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Updated: 16 hours 21 min ago

Washington DC Locks Down and Boards Up As Nation Braces For Election Result

Tue, 11/03/2020 - 18:33
The scene near the White House was nervous anticipation several hiurs before the first poles closed. Photo: John Zangas

Washington, DC-Businesses, Unions, and News Services were busy boarding up windows and lobbies across the nation’s capital on Monday in anticipation of a contested presidential election result. As election night fell, construction crews were still attaching and reenforcing sheets of plywood to windows at the news headquarters buildings and union offices near the Capitol. Many other businesses followed suit. Never before has Washington DC been boarded up for an election as if a hurricane were approaching.

At the White House and Executive mansion, the office of the Vice-President, construction crews erected a 15-foot fence late Monday night. The fence is an addition to an iron wrought fence installed at the North side of the White House earlier this year. With existing fencing already in place on H Street and along 15th street since the Black Lives Matter protests this summer, the White House has a dubious appearance of being under siege. And maybe it is.

Steve Cochran, a foreman who was supervising a team of workers boarding up a building across from the National Archives on Pennsylvania Avenue, said he had never seen it like this before an election. He has lived in Washingtonian all his life and has seen Administrations come and go since John F. Kennedy. “I have not seen so much fear at the possibility of how this election could come out,” he said.

Steve Cockran said at the end of the day we all have to come together. Photo: John Zangas

The presidial election is usually welcomed as a time honored democratic process ushering leadership change . It is a ritual and the foundation of constitutional power sharing. That is the intended nature of democracy here-that the trustees of power know they are temporary brokers and accept their power with a precondition to cede it at the will of the voting public.

But this election day is different. And as the public scrutiny over the election process intensifies, many are asking questions about the conduct of the Administration, the process of electing a leader, and the surety of that process, especially as it relates to the electoral college and whether it should be abolished altogether.

The President has previously been unwilling to say he’d cede power if he were not reelected. This has created nervousapprehension of the election result and never before has a president seemingly clung to power so ardently.

The temperamental state of the union is not well either. Parties have attacked each other in the media with a toxic sludge of accusations. The Administration has repeatedly asserted, without basis, voter fraud is inherent with mailed ballots. At the same time it began to decommission mail processing machines at the post offices in swing states. This has resulted in first class mail delivery delays of 40 percent in Philadelphia.

The debates were largely a reality TV spectacle and social media is a raging political inferno. Gone are the days when favorites on Twitter and Facebook included videos for fun of cats playing pianos or of babies laughing at nothing.

A published report said researchers determined the U.S. is as close to civil war as it has been since the 1860s “based on a number they call the ‘political stress indicator’ [which] can warn when societies are at risk of erupting into violence.” Their assessment is based on five indicators: wage stagnation, national debt, competition between elites, distrust in government, urbanization, and the age structure of the population . Imbalances in these categories leads to inequality they argue, which has been building for decades, long before the current Administration moved into the White House.

Both major election campaigns have “lawyered up” as they vie for advantage in swing states to litigate dozens of cases over the legality of vote processes. Some last minute changes based on concerns over COVID, such as curbside voting in Harris County, Texas, have dealt the GOP a stinging defeat. But the age of vote challenges in the courts is leaving many to ask themselves if their vote will count. One to also left to wonder if court challenges will resolve future elections.

So it should be no surprise that election day would see the nation’s capital locked down and boarded up.

Media companies and businesses boarded up in anticipation of the election result. Photo: John Zangas

The government of Washington DC, for all its critics and criticisms (what government is without them?) has gotten one thing right this election. Due to the COVID crisis it mailed every registered voter in the District an absentee ballot with clear instructions on how and where to vote. It has also gave mailed ballots a grace period of 10 days past election day to be counted, provided voters have mailed and post-marked ballots by the end of election day. It is a model other states could follow. Maybe such a model is what all states should follow

The post Washington DC Locks Down and Boards Up As Nation Braces For Election Result appeared first on DCMediaGroup.

Fashion Designer Fosters Community Spirit With An Eye For Empowerment

Mon, 11/02/2020 - 01:06
Jason C. Peters has been involved in community activism for 2 decades. Photo: John Zangas

Washington DC-Most fashion designers are in business to plug their clothing line and to promote their image. But designer Jason C. Peters, put his skills to work for a different purpose on Saturday. He held a public fashion show in Black Lives Matter Plaza centering DC communities with positive messages designed to empower and uplift them.

Peters brought his skills with him from New York to Washington DC to show that the Black Lives Matter Movement derives its primary power from the grassroots of its communities. His models converted the plaza into a runway wearing colorful signs along with their apparel as the drum group ‘Drumline Elite’ performed an array of inspirational drum tracks..

Following the show Peters gave out clothing packages to the needy in a philanthropic gesture to the community while Drumline Elite continued playing an extended ensemble of tracks it created.

Tyree, a spokesman for Drumline Elite said his group formed after graduation from Eastern SeniorvHighschool in Washington DC and had been together for several years. “We started out doing it for fun but we got plenty of smiles and we’ve been playing seriously for two years now,” he said.

Drumline Elite performed tracks they created over the past several years that they have been in existence. Photo: John Zangas

Peters wanted to highlight the importance of community involvement in ongoing political discourse and encourage residents to get involved directly in the political forces shaping their communities. He has been involved in activism for several decades and decided to merge his design talents with activism in response to the forces undermining Black communities. His idea to merge fashion with activism came to him after Trayvon Martin was killed in Florida by a security guard. What better way to do that than by dressing up models with the messages of resistance, he thought.

“It was important to do it right in front of the White House in Black Lives Matter Plaza to keep people inspired right before the election,” he said. Peters said inspiring others and giving back to the community were his passions.

Models wore messages of empowerment and resistance. Some models wore ‘Vote’ over their mouths. Photo: John Zangas

Models dressed in the signs they created. One wore ‘Stop Caging Kids,’ while another wore ‘Black Hair Is Cool.’ Several wore ‘Vote’ over their mouths in a statement of engagement by action not just words. Peters himself wore ‘Vote Him Out.’ Some of the models had no experience doing runway but were activists who wanted to get involved. They ranged in age from 6 to their early 20s. All models wore masks, in itself a fashion statement as every community continues to confront the COVID pandemic.

