What does a BIDEN Presidency look like?

[Syt]

So apparently Biden has nominated for some financial position an academic and expert on financial regulation that was born in Kazahstan and emigrated to the US in 1991 fresh out of university. During her Senate hearing she has been grilled by some doofus Republican senator about her belonging to the Communist youth organisations of the era and basically implying that she's still a commie. 

https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1461369421889519618

It's funnier when you consider that Kennedy spent independence day 2018 in Moscow.

[garbon]

Kennedy isn't a doofus, but is, in fact, very intelligent. He's playing up his Senator Aw-Shucks routine purely for the voters back home who want to see him as tough on comma-nists.

Just once, I want to see someone call them on this kind of bullshit. Confirmation hearings are pure political theater anyway, so I'm not seeing the downside.

What would call them on it mean in this context? Her reply and Warren's opening lines immediately after made it pretty clear it was an unwarranted personal attack.

[Josquius]

So apparently Biden has nominated for some financial position an academic and expert on financial regulation that was born in Kazahstan and emigrated to the US in 1991 fresh out of university. During her Senate hearing she has been grilled by some doofus Republican senator about her belonging to the Communist youth organisations of the era and basically implying that she's still a commie. 

https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1461369421889519618

Well that's painful.
Its so bad it looks like a test if whether she can keep her cool against idiocy on camera.

[Habbaku]

Kennedy isn't a doofus, but is, in fact, very intelligent. He's playing up his Senator Aw-Shucks routine purely for the voters back home who want to see him as tough on comma-nists.

Just once, I want to see someone call them on this kind of bullshit. Confirmation hearings are pure political theater anyway, so I'm not seeing the downside.

What would call them on it mean in this context? Her reply and Warren's opening lines immediately after made it pretty clear it was an unwarranted personal attack.

Getting redfaced and ranting about beer would be a good start.

[Razgovory]

I feel the same way about Congressional hearings.  If I were ever called I would say for the record that I have contempt for this process.  State sanctioned bullying is all it is.

[Savonarola]

Well this discussion went different than I thought it would.

When I first saw the article I was surprised that CNN ran it.  Their editorial board is usually all bent out of shape about privilege, white people, economic inequality and the poisonous effect of money on politics.  Here's a story about a very privileged white billionaire heiress who had leaders of both state and federal government at her extraordinarily lavish wedding and CNN reports it with breathless rapture.  (Yes, it's the Style section; but still.)

Here I'm surprised this isn't red meat for a socialist like Josq.  The Getty family is old money (by Califonia standards) and obviously has close ties to the political establishment.  I'm not a socialist and I think publicizing such an extravagant wedding is in poor taste in a country with low social mobility, enormous economic inequality and a population that's suffering the economic shocks of Covid (to say nothing of the personal).  During the Great Depression the wealthy adopted more austere styles (hence Style Moderne); this level of ostentation (at this economic moment) seems to come straight out of the Gilded Age.

I don't disagree with what you've written, but question whether the CNN report was done because the Gettys wanted it, or CNN wanted it; in other words, if "publicizing such an extravagant wedding is in poor taste," whose poor taste is it:  the Gettys, or CNN?

Though I'd argue that the active participation of California's political elite is in poor taste no matter who pushed the CNN coverage.  Political leaders should be more circumspect in their public appearances with their owners.

I had meant the Gettys.  Since this was covered in Vanity Fair and Vogue as well as CNN I assumed they had hired a publicist to bring this wedding to the attention of the press.  I could see the case for CNN as they glamorized the things their editorial board is (nominally) against.  To be fair to both, though, Kylie Jenner has 190 million Instagram followers (and Kendall has 140 million.)  A large section of the public apparently loves ostentatious displays of wealth and privilege. 

[alfred russel]

So apparently Biden has nominated for some financial position an academic and expert on financial regulation that was born in Kazahstan and emigrated to the US in 1991 fresh out of university. During her Senate hearing she has been grilled by some doofus Republican senator about her belonging to the Communist youth organisations of the era and basically implying that she's still a commie. 

https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1461369421889519618

They got at least five democrats on their side and she is toast.

https://www.axios.com/democrats-omarova-occ-5755a0e4-c6a5-4ca7-b6c7-87d18d5491f9.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=editorial&utm_content=politics-bidennominees
Well that's painful.
Its so bad it looks like a test if whether she can keep her cool against idiocy on camera.

