Tag Archives : Build House

US high tide flooding breaks records in multiple locations

High-tide flooding (HTF) broke or tied records in three locations in U.S. coastal areas in the past year, according to data released Tuesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). 

HTF has become increasingly frequent across the country, but will likely decline this year, according to NOAA. The administration attributed the decrease to the La Nina weather phenomenon.

HTF increases are likely to be concentrated along the East Coast and along the Gulf of Mexico, where NOAA is predicting a 150 percent increase from the year 2000.  

Since May of this year, three different NOAA-monitored locations have tied or broken previous records for number of HTF days. Reedy Point, Del., saw a new high of six events, while Kwajalein Island in the Pacific broke its 2021 record with 4 days of HTF. Meanwhile, South Carolina’s Springmaid Pier saw 11 HTF events, tying its 2021 high. 

HTF occurs when ocean water floods into low-lying areas during high tide periods, usually following tides of between 1.75 to 2 feet above the daily average. In years past, these events have been limited to storms, but have recently become common during prevailing-wind changes or even a full moon.  

The aftereffects of the La Nina event will likely blunt HTF along the West Coast and in the U.S.’s island holdings, but levels are likely to be higher along the east coast and the western and eastern Gulf coasts, according to NOAA. 

HTF is likely to become far more extreme on a national scale in the decades ahead, according to the NOAA. By 2050, the NOAA predicts HTF at a national scale for about 45-70 days per year on average, an estimate based on projected sea level rise data. 

“Coastal flood warnings for significant risks to life and property, will become much more commonplace as we approach mid-century,” NOAA officials added. 

Source: TEST FEED1

Fox News tops cable ratings in July

Fox News was rated the highest of all the three cable news channels in July and third among every national network, according to Neilsen Media Research data released on Tuesday.

In total day viewers, Fox averaged 1.3 million compared to 765,000 on MSNBC and 541,000 on CNN. In primetime Fox brought in an average of 2.1 million viewers, down slightly from last July, while MSNBC brought in 1.2 million and CNN primetime netted just over 700,000 nightly viewers.

Fox had the top four rated shows on all of cable in July, with Rachel Maddow’s MSNBC show coming in fifth place.

The cable news giant was the third most-watched network in all of television during weekday primetime in July, trailing CBS and NBC.

Source: TEST FEED1

Biden administration announces initiative to improve wastewater sanitation in underserved rural communities

The Biden administration announced plans on Tuesday to leverage financial and technical tools to ensure that historically underserved communities can access wastewater sanitation resources.

The pilot initiative, a joint effort between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), will focus on 11 rural communities across the country where residents lack basic wastewater management.

“The America that we all believe in is a land of opportunity,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement. “But, for historically marginalized communities from Alabama to Alaska, that opportunity is stolen when basic sanitation doesn’t work — exposing adults and children to backyard sewage and disease.”

Through the Closing America’s Wastewater Access Gap Community Initiative, the EPA and USDA will be working with Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, West Virginia and tribal nations to help communities take advantage of relevant federal funding opportunities.

One such resource comes from last year’s bipartisan infrastructure bill, which provides $11.7 billion in loans and grants for water infrastructure initiatives, including wastewater management projects, the initiative’s partners stated.

“President Biden has been clear — we cannot leave any community behind as we rebuild America’s infrastructure with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” said White House infrastructure coordinator Mitch Landrieu.

“This includes rural and Tribal communities who for too long have felt forgotten,” he added.

About 2.2 million people in the U.S. lack basin running water and indoor plumbing, while even more live with inadequate sewage infrastructure that endangers the health of residents, according to the groups.

The new collaboration, the agencies said, will help communities access the financing and technical assistance that is available to improve wastewater infrastructure — aiming to “close the gap” for underserved populations.

The 11 communities included in the pilot program are Bolivar County, Miss.; Doña Ana County, N.M.; Duplin County, N.C.; Greene County, Ala.; Halifax County, N.C.; Harlan County, Ky.; Lowndes County, Ala.; McDowell County, W.Va.; Raleigh County, W.Va.; San Carlos Apache Tribe, Ariz.; and Santo Domingo Pueblo, N.M.