Peters has put on shows in communities such as Ferguson, New York, and Chicago and wherever communities have faced struggle with oppression.

“I belive it is important to fight for justice and equality for anyone who feels shunned by society because of the color of their skin,” he said. He said he is looking forward to putting on more shows in communities facing challenges with police brutality and struggling with economic conditions.

He can be teached on Instagram @JasonCPeters and accepts donations in support of his philanthropic efforts to distribute clothing to those in need.

The post Fashion Designer Fosters Community Spirit With An Eye For Empowerment appeared first on DCMediaGroup.

Architects Build Society’s Cage On National Mall In Bold Statement Of Racial Strife In America

Sun, 08/30/2020 - 21:50
Society’s Cage is an Architect’s rendering of racial inequality in America. Photo: John Zangas Washington DC – A group of five designers at the internationally known SmithGroup Architecture firm set up a metallic cubic structure on the National Mall to frame the struggle of Black Lives in America. The public display titled “Society’s Cage” is a 14 foot cube pavilion timed for the 57th anniversary of the March On Washington and is made from the hidden components of sky scrapers. It depicts an architect’s visualization of ongoing racial inequality in the United States and asks the question, “What is the value of a Black life in America?”

The cube is constructed from 483 vertical rusted conduit pipes attached to a large metal plate, supported by four large metal supports on a pavilion, resembling a cage. One in four bars are connected to the floor, representing the rate Blacks will be incarcerated. A four-part, 8 minute, 46 second music composition, the same time length of time of George Floyd’s tragic murder, sets the mood. The floor is captioned with quotations of prominent civil rights activists while the pavilion’s parapet contains statistics of Black lives within the justice system. As night falls lights shimmer through the conduits, illuminating the display.

The observer is invited to walk through the cube and between the uneven hanging conduit pipes to experience the visual and acoustical expression of systemic injustice through the eyes of Black lives. “How long can you hold your breath,” greets the observer at its entrance. One enters and hears a concert of instruments accented with the cries of a child, police sirens, moans of the Black mother whose child was killed by police, the rising and falling tones of voices marking societal iniquities. Through the conduit bars one sees the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol, lending more context to the design’s statement: Is a Black life really free? Does a Black life really have equal access under the law in this democracy?

Julian Arrington, one of five designers, commented on the meaning of Society’s Cage and its impact of project development on him. “The cube depicts equity and perfection and is a symbol of equality,” he said. But he described its inner structure rendered as a critique of the broken justice system. “The bars are interrupted and converge with four datasets representing different forms of racism and state violence,” he said.

Julian Arrington was one of the lead designers of Society’s Cage. He described the design as a critique of racial bias in the justice system. Photo: John Zangas

Arrington described the four data sets as mass incarceration, police brutality in the form of police killings, capitol punishment, and lynching. He suggested the display is a visual display of the continuing pattern of this systemic racism imbued within society because it was as evident today as it was 400 years ago and studies and statistics bore that out.

On one side of the parapet reads “One in ten Black people are killed by police while unarmed. Black people are 2.5 times more likely to be killed by police than Whites.” Another side reads, “Out of over 2600 people absolved of crimes since 1956 nearly half have been Black. In America Black people are far more likely to be wrongly convicted of murder, sexual assault, and drug crimes.”

Doug Dahlkemper, one of the principals at SmithGroup, said that the design was the Architectural firm’s contribution to a national discussion of racial issues. He said the firm supported and gave all of the designers, who are minorities, lead roles in the project. “I think we all have to be a part of this issue, Black, White, no matter what race and creed you are,” he said.

Dahlkemper credited the design team as “very skilled designers” who not only envisioned and designed Society’s Cube, but also planned the logistics and organized the fundraising needed to complete the project.

Arrington took pride in describing the project and the symbolic meaning of its constituent parts. He derived hope from the fact that his firm supported it. “The opportunity to have something on this site speaks volumes in terms not only the breath within my organization of people who want to see change but also those who sponsored and contributed financially to it,” he said.

As the sun set and the conduit lights came on to mark the end the first day of the display, someone left a bouquet of roses and lillys on the welcome table. After several of the support team swept dust from the floor of Society’s Cage, Arrington carefully laid the flowers on the four corners of the parapet.

As the sun set lights In the conduits illuminate the captions and bars touching the floor. Photo: John Zangas

 

Society’s Cage will be displayed on the National Mall across from the Smithsonian Castle and near the L’Enfant Mall metro entrance until Labor Day.

The post Architects Build Society’s Cage On National Mall In Bold Statement Of Racial Strife In America appeared first on DCMediaGroup.

Act Now To Secure Your 2020 Solar Incentive Tax Credit

Sun, 04/26/2020 - 02:37

It’s Not Too Late for Solar Incentive Tax Credit Eligibility… Here’s Why

When you install your home solar system with Alba Energy before December 31st 2020, you may be eligible to earn 26% of your system cost as an Investment Tax Credit, or ITC.

How Does The Solar ITC Work?

Here’s an example:

Gross System Price: $20,000

Less 26% Tax Credit: ($5,200)

Net Cost: $14,800

Let’s say the system you purchase is $20,000. Your 26% tax credit would be worth $5,200 dollars, meaning that the net cost of your system is now only $14,800 dollars. What’s even better is that using Alba Energy’s SMART Solar Finance options, this system would only be $97 per month

And in addition to the 26% solar tax credit, you may also be eligible for solar rebates/incentives from Texas power companies, helping you save even more. The Austin Energy Solar Rebate and CPS Energy Solar Rebate Programs pays as much as $2,500!

How Do You Apply For The Solar Incentive Tax Credit?

File the form 5695 as part of your tax return, and then enter the value of the 26% solar ITC into line 53 of form 1040. Don’t worry, Alba Energy is here to help if you have any questions!

 

Click to read more on How To Claim The Solar Tax Credit

As always with tax matters, make sure to consult a tax professional or CPA if you have any questions related to your specific situation.

Remember, in order to qualify for the tax credit in 2020, Alba Energy will need to substantially complete your installation by the end of the year, so act fast.

