The March Toward Fascism Continues; a Huge Change in Home Sales Is Coming–Coachella Valley Independent’s Indy Digest: March 18, 2024

Indy Digest: March 18, 2024

The march toward fascism continues …

From The Guardian:

At six months pregnant, H decided enough was enough. She had endured years of abuse from her husband and had recently discovered he was also physically violent towards her child. She contacted an attorney to help her get a divorce.

But she was stopped short. Her lawyer told her that she could not finalize a divorce in Missouri because she was pregnant. “I just absolutely felt defeated,” she said. H returned to the house she shared with her abuser, sleeping in her child’s room on the floor and continuing to face violence. On the night before she gave birth, she slept in the most secure room in the house: on the tile floor in the basement, with the family’s dogs.

Under a Missouri statute that has recently gained nationwide attention, every petitioner for divorce is required to disclose their pregnancy status. In practice, experts say, those who are pregnant are barred from legally dissolving their marriage. “The application (of the law) is an outright ban,” said Danielle Drake, attorney at Parks & Drake. …

The original intent of the statute in Missouri, which originated in 1973, was “noble,” Ashley Aune, a Democratic representative, said, as it tried to ensure that a mother and her child were provided for by settling custody arrangements and child support after the child’s birth.

But in practice, it has created barriers for pregnant people seeking divorce. …

Advocates warn the law can enable reproductive coercion, a term referring to behaviors that aim to control the course of another person’s reproductive autonomy. Common examples include forcing a person to continue or terminate a pregnancy, sabotaging their birth control or tracking their ovulation cycle.

From the Los Angeles Times, by columnist Doyle McManus:

California-bashing has become a standard feature of GOP rhetoric, of course. A national survey for the Times this year found that almost half of Republicans believe the state is “not really American.”

What makes (Donald) Trump’s version more than mere blather is that he could be president next year, and he has big plans for California if he wins. …

He says he’ll close the U.S.-Mexico border on his first day in office—the day he has set aside to act as “a dictator”—and launch “the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.”

His Santa Monica-born immigration advisor, Stephen Miller, says that if Democratic states such as California don’t cooperate, Trump could order National Guard units from red states such as Texas to cross their borders—a recipe for constitutional crisis.

Trump has promised to scrap President Biden’s programs to promote renewable energy, including subsidies for electric vehicles and charging stations. His advisors have proposed limiting California’s power to set fuel emission standards for automobiles. …

Trump says he’ll send federal law enforcement officers into Oakland and other cities to stop rampant shoplifting. “If you rob a store, you can fully expect to be shot as you are leaving that store—shot!” he said.

From CNN:

To Donald Trump, Hungarian strongman Viktor Orbán is “fantastic,” Chinese leader Xi Jinping is “brilliant,” North Korea’s Kim Jong Un is “an OK guy,” and, most alarmingly, he allegedly said Adolf Hitler “did some good things,” a worldview that would reverse decades-old US foreign policy in a second term should he win November’s presidential election, multiple former senior advisers told CNN. …

Trump’s lavish praise for Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán while hosting him at Mar-a-Lago … just days after all but sealing the Republican nomination on Super Tuesday, shows it’s a worldview he’s doubling down on.

“There’s nobody that’s better, smarter or a better leader than Viktor Orbán,” Trump said, adding, “He’s the boss and he’s a great leader, fantastic leader. In Europe and around the world, they respect him.” …

(Retired Gen. John Kelly, who served as Trump’s chief of staff) and others who served under Trump give new insight into why they warn that a man who consistently praises autocratic leaders opposed to U.S. interests is ill-suited to lead the country in the Great Power clashes that could be coming, telling me they believe that the root of his admiration for these figures is that he envies their power.

“He views himself as a big guy,” John Bolton, who served as national security adviser under Trump, told me. “He likes dealing with other big guys, and big guys like Erdogan in Turkey get to put people in jail and you don’t have to ask anybody’s permission. He kind of likes that.”

“He’s not a tough guy by any means, but in fact quite the opposite,” Kelly said. “But that’s how he envisions himself.”

The people who want to take away our freedoms are being very open and honest about their intentions. Believe them.

—Jimmy Boegle

More News

• Proposition 1, the Gov. Newsom-backed question on the primary ballot regarding the mental-health system, remains to close to call. Our partners at Calmatters report: “On March 12—a week after primary day—opponents of Proposition 1 waved the white flag, conceding that Gov. Gavin Newsom’s mental health ballot measure would likely pass. Today, the anti-Prop. 1 campaign withdrew its concession and revived its efforts. What changed? For one thing, the vote count tightened: As of today, Prop. 1 was leading by about 20,000 votes, with 7.5 million ballots counted and some 220,000 left to be tallied, according to the Secretary of State. And for another, Newsom’s political action committee put out an appeal late last week for volunteers to reach out to Democrats who had their ballots rejected—for mismatched signatures or other reasons—to fix them and get them counted. The training was Sunday. ‘Governor Newsom needs you…. The votes are being counted and it is CLOSE. Like, just a couple thousand votes close,’ the appeal said. Prop. 1 opponents called that strategy ‘sleazy’ and ‘an attempt to manipulate the final vote count by harvesting the votes of only some partisans in certain areas.’ But the foes said they’re launching a similar effort and refocusing their website to help voters confirm their ballots were counted and to assist voters whose ballots were rejected.”

