#cooperative federalism

[insightfultake]

NITI Aayog at a Crossroads: Charting a New Path Amid Global and Domestic Turmoil

As the world navigates a stormy era marked by de-globalization, rapid technological shifts, rising populism, and a looming climate crisis, India's policymaking apparatus stands at an inflection point. The intellectual orthodoxy of neoliberalism—rooted in open markets, deregulation, and a minimal state—faces a legitimacy crisis globally and domestically. Meanwhile, India grapples with its own set of pressing challenges: sluggish structural transformation, persistent unemployment, and mounting inequality. It is within this turbulent context that the performance of NITI Aayog, the government's premier think tank, must be assessed as it completes a decade of existence...Read more

[alphamecha-mkii]

Starfleet Academy Trainer by Jason Cooper

[tomorrowusa]

Trump parachuted into Georgia to hold a disaster photo-op and spew bullshit about federal response to Hurricane Helene. The Republican governor of Georgia and the Democratic governor of North Carolina both quickly repudiated Trump's disinformation.

Trump lies to distract voters to keep them from remembering his notoriously disastrous responses to hurricanes. We already recall things like his tossing paper towels at hurricane victims in Puerto Rico and his weird attempt to change the path of Hurricane Dorian with a Sharpie marker.

Hurricane Matthew struck North Carolina in late 2016. Its ongoing recovery efforts were hampered by the incoming Trump administration. Four months after the "American carnage" Trump inauguration, the state had received less than 1% of the resources it needed according to Gov. Roy Cooper.

As for Helene...

Once Trump arrived in Georgia, he told reporters more lies, including that Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp was unable to get in contact with President Biden. Unfortunately for the former President—whose biggest presidential legacy is his propensity to lie about everything all the time, Governor Kemp told the press earlier on Monday that he'd spoken with President Biden at 5 p.m. on Sunday while praising the Democratic administration's response to Helene. [ ... ] President Biden was asked Monday during a White House press pool about Trump’s latest lies and his claims about FEMA and Governor Cooper excluding Republicans in North Carolina's relief efforts. The 46th President responded: "He’s lying, and the governor told him he was lying. The governor told him he’s lying. I’ve spoken to the governor, spent time with him, and he told him he’s lying. "I don't know why he does this." "And the reason I get so angry about it, I don't care what he says about me. I care about what he communicates to people that are in need. He implies that we're not doing everything possible. We are..." "...That’s simply not true, and it’s irresponsible."

Being irresponsible and a hopelessly chronic liar are the only things which Trump is good at.

[joearlikelikeswrestling]

[qtcomicsblog]

This is an Olivia fox short comic

Olivia getting dressed after spending the night with her date

[bumblingbabooshka]

Tuvok’s intake of breath/slight straightening of posture when Janeway says she spoke to his family before she left....................................................I can’t speak

[revellious]

someday a man walks into your life and asks about Douglas Firs and makes you understand why you've never had a blorbo before

[thefaeriefeatherdark]

Love when paperwork or training or something for a job has stuff on it where it's like "We here at GENERIC COMPANY offer this Support line in case of work case harassment because we care about our employees a lot also it is legally required but mostly it's because we definitely love our employees"

[xtruss]

Experts Call For Long-Term, Joint Seawater Monitoring To Collect Prosecution Evidence As Radioactive ☢️ Substance Detected For First Time Near Fukushima N-Plant

— Zhang Changyue | September 03, 2023

Japan's reckless dumping of Nuclear ☢️ Wastewater poses a grave danger to Earth. Cartoon: Carlos Latuff/Brazil 🇧🇷

As Japan 🇯🇵 has detected the radioactive substance tritium for the first time after it started dumping the Nuclear-Contaminated Wastewater, Chinese experts on Sunday called for a long-term and joint monitoring program by international community on the radioactive substances in the seawater to collect and accumulate evidence for future prosecution against Japan.

Ten becquerels per liter of tritium was detected in a seawater sample taken on Thursday about 200 meters north of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant's underwater discharge tunnel, which is the first time that the radioactive material was detected in a seawater sample since Japan started the dumping of the nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the Pacific Ocean on August 24, the Japan News reported.

According to Kyodo News, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) said the detection of tritium can be considered as affected by the dumping but without any security problem.

As TEPCO and Japan's Environment Ministry claimed that Tritium levels in seawater sampled at sites near the plant were below the detectable limit, Chang Yen-chiang, director of the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea Research Institute of Dalian Maritime University, told the Global Times on Sunday that "time" is the key factor in monitoring radioactive substances.

"It is not long since Japan began dumping the nuclear-contaminated wastewater into sea, so it is normal that we would see the current low levels of the detected radioactive substances," Chang noted, saying that countries in the Pacific regions can engage in a joint and long-term research and testing of radioactive substances through international cooperation.

Gao Zhikai, Vice President of the Center for China 🇨🇳 and Globalization, a Beijing-based nongovernmental think tank, echoed Chang. Gao said China could consider collaborating with other countries and some nongovernmental environmental organizations to set up a permanent monitoring station on behalf of the international community to collect relevant radiation data, for example, by sending a ship to the exclusive economic zone around Fukushima.

