July 31, 2018

Stephen Colbert - Monologue and Opening - 7/30/18

Rudy Giuliani Doesn't Know If Colluding Is Crime



Trump's legal team has come a long way from 'no collusion!' to 'collusion is not a crime!'




Accountability Is Meaningless Unless It's For Everybody



Stephen addresses the systemic problem of sexual misconduct in the workplace, and the need for holding people accountable for their action even when it's someone you like.




Rudy Giuliani Vs. Rudy Giuliani On Michael Cohen



Rudy Giuliani's self-contradictory statements on Michael Cohen are absolutely... PRECIOUS.

July 31, 2018

Higher Oil Prices Turn Texas Main Road Into The 'Death Highway'

Rising oil prices have led to an increase in trucking of frac sand, water, oilfield equipment, pipes, and fuel in West Texas. Together with the higher truck traffic on a main road in Texas, fatalities involving truckers have surged since oil prices resumed their upward trend last year, according to data by the Texas Department of Transportation compiled by Bloomberg.

Long shifts behind the wheel, inexperienced truck drivers, and speeding on one of the main roads in Texas used for trucking sand, water, and equipment have earned Route 285 the name of the “Death Highway” among locals.

According to the Texas Department of Transportation, 93 people died in fatal accidents involving trucks in 2017 just on the Permian section of the “Death Highway”, a highway that runs for 845 miles through the states of Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado. That’s 43 percent higher than the number of fatalities back in 2012.

According to locals, there is a correlation between the price of oil and the number of fatal accidents along the highway in Texas. The number of deaths dropped in 2015, when oil prices crashed, but they started to rise again with the rally in the price of oil.

Route 285 may very well be “the deadliest highway in the United States,” Ralph McIngvale, a partner at Permian Lodging, which builds and runs so-called man camps in the area, told Bloomberg.


Read more: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Higher-Oil-Prices-Turn-Texas-Main-Road-Into-The-Death-Highway.html

July 31, 2018

Seth Meyers - Rudy Giuliani Says Collusion Is Not a Crime: A Closer Look

Seth takes a closer look at Trump's defenders moving on from insisting that the president didn't collude with Russia to arguing that even if he did, it's not a crime.

July 30, 2018

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) - Workplace Sexual Harassment

With a national dialogue underway about sexual harassment in the workplace, John Oliver sits down with Anita Hill to discuss the recent response to a not-so-recent problem.

July 30, 2018

The Daily Show: Guest Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - Bringing Moral Courage to American Politics

Congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez explains how democratic socialism can help America and doubles down on her commitment to refuse corporate political donations.

July 30, 2018

The Daily Show: The World Is on Fire

Global warming is already leading to record-shattering high temperatures across the world, but Trevor has a few creative ideas about how to mitigate the damage.

July 28, 2018

Stephen Colbert - Monologue and Opening - 7/27/18

Stephen Examines The Conservative 'Walk Away' Memes



A series of conservative's #WalkAway memes show former Democrats explaining why they left the party. Only problem is, the people are stock photos from Shutterstock.




Betsy DeVos' $40 Million Yacht Was Set Adrift



Poor Betsy DeVos. One of her yachts was untied and set adrift into Lake Huron. (Cue the Sarah McLachlan music)




Stephen Buys A Van For The Rock Group FLAW



Stephen's relentless quest to help raise $15,000 for the rock band FLAW's new tour van is complete. Now all that's left to do is decorate.




Galino & Farnes: Secret Tape Attorneys



Are you worried that your lawyer will secretly record you? And that the recording won't have enough pizzazz?

July 28, 2018

Top Trump Officials Clash Over Plan to Let Cars Pollute More

WASHINGTON — Senior administration officials are clashing over President Trump’s plan to roll back a major environmental rule and let cars emit more tailpipe pollution, according to 11 people familiar with the confrontation, in a dispute over whether the proposal can withstand legal challenge.

The rollback, one of the most consequential proposals of the Trump administration, not only would permit more planet-warming pollution from cars, it would also challenge the right of California and other states to set their own, more restrictive state-level pollution standards.

