ANONYMOUS - OUR VOICE

Australia has Fallen – Premier announces two-tier society by banning the Unvaccinated from all social, hospitality, and care settings whilst “rewardin...

<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />
The Premier of Queensland, Australia has announced that fully vaccinated Queenslanders will be “rewarded” by December 17th 2021, by being allowed to live their lives again, but they will only be able to do this by not mixing with the unvaccinated, because Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is banning them from all social, hospitality, and care settings indefinitely.
<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />
<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27021" data-attachment-id="27021" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="image-121" data-large-file="https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-121.png?fit=639%2C623&ssl=1" data-medium-file="https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-121.png?fit=300%2C292&ssl=1" data-orig-file="https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-121.png?fit=910%2C887&ssl=1" data-orig-size="910,887" data-permalink="https://theexpose.uk/2021/11/09/australia-premier-announces-two-tier-society-by-banning-unvaccinated-from-living/image-121-9/" data-recalc-dims="1" height="622" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 639px) 100vw, 639px" src="https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-121.png?resize=639%2C622&ssl=1" srcset="https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-121.png?w=910&ssl=1 910w, https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-121.png?resize=300%2C292&ssl=1 300w, https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-121.png?resize=768%2C749&ssl=1 768w" width="639" /></figure>
</div>
<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />
By mid-December, authorities in Queensland are set to ease restrictions for entry into the state, citing that this is the date they expect at least 80% of Queenslanders, 16 years and older, to be double vaccinated.
However, Premier Palaszczuk has decided that restrictions will remain in place for unvaccinated people once they reach the target of 80% double vaccination.
This means that from mid-December unvaccinated people will be unable to:
<ul>
<li>Visit vulnerable settings, including hospitals, residential aged care, disability care accommodation, and prisons.</li>
<li>Attend hospitality venues such as hotels, pubs, clubs, taverns, bars, restaurants or cafes.</li>
<li>Attend indoor entertainment venues such as nightclubs, live music venues, karaoke bars, concerts, theatres or cinemas.</li>
<li>Attend outdoor entertainment activities such as sporting stadiums or theme parks.</li>
<li>Attend festivals – either indoor or outdoor – such as musical festivals, folk festivals or arts festivals.</li>
<li>Attend Queensland Government owned galleries, museums or libraries.</li>
</ul>
The Queensland Government states that “these activities are not essential for people to meet their basic needs, but present a considerable risk to contributing to an outbreak in our community when our borders reopen”.
There is however, an exception for weddings in which the unvaccinated may attend, but only at the detriment of the entire wedding party as this will then mean the wedding is restricted to a maximum of 20 people attending.
Meanwhile the fully vaccinated, who Premier Palaszczuk said “will be rewarded”, will be allowed to go back to their lives as normal, almost. Because they will still need to use a “freedom pass” to check-in to venues with the Government describing it as “important to support contact tracing” because “vaccinated people can still carry the virus”.
<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignright"><img alt="Image" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDtgn6uVIAImtSL?format=jpg&name=4096x4096" /></figure>
</div>
In the meantime Queenslanders must obey the Queensland Governments enforceable “New Normal” which involves –
<ul>
<li>Maintaining physical distancing of 1.5m</li>
<li>Wearing a face mask</li>
<li>Maintaining good hand hygiene</li>
<li>Staying home when sick</li>
<li>Checking in to premises or events using the Queensland app for effective contact tracing</li>
<li>Getting vaccinated</li>
</ul>
But are the current restrictions on all Queenslanders and the upcoming restrictions on the unvaccinated justified?
Well the <a href="https://www.qld.gov.au/health/conditions/health-alerts/coronavirus-covid-19/current-status/statistics">Queensland Governments Covid-19 dashboard</a> certainly suggests that they are absolutely not.
In the 24 hours prior to November 9th 2021, the state of Queensland conducted a total of 8,121 Covid-19 tests. Of these there were zero local cases and just 1 case defined as “other”.
<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27030" data-attachment-id="27030" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="image-122" data-large-file="https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-122.png?fit=639%2C129&ssl=1" data-medium-file="https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-122.png?fit=300%2C60&ssl=1" data-orig-file="https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-122.png?fit=1438%2C289&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1438,289" data-permalink="https://theexpose.uk/2021/11/09/australia-premier-announces-two-tier-society-by-banning-unvaccinated-from-living/image-122-9/" data-recalc-dims="1" height="129" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 639px) 100vw, 639px" src="https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-122.png?resize=639%2C129&ssl=1" srcset="https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-122.png?resize=1024%2C206&ssl=1 1024w, https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-122.png?resize=300%2C60&ssl=1 300w, https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-122.png?resize=768%2C154&ssl=1 768w, https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-122.png?resize=1200%2C241&ssl=1 1200w, https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-122.png?w=1438&ssl=1 1438w, https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-122.png?w=1278&ssl=1 1278w" width="639" /></figure>
</div>
You may be thinking that the lack of cases is due to the restrictions and the Covid-19 vaccines doing their job? Well you’re wrong.
Between March 1st 2020 and November 9th 2021, a period of 1 year and 8 months, the state of Queensland has conducted 4,736,216 Covid-19 tests. Of these just 0.04% have resulted in a positive test, with 529 local cases confirmed, and 1,570 “other” cases confirmed over twenty months.
That equates to just 105 positive test results for Covid-19 every single month since the beginning of the alleged pandemic, but remove the 1,570 “other” cases and you find that Queensland has actually only recorded an average of 26 cases every month since the start of the pandemic. For context, over 5.1 million people reside in the state of Queensland, Australia.
<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27033" data-attachment-id="27033" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="image-124" data-large-file="https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-124.png?fit=639%2C196&ssl=1" data-medium-file="https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-124.png?fit=300%2C92&ssl=1" data-orig-file="https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-124.png?fit=1431%2C439&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1431,439" data-permalink="https://theexpose.uk/2021/11/09/australia-premier-announces-two-tier-society-by-banning-unvaccinated-from-living/image-124-9/" data-recalc-dims="1" height="196" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 639px) 100vw, 639px" src="https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-124.png?resize=639%2C196&ssl=1" srcset="https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-124.png?resize=1024%2C314&ssl=1 1024w, https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-124.png?resize=300%2C92&ssl=1 300w, https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-124.png?resize=768%2C236&ssl=1 768w, https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-124.png?resize=1200%2C368&ssl=1 1200w, https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-124.png?w=1431&ssl=1 1431w, https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-124.png?w=1278&ssl=1 1278w" width="639" /></figure>
</div>
But it get’s even harder to justify the loss of freedoms for the entire population of Queensland, and the introduction of a two-tier society by December when you realise how many people have died of Covid-19 in twenty months.
Official stats show that the last recorded Covid-19 death in Queensland, Australia occurred April 12th 2021. Prior to that the last recorded death was 26th May 2020.
The entire state of Queensland, with a population of over 5.1 million people has recorded just 7 Covid-19 deaths since March 2020, an average of 0.35 deaths per month, yet Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is planning to ban the unvaccinated from all social, hospitality, and care settings.
<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27032" data-attachment-id="27032" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="image-123" data-large-file="https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-123.png?fit=528%2C256&ssl=1" data-medium-file="https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-123.png?fit=300%2C145&ssl=1" data-orig-file="https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-123.png?fit=528%2C256&ssl=1" data-orig-size="528,256" data-permalink="https://theexpose.uk/2021/11/09/australia-premier-announces-two-tier-society-by-banning-unvaccinated-from-living/image-123-9/" data-recalc-dims="1" height="256" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 528px) 100vw, 528px" src="https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-123.png?resize=528%2C256&ssl=1" srcset="https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-123.png?w=528&ssl=1 528w, https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-123.png?resize=300%2C145&ssl=1 300w" width="528" /></figure>
</div>
How much more evidence do you need that this has absolutely nothing to do with a virus and everything to do with control?
<div class="wp-container-618b5efc8c86c wp-block-group" readability="4.8078806767587">
<div class="wp-block-group__inner-container" readability="7.5253784505788">
<hr class="wp-block-separator" />
<a href="https://theexpose.uk/2021/11/01/november-fundraising-campaign/">The Exposé is now censored on 
Google, Facebook & Twitter.</a><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210823121616/https://dailyexpose.co.uk/2021/08/09/august-fundraising-campaign-we-rely-solely-on-your-support/"> </a><a href="https://theexpose.uk/2021/11/01/november-fundraising-campaign/">So we need your help to ensure 
we can continue to bring you the </a><a href="https://theexpose.uk/2021/10/01/october-fundraising-campaign/">facts the mainstream refuse to…</a>
<a href="https://theexpose.uk/2021/11/01/november-fundraising-campaign/">We’re not funded by the Government 
to publish lies and propaganda on their</a> 
<a href="https://theexpose.uk/2021/11/01/november-fundraising-campaign/">behalf like the mainstream media.</a> 
<a href="https://theexpose.uk/2021/11/01/november-fundraising-campaign/">Instead we rely solely on your support, so </a><a href="https://theexpose.uk/2021/11/01/november-fundraising-campaign/">please support us in our efforts to bring</a> <a href="https://theexpose.uk/2021/11/01/november-fundraising-campaign/">you</a> 
<a href="https://theexpose.uk/2021/11/01/november-fundraising-campaign/">honest, reliable, investigative journalism.</a> 
<a href="https://theexpose.uk/2021/11/01/november-fundraising-campaign/">It’s quick and easy…</a>
Please choose your preferred 
method to show your support 
<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><a href="https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=864RBRS7GH9LA"><img alt="" class="wp-image-9610" data-attachment-id="9610" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="image-159" data-large-file="https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/image-159.png?fit=332%2C89&ssl=1" data-medium-file="https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/image-159.png?fit=300%2C80&ssl=1" data-orig-file="https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/image-159.png?fit=332%2C89&ssl=1" data-orig-size="332,89" data-permalink="https://theexpose.uk/2021/07/01/july-fundraising-campaign/image-159-3/" height="49" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 180px) 100vw, 180px" src="https://i1.wp.com/dailyexpose.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/image-159.png?resize=219%2C59&ssl=1" srcset="https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/image-159.png?w=332&ssl=1 332w, https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/image-159.png?resize=300%2C80&ssl=1 300w" width="180" /></a></figure>
