Sunday, November 27, 2022

Former Chief of Staff: Trump Wanted to Use IRS to Get Back at Political Enemies

 

https://truthout.org/articles/former-chief-of-staff-trump-wanted-to-use-irs-to-get-back-at-political-enemies/

 

 Chris Walker,
 Truthout
Published   November 14, 2022

 

A chief of staff to former President Donald Trump revealed to The New York Times this week that Trump frequently insinuated that his perceived political adversaries should be subject to IRS tax audits.

John Kelly, who served as White House chief of staff from mid-2017 to the end of 2018, said that Trump repeatedly told him of his desire to have individuals he believed were against him audited, The Times reported on Sunday.

Among those who Trump said “we ought to investigate” and “get the IRS on” were former FBI director James Comey and former acting FBI director Andrew McCabe, who replaced Comey after Trump fired him in May of 2017. (Trump would go on to fire McCabe just days before he was set to receive a greater retirement package for his years of work within the federal government.)

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Kelly revealed to The Times that he would often have to calm Trump down after the former president threatened to go after those he disliked through use of the federal government’s resources.

“The U.S. government, whether it’s the IRS or the Justice Department, should never be weaponized or used to retaliate, and certainly not because someone criticizes you in the press or is your political opponent,” Kelly told The Times.

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Kelly’s narrative is consistent with many of Trump’s actions that have already been confirmed. Trump threatened to use his powers as president, for example, to shut down social media sites for fact-checking disinformation. He also threatened legal repercussions against Georgia state elections officials for not agreeing to “find” him enough votes to overturn his 2020 loss to now-President Joe Biden. And he previously threatened to remove federal funding from U.S. cities that are led by Democrats, a move that many said was retaliatory in nature.

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DNA showed a mother was also her daughter’s uncle — how scientists solved this medical mystery

 

https://www.grid.news/story/science/2022/11/25/dna-showed-a-mother-was-also-her-daughters-uncle-how-scientists-solved-this-medical-mystery

 

Dan Vergano
Science Reporter
November 25, 2022

 

How can a paternity test suggest a mother is also her daughter’s father?

The answer to that medical mystery, sparked by a confusing paternity test result, is “When the genes of a vanished twin brother live on in the mother’s DNA.” The finding, which genetics experts reported earlier this month, suggests that such human “chimeras” — people with DNA from more than one embryo — could be more common than we thought.

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Wednesday, November 23, 2022

Return on investment of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in New York City

 

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/971808

 

 News Release 21-Nov-2022
JAMA Network Open
Peer-Reviewed Publication
JAMA Network

 

 In this decision analytical model study of a citywide initiative, every $1 invested in the New York City COVID-19 vaccination campaign yielded estimated savings of $10.19 in direct and indirect costs of health outcomes that would have been incurred without vaccination. The findings of this study suggest that COVID-19 vaccination in New York City was associated with reduction in severe outcomes and avoidance of substantial economic losses.

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Drinking during pregnancy changes baby’s brain structure

 

https://www.eurekalert.org/ne News Release 22-Nov-2022
Reports and Proceedings
Radiological Society of North Americaws-releases/971414

 

A new MRI study revealed that consumption of alcohol even in low to moderate amounts during pregnancy can change the baby’s brain structure and delay brain development.

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 tags: drug use, drug abuse

Eating only one meal per day is associated with an increased risk of mortality in American adults 40 years old and older

 

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/972172

 

 Article Highlight | 22-Nov-2022
Food for thought: If you eat and when you eat can impact your mortality
 

Skipping meals, fasting and eating meals too closely together may be linked with increased cardiovascular or all-cause mortality, researchers report in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

Elsevier 

 

Eating only one meal per day is associated with an increased risk of mortality in American adults 40 years old and older, according to a new study in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, published by Elsevier. Skipping breakfast is associated with higher risk of cardiovascular disease mortality and missing lunch or dinner with all-cause mortality. Even among individuals who eat three meals daily, eating two adjacent meals less than or equal to 4.5 hours apart is associated with a higher all-cause death risk.

“At a time when intermittent fasting is widely touted as a solution for weight loss, metabolic health, and disease prevention, our study is important for the large segment of American adults who eat fewer than three meals each day. Our research revealed that individuals eating only one meal a day are more likely to die than those who had more daily meals. Among them, participants who skip breakfast are more likely to develop fatal cardiovascular diseases, while those who skip lunch or dinner increase their risk of death from all causes,” noted lead author Yangbo Sun, MBBS, PhD, Department of Preventive Medicine, The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis. TN, USA. “Based on these findings, we recommend eating at least two to three meals spread throughout the day.”

