#EPA Performance

[planetgleebglorb]

When I get this l-theanine and omega 3 ordered from Amazon and in my system. It's over for you bitches!

[reasonsforhope]

"Seven federal agencies are partnering to implement President Biden’s American Climate Corps, announcing this week they would work together to recruit 20,000 young Americans and fulfill the administration's vision for the new program. 

The goals spelled out in the memorandum of understanding include comprehensively tackling climate change, creating partnerships throughout various levels of government and the private sector, building a diverse corps and serving all American communities.

The agencies—which included the departments of Commerce, Interior, Agriculture, Labor and Energy, as well the Environmental Protection Agency and AmeriCorps—also vowed to ensure a “range of compensation and benefits” that open the positions up to a wider array of individuals and to create pathways to “high-quality employment.”  

Leaders from each of the seven agencies will form an executive committee for the Climate Corps, which Biden established in September, that will coordinate efforts with an accompanying working group. They will create the standards for ACC programs, set compensation guidelines and minimum terms of service, develop recruitment strategies, launch a centralized website and establish performance goals and objectives. The ACC groups will, beginning in January, hold listening sessions with potential applicants, labor unions, state and local governments, educational institutions and other stakeholders. 

The working group will also review all federal statutes and hiring authorities to remove any barriers to onboarding for the corps and standardize the practices across all participating agencies. Benefits for corps members will include housing, transportation, health care, child care, educational credit, scholarships and student loan forgiveness, stipends and non-financial services.

As part of the goal of the ACC, agencies will develop the corps so they can transition to “high-quality, family-sustaining careers with mobility potential” in the federal or other sectors. AmeriCorps CEO Michael Smith said the initiative would prepare young people for “good-paying union jobs.” 

Within three weeks of rolling out the ACC, EPA said more than 40,000 people—mostly in the 18-35 age range—expressed interest in joining the corps. The administration set an ambitious goal for getting the program underway, aiming to establish the corps’ first cohort in the summer of 2024. 

The corps members will work in roles related to ecosystem restoration and conservation, reforestation, waterway protection, recycling, energy conservation, clean energy deployment, disaster preparedness and recovery, fire resilience, resilient recreation infrastructure, research and outreach. The administration will look to ensure 40% of the climate-related investments flow to disadvantaged communities as part of its Justice40 initiative.  

EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the MOU would allow the ACC to “work across the federal family” to push public projects focused on environmental justice and clean energy. 

“The Climate Corps represents a significant step forward in engaging and nurturing young leaders who are passionate about climate action, furthering our journey towards a sustainable and equitable future,” Regan said. 

The ACC’s executive committee will hold its first meeting within the next 30 days. It will draw support from a new climate hub within AmeriCorps, as well as any staffing the agency heads designate."

-via Government Executive, December 20, 2023

-

This news comes with your regularly scheduled reminder that WE GOT THE AMERICAN CLIMATE CORPS ESTABLISHED LAST YEAR and basically no one know about/remembers it!!! Also if you want more info about the Climate Corps, inc. how to join, you can sign up to get updates here.

[meret118]

During President Donald Trump’s administration, they said, their managers at the Environmental Protection Agency began pressuring them to make new chemicals they were vetting seem safer than they really were. They were encouraged to delete evidence of chemicals’ harms, including cancer, miscarriage and neurological problems, from their reports — and in some cases, they said, their managers deleted the information themselves.

After the scientists pushed back, they received negative performance reviews and three of them were removed from their positions in the EPA’s division of new chemicals and reassigned to jobs elsewhere in the agency.

. . .

A second Trump presidency could see more far-reaching interference with the agency’s scientific work. Project 2025, the radical conservative policy plan to overhaul the government, would make it much easier to fire scientists who raised concerns about industry influence.

[leviathan-supersystem]

Mike DeWine, the Ohio governor, recently lamented the toll taken on the residents of East Palestine after the toxic train derailment there, saying “no other community should have to go through this”.

But such accidents are happening with striking regularity. A Guardian analysis of data collected by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and by non-profit groups that track chemical accidents in the US shows that accidental releases – be they through train derailments, truck crashes, pipeline ruptures or industrial plant leaks and spills – are happening consistently across the country.

By one estimate these incidents are occurring, on average, every two days.

“These kinds of hidden disasters happen far too frequently,” Mathy Stanislaus, who served as assistant administrator of the EPA’s office of land and emergency management during the Obama administration, told the Guardian. Stanislaus led programs focused on the cleanup of contaminated hazardous waste sites, chemical plant safety, oil spill prevention and emergency response.