</div>
<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><a href="https://theexpose.uk/donate-today"><img alt="" class="wp-image-9614" data-attachment-id="9614" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="image-163" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/image-163.png?fit=332%2C89&ssl=1" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/image-163.png?fit=300%2C80&ssl=1" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/image-163.png?fit=332%2C89&ssl=1" data-orig-size="332,89" data-permalink="https://theexpose.uk/2021/07/01/july-fundraising-campaign/image-163-3/" height="49" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 180px) 100vw, 180px" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyexpose.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/image-163.png?resize=217%2C59&ssl=1" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/image-163.png?w=332&ssl=1 332w, https://i0.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/image-163.png?resize=300%2C80&ssl=1 300w" width="180" /></a></figure>
</div>
<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><a href="https://theexpose.uk/support-daily-expose-with-a-monthly-subscription/"><img alt="" class="wp-image-11682" data-attachment-id="11682" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="image-250" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-250.png?fit=332%2C89&ssl=1" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-250.png?fit=300%2C80&ssl=1" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-250.png?fit=332%2C89&ssl=1" data-orig-size="332,89" data-permalink="https://theexpose.uk/2021/07/13/july-fundraising-campaign-we-rely-solely-on-your-support/image-250/" data-recalc-dims="1" height="51" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 190px) 100vw, 190px" src="https://i0.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-250.png?resize=190%2C51&ssl=1" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-250.png?w=332&ssl=1 332w, https://i0.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-250.png?resize=300%2C80&ssl=1 300w" width="190" /></a></figure>
</div>
<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><a href="https://commerce.coinbase.com/checkout/0e00a4d8-4c4a-43b1-8746-6e477dac325d"><img alt="" class="wp-image-9617" data-attachment-id="9617" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="image-166" data-large-file="https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/image-166.png?fit=332%2C89&ssl=1" data-medium-file="https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/image-166.png?fit=300%2C80&ssl=1" data-orig-file="https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/image-166.png?fit=332%2C89&ssl=1" data-orig-size="332,89" data-permalink="https://theexpose.uk/2021/07/01/july-fundraising-campaign/image-166-3/" height="50" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 187px) 100vw, 187px" src="https://i1.wp.com/dailyexpose.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/image-166.png?resize=216%2C58&ssl=1" srcset="https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/image-166.png?w=332&ssl=1 332w, https://i1.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/image-166.png?resize=300%2C80&ssl=1 300w" width="187" /></a></figure>
</div>
<hr class="wp-block-separator" />
<div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel">
<div class="coblocks-slick pb-8" data-slick='{"slidesToScroll":1,"arrow":true,"slidesToShow":3,"infinite":true,"adaptiveHeight":false,"draggable":true,"rtl":false,"responsive":[{"breakpoint":1024,"settings":{"slidesToShow":3}},{"breakpoint":600,"settings":{"slidesToShow":2}},{"breakpoint":480,"settings":{"slidesToShow":1}}]}'>
<div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__item" readability="14.42">
<div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__content" readability="15.106666666667"><time datetime="2021-11-09T18:00:00+00:00" class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__date">November 9, 2021</time><a href="https://theexpose.uk/2021/11/09/the-ongoing-evidence-of-the-important-role-vitamin-d-plays-in-our-bodies-defence-against-viral-and-bacterial-infections/" alt="The Ongoing Evidence of The Important Role Vitamin D Plays in Our Bodies’ Defence Against Viral and Bacterial Infections">The Ongoing Evidence of The Important Role Vitamin D Plays in Our Bodies’ Defence Against Viral and Bacterial Infections</a>
Vitamin D plays an important role in most diseases, including infectious disease.  …
</div>
</div>
<div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__item" readability="16.730158730159">
<div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__content" readability="17.269841269841"><time datetime="2021-11-09T15:29:30+00:00" class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__date">November 9, 2021</time><a href="https://theexpose.uk/2021/11/09/breaking-javid-annouces-vaccines-will-be-mandatory-for-1-2-million-nhs-staff-in-april/" alt="BREAKING: JAVID ANNOUNCES VACCINES WILL BE MANDATORY FOR 1.2 MILLION NHS STAFF IN APRIL">BREAKING: JAVID ANNOUNCES VACCINES WILL BE MANDATORY FOR 1.2 MILLION NHS STAFF IN APRIL</a>
Sajid Javid has announced that mandatory COVID-19 vaccines will be introduced from …
</div>
</div>
<div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__item" readability="18.877697841727">
<div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__content" readability="20.057553956835"><time datetime="2021-11-09T13:20:12+00:00" class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__date">November 9, 2021</time><a href="https://theexpose.uk/2021/11/09/head-of-nhs-inflates-figures-of-covid-hospital-admissions/" alt="HEAD OF NHS INFLATES FIGURES OF COVID HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS">HEAD OF NHS INFLATES FIGURES OF COVID HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS</a>
LIES, DAMN LIES AND NHS STATISTICS The head of the NHS, Amanda …
</div>
</div>
<div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__item">
<div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__content" readability="13.663507109005"><time datetime="2021-11-09T13:00:00+00:00" class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__date">November 9, 2021</time><a href="https://theexpose.uk/2021/11/09/cnn-host-we-took-off-our-masks-just-for-the-photo/" alt="CNN Host: “We Took off Our Masks Just for the Photo”">CNN Host: “We Took off Our Masks Just for the Photo”</a>
<div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__excerpt" readability="17.726618705036"><a href="https://twitter.com/jaketapper/status/1455214615860858882?s=20" rel="nofollow">https://twitter.com/jaketapper/status/1455214615860858882?s=20</a> CNN host Jake Tapper inadvertently revealed the security theatre that is …</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__item" readability="15.651960784314">
<div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__content" readability="16.156862745098"><time datetime="2021-11-09T09:00:00+00:00" class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__date">November 9, 2021</time><a href="https://theexpose.uk/2021/11/09/british-medical-journal-report-reveals-that-pfizer-falsified-covid-19-vaccine-data-in-clinical-trials/" alt="British Medical Journal Report Reveals that Pfizer Falsified Covid-19 Vaccine Data in Clinical Trials">British Medical Journal Report Reveals that Pfizer Falsified Covid-19 Vaccine Data in Clinical Trials</a>
Respected medical journal the British Medical Journal (BMJ) has reported on alleged …
</div>
</div>
<div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__item" readability="11.741935483871">
<div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__content" readability="12.475806451613"><time datetime="2021-11-09T06:30:00+00:00" class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__date">November 9, 2021</time><a href="https://theexpose.uk/2021/11/09/grief-stricken-father-testifies-they-murdered-my-son-my-government-lied-to-me-they-said-the-vaccine-was-safe-i-lost-mine-we-need-to-protect-yours/" alt="Grief Stricken Father Testifies: “They murdered my son. My government lied to me; they said the vaccine was safe. I lost mine, we need to protect yours.”">Grief Stricken Father Testifies: “They murdered my son. My government lied to me; they said the vaccine was safe. I lost mine, we need to protect yours.”</a>
Ernest Ramirez, a single parent from Texas, gave his testimony during a …
</div>
</div>
<div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__item" readability="18.4275">
<div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__content" readability="19.305"><time datetime="2021-11-08T19:10:26+00:00" class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__date">November 8, 2021</time><a href="https://theexpose.uk/2021/11/08/neil-ferguson-challenged-at-university-why-does-he-create-so-much-anger-in-people/" alt="NEIL FERGUSON CHALLENGED AT UNIVERSITY. WHY DOES HE CREATE SO MUCH ANGER IN PEOPLE?">NEIL FERGUSON CHALLENGED AT UNIVERSITY. WHY DOES HE CREATE SO MUCH ANGER IN PEOPLE?</a>
Stanford university professor John Ioannidis has criticised the predictions from the mathematical …
</div>
</div>
<div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__item" readability="16.107954545455">
<div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__content" readability="16.875"><time datetime="2021-11-08T16:40:13+00:00" class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__date">November 8, 2021</time><a href="https://theexpose.uk/2021/11/08/extracts-from-pandemic-diary-of-a-frontline-lawyer-for-the-elderly-part-four/" alt="Extracts from “Pandemic Diary of a Frontline Lawyer for the Elderly” – Part Four">Extracts from “Pandemic Diary of a Frontline Lawyer for the Elderly” – Part Four</a>
We have kindly been provided with the journal of Clare Wills Harrison, …
</div>
</div>
<div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__item" readability="16.212643678161">
<div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__content" readability="16.735632183908"><time datetime="2021-11-08T13:00:00+00:00" class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__date">November 8, 2021</time><a href="https://theexpose.uk/2021/11/08/eu-refusing-to-disclose-secret-big-pharma-contract-deals-covering-covid-19-vaccines/" alt="EU Refusing to Disclose Secret Big Pharma Contract Deals Covering Covid-19 Vaccines">EU Refusing to Disclose Secret Big Pharma Contract Deals Covering Covid-19 Vaccines</a>
A group of concerned parliamentarians in Europe is putting on blast the …
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><a href="https://gab.com/dailyexpose"><img alt="" class="wp-image-12593" data-attachment-id="12593" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="image-83" data-large-file="https://i2.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/image-83.png?fit=300%2C100&ssl=1" data-medium-file="https://i2.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/image-83.png?fit=300%2C100&ssl=1" data-orig-file="https://i2.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/image-83.png?fit=300%2C100&ssl=1" data-orig-size="300,100" data-permalink="https://theexpose.uk/2021/08/11/indiana-doctor-destroys-cdc-covid-narrative-at-school-board-meeting/image-83-7/" data-recalc-dims="1" height="67" loading="lazy" src="https://i2.wp.com/theexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/image-83.png?resize=199%2C67&ssl=1" width="199" /></a></figure>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<a title="Share this page to Telegram"><img alt="Share this page to Telegram" class="wpts-teleg-icon" src="https://theexpose.uk/wp-content/plugins/wp-telegram-sharing/img/t-logo.svg" width="64" /></a>
<h3 class="jp-relatedposts-headline">Related</h3>
 
 
source <a href="https://theexpose.uk/2021/11/09/australia-premier-announces-two-tier-society-by-banning-unvaccinated-from-living/">https://theexpose.uk/2021/11/09/australia-premier-announces-two-tier-society-by-banning-unvaccinated-from-living/</a>

revolution Australia has Fallen – Premier announces two-tier society by banning the Unvaccinated from all social, hospitality, and care settings whilst “rewardin...

