Weds, September 22, 2021, 11 AM (CT). TOPICS: VOTETEXAS.GOV—Voter Information; Construction to begin this fall on critical trail connection in the Heights; Parking rules under review in Midtown area; Harris County commissioners propose lower tax rates with split vote; Application process now open for Harris County Small Business Relief Fund; Texas Senate releases proposed redistricting maps as special session begins; Former Rand Paul aide, pardoned by Trump, charged with funneling Russian money into 2016 election; Officials: Many Haitian migrants are being released in U.S.; Haitian deportees assaulted U.S. pilots, injured three ICE officers; Google and Apple, Under Pressure From Russia, Remove Voting App; “Women can say no to sex if Roe falls,” says architect of Texas abortion ban; Exxon and BP called to testify on climate after ‘troubling’ new documents; The Taliban nominate a U.N. envoy, complicating a quandary for the General Assembly; A giant space rock demolished an ancient Middle Eastern city and everyone in it – possibly inspiring the Biblical story of Sodom; More. [AUDIO/VIDEO] #KPFTHouston 90.1-HD2

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Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig (@ThinkwingRadio) is now on Wednesdays at 11AM (CT) on KPFT-HD2, Houston’s Community Station. You can also hear the show:

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Welcome to Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig where we discuss local, state, national, and international stories. My co-host and show editor is Andrew Ferguson.

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You’re entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts.

“There’s a reason why you separate military and police. One fights the enemy of the State. The other serves and protects the People. When the military becomes both, then the enemies of the State tend t become the People.” ~ Commander Adama, “Battlestar Galactica” (“WATER”, Season 1 episode 2, at the 28 minute mark.)

POSSIBLE TOPICS:

VOTETEXAS.GOV—Voter Information; Construction to begin this fall on critical trail connection in the Heights; Parking rules under review in Midtown area; Harris County commissioners propose lower tax rates with split vote; Application process now open for Harris County Small Business Relief Fund; Texas Senate releases proposed redistricting maps as special session begins; Former Rand Paul aide, pardoned by Trump, charged with funneling Russian money into 2016 election; Officials: Many Haitian migrants are being released in U.S.; Haitian deportees assaulted U.S. pilots, injured three ICE officers; Google and Apple, Under Pressure From Russia, Remove Voting App; “Women can say no to sex if Roe falls,” says architect of Texas abortion ban; Exxon and BP called to testify on climate after ‘troubling’ new documents; The Taliban nominate a U.N. envoy, complicating a quandary for the General Assembly; A giant space rock demolished an ancient Middle Eastern city and everyone in it – possibly inspiring the Biblical story of Sodom; More.

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1. Make sure you are registered to vote! VoteTexas.GOV – Texas Voter Information TEXAS SoS VOTE-BY-MAIL BALLOT APPLICATION (ALL TEXAS COUNTIES) HarrisVotes.com – Countywide Voting Centers, (Election Information Line (713) 755-6965), Harris County Clerk
  1. 1. Harris County “Vote-By-Mail’ Application for 2021
  2. Fort bend County Elections/Voter Registration Machine takes you to the proper link
  3. GalvestonVotes.org (Galveston County, TX)
  4. Liberty County Elections (Liberty County, TX)
  5. Montgomery County (TX) Elections
  6. Brazoria County (TX) Clerk Election Information
  7. Waller County (TX) Elections
  8. Chambers County (TX) Elections
  9. For personalized, nonpartisan voter guides and information, Consider visiting Vote.ORG. Ballotpedia.com and Texas League of Women Voters are also good places to get election info.
  10. If you are denied your right to vote any place at any time at any polling place for any reason, ask for (or demand) a provisional ballot rather than lose your vote.
  11. HarrisVotes.com – Countywide Voting CentersHARRIS COUNTY – IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED FOR VOTING: Do not possess and cannot reasonably obtain one of these IDs?
