Rashida Tlaib and Kevin McAleenan interviewed by ABC News about continuing family separation crisis at the border

While immigration played a passing role in Colbert, Meyers, and Noah take closer looks at Trump vs. Iran, it hasn't been the focus of one of my posts since April, when I wrote MSNBC's Jacob Soboroff earns a Cronkite Award for coverage of family separation at the border followed the next day by Colbert and Meyers take closer looks at Kirstjen Nielsen's resignation.  That doesn't mean the problem has gone away.  It's still there and being examined again.  ABC News interviewed Rashida Tlaib, who visited one of the detention center, and said ‘Can’t throw more money at a broken system’: Rep. Tlaib on border funding in response to her voting no on a funding bill.*

Martha Raddatz interviews Rep. Rashida Tlaib on “This Week” about the congresswoman’s visit to a border detention facility in Texas and what’s next in the immigration debate.

ABC News then interviewed Acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan in Kevin McAleenan on CBP Facebook group: ‘The agents will be held accountable”.

The Acting DHS Secretary talks about the steps he says the department has taken to address concerns about conditions at the border and offensive social media posts by border agents.

First, I'm glad to see that Marth Raddatz pushed back at least as hard on McAleenan as she did on Tlaib; it made McAleenan cite some facts that can be checked.  That written, I still think Tlaib is accurately recounting what she saw.

Second, while I'm not thrilled that Trump's approval rating is as high as it's been, I'm more sanguine about it still being underwater.  Also, having immigration be a top issue can be dangerous, although I'm a bit reassured that a majority of Americans disapprove of Trump's handling of it.  I'm sure I'll be writing more about the issue as the election cycle goes on.  Stay tuned.

*Raddatz quoting Nancy Pelosi about how Tlaib and others are in an isolated group of four reminds me that it's time to revisit this footnote from Senators and Representatives running for the Democratic nomination are drifting to the left as they campaign.

I know at least three Representatives that Voteview considers to have moved to the right over the past two months, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib.  They used to cluster near Barbara Lee, who has consistently been one of the most liberal members of the House with scores lower than -0.600.  Now, they have scores ranging from -0.303 to -0.330, placing them much closer to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whose score is -0.213.

They may have moved to the center on the first dimension, but the four Congresswomen have the most liberal scores on the second dimension of DW-Nominate.  The fifth most liberal on the second dimension happens to be Justin Amash, who also voted no on supplemental funding for DHS, so it's not just the four Democratic Representatives that Pelosi sneered at.  In fact, 95 Democrats and 7 Republicans voted no, including Debbie Dingell, who is about as Establishment as one can get in Michigan's Democratic delegation.  Pelosi should pay more attention to detail if she wants to attack members of her own caucus in the future.

Vox shows how India runs the planet's largest election

Today, I'm in a serious but optimistic mood, so I'm sharing Vox's How India runs the world's biggest election.  Pay attention to all the effort made to allow as many people to vote as possible.

900 million eligible voters need access to polling booths.
...
Elections in India aren’t like others. India voted to pick its central government for the next five years throughout the spring of 2019. An eighth of the world’s entire population was eligible to vote in this election. That’s 900 million people, and more than 67 percent voted.

India runs the world’s biggest elections, and officials put in a lot of effort to make this democratic exercise is as accessible as possible. This means they make sure everyone, even in the most remote locations, is near a polling booth — even if it means bringing voting machines to them by elephant.

Compared to the United States, where voter suppression is such an issue, India, at least as portrayed by Vox, really tries to make voting available to everyone.  I think that makes India a better example to follow than the U.S. when it comes to voting in a democracy.  A comparison of turnout supports that view, as India's latest election had a turnout of 67.1%, while the best the U.S. had was 62.3% of eligible voters and 58.2% of total voting-age population in 2008, according to Wikipedia, while 2016 saw 55.5% of voting-age population actually vote.  Time to advocate for the U.S. doing at least as well as India.

California hit by two earthquakes over 4th of July weekend

I know I promised that "I plan on posting the update to the Democratic candidates at On The Issues I promised in Senators and Representatives running for the Democratic nomination are drifting to the left as they campaign [today]" at the conclusion of Wired on dead malls, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse, but that's not happening.  While I'm working on it, it needs more time and energy than I have today.*  Besides, I just saw another shiny object that matches my interests, science, particularly geology, disasters, and my old home state of California.  CBS News reports in California officials assessing damage after powerful earthquake.

Seismologists are warning that large aftershocks could continue in Southern California for days after a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck the area. CBS Los Angeles reporter Joy Benedict joined CBSN with the latest.

Reena Nina of CBS News continued her coverage of the disaster in Southern California reeling after another earthquake strikes.

A massive 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit Southern California on Friday night. It is the second earthquake to rattle the area in the past two days. Dr. Wendy Bohon, a geologist for the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology, joined CBSN with more.

I may have moved out of California 30 years ago, but this story still hits home for me.  It's also one that I can tell my geology students, adding to my earthquake war stories that I've included in my lectures over the year.

