#home loans Reservoir

[keystonemortgagebrokers]

Mortgage Broker Reservoir: How The Finance Agency Simplifies Home Loans for You

When it comes to finding the perfect home loan in Melbourne, having the right guidance can make all the difference. Whether you're a first-time homebuyer or an experienced investor, navigating the complexities of the home loan process can be daunting. This is where Keystone Mortgage Brokers step in. As a leading mortgage broker in Reservoir, we pride ourselves on delivering tailored solutions to meet your specific needs. Read More: https://buymeacoffee.com/keystonebrokers/mortgage-broker-reservoir-how-the-finance-agency-simplifies-home-loans-you

[pannaginip]

Located 62km north-east of the capital Manila, Daraitan village in Rizal province is home to about 5,700 residents, a majority of whom are members of the Dumagat-Remontado indigenous people who consider vast hectares of the mountain range as part of their ancestral domain.

But the village may soon disappear under the same waters that give it life, once the Philippine government finishes building the Kaliwa Dam – one of 16 flagship infrastructure projects of former president Rodrigo Duterte that is being funded by China.

The new dam is expected to provide Metro Manila with an additional 600 million litres of water daily once it is finished by end-2026. Officials said building the 60m-high reservoir is even more necessary now that the country is starting to feel the impact of the El Nino weather phenomenon.

But it was only in 2021 under Mr Duterte that construction finally broke ground, three years after Manila and Beijing signed the 12 billion peso (S$288 million) loan agreement.

Of the 119 on the list [of flagship projects of the "Build, Build, Build” infrastructure programme], Mr Duterte turned to China to finance 16 big-ticket projects in a bid to cement his legacy by the time his presidency ended in 2022. He embraced Beijing during his term and even downplayed Manila’s claims in the disputed South China Sea in favour of securing loans and grants from China.

Analysts have criticised Mr Duterte’s infrastructure programme as ambitious. Perennial domestic issues like local politics, right-of-way acquisition problems, lack of technology and red tape in bureaucracy led to severe delays in the projects.

The same issues hound the China-funded projects – which come under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to build infrastructure in developing nations – with the problems made more severe by Beijing’s high interest rates in its loan agreements and local backlash due to displacement of residents or potential environmental damage.

Critics say the BRI has been detrimental in the long run to some recipient countries, especially those that have been unable to repay their loans, like Sri Lanka and Zambia.

The Duterte government’s failure to take advantage of its BRI loans was a “missed opportunity” for the Philippines, said infrastructure governance specialist Jerik Cruz, a graduate research fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The four completed China-funded projects under Mr Duterte were controversial too. But they came to fruition because they had the support of local politicians allied with Mr Duterte and therefore increased his political capital, said Dr Camba.

Tribal leaders said they were not properly consulted regarding the project that threatens their traditional way of life. Environmentalists from the Stop Kaliwa Dam Network also say the project would destroy 126 species of flora and fauna in the Sierra Madre.

The Philippines’ Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act states that the government must first secure a tribe’s free, prior and informed consent before building on its ancestral lands.

But Ms Clara Dullas, one of the leaders of the Dumagat-Remontado in Rizal, alleged that the Duterte government had either misinformed or pressured other tribe members into giving their consent.

She could not bear to hold grudges, though, noting that the Dumagat-Remontado organisations that eventually agreed to the Kaliwa Dam were each given 80 million pesos, or $1.9 million, in “disturbance” fees.

“The Kaliwa Dam is the reason why our tribe is divided now. There is a crack in our relationships even if we all come from the same family,” said Ms Dullas. “I can’t blame the others because we lack money. I believe there was bribery involved.”

The government requires them to present identification documents, and only those given passes may enter. Mr Dizon said this is to ensure that no unidentified personnel enter the area [close to the construction zone].

“We feel like we are foreigners in our own home because the Chinese and the people in our own government are now preventing us from entering the lands where we grew up,” said tribe leader Renato Ibanez, 48.

Mr Ibanez also accuses the Philippine authorities of harassing tribe members who are vocal against Kaliwa Dam. Some of them have been accused of working with communist rebels, a charge the tribe vehemently denies.

Unlike his predecessor, Mr Marcos is more aggressive in defending Manila’s overlapping claims with Beijing in the South China Sea, but still fosters economic ties with it.

Geopolitical tensions between the two nations and Mr Marcos’ stance towards Beijing are going to dictate the fate of the pending China-funded projects the President inherited from Mr Duterte, said Mr Cruz.

Tribe members said they would be more amenable if Mr Marcos would revisit Japan’s proposed Kaliwa Intake Weir project that Mr Duterte had set aside.

“We like Japan’s proposal. It would not destroy our forests. It would not affect residents here. The Philippines would not be buried in debt,” said Ms Dullas.

This was among the alternatives the Dumagat-Remontados offered during their nine-day march in February 2023, when some 300 members walked 150km from Quezon and Rizal all the way to Manila to protest against the Kaliwa Dam.

But they failed to secure an audience with Mr Marcos. They remain wary of the President’s position on the Kaliwa Dam and other controversial China-funded deals.

“As much as we want to fully pin our hopes on him, we don’t. We’ve learnt from past efforts to trick us, make us believe a project is about to end, only for it to be resurrected again years later,” said Ms Dullas.

2024 Mar. 3

[hoursofreading]

The GOP's only policy position is that of 'what will hurt people most?' There is no reason why Republicans even have a chance of taking back the majority. In 2022 alone, Biden and Dems have done the following:

passed the Inflation Reduction Act, the biggest investment in fighting climate change in history

passed the bipartisan infrastructure bill, the largest investment in infrastructure since Eisenhower

passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, breaking a 30-year streak of federal inaction on gun violence legislation

signed the CHIPS and Science Act into law

took out the leader of al Qaeda

ended America's longest war

reauthorized and strengthened the Violence Against Women Act

signed the PACT Act, a bill to address veteran burn pit exposure

signed the NATO accession protocols for Sweden and Finland

issued executive order to protect reproductive rights

canceled $10,000 of student loan debt for borrowers making less than $125,000 and canceled $20,000 in debt for Pell Grant recipients

canceled billions in student loan debt for borrowers who were defrauded

nominated now-Supreme Court Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to replace Justice Breyer

brought COVID under control in the U.S. (e.g., COVID deaths down 90% and over 220 million vaccinated)

formed Monkeypox response team to reach communities at highest risk of contracting the virus

unemployment at a 50-year low

on track to cut deficit by $1.3 trillion, largest one-year reduction in U.S. history

limited the release of mercury from coal-burning power plants

$5 billion for electric vehicle chargers- $119 billion budget surplus in January 2022, first in over two years

united world against Russia’s war in Ukraine

ended forced arbitration in workplace sexual assault cases

reinstated California authority to set pollution standards for cars

ended asylum restrictions for children traveling alone

signed the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act, the first federal ban on lynching after 200 failed attempts

Initiated “use it or lose it" policy for drilling on public lands to force oil companies to increase production

released 1 million barrels of oil a day for 6 months from strategic reserves to ease gas prices

rescinded Trump-era policy allowing rapid expulsion of migrants

expunged student loan defaults

overhauled USPS finances to allow the agency to modernize its service

required federal dollars spent on infrastructure to use materials made in America

restored environmental reviews for major infrastructure projects

Launched $6 billion effort to save distressed nuclear plants

provided $385 million to help families and individuals with home energy costs through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. (This is in addition to $4.5 billion provided in the American Rescue Plan.)

national registry of police officers who are fired for misconduct

tightened restrictions on chokeholds, no-knock warrants, and transfer of military equipment to police departments

required all federal law enforcement officers to wear body cameras

$265 million for South Florida reservoir, key component of Everglades restoration

major wind farm project off West coast to provide electricity for 1.5 million homes

continued Obama administration's practice of posting log records of visitors to White House

devoted $2.1 billion to strengthen US food supply chain

invoked Defense Production Act to rapidly expand domestic production of critical clean energy technologies

enacted two-year pause of anti-circumvention tariffs on solar

allocated funds to federal agencies to counter 300-plus anti-LGBTQ laws by state lawmakers in 2022

relaunched cancer 'moonshot' initiative to help cut death rate

expanded access to emergency contraception and long-acting reversible contraception

prevented states from banning Mifepristone, a medication used to end early pregnancy that has FDA approval

21 executive actions to reduce gun violence

Climate Smart Buildings Initiative: Creates public-private partnerships to modernize Federal buildings to meet agencies’ missions, create good-paying jobs, and cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions

Paying for today’s needed renovations with tomorrow’s energy savings without requiring upfront taxpayer funding

ended Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy

Operation Fly-Formula, bringing needed baby formula (19 missions to date)

executive order protecting travel for abortion

invested more in crime control and prevention than any president in history

provided death, disability, and education benefits to public safety officers and survivors who are killed or injured in the line of duty

Reunited 500 migrant families separated under Trump

$1.66 billion in grants to transit agencies, territories, and states to invest in 150 bus fleets and facilities

brokered joint US/Mexico infrastructure project; Mexico to pay $1.5 billion for US border security

blocked 4 hospital mergers that would've driven up prices and is poised to thwart more anti-competition consolidation attempts

10 million jobs—more than ever created before at this point of a presidency

record small business creation

banned paywalls on taxpayer-funded research

best economic growth record since Clinton

struck deal between major U.S. railroads and unions representing tens of thousands of workers after about 20 hours of talks, averting rail strike

eliminated civil statute of limitations for child abuse victims

announced $156 million for America's first-of-its-kind critical minerals refinery, demonstrating the commercial viability of turning mine waste into clean energy technology.

started process of reclassifying Marijuana away from being a Schedule 1 substance and pardoning all federal prisoners with possession offenses

Note: This list only reflects 2022 accomplishments. Click here for 2021 accomplishments.

[possumtailpark]

the list rn: my cat is sick, I'm so injured from working Monday and Tuesday that I can't walk without a cane, my car broke down again this time because the radiator blew out, I'm an hour late for work, no one can pick me up to take me to work, the mechanic that could fix my car is also not in town, I had to walk home on my cane because there was no other way to get there, my whole paycheck is gone because of paying off the brake fix, paying rent, paying medical bills, buying medicine for my cat, loaning money to a friend because she's moving and would lose out on her apartment otherwise, paying for antifreeze that is leaking out of the reservoir on my radiator, and trying to fucking survive. bro should I just....?

[mariacallous]

Prime Minister Sunak talks about the need for “compassion” from the government this winter. But how far do social security benefits have to fall before our welfare system descends into a form of cruelty?

Take a couple with three children whose universal credit payment is, in theory, £46.11 a day. However, when their payment lands they have just £35, because around a quarter of their benefit has been deducted to pay back the loan they had to take out on joining universal credit to cover the five weeks they were denied benefit. And an extra 5% has been deducted as back payment to their utility company. According to Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) rules, money can be deducted for repayment of advance or emergency loans, and even on behalf of third parties for rent, utilities and service charge payments.

With gas and electricity likely to cost, at a minimum, £7 on cold days like today, and with a council tax contribution to be paid on top, they find that they have just £25. 80 a day left over, or £5.16 per person, to pay for food and all other essentials. Even if the Scottish child poverty payment comes their way, clothes, travel, toiletries and home furnishings remain out of reach. Parents like them are just about the best accountants I could ever meet , but you can’t budget with nothing to budget with. And that’s why so many have had to tell their children they can’t afford presents this Christmas. No wonder they need the weekly bag of food they get from the local food bank. But they also need a toiletries and hygiene bank, a clothes bank, a bedding bank, a home furnishings bank, and a baby bank.