In the first seven weeks of 2023 alone, there were more than 30 incidents recorded by the Coalition to Prevent Chemical Disasters, roughly one every day and a half. Last year the coalition recorded 188, up from 177 in 2021. The group has tallied more than 470 incidents since it started counting in April 2020.

The incidents logged by the coalition range widely in severity but each involves the accidental release of chemicals deemed to pose potential threats to human and environmental health.

In September, for instance, nine people were hospitalized and 300 evacuated in California after a spill of caustic materials at a recycling facility. In October, officials ordered residents to shelter in place after an explosion and fire at a petrochemical plant in Louisiana. In November, more than 100 residents of Atchinson, Kansas, were treated for respiratory problems and schools were evacuated after an accident at a beverage manufacturing facility created a chemical cloud over the town.

Among multiple incidents in December, a large pipeline ruptured in rural northern Kansas, smothering the surrounding land and waterways in 588,000 gallons of diluted bitumen crude oil. Hundreds of workers are still trying to clean up the pipeline mess, at a cost pegged at around $488m.

The precise number of hazardous chemical incidents is hard to determine because the US has multiple agencies involved in response, but the EPA told the Guardian that over the past 10 years, the agency has “performed an average of 235 emergency response actions per year, including responses to discharges of hazardous chemicals or oil”. The agency said it employs roughly 250 people devoted to the EPA’s emergency response and removal program.

[...]

The EPA itself says that by several measurements, accidents at facilities are becoming worse: evacuations, sheltering and the average annual rate of people seeking medical treatment stemming from chemical accidents are on the rise. Total annual costs are approximately $477m, including costs related to injuries and deaths.

“Accidental releases remain a significant concern,” the EPA said.

In August, the EPA proposed several changes to the Risk Management Program (RMP) regulations that apply to plants dealing with hazardous chemicals. The rule changes reflect the recognition by EPA that many chemical facilities are located in areas that are vulnerable to the impacts of the climate crisis, including power outages, flooding, hurricanes and other weather events.

The proposed changes include enhanced emergency preparedness, increased public access to information about hazardous chemicals risks communities face and new accident prevention requirements.

The US Chamber of Commerce has pushed back on stronger regulations, arguing that most facilities operate safely, accidents are declining and that the facilities impacted by any rule changes are supplying “essential products and services that help drive our economy and provide jobs in our communities”. Other opponents to strengthening safety rules include the American Chemistry Council, American Forest & Paper Association, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers and the American Petroleum Institute.

The changes are “unnecessary” and will not improve safety, according to the American Chemistry Council.

Many worker and community advocates, such as the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America, (UAW), which represents roughly a million laborers, say the proposed rule changes don’t go far enough.

[ollierachnid]

I’d like to know more about your swap AU! How did Walter, Dana, Janine, and Louis become the Ghostbusters in this timeline? Who invented & built the equipment? And what roles do the original guys play?

Oh yay, thank you for asking! That's very kind of you to do :]. Sorry for the slower response, I've been all over the place, lol.

Going to split into three-ish sections so it's easier to process but, a quick note is that characters still maintain the core components of their personalities and behaviour - so some of the jobs/experiences that bestowed the Ghostbusters with the capacity to perform their roles are a little altered to fit the alternative four!

I'm also going to toss it under a read-more because knowing myself, I'll go on an absolute screed, lol.

How did they become the Ghostbusters?

Okay, so initially, these characters were not interested in the paranormal (beyond Louis, later on), as all are very straightforward and logically minded and are not inclined towards supernormal explanations. However, Dana and Peck, who met in college and ended up sharing an apartment afterwards, were inspired to look into the concept after an encounter with a poltergeist in their 20s. Which caused them to lose a security deposit and kicked off their desire to both prove the existence of the supernatural and to prevent them from causing more inconvenience or harm to others. It's less out of a desire for understanding and a little more for control with them. Neither feels safe living in a world with unmitigated ghost activity, lol.

Peck and Dana (now older) conducted a lot of their first tests for their initial models on the campus for Columbia University where Dana is studying for her chemical engineering PhD, (one of her avenues of research was on the chemical composition of the supernatural and how they can be contained with man-made materials). They eventually meet Janine here, as she worked at Columbia as a sociology professor and was interested in their strange shenanigans. But their consistent use and destruction of university property got them in enough trouble to be booted from their facilities, Janine alongside them as an 'instigator' and 'enabler'.

After this, they make contact with and catch their first ghost, then the Ghostbusters form "officially" in much the same way as they do in canon.