Save Money With Solar Panels In Texas

Alba Energy is proud to be a leading solar installer in Texas, with offices across the state. Alba’s SMART solar financing programs allow you to POWER your home with solar panels, pay LESS on electricity bills, and contribute to a CLEAN energy future! Contact Us to find out how much you could be saving with solar.

Request A Free Solar Quote Today!

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Alba Energy Locations

Austin  |  Dallas Houston  |  McAllen  | San Antonio

KEEP IN TOUCH

800-238-3112

         

SHOW ME MY SOLAR SAVINGS!

HABLAMOS ESPAÑOL

Antifascist Comedian Mike Gamms Gets New York Green Party Nod for NY27 Congressional Race

Sun, 02/23/2020 - 21:09

An anti-fascist comedian has earned a Green Party nomination to run for the New York 27th District Congressional seat. The New York State Board of Elections announced Mike Gamms’ candidacy on Friday, February 20, after the Green Party of Erie and Monroe counties nominated him. He is running in a special election to be held on April 28, 2020, for a seat vacated by disgraced Trump supporter Chris Collins, who resigned after pleading guilty to insider trading.

Gamms is well known in anti-fascist social media circles as a funny-bone. He focuses attention to social issues with his videos by creating comical drama around them. He has upended neo-nationalist and conservative rallies by poking fun at them. He’s often used comedy as a tactic to push back against narrow ideologies with parody and ad hoc theatrical performances. He has dressed up as a flamboyant superhero and as an “anti-Christ” devil and appeared at KKK and nationalist rallies to challenge racist and homophobic rhetoric.

He’s not very imposing but that makes him more effective in his craft. A slender frame and all of “129 lbs., 5 foot 7 3/4 inches tall in ‘girls’ clothing,” many just giggle at him. And they have. But then he starts his routine and the targets are easily distracted by his comedy. He trolls fascists, nationalists and the KKK. He lambasted the police at the Standing Rock Pipeline fight while activists stood-off against the paid police proxy of TransCanada’s Dakota Access Pipeline. ”I use comedy as my weapon because it’s the only one I have,“ he said.

He uses comedy to make light of serious situations. “I use comedy as my weapon because it’s the only one I have.” Photo: Mike Gamms

He realizes the issues he’s confronting are no laughing matter. “I am running on a platform eco-socialism, anti-fascism, anti-imperialism, and anti-capitalism,” said Gamms. He expressed pride in having been chosen to represent Distruct 27 but knows there’s a lot of work to be done to restore confidence in the fractured political system of his district.

Republican Congressman Chris Collins won New York District 27 in 2013. He also served on Trump’s 2016 election transition team. He was forced to resign on September 30, 2019 before pleading guilty to insider trading. Collins is among a growing number of discredited public figures connected to the 2016 Trump Presidential campaign and subsequent transition team.

Gamms, a self-described radical insurgent and anti-fascist, plans to center issues important to the marginalized at the front of his campaign as he works to empower them in his community. He is running to challenge the political standard of entrenched entitlement.

“I don’t see myself fitting into this political system and that’s exactly why I’m running,” said Gamms. “I don’t like the label ‘progressive’ as it has been co-oped by pseudo-progressive incrementalists who stand in the way of justice.”

As a self-described bisexual extremist, he comes out in support of federal decriminalization of sex work, the repeal of SESTA/FOSTA, and proposes extending standard workers rights to sex workers. He is the first openly bisexual male comedian ever nominated for United States Congress.

He supports classifying crimes against sex workers as a hate crime. “This is important because so many violent crimes are against sex workers. They are seen as less than human,” he said.

“I am also calling for a federal ban on all conversion therapy on children. This includes both gay conversion therapy, and applied behavioral analysis conversion therapy on autistic children. Furthermore, Autism Speaks and any other group who push these practices must be classified as a hate group,“ he said

He is also standing against the growing military budget and its cycle of military industry financial donations to buy political favor. He argues it has siphoned public funding for programs where people are suffering most: health care, education, and housing. “We spend trillions of dollars committing mass murder and ecocide around the world for the profits of a few at the expense of the planet and everyone on it. We need to redistribute billionaires’ wealth and redistribute the military budget,” he said.

Gamms was active in the enviromental movement at Standing Rock where he participated in the Dakota Access Pipeline battle in 2016-7. He has traveled around the country advocating for environmental protections in communities needing support.

Healthcare reform and Medicare for all is another issue Gamms strongly supports. As a comedian searching for a break through moment he has no health plan because he can’t afford one and has experienced first hand the costs of not having healthcare. After a hard-arrest during an environmental action he was videotaping, he was forced to pay out of pocket expenses for bruises and cracked ribs.

He lost a comedian friend, Raghav who just like him had no health insurance or means to pay for care. Raghav couldn’t afford the prescriptions or visits for his severe depression. Gamms was moved by his struggle and decided he would do something about it if he ever got the chance. About ‘45,000 people in the US die every year from not having health insurance,’ reads a published Elle story written by Raghav’s former girlfriend, Kate Willett.

Gamms believes healthcare is a human right, “Not a privilege for those who can afford it.” He endorsees healthcare for those who are in need regardless of their status. Photo: Mike Gamms

He believes healthcare is a human right, “Not a privilege for those who can afford it.” He endorsees healthcare for those who are in need regardless of their status. “My republican opponent, Chris Jacobs opposes Medicare for All, while my democrat opponent, Nate McMurry claims to support Medicare for all but adds ‘until everyone in my town, state, or county has full healthcare, we can’t give it to the world.’” Both are unacceptable options to him as they allow the healthcare industry to deny care to those who can’t afford it.

His platform includes eco-socialism, anti-capitalism, and anti-imperialism. He plans to do “whatever is necessary” to shake up the political system that looks away as the environment is ruined and benefits from corruption with businesses.

“The system is right to be afraid of us,” he said. “I believe in disrupting the political system, the status quo and business as usual. As long as warmongers continue to control our lives, millions of people will continue to suffer.

You can donate to his campaign here.

The post Antifascist Comedian Mike Gamms Gets New York Green Party Nod for NY27 Congressional Race appeared first on DCMediaGroup.

Radheshyam Etikala

Tue, 12/17/2019 - 11:09

Radheshyam loves products that care about their users, and tries to do the same with the software he builds. A programming padawan, Radheshyam joined Sahaj as a fresher after working as a JavaScript developer for a while.

