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You Are One of Us




All over the U.S. on a nice day or evening, you can find people sitting on their porches.  If someone passes by, a wave and a nod are exchanged.  If people stop to talk, they are invited to sit on the porch.  Being invited to sit and share gossip, news, stories, and jokes proclaims that you are one of us.  However, with fewer houses having comfortable front porches these days and people hustling in and out and about, never having the time, this ritual of neighborliness seems to be slipping into the twilight.  The coming darkness will serve as a wall, perhaps with forbidding unseen presences, rather than like a welcomed blanket shared and appreciated with friends.





FROM THE PORCH




— Praying for rain in Arkansas: In the last two months, rainfall dipped four to more than eight inches below average in parts of southern and western Arkansas, the National Weather Service in Little Rock tweeted. This is where drought is spreading from the southern Rockies and southern Plains. [POLITICO's Morning Agriculture, June 19, 2018]



BORDER WALL










ENVIRONMENT

HAWAII BANS CHLORPYRIFOS: After grassroots groups in Hawaii spent six years telling lawmakers about the dangers of chlorpyrifos, the state's governor, David Ige, signed a law on Wednesday banning all uses of the product. "Hawaii's efforts have set a precedent, and we hope this will pave the way for other states that are looking to enact similar legislation," said Leslee Matthews, Honolulu-based policy fellow with Pesticide Action Network.
Why it happened in Hawaii: Paul Achitoff, managing attorney for the mid-Pacific office of Earth Justice who has worked on other chlorpyrifos cases said that Hawaii has faced an unusual number of problems there in part because of its multiple growing seasons.
Farmland is also located much closer to residential areas -- and that has meant more people there have felt the effects of spraying. Achitoff pointed to a settlement the EPA reached earlier this year with Syngenta Seeds over violations of federal pesticide regulations after 19 workers were sickened by chlorpyrifos. "They dump a lot of pesticides on these crops," said Achitoff. "In Hawaii, these crops are cheek by jowl with other communities."
Some chlorpyrifos history: The Obama administration had been actively working on a ban on chlorpyrifos. But that changed in March 2017, shortly after President Donald Trump took office. Then, EPA officials denied a petition from environmentalists calling for a ban on the pesticide chlorpyrifos
Environmentalists thought they had regained some ground in January when the National Marine Fisheries Services issued a biological opinion concluding that three widely used agricultural pesticides were harming dozens of species — as well as the marine life up the food chain.

Dismay from chlorpyrifos makers: "A total ban of any product that ignores this scientific, risk-based regulation is informed not by science, but by politics and has the potential to lead to confusion in the marketplace, leaving farmers and other pesticide users without the tools they need to protect agriculture, landscapes, structures and public health," Jay Vroom, president and CEO of CropLife America, said in a statement. [POLITICO's Morning Agriculture, June 15, 2018]



UNIONS



NEA'S STAFF UNION MAY AVOID STRIKE: The National Education Association's staff union says it's reached a "tentative agreement" with NEA management after days of tense contract negotiations over salary increases, possibly averting a strike. Members of the National Education Association Staff Organization must now approve the agreement. Both parties have been at odds over salary increases, prompting NEASO to threaten a strike this week.

— The staff union for the country's largest teachers union represents about 280 employees who work at NEA's headquarters in Washington. The call for a salary boost comes amid belt-tightening at NEA, which is bracing for a decision in Janus v. AFSCME, which could come as soon as today. The Supreme Court case is challenging the money public unions collect from non-members to cover their share of collective bargaining costs. [POLITICO's Morning Education, June 14, 2018]




FREELAND WARNS TRUMP: STEEL TARIFFS WILL HURT AMERICANS: Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland came to Washington for a two-day visit this week toting a stern warning: Canada will retaliate against U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum, and that tit-for-tat action will end up hurting the very constituents President Donald Trump wishes to protect.
"The idea that we could pose a national security threat to you is more than absurd - it is hurtful," Freeland said Wednesday night at a dinner hosted by Foreign Policy magazine, where she accepted its Diplomat of the Year award. "No one will benefit from this beggar thy neighbor dispute. The price will be paid, in part, by American consumers and by American businesses."
In her acceptance speech, Freeland offered a bold defense of the global rules-based trading system and called on the United States to return to its traditional role leading and working to strengthen those multilateral institutions it helped build. She noted that many Americans are skeptical that the system still benefits them but said that while trade policies can be tweaked to address some issues — and pacts like NAFTA should be changed to include "labor standards with real teeth — the real way to fix systemic problems is through domestic policy.
And she warned against turning one's back on the rules-based international order and the Western alliance. "You may feel today that your size allows you to go mano-a-mano with your traditional adversaries and be guaranteed to win," she said. "But if history tells us one thing, it is that no one nation's pre-eminence is eternal."
— An alliance with lawmakers: Freeland's evening speech came after a day of meetings on the Hill. She met with members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who sought to counteract negative rhetoric spewed out of the White House toward Canada and shore up beleaguered relations with the U.S.'s closest ally.