The Premier of Queensland, Australia has announced that fully vaccinated Queenslanders will be “rewarded” by December 17th 2021, by being a...

North Carolina’s extreme new gerrymander, explained

Last week, while the political world was <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/11/3/22752593/virginia-governor-results-youngkin-wins">transfixed on Virginia</a>, something arguably more consequential took place in the state just south of it: North Carolina’s Republican-controlled statehouse passed new political maps based on the 2020 census that give the GOP a significant leg up in congressional elections.
In a state split nearly evenly between Republicans and Democrats — Trump won it in 2020 <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/11/03/us/elections/results-north-carolina.html">with 49.9 percent</a> of the vote — the new map of districts for House elections would likely give the GOP at least 10 House seats out of 14 (71 percent). North Carolina law <a href="https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2021/03/09/answer-man-can-gov-cooper-veto-redistricting-moves/4626337001/">does not allow</a> Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper to veto the maps, which means they will be used in 2022 unless courts intervene.
The Princeton Gerrymandering Project, an academic group that grades political maps based on a set of mathematical metrics of fairness, gave the North Carolina map <a href="https://gerrymander.princeton.edu/redistricting-report-card?planId=rec1jFkj1lne3m1RS">an “F” for extreme partisan bias</a> — marking it as one of the very worst proposals anywhere in the country. Two separate analyses, from a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EE1z3taP_eI">Duke University professor</a> and <a href="https://planscore.campaignlegal.org/plan.html?20211105T170501.319985710Z">the Campaign Legal Center</a>, also found that the map was unusually tilted in the GOP’s direction.
“Ten years ago, North Carolina’s legislature drew an extremely gerrymandered congressional map. It was so gerrymandered that they were ordered to redraw it. Twice,” says Will Adler, an expert on gerrymandering at the Center for Democracy and Technology think tank. “This map appears to be at least as extreme as the ones drawn in the last cycle.”
Whether North Carolina’s newly passed maps will survive legal review — the activist group Common Cause has already <a href="https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article255578216.html">filed a suit</a> to stop them — remains to be seen. But challenges to the map face an uphill climb: a 2019 Supreme Court ruling <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/6/27/18761166/supreme-court-gerrymandering-republicans-democracy">defanged federal anti-gerrymandering protections</a>, making it easier for North Carolina Republicans to get away with twisting the maps.
In recent years, North Carolina’s Republican legislative majority has been <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/12/5/18125544/north-carolina-power-grab-wisconsin-michigan-lame-duck">on the cutting edge of anti-democratic activity</a> — going further than other legislatures and even pioneering new tactics for cementing their hold on power that have been picked up by Republicans elsewhere. What happens there is a leading indicator of where our political system is heading.
That’s why this isn’t just about one hyperpartisan statehouse. As states across the country draw new lines in the wake of the census, governments controlled by a single party have a once-in-a-decade opportunity to give themselves a massive leg up. While some Democratic-controlled legislatures like Illinois <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/11/07/us/politics/redistricting-maps-explained.html">are abusing this power</a>, Republicans are both <a href="https://www.vox.com/22632427/redistricting-gerrymandering-house-republicans">better equipped and have proven more willing</a> to draw undemocratic lines that favor themselves.
The GOP’s ruthless redistricting is part of an even bigger pattern of <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2021/6/15/22522504/republicans-authoritarianism-trump-competitive">state-level sabotage of democracy</a>. Gerrymandering is one tool the GOP uses, together with voter suppression bills and institutional power grabs, to tilt the electoral playing field toward their side.
Given the key role states play in setting the rules for national elections, this represents <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2021/6/15/22522504/republicans-authoritarianism-trump-competitive">an existential threat to our political system</a>. If American democracy dies, it’ll die in the states.
To get a good baseline for what happened in North Carolina, it helps to start with the 2020 House election results. Using a map drawn <a href="https://about.bgov.com/news/new-nc-redistricting-boosts-democrats-in-2020-elections/">in accordance with court rulings</a> against the gerrymandered map used in 2018, Republicans still won eight of 13 House seats despite Democratic candidates receiving slightly more votes overall.
This result, as you can see in the map below, reflects differences in where Democratic and Republican voters live. Because Democrats are concentrated in and around cities like Charlotte and Greensboro, while Republicans are more spread out across the state, even more neutral maps can yield some degree of GOP advantage.
<figure class="e-image"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1636498241_3742_10054" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22995913,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/tvvW5EU5AEAx98DWuFIA4GnH1Qk=/0x0:1860x1497/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1497):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22995913/8G1kF_north_carolina_s_2020_house_map_br_favored_republicans.png 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/hZOI25Ujm2O0VKxNto74kTa3aRk=/0x0:1860x1497/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1497):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22995913/8G1kF_north_carolina_s_2020_house_map_br_favored_republicans.png 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/93vZask_7-B4X1rGA9sylqakatc=/0x0:1860x1497/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1497):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22995913/8G1kF_north_carolina_s_2020_house_map_br_favored_republicans.png 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/7YUxZCDG6yRJ1uwFbuKNMAkxZAg=/0x0:1860x1497/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1497):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22995913/8G1kF_north_carolina_s_2020_house_map_br_favored_republicans.png 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xbV0HuzlQAOSwICbhGslnNunSqA=/0x0:1860x1497/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1497):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22995913/8G1kF_north_carolina_s_2020_house_map_br_favored_republicans.png 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/GArlZH77GeHqwZYJcNs30rA2Dr0=/0x0:1860x1497/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1497):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22995913/8G1kF_north_carolina_s_2020_house_map_br_favored_republicans.png 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mNVm5k_7XmsKXWnK5gZnsUaXiso=/0x0:1860x1497/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1497):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22995913/8G1kF_north_carolina_s_2020_house_map_br_favored_republicans.png 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2W1C9aaChqGygj6InWRo6vOIfOY=/0x0:1860x1497/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1497):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22995913/8G1kF_north_carolina_s_2020_house_map_br_favored_republicans.png 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/G2SKdndWghG-QfVRPejeqZeaANc=/0x0:1860x1497/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1497):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22995913/8G1kF_north_carolina_s_2020_house_map_br_favored_republicans.png 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="Map: “North Carolina’s 2020 House map favored Republicans”" data-upload-width="1860" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Ee-sXpAwEW7a9e4XyMKi10JeSxk=/0x0:1860x1497/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1497):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22995913/8G1kF_north_carolina_s_2020_house_map_br_favored_republicans.png" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/XcHxAFz6xDJRCTtnoypBbyMVVi0=/0x0:1860x1497/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1497):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22995913/8G1kF_north_carolina_s_2020_house_map_br_favored_republicans.png 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ibLGl5hZs4UdradWygWfk2pf1SQ=/0x0:1860x1497/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1497):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22995913/8G1kF_north_carolina_s_2020_house_map_br_favored_republicans.png 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/M7xg1RihUvCSJTVa7a1M7V1S9bc=/0x0:1860x1497/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1497):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22995913/8G1kF_north_carolina_s_2020_house_map_br_favored_republicans.png 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bZAKA6Cm2ReL8CB-O8qq1QPcp_U=/0x0:1860x1497/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1497):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22995913/8G1kF_north_carolina_s_2020_house_map_br_favored_republicans.png 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bovtWWRj-xNjC3L3-T1UbbkVCh0=/0x0:1860x1497/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1497):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22995913/8G1kF_north_carolina_s_2020_house_map_br_favored_republicans.png 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5ANbBjoWe91Vl4kkwqLcKPFSJt4=/0x0:1860x1497/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1497):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22995913/8G1kF_north_carolina_s_2020_house_map_br_favored_republicans.png 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/p5sLxCMwlKfevN6AUhszN_AhdF0=/0x0:1860x1497/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1497):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22995913/8G1kF_north_carolina_s_2020_house_map_br_favored_republicans.png 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CGCt0LmGI1Dv1EujKFpYCEc-4IQ=/0x0:1860x1497/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1497):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22995913/8G1kF_north_carolina_s_2020_house_map_br_favored_republicans.png 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/JUyUgF1P4_rNpTIc1BWm2UjYv1E=/0x0:1860x1497/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1497):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22995913/8G1kF_north_carolina_s_2020_house_map_br_favored_republicans.png 1920w" /></picture> <cite>Tim Ryan Williams/Vox</cite></figure>