A cinema and filter coffee enthusiast, Radheshyam is also into all things fast and on wheels.

Arpit Maheshwari

Tue, 12/17/2019 - 11:06

Yadhukrishna S Pai

Tue, 12/17/2019 - 11:03

Kaushik Chandrashekar

Tue, 12/17/2019 - 11:00

Sailee Renapurkar

Tue, 12/17/2019 - 07:23

Sathish Mandapaka

Tue, 12/17/2019 - 07:21

Oncor’s Solar Incentive Program Makes It Even Easier to Go Solar in 2020

Sat, 12/14/2019 - 00:19

Oncor is Giving Incentives for Going Solar

Details of the 2020 Oncor Solar Incentive Program have been released and the Program Launches February 3rd. The Texas-based electric utility will be offering incentives to home and business owners who install solar panels throughout the Oncor Service Region, but it doesn’t last long, so find out now if you qualify.

Though it may seem counter-intuitive for a power company to offer solar rebates & incentives, many electricity providers in Texas have programs that are designed to encourage their customers to go solar to help relieve the stress on the grid at peak usage times.

Request a FREE analysis of how much money you could save by installing a solar system at your location! Just fill out the form below.

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Top 5 Things To Know About Oncor’s Solar Incentive Program
  • Energy created from solar panels is energy that electric utilities do not have to produce from their own power plants or purchase on the spot market at higher-than-usual prices. Installing solar panels on your home helps you lower or eliminate your power bill, save money immediately, benefit the environment and also relieve stress on the grid during “peak demand” periods.
  • Your solar system becomes your primary power source, with additional power seamlessly available from Oncor (the grid) anytime it is needed.
  • Homeowners in the Oncor service regions can receive substantial incentives to offset the cost of installing solar panels on their homes or businesses. The amount of the incentive varies depending on system size, placement and power generated, but our experts can calculate exactly what it will be for your specific application.
  • Historically a typical 10 kW residential solar system facing south would be eligible for a $5,000 solar incentive.
  • Homeowners must use an approved solar contractor, like Alba Energy, to receive the incentive.
Locations Eligible for the 2020 Oncor Solar Incentive

Oncor’s Service Region spans across Texas and includes 402 cities across 91 counties, encompassing nearly one-third of the state’s geographic area. The map below shows locations within the Oncor Service Region that are eligible for the solar incentive:

 

 

SMART Solar Financing Available in the Oncor Region

With SMART Solar Financing from Alba Energy, going solar is affordable for all qualifying applicants, allowing you to save money INSTANTLY! Once you go solar, your new power bill, if any, plus the fixed monthly solar financing should be less than your current power bill! Making it a no-brainer to go solar!

 

Installing solar panels in the Oncor Region lets you take ownership of your energy supply and stabilize and/or eliminate your bills over the long-term. Let one of Alba Energy’s 5-star solar professionals show you how to save money with a solar panel installation. Contact Alba Energy to request a free consultation about going solar TODAY!

Alba Energy Locations

Austin  |  Dallas Houston  |  McAllen  | San Antonio

KEEP IN TOUCH

800-238-3112

         

SHOW ME MY SOLAR SAVINGS!

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#ShutdownDC: District Brought to Standstill over Inaction on Climate Emergency

Mon, 09/23/2019 - 22:02

Washington, DC — Over two dozen environmental and justice groups coordinated a massive shutdown of twenty major locations in the District, snarling traffic and business operations and creating chaos for commuters as they brought the nation’s capital to near gridlock. The unprecedented action involved a series of coordinated nonviolent civil disobedience actions which included blockades of key freeway ramps, a yacht launch on K Street, a van blockade and multiple demonstrations with sit-ins on city streets.

The actions come in response to worsening global climate and government inaction or business initiatives to tackle or even acknowledge the existence of global heating and its fallout. A key issue prompting the shutdown was corporate policies of business-as-usual and failure to implement even bare-minimum renewable energy solutions.

Youth-led groups included the Sunrise Movement, Extinction Rebellion, 198 Methods, and 350 DC. Other groups included Beyond Extreme Energy, Black Lives Matter DMV, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Code Pink, and Friends of the Earth Action, Friends Meeting in Washington Social Concerns Committee. Friends Meeting House of Washington, DC provided critical space support for the activists.

The shutdown had been planned for several months and involved as many as 2,000 activists from a variety of groups which have traditionally not coordinated actions on such a large scale. The success of the shutdown demonstrated that groups have found new confidence that they can cooperate in a large scale actions and demonstrate to authorities they are no longer going to accept business-as-usual as the climate crisis worsens.

This action was different from protest actions of the past when thousands marched along permitted prearranged routes, holding signs and delivering keynote speeches. The actions of the past generally led to inaction from government and business comfortable with maintaining the status quo of a fossil fuel-based economy.

These actions represent a new direction of ramped-up pressure against the administration and its cabinet of climate denier industrialists and the fossil industry businesses enthrall to them.

In this action, many groups consolidated their efforts to respond as if they were one group with one voice and a wide power base. The groups realized over the last few years that they must include social justice issues at the center in the climate movement, because they are the core issues often overlooked by environmentalists in their fight against the fossil fuel industry.

Among social justice groups spearheading the actions was Black Lives Matter DMV–a collective of activists fighting for minority social justice in Washington, DC–which organized a shutdown of a key intersection near the U.S. Capitol by setting up a mock medical aid station.

“Black people in frontline communities are always most impacted by climate change, by climate disaster, but are often the last that people think about,” said April Goggans, a lead organizer of Black Lives Matter DMV. “We are highlighting environmental racism in DC to remind folks we cannot be erased. You cannot talk about saving the Earth for future generations if you cannot talk about those who have been suffering the longest,” she said.

Goggans pointed out that those frontline communities of color in the Bahamas, New Orleans, Puerto Rico and the Philippines which were recently hit by massive hurricanes still have not and may never recover. “It is a social justice issue, because housing is a climate issue,” she said.

A group of about 60 students aged 19 to 22 from five universities, shut down a key access to the I-295 tunnel and interchange at New York Ave., where 27 people were arrested. They were released within hours on post and forfeit bonds after being charged with obstructing an access road.