Louis is the newest employee, a man who wanted to switch careers after becoming disillusioned and bored in his accounting position. He's very keen to learn about ghosts and is actually the member who begins to categorise and label them. He tends to be handling the PKE meter, goggles and sniffer, as he does not do swell lugging the pack about for extended periods (he does occasionally arm himself with someone else's wand, as long as they are wearing the pack itself).

Who constructed the equipment?

This one is a litttttleeee up in the air still, but I've honed in on Peck and Dana for the most part. In this little universe, they have become more technically-minded portion of the team! Peck has a degree in environmental/agricultural engineering and had a particular inclination towards the mechanical aspects of engineering, his initial plan to become an EPA officer fell through (because of his caustic personality) and so he spent his time post graduation tinkering about while working crummy odd jobs. He can jerryrig parts together with shocking ease and is responsible for most of the external components of the equipment. He's not as invested in the spirits the others are, but can construct large swathes of the technology Dana blueprints or conceptualises.

Dana, conversely is responsible for most of the internal wiring and components. As mentioned in the prior answer, she has a biochemical inclination.

What are the other four up to?

They've all filled in for the 'now Ghostbusters' four in some regard, while not exactly one-to-one they are in the same 'place' within the plot.

Peter is functionally Dana. He is haunted and possessed by Zuul, though unlike canon-Dana, he is aware of the haunting but mostly blasé about it. He is still a flirt, but the pursuit between him and Dana is kind of backwards I.E. he invites her to his house to investigate Zuul and then does his whole leering thing towards her that way. I actually have a scene concept wherein she's so sick of being invited that Peck and Louis go instead to try to ward him off a little. Much to his chagrin. "You're not Dana -" "We're Ghostbusters, you called the Ghostbusters, no?". Ray wants to be his buddy, but Peter is very smarmy, uninterested, and Venkman-esc about it. He plays double bass in an orchestra, inspired by the plucking thing he does with Dana's cello in GB2, and also teaches strings.

Ray is filling in for Louis, still socially overeager but unfulfilled. Possessed by Vinz. He's not necessarily attracted to Peter but is instead rather keen on forming a friendship that Peter does not reciprocate much. Narratively, he'd end up joining the Ghostbusters like Louis does in 2. At the time of the story, he's a bookstore employee/manager and is very passionate about his work.

Winston is Janine's equivalent, he's has a lot less of a biting/snarky personality but very much holds his own as a secretary. He decided in-universe that he wanted a break from hard work after his military stint and so opted for desk work - this does not go entirely to plan as the GB secretary job is very demanding, lol.

Egon kind of ends up as Peck. He's an EPA agent, but because his canon personality carries over, his no-nonsense and rule orientated decision-making is more out of genuine protection of the city and environment and not very ego based. He's just a strong stickler for regulation and also.., Peck rubs him the wrong way bc Peck is a vain bastard who refuses to comply with any investigation. Which is the catalyst to his intense investigation. He's very stern and (usually) less incendiary, but he will not back down when he figures what the Ghostbusters are doing is dangerous.

[mineralsrocksandfossiltalks]

Monday Musings: Copper and Your Health

Did you know that copper is a mineral that we need in our bodies? In fact, there are several metals we need to live healthy lives. What exactly do we need copper for? A few things actually. It is needed for the normal growth and development of human fetuses, infants and children.

In adults, it is necessary for the growth, development and maintenance of bone, connective tissue, brain, heart and many other body organs.

Copper is involved in the formation of red blood cells, the absorption and utilization of iron, and the synthesis and release of life-sustaining proteins and enzymes. These enzymes produce cellular energy and regulate nerve transmission, blood clotting and oxygen transport.

Copper is also known to stimulate the immune system, help repair injured tissues and promote healing. Copper has been shown to help neutralize "free radicals," which can cause severe damage to cells.

Despite all its uses, we only need about .9 mg of copper a day. Crazy right?

Where do I get copper in my diet? Copper-rich foods include grains, nuts and seeds, organ meats such as liver and kidneys, shellfish, dried fruits, legume vegetables like string beans and potatoes, chicken and some unexpected and delightful sources such as cocoa and chocolate.

I don't know about you, but several of those are definitely in my diet.

Okay, next question, what happens if I don't get enough copper in my diet? A deficiency in copper is one factor leading to an increased risk of developing high cholesterol levels and coronary heart disease in humans. Copper deficiencies are also associated with premature births, chronic diarrhea and stomach diseases.

But of course, there are also risks if you consume too much copper too. It can cause nausea but thankfully, it's really hard to hit toxic levels of copper. Just don't go around eating copper wire and you should be fine.

