https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/08/23/metro-center-stabbing-police/



A man was stabbed and critically injured Tuesday afternoon inside the Metro Center station in downtown Washington, according to D.C. police.

The victim was reported to be unconscious, a police spokeswoman said. A woman also reported being cut; police said they were investigating how she was tied to the incident.

Because of the severity of the man’s injuries, D.C. police homicide detectives responded to the stabbing, but a department spokesman said the investigation was later turned back over to Metro Transit Police.

Police said the stabbing occurred about 3:15 p.m., and it appears to have happened on a station platform.

The station, located on G Street NW between 12th and 13th streets, serves the Red, Orange, Blue and Silver lines and is one of the busiest transit hubs in the system. It is a few blocks from the White House.

Red Line trains headed toward Glenmont bypassed the Metro Center station in the wake of the incident. Metro employees were using bullhorns to give passengers directions for alternative travel. Metro tweeted shortly before 6 p.m. that those trains were no longer bypassing the station.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/17/business/strippers-file-for-union-vote/index.html

New York (CNN Business)Strippers at the Star Garden Topless Dive Bar in North Hollywood, California, have filed with the National Labor Relations Board seeking to join the Actors Equity Association, a union of performers and other show business professionals.

"We like what we do. We would like our jobs even more if we had basic worker protections," said one of the strippers who works under the stage name Velveeta, in statement released by the union.

Among the issues that the strippers say they want addressed are the club's security guards repeatedly failing to protect dancers from threatening and abusive behavior from patrons.

"We're like so many other workers who have learned that it's not a choice between suffering abuse or quitting," she said. "With a union, together, we can make needed improvements to our workplace."

There would be about 30 strippers eligible to vote on whether or not to join a union, according to Actors Equity, a 109-year old union that represents 51,000 actors and other professionals who work in everything from Broadway shows in New York City to onstage performers at Disney World and dozens of theaters across the country.

"Strippers are live entertainers, and while some aspects of their job are unique, they have much in common with other Equity members who dance for a living," said Actors' Equity President Kate Shindle. "In my conversations with them, these dancers reported consistent compensation issues - including significant wage theft - along with health and safety risks and violations. They want health insurance and other benefits, like workers' compensation."

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/15/investing/premarket-stocks-trading/index.html

Breaking it down: The two provisions in focus are a 15% minimum corporate tax and a 1% tax on stock buybacks, which would help pay for climate investments.

Strategists at Citi said their "general view is that higher taxes are an economic activity dampener." Yet once they dug into which S&P 500 firms would be affected by the new tax rate, they concluded it would have a "neutral" effect on aggregate profits, and that an economic slowdown and the Federal Reserve are "more relevant" to the outlook.

Citi found that 358 companies in the index make enough money to be subject to the minimum tax, which is expected to raise more than $220 billion over the next 10 years. Yet only 50 are expected to be taxed below a 15% rate in 2023. Applying the new minimum would reduce their earnings by roughly 0.4% next year, per current forecasts.

Looking at share repurchases for 2021, Citi found that a 1% tax would have reduced S&P 500 earnings by just 0.35%, all else being equal.

A team at Goldman Sachs drew a similar takeaway. It said that the buyback tax and minimum corporate tax would lower per-share profits next year among S&P 500 companies by just 1.5%.

https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2022-08-14/police-man-killed-himself-after-ramming-us-capitol-barrier



WASHINGTON (AP) — A man drove his car into a barricade near the U.S. Capitol early Sunday and then began firing gunshots in the air before fatally shooting himself, according to police, who said he did not seem to be targeting any member of Congress.

The incident happened just before 4 a.m. at a vehicle barricade set at East Capitol Street NE and 2nd Street SE in Washington.

It comes at a time when law enforcement authorities across the country are facing an increasing number of threats and federal officials have warned about the potential of violent attacks on government buildings in the days since the FBI’s search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

The attack is reminiscent of an incident when a man drove a vehicle into two Capitol Police officers at a checkpoint in April 2021, killing an 18-year veteran of the force. And many on Capitol Hill remain on edge after supporters of the then-president stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Authorities said the man, identified as Richard A. York III, 29, of Delaware, crashed into the barricade and that as he was getting out of the car, the vehicle became engulfed in flames. The man then opened fire, firing several shots into the air as police approached.

Capitol Police said the man shot himself as the officers neared. He was later pronounced dead.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/08/13/surprising-political-shifts-that-led-climate-bills-passage/

The bill’s success shows how the politics of climate change have shifted profoundly since scientists began warning about global warming



The world has changed dramatically since the last time Congress considered climate legislation. Last time, it sought to cap greenhouse gas emissions, and the fossil fuel industry fought back hard. Not this time. Last time, some Republicans supported the measure, harking to an era when environmental protection was not so polarizing. Not this time.