Jeremy Liskar, a student from George Washington University, who was arrested but later released, said that his generation is in a fight for their future and willing to do what they need to do to change the fossil fuel-based economy. “It’s not like this is something we want to do, skipping school to get arrested, but we feel it’s a moral imperative,” said Liskar

Liskar said that if he were speaking to the Congress he would tell them: “We are on a timeline. We can’t be debating whether this is happening because it is happening. We need to start talking about how we’re going to fix it,” he said.

The post #ShutdownDC: District Brought to Standstill over Inaction on Climate Emergency appeared first on DCMediaGroup.

$10 Million Defamation Lawsuit Filed Against Rockwool, Allies

Wed, 08/28/2019 - 12:48

A civil complaint was filed yesterday in Circuit Court in Jefferson County, W.Va., alleging that Rockwool Group, one of its employees and former members of the local development authority slandered a local resident. The lawsuit seeks $10 million in compensatory and $2.5 million in punitive damages.

The attorney of plaintiff David Levine, a tech entrepreneur living in Shepherdstown, argues that Levine suffered harm to his reputation and business as a result of personal attacks on him, which began a year ago when he expressed opposition to the Rockwool mineral wool factory. His two articles critical of Rockwool on the website of Forbes magazine made him the target of retaliation, he says, by a senior executive of the Rockwool organization and local officials who had paved the way to bring heavy, polluting industry to the bucolic area.

The complaint names as defendants the Rockwool Group and its senior VP Björn Andersen. It also names Dan Casto, Stephen Stolipher, Ray Bruning and Jefferson County Prosperity, Inc., the group which these three men helped form after they resigned from the Jefferson County Development Authority. The JCDA worked with the West Virginia Development Office to offer Rockwool tens of millions of dollars in incentives if it located its factory in Jefferson County.

The complaints lists numerous examples of alleged defamatory statements, which originate from social media posts, email and text messages. They assail Levine’s character and business practices. Defendants allegedly called Levine a liar, “fraud,” and “con artist”–one who “ripped off an entire town.” They claimed that Levine committed securities fraud and is a swindler on par with Bernie Madoff.

One Jefferson County Prosperity, Inc., post describes Levine as “celebrating the death of police officers, getting high on mushrooms, and throwing bombs at police,” according to the complaint.

The complaint further alleges that the defendants conspired in a “joint scheme” to defame Levine “in furtherance of a preconceived plan.” Their goal was to “destroy Levine’s personal and professional reputations and advance the goals of Rockwool,” the complaint says.

Local newspaper Spirit of Jefferson was accused of participating in this conspiracy, although it was not named as a defendant.

None of the defendants contacted for comment have responded by time of publication. Any statements will be published as we receive them. The Spirit of Jefferson also has not yet responded to request for comment.

David Levine, pictured with his daughter Zoe, is suing Rockwool and Jefferson County for Prosperity for defamation.

Levine’s attorney Steven Biss said that he has collected 762 Facebook posts, texts and other documents containing defamatory statements.

“We screenshotted everything,” he said. “There’s a lot of malice in the posts, a lot of venom.”

He described one of the effects of defamation as inflicting “a permanent scar on Levine’s reputation,” which has taken and will continue to take a toll on his business as an entrepreneur.

“These are highly incendiary, highly defamatory statements. The only thing they didn’t accuse him of is kicking the cat,” Biss said.

Rockwool’s motive in targeting a critic of their mineral wool manufacturing plant is simple greed, he said. In criticizing Rockwool’s proposed factory, Levine was “chopping down the money tree.”

Jefferson County Prosperity lists the Rockwool facility among the “Prosperity Projects” it supports. Its Facebook page has been the platform for many alleged defamatory statements. JCP wants to “stomp out the opposition [to Rockwool], that’s their goal,” Biss said.

 

The post $10 Million Defamation Lawsuit Filed Against Rockwool, Allies appeared first on DCMediaGroup.

Debugging support for a Programmable Platform

Mon, 08/26/2019 - 06:04

I have been working on a platform that caters to processing of payments to individuals. The overall flow of the payment processing is same across the board while each step differs based on the customer. Each step must be in customer specific domain to facilitate easier adoption and usage. Further, the cognitive overhead of generalized underlying model is abstracted out by allowing domain specific customizations.

These customizations required the support of a programming language. We used Groovy as the language of choice for the system. The underlying platform is Java/JVM based. Groovy’s features and its binary compatibility with Java makes the integration seamless.

When we build a platform of this nature, significant effort needs to be spent to make programming on it easier – to develop and to maintain. Debugging being one of the key aspects that must be considered  in this area.

Sample function written on the platform during customization is as follows.

BigDecimal payment() { def now = LocalDate.now() def march = isMarch(this, Date.valueOf(now)) if (march) { return schoolFees + propertyTax } return servantPay }

Knowing the values of each of the variable will help the user to reason out – why such a return value was produced from the payment function.

The only way user can debug this method is to use a log file where the values are recorded in debug mode and reason about the written value. The log would show the values at start of execution not the values when the function was executed. For that, the user needs use the old style scattering of print statements in the function.

Ideal approach is to use a break point for debugging. The function becomes part of a generated code in our case; break point line mapping , from the source code line to the line in the generated code, is an issue. This is an issue even if we decide to deal with the complexity of listening to break point requests using JVMTI.

I decided to take advantage of Groovy’s excellent support for AST (Abstract Syntax Tree) and AST transformation. The solution we implemented is based on the AST transformation approach.

The user can annotate the function that he intends to analyze with the annotation @Intercept.

@Intercept BigDecimal payment() { def now = LocalDate.now() def march = isMarch(this, Date.valueOf(now)) if (march) { return schoolFees + propertyTax } return servantPay }

This runs an local AST transformation to capture the variables in the function. Post the execution of the function, the annotation @ShowResult renders the same function as follows.

public java.math.BigDecimal payment() { java.lang.Object now = "java.time.LocalDate.now()=2019-08-19" java.lang.Object march = "IndividualPaymentCalculator.isMarch(java.sql.Date.valueOf(now=2019-08-19)=2019-08-19)=false" if ("march=false") { return schoolFees + propertyTax } return "servantPay=3000.0" "result=3000.0" }

The system automatically replaces the annotation @Intercept with @ShowResult. The AST transformation is re-run rendering the desired output shown above.

