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We should have seen Trump coming
Obama’s rise felt like a new chapter in American history. But the original sin of white supremacy was not so easily erased.
We should have seen Trump coming
Obama’s rise felt like a new chapter in American history. But the original sin of white supremacy was not so easily erased.
I have often wondered how I missed the coming tragedy. It is not so much that I should have predicted that Americans would elect Donald Trump. It’s just that I shouldn’t have put it past us. It was tough to keep track of the currents of politics and pageantry swirling at once. All my life I had seen myself, and my people, backed into a corner. Had I been wrong? Watching the crowds at county fairs cheer for Michelle Obama in 2008, or flipping through the enchanting photo spreads of the glamorous incoming administration, it was easy to believe that I had been.
And it was more than symbolic. Barack Obama’s victory meant not just a black president but also that Democrats, the party supported by most black people, enjoyed majorities in Congress. Prominent intellectuals were predicting that modern conservatism – a movement steeped in white resentment – was at its end and that a demographic wave of Asians, Latinos and blacks would sink the Republican party.
Back in the summer of 2008, as Obama closed out the primary and closed in on history, vendors in Harlem hawked T-shirts emblazoned with his face and posters placing him in the black Valhalla where Martin, Malcolm and Harriet were throned. It is hard to remember the excitement of that time, because I now know that the sense we had that summer, the sense that we were approaching an end-of-history moment, proved to be wrong.
It is not so much that I logically reasoned out that Obama’s election would author a post-racist age. But it now seemed possible that white supremacy, the scourge of American history, might well be banished in my lifetime. In those days I imagined racism as a tumour that could be isolated and removed from the body of America, not as a pervasive system both native and essential to that body. From that perspective, it seemed possible that the success of one man really could alter history, or even end it. …
DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: Prepare to spend a while. It’s The Long Read.
Donald Trump Is Destroying Obamacare From Within
Unable to repeal the law, the administration is trying to kill it with budget cuts. Officials in states like Michigan are now resorting to interns to sign people up for insurance.
If you want to understand President Donald Trump’s attempt to sabotage Obamacare, look no further than Michigan.
The state has made major gains over the past few years in reducing the rate of its uninsured. But like everywhere else across the country it now is seeing those gains put at risk by an administration that seems hell-bent on attacking a health care law that they’re tasked with administering.
The latest salvo came this month, when the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services informed health care officials across the country that their budgets for helping individuals enroll in the Affordable Care Act were being cut drastically. In Michigan, some groups tasked with enrolling people in health care coverage, so-called navigators, saw budget reductions up to 90 percent. Inside the state, officials were left to scramble as this cycle’s enrollment period fast approaches.
Some Michigan organizations have cut their entire staffs and dialed back substantially on community outreach efforts. Others have turned to college interns for help signing people up for insurance on ACA exchanges. In some cases, a number of counties will now simply not receive assistance from navigator programs, leaving it up to people to sift through often complex insurance-purchasing decisions, if they make that decision at all. …
Do I even know you anymore?
Who are you? I’ve got to say that I really don’t know anymore. It’s kind of a strange turn of events since we went to the same public schools across the Deep South, then attended the same state colleges, cheering wildly on Saturdays for our favorite SEC teams, and spent Sunday mornings together in the same Southern Baptist pews. We even went to Training Union on Sunday nights.
Remember how our conversations always seemed to turn to politics? How we criticized Bill Clinton for playing so fast and loose with the truth? And how shamefully Democrats turned a blind eye to his fabrications and outright lies? Man, how could those Democrats sleep at night?
And what about how the guy we voted for, George W. Bush, running up the federal debt and launching ill-planned foreign adventures overseas? We swore that the next time Republicans got in power, we would pressure them to cut spending, attack the debt and put America’s foreign policy on a restrained and reasonable path. After Bush, we grew enraged by President Barack Obama’s efforts to reorder one-sixth of our economy on a straight party-line health-care vote. How reckless was that!
You and I always agreed that Washington Democrats and Republicans were cut from the same cloth, and that we needed to keep both sides honest. We were united by the shared belief that politicians must put country above party, right? …
The Fight for $7.25
The Supreme Court is poised to deal a devastating blow to minimum wage workers.
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy at the Supreme Court in Washington on June 1.
In recent years, the nationwide Fight for $15 movement has succeeded in persuading several states and cities to raise their hourly minimum wages well above the federal minimum of $7.25. But the effort to ensure a living wage for workers may be headed for a serious setback in the U.S. Supreme Court. Depending on how they rule in a case set for argument next week, the justices could make it much more difficult for millions of workers to secure even the meager wages guaranteed by existing federal law.