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COVID-19 vaccine gives substantial protection against reinfection

 

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/971105

 

 News Release 22-Nov-2022
Protection was greatest during the Delta wave, but decreased against the Omicron variant
Peer-Reviewed Publication
PLOS

 

Individuals previously infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, still benefit from vaccination, gaining 60% to 94% protection against reinfection, depending on the variant. 

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About 2% of pregnant Canadian individuals self-report using cannabis in pregnancy, with usage associated with higher risk of preterm births, low birthweight newborns, and congenital anomalies

 

 https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/971592

 

 News Release 23-Nov-2022
About 2% of pregnant Canadian individuals self-report using cannabis in pregnancy, with usage associated with higher risk of preterm births, low birthweight newborns, and congenital anomalies, in a multi-region study of 1.28m births
Peer-Reviewed Publication

PLOS


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tags: drug use, drug abuse


Exposure to certain drugs and environmental risk factors during embryonic development can cause changes similar to autism

 

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/971899

 

 News Release 23-Nov-2022
Gene that guides earliest social behaviors could be key to understanding autism
Peer-Reviewed Publication
University of Utah Health

 

Little is known about how social behavior develops in the earliest stages of life. But most animals––including humans––are born with an innate ability to interact socially or form bonds with others. And that contributes to success throughout life.

Now, a new animal study points to a gene that is important for the earliest development of basic social behaviors.

The work also suggests that exposure to certain drugs and environmental risk factors during embryonic development can cause changes to this gene, leading to alterations in social behavior that are similar to those found in individuals who have autism. Much to their surprise, the researchers also found they could reverse some of the effects using an experimental drug.

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However, Peterson notes that this study was conducted in animals, and more research needs to be done before any of its results can be confirmed in humans. Therefore, he cautions against drawing conclusions about real-world applications.

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Georgia GOP Senate nominee Herschel Walker set to receive 2022 tax exemption on Texas home meant for a 'principal residence': report

 

 https://news.yahoo.com/georgia-gop-senate-nominee-herschel-173742391.html

 Insider

John L. Dorman
Wed, November 23, 2022 at 12:37 PM


2k

John L. Dorman
Wed, November 23, 2022 at 12:37 PM·2 min read
In this article:

    Herschel Walker
    Herschel Walker
    American football player and political candidate (born 1962)

Herschel Walker
Georgia Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker.AP Photo/John Bazemore

    Walker is set to receive a tax break for his Texas home meant for a "primary residence," per CNN.

    The Georgia Republican is expected to save $1,500 from the homestead tax exemption in Texas.

    Walker is locked in a tight runoff contest with Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in Georgia.

Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker is receiving a tax break meant for a "principal residence" on his Texas home while he's an active candidate running for office in Georgia, according to a report from CNN's KFile.

Public tax records revealed that Walker is set to get a homestead tax exemption in Texas this year, which will save him roughly $1,500 while also potentially infringing on tax rules in Texas as well as Georgia's residency rules laid out for candidates seeking public office, per the KFile report.

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Wednesday, November 16, 2022

A brain expert shares his 7 ‘hard rules’ for boosting memory and fighting off dementia

 

I suggest reading the whole article for specifics:

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/13/brain-expert-shares-his-7-hard-rules-for-boosting-memory-and-fighting-off-dementia.html

 

Published Sun, Nov 13 20229:39 AM EST
Marc Milstein, Contributor
@drmarcmilstein

 

The average human brain shrinks by approximately 5% per decade after the age of 40. This can have a major impact on memory and focus.

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As a neuroscience researcher, here are seven hard rules I live by to keep my brain sharp and fight off dementia.

1. Keep blood pressure and cholesterol levels in check

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2. Manage sugar levels

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 3. Get quality sleep

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4. Eat a nutritious diet

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5. Don’t smoke (and avoid secondhand and thirdhand smoke)

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6. Make social connections

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7. Continuously learn new skills

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Honeybees are living half as long as they were 50 years ago, maybe unexpected consequence

 

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2346681-honeybees-are-living-half-as-long-as-they-were-50-years-ago/

 

14 November 2022
By Gary Hartley

 

Honeybees kept under laboratory conditions in the US only live half as long as they did in the 1970s, suggesting that genetics could be contributing to colony losses, and not just environmental factors such as pesticides and sources of food.