The last fun fact I have for you is that there are clinical trials in effect right now to see if frequently touched surfaces and air ventilation systems in hospitals made out of copper or copper alloys can help stem bacterial infections in hospitals. Copper has some antimicrobial abilities and they are hoping it can stop infections of deadly diseases like MRSA.

Initial studies at the University of Southampton, UK, and tests subsequently performed at ATS-Labs in Eagan, Minnesota, for the EPA show that copper-base alloys containing 65% or more copper are effective against:

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)

Staphylococcus aureus

Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis (VRE)

Enterobacter aerogenes

Escherichia coli O157:H7 and

Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Wild stuff, am I right? Who knew copper could be so useful outside of conducting electricity? Hope you enjoyed today's musings. Tune in tomorrow for one last trivia on copper before December is upon us! (I can't believe it's almost December. What happened to November?) Fossilize you later!

[cognitivejustice]

Vermont may soon become the first state [in the United States] to force fossil fuel companies to pay their fair share to cover recovery efforts from climate change damages. This week, the state's potentially groundbreaking law passed a preliminary vote in the Senate, where a final vote is expected soon that would likely send the law to the governor's desk. And there's reportedly broad enough support to override any attempt to veto the law.

By passing a law that mimics the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund program—which "forces the parties responsible for the contamination" of lands "to either perform cleanups or reimburse the government for EPA-led cleanup work"—Vermont hopes to create a Climate Superfund Cost Recovery Program.

If enacted, the law could end up costing fossil fuel companies billions for climate damages in Vermont alone and serve as a model for other states similarly seeking to combat their worst impacts.

Vermont Senator Dick Sears, who co-sponsored the bill, has said that the state's climate-related costs have continued to spike while fossil fuel companies recorded more than $200 billion in profits in 2022, CNBC reported.

"The Climate Superfund Act is built on the long-standing principle that the polluter pays," Sears said. "The damage that fossil fuels are causing in our communities continues to grow, with flooding in the last year alone resulting in massive costs to our state."

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Dean Obeidallah at The Dean's Report:

Today’s GOP controlled Supreme Court is nothing more than an arm of the Republican Party focused on imposing their right-wing agenda upon us--from ending fundamental rights like abortion and marriage equality to undermining voting rights and more.  That is why we must work to win control of the Supreme Court the same way we work to win control of the House, Senate and White House. That means going forward every Democratic presidential candidate must commit to “winning the court” (aka “reform of the Supreme Court”) or we should not support that person. The latest example of this grotesquely partisan court came Thursday in the oral argument of Donald Trump’s appeal that he has absolute immunity to commit all the crimes he wants as President. The six GOP Justices—who were all active in Republican politics or administrations before being picked by GOP presidents to serve—showed zero concern that Trump was charged with crimes for attempting to wage a coup to remain in power despite losing.  Instead, it was clear that the Republican justices are focused on protecting Trump by delaying his Jan 6 trial beyond Election Day.

If these justices were truly concerned with protecting our Republic, they would have agreed to hear this case in December 2023 when Special Counsel Jack Smith asked the court to fast track Trump’s appeal of the trial judge’s decision denying him immunity in the Jan 6 case.  But that was rejected by the GOP controlled court to help Trump delay his trial. And in the end, the Republican justices may render a decision that makes it all but impossible to prosecute Trump for his crimes in the Jan 6 case. In reality, no one should be surprised that the Republican justices would protect the presidential nominee of their party in an election year. That is especially true given that three of those justices were appointed by Trump. [...]

And the GOP Supreme Court is helping Republicans impose these women killing abortion bans. We saw this on Wednesday when the court considered a challenge from Idaho Republicans to a federal law that mandates doctors to provide an abortion to a woman who is faced with an medical emergency.  It’s clear from the oral argument that GOP justices support the Idaho state law that makes it illegal for doctor to perform an abortion--even if a woman is suffering horribly or could suffer permanent injuries. Only if a woman is literally on the doorstep of death after suffering extensively and begging for help would these Republican justices allow an abortion. This is barbarism—and it’s also the mainstream GOP position. The GOP controlled court has also repeatedly chipped away at the wall between church and state to pave the way for a theocracy consistent with their right-wing religious views. For example, in 2023, the GOP justices rolled back anti-discrimination protections for the LGBTQ community in the name of “religious freedom.”