On Monday, the day that kicks off the Supreme Court’s new term, the justices will hear arguments in three consolidated cases with far-reaching implications for wage-earners. The cases—Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, Ernst & Young LLP v. Morris, and National Labor Relations Board v. Murphy Oil USA, Inc.—are all about whether employers have the right to compel workers go through onerous individual arbitration proceedings in order to bring labor law claims. If the justices answer that question in the affirmative, then the affected workers will—as a practical matter—find it nearly impossible to win back pay in cases involving wage law violations.
In the typical case involving wage law violations—such as when a firm makes employees work off the clock, pays less than the minimum wage, or fails to pay extra for overtime—plaintiffs bring what’s called a collective action (similar, but not identical to, a class action) in order to recover back pay from a common employer. Each worker’s claim might be worth only a few hundred or few thousand dollars, but when the defendant is a large firm with lots of similarly situated employees, the collective action might be worth millions. So while virtually no lawyer would want to take on an individual case on behalf of such a plaintiff, it’s much easier to find competent counsel to litigate a potentially more lucrative collective action. …
5 Huge Downsides To Popular ‘Family Friendly’ Places
Remember before you went to live in that cavernous space under a fallen tree in the woods, when you had genetically similar beings in the same domicile with you that are sometimes referred to as “family”? That was a swell time. And there were probably times you and the family went out to do fun family activities together, because TV has taught us that’s what families do when not staring in silent judgment at one another. However, when you got there, your misery made you realize that the reality of these “fun family” getaways weren’t quite what was advertised. For instance …
#5. Drive-Thru Safaris Are Animal Abuse Speed Rounds
I recently decided to drive two hours from my house to see monkeys, because that’s how I roll. I’d never been to a fake safari before, and it seemed like a better idea than actually flying to Africa, where a rich white guy might shoot me by accident when I try to pet a wildebeest or steal all that sweet Wakandan vibranium. The commercials I’d seen on TV were focused on how you can have a monkey on the hood of your car, and it’s super awesome because car monkey!
When I got to my faux safari, I saw various sleepy beasts doing what sleepy beasts do (sleeping), and the most common sight was signage. Keep your doors locked, keep your windows rolled up, no teabagging those goats, and do not feed the animals, you thoughtless savage. They even have safari rangers driving against traffic in their cool-dude 4x4s to keep an eye on your nefarious hide, lest you dare even think about feeding one of those goddamn animals. And feed them I did.
The moment I saw monkey nuts resting on my moonroof, I started popping out donut holes like a dealer doling out molly at a simian rave. A solid dozen monkeys were munching away on donuts I had irresponsibly provided for them. And I would have felt bad for this, if not for the fact that I was probably giving the monkeys some of the healthiest food they had at that moment. …
Robot cars need eyes like ours—soon they might have them
Technicolor Dreambox
Installing new eyes.
I’ve found my way up a long, winding, alder and sycamore-lined road to the top of a hill in California’s Portola Valley, but now I’m stumped. Before me are a couple locked gates and behind them a massive complex that used to be a tank repair facility. It seems like an odd place to put a tank facility and an even odder place to put a startup. But supposedly this is where I will find Luminar, run by 22-year-old Austin Russell, who’s been operating in stealth mode for the last five years.
Russell’s technology could change how self-driving cars perceive the world and he’s promised me a tour and a demonstration, if I can figure out how to get beyond these massive, locked gates. I’m wondering if I’m in the right place. A black Dodge Challenger drives up; a man steps out and asks if he can help me. Now I’m certain this can’t be the office of an optics startup, but instead the headquarters for some international drug cartel that is about to disappear me for stumbling upon them.
I say I’m looking for Luminar and the man smiles and says, “Oh yeah, it’s just up this hill!” He opens the gate and I drive up to clearing. There’s a facility that looks like an auto-repair garage, a hill with something that looks like a target for blasting with a tank, and of course, an old tank. Towards me walks Russell. He is tall, with shaggy blonde hair, a smile constantly slapped across his face. He looks far more like someone you’d find surfing his days away down the road in Santa Cruz, than someone running a five-year-old company that hit everyone’s radar in April after getting $36 million in venture money from Canvas Ventures, GVA Capital and 1517 Fund, among others.
He invites me into the tank factory. …
Aston Martin has designed a futuristic submarine fit for James Bond
Deepwater Car
“Just taking the Aston Martin out for a quick spin, Q.”
Where other automotive companies have been investing in flying cars, British luxury sports car maker Aston Martin has taken to the sea.
In collaboration with Triton Submarines, a luxury submersible manufacturer, Aston Martin has designed a deepwater vehicle fit for James Bond, the fictional hot shot spy often associated with the brand. Executive VP and chief creative officer Marek Reichman said the company has applied Aston Martin’s compact, aerodynamic design aesthetic to the vehicle, giving it a “sleek, elegant exterior.”