    1. 1. Fill out a declaration at the polls describing a reasonable impediment to obtaining it, and show a copy or original of one of the following supporting forms of ID:
      2. A government document that shows your name and an address, including your voter registration certificate
      3. Current utility bill
      4. Bank statement
      5. Government check
      6. Paycheck
      7. A certified domestic (from a U.S. state or territory) birth certificate or (b) a document confirming birth admissible in a court of law which establishes your identity (which may include a foreign birth document)
    2. You may vote early by-mail if:You are registered to vote and meet one of the following criteria:
      1. Away from the county of residence on Election Day and during the early voting period;
      2. Sick or disabled;
      3. 65 years of age or older on Election Day; or
      4. Confined in jail, but eligible to vote.
    3. Make sure you are registered:
    4. Ann Harris Bennett, Tax Assessor-Collector & Voter Registrar
    5. CHECK REGISTRATION STATUS HERE
    6. CLICK How to register to vote in Texas
    7. Outside Texas, try Vote.org.
2. The next election is the general on November 2. Do make sure you’re registered to vote! Now is a great time! Just go to VOTETEXAS.GOV – Texas Voter Information for information/instructions.
  1. Election Outlook: Monday, October 4, 2021 is the last day to register to vote for the November 2, 2021 Uniform Election
  2. Ideally, go to your County Elections office for specific election information.
3. Construction to begin this fall on critical trail connection in the Heights; By Shawn Arrajj | 2:58 PM Sep 7, 2021 CDT | Updated 2:57 PM Sep 7, 2021 CDT
  1. Construction will begin this fall on a parks project in the Heights that involves connecting the Missouri Kansas Texas trail with the White Oak Bayou Greenway.
  2. Houston City Council approved the contract for the project at an Aug. 31 meeting in an effort to fill in a missing link, District C Council Member Abbie Kamin said in a press release. The 850-foot connection will also improve safety for people who use the popular hike and bike trails, she said. …
  3. The roughly $1.2 million contract … is estimated to be complete by winter 2022.
4. Parking rules under review in Midtown area, By Emma Whalen | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | 12:39 PM Sep 9, 2021 CDT | Updated 12:39 PM Sep 9, 2021 CDT
  1. Houston officials are mulling a series of parking policy changes in Midtown, some of which may reduce congestion in the popular nightlife and dining destination.
  2. The city has been studying the area’s parking demand and pricing since January, according to Maria Irshad, assistant director in the Houston Administrative and Regulatory Affairs Department. …
  3. Nearly half of the area’s parking spots are filled for 85% to 100% of peak hours. This encourages drivers to circle the area in search of street parking, she said.
  4. Drivers searching for parking spots make up most of the area’s traffic during the peak hours, an issue Irshad said could be mitigated by encouraging visitors to carpool as well as use rideshares, public transit or other forms of transportation.
  5. Council members will be presented with two potential policy changes by the end of fall, Irshad said. ParkHouston also extended parking hours from 6 p.m.-midnight at the end of August.
  6. MIKE: As an aside, this is unclear. Does this mean than METERED parking will continue until midnight, as opposed to free parking beginning after 6PM?
  7. The department may also increase parking rates on any parking meter occupied for 85% or more of daily parking hours. That change, however, is one that is still under consideration, Irshad said.
  8. The first potential change going before council is the establishment of a parking benefits district. …
  9. The management district is made up of area business owners who collect a fee on commercial properties to use on infrastructure improvements with its boundaries.
  10. “It’s just not worth it for a parking lot owner to try and charge for the supply that they have available since people would rather circle for a free space or go park in a neighborhood,” said James Llamas, the urban planning chair of the Midtown Management District’s board. “I think the city [is] taking a good first step in smarter management.”
  11. City Council will also consider the establishment of a community parking program in the outlying areas of the neighborhood, outside of the parking benefits district. Within the program’s boundaries, which are not yet drawn, residents would get parking passes, and nonresidents can be limited to no more than three hours of parking.
  13. MIKE: I’ve never been a “downtown” kind of guy. I avoid downtowns like the plague (a phrase that may now be obsolete, by the way).
  14. MIKE: My prediction: As parking fees go up and the availability of free parking declines, so with downtown social life. I’ve seen this happen on Richmond Avenue near Hillcroft, and I’ve seen it happen at Shepard Plaza off US-59.
  15. MIKE: Club and Bar social hotspots migrate for a variety of reasons that ultimately have to do with declining attendance. That declining attendance is often spurred and accelerated by cost- or convenience-of-attendance.
