and will provide additional updates when available.”

Law enforcement officials told CNN it was not aware of any threats against the judge, However, the New Jersey Globe said it had learned the judge had been the target of threats, though it didn’t specify what those threats were.

"My prayers are with Judge Salas and her family, and that those responsible for this horrendous act are swiftly apprehended and brought to justice," Menendez said in a statement.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said the tragedy was the “latest reminder that gun violence remains a crisis in our country and that our work to make every community safer isn't done.”

Salas was appointed last week to oversee a case involving Deutsche Bank, which is accused of misleading investors “about anti-money-laundering deficiencies,” including not properly monitoring high-risk customers, such as Jeffrey Epstein.

Early Monday afternoon, ABC News reported the suspect was found dead in a vehicle in Sullivan County, New York, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was reportedly an attorney who'd had a case before Salas in 2015. A FedEx package addressed to Salas was also found in the vehicle, according to the ABC sources.

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The team said the coronavius (pictured) appears to suppress the body's production of interferon beta, a protein that forms part of the immune response. (photo: AP)

Trial of Covid-19 Drug Given Via Inhaler 'Very Promising,' Say Scientists
Nicola Davis, Guardian UK
Davis writes: "Trials of an experimental drug inhaled by patients have found a significant reduction in hospital patients with Covid-19 needing to be put on a ventilator or dying from the disease, according to researchers."
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Assam, India. (photo: Anuwar Hazarika/Reuters)

Flooding in Assam and Nepal Kills Hundreds and Displaces Millions
Zarir Hussain and Gopal Sharma, Reuters
Excerpt: "Nearly four million people in India's northeastern state of Assam and neighbouring Nepal have been displaced by heavy flooding from monsoon rains, with dozens missing as deaths rose to at least 189, government officials said on Sunday."
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Garbage. (photo: AzmanL/Getty Images)

The Coronavirus Is Causing a Boom in Household Waste
Drew Costley, OneZero
Costley writes: "Even though most cities have relaxed their shelter-in-place orders and people have begun to leave their homes more, residential waste is still higher than in average years."

Experts say increases in single-use plastic waste in particular threaten ‘recent gains’ in addressing a ‘major environmental problem’

illions of people sheltering in place during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated the household waste problem in the United States, according to experts on waste management. And even though most cities have relaxed their shelter-in-place orders and people have begun to leave their homes more, residential waste is still higher than in average years.

The increase in residential waste in cities could overflow existing landfills, leaving some cities looking for more space to hold the extra waste. Cities have put their recycling programs on hold temporarily or cut recycling programs entirely, exacerbating the problem. And the reemergence of single-use plastic — like plastic bags and utensils being used more in retail and restaurants — during the pandemic will lead to more carcinogenic plastic chemicals entering the environment.

“There has been a substantial increase in household waste generation given so many people [are] isolating at home,” Marian Chertow, PhD, associate professor of industrial environmental management and director for the Center for Industrial Ecology at Yale University. She said there’s been “a corresponding decrease in commercial waste as businesses and restaurants were shut down.” As millions of people shifted from working in offices, shopping at stores, and eating at restaurants to doing all of those things in their house almost exclusively, the waste they produced also shifted from entering the waste stream from all of those places to just one. At the same time, some consumers started ordering more takeout and shopping online for items they may have previously purchased at stores, which meant more food packaging and shipping materials in their trash bins.

Residential waste rose by 20% to 30%, depending on who you ask. Brandon Wright, a spokesperson for the National Waste and Recycling Association, says members of the organization, which include Waste Management (one of the largest waste management companies in the United States), have reported a 20% increase in the amount of residential waste collected. Cole Rosengren, a senior editor at Waste Dive, an industry trade publication that is tracking the coronavirus’ impact on the waste stream, tells OneZero the increase was between 25% and 30% on average. In some U.S. cities, residential waste increased by as much 40%.

This has several states, like Iowa, Kentucky, and West Virginia, are suspending bans on yard waste in landfills due to the coronavirus. And there are reports from the around the country, like in California and Maryland, of landfills and waste haulers being overburdened by the uptick in waste. “This place has been a madhouse ever since they started shutting things down,” Dwight Amoss, manager of a landfill in Maryland, told the Baltimore Sun. “It can be a little stressful.”

Chertow and others who study waste management are particularly concerned about the increase in single-use plastics created as cities have waived plastic bag fees and people have relied more heavily on online delivery services like Amazon, DoorDash, and Postmates for retail and food. Even as cities begin to reopen businesses and restaurants, the use of single-use plastic will likely continue because the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reopening guidelines recommend restaurants use disposable utensils.

“There has been a proliferation of single-use plastic threatening recent gains in addressing this major environmental problem,” David Rachelson, chief sustainability officer at waste tech company Rubicon, told OneZero in an email. Chertow says the increase in single-use plastics reflects what people perceive as safe to use during the pandemic.

“The increase in plastics reflects a safety concern: that in the pandemic, our families, customers, workers are better off with single-use items such as takeout food packaging that seem more sanitary and can be disposed rather than reused,” she says.

Single-use plastics, like plastic straws, packaging materials, and plastic bags, create environmental health hazards after they’re disposed of in landfills or incinerators. There is no federal law limiting the use of single-use plastic, and state and local laws seem to be flailing due to pandemic concerns. These plastics are made with chemicals that are carcinogenic or pose other health hazards, according to research published in Science of the Total Environment in 2019.

Even though some states and cities have relaxed their shelter-in-place laws, household waste is still higher than it is on average, according to Rosengren. Experts agree, too, that the latest spikes in coronavirus cases create uncertainty around where our waste will be generated and how it will be disposed of.

“There is no question that waste and recycling flows will continue to fluctuate over the next few months as the Covid-19 pandemic unfolds,” Rachelson says.

The challenges in dealing with waste amid the pandemic have increased interest in using automation and robotics to collect, sort, and manage waste.

“Over the years, waste collection has become safer as there is less contact between workers and the waste itself owing to hydraulic lifts and other aids,” Chertow says. “Several companies have sprung up with new products including waste recycling robots for sorting, optical sorting systems, and artificial intelligence systems for improved tracking and enabling visualization.”

But this new tech costs money, and budgets for waste and recycling are trending downward due to the pandemic. In some cities, Rosengren says, curbside recycling programs were temporarily paused for a variety of reasons, like workers’ fear of catching the coronavirus while collecting or staff shortages due to workers actually catching the virus. David Biderman, executive director and CEO of Solid Waste Association of North America, told Vox that 60 to 80 communities put their curbside recycling programs on hold. The highest that number got was 150 communities suspending their curbside recycling programs, Rosengren says.

More recently, cities have begun suspending recycling programs for at least the next year because of budgetary concerns. New York City, for example, has cut electronic recycling and organic waste collection. “We expect that perhaps there is more of that to come. Budgetary factors are going to be a real drain on some of the cities in terms of what programs they can offer,” says Rosengren. “So that’s been a big issue.”

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