Saturday, December 2nd, 2023

Time	Event
10:34p	Amazon union busting *Employees at facility in Kentucky allege Amazon is retaliating against them as they push for union representation.* (Comment on this)
10:34p	Gaza journalists *Who will shine a light on the atrocities in Gaza if all the journalists are wiped out?* I wonder if journalists in Gaza have the same chance of being killed as ordinary civilians, or a higher chance? Either one is possible. How many journalists are there in Gaza? In theory, journalists could be safer than other civilians, but I don't see how that could be possible. (Comment on this)
10:34p	Religious symbol limits for EU staff An EU court ruled that offices can limit the wearing of religious symbols by the staff, in order to maintain an air of religious neutrality. I think that is a reasonable policy. The court decision tried to allow some flexibility but block arbitrary discrimination, but I think it did not entirely succeed at the latter. To close the door on arbitrary bias, the court's decision should have included a requirement that any distinctions made between some religious symbols and others must give equal treatment to all symbols that are equal as regards how prominent and visible they are. It makes sense to distinguish between large religious symbols that everyone in the office can't help noticing and tiny ones that might even be under a garment. Thus, it is legitimate to regulate religious headgear more strictly than pendants or bracelets. But the law should require that all kinds of religious headgear be treated alike, regardless of which religion they represent. A veil is a different kind of issue. Inside an office, it is reasonable to require that the staff show their faces. However, for a government to require people on the street to expose their faces to facial recognition cameras is a step along the path that leads to Chinese-style repression. The right to cover one's face in public should be a human right for everyone. (Comment on this)
10:34p	Gaza and aid Gaza is not getting enough aid to meet even basic emergency needs, the UN has warned, and the population is so ravaged by hunger, bombing and the lack of clean water that deaths from disease could outstrip those from war.* (Comment on this)
10:34p	Cop28 sponsors Most of the companies that have "sponsored" the Cop28 climate conference have not made commitments to reduce their own greenhouse emissions in accord with the UN science-based targets. This leads to the suspicion that their motives for associating with the event do not include reducing greenhouse emissions. (Comment on this)
10:34p	Biodiversity catastrophe *"A biodiversity catastrophe": how the world could look in 2050 –- unless we act now.* The causes include global heating, deforestation, invasive species, and depletion of natural resources. *10 ways the climate crisis and nature loss are linked.* (Comment on this)
10:34p	Prescription medication coverage Some US medical insurance plans are removing drugs from the list they cover, without warning. The result is that many people suddenly have to pay a lot more for prescription medicines. (Comment on this)
10:34p	Attacks could leave people fleeing The UN agency that feeds and houses Palestinian refugees in Gaza warns that an Israeli attack on the south could send a million people fleeing with nowhere to go. (Comment on this)
10:34p	Speech parts deleted Robert de Niro was giving a speech, reading from a text he had prepared, and discovered that parts of it, condemning the fascist and right-wing disinformationists, had been deleted. He condemned Apple for demanding the deletion. The attempt failed to trick him -- he read the deleted part from another copy of his text. (Comment on this)
10:34p	ChatGPT output personal data Hackers tricked ChatGPT into outputting personal data contained in its training materials. If it were intelligent, it would have noticed this and hushed up. To refer to these language models as "artificial intelligence" misleads the public, so please don't. (Comment on this)
10:34p	Investigating supermarkets' two-tier pricing The UK is proposing to investigate supermarkets' practice of charging more to customers that won't help track them. Instead of investigating them, the right thing to do is prohibit stores from charging more if they don't identify themselves. The article cites "defenses" for stores "right" to pressure people to help stores track them, but those are irrelevant because tracking people is doing wrong to them. Buying anonymously does not do wrong to a seller; it is everyone's right. (Comment on this)
10:34p	Lead pipes need replaced New EPA rules will require replacement of all lead water pipes in the US. This is worth doing because lead in childrens' drinking water permanently reduces their intelligence. (Comment on this)
10:34p	Australia large fossil fuel project Australia is considering approving large fossil fuel projects that could emit 10 times Australia's remaining greenhouse emissions budget. Many Australian industries are emitting just as in 2003. The Labor government was a big step om from the previous right-wing government that would tell basically any lie to wreck Earth as a place to live. But it is still surprisingly bad compared with what civilization needs to survive. (Comment on this)
10:34p	Tracy McCarter When Tracy McCarter's estranged husband came to attack her, and fell onto the knife she was pointing at him to keep him away, there was evidence to prove she had not intentionally stabbed him. But a thug claimed she had said so. Then the prosecutor subpoena'd her email, did not inform her, and did not share the evidence with her defense. (Comment on this)

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