The view above is similar to rendering in editor when a break point is hit in the IDE; of course there is no stepping in/out and other nice features to control execution. However this view has greatly helped the user in debugging and reasoning about the return value from the function under analysis.

Please note the code rendered (as part of @ShowResult) is compile-able groovy code but does not satisfy the contract of the original function. It’s not meant to be; it’s meant be read as source code by the user.

I have extracted the concept into this github repo.

At present, this approach has worked for us in out platform. Do share your feedback and thoughts on the same.

Columbia Gas Denied Right to Take Public Land for Potomac Pipeline

Wed, 08/21/2019 - 17:06

A federal court judge today denied Columbia Gas the right to move forward with construction of a gas pipeline through public land in Washington County, Md. The ruling is a blow both to Columbia Gas and to the pipeline’s main intended customer, the Rockwool insulation factory in West Virginia, now under construction.

The TransCanada subsidiary had filed a lawsuit against the state of Maryland in June in U.S. District Court in Baltimore to force access to the Maryland Rail Trail, a necessary piece to construct a 3.7-mile pipeline from Fulton County, Pa., through a thin slice of Maryland. In January, the Maryland Board of Public Works, which included Governor Larry Hogan, denied Columbia Gas an easement.

Columbia Gas’s lawsuit was unusual in that a private company tried to use the power of eminent domain to take public land. It claimed that power by virtue of the permit granted to the project by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The judge denied Columbia Gas injunctive relief because it found no substantive case, Upper Potomac Riverkeeper Brent Walls said in a statement delivered by live stream after the ruling. Private industry doesn’t have the right to file an eminent domain case against the state of Maryland, the judge found, because the state has sovereign immunity, he said.

Opponents of the pipeline project were jubilant outside the courthouse following the judge’s ruling.

The judge determined that the economic loss to Columbia Gas with a denial of access is insignificant in comparison the loss of sovereignty immunity by the state of Maryland, according to Walls.

A light display outside the Capitol building in Annapolis in Feb. 2017 hoping to pressure Gov. Larry Hogan to stop the Potomac Pipeline. He voted against granting the Md. Rail Trail easement.

The case may have gone forward if the Secretary of the Interior had filed the lawsuit on Columbia Gas’s behalf, the judge said, according to Walls.

The judge has expedited the case the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Virginia, if Columbia Gas chooses to take up an appeal.

The Potomac Pipeline has drawn vociferous protest over the last three years. Environmental groups have objected to the potential risks of drilling under the Potomac River in unstable karst geology using a process requiring millions of gallons of drilling fluid. Community groups in West Virginia have supported landowners who have been adversely affected by the construction of the gas distribution line which would have hooked up to the Potomac Pipeline’s supply. And, over the last year, a new constituency of protest has grown around the intended use for most of the pipeline’s capacity—gas to heat the furnace at the controversial Rockwool factory.

The sands have shifted from the time they started fighting Columbia Gas’s pipeline, from the perspective of Tracy Cannon of Eastern Panhandle Protectors. “Opinion about pipelines is changing—and we will win,” she said.

The judge may agree with them. “This is a new era,” he said, according to the pipeline opponents.

Walls offered his interpretation, saying he believed the judge was referring to the increased build-out of pipelines and the number of battles being fought over them in court.

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Factory Opponents Call AIA and Rockwool ‘Partners in Pollution’

Wed, 08/14/2019 - 21:45

Opponents of the under-construction Rockwool factory in Jefferson County, W.Va., today took aim at the insulation manufacturer’s “green” image with a protest at a key professional association in the construction and building industry. Appealing to the core values articulated by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in Washington, DC, members of community organization Resist Rockwool expressed their outrage and heartache through song and speech about Rockwool’s construction of a polluting factory in the vicinity of 30% of the county’s schoolchildren.

Last month, Resist Rockwool sent a letter to the AIA, asking it to live up to its commitment to prioritize policies and design practices which promote energy conservation, community health and resiliency. If the AIA takes the manufacturing process into consideration and no longer recognizes Rockwool’s product as “sustainable,” their hope is that the AIA will “deny Rockwool access to an important segment of the construction and building industry,” the letter says.

The group points to the 156,000 tons of greenhouse gases and toxic emissions permitted for the factory, which is sited directly across from an elementary school and within only two miles of three other county schools. The facility also sits atop porous karst geology, which has led to fears that retaining ponds for coal ash and other waste materials will leak into the ground water.

Milo Levine plays Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” at the American Institute of Architects in Washington, DC/Photo by Monica Larson

But, the AIA responded unfavorably to their appeal, calling Rockwool its “corporate partner” and telling the Jefferson County residents to take their concerns to their local officials. Resist Rockwool in turn is calling the AIA and Rockwool “partners in pollution.”

About a dozen people approached the AIA building on Wednesday and attempted to enter, but were rebuffed by security personnel. The “Sing Out” then assembled on the steps of the plaza outside the entrance. For about twenty minutes, they serenaded AIA employees and staff with songs about West Virginia, its history of coal mining and how—like the Tom Petty lyric—they would not “back down.” In the makeshift ampitheater, the amplified music resonated all the way to the upper floors of the AIA building. (Video here.)

The group sang “County Roads,” a John Denver song written specifically about the northern part of the Shenandoah Valley where Rockwool is constructing its planned factory. Zoe Levine performed an original composition celebrating the deep ties she feels to her birthplace: “West Virginia, the song of my heart, my home/Land of plenty, land of birdsong,” she sang.

Her brother, Milo Levine, also performed. He lamented that his infant might not be able to experience the natural environment in Jefferson County in the pristine state that he enjoyed as a child.

“The AIA talks about the importance of communities, the importance of health, and yet, they are supporting the greenwashing of Rockwool,“ said their father David Levine. ”Our way of life is at risk. We asked the AIA to stand up for the principles they espouse, and instead, they sent us a letter most likely written by Rockwool, their corporate partner. They took their blood money.“

Jefferson County resident Mary Reed said that Rockwool “picks out the weak to attack,” referring to the Title 1 school across the road from the Rockool construction site. The “Significant Impact Area,” she said, expands in a 35-mile radius and includes 710,000 people. “I call it the sacrifice zone,” she said.