A Citizen Group in Fukushima is preparing to sue the Japanese government and TEPCO on September 8 with more than 100 plaintiffs to demand the cessation of the dumping, Jiji News reported. The legal team said the extent to which radioactive substances other than tritium are present in the wastewater has not been clarified, and the Japanese government violated the promise made with the Fukushima Prefectural Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations not to take any action without the understanding of the stakeholders, thereby infringing upon the fishermen's fishing rights and threatening the consumers' right to live in peace.

Gao said Japan's dumping of the nuclear-contaminated wastewater can be regarded as an act of infringement since the behavior will definitely result in infringement upon the legitimate rights and interests of individuals and organizations. He suggested China work with other countries to establish a specialized legal committee as soon as possible to deal with acts of infringement and to collect evidence of the types of damage caused by Japan's dumping of the nuclear-contaminated water worldwide.

According to Kyodo News, the Japanese Civic Group "National Liaison Committee Against the Release of Contaminated Water from Nuclear Power Plants" filed a complaint to the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office on Friday against Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and TEPCO President Tomoaki Kobayakawa for causing potential damage to non-residential buildings and deaths due to professional negligence over the dumping of nuclear-contaminated water.

On Saturday, thousands of South Koreans 🇰🇷 including Fishermen, Activists and Politicians continued a weekend rally in central Seoul to protest against Japan's dumping of the nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the ocean.

The participants shouted slogans like "Immediately stop the marine dumping of radioactive wastewater" and "Prohibit import of all Japanese aquatic products," urging the South Korean government to file a lawsuit with the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea against the Japanese government.

[jhsharman]

Postal

Maybe someone thinking we need to add gritty realism to the idyllic streets of Riverdale. Splash the place with graffiti. Also, A loves B. Betty will be happy to see that.

Notable also, Betty's long boots are now shoes and socks.

[secondjulia]

"I’m very concerned about my client’s right to a fair trial in this case.  He’s being prejudiced by some statements that are being made by government officials. Like every other defendant, he’s entitled to a presumption of innocence. But unfortunately the way this has been handled so far his rights are being violated. And as you know, Your Honor, there’s a wealth of case law guaranteeing his rights to a fair trial, but none of the safeguards have been put in place yet here — in fact it’s just the opposite of what’s been happening. 

He’s a young man, and he is being treated like a human pingpong ball between two warring jurisdictions here.

These federal and state prosecutors are coordinating with one another at the expense of him. They have conflicting theories in their indictment, and they are literally treating him like he is some sort of political fodder, like some sort of spectacle. 

He was on display for everyone to see in the biggest staged perp walk I’ve ever seen in my career. It was absolutely unnecessary. He’s been cooperative with law enforcement. He’d been in custody for over a week. He waived extradition. He was cooperative at all accounts. There was no reason for the NYPD and everybody to have these big assault rifles — that frankly I had no idea it was in their arsenal — and to have all the press there the media there. It was perfectly choreographed. 

And what was the New York City Mayor doing at this press conference, Your Honor? That just made it utterly political. And as your honor knows under Loro v. Charles, the Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit has held it to be clearly established that these staged perp walks to the media unrelated to a legitimate law enforcement objective is unconstitutional. And I submit that there was zero law enforcement objective to do that sort of perp walk. There’s absolutely no need for that whatsoever. 

And frankly, Your Honor, the mayor should know more than anyone about the presumption of innocence that he, too, is afforded dealing with his own issues. And, frankly, I submit that he was just trying to detract from those issues by making a spectacle of Mr. Mangione. 

And there are consequences to this. 

He has a right to a fair trial. And I just want to put on the record statements that the mayor made publicly about my client. Nothing saying “alleged” for example. And he said “I wanted to send a strong message with the police commissioner that we’re leading from the front. I’m not just going to allow him to come into our city. I wanted to look him in the eye and state ‘You carried out this terrorist act in my city, the city of New York that I love.’” And he wanted to show symbolism. 

Your Honor, he’s not a symbol. He’s somebody who is afforded the right to a fair trial. He’s innocent until proven guilty. And the mayor was talking to jurors — future potential jurors that elected him. Those are the people that elected him that he is talking to and calling this man a terrorist.

So, Your Honor, I just want to make a record of this and put everyone on notice that this has to stop, and my client is entitled to a fair trial and the presumption of innocence."

From the CNN stream (weird video)

[alphamecha-mkii]

Combat Space Patrol by Jason Cooper

[ffxplayer]

I love this case. It's fascinating. Did you know all the bills were recorded (serial numbers) and although supposedly a few were found, majority have never resurfaced? Read up on this one if you love weird crimes. No one gets hurt, it's just odd and mysterious!

November 24, 1971: Dan “DB” Cooper parachutes from a Northwest AL 727 with $200,000. Despite an extensive manhunt and an ongoing FBI investigation, the perpetrator has never been located or positively identified. The case remains the only unsolved air piracy in American aviation history.

Image: FBI Bulletin

[joearlikelikeswrestling]

[qtcomicsblog]

more olivia fox

[erdkuttam]

US Treasury Takes Urgent Measures to Prevent Debt Ceiling Breach in 2025

As the US Treasury faces growing pressure in 2025, officials are preparing to implement a series of emergency measures to prevent the United States from breaching its debt ceiling. The debt limit has long been a contentious issue in American politics, but its significance has reached new heights as the nation’s fiscal challenges continue to mount. With concerns over the nation’s financial…