Newsletter 9.15.20

Hi all, 

Thank you so much again for all your support. Our thoughts are with our West Coast listeners--we hope you are doing okay. 

New episode drops tomorrow morning. Keep a look out for it.

Thank you again!

-- Florence, Nima, Julianne, Marco, and Adam

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Covid-19 Workers' Comp Claims Are Being Held Up or Denied Bryce Covert, The Intercept (September 7, 2020)

Employers and insurance companies are holding up or denying worker’s compensation funding to frontline workers who contract COVID-19 by claiming that they cannot determine when workers contracted the virus. States have spent years slowly making worker’s compensation more difficult to apply for and now the program has become useless for many Americans during this pandemic.  

The Rhetorical Weapons of Liberal Nimbyism Apoorva Tadepalli, The New Republic (September 14, 2020)

Wealthy liberals on Manhattan’s Upper West Side organized to kick out homeless men temporarily residing in a hotel in their neighborhood. These homeowners used faux-compassionate language to justify labeling the homeless as dangerous outsiders to the community. 

This Is a Climate Emergency. We Need More Than Half-Measures from Democrats. Basav Sen, In These Times (September 10, 2020)

The west coast wildfires are the latest climate catastrophe to hit the U.S. this year and they serve as a reminder for why bold climate policy is necessary. While clearly better than Republican denialism, the Democratic platform fails to fully take on the fossil fuel industry and exhibit a hubristic nationalism in their approach to climate change. 

Uber and Lyft Are Trying To Cancel Pro-Worker Activism Meagan Day, Jacobin (September 14, 2020)

Rideshare and delivery app companies are in a fierce fight with the California state legislature over whether they can classify their workers as employees. As a part of their campaign against fairly classifying their workers, these companies have hired firms that are harassing pro-worker advocates on social media.    

The Emptiness of Matthew Yglesias’s Biggest Idea Jacob Bacharach, The New Republic (September 10, 2020)

Matthew Yglesias’ new book argues for increasing the U.S. population to one billion people, but he fails to find a logical reason for why the U.S. needs to triple its population other than competing with India and China.   

Democracy Dies in Obfuscation Dorothee Benz, FAIR (September 4, 2020)

The Washington Post’s story about clashes at protests is framed with a false equivalence that is not even supported within the text of the article. The story documents increasing right-wing violence against peaceful protest and can only mention two incidents, one non-violent, of left-wing agitation.  

Criminal Justice Reform Should Decriminalize Addiction, Advocates Say. Elizabeth Brico, The Appeal (September 8 2020)

Experts and advocates in addiction treatment are urging jurisdictions to include decriminalization of addiction in criminal justice reform programs. While a large portion of incarcerated people are in prison for drug charges, prisons have been found to be a poor method of drug treatment.   

FBI's 'Hamas' Sting Against Boogaloo Boys Was So Absurd That Even Hamas Spoke Out Against It Trevor Aaronson, The Intercept (September 10, 2020)

The FBI conducted a sting operation where they pretended to be Hamas agents asking members of the far-right Boogaloo Boys movement to build weapon modifications. The fantasy that the FBI concocted about Hamas’ motives and plans was so absurd that Hamas denounced the plot.

Tenants Just Won a Nationwide Eviction Ban. They're Still Fighting to Cancel Rent. Rebecca Burns, In These Times (September 2, 2020)

Tenant organizing to fight evictions in the midst of the pandemic claimed a victory when Donald Trump banned evictions for the duration of the year. Organizers are still pushing lawmakers to cancel rent and to protect tenants from landlords looking for any reason to evict. 

Operation Legend Is Bringing Surveillance Tech to Cities Katya Schwenk, The Intercept (September 13, 2020)

A Justice Department program known as Operation Legend includes grant funding for providing law enforcement agencies with surveillance technology. Cities have used the funding to purchase equipment to monitor phones and social media in order to spy on protestors.