Ironweeds

This week we’re talking about the boat that we cannot believe is still stuck in the Suez Canal, and lots of NY happenings. Cuomo has announced a Covid passport system that is a terrible idea for lots of reasons. A judge in Troy has ruled in favor of a predatory landlord who bullied a tenant out of her home in the middle of a pandemic. The Troy Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative has released its final report, which says that they have too much stuff to do and would like a basketball court. And finally, NYS is on the verge of finally passing cannabis legalization… with a catch. 

Biggest dick pic in history (probably): https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkdjzb/cargo-ship-suez-canal-dick-pic-ever-given

Cuomo’s Covid passport: https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-announces-pilot-program-testing-excelsior-pass-madison-square-garden-and 

Why it’s bad: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01451-0 

Judge rules against woman who was evicted: https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Judge-rules-in-favor-of-Troy-landlord-16040975.php 

PRRC final report: https://www.troyny.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/FINAL-REPORT_Troy-Police-Reform-and-Reinvention-Collaborative_2021.pdf

Legalize it!! https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Final-deal-struck-to-legalize-marijuana-16058882.php https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2021/S854 

Support our Troy candidates for City Council!!

www.kiani4troy.com

https://marketafortroy.com

And support us on Patreon!

https://www.patreon.com/ironweeds

This week we are saddened with the absence of Britney, but we are delighted to be joined by Indi Samarajiva of https://indi.ca/ and @indica on Twitter. We talk about his accurate scatalogical metaphor of America being politically constipated, whether or not we can save this stupid planet, flat earthers around the globe, mRNA vaccine technology justice, international solidarity, causes for hope, and even exchange some reading recommendations. 

Indi’s writing: https://indi.ca/

Indi’s book recommendation: https://www.hackettpublishing.com/zhuangzi-the-essential-writings

Check us out on patreon! https://patreon.com/ironweeds

This week we're doing a crossover with the lovely folks over at Well There's Your Problem! If you'd like, you can follow along with the slides on their YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_XFArcUtrA

This week we’re having a free-wheeling chat about everything from girl boss Kyrsten Sinema to a potential grid down situation to bitcoin (what even is it?). We also catch up with MAGA revolutionary Richard Barnett, who is not having very much fun in jail. And finally, New Zealand is set to outlaw conversion therapy!

Barnett has courtroom tantrum:

Banning conversion therapy: https://www.jurist.org/news/2021/02/new-zealand-to-outlaw-conversion-therapy-practices/

Support the show! https://www.patreon.com/Ironweeds

It’s the holiday season in 2021 and Andy Cuomo has some gifts to share with his staff. Truly, the Cuomo government has been a trash fire of corruption, incompetence, and abuse. Meanwhile, the moratorium on evictions is ending, with no relief in sight, and millions of New Yorkers face losing their homes. And one landlord just couldn’t keep patient--he had to kidnap his tenets out of their beds and leave them for dead in a cemetery. Luckily they survived! And lastly, Illinois has become the first state to fully eliminate the cash bail system!

Albany landlord kidnapped tenets:

https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Albany-landlord-tied-up-evicted-sleeping-15972981.php

Cumo’s history of abusing staff: https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/For-Cuomo-a-legacy-of-intimidation-hardball-15972208.php

Courts responding to evictions:

https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Court-admin-investigate-reports-of-eviction-15882290.php#photo-20199538

https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/On-first-day-of-lifted-eviction-stay-Albany-15982793.php

Illinois eliminates cash bail: https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/illinois-eliminates-cash-bail/

This week we’re playing catch up on some happenings in the news--the freezing conditions in Texas that have led to horrendous prison conditions and skyrocketing energy costs, as well as the abysmal mismanagement of the Biden stimulus package and general incompetence of the democrats. But hey, at least Rush Limbaugh is dead. 

Texas electric bills: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/20/us/texas-storm-electric-bills.html

Reality Winner’s prison conditions: https://theintercept.com/2021/02/20/reality-winner-prison-cold-texas-freezing/

“Limbaugh loosed a dark and ichorous ooze of anger and resentment into our political groundwater, one that has polluted American politics and culture. His legacy is a civic Superfund site, an untreated hog lagoon that continues to spill its poison into the cracks in our democratic foundation.”

