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A year after George Floyd’s murder and the worldwide protests it sparked, more than half of US states have passed reform bills, altering policies like use of force, creating new rules about tracking misconduct, and mandating officer interventions during aggressive encounters. Major cities even made moves to aggressively reimagine policing.
Some of these changes have been tentative; some have been reversed; others have run up against lawsuits and backlash and red tape; some have been far less than what local protesters have called for. Changing policing, it has become apparent, will not be instantaneous or easy.
Decline of the USA, Rise of the Struggles?
The USA, as the world’s leading capitalist nation, is economically, politically and morally bankrupt.
Resistance is picking up steam at home: in 2018 and 2019 there were more strikes, and more large ones, than at any time in more than two decades. In 2020, there were only seven strikes with 1,000 or more participants, but the country witnessed the largest wave of protests in its history. [1] Rising unemployment and poor health care during the pandemic exacerbated the general level of immiseration. The people (15 to 26 million, according to polls) who took to the streets against racism, the system of policing, incarceration and poverty in the wake of the May 2020 police killing of George Floyd were protesting against a backdrop of decades of socioeconomic decline. People of all colours marched hand-in-hand, occupied squares, organized food, set up ‘autonomous zones’ and police-free neighborhoods, engaged in passionate discussions..
Americans Are Moving, but Staying Close to Home
Americans Are Moving, but Staying Close to Home
Despite fears of a mass exodus, most cities are seeing only modest population losses, with the majority of movers staying in the same metro area. May 6, 2021, 7am PDT | Diana Ionescu |
Rather than the urban exodus that many analysts feared the pandemic would precipitate, write Marie Patino, Aaron Kessler, and Sarah Holder for Bloomberg CityLab, perhaps it’s more of an urban shuffle.
As research about the last year begins to crystallize, data shows most people who did move stayed close to where they came from. According to the authors, [i]n the country’s 50 most populous cities, 84% of the moves were to somewhere within the perimeter of the central metro area, down just slightly from pre-pandemic levels.
Is Remote Work Actually More Environmentally Friendly?
An online calculator helps companies determine the broader impacts of their decisions to continue working remotely or return to the office. April 6, 2021, 12pm PDT | Diana Ionescu |
Watershed s website explains that, while remote work reduces the energy used in offices, it shifts carbon: Emissions from energy and food still exist, but at employees’ homes, where they may be better or worse than in the office. Additionally, a decentralized workforce might lead to more quarterly trips to meet face-to-face, and an exodus to the suburbs could mean increased carbon footprints for more households. The calculator lets companies assess their greenhouse emissions more holistically, from the power their offices consume to the fuels burned in their supply chain in order to measure their impact, make plans to reduce it and make reports on progress.
Sunburn â The morning read of whatâs hot in Florida politics â 3.22.21
Here s your AM rundown of people, politics and policy in the Sunshine State.
With the state government firmly in Republican control since the last century, Florida policymakers have been extremely friendly to free-market principles.
At the same time, local governments decry the trend of state lawmakers passing so-called preemption bills, which the locals believe step on cherished home-rule principles of local democracy.
Thatâs why itâs particularly shocking that some local governments in the Panhandle are sticking it to local builders â and, ultimately, to the homeowners, these governments are supposed to serve.