  16. MIKE: I expect that raising parking fees and cutting free parking will kill the social goose that lays the bars’ golden egg.
  17. ANDREW: I wonder if a positive incentive would work here. Show proof that you took public transit to get to the bar, you get a free drink, or a lower cover charge, or something. If business owners balk, the city could set up a reimbursement program.
5. Harris County commissioners propose lower tax rates with split vote; By Emily Lincke | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | 5:34 PM Sep 15, 2021 CDT | Updated 5:34 PM Sep 15, 2021 CDT
  1. In a split 3-2 vote, the Harris County Commissioners Court proposed a decrease in the county’s overall property tax rate for fiscal year 2021-22 at the Sept. 14 court meeting. …
  2. The proposed overall property tax rate includes individual tax rates for Harris County, the Harris County Flood Control District, the Harris Health System and the Port of Houston Authority.
  3. However, while the proposed tax rate is lower than the FY 2020-21 rate, tax payers may actually end up paying more since the values of homes statewide increased this year, according to County Administrator David Berry. …
  4. A public hearing [was scheduled to] be held at 1 p.m. on Sept. 21, during which the public can comment on the proposed tax rates. Then, at 10 a.m. on Sept. 28, commissioners will vote whether to approve one of the proposed tax rates.
  5. ANDREW: If the revenue doesn’t decrease because of home values increasing, then I can see an argument for reducing the rate for now. Theoretically, it’s the morale benefits of lowering taxes without the financial costs.
6. Application process now open for Harris County Small Business Relief Fund; Small business owners within Harris County can receive between $5K to $25K in grants.
  1. The application process is now open for small business owners to apply for a grant with the Harris County Small Business Relief Fund. … To apply for the grant, click here.
  2. The application process will be open until Oct. 4 at 5:30 p.m. The application review period will start on Oct. 5 and continue through Jan. 9, 2022. …
  3. [Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo] said the county’s goal is to prioritize the businesses that have yet to receive any support.
  4. MIKE: This is strictly for small businesses (e.g., revenues less than $500k/yr), with other criteria listed in the article.
7. Texas Senate releases proposed redistricting maps as special session begins; By Jishnu Nair | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | 5:43 PM Sep 21, 2021 CDT, Updated 5:43 PM Sep 21, 2021 CDT
  1. The Texas Senate released proposed redistricting maps 18 ahead of the Legislature’s special session, which began Sept. 20.
  2. Texas saw rapid growth in Hispanic populations and those identifying as Black or Asian, according to the U.S. Census. The state’s growth was enough for it to add two U.S. House seats in 2021 …
  3. Robert Murray, a political science professor at the University of Houston and former redistricting advisor to Texas’ Black legislative caucus, said that in addition to increases, the state saw minority populations move out toward the suburbs–which could influence how maps are redrawn.
  4. “The minority populations have grown dramatically, but it has also dispersed,” Murray said. “There’s a lot of Black and brown flight to the suburbs, more than previous decades.”
  5. Texas Republicans will control the partisan redistricting process for the special session. …
  6. A change that goes into effect for 2021 is the removal of preclearance, which the U.S. Supreme Court struck down in 2013, according to the redistricting website. Preclearance was a provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which required states with a history of racial discrimination to submit their plans to the federal government before they could be approved. …
  7. Murray detailed two strategies lawmakers can use to gerrymander districts in their parties’ favor: packing and cracking.
  8. The state redistricting website defines packing as drawing districts to concentrate a high amount of a voting group in one district. That ensures the group gets a candidate elected but also that neighboring districts can get candidates in an opposing party elected as the targeted voting group will be diluted in neighboring districts.
  9. “You pack [opposition voters] into one district, which would waste votes, and then the surrounding districts get bleached,” Murray said.
  10. Murray defined cracking as the process of extending districts from rural districts into more densely populated urban areas, such as Harris County.
  11. “The goal is the same as packing,” Murray said. “Cracking focuses on splitting up these concentrations of voters so that they aren’t strong enough to win the districts.”