The DWP has now become the country’s biggest debt collector, seizing money that should never have had to be paid back, from people who cannot afford to pay anyway. In fact, the majority of families on universal credit do not receive the full benefit that the DWP advertises. More than 20% is deducted at source from each benefit payment made to a million households, leaving them surviving on scraps and charity as they run out of cash in the days before their next payment. In total, 2 million children are in families suffering deductions.

When the money runs out, and the food bank tokens are gone, parents become desperate and ashamed that their children cannot be fed, and fall victim to loan sharks hiding in the back alleys who exploit hardship and compound it, and prey on pain and inflame it.

The case for each community having its own multi-bank – its reservoir of supplies for those without – is more urgent this winter than at any time I have known. Since the Trussell Trust’s brilliant expansion of UK food banks, creative local and national charities have pioneered community banks of all kinds offering free clothes, furnishings, bedding, electrical goods and,in the case of the national charity In Kind Direct, toiletries.

In Fife, Amazon, PepsiCo, Scotmid Fishers and other companies helped to set up a multi-bank. It’s a simple idea that could bereplicated nationwide: they meet unmet needs by using unused goods. The companies have the goods people need, and the charities know the people who need them. With a coordinating charity, a warehouse to amass donations and a proper referral system, multi-banks can ensure their goods alleviate poverty.

But the charities know themselves that they can never do enough. With the state privatisations of gas, water, electricity and telecoms, the government gave up on responsibility for essential national assets. But now, with what is in effect the privatisation of welfare, our government is giving up on its responsibility to those in greatest need – passing the buck to charities, which cannot cope.Just as breadwinners cannot afford bread, food banks are running out of food.

Charities, too,are at the mercy of exceptionally high demand and the changing circumstances of donors whose help can be withdrawn as suddenly as it has been given. And so while voluntary organisations – and not the welfare state – are currently our last line of defence, the gap they have to bridge is too big for them to ever be the country’s safety net.

According to Prof Donald Hirsch and the team researching minimum income standards at Loughborough University, benefit levels for those out of work now fall 50% short of what most of us would think is a minimum living income, with their real value falling faster in 2022 than at any time for 50 years since up-ratings were introduced. And still 800,000 of the poorest children in England go without free school meals.

When it comes to helping with heating, the maximum that any family will receive, no matter its size, is £24 a week emergency help to cover what the government accepts is the £50 a week typical cost of heating a home. From April, the extra payments will be even less – just £16 to cover nearly the typical £60 a week they now expect gas and electricity to cost. And then, as Jeremy Hunt says, help with heating will become a thing of the past.

One hundred years ago, Winston Churchill was moved to talk of the unacceptable contrast between the accumulated excesses of unjustified privilege and “the gaping sorrows of the left-out millions”. Our long term priority must be to persuade a highly unequal country of the need for a decent minimum income for all, but our immediate demand must be for the government to suspend for the duration of this energy crisis the deductions that will soon cause destitution.

Ministers have been forced to change tack before. In April 2021 the government reduced the cap on the proportion of income deducted from 30% to 25%. During the first phase of Covid, ministers temporarily halted all deductions. In April, they discouraged utility firms from demanding them, but deductions as high as 30% of income are still commonplace.

There is no huge cost to the government in suspending deductions, for it will get its money back later. But this could be a lifesaver for millions now suffering under a regime that seems vindictive beyond austerity. Let this be a Christmas of compassion, instead of cruelty.

[hapalopus]

He did though.

2021:

Cancel Keystone Pipeline

Reverse Trump's Muslim ban

Require masks on federal property

Rejoins the Paris Climate agreement

Extend Student Loan payment freeze

Extend eviction freeze

Ends funding for Border wall

Orders agencies to reunite families separated at border by Trump

Orders strengthening of DACA

Rejoins The World Health Organization

Rescinds Trump's 1776 Commission and directs agencies to review actions to ensure racial equity

Provide funding to local and state officials to create vaccination sites

Ends transgender military ban

Ends Federal Contracts With Private Prisons

Restores Aid To Palestinians

Suspends new leases for oil & natural gas development on federal land

Restores access to healthcare.gov

Extends fair housing protections to include LGBTQ Americans

Ends support for Saudi Arabia led campaign in Yemen

Withdraws UN sanctions on Iran

Extends universal free school lunch through 2022

Commits to cutting U.S. emissions in half by 2030 as part of Paris climate pact

Reverses Trump's Anti-Trans Shelter Rule

Officially recognizes massacre of Armenians in World War I as genocide

Raises Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors and Federal Employees to $15

Restores Transgender Health Protections

Suspends oil and gas leases in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Reinstalls rules removed by Trump limiting methane emissions from leaks and flares in oil and gas wells

Lifts abortion referral ban on family planning clinics

Passes largest infrastructure improvement bill in history

Ban goods made by Uyghur slave labor

Aside from one Afghanistan strike early on, Biden has ended drone strikes

Formally ends combat mission in Iraq

Achieves historic 45% reduction of poverty levels in first six months

Achieves historic 61% reduction of child poverty in first six months

2022:

Makes sexual harassment in the military a crime

Limits the release of mercury from coal-burning power plants

Ends asylum restrictions for children traveling alone

Reauthorizes and strengthens the Violence Against Women Act

Makes lynching a federal crime

Rescinds Trump-era policy allowing rapid expulsion of migrants at border and blocks them from seeking asylum

Overhauled the US Postal Service's finances to allow the agency to modernize its service

Establishes national registry of police officers who are fired for misconduct

Lifts sanctions on the Rojava and other opposition-held territory in Syria

Tightens restrictions on chokeholds, no-knock warrants, and transfer of military equipment to police departments

Requires all federal Law enforcement officers to wear body cameras

$265 million for South Florida reservoir, key component of Everglades restoration

Major wind farm project off West coast to provide electricity for 1.5 million homes

Prohibits private possession of big cats and prohibits exhibitors from allowing direct contact with cubs

Appointed more black women to the court than any president in history

Allocates funds to federal agencies to counter 300-plus anti-LGBTQ laws by state lawmakers this year alone

Expands access to emergency contraception and long-acting reversible contraception

Prevents states from banning Mifepristone -- a medication used to end early pregnancy that has FDA approval

Steps to ensure the safety of those seeking and providing abortion care, including by protecting mobile clinics

Protecting privacy, safety and security of patients, providers and clinics

Safeguards access to health care, including the right to choose and contraception

Ends Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy

Executive order protecting travel for abortion

Reunites 900 migrant families separated under Trump

Codifies DACA into law, allowing children of immigrants born in US to work and stay in US

Pardons thousands for simple possession of marijuana

Puts new limits on drone strikes including requiring the presidential approval

Brokered deal between Israel and Lebanon ending maritime boundary dispute and establish a permanent maritime boundary between them

Ensures US is not funding or participating in human trafficking of 3rd world-country workers through our contracts overseas

Codifies Gay Marriage into law - Protects Same-Sex and Interracial Marriage

Stops the forcing out of pregnant workers, or denying reasonable accommodations

2023:

Got republicans to publicly take Social Security and Medicare cuts off the table

$197 million for 100 communities across our nation to invest in wildfire resilience

Safeguard mature and old-growth forests on federal lands, in a science-based approach to reduce wildfire risk

Strengthen reforestation partnerships to support local economies and retain forest ecosystems and sustainable supplies of forest products for years to come

Combat global deforestation to deliver on key COP26 commitments

Rail companies grant paid sick days after administration pressure in win for unions

Invests $11 billion for renewable energy in rural areas

Executive order to guarantee women access to contraception - (more will need to be done to make it permanent)

Eliminates US stockpile of chemical weapons

$800 Million to Strengthen Rural Infrastructure and Create Jobs

Suspends Trump-era authorization to ship natural gas by rail

Cancels oil and gas leases in Alaskan wildlife refuge that were allowed by Trump administration

Restores power of states and tribes to review projects to protect waterways

Creates new office of gun violence prevention

Commits $200 million to reintroduce salmon in Columbia River

Visits Israel and convinces them allow humanitarian aid to Gaza

Establishes White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research

Child poverty rates fall from 12.6% to 5.8% due to Biden's Expanded Child Tax Credits. 2.9 million kids escape poverty

Delivered the largest infrastructure plan since Eisenhower

Delivered with Obama the second-largest healthcare bill since Johnson

Delivered the largest climate change bill in history

Brokers ceasefire between Congo and Rwanda, averting major humanitarian crisis

Pardons thousands who were convicted of use and simple possession of marijuana on federal lands

Provides summer grocery money to 21 million kids

Largest one year decline in homicides in 50 years

Majority of Biden’s appointed judges are women, racial or ethnic minorities – a first for any president

2024:

Black unemployment rate lower under Biden than any other administration (4.7%) - Compared to black unemployment under Trump was 2nd worst number in history, reaching over 16%

Rescinds Trump-era "Denial of Care" rule that allowed health care workers to deny medical care to patients because of their personal religious or moral belief

$5.8 billion to clean up nation’s drinking water and upgrade infrastructure

$500 million to combat wildfire and improve resilience

$1 billion deal with Oregon, Washington, and 4 Columbia River tribes to revive Northwest salmon population

$1.7 billion package to fund initiatives aimed at ending hunger across the United States by 2030

$28 billion towards substance abuse treatment

Allows student loan borrowers to repay based on income providing affordable payments and eventual student loan forgiveness

Bans asbestos

Commits $6B to cut emissions from high-carbon industries

Restores threatened species protections dropped by Trump

Blocks mining on more than 221,000 acres of federal land in Colorado

Adds Title IX protections for LGBT students, forbidding discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity

Prohibits federally funded health providers & insurers from discriminating on basis of sexual orientation and gender identity

Shields millions of acres of Alaskan wilderness from drilling and mining

Reinstates net neutrality

In 2021 only three states supplied 12 months of post partum care - Three years later 46 states now do

$16 billion investments in Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Enacts plan to end Parkinson’s disease

Codifies same-sex and interracial marriage

So far, the total student loan forgiveness approved by the Biden-Harris Administration is $168.5 billion for 4.76 million Americans.

I know I've been posting more about politics lately, and it's caused me to lose a chunk of followers.

But I'm a queer person with a degree in political science and its an election year. I'm old friends with several of my city council members. I've been to trainings on how to run elections. I spent my college years working for nonprofits (and being the world's worst canvasser). I'm close with more than one person who works for unions, and I have family members who work for government agencies.

I think about politics in a very pragmatic "I know how the sausage is made" kind of way. We're in a vice press, and there's only one way to release the pressure.

The revolution ain't coming. There is no one to save us but us.

So yeah, I'm going to be pissed if your answer is "let them tighten the vice -- there's no way out of the vice, it doesn't matter if they loosen or tighten it."

There's a difference, and anyone telling you otherwise is likely a psyop or someone who fell for a psyop. This literally happened before, and it's happening again.

Stop falling for it.

[dresslikeaunicorn]

Smart Financial Steps To Take When Acquiring A Condo

Buying a condominium is actually an intelligent investment relocation that gives comfort and ease-- especially for inhabitants that prefer living in prime places. Nevertheless, buying a condo comes with a lot of financial responsibilities that can be mind-boggling for new purchasers, in addition to the covert costs involved. As a wise The Myst condo purchaser, there are actually crucial financial facets that you need to take into consideration to ensure that you are getting the most effective worth for your cash. Within this blog, we will definitely consider some of the vital financial steps to take when buying a condo, along with the variables to think about.

Establish Your Budget

Among the initial thing that you need to have to figure out when obtaining an apartment is your budget plan. A finances is crucial to determining the kind of apartment that you can manage. Look at all your expenses, featuring your month to month home loan payment, insurance policy, utilities, real estate tax, and also upkeep costs. Don't overlook to factor in other expenses such as shutting costs, moving costs, and purchasing expenses that exceed the talking to rate. The moment you have determined your finances, seek condos that drop within your budget variation. This will assist you avoid overspending.

