| Time |
Event |
| 3:33a |
Americans choosing to forget Covid-19 is still here
As most Americans choose to forget that Covid-19 is still here and
infecting many new people, measures to track infections have been
discarded along with measures to prevent them.
One measure may still show us that the Covid rate is increasing:
people buy scented candles and report that they seem to have no odor. |
| 3:33a |
Enslavement of foreign workers in Britain
The Tories plan to treat enslavement of foreign workers in Britain
as an opportunity to punish those enslaved. |
| 3:33a |
Animal populations have fallen since the 70's
Wild animal populations (of birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles) have
fallen 70% on the average since 1970.
When a population becomes small and localized, it is at high risk of
being wiped out by random events. One wildfire, one storm, one new
mine, one new housing development, and it could be gone. Mines and
housing are made by humans; nowadays, wildfires and storms are, too. |
| 3:33a |
|
| 3:33a |
Trump-pet burns camper and blames "antifa"
A trump-pet burned his own camper van to commit insurance fraud, and
claimed "antifa" started the fire. He was caught and charged.
The bullshitter taught his supporters that lying for victory for their
party is acceptable; this naturally leads people to think up many
different lies to try. |
| 3:33a |
Republicans plan to attack social security, Medicare and welfare
Republicans plan to attack Social Security, Medicare, and welfare
benefits for poor families, if they take control of the House of
Representatives. They plan to overcome opposition by sabotage:
refusing to raise the arbitrary "debt ceiling."
The article explains how Democrats could eliminate this problem now,
without Republican support. This would require the support of Manchin
and Sinema. I have a hunch that one of them is blocking this.
More info.
A historical rundown of how today's Republican Party developed into a
"cultish, destructive Fascist organization", one that would have
dismayed and shocked President Eisenhower. |
| 3:33a |
Inadequate supply of Covid tests in the US
Due to Republican votes against, the US does not have an adequate supply
of Covid-19 tests or vaccines for this winter.
However, public anti-vax sentiment is an even bigger problem. A
study forecasts around 90,000 additional deaths from Covid-19 through
this winter that more booster shots now would prevent. |
| 3:33a |
Cutting 25% greenhouse gases will cost less than not acting
* IMF says taking swift action to achieve 25% cut in greenhouse gases by
end of decade will cost less than failing to act.*
Since this goes against the pressure from powerful planet roasters, I think
we can trust it confidently. |
| 3:33a |
Lower income countries debt spending
*21 out of 70 low- and lower-middle-income countries spent more on
external debt repayment than on education in 2020.*
The 70 countries considered are those for which data was available. |
| 3:33a |
Question to power people denying 2020 election results
Robert Reich: *A personal question to powerful people who continue to deny the
results of the 2020 election: What do you tell yourself in private?*
Reich cannot expect an actual answer, but his speculations about the
possibilities are interesting. |
| 3:33a |
Digital payments for parking
People who use a digital method to pay for parking are contributing
to a system of tracking which endangers human rights and democracy.
Occasionally, some of them also get scammed and then screwed. |
| 3:33a |
Inventing "holidays" to get people to spend
US businesses have been inventing "holidays" as excuses to get people
to spend money for more than a century.
About 10 of the many examples.
I decided long ago to disregard all the holidays that pressure people
to give gifts.
I would not "celebrate" Record Store Day, but I do wish there were a
good record store in Boston, with a big selection of classical and
world records — I would visit it from time to time to look for
interesting CDs to buy. The CD is the last media substrate that was
invented without malfeatures to restrict people or impose nonfree
technology, and I am happy to use it.
Meanwhile: Out, out, damned Spotify!
It has the same injustices as Amazon e-books(PDF),
and even one of those injustices is too much. |
| 3:33a |
|
| 3:33a |
Utility redlining
"Utility redlining": systematic underinvestment in the infrastructure of
neighborhoods with a large nonwhite population.
The result, in the case of electricity in Detroit, is that they get
frequent power outages which the same company prevents (with newer
equipment) for the wealthier neighborhoods (where more whites live).
Do all electricity customers pay the same rates? If so, some other factor
convinced the electric company to serve the white neighborhoods better.
It would be interesting to find out how that operated. |