Links

Lloyd's of London to divest from coal over climate change
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/jan/21/lloyds-of-london-to-divest-from-coal-over-climate-change


Are Climate Change and the Environment Driving Protests in Iran and Tunisia?
https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/24034/are-climate-change-and-the-environment-driving-protests-in-iran-and-tunisia


Annual poll finds 31 per cent of CEOs now 'extremely concerned' about threat to growth from environmental damage
CEO's concerns that climate change and wider environmental damage represent a threat to economic growth has doubled over the past year
https://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/3025128/pwc-poll-concern-over-climate-change-threat-surges-among-ceos


Ex-RNC chair rips evangelical leaders standing by Trump: 'Don't ever preach to me' again
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/370473-ex-rnc-chair-rips-evangelical-leaders-standing-by-trump-dont?amp&__twitter_impression=true


A dog in Florida nearly died after a purple hair dye job left her with severe burns and swollen eyes, according to an animal shelter.
https://nypost.com/2018/01/24/dog-nearly-dies-after-purple-hair-dye-job/


San Antonio-based module supplier Mission Solar Energy has announced it is ramping up production and hiring 50 additional employees to meet product demands for 2018.
https://solarindustrymag.com/mission-solar-energy-ramping-production-adding-workers


Tesla reiterates commitment to expanding solar product manufacturing in the US after new tariffs
https://electrek.co/2018/01/23/tesla-solar-product-manufacturing-us-tariffs/


Gore defends Trump solar tariffs decision
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/25/al-gore-trump-solar-tariff-367530


SolarWorld Aims To Ramp Up Solar Panel Production As Tariffs Kick In
http://ijpr.org/post/solarworld-aims-ramp-solar-panel-production-tariffs-kick#stream/0


Abrupt closure of Zoots dry-cleaning chain leaves customers hanging
https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2018/01/24/abrupt-closure-zoots-dry-cleaning-chain-leaves-customers-hanging/Adzy20H4FkANnVz0IMtvYP/story.html?et_rid=208809002&s_campaign=todaysheadlines:newsletter


AI used to face-swap Hollywood stars into pornography films
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jan/25/ai-face-swap-pornography-emma-watson-scarlett-johansson-taylor-swift-daisy-ridley-sophie-turner-maisie-williams


What counts as satire in the Trump era? Not pointless Photoshop parodies
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jan/23/what-counts-as-satire-in-the-trump-era-not-pointless-photoshop-parodies


The US is the most expensive nation in the world in which to have a baby – and it may factor into thousands of bankruptcies each year
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/16/why-does-it-cost-32093-just-to-give-birth-in-america


Lousy Facebook. Several different people posted about a subject. I posted a relevant link to several different people, and because it was in a short period of time, Facebook marked it as "spam", which makes it look as if there is something wrong with the link from a respectable source.
To add insult to injury, the msg I get from Facebook asks if I want to review it, and when I try to, it just takes me to my newsfeed, not to the post where the problem is.



Billions of pieces of plastic on coral reefs send disease soaring, research reveals
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jan/25/billions-of-pieces-of-plastic-on-coral-reefs-send-disease-soaring-research-reveals



GOP senator: 'Real possibility' that FBI 'secret society' text was a joke
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/370707-ron-johnson-its-a-real-possibility-that-ex-fbi-agents-secret-society-text-was


White and far-right extremists kill more cops, but FBI tracks black extremists more closely, many worry
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article196423174.html


Someone posted wrong information in Facebook about the number of strong hurricanes in recent years. Here are the facts.
The number of tropical cyclones have there been each year in the Atlantic basin?
http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/E11.html


A great list of lists of Atlantic hurricanes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_Atlantic_hurricanes


The U.S. Can No Longer Hide From Its Deep Poverty Problem
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/24/opinion/poverty-united-states.html?partner=rss&emc=rss


Living On Almost Nothing In America
http://www.twodollarsaday.com/
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/06/books/review/2-00-a-day-by-kathryn-j-edin-and-h-luke-shaefer.html

Links

I noticed that the record low for Berkeley Lake, GA yesterday (Jan. 22) was -10F in 1985. I guess that was the time it got to -11F in Huntsville, AL, and was still -10 when I drove to work in the morning in a car w/o heat. For the rest of the winter, 20F didn't seem nearly as cold as usual, and 32 seemed positively balmy.


Michigan man arrested after caller threatens to kill CNN employees
[This is what Trump and other republicans are encouraging.]
https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/22/us/michigan-man-arrested-cnn-threats/index.html


The Women's Marches may have been the largest demonstration in US history
https://www.vox.com/2017/1/22/14350808/womens-marches-largest-demonstration-us-history-map


Hawaii's governor couldn't correct the false missile alert sooner because he forgot his Twitter password
https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/23/us/hawaii-governor-password-trnd/index.html


Naomi Parker Fraley, the real Rosie the Riveter, dies aged 96
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42787869


Class war in the American west: the rich landowners blocking access to public lands
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jan/21/public-land-battle-private-landowners-montana


Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) announced on Saturday that she would donate her salary for every day the federal government remains shut down.
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/369958-senator-says-she-will-donate-salary-for-everyday-government-is-shutdown


Long commutes really are bad for your health. Commuting has been linked to higher rates of obesity, stress, and depression. One Swedish study also found that it could shorten your life span.
https://www.vox.com/videos/2018/1/22/16919040/commuting-bad-health-work


‘Boy Who Came Back From Heaven’ actually didn’t; books recalled
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2015/01/15/boy-who-came-back-from-heaven-going-back-to-publisher/?tid=a_mcntx&utm_term=.fd4bf9be0352


Tax bill won’t impact the federal solar tax credit
https://news.energysage.com/will-2017-tax-bill-impact-solar/


Toys 'R' Us to Close 182 Stores as Part of Restructuring
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/24/business/toys-r-us-to-close-stores.html


Paris on flooding alert as rising Seine causes travel disruption
The river overflowed earlier this week because of flood water from upstream where the basin that feeds the Seine has received twice as much rain as normal.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/24/paris-flooding-alert-rising-seine-transport-disruption


Scottish railway lines hit by flooding and landslides
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jan/24/scotland-railway-lines-flooding-landslides-weather-winds-storm-georgina


New anti-homeless architecture: Seattle uses bike racks to block rough sleepers
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/jan/24/anti-homeless-architecture-seattle-bike-racks-block-rough-sleepers


Remote Amazon tribe hit by mercury crisis, leaked report says
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/andes-to-the-amazon/2018/jan/24/amazon-tribe-mercury-crisis-leaked-report


Men Only: Inside the charity fundraiser where hostesses are put on show
https://www.ft.com/content/075d679e-0033-11e8-9650-9c0ad2d7c5b5


SolarWorld Aims To Ramp Up Solar Panel Production As Tariffs Kick In
https://www.opb.org/news/article/solarworld-aims-to-ramp-up-solar-panel-production-as-tariffs-kick-in/

It's time for better capitalism

Henry Blodget
Jan. 23, 2018,

Over the past few decades, the US economy has undergone a profound change.

This change has helped rich Americans get richer. But it has also contributed to growing income inequality and the decline of the middle class. In so doing, it has fueled populist anger across the political spectrum and slowed the growth of the economy as a whole.

What is this change?

The embrace of the idea that the only mission of companies is to maximize short-term profit for shareholders.

Talk to some people in the money management business, and they'll proclaim that this is a law of capitalism. They'll also cite other supposed laws of capitalism, including the idea that employees are "costs" and competent managers should minimize these costs by paying employees as little as possible.

But these practices aren't actually laws of capitalism.

They're choices.

They're choices that arose out of the shareholder activism movement that began in the early 1980s — a movement that was reasonable and necessary back then but has since been taken too far.

•••••

Not long ago, America's corporate owners and managers made different choices — choices that were better for average Americans and the economy. These managers and owners also had a profoundly different understanding of their responsibilities.