Factor in the Condominium's Association Fees

Condos include extra costs referred to as association expenses. These fees go in the direction of the maintenance of usual areas including pool, parking area, and lifts. When purchasing The Myst condo, request the organization charges, and also find out if there have been any type of increases in the latest past times. Check out the rules as well as restrictions of the affiliation, and find out if there are any type of added charges or evaluations. You need to also learn what is consisted of and also excluded in the organization expenses.

Evaluate Your Finance Options

When acquiring a condo unit, you require to examine your funding options. It's vital to search as well as evaluate different creditors to locate the most effective lending prices as well as terms. You additionally require to recognize the quantity of down payment required and also take into consideration any mortgage loan courses you might be actually qualified for, including FHA or even VA fundings. However, keep in mind that purchasing a condo might possess more stringent finance demands than buying a single-family home, therefore analyze your options meticulously.

Examine the Condominium's Gets

A condominium's reserves are actually necessary in guaranteeing that the residential property is effectively kept. Condominium managers add to the reservoirs, which are composed a distinct make up use in urgent repair services and also other expenditures. Prior to buying The Myst condo unit, examine the reservoirs and find out if they are adequate. If the reserves are also low, it can suggest that the condo association has actually been forgeting the residential or commercial property. This can lead to boosted affiliation fees, unique analyses, or even much worse, property foreclosure.

Receive a Home Examination

A home evaluation is an important intervene guaranteeing that the condo unit's construct as well as systems reside in good condition. A home inspection may identify any sort of complications that may require fixings and also maintenance, giving you a bargaining chip when haggling the purchase cost. You must tap the services of a professional home inspector as well as accompany all of them throughout the evaluation. Keep an eye out for issues such as out-of-date pipes, power systems, mold and mildew, as well as leakages, to name a few.

Verdict:

Buying a condominium is actually a substantial investment choice that demands a sizable quantity of financial prep work. Through taking into consideration the critical financial parts when obtaining an apartment, such as establishing your budget, analyzing loan options as well as purchasing affiliation charges, you can create an enlightened purchasing choice. Do not neglect to obtain a home evaluation before purchasing a condo to ensure that it's in good condition and also free from any kind of architectural and also systematic problems. With cautious planning as well as financial preparation, you can easily locate your dream condominium without breaking your finances. The Myst 800 & 802 Upper Bukit Timah Road Phone: +65 6100-9963

[usbongkalikasan]

Usbong Kalikasan Statement on Kaliwa Dam

Author: Geo Paulo M. Tambalo

Graphic Designer: Kandhalvi Maidinshifwell Asaali

Exactly eleven years ago, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the 21st of March as the International Day of Forests to inspire societal admiration and awareness of the importance of all forest types. This year’s celebration, with the theme “Forests and Health,” calls on every country to work in consideration of the interconnectedness of the state of forests and overall human welfare. Essentially, the imperative realization is that the scope of deforestation impacts goes beyond the natural world, extending to our economy, society, and health.

The Philippines, however, heavily contradicts the aspirations of today's event with recent news about its New Centennial Water Source - Kaliwa Dam Project that China funds via a bilateral loan agreement. Worth 12.2 billion pesos, the Metropolitan Water Sewerage System (MWSS) imprudently addresses the water shortage crisis in the greater Manila area by flooding 300 hectares of forest land and excavating parts of the legally-protected Sierra Madre mountain range to roughly create a 63-meter-high water reservoir and a 28-kilometer-long conveyance tunnel. Ultimately, the operationalization of the dam project comes at the expense of all existing natural ecosystems and Filipino communities in and near the construction areas. 

Most affected by this government enterprise is the Kaliwa watershed, a declared forest reserve and national wildlife sanctuary under Proclamation No. 573 of 1968 and Proclamation No. 1636 of 1977, respectively. Located at the southern end of the Sierra Madre mountain range, the contested Kaliwa watershed is a critical environment for the survival of an abundance of wildlife and plants, some of which are even endemic to the Philippines. All the unregulated deforestation before the project's conception, at a rate of 408 hectares per year, has already rendered at least 8 animal species and 67 plant species vulnerable to endangerment or extinction soon. Logically, if the Kaliwa dam construction pushes through, the forest reserve may no longer be home to many in the still-developing list of biological species.

As the "Forests and Health" theme suggests, any harm inflicted on the montane and lowland forests of the Kaliwa watershed is naturally transferrable to Filipino communities. Immediate victims of the Kaliwa dam project are the indigenous peoples (IPs), mainly from the Dumagat tribe, who have since relied on their ancestral forest lands for subsistence. But, for a country that is visited by an average of 20 typhoons per year, a dam in the southern Sierra Madre mountain range would mean more risk of flooding and flash floods for nearby human settlements in Quezon province, Rizal province, and even some parts of Metro Manila. Although flood control projects have been developed to combat these possible catastrophes, the risk of an immobilized local economy during and after construction still looms to add weight to the already heavy financial burden of the Kaliwa dam construction.

In celebration of the International Day of Forests, we stand united with the Dumagat-Remontado tribe in their call to stop the Kaliwa dam construction and save what is left of Sierra Madre. We implore the Philippine government to consider viable and sustainable solutions to the water shortage crisis that do not disrupt our natural forest lands. We should recognize that, instead of deforesting watersheds, restoring and conserving forests in existing watersheds like Angat and La Mesa is better for the cost and longevity of water supplies. 

References:

Asian Disaster Reduction Center. (2013). Asian Disaster Reduction Center（ADRC）. Adrc.asia. https://www.adrc.asia/nationinformation.php?NationCode=608&Lang=en#:~:text=Located%20along%20the%20typhoon%20belt,frequent%20earthquakes%20and%20volcanic%20eruptions.

Department of Environment and Natural Resources. (2013). Upper Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape & Kaliwa Watershed Forest Reserve. Denr.gov.ph. https://forestry.denr.gov.ph/b+wiser/index.php/sites/umrb/8-b-wiser-sites

Haribon Foundation. (2018, November 20). Kaliwa Dam will destroy Sierra Madre biodiversity – Haribon Foundation - The Haribon Foundation. The Haribon Foundation. https://haribon.org.ph/kaliwa-dam-will-destroy-sierra-madre-biodiversity-haribon-foundation/

Haribon Foundation. (2019, June 25). Stop Kaliwa Dam - The Haribon Foundation. The Haribon Foundation. https://haribon.org.ph/stop-kaliwa-dam/

Joe Priela. (2023, February 2). Kaliwa Dam project to be completed by 2026, MWSS says. Manila Bulletin. https://mb.com.ph/2023/02/02/kaliwa-dam-project-to-be-completed-by-2026-mwss-says/

Metro Manila water security study : final report (English). Washington, D.C. : World Bank Group. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/966091468107676247/Metro-Manila-water-security-study-final-report

Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System. (2019). Environmental Impact Statement: Kaliwa Dam Project (pp. 1–389).

[brooklynlivingtips]

Residing in Brooklyn's Ridgewood

In the Brooklyn neighborhood of New York City's borough, Ridgewood is a neighborhood. To the south, it is bounded by Bushwick and East Williamsburg, to the west by Glendale, and to the north and east by Maspeth and Middle Village in Queens.

A mixture of working-class families, young professionals, and artists make up Ridgewood's population. The neighborhood is renowned for its historical row homes, many of which date back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as for its tree-lined streets and small-town atmosphere.

Myrtle Avenue, one of Ridgewood's main commercial thoroughfares, is home to a variety of stores, eateries, and pubs. The area also contains a number of parks, including Highland Park, which has golf course, reservoir, and hiking paths.

Due to the area's proximity to numerous subway and bus lines, Ridgewood has good access to other regions of Brooklyn and Manhattan. It is also conveniently close to important highways, making it accessible by automobile.

In general, Ridgewood is a vibrant and varied town with a deep sense of history.

Why choose Ridgewood, Brooklyn, as your home?

People choose to reside in Ridgewood, Brooklyn, for a number of reasons, including:

Ridgewood is reasonably priced when compared to other Brooklyn and Manhattan districts. For individuals looking for more cheap accommodation, it is an appealing alternative because the cost of living is lower than in other hip neighborhoods in Brooklyn.

Convenient location: Public transit is readily available in Ridgewood, making it simple to go to other areas of Brooklyn and Manhattan. It is simple to go around because the neighborhood is well connected to a number of subway and bus lines.

Classic architecture: Several of the historic row homes in Ridgewood date from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A strong feeling of community and tree-lined lanes give the region a pleasant small-town vibe.

Population diversity: Working-class families, young professionals, and artists make up a majority of Ridgewood's population. Its diversity fosters a thriving and friendly community.

Parks and green areas: Ridgewood is home to a number of parks and green areas, such as Highland Park, which features a golf course, a reservoir, and hiking paths. Residents can take advantage of these areas to enjoy the outdoors and be active.

Overall, Ridgewood is a desirable alternative for individuals wishing to reside in Brooklyn since it provides a special combination of affordability, proximity, historic architecture, diversity, and green areas. Read information about how to sell my house fast before foreclosure.

How to purchase a brand-new home in Brooklyn's Ridgewood

Here are some measures you can take if you're interested in purchasing a new home in Ridgewood, Brooklyn:

Establish your budget: Establishing your budget is essential before you begin your search. To figure out how much you can pay, take into account your salary, savings, and any loans you might be eligible for.

Locate a real estate agent: A Ridgewood-focused local real estate agent can assist you in navigating the neighborhood housing market and locating the ideal house to suit your needs.

Study the market: To gain a sense of the kinds of properties that are offered and their prices, spend some time studying the Ridgewood real estate market. To acquire a feel for the market, look at internet real estate listings, go to open houses, and speak with locals.

Get pre-approved for a mortgage: It's a good idea to get pre-approved for a mortgage before you begin making offers. This can help you have a better picture of your spending limit and may entice vendors to accept your offer.

Make an offer: When you've discovered a house you want, collaborate with your realtor to submit an offer. This will need negotiating a price and other agreements with the vendor. Obtain a home inspection before closing on the property to find out if any repairs or possible issues need to be addressed. You may be able to avoid unforeseen costs in the future by doing this.

Complete the transaction: After you've taken all the required actions, you'll close on the sale and become the owner of your new residence. RJsellmyhousefast help to sell your house fast in Brooklyn, New York.

A Ridgewood real estate agent can guide you through the often confusing process of buying a new home and help you locate the ideal residence for your requirements.

[keystonemortgagebrokers]

Simplify Your Mortgage Experience with Glen: Reservoir’s Trusted Broker

Looking for personalised loan solutions? Glen, your trusted mortgage broker in Reservoir, understands that every client’s needs are unique. Whether you're a first-time home buyer or a seasoned investor, he works hard to ensure a stress-free experience tailored just for you. From securing the best home loans in Preston to guiding you through every step of the process, Glen has you covered.

Contact Keystone Mortgage Brokers today to start your homeownership journey!

[wipbigbang]

2021 Round - Artists Claims (Round 2)

Round 2 of claims for artists are open! The second round will go this week and then I'll post a new round on Thursday, opening it up for thirds. Everybody spread the word! We have 70 story summaries below for you to choose from, and this round, you may choose 2 stories to do art for! Just use a different check in ID with each sign-up.

This year, art claims are working a little differently than in years past. We are using a google form to streamline things, which should make things easier both for you as participants and us mods. To claim a story, the form requires email, check in ID, and the identifying number of your first choice of story. Putting your top three choices is best in case your first or second has already been chosen. Please be sure you've read the FAQ before claiming.

Click here to claim a story!

