How TX Repeatedly Failed to Protect Its Power Grid From Extreme Weather ; The Gig Economy Is Coming for Millions of American Jobs ; and More Picks 2/24
The Supreme Court Is About to Hear Two Cases That Could Destroy What Remains of the Voting Rights Act (DonkeyHotey)
From Vox: “Next Tuesday, the Supreme Court will hear two cases that could shred much of what remains of the right to be free from racial discrimination at the polls. The defendants’ arguments in two consolidated cases … are some of the most aggressive attacks on the right to vote to reach the Supreme Court in the post-Jim Crow era. These two DNC cases concern two Arizona laws that make it more difficult to vote. The first requires voting officials to discard in their entirety ballots cast in the wrong precinct, rather than just not counting votes for local candidates who the voter should not have been able to vote for. The second prohibits many forms of ‘ballot collection,’ where a voter gives their absentee ballot to someone else and that person delivers that ballot to the election office.”
‘Power Companies Get Exactly What They Want’: How Texas Repeatedly Failed to Protect Its Power Grid From Extreme Weather (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “In January 2014, power plants owned by Texas’ largest electricity producer buckled under frigid temperatures. Its generators failed more than a dozen times in 12 hours, helping to bring the state’s electric grid to the brink of collapse. The incident was the second in three years for North Texas-based Luminant, whose equipment malfunctions during a more severe storm in 2011 resulted in a $750,000 fine from state energy regulators for failing to deliver promised power to the grid. In the earlier cold snap, the grid was pushed to the limit and rolling blackouts swept the state, spurring an angry Legislature to order a study of what went wrong.”
The Gig Economy Is Coming for Millions of American Jobs (Dana)
The author writes, “Companies in a range of industries could use the Prop 22 model to undermine or eliminate employment protections. A week after the election, Shawn Carolan, a partner at early Uber investor Menlo Ventures, wrote an op-ed heralding the potential to spread Prop 22’s vision of work ‘from agriculture to zookeeping,’ including to ‘nursing, executive assistance, tutoring, programming, restaurant work and design.’ The Coalition for Workforce Innovation, a lobbying group that seeks to enable wider use of contract labor, includes trade groups representing Amazon.com, Apple, AT&T, Comcast NBCUniversal, CVS Health, General Motors, Nike, Rite Aid, Starbucks, T-Mobile, Verizon Communications, and Walmart, as well as construction, finance, media, sales, and trucking interests.”
Cuomo’s Office Terrorized Me for Doing My Job as a Journalist (Dan)
From the New York Post: “Thanks to Queens Assemblyman Ron Kim blowing the whistle on the threats he received in a call from Cuomo, the public has a glimpse of the bullying practiced by the governor and his top brass. Many Americans are shocked, having bought into the compassionate persona Cuomo conveyed in his pandemic briefings. But Kim’s revelations came as no surprise to anyone who has dealt with the governor. As one Albany insider texted me last week, ‘everyone has an Andrew Cuomo story.’”
8-Year-Old Border Collie Named Lulu Inherits $5 Million in Owner’s Will (Dana)
The author writes, “It’s a story of a truly pampered pet, Lulu, an 8-year-old border collie. She was loved by her human and when he died his last will and testament made Lulu a very wealthy pooch. Typically, Lulu plays watchdog outside of her Nashville home, but the truth is she can now afford to hire her own security. Lulu works the front door not because she has to — but because she wants to.”