But now take a look at how a similarly close election would play out under the proposed 2022 map, which has one more seat thanks to North Carolina’s population growth.
Instead of winning eight seats, Republicans win about 10 — a degree of advantage that can’t only be explained by Democrats clustering in cities.
<figure class="e-image"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1636498241_717_10055" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22999521,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1WsbQ6hz8NR9tkb5GikT1ssE3nY=/0x0:1860x1572/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1572):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22999521/xxWi9_north_carolina_s_new_house_map_for_2022_br_favors_republicans_even_more.png 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/6gawH7M1_0-D4TFniMC5hwjI0qE=/0x0:1860x1572/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1572):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22999521/xxWi9_north_carolina_s_new_house_map_for_2022_br_favors_republicans_even_more.png 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/__-4gDMvv7E1im67nQJd3vIGcz4=/0x0:1860x1572/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1572):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22999521/xxWi9_north_carolina_s_new_house_map_for_2022_br_favors_republicans_even_more.png 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Akdk5fc4Hu_ggsFaRo1rYKE0CJg=/0x0:1860x1572/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1572):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22999521/xxWi9_north_carolina_s_new_house_map_for_2022_br_favors_republicans_even_more.png 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/DRRgHHpWEuuiMwtxdaVRedImVz0=/0x0:1860x1572/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1572):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22999521/xxWi9_north_carolina_s_new_house_map_for_2022_br_favors_republicans_even_more.png 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ABFFHxMLSD2yr_SlHAvqlpYBOcI=/0x0:1860x1572/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1572):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22999521/xxWi9_north_carolina_s_new_house_map_for_2022_br_favors_republicans_even_more.png 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/T_-xI0OW1Z-M-DDW2luplf8zXnA=/0x0:1860x1572/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1572):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22999521/xxWi9_north_carolina_s_new_house_map_for_2022_br_favors_republicans_even_more.png 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zelZqVCRAUK3s9mW5ycBWRuoWAA=/0x0:1860x1572/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1572):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22999521/xxWi9_north_carolina_s_new_house_map_for_2022_br_favors_republicans_even_more.png 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TaCwGOc6TYNepewEOHu_QmS9b_g=/0x0:1860x1572/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1572):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22999521/xxWi9_north_carolina_s_new_house_map_for_2022_br_favors_republicans_even_more.png 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="Map: “North Carolina’s new House map for 2022 favors Republicans even more”" data-upload-width="1860" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/yahSrrf7aRAl9JP0RL7gih4N6x0=/0x0:1860x1572/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1572):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22999521/xxWi9_north_carolina_s_new_house_map_for_2022_br_favors_republicans_even_more.png" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/RqQX_dNu0v2e0gJXEasHBiliujE=/0x0:1860x1572/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1572):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22999521/xxWi9_north_carolina_s_new_house_map_for_2022_br_favors_republicans_even_more.png 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/NXSVNajCEVuQ2gRkv6V7s0SuZmo=/0x0:1860x1572/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1572):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22999521/xxWi9_north_carolina_s_new_house_map_for_2022_br_favors_republicans_even_more.png 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TglL4JgSNLTyvP1lQ-KnwgCu3nY=/0x0:1860x1572/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1572):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22999521/xxWi9_north_carolina_s_new_house_map_for_2022_br_favors_republicans_even_more.png 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/SICw73b7rQrrCWtqDXg_EJOCrWg=/0x0:1860x1572/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1572):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22999521/xxWi9_north_carolina_s_new_house_map_for_2022_br_favors_republicans_even_more.png 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/v6B7D3DMUZdgNtFUlGpuAmpp4R0=/0x0:1860x1572/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1572):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22999521/xxWi9_north_carolina_s_new_house_map_for_2022_br_favors_republicans_even_more.png 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/HNwRibZgn0kV8XN-tuwpmYPsZ1g=/0x0:1860x1572/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1572):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22999521/xxWi9_north_carolina_s_new_house_map_for_2022_br_favors_republicans_even_more.png 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/dIuMJmBIkem61UHL4bBO6eIrUeE=/0x0:1860x1572/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1572):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22999521/xxWi9_north_carolina_s_new_house_map_for_2022_br_favors_republicans_even_more.png 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/N-NMPWCGxHIrB-HcRcsxUflOfk8=/0x0:1860x1572/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1572):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22999521/xxWi9_north_carolina_s_new_house_map_for_2022_br_favors_republicans_even_more.png 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Snmnk2blUMF-64sqeag49EelMUA=/0x0:1860x1572/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1860x1572):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22999521/xxWi9_north_carolina_s_new_house_map_for_2022_br_favors_republicans_even_more.png 1920w" /></picture> <cite>Tim Ryan Williams/Vox</cite></figure>
The new map reflects the <a href="https://www.vox.com/22632427/redistricting-gerrymandering-house-republicans">twin hallmarks of any gerrymander</a>, called “packing” and “cracking.” Gerrymanders work by concentrating a large number of the opposing party’s voters in a handful of districts (“packing”), while spreading out the rest of their supporters across districts where they’re consistently outnumbered (“cracking”).
The new map’s lines are drawn in strange ways in order to pack and crack Democratic voters. Democrats in Charlotte, for example, are packed in a very small district where they outnumber Republicans by a roughly 3 to 1 margin. By contrast, Greensboro and the nearby area is cracked in such a way as to create several different districts with comfortable Republican majorities.
One way to measure the degree of unfairness is to look at what gerrymandering experts call “responsiveness”: the extent to which the outcome of elections changes based on shifts in votes. Duke mathematician Jonathan Mattingly <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EE1z3taP_eI&t=465s">ran an analysis</a> of the new maps testing their responsiveness, looking at how many seats each party would get using statewide popular vote totals from previous elections (e.g., the Democrats’ US Senate win in 2008, the GOP’s gubernatorial victory in 2012).
The following chart shows his results. The orange blocks show the frequency of different House outcomes under various hypothetical maps, with the peaks representing the most common vote outcomes. The yellow dots show the outcome using the map Republicans just passed.
In the hypothetical maps, Democrats generally do better as they start winning bigger and bigger majorities — depicted by the orange peaks shifting to the right. But for the 2022 map’s yellow dots, that’s not the case: Republicans continue to maintain a 10-4 advantage even when Democrats win solid statewide majorities.
<div class="c-float-left">
<figure class="e-image"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1636498241_9558_10056" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22996001,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2oyeWt31EEfwKdHWS2DP94y9F6w=/0x0:910x956/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:910x956):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22996001/Screen_Shot_2021_11_08_at_1.01.32_PM.png 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/K4tQLyS02KPMldcCJFfQnwIUd-I=/0x0:910x956/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:910x956):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22996001/Screen_Shot_2021_11_08_at_1.01.32_PM.png 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ILmJj--4FCQOO9Umj1Z7M3cU0Ks=/0x0:910x956/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:910x956):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22996001/Screen_Shot_2021_11_08_at_1.01.32_PM.png 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-5G2QVl6iki_UvXah-RnZJguOsU=/0x0:910x956/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:910x956):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22996001/Screen_Shot_2021_11_08_at_1.01.32_PM.png 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/q7OS5XvqbY_yVg7g9PE4-gIaMQk=/0x0:910x956/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:910x956):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22996001/Screen_Shot_2021_11_08_at_1.01.32_PM.png 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/l0f-W3SXvrI5QZQelqXbjdy4Jfw=/0x0:910x956/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:910x956):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22996001/Screen_Shot_2021_11_08_at_1.01.32_PM.png 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/99zVVdmz3ORVAJZqn9RvwDP0qc0=/0x0:910x956/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:910x956):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22996001/Screen_Shot_2021_11_08_at_1.01.32_PM.png 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/tvQITka8zfgDAmqksLdOnP7Z238=/0x0:910x956/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:910x956):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22996001/Screen_Shot_2021_11_08_at_1.01.32_PM.png 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/cDWMouMhooUb8odpOmrITFnS9nI=/0x0:910x956/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:910x956):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22996001/Screen_Shot_2021_11_08_at_1.01.32_PM.png 