"The job of management," proclaimed Frank Abrams, the chairman of Standard Oil of New Jersey, in 1951, "is to maintain an equitable and working balance among of the claims of the various directly interested groups… stockholders, employees, customers, and the public at large."

By paying good wages, investing in future products, and generating reasonable (not "maximized") profits, American companies in the 1950s and 1960s created value for all of their constituencies, not just one. As a result, the country and economy boomed.

Over more recent decades, however, this balance has radically shifted.

•••••

This "shareholder value" religion is visible in the divergence between profits and wages.

Corporate profit margins have been rising for 15 years and are now near their highest levels ever. Corporate wages, meanwhile, have been declining for four decades and are near their lowest level ever.

•••••

The richest 1% of Americans now own nearly 45% of the country's wealth, near the highest level since the "Gilded Age" of the 1920s. These Americans had an average net worth of $14 million in 2013. At the same time, the average wealth of "90%-ers" has plunged in recent years to just above $80,000, the same level as in the mid-1980s. Millions of Americans who work full time for highly profitable corporations earn so little that they're below the poverty line. The bottom 50% of Americans own nothing.

•••••

Consumers account for about 70% of the spending in the economy, so our spending is what drives economic growth. Most consumers work, so another name for them is "employees." And except for the richest Americans, most of us spend almost everything we make.

When we are paid less, we have less to spend, and economic growth slows. When we are paid more, we spend more, and growth accelerates.

Consumer spending also drives business investment. When consumers are flush, businesses invest aggressively to meet demand. When consumers are strapped, however, companies sit on their cash — or just hand it to shareholders. Amid today's already weak demand, companies are exacerbating the problem by cutting investments and increasing dividends and stock buybacks.

•••••

Some corporations have begun emphasizing the need for companies to have a triple or even quadruple bottom line, creating value for customers, employees, and society in addition to shareholders.

Perhaps most encouragingly, one of the world's largest asset managers, BlackRock, now expects companies to create value across multiple dimensions.

"Society is demanding that companies, both public and private, serve a social purpose," BlackRock CEO Larry Fink wrote in an open letter to corporate CEOs. "To prosper over time, every company must not only deliver financial performance, but also show how it makes a positive contribution to society. Companies must benefit all of their stakeholders, including shareholders, employees, customers, and the communities in which they operate."

That's better capitalism. Practicing it will make the world a better place.

Is this the end of civilisation? We could take a different path

Please donate to The Guardian to allow them to continue their investigative journal w/o resorting to a pay wall.

I suggest reading the whole article at the following link.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jan/24/end-civilisation-take-different-path

George Monbiot
Jan. 24, 2018

It’s a good question, but it seems too narrow: “Is western civilisation on the brink of collapse?” the lead article in this week’s New Scientist asks. The answer is, probably. But why just western? Yes, certain western governments are engaged in a frenzy of self-destruction. In an age of phenomenal complexity and interlocking crises, the Trump administration has embarked on a mass de-skilling and simplification of the state.

•••••

Defunding departments, disbanding the teams and dismissing the experts they rely on, shutting down research programmes, maligning the civil servants who remain in post, the self-hating state is ripping down the very apparatus of government. At the same time, it is destroying public protections that defend us from disaster.

A series of studies published in the past few months has started to explore the wider impact of pollutants. One, published in the British Medical Journal, suggests that the exposure of unborn children to air pollution in cities is causing “something approaching a public health catastrophe”. Pollution in the womb is now linked to low birth weight, disruption of the baby’s lung and brain development, and a series of debilitating and fatal diseases in later life.

Another report, published in the Lancet, suggests that three times as many deaths are caused by pollution as by Aids, malaria and tuberculosis combined. Pollution, the authors note, now “threatens the continuing survival of human societies”. A collection of articles in the journal PLOS Biology reveals that there is no reliable safety data on most of the 85,000 synthetic chemicals to which we may be exposed. While hundreds of these chemicals “contaminate the blood and urine of nearly every person tested”, and the volume of materials containing them rises every year, we have no idea what the likely impacts may be, either singly or in combination.

And there is also the large decrease in sperm counts in men around the world, which is probably due to pollution.

As if in response to such findings, the Trump government has systematically destroyed the integrity of the Environmental Protection Agency, ripped up the Clean Power Plan, vitiated environmental standards for motor vehicles, reversed the ban on chlorpyrifos (a pesticide now linked to the impairment of cognitive and behavioural function in children), and rescinded a remarkable list of similar public protections.

In the UK, successive governments have also curtailed their ability to respond to crises.

•••••

But these pathologies are not confined to “the west”. The rise of demagoguery (the pursuit of simplistic solutions to complex problems, accompanied by the dismantling of the protective state) is everywhere apparent. Environmental breakdown is accelerating worldwide.

•••••

But these pathologies are not confined to “the west”. The rise of demagoguery (the pursuit of simplistic solutions to complex problems, accompanied by the dismantling of the protective state) is everywhere apparent. Environmental breakdown is accelerating worldwide.

•••••

Complex societies have collapsed many times before. It has not always been a bad thing.

•••••

But today there is nowhere to turn. The wild lands and rich ecosystems that once supported hunter gatherers, nomads and the refugees from imploding early states who joined them now scarcely exist. Only a tiny fraction of the current population could survive a return to the barbarian life. (Consider that, according to one estimate, the maximum population of Britain during the Mesolithic, when people survived by hunting and gathering, was 5000).In the nominally democratic era, the complex state is now, for all its flaws, all that stands between us and disaster.

So what we do? Next week, barring upsets, I will propose a new way forward. The path we now follow is not the path we have to take.

How will the 2017 tax bill impact solar?

See the article at the link below for how the new tax bill might impact solar businesses positively and negatively.

https://news.energysage.com/will-2017-tax-bill-impact-solar/

•••••

The primary solar tax credit used by homeowners in the U.S. is the federal investment tax credit (ITC), which offers a 30 percent tax credit to the owner of a new solar energy system. This is one of the most significant financial incentives for installing solar at the federal level, and it benefits everyone from homeowners to large commercial property owners.

•••••

The bottom line: If you’re a homeowner considering solar today, there were not any new changes in the 2017 tax bill that will lessen the economic benefits you’ll receive from a solar installation. Start exploring your options today.

•••••

The House version of the tax bill would have eliminated the tax credit for electric vehicles, which offers up to $7,500 to buyers. However, that didn’t make it into the final bill, meaning that a big incentive to buy electric cars is still available.

•••••

Open office macro to create hyperlinks

I created the following macros to help me save time in creating the hyperlinks in my Links posts
There are two macros for different situations.

The following creates a hyperlink from selected text, which should be a web address. A hyperlink will be created with the hyperlink and the visible text being the selected text.

This is Open Office Basic code.
I created it by using the record macro feature.


sub Hyperlink
rem ----------------------------------------------------------------------
rem The following creates a hyperlink from selected text, which should be a web address.
rem A hyperlink will be created with the hyperlink and the visible text being the selected text.
rem define variables


rem define variables
dim document as object
dim dispatcher as object
rem ----------------------------------------------------------------------
rem get access to the document
document = ThisComponent.CurrentController.Frame
dispatcher = createUnoService("com.sun.star.frame.DispatchHelper")

rem ----------------------------------------------------------------------
dispatcher.executeDispatch(document, ".uno:Cut", "", 0, Array())

rem ----------------------------------------------------------------------
dim args2(0) as new com.sun.star.beans.PropertyValue
args2(0).Name = "Text"
args2(0).Value = "<" dispatcher.executeDispatch(document, ".uno:InsertText", "", 0, args4()) rem ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dispatcher.executeDispatch(document, ".uno:SwBackspace", "", 0, Array()) rem ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dispatcher.executeDispatch(document, ".uno:Paste", "", 0, Array()) rem ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dim args7(0) as new com.sun.star.beans.PropertyValue args7(0).Name = "Text" args7(0).Value = ""

dispatcher.executeDispatch(document, ".uno:InsertText", "", 0, args7())

rem ----------------------------------------------------------------------
dispatcher.executeDispatch(document, ".uno:InsertPara", "", 0, Array())


end sub


========================================================================

The following is used on web address that are in a separate paragraph. Position the cursor at the end of the link before activating the macro. The macro will take the text back to the beginning of the paragraph and turn it into a hyperlink, with the cursor then positioned after the hyperlink.