[Sheilbh]

Interesting for the swing voter discussion - new working paper:
https://twitter.com/jon_mellon/status/1465701667186233347?s=20

Looks at elections across multiple countries and finds that in about 95% of cases party switching contributes more to volatility than turnout switching (and population replacement doesn't register - though there may be some examples in Ireland which is interesting). The US is far lower than most countries on the rate but party switching still just about wins out on average but basically even there it matters as much as turnout switching and that might be switching in the 2000s.

[The Larch]

So, will Amazon get OSHA on its ass because of its role in the death of 6 of its workers in an Illinois warehouse during the latest tornadoes?

Amazon faces scrutiny over worker safety after tornado strikes warehouse
Federal authorities investigate disaster in Edwardsville, Illinois, where six people died

Questions over worker safety at Amazon are intensifying once again after a tornado struck an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, Illinois, on Friday, leaving six people dead and another hospitalized.

On Monday, the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration said it opened a workplace safety investigation into the warehouse collapse. Meanwhile, workers and activists are calling for more action.

Concerns over labor rights at the e-commerce giant have been mounting, exacerbated by allegations the company failed to "adequately notify" workers and health officials of Covid-19 cases.

"This incident calls into question so much of Amazon's practices in their warehouses," said Marcos Ceniceros, an organizer at Warehouse Workers for Justice. "This is not the first time we've seen workers suffer at Amazon and we want to make sure that they're not continuing to cut corners and putting workers at risk."

Warehouse Workers for Justice has called for a hearing in the Illinois state legislature examining what led to the deaths at Amazon's warehouse. They are also calling on the company to ensure it has safety and training protocols in place for extreme weather events and other risks, like Covid-19, in the future.

Speaking to the Intercept on Monday, 12 Amazon workers described concerns over workplace safety. Some said they had never experienced a tornado or fire drill on the job, and several said they would be uncertain of what to do in an emergency.

John Gasper, associate professor of economics at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business, cautioned that he didn't know the particulars of what happened at Amazon. But he said for companies like Amazon that have high turnover in labor, it likely is harder to conduct regular emergency training schedules, particularly during the busy holiday season when there are many seasonal workers.

"The cost of the time to do the drills is also time they are not [moving] the packages," he said. "They have to think about these tradeoffs. But I don't think any company wants to harm its employees."

Amazon said workers at the warehouse had little time to prepare when the National Weather Service declared a tornado warning on Friday night. The tornado arrived soon after, collapsing both sides of the warehouse and caving in its roof.

"There was a tremendous effort that happened that night to keep everybody safe," said John Felton, Amazon's senior vice-president of global delivery services, speaking alongside the Illinois governor, JB Pritzker, in Edwardsville on Monday and pledging a review of all the events that took place Friday.

An Amazon spokesperson, Kelly Nantel, said the warehouse received tornado warnings between 8.06pm and 8.16pm on Friday and site leaders directed workers to immediately take shelter. At 8.27pm, the tornado struck the building.

Felton said most of the 46 people in the warehouse known as a "delivery station" headed to a shelter on the north side, which ended up "nearly undamaged" and a smaller group to the harder-hit south end. The company said those are not separate safe rooms, but generally places away from windows considered safer than other parts of the plant.

Amazon has pledged to assist workers and their families affected by the tragedy, including donating $1m to the Edwardsville Community Foundation. The company declined to answer questions on Monday about its disaster plans at the plant, including whether employees were required to perform drills.

The tornado that hit Amazon's facility was part of a swarm of twisters across the midwest and south that leveled entire communities. Another tornado destroyed a candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky, killing multiple workers on an overnight shift. Osha, which is part of the US Department of Labor, said federal investigators were not investigating the Kentucky factory collapse because the state has its own workplace safety agency.

Ceniceros said as extreme weather intensifies due to the climate crisis, hange, workers are investigating how to protect themselves and hold corporations accountable.

The Edwardsville warehouse is part of a vast patchwork of concrete-and-steel structures that have popped up in the St. Louis region over the past decade, drawn by its confluence of major highways and railroads, cheap costs and Americans' expectations for getting packages delivered soon after they click a link to order them.

A researcher who studies the warehouse industry and the pressure put on Amazon workers to meet strict productivity quotas said even if Amazon's team did everything right in responding to a devastating tornado, it raises the question about the structure of enormous warehouses popping up across the midwest as some climate experts warn of more frequent and severe storms.

