A main purpose of Mr. Kerry’s travels to China and elsewhere has been to rally support for Mr. Biden’s virtual climate summit of dozens of world leaders next week. Mr. Xi has not yet accepted the invitation, but he will join a similar conference on Friday with President Emmanuel Macron of France and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany.
Cooperation between the United States, the worst emitter of greenhouse gases historically, and China, the worst in the world today, could spur greater efforts from other countries. China accounts for 28 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions; the United States, in second place, emits 14 percent of the global total.
To call this issue "complicated" would be a laughable understatement. And thanks to that idiot man-child Trump, it's more complicated than it should be:
MCCRORY CALLS DEMOCRATIC OPPOSITION OF TRANSGENDER BILLS "CANCEL CULTURE": “There are a lot of issues, including that issue, that need to be allowed to be discussed that doesn’t involve the cancel culture. It needs fair discussions.” Cancel culture has become a broad term used to describe everything from people losing their jobs for their behavior to businesses boycotting states over policies they disagree with. Major League Baseball moved its All-Star Game and several corporations have rebuked Georgia in recent weeks after passage of a package of election laws. “This cancel culture has got to end and the identity politics has gone way too far, especially on the left,” McCrory said. “We’ve got to end the identity politics and cancel culture and we need to be judged by our individual character, heart and souls.” https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article250666439.html
Two North Carolina police officers were placed on leave after at least one of them was shown on video throwing punches at a Black man who was taken to the ground after a foot pursuit.
A roughly 17-second video clip from a bystander's cellphone during the arrest Monday night in Kinston appears to show an officer standing over David Lee Bruton Jr. and throwing multiple punches while he's on the ground. The leader of the local chapter of the NAACP called the video disturbing and the man's mother said she's grateful he's alive.
Bolding mine, because it's a damn shame when simply surviving a police encounter is considered a blessing. A woman called 911 to say she had been threatened by somebody (not even sure if it was him), and I'm very curious to see what that threat actually entailed:
NC REPUBLICANS PUSH TO INCREASE ELIGIBILITY AND PAYMENTS FOR PRIVATE SCHOOLS: The state House voted 69-49 on Tuesday to approve legislation that would increase the $4,200 annual amount provided to students who receive school vouchers, or Opportunity Scholarships. Senate Bill 671 would increase the income eligibility to 175% of the amount required for a family to be eligible for a free- or reduced-price lunch. That works out to a family income up to $56,400 for a two-person household and up to $85,794 for a family of four. The legislation also would raise the voucher amount to a maximum of $6,500 a year, according to bill sponsors. The bill ties the voucher amount to the average amount spent by the state per student each year. Republicans are expected to try work out a compromise between the two bills to see if it will get enough Democratic support to override a potential veto from Cooper. https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article250629959.html
Of all the pressing questions facing the good citizens of North Carolina, it's hard to imagine that this most crushing intrusion into a person's very own identity would somehow rise to the top of the list of issues on the minds of the two most powerful men in our legislature. But there it is. Again.
NC VOTER ID TRIAL BEGINS, INHERENT RACISM LEADS DEBATE: North Carolina's latest law requiring photo identification to cast ballots went on trial on Monday, with attorneys for voters challenging the mandate by arguing it still disproportionately prevents Black residents from carrying out their constitutional right. A panel of three state Superior Court judges began hearing evidence in the lawsuit filed to overturn a December 2018 law that filled in the details of how a voter ID constitutional amendment approved in a statewide referendum several weeks before would be implemented. Lawmakers in the Republican-controlled legislature said the new law isn't racially suspect, pointing out they expanded the types of qualifying IDs and made it easier for registered voters without IDs to have their votes counted. The evidence shows the new law, rushed for passage so Republicans could override Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's veto before their power waned during the next legislative session, suffers from the same racial taint and faults as the previous law, said Allison Riggs, a lawyer for the voters who sued. https://www.wral.com/trial-begins-on-challenge-to-latest-nc-voter-id-law/19622995/
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