  12. Texas saw some of the largest increases in the nation among populations in the 2020 Census … concentrated in fast-growing counties such as Hays, Williamson and Tarrant counties—all three of which flipped to Democrat in the 2020 presidential elections.
  13. Murray said the suburban counties could be the first targets in redistricting for Republicans due to their growth, which resulted in either narrow Republican victories or flipped districts. Murray identified Senate District 7 in the [west] Houston area, currently represented by Paul Bettencourt [R], as one area Republicans might seek to address during the process.
  14. For current Democrats, meanwhile, Murray said their options are limited. With the removal of the preclearance provision, opposition to any maps drawn during the special session must come in the form of lawsuits that can only be enacted once maps are approved in the Legislature. …
  15. One other option for opposition is in the form of a lawsuit filed by two Texas Democrats—Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, and Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, D-Austin. The complaint alleges redistricting cannot take place during a special session per the Texas Constitution, which says redistricting must happen during the first regular session following the publication of the Census. Murray described the lawsuit as a “long shot.”
  16. TAGS: Government Redistricting Gerrymandering Texas Legislature Elections
  17. Additional info: First draft of Legislature’s map of new State Board of Education districts shores up Republican majority; The Republican-dominated, 15-member board determines what millions of public school students in the state are taught in classrooms. By Cassandra Pollock | TEXASTRIBUNE.ORG | Sept. 20, 2021 Updated: 22 hours ago
  18. ANDREW: Another redistricting by Republicans. We obviously can’t trust it to be remotely fair, so make sure you’re watching how these maps shake out. In the meantime, read up on the Fair Representation Act, which would eliminate gerrymandering by changing districts and elections to make a party’s support in a district equal how many officials it gets elected.
8. Former Rand Paul aide, pardoned by Trump, charged with funneling Russian money into 2016 election; By Charles Davis | businessinsider.com | Sept. 20, 2021, 1 hour ago
  1. A former campaign staffer for US Sen. Rand Paul has been charged with channeling money from Russia into the 2016 presidential election, the US Department of Justice said Monday.
  2. In an unsealed indictment, dated September 9, prosecutors allege Jesse Benton “conspired to illegally funnel thousands of dollars of foreign money from a Russian foreign national” into the campaign.
  3. In October 2016, Benton received a $100,000 wire transfer from the unnamed Russian national, the indictment states, promising him that he would get to “meet a celebrity” at a fundraiser in Philadelphia on September 22, 2016. …
  4. The Russian national attended the fundraiser, according to the indictment, his travel to the United States facilitated by an alleged co-conspirator, Roy Douglas Wead, a conservative author. All three “had official photographs taken with Political Candidate 1,” prosecutors say. …
  5. Around the same time, Benton — who managed Paul’s 2010 run for office, as well as the 2014 campaign of another Kentucky Republican, Sen. Mitch McConnell — was convicted of campaign finance fraud over his role in the 2012 Ron Paul presidential campaign. He was sentenced days before the Philadelphia fundraiser to two years probation and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.
  6. Before leaving office, Trump pardoned Benton for that crime. …
  7. MIKE: You just can’t keep good crooks and traitors down.
9. Officials: Many Haitian migrants are being released in U.S.; Many have been released with notices to appear at an immigration office within 60 days. By ASSOCIATED PRESS via POLITICO | 09/22/2021 12:54 AM EDT
  1. DEL RIO, Texas — Many Haitian migrants camped in a small Texas border town are being released in the United States, two U.S. officials said, undercutting the Biden administration’s public statements that the thousands in the camp faced immediate expulsion.
  2. Haitians have been freed on a “very, very large scale” in recent days, according to one U.S. official who put the figure in the thousands. The official, with direct knowledge of operations who was not authorized to discuss the matter Tuesday and thus spoke on condition of anonymity
  3. Many have been released with notices to appear at an immigration office within 60 days, an outcome that requires less processing time from Border Patrol agents than ordering an appearance in immigration court and points to the speed at which authorities are moving, the official said.
  4. The Homeland Security Department has been busing Haitians from Del Rio to El Paso, Laredo and Rio Grande Valley along the Texas border, and this week added flights to Tucson, Arizona, the official said. They are processed by the Border Patrol at those locations.
