Zorro
Zorro's JournalProposed bill would shorten California workweek to 32 hours.
A proposed bill winding its way through the state Legislature could make California the first state in the nation to reduce its workweek to four days for a large swath of workers.
The bill, AB 2932, would change the definition of a workweek from 40 hours to 32 hours for companies with more than 500 employees. A full workday would remain at eight hours, and employers would be required to provide overtime pay for employees working longer than four full days.
The bill was authored by Assembly Members Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) and Evan Low (D-San Jose). At the federal level, a bill by Rep. Mark Takano (D-Riverside) is pushing for similar changes under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Reached by phone Friday, Garcia said the idea was prompted in part by the exodus of employees during the COVID-19 pandemic, many of whom were seeking a better quality of life. More than 47 million Americans voluntarily quit their jobs in 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-04-08/proposed-bill-could-make-california-the-first-state-to-implement-a-4-day-workweek
Experts explain why Costco is cutting gas prices much more and faster than other major chains
SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — While Costco has always been one of the cheaper options for gas, they seem to now be cutting gas prices by a much larger amount and much quicker than the major gasoline chains. Friday, the cost of regular at local Costco locations was $5.29, which is about 56 cents lower than the San Diego County average. While the average price has dropped 15-20 cents from the peak in March, Costco has lowered its already cheaper prices by more than twice that amount.
“Almost every station on GasBuddy's list of lowest prices in San Diego is now Costco," industry analyst Patrick De Haan of GasBuddy told ABC 10News.
De Haan says prices should be dropping significantly at all gas stations in California because most of the refinery issues that had helped spike prices are over. But while other gas chains are dropping prices gradually, De Haan says Costco is cutting prices aggressively. “I think they’re passing down inevitable discounts much faster. Cheers to Costco for bringing down prices.”
There are several reasons why Costco can charge less. One is that its business model on all of its products is to take a lower margin. Second, because Costco sells so much gas so quickly, it does not have to sit on inventory. While other stations may still be selling gas they bought at peak prices one or two weeks ago, Costco is likely selling gas it purchased more recently and at a lower price.
https://www.10news.com/news/local-news/experts-explain-why-costco-is-cutting-gas-prices-much-more-and-faster-than-other-major-chains
Another good reason to have a Costco membership.
Americans have lost the willingness and the ability to share a common national identity
We no longer share a narrative. We no longer have a common thread.We don’t need more unity.
Apologies to Sean Penn, who last week made an earnest case for that virtue in an appearance with — of all people — Sean Hannity on Fox “News.” The actor was discussing “what I experienced emotionally” in Ukraine, where he had been filming a documentary when Russia invaded.
“We all talk about how divided things are here,” he said, “but when you step into a country of such incredible unity, you realize what we’ve all been missing.”
It’s a seductive argument. Penn is hardly alone in sensing that something important has gone missing from America. And when you consider the besieged people of Ukraine, all pulling together, striking as a single fist against a common foe, it’s natural to identify the missing thing as unity.
But what we are seeing in Ukraine is the predictable byproduct of an immediate existential threat. Take away the threat and the unity will go with it. This is not to demean the stubborn, inspiring heroism of the Ukrainian people. It is only to say that it reflects the exigency of the crisis — not some essential nobility of character that this country lacks. If you doubt that, recall how unified Americans were after Sept. 11 and Dec. 7. Then recall how quickly we returned to our bickersome ways.
So, the view from this pew is that what has gone missing from this country is not some idealized unity. Rather, it is something more profound. We no longer share a narrative. We no longer have a common thread.
https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2022/04/10/americans-have-lost-the-willingness-and-the-ability-to-share-a-common-national-identity-column/
We no longer share a common reality.
Crypto isn't just for bros: Meet the mothers entering the market
Some mothers see bitcoin and NFTs, or nonfungible tokens, as ways to build wealth for their families.In October, Sarah Monson learned that Facebook was changing its name to Meta and shifting its focus to something called the metaverse, an immersive virtual world that did not yet exist, but the company said would one day take over the internet. Monson, a 44-year-old commercial writer and mother who recently moved to Hawaii, found the news disturbing.
“I was like, oh my God, we are all going to be dragged into this creepy metaverse by Mark Zuckerberg, whether we like it or not, and have no say in it,” she said during an interview last week at NFT LA, a cryptocurrency conference in downtown Los Angeles.
Monson thought her 6-year-old daughter would encounter some version of the metaverse in the future and she wanted to be prepared. She decided the best thing to do was learn about the technologies that many proponents of the metaverse said would underpin it, including cryptocurrencies and NFTs, or nonfungible tokens.