In addition, these same GOP justices weakened the Voting Rights Act and greatly restricted the ability of the EPA to address climate change. And in a case that will literally result in more Americans being killed by gun violence, these same six Justices struck down in 2022 a century old New York state law that limited who can carry a concealed weapon.  Justice Thomas—in between lavish gifts from his billionaire benefactor—wrote in that case that modern gun control laws must be “consistent with the Second Amendment’s text and historical understanding.” This decision has resulted in courts striking down a wide range of modern gun laws—including prohibitions on guns in mass transit, guns in post offices, guns with obliterated serial numbers and gun possession by certain felons. Whatever the GOP wants, this court will deliver. That means—as Justice Thomas has vowed—the court will, when given a chance, limit access to forms of birth control that right wing theocrats oppose, roll back marriage equality and more. The reason the GOP Supreme Court is so acutely dangerous to our freedoms and rights is that there are no checks on their power. These justices don’t answer to the voters. There is no way to directly defeat them in an election. (We can’t even force Thomas to recuse himself from Jan 6 cases despite his obvious conflict of interest!)

[...] That is why Democrats going forward must make reforming this court a priority. That could mean—by way of a federal law--expanding the court to say 13 justices to match the number of federal court of appeals. It could mean rotating judges from Supreme Court to lower federal courts after a set number of years. Reform can also mean “term limits” for justices—which polls show is supported by 67 percent of Americans. There is no greater threat to our freedoms, rights and democratic Republic than today’s corruptly partisan Supreme Court. That is why every Democratic presidential candidate and those seeking a House or Senate seat must make “reforming the court” a priority. It’s time to transform the US Supreme Court from an arm of the GOP back to a real a court!

Dean Obeidallah nails it: The Supreme Court must be expanded and reformed to counter the ill-gotten GOP edge on the court.

[cetaceous]

Alain Roche plays the Piano Concert "When the Sun Stands Still" Hanging from a Crane, Munich, Germany The audience listened to the performance through headphones, facing east as the night sky turned to light. image credit: Anna Szilágyi/EPA via: The Guardian

[donnerpartyofone]

This morning I went over to the church to see my favorite guy, who is so often surprising and challenging. He seemed a little out of sorts today, stammering and losing his place; I sometimes worry about this old guy, and I was paying attention. Then at the end of the mass he said that they're having air quality problems in the rectory and the EPA is involved. I hope he's not getting brain damage!

It was sort of funny, though, because the homily was about having trouble focusing--not being able to concentrate, and having anxiety about the future. That was pretty relevant to me, medically and otherwise. I'm writing this on the morning of the new moon, just to be extra flaky, about how much trouble I have forming goals.

Pursuing goals is also hard, but step one should be having a vision, and that's the really impossible part. When I was a little kid I had two ambitions: to be a writer, and to be dead. The latter thing represents one of the main motivating forces in my life, which is pain avoidance. I think this is the chief motivator of many people without them even realizing it; comfort-seeking itself can be a form of pain avoidance. Pain avoidance is not a legitimate goal, it's more of a reflex, and it can become a preoccupying distraction from any kind of actual ambition (especially as fulfilling ambitions often involves some amount of discomfort). Focusing on what you do not want is not equivalent to focusing on what you do want.

I never had a very good idea of what I want. I found this out when I went into therapy as an adult; I couldn't formulate any notion of what I wanted out of life. I couldn't even come up with any masturbatory, pie in the sky fantasies. I might vaguely be able to say something like "a bigger, nicer apartment", but I can't come up with any compelling ideas about what that would even look like. I try, but I know I'm faking it. Certainly part of my interest in religion and occultism is the idea that I could train myself to really clearly conceptualize any kind of goals or desires. In the case of occultism specifically (and, let's be honest, many forms of self-help), visualization is always a key element. In recent years I learned that I am abnormally incapable of forming mental images, and I have come to believe that this is intimately connected to my inability to figure out what I want or how to get it.

Nearly all of my thinking is verbal. I found out what aphantasia was while talking to my dad, who is extremely visual with an excellent grasp of spacial relations (something I have almost no concept of). He was shocked when I said I can't really picture anything, asking me "Then how do you do anything?" He said when he decides to make a sandwich, for instance, he automatically sees himself performing the actions of sandwich-making, and sees the aspirational sandwich in his mind's eye. Visualizing is essential to his entire executive process. It so happens that I am aphantasic and I have a lot of executive dysfunction. I no longer think this is coincidental.

(I'm also very faceblind, and I think this is connected; something to do with the ability to reconstitute a visual memory and relate it to something that is presently in front of me. But anyway...)