  5. A second U.S. official, also with direct knowledge and speaking on the condition of anonymity, said large numbers of Haitians were being processed under immigration laws and not being placed on expulsion flights to Haiti that started Sunday. The official couldn’t be more specific about how many.
  6. S. authorities scrambled in recent days for buses to Tucson but resorted to flights when they couldn’t find enough transportation contractors, both officials said. Coast Guard planes took Haitians from Del Rio to El Paso.
  7. The releases in the U.S. were occurring despite the signaling of a massive effort to expel Haitians on flights to Haiti under pandemic-related authority that denies migrants an opportunity to seek asylum. A third U.S. official not authorized to discuss operations said there were seven daily flights to Haiti planned starting Wednesday. …
  8. The releases come amid a quick effort to empty the camp under a bridge that, according to some estimates, held more than 14,000 people over the weekend in a town of 35,000 people. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, during a visit Tuesday to Del Rio, said the county’s top official told him the most recent tally at the camp was about 8,600 migrants.
  9. The criteria for deciding who is flown to Haiti and who is released in the U.S. was unclear, but two U.S. officials said single adults were the priority for expulsion flights. …
  10. Meanwhile, Mexico has begun busing and flying Haitian migrants away from the U.S. border, authorities said Tuesday, signaling a new level of support for the United States as the camp presented President Joe Biden with a humanitarian and increasingly political challenge. …
  11. Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico’s foreign relations secretary, said Tuesday he had spoken with his U.S. counterpart, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, about the Haitians’ situation. Ebrard said most of the Haitians already had refugee status in Chile or Brazil and weren’t seeking it in Mexico.
  12. “What they are asking for is to be allowed to pass freely through Mexico to the United States,” Ebrard said.
  13. Two Mexican federal officials, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, confirmed Mexico’s actions. …
  14. The second official said the plan was to move to Tapachula all Haitians who already solicited asylum in Mexico.
  15. The Haitian migrants who are already in Mexico’s detention centers and have not requested asylum will be the first to be flown directly to Haiti once Mexico begins those flights, according to the official. …
  16. Haitian deportees assaulted U.S. pilots, injured three ICE officers; Male deportees assaulted the pilots of a flight carrying families when it landed in Port-au-Prince, and also attacked three ICE officers on that plane. By Julia Ainsley| NBCNEWS.COM | | Sept. 21, 2021, 5:00 PM CDT
    1. … Unrest broke out shortly after a flight carrying [deported Haitian] single adult men arrived and released the men to Haitian authorities on the airport tarmac. Then, according to the source, several of the men stormed another recently arrived flight carrying families.
    2. The men assaulted the pilots of that plane, who work for a government contractor licensed to fly deportation flights for Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE], while the families were still on board. Three ICE officers were also attacked on that airplane, each suffering non-life-threatening injuries, the source said.
    3. The attacks come as the United States ramps up its deportations of Haitians after more than 15,000 overwhelmed the U.S. border by congregating under one bridge in Del Rio, Texas in just a matter of days. As of Tuesday, just over 1,000 of the Haitian migrants had been deported to Haiti, according to two sources familiar with the operations.
  17. What’s the Correct Way to Pronounce “Caribbean”? – RD.com
  18. How to Pronounce Caribbean? British Vs. American English Pronunciation – YouTube
  19. ANDREW: Biden should not be deporting these people. If compassion wasn’t enough reason to realize this is wrong, the fact that it’s accomplished through means established by Trump ought to be. I would say that this is further evidence that the Democrats and Republicans are the same party when it matters, except Chuck Schumer is publicly opposing the deportations, so even the party knows Biden’s hurting these people. As for the assaults, if you were being forcibly separated from the best hope you could think of of escaping a dangerous situation, wouldn’t you take desperate measures– including violence– to try and save yourself? These desperate situations, this harm– this is what deportation does, and this is why I believe it’s always wrong.
10. Google and Apple, Under Pressure From Russia, Remove Voting App; The app, created by allies of the opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, vanished from online stores, reflecting a new level of pressure against U.S. technology companies in the country. By Anton Troianovski and Adam Satariano | NYTIMES.COM | Sept. 17, 2021, Updated 3:14 p.m. ET
  1. Apple and Google removed an app meant to coordinate protest voting in this weekend’s Russian elections from the country on Friday, a blow to the opponents of President Vladimir V. Putin and a display of Silicon Valley’s limits when it comes to resisting crackdowns on dissent around the world.
