| Time |
Event |
| 8:17a |
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| 8:17a |
Keystone pipeline flawed
Greg Palast reports that The (original) Keystone oil pipeline ruptured
in 2022 (and caused a substantial oil spill) because of improper
construction, which was not detected because the safety inspection
tool's software had been modified so as to overlook "small" flaws in
pipelines.
Palast says that such modification is a common practice. It seems
that pipeline companies they have decided to ignore flaws that,
although "small", can lead eventually to oil spills.
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| 8:17a |
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| 8:17a |
Boebert and antisemitism
Boebert acknowledges that measures against antisemitism and other
forms of bigotry are measures against right-wingers.
Boebert, if the antisemitic shoe fits, wear it.
It is a mistake to refer to those right-wingers as "conservatives."
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| 8:17a |
Raman Pratasevich
The Belarus dictator Lukashenko forced down an airliner and took
exiled opposition activist Raman Pratasevich off of it. It seems that
brainwashing in prison broke Pratasevich completely. Now he walks
around Belarus giving talks to praise Lukashenko.
He is not in prison, but I presume he not free, rather an abject slave.
|
| 8:17a |
California and sea level rise
Up to 70% of California's beaches may be washed away in this century
by sea-level rise caused by global heating.
Other things people value, including their houses, are likely to be
destroyed too.
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| 8:17a |
Research into Long Covid
Research into long Covid is active, but it won't be easy to figure out
what is causing the symptoms.
The article estimates that 65 million people suffer from long Covid
now.
|
| 8:17a |
Light pollution
The rapid increase in outdoor lighting is spreading light pollution.
The amount of light pollution is increasing so fast that in 20 years stars
will no longer be seen in large regions.
This can have biological effects on species that need dark or are
threatened by dark. This could drive some species to extinction.
Around 2006, in a taxi from Lake Titicaca to La Paz, I saw amazing
vistas of stars. I wonder if those still exist.
|
| 8:17a |
AI fear
Here is an example of someone who became terrified of "Artificial
Intelligence" because he saw some output from ChatGPT.
It is clear he believes ChatGPT understands some sort of _meaning_ in
its output. In fact, we know it does not understand anything. It is
incapable of having knowledge and incapable of having intentions.
I am not trying to claim that real artificial intelligence will be
safe. I don't know what it might do. Perhaps we should take some
precautions -- such as limiting access to facilities for making DNA
sequences to order. Those facilities might be used for mass murder
even by plain old humans.
But we can't learn anything about hypothetical future artificial
intelligences by looking at doubletalk-generating systems such as
ChatGPT.
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| 8:17a |
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| 8:17a |
India and G20
India has put a pretty mask over the city of Srinagar to shepherd G20
delegates through the city and hide the repression of Kashmir from
their eyes.
The article reports that Twitter is censoring some of the postings
about these events.
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| 8:17a |
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| 8:17a |
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| 8:17a |
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| 8:17a |
Urgent: War on drugs and Mexico
US citizens, call on Congress to reject the latest right-wing lunacy:
to declare fentanyl a "chemical weapon" and use this as an excuse to
threaten Mexico.
We need to end the "war on drugs", not extend it into a war with Mexico.
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| 8:17a |
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