Five decades ago, the median lifespan for a worker western honeybee (Apis mellifera) that spent its adult life in a controlled environment was 34.3 days. Now, the median is 17.7 days, according to research by Anthony Nearman and Dennis vanEngelsdorp at the University of Maryland.

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 The change implies that solutions to the reduced life of colonies in the field, a problem increasingly encountered by beekeepers, may be found in the bees themselves.

“For the most part, honeybees are livestock, so beekeepers and breeders often selectively breed from colonies with desirable traits like disease resistance,” says Nearman.

“In this case, it may be possible that selecting for the outcome of disease resistance was an inadvertent selection for reduced lifespan among individual bees,” he says. “Shorter-lived bees would reduce the probability of spreading disease, so colonies with shorter lived bees would appear healthier.”

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Experimental honeybees are collected from hives as pupae within 24 hours of emerging from their wax cells, meaning that early exposure to pathogens or pesticides as larvae can’t be ruled out as a factor. However, the bees used in the current study showed no overt symptoms of such exposure, says Nearman.

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Further research will look at lifespan trends across different parts of the US and around the world, in an attempt to compare the relative impact of genetic and environmental factors.

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Earth had its 4th-warmest October on record

 

https://www.noaa.gov/news/earth-had-its-4th-warmest-october-on-record

 

November 15, 2022

 

The planet added another warm month to a warm year, with October 2022 ranking as the world’s fourth-warmest October in 143 years.

Notably, the Northern Hemisphere saw its second-warmest October and Europe saw its warmest October on record, according to scientists from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).

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 The YTD average global temperature was the sixth warmest on record at 1.57 degrees F (0.87 of a degree C) above the 20th-century average.

According to NCEI’s Global Annual Temperature Outlook, there is a greater than 99% chance that 2022 will rank among the 10-warmest years on record, and less than a 2% chance that it will rank among the top five.

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Devastating floods in Nigeria were 80 times more likely because of climate crisis

 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/16/devastating-floods-in-nigeria-were-80-times-more-likely-because-of-climate-crisis

 Damian Carrington Environment editor
@dpcarrington
Wed 16 Nov 2022 17.00 EST

 

The heavy rain behind recent devastating flooding in Nigeria, Niger and Chad was made about 80 times more likely by the climate crisis, a study has found.

The finding is the latest stark example of the severe impacts that global heating is already wreaking on communities, even with just a 1C rise in global temperature to date.

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The floods that struck between June and November were among the deadliest on record in the region. Hundreds of people were killed, 1.5 million were displaced and more than 500,000 hectares [1,235,527 acres] of farmland was damaged.

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The WWA study said the reason the floods were so disastrous was that people in the region were already very vulnerable to extreme weather, as a result of poverty, violent conflicts and political instability.

“The analysis found a very clear fingerprint of anthropogenic climate change,” said Prof Maarten van Aalst, the director of the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, who is at Cop27. “The floods resulted in massive suffering and damages, especially in the context of high human vulnerability.

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 A recent Guardian analysis of hundreds of studies laid bare the devastating intensification of extreme weather that is causing people across the world to lose their lives and livelihoods. At least a dozen major events, from killer heatwaves to broiling seas, would have been all but impossible without human-caused global heating.

Severe events in 2022 include the calamitous flooding in Pakistan, where global heating increased the intensity of rain by about 50%, and the record summer drought across the northern hemisphere, which would have been expected only once every four centuries without the climate crisis. A deadly south Asian heatwave earlier in the year was made 30 times more likely.

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Male fertility crash accelerating worldwide: study

Actually it could end up being good news, because fewer people means less damage to the environment we depend on for life.

 

https://news.yahoo.com/male-fertility-crash-accelerating-worldwide-222355509.html

 The Hill

Saul Elbein
Tue, November 15, 2022 at 5:23 PM


The world is experiencing a quiet yet accelerating collapse in male fertility, according to a paper published Tuesday in the journal Human Reproduction Update.

The study found sperm counts fell by more than 51 percent between 1973 and 2018. And while sperm counts have been dropping for decades, the decline rate appears to be speeding up.

