| Time |
Event |
| 12:33a |
Irreversible climate crises
We are close to the tipping point at which the melting of Greenland
will become
irreversible.
The melting of part of Antarctica is already
irreversible.
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| 8:18a |
Taxation is a means to a decent society
*Taxation is not a "burden".* It is a means to a decent society, and
when properly spent, makes everyone better off except billionaires.
Here are some of the things we need that require taxation.
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| 8:18a |
"Omni-surveillance" society
The UK biometrics and surveillance commissioner says that
the UK is becoming an "omni-surveillance" society.
This is what happens when people allow government or commercial
surveillance to advance without fighting it at every step.
Governments and businesses are persistent; defeating their surveillance
once doesn't mean they are down.
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| 8:18a |
Rare and bizarre behavior from electric cars
A few drivers report that electric cars behave bizarrely on rare occasions.
I wonder if these problems could have been caused by a cracker who
broke the security in the car's computers and sent them remote
commands to do these things. If a computer system is (1) connected to
networks and (2) flexible enough that almost any function could be
activated by commands coming over the network, there is probably a way
for cracking to bring about the results described in the article.
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| 8:18a |
Salt levels in food
Proposing that Australia limit the level of salt in certain kinds of
prepared foods, since the high level of salt in some of them could
be responsible for hundreds of deaths per year.
There is no proposal to forbid people from eating too much salt.
Rather, the intention is to alter a system that tends to lead many
people to eat too much salt without realizing it.
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| 8:18a |
President Trump 2.0
Timothy Garton Ash: *Unless Joe Biden stands aside, the world must
prepare for President Trump 2.0.*
I do not consider Biden too old to be president. I can't understand why
people attach so much importance to age.
I judge candidates by what they stand for and what they do. Biden has
positively surprised me with the half of his policies that have been
progressive. That was a surprise because I expected him to be mostly
plutocratist. To find the glass actually half full was good news.
I can't understand why any American who wants to continue democracy
could support the fascist. But apparently some can.
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| 8:18a |
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| 8:18a |
Widespread racial profiling
*France faces court action over widespread use of racial profiling.
Rights groups hope to bring end to discrimination they say has gone
unaddressed by successive governments.*
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| 8:18a |
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| 8:18a |
Urgent: Widening highway without environmental review
Everyone: Support Jeanie Ward-Waller's complaint about Caltrans for
widening a highway without environmental review, counter to the stated
state policy to stop giving priority to car travel.
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| 8:18a |
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| 8:18a |
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| 8:18a |
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| 8:18a |
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| 8:18a |
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| 8:18a |
Urgent: Protect pollinators
US citizens: call on the USGS to protect pollinators by tracking
pesticides.
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|
| 2:03p |
Unions: good year, challenging trend
*Recent US union contract gains [have happened]
against a backdrop
of decades of union decline, worsening wealth inequality and broken labor laws.* |
| 2:03p |
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| 2:03p |
Palestinian genocidal war, GAZA
*Israeli airstrikes have destroyed apartment blocks and killed dozens
of people at a refugee camp in northern Gaza. The Israeli military
said it had targeted the camp
to kill [one
Hamas commander].*
Killing one real enemy does not excuse converting a large number of
civilians into "collateral damage". Not when Israel does it, and not
when the US does it.
|
| 2:03p |
"From the river to the sea"
On the meanings of the phrase,
"From the river to the sea".
Some common uses of the phrase imply the elimination of Israel.
The actual words that MP Andy McDonald used do not imply that. To me,
they seem to advocate having just one state in that region, a state of
Israel-Palestine. That idea is not outrageous in principle, though I
don't see how it could work, so I still advocate two states.
I think the Labour Party did wrong
to treat him so harshly.
*As Gaza crumbles, those speaking up for innocent Palestinians are
being
silenced and sacked.*
This article asserts that McDonald was in fact advocating two states.
It would be interesting to see the full text of his remarks.
|
| 2:03p |
West Bank annexing spree
Violent Israeli fanatics, hell-bent on expelling Palestinians from
West Bank land,
have escalated their violence. They now break into
homes, beat people up, and steal things.
Apparently the fanatics think that it is valid to take revenge for
HAMAS terrorism on any available Palestinian — a fundamentally racist attitude.
This is an addition to the fanatics' long-established practice of
stealing agricultural land
to drive Palestinians out. And, in some places, shooting
at Palestinians' homes to make them impossible to live in.
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| 2:03p |
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| 2:03p |
US Jews protest Israel
Large numbers of American Jews held protests against
Israel's
bombardment of Gaza,
led by Jewish Voice for Peace.
I generally support the positions of Jewish Voice for Peace, and I
think I would be a member of it if not for one thing: the organization
speaks for its members as being Jews by religion, not only by
ethnicity and culture. That excludes me, because I am proud to say I
am an Atheist, on fundamental scientific grounds. I wish the
organization's stance were consistent with my being a member.
|
| 2:03p |
Partisan bill to fund Israel
*US House Republicans plan to give Israel $14.3bn
by cutting IRS
funds.*
The funds that the IRS has been allocated are for carrying out the war
against ripoffs by billionaires. That is a crucial priority for the
US.
By contrast, I am skeptical that Israel requires those billions simply
to defend itself against HAMAS. The ground attack in Gaza is not
necessary, not defense, and not compatible with the requirement to protect civilians
|
| 2:03p |
Airstrikes on bakeries, Gaza
*The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said
10 of the 50 bakeries
[in Gaza] it supplies with flour, helping to lower the soaring cost of
bread, have been hit in airstrikes.*
It appears that either the Israeli air force is specifically targeting
food facilities or it has destroyed 1/5 of the civilian buildings in Gaza.
|
| 2:03p |
US-Qatar relations per Israel
A report says that
the US asked Qatar
to reduce Al Jazeera's coverage of Israel's bombardment and siege of Gaza.
Covering stories such as the killing of Gaza bureau chief Wael
al-Dahdouh's family
seems to be inspiring condemnation of Israel's apparent war crimes.
Perhaps Israel should cease committing more of them. It could declare
a cease-fire and allow in all the food, water, medicines and fuel that Gazans need.
It is not justifiable to hold everyone in Gaza hostage to demand
the surrender of HAMAS — and it won't even work.
*This isn’t a contest of heroes and villains — but two peoples in deep pain,
fated to share the same land.*
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| 2:03p |
Palestinian side as taboo
The US
Senate unanimously condemned
"pro-HAMAS student groups".
I endorse the condemnation of any groups that support HAMAS. HAMAS is a terror group.
But I have to wonder if the statements of the student groups in
question were actually pro-HAMAS. They may have been pro-Palestinian.
They may have been anti-Israel, or just anti-occupation.
|
| 2:03p |
Millions have little to nothing, GAZA
Israel has cut off
internet, cellular and landline
communication with Gaza. This was followed soon after by an increase in bombardment. One
must suspect that the cutoff was imposed was to keep the world in
the dark about the casualties caused by the increased bombardment.
*Furniture for firewood, radios for news:
Israel’s siege
throws life in Gaza back decades.*
*UN general assembly
calls for "immediate, durable humanitarian
truce" [in Gaza].* Only 14 countries voted against the resolution, one of them being the US.
The US should have voted for that resolution.
The US is right to recognize Israel's right to self-defend against
HAMAS — but there are limits to what constitutes "self-defense". It
does not include unlimited bombardment of civilians in Gaza. It does
not include denying civilians access to food, water, medicine and the
fuel necessary to distribute those. It does not include cutting them
off from communication.
There is no conflict between recognizing Israel's right of
self-defense, properly understood, and calling for a truce. The US should do both.
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