Mark Shields, and so it goes.
"Authorities fear that if it doesn’t rain soon, there’ll be a serious shortage of water for drinking and irrigation for farmers and local populations across the whole of northern Italy."
"At least 18 people have died as massive floods ravaged northeastern India and Bangladesh, leaving millions of homes underwater and severing transport links, authorities said Saturday."
"Spain is seeing its hottest early summer temperatures, one area of France banned outdoor events, and drought stalked Italian farmers as a heatwave sent Europeans hunting for shade and fretting over climate change."
"When the temperature readings started to come through from Antarctic weather stations in early March, scientists at first thought there might have been some mistake. Temperatures, which should have been cooling rapidly as the south pole’s brief summer faded, were soaring – at the Vostok station, about 800 miles from the geographic south pole, thermometers recorded a massive 15C hotter than the previous all-time record, while at Terra Nova coastal base the water hovered above freezing, unheard of for the time of year."
"With both soaring energy prices and a warming planet weighing on the world at the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, Biden talked about trying to ease the pain of high gas prices while pushing more long-term green policies."
"It was a big moment for Schmidt, but maybe an even bigger one for Ford. This wasn't just any F-150 Lightning – it was the very first one to be delivered to an actual buyer… Ford and other legacy U.S. auto makers are investing billions of dollars in developing electric vehicles in a mad dash to catch up to market leader Tesla, which accounted for 70% of new electric vehicles registered in the U.S. last year."
"With the polar bear species in a fight for survival because of disappearing Arctic sea ice, a new distinct group of Greenland bears seem to have stumbled on an icy oasis that might allow a small remote population to 'hang on.'… But it’s far from 'a life raft' for the endangered species that has long been a symbol of climate change, scientists said." Now all we have to do is introduce glaciation throughout the Arctic coast line.
"'We found that the ancient strains from Kyrgyzstan are positioned exactly at the node of this massive diversification event,' said Maria Spyrou, a researcher on disease history at the University of Tuebingen in Germany and lead author of the report. 'In other words, we found the Black Death’s source strain and we even know its exact date (1338).'"
"A panel of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's outside vaccine advisers voted unanimously Saturday to recommend COVID-19 vaccines for children as young as 6 months old, clearing one of the last hurdles to expanding eligibility to 20 million babies, toddlers, and preschoolers."
"With this data in hand, Al-Aly, who is based at the VA St. Louis Healthcare System in Missouri, and his colleagues have delved into the long-term effects of COVID-19, from cardiovascular illness1 to diabetes2. They have also undertaken the challenge of studying long COVID — a condition in which people experience symptoms months after an acute SARS-CoV-2 infection seems to have resolved — and recently published findings3 that surprised some researchers. The team found that previous vaccination only reduces the risk of developing long COVID after infection by about 15%, which is substantially less than some other estimates4, which suggested that vaccines halved the risk."
"Some lost their homes. Some emptied their retirement accounts. Some struggled to feed and clothe their families. Medical debt now touches more than 100 million people in America, as the U.S. health care system pushes patients into debt on a mass scale. People from all walks of life and all corners of the country are living with health care debt… Here are their stories — how they got into debt, what they've given up for it and how they're living with the burden."
"A gallon of regular gas costs just under $5 in the U.S. — still much higher than a year ago, but it's also the first time in nine weeks that the weekly national average has fallen."
"The Bank of England will raise interest rates more aggressively to tackle soaring living costs if there are signs of inflation becoming persistently higher for longer than expected, its chief economist has warned."
"The cryptocurrency world is in chaos… Just months ago, crypto companies were advertising heavily during the Super Bowl after virtual currencies enjoyed a dizzying rally in 2021."
"Chinese residents are required to have the health app, which displays a code indicating their health status, including possible exposure to COVID-19. A green code is required to use public transportation and to enter locations such as offices, restaurants and malls. But some depositors at the banks in central Henan province said their codes were turned red to stop them."
On surviving as a dickish employer… "In the Inland Empire region of California, for example, Amazon may cycle through every worker who’d be interested in applying for a warehouse job by the end of 2022, the internal report warned. One of the reasons is that Amazon is increasingly finding itself in a bidding war for workers with rivals in the area, which is a key logistics region because it is within a two-hour drive of 20 million potential customers and two of the largest container ports in the US." Seeing an over 100% attrition is frankly, startling. In the 80s when I worked in fast food we had a 33% attrition rate and that was considered exceptionally bad. I mean, no wonder the reporting on this report shows some signs of HR making a power move within Amazon's corporate structure. HR must be a significant budget item to keep up with that churn. Also it shows that Amazon has accepted its place as a "trainer" job. That is people get hired, get trained in how to work in fulfillment, and then quickly move on to another job. That's unsustainable (trust me, I've had to fix that problem in other jobs). You want to be able to keep prices down while increasing employment, Amazon? You should do a study about how much it would save you to not be dicks to your employees and get below a 10% attrition rate for your warehouse workers. The savings in recruitment, training, HR staffing, and increasing the tribal knowledge of your floor employees could probably double your profits. Unionization is probably the thing that will save your sorry asses. (Grokked from John)
"The world of PC game collecting has yet to attract the kind of eye-popping, seven-figure-dollar sales seen with some rare Nintendo games. Still, a committed collecting community has developed around older PC titles, with some people paying thousands of dollars for intact disks, packaging, and materials of computer games from the '70s, '80s, and '90s. Collector Stephane Racle told Ars that games that used to sell for tens of dollars now routinely go for 'hundreds' on sites like eBay." Where there's money to be made, grifters won't be far behind.