Perhaps oddly, I am an artist, or at least I have been. But I've never been able to draw from my imagination, like at all. The best work I've ever done is all swipes; I am a great believer in swipes, it can reveal a lot about your personal style and obsessions and when you re-draw someone else's art. But I can't just sit and think up something fun to draw, even when I try to just doodle I'm usually responding more to the lines I see emerging on the paper than anything I'm thinking or feeling. I think this is related to the fact that I'm an obsessive scopophile; I take in a lot of detail from my environment, and I watch movies with the same attitude and frequency with which most people listen to music. Recently I started to joke that I have an image deficiency and that's why I have to consume huge amounts of visual media, I need the external infusion. But like, it's not that much of a joke, maybe.

In my 30s I randomly developed this condition where scar tissue grows over your corneas, and I had to have a series of freaky eye surgeries. My doctors always asked if I grew up somewhere warm and sunny and windy, if I do a lot of outdoor sports (sometimes this condition is called "surfer's eye"); I thought this was pretty funny since I couldn't be more of an indoor kid, although maybe cycling is somewhat at fault. Still, my preferred diagnosis is that I watch so much trashy and violent crap that it literally scars my eyes. It's as good an explanation as any! And it does have this weird synergy with my other visual problems.

Anyway, it's not as if I've done absolutely nothing with my life. Quite a few personal achievements piled up in just the last couple of years; certainly I've benefited a lot from luck and the good will of others, but nothing would have happened without my own creativity and commitment. I just wish I had more, you know. Vision. I spend too much of my life "taking one day at a time" and waiting for things to happen to me, assuming I don't have much control over my experiences. I'd rather be able to imagine something that I want to happen and act on it; regardless of whether the thing is going to happen, I'd like to be able to formulate a goal other than paying the rent, or like, not waking up and going to sleep in a state of stark terror. I'm not sure how to get myself to that place, but maybe saying that that's what I want can count for something.

Anyway here are some photos of the thoughtfully planted shrubbery from the church. I missed the full bloom of the weeping cherries, but as soon as they die off the shrubs below turn bright red, pink, yellow, and white. It's pretty inviting I must say.

[jgroffdaily]

JUST IN TIME: BOBBY DARIN (Broadway) - NYC EPA

Splish Splash Broadway LLC | New York, NY

AUDITION DATE

Tuesday, October 22, 2024

10:00 AM - 6:00 PM (E)

BREAK: 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM

LOCATION

Open Jar Studios

PERSONNEL

Producer: Tom Kirdahy, Robert Ahrens, John Frost

Book: Warren Leight and Isaac Oliver

Director: Alex Timbers

Choreographer: Shannon Lewis

Music Supervisor: Andrew Resnick

General Manager: Live Wire Theatrical

Casting Director: Jim Carnahan, CSA, Jason Thinger, CSA

EXPECTED TO ATTEND:

Jason Thinger (Casting Director)

OTHER DATES

First Rehearsal: o/a February 10, 2025

First Preview: o/a March 25, 2025

Opening: o/a April 23, 2025

BREAKDOWN

JUST IN TIME: BOBBY DARIN:

SEEKING:

TBA – BOBBY DARIN – CAST (Male, 20s-30s, White)

Singer-songwriter and actor who rose to fame in the 1950s/1960s. Struggled in his personal relationships but thrived onstage. He wanted nothing more than to entertain.

TBA - CHARLIE MAFFIA/AS CAST – CAST (Male, 40s-50s)

Bobby’s brother-in-law. Big, handsome in spite of, or because of, his coarseness. Blue-collar. Plumber. Maffia really was his real last name. NOTE: This track will double a variety of characters throughout the show.

TBA - DON KIRSHNER/AS CAST – CAST (Male, 40s-50s)

Bobby’s first writing partner. Hungry Bronx boy. More hustle than talent. Music Manager and Producer. This track will double a variety of characters throughout the show.

TBA - AHMET ERTEGUN/AS CAST – CAST (Male, 40s-50s)

President of Atlantic Records. Well-bred, intellectual, natural confidence. This track will double a variety of characters throughout the show.

TBA - POLLY/AS CAST – CAST (Female, 50s-60s, White)

Bobby’s mother. Vaudeville dame, a lot of spark and mileage. Worships at the altar of the Copa.

TBA - NINA/AS CAST – CAST (Female, 40s, White)

Bobby’s older sister. A combination of proud and bitter.

SANDRA DEE/AS CAST – (Female, 20s-Early 30s, White, 5’7 and under)

Married to Bobby. All-American Sweetheart. Attractive, charming, innocent, blonde, bubble gum, but can eventually take us to a darker place. Specifically seeking performers 5’7 and under.