“My whole point was, I want to educate myself,” Monson said. She also didn’t want to miss out on what was looking to her like another major tech boom. “I lived in Seattle during the dot com bubble and I had no voice or power to do anything,” she said.
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/crypto/crypto-moms-nfts-metaverse-market-rcna22227
I caught this clip on tonight's NBC Nightly News broadcast found it really annoying. This mom admitted she didn't know much if anything about crypto currencies, but made a small investment in some crypto and said she's up about "50%" and is now creating her own NFTs to market and sell. Strikes me as a fool's gold enterprise.
Ohio GOP Senate hopeful: Middle class doesn't pay fair share
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Mike Gibbons, a leading Republican Senate candidate from Ohio, said at a media event last fall that middle-class Americans don't pay “any kind of a fair share” of income taxes.
“The top 20% of earners in the United States pay 82% of federal income tax — and, if you do the math, and 45% to 50% don’t pay any income tax, you can see the middle class is not really paying any kind of a fair share, depending on how you want to define it,” Gibbons said.
The comments by Gibbons, a millionaire investment banker from Cleveland, were made in a September episode of “The Landscape” podcast by Crain's Cleveland Business. But they could take on new resonance after Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, a potential 2024 presidential candidate, introduced a governing plan in February that has divided the party over its call to raise taxes on millions of Americans who don’t earn enough to pay federal income taxes.
Scott, who leads the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, has said that paying even a small tax would give poor people “skin in the game” to boost their interest and involvement in how tax dollars are spent.
https://news.yahoo.com/ohio-gop-senate-hopeful-middle-220541018.html
I'm Mike Gibbons, investment banker. I earn my millions by taking a percentage of other people's money that I invest in stocks and bonds, despite whether they rise or fall in value. It's hard work, and I pay too much income tax. You middle class proles need to pony up and pay more in taxes to relieve me of this burden so I can smoke more cigars rolled from $100 bills.
In Tallahassee, Elmer Fuddesque incompetence has its perks
Let’s say your boss came to you with an important task. “Bumstead, we need you to prepare a detailed analysis of the upcoming Haversham merger. This is a critical assignment, and you have 60 days to get it done.”
Two months pass. When your supervisor asks for the report, you say: “Uh, never quite got around to it. I spent the last eight weeks, leaving work early, swilling cocktails, watching Netflix and frequenting topless bars.”
A simple question. How long do you think you would still be employed? Not long. However, if you were the governor of Florida or a member of the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature you would be rewarded with gobs of campaign contributions, powerful committee assignments, re-election and a reserved VIP table in Tucker Carlson’s green room.
After all, in Tallahassee Elmer Fuddesque incompetence has its perks.
Sixty days. Two Months. Eight weeks, not to mention the various committee activity leading up to the 2022 Florida legislative session. And yet at the end of all the very impressive looking purposefully striding back and forth across the Capitol building, your august Republican public servants, including the Huey Long-lite of Florida politics, Gov. Ron DeSantis, turned out to be less responsive to the real needs of their constituents than Mel Brooks’ Gov. William J. Le Petomane in “Blazing Saddles.”
https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2022/04/09/in-tallahassee-elmer-fuddesque-incompetence-has-its-perks-column/
China Is Accelerating Its Nuclear Buildup Over Rising Fears of U.S. Conflict
Beijing believes U.S. could turn to nuclear weapons in a war; Ukraine invasion underscores the value of a robust arsenalChina has accelerated an expansion of its nuclear arsenal because of a change in its assessment of the threat posed by the U.S., people with knowledge of the Chinese leadership’s thinking say, shedding new light on a buildup that is raising tension between the two countries.
The Chinese nuclear effort long predates Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but the U.S.’s wariness about getting directly involved in the war there has likely reinforced Beijing’s decision to put greater emphasis on developing nuclear weapons as a deterrent, some of these people say. Chinese leaders see a stronger nuclear arsenal as a way to deter the U.S. from getting directly involved in a potential conflict over Taiwan.
Among recent developments, work has accelerated this year on more than 100 suspected missile silos in China’s remote western region that could be used to house nuclear-tipped missiles capable of reaching the U.S., according to analysts that study satellite images of the area.
American leaders have said the thinking behind China’s nuclear advance is unclear. Independent security analysts who study nuclear proliferation say they are also in the dark about what is driving Beijing after exchanges between Chinese officials and analysts mostly dried up in the past few years.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-is-accelerating-its-nuclear-buildup-over-rising-fears-of-u-s-conflict-11649509201
The remarkable brain of a carpet cleaner who speaks 24 languages
The carpet cleaner heaves his machine up the stairs, untangles its hoses and promises to dump the dirty water only in the approved toilet. Another day scrubbing rugs for less than $20 an hour. Another Washington area house with overflowing bookshelves and walls covered in travel mementos from places he would love to go one day.