The EPA-USDA partnership builds upon the policy recommendations of the nonprofit organization DigDeep, which released a report in 2019 called “Closing the Water Access Gap in the U.S.” — bearing a name similar to that of the new federal program.

Among the findings of the DigDeep report was the fact that entire communities in Alabama’s Lowndes County — one of the pilot regions — are living without running water or a flush toilet.

George McGraw, founder and CEO of DigDeep, applauded the EPA-USDA pilot program, stressing that the announcement “is proof of the power of collective action” within the country’s emerging water, sanitation and hygiene sector.

McGraw said in a statement that he is pleased to see this “commitment by two powerful federal agencies to intervene directly to close the wastewater gap” — adding that his organization plans to further deepen its research and advocacy efforts.

As far as the 11 participating communities and tribes are concerned, each population will be gaining direct assistance in developing wastewater assessments, including technical engineering support, according to the EPA-USDA announcement.

These communities will also receive help designing solution plans, identifying funding opportunities and building long-term capacity, the partners stated.

“We recognize that there are still people who have been going without the basics,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

“By combining USDA and EPA resources and taking advantage of the historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we can restore to these communities a sense of economic vitality and social dignity that the people living there deserve,” he added.

Source: TEST FEED1

Judge refuses to delay Oath Keepers' seditious conspiracy trial

A federal judge on Tuesday refused to delay a trial for a group of Oath Keepers charged with seditious conspiracy over the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, rejecting concerns that the Sept. 26 trial date could coincide with new information from the House committee investigating the attack.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta told defense lawyers during a hearing that granting their request to delay a trial until early next year would “quite literally wreak havoc” on the court. Mehta said concerns about pretrial publicity generated by the House Jan. 6 Select Committee investigation, as well as concerns that the panel could release a trove of transcripts from the more than a thousand interviews it’s conducted, is not a sufficient reason to warrant delay.

“If transcripts are dropped on the eve of trial that pertain to these defendants and the allegations against them, I will revisit the issue. You have my word,” the judge said. “The truth of the matter is the court’s docket cannot be dictated by how Congress is acting and what they are doing. “

Five of the 11 defendants in the case, including Oath Keepers leader and founder Stewart Rhodes, will go to trial on Sept. 26. Four others are scheduled for trial on Nov. 29, while two defendants have agreed to plead guilty and cooperate with prosecutors.

Defense attorneys had argued that the publicity stemming from the congressional investigation would have an adverse effect on their ability to find impartial jurors and have a fair trial. They also said that the volume of evidence in the case will make it difficult for them to fully prepare in the remaining eight weeks until trial.

But Mehta, who was appointed by former President Obama, was firm in ordering that trial proceed as scheduled.

The judge said he cannot influence what the select committee chooses to do before and during the trial but that he will work “to ensure that these defendants receive a fair trial through the most rigorous voir dire process that we can possibly have happen.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Is Federal Home Loan Bank reform a sure thing or a show?

Move over Fannie and Freddie. 

Until now, popular wisdom was that Sandra Thompson’s tenure as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency would be judged by how she managed the enduring conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Little note would be taken of how she manages the sleepy Federal Home Loan Banks. 

Fannie and Freddie are the titans of the nation’s housing finance market. The FHLBs, in contrast, play little if any role in housing finance beyond their minimal statutory affordable housing contributions.

That calculus changed with Thompson’s recent testimony before the House Financial Services Committee. In her otherwise routine remarks, she outlined a bold and comprehensive plan to review the basic purpose and structure of the massive FHLBs. At the same time, she tamped down any expectations for Fannie and Freddie exiting their conservatorships soon.

She had telegraphed her thoughts about a comprehensive review of the FHLBs in public remarks at the Bipartisan Policy Institute where she endorsed the notion of establishing an advisory committee to conduct such a review. But her formal testimony for the first time challenges the very purpose of the FHLBs.

As Fannie and Freddie plod their way from $80 billion in capital to the target of $300 billion, the FHLBs now take center stage. How Thompson orchestrates the remake she has launched of this little-known $1 trillion government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) will be her enduring legacy.

How did this backwater GSE move to the forefront of the GSE debate? The answer is threefold: hubris, the Fed and public awareness.