  2. The decisions came after Russian authorities, who claim the app is illegal, threatened to prosecute local employees of Apple and Google — a sharp escalation in the Kremlin’s campaign to rein in the country’s largely uncensored internet. A person familiar with Google’s decision said the authorities had named specific individuals who would face prosecution, prompting it to remove the app. …
  3. The app was created and promoted by allies of the opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny, who were hoping to use it to consolidate the protest vote in each of Russia’s 225 electoral districts. It disappeared from the two technology platforms just as voting got underway in the three-day parliamentary election, in which Mr. Putin’s United Russia party — in a carefully stage-managed system — holds a commanding advantage.
  4. Navalny’s team reacted with outrage to the decision, suggesting the companies had made a damaging concession to the Russians. “Removing the Navalny app from stores is a shameful act of political censorship,” an aide to Mr. Navalny, Ivan Zhdanov, said on Twitter. “Russia’s authoritarian government and propaganda will be thrilled.”
  5. The decisions also drew criticism from free-speech activists in the West. “The companies are in a really difficult position but they have put themselves there,” David Kaye, a former United Nations official responsible for investigating freedom of expression issues, said in an interview. “They are de facto carrying out an element of Russian repression. Whether it’s justifiable or not, it’s complicity and the companies need to explain it.”
  6. ANDREW: It was undoubtedly a difficult decision. The Russian employees would have been taking the fall for something they weren’t responsible for. Not knowing how the infrastructure of app stores work, I can’t say for sure, but I wonder if Google and Apple could have fired everyone in their Russian operations to try and spare them, and then kept the apps available. At least the apps should be available on app repository websites, but those sites have to be accessible from Russia, and people have to be tech-savvy enough to know how to install the apps, which is harder on iOS. I’m also not thrilled about the whole tactical voting strategy these apps facilitate, but I suppose the stakes are different enough that it’s tolerable here.
11. “Women can say no to sex if Roe falls, says architect of Texas abortion ban”;
  By Stephanie Kirchgaessner and Jessica Glenza | THEGUARDIAN.COM | Fri 17 Sep 2021, 11.16 EDT, Last modified on Sat 18 Sep 2021 @ 09.01 EDT
  [Former Texas solicitor general Jonathan Mitchell ], The legal architect of the Texas abortion ban has argued in a supreme court brief that overturning Roe v Wade, the landmark decision which guarantees a right to abortion in the US, could cause women to practice abstinence from sexual intercourse as a way to “control their reproductive lives”.
  1. MIKE: This is the key right here. It’s not about being so-called “Pro-Life”. It’s about regulating people’s “morality” lives, and punishing them with shame and burdens if they don’t live according to some people’s ideas of “right” and “wrong”.
12. Exxon and BP called to testify on climate after ‘troubling’ new documents; Congressman calls documents related to the fossil fuel industry’s efforts to discredit climate science ‘very concerning’. By Chris McGreal | theguardian.com | Thu 16 Sep 2021 11.13 EDT, Last modified on Fri 17 Sep 2021 03.45 EDT
  1. US congressional investigators say they have uncovered “very concerning” new documents about ExxonMobil’s disinformation campaign to discredit climate science.
  2. Representative Ro Khanna, a leading critic of the petroleum industry on the House oversight committee, said the documents came to light ahead of a hearing next month to question the heads of large oil companies about their industry’s long history of undermining the evidence that burning fossil fuels drove global heating.
  3. Khanna declined to discuss the information beyond describing it as “very troubling facts and some very concerning documents”.
  4. On Thursday, the House oversight committee sent out letters summoning the heads of four firms – Exxon, Chevron, Shell and BP – to testify on 28 October. …
  5. The hearings follow a secret recording of an Exxon lobbyist earlier this year describing the oil giant’s backing for a carbon tax as a public relations ploy intended to stall more serious measures to combat the climate crisis. …
  6. The congressman said it was “unbelievable” that oil industry leaders have yet to face questioning by Congress about the climate crisis. He likened the hearings to the groundbreaking appearance of seven tobacco company chiefs before Congress in 1994 to expose what the cigarette companies knew about the hazards of smoking. He said the oversight committee is currently being advised by some of those involved in those hearings.
