Things in the news

Is it "FAIR'? I don't think that EVERY BUSINESS that has been established in a location that is very difficult to make comply with ADA should be forced to do so...just so EVERY PERSON no matter if they NEED access to that particular shop can get in.
Consider a shopkeeper who is, these days, just able to make his ends meet, having to spend thousands of dollars so some "activist " could get in to somewhere "just because"
I have seen what happens especially some years ago in NYC....
Certainly EVERY new or remodeled location should be accessible....

 

The ADA has exemptions based on a "readily achievable" standard of compliance, which means reasonably easy to achieve at a cost that is not prohibitive based in part on the size and resources of the business.

Or...
(9)Readily achievable. The term “readily achievable” means easily accomplishable and able to be carried out without much difficulty or expense. In determining whether an action is readily achievable, factors to be considered include—

(A) the nature and cost of the action needed under this chapter;
(B) the overall financial resources of the facility or facilities involved in the action; the number of persons employed at such facility; the effect on expenses and resources, or the impact otherwise of such action upon the operation of the facility;
C) the overall financial resources of the covered entity; the overall size of the business of a covered entity with respect to the number of its employees; the number, type, and location of its facilities; and
D) the type of operation or operations of the covered entity, including the composition, structure, and functions of the workforce of such entity; the geographic separateness, administrative or fiscal relationship of the facility or facilities in question to the covered entity.
​

And of course, this is where the lawyers come in!

 

And of course, this is where the lawyers come in!

redux

Yes, that's where it becomes a problem....they threaten to and do file s suit (sleaze) ...."irregardless", and the store owner needs to hire a lawyer...
As an architect (retired) in NY (too many sleaze lawyers) I've see this too many times... IT IS BLACKMAIL.

 

BLACKMAIL is a bit harsh, IMO.

The law provides reasonable exemptions, including the above described "readily achieveable" as well as exemptions for all very small businesses (less than 15 employees and a low revenue threshold).

Where the "sleazy lawyers" come in , again IMO, are in finding ways to exploit the "readily achievable" exemption by treating it as a "loophole" for businesses that can and should be in compliance.

 

What happened in a few of the "instances" I was called to have a look at....was the threat of a suit, and having the business owner hire a lawyer...cheaper to "pay the piper" and be left alone...

 

I've noticed that the Brits use it in movies...not necessarily meaning what you'd think...they call a bunch of guys cunts...

 

I RESEMBLE that remark.....here in FL it seems EVERYONE has a "tag", and generally the handicapped spaces are all full most of the time,,,unfortunately quite a few of "them" are not that disabled....

 

Shit, the Aussies use it interchangeably with words like dude.

 

I'm all for handicapped access, but as with just about any law there is abuse. There are attorneys who make a small fortune filing lawsuits against businesses who aren't handicapped access compliant. They file the lawsuits without giving the business a chance to make the necessary changes, and then settle out of court.

And apparently businesses can be sued if their effort at compliance is even slightly off.

CBS' Sixty Minutes did a good piece on it.

 

This is exactly what was happening in NYC right after the disability act was passed, some sleazy lawyer driving around looking for small businesses that they could EXPLOIT.
Wonder why lawyers got "tarred" as sleazy/ That and allowing lawyers to advertise....One I remember Jacoby and Meyers...IIRC
Personally I try to have NOTHING to do with Lawyers and Cops...

 

Everybody remember this photo?


Well, the place caught fire recently!

Here's the news headlines:
Owners may demolish, rebuild 'bigger and better' Gold Pyramid House after $3Million in fire damage | Daily Mail Online

 

This is a photo of Greta Thunberg, a teenager in Sweden holding her first climate strike in August 2018, taking the Friday off from school and sitting alone outside the Swedish parliament protesting the lack of action on climate change.



It inspired and led to the creation of the FridaysForFuture, an international movement of school students around the world who take time off from class to participate in demonstrations to demand action to prevent further climate change.

Last Friday, millions of students around the world left school for the day and participated in rallies and protests.



Young People Lead Millions To Protest Global Inaction On Climate Change

Millions of young people raised their voices at protests around the world Friday in a massive display meant to demand urgent action on climate change. Scores of students missed school to take part, some joined by teachers and parents.

Some of the first rallies began in Australia, and then spread from Pacific islands to India and Turkey and across Europe, as students kicked off what organizers were calling a Global Climate Strike.

In the U.S., where more than 800 marches were planned, thousands of young people are absent from classrooms so they can carry signs, march and shout slogans calling for a new approach to energy and emissions...(more)​

Today, Greta Thunberg spoke at the UN Climate Action Summit



'This Is All Wrong,' Greta Thunberg Tells World Leaders At U.N. Climate Session

Greta Thunberg has a message for world leaders at the United Nations this week: "We'll be watching you." Speaking at the Climate Action Summit in New York, Thunberg added, "This is all wrong. I shouldn't be up here. I should be back in school, on the other side of the ocean."

But instead, Thunberg, 16, is trying to convince politicians to take climate change seriously, and to do something to stop a global warming trend that will affect the world's children more than it affects anyone who's currently in power.

In an impassioned speech, Thunberg told those who hold office, "you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you? You have stolen my dreams, and my childhood with your empty words, and yet I'm one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing."

Saying that the world is now in the early stages of a mass extinction, Thunberg criticized those who still speak of the crisis in terms of money and economic growth.

"How dare you?" she asked again, growing increasingly emotional as the audience cheered at the 2019 Climate Action Summit.