For decades, the FHLBs have purposely flown under the radar. Exempt from congressional appropriations and oversight and enjoying a robust government subsidy, the “FLUBs,” as they have come to be known, carved out a profitable niche for themselves at taxpayers’ expense. Their members are banks and insurance companies that appreciate the dividends they receive from the FHLBs — again at taxpayers’ expense. Always inward-looking, the FHLBs have failed to adapt to a marketplace that has changed radically around them.

Starting with the financial crisis of 2008 and continuing with the COVID economic crisis of 2020, the Fed has infused the financial system with trillions of dollars of liquidity. Yet, liquidity is all the FHLBs offer. Even the FHLBs’ most ardent members no longer need the liquidity the FHLBs have for sale. Naturally, declining revenues are the result.

Finally, the public has caught up with the reality that the FHLBs are providing no public good in exchange for their government subsidy. As Ms. Thompson said in her testimony last week, “The FHLBanks’ core function is to provide liquidity in times of stress.”

Providing liquidity to privately owned banks; however, is not a public good. It is a private benefit. We already have a government agency, the Fed, which was created to serve as the lender of last resort. This glaring lack of any public good provided by the FHLBs has been brought to the fore by a variety of commentators in recent months.

In her written statement, Thompson struck all the right notes. Especially important is that “foundational questions about mission, purpose and organization” are ripe for reevaluation. Similarly, membership, and operational efficiency, i.e., consolidation and effectiveness, are on the table.

In sum, when it comes to the FHLBs all bets are off. 

A key question is whether her testimony launches a charette or a show. A charette would be a convening of all stakeholders in an authentic project attempting to resolve conflicts and map solutions. A show is, well, just performative.

Knowing Thompson by reputation and by her experience both at the FDIC and at FHFA, the smart money is on the process she is about to launch being a genuine effort to identify not just current stakeholders, but stakeholders who may have never even heard of the FHLBs. Small businesses that create jobs, infrastructure lenders, climate change enthusiasts and affordable housing players are some of the new and potential stakeholders that come to mind.

It is very early in her comprehensive review process, and she has signaled that a series of listening sessions are in order. An early indicator of the seriousness of this effort will be how the listening sessions are organized. If the 11 FHLBs are the conduit for arranging these sessions that will be a sure sign that the process is captive. However, if an aggressive, imaginative and independent outreach effort to potential stakeholders is undertaken then we are in for a very productive process.

Thompson was confirmed as director of the FHFA just over two months ago. Five of her predecessors presided over the conservatorships of Fannie and Freddie. None of them challenged the politically connected and intractable FHLBs. The quest to find a meaningful public purpose for the FHLBs is long overdue.

Thompson is exactly the right person to lead that quest. 

Cornelius Hurley was an independent director of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston from 2007-2021. He teaches financial services law at Boston University School of Law. 

Source: TEST FEED1

Most Americans want the right to an abortion, even in states with bans: poll

Despite new laws taking effect across the country that limit abortion, most Americans want to keep abortion access open, including those living in states that have abortion bans or trigger laws in place. 

The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) published results of a new national poll that assessed voters’ top priorities, including a wide range of views on abortion access. The results showed that not only is abortion a motivating factor for some groups of voters, but most adults, 61 percent, want laws in their state to guarantee access to abortion. 

About half of those respondents that live in states with pre-Roe abortion bans or trigger laws also said they want guaranteed access to abortion in their home state. 

The results stand in stark contrast to the current reality in the U.S., as the Supreme Court issued an opinion in June overturning a 50-year precedent established by Roe v. Wade affirming abortion access as a constitutional right.  

In response, at least 13 states enacted bans on abortions or severe restrictions. 

America is changing faster than ever! Add Changing America to your Facebook or Twitter feed to stay on top of the news. 

The KFF poll found about two-thirds of the public, 65 percent, disapprove of the court’s June decision. 

In states where abortion access is currently protected, 68 percent said they support laws guaranteeing abortion access while 22 percent want laws that ban abortion in their state.  

KFF noted stark partisan divides among respondents, with 83 percent of Democrats saying they want their state to pass laws guaranteeing access to abortions. 