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The rate of decline since 2000 has been striking, the study found, with an observed 2.64 percent fall each year in the number of sperm per milliliter of semen — more than twice as large of a decline as that observed since 1978, according to The Guardian.

While reasons for the decline are unclear, one major factor could be endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in thousands of everyday items, co-author Shanna Swan of the Icahn School of Medicine told the Financial Times.

These compounds — found in everything from personal care products to food packaging — have particularly dire impacts on reproductive function, Swan noted. She specifically called out phthalates and bisphenols, compounds used as linings in products such as water bottles and takeout containers.

Levine and Swan’s joint study builds on existing findings that have linked environmental chemicals to persistent rates of decline in sperm counts.

A 2021 Danish study listed chemicals found in or derived from fossil fuels as possible culprits, as The Hill reported.

Potentially harmful chemicals from such sources “have been found in samples of blood, urine, semen, placenta and breast milk of all humans investigated,” the study found.

“It is well established that these chemicals have become part of our tissues and fluids,” the authors added. “We know that they can be a threat to wildlife. Unfortunately, too little has been done to uncover their role in humans.”

Plastic derivatives such as bisphenol A (BPA) — commonly added to food and beverage packaging — have also been linked to declining male fertility as well as birth defects.

Many potentially toxic chemicals “reach us via food,” Andreas Kortenkamp, a professor at Brunel University London, said in June.

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https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/nov/15/humans-could-face-reproductive-crisis-as-sperm-count-declines-study-finds


Humans could face reproductive crisis as sperm count declines, study finds

 

Nicola Davis Science correspondent
@NicolaKSDavis
Tue 15 Nov 2022 05.00 EST

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Previous studies have suggested that fertility is compromised if sperm concentration falls below about 40m per ml. While the latest estimate is above this threshold, Levine noted that this is a mean figure, suggesting the percentage of men below this threshold will have increased.

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Tina Kold Jensen of the University of Southern Denmark said the new study recapitulated a concerning trend. “You keep on finding the same trend, no matter how many studies you include – that is a bit scary to me,” she said.

Prof Richard Sharpe, an expert in male reproductive health at the University of Edinburgh, said the new data showed that the trend appeared to be a worldwide phenomenon.

Sharpe said the decline could mean it takes longer for couples to conceive and, for many, time is not on their side as they are delaying trying to conceive until the woman is in her 30s or 40s, when her fertility is already reduced.

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Sunday, November 13, 2022

Corporate profits causing inflation

 

https://www.facebook.com/RBReich/posts/pfbid029mzcbSR7ZMEKgsTTtTciVcvzBx1xvJRFxvE6XQyZoejyuKqBvZKFaos6jPMV5kRl

Robert Reich 

Nov. 12, 2022


Corporate profits only accounted for roughly 11% of price growth from 1979 to 2019. 


Today, record corporate profits account for 53.9% of price increases. 


Folks, corporate greed is driving inflation, not workers asking for better wages or Joe Biden.

Sunday, November 06, 2022

3 things a climate scientist wants world leaders to know ahead of COP27

 

https://theconversation.com/3-things-a-climate-scientist-wants-world-leaders-to-know-ahead-of-cop27-193534

 

Published: November 2, 2022 3.02pm EDT

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If humanity continues on its current path, we’re going to leave a hotter, deadlier world for the children of today and all future generations.

Earth desperately needs COP27 to succeed. I’m a climate scientist and I believe world leaders should have these three things top-of-mind heading into the conference.



1. Our planet is undeniably in crisis

So far, Earth has warmed just over 1℃ relative to pre-industrial levels, meaning we’ve already damaged the climate system. Our greenhouse gas emissions have already caused sea level to rise, sea ice to shrink and the ocean to become more acidic. 

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Human health is also on the line. Research last month revealed the climate crisis is undermining public health through, for instance, greater spread of infectious diseases, air pollution and food shortages.

Among its disturbing findings, heat-related deaths in babies under a year old, and adults over 65, increased by 68% in 2017-2021, compared to 2000-2004.

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2. Emissions reduction is too slow

Some countries, particularly in Europe, are succeeding in reducing greenhouse gas emissions through transitioning to renewable energy.

But globally it’s not happening fast enough. A UN report this week found if nations deliver on their climate action goals for 2030, Earth will still heat by about 2.5℃ this century - overshooting the Paris Agreement goal to keep global warming well below 2℃. 

