US and NA Politics (General)

[A Town Called Malus]

Aug 26, 2024 7:31:17 GMT -5 herzlos said:

Politics? Maybe.

Area of grass outside of Toledo Zoo, which was a successful project to boost the monarch butterfly population and required no maintenance, was mowed down by the city because people complained it was unsightly. It was long grass and wild flowers.

www.13abc.com/2024/08/21/city-mows-down-native-prairie-project-outside-toledo-zoo/

I will never understand the obsession with short, plain grass as something that is to be desired or pleasant to look at.

[mdgv2]

This I know a little something about! And when I say little, I mean little.

In short? It stems from the Landed Gentry of Britain. As people got stupidly wealthy, having large, manicured lawns was a flex. A way to say “look, unlike in previous eras I can make my land simply look pretty. I don’t need it to grow crops or feed livestock, aren’t I wonderful you smelly wee pleb”

And I guess it stuck, and went wherever us bellends went.

[easye]

It is amazing to me how fad of manicured lawns somehow migrated to the desert regions of the US. Why would anyone expect or want a lawn like that in the middle of desert? What a colossal waste of water.

[Haighus]

Aug 26, 2024 7:31:17 GMT -5 herzlos said:

Politics? Maybe.

Area of grass outside of Toledo Zoo, which was a successful project to boost the monarch butterfly population and required no maintenance, was mowed down by the city because people complained it was unsightly. It was long grass and wild flowers.

www.13abc.com/2024/08/21/city-mows-down-native-prairie-project-outside-toledo-zoo/

What a stupid decision. I'd much rather see a meadow than a bit of scabby lawn on a road median. What the actual fuck?

[easye]

Mowing in ditches is actually very controversial.....

www.twincities.com/2017/10/21/mndot-plans-statewide-hearings-on-contentious-ditch-mowing-rules/

Everyone knows that weather and prices concern farmers, but it surprises many people that mowing roadside ditches has become a top issue in farm country.

It is a big enough concern that the state Legislature slapped a moratorium until May 2018 on the Minnesota Department of Transportation requiring permits to mow ditches along 12,000 miles of state roads. In the coming month, seven meetings around the state are expected to be packed with farmers who want freedom to turn grass in the ditches into bales of hay and environmentalists who want to leave the grass and other plants standing.

“I have heard from a large number of people in our area who are frustrated by this issue and see it as just the latest example of a top-down push by out-of-touch bureaucrats,” Rep. Chris Swedzinski, R-Ghent, said. “Now it is important for people who have concerns to show up at this meeting so they can be part of the decision-making process.”

Swedzinski spearheaded the effort earlier this year to delay the MnDOT plan to require permits to bale ditches.

A law regulating ditch mowing long has been on the books, but not enforced. Last year, MnDOT decided to enforce it.

“Having local landowners mow, and bale hay if they choose, in the right of way can be mutually beneficial,” MnDOT’s Steve Lund said at the time. “But we want to ensure that it is done at the right time of year to make sure we are protecting habitat for wildlife and pollinators. And we want to ensure that those who mow and harvest hay are doing so safely.”

An older story, but still a thing that is battled about in AG heavy areas.

[herzlos]

That doesn't seem too problematic - cutting grass on ditches is fine in the correct season where it's not impacting wildlife as much, and isn't a free-for-all. Whether the good for wildlife and good for farmers dates overlap is a different matter entirely.

Aug 26, 2024 7:42:03 GMT -5 A Town Called Malus said:

Aug 26, 2024 7:31:17 GMT -5 herzlos said:

Politics? Maybe.

Area of grass outside of Toledo Zoo, which was a successful project to boost the monarch butterfly population and required no maintenance, was mowed down by the city because people complained it was unsightly. It was long grass and wild flowers.

www.13abc.com/2024/08/21/city-mows-down-native-prairie-project-outside-toledo-zoo/

I will never understand the obsession with short, plain grass as something that is to be desired or pleasant to look at.

It's definitely nicer to walk on, and has less bugs to bite the kids. But for verges and central reservations it seems bonkers because no-one is walking on it. I've put a lot of grass down in the hopes it'll soak up some of the constant rain! But I don't keep it manicured.