This is Open Office Basic code.
I created it by using the record macro feature, using the keyboard commands to select backwards to the beginning of the line, then replacing that part with the command I found to select backward to the beginning of the paragraph.



sub Hyperlink2
rem ----------------------------------------------------------------------
rem The following is used on web address that are in a separate paragraph.
rem Position the cursor at the end of the link before activating the macro.
rem The macro will take the text back to the beginning of the paragraph and turn it into a hyperlink,
rem with the cursor then positioned after the hyperlink.

rem define variables
dim document as object
dim dispatcher as object
rem ----------------------------------------------------------------------
rem get access to the document
document = ThisComponent.CurrentController.Frame
dispatcher = createUnoService("com.sun.star.frame.DispatchHelper")

rem ----------------------------------------------------------------------
dispatcher.executeDispatch(document, ".uno:StartOfParaSel", "", 0, Array())

rem ----------------------------------------------------------------------
dispatcher.executeDispatch(document, ".uno:Cut", "", 0, Array())

rem ----------------------------------------------------------------------
dim args3(0) as new com.sun.star.beans.PropertyValue
args3(0).Name = "Text"
args3(0).Value = ""

dispatcher.executeDispatch(document, ".uno:InsertText", "", 0, args5())

rem ----------------------------------------------------------------------
dispatcher.executeDispatch(document, ".uno:Paste", "", 0, Array())

rem ----------------------------------------------------------------------
dim args7(0) as new com.sun.star.beans.PropertyValue
args7(0).Name = "Text"
args7(0).Value = ""

dispatcher.executeDispatch(document, ".uno:InsertText", "", 0, args7())


end sub

Links

To keep from showing a picture caused by a link in your Facebook post from showing, hover the cursor over the little x on the top right of the picture until it says "remove", and click on it. Saves people time, and from having to look at a lot of pictures of Trump.


Former RNC (Republican National Committee) chair: 'This shutdown rests at the feet of the GOP'
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/369917-former-rnc-chair-gop-could-have-avoided-shutdown#_=_


The 1% grabbed 82% of all wealth created in 2017
http://money.cnn.com/2018/01/21/news/economy/davos-oxfam-inequality-wealth/index.html


Trump imposes 30 percent tariff on solar panel imports
Suniva and SolarWorld Americas, the bankrupt companies which requested the tariffs, say tariffs would boost domestic manufacturing and add more than 100,000 jobs.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/370171-trump-imposes-30-tariffs-on-solar-panel-imports


Congress funds children's health program after four-month delay
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/370195-congress-funds-childrens-health-program-after-four-month-delay


Los Angeles draws 600K participants to Women's March
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/369964-los-angeles-draws-600k-participants-to-womens-march


Majority Of National Park Service Board Resigns, Citing Administration Indifference
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/01/17/578525840/majority-of-national-park-service-board-resigns-citing-administration-indifferen?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20180117


Violent crime in the U.S. has fallen sharply over the past quarter century.
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/21/5-facts-about-crime-in-the-u-s/


The Trump Protest-Song Boom, in the Eye of History
https://www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/550268/?__twitter_impression=true


This is how democracies die
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/2018/jan/21/this-is-how-democracies-die


Apple CEO Tim Cook says he wouldn’t let a child use social media
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/01/21/apple-ceo-tim-cook-says-he-wouldnt-let-a-child-use-social-media/?utm_term=.9d9bc692435b

Pence says U.S. will move up date of embassy move to Jerusalem

When I heard that they are moving up the date for moving the embassy to Jerusalem, I wondered if they are trying to provoke an attack that they think might help them in the midterm elections.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/pence-says-u-s-embassy-will-move-jerusalem-end-2019-n839776


Pence says U.S. Embassy will move to Jerusalem by end of 2019

by Reuters and Associated Press
Jan. 22, 2018

The U.S. embassy in Israel will move to Jerusalem by the end of 2019, Vice President Mike Pence said on Monday.

"In the weeks ahead, our administration will advance its plan to open the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem — and that United States Embassy will open before the end of next year," Pence said in a speech to the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem.

•••••

#SchumerShutdown becomes top hashtag used by Russian bots

http://thehill.com/policy/technology/370044-advocacy-group-schumershutdown-becomes-top-hashtag-used-by-russia-bots

By Jacqueline Thomsen - 01/21/18 10:58 PM EST

#SchumerShutdown became the top trending topic promoted by Russian bots on social media on Sunday night, a national security group found.

The Alliance for Securing Democracy, an organization led by national security officials from both political parties housed at The German Marshall Fund of the United States, found that the phrase was the top trending hashtag promoted by Russian bots as of 10 p.m. on Sunday.

The news was first reported by HuffPost.

The group tracks activity by about 600 Twitter accounts that are tied to Russian influence projects.

•••••

The White House Changeed Outgoing Message on Comment Line to Blame Democrats?

https://www.snopes.com/white-house-comment-line-trump/#.WmTkdNAMDOE.facebook

CLAIM

The White House updated the voice message on the automated telephone comments line to blame Democrats for a government shutdown.

RATING : TRUE

•••••

The Republican-controlled White House went so far as to change the outgoing message on the White House telephone comment line (202-456-1111) to an unprecedented message blaming Democrats:

Thank you for calling the White House. Unfortunately, we cannot answer your call today, because Congressional Democrats are holding government funding, including funding for our troops and other national security priorities, hostage to an unrelated immigration debate. Due to this obstruction, the government is shut down. In the meantime, you can leave a comment for the president at www.whitehouse.gov/contact. We look forward to taking your calls as soon as the government reopens.

The existence of the message was confirmed by various reporters:

We called and were able to confirm for ourselves that this was indeed the White House’s outgoing telephone message on 20 January 2018.

•••••

Some banks may step up for military customers if shutdown delays Feb. 1 pay

By: Karen Jowers
Jan. 19, 2018



Some financial institutions with large numbers of military customers plan to help ease troops’ financial stress in the event a government shutdown interferes with their Feb. 1 paychecks ... or beyond.

During a shutdown, by Defense Department guidelines, all active-duty military personnel would still report to work, but wouldn’t be paid until Congress makes funding available. During the last shutdown in 2013, Congress passed a law that required military members to be paid.

An unknown number of federal civilian employees could be furloughed, with no back pay. Those employees include military spouses, retirees and other veterans.

Here are some early shutdown announcements from financial institutions. As Feb. 1 approaches, check with your financial institution to see if similar plans are in place.

•••••

The legislative process re. the shutdown

From a Facebook post

Can I explain something about the government shutdown? The senate needs a majority of votes, not 3/5 to renew existing budget bills. They normally need the 3/5 cloture vote. The republicans could pass this budget, without any problem. So why isnt this happening, you ask?

The republicans have attached non-budget items on the bill. By doing this, they have to get the 3/5 vote. They put things on that they know the democrats will go against. So then, instead of renewing the budget, they can push their agenda and grandstand saying "the democrats caused a shut down." But really, if they take off the non-budget items, they only need a one vote majority and the budget is renewed. The republicans dont want the budget renewed. They want to force their agenda in the back door and hold government shut down over the heads of democrats.