The best think I can say about this series of earthquakes is the same one I mentioned in Magnitude 7.0 earthquake strikes Anchorage, Alaska; there seem to be no fatalities.  Considering that the slightly smaller earthquakes I recount to my students have killed people, sometimes more than 60 of them, that's very fortunately.  It seems the same is true of these quakes, as CBS Los Angeles reported in Ridgecrest Police Chief: No Fatalities, Casualties From Quake 'By The Grace Of God'.

Police Chief Jed McLaughlin said so far there were no injuries or deaths from the Ridgecrest quake.

May it stay that way.

*Right now, I have it scheduled for Monday.  Stay tuned.

Wired on dead malls, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse

My wife and I just finished binge-watching season 3 of "Stranger Things" today.  A lot of the action centers around a mall, which didn't exist in the first two seasons.  That's actually an important plot point, but I won't discuss that any more today.  This is not a post about speculative fiction.  Instead, it's about the past, present, and possible future of malls.

What struck me most about the fictional Starcourt Mall was how much it reminded me of being in a mall in the mid-80s through early-2000s — the crowds, the bright colors, and the now bygone chair stores.  In other words, the show did a good job of capturing the look and feel of the times, which is a contrast to the tales of the Retail Apocalypse I've been telling here the past year.  I'm not the only person struck by the clips of the mall in the trailers and the contrast with today.  They also inspired Wired to ask an architecture professor to explain why malls are dying.

The 1980's nostalgia and sci-fi show Stranger Things returns for season three with a new setting: The Starcourt Mall. WIRED's Emily Dreyfuss talks with architecture professor Ellen Dunham-Jones about mall culture and the fate of dead malls. Hint, zombies.

The story Dr. Dunham-Jones tells about the history of suburbia up to the 1990s and the clips Wired used to illustrate it reminds me a lot of "The End of Suburbia."  As for the beginning of the end, her pointing to the mid-to-late 1990s came off as a bit surprising to me, as I would have picked the early-to-mid-2000s, when I first noticed the decline of Northland Mall, but she's the expert who looks at the numbers and identfies the trends, not me.

It was interesting to listen to Dunham-Jones' ideas of how to deal with dead malls.  The least common is reviving them with new retail, especially restaurants.  That would be more business as usual.  The other three possibilities look more interesting.  Turning the old malls into the new downtowns that the suburbs never really had is one I'd like, although I have trouble seeing that happening in Southfield; the old Northland Mall is too far from the actual downtown.  Repurposing old malls into office complexes with community services, including churches, is something I've seen in Brick Immortar's videos of dead malls on the Great Plains.  Finally, re-greening a dead mall by having it return to nature is something I hadn't considered, but it might not be a bad idea.

Dunham-Jones estimating that a quarter to a third of existing malls is likely to close by a decade from now suggests that I will be busy writing about the Retail Apocalypse for quite a while.  That's good for my blogging, but I wonder how good it will be for the country in the short run.  In the long run, we're probably better off because of decreased sprawl and a more sustainable, human-scale built environment.

Finally, Ace's Adventures managed to get a good look at Gwinnett Place Mall, an actual dead mall repurposed as the fictional Starcourt Mall, last year and posted it to YouTube as STRANGER THINGS SEASON 3 - BATTLE OF STARCOURT MALL.

My exclusive tour of the Gwinnett Place Mall in Duluth, Ga, featuring a tour of the stranger things season 3 80s food court and mall set!

Anyone who has seen this season will say that's exactly what the stores looked like in the show.  It's like a living museum.

That's it for the Retail Apocalypse for now.  I plan on posting the update to the Democratic candidates at On The Issues I promised in Senators and Representatives running for the Democratic nomination are drifting to the left as they campaign tomorrow.  Stay tuned.

Justin Amash declares his political independence on July 4th, leaving the G.O.P.

Last month, I reported that Justin Amash quit Freedom Caucus amidst call for impeachment.  Today, he took matters one step further by announcing that he was leaving the Republican Party in an op-ed in the Washington Post.  CBS This Morning broke the news on network television in Only Republican to accuse Trump of impeachable acts is leaving the GOP.

The only Republican in Congress to accuse President Trump of impeachable acts says he's leaving the Republican Party. In a Washington Post op-ed Rep. Justin Amash said he's becoming an independent. He said he’s leaving the GOP because "modern politics is trapped in a partisan death spiral."

WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids included a comment from Amash himself in its report, Rep. Justin Amash quitting Republican Party.

Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, the only Republican in Congress to call for impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump, said Thursday he is leaving the GOP because he has become disenchanted with partisan politics and “frightened by what I see from it.”

ABC 13 in Grand Rapids covered much of the same territory then added reporting on the Republicans competing for the nomination to run against Amash and whoever the Democratic nominee will be in Amash announces departure from the GOP.

The only congressional Republican who publicly argued that President Donald Trump has engaged in impeachable conduct has announced he is quitting the GOP. Rep. Justin Amash made the announcement in an op-ed in the Washington Post Thursday morning.