Meanwhile, 54 percent of Republicans said they support laws in their state that ban abortion. Only about a third of Republicans, 37 percent, said they want laws in their state to guarantee abortion access. 

Even as a majority of Americans indicate their support for abortion access, health care providers are being forced to stop offering the procedure. Data collected by the Guttmacher Institute found that 43 abortion clinics were forced to stop offering services after the Supreme Court’s June decision to overturn Roe. 

At the same time, some local leaders have tried to open abortion access, vowing to codify abortion into state Constitutions and welcome out-of-state patients that want an abortion but cannot get one in their home state. 

Illinois in particular has quickly become an abortion safe haven for the Midwest and Southern states, with Planned Parenthood of Illinois (PPIL) opening up two new clinics in anticipation of an influx of out-of-state patients.  

PPIL expects to receive about 20,000 to 30,000 additional abortion patients in the coming years. 

Source: TEST FEED1

US-Russia tensions take orbit

Imagine a five-bedroom house in space about the size of a football field, end-zone to end-zone. Leaving aside gravity, the house would weigh about 1 million pounds on Earth. If listed on Airbnb, it would be able to sleep six people and a few visitors.

Welcome to the International Space Station (ISS), where human beings of all races, genders, religions and nationalities cooperate in an orbital laboratory to explore what is possible for human life in space.

Until now the ISS remained a peaceful arena even between Russians and Americans, despite international disputes far below on the ground. But with the announcement last week from Moscow that Russia will end its involvement in the International Space Station after 2024, politics have now permeated the outer edges of our galaxy.

What does it mean when conflicts begin to take orbit?

First, it means that major human issues that require limitless imagination may not get addressed. The first module of the International Space Station was launched in 1998, and astronauts from Japan, Europe, Russia, the U.S. and Canada shared talents and skills, ignoring tensions on Earth for the benefit of humanity. They studied weightlessness in space, the impact of radiation on human health and other vital issues. Those issues can be pursued by nations, individually, but it is often with collaboration that innovation is achieved. 

The second implication of conflict spreading to outer space is that it reminds us that human relationships do not exist in a vacuum. Although the astronauts and cosmonauts floated freely above the world, events on the ground invaded their peaceful bubbles. On July 4, U.S. Independence Day, politics seeped into space when the Russian cosmonauts on the space station sent photographs of themselves holding flags associated with parts of Ukraine from the Donbas region that Moscow claims. NASA was none too pleased.

Conflicts never stop at the water’s edge. Think of American basketball player Brittany Griner and U.S. businessman Paul Whelan. They have little to do with the invasion of Ukraine or NATO sanctions. But they are caught up in the wider Russia-NATO-Ukraine fight — political pawns whose value goes up and down like the stock market based on diplomacy and prisoner swaps outside their control.

Conflicts often spiral out of control. A potential U.S.-Russia prisoner deal might now include Mark Fogel, an American teacher who worked with the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison last month, convicted of bringing cannabis into Russia. 

And the Russians have added a new name to their side of the list: Vadim Krasikov, jailed in Germany for murder. Where does it end? 

Think back: In 1962, President Kennedy spoke to 40,000 cheering Americans at Rice University, promising to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade. We were over the moon about it.

Five years earlier, the Soviets had launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, into Earth’s orbit, inaugurating a space race between the countries. That was followed by an arms race and a Cold War that would permeate every aspect of international relations on the ground and in space, from culture to politics. There was “détente,” and then there wasn’t.

Now, here we are in a post post-Cold War period of renewed tensions between America and Russia, and it has engulfed Europe, and even China, India and other countries whose foreign policies are now calibrated with Ukraine in mind. 

That five-bedroom International Space Station is no longer a safe space to retreat to avoid conflict, nor is almost any part of Earth below. As 17th century English poet John Donne wrote, “No man (or woman, I add) is an island, entire of itself.” 

Tara D. Sonenshine is the Edward R. Murrow Professor of Practice in Public Diplomacy at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

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Six GOP senators ask Education Department about transgender Title IX changes

Six GOP senators sent a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona late last month asking about the potential ramifications of the Biden administration’s proposal to extend Title IX protections to transgender students.

