"The Inkubator is Literary Cleveland’s free annual festival for writers and readers. Generate new writing, improve your craft, and advance your career." Full disclosure, I know some of the presenters and panelists.
"Book publishers just spent 3 weeks in court arguing they have no idea what they’re doing."
Mur Lafferty and Alasdair Stuart talk about the trial and some of the brouhaha surrounding it on the Ditch Diggers podcast.
"While no humans will be aboard NASA's Artemis I mission, the Orion spacecraft won't be empty. Snoopy, Girl Scout badges, LEGO minifigures and tree seeds are just some of the thousands of mementos that will be aboard when the mission launches Monday."
"Authorities in Nebraska are trying to determine who released 16 million gallons of water by opening a dam on an irrigation channel one night this month — and why."
"The rule, issued by the California Air Resources Board, will require that 100 percent of all new cars sold in the state by 2035 be free of the fossil fuel emissions chiefly responsible for warming the planet, up from 12 percent today. It sets interim targets requiring that 35 percent of new passenger vehicles sold in the state by 2026 produce zero emissions. That would climb to 68 percent by 2030." Why hasn't Arizona gone solar?
"The race now is for automakers to increase the production of electric vehicles, but that alone won't be enough… Analysts say the industry faces several challenges in ending sales of gas-powered cars by 2035." A really bad piece of reporting by NPR. The first problem they point to is "The average price of an electric vehicle is currently $66,000 — well beyond the means of many people." This is a industry talking point. The base model Ford Lightning comes in at $48,000 ($40,000 with the tax benefit). The base model Chevy Bolt comes in at $30,000. And the base model of the Nissan Leaf is about the same. Are these cheap? No. And this doesn't include the electrical work your house might need (if older), but that $60,000 figure is including a class of cars that are now out of the range of the average buyer. As for their other concerns, yes, those were true… five years ago. This is a press release for the gasoline car industry.
"Today, a paper is being published that appears to offer a low price combined with a big boost in several of those measures. The aluminum-sulfur batteries it describes offer low-priced raw materials, competitive size, and more capacity per weight than lithium-ion—with the big plus of fully charging cells in far less than a minute. The one obvious problem it has right now is that it needs to be at 90° C (nearly the boiling point of water) to work." (Grokked from John)
"The state of Utah is suing the Biden administration over its restoration of the original boundaries of two large national monuments — Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante — after former President Trump slashed protections for them in 2017." Of course they are.
"It’s a story being played out on shorelines all around the world as once idyllic beach communities are washing away, and residents are struggling to adapt… But a partial solution being tried around the world is also being done here: establishing oyster colonies to form natural barriers that blunt the force of waves and help stabilize eroding shorelines."
"As the Colorado River shrinks, the seven states in the western United States that rely on it for water and power need to cut their use dramatically to keep the biggest reservoirs from getting critically low, according to federal analysts… But a recent deadline for a plan to conserve an unprecedented amount of water came and went without many specifics from either the states or the federal government on how to achieve the cutbacks."
"It's not often you find a bright side to drought, but in Texas, the heat and lack of rain have uncovered dinosaur tracks from 113 million years ago… The tracks were unveiled at Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose, Texas — about an hour's drive from Fort Worth. The park is known for its dinosaur tracks, but these newer ones are usually covered with water from the Paluxy River and aren't visible."
"That means as billions of dollars in new federal funding becomes available to address the problem (of underground lead pipes), some places are in a better position than others to quickly apply for funds and start digging… Those that wait are at risk of being left behind." Not surprised.
"Google employees are receiving regular notifications from management of Covid-19 infections, causing some to question the company’s return-to-office mandates… The employees, who spoke with CNBC on the condition of anonymity, said since they have been asked to return to offices, infections notifications pop up in their email inboxes regularly. Employees are reacting with frustration and memes." Now do hospitals. Two weeks ago we only had 1 notification. That's a record low.
