| Time |
Event |
| 1:33a |
Psilocybin for depression
An experiment found that psilocybin cured depression in around
1/3 of the test subjects.
I am surprised that the study did not include the clearest form of
control group — some patients whose treatment did not actually
include any psilocybin. The contrast in results between 25mg of
psilocybin and 1mg may have demonstrated that the benefits are real,
but a placebo control would have given more certainty. |
| 1:33a |
Clarence Thomas was key to challenging 2020 election
*Trump allies saw Clarence Thomas as key to efforts to challenge 2020
election.*
In general, we can't blame a person simply because others expect per
cooperation in doing wrong. In the case of Thomas, he gave them
reason with his own actions to expect his help in attacking democracy. |
| 1:33a |
FBI arrests alleged Boogaloo Boys group members
*FBI arrests two alleged far-right Boogaloo Boys group members,*
for threatening violence and preparing machine guns to carry it out. |
| 1:33a |
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| 1:33a |
Republicans instituting a culture of fear
Republicans are instituting a culture of fear in the parts of the US
they control, by asking people to denounce acquaintances for things
that previously they had no need to hide, but can now be occasions
for repression. For instance, having children who are transgender. |
| 1:33a |
Costs of policies to curb global heating
Planet roasters claim that policies to curb global heating make energy
more expensive. Actually, these investments do the opposite.
If we had started pushing hard for renewable energy 15 years ago, we would
not be having much of a price spike now.
What does increase prices is a carbon tax — but that money should be
handed out to poor people. All in all, the carbon tax will reduce the
cost of living for them, when you count the increased support they
will receive.
The article refers to planet roasters as "conservatives", but that term
is misleading. |
| 1:33a |
Thug killed Kumanjayi Walker while trying to arrest him
A thug with a pattern of violence and cover-ups killed Kumanjayi
Walker, an aboriginal man, while trying to wrongly arrest him.
The arrest was wrong because it was based on mistaken identity.
Everyone makes mistakes like that, but members of disprivileged groups
often learn to expect brutality to follow such mistakes. And it
appears that that particular thug enjoyed the opportunity to brutalize
someone. |
| 1:33a |
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| 1:33a |
Cut off from activities that require a snoop-phone
Aged Britons are being cut off from many activities
that now require a snoop-phone,
There are utilities that won't accept payment by check. That problem
is easy to fix: pass a law that important businesses must accept
payment by check and must make appointments by phone.
The author takes for granted that snoop-phones and online dis-services
are fine things, and the only problem is that they are hard for poor
Doris to adapt to. It never crosses her mind that they might be
unjust as well. I don't use them because they are unjust and
unacceptable. I'm sure I could learn to use them, but I won't yield
to them. I suffer some of the same annoyances, though not as many --
the US is not cutting off the traditional non-digital options for old
activities such as paying bills. |
| 1:33a |
Global heating is damaging people's health
The Lancet reports that global heating is already damaging people's
health globally, and the world's medical systems are not strong enough
to cope. In addition, since decarbonization is going too slowly, that
problem is getting worse. |
| 1:33a |
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| 1:33a |
Issues with mining lithium to meet the US' needs
The US needs to mine more lithium, but the mines raise issues.
I know of three kinds of issues about operating a mine of any kind:
-
Archaeological sites, including art. These are part of the
heritage of humanity; mines must not run a risk of damaging them.
-
Natural ecosystems. In the past, miners disregarded the danger of
pollution from the mine, and lobbied governments to get out of their way
and let them neglect the pollution issue.
The result was, naturally, that mines have polluted many areas. Whenever a
mine shut down, it dumped the burden of cleanup on the public.
We must develop a new, cleaner method of mining, which we could call
zero pollution mining, and require mines to use it. A mine must set
aside funds for future shutdown costs each year it operates, in an account it
cannot withdraw money from, at a rate set by the an environmental
agency.
If that makes the extracted mineral more expensive, so be it. The
cost of avoiding the need for future cleanup, and carrying out
whatever part can't be avoided, should be part of the price of the
mineral.
-
Someone considers that patch of land to be sacred,
If adjustment to the plan will make some people happier, let's do so.
But this is a secondary issue, not as important as preventing global
disaster.
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| 1:33a |
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| 1:33a |
Fossil fuel financing from banks in G20 nations
*G20 Nations' Banks Spent Nearly Twice as Much Financing Fossil Fuels as
Renewables.* |
| 1:33a |
National chaos that is a mortal threat to women's health
Senate report: *Republicans' crusade against women's reproductive
freedoms has created national chaos that is a mortal threat to
women's health.* |
| 1:33a |
Home compostable plastics
"Home compostable" plastics don't compost well enough for that
disposal to be viable.
I received a gift recently that was cushioned by "peanuts", but
instead of styrofoam, they were made of spun cornstarch. When exposed
to water, they dissolve in a minute. |
| 1:33a |
To avoid disaster we must reform agriculture
Many Big Food companies agreed that we must reform agriculture to
avoid risk of disaster. |
| 1:33a |
George Monbiot on Mesozoic era mass extinction
George Monbiot: the worst mass extinction in Earth's history, at the
start of the Mesozoic era, seems to have been caused by the burning
of lots of oil deposits in the ground. It made so much CO2 that
a large part of the globe was lifeless for 5 million years.
The causes of that global heating episode were quite different from
the situation today, but the effects today could be similar. What is
not certain is how much global heating we will cause, this time. |
| 1:33a |
Information about US's secret wars
A study provides information about some of the US's many secret wars
that were authorized by the 2021 Authorization for Use of
Military Force.
The 2022 Authorization for Use of Military Force is separate: that
authorized Dubya's invasion of Iraq. The US Congress should repeal
both. |
| 1:33a |
Ontario law to stop school employees from striking
Ontario, a province of Canada, is working on passing a law prohibiting
school employees from striking, and claims it has the power to stop
the national courts from reviewing the constitutionality of the law.
What's the use of having national standards of human rights
if a part of the country can violate the standard at will?
Canada must put an end to this.
Perhaps the national courts can rule that this exception to their
authority is invalid. |