CONNIE FRANCIS/AS CAST – (Female, 20s-Early 30s, White, 5’7 and under)

An actress and singer. Bobby started by writing her music, but they become romantically involved. Very direct. A bit of grit and sass. New Jersey Girl. Brunette. Specifically seeking performers 5’7 and under.

BOBBY DARIN/DON KIRSHNER Cover – (Male, 30s)

BOBBY DARIN is a Singer-songwriter and actor who rose to fame in the 1950s/1960s. Struggled in his personal relationships but thrived onstage. He wanted nothing more than to entertain. DON KIRSHNER is Bobby’s first writing partner. Hungry Bronx boy. More hustle than talent. Music Manager and Producer. NOTE: The DON track will double a variety of characters throughout the show.

CHARLIE MAFFIA/AHMET ERTEGUN Cover – (Male, 40s)

CHARLIE MAFFIA is Bobby’s brother-in-law. Big, handsome in spite of, or because of, his coarseness. Blue-collar. Plumber. Maffia really was his real last name. Seeking an actor that very much leans into a goodfellas vibe. AHMET ERTEGUN is President of Atlantic Records. Well-bred, intellectual, natural confidence. NOTE: These tracks will both play a variety of characters throughout the show.

POLLY/NINA Cover – (Female, 40s-50s, White)

POLLY is Bobby’s mother. Vaudeville dame, a lot of spark and mileage. Worships at the altar of the Copa. NINA is Bobby’s older sister. A combination of proud and bitter.

CONNIE FRANCIS/SANDRA DEE Cover – (Female, 20s-Early 30s, 5’7 and under)

CONNIE FRANCIS is an actress and singer. Bobby started by writing her music, but they become romantically involved. Very direct. A bit of grit and sass. New Jersey Girl. Brunette. Specifically seeking performers 5’7 and under. SANDRA DEE is married to Bobby. All-American Sweetheart. Attractive, charming, innocent, blonde, bubble gum, but can eventually take us to a darker place. 5’7 and under.

[divinum-pacis]

April 9, 2023: Manila, Philippines Filipino women in traditional costumes perform outside a Catholic church during a procession marking Easter Sunday

Photograph: Francis R Malasig/EPA

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from DeSmog Blog:

Environmental groups are teeing up a legal challenge to new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules on pollution from chemical and plastics plants, citing concerns the EPA relied too heavily on lowball industry estimates as it sized up the risks to people’s health posed by ethylene oxide (EtO), chloroprene, and other toxic air pollution.

The EPA just announced the new rules in April, saying they’re intended to “significantly reduce” dangerous pollution from chemical plants and some plastics plants.

But the Environmental Integrity Project, Earthjustice, Sierra Club, California Communities Against Toxics, Air Alliance Houston, and others filed suit this week in the federal D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, with attorneys for the groups telling DeSmog they believe the EPA’s rules remain too weak.

“The EPA’s underestimation of the risks posed by chemical facilities puts nearby communities in grave danger,” Earthjustice attorney Deena Tumeh said in a statement announcing the litigation. “By downplaying ethylene oxide emissions, the EPA fails to protect public health adequately.”

When contacted by DeSmog, the EPA declined to comment, citing pending litigation.

Roughly 200 plants, dotted across the country but heavily clustered along the Gulf Coast, are covered by the new rules. Those plants primarily make chemicals and “polymers and resins,” or plastics — and they release dangerous chemicals into the air in the process.

The new rules, years in the making, update Clean Air Act standards on a half dozen pollutants from those plants, including the highly carcinogenic EtO and benzene, chloroprene (used to make the neoprene that’s found in wetsuits), vinyl chloride (which was notoriously burnt off in the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment), a vinyl chloride precursor known as ethylene dichloride, and 1,3 butadiene (used to make synthetic rubber).

The EPA has said its rule “will provide critical health protections to hundreds of thousands of people living near chemical plants.”

The environmental groups’ lawsuit comes shortly after Denka Performance Elastomers asked the D.C. Circuit to block the rules from going into effect in May. Denka, a Japanese company, alleged that the EPA allowed too little time for the company to slash chloroprene emissions from its LaPlace, Louisiana, operations, giving the company just 90 days, while other chemical manufacturers would be allowed two years to curb their emissions. 

Denka’s claims have drawn public support from the state’s governor, Jeff Landry, and Louisiana attorney general Liz Murrill, who also filed a D.C. Circuit challenge, citing concerns that the Denka plant could be shut down.