But this was not that day.
“Tell me about this stain,” 46-year-old Vaughn Smith asks his clients.
“Well,” says one of the homeowners, “Schroeder rubbed his bottom across it.”
Vaughn knows just what to do about that, and the couple, Courtney Stamm and Kelly Widelska, know they can trust him to do it. They’d been hiring him for years, once watching him erase even a splattered Pepto Bismol stain.
But this time when Vaughn called to confirm their January appointment, he quietly explained that there was something about himself that he’d never told them. That he rarely told anyone. And well, a reporter was writing a story about it. Could he please bring her along?
https://wapo.st/3E2SsoP
Texas: We're Going To Bus Undocumented Migrants To D.C.; Florida: Hold My Beer
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis race to pull the most reactionary culture war stunt in response to the Biden administration's decision to lift Title 42 border restrictions.Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis appear locked in a competition: Who can best channel the latest free-floating right-wing grievance into state policy? The rules of this game are simple: Every time one of these governors releases a salvo into the nation’s culture wars, the other has to match it or exceed it. Voting rights, the pandemic, reproductive rights — on issue after issue, these two have raced to put forth the most reactionary policy possible. Now, with Joe Biden announcing plans to lift his predecessor’s pandemic-era border restrictions, a policy known as Title 42, the GOP governors have turned to immigration.
On Wednesday, Abbott announced plans to bus undocumented immigrants to the steps of the United States Capitol as a kind of protest against the “Biden border disaster,” as he described it. “To help local officials whose communities are being overwhelmed by hordes of illegal immigrants who are being dropped off by the administration,” Abbott said in a press conference in Weslasco, near the U.S. border with Mexico, “Texas is providing charter buses to send these illegal immigrants who have been dropped off by the Biden administration to Washington, D.C.”
Though he presented the plan as something “no state has done in American history to secure our border,” it doesn’t quite go as far as he claimed; as the Texas Tribune reported, the program as proposed would be voluntary for the migrants, and they could only get on the buses or planes to D.C. after they’d been processed by the Department of Homeland Security. Still, Abbott’s plot was immediately denounced by immigration advocates. “If Abbott focused on solutions instead of stunts,” Democrat Beto O’Rourke, who is challenging Abbott for the governor’s mansion this fall, said in a statement, “then Texas could have made some real progress on the issue over the last seven years.”
Not to be outdone, though, DeSantis teased his own plan later Wednesday suggesting that he, too, could bus out undocumented immigrants — to Biden’s home state of Delaware. “What we’re doing in Florida is saying, ‘We’re not gonna let the recklessness of those policies impact our state,’” DeSantis said. “If Biden is dumping people…we now have money where we can reroute them to sanctuary states like Delaware.”
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/04/ron-desantis-greg-abbott-title-42-immigration
Devin Nunes Flops in Fox Grilling About Trump's Truth Social Debacle
The Trump toady peddled outlandish positivity about his flailing app but couldn’t hack serious questions even from the friendly Fox Business Network.Truth Social CEO and ex-congressman Devin Nunes stumbled with wild speculation and ridiculous claims during a Fox Business Network grilling on Thursday morning, all while bad news and ridicule of the Trump-owned social-media platform continue to pile up.
Over the past week, Truth Social has faced a bumpy launch, top executives fleeing the company, a parent acquisition company whose stock price has plummeted, claims of censorship, and the scorn of unhappy users over former President Donald Trump still not using the platform. All these compounding problems left even the traditionally obsequious Trump ally and Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo and her on-air colleagues with serious questions about the dumpster fire of a social-media app.
During a chat with Bartiromo’s FBN program, Nunes tossed out outlandish claims in defense of Truth Social, including that the Trump-created platform is home to more “interactions” than Twitter—the immensely popular site that the twice-impeached president, who is banned from tweeting, so clearly seeks to rip off.
“It’s clear that Twitter is kind of a ghost town,” Nunes declared. “There’s not very much activity over at Twitter right now, especially when you compare it to sites like ours,” he laughably added, failing to provide any concrete numbers. “Our interactions are already beating Twitter.”
Bartiromo seemed unconvinced.
“At the same time, there are a lot of people who can’t even log in to see where they are in the waitlist,” she remarked, referring to how many users still wait in a queue of several hundred thousand simply just to complete a login for the app.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/devin-nunes-absolutely-flops-in-fox-grilling-about-trumps-truth-social-debacle
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