Dubbed Project Neptune, the project is currently just in concept phase, but the companies hope to create “an exclusive, strictly-limited edition vehicle” intended “for researchers, explorers, and superyacht owners.” …
The future of transportation may be about sharing batteries, not vehicles
Power Swap
Riding into the future.
In the future, some transportation experts say, vehicles will no longer be individually owned. They envision a world of “fractional” ownership, in which autonomously driven taxis, operated by government or private entities, shuffle commuters around based on algorithmically optimized routes that respond to real-time supply and demand.
Proponents expound on the benefits: Wide adoption of shared vehicles will reduce congestion and also speed up the electrification of vehicle fleets when network operators, rather than individual consumers, dominate.
It can all sound inevitable—until you consider the emotional hurdles for drivers in giving up the experience of owning a vehicle. Especially in the developing world, where vehicle ownership can be a great source of pride and an important display of financial security, the fractional model may face significant roadblocks. And those countries should not be left behind: Developing, not developed, countries are projected to experience significantly higher rates of vehicle ownership in coming decades.
That’s why Horace Luke, HTC’s former chief innovation officer, co-founded Gogoro, a Taiwan-based startup that has put a new twist on fractional ownership. Gogoro sells electric scooters. Instead of encouraging shared vehicle ownership, the company has created a structure for sharing batteries. …
It Rained Fish In Mexico, Officials Say
No, It’s Not The End Times (We Think).
Sure, it’s been known to rain cats and dogs during some heavy thunderstorms. And if we’re to believe The Weather Girls — and who wouldn’t? — it was even raining men that one time in 1982.
But fish? That feels like a new one.
Yet during a light rain Tuesday morning in Tampico, Mexico, it appears that’s precisely what happened: Several fish fell from the sky, slapping the pavement right in front of a few startled onlookers, at least one of whom recorded some video.
That’s according to Pedro Granados, the director of civil protection in Tamaulipas state, who noted the reports and videos his agency had received from local residents. …
Video Goodnesses
and not-so-goodnesses
and not-so-goodnesses
There isn’t just one scandal, there are at least nine of them that could sink Trump.
As the federal government struggles to provide relief aid for hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico, Trevor reminds viewers everything the island has done for the rest of the U.S.
THANKS to Comedy Central and The Late Show with Trevor Noah for making this program available on YouTube.
Seth takes a closer look at how President Trump is outright lying about the fate of his health care bill and his new tax plan.
THANKS to NBC and Late Night with Seth Meyers for making this program available on YouTube.
Thinking of visiting the town with more Australians than Australia?
THANKS to Comedy Network and The Beaverton for making this program available on YouTube.
Open and closing doors. Trying to remove cable outlets from the wall. Looking at solar dancers. Just 5 minutes in Max’s life.
FINALLY . . .
The History Behind China’s Obsession With Hot Water
Parched throats across the country gasp for refreshment served at searing temperatures — but where does this tradition come from?
This article is the fourth in a series examining how certain Chinese traditions are being adapted to modern tastes. Parts one, two, and three can be found here.
China’s love affair with hot water is well-known. These days, tourist destinations around the world are flooded with Chinese travelers bearing backpacks loaded with sloshing vacuum-sealed flasks. Age is no barrier when it comes to the country’s unquenchable thirst for throat-scalding liquid: Young and old alike are united in their appetite for refreshment served at lip-blisteringly warm temperatures, perhaps with a twist of goji berries, ginseng, or chrysanthemum flowers.
The thermos is to the hot water devotee what the mohawk is to the punk rocker, what the polo neck sweater is to the art student. Chinese social media recently fizzed with discussion when Zhao Mingyi, the 50-year-old drummer in the hugely popular ’90s rock band Black Panther, was seen carrying a thermos in a photo posted to microblogging platform Weibo. “I couldn’t believe it!” the post read. “This onetime tough guy was coming toward me with a thermos clutched in his hands!”
As China has modernized, food and drink that were once novelties have become widely consumed. Chinese people have grown used to the creaminess of milk and the complexity of red wine. They’re happy to chow down on cheese, bite into broccoli, and eviscerate avocados. Cold water, however, is a bridge too far. Why?
Since at least the fourth century B.C., traditional Chinese medicine classified both hot and cold beverages as “functional drinks.” The former was used to expel excess humidity and cold from the body, while the latter was said to cool the body down.
However, in ancient China, poor living standards meant that most ordinary Chinese focused much more on keeping warm and dry than on cooling off. Fuel was expensive, and for the poor, hot water was a luxury item reserved for society’s most vulnerable, such as pregnant women, the elderly, and the infirm. Poor refrigeration also made storing ice exceptionally difficult. Traditionally, only high-ranking officials and the social elite could enjoy iced drinks. During the Zhou Dynasty, the imperial family even had a special team of civil servants tasked with harvesting ice during winter. …
Ed. More tomorrow? Probably. Possibly. Maybe. Not?