NY-10; NY-12; NY-17: The NYT endorse all white men in the three most contested Democratic primaries

New York’s chaotic primary elections for Congress, which will be held on Aug. 23, are the outcome of Democrats in Albany having tried to do an end run around the state Constitution’s ban on partisan gerrymandering. The courts smacked them down for that, and a hurried and confusing race to represent 20 million New Yorkers is now the result.

The races are important because they could help determine whether Democrats or Republicans win control of the House in November.

The new congressional map reconfigured the district lines in New York City and its suburbs, some of which have been in place for decades. Some of the districts, like the 10th, include parts of several previous districts. In the 17th, elected officials found that their homes no longer were within the districts they represented. So they had to either move or switch to new districts. In the 12th, the district was consolidated with another, leading to an intensely competitive primary.

More competition is good in politics, and the shapes of some of the new districts are more rational than before. But candidates were given little time to learn districts and voters to learn candidates.

The editorial board’s choices for the best candidates to represent these districts are Dan Goldman, Jerrold Nadler and Sean Maloney.




https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/08/13/opinion/new-york-congress-nyt-endorse.html

Extra Bonus Tweet of the Day

Bonus Tweet of the Day

Tweet of the Day

I think I'm over COVID and grateful for many things

All the well wishes.

The vaccine.

Modern medicine.

California law that requires up to 80 hours COVID time above and beyond employer sick time policy.

A home in which I could recover.

Work from home privileges.

Health care.


I only wish every American could could have the above, at least a safe workplace.

In a Post-Roe World, the Future of Digital Privacy Looks Even Grimmer

Welcome to the post-Roe era of digital privacy, a moment that underscores how the use of technology has made it practically impossible for Americans to evade ubiquitous tracking.

In states that have banned abortion, some women seeking out-of-state options to terminate pregnancies may end up following a long list of steps to try to shirk surveillance — like connecting to the internet through an encrypted tunnel and using burner email addresses — and reduce the likelihood of prosecution.

Even so, they could still be tracked. Law enforcement agencies can obtain court orders for access to detailed information, including location data logged by phone networks. And many police departments have their own surveillance technologies, like license plate readers.

That makes privacy-enhancing tools for consumers seem about as effective as rearranging the furniture in a room with no window drapes.

“There’s no perfect solution,” said Sinan Eren, an executive at Barracuda, a security firm. “Your telecom network is your weakest link.”

In other words, the state of digital privacy is already so far gone that forgoing the use of digital tools altogether may be the only way to keep information secure, security researchers said. Leaving mobile phones at home would help evade the persistent location tracking deployed by wireless carriers. Payments for prescription drugs and health services would ideally be made in cash. For travel, public transportation like a bus or a train would be more discreet than ride-hailing apps.



https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/13/technology/personaltech/abortion-privacy-roe-surveillance.html

For Electric Vehicle Makers, Winners and Losers in Climate Bill

The climate and energy package approved by Congress on Friday aims to achieve two goals that are not always compatible: Make electric vehicles more affordable while freezing China out of the supply chain.

Auto industry representatives have been griping that the proposed $7,500 tax credits for electric vehicle buyers come with so many strings attached that few cars will qualify. Buyers can’t have very high incomes, the vehicles can’t cost too much, and the cars and their batteries have to meet made-in-America requirements that many carmakers cannot easily achieve.

“It’s going to be a lot harder for cars to qualify and for consumers to qualify for a federal tax credit for the purchase of an E.V.,” said John Bozzella, president of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents large U.S. and foreign automakers.

Some companies will benefit more than others from the sweeping legislation, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, which Democrats in the House approved on Friday, clearing the way for President Biden to sign it into law.

The new credits favor companies, like Tesla and General Motors, that have been selling electric cars for years and have reorganized their supply chains to produce vehicles in the United States. A joint venture between G.M. and LG Energy Solution will soon open a battery plant in Ohio, part of a wave of electric vehicle investment by automakers and suppliers.

Vehicles sold by Tesla and G.M. will regain eligibility for incentives that the carmakers had lost because they had sold more than their quota of 200,000 electric cars under current law. The legislation eliminates that cap.




https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/12/business/climate-bill-electric-vehicles.html

Surveillance footage shows boxes moved at Mar-a-Lago after FBI contacted Trump

The Justice Department also subpoenaed surveillance footage from Mar-a-Lago recorded over a 60-day period, including views from outside the storage room. According to a person briefed on the matter, the footage showed that, after one instance in which Justice Department officials were in contact with Mr. Trump’s team, boxes were moved in and out of the room.

That activity prompted concern among investigators about the handling of the material. It is not clear when precisely the footage was from during the lengthy back-and-forth between Justice Department officials and Mr. Trump’s advisers, or whether the subpoena to Mr. Trump seeking additional documents had already been issued.

In recent months, investigators were in contact with roughly half a dozen of Mr. Trump’s current aides who had knowledge of how the documents were handled, two people briefed on the approaches said. At least one witness provided the investigators with information that led them to want to further press Mr. Trump for material, according to a person familiar with the inquiry.


https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/13/us/politics/trump-classified-material-fbi.html

Idaho top court allows near-total abortion ban to take effect

Aug 12 (Reuters) - Idaho's top court on Friday refused to stop a Republican-backed state law criminalizing nearly all abortions from taking effect after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 decision Roe v. Wade that had recognized a constitutional right to the procedure.

In a 3-2 ruling, the Idaho Supreme Court rejected a bid by a Planned Parenthood affiliate to prevent a ban from taking effect on Aug. 25 that the abortion provider argued would violate Idahoans' privacy and equal protection rights under the state's constitution. The measure allows for abortions only in cases of rape, incest or to prevent a pregnant woman's death.

The court also lifted an earlier order that it issued in April blocking a separate Idaho law banning abortion after six weeks of pregnancy enforced through private lawsuits by citizens, allowing it to take effect immediately.

Justice Robyn Brody, writing for the court, said given the U.S. Supreme Court's June decision, Planned Parenthood was not entitled to the "drastic" relief it sought, noting that abortion was illegal in Idaho before the Roe decision.



https://www.reuters.com/world/us/idaho-top-court-allows-near-total-abortion-ban-take-effect-2022-08-13/?taid=62f7393b58b19d0001bba5cd&utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

The Climate Bill Isn't Perfect, but It's Still a Major Victory

There is still a lot to like about this package. To push more renewable energy into the market, Congress extended existing wind and solar tax credits for another 10 years. To drive consumer uptake of efficient energy technologies, Congress offered Americans inducements to install heat pumps in their homes and buy electric cars. Consumers with incomes below a certain threshold would receive a $7,500 tax credit to purchase a new electric vehicle and about $4,000 for a used one.

There are also incentives that should help to postpone the retirement of nuclear plants, which are zero-carbon sources of electricity, and to lower the cost of carbon capture technology, which power plants and industrial facilities can install to limit the amount of greenhouse gases that reach the atmosphere. Most oil and gas companies that emit above a certain level of methane across their operations must pay an escalating fee unless they reduce emissions below certain thresholds or comply with regulations the Environmental Protection Agency will soon finalize. This is the only provision that directly taxes pollution.

No doubt there were compromises. The legislation requires that certain leases for oil and gas on federal lands be offered for sale and conditions some wind and solar leases on the auctioning of oil and gas leases. Those trade-offs were necessary to attract 50 votes.




https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/11/opinion/climate-inflation-reduction-act.html