Rockwool has exploited poor and vulnerable people in the 45 countries where it has built factories, asserted Stewart Acuff. “This institute of architects is the biggest hypocrite in Washington, DC today, because they say they stand for a green future, they say they stand for a healthy cllimate, and then they turn around and support Rockwool, a dangerous corporate polluter and marauder,” he said.

Resist Rockwool President Tracy Danzey asked the AIA to reconsider what she described as a “dismissal” of their concerns.

“The AIA needs to make a decision about who they are and what they support. We’re fighting for our lives here, we’re fighting for our community, and we’re not going anywhere,” she said.

Photos by Monica Larson

Click to view slideshow.

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Komal Jain

Mon, 07/22/2019 - 02:10

Komal has close to 7 years of experience working in IT industry building different kinds of softwares in various domains like Education , Telecommunication and Supply Chain .

Komal enjoys learning new technologies and applying them to solve challenging problem for clients . Komal is a strong advocate of Clean coding practices.

Apart from work, she loves travelling, dancing and is a strong believer in yoga.

‘Drop Rockwool’: Retailers Urged to Boycott Insulation Maker

Sat, 07/20/2019 - 19:55

Several Jefferson County, W.Va., residents demonstrated at home improvement retailers in Gaithersburg, Md., in an effort to pressure them to ban Rockwool insulation products from their shelves. They object to Rockwool North America, a division of the Danish Rockwool Group, siting a mineral wool factory in their county–one which will burn coal and gas in close proximity to public schools.

This was the first in a series of demonstrations at Lowe’s and Home Depot stores regionally, organizers of Resist Rockwool say. The opposition group has launched a boycott campaign and sent letters to CEO’s of both Lowe’s and Home Depot.



Pulling bright red bales of Rockwool insulation from the shelves at the back of the Lowe’s store, the eight protesters built a replica factory, complete with two towering smokestacks and a chimney billowing clouds of pollutants. A state agency has granted a permit allowing the factory to emit 153,000 tons per year of greenhouse gasses and nearly 3,000 tons per year of pollutants, including formaldehyde, particulate matter, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and sulfur dioxide.

Tireace Johnson explains the potential hazards of the Rockwool factory in Jefferson County in front of the replica factoy made of bales of insulation products./Photo by John Zangas

Store security asked them to leave, but they persisted.

“This is what Rockwool is doing in our community. They’re just throwing a factory in the middle of our county where things are beautiful and where we have children across the street,” Resist Rockwool President Tracy Danzey said.

“Welcome to our life. Welcome to our world. This is what they’re doing to us,” she said.

Tireace Johnson read from an informational flyer which they were handing out to employees and customers. Burning more than 90 tons of coal and 1.6 million cubic ft. of fracked gas daily, she said, will “cause chronic and fatal diseases of the lungs, liver, kidneys, brain and heart. Not only is it going to effect the children who are within less than one mile radius—going to a public school—but it’s going to destroy all of our beauty, recreation, clean air and clean water.”

Tracy Danzey, who suffered severe consequences from DuPont’s Teflon factory, wants people to protect children now so illness doesn’t happen later./Photo by Anne Meador

Rockwool maintains that the facility will not cause adverse health effects. The company also says it was invited to Jefferson County by local and state government and will provide about 150 jobs.

The demonstrators also visited the Home Depot store in Gaithersburg, where they stood outside the door in nearly 100-degree heat, spoke on a bullhorn and again handed out information to customers.

As part of its boycott campaign, Resist Rockwool urges Home Depot to cancel a contract agreement made with Rockwool. Michael Zarin, VP of Rockwool Group Communications, couldn’t confirm the existence of such a contract, saying the company does not disclose details of commercial agreements with retail customers. Home Depot did not respond to an inquiry.

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Organic Farm in W.Va. Imperiled by Gas Pipeline Construction

Wed, 07/17/2019 - 22:24

In the four years since finding stakes mysteriously implanted in the ground of their newly acquired farm, Neal LaFerriere and his family have worked as best they could with Mountain Valley Pipeline representatives to preserve the integrity of their organic farm. Having no choice but to sign an easement to allow the gas pipeline to go through their land, LaFerriere and his wife Beth have tried to hold MVP to the management plan it filed with a federal agency.

“We have always been willing to sit down at the table and meet with them to try to work out the issues,” LaFerriere said.

But even before clearing for construction started on the right-of-way on Monday, the effects of MVP’s actions on the family’s business have been catastrophic, he said, threatening the farm’s organic certification and bringing such financial hardship that their ownership of the farm is in jeopardy. And, already this week, a clumsy accident involving heavy machinery has resulted in a spill of contaminating fluids on the organic farm.

A passion for organic farming and medicinal plants led the LaFerrieres to purchase land in Summers County, W.Va., in 2015 and move there with their three of their children to create Blackberry Springs Farm. A week after closing, they found a portion of the land staked out and had to do some research to find out what was going on. To their surprise, they discovered that a gas pipeline was routed through a portion of the property. The pipeline–the 300-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline–originates in West Virginia and continues through southwestern Virginia to the border of North Carolina.

They resisted signing an easement, but MVP threatened to use the power of eminent domain. “They were starting to say, we’ll just take your property and do it anyway,” LaFerriere said.

He describes persistent problems with MVP and with their attitude toward landowners in general. When the company got permission to clear trees from the right-of-way last year, he asked them for 72 hours notice so they could move some materials. They failed to give notice and felled trees on the materials, which were ruined, he said. MVP had to pay to replace them.

“it looks like they just don’t care, that they’re in such a rush to get this done, they’ll just run over anybody and ignore any rule and not have any common courtesy to try to work with the landowner,” he said.

Far worse was to come for the LaFerriere farm. One day last September, he, his wife, four of their children and an intern were harvesting ginseng about a quarter mile away from the right-of-way, when suddenly, a helicopter flew overhead. Little blue pellets started raining down on them, and they were struck on the face and head, resulting in contusions and lacerations on his two daughters’ faces. He called MVP, but the helicopter continued to make several more passes over the farm.