Shadowhunters (TV) #51 Title: An Omega Transaction Pairing/Characters Magnus Bane/ Alec Lightwood / Jace Wayland Rating: Explicit Warnings/Tags: Omegaverse AU SummaryWhen Alec presented as an omega his whole life changed for the worse. He was sent away to be taught how to become a 'proper' omega, his parabatai bond to Jace muted. After suffering years of abuse, Alec finally sees Jace again. Jace explains that as part of a truce with the Downworld Alec is meant to become mate to the Downworld leader; the Alpha Magnus Bane. Alec agrees to the mating bond to escape his hellish existence and on the condition his friend and follow omega, Andrew Underhill, is saved as well. What starts out as a practical and useful transaction for everyone involved becomes complicated when Magnus falls in love with his omega mate and Jace’s buried feelings for Alec reawaken. The question is….will Alec return the two Alphas’ affections, or has he been hurt too much by Alphas in the past to dare open his heart again? And what about Valentine? What is he planning and how does Alec fit into it? A romantic Malace story of love, change and building a family of your own choice. #53 Title: Runaway Love Pairing/Characters Magnus Bane/ Alec Lightwood Rating: Explicit Warnings/Tags: No Warnings Apply Summary A story of surviving hardship, the love for family and finding someone to love in the most unusual places. Maryse and Robert were de-runed as punishment for supporting Valentine. Despite Robert’s protests Maryse steals away two baby boys left in Valentine’s care at the time; Jocelyn’s abandoned son and Jace. The family go to the Mundane world with a two-year-old Alec while Maryse is pregnant with Izzy. Without proper papers the family struggle financially and Robert sinks into a spiral of self-hatred and depression while Maryse fight to get money for the family. Robert’s mounting debts due to his drinking and gambling ends up being collectively owned by Magnus Bane. As they can’t pay back the loans, Alec decides to go bargain with Magnus to see if there’s something other than money the Warlock might want…. #54 Title: Sobriety and Cigarettes Pairing/Characters Magnus Bane/Jace Herondale/Alec Lightwood Rating: Mature Warnings/Tags: Smoking; references to alcoholism, addiction and rehab; recollections of past road trauma; sexual references; angst; moderate language Summary Jace and Magnus just walked out of an AA meeting. Neither of them have licences anymore so they’re both waiting for a bus to take them home. They’ve been waiting a while. #55 Title: The Crumple Zone Is My Heart Pairing/Characters Magnus Bane/ Alec Lightwood Rating: Teen Warnings/Tags: Graphic Violence Summary Alec Lightwood has been hiding from the Clave since he became a werewolf. Now his two worlds are colliding, and threatening to crush him between them. AU of the first few episodes of the show, with ensemble cast #56 Title: When An Angel Kneels Pairing/Characters Magnus Bane/ Alec Lightwood Rating: Explicit Warnings/Tags: BDSM AU Summary Alec is a sub but given how Idris treats subs, excluding them from all leadership positions and considering them too ‘weak’ to be warriors, Alec has kept it a secret for years, thanks to his sister and his parabatai bond with Jace. However, one fateful encounter with the powerful Dom and Warlock leader Magnus Bane changes everything not only for Alec but for the Shadow World in general. A worldbuilding BDSM AU with a focus on self-acceptance, equality, trust and learning to love. #57 Title: Wings Pairing/Characters Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Isabelle Lightwood/Simon Lewis Rating: Explicit Warnings/Tags: Graphic Violence, Temporary Character Death Summary A Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles AU. Izzy is Sakura, Simon is Syaoran, Alec is Kurogane, Magnus is Fai. "Simon and Izzy are childhood friends in a desert country known as Clow. Izzy is the princess, and Simon is a simple architect excavating ancient ruins. Alec is a warrior in Idris, directly serving under Empress Helen and her warrior wife, Aline. Magnus is a mage from Edom, desperate to escape his past and the King. Across the dimensions, all four are facing adversity and must leave their worlds to request a wish from the Red Witch. There is no such thing as coincidence: everything is connected."

[spaceasianmillennial]

One line of attack against Gideon was that she hadn’t done anything to deal with the pandemic while Collins delivered for Maine. There had in fact been a legislative package passed before the Maine Legislature went home. Then when Gideon and other legislative leaders tried to bring the Maine Legislature back into session, Republican legislators refused.

And when Collins went after Gideon on this and on taxes, her husband’s law firm receiving a PPP loan while Gideon criticized the program, her husband’s troubled real estate venture that didn’t pay local taxes for a time, Gideon’s handling of a rumor about a Democratic state legislator’s interactions with underage girls, and various policies, Gideon didn’t have a reservoir of public knowledge and goodwill to withstand the attacks.

Gideon had another hurdle. It is a commonplace observation in Maine that candidates from the more northern, rural second congressional district typically have an easier time winning than those from the first district. Democrat Sara Gideon, unlike Collins, not only lives in the first district but grew up in Rhode Island. This may not seem all that far away from Maine — after all, both are in New England — but it can and probably did matter.

Something else that made Gideon seem “other” was her parentage, which included a father who immigrated from India. The Collins campaign certainly never raised this. But the issue showed up in social media posts with comments about Gideon’s skin color.

The Collins campaign used ads that pointed out the senator’s northern, native Maine roots and portrayed Gideon as a wealthy outsider. As the Portland Press Herald noted, “Of the 36 municipalities that gave Gideon a double-digit margin of victory, 30 were in the 1st District, and all of the rest were coastal towns in Waldo and Hancock counties, plus Orono.” Collins did especially well in rural areas, areas which one pollster acknowledged may not have been well captured in their data.

[fatehbaz]

“Stopgap solution to Philippine capital’s water scarcity set to submerge indigenous land and livelihoods”: Land of Dumagat-Remontados people in the Kaliwa Watershed Forest Reserve to be inundated by major Chinese investment bank-sponsored dam project, which will only supply water for urban Manila during a short lifespan of merely 5 years. Local ecology, including primary habitat of critically endangered Philippine eagle, also to be degraded by the Duterte administration’s revival of this dam project. Excerpts from: “China-backed Kaliwa dam would displace indigenous people to quench Manila’s thirst.” Jonathan de Santos. China Dialogue (31 October 2019).

Excerpts:

The Philippinne government has given environmental clearance for the controversial Kaliwa dam project, despite consultation of the indigenous people who stand to be affected not being completed. [...]

It seems unthinkable at this time of year, when Manila is usually drenched by heavy rain and flash floods, that the Philippine’s capital region could go thirsty. About 97% of the water used by Manila and neighbouring areas in Rizal and Cavite province – an area home to about 15 million people – comes from the Angat reservoir. The reservoir also produces hydroelectricity and its dam helps irrigate the provinces of Bulacan and Pampanga. [...] 

One proposed solution to Manila’s water scarcity is to build a dam in the Kaliwa Watershed Forest Reserve, in the provinces of Rizal and Quezon. First mooted in the late 1970s, the project has been revived by the Duterte government and backed by a US$211-million loan from China’s Export-Import Bank. Reynaldo Velasco, a board member and former administrator of MWSS, the government agency implementing the project, says the dam would provide water for the capital’s growing population for five to six years. But it would also permanently change the Kaliwa watershed and inundate the ancestral lands of the Dumagat-Remontados indigenous people. [...]

According to an executive summary released by the Philippine Environmental Management Bureau, the 60-metre-high Kaliwa dam would flood 113 hectares and hold 57 million cubic metres of water. The summary says completion of the dam will “entail permanent and irreversible changes in the ecology of the area”, including “loss of precious ecological values due to flooding of agricultural/forest areas, and wild lands and wildlife habitats”. Environmental group Haribon has been warning since November 2018 that the project “will not only have devastating effects on people’s lives, [but] will also ravage the homes of thousands of threatened wildlife species in the Sierra Madre mountain forests including the critically endangered Philippine eagle”.

The Dumagat-Remontados people have resided in the Kaliwa Watershed Forest Reserve for centuries. Reynaldo Velasco told CNN Philippines that the project will only require 46 Dumagat-Remontados households to relocate but this claim is not supported by data from the Environmental Management Bureau. According to its executive summary, 1,465 households in three villages in Rizal and Quezon will be affected, 1,041 of which “will be at risk of flooding and other effects of possible dam failure or dam break”. The number of households that would be directly affected by the project is lower: 424 in Barangay Magsaysay and Pagsangahan. The project “will also indirectly impact 56 indigenous people’s households and will place around 284 indigenous households at risk of flooding and other effects of possible dam failure or dam break,” the Environmental Management Bureau says.

-

Read more: [x]

[thehattertheory]

Steter Drabble

I keep coming to drop this in and I keep getting distracted by Immortal Husbands. Anywho. I had this prompt saved in a document from somewhere forever ago. If anyone knows where it may have originated (it may have also been from one of those prompt books my husband got me?), I will certainly link back. Stream of consciousness drabbling. 

TW for unapologetic murder and violence.

Prompt: A disgraced ruler has been abandoned by most of their subjects except for…

He’s been brought up on the fringes of Talia’s pack, of her world. His mother is magic, but not him. He is a part of that world only by extension. It’s not why he hates her. There is something in her manner, in the way she speaks to anyone not a wolf. Pretensions, an imperiousness that she projects, forces on everyone else.

The way she treats Scott after a rogue alpha bites him doesn’t exactly sweeten his disposition either. She forces Scott to become a part of her pack. Scott has to abide by it. No one makes it a secret that he’s only there because he has to be, tolerated only because Talia demands it. Scott spends every full moon chained up, rigged in torture devices because they won’t let him near him despite every time he’s managed to keep his brother calm.

So when she’s brought down in a fire, when her power bleeds into the next viable candidate, her brother, he’s- Well, glad isn’t the word, but he doesn’t mourn her. Even if his father has obvious misgivings about Peter’s sudden change in status.

Most of the pack is dead, the few remaining integrate into Satomi’s, or become itinerant omegas. Scott comes back to him.

Peter it an entirely different kind of alpha. Even if his niece and nephew have fled, driven out by accusations that Derek had been the architect of his mother’s demise, he’s been strong in the face of the loss, the betrayal. Peter has none of the pretensions, seems at ease with human or creature of any sort or social standing. It borders on refreshing, even if his father remains guarded.

He’s young, but he appreciates that Peter leaves Scott alone, let’s Scott make the choice to be an omega, unlike Talia’s forced enlistment. He keeps Scott sane on full moons and slowly meanders deeper into the supernatural, working more with his father, in turn, working more with Peter. He learns bits and pieces of things that scare and thrill him, make him want to learn more.

Peter always obliges, willing to discuss lore or loan books, even lets him slip into the Hale Vault from time to time, always chaperoned, but still.

Admiring Peter is easy. Peter is beautiful, and frightening. Peter noticing is inevitable, and he shrugs it off as a given, refuses to let himself be embarrassed by his attraction.

Peter’s reciprocation is the first unexpected event in his life since Scott was turned. It might actually be a bigger surprise, all told. Peter wanting him, Peter seeking him out and slowly claiming parts of him, exposing him to the cold blue gaze that gives nothing away.

He learned things he’s never dreamed of, the kinds of things that make him just as dangerous as a wolf, as any creature. It’s darkly thrilling to feel comfortable in his skin for that time.

Mate is a sacred word to a werewolf, rarely used in earnest, often mocked. His doesn’t think it, doesn’t consider it until Peter whispers the word into his throat as he ruts into him. Mate, the kind iof word that had broken his father’s spirit on his mother’s death.

The Argents come, and the world is washed in blood and ash again, only this time he isn’t a spectator. Argent blood dries beneath his fingernails until there are none left. Scott lets himself drift into Peter’s pack, mostly because he is there, bridging the gap between his brother and his alpha. His father almost has a moment to breathe a sigh of relief. But there is no peace, the Calaveras arriving.

