Texans Die from Heat Exhaustion After Governor Bans Water Breaks
House Bill 2127 pre-empts municipalities from enacting legislation in eight areas—with predictable results.
House Bill 2127 pre-empts municipalities from enacting legislation in eight areas—with predictable results.
He doesn't care if people die. He doesn't care. At all.
This is what blows me away. If I did anything that could be linked to any kind of serious harm to someone, I would be fucking devastated.
It’s almost like these people are aliens when you look at their ability to just not give a single fuck about anyone
He's a sociopath. He has no concept of empathy. All he cares about is his own power. Which is true of a lot of politicians, sadly. And yes, it is a very alien way of looking at the world, but a disturbing number of people are sociopaths.
When individual humans reach a certain level of power and wealth they tend to self isolate. This is a natural response, they need to start to see themselves as different and set apart from regular humans, because the things they need to do to keep growing their wealth and power start to become increasingly inhuman.
Here's a link to an article full of the insane things billionaires have tried to justify, in their own little books, and these are just the things they are happy to share. The complete disconnect from their reality and ours becomes terribly pain to see once you read their thoughts.
It is a weird realization to understand that some people don't understand empathy for their fellow man. In many cases not simply don't have empathy, but don't understand it, like it is actually a foreign concept for them.
We see this when examining many dictators like Putin, that his entire view of international politics is shaped by this mindset that civilians are disposable pawns to be thrown away at the pleasure of those above them, and keeps making faulty assumptions of how other people will act based on this. The important takeaway I think is that when people immerse themselves deep enough in such cruel thinking, the cruelty eventually becomes second nature.
Wait, and some report say US has ufo material since the 60s…. It all make sense now /s
I am vehemently opposed to this law. It is useless, dangerous bullshit, done only for political signalling.
However, this artcle is bullshit too, having absolutely nothing to do with the law, except for the headline.
Local ordinances mandating water breaks for workers outdoors, passed in Austin in 2010 and in Dallas in 2015, have contributed to a significant decrease in annual heat-related illnesses and heat deaths. Since 2011, annual workplace heat-related illness numbers have dropped by 78 percent, while workplace heat-related deaths have cut in half. San Antonio considered a similar ordinance before the Death Star zapped its chances.
In addition to overturning existing local ordinances, House Bill 2127 bans cities and counties from passing new ones at the risk of legal action. These include any bills concerning agriculture, finance, insurance, labor, natural resources, property, business and commerce, and occupations.
[...] come September 1, those water breaks in Dallas and Austin will no longer be mandatory. Some workers fear that bosses seeking to increase production will eliminate existing breaks.
Trying to understand how this has nothing to do with it?
OK, they described the content and background of the law. But the article is about 11 deaths that are utterly unrelated to that law. And the headline is a salacious attempt to link the two.
Do you actually disagree with my point, or is this just useless pedantry?
That was faster than I expected. Especially since the law isn't even in effect yet. Sept 1 according to Texas Tribune.
the article doesnt mention the nature of any of the deaths and dont actually say its because they were denied water breaks. it just says these deaths happened after the law was signed into place. a few of the deaths were actually not work related at all
though it does speculate that it must be because of the heat
While I'm appalled this bill exists as a fellow southerner sweating in this heat, the o my deaths mentions that could have possibly happened due to denial were the lineman and the post delivery person. But it's isn't explicitly stated.
The Governor?
You mean Greg Abbott the Little Piss Baby?
I like that the Texas Observer is willing to at least imply what those of us on the left have been shouting for decades: Republican policies often kill people.
They know this in advance and still pass those laws, which makes them de facto murderers.
The cruelty is the point. As long as the "right" people get hurt, they're happy about it.
And in Texas, it's very likely to be the "right" people doing outdoor work in the blazing heat.
Absolutely. Hurting the "the others" being inherently virtuous is a core tenet of fascism, after all..
As a Texan, I'd love to see these anti-human murderers see some justice.
Sadly, I doubt I'll see the day.
Meanwhile Beijing just banned working outside after 10 days of over 35c degree days. It's really weird to watch this country unravel.
This bill bans local ordinances on water breaks, but there are still federal (and likely state) laws that still require it. You can see right on OSHA's site here.
OSHA Standards require an employer to provide potable water in the workplace and permit employees to drink it. Potable water includes tap water that is safe for drinking. Employers cannot require employees to pay for water that is provided. An employer does not have to provide bottled water if potable water is available. See OSHA's sanitation standard for more information.
Why can't people report on GOP bills objectively, rather than misconstruing them as hard as possible?
This "article" also doesn't mention a single death due to being deprived of a water break. There's zero mention of anyone asking for and being denied water. Some of the deaths were hikers. It's "water breaks were banned" and then "people died," and nobody's reading the article to find out those two statements are tied together for sensationalism alone. Nobody was denied a water break and died because of it. Lame journalism.
The heat deaths highlight the danger of passing the law even if the law itself hasn't directly caused any deaths yet. It's like passing a law against yelling "Shark!" at the beach when there's a great white in the area.