The blue pellets dropped on Blackberry Springs Farm are an erosion control product./Photo courtesy of Neal LaFerriere

The blue pellets were an erosion control product called Earth Guard Edge. He also called state agencies in addition to MVP, but they were unwilling to hold the pipeline company accountable, he said. Someone at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) called him back 8 days later, and a few days after that, FERC and MVP representatives finally came to the farm bringing MVP’s environmental specialist. The specialist said there was nothing they could do to mitigate the damage. Once the pellet gets wet, it gets into the soil.

“We’re going to make sure this never happens again,” LaFerriere said MVP land agents told him. But the very next morning, a helicopter again flew over, showering more pellets on the remainder of the property. LaFerriere hired an attorney to file a cease-and-desist letter, and only then did the bombardment on his farm stop. It continued on neighboring property.

Earth Guard Edge contains acrylamide, a carcinogen. Because the soil is now contaminated with it, the LaFerrieres stopped selling organic products, fearing someone would get sick. They have “shifted focus a little bit,” but the loss of business has put the farm in jeopardy. The LaFerrieres entered into litigation with MVP over the erosion control pellets in March of this year.

“It’s devastated us. It has hurt us in ways that it’s hard to put into words,” he said.

After she was battered with pellets, the LaFerrieres’ 8-year-old daughter began to have recurring nightmares that the pipeline would explode and kill her family.

“It goes beyond the financial. This property was our hope, our dream, our future, our children’s future. With the way that MVP has just run over the top of us, we don’t even know if we can call this place home any more,” LaFerriere said.

On Monday, MVP workers brought heavy construction equipment to begin clearing, trenching and laying the pipeline through the property. After receiving notification from MVP that they were going to begin construction on July 12, LaFerriere sent an email to MVP to cease and desist work on his property–which it ignored. Workers came onto the farm without “my permission, my inclusion or consultation,” he said.

MVP is required to adhere to an Organic Management Plan it filed with FERC, but LaFerriere said they still hadn’t provided him with any information with regard to its implementation. He hasn’t been allowed to speak with the expert from the International Organic Inspectors Association hired by MVP–who has been out to the property twice–and he still hasn’t received a complete list of materials that MVP would be using on the farm, he says.

MVP also wouldn’t tell him much about the pale green coating on the 42“ diameter pipeline. His concern about the coating degrading and contaminating the soil and water is shared by FERC, which last week sent a letter to MVP asking about its safety after two years of sitting in the sun.

Natalie Cox, Communications Director for EQT Midstream Partners–the lead partner of the Mountain Valley Pipeline joint venture–claims that MVP did provide LaFerriere’s attorney with a site-specific implementation plan for his property as well as an initial list of materials reviewed by the project’s organic consultant. MVP set up a cleaning station outside of an “organic buffer,” she said, and MVP has retained an organic consultant to train workers and environmental inspectors and monitor construction activities and remediation.

LaFerriere said that no monitors or inspectors have been introduced to them, and he has not seen anyone on site that he can identify as a organically trained monitor.

Construction workers started out “grubbing”—removing trees and brush from the right-of-way. He was worried because the workers were using air compressors to decontaminate equipment instead of a wash station, and contaminates were being blown into the air and drifting onto the farm’s organic soil.

Laferriere believed MVP wasn’t honoring its Organic Management plan Requirements, so he sent a second cease-and-desist email on Tuesday. Later that morning, MVP representatives agreed to meet with him at 1 pm. At the last minute, they cancelled.

Only an hour later, an excavator operating on the right-of-way tipped over onto its side. The excavator was on relatively flat terrain, not on a steep hill or slope, LaFerriere said. Fluids spilled out, and he counted nearly 20 workers bagging soil that was contaminated. He didn’t observe any barrier or protective silt socks put in place to contain the spill.

An excavator used for pipeline construction tipped over onto its side at spilled contaminating fluids./Photo courtesy of Preserve Floyd

The driver was able to exit the excavator and walk away with the assistance of co-workers. (The driver is employed by a contractor of Mountain Valley Pipeline, and EQT Midstream Partners was unable to release any information about his medical condition.)

Problems with MVP construction have not been limited to Blackberry Springs Farm. MVP was cited with more than 300 violations by the end of 2018 alone. As a consequence, many of the pipeline’s permits have been revoked. FERC has approved 125 requests by MVP to deviate from its original work plan, and most appear to be related to efforts correct erosion events.

“We have witnessed sediment-laden water flowing off the right-of-way and into adjacent streams, roads buried in up to a foot of mud, and even one erosion event so extreme that two segments of steel pipe – each weighing just over 13,000 pounds – skidded hundreds of feet from a worksite and onto private property,” reads an op-ed in the Virginia Mercury this week.

After heavy rains in June, at least a dozen timber mats from MVP construction sites washed down the Blackwater River into Smith Mountain Lake. A member of the local Board of Supervisors told the Roanoke Times that there could have been “a catastrophe” if a wooden plank had hit a boat.

Virginia attorney general Mark Herring filed a civil lawsuit against MVP last October, alleging that it violated numerous environmental laws by failing to control storm water and sediment run-off. Herring, however, has refused to issue a stop-work order, and construction of the pipeline continues.

More delays have been caused by protesters, who have repeatedly delayed tree-clearing on the route and pipeline construction with blockades, obstruction of easements, equipment lock-downs and tree-sits lasting for months. Multiple arrests have not deterred them.

A pipeline fighter locked himself to an excavator on an MVP site on June 26, stopping work there for more than 6 hours/Photo courtesy of Appalachians Against Pipelines

MVP asserts that permit issues will soon be resolved, and the pipeline will go into operation later this year.

Virginians and West Virginians affected by pipeline construction deeply grieve the defilement of their land by MVP. “The heartbreak of the people that have lived here for generations, to see their land taken against their will, to see it chopped up, split up, divided, tore up,“ LaFerriere said.

“It makes you question the sanity of the entire American Dream, because ultimately, isn’t that all our dream, is to own this one place that we can call our own, that is our sanctuary, that is our base of strength, where we have a foundation not only for ourselves but for our family? And then they come in here and rip that out.”

Feature photo courtesy of Preserve Floyd

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