Thats why I support the government shutdown.
During the election, everyone wanted to be political. Instead of raving about which candidate is the best, people should cut and paste this gem into their statuses and share this so their friends can learn something about how the government works. This isnt some debate. The GOP could pass a renewal bill today if they wanted to."

(YES PLEASE SHARE. I would like to credit the author of this clear and intelligent post, but I have no idea who that is.)

Cape Town Will Run Out Of Water In Fewer Than 100 Days

Normal human behariour, waiting to seriously address a problem until it's a crisis.

http://www.iflscience.com/environment/cape-town-might-soon-become-the-first-city-in-the-world-to-run-out-of-water/

By Tom Halw
Jan. 18, 2018

With fewer than 95 days left before they run dry, Cape Town might become the first major city in the world to run out of water.

The coastal South African city has been battling droughts for nearly three years, amounting to the worst one in their history. It’s now seriously reaching crunch time. With little rain on the horizon, the city has now ordered its 3.7 million residents to drastically cut their water consumption, take short stop-start showers, not wash their cars, and flush toilets as little as possible. If they don't, all of their taps could be shut off by April.

•••••

If the city fails to resolve the problem and secure alternative water sources, Capetonians will be forced to queue for their daily ration of water, no more than 25 liters (5.5 gallons), at numerous government-organized outposts around the city.

•••••

There are a few factors driving this water crisis. The earlier part of the drought in 2015 was largely blamed on the El Niño weather pattern, however, as the situation continues to worsen, experts are now pointing towards poor city management, a growing urban population, and – you guessed it – climate change.

This Mad Max-like vision of “Day Zero” is daunting, and one that could become a more common sight around the world in the face of climate change. Scientists have estimated that North Africa and the Middle East will become so hot and dry they will be uninhabitable in the near future, even if every country meets its targets for the Paris climate agreement. Similar claims have been made about the Mediterranean suffering recurrent droughts. Most startling of all, one study found that nearly three-quarters of the world’s population will experience life-threatening heatwaves by the end of this century.

=======================================================

Six weeks before the report above

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-12-08/will-cape-town-run-out-of-water

Will Cape Town Run Out of Water?
If “Day Zero” comes, the 4 million residents of South Africa’s second-biggest city will face a catastrophe.
By Michael Cohen
Dec. 7, 2017

•••••

The city’s poor, who are wholly dependent on the municipal supply and have limited space to store water, have been the hardest hit.

Patricia Gxothelwa, 34, an unemployed resident of Imizamo Yethu township, about 12 kilometers south of the city center, has to use a bucket to collect water from communal taps a short walk away when the supply is cut off from the hillside shack she shares with her husband and four children. It’s an increasingly regular occurrence.

•••••

Three straight years of poor rains typically occur less than once in a millennium, according to University of Cape Town climatologists Piotr Wolski, Bruce Hewitson and Chris Jack. It’s unclear what’s caused such extreme drought, though climate change is a possible factor and the city should brace itself for a recurrence, they said in a study published Oct. 6.

•••••

While average daily consumption has plummeted to about 600 million liters (158 million gallons) of water a day from 1.1 billion liters a year ago, about half of households still aren’t adhering to the city’s usage targets. About 19,000 homes that have regularly exceeded their recommended quotas have had mandatory devices fitted to their inlet pipes that restrict them to 350 liters a day.

•••••

Links

The story of a woman who spent much of her life homeless.
https://www.quora.com/I-feel-no-sympathy-for-the-homeless-because-I-feel-like-it-is-their-own-fault-Are-there-examples-of-seemingly-normal-and-respectable-people-becoming-homeless/answer/Jacqueline-Homan


Nearly two-thirds say Trump doesn’t share their values
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/368345-poll-nearly-two-thirds-say-trump-doesnt-share-their-values


Victoria police say Daily Mail provoked African ‘gang flare-up’ scuffle
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/jan/11/victoria-police-say-daily-mail-provoked-african-gang-flare-up-scuffle?CMP=soc_567

Links

Twitter Admits There Were More Than 50,000 Russian Bots Trying to Confuse American Voters Before the Election
https://slate.com/technology/2018/01/twitter-admits-there-were-more-than-50-000-russian-bots-confusing-u-s-voters-in-2016.html

Links

OnePlus says up to 40,000 customers were affected by credit card security breach
https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/19/16908990/oneplus-credit-card-security-breach-investigation-40000-affected


EPA drops rule requiring mining companies to have money to clean up pollution
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-epa-mining-pollution-20171201-story.html


Turpin case: Siblings allegedly starved, shackled and taunted with food
[The authorities are looking for homes for the children. First choice is given to relatives, and the elderly parents of this horrible father have been asked if they can take the children. They were the ones who raised this monster, and from reports of their child-rearing actions, I doubt they would give the children the nurturing they need, even if they had the energy at their age. They have expressed doubt that they can take the children on at their age.]
http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/19/us/california-torture-case-turpin/index.html


Trump and your finances: Taxes, student and payday loans, tips targeted in 1st year
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/01/19/trump-and-your-finances-taxes-student-and-payday-loans-tips-targeted-1st-year/1040714001/


Supreme Court blocks redrawing of North Carolina congressional maps
[Not surprising. An example of why republicans worked so hard to block Obama's court nominations. If you didn't vote for Hillary, you enabled this.]
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-election/supreme-court-blocks-redrawing-of-north-carolina-congressional-maps-idUSKBN1F73C1


In world first, drone rescues 2 swimmers off Australian beach
Lifeguards launched drone, which dropped flotation device down to swimmers
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/drone-rescue-swimmers-australia-1.4492631


Poll: More than half of Americans strongly disapprove of Trump
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/poll-more-half-americans-strongly-disapprove-trump-n838926

Links

Temperatures like these are now about fifteen times rarer. This is equivalent to cold waves being about 4ºF (2ºC) warmer than they used to be.
https://wwa.climatecentral.org/analyses/north-american-cold-winter-2017-2018/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2018/01/11/in-a-fast-warming-world-scientists-say-recent-cold-wave-was-exceptionally-weird/?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories-2_cwg-coldwave-855pm%3Ahomepage/story&utm_term=.53f4f01bc04d

Of 21 Winter Olympic Cities, Many May Soon Be Too Warm to Host the Games
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/01/11/climate/winter-olympics-global-warming.html

One year in to Trump’s presidency, the world’s citizens give U.S. leadership a record low rating
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-leadership/wp/2018/01/18/one-year-in-to-trumps-presidency-the-worlds-citizens-give-u-s-leadership-a-record-low-rating/?utm_term=.b0cdd2df04bd

Chris Christie stopped by TSA for evading security checkpoint
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/chris-christie-stopped-at-tsa-for-evading-security-checkpoint/

Repeated Head Hits, Not Just Concussions, May Lead To A Type Of Chronic Brain Damage
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/01/18/578355877/repeated-head-hits-not-concussions-may-be-behind-a-type-of-chronic-brain-damage
A neurologist who studied violent criminals found that almost all of them showed signs of brain damage, usually from child abuse.

California torture house: 13 siblings allowed to eat once a day, shower twice a year
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/california-torture-house-13-siblings-allowed-eat-once-day-shower-n838671

http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/17/opinions/california-horror-house-drexler/index.html

From my own experience, sadistic power freak parents use religion as an excuse, and as a weapon to keep their children subservient.

Aunts of 13 captive children reveal years of secrecy and concerns
http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/17/us/turpin-relatives-interviews/index.html


Trump rode golf cart while G7 leaders walked through Sicily
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/335424-trump-rode-golf-cart-while-g7-leaders-walked-through-siciliy

Like Oceans, Freshwater Is Also Acidifying
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/like-oceans-freshwater-is-also-acidifying/

Conservative Ohio Voters Support Green Energy, Oppose Coal Bailouts, Poll Finds
http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2018/01/gop_voters_support_green_energ.html

How Much Has ‘Climate Change’ Been Scrubbed from Federal Websites? A Lot.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/10/climate/climate-change-trump.html

How a Coal Baron’s Wish List Became President Trump’s To-Do List
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/09/climate/coal-murray-trump-memo.html

FBI investigating whether Russian money went to NRA to help Trump

By Peter Stone And Greg Gordon
January 18, 2018

The FBI is investigating whether a top Russian banker with ties to the Kremlin illegally funneled money to the National Rifle Association to help Donald Trump win the presidency, two sources familiar with the matter have told McClatchy.