Their accusations echo through Beacon Hills. The bodies of Laura and Derek Hale, savaged years before are presented as evidence. Mortals slowly picked off over the years, disguised as the kills of other creatures, other humans. The Argents had been on a just hunt, searching for the person that had killed their youngest, their heir apparent.

He asks for the truth once, only mostly sure he knows Peter well enough to know a lie.

Peter doesn’t, and admits to everything. Laura had been alpha first, protecting Derek, who had brought the hunter into their home. Protecting Derek had been too much. Burned and halfway out of his mind, he’d killed her and taken the alpha spark before anyone had even known who had become alpha. He’d let the world make assumptions with only minimal regret. Over the course of years he’s killed anyone and everyone involved in the fire. With ease he admits he’d killed the youngest Argent to draw them in, and yes, to make them hurt.

He regrets nothing, would change nothing.

Time and intimacy have shown him the reservoir of rage that sits inside of Peter, and it isn’t something he’s ever felt threatened by. He still doesn’t. No matter what the Calaveras say, the kills they care about, the hunters and humans, had been just.

Despite that, Peter  has to leave. He’s made too many enemies, and even if there were arguments to be made in defense of his actions, it’s damning enough that they’ll use it to destroy him and take whatever power he has. Even his father won’t tolerate Peter. Not after this.

Peter will lose everything. Has lost almost everything. Even if he’s not showing it, the alpha has to be afraid. The world is crumbling beneath his feet, the future uncertain. He may have a plan, but a plan won’t make up for what’s been taken.

“I’m going with you.”

They’ll build something new, or destroy something old, something worth destroying.

Claws along his jaw, over his throat. He leans into the unnatural warmth only werewolves seem to radiate and smiles into the open palm.

“I have more to kill.”

“Maybe you’ll let me help this time,” He murmurs, knowing he’s too comfortable even as he says it.

“They’ll hunt us.”

The Calaveras. The ones that even hunted their own in the name of justice, balance. They’ve stolen Peter’s home, his life, his reputation. “We’ll kill them too.”

[bountyofbeads]

Elizabeth Warren Is Completely Serious https://nyti.ms/2KlW3oV

PLEASE READ and SHARE this FASCINATING, IN-DEPTH expose on Elizabeth Warren's life, her DEEPLY HELD BELIEFS and excellent POLICY prescriptions to ADDRESS INCOME INEQUALITY, CORPORATE POWER and CORRUPTION in policies. She is an AMAZINGLY INTELLIGENT strong woman.

#2020PresidentalCandidates

#2020Vision #VoteBlue2020 #2020PresidentialElection

Elizabeth Warren Is Completely Serious

About income inequality. About corporate power. About corrupt politics. And about being America’s next president.

By Emily Bazelon | Published June 17, 2019 | New York Times | Posted June 17, 2019 |

The first time I met Elizabeth Warren, she had just come home from a walk with her husband and her dog at Fresh Pond, the reservoir near her house in Cambridge, Mass. It was a sunny day in February, a couple of weeks after Warren announced her candidacy for president, and she was wearing a navy North Face jacket and black sneakers with, as usual, rimless glasses and small gold earrings. Her hair had drifted a bit out of place.

The dog, Bailey, is a golden retriever who had already been deployed by her presidential campaign in a tweet a week earlier, a pink-tongued snapshot with the caption “Bailey will be your Valentine.” Warren started toweling off his paws and fur, which were coated in mud and ice from the reservoir, when she seemed to realize that it made more sense to hand this task over to her husband, Bruce Mann.

In the kitchen, Warren opened a cupboard to reveal an array of boxes and canisters of tea. She drinks many cups a day (her favorite morning blend is English breakfast). Pouring us each a mug, she said, “This is a fantasy.” She was talking about the enormous platform she has, now that she’s running for president, to propagate policy proposals that she has been thinking about for decades. “It’s this moment of being able to talk about these ideas, and everybody says, ‘Oh, wait, I better pay attention to this.’” She went on: “It’s not about me; it’s about those ideas. We’ve moved the Overton window” — the range of ideas deemed to merit serious consideration — “on how we think about taxes. And I think, I think we’re about to move it on child care.”

Her plan, announced in January, would raise $2.75 trillion in revenue over 10 years through a 2 percent tax on assets over $50 million and a higher rate for billionaires. Warren wants to use some of that money to pay for universal child care on a sliding scale. As she talked, she shifted around in her chair — her hands, her arms, her whole body leaning forward and moving back. Onstage, including at TV town halls, she prefers to stand and pace rather than sit (she tries to record six miles a day on her Fitbit), and sometimes she comes across as a little frenetic, like a darting bird. One on one, though, she seemed relaxed, intent.

Warren moved to Cambridge in 1995 when she took a tenured job at Harvard Law School, and 11 years later, Mann, who is a legal historian, got a job there, too. By then they had bought their house; Warren’s two children from a previous marriage, her daughter, Amelia, and son, Alexander, were already grown. The first floor is impeccable, with a formal living room — elegant decorative boxes arranged on a handsome coffee table — a cozy sunroom and a gleaming kitchen with green tile countertops. When Warren taught classes at Harvard, she would invite her students over for barbecue and peach cobbler during the semester. Some of them marveled at the polish and order, which tends not to be the norm in faculty homes. Warren says she scoops up dog toys before people come over.

For her entire career, Warren’s singular focus has been the growing fragility of America’s middle class. She made the unusual choice as a law professor to concentrate relentlessly on data, and the data that alarms her shows corporate profits creeping up over the last 40 years while employees’ share of the pie shrinks. This shift occurred, Warren argues, because in the 1980s, politicians began reworking the rules for the market to the specifications of corporations that effectively owned the politicians. In Warren’s view of history, “The constant tension in a democracy is that those with money will try to capture the government to turn it to their own purposes.” Over the last four decades, people with money have been winning, in a million ways, many cleverly hidden from view. That’s why economists have estimated that the wealthiest top 0.1 percent of Americans now own nearly as much as the bottom 90 percent.

As a presidential candidate, Warren has rolled out proposal after proposal to rewrite the rules again, this time on behalf of a majority of American families. On the trail, she says “I have a plan for that” so often that it has turned into a T-shirt slogan. Warren has plans (about 20 so far, detailed and multipart) for making housing and child care affordable, forgiving college-loan debt, tackling the opioid crisis, protecting public lands, manufacturing green products, cracking down on lobbying in Washington and giving workers a voice in selecting corporate board members. Her grand overarching ambition is to end America’s second Gilded Age.

[Elizabeth Warren has lots of plans.Together, they would remake the economy.]

“Ask me who my favorite president is,” Warren said. When I paused, she said, “Teddy Roosevelt.” Warren admires Roosevelt for his efforts to break up the giant corporations of his day — Standard Oil and railroad holding companies — in the name of increasing competition. She thinks that today that model would increase hiring and productivity. Warren, who has called herself “a capitalist to my bones,” appreciated Roosevelt’s argument that trustbusting was helpful, not hostile, to the functioning of the market and the government. She brought up his warning that monopolies can use their wealth and power to strangle democracy. “If you go back and read his stuff, it’s not only about the economic dominance; it’s the political influence,” she said.

What’s crucial, Roosevelt believed, is to make the market serve “the public good.” Warren puts it like this: “It’s structural change that interests me. And when I say structural, the point is to say if you get the structures right, then the markets start to work to produce value across the board, not just sucking it all up to the top.”

But will people respond? Warren has been a politician for only seven years, since she announced her run for the Senate in 2011 at age 62. She’s still thinking through how she communicates her ideas with voters. “The only thing that worries me is I won’t describe it in a way that — ” she trailed off. “It’s like teaching class. ‘Is everybody in here getting this?’ And that’s what I just struggle with all the time. How do I get better at this? How do I do more of this in a way that lets people see it, hear it and say, ‘Oh, yeah.’”

In the months after Donald Trump’s stunning victory in 2016, Warren staked out territory as a fierce opponent of the president’s who saw larger forces at play in her party’s defeat. While many Democratic leaders focused on Trump himself as the problem, Warren gave a series of look-in-the-mirror speeches. In the first, to the executive council of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. on Nov. 10, she said that although there could be “no compromise” on standing up to Trump’s bigotry, millions of Americans had voted for him “despite the hate” — out of their deep frustration with “an economy and a government that doesn’t work for them.” Later that month, she gave a second speech behind closed doors to a group that included wealthy liberal donors and went hard at her fellow Democrats for bailing out banks rather than homeowners after the 2008 financial crisis. In another speech, in February 2017, to her ideological allies in the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Warren said: “No matter how extreme Republicans in Washington became, Democrats might grumble or whine, but when it came time for action, our party hesitated and pushed back only with great reluctance. Far too often, Democrats have been unwilling to get out there and fight.”

Warren fought in those early months by showing up at the Women’s March and at Logan Airport in Boston to protest Trump’s travel ban. On the Senate floor, opposing the nomination of Jeff Sessions to be Trump’s first attorney general, she read a letter by Coretta Scott King criticizing Sessions for his record of suppressing the black vote in Alabama, and Republican leaders rebuked her and ordered her to stop. The moment became a symbol of the resistance, with the feminist meme “Nevertheless, She Persisted,” a quote from the majority leader, Mitch McConnell, defending the move to silence her. Warren helped take down Trump’s first choice for labor secretary, the fast-food magnate Andy Puzder (he called his own employees the “bottom of the pool”), and she called for an investigation of the Trump administration’s botched recovery efforts in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.

But somewhere along the way to announcing her candidacy, Warren’s influence faded. She was no longer the kingmaker or queenmaker whose endorsement Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders avidly sought during their 2016 primary battle. When Warren failed to endorse Sanders, the left saw her decision as an act of betrayal, accusing her of propping up the Democratic establishment instead of trying to take it down. (When I asked Warren if she had regrets, she said she wasn’t going to revisit 2016.) Sanders emerged as the standard-bearer of the emboldened progressive movement.

Trump, meanwhile, was going after Warren by using the slur “Pocahontas” to deride her self-identification in the 1980s and ’90s as part Native American. In the summer of 2018, he said that if she agreed to take a DNA test in the middle of a televised debate, he would donate $1 million to her favorite charity. Warren shot back on Twitter by condemning Trump’s practice of separating immigrant children from their parents at the border (“While you obsess over my genes, your Admin is conducting DNA tests on little kids because you ripped them from their mamas”). But a few months later, she released a videosaying she had done the DNA analysis, and it showed that she had distant Native American ancestry. The announcement backfired, prompting gleeful mockery from Trump (“I have more Indian blood than she has!”) and sharp criticism from the Cherokee Nation, who faulted her for confusing the issue of tribal membership with blood lines. Warren apologized, but she seemed weaker for having taken Trump’s bait.

Sanders is still the Democratic candidate with a guru’s following and a magic touch for small-donor fund-raising, the one who can inspire some 4,500 house parties in a single weekend. And he has used his big policy idea, Medicare for All, to great effect, setting the terms of debate on the future of health care in his party.

With four more years of Trump on the line, though, it’s Joe Biden — the party’s most known quantity — who is far out in front in the polls. Challenging Biden from the left, Warren and Sanders are not calling wealthy donors or participating in big-money fund-raisers. Sanders has been leading Warren in the polls, but his support remains flat, while her numbers have been rising, even besting his in a few polls in mid-June. Warren and Sanders are old friends, which makes it awkward when her gain is assumed to be his loss. Early in June, an unnamed Sanders adviser ridiculed Warren’s electability by calling her DNA announcement a “debacle” that “killed her,” according to U.S. News & World Report. A couple of weeks before the first Democratic primary debates, on June 26 and 27, I asked her what it was like to run against a friend. “You know, I don’t think of this as competing,” she responded. It was the least plausible thing she said to me.

