An eviction moratorium, election night, and the NSA. 🕵️
gamers please rise up we need you
Good morning everyone! It’s Friday! Let a coworker know and pretend it all still matters.
The CDC has halted evictions nationwide amid the pandemic through December: provided you lost work, face homelessness, or are below a certain income threshold. This is actually really good? Trump did a good thing? Wow what.
Election night is going to be absolutely terrifying: no matter what the result is, it’s going to get bad. Brace yourself or don’t, do whatever you want idk.
A federal appeals court has ruled that the NSA’s collection of phone records was illegal: which is a little later than Edward Snowden would have liked, we’re sure, but is nonetheless a win.
Someone at work said it was “Friday Eve” yesterday and that’s a cute-yet-depressing way of looking at things. OK, let’s break this stuff down.
EVICTIONS
The CDC Has Issued a Temporary Halt on Evictions
Evictions are banned for now. In the most sweeping move headed by the Trump administration, the move to put a halt on evictions until December is going to provide a lot of people relief in the wake of what seemed to be a wave of evictions.
The Order
The CDC said in its order that the COVID-19 outbreak “presents a historic threat to public health,” and the implication being that homelessness might make the problem worse. That’s true but also we should just try to make sure people have homes?
This comes after Congress failed to act and reinstate their own eviction moratorium.
To quality under this order, a renter needs to sign a declaration stating they don’t make more than $99,000 annually, or twice that if filing a joint tax return.
They also need to sign a statement indicating that they have no other option if evicted “other than homelessness or living with more people in close proximity,” according to NPR.
Evictions for reasons other than a tenant not paying rent are still allowed.
Down the Line
While this is a lifeline to many, it doesn’t offer much long term. This doesn’t cancel rent, it just postpones the effects of not paying your rent. Once this moratorium expires, millions of Americans will once again be at risk of losing their homes.
Of course, direct cash payments could be a way of addressing that, but Congress hasn’t been too great about getting that done and now, another $1,200 might be too little too late.
Critics also point out that some landlords are going to be strapped for cash. Uh get a real job lol (but it actually is a problem unfortunately).
Bottom line: ok thanks Trump but you’re still a helldemon!
ELECTION 2020
Election Night is Going to Be a Total Nightmare
What do you get when you mix a contentious election with failing institutions unable to deliver satisfying results and a bunch of people on the verge of violence who are tuning in? That’s not the setup for a good joke, that’s the terrifying reality we’re barreling towards in November!
Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck
You know how Trump has been sowing the seeds for doubting the validity of mail-in votes for months now? OK, keep that in mind, because that’s a key part of this equation.
Democrats are cool with voting by mail for the most part. Many of them will. Now imagine the night of November 3rd, when results roll in from swing states and show Trump steadily ahead of Biden. He declares victory and his supporters start blasting airhorns or whatever.
Then BOOM, Biden catches up once mail-in votes are fully counted and Trump cries foul. It’s just like he’s said all along, see! Voting by mail is fraudulent! Democrats are stealing the election!
His base then takes to the streets in support of a coup and starts blasting people away. That might seem dramatic, but in The New York Times article about this possibility, a Trump voter outright says, “If they think there’s unrest now, just wait to see if they try to steal this election. Personally, I think people that are nonviolent, we’re going to get very violent.”
The stats behind this scenario playing out are pretty spooky too. “A recent Marquette Law School poll of Wisconsin, another swing state, found that among voters planning to cast a mail ballot, Mr. Biden was favored by 67 percentage points. Among those who planned to vote on Election Day, Mr. Trump led by 41 points.”
Bottom line: oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck a coup is happening here for once oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck
NSA
A Court Has Ruled That NSA’s Collection of Phone Records Was Illegal
Y’all remember Edward Snowden? The whistleblower who blew the lid on all the horrendous nonsense the NSA was getting up to? He was relieved to see that after seven years, his life-altering decision has actually had some kind of legal outcome.
No More Spying On People Plz
On Wednesday, a federal appeals court ruled that the NSA program that allowed them to keep records of billions of Americans’ phone calls was illegal and maybe even unconstitutional.
Unfortunately, they still used the program as justification for criminally prosecuting four Somali immigrants who were involved in a terror-fundraising case.
Still, the massive expansion of the surveillance state under Bush right after 9/11 was a huge, horrible effort. We’re still seeing the effects of it in many of the Trump administration’s abuses. Having a federal court acknowledge that a large chunk of that was wrong—in this case, spying on phone calls made by innocent Americans—feels like some kind of small relief? Seven years late and too little but it’s something?
Bottom line: maybe one day Snowden can get pardoned and return to his country. Oops.
BREADCRUMBS
Where the News Gets “Fun!”
“PSU football doctor: 30-35 percent of COVID-19-positive Big Ten Athletes had myocarditis.” Our sense is that we still don’t fully understand how this whole thing can impact people’s health and likely won’t understand for some time to come.
“Elon Musk Thinks His Treatment of Workers is a Trader Secret.” Wanna know my secret? It’s abusing employees. ;)
“The Making of the ‘Good CIA.’” Newsflash: the CIA is evil as hell! Pop culture might make you think otherwise though.
“In Act of Heresy, N.R.A.’s Former No. 2 Calls for Gun Control.” Look, we’ve mentioned before that there are good arguments for being a pro-gun leftist, but fuck the N.R.A.
END OF THE LINE...
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Have a good one,
The Bread Line
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