FBI counterintelligence investigators have focused on the activities of Alexander Torshin, the deputy governor of Russia’s central bank who is known for his close relationships with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and the NRA, the sources said.

It is illegal to use foreign money to influence federal elections.

•••••

The extent to which the FBI has evidence of money flowing from Torshin to the NRA, or of the NRA’s participation in the transfer of funds, could not be learned.

However, the NRA reported spending a record $55 million on the 2016 elections, including $30 million to support Trump – triple what the group devoted to backing Republican Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential race. Most of that was money was spent by an arm of the NRA that is not required to disclose its donors.

Two people with close connections to the powerful gun lobby said its total election spending actually approached or exceeded $70 million. The reporting gap could be explained by the fact that independent groups are not required to reveal how much they spend on Internet ads or field operations, including get-out-the-vote efforts.

•••••

A long-simmering factor in Iran protests: climate change

http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-iran-protests-climate-change-2018-story.html

Shashank Bengali and Ramin Mostaghim
Jan. 17, 2018

•••••

On Dec. 30 of last year, about 200 people gathered in front of the provincial governor’s office to protest the water transfer project. Their slogans soon morphed into chants of “Death to the dictator,” the main rallying cry of anti-government protesters who poured into streets nationwide in the biggest spasm of public anger Iran has seen in years.

The uprising — in which at least 21 people died and thousands were arrested before authorities reimposed order — had many sparks: rising prices, persistent unemployment, bank collapses, a wide wealth gap, corruption in the theocracy.

But an overlooked factor, analysts say, is the impact of climate change and the widespread perception that Iran’s leaders are mishandling a growing problem of water scarcity.

“People believe that this is yet another major crisis the country is facing, and the people at the top are too incompetent and too corrupt to care,” said Meir Javedanfar, a professor of Iranian politics at Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, an Israeli university.

“It does not seem to be a priority of the regime to address the drought issue,” he said. “As long as it’s not a priority, nothing will happen until something breaks.”

Many environmental activists believe Iran is quickly approaching its breaking point as diminishing rainfall and warmer temperatures have caused lakes to disappear, kicked up blinding dust storms and emptied out once fertile regions as farmers seek economic refuge in cities.

Drought is a concern across the Middle East, but Iran’s 80 million people are especially at risk. This month, the director of Iran’s Drought and Crisis Management Center, Shahrokh Fateh, said that 96% of the country’s land area was experiencing prolonged drought conditions, the semiofficial ISNA news agency reported.

In some of the hardest hit areas, including border provinces where ethnic and religious minorities complain of official neglect, concerns over natural resources were a key driver of the demonstrations that began in late December.

“People in my area do not want to politicize their environmental concerns, but water shortages and pollution of the air and rivers are seen as political crises,” said Yusef Farhadi Babadi, an environmental activist in Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari. “People want to reclaim their rights to clean air and water and efficient water use.”

•••••

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called on the government to “manage climate change and environmental threats,” but the response from successive governments has been mixed.

•••••

Amazon announces finalists for second headquarters

http://beta.latimes.com/business/la-fi-amazon-headquarters-20180118-story.html

By James F. Peltz
Jan 18, 2018

Amazon.com Inc. said Thursday that Los Angeles and 19 other places are the finalists for the $5-billion second headquarters the giant online retailer plans to build.

The largest concentration of contenders is in the Northeast; Los Angeles is the only finalist west of the Rocky Mountains.

•••••

The list includes Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Boston; Chicago; Dallas; Denver; Indianapolis; Los Angeles; Miami; New York; Philadelphia; Toronto; Washington; Pittsburgh; Raleigh, N.C.; Nashville; Newark, N.J.; and Columbus, Ohio. It also listed northern Virginia and Maryland's Montgomery County — both near Washington, D.C. — as potential sites.

Amazon said that in the coming months, it would work with each finalist location "to dive deeper into their proposals, request additional information and evaluate the feasibility of a future partnership" before making a final decision later this year.

Translation, they will try to extort the highest bribe of corporate welfare. Since state and local taxes are so regressive, lower income people will pay proportionally more.

•••••

When Amazon issued its request for a proposal from bidders, the company said it would give priority to areas with more than 1 million people that are within 45 minutes of an international airport.

Amazon also said it's looking for an area that has a "highly educated labor pool" and a "strong university system."

The e-commerce titan also made it clear that it's looking for incentives, such as tax breaks.

•••••

Links

I am posting less for a few days because my newer laptop is in the shop, and I'm using an old one with 1 G of Ram which is very, very slow on the internet.


EPA eases path for new chemicals, raising fears of health hazards
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/epa-eases-path-new-chemicals-raising-fears-health-hazards-n838201

Links

Man who filmed video of Baltimore woman left outside in hospital gown: 'No one would have believed me.'
http://www.baltimoresun.com/health/bs-md-imamu-baraka-video-20180112-story.html


only 36.7 percent of respondents in the state approve of the job Trump is doing in office, compared with 58.7 percent who do not.
http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/368719-poll-trumps-approval-ratings-in-georgia-erode


Woman in Nepal dies after being exiled to outdoor hut during her period
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/jan/12/woman-nepal-dies-exiled-outdoor-hut-period-menstruation


Uber developed secret system to lock down staff computers in a police raid
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jan/11/uber-developed-secret-system-to-lock-down-staff-computers-in-a-police-raid

Links

people with intellectual disabilities — women and men — are the victims of sexual assaults at rates more than seven times those for people without disabilities
https://www.npr.org/2018/01/08/570224090/the-sexual-assault-epidemic-no-one-talks-about


Smoking iPhone battery forces Apple store evacuation
http://money.cnn.com/2018/01/09/technology/apple-iphone-battery-burning-smoke/index.html


U.S. Marshals Task Force accused of excessive force, cover up after shooting man 76 times
http://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/lawrenceville/us-marshals-task-force-accused-of-excessive-force-cover-up-after-shooting-man-76-times/85-506792680


Birth tourism brings Russian baby boom to Miami
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/birth-tourism-brings-russian-baby-boom-miami-n836121

2017 finished as the third-hottest year in the U.S. since NOAA records began

See the link below for a graph of the ten hottest years on record in the U.S.

http://www.climatecentral.org/gallery/graphics/10-hottest-us-years-on-record

Jan. 9, 2017

2017 finished as the third-hottest year in the U.S. since NOAA records began in 1895, with an average temperature 2.56°F above the 20th century mean.

Additional stats:

The four hottest years on record have come in the decade of the 2010s
Of the 10 hottest years on record, only two came before 1998 (1934, 1990)
The hottest locations, relative to normal, were in the Southeast and Southwest
Five states had their hottest year on record


•••••

Oceans play a dominant role in the earth’s long term temperature, with 93 percent of the energy from human-caused warming going into them. Even with the recent cold spell in the eastern half of the U.S., the ocean temperature in parts of the North Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico remains 2-5°F above the late 20th century average.

The warm ocean temperatures meant more moisture in the air, leading to more snow from the recent storm.