In March, Warren demonstrated her appetite for challenging the economic and political dominance of corporate titans by going directly at America’s biggest tech companies. In a speech in Long Island City, Queens — where local protesters demanded that Amazon drop its plan to build a big new campus — Warren connected the companies’ success at smothering start-up rivals to their influence in Washington. She remarked dryly that the large amounts that businesses like Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple spend on lobbying is a “good return on investment if they can keep Washington from enforcing the antitrust laws.” She wants to use those laws to break up the companies instead — a move that no other major American politician had proposed.

After Warren started talking about the four tech giants, along with other critics, the Trump administration let it be known that it was scrutinizing them for potential antitrust violations. Conservatives have suspected social media platforms of bias against them for years, and with concerns about privacy violations escalating, big tech was suddenly a bipartisan target. Warren has specifics about how to reduce their influence; she wants to undo the mergers that allowed Facebook, for example, to snap up WhatsApp, rather than compete with it for users. Warren could unleash the power to bring major antitrust prosecutions without Congress — an answer to gridlock in Washington that’s crucially woven into some of her other plans too. (Warren also favors ending the filibuster in the Senate.) Warren wants to prevent companies that offer an online marketplace and have annual revenue of $25 billion or more from owning other companies that sell products on that platform. In other words, Amazon could no longer sell shoes and diapers and promote them over everyone else’s shoes and diapers — giving a small business a fair chance to break in.

“There’s a concerted effort to equate Warren with Bernie, to make her seem more radical,” says Luigi Zingales, a University of Chicago economist and co-host of the podcast Capitalisn’t. But Wall Street and its allies “are more afraid of her than Bernie,” Zingales continued, “because when she says she’ll change the rules, she’s the one who knows how to do it.”

Warren’s theory of American capitalism rests on two turning points in the 20th century. The first came in the wake of the Great Depression, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt seized the chance to protect workers and consumers from future economic collapse. While the New Deal is mostly remembered for creating much of the nation’s social safety net, Warren also emphasizes the significance of the legislation (like the Glass-Steagall Act) that Democrats passed to rein in bankers and lenders and the agencies (the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) that they put in place to enforce those limits. Warren credits this new regulatory regime, along with labor unions, with producing a golden era for many workers over the next four and a half decades. Income rose along with union membership, and 70 percent of the increase went to the bottom 90 percent. That shared prosperity built, in Warren’s telling, “the greatest middle class the world had ever known.”

Then came Warren’s second turning point: President Ronald Reagan’s assault on government. Warren argues that Reagan’s skill in the 1980s at selling the country on deregulation allowed the safeguards erected in the 1930s to erode. Republicans seized on the opening Reagan created, and Democrats at times aided them. (Bill Clinton signed the repeal of Glass-Steagall in 1999.) That’s how the country arrived at its current stark level of inequality. “The system is as rigged as we think,” Warren wrote in her 2017 book “This Fight Is Our Fight”— in a riposte to Barack Obama, who insisted it was not, even as he recognized the influence of money in politics. This, Warren believes, is what Trump, who also blasted a rigged system, got right and what the Democratic establishment — Obama, both Clintons, Biden — gets wrong.

The challenge for Warren, going up against Trump, is that his slogan “drain the swamp” furthers the longstanding Republican goal of discrediting government, whereas Warren criticizes government as “a tool for the wealthy and well connected,” while asking voters to believe that she can remake it to help solve their problems. Hers is the trickier, paradoxical sell.

Warren faces a similar challenge when she tries to address the fear some white voters have that their economic and social status is in decline. Trump directs his supporters to blame the people they see every day on TV if they’re watching Fox News: immigrants and condescending liberal elites. Warren takes aim at corporate executives while pressing for class solidarity among workers across race and immigration status. Trump’s brand of right-wing populism is on the rise around the world. As more people from the global south move north, it’s harder than ever to make the case to all workers that they should unite.

It’s a classic problem for liberals like Warren: Workers often turn on other workers rather than their bosses and the shadowy forces behind them. “Populism is such a slippery concept,” Michael Kazin, a historian at Georgetown University and author of “The Populist Persuasion: An American History,” told me. “The only real test is whether you can be the person who convinces people you understand their resentment against the elites. Trump did enough of that to win. Bernie Sanders has shown he can do it among young people. Can Elizabeth Warren pull it off? I’m not sure.”

It’s an inconvenient political fact for Warren that she’s far more associated with Harvard and Massachusetts, where she has lived for the last 25 years, than with Oklahoma, the childhood home that shaped her and where her three brothers still live and her family’s roots are multigenerational. If you include Texas, where Warren lived in her early 20s and for most of her 30s, she spent three formative decades far from the Northeast.

When she was growing up, Warren’s father worked as a salesman at Montgomery Ward and later as a janitor; neither of her parents went to college. (White women in this group broke for Trump by 61 percent in 2016, and white men supported him by 71 percent.) In the early 1960s, when Warren was 12, her father had a heart attack and lost his job in Oklahoma City. One day, after the family’s station wagon was repossessed, her mother put on the one formal dress she owned, walked to an interview at Sears and got a job answering phones for minimum wage. This has become the story that Warren tells in every stump speech. She uses it to identify with people who feel squeezed.

There’s another story that Warren tells in her book about the implications, for her own life, of her family’s brush with financial ruin. Warren was going to George Washington University on a scholarship — “I loved college,” she told me. “I was having a great time” — when an old high school boyfriend, Jim Warren, reappeared in her life.

He asked her to marry him and go to Texas, where he had a job at IBM. Warren knew her mother wanted her to say yes. “It was the whole future, come on,” she told me. “I had lived in a family for years that was behind on the mortgage. And a secure future was a good man — not what you might be able to do on your own.”

Warren dropped out of college to move to Houston with her new husband. “It was either-or,” she said. Many women who make this choice never go back to school. But Warren was determined to become a teacher, so she persuaded Jim to let her finish college as a commuter student at the University of Houston for $50 a semester. After her graduation, they moved to New Jersey for Jim’s next IBM posting, and she started working as a speech therapist for special-needs children.

Warren was laid off when she became pregnant, and after her daughter was born, she talked Jim into letting her go to law school at Rutgers University in Newark (this time the cost was $450 a semester). After she had her son, she came to terms with the fact that she wasn’t cut out to stay home. “I wanted to be good at it, but I just wasn’t,” she told me.

In the late 1970s, she got a job at the University of Houston law school. She and her husband moved back to Texas. A couple of years later, when their daughter was in elementary school and their son was a toddler, the Warrens divorced. In her book, Warren writes about this from Jim’s perspective: “He had married a 19-year-old girl, and she hadn’t grown into the woman we both expected.” (Jim Warren died in 2003.)

Two years later, Warren asked Mann, whom she had met at a conference, to marry her. He gave up his job at the University of Connecticut to join her in Houston. At the university, Warren decided to teach practical classes, finance and business. In 1981, she added a bankruptcy class and discovered a question that she wanted to answer empirically: Why were personal bankruptcy rates rising even when the economy was on the upswing?

At first, Warren accepted the assumption that people were causing their own financial ruin. Too much “Tommy, Ralph, Gucci and Prada,” a story in Newsweek called “Maxed Out”later declared. Along with two other scholars, Jay Westbrook and Teresa Sullivan, Warren flew around the country and collected thousands of bankruptcy-court filings in several states. “I was going to expose these people who were taking advantage of the rest of us by hauling off to bankruptcy and just charging debts that they really could repay,” she said in a 2007 interview with Harry Kreisler, a historian at the University of California, Berkeley. But Warren, Westbrook and Sullivan found that 90 percent of consumer bankruptcies were due to a job loss, a medical problem or the breakup of a family through divorce or the death of a spouse. “I did the research, and the data just took me to a totally different place,” Warren said.

That research led to a job at the University of Texas at Austin, despite the doubts some faculty members had about her nonselective university degrees. (Mann worked at Washington University in St. Louis.) They finally managed to get joint appointments at the University of Pennsylvania in 1987, and she stayed there until 1995.

During this period, Warren was registered as a Republican. (Earlier, in Texas, she was an independent.) Her political affiliation shifted around the time she began working on bankruptcy in Washington. More than one million families a year were going bankrupt in the mid-’90s, and Congress established the National Bankruptcy Review Commission to suggest how to change the bankruptcy code. The commission’s chairman, former Representative Mike Synar of Oklahoma, asked Warren, now at Harvard Law School, to be his chief policy adviser. “I said, ‘No, not a chance, that’s political,’” Warren said in her interview with Kreisler. “I want to be pure. I want to be pristine. I don’t want to muddy what I do with political implications.”

But Synar persuaded Warren to join his team. It was a critical juncture. Big banks and credit-card companies were pushing Congress to raise the barriers for consumers to file for bankruptcy and harder for families to write off debt. Bill Clinton was president. He had run — much as Warren is running now — as a champion of the middle class, but early in his first term he began courting Wall Street. He didn’t want to fight the banks.

Warren flew back and forth from Boston to Washington and to cities where the commission held hearings. It was her political education, and the imbalance of influence she saw disturbed her. The banks and lenders paid people to go to the hearings, wrote campaign checks and employed an army of lobbyists. People who went bankrupt often didn’t want to draw attention to themselves, and by definition, they had no money to fight back.

By 1997, Warren had become a Democrat, but she was battling within the party as well as outside it. In particular, she clashed with Joe Biden, then a senator from Delaware. Biden’s tiny state, which allowed credit-card companies to charge any interest rate they chose beginning in 1981, would become home to half the national market. One giant lender, MBNA, contributed more than $200,000 to Biden’s campaigns over the years, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Biden strongly supported a bill, a version of which was first introduced in 1998, to make it more expensive to file for bankruptcy and more difficult to leave behind debt. He was unpersuaded by Warren’s charts and graphs showing how the change would increase the financial burden on families. “I am so sick of this self-righteous sheen put on anybody who wants to tighten up bankruptcy,” Biden said during a Senate hearing in 2001.

The bankruptcy battles continued, and when Warren testified against the proposed changes to the bankruptcy code before the Senate in 2005, Biden called her argument “very compelling and mildly demagogic,” suggesting that her problem was really with the high interest rates that credit-card companies were allowed to charge. “But senator,” Warren answered, “if you are not going to fix that problem” — by capping interest rates — “you can’t take away the last shred of protection from these families” that access to bankruptcy offers. The bill passed two months later.

Biden’s team now argues that he stepped in to win “important concessions for middle-class families,” like prioritizing payments for child support and alimony ahead of other debt. When I asked Warren in June about Biden’s claim, she pursed her lips, looked out the window, paused for a long beat and said, “You may want to check the record on that.” The record shows that Warren’s focus throughout was on the plight of families who were going bankrupt and that Biden’s was on getting a bill through. He supported tweaking it to make it a little less harmful to those facing bankruptcy, and the changes allowed it to pass.

In the years since it became law, the bankruptcy bill has allowed credit-card companies to recover more money from families than they did before. That shift had two effects, Matthew Yglesias argued recently in Vox. As Biden hoped, borrowers over all benefited when the credit-card companies offered slightly lowered interest rates. But as Warren feared, the new law hit people reeling from medical emergencies and other unexpected setbacks. Blocked from filing for bankruptcy, they have remained worse off for years. And a major effort to narrow the path to bankruptcy may have an unintended effect, according to a 2019 working paper released by the National Bureau of Economic Research, by making it harder for the country to recover from a financial crisis.

In 2001, a Harvard student named Jessica Pishko, an editor of The Harvard Women’s Law Journal, approached Warren about contributing to a special issue. She didn’t expect Warren to say yes. Students saw Warren as an example of female achievement but not as a professional feminist. “She didn’t write about anything that could seem girlie,” Pishko remembers. “She wasn’t your go-to for feminist issues, and she was from that era when you didn’t put pictures of your kids on your desk” to show that you were serious about your work. But Warren wanted to contribute. “She said: ‘I’m doing all this research on bankruptcy, and I want to talk about why that’s a women’s issue. Can I do that?’”