"We don't think of warehousing as one of the industries that's going to be severely impacted by climate change but then you have a case like this," said Beth Gutelius, research director at the Center for Urban Economic Development at the University of Illinois-Chicago.

At the governor's press conference Monday, Nantel emphasized that the 1.1m sq ft building was "constructed consistent with code".

But Pritzker raised the possibility that current codes aren't enough to meet the dangers of increasingly devastating storms. He said there will be an investigation into updating code ,"given serious change in climate that we are seeing across the country".

Marc Wulfraat, a supply chain consultant who has studied Amazon's warehouses and distribution centers, says the one in Edwardsville appeared standard for the industry with 40ft concrete walls, not unlike many others popping up around the country as consumers shift from stores to online buying.

"It was basically a warehouse, with nothing particularly distinctive to Amazon," said Wulfratt, president of MWPVL International, a consultancy in Montreal. "They abide by code when they put these buildings up. There is no way around it."

Gutelius said she couldn't help but view the tragedy as a spillover effect of American consumer demand for getting packages shipped quickly.

"Yes, it was a freak accident, but the facts are still that these workers were making sure my dog gets a frisbee – tomorrow – and gave their life for it," she said. "It seems really kind of ridiculous when you think about what the stakes are."

[Razgovory]

My younger brother recently got a job at an Amazon warehouse.  When he asked about tornado drills they snapped back that they don't have tornado where he is (Florida).  He hates it there.

[The Larch]

It seems that Amazon was not alone in that kind of shenanigans, another employer in Kentucky was willing to sacrifice its employees' lives to keep the vital supply of scented candles up and running.

Most workers escaped Kentucky candle factory, company says

Authorities were combing through debris in search of the dead and the missing Sunday after a tornado outbreak ripped through parts of the South and the Midwest late Friday and early Saturday. About 50 people have been confirmed dead in Kentucky, the state's governor said.

Many of the fatalities were estimated to have occurred at a candle factory in Mayfield, Ky., that was flattened with about 110 people inside; a spokesperson for the company that owns it said more than 90 people had been found alive. Gov. Andy Beshear (D) said no one had been rescued there since Saturday morning.

Eight bodies found and eight people missing from Kentucky candle factory, spokesperson says

A spokesperson for Mayfield Consumer Products confirmed that eight people are missing from its candle factory and that eight have died in the Kentucky facility that was hit by a tornado Friday night.

[Admiral Yi]

Larch, maybe you don't realize it because of unfamiliarity with tornadoes, but the proper procedure is to stay in the building.

[The Larch]

Larch, maybe you don't realize it because of unfamiliarity with tornadoes, but the proper procedure is to stay in the building.

I question the lunacy of keeping operations running with tornadoes running around in the area.

Edit: Cherry on top, threatening workers with firings if they left their shift due to the tornadoes? Not cool.

Factory workers threatened with firing if they left before tornado, employees say

As a catastrophic tornado approached this city Friday, employees of a candle factory — which would later be destroyed — heard the warning sirens and wanted to leave the building. But at least five workers said supervisors warned employees that they would be fired if they left their shifts early.

For hours, as word of the coming storm spread, as many as 15 workers beseeched managers to let them take shelter at their own homes, only to have their requests rebuffed, the workers said.

Fearing for their safety, some left during their shifts regardless of the repercussions.

At least eight people died in the Mayfield Consumer Products factory, which makes scented candles. The facility was leveled, and all that is left is rubble. Photos and videos of its widespread mangled remains have become symbols of the enormous destructive power of Friday's tornado system.

[Syt]

Larch, maybe you don't realize it because of unfamiliarity with tornadoes, but the proper procedure is to stay in the building.

I question the lunacy of keeping operations running with tornadoes running around in the area.

Where would we get if we shut down vital businesses like candlemakers or Amazon every time there was a weather warning?

[DGuller]

It seems that Amazon was not alone in that kind of shenanigans, another employer in Kentucky was willing to sacrifice its employees' lives to keep the vital supply of scented candles up and running.

Can we maybe not use that kind of language before we know the details of what happened?  When people go around claiming that employers sacrifice their workers' lives without really understanding what happened, it just builds up outrage fatigue and makes it harder to make more certain cases of employee abuse be taken seriously.  Tornados are not like hurricanes; you don't have much warning when they come, and sometimes you're just fucking screwed because you're in the wrong place at the wrong time.  People who die in their own homes when tornados hit probably didn't want to sacrifice themselves for any cause either, but they still die.