•••••

Links

Natural disasters cost a record-shattering $306 billion in 2017
https://www.axios.com/2017-was-the-most-expensive-year-on-record-1515433237-0a6aa784-96db-4fe8-a3a7-609c0a7a8b6c.html

Influenza kills 7-year-old boy; overcrowded hospitals forced to use tent
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/influenza-kills-year-boy-overcrowded-hospitals-forced-tents-52222306


Thousands of flying foxes die from heat, freaking people out as they fall from the sky
http://www.foxnews.com/science/2018/01/09/thousands-bats-are-boiled-alive-freaking-people-out-as-fall-from-sky.html

Tillerson and Mattis are reportedly trying to hold Trump back from striking North Korea

One has to wonder if Trump would do something like this to detract attention from something like important revelations from the Mueller investigation.

http://www.businessinsider.com/tillerson-mattis-trump-north-korea-strike-2018-1

Alex Lockie
Jan. 8, 2018

The Trump administration is debating a "bloody nose" attack on North Korea, recent reports say, with the president's inner circle split and apparently teetering between endorsing a strike and holding out hope for diplomacy.

Both The Telegraph and The Wall Street Journal have portrayed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis as trying to caution President Donald Trump against a strike, and the national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, as advocating it

•••••

Multiple outlets have reported in the past few months that Trump's team has considered replacing the secretary of state with Mike Pompeo, the current CIA director, who is thought to be on the hawkish side and could shift the balance of opinions in the Oval Office.

•••••

Trump to attend Davos economic forum

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/368102-trump-to-attend-davos-economic-forum

By Jordan Fabian - 01/09/18

President Trump plans to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, later this month, the White House announced Tuesday.

•••••

The forum, which brings together powerful politicians and business leaders, is scheduled to run from Jan. 23 to 26.

Trump, a billionaire businessman who won the presidency by running as an economic populist, would be one of only two U.S. presidents to ever attend the forum.

U.S. presidents typically do not attend the gathering in the ritzy Swiss Alps resort town, an effort to avoid being seen as too cozy with some of the world’s wealthiest individuals.

The only sitting president to appear in person at the Davos conference was Bill Clinton in 2000.

The U.S., however, typically sends a high-ranking delegation.

Vice President Joe Biden attended the forum on behalf of President Obama in 2017, just days before Trump’s inauguration.

•••••

Links

Imagine if Obama lost in 2008 and over the next year we learned that many of the top political journalists in the country were secretly Ku Klux Klansmen.

Some of the most powerful men in media, who shaped the overtly negative and sexist coverage of Hillary Clinton, have been exposed as sexual predators.
https://shareblue.com/7th-man-who-controlled-clinton-media-coverage-ousted-for-predatory-behavior/


https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jan/08/great-barrier-reef-rising-temperatures-turning-green-sea-turtles-female
Great Barrier Reef: rising temperatures turning green sea turtles female

7th man who controlled Clinton media coverage ousted for predatory behavior

And these men gave Trump a pass for lies and bad behaviour.

https://shareblue.com/7th-man-who-controlled-clinton-media-coverage-ousted-for-predatory-behavior/

By Oliver Willis | January 4, 2018

Steve Chaggaris, the political director for CBS News, was fired by the network after “accounts of inappropriate behavior” surfaced. In a statement, CBS News announced it had “severed ties with Mr. Chaggaris for violating company policy, effective immediately.”

Since 2012, Chaggaris served as the outlet’s senior political editor, then was promoted to political director in March 2017.

Chaggaris — like many other male journalists who have recently been outed, disciplined, and fired for sexually predatory behavior — was in a position to shape the extremely negative and often blatantly sexist coverage of Hillary Clinton’s historical presidential campaign.

As Rebecca Traister wrote in The New York Times, “Many of the male journalists who stand accused of sexual harassment were on the forefront of covering the presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.”

She added:

A pervasive theme of all of these men’s coverage of Mrs. Clinton was that she was dishonest and unlikable. These recent harassment allegations suggest that perhaps the problem wasn’t that Mrs. Clinton was untruthful or inherently hard to connect with, but that these particular men hold deep biases against women who seek power instead of sticking to acquiescent sex-object status.

Complaints about the sexist nature of Clinton coverage were often dismissed or minimized, despite the mainstream media’s well-documented pattern of such behavior.

Now with these firings and revelations, those concerns turned out to have been very real. Several of the men who were determining how to cover Clinton and which issues should receive the most focus — her emails, her trustworthiness, her likability — were at the very same time mistreating and abusing women.

In addition to Chaggaris, men at some of the nation’s most influential outlets — including NBC, CBS, The New York Times, and PBS — were setting up Clinton while misbehaving behind closed doors.

•••••

Ibuprofen linked to male infertility, study says

By Susan Scutti, CNN
Jan. 8, 2018

Ibuprofen has a negative impact on the testicles of young men, a study published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found. When taking ibuprofen in doses commonly used by athletes, a small sample of young men developed a hormonal condition that typically begins, if at all, during middle age. This condition is linked to reduced fertility.
Advil and Motrin are two brand names for ibuprofen, an over-the-counter pain reliever.

•••••

Jégou and a team of French and Danish researchers had been exploring the health effects when a mother-to-be took any one of three mild pain relievers found in medicine chests around the globe: aspirin, acetaminophen (also known as paracetamol and sold under the brand name Tylenol) and ibuprofen.

Their early experiments, published in several papers, showed that when taken during pregnancy, all three of these mild medicines affected the testicles of male babies.

•••••

a recent analysis published in the journal Human Reproduction Update found that sperm counts of men in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand are plunging. Researchers recorded a 52% decline in sperm concentration and a 59% decline in total sperm count over a nearly 40-year period ending in 2011.

•••••

"There is evidence that some medications are particularly harmful to the male reproductive system, including testosterone, opioids, antidepressants, antipsychotics, immune modulators and even the over-the-counter antacid cimetidine (Tagamet)," she said. "However, prescribing providers rarely mention these adverse effects with patients when prescribing these medications.

•••••

Links

How Actual Smart People Talk About Themselves
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/01/how-actual-smart-people-talk-about-themselves/549878/?utm_source=fbb


Unskilled and unaware of it: how difficulties in recognizing one's own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10626367


The mind-bending physics of Scandinavian sea-level change
http://sciencenordic.com/mind-bending-physics-scandinavian-sea-level-change

The Bottom of The Ocean Has Started Sinking Under The Weight of Melting Glaciers

PETER DOCKRILL
8 JAN 2018

Decades of measurements and predictions of sea level rise could have underestimated the scale of the problem, experts warn, due to scientists not accounting for the weighty, warping effects of our ever burgeoning oceans.

Existing assessments of sea level rise haven't factored in that as the total ocean mass increases due to melting glaciers and ice sheets, the weight of all that extra water pushes down on the sinking ocean floor, deforming the seabed – and disguising just how much the oceans are truly swelling.

"The Earth itself is not a rigid sphere, it's a deforming ball," geoscientist Thomas Frederikse from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands told Earther.

"With climate change, we do not only change temperature."

The implications, according to Frederikse and his team, is that as the ocean bottom subsides elastically, the actual increasing volume of the ocean – called barystatic sea level rise – is masked from measurements based on satellite observations.

That's because satellite readings only tell us one side of the story: geocentric sea level rise, as seen from the surface side.

•••••

Overall, the researchers say purely satellite-derived assessments of sea level rise for the period could have underestimated barystatic sea level rise by as much as 8 percent – which is definitely something we need to think about in the future, especially this hidden variable will only become more significant as the world gets hotter and sea level rise accelerates.

"In a future warming climate, the sea-level rise induced by ice sheets will increase, and therefore, the magnitude of the bias due to elastic ocean-bottom deformation will grow," the team writes.

