| Time |
Event |
| 4:17a |
Extreme farmland erosion
Large areas of farmland in New Zealand were permanently ruined for
agriculture by
the erosion of Cyclone Gabrielle.
Parts could be restored through years of work — but is it worth the trouble?
How soon will another cyclone do similar damage?
|
| 4:17a |
Protesters' legalities, UK
Some British lawyers say that trials of protesters which
forbid them
to state the reasons
for their actions violate their human rights.
At the very least, they are being denied the right to present a
defense of necessity or a defense of the public interest. That in itself
is an injustice.
|
| 4:17a |
Wildfires and the Ozone layer
*Smoke from Australian bushfires depleted ozone layer by
[3%] to 5% in
2020,
study finds.*
Global heating will cause more and bigger fires, until most of the
trees are gone.
|
| 4:17a |
RR Safety strategy: automation
*Norfolk Southern's "Safety Plan" Includes Automation That
Could
Further Endanger Workers.*
It also replaces workers with machines that can't check for all the
problems human workers can spot.
|
| 4:17a |
Global human rights strategy
*[Rep. Ilhan] Omar Unveils Bill to
Block US [military] Aid
to Human Rights Abusers.*
With the world dividing into blocs, and repressive regimes on every
side, I don't know if the US is in a strong enough position to refuse
alliance with all of those regimes. I think that in the 1990s it
could have done so, but it did not give priority to that goal.
|
| 2:47p |
|
| 2:47p |
Union win, MI
Michigan has
repealed the Republican law
that allows businesses to
hire workers that don't pay dues to support the union. That law gave
businesses another way to attack unions.
|
| 2:47p |
Nuclear powerplants require external power
Every time external power to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is
cut off, it risks leading to a
meltdown that would pollute
a large region.
It is easy to say that we "can't allow this to continue," but we have
no obvious way to stop it except for Ukraine to surrender to Putin.
the challenge is to find a way to reduce the danger that Ukraine and
Putin will both accept.
|
| 2:47p |
|
| 2:47p |
US budget
Biden's proposed 2024 budget
would improve many kinds of help for
non-rich Americans, though not as much as is needed.
It also
reduces future deficits,
by increasing taxes on the rich.
It will not be easy to get any of this through the
Republican-controlled House of Representatives, nor through the Senate
where Manchin can block it. Robert Reich says that Biden knows it is
impossible and
the point of it
is to present his goals and to influence negotiations.
Those are useful things to do to influence the outcome.
|
| 2:47p |
Oceanic plastics pollution
The amount of microplastics in the ocean is
growing exponentially.
As long as so much microplastic is being dumped, attempts to clean
up the ocean are futile.
|
| 2:47p |
|
| 2:47p |
Mask effectiveness
It is difficult to do empirical studies of the effectiveness of mask
requirements, partly because there is no objective way to determine
how often any person wears a mask (or which kind, properly or not,
etc.) A group of scientists did a meta-study and found some evidence
in favor of concluding
masks reduced Covid,
but not enough for real
confidence.
Then one of them, who had antimask leanings, made the bizarre claim
that the evidence supports the opposite conclusion. But that seems to
be misleading words.
|
| 2:47p |
Cryosphere virology
Scientists have successfully "revived" frozen
viruses found in permafrost
and they were able to infect cultures of amoebas.
The scientists chose those virus because they had determined from
studying the virus DNA that amoebas were their target.
It is possible that other frozen permafrost viruses could infect
various other kinds of life. It is not impossible that they could
cause pandemics.
However, the world is full of viruses that might do this, infecting
various kinds of animals. It seems to me that the additional danger
of permafrost viruses is a small fraction of the danger we already face.
|
| 2:47p |
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| 2:47p |
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| 2:47p |
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| 2:47p |
Treat powerplant wastewater or stop burning coal
*EPA Proposes
Improved Wastewater Treatment Standards for Coal-fired
Power Plants.*
On a global scale, pollution of water by burning coal is a secondary
problem. It could kill millions of people over decades, whereas
greenhouse gas emissions can destroy technological civilization and
kill billions. However, as long as coal-burning power plants exist,
we should make sure they don't pollute our water. And this
requirement will convince many owners that it isn't worth continuing
to operate the plants.
|
| 2:47p |
Tightening national security
The US is moving to
restrict "technologies"
that threaten US national
security.
Precisely what "technologies," "restrict" and "threaten" mean is not
clear.
The threat is real, but it does not come only from companies based in
certain more-or-less hostile countries. Israel is a US ally, but
Israeli companies make products that threaten the freedom of Americans
(along with everyone else).
What's more, US companies such as Facebook, Google, Amazon threaten
the national security (in a broader sense) of the US. And even when
they are not being used in a way that threatens the security of the US,
they collect personal data about many Americans in a way that can
is often used to oppress them.
I believe the solution is to
prohibit
the collection of personal data.
Not just "without consent," since they can always make most people
"consent."
|
| 2:47p |
FCC commissioner vacancy
Gigi Sohn withdrew
from candidacy as FCC commissioner.
Shortly before her announcement, Manchin said he would refuse to
vote for her. He has been toying with the issue sadistically
for two years.
Free Press Action describes
the qualities
that the new nominee for the
FCC should have.
|
| 10:32p |
Wildfires and the ozone layer
*Smoke from Australian bushfires depleted ozone layer by
[3%] to 5% in
2020,
study finds.*
Global heating will cause more and bigger fires, until most of the
trees are gone.
|