Back in April, DeSmog first reported on concerns that loopholes in the rules, combined with plans from companies like Koch Industries to expand their operations, could mean Louisiana’s Cancer Alley won’t see a decrease in total toxic air pollution.

A July 16, E&E News investigation found that tightened EPA regulations governing hazardous air pollution from oil refineries – a similar set of rules to the ones covering chemical and plastics plants – successfully tamped down dangerous emissions from most of the 130 refineries reviewed. Dozens of other refineries, however – mostly located in communities of color – saw emissions rise. Troy Abel, a Western Washington University professor of environmental policy, faulted “less stringent rules enforcement in some states versus others.”

This week’s legal challenge to the rules for plastics and chemical plants doesn’t specify what criticisms the groups intend to raise before the court.

But attorneys for environmental groups behind the new lawsuit filed July 16 said that while EPA’s rule marks an improvement in many ways, it also contains some dangerous flaws. 

“The basic structure of the rule is good, we just don’t think it runs far enough,” Abel Russ, a senior attorney for the Environmental Integrity Project, told DeSmog.

[danieljreboot]

10) Patrick Mahomes, KC (vs. NO): B- (66)

Week 5 was somewhat of a bounce-back game for Mahomes after a very mediocre set of results in the previous three weeks. He stood out this week in clutch situations. His EPA when the game was still in the balance in the fourth quarter was the third-best number since the start of 2019.

The NFL should be terrified that the Chiefs are 5-0 while Mahomes is playing as a league-average option by QB+. His performance in 2024 has shown a similar trend to that of 2023. Last year, Mahomes recorded a QB+ above 70 in just 25% of his games, and he has yet to do so this year. There is plenty of time for him to improve this season, and that is a scary thought.

[dertaglichedan]

The Biden administration appears to be working overtime within federal agencies to put labor agreements in place before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.

The agreements are designed to complicate Trump’s stated goal of civil service reform or, as he puts it, purging the deep state. The contract terms can restrict federal agencies’ discretion over employee management.

The latest example of the Biden administration implementing this tactic is at the Social Security Administration (SSA). It has already performed or is working toward similar changes at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Bloomberg reported on the Biden administration’s efforts:

A Biden administration appointee has agreed to lock in hybrid work protections for tens of thousands of Social Security staff, part of a slew of organized labor efforts that complicate President-elect Donald Trump’s efforts to reshape the federal workforce.

The American Federation of Government Employees [AFGE], a union representing 42,000 Social Security Administration workers, reached an agreement with the agency last week that will protect telework until 2029 in an updated contract, according to a message to its members viewed by Bloomberg.

…

AFGE members at the Environmental Protection Agency in May ratified a contract with management that includes new “scientific integrity” safeguards meant to protect their ability to discuss their work with the media and report alleged scientific misconduct without suffering from retaliation. Attorneys at the Department of Justice have been organizing with another group, the National Treasury Employees Union, trying to secure union recognition before Biden leaves office.

The Biden administration has taken some heat for its plan of action to impede Trump’s purge of the administrative state. Senator-elect Bernie Moreno (R-OH) said he would work with Trump to unwind the agreements on day one.

“Federal employees are on notice: in the real world, when you don’t show up to work, you get fired. Senate Republicans will start unwinding these ridiculous deals on Day 1,” he said

[denimbex1986]

'...Understudy for Performer

Lead. Female. 35-55

Female Identifying; charismatic and compelling; a range of dynamic roles: Alexander, Helena, Sonya, Elizabeth, Ivan, Michael, Liam and Maureen; this requires extensive vocal and physical versatility as the actor seamlessly embodies and shifts between the characters, adapting to age, gender, social status, and emotional complexity, while maintaining the intimacy of the solo performance; note on accent: Andrew performs in his native Irish; though production is not set on a specific accent, the Performer Understudy should read in their choice of a regional England, Irish or similar accent; at this time, it is not to be performed in Standard American.

Dates & Locations

Rehearsals begin mid-February 2025; runs Mar. 11-May 4 or 19, 2025 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in NYC.

Compensation & Contract

Additional: The minimum base weekly salary for the positions being auditioned for is established by a collective bargaining agreement between The Off-Broadway League, on behalf of the above-named producer, and Actors' Equity Association. For Off-Broadway, it is anticipated that the base weekly salary for each of the below-listed role will be $1,383/wk. (which equals an annualized base salary of $71,916) and a maximum of $2,500/wk. (which equals an annualized base salary of $130,000). Equity Off Broadway Agreement.

Key Details

Auditions:

New York City, NY

Equity Principal Audition

Dec 5, 2024...'