The paper Warren produced, “What Is a Women’s Issue?” was aggressive and heterodox. In it, she criticized the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund for singling out Biden for praise in its annual report because he championed the Violence Against Women Act, which made it easier to prosecute domestic abusers. Warren thought his support for that law did not compensate for his role in pushing through the bankruptcy legislation, which she believed hurt women far more. “Why isn’t Senator Biden in trouble with grass-roots women’s groups all over the country and with the millions of women whose lives will be directly affected by the legislation he sponsors?” she asked. The answer raised “a troubling specter of women exercising powerful political influence within a limited scope, such as rape laws or equal educational opportunity statutes.

Warren wanted feminism to be wider in scope and centered on economic injustice. She urged students to take business-law classes. “If few students interested in women’s issues train themselves in commercial areas, the effects of the commercial laws will not be diminished, but there will be few effective advocates around to influence those policy outcomes,” she wrote. “If women are to achieve true economic equality, a far more inclusive definition of a women’s issue must emerge.”

She challenged standard feminist thinking again when she published her first book for a lay audience (written with her daughter), “The Two-Income Trap,” in 2003. Warren argued that in the wake of the women’s movement of the 1970s, millions of mothers streamed into the workplace without increasing the financial security of their families. Her main point was that a family’s additional income, when a second parent went to work, was eaten up by the cost of housing, and by child care, education and health insurance.

Conservatives embraced her critique more enthusiastically than liberals. Warren even opposed universal day care for fear of “increasing the pressure” to send both parents to work. She has shifted on that point. The child-care proposal she announced this February puts funds into creating high-quality child care but doesn’t offer equivalent subsidies to parents who stay home with their children. Warren says she’s responding to the biggest needs she now sees. More and more families are squeezed by the cost of child care; not enough of it is high quality; the pay for providers is too low. Warren is framing child care as a collective good, like public schools or roads and bridges.

“The Two-Income Trap” got Warren onto “Dr. Phil,” giving her a taste of minor stardom and the appeal of a larger platform. When the financial crisis hit, she moved to Washington’s main stage. At the invitation of Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader at the time, Warren led the congressional oversight panel tasked with overseeing the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program that Congress created to save the financial system. In public hearings, Warren called out Timothy Geithner, Obama’s Treasury secretary, for focusing on bailing out banks rather than small businesses and homeowners. Through a spokeswoman, Geithner declined to comment for this article. In his memoir, he called the oversight hearings “more like made-for-YouTube inquisitions than serious inquiries.”

But Warren could see the value of the viral video clip. In 2009, Jon Stewart invited her on “The Daily Show.” After throwing up from nerves backstage, she went on air and got a little lost in the weeds — repeating the abbreviation P.P.I.P. (the Public-Private Investment Program) and at first forgetting what it stood for. She felt as though she blew her opportunity to speak to millions of viewers. Stewart brought her back after the break for five more minutes, and she performed well, clearly explaining how the country forgot the lessons of the Great Depression and the dangers of deregulation. “We start pulling the threads out of the regulatory fabric,” Warren said. She listed the upheavals that followed — the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s and 1990s, the collapse of the giant hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management in 1998 and the Enron scandal a few years later. “And what is our repeated response?” Warren said. “We just keep pulling the threads.” Now that the government was trying to save the whole economy from falling off the cliff, there were two choices: “We’re going to decide, basically: Hey, we don’t need regulation. You know, it’s fine, boom and bust, boom and bust, boom and bust, and good luck with your 401(k). Or alternatively, we’re going to say, You know, we’re going to put in some smart regulations ... and what we’re going to have, going forward, is we’re going to have stability and some real prosperity for ordinary folks.”

Stewart leaned forward and told Warren she had made him feel better than he had in months. “I don’t know what it is that you just did right there, but for a second that was like financial chicken soup for me,” he said.

“That moment changed my life,” Warren later said. Stewart kept inviting her back. In 2010, Congress overhauled and tightened financial regulation with the Dodd-Frank Act. In the push for its passage, Warren found that she had the leverage to persuade Democratic leaders to create a new agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Its job is to safeguard people from malfunctioning financial products (like predatory loans), much as the government protects them from — to borrow Warren’s favorite analogy — toasters that burst into flames. Warren spent a year setting up the C.F.P.B. When Obama chose Richard Cordray over her as the first director because he had an easier path to Senate confirmation, progressives were furious.

Warren was an unusual political phenomenon by then: a policy wonk who was also a force and a symbol. In 2012, she was the natural choice for Democrats recruiting a candidate to run against Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts, a Republican who had slipped into office, after Ted Kennedy’s death, against a weak opponent. Warren had another viral moment when a supporter released a homemade video of her speaking to a group in Andover. “You built a factory out there?” Warren said, defending raising taxes on the wealthy. “Good for you. But I want to be clear: You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for; you hired workers the rest of us paid to educate; you were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn’t have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory, and hire someone to protect against this, because of the work the rest of us did.” Brown called Warren “anti-free enterprise,” and Obama, running for re-election,  distanced himself in an ad shot from the White House (“Of course Americans build their own businesses,” he said). But Warren’s pitch succeeded. She came from behind in the race against Brown and won with nearly 54 percent of the vote.

Voters of color could determine the results of the 2020 presidential election. In the primaries, African-Americans constitute a large share of Democrats in the early-voting state of South Carolina and on Super Tuesday, when many other states vote. In the general election, the path to the presidency for a Democrat will depend in part on turning out large numbers of people of color in Southern states (North Carolina, Virginia, possibly Florida) and also in the Rust Belt, where the post-Obama dip in turnout among African-Americans contributed to Hillary Clinton’s squeaker losses in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

Warren has work to do to persuade people of color to support her. In the last couple of Democratic primaries, these voters started out favoring candidates who they thought would be most likely to win, not those who were the most liberal. Black voters backed Hillary Clinton in 2008 until they were sure Barack Obama had enough support to beat her, and in 2016 they stuck with her over Bernie Sanders. This time, they have black candidates — Kamala Harris, Cory Booker and Wayne Messam — to choose from. And voters of color may be skeptical of Warren’s vision of class solidarity transcending racial division. As it turned out, Warren’s case that most white people voted for Trump because of economic distress, and “despite the hate,” as she said right after the election, didn’t really hold up. A study published last year found that among white voters, perceived racial or global threats explained their shift toward Trump better than financial concerns did. What does that say about the chances of winning as a liberal who tries to take the racism out of populism?

When Warren makes the case about what needs to change in America by leaning on the period from 1935 to 1980, she’s talking about a time of greater economic equality — but also a period when people of color were excluded from the benefits of government policies that buoyed the white middle class. In a video announcing that she was exploring a presidential bid, Warren acknowledged that history by saying that families of color today face “a path made even harder by generations of discrimination.” For example, the federal agency created during the New Deal drew red lines around mostly black neighborhoods on maps to deny mortgage loans to people who lived in them.

Warren spoke about this problem years before she went into politics. Redlining contributed to the racial wealth gap, and that had consequences Warren saw in her bankruptcy studies — black families were more vulnerable to financial collapse. Their vulnerability was further heightened by subprime and predatory lending. In “The Two-Income Trap,” Warren called these kinds of loans “legally sanctioned corporate plans to steal from minorities.”

In March, Warren took a three-day trip to the South. She started on a Sunday afternoon, with a town hall — one of 101 she has done across the country — at a high school in a mostly black neighborhood in Memphis. It’s her format of choice; the questions she fields help sharpen her message. The local politicians who showed up that day were African-American, but most of the crowd was white.

The next morning, Warren drove to the Mississippi Delta. Her husband, Mann, was on spring break from teaching and along for the trip. Warren’s staff welcomes his presence because Warren loves having him with her and because he’s willing to chat up voters (who often call him “Mr. Warren”). In the small town of Cleveland, Miss., Warren sprang out of her black minivan in the parking lot of a church to shake the hand of an African-American state senator, Willie Simmons. They were meeting for the first time: He had agreed to take her on a walking tour after her campaign got in touch and said she wanted to learn about housing in the Delta.

Simmons and Warren set off down a block of modest ranch houses, some freshly painted, others peeling, preceded by TV crews and trailed by the rest of the press as her aides darted in to keep us out of the shot. The scrum made conversation stagy, but Simmons gradually eased into answering Warren’s questions. He pointed out cracks in the foundations of some houses; the lack of money to repair old buildings was a problem in the Delta. They stopped at a vacant lot. The neighbors wanted to turn it into a playground, but there was no money for that either.

Warren nodded and then took a stab at communicating her ideas to the local viewers who might catch a few of her words that night. She hit the highlights of the affordable housing bill she released in the Senate months earlier — 3.2 million new homes over 10 years, an increase in supply that Moody’s estimated would reduce projected rents by 10 percent. When the tour ended, Simmons told the assembled reporters that he didn’t know whom he would support for president, but Warren got points for showing up and being easy to talk to — “touchable,” he said.

That night, Warren did a CNN town hall at Jackson State University, the third historically black college she has visited this year. Warren moved toward the audience at the first opportunity, walking past the chair placed for her onstage. She laid out the basics of her housing bill, stressing that it addressed the effects of discrimination. “Not just a passive discrimination,” Warren said. “Realize that into the 1960s in America, the federal government was subsidizing the purchase of homes for white families and discriminating against black families.” Her bill included funds to help people from redlined areas, or who had been harmed by subprime loans, buy houses. The audience applauded.

Warren also said that night that she supported a “national full-blown conversation” about reparations for slavery and Jim Crow. She saw this as a necessary response to the stark wealth gap between black and white families. “Today in America — because of housing discrimination, because of employment discrimination — we live in a world where the average white family has $100 and the average black family has about $5.” Several Democratic candidates have said they support a commission to study reparations. Ta-Nehisi Coates, author of the influential 2014 Atlantic article “The Case for Reparations,” said in a recent interview with The New Yorker that Warren was the candidate whose commitment seemed real because she had asked him to talk with her about his article when it came out years ago. “She was deeply serious,” Coates said.

Warren is often serious and doesn’t hesitate to convey her moral outrage. “I’ll own it,” she told me about her anger. She talked about women expressing to her their distress about sexual harassment and assault. “Well, yeah,” Warren said. “No kidding that a woman might be angry about that. Women have a right to be angry about being treated badly.”

Trump gets angry all the time; whether a woman can do the same and win remains a question. Warren’s campaign is simultaneously working in another register. On Twitter, it has been posting videos of Warren calling donors who have given as little as $3. They can’t believe it’s her. When the comedian and actress Ashley Nicole Black tweeted, “Do you think Elizabeth Warren has a plan to fix my love life?” Warren tweeted back and then called Black, who finished the exchange with a fan-girl note: “Guess who’s crying and shaking and just talked to Elizabeth Warren on the phone?!?!? We have a plan to get my mom grandkids, it’s very comprehensive, and it does involve raising taxes on billionaires.”

After Trump’s election, Warren and Sanders said that if Trump followed through on his promise to rebuild the economy for workers and their families, they would help. If Trump had championed labor over corporations, he could have scrambled American politics by creating new alliances. But that version of his presidency didn’t come to pass. Instead, by waging trade wars that hurt farm states and manufacturing regions more than the rest of the country, Trump has punished his base economically (even if they take satisfaction in his irreverence and his judicial appointments).

Warren has been speaking to those voters. In June, she put out an “economic patriotism” plan filled with ideas about helping American industries. By stepping into the vacuum for economic populism the president has left, Warren forced a reckoning on Fox News, Trump’s safe space on TV, from the host Tucker Carlson. Usually a Trump loyalist, he has recently styled himself a voice for the white working class.