Amash's Washington Post op-ed is currently the most-read page of the online version of the newspaper's Opinion section, so it's making a splash.  For those of my readers who aren't registered or subscribed to the Washington Post or don't want to use up their free articles, the Detroit Free Press has article that summarizes Amash's piece and quotes extensively from it as well as including reactions.  I recommend reading it, either in place of or in addition to Amash's own article in the Washington Post.

Note that the ABC 13 clip reports that Amash has not ruled out running for the Presidency as a Libertarian.  Because of that, I will likely analyze his ideology at both Voteview and On The Issues, as I have for the Democrats, but that will only happen after I report on the latest scores for the Democrats at On The Issues, which have changed just since last month.  Stay tuned.

Drink to a drum corps 4th of July with the 1990 Empire Statesmen, Tipsy Bartender, and WXYZ

Happy 4th of July!  This year, I'm returning to my lapsed tradition of celebrating with drum corps, which I combined with my other tradition of drinks two years ago.

Gelp99 uploaded the clip that inspired me to return to this tradition after taking a break from it last year to post Drink to America Sings for July 4th just this morning, Happy Birthday America!

Tradition is an important anchor in life - it reminds us. (BTW, all day on this Empire clip :)

Gelp99 and the Empire Statesmen provided the drum corps, while Tipsy Bartender and WXYZ are providing the drinks.  First, Tipsy Bartender's Three Summer Margaritas, the first of which is a 4th of July Popsickle Margarita.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!! Are you ready for the 4th of July?! Try these 3 summer drinks!

Now, WXYZ's July 4th Cocktails , which features red, white, and blue drinks.


Everyone have a fun and safe holiday and remember to drink responsibly!

Senators and Representatives running for the Democratic nomination are drifting to the left as they campaign

I noticed that Amy Klobuchar had moved left according to her first-dimension DW-Nominate score at Voteview since the end of May when I compared her to  Joe Sestak a couple of weeks ago, so I decided to see if that was true of the rest of the Senators and Representatives running for the Democratic nomination for President.  It turns out that nearly all the Senators have more liberal ideology scores at Voteview, but only one of the Representatives.  However, even if their DW-Nominate scores haven't changed, half of the Representatives running for President have become relatively more liberal compared to the rest of the chamber, as the caucus as a whole has moved closer to the center over the past month.

Follow over the jump for all the changes in the candidates' scores and or placements since I posted Democratic presidential candidates from left to center from Voteview on June 1st.  Just as a reminder, the more negative a member of Congress's score, the more liberal their voting record is.

Wayne Messam at On The Issues, take one

I complained then made a promise in OnTheIssues.org's take on the Democratic presidential candidates from left to center.

Wayne Messam has a page but no ratings on positions yet, so I'm skipping him for now.  When he gets a real rating, I'll return to him.

As of last week, when I analyzed Joe Sestak at Voteview and On The Issues, Messam still had no rating.  Today, he does.

Based on Messam's current scoring, he has an economic score of 25 and a social score of 65, which leads On The Issues to classify him as a Moderate Liberal, just like Marianne Williamson, whose scores he matches.  That written, there are a number of issues for which On The Issues has not recorded a position to score, so I expect that Messam's rating and classification might change, which is why I called this "take one."  In particular, his position is likely to move left, either to Hard Core Liberal or Libertarian-leaning Progressive.  Should that happen, I will post a "take two."  Stay tuned.

Record heat wave in Europe begins summer 2019

One month ago, I reported carbon dioxide hit another record at 415 ppm.  I also followed up on my forecast for the global average surface temperature this year.

My prediction that 2019 would be a warmer year than 2018, which was the fourth warmest on record, looks like it will come true, although the planet is not on track for it to beat 2016 or 2017.  Instead, 2019 appears to be on track to become the third warmest year ever.  Welcome to the 400 ppm world.

That's for the global temperature, not about local temperatures, which are likely to still set new records.  That happened across Europe last week from Spain to the Czech Republic, which prompted PBS NewsHour to ask Why is it so hot in Europe?

An extreme heat wave is gripping much of Europe, breaking records and causing widespread misery. Temperatures soared well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit in France, Germany and Spain. While the heat is coming from sub-Saharan Africa, some researchers say climate change is exacerbating and prolonging it. They warn more record highs are likely--and along with them, more deaths. William Brangham reports.

When I wrote last December that The Lancet reports climate change is a "medical emergency," the morbidity and mortality caused by more frequent and intense heat waves are among the main reasons why.  Time to share this sign from one of this year's Youth Climate Strikes again.


Panicking yet?

A happy drum corps Canada Day 2019!

A happy drum corps Canada Day to my readers!  To celebrate this first of three patriotic holidays I observe during July, I'm continuing my tradition of featuring Canadian drum corps by decade from before the advent of Drum Corps International (DCI) up to the current century.

Since I've shared videos of the Toronto Optimists and Preston Scout House, it's about time I gave the De La Salle Oaklands their turn in the spotlight as the featured pre-DCI corps, so here is the corps' 1969 show.

An audio-video review of De La Salle Drum Corps in 1969, celebrating its 60th year of operations. Del won the Ontario Championship in '69 for the second year in a row and won the first of three Canadian Championships in a row.

Follow over the jump for corps from the 1970s to the 21st Century.