On one side is the Environmental Protection Agency’s acting chief, Andrew Wheeler, who has tried to put the brakes on the plan, fearing that its legal and technical arguments are weak and will set up the Trump administration for an embarrassing courtroom loss. Mr. Wheeler inherited the proposal from his predecessor, Scott Pruitt, who resigned on July 5 under a cloud of ethics investigations.

On the other side are top officials at the Transportation Department, Jeffrey A. Rosen and Heidi King, two of the proposal’s chief authors.

Mr. Rosen, a former George W. Bush administration official known for his zeal to undo federal regulations, is pushing the controversial proposal on the expectation that by the time any challenge makes it to the Supreme Court, the court’s makeup will be more friendly to a conservative, anti-regulatory policy, according to individuals familiar with his thinking.


Much more: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/27/climate/trump-auto-pollution-rollback.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage



Jeffrey A. Rosen, the deputy transportation secretary, is pushing an aggressive rollback proposal with the expectation that any legal challenge would end up before a more conservative Supreme Court. Credit: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

July 28, 2018

Mapping mountaintop coal mining's yearly spread in Appalachia

New mapping tool uses satellite images to track annual changes in mining's footprint

Date:
July 26, 2018

Source:
Duke University

Summary:
A new mapping tool shows, in more detail than ever before, the land laid bare by mountaintop coal mining in central Appalachia each year, going back more than three decades. The tool uses satellite imagery to identify and map the annual extent of mining activity across portions of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. The researchers say the updated maps will make it easier to assess and mitigate mining's environmental and health impacts.

The coal industry may have declined in the last decade because of the rise of cheap natural gas, but a coal mining method called mountaintop removal is still taking place, particularly in central Appalachia.

A new web-based mapping tool shows, in more detail than ever before, the land laid bare by mountaintop coal mining in central Appalachia each year, going back more than three decades.

The tool uses satellite imagery to identify and map the annual extent of mining activity across a four-state area including portions of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

In the journal PLOS ONE, researchers estimate that between 1985 and 2015, an average of 21,000 acres was converted to bare earth and rubble in central Appalachia each year -- an area about half the size of Washington, D.C.


More: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/07/180726085959.htm



A new mapping tool uses satellite imagery to reveal where mountaintop coal mining is underway in Appalachia, going back more than three decades. Forested areas appear green, whereas mined areas appear yellow.
Credit: Christian Thomas, SkyTruth

July 28, 2018

In Mississippi, closed bridges and crumbling infrastructure threaten lives and livelihoods

More than a dozen Mississippi residents said that emergency services, at times, struggled to find their way to those who called for help.

GREENVILLE, Miss. — Stephanie Park, 70, waited with the body of her neighbor for two hours before the Washington County coroner could make it to his house here in the Mississippi Delta. Rigor mortis had set in.

About 15 miles to the southwest, Lori Gower, 57, had to drive her Dodge Charger through a nearby farm field swamped by heavy rain to get to her house after work. The car’s engine flooded and her husband, Mack, 64, had to tow her out. Mack, for his part, couldn’t get his diabetes medication delivered.

Just 50 miles north, Rives Neblett, 75, a Delta farmer, has watched the production cost for each bushel of soybeans increase by more than seven cents because his harvest truck has to take circuitous routes.

The source of all four Mississippians’ troubles: Bridges that were closed. And not temporarily closed because of accidents or flooding, but closed because of old age, splintered supports, or cracked concrete.

Mississippi, a relatively poor state, has never been known for its gleaming transportation network, but the situation today is worse than ever. Across the state, residents now have to circumvent nearly 500 closed bridges that have been declared unsafe, according to the Mississippi Office of State Aid Road Construction. Another 1,742 are posted with specific weight limits because of structural deficiencies. Combined, that accounts for more than 20 percent of the county and local bridges in the state.


Much more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mississippi-closed-bridges-crumbling-infrastructure-threaten-lives-livelihoods-n892571



A bridge closure near the Western Hills neighborhood in Jackson. Closures like this one mean some local residents face longer commute times. Brandon Thibodeaux / for NBC News