There were a few towns in the UK trialled not cutting most of the verges and letting it grow wild. IIRC each saved about $200k in maintenance and it did wonders for local wildlife, whilst still looking fine.

[skyth]

Here I would worry about more deer hitting cars, both being attracted to the higher plant life and having more camouflage so not as easily seen.

[easye]

Government shutdown? Maybe....

www.cnn.com/2024/09/16/politics/government-funding-johnson-trump-narrow-majority/index.html

Speaker Johnson navigates Trump and a narrow majority in government funding fight

Washington
CNN
—
Speaker Mike Johnson is once again facing a major challenge as he navigates a government funding fight while under pressure from an extremely narrow majority in the House and former President Donald Trump.

Congress is up against a shutdown deadline at the end of the month, but so far there is no clear consensus on a path forward. Adding to the urgency is the fact that vulnerable lawmakers hope to hit the campaign trail for the final stretch ahead of the November elections as soon as possible, and the threat that a shutdown could lead to fallout at the ballot box. The course the speaker charts could also factor into whether he can hold onto his leadership post after the election.

Trump has also waded into the funding fight, a dynamic that could further complicate the effort to avert a shutdown. The GOP presidential nominee has said that if Republicans don’t receive “absolute assurances” on election security, they should not pass a funding extension. The move comes as Trump continues to sow doubts over election integrity in the run-up to the 2024 elections.

[bobtheinquisitor]

The big news today is the first confirmed Preventable death due to the overturn of Roe v Wade. It’s a brutal reminder of what is at stake this election.

[Haighus]

Sept 17, 2024 12:07:55 GMT -5 bobtheinquisitor said:

The big news today is the first confirmed Preventable death due to the overturn of Roe v Wade. It’s a brutal reminder of what is at stake this election.

Depressing as fuck too.

[easye]

Sept 17, 2024 12:07:55 GMT -5 bobtheinquisitor said:

The big news today is the first confirmed Preventable death due to the overturn of Roe v Wade. It’s a brutal reminder of what is at stake this election.

Got a link?  

[skyth]

abcnews.go.com/Politics/senate-democrats-dare-republicans-vote-ivf-bill/story?id=113759214

So the Republicans claim they are for IVF, but once again voted against protecting it...Go figure...

[skyth]

In other news...Republicans are hypocrites again...Must be a day that ends in y...

www.yahoo.com/news/analysis-vance-warns-calling-candidate-172637410.html

And Vance said: “Look, we can disagree with one another, we can debate one another, but we cannot tell the American people that one candidate is a fascist and if he’s elected it is going to be the end of American democracy.”

What Vance didn’t mention was that Trump has repeatedly told the American people that his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, is a fascist whose election would mean the end of the country itself.

In fact, Trump called Harris a fascist at least twice last week alone.

“She’s a Marxist, communist, fascist, socialist,” Trump said at an Arizona rally on Thursday.

[bobtheinquisitor]

Sept 17, 2024 13:15:47 GMT -5 easye said:

Sept 17, 2024 12:07:55 GMT -5 bobtheinquisitor said:

The big news today is the first confirmed Preventable death due to the overturn of Roe v Wade. It’s a brutal reminder of what is at stake this election.

Got a link?  

Here’s the Guardian, with Harris’s statement as well.

amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/17/harris-trump-georgia-abortion-death-amber-nicole-thurman

[Peregrine]

Sept 17, 2024 17:11:19 GMT -5 skyth said:

In other news...Republicans are hypocrites again...Must be a day that ends in y...

www.yahoo.com/news/analysis-vance-warns-calling-candidate-172637410.html

And Vance said: “Look, we can disagree with one another, we can debate one another, but we cannot tell the American people that one candidate is a fascist and if he’s elected it is going to be the end of American democracy.”

What Vance didn’t mention was that Trump has repeatedly told the American people that his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, is a fascist whose election would mean the end of the country itself.

In fact, Trump called Harris a fascist at least twice last week alone.

“She’s a Marxist, communist, fascist, socialist,” Trump said at an Arizona rally on Thursday.

"I go back and forth between thinking Trump is a cynical asshole like Nixon who wouldn't be that bad (and might even prove useful) or that he's America's Hitler,"

-JD Vance

Somehow I doubt he'll follow his own advice and resign.