Citing more than 30 years' worth of scientific studies and warnings that greenhouse gases and other factors were establishing a dangerous new environmental trend, Thunberg criticized politicians for not developing solutions and strategies to confront that threat.

"You say you hear us and that you understand the urgency. But no matter how sad and angry I am, I do not want to believe that. Because if you really understood the situation and still kept on failing to act, then you would be evil. And that I refuse to believe."

Thunberg then drilled into one aspect of a current international plan, which includes the goal of cutting current emissions levels in half over the next 10 years....
​

This is activism at its best....started by one 15-year old girl acting alone.

One can only hope it makes a difference!

 

I call B/S...Climate change is real....over the next 1000 years...
I read that the HOLE in the Ozone layer is closing... SO?

 

In the news last week....

Earth to warm more quickly, new climate models show

Greenhouse gases thrust into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels are warming Earth's surface more quickly than previously understood, according to new climate models set to replace those used in current UN projections, scientists said Tuesday.

By 2100, average temperatures could rise 6.5 to 7.0 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels if carbon emissions continue unabated, separate models from two leading research centres in France showed.

That is up to two degrees higher than the equivalent scenario in the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change's (IPCC) 2014 benchmark 5th Assessment Report.

The new calculations also suggest the Paris Agreement goals of capping global warming at "well below" two degrees, and 1.5C if possible, will be harder to reach, the scientists said.

"With our two models, we see that the scenario known as SSP1 2.6 -- which normally allows us to stay under 2C -- doesn't quite get us there," Olivier Boucher, head of the Institute Pierre Simon Laplace Climate Modelling Centre in Paris, told AFP.

With barely one degree Celsius of warming so far, the world is already coping with increasingly deadly heat waves, droughts, floods and tropical cyclones made more destructive by rising seas.

A new generation of 30-odd climate models known collectively as CMIP6 -- including the two unveiled Tuesday -- will underpin the IPCC's next major report in 2021.

"CMIP6 clearly includes the latest modelling improvements," even as important uncertainties remain, Joeri Rogelj, an associate professor at Imperial College London and an IPCC lead author, told AFP.

These include increased supercomputing power and sharper representations of weather systems, natural and man-made particles, and how clouds evolve in a warming world.

"We have better models now," said Boucher. "They have better resolution, and they represent current climate trends more accurately." ... (more)​

So...we disagree. Okay. I'm not interested in another "discussion" of the science that has been shared by an overwhelming consensus of climate scientists. Where we might agree is how it has been politicized by both sides.

Also in the news last week....

Every Group Except Older Republicans Is Concerned About Climate Change
Most Americans want the U.S. to take a global leadership role on climate change, but only about a quarter think the country is doing so.

 

As an aside...

On the issue of the ozone layer, it was Reagan who stepped up as a world leader and led on the signing of the Montreal Protocol in 1988.

Reagan seeks to protect fragile ozone layer, Dec. 21, 1987

On this day in 1987, President Ronald Reagan, overruling dissenting members of his Cabinet, urged Congress to ratify an international cap-and-trade treaty aimed at protecting the Earth’s fragile ozone layer.

Reagan said the deal, dubbed the Montreal Protocol, was needed “to protect public health and the environment from the potential adverse effects of depletion of stratospheric ozone.”​

Statement on Signing the Montreal Protocol on Ozone-Depleting Substances

I am pleased to sign the instrument of ratification for the Montreal protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer. The protocol marks an important milestone for the future quality of the global environment and for the health and well-being of all peoples of the world. Unanimous approval of the protocol by the Senate on March 14th demonstrated to the world community this country's willingness to act promptly and decisively in carrying out its commitments to protect the stratospheric ozone layer from the damaging effects of chlorofluorocarbons and halons, but our action alone is not enough. The protocol enters into force next January only if at least 11 nations representing two-thirds of worldwide consumption of chlorofluorocarbons and halons ratify the agreement. Our immediate challenge, having come this far, is to promote prompt ratification by every signatory nation.​

I believe the Montreal protocol, negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme, is an extremely important environmental agreement. It provides for internationally coordinated control of ozone-depleting substances in order to protect a vital global resource. It requires countries that are parties to reduce production and consumption of major ozone-depleting chemicals by 50 percent by 1999. It creates incentives for new technologies -- chemical producers are already working to develop and market safer substitutes -- and establishes an ongoing process for review of new scientific data and of technical and economic developments. A mechanism for adjustment of the protocol is established to allow for changes based upon the review process. The wisdom of this unique provision is already being realized...​

Kudos to Reagan. Imagine any Republican today stepping up and taking the lead on an environmental program AND working under the auspices of the UN .

Instead, we have an administration that alters or effectively hides scientific studies conducted by agencies with the federal government and Republican members of Congress throwing snowballs on the floor of the US Senate and claiming "only God can change climate" when their anti-science ideology is challenged.

/end rant.

 

The ozone hole closed up be ause of direct environmental action. It was a big deal until the problem just went away. Then everyone forgot. But it only changed because of real changes in the laws. So your example of the ozone crisis is actually a great example of human impact making a difference.

The real question is how many billionaires need to be murdered before they realize their life is more important than their money? That their lives are not more valuable than any others? And where does the list start? The Walton's? The undead Koch? The asshole who owns a bunch of casinos?

 

WOW ...

 

Murder is a little harsh.

I suggest forcing them to get their drinking water from lead-polluted water systems, forcing them to eat agricultural products contaminated with RoundUp and Chlorpyrifos , directing agricultural runoff (e.g. feces from hog farms and other contaminants) and related sludge be redirected to their properties and that they bear the impact of all the environmental regulations that Trump has tried to eliminate.