•••••

Links

“The major difference between rats and people is that rats learn from experience.”
— B. F. Skinner


Temperatures In Australia Hit 117 Degrees As Sydney Sees Hottest Day In 78 Years
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sydney-sees-hottest-day-in-78-years_us_5a522adee4b089e14dbb94e0


Shaun Inguanzo from the Australian Red Cross Blood Service said most blood donations went to cancer patients — largely because chemotherapy destroyed their ability to create their own blood cells.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-07/dead-womans-heartfelt-call-for-blood-donations/9309530


Debunking the Tragedy of the Commons
https://news.cnrs.fr/opinions/debunking-the-tragedy-of-the-commons?utm_content=bufferdbbf0&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

California: Severe flu brings medicine shortages, packed ERs and a rising death toll

By Benjamin Oreskes and Shelby Grad
Jan 06, 2018

So many people have fallen sick with influenza in California that pharmacies have run out of flu medicines, emergency rooms are packed, and the death toll is outpacing that of previous years. Health officials said Friday that 27 people younger than 65 have died of the flu in California since October, compared with three at the same time last year. Los Angeles Times

Links

Dogs Left Outside In The Cold Have Died And Been Found ‘Frozen Solid’
https://www.yahoo.com/news/dogs-left-outside-cold-died-204224858.html


A top hospital knew this surgeon was accused of raping patients but kept him on staff, report says
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/01/05/a-top-hospital-knew-this-surgeon-was-accused-of-raping-patients-but-kept-him-on-staff-report-says/?utm_term=.594bfdf1f879


Michael Wolff Did What Every Other White House Reporter Is Too Cowardly to Do
https://www.gq.com/story/michael-wolff-white-house-trump-access



Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump
....Actually, throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart. Crooked Hillary Clinton also played these cards very hard and, as everyone knows, went down in flames. I went from VERY successful businessman, to top T.V. Star.....
....to President of the United States (on my first try). I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius....and a very stable genius at that!
4:27 AM - 6 Jan 2018


Blizzard snarls air traffic at JFK, as 2 planes collide and hundreds of flights are delayed
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/06/blizzard-snarls-air-traffic-at-jfk-as-2-planes-collide-and-hundreds-of-flights-are-delayed.html


Takata Recalls Another 3.3 Million Air Bags Under U.S. Order
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-06/takata-recalls-another-3-3-million-air-bags-under-u-s-order


How Would Jesus Drive?
[For sure, not like most of the people in the Atlanta area. I have long thought about getting a bumper sticker that says "How Would Drive?"]
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/04/opinion/how-would-jesus-drive.html?smid=fb-share


HP recalling laptop batteries over fire and burn risks
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/trending-now/hp-recalling-laptop-batteries-over-fire-and-burn-risks/677462527

Links

Alleged White Supremacist Is Charged With Terrorism After Stopping Amtrak Train
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/01/05/575960858/alleged-white-supremacist-is-charged-with-terrorism-after-stopping-amtrak-train


NASA: Hole in Earth's Ozone Layer Finally Closing Up Because Humans Did Something About It
http://www.newsweek.com/nasa-hole-earths-ozone-layer-finally-closing-humans-did-something-771922


Scientists have suggestions on how to study the Earth from space — if Congress will let them
https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/5/16851450/national-academies-earth-observations-decadal-survey-nasa-noaa-usgs


What Is This “Bomb Cyclone” Threatening the U.S.?
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-is-this-ldquo-bomb-cyclone-rdquo-threatening-the-u-s/


Why climate change may be to blame for dangerous cold blanketing eastern U.S.
"'Persistent' is the key word here, as overall we expect that record-breaking cold events will occur less often in the future but they will likely last longer," she wrote.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/weather/why-climate-change-may-be-blame-dangerous-cold-blanketing-eastern-n834986


Roy Moore accuser's Gadsden home burns; arson investigation underway
http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2018/01/roy_moore_accusers_home_burns.html

Links

North Korea Accidentally Hit Its Own City In Missile Test, Report Says
http://denver.cbslocal.com/2018/01/04/north-korea-missile-accident/


How to protect your PC from the major Meltdown and Spectre CPU flaws
https://www.pcworld.com/article/3245810/security/how-to-protect-your-pc-meltdown-spectre-cpu-flaws.html


Trump administration plans to allow oil and gas drilling off nearly all US coast
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jan/04/trump-administration-plans-to-allow-oil-and-gas-drilling-off-nearly-all-us-coast


Oceans suffocating as huge dead zones quadruple since 1950, scientists warn
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jan/04/oceans-suffocating-dead-zones-oxygen-starved


Moose set loose: Canada snowmobilers rescue animal buried in snow
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/04/moose-rescue-canada-snow


Common pesticide can make migrating birds lose their way, research shows
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/nov/29/common-pesticide-can-make-migrating-birds-lose-their-way-research-shows


If You're Not Paying for It, You're the Product
http://conversableeconomist.blogspot.com/2018/01/if-youre-not-paying-for-it-youre-product.html


Arkansas mosque forgives, pays fine of man who defaced its walls
http://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-tuesday-edition-1.4469931/arkansas-mosque-forgives-pays-fine-of-man-who-defaced-its-walls-1.4470595


The Republican Tax Plan Contains More Middle-Class Pain Than Even Its Critics Are Saying
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-republican-tax-plan-contains-more-middle-class-pain-than-even-its-critics-are-saying?mbid=social_facebook_aud_dev_kw_paid-the-republican-tax-plan-contains-more-middle-class-pain-than-even-its-critics-are-saying&kwp_0=610397&kwp_4=2164268&kwp_1=903983

Oceans suffocating as huge dead zones quadruple since 1950, scientists warn

Please consider donating to The Guardian to help them continue their investigative reporting.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jan/04/oceans-suffocating-dead-zones-oxygen-starved

Damian Carrington
Jan. 4, 2017

Ocean dead zones with zero oxygen have quadrupled in size since 1950, scientists have warned, while the number of very low oxygen sites near coasts have multiplied tenfold. Most sea creatures cannot survive in these zones and current trends would lead to mass extinction in the long run, risking dire consequences for the hundreds of millions of people who depend on the sea.

Climate change caused by fossil fuel burning is the cause of the large-scale deoxygenation, as warmer waters hold less oxygen. The coastal dead zones result from fertiliser and sewage running off the land and into the seas.

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The oceans feed more than 500 million people, especially in poorer nations, and provide jobs for 350 million people. But at least 500 dead zones have now been reported near coasts, up from fewer than 50 in 1950. Lack of monitoring in many regions means the true number may be much higher.

The open ocean has natural low oxygen areas, usually off the west coast of continents due to the way the rotation of the Earth affects ocean currents. But these dead zones have expanded dramatically, increasing by millions of square kilometres since 1950, roughly equivalent to the area of the European Union.

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Furthermore, the level of oxygen in all ocean waters is falling, with 2% – 77bn tonnes – being lost since 1950. This can reduce growth, impair reproduction and increase disease, the scientists warn. One irony is that warmer waters not only hold less oxygen but also mean marine organisms have to breathe faster, using up oxygen more quickly.

There are also dangerous feedback mechanisms. Microbes that proliferate at very low oxygen levels produce lots of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas that is 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

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Avoid Romaine Lettuce for Now, Consumer Reports Says

https://www.consumerreports.org/food-safety/avoid-romaine-lettuce-for-now/

By Trisha Calvo
January 03, 2018



Over the past seven weeks, 58 people in the U.S. and Canada have become ill from a dangerous strain of E. coli bacteria, likely from eating romaine lettuce. In the U.S., the infections have occurred in 13 states (California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Vermont, and Washington state). Five people in the U.S. have been hospitalized and one has died, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). There has also been one death in Canada.

Canadian health authorities identified romaine lettuce as the source of the outbreak in Canada, and are advising people in the country’s eastern provinces to consider eating other types of salad greens until further notice. In the U.S., government health officials are investigating the outbreaks, but have stopped short of recommending people avoid romaine lettuce or any other food.



This strain of E. coli (0157:H7) produces a toxin that in some cases can lead to serious illness, kidney failure, and even death.

That’s why Consumer Reports' food safety experts are advising that consumers stop eating romaine lettuce until the cause of the outbreak is identified and the offending product is removed from store shelves.