"Oh but Mary was pulled under before anyone had noticed the shark in the first place. The law didn't contribute to her death at all." Technically true but... what the fuck are we doing guys?
Objectivity is difficult when your empanada hookup's husband died in this heat.
I didn't know the family well, let alone the husband, but their family is in mourning because of laws like these.
There is blood on Abbot's (and his ilk's) hands and that family will likely never see justice served. So do tell me how laws, even federal laws, protect us if they are not actively enforced?
The article mentions 11 people, only 4 of which died on the job. The rest were either outside, at home, or were imates in prison. Notice the wording used in the headline too, "11 Texans die after", not "11 Texans die FROM".
Since then, 11 people between the ages of 60 and 80 have died of heat-related illness in Webb County, the Associated Press reported. Most did not have air-conditioning in their homes. A teen and stepfather died while hiking in extreme heat at Big Bend National Park, per a National Park Service release. According to the Texas Tribune, at least nine inmates, including two men in their 30s, died in Texas prisons that lack air conditioning. And at least four workers have died after collapsing while laboring in triple-digit heat: a post office worker in Dallas, a utility lineman in East Texas, and construction workers in Houston and San Antonio.
It's just pure disingenuous behavior. There's plenty of legitimate reasons to hate Abbot, this comes off as manipulation.
And people wonder why there's so much distrust in media.
Because they shouldn't be messing with water breaks at all.
They aren't, the law is about consistency of regulations for regional companies. Have you worked for a sub contractor that has to have different policies in every city they work in?
We're living in a time where the people want to get their news in 15 second chunks, and think they understand a complex situation instantly.
We're also living in a time where social media leans heavily left.
These combined encourage young left wing people to be drawn to and vocalize their perceived expertise, when in reality they have absolutely no clue of the situation beyond what their 15 second attention span can gather.
As I Lib, I feel so very owned.
owning the libs by unconditional murder
party of pro life
This makes me sick. Fuck that governor. There should be a manhunt...
i mean, we all knew this was going to happen, right? i understand people are desperate for work but nothing is worth your health.
Unfortunately the "dignity of work" is so engrained in American culture, it's not just the money (and ability to feed/house yourself) on the line, but your sense of selfworth.
It's bullshit, don't get me wrong, but it runs deep and messes a lot of people up (speaking from experience).
Water is woke now?
What a HORRIFICALLY misleading headline.
A) Water breaks aren't banned, just no longer mandated under some local ordinances. Still mandated by federal law, in theory.
B) The law hasn't even gone into effect yet.
C) The deaths referred to are not from lack of water. It even specifically suggests lack of air conditioning.
What's shocking to me is that no one tried to intervene. The president or somebody else? I'm not that well orientend in American politics but I thought the governors have someone above them to prevent exactly these situations. It's very unsettling.
Federal interference in state law is a big thing to avoid. The federal government needs standing to try and interfere. These are all state level powers. Federal government can't step in until it violates federal statutes which can only cover specific things. The thing that is shocking to me is that it's antithetical to conservatism. A core principle is allowing the power to be as close to the people as possible. To micromanage local governments like this is just the Republicans coming out and saying they don't actually believe in small government anymore. They believe in only their own power.
It's a feature, not a bug.
Feature of what? A law that hasn't gone into effect yet?
In the dictionary's definition of evil there is a picture. Oh, hey Governor!
I think Texas Ghoul and the Florida Reaper are having a "most evil" competition to see who can get the best penthouse in Hell. They should have read their contracts better; the floors go down in hell, not up.
They are getting what they voted for. Seems to me that construction workers are just the type that would either be gun-ho Republicans or be totally tuned out of politics altogether.
So ultimately, they are getting what they deserve - anti-worker/anti-common sense policies.
Does Lemmy have a /LeopardAteMyFace sub? If so, this deserves to be posted there.
Construction workers are getting what they deserve by dying of heatstroke? Really? I get not liking republicans and thinking a section of the working class votes against their own interests, but I don’t think that means they deserve to die.
Aim your ire at the people who actually made this bill happen not the the poor guys who are suffering because of it.
Votes matter. Votes have consequences.
They are voting for and supporting these right-wing clowns. So YES, they are getting exactly what they deserve.
This is no different than Republican women supporting the GOP and then being SHOCKED that the people they voted in are now limiting their access to abortions.
You... realize you just generalized a group of people and declared that they deserve to die, right?
Not an ideological group, construction workers.
Bro, chill.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Other_(philosophy) Don't give into the concept of the other -- we're all just people
If Texas is anything like California, most of them would be ineligible to vote anyway.
If Lemmy is like Reddit you could read the article and see 9 of the deceased were inmates. This is a civil rights issue.
Seems to you? As it happens, that is not the case. According to this website they polled at 45.3 Democrat vs. 54.7 Republican. The GOP always likes to show guys wearing hardhats as conservatives but that is just PR bullshit.
54.7 > 45.3 so seems like their PR bullshit is accurate, for once.
Well no one could have predicted this. Sadly, nothing can be done. /s