  7. Khanna said he wants to hear from the leaders of the oil giants not only about past actions but their continued funding of front groups and thinktanks spreading disinformation about climate science, the covert funding of denialist advertising and the use of lobby groups to oppose green legislation. …
  8. The committee is also requesting that the heads of two major trade groups closely aligned with the oil industry, the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the US Chamber of Commerce, answer questions about their role in the coverup. …
  9. Democratic senator Sheldon Whitehouse told the Guardian earlier this year that API was acting as a front for the industry by allowing oil firms to claim they were committed to addressing climate change while API lobbied against green policies in Congress. Whitehouse accused API of “lying on a massive industrial scale”.
  10. In 1998, after countries signed the Kyoto Protocol to help curb carbon emissions, API drew up a multimillion-dollar disinformation campaign to ensure that “climate change becomes a non-issue”. The plan said “victory will be achieved” when “recognition of uncertainties become part of the ‘conventional wisdom’”.
  11. Similarly, the US Chamber of Commerce has helped downplay the climate crisis and oppose legislation to curb greenhouse emissions.
  12. In 2015, the Columbia Journalism School and the Los Angeles Times uncovered a raft of Exxon documents held at the University of Texas that showed the company worked to undermine climate science by promoting denialism. …
  13. Additional Reference: Exxon Lobbyist Caught On Video Talking About Undermining Biden’s Climate Push; By Jeff Brady | NPR.ORG | July 1, 2021, 11:37 AM ET.
  14. ANDREW: I just hope these companies and industry groups face some real consequences out of this. I’m not holding my breath, as a system like ours that relies on human exploitation is probably not too concerned about exploitation of the natural world, but I would welcome a pleasant surprise, like nationalization, a fine of half the companies’ assets and revenue, or a ban on industry groups like API.
  15. ANDREW: I just hope these companies and industry groups face some real consequences out of this. I’m not holding my breath, as a system like ours that relies on human exploitation is probably not too concerned about exploitation of the natural world, but I would welcome a pleasant surprise, like nationalization, a fine of half the companies’ assets and revenue, or a ban on industry groups like API.
13. The Taliban nominate a U.N. envoy, complicating a quandary for the General Assembly; By Rick Gladstone and Farnaz Fassihi | NYTIMES.COM | Sept. 21, 2021, Updated 8:26 p.m. ET
  1. The Taliban have nominated an ambassador to represent Afghanistan at the United Nations, U.N. officials said Tuesday, injecting a new twist into what was already a delicate diplomatic quandary in the global organization.
  2. The nomination, submitted to Secretary General António Guterres on Monday, sets up a showdown with the envoy of Afghanistan’s toppled government, Ghulam Isaczai, who has so far retained his post.
  3. The showdown may not be resolved soon. But it raised the startling prospect that the Taliban — the violent, extremist Islamic movement that retook power last month as the American-backed government collapsed — would occupy an ambassador’s seat at the United Nations. …
  4. Pakistan’s foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who knew about the Taliban’s request, said it raised a number of questions about Mr. Shaheen and those in the Taliban hierarchy who had picked him.
  5. “Who is he representing?” Mr. Qureshi said, responding to questions about the request during a session with reporters on Afghanistan’s future, held by the Foreign Press Association on the sidelines of the General Assembly. “Who is he reporting to? What kind of communication can you have with a person at the U.N. who is not recognized? It is a complex and evolving situation.” …
  6. Envoys from all kinds of political systems, including parliamentary democracies, monarchies and dictatorships, have long worked at the United Nations, the one place in the world where even governments that reject one another’s ideologies enjoy some measure of equal standing. Still, there are standards to verify the legitimacy of both the envoys and the governments they represent. …
  7. A seat at the United Nations carries symbolic significance, a benchmark of a government’s credibility and acceptance in the world community even if rivals oppose it.