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="910" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/DpHZw4fQvQdaTZl6_IJQ23AoIKw=/0x0:910x956/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:910x956):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22996001/Screen_Shot_2021_11_08_at_1.01.32_PM.png" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ZWKiRVay_728RPb1t--GQ95Dpqk=/0x0:910x956/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:910x956):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22996001/Screen_Shot_2021_11_08_at_1.01.32_PM.png 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/cg7eLTpagQyvx2C4sqIe5-QY1Vw=/0x0:910x956/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:910x956):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22996001/Screen_Shot_2021_11_08_at_1.01.32_PM.png 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/F6TeKNTTyZMykGGPTUAmx3LwbWk=/0x0:910x956/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:910x956):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22996001/Screen_Shot_2021_11_08_at_1.01.32_PM.png 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/dvNTGyc7hbhyfCXF4GJnOebnJIE=/0x0:910x956/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:910x956):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22996001/Screen_Shot_2021_11_08_at_1.01.32_PM.png 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/tP2xt_RUhVtYQZxrlnX0PPF7nxI=/0x0:910x956/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:910x956):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22996001/Screen_Shot_2021_11_08_at_1.01.32_PM.png 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/jkv7drvXarR-gOpukrsU7hVTAdg=/0x0:910x956/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:910x956):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22996001/Screen_Shot_2021_11_08_at_1.01.32_PM.png 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/903FHWUZWtVcfZkLPmzBEpAcbag=/0x0:910x956/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:910x956):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22996001/Screen_Shot_2021_11_08_at_1.01.32_PM.png 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Y0H5fOL8zTwBCoRIdvIBF-VvOfY=/0x0:910x956/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:910x956):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22996001/Screen_Shot_2021_11_08_at_1.01.32_PM.png 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/eu0ymBce9dCN6-0rroPEfrttL3A=/0x0:910x956/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:910x956):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22996001/Screen_Shot_2021_11_08_at_1.01.32_PM.png 1920w" /></picture>
<figcaption>A model showing expected outcomes if past statewide elections were House races on North Carolina’s new map. The circles on the histograms show that in all but the most left-leaning electorates, Democrats would likely only win about 4 or 5 House seats out of 14.</figcaption>
<cite>Jonathan Mattingly/Duke University</cite></figure>
</div>
It would take an absolute blowout, over 7 percentage points in the statewide popular vote, for Democrats to even get half of the state’s congressional delegation.
The Princeton Gerrymandering Project did a similar exercise, running over a million simulations of various possible maps. In the vast majority of these maps, Democrats average six or seven seats in House elections — half or a little under the total. Under the new Republican-drawn map, Democrats average just four.
The size of this GOP advantage in the new map, the consistency of its wins with different vote totals, and the lines of the districts themselves are all very strong evidence of an extreme partisan gerrymander.
“All the political scientists are sort of coming to the same conclusion: this doesn’t look happenstance. It looks planned,” says Adam Podowitz-Thomas, a senior legal strategist on the Princeton team.
The North Carolina gerrymander, on its own, doesn’t guarantee that Republicans control Congress. On net, it’s likely to shift two or three House seats into the GOP’s column in 2022 — a nice advantage, especially given how closely divided Congress is at present, but not an insurmountable one.
The issue is that, across the country and over the last few years, Republicans have been systematically more willing and able to redraw lines in their favor than Democrats. An analysis of the past three elections, conducted over the summer by <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2021-08-10/ap-republicans-reaped-biggest-redistricting-edge-in-decades">the Associated Press</a>, found that gerrymandering has given Republicans “a greater political advantage in more states than either party had in the past 50 years.”
This GOP advantage is <a href="https://cookpolitical.com/redistricting">likely to increase</a> in the current redistricting cycle. In the 2020 elections, Republicans <a href="https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/republicans-won-almost-every-election-where-redistricting-was-at-stake/">swept key statehouse races</a> in states where legislatures control redistricting — North Carolina, obviously, but also Florida, Texas, and Georgia. All four are larger states, so a lot of seats are in play. They’re also all fairly competitive, which means that there are more Democrats to pack-and-crack into political oblivion than there are in a deep-red state like Alabama.
Some Democratic state legislatures appear willing to play the same game in 2021. The new <a href="https://gerrymander.princeton.edu/redistricting-report-card/?planId=rec6qj1vAOKsBnXnu">Oregon</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/11/07/us/politics/redistricting-maps-explained.html">Illinois</a> maps appear to be heavily biased in Democrats’ favor; New York’s map, while not yet released, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/14/nyregion/congress-redistricting-ny.html">may come out quite tilted to the left</a>.
But in recent history, Democratic-controlled states have been <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/4/5/22358325/study-republican-control-state-government-bad-for-democracy">less likely</a> to engage in extreme gerrymandering than their Republican peers. And even if Democrats wanted to totally change that in 2021, they couldn’t: The party just doesn’t have enough power in enough states. Some of the large states Democrats control, like California and Virginia, have delegated redistricting to independent commissions.
The asymmetry in gerrymandering speaks to a deeper difference between the parties. Republicans are more willing to rewrite the rules of the political game in their favor than Democrats — to undermine foundations of the democratic system in order to cement their hold on power.
In this sense, North Carolina’s gerrymandering is less an undemocratic one-off than part of a bigger pattern of undemocratic behavior.
You have election subversion laws, like Georgia’s SB 202, that give state Republicans <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22368044/georgia-sb202-voter-suppression-democracy-big-lie">the power to seize control of the actual vote-counting procedure</a> in counties. You have post-2020 efforts to replace election administration officials who blocked Trump’s efforts to steal the election, like <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/brad-raffensperger-trump-2022_n_61816acfe4b059d0bfc386cd">Georgia’s Brad Raffensperger</a> or <a href="https://www.metrotimes.com/news-hits/archives/2021/01/19/michigan-freedom-fund-leader-to-replace-van-langevelde-on-board-of-state-canvassers">Michigan’s Aaron Van Langevelde</a>.
You have power grabs, as seen in states like <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/12/5/18125544/north-carolina-power-grab-wisconsin-michigan-lame-duck">North Carolina in 2016 and Wisconsin in 2018</a>, where Republican legislatures strip newly elected Democratic governors of their authority. You have a number of laws aimed at <a href="https://www.vox.com/22463490/voting-rights-democracy-texas-georgia-suppression-jim-crow-supreme-court-sb7">suppressing turnout in Democratic-leaning communities</a>, ranging from strict voter ID requirements to voter roll purges to restrictions on mail-in ballots.
Underneath it all is the Republican Party’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2021/4/1/22356594/conservatives-right-wing-democracy-claremont-ellmers">delegitimization of democratic rule and embrace of Trump’s lies about election fraud</a>.
In a <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/4/5/22358325/study-republican-control-state-government-bad-for-democracy">2021 working paper</a>, the University of Washington’s Jake Grumbach attempted to quantitatively measure the health of democracy in all 50 states — and to figure out what correlated with its declines in certain places. He found that Republican control over state government — and only Republican control — is strongly correlated with <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/c682q88keqycp6s/grumbach_laboratories_of_democratic_backsliding.pdf?raw=1">large and measurable downturns in democracy</a>.
“Results suggest a minimal role for all factors except Republican control of state government, which dramatically reduces states’ democratic performance,” he writes.
North Carolina is one of the key examples in Grumbach’s paper: Its democracy score starts to plunge in 2011, the last time Republicans had control of the redistricting process. The maps they came up with that time were struck down in courts; there’s already a case pending about the new maps.
But there’s no guarantee the outcome will be the same. In the 2019 case Rucho v. Common Cause, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal judiciary <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/6/27/18761166/supreme-court-gerrymandering-republicans-democracy">does not have the power</a> to block unfair partisan gerrymanders. Rucho is one in a series of recent Supreme Court cases gutting voting rights protections, which have made it much easier for state legislatures to <a href="https://www.vox.com/22575435/voting-rights-supreme-court-john-roberts-shelby-county-constitution-brnovich-elena-kagan">get away with extreme gerrymanders</a>. Similarly, Republicans in Congress, in thrall to Trump, have become <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22274429/republicans-anti-democracy-13-charts">more willing to engage in anti-democratic practices</a> — culminating with the events of January 6.
This broad-spectrum Republican turn against democracy does not mean that the American political system is doomed. But what happened in North Carolina last week should remind us that we are in the midst of a rolling political crisis — the <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2021/6/15/22522504/republicans-authoritarianism-trump-competitive">authoritarian radicalization</a> of one of our two major parties.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2021/11/9/22765982/north-carolina-redistricting-gerrymandering-2021-2022">https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2021/11/9/22765982/north-carolina-redistricting-gerrymandering-2021-2022</a>