The letter, sent by Republican Sens. Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), Tom Cotton (Ark.), Ted Cruz (Texas), Josh Hawley (Mo.), Mike Lee (Utah) and Marco Rubio (Fla.), describes the proposal as likely to “force a radical gender ideology” into classrooms and cites recent high-profile controversies related to transgender protections in schools.

The proposals, which the Education Department announced on the 50th anniversary of Title IX, which prevents federally funded schools from discriminating on the basis of sex, would extend those protections to LGBTQI+ students, prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics.

“Your interpretation of Title IX will undermine that law’s very purpose by making schools and sports unsafe and unfair for women and girls,” the senators wrote.

The letter, which was dated Thursday, asks ten questions of Cardona, with many referencing recent events that have been used as culture war examples by Republican lawmakers.

One question asks Cardona if denying Lia Thomas, a former University of Pennsylvania swimmer who in March became the first transgender woman to secure a national title in Division I athletics, access to the girl’s locker room would constitute a violation of Title IX.

Another references an incident at a Loudoun County, Va. high school last year in which a girl was sexually assaulted by a transgender student. The incident gained national attention, including from then-Virginia gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin (R) in the final weeks of his campaign.

Some of the senators’ other questions ask Cardona about the changes’ repercussions on other federal statutes such as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which gives parents access to their children’s educational records. 

The senators asked Cardona if schools would be allowed to deny parents access to records that include sensitive information about their child’s gender identity.

The letter comes as the department moves forward in the rule-making process, which provides 60 days for public comment on the changes before they are finalized, which could take months.

The senators asked for a response by Aug. 15.

The Hill has reached out to the Education Department for comment.

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Manchin, Fox News host get heated: 'Don't make this personal'

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Tuesday pushed back forcefully on a line of questioning from Fox News host Harris Faulkner, who peppered the lawmaker with questions about his support for President Biden’s agenda and his party’s fate in the coming midterm elections.

“You’ve got a president whose approval rating is like as low as Congress’s,” Faulkner told Manchin. “No offense, but when you get into the 30s nobody is that popular and that’s the president.”

Manchin shot back, asking the host, “Harris, are you scared we’re going to do something that’ll help our country and someone might take credit for that?”

Faulkner, apparently offended by Manchin’s suggestion, responded by saying, “Of course not. My father served. Are you kidding?”

“Service is in the Bible, that’s what we do. We serve our fellow man and woman,” she continued.

“That’s exactly what I’m doing, exactly it,” the moderate Democratic senator interjected.

“Of course, don’t make this personal, because it’s not,” Faulkner said. “I’m simply asking that — you’ve got a president who can’t really help anybody on the campaign trail with the numbers he’s rocking right now.”

Manchin was appearing on Faulkner’s daytime talk show Tuesday to discuss a number of issues, chief among them his support for a climate, health care and taxes deal that he struck with Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) last week.

The deal will be part of a budget reconciliation package that Senate Democrats plan to bring to the floor this coming week, The Hill previously reported.

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Hackers stole nearly $200 million from US crypto firm

Nomad, a San Francisco-based crypto firm, has lost $190 million worth of its digital currency in a series of thefts, blockchain security firm PeckShield told Reuters on Tuesday.

The crypto firm said on Twitter that it was “aware of the incident” and was investigating the matter.

“We are working around the clock to address the situation and have notified law enforcement and retained leading firms for blockchain intelligence and forensics,” Nomad said. 

“Our goal is to identify the accounts involved and to trace and recover the funds,” the firm added.

It is the latest high-profile crypto hack to occur this year.

In June, California-based crypto firm Harmony suffered similar losses. The company said at the time that hackers stole $100 million in digital assets from one of its blockchain bridges. The firm said it was partnering with law enforcement to try to track down the hackers and retrieve the stolen funds. 

In March, virtual game Axie Infinity reported a $620 million loss in cryptocurrency. The FBI later accused the Lazarus Group of being behind the hack. The group has been tied to the North Korean government.

Since 2015, the Secret Service has reportedly seized more than $100 million in cryptocurrency as part of efforts to crack down on fraudulent digital currency transactions. 

The Hill has reached out to Nomad and PeckShield for a comment.

Source: TEST FEED1