On Friday, a dozen years after a sprawling climate bill passed the House but failed to move ahead in the Senate, Democrats successfully muscled the United States’ most ambitious climate change proposal ever past Congress, sending it to President Biden for his signature.

The bill’s success shows how the politics of climate change have shifted profoundly since scientists began warning about how human-caused emissions would warm the planet.

Whereas President Jimmy Carter once pushed clean energy as a matter of personal, moral responsibility, the new bill treats climate change as a pragmatic pocketbook matter of consumer rebates and corporate tax incentives.



Whereas climate change once seemed distant, it is now a constant presence in shaping weather patterns, the economy and daily life in much of the world, especially during the harsh summer months.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/31/tech/electronic-waste-explainer/index.html

(CNN)If you have one or more drawers filled with old gadgets and wires, you're not alone.

Decades of the tech sector's pressure to "innovate or die" have led to a long list of useful and flashy household tech products, but many of these same devices also have a need to be replaced at almost the same rapid rate that new technology emerges.

The result of this so-called planned obsolescence, combined with a limited number of options to repair older devices over the years, is a tsunami of electronic waste, also known as e-waste. And the fallout from it extends far beyond the headache of figuring out what to do with the clutter tucked away inside your home.

"Planned obsolescence just makes it worse. People now expect to get a new computer every three or four years, a new phone every two years," said Jim Puckett, executive director of the Basel Action Network, a Seattle-based e-waste watchdog group. "It's a mountain that just keeps growing."

The most recent United Nation's data indicates the world generated a staggering 53.6 million metric tons of e-waste in 2019, and only 17.4% of that was recycled. The burden and harms of e-waste often fall to those in developing countries. The US Environmental Protection Agency estimates that an "undetermined amount of used electronics is shipped from the United States and other developed countries to developing countries that lack the capacity to reject imports or to handle these materials appropriately."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/07/29/dc-union-station-starbucks/

The closure of a Starbucks because of ‘challenging incidents’ is adding fuel to concerns about the conditions of Washington’s busiest transit hub



Starbucks is departing Union Station on Sunday while citing safety concerns at the iconic transit hub. Although crime has fallen in recent years, so too have passenger counts, occupied storefronts and foot traffic, creating a dreary backdrop at a once-vibrant gateway to the nation’s capital.

A Washington fixture for more than a century, Union Station is the region’s busiest commuter facility, the first stop for many visitors and a dining spot for tourists and local residents. But between its marble floors and 96-foot coffered ceilings is an outdated and deteriorating station showing signs of neglect.

Businesses are closing amid a pandemic that shifted commuter behaviors. As fewer travelers use the station, city officials and nonprofits have increasingly turned attention to those inside who are homeless or suffering from mental illness. Meanwhile, a rise in high-profile incidents in and around the hub has boosted a perception of insecurity.

While transit centers across the United States historically have served as shelters for the homeless, experts say there is anecdotal evidence to suggest that trend is increasing in the pandemic’s third year. Union Station is in line for a multibillion-dollar revamp over two decades, but first must overcome a growing sense of unease as businesses shutter and rail traffic struggles to reach pre-pandemic levels.

In announcing the closure of 16 stores earlier this month, Starbucks cited “a high volume of challenging incidents that make it unsafe to continue to operate,” although the company declined to elaborate on incidents specific to Union Station. A Starbucks spokeswoman said problems at the closing locations mirror challenges within their surrounding communities, including rising drug use, chronic homelessness and mental health issues.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/29/energy/exxonmobil-chevron-earnings/index.html

New York (CNN Business)ExxonMobil and Chevron both reported record massive profits thanks to record gasoline prices during the quarter.

Exxon's profit, excluding special items, came to $17.6 billion in the second quarter, nearly double what it made in its very profitable first quarter as oil and gas prices started to soar in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Second-quarter profit was up 273% from the same period a year ago.

Chevron earned $11.4 billion excluding special items, up 74% from the first quarter and 247% from a year ago.
Including one-time items, both earned hundreds of millions more: ExxonMobil's net income reached $17.9 billion, while Chevron brought in $11.6 billion.

ExxonMobil's net income came to $2,245.62 every second of every day of the 92-day long quarter. On that basis, Chevron earned $1,462.11 per second.

Since it takes about two minutes to pump 20 gallons of gas, that means between them the two oil giants earned more than $400,000 between them in the time it took you to fill you tank.