"A federal appeals court on Friday rejected a Trump administration finding that the active ingredient in the weed killer Roundup does not pose a serious health risk and is 'not likely' to cause cancer in humans." In truth, the actions of the Trump era EPA only extended the economic life of glyphosate a few years. See, with it's overuse on crops that were genetically modified to withstand its application, weeds are also now resistant to its use. Life finds a way. And this is why the fight has changed to dicamba.
"Earlier iterations of Patriot Front and the Proud Boys were among the neo-Nazi factions who sought to intimidate the Charlottesville, Va., community at the "Unite the Right" rally in 2017… So, why would members of a white supremacist group — many of whom, in the case of the Idaho event, had traveled from other states — choose to target a local Pride event?"
"FINA, the world governing body for swimming, has voted to effectively ban transgender women from participating in women's swimming competitions… The vote — with 71.5% approval at the FINA Extraordinary General Congress 2022 in Budapest — was the latest salvo in an ongoing fight over whether trans athletes should compete according to their gender identity or their sex assigned at birth."
"Two Uvalde city police officers passed up a fleeting chance to shoot a gunman outside Robb Elementary School before he went on to kill 21 people inside the school, a senior sheriff’s deputy told The New York Times."
"Mental health organizations are assembling a collection of services to assist those who seek help in Uvalde. But there have been hiccups and hitches along the way."
"This is one thing Reinholdt, Polk-Hoffses and Boyea-Logan are all warning of: A possible exodus of teachers in the summer."
"Russian forces have stepped up the shelling of areas on the outskirts of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, but its ground forces did not make any attempts at breaking the defensive lines, Ukranian officials said."
"President Vladimir Putin said at Russia’s showpiece investment conference Friday that the country’s economy will overcome 'reckless and insane' sanctions, while condemning the United States for acting like 'God’s own messengers on planet Earth.'" Russia's inflation rate is double ours, and that's after being brought "under control."
"They were the big winners of France's elections, tearing apart President Emmanuel Macron's majority… The broad left-wing alliance under Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Marine Le Pen's far right were described as a pincer movement from the extremes by our Paris correspondent Hugh Schofield… They are poles apart but have largely the same ambition of opposing the centrist Macron government… For veteran far-left leader Mr Mélenchon the success of the New Ecological and Social Popular Union (Nupes) was in achieving the "total rout" of an 'arrogant' president in less than a month." Now you'll have to govern.
"The outcome of the legislative election is highly unusual in France and the strong performance of both Le Pen's National Rally and Melenchon's coalition — composed of his own hard-left party, France Unbowed, the Socialists, Greens and Communists — will make it harder for Macron to implement the agenda he was reelected on in May, including tax cuts and raising France's retirement age from 62 to 65." With a little more in-depth on the stakes.
"In mid-May, the town council approved the wearing of full body-covering bathing suits, commonly known as the burkini, in Grenoble's public municipal pools. Piolle said there was simply no reason to ban them… The backlash was immediate. In a TV interview, far-right leader Marine Le Pen called the full body-covering swimsuit a threat to French secularism and beyond."
"China successfully conducted an anti-ballistic missile test on Sunday night, according to the country's Defense Ministry, part of ongoing military efforts to enhance the country's defensive capabilities."
"The Iowa Supreme Court on Friday cleared the way for lawmakers to severely limit or ban abortion in the state, reversing a decision by the court just four years ago that guaranteed the right to abortion under the Iowa Constitution… The court, now composed almost entirely of Republican appointees, concluded that a less conservative court wrongly decided abortion is among the fundamental privacy rights guaranteed by the Iowa Constitution and federal law."
"Seven staff members from The Late Show with Stephen Colbert were arrested for allegedly trespassing in a Capitol Hill building on Thursday night, authorities have said. All seven were each charged with unlawful entry."
"President Biden fell when he tried to get off his bike at the end of a ride Saturday at Cape Henlopen State Park near his beach home in Delaware, but wasn't hurt in the tumble."
"The Democratic primary battle for Georgia secretary of state – the top elections official in a critical swing state – may come down to questions about how party faithful view diversity and the representation of Black women."
"For the first time in four years, Texas Republicans met in person at their state party convention over the weekend. And boy, did they make up for lost time." Also, not stated in the article, they approved a platform plank to call for a succession vote for Texas. But the one plank where they say that Biden was not legitimately elected is the most dangerous. Every single one who voted for that should not be allowed to hold office.
Previews… "A standoff over the security of voting machines between a Republican-leaning county in New Mexico and Democratic state officials that threatened to erupt into a wider political crisis was defused Friday after local commissioners voted to certify their election results."
"Former Trump White House official Peter Navarro pleaded not guilty Friday to contempt of Congress charges after refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol."
"What we know about Pence’s actions leading up to and during (January 6):" Mike Pence's no good, very bad day.
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