"Most of us in the room shared the warmth that we have towards her country and the fact that we hope this thing will subside," Sen. Bob Corker, the panel's chairman, told reporters after the meeting. Megan has more here. [POLITICO's Morning Trade, June 14, 2018]




HEITKAMP, BOOZMAN BACK BILL TO BOOST U.S. EXPORTS TO CUBA: Sens. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) and John Boozman (R-Ark.) on Wednesday secured an amendment to the Senate farm bill that would allow USDA trade promotion programs to be used in Cuba.
"It's high time that we explore this market. ... We can all agree that one of the great concerns that we have right now is market disruption and exports - we know we grow more in this country than we can possibly ever consume," Heitkamp said, adding that growing markets is necessary to help farmers struggling with lower commodity prices.
The proposal would apply to USDA's Foreign Market Development program and Market Access Program, which pool money from both the agency and private agricultural sector to fund projects overseas that build demand for U.S. farm goods.

"More access to the Cuban market would be a good thing for Arkansas farmers and producers," Boozman wrote on Twitter. "This provision is another opportunity to move the ball forward & I'm proud to support it." [POLITICO's Morning Trade, June 14, 2018]



CYBERSECURITY





READ







WHIMSEY



For those of us who care about American history, Fort Sumter is the place where the Civil War began. What we often forget—if we learned it at all—is that Fort Sumter was named for a man, General Thomas Sumter, a hero of the American Revolution.
Born to Welsh immigrants in Virginia, Sumter was a self-made man in the classic American model. Having very little formal education, he took part in the French and Indian War before relocating to South Carolina, where he became active in South Carolina politics. When war with England broke out, Sumter returned to the military, serving as an officer in a few military operations against the Cherokees and British forces. He resigned in 1778, returning to his home and, hopefully, a life of peace.
However, less than two years later, his home was in the path of British and Loyalist forces intent on returning the rebellious state of South Carolina to Crown rule. When some of British Col. Banastre Tarleton’s men put Sumter’s plantation to the torch, Sumter—nicknamed the “Carolina Gamecock” by Tarleton—began organizing Patriot militiamen and planning to strike back at his Loyalist neighbors and the British.
On August 1, 1780, Sumter and 600 Patriots struck a British garrison at Rocky Mount, South Carolina, inflicting more casualties on the British than they on him. That same day, more Patriots under Maj. William Richardson Davie attacked a Loyalist force at Hanging Rock, 15 miles away. Davie’s 150-man force—which included a 13-year-old messenger named Andrew Jackson—attacked only a portion of the Loyalist garrison, capturing and wounding several of them without losing any of their own.

By August 6, Sumter’s men reinforced Davie. Now, with about 800 Patriots against fewer than 500 Loyalists, Sumter and Davie attacked the main garrison at Hanging Rock, pushing back the Loyalists and looting their camps. The arrival of Loyalist infantry forced Sumter to abandon his plans to take Hanging Rock, but the fighting on August 1 and 6 cost the Crown forces some 200 killed and wounded. Sumter and Davie lost fewer than 60. Though Sumter failed to hold Hanging Rock, his success there made him a rising star in the constellation of American generals. [Campaign 1776, The Battle of Hanging Rock and the Southern Campaign, August 26, 2017]



U.S. AGRICULTURE



— House E&C subcommittee approves broadband bill: A House Energy and Commerce tech subcommittee advanced legislation that would require the FCC to launch a task force with the USDA to push broadband out to farms. The bill, H.R. 4881 (115), is authored by Reps. Bob Latta (R-Ohio) and Dave Loebsack (D-Iowa). [POLITICO's Morning Agriculture, June 14, 2018]



PUBLIC LANDS




IMMIGRATION











ACTIVISM





PRUITT GRILLED ON ETHANOL: EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's conservative support might be wavering, but it could be his handling of biofuels policy that will be his downfall.
The scandal-plagued official's tour this week seems to signal his recognition that he needs to improve his standing with farmers who are angry with him over his proposed changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard.
With stops already in Kansas and South Dakota behind him, Pruitt has faced his fair share of protest from corn-state farmers who say he is taking money out of their pockets by weakening federal rules mandating the use of the biofuels like ethanol.
"My personal opinion is farmers are demanding accountability and I think that Mr. Pruitt probably is a dead man walking," said Dane Hicks, the GOP chairman in Anderson County, Kansas, where Pruitt stopped on Tuesday. "I can't imagine he rebounds from this in any way to salvage his position. I would expect his resignation soon." Read more from Pro Energy's Eric Wolff here.
Today's destination: Pruitt plans to visit Nebraska today, another state where Republicans have criticized him for not doing enough on ethanol. EPA has not released details on that trip, but sources tell POLITICO he will meet with Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts and the Common Sense Nebraska Coalition to discuss the Waters of the United States Rule. [POLITICO's Morning Agriculture, June 14, 2018]



Pruitt Should Ban Pollution, Not the Press 

U.S. EPA administrator Scott Pruitt barred news outlets CNN, E&E News, and the Associated Press from a meeting dealing with a widespread contaminant in drinking water. According to the Associated Press, "When the reporter asked to speak to an EPA public-affairs person, the security guards grabbed the reporter by the shoulders and shoved her forcibly out of the EPA building." 

Pruitt has been working to censor science and now apparently wants to ban the free press as well. It's beyond time to #BootPruitt. [Sierra Club Insider, May 23, 2018]



NOTE: I have no official connection to any organization from which information is shared.. Occasionally, I post informational material and/or an opportunity to donate or join as  a "community service" announcement.  These again are shared for their varying perspectives.

Any commercial or business interest information shared is purely informational, not an endorsement.  I have no connection with any such commercial or business interest.

Any books listed are random or topic-related to something else in the post.  Think of these as a "library bookshelf" to browse.  They are shared for informational or entertainment value only, not as being recommended.
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