Kavanaugh and Roberts Side with Liberals to Hand Environmentalists Huge Win; Alito Is Not Amused

Source: Law & Crime

Environmentalists scored a significant victory in the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday with help from some unusual suspects.

In a 6-3 opinion authored by Justice Stephen Breyer, two of the court’s conservatives–Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh–joined with the four-member liberal minority in order to strengthen a key provision of the Clean Water Act (CWA) of 1972.

Stylized as County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, the case stems from a lawsuit filed by “several environmental groups” in 2012 which alleged that Maui’s use of a wastewater reclamation facility ran afoul of the CWA by pumping roughly four million gallons of treated wastewater into the Pacific Ocean every day without a permit.

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Kavanaugh’s concurrence clearly sums up the basic issue:
“ The question in this case is whether the County of Maui needs a permit for its Lahaina Wastewater Reclamation Facility. No one disputes that pollutants originated at Maui’s wastewater facility (a point source), and no one disputes that the pollutants ended up in the Pacific Ocean (a navigable water). Maui contends, however, that it does not need a permit. Maui says that the pollutants did not come “from” the Lahaina facility because the pollutants traveled through groundwater before reaching the ocean.”




Read more: https://lawandcrime.com/supreme-court/kavanaugh-and-roberts-side-with-liberals-to-hand-environmentalists-huge-win-alito-is-not-amused/

COVID-19's recent spread shifts to suburban, whiter, and more Republican-leaning areas

Brookings Institute
William H. Frey April 22, 2020

There is a stereotypical view of the places in America that COVID-19 has affected most: they are broadly urban, comprised predominantly of racial minorities, and strongly vote Democratic. This underlines the public’s perception of what kinds of populations reside in areas highly exposed to the coronavirus, as well as some of the recent political arguments over social distancing measures and the states easing their restrictions.

While that perception of high-prevalence areas was accurate during the earlier stages of the pandemic, COVID-19’s recent spread has changed the picture. During the first three weeks of April, new counties showing a high prevalence of COVID-19 cases are more suburban, whiter, and voted more strongly for Donald Trump than counties the virus hit first. These findings result from a new analysis of counties with high COVID-19 prevalence rates (more than 100 confirmed cases per 100,000 population) based on data available from The New York Times and the U.S. Census Bureau.

As of March 29, 59 counties (representing 7.8% of the U.S. population) registered high COVID-19 prevalence rates. Over the subsequent three weeks, through April 19, an additional, 142, 254, and 262 counties registered a high prevalence—increasing the shares of the U.S. population living in such counties by 11.8%, 11.2%, and 15.7%, respectively. Thus, as of April 19, 48% of U.S. residents lived in counties with a high prevalence of COVID-19 cases.

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Medical supplier says FEMA seized 400,000 N95 masks, has them 'just sitting on a loading dock at JFK

The seizures are continuing. This article includes a seizure on 4/19.

[link:https://www.nydailynews.com/coronavirus/ny-delaware-company-says-fema-seized-mask-shipments-amid-coronavirus-20200421-3yz7dks53fbl7jlrjhuq2xokyu-story.html|]

Ticked off vic on mortgage relief nsfw

Came across this yesterday. Guy knows how to rant but he’s spot on. Stop mortgage, credit card, car loan payments for three months and tack the three months onto the end.

[link:https://m.

Divided walk

Started south of downtown and headed east south of the railroad tracks. Saw a few people in the park and on the streets but the neighborhoods ran out pretty quick and then no one.

It’s heating up but not too bad yet. I forgot to check for suntan lotion in the bag.

Passed a lot of warehouse type buildings. Passed barrios brewery and it was open for takeout. Damn a beer and a snack would have been nice. Stupid open container laws.

So I walked on by and then that brewery food smell hit me. Good fried food smell made me hungry. Oh well.

Saw one place I could get past the tracks, but there was a highway that wasn’t crossable. On I went.

Finally walked far enough to get on the other side of the tracks and the highway. That was kind of interesting but if I ever go this way again it’d be easier. I think.

Funny how the town is divided by those tracks. It reminded of other places I’ve walked where you have to walk miles out of your way to get past a highway, a railroad, a river.

Back in neighborhoods again. I made it a little further then asked my wife to pick me up.

I wonder where I’ll go tomorrow.

In coronavirus scramble for N95 masks, Trump administration pays premium to third-party vendors

9th street mural and weather report

My wife and I went for a walk around 4 Drizzling and a little cold we went through some streets we hadn’t been before and kind of gawked at some old houses and a church or two. Nice elegant old buildings.

Clean air and the rain. It was smelling like that real desert.

We turned north on 9th and got to this mural. Started off with weird creatures and scenes. It was block long. By the time we got to the other end it had pictures of buildings and stores we had seen on the way there.

Found it on the web so here’s some pictures
[link:https://globalphile.com/tucsons-dunbar-springs-neighborhood/|]

Such a cool thing in a place we’ve never been in town.

We walked back to the car and she drove home. Walked towards the university. 4th street was empty. Got to the university and looked back at university. Sun was low enough for that glare to start. Streets were still wet enough to amplify it. No cars or people to absorb any of it.

People were out but spread out. There were people walking by the university but fewer than normal. The mall had some people playing but much emptier than a typical saturday afternoon.

Walked about 7.5 miles. I’ll have to start bringing a bag. I normally like to stop along the way to get a drink but not now.

Best walk in a month.

Some different music

[link:https://m.youtube.com/watch?utm_source=We+Have+Music+For+You%21&v=jrr3WgKPyP4&utm_campaign=December+events&utm_medium=email&feature=youtu.be|]

I don’t think it pops up but follow the YouTube link

My wife is singing along

Where is the protection product going?

“I’m putting volume into that system”

[link:https://mobile.twitter.com/DavidBegnaud/status/1245841458323771393|]

This seems to be a government official trying to explain what happens to the product they buy.

It’s to use the distributors. Like many of us predicted. But if these are the 6 distributors who are experts at this why aren’t they buying the product directly?

No mention of any requirements to distribute the product to healthcare facilities let alone where it is needed the most

Sounds like I expected. The hospitals lose the bids to the government and then get to rebid from the distributors selected by the administration

Or am I reading to much into this?

Hospitals say feds are seizing masks and other coronavirus supplies without a word

Source: LA Times

Although President Trump has directed states and hospitals to secure what supplies they can, the federal government is quietly seizing orders, leaving medical providers across the country in the dark about where the material is going and how they can get what they need to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

Hospital and clinic officials in seven states described the seizures in interviews over the past week. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is not publicly reporting the acquisitions, despite the outlay of millions of dollars of taxpayer money, nor has the administration detailed how it decides which supplies to seize and where to reroute them.

Officials who’ve had materials seized also say they’ve received no guidance from the government about how or if they will get access to the supplies they ordered. That has stoked concerns about how public funds are being spent and whether the Trump administration is fairly distributing scarce medical supplies.

“In order to have confidence in the distribution system, to know that it is being done in an equitable manner, you have to have transparency,” said Dr. John Hick, an emergency physician at Hennepin Healthcare in Minnesota who has helped develop national emergency preparedness standards through the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-04-07/hospitals-washington-seize-coronavirus-supplies%3f_amp=true