vox North Carolina’s extreme new gerrymander, explained

Last week, while the political world was transfixed on Virginia , something arguably more consequential took place in the state just south o...

5 things to know about the big climate conference in Glasgow

<div><img class="ff-og-image-inserted" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2iB9me9k63JHOCeYgQOORfJrkN4=/0x10:5331x2801/fit-in/1200x630/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22998205/GettyImages_1352230068.jpeg" /></div>
A climate conference that will help determine how hot the planet gets is approaching its final days in Glasgow, Scotland. The United Nations climate change conference, known as <a href="https://www.vox.com/22714800/cop26-un-climate-change-conference-glasgow-explained">COP26</a>, has already been one of the buzziest meetings of its kind.
During the first week of the two-week conference, world leaders promoted their efforts to limit greenhouse gases and expand renewable energy. India joined the world’s other largest greenhouse gas emitters — China, the United States, and the European Union — in committing to <a href="https://www.vox.com/22737140/un-cop26-climate-change-net-zero-emissions-carbon-offsets">net-zero emissions</a> targets. Countries have also made major announcements on coal, deforestation, and financial aid for slowing and adapting to climate change.
Then the heads of state departed, leaving negotiators to a second week of hammering out each country’s strategy for meeting their daunting goals. The talks happening through Friday could determine whether countries live up to their promises or fall desperately short of what’s needed to prevent runaway warming.
“We have not done nearly enough to address this crisis,” former US President Barack Obama told COP26 attendees on Monday. “We are going to have to do more. Whether that happens or not to a large degree is going to depend on you.”
The discussions are often weedy and fraught, and they must find common ground between rich countries and poor countries, between oil exporters and island nations threatened by rising seas. The most difficult issues tend to involve money — who pays, how much, and to whom. But some experts say that countries are making progress, spurred in part by pressure from activists outside the conference and the unmistakable consequences of climate change rippling throughout the world. If you’re just tuning in, here’s what you need to know to get up to speed.
The 26th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, as COP26 is officially called, is the latest in a series of nearly annual meetings where countries try to overcome their differences and rise to the challenge of climate change. This year’s meeting was originally scheduled for 2020 but was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Climate disasters are getting more extreme and more frequent, and the atmosphere doesn’t care where greenhouse gases come from — they trap heat and warm the world regardless of who emits them. So every country and community has a stake in the outcome and an obligation to work toward a solution.
International conferences are opportunities for major progress in limiting climate change. Of course, when nearly 200 governments get together — geopolitical rivals, fossil fuel-dependent economies, developing countries, wealthy governments — the disagreements can be fierce, and often make for a slow and frustrating process.
The overarching goal is to get the world committed to a downward slope in total greenhouse gas emissions. Negotiators want to nail down details of adhering to the Paris climate agreement, secure $100 billion in international climate financing, and come up with a framework to help countries adapt to unavoidable changes in the climate.
The <a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement">Paris Agreement was signed six years ago at COP21</a>. In theory, it is a binding treaty, but it allows member states to set their own targets for limiting emissions. Signatories agreed to limit global warming this century to less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures, with a higher target of staying below 1.5°C.
When countries signed the Paris Agreement, their pledges were nowhere near enough to meet these goals. Global greenhouse gas emissions have continued to rise since 2015 and the planet has already warmed up by roughly 1.1°C on average. Scientists from the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/10/9/17951924/climate-change-global-warming-un-ipcc-report-takeaways">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned in 2018</a> that in order to meet the 1.5°C target, the world would have to cut current greenhouse gas emissions by at least half by 2030. That’s adding to the urgency of the proceedings at COP26.
A core idea of the Paris Agreement was that countries would ramp up their goals over time, as technologies improve and countries build up political support for more aggressive action. COP26 is the first big test of this idea: Countries were supposed to come to the table with greater ambitions to fight climate change, laid out in plans known as nationally determined contributions.
There are other climate-related issues on the table at COP26 as well, though they aren’t strictly part of the Paris Agreement. Negotiators are working on ways to finance the transition to clean energy in developing countries. They are also discussing how countries bearing some of the worst consequences of climate change right now, many of which are not major greenhouse-gas emitters, should be compensated for the damages they face.
COP26 is a critical part of the global effort against climate change, especially as the window for avoiding some of the worst effects of warming <a href="https://www.vox.com/22620706/climate-change-ipcc-report-2021-ssp-scenario-future-warming">starts to close</a>.
COP26 spurred major climate developments both before and during the meeting. The United States, after officially withdrawing from the Paris Agreement last year, was eager to come to the table in Glasgow with a strong hand. As the world’s second-largest greenhouse gas emitter, the US announced in April that it would <a href="https://www.vox.com/22397364/earth-day-us-climate-change-summit-biden-john-kerry-commitment-2030-zero-emissions">increase its target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions</a>. The new target is cutting emissions in half by 2030 relative to 2005 levels, and reaching <a href="https://www.vox.com/22737140/un-cop26-climate-change-net-zero-emissions-carbon-offsets">net-zero</a> by 2050, a target meant to be “<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/03/26/president-biden-invites-40-world-leaders-to-leaders-summit-on-climate/">a key milestone</a>” on the road to COP26.
President Joe Biden was also keen to have a pair of bills in hand that would put more money behind his climate goals. Congress did pass a $1.2 trillion <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/11/5/22766086/infrastructure-biden-house-democrats-vote-pass-bbb-spending-bill">bipartisan infrastructure deal</a> that would fund some climate mitigation and resilience work, during the first week of COP26. However, lawmakers are still negotiating the <a href="https://www.vox.com/22752414/reconciliation-bill-biden-build-back-better-spending">Build Back Better</a> plan that would allocate even more money to slowing climate change.
Having the world’s largest economy committed to a more aggressive target likely spurred other countries to step up too, but without money behind it, the US is in a weaker position to press other countries to do more at the table.
Other countries have also strengthened their climate goals. India, the world’s third-largest emitter, made a surprise announcement that it is <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03044-x">aiming for net-zero emissions by 2070</a>. Previously, India was reluctant to declare a target at all.
So far, at least 140 countries representing nearly 60 percent of global greenhouse gas output have agreed to increase their pledges.
This could have a big impact. Before COP26, the world’s pledges tracked toward 2.7°C of warming by the end of the century, according to the <a href="https://www.unep.org/resources/emissions-gap-report-2021">Emissions Gap Report</a> from the United Nations Environment Programme published in October. In light of the pledges made at COP26, the group revised their estimate, finding the new targets would put the <a href="https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/37350/AddEGR21.pdf">world on course for 1.9°C to 2.1°C of warming</a>. That may not sound like much, but small shifts in average temperatures lead to larger shifts in extremes. A once-per-decade heat wave becomes <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/whats-difference-between-15c-2c-global-warming-2021-11-07/">four times more likely at 1.5°C</a> and 5.6 times more likely at 2°C, for example.
But of course, what countries say they will do and what they actually do can be very different. “I think that a pledge is a good start, However, we are more looking closely at implementation,” said <a href="https://www.kathyjetnilkijiner.com/">Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner</a>, climate envoy for the Marshall Islands, during a panel discussion on Monday. “That’s where we will really be holding the larger states accountable for how they will deliver on these commitments.”
Other major announcements at COP26 include:
Methane cuts — More than 100 countries, including the US, Japan, and members of the European Union, signed on to the <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/statement_21_5766">Global Methane Pledge</a> and promised to cut their methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030. These countries account for half of global methane emissions.
Methane is the dominant component of natural gas and a byproduct of landfills and agriculture. Over 100 years, it’s about <a href="https://www.vox.com/22613532/climate-change-methane-emissions">30 times as powerful as carbon dioxide</a> at trapping heat in the atmosphere, so reducing methane emissions has huge and immediate benefits for the climate.
Ending deforestation — Leaders of more than 100 countries, whose lands include 85 percent of the world’s forests, pledged to <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-59088498">end deforestation by 2030</a> as well as provide close to $20 billion in public and private support for the endeavor. The list of signatories includes Russia, Brazil, the US, and the United Kingdom.
Vegetation in forests absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as it grows, while also regulating regional climates.
Halting coal financing — Burning coal to make electricity spews out about <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/global-energy-co2-status-report-2019/emissions">one-third of humanity’s global greenhouse gas emissions</a>. Some of the largest growth in coal power consumption is occurring in developing countries, often backed by banks in wealthier countries. Japan, South Korea, China, and 22 other countries agreed to end their financing of coal power in other countries.
Ending coal consumption — At least 40 countries have now committed to ending their use of coal power. This includes five of the top 20 coal users in the world.
“Today, I think we can say that the end of coal is in sight,” said <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/people/alok-sharma">Alok Sharma</a>, president of COP26, on November 4. But the list notably does not include China and India, which account for two-thirds of global coal consumption. The US and Australia, both major coal producers, did not sign on.
Again, these are all just pledges, and it remains to be seen how they will be put into action.
COP26 officials put out a list of “<a href="https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/Non-paper%20on%20possible%20elements.pdf">possible elements</a>” that could end up in a final agreement at the end of the meeting. One of the most significant points is the “Urgency of action to keep 1.5 alive.”
While the Paris Agreement aimed to limit warming to 2°C , its secondary target of 1.5°C has now become the de facto target for some countries at COP26, particularly those that are most vulnerable to climate change. Remember: Small changes in averages lead to big changes in extremes. At 1.5°C, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/whats-difference-between-15c-2c-global-warming-2021-11-07/">major ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica</a> will likely stay intact, while at 2°C they will likely collapse. At 1.5°C, 70 percent of the world’s coral reefs may be lost, but at 2°C of warming, the losses surge to 99 percent.
The more warming there is, the worse the human and economic consequences for the world, warn reports from numerous scientific agencies like the IPCC. Conversely, that means the more that’s done to avoid warming, the greater the benefits for everyone.
The problem is that heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide can linger in the atmosphere for centuries, and getting on course for 1.5°C requires aggressive cuts in emissions right away. While <a href="https://zerotracker.net/">137 countries have set net-zero emissions targets</a> by the middle of the century, negotiators are debating their goals for 2025. These near-term goals could make or break their longer-term targets.
One tension at the conference is transparency. Some countries are reluctant to disclose details about their emissions and open themselves up to scrutiny and blame for their part in climate change.
Negotiators are also working on finalizing rules for how countries can trade emissions credits across borders to meet their climate targets. The rules around international carbon markets, which were hotly debated in past meetings, may finally get nailed down at COP26. Still, it’s poised to be a slog. “I’m not going to say it’s going to be an easy win,” <a href="https://www.e3g.org/people/jennifer-tollmann/">Jennifer Tollmann</a>, a senior policy adviser at E3G, a think tank, told reporters on Tuesday.
There is also the ever-present issue of money. Many countries facing the impacts of climate change right now say the wealthier countries that produced the most historical emissions should help pay for losses and damages. They want an agreement in writing that they’ll get support, but wealthy countries are resistant to any wording that hints at any obligation or liability on their part.
As for the impacts of climate change that lie ahead, countries continue to fall short. Twelve years ago at <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02846-3">COP15 in Copenhagen</a>, countries agreed to pool $100 billion per year by 2020 to help developing countries mitigate and adapt to climate change. That funding target was missed and may not be reached until 2023.
It’s still not clear whether all these issues will be resolved by the end of the meeting on Friday, and the summit may go long. Negotiators may punt yet again on some of the more contentious issues, arguing that no deal is better than a bad deal.
There’s a lot riding on this meeting, but it <a href="https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2019/12/18/21024283/climate-change-cop25-us-brazil-australia-japan">wouldn’t be the first international gathering</a> built on high hopes that dragged on without delivering conclusive results. Some discussion items may get shifted to the agenda for the next COP, likely to be held in <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/egypt-selected-nominee-host-cop27-climate-talks-us-envoy-kerry-2021-10-02/">Egypt next year</a>.
The good news is COP meetings aren’t the only kind of global climate action, as was evident in the past four years. When the US began withdrawing from the Paris Agreement under former President Donald Trump, <a href="https://www.arup.com/perspectives/publications/research/section/working-together-global-aggregation-of-city-climate-commitments">cities and local governments set their own climate goals</a>. Many companies have also committed to zeroing out their contributions to climate change.
Even after Trump left office, some of that momentum has strengthened. Nearly 20 percent of the world’s largest publicly traded companies have set <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-climate-carbon-business-trfn-idUSKBN2BF2ZX">net-zero emissions targets</a>, for example.
Countries have also set up <a href="https://www.energy.ca.gov/about/campaigns/international-cooperation/climate-change-partnerships">bilateral and multilateral climate agreements</a> to curb emissions, with pairs or small groups of countries teaming up to share resources, finance clean energy, and trade carbon credits. Cities and countries are also pursuing climate change tactics on their own, for example by <a href="https://qz.com/1341155/nine-countries-say-they-will-ban-internal-combustion-engines-none-have-a-law-to-do-so/">phasing out gasoline-powered vehicles</a>. Renewable energy sources like wind and solar power are getting even cheaper, giving them an advantage to fossil fuels in many markets. And some governments have concluded that the costs of leaving climate change unchecked far exceed the costs of reducing emissions.
But COP26 is a unique moment to get governments in the same room, and it holds the potential for major changes in how the world addresses climate change. A meeting like this may be ill-suited to the task of tackling an urgent global crisis, yet it’s an important opportunity to commit governments to a better course.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/22769793/cop26-un-climate-change-glasgow-scotland-obama">https://www.vox.com/22769793/cop26-un-climate-change-glasgow-scotland-obama</a>

vox 5 things to know about the big climate conference in Glasgow

A climate conference that will help determine how hot the planet gets is approaching its final days in Glasgow, Scotland. The United Nation...