  8. United Nations membership affords governments an opportunity not only to speak and be heard in the General Assembly, but also to participate in a range of other U.N. agencies like the World Health Organization and Human Rights Council. So the credentialing of a country’s ambassador to speak on its behalf is enormously important.
  9. ANDREW: Considering that Myanmar’s representative to the UN retains their post despite the military coup government having nominated someone else, I think there’s precedent for the UN to delay the credentialing of the Taliban’s nominee for as long as possible. At the same time, I can’t imagine what these holdover diplomats will really be able to achieve in terms of the regular business of the UN. As the article mentions, there are many UN councils with aid programs that really benefit from, if not need, coordination between the UN and the group in power in the nation where they want to act. If the UN representative isn’t from that power, I imagine that coordination would be very difficult to achieve.
14. A giant space rock demolished an ancient Middle Eastern city and everyone in it – possibly inspiring the Biblical story of Sodom; By Christopher R. Moore | theconversation.com | September 20, 2021, 6.48am EDT
  1. 1. As the inhabitants of an ancient Middle Eastern city now called Tall el-Hammam went about their daily business one day about 3,600 years ago, they had no idea an unseen icy space rock was speeding toward them at about 38,000 mph (61,000 kph).
    2. Flashing through the atmosphere, the rock exploded in a massive fireball about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) above the ground. The blast was around 1,000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima atomic bomb (~16 kilotons). [That would make this blast about 16 megatons.] The shocked city dwellers who stared at it were blinded instantly. Air temperatures rapidly rose above 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit (2,000 degrees Celsius). Clothing and wood immediately burst into flames. Swords, spears, mudbricks and pottery began to melt. Almost immediately, the entire city was on fire.
    3. Some seconds later, a massive shockwave smashed into the city. Moving at about 740 mph (1,200 kph), it was more powerful than the worst tornado ever recorded. The deadly winds ripped through the city, demolishing every building. They sheared off the top 40 feet (12 m) of the 4-story palace and blew the jumbled debris into the next valley. None of the 8,000 people or any animals within the city survived …
    4. It all sounds like the climax of an edge-of-your-seat Hollywood disaster movie. How do we know that all of this actually happened near the Dead Sea in Jordan millennia ago?
    5. Getting answers required nearly 15 years of painstaking excavations by hundreds of people. …
    6. Years ago, when archaeologists looked out over excavations of the ruined city, they could see a dark, roughly 5-foot-thick (1.5 m) jumbled layer of charcoal, ash, melted mudbricks and melted pottery. It was obvious that an intense firestorm had destroyed this city long ago. This dark band came to be called the destruction layer.
    7. o one was exactly sure what had happened, but that layer wasn’t caused by a volcano, earthquake or warfare. None of them are capable of melting metal, mudbricks and pottery. …
    8. It appears that the culprit at Tall el-Hammam was a small asteroid similar to the one that knocked down 80 million trees in Tunguska, Russia in 1908. It would have been a much smaller version of the giant miles-wide rock that pushed the dinosaurs into extinction 65 million ago. …
    9. Together, all this evidence shows that temperatures in the city rose higher than those of volcanoes, warfare and normal city fires. The only natural process left is a cosmic impact.
    10. The same evidence is found at known impact sites, such as Tunguska and the Chicxulub crater, created by the asteroid that triggered the dinosaur extinction. …
    11. It’s possible that an oral description of the city’s destruction may have been handed down for generations until it was recorded as the story of Biblical Sodom. The Bible describes the devastation of an urban center near the Dead Sea – stones and fire fell from the sky, more than one city was destroyed, thick smoke rose from the fires and city inhabitants were killed.
    12. Could this be an ancient eyewitness account? If so, the destruction of Tall el-Hammam may be the second-oldest destruction of a human settlement by a cosmic impact event, after the village of Abu Hureyra in Syria about 12,800 years ago. Importantly, it may the first written record of such a catastrophic event.
    13. ANDREW: Wow. The only thought I’m left with is: how can we protect ourselves if something like this happens again?
    14. Animation depicting the positions of known near-Earth objects at points in time for the 20 years ending in January 2018. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig

"An educated electorate is a prerequisite for a democracy."

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