Carlson opened his show by using more than two minutes of airtime to quote Warren’s analysis of how giant American companies are abandoning American workers. Carlson has warned that immigrants make the country “poorer and dirtier” and laced his show with racism, but now he told his mostly Republican viewers: “Ask yourself, what part of the statement you just heard did you disagree with?” He continued, “Here’s the depressing part: Nobody you voted for said that or would ever say it.” The next day, a new conservative Never Trump website called The Bulwark ran a long and respectful essay called “Why Elizabeth Warren Matters.”

A month earlier in Mingo County, W.Va., where more than 80 percent of voters cast a ballot for Trump, Warren went to a local fire station to talk about her plan for addressing the opioid crisis. It’s big: She wants to spend $100 billion over 10 years, including $50 million annually for West Virginia, the state with the highest rate of deaths from drug overdoses. In Trump’s latest budget, he has requested an increase of $1.5 billion to respond directly to the epidemic. Against a backdrop of firefighters’ coats hanging in cinder-block cubbies, Warren moved among a crowd of about 150. Many hands went up when she asked who knew someone struggling with opioids. She brought up the role of “corporations that made big money off getting people addicted and keeping them addicted.” People with “Make America Great Again” stickers nodded and clapped, according to Politico.

If Warren competes for rural voters in the general election (if not to win a red state then to peel off enough of them to make a difference in a purple one), her strong support for abortion rights and gun control will stand in her way. Lately, she has framed her argument for keeping abortion clinics open in economic terms, too. “Women of means will still have access to abortions,” she said at a town hall on MSNBC hosted by Chris Hayes of the effects of new state laws aimed at closing clinics. “Who won’t will be poor women, will be working women, will be women who can’t afford to take off three days from work, will be very young women.” She finished by saying, “We do not pass laws that take away that freedom from the women who are most vulnerable.”

Biden and Sanders have been polling better with non-college-educated white voters than Warren has. David Axelrod, the former Obama strategist and political commentator, thinks that even if her ideas resonate, she has yet to master the challenge of communicating with this group. “She’s lecturing,” he said. “There’s a lot of resistance, because people feel like she’s talking down to them.”

Warren didn’t sound to me like a law professor on the trail, but she did sound like a teacher. Trying to educate people isn’t the easiest way to connect with them. “Maybe she could bring it down a level,” Lola Sewell, a community organizer in Selma, Ala., suggested. “A lot of us aren’t involved with Wall Street and those places.”

Warren may also confront a double bind for professional women: To command respect, they have to prove that they’re experts, but once they do, they’re often seen as less likable. At one point, I asked Warren whether there was anything good about running for president as a woman. “It is what it is,” she said.

When I first talked with Warren in February, when her poll numbers were low, I wondered whether she was content with simply forcing Democratic candidates to engage with her ideas. During the 2016 primaries, when Warren did not endorse Sanders, she wanted influence over Hillary Clinton’s economic appointments should she win the presidency. Cleaving the Democratic administration from Wall Street — that was enough at the time. She could make a similar decision in 2020 or try to get her own appointment. If Warren became Treasury secretary, she could resuscitate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which Trump has worked to declaw, and tip all kinds of decisions away from banks and toward the families who come to her town halls and tell her about the loans they can’t pay.

By mid-June, however, when I went to Washington to talk to Warren for the last time, she was very much in the race. New polls showed her in second place in California and Nevada. She had more to lose, and perhaps as a result, her answers were more scripted, more like her speeches.

Warren, like everyone in the race, has yet to prove that she has the political skills and broad-enough support to become president. But a parallel from another country suggests that perhaps bearing down on policy is the best strategy against right-wing populism. Luigi Zingales, the University of Chicago economist, comes from Italy, and he feared Trump’s rise back in 2011, having watched the ascension of Silvio Berlusconi, the corrupt billionaire tycoon who was elected prime minister of Italy in the 2000s as a right-wing populist. After Trump’s victory in 2016, Zingales pointed out in a New York Times Op-Ed that the two candidates who defeated Berlusconi treated him as “an ordinary opponent,” focusing on policy issues rather than his character. “The Democratic Party should learn this lesson,” Zingales wrote. He now thinks that Warren is positioned to mount that kind of challenge. “I think so,” he said, “if she does not fall for his provocations.”

Warren and I met in her Washington apartment. The floor at the entrance had been damaged by a leak in the building, and the vacuum cleaner was standing next to the kitchen counter. I said I was a bit relieved by the slight disarray because her house in Cambridge was so supremely uncluttered, and she burst out laughing. She sat on the couch as we spoke about the indignities to come, the way in which her opponents — Biden, Trump, who knew who else — would try to make her unrecognizable to herself. What would she do about that? Warren leaned back and stretched her feet out, comfortable in gray wool socks. “The answer is, we’ve got time,” she said. “I’ll just keep talking to people — I like talking to people.”

Emily Bazelon is a staff writer for the magazine and the author of “Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration.”

[leominster1941]

Leominster’s Victorian Water Supply.

The Pinsley Brook in Vicarage Street prior to being piped in the 1970s provided great entertainment for a young child. The Brook had been diverted by the monks hundreds of years earlier where it fed fish ponds and acted as a drain. It powered three mills and ran under the (still currently existing) 12th century monastery infirmary building, part of which was a reredorter or toilet for the monks.

The Pinsley Mill was rebuilt and looked just like this in the 1960s, but it was semi-derelict.

https://catalogue.millsarchive.org/pinsley-mill-leominster

 The Pinsley Brook of 1860 should have been piped. It was a breeding ground for disease. It was used for washing clothes in Vicarage Street. By 1960 it was clean and full of aquatic life. The brook flowed slowly parallel to Vicarage Street and across the entrance to Hampton Gardens. It was crossed by a lovely narrow arched red brick bridge further along Vicarage Street. The bridge led to a very narrow lane along which there was a terrace of very small Victorian houses. Hampton Gardens had been built from red bricks to match the houses around it. However, not built nearly so well as our Victorian ancestors had done. By the 1970s whole sides of houses were collapsing.

It was possible to catch crayfish, minnows and bullyheads (Bullheads). There were eels and very occasionally a Trout. Someone decided to erect a metal fence on concrete posts to block access to the path which ran beside the Brook. It was also an attempt to prevent access to water. The fence was promptly pulled down in places. If you followed the Brook westwards you were in the countryside in less than five minutes. Here the Brook was bordered by ash trees and weeping willows with roots wallowing in the water. Running parallel to the stream was the much larger River Kenwater.

Can you imagine this? Walking along a narrow path with unspoilt streams flowing either side of you with trees and bushes lining the route. At the end of the path there was a wooden style. Once over this a whole vista of lush meadows opened out, accessed by a beautiful naturally arched stone bridge. It was later replaced by an ugly metal and concrete one.

If you followed the brook in the opposite direction there was serious fun to be had. Once the stream passed Brook Hall it disappeared into an open tunnel which flowed underneath Broad Street. Despite passing the Brook Hall hundreds of times for over 20 years I never passed through the front door. By crouching under it was possible to continue to follow the brook for several minutes before arriving at the other end of the tunnel. We were perhaps using the same route as Monks had done in the past.  

The Waterworks Museum writes the following about the gradual improvement in Leominster’s water supply.

Tangye House; ex-Leominster's water-pumping station.

In the 1860s Leominster, an important market town in Herefordshire, endured several epidemics of typhoid fever from contaminated drinking water.

  Many of the more affluent traders had their own wells in their gardens but also cesspits.

Poorer people took their water direct from the Pinsley Brook.

  The epidemics reached such a level of attrition amongst the adult population that the Government directed the Town Council to provide the townsfolk with piped, potable water.

Money was raised through a Government loan by Mr Tertius Southall, a distant relation of the founder of the Waterworks Museum, Stephen Southall, and the waterworks building was constructed.  It housed a steam engine and pump (later discarded with no records remaining) and was built above a known aquifer.

 Quite quickly the water level in the aquifer was brought too low to use and water was piped in from some distance.

In 1990 the waterworks building was due to be razed to allow the extension of a business park in the town.

The Museum negotiated with the developers, dismantled the building with the advice of Avoncroft Museum, and reconstructed it on the Waterworks Museum site.

 The roof support is of particular interest being an early wrought steel structure.

The building is now called the Tangye House and is home to the 97 litre Tangye horizontal diesel engine and other displays

In Leominster, people took their water from public pumps or directly from the river, while the richer townsfolk had their own private wells. It was not until these became infected by sewage and the rich people began to die that anything was done. A waterworks was only constructed in 1865 after a typhoid epidemic in which 38 people died, in the building that is now the Tangye House at the Museum.

 Source:    https://www.waterworksmuseum.org.uk/portfolio-view/tangye-house/

In many accounts of life in the Victorian Workhouse it is recorded that all inmates, including, children drank beer every day. In early Workhouses men were allowed up to three pints a day. Farm labourers would take jars or pots of beer or cider with them for liquid refreshment during the long days of work. Visitors or guests to average Victorian family home would be offered beer or wine. In most cases these were watered down especially in the Workhouse. This was not true of pub ale which was far stronger than the ale available on public sale by the 1930s. It is interesting that we have slowly but surely returned to the stronger alcohol drinks which became legal in the late 20th Century.

Many of you will know the reason for Victorians at all social levels avoiding water. Before piped water was installed in Leominster in 1867 water was obtained from shallow wells, which were liable to contamination, although many 17th Century reports on Leominster record the high quality of the water.

In Leominster like many other towns a water carrier would collect water from the river Lugg or Kenwater in order to sell it at half a penny a bucketful. It is extraordinary that river water was thought to be ‘clean’ enough to drink. Relative to well water, it was. Leominster was flooded regularly, and this enabled all kinds of sewage to pollute any wells, let alone what was thrown into wells.

After a cholera scare and thirty-eight deaths of townspeople from typhoid in 1864, the dangers of water from wells and springs were clear. In 1867 Leominster invested £8000 in constructing wells, pumping station, reservoirs, and pipework to supply the town.

Water was pumped into two 200,000 gallon reservoirs at Newlands drive from near the railway station. A further £5000 was spent on sewerage system.

 The following article describes glowingly how much better Leominster’s water was by the end of the 19th Century.

The town is situated on the old red sandstone formation, and slightly above the valley of the river Lugg. The strata passed through were the surface-soil, consisting of about 6 feet of compact and nearly impervious red clay; a bed of river-gravel a few inches thick, forming the water-bed of the valley, on a level with, and no doubt communicating with, the river itself 200 yards distant; and below this, red and blue marl, with occasional lumps of sandstone rock for the remainder of the distance. No considerable supply of water was found below the gravel stratum, but that which found its way into the well through the fissures in the lower marl was of a remarkably soft character. A collecting drain was therefore made in the gravel for 150 yards in a direction away from the river. The supply of water was found to be ample in the very dry season 1869-70, and is much in excess of any probable requirement of the town. The quality is excellent, and is always clear and bright, requiring no filtration.

The water is pumped direct from the well into the supply reservoir, which is about 140 feet above the well and three-fourths of a mile distant in a direct line, and it passes from thence into the mains for distribution. The pumping station is at the well; there are two high-pressure engines of a nominal power of 12 horses each. The annual cost of pumping, including labour, fuel, and materials, is about £230. The area of the district is about one mile in length by three-fourths in breadth. About 800 houses are now supplied for domestic purposes - very little for trade purposes. The quantity of water pumped is about 100,000 gallons per day for all purposes. The water is supplied direct from the mains without cisterns. The supply is constant and adequate. The charge is 1s. in the £ on the net rateable value; no extra charge for water-closets.

Extract from Littlebury's Directory and Gazetteer of Herefordshire, 1876-7