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3. The stalling must end

With so many challenges facing the world, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the cost of living crisis, it may be tempting to view climate change as a problem that can wait. This would be a terrible idea.

Climate change will get only worse. Every year of delay makes it much harder to prevent the most dangerous climate projections becoming a reality.

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FBI Warns Voters on Election Crimes Ahead of the November 2022 Midterm Election

 

https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/press-releases/fbi-warns-voters-on-election-crimes-ahead-of-the-november-2022-mideterm-election

 

October 12, 2022

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Election crimes threaten the integrity of elections and undermine public confidence in our democracy. Election crimes fall into broad categories:

    Ballot/voter fraud
    Campaign finance violations
    Civil rights violations, such as voter suppression or voter intimidation

While individual states and localities have the constitutional authority and responsibility to manage their own elections and election laws, an election crime becomes a federal crime when one or more of the following occurs:

    A ballot includes one or more Federal candidates
    Election or polling place officials abuse their office
    The conduct involves false voter registration
    The crime is motivated by hostility toward protected minority groups
    The activity violates federal campaign finance law

Examples of Federal election crimes include, but are not limited to:

    Giving false information when registering to vote
    Voting more than once
    Changing ballot markings or otherwise tampering with ballots
    Vote buying
    Threatening voters with physical or financial harm
    Intentionally lying about the time, manner, or place of an election to prevent qualified voters from voting
    Political fundraising by federal employees
    Campaign contributions above legal limits
    Conduit contributions/straw donor schemes
    Contributions from foreign or other prohibited sources
    Use of campaign funds for personal or unauthorized purposes

Distinguishing between legal and criminal conduct is critical for ensuring the integrity of U.S. elections. The following activities are not federal election crimes:

    Giving voters rides to the polls or time off to vote
    Offering voters a stamp to mail a ballot
    Making false claims about oneself or another candidate
    Forging or faking nominating petitions
    Campaigning too close to polling places
    Honest mistakes by poll workers
    Lack of immediate election results while ballots are counted

The FBI plays an important role in preventing violations of your constitutional rights, including your right to vote. Report any instances of potential election crimes to your local FBI field office, and ask to speak to an election crimes coordinator.

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China’s Heat Wave, Water Shortage Threaten Its Role in Global Supply Chain

 

https://www.dailysignal.com/2022/08/30/chinas-heat-wave-water-shortage-threaten-its-role-in-global-supply-chain-expert-says/

 

Samantha Aschieris / @samantharenck / August 30, 2022


A record-breaking heat wave across China is exacerbating underlying issues that threaten its future role in the global supply chain, an Asian studies expert says.  

China has long struggled with water shortages, food prices, power grid issues, and inflation, all of which have been magnified by the record heat wave the country is facing, says Dean Cheng, a senior research fellow in the Asian Studies Center at The Heritage Foundation. (The Daily Signal is the media outlet of The Heritage Foundation.)

Over the past two months, China has been battling its worst heat wave in more than 60 years, with temperatures reaching as high as 113°F in Beibei, which is in the Chongqing province, and 111.2°F in Sichuan province, The Washington Post reported.  

“The water shortage is in turn affecting internal transportation … which affects supply chains. The water shortages are affecting power generation, or hydropower, which affect supply chains. The power shortages they’re already having is affecting supply chains,” said Cheng, who characterized China as “water poor.”  

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The heat wave has resulted in rolling electrical blackouts for homes and offices, and in factories being shut down, and it has killed thousands of fish and poultry, CNN reported.

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Global supply chains have already been significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the heat wave has the potential to have a greater impact than the pandemic, according to Mirko Woitzik, a global director of intelligence solutions for Everstream Analytics.

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We’ve seen a number of factories and businesses closing temporarily. I believe Tesla and Apple temporarily closed some of their manufacturing facilities in China. Given what we’ve seen with the causes of supply chain problems and kind of what happens when those are mucked up—we saw that previously as a result of COVID—this heat wave can either prolong some of those supply chain challenges or exacerbate them. 

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Permanent Daylight Saving Time will hurt our health, experts say

 I suggest reading the whole article.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/06/health/permanent-daylight-savings-health-harms-wellness/index.html

 

 By Sandee LaMotte, CNN
Updated 11:15 AM EST, Sun November 6, 2022 

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 However, a growing number of sleep experts say the act of moving our clocks forward in the spring is ruining our health. Studies over the last 25 years have shown the one-hour change disrupts body rhythms tuned to Earth’s rotation, adding fuel to the debate over whether having Daylight Saving Time in any form is a good idea.