• A huge settlement is about to change the way real estate commissions are handled in the United States. The New York Times breaks down what could change as a result—and while some of the changes will benefit buyers, others will not: “In most real estate transactions in the United States, both the seller and buyer have an agent representing them. For decades, there’s been a standard for paying these agents: a commission of between 5 and 6 percent of the home’s sale price, covered by the seller and split between the two agents. … Now those rules are set to change as early as July, pending court approval of the settlement that includes (the National Association of Realtors) agreement to pay $418 million in damages. … Today, 85 to 90 percent of home buyers use an agent who exclusively represents them while shopping for a home, according to Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. Faced with the prospect of footing the bill for their own agents, some buyers—already relying on sites like Zillow and Redfin to search for listings on their own—may now opt to eschew a buyer’s agent entirely. But buyer beware: Agents caution that those who go it alone are more likely to fall victim to fraud or misunderstand the process.”

• OMG, some GOOD media news?! The New York Times reports: “The owner of Sports Illustrated said it had chosen a new company to publish the magazine, a deal that could settle some of the recent friction at the storied publication and continue the print edition. Authentic Brands Group, which owns the intellectual property rights to Sports Illustrated as well as to celebrities like Marilyn Monroe and Muhammad Ali, said it had struck a long-term deal to license Sports Illustrated’s publishing rights to Minute Media, a digital-media company focused on sports. Minute Media’s license with Sports Illustrated will stretch for 10 years with an option to extend for up to 30 years total, into the magazine’s centenary. … The deal is a significant expansion for Minute Media, a New York-based company founded in 2011 whose holdings—which include the sports websites The Players’ Tribune and Fansided—generate more than $400 million in revenue annually. Sports Illustrated has been engulfed in turmoil for months, the result of a corporate tug of war between the company that owns the iconic magazine and the energy drink mogul whose executives have been running it. The agreement begins immediately and effectively wrests Sports Illustrated’s operations away from Arena Group, the digital-media company that has run the magazine since 2019 and threatened to end its print edition.”

• Ticket brokers and re-sale companies often make it harder to get affordable tickets for shows. Now they’re doing the same thing with … Los Angeles golf courses? Yep, and it’s VERY complicated. The Los Angeles Times reports: “Golfers at Los Angeles municipal courses have complained for years that it is nearly impossible to score a tee time. Many have long suspected that forces more sinister than excess demand and limited supply were gobbling up coveted foursomes. But they had little to back up their claims. Enter Dave Fink, a 35-year-old golf teaching pro and L.A. native, who this month popped off to his 200,000 followers on Instagram about a booming black market where brokers charge up to $40 as a booking fee. Fink grew up playing on city courses and said one of his ‘fed up’ friends went to Griffith Park and asked Saturday morning golfers how they got their tee times. ‘Finally, somebody told him the truth: “Hey there’s this guy, and the only way you can get in touch with him is through this Korean messaging app called Kakao,”’ Fink recounted. … The confirmation of long-held suspicions has roiled the L.A. golf world, with players clamoring for the city to crack down. And when some of the dominant brokers are Koreans selling mostly to fellow Koreans—on courses designed to cater to all stripes of Angelenos—the controversy is riven with race and class politics.”

• Today’s recall news involves …Trader Joe’s cashews! NBC News says: “A Trader Joe’s-branded cashew product sold in 16 states (including California) is being recalled over salmonella contamination concerns. In a notice posted on the Food and Drug Administration’s website, Wenders LLC said some of its Trader Joe’s 50% Less Sodium Roasted & Salted Whole Cashews product had tested positive for the presence of Salmonella during a routine examination. No illnesses have been reported to date, Wenders said. … Food recalls have reached a five-year high, according to a recent study by benefits group Sedgwick, although experts say some of this may be due to better detection methods. Additionally, many of the incidents involved undeclared allergens.”

• And finally … did you know asbestos use was NOT banned entirely in the United States? Well, that’s about to change. CNN says: “The U.S.. Environmental Protection Agency said Monday that it is taking a ‘historic’ step by banning ongoing uses of asbestos, which has long been linked to multiple types of cancer. The agency’s announcement of the final rule applies to chrysotile asbestos, the only form of asbestos currently being used in or imported to the United States. It is the most common type of asbestos used in the world, used in car parts such as aftermarket automotive brakes and linings and other vehicle friction products and gaskets. It’s been banned in 50 other countries. … While the use of asbestos has been declining for decades in the U.S., asbestos exposure is linked to more than 40,000 deaths in the US, according to the EPA.”

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