“Even though we can’t say with 100 percent certainty that romaine lettuce is the cause of the E. coli outbreak in the U.S., a greater degree of caution is appropriate given that lettuce is almost always consumed raw,” says James Rogers, Ph.D., Director of Food Safety and Research at Consumer Reports.

While anyone can get sick if they are infected with E. coli 0157:H7, young children, the elderly, and anyone who has a condition (such as cancer or diabetes) that weakens the immune system are at greater risk. “People in these groups should be particularly vigilant about avoiding romaine lettuce,” says Rogers.

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Links

25% of Earth will be drier even if Paris climate targets met, study predicts
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/global-warming-aridification-1.4469440


Newspaper exec says he’s sorry for spanking reporters and calling one a ‘bad girl’
http://www.kansascity.com/news/nation-world/article192705319.html

USDA secretary announces halt on school nutrition standards

https://www.csmonitor.com/EqualEd/2017/0502/USDA-secretary-announces-halt-on-school-nutrition-standards?cmpid=FB

Weston Williams
Christian Science Monitor
May 2, 2017

United States Department of Agriculture secretary Sonny Perdue has had a busy first week. Only six days after his appointment to the new position, Mr. Perdue announced Monday that he would roll back Obama-era school nutrition standards, a move that has prompted criticism from a number of nutrition experts around the country.

Perdue called for a relaxation of the standards in the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act introduced in 2010, which had been championed by both former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama. The rollback would reduce whole-grain requirements, allow higher levels of sodium entrees, and restore higher-fat and sweetened milk to school cafeterias nationwide.

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"[Studies show] that for some students it's the only nutritious food consumed throughout the day," Ms. Griffin tells The Christian Science Monitor in an email.

And for many poor students, a school lunch is the only meal that can be counted on as a regular source of food, she adds, making school food nutrition an important social and nutritional component of young children's lives – something that she says cannot simply be ignored to make things a little easier on school pocketbooks.

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Rent for the Poor Really Is Too High

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-12-27/rent-for-the-poor-really-is-too-high

by Noah Smith
December 27, 2017

Are poor Americans doing better than they used to, or worse? It’s hard to know, because so many important things in life -- social status, emotional health, human relationships -- can’t be measured. But in purely material terms, many things have improved.

Homelessness is down. Government assistance to families with children has lowered the official child poverty rate. Hunger has fallen as well. Though the country doesn’t do a great job at providing the poor with health care, things have improved marginally since the Affordable Care Act went into effect. What’s more, most of the poor now possess items that you would find in most middle-class households; according to a 2011 Census report, 53 percent of households in the lowest income quintile have a computer, 65 percent have a clothes dryer, and 38 percent have a washer, dryer, refrigerator, stove, dishwasher and a telephone.

However, there is at least one way in which poor American families are being increasingly squeezed -- the rent. A new research note from the Federal Reserve Board’s Jeff Larrimore and Jenny Schuetz of the Brookings Institution shows a combination of rising rents and falling incomes among the poorest fifth of households.

Though a substantial number of Americans of all income groups are homeowners, poor Americans are more likely to rent:

In real terms, the rent paid by low-income households has risen modestly -- about 9 percent. Meanwhile, real income for the bottom fifth fell by about the same amount. Squeezed between smaller paychecks and higher rents, the poor have less and less money each month to spend.

Larimore and Schuetz estimate that poor American households pay more than 55 percent of their earnings in rent, compared with less than 30 percent for households in the second-lowest quintile. Despite much public outcry over rising rents in the U. S., most non-poor households are still able to afford shelter without a severe economic burden.

More money spent on rent means less for everything else. Larimore and Schuetz find that the average household in the bottom fifth has only $476 to spend every month after paying rent:

This is down from about $600 a month at the turn of the century, in inflation-adjusted terms.

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But as Schuetz notes, those big rent burdens harm poor households in ways not reflected in their cash spending. When you pay more than half of your income in rent, even a small or temporary dip in earning can be enough to put you out on the street.

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Small wonder, then, that lack of affordable housing leaves permanent scars on children who experience it. Having a secure place to sleep is one of the most basic human needs -- it has not changed since the first caveman crawled under a rock to escape the rain.

So how can the U.S. solve the housing problem for its poorer citizens?

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Links

Hawaiian Airlines Flight Takes Off In 2018, Lands In 2017
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hawaiian-airlines-flight-date-line_us_5a4a844de4b06d1621ba2314


Drinking alcohol produces a harmful chemical in the body which can lead to permanent genetic damage in the DNA of stem cells, increasing the risk of cancer developing, according to research published on Wednesday.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-cancer-alcohol/how-alcohol-damages-stem-cell-dna-and-increases-cancer-risk-idUSKBN1ES1N2


Santa Rosa, California Woman Reunites 'Fire Cats' And Owners After Northern California Wildfires
http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2018/01/03/northern-california-wildfires-cats


2017 was the second-hottest year on record according to Nasa data, and was the hottest year without the short-term warming influence of an El Niño event:
https://skepticalscience.com/2017-hottest-year-wo-El-Nino.html


Kids these days are more obsessed with perfection than many previous generations were, and this obsession is associated with increased depression and anxiety, according to a new study published in Psychological Bulletin.
Kids these days are more obsessed with perfection than many previous generations were, and this obsession is associated with increased depression and anxiety, according to a new study published in Psychological Bulletin.

Humidity may prove breaking point for some areas as temperatures rise

It will also be dangerous to plants and animals.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-12/teia-hmp122017.php

Public Release: 22-Dec-2017
Humidity may prove breaking point for some areas as temperatures rise, says study
From US south to China, heat stress could exceed human endurance
The Earth Institute at Columbia University

Climate scientists say that killer heat waves will become increasingly prevalent in many regions as climate warms. However, most projections leave out a major factor that could worsen things: humidity, which can greatly magnify the effects of heat alone. Now, a new global study projects that in coming decades the effects of high humidity in many areas will dramatically increase. At times, they may surpass humans' ability to work or, in some cases, even survive. Health and economies would suffer, especially in regions where people work outside and have little access to air conditioning. Potentially affected regions include large swaths of the already muggy southeastern United States, the Amazon, western and central Africa, southern areas of the Mideast and Arabian peninsula, northern India and eastern China.

"The conditions we're talking about basically never occur now--people in most places have never experienced them," said lead author Ethan Coffel, a graduate student at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. "But they're projected to occur close to the end of the century." The study will appears this week in the journal Environmental Research Letters.

Warming climate is projected to make many now-dry areas dryer, in part by changing precipitation patterns. But by the same token, as global temperatures rise, the atmosphere can hold more water vapor. That means chronically humid areas located along coasts or otherwise hooked into humid-weather patterns may only get more so. And, as many people know, muggy heat is more oppressive than the "dry" kind. That is because humans and other mammals cool their bodies by sweating; sweat evaporates off the skin into the air, taking the excess heat with it. It works nicely in the desert. But when the air is already crowded with moisture--think muggiest days of summer in the city--evaporation off the skin slows down, and eventually becomes impossible. When this cooling process halts, one's core body temperature rises beyond the narrow tolerable range. Absent air conditioning, organs strain and then start to fail. The results are lethargy, sickness and, in the worst conditions, death.

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"It's not just about the heat, or the number of people. It's about how many people are poor, how many are old, who has to go outside to work, who has air conditioning," said study coauthor Alex deSherbinin of Columbia's Center for International Earth Science Information Network. De Sherbinin said that even if the weather does not kill people outright or stop all activity, the necessity of working on farms or in other outdoor pursuits in such conditions can bring chronic kidney problems and other damaging health effects. "Obviously, the tropics will suffer the greatest," he said. Questions of how human infrastructure or natural ecosystems might be affected are almost completely unexplored, he said.

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