“I’m one of the many sleep experts that knows it’s a bad idea,” said Dr. Elizabeth Klerman, a professor of neurology in the division of sleep medicine at Harvard Medical School.

“Your body clock stays with (natural) light not with the clock on your wall,” Klerman said. “And there’s no evidence that your body fully shifts to the new time.”

Dr. Phyllis Zee, director of the Center for Circadian and Sleep Medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Evanston, Illinois, also opposes Daylight Saving Time.

“Between March and November your body gets less morning light and more evening light, which can throw off your circadian rhythm,” she said.

Standard time, which we enter when we move our clocks back in the fall, is much closer to the sun’s day and night cycle, Zee said. This cycle has set our circadian rhythm, or body clock, for centuries.

That internal timer controls not just when you sleep, but also when you want to eat, exercise or work, as well as “your blood pressure, your heart rate and your cortisol rhythm,” Zee added. 

 A call to ban Daylight Saving Time for good has come from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine: “Current evidence best supports the adoption of year-round standard time, which aligns best with human circadian biology and provides distinct benefits for public health and safety.”

The proposal has been endorsed by more than 20 medical, scientific, and civic organizations, including the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, the National Parent Teacher Association, the National Safety Council, the Society for Research on Biological Rhythms and the World Sleep Society. 

 When our internal clocks are offset from the solar day-night cycle by even one hour we develop what sleep experts call “social jet lag.” Studies have shown social jet lag increases the risk of metabolic disorders such as diabetes, raises the risk of heart disease and stroke, worsens mood disorders such as depression, affects the digestive and endocrine systems and shortens our sleep duration. It can even reduce life expectancy, 

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 Making the time change permanent would make the chronic effects of any sleep loss more severe, not only “because we have to go to work an hour earlier for an additional 5 months every year but also because body clocks are usually later in winter than in summer with reference to the sun clock,” according to a statement from the Society for Research on Biological Rhythms.

“The combination of DST and winter would therefore make the differences between body clocks and the social clock even worse and would negatively affect our health even more,” the authors concluded. 

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 “The United States has tried permanent daylight saving time twice before and ended it early. The UK tried once before and ended it early. Russia tried it once, so did India and ended it early,” Klerman said. “I think we should learn from history.” 


No, the U.S. government hasn’t made daylight saving time permanent

 

A man insisted to me a few days ago that Congress has already made Daylight Savings Time permanent.

 

https://www.kvue.com/article/news/verify/government-verify/daylight-saving-time-still-ending-fall-back-november-2022/536-b81c0a14-cca2-44f9-b282-c2825bc9fb64

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The U.S. Senate unanimously approved the Sunshine Protection Act, which was reintroduced in 2021 by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), on March 15, 2022. Rubio previously introduced the Sunshine Protection Act in 2019.

The legislation would make daylight saving time the permanent standard time throughout the country starting on Nov. 5, 2023. That means we wouldn’t change our clocks, or “fall back,” in November and would have a full year of daylight saving time instead of only eight months.

But the bill has some hoops to jump through before daylight saving time is the norm for everyone.

As of Nov. 1, 2022, the bill hasn’t moved forward in the U.S. House. The bill needs House passage before President Joe Biden could sign it into law.

That means people in U.S. states that observe daylight saving time will still move their clocks back one hour on Nov. 6, 2022.
 

The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) explains on its website that federal law doesn’t allow full-time daylight saving time, so Congress needs to act before states can adopt changes. Federal law does allow states to exempt themselves from daylight saving time upon action by the state legislature.

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Climate crisis: past eight years were the eight hottest ever, says UN

 

 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/06/climate-crisis-past-eight-years-were-the-eight-hottest-ever-says-un

 

Damian Carrington Environment editor
@dpcarrington
Sun 6 Nov 2022 07.00 EST 


The past eight years were the eight hottest ever recorded, a new UN report has found, indicating the world is now deep into the climate crisis. The internationally agreed 1.5C limit for global heating is now “barely within reach”, it said.

The report, by the UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO), sets out how record high greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are driving sea level and ice melting to new highs and supercharging extreme weather from Pakistan to Puerto Rico.

The stark assessment was published on the opening day of the UN’s Cop27 climate summit in Egypt and as the UN secretary-general warned that “our planet is on course to reach tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible”.