Read David’s article on “authentic cities”: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09654313.2021.1882947

Support the show on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ironweeds

This week we’re joined by Amanda Yee to talk about anti-Chinese propaganda in American media, and the murky funding flows between government and private intelligence services, thank tanks, publications, and self-styled activist movements. Covid 19 has only ramped up anti-Chinese sentiment, and powerful players work behind the scenes to ensure that American media consumers get a very one-sided narrative of what is happening in China. In a bit of good news, some new embryos just dropped--the extinct white rhino may just have a shot at a comeback. 

Follow Amanda on Twitter! https://twitter.com/catcontentonly

New York Times on WHO scientists’ experience in China:

Scientists fire back: https://twitter.com/theakfischer/status/1360590441817772034?s=21

Inside Falun Gong:

Baby baby white rhinos:

Support the show! https://www.patreon.com/ironweeds

Once again, we are blessed with a guest: activist, organizer, and candidate for Troy City Council Kiani Conley-Wilson! We talk about Kiani’s platform and her vision for the city, from policing to sustainability to building stronger relationships between the city and people caring for vacant properties. We also talk about how our old friend Norlite Plant is wafting tiny knives into our lungs, how ICE is threatening to kill people with Coronavirus, and how some Aussies are saving depraved platypuses by letting wetlands be wet.

Norlite silica: https://www.wamc.org/post/environmental-activists-warn-new-threat-cohoes-norlite-plant

ICE threatens asylum seekers with COVID: https://theintercept.com/2021/02/06/ice-covid-threat-asylum-deportation/

Go to Kiani’s website! Follow them on social media! Volunteer for the campaign! Donate (if you’re in Troy!): https://kiani4troy.com

This week we are blessed with a guest: Gizmodo staff writer Shoshana Wodinsky! We talk about all kinds of fun stuff like how tech behemoths follow you around everywhere you go and look at your stuff and read your secret Star Trek group chats all so they can sell you butt flap pajamas. Chairman Sanders raises a ton of money for Vermont charities (who says posting isn’t praxis?) and the jewel of Troy, activist and organizer Kiani Conley-Wilson is running for City Council! If you’re local to Troy, please lend the campaign any help you can. 

Follow Shoshana on Twitter: https://twitter.com/swodinsky

Articles we discussed on the episode:

https://gizmodo.com/this-was-whatsapps-plan-all-along-1846060382 

https://gizmodo.com/google-continues-to-promise-its-bid-to-end-cookies-isnt-1846124668 

https://gizmodo.com/googles-finally-giving-the-little-guys-a-cut-1846099900 

Using memes to feed the people: https://cbs6albany.com/news/offbeat/bernie-sanders-mittens-memes-and-merchandise-help-raise-18m-for-charity

Kiani 4 Troy! 

https://kiani4troy.com

https://twitter.com/kiani4troy 

It’s all labor and the environment this week folks. While produce market workers in the Bronx won a 70 cent pay raise, Lyft drivers are stuck with the new “priority mode,” which they’re calling poverty mode. Take the best parts of the exploitative gig economy and mix em up with race to the bottom and you’ve got a whole new recipe for modern day feudalism. Biden has snatched the permits on the Keystone pipeline, and both Canada and Louisiana are having a sad time about it. Incarcerated people in New York State are seeing massive spikes in Covid cases and deaths. For a bit of good news, Biden has reversed one of Trump’s worst Covid-related policies by redefining what “suitable” work conditions are. We’ll take what we can get over here at Ironweeds.

Produce Market Strike ends: https://www.thecity.nyc/2021/1/22/22245520/hunts-point-produce-market-strike-tentative-settlement-bronx

Cop runs into protesters in Tacoma, Washington: https://www.tmz.com/2021/01/24/tacoma-police-washington-run-over-crowd-pedestrian/ 

Giving Lyft drivers a “raise” by… paying them less: https://www.cnet.com/news/lyft-test-program-offers-drivers-more-rides-in-exchange-for-10-percent-pay-cut/

Louisiana sad about pipeline decision: https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/our_views/article_24de81b0-5bff-11eb-a1b5-f3581880512d.html

Justin also sad: https://news.yahoo.com/trudeau-stresses-disappointment-keystone-xl-030726282.html

Biden reverses Trump decision to kick workers off unemployment: https://www.dailyposter.com/p/biden-moves-to-reverse-one-of-trumps