| Time |
Event |
| 9:35a |
Putin compared himself to Tsar Peter I
Putin compared himself to Tsar Peter I, in effect saying that
conquering Ukraine is his divine mission.
The original name of the city now known as St Petersburg was Nyen
(Swedish) or Nevanlinna (Finnish). Imagine giving that city to
Finland and restorie those names! The idea would make Putin writhe. |
| 9:35a |
Natural gas as a "bridging fuel"
Greenpeace: The EU must wake up from its fantasy of natural gas as a
"bridging fuel" from coal to renewables. It's nothing but a detour. |
| 9:35a |
Thugs attack people holding vigil
A UK thug murdered a woman, and when people held a vigil for her,
thugs attacked them, then the London thug department tried to
prosecute them. Despite rebukes by the courts, the thug department continues to try
to put the blame on them.
The thugs say they thought the vigil had became an "anti-police protest",
but what of that? People have the right to protest against thugs in
general, too, not only a specific thug. |
| 9:35a |
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| 9:35a |
Demands for Pompeo to testify on plot to kill or kidnap Assange
*Spain's High Court Demands Pompeo Testify on
Alleged Plot to Kidnap or Kill Assange.* |
| 9:35a |
Gradual ban of tobacco in the UK
There is a proposal to ban the sale of tobacco in the UK, gradually
over a period of around 80 years.
Smoking tobacco is dangerous, and I wish everyone would quit.
But prohibiting a dangerous drug tends to do great social harm,
so I cannot support it. |
| 9:35a |
Suspicion of participation in terrorism
Australia's supreme court ruled that the government cannot arbitrarily exile a citizen on suspicion of participation in terrorism.
I think it is wrong to take away a person's citizenship as a punishment
for crimes in general, even serious ones, except perhaps fraud in the
process of becoming a citizen, if that wasn't many years ago. |
| 9:35a |
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| 9:35a |
Big tech pressure to kill antitrust bill
Big Tech is spending a lot of money to pressure a few Democratic senators
to kill the new antitrust bill. |
| 9:35a |
Power to crack down on executive excess
* President Biden has the power to crack down on executive excess by imposing new CEO pay and buyback restrictions on federal contractors.* |
| 9:35a |
Ukrainian soldiers of British origin
The Putin forces captured some Ukrainian soldiers of British origin,
and have accused them of terrorism, apparently arbitrarily.
It is standard practice for Putin to "convict" his political opponents
of trumped-up crimes. He did the same thing to Alexei Navalny, for instance. |
| 9:35a |
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| 9:35a |
How fascism develops
How fascism develops, with one small change after another gradually
building up to a dictatorship in which defiance is basically impossible.
I am skeptical of the claim that Venezuela is "fascist". Real
opposition candidates do get elected there. I am also dubious about
the idea that Hungary has gone so far as fascism. But these are minor
details which I mention for the record — they don't affect the
article's conclusions.
We don't have fascism in the US yet, but I haven't see anyone propose
a way to stop it, other than to pray for a miracle. And praying
doesn't do any good. |
| 9:35a |
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| 9:35a |
Vote against week EU carbon emissions trading system
The European Parliament voted against a weak proposal for how to extend
the EU's carbon emissions trading system; MEPs want a stronger system.
A planet roaster MEP from a "center-right" (plutocratist) party was
put in charge of negotiations, and he has been trying to thwart efforts
to strengthen the system so as to reduce emissions more.
However, they also voted in favor of banning the sale
of gasoline-powered cars in 2035.
The same planet roaster MEP worked against this, too. |
| 9:35a |
Countries investing in new gas production, distribution and use
* Governments including the US, Germany, the UK and Canada are investing
in new gas production, distribution and use.* The supposed reason for this is to thwart Russia's threats to cut
off gas to Europe. But the cure is far worse than the disease. It
would destroy Russia and Ukraine, and the four countries that are
doing it, and all the rest of the world. |
| 9:35a |
Rebuked for failing to invest in energy efficiency
The International Energy Agency rebuked governments (and businesses) for
failing to invest in energy efficiency.
As Amory Lovins pointed out for decades, the most cost-efficient way to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other pollution is through increased
efficiency of using energy. |
| 9:35a |
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| 9:35a |
Assange rally at Harvard's graduation
Attorney General Merrick Garland spoke at Harvard's graduation, so
supporters of Julian Assange rallied there calling on him to free
Assange. |
| 9:35a |
Consequences of liar clinging to power
On the consequences of having a liar cling to power
(in the UK). |
| 9:35a |
Letting your child run errands alone
Is it safe not to let your child run errands alone? |
| 9:35a |
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| 9:35a |
Right-wing fund, DonorTrust
*[A right-wing fund, DonorsTrust] favored by Republican megadonors
such as Charles Koch, Robert Mercer, and the family of Betsy Devos is
by far the biggest known backer of two white nationalist hate groups
that helped inspire a teen to "kill as many blacks as possible" in
Buffalo, New York on May 14.* |
| 9:35a |
Methane from Australian coal mines
Coal mines in Australia emit far more methane than people believed.
These emissions are a big part of Australia's damage to the climate. |
| 9:35a |
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| 9:35a |
Funds needed for local climate disasters
The funds needed for local climate disasters in poor countries
have quintupled since 2002.
Measuring changes in percentages is meaningful for small changes. For
large changes, it is silly and misleading. I did not repeat the
"800%" figure used in the article because that is a silly and
misleading way of saying "an increase of a factor of 5".
Likewise, an "80% decrease" is a distorting way to report a decrease
by a factor of 5. |
| 9:35a |
Directing water into the ground
China is pioneering the art of directing water into the ground, to
nourish plants and animals, rather than rushing it away to the ocean. |
| 9:35a |
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| 9:35a |
Marie Rose Ayala charged with crime of killing husband
Marie Rose Ayala left a gun where her two-year-old child could get it,
and he shot his father, who died. Now she is charged with the crime
of killing him.
I think that is wrong; she has suffered enough. It is proper to
prosecute her for the crime of leaving a gun easily accessible, since
she did that, but not for the killing, which she did not do. |
| 9:35a |
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| 9:35a |
Cinema chain bullied into cancelling film
British Muslims bullied a cinema chain into cancelling all showings of
a film that they claim is "blasphemous." They accuse the film of
violating Islamic prohibitions, as interpreted by them.
If you choose to be Muslim, and decide to refrain from violating
Islamic prohibitions, that's up to you. But you have no right to
force them on everyone else.
One of the rights of any human being is the right to practice per own
religion; but that religion, whichever one it is, is not entitled to
any particular respect from the rest of us. |
| 9:35a |
Database of pregnant women
Poland has told clinics to register which women are pregnant, in a
Central database. Women expect that this will be used for repression, and I expect that too,
If you want to have a baby, that doesn't make you safe from this.
If something goes wrong with the pregnancy, you may need an abortion
to protect you from injury or death. Even if the law permits an
abortion in _all_ of those cases, it is unsafe to be in a place which
restricts abortion until your pregnancy is over. |
| 9:35a |
Urgent: Stop supporting fracking in Argentina
Everyone: call on CEO’s of Citi Bank, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, ING, and Morgan Stanley to stop supporting fracking in Argentina. |