Let’s talk about Cecily Strong’s game-changing “clown abortion” skit

<div><img class="ff-og-image-inserted" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8fHzJwKL5aO5yADXKagyBPR5eKM=/197x0:2646x1282/fit-in/1200x630/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22999259/Screen_Shot_2021_11_09_at_1.28.54_PM.png" /></div>
There’s an idea, particularly popular with some comedians, that the very point of comedy is to say the unsayable, to push boundaries and envelopes by articulating uncomfortable truths. <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/22738500/dave-chappelle-the-closer-daphne-dorman-trans-controversy-comedy">Dave Chappelle embodied this</a> recently in his <a href="https://www.vox.com/22722357/dave-chappelle-the-closer-netflix-backlash-controversy-transphobic">controversial</a> Netflix comedy special The Closer, his sixth for the streaming giant in which he (once again) takes up the question of how we should treat trans people and concludes (once again) that the answer is “none too carefully.”
Saying the presumably unsayable is often the milieu of male comics such as Joe Rogan (whose 2016 Netflix special was called Triggered) or Bill Burr (whose last special was titled Paper Tiger).
For the most part, comedy titan Saturday Night Live has sidestepped that tendency, sticking to its long-running habit of doing straightforward comedic imitations and letting the real-life, absurdist politics speak for themselves under cover of parody — until this past weekend.
Cast member Cecily Strong’s recent “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exSZQICbSb8">clown abortion</a>” sketch for “Weekend Update” — in which she plays “Goober the Clown,” a red-nose-wearing balloon-animal maker under pressure to discuss her abortion thanks to Texas’s debilitating <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-59017479">ban on abortions after six weeks</a> — may well go down as one of the starkest political critiques in the show’s recent history.
What becomes clear over the course of the bit is that this may well be Strong’s own personal anecdote, too. As it’s related between clown gags, it’s a reminder that some things do go unsaid in American life, but they might not be the ones we hear the usual suspects yell about.
<div>
<div>[embedded content]</div>
</div>
Throughout the skit, Strong ineffectually tries to clown — her spinning bow tie winds up tilting vertically, her attempt at making a balloon animal results in failure, and her clown horn refuses to honk. This plays out alongside her visible agitation over being a “clown” who must continually discuss abortion because of increasingly restrictive abortion legislation around the country.
The effect is twofold: As she continues the sketch, the words “clown abortion” become increasingly discomfiting and absurd, arguably highlighting the absurdity of extreme anti-abortion rhetoric. The clown conceit itself becomes increasingly flimsy and hard to maintain. When she realizes her horn isn’t working, she riffs for a few seconds, then apparently ad-libs “I’m not a clown” before soldiering on. The admission, tossed out as an aside, lands like a small explosion, a sobering release of tension.
Rattling off her story in between fun clown gags, Strong discusses <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/22715333/tv-abortion-plot-storyline-lies">the unnecessary gravitas</a> attached to the entire subject and the shame and stigmatizing effects it has on women. She points out that “one in three clowns” will have a clown abortion in their lifetime, but that we don’t know that because most of her peers “won’t even talk to other clowns about it.”
When they’re able to — despite the barriers in place — there’s a real kind of relief and communion, and the retelling of her experience seems cathartic. The tone of the sketch shifts into a gentle reminder that the abortion debate impacts real people, human beings whose voices and stories are rarely heard as the war over their bodies rages on around them.
On one level, Strong’s sketch plays directly into the hands of people who think modern comedy has lost its edge — that <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/21437879/stay-woke-wokeness-history-origin-evolution-controversy">woke culture</a> has <a href="https://gen.medium.com/the-decade-political-comedy-stopped-being-funny-677172a37d91">changed the art form</a> into humorless political lectures. But on another level, Strong arguably shows that comedy can not only withstand the political lectures but also be made stronger by them, if done well. There’s something about the phrase “clown abortion” that inevitably evokes laughter.
If anything, the contrast between Strong’s clown antics and the topic she’s discussing, along with her clear emotional investment in the narrative (and, perhaps, some degree of personal discomfort), becomes a way to emphasize the serious stakes for people who lack access to safe abortions.
Strong’s final joke — “The last thing anyone wants is a bunch of dead clowns in a dark alley!” — is barbed and hilarious. The entire skit, from the way Strong wrestles with her props to the actual jokes themselves, strikes an uncomfortably raucous note. We’re laughing, but the more we laugh, the more uncomfortable we are, which just drives home the rawness of the subject under discussion.
The sketch unforgettably illustrates that we’re sometimes pushed to treat abortion like something unspeakable, a tragedy or a mark of permanent shame (or both). In an environment where a topic is so stigmatized that having reasoned debate around it becomes impossible, the addition of clown goggles and a spinning bow tie highlights how ludicrous the controversy has become — all while making us laugh despite ourselves.
The sketch also doubles as a response to the Chappelle philosophy of comedy. He and many other comedians have argued passionately that the targets of a joke need to learn to laugh at themselves even when the quip is cruel and dehumanizing. But Strong frames the sketch around the concept of empathy and kindness, using something her — sorry, Goober’s — abortion doctor told her.
It’s her “favorite joke,” she says, a warm-hearted zinger about how relatively early she was in her pregnancy (“Did you get pregnant on the way over?” the doctor asked.) It’s not “a funny ha ha” kind of humor, she clarifies, but a “funny ‘you’re not an awful person and your life isn’t over’ kind of joke — the best kind.”
The best kind indeed. There’s nothing dehumanizing about Strong’s performance, even though she does it in a clown suit. It’s not “funny ha ha” humor, but humor that spotlights the vulnerability and humanity of the comedian and her audience. It’s something unsaid that we could stand to say more often.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2021/11/9/22772533/saturday-night-live-goober-the-clown-abortion-cecily-strong">https://www.vox.com/culture/2021/11/9/22772533/saturday-night-live-goober-the-clown-abortion-cecily-strong</a>

vox Let’s talk about Cecily Strong’s game-changing “clown abortion” skit

There’s an idea, particularly popular with some comedians, that the very point of comedy is to say the unsayable, to push boundaries and en...

The bipartisan infrastructure bill is both historic and not nearly enough

<div><img class="ff-og-image-inserted" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ERQc1OBb-_cHp6Z1mYG5DWk672Y=/0x476:6000x3617/fit-in/1200x630/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22999205/AP21309784457278.jpg" /></div>
<a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/11/5/22766086/infrastructure-biden-house-democrats-vote-pass-bbb-spending-bill">Congress passed a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill</a> on Friday — and it’s simultaneously a massive and somewhat limited investment in everything from roads to bridges to water pipes.
Only $550 billion of the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is new spending, which will be spread out over five years. About $650 billion of the bill’s spending would have been allocated for existing transportation and highway programs under previously planned appropriations.
The new money in the bill (also known as the bipartisan infrastructure framework, or BIF) will go toward a wide range of projects, including highway repairs, high-speed internet services, and investments in electric buses. Notably, the infrastructure bill was backed by both Democratic lawmakers and some Republicans, and was the culmination of yearslong attempts to advance infrastructure legislation that’s spanned presidential administrations.
While it’s a historic investment, the legislation only authorizes a fraction of the funding required to tackle the entirety of the US’s infrastructural challenges. Across specific categories of the bill, including lead water pipe replacement and broadband, it’s likely to take much more than what’s already been allocated to fully solve issues of access, safety, and equity. The bill includes $15 billion specifically for addressing lead pipes, for instance, while experts believe <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/08/02/biden-lead-problem-502149">it will take $60 billion</a> to actually replace every lead pipe in America.
Still, the passage of the bill — which contains critical funding that the country has needed for decades — is significant, and an important down payment for future investments.
“Finally, infrastructure week,” President Joe Biden quipped on Saturday, referencing the fact that President Donald Trump often declared it “infrastructure week,” only for no progress to be made on infrastructure legislation. “We did something that’s long overdue, that long has been talked about in Washington, but never actually been done.”
<a href="https://www.portman.senate.gov/sites/default/files/2021-08/210807%20Bipartisan%20IIJA%20Bill%20Summary.pdf">The $550 billion in new spending</a> includes big boosts in funding for transportation, internet access, and clean drinking water, much of which will be distributed to states that will then allocate the funds to regional projects.
Broadly, the funding for various provisions is less than what Biden had originally requested in his American Jobs Plan, underscoring the compromises made between Democrats and Republicans to reach the final version of the bill. <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/3/31/22357179/biden-two-trillion-infrastructure-jobs-plan-explained">This past March</a>, Biden had called for $100 billion for broadband, while the bill includes $65 billion; <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/5/21/22446283/biden-negotiation-republicans-american-jobs-plan">he’d also requested $159 billion</a> for roads and bridges and ended up with $110 billion.
Below is a rundown of the legislation:
<ul>
<li>$110 billion for roads and bridges: An estimated 173,000 miles of roads and 45,000 bridges are in major need of maintenance, and the bill’s largest appropriations would go toward making them more structurally sound and repairing damage like potholes.</li>
<li>$66 billion for passenger and freight rail: The bill strives to modernize existing rail services and expand lines to new geographic areas. <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/amtrak-ceo-outlines-plans-spending-66-billion-infrastructure-funding-rcna4786">Amtrak CEO Bill Flynn has said that this money</a>, which represents the largest federal investment the rail service has received since it was established in 1971, will go to improving its offerings in the Northeast corridor and growing its presence in as many as 160 communities.</li>
<li>$65 billion for expanding broadband access: The bill intends to provide high-speed internet access to <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/9/10/21426810/internet-access-covid-19-chattanooga-municipal-broadband-fcc">millions of Americans who don’t currently have it</a>, and includes funds for broadband deployment in rural areas and on tribal lands. Additionally, it contains funding for vouchers to help low-income families afford internet access.</li>
<li>$65 billion to update the electric grid: A key piece of the legislation focuses on bolstering the resiliency of the electric grid in the face of a growing number of natural disasters including wildfires and hurricanes. It’s also dedicated to building new power lines and enhancing the infrastructure for delivering renewable energy.</li>
<li>$55 billion for water and wastewater: The <a href="https://www.vox.com/22620076/jackson-mississippi-water-infrastructure-bill">measure tries to tackle water quality</a> in a few different ways: It includes $15 billion for replacing lead pipes, $10 billion to remove contaminants in drinking water, and more than $20 billion for projects that address broader drinking water and wastewater needs.</li>
<li>$39 billion for public transit: These funds would repair <a href="https://www.vox.com/22621793/public-transit-funding-bipartisan-infrastructure-bill">existing public transit lines, modernize them</a>, and make them easier to access. A key goal is to make existing bus and rail fleets greener, including bringing in more buses that are zero-emissions and retiring those that aren’t.</li>
<li>$25 billion for airports: The bill strives to make upgrades to air traffic control equipment, and to tackle longstanding <a href="https://www.vox.com/22577659/bipartisan-infrastructure-framework-airports-biden-travel">repairs and maintenance that airports across the country need</a>, like runways and terminals.</li>
<li>$17 billion for ports and waterways: The bill attempts to curb pollution near ports, and address congestion in order to streamline access and traffic at many locations.</li>
<li>$7.5 billion for electric vehicle chargers: This funding includes $7.5 billion to establish a robust <a href="https://www.vox.com/22463219/electric-vehicles-charging-station-infrastructure">nationwide network of electric vehicle chargers</a>, the first system of this scale, and an investment seen as critical for electric vehicle adoption.</li>
<li>$1 billion for reconnecting communities: In the past, roads, highways, and bridges have been built that divide communities of color from white communities, an issue this bill aims to address by removing existing barriers and building new infrastructure.</li>
</ul>
These investments make significant inroads in confronting the country’s infrastructure issues, though they aren’t sufficient to address them completely.
Across an array of provisions including drinking water, public transit, and broadband, experts believe much more funding is needed to fully tackle the problems cities and states are facing. The bill contains $39 billion for public transit, for example, but the <a href="https://infrastructurereportcard.org/cat-item/transit/">American Society of Civil Engineers</a> estimates that US public transit systems need about $176 billion in work right now, and will need almost $100 billion more in funding by the end of the decade.
The success of the bill will also depend heavily on implementation, which will vary across states. For many programs, the federal government is expected to allocate a specific amount of funding to states, which will then dole out money to different localities. During this process, many cities and towns will be competing for a limited pool of funding, leaving prioritization of projects up to the state’s discretion.
With drinking water funding, for example, each state will get a lump sum that it can then allocate to the places it determines are most in need, an approach that doesn’t necessarily guarantee an equitable distribution of money. <a href="https://www.eenews.net/articles/report-racial-disparities-afflict-epa-drinking-water-funds/">As E&E News reported, an August review from the Environmental Policy Innovation Center</a> found that states have historically been less likely to distribute funding from drinking water resources to smaller and more diverse communities.
Overall, the bill is unlikely to revolutionize American infrastructure, or even bring its transportation systems on par with countries <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2021/04/30/us-infrastructure-ranking/">like Singapore and the Netherlands</a>. But the legislation marks key progress on a relatively popular issue that has previously stymied Congress, and contains big investments that the country has needed for a long time. Although more action is required to fully confront the infrastructure problems the US faces, this bill is, importantly, a start.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/22770447/infrastructure-bill-democrats-biden-water-broadband-roads-buses">https://www.vox.com/22770447/infrastructure-bill-democrats-biden-water-broadband-roads-buses</a>

