| Time |
Event |
| 1:49a |
Enslavement of workers in broad range of fields
Enslavement of workers applies to a broad range of fields of work —
even including carrying out internet scams.
I'm concerned that some countries will prosecute the slaves for the
crimes they were forced to commit.
It is a mistake to associate the injustice of enslavement of workers
with specific fields of work. I've read about many areas
and there are surely more.
This article contains an example of the tendency to undermine the word
"survivor". This happens when people apply it to experiences which
are painful, maybe also harmful, but unlikely to kill their victims.
This is an exaggeration; in a few decades time, it won't achieve its
goal any more, as "survivor will have come to mean no more than
"victim".
The cruelty that slaves experience is horrible in reality; there is no
need to exaggerate it by calling the victims "survivors".
</li>
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| 1:49a |
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| 1:49a |
Concept of "stalemate" with Ukraine and Putin forces
The concept of "stalemate" is based on a presumption that each side's
resources are limited. Ukraine can defeat the Putin forces given more
supplies.
</li> |
| 1:49a |
Wildfire smoke slowed corn crop maturation
The smoke that came from big wildfires in Canada this year slowed the
maturation (now) of corn crops in parts of the northern US.
This illustrates how one problem caused indirectly by global heating
can cause another problem, which is therefore also caused indirectly
by global heating.
We don't know about all those potential causal relationships, so we
cannot predict their effects. Therefore, climate forecasts do not
include those effects. But generally any big change in the overall
environment tends to create abnormal environments for various systems.
Since nearly every system is adapted to its environment — by some
combination of evolution and human design — an abnormality in that
environment tends to harm some systems. In other words, most
surprises are bad.
This is why I generally expect the real course of future
climate-related events to be somewhat worse, usually, than what
scientists will have forecast based on known effects.
</li> |
| 1:49a |
Peter Carey asked to censor study
* Peter Carey tells inquiry he was asked by Accounting Standards Board
to omit details [from a report criticizing actions of consultant
companies PwC, KPMG, Deloitte and EY] because partners from PwC,
KPMG, Deloitte and EY sat on the board.*
</li> |
| 1:49a |
Pakistan holding ransom Afghan exiles
Pakistan is holding for ransom some 45,000 Afghan exiles to whom the
UK and US want to give asylum, charging $830 to allow each of those
exiles to leave Pakistan.
That puts Pakistan in the amazing self-contradictory position of demanding
they leave and blocking them from leaving.
The only other case of demanding ransoms for people to leave was when
the Soviet Union agreed to allow Jews to emigrate, and charged a
ransom for each "exit visa".
Do the US and UK give Pakistan any foreign aid? It would be natural
to threaten to deduct these exit ransoms from that aid.
</li> |
| 1:49a |
Copper-wire phone lines in UK
The UK is replacing all copper-wire phone lines with digital
connections that won't function during a power outage. This is asking
for trouble for people outside the "usual case" that everyone is
supposed to fit into.
That includes people like me, who don't have a mobile phone.
The US has more or less done the same, so copper-wire phone lines are
now quite expensive. When I moved here I couldn't afford that, so I
had to accept a phone connection that depends on local AC power. I
obtained a UPS, a gift from a friend who didn't need it any more. But
it can only keep the phone connection running for a few hours.
</li> |
| 1:49a |
PFA called "GenX"
The Netherlands has designated a PFA called "GenX" a hazardous, so it
can't be disposed of there. So it is paying a subsidiary of Dupont to
import GenX "waste" into the US and do something or other with it in
North Carolina. However, people there fear it will be leak, or leak
slowly after being dumped in of "deep wells", so they convinced the EPA
to block the shipment.
Banning PFAs is the first crucial step towards ending that form of
pollution, but we will still need to find a safe way to dispose of the
stocks of PFAs that already exist.
</li> |
| 1:49a |
Call for progressive carbon taxes
Thomas Piketty calls for progressive carbon taxes, as well as banning
private jets and "oversize vehicles" (SUVs?).
I think this alone would not cut emissions enough, but it would establish
a new public awareness that we must take decarbonization seriously.
</li> |
| 1:49a |
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| 1:49a |
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| 1:49a |
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| 1:49a |
Political attack on human rights
*Political attack on human rights is a "dangerous" assault on UK democracy,
says HRW director.*
*She says that government actions regarding asylum seekers, climate
activists and pro-Palestine protesters are starting to "look very much
like authoritarianism."*
</li> |
| 1:49a |
Australian coal magnate proposed coal-fired plant
An Australian coal magnate applied for environmental approval for a
proposed coal-fired generating plant, saying he would make it "carbon-neutral" by sweeping emissions under various different rugs.
What's amazing is that the environmental regulator refused to look for
an excuse to be fooled. Instead it did what was obviously right, and
denied approval.
</li> |
| 1:49a |
Four-day cease fire with release of hostages
Israel and HAMAS have agreed on a 4-day cease fire with release of
hostages and prisoners.
Pressure from Biden joined with pressure from relatives of hostages
to make Netanyahu agree to a temporary cease fire deal.
*The Gaza truce is a ray of hope in the darkness.* Either side could
snuff it out, but perhaps pressure can keep it going.
It is good that pressure to recover hostages led to this step towards
peace, and away from continued larger war crimes, but in general it is
unwise for any government to prioritize the freeing of some hostages
above larger issues.
When there is a war, there are always much bigger issues at stake
than hostages or prisoners of war. Any country at war faces bigger issues.
Some of these issues will be moral duties, while others will be vital
national interests. If I were a hostage, I would as a patriot not want
my government to distract itself from either of those for the side issue
of ransoming hostages such as me.
</li> |
| 1:49a |
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| 1:49a |
Bernie Sanders' condition on military aid to Israel
Bernie Sanders called for the US to condition military aid to Israel
on ending its "almost total warfare against the Palestinian people."
* Sanders’ demands include a post-war commitment by Israel to pursue
"broad peace talks for a two-state solution" as well as to ensure
displaced Gazans are able to return to their homes and that Israel will
not reoccupy or continue its blockade of the enclave.*
Bravo, Bernie!
</li> |
| 1:49a |
Palestinian writer released
Palestinian writer Mosab Abu Toha was arrested by the Israeli army at
a checkpoint on his way to leave Gaza, but he has been released with
only a beating.
The Israeli army should explain why it physically attacks men who it arrests
solely for being men.
</li> |
| 10:35p |
Assange rally
The next Boston rally for Julian Assange will be Monday, December 11
at 1pm-2:30 on the Boston Common, near the main entrance to Park St
Station. |
| 10:35p |
Surgeon saw massacre unfold
*London surgeon [Prof Ghassan Abu-Sittah] says he saw "massacre
unfold" while working in Gaza hospitals, and claims destruction of
Palestinian health system was an Israeli objective.*
He says that he recognized burns caused by white phosphorus, having
learned during a previous bombardment of Gaza what they look like.
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| 10:35p |
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| 10:35p |
UAE plan to use Cop28 to sell oil and gas
The UAE planned to use the Cop28 climate conference as a sales
platform for its own oil and gas exports.
In other words, putting an oil emir in charge of reducing use of
fossil fuels led him to do all the worst things we imagined.
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| 10:35p |
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| 10:49p |
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