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For the past two years, the natural La Niña climate phenomenon has actually kept global temperatures lower than they would otherwise have been. The inevitable switch back to El Niño conditions will see temperatures surge even higher in future, on top of global heating.

The WMO report said:

    Carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide are at record levels in the atmosphere as emissions continue. The annual increase in methane, a potent greenhouse gas, was the highest on record.

    The sea level is now rising twice as fast as 30 years ago and the oceans are hotter than ever.

    Records for glacier melting in the Alps were shattered in 2022, with an average of 13ft (4 metres) in height lost.

    Rain – not snow – was recorded on the 3,200m-high summit of the Greenland ice sheet for the first time.

    The Antarctic sea-ice area fell to its lowest level on record, almost 1m km2 below the long-term average.

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Rising global heating is making extreme weather more severe and more frequent around the world. The WMO report highlighted the drought in east Africa, where rainfall has been below average for four consecutive seasons, the longest in 40 years. About 19 million people are now suffering a food crisis.

The WMO analysis also reported:

    Devastating flooding in Pakistan, with at least 1,700 deaths and 7.9 million people displaced.

    A series of cyclones that battered southern Africa, which hit Madagascar hardest with torrential rain.

    Exceptional heatwaves and droughts in the northern hemisphere, with China enduring its longest heatwave on record, the UK passing 40C for the first time, and European rivers including the Rhine, Loire and Danube falling to critically low levels.

    Hurricane Ian wreaking extensive damage and loss of life in Cuba and Florida.

“All too often, those least responsible for climate change suffer most, but even well-prepared societies this year have been ravaged by extremes,” said Prof Taalas.

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Last total lunar eclipse for three years arrives Tuesday

 

 I should be able to see it when I'm on my way to work at the polls.


https://news.yahoo.com/last-total-lunar-eclipse-three-162256970.html

 http://www.ap.org/

 

MARCIA DUNN
Sun, November 6, 2022 at 11:22 AM

 

Better catch the moon’s disappearing act Tuesday — there won’t be another like it for three years.

The total lunar eclipse will be visible throughout North America in the predawn hours — the farther west, the better — and across Asia, Australia and the rest of the Pacific after sunset. As an extra treat, Uranus will be visible just a finger’s width above the moon, resembling a bright star.

Totality will last nearly 1 1/2 hours — from 5:16 a.m. to 6:41 a.m. EST — as Earth passes directly between the moon and sun.

Known as a blood moon, it will appear a reddish-orange from the light of Earth’s sunsets and sunrises. 

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South America will get a glimpse of Tuesday’s lunar eclipse, weather permitting. Striking out altogether, Africa, the Middle East and most of Europe will have to wait until 2025.

Among those providing a livestream of Tuesday’s lunar extravaganza: Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles and the Italian-based Virtual Telescope Project.

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Homeland Security Admits It Tried to Manufacture Fake Terrorists for Trump

 

https://news.yahoo.com/homeland-security-admits-tried-manufacture-114500599.html


 Dell Cameron
Sat, November 5, 2022 at 7:45 AM

https://gizmodo.com/


The Department of Homeland Security launched a failed operation that ensnared hundreds, if not thousands, of U.S. protesters in what new documents show was as a sweeping, power-hungry effort before the 2020 election to bolster President Donald Trump’s spurious claims about a “terrorist organization” he accused his Democratic rivals of supporting.

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The report describes attempts by top officials to link protesters to an imaginary terrorist plot in an apparent effort to boost Trump’s reelection odds, raising concerns now about the ability of a sitting president to co-opt billions of dollars’ worth of domestic intelligence assets for their own political gain. DHS analysts recounted orders to generate evidence of financial ties between protesters in custody; an effort that, had they not failed, would have seemingly served to legitimize President Trump’s false claims about “Antifa,” an “organization” that even his most loyal intelligence officers failed to drum up proof ever existed.

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Wednesday, November 02, 2022

Delusional

 

Nov. 2, 2022

 

How can people have free will if they are not able to perceive reality?  Anybody who is old enough to remember Obama's presidency should remember that when republicans gained control of Congress, they blocked almost all his attempts to stimulate the economy.  They knew people would blame the president if things were not good, and they thought it would help them regain the presidency.  They have done this to other presidents.  They will do it to Biden.  Voting for republicans for Congress because you are unhappy with the economy is self-destructive.