vox The bipartisan infrastructure bill is both historic and not nearly enough

Congress passed a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill on Friday — and it’s simultaneously a massive and somewhat limited investment in every...

One Good Thing: A documentary about Philly cops’ worst enemy becoming their DA

<div><img class="ff-og-image-inserted" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/OOsv12_kydj-GRWinWYn1ajGJnA=/0x264:4500x2620/fit-in/1200x630/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22939061/GettyImages_1191069249.jpg" /></div>
If you want to change the world, is it best to enter the halls of power yourself so you can change the institutions in charge from the inside? Or is it better to stay agitating from the outside, where you won’t be corrupted and assimilated into an unjust system?
This is a question basically anyone interested in making the world a better place has to ask themselves, and it’s the question that motivates and courses through <a href="https://watch.topic.com/philly-da/season:1/">Philly DA</a>, an eight-part documentary released this spring by directors Ted Passon, Yoni Brook, and Nicole Salazar. If you care at all about the criminal justice debates that have been raging since <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2020/6/4/21276674/protests-george-floyd-arbery-nationwide-trump">last summer’s protests</a> — or about the more general question of how to change an unjust world in the wake of the pandemic — it’s essential viewing. It’s the story of an outsider who chose to play the inside game, and a celebration of what that move accomplished.
The titular DA is <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/7/30/22600669/larry-krasner-philadelphia-reform-prosecutors-crime">Larry Krasner</a>, who spent most of his career battling the police and district attorney of his city. He sued the Philadelphia PD <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/17/us/philadelphia-krasner-district-attorney-police.html">75 times</a>. He became a Philly-specific <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Kunstler">Bill Kunstler</a>, a radical lawyer who represented persecuted activists and other victims of an overzealous, racist criminal justice system.
Then in 2017, a strange thing happened: Krasner ran for district attorney, and he won. His opponents acted as though a fox had been elected to guard the henhouse. “I don’t like anything about Larry Krasner,” said Lynne Abraham, who as Philly DA from 1991 to 2010 became known as <a href="https://www.phillyvoice.com/report-highlights-lynne-abraham-one-americas-deadliest-prosecutors/">one of the deadliest prosecutors</a> (in terms of capital sentences imposed) in the country.
How was Krasner going to turn the district attorney’s office, which had for decades focused on imprisoning <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/16/magazine/the-deadliest-da.html">or killing</a> as many criminals as it could, into a force that actually seeks to shrink prisons? How could he change the institution from the inside without letting it change him first?
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/22/arts/television/review-philly-da-pbs.html">Early</a> <a href="https://www.indiewire.com/2021/06/philly-da-pbs-best-tv-2021-tv-podcast-millions-of-screens-1234642232/">reviews</a> of Philly DA <a href="https://www.vulture.com/article/philly-da-docuseries-review.html">compared it to The Wire</a>, a brilliant but profoundly fatalistic show about the persistence of institutional pathologies everywhere from police departments to newspapers, and the inability of even the most passionate and hardworking individuals to fix them. It’s true that Philly DA, like The Wire, is heavily character-based and serialized, much more so than a typical documentary. If you ignore documentaries generally but enjoy a good prestige drama, there’s plenty for you here. It’s dialogue-heavy, full of impassioned debates in fluorescent-lit conference rooms.
But Philly DA is not The Wire, and it’s not fatalistic. Krasner did change the district attorney’s office, and he did change Philadelphia. He brags that his office has reduced the total time that Philadelphians will spend in prison in the future by <a href="https://krasnerforda.com/promises-kept">over 18,000 years</a>. His office has largely <a href="https://billypenn.com/2021/04/25/krasner-philadelphia-district-attorney-election-cash-bail-wrongful-convictions/">stopped prosecuting</a> simple drug possession or prostitution charges, while <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/crime/ryan-pownall-philadelphia-police-charged-murder-david-jones-larry-krasner-20180904.html">bringing a homicide case against a Philadelphia cop</a>.
Change was, in fact, possible. Krasner just had to fight hard, and sometimes fight ugly, to get it done, earning scores more enemies in the process.
Shortly after being inaugurated, Krasner <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/crime/larry-krasner-philly-da-firing-prosecutors-20180105.html-2">fired dozens of veteran prosecutors</a> because he didn’t feel he could trust them to prosecute cases in a way that reduced incarceration and respected defendants’ civil rights. The purge happened on a snowy day, resulting in news footage of civil servants forced to carry big cardboard boxes of their belongings to their snowed-in cars. It was ugly, but understandable. Krasner can’t implement his vision if the rank and file are going to resist it at every turn.
Again and again, Krasner and his team face these kinds of standoffs. The filmmakers follow Lisa Harvey, the head of the juvenile justice division, a highly experienced prosecutor not purged in the initial cull. Harvey believes she owes it to victims to charge the most serious crime she can in each case — even when that means sending more juveniles to prison for longer. She eventually resigns, unable to reconcile her understanding of her job with Krasner’s agenda.
The filmmakers are not afraid to show Krasner stumbling, behaving arrogantly when faced with predictable problems. In episode six, when Krasner <a href="https://www.transcriptroom.org/tr/CAF/DownloadFile/9719886?docType=30&FileName=ph062619.pdf">visits a town hall</a> to address the city’s opioid crisis in June 2019, he goes on a rant calling Philly police liars, bellowing, “If you are being told by law enforcement that we will not prosecute people breaking into your cars, you are being lied to.” Before any members of the public get to ask any questions, he stands up and leaves as the town hall erupts in anger.
Krasner and his aides are more wounded when critiqued by activists from his left. In the final episode, he’s confronted by bail reform advocates, angered that he is still <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/04/opinion/prosecutors-bail-reform.html">requesting bail</a> in many cases. “It’s hard to reconcile that the people I worked so closely with, shoulder to shoulder with, see me as the enemy now, see us as the enemy now,” Assistant District Attorney Lyandra Retacco, who joined Krasner’s team after a long period as a public defender, tells the camera. “But that is also part of what we took on when we came here.”
Philly DA is at its most powerful when it is examining and celebrating that choice: to go from being on the outside fighting the power to being on the inside wielding it.
Krasner and his team made a choice to go from being activists on the outside, where they rarely got what they wanted but were free to speak their minds, to being policymakers on the inside. While fighting for change on the outside is hardly a picnic, the inside game can be uniquely hard. The institutional forces you’re trying to change fight back ferociously, and your friends on the outside are disappointed in you when you come up short.
Choosing that path because you know you can do more good for the causes you care about takes courage. Philly DA is a profound illustration of what that kind of courage can produce.
Philly DA is streaming on <a href="https://watch.topic.com/philly-da/season:1/">Topic</a>, which offers a free seven-day trial. For more recommendations from the world of culture, check out the <a href="https://www.vox.com/one-good-thing">One Good Thing</a> archives.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/22729088/philly-da-documentary-larry-krasner">https://www.vox.com/22729088/philly-da-documentary-larry-krasner</a>

vox One Good Thing: A documentary about Philly cops’ worst enemy becoming their DA

If you want to change the world, is it best to enter the halls of power yourself so you can change the institutions in charge from the insi...