"A Colorado mother accused of plotting to kidnap her son from foster care after her teen daughter said she started associating with supporters of the QAnon conspiracy theory was found guilty of conspiracy to commit second-degree kidnapping on Friday."
"Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts on Sunday slammed Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for suggesting interest rates should go up to combat inflation in the US, saying he could 'tip this economy into recession.'" Well, that's exactly how the Fed controls inflation.
"Chaz Andrews has wanted to join the Army since he was 19, but he has failed the service’s academic test more than 10 times over the past decade… Now, at age 29, Andrews thinks he has a real shot to pass, thanks to a new Army program that gives lower-performing recruits up to 90 days of academic or fitness instruction to help them meet military standards."
"The Columbus school board and the district's teachers' union have reached a 'conceptual agreement' to end the strike that began Monday… The Columbus Education Association said the agreement was reached Thursday at 2:38 a.m., more than 13 hours after negotiations began on Wednesday afternoon."
"Almost a month has passed since the winning numbers were drawn in the $1.34 billion Mega Millions lottery, but the lucky person who won has yet to come forward and claim the prize… While you might think that the winner would come forward immediately, lottery officials say it's not unheard of for there to be some time between when the numbers are drawn and when the winner comes forward."
"Severe rains and flooding have killed at least 1,033 people, including 348 children, and left 1,527 more injured in Pakistan since mid-June, officials said on Sunday… The country's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) added that 119 people had died and 71 injured in the last 24 hours alone."
"Six of the 43 college students 'disappeared' in 2014 were allegedly kept alive in a warehouse for days then turned over to the local army commander who ordered them killed, the Mexican government official leading a Truth Commission said Friday… Interior Undersecretary Alejandro Encinas made the shocking revelation directly tying the military to one of Mexico's worst human rights scandals, and it came with little fanfare as he made a lengthy defense of the commission's report released a week earlier."
"Four Iranian-backed militia members were killed in U.S. strikes in Syria on Wednesday in response to attacks by the group in recent weeks, the U.S. military said Thursday."
"The death toll from an accident when a truck drove off a dike and slammed into a community barbecue in a village south of Rotterdam rose to six Sunday and police said a further seven people are in hospital, including one in critical condition."
"Hospitals and doctors around the country are facing harassment and even death threats over the medical care they offer to transgender kids. In many cases, they have been the subject of posts by a Twitter account called Libs of TikTok, as well as stories in conservative media outlets casting gender-affirming care as child abuse and mutilation."
"All but two states have so-called 'pay-to-stay' laws that make prisoners pay for their time behind bars, though not every state actually pursues people for the money. Supporters say the collections are a legitimate way for states to recoup millions of taxpayer dollars spent on prisons and jails."
"Earlier this month, residents and business owners filed a lawsuit against the city of Phoenix. They say city leaders aren’t doing enough to address a growing encampment of people experiencing homelessness. That growth has been explosive in the past year, as the number of unsheltered people living there has more than tripled… Just a few blocks from Arizona’s Capitol building, the streets are lined with shopping carts, blankets and discarded furniture." Of the many problems with this reporting is this, "'It’s a little bit dangerous too,' (a cleaner) said. 'We’ve seen a lot of people get shot, get killed around here too. You just gotta be careful around here.'" Yet there is no check on actual statistics. Have there been more killings, or is this just the common perception of people that these places would "naturally" have more crime and this person is just expressing that belief? We don't know.
"Fox Corp CEO Lachlan Murdoch is suing the owner of a small Australian political news site for defamation over a column that held him responsible for the rhetoric on Fox News ahead of the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol last year."
"Texas politicians and CEOs often tout the state as 'low-tax' because workers here aren't forced to pay the local government a percentage of their income, in contrast to places like California. However, recently resurfaced data shows that may only apply if you're a wealthy resident here. A popular post recently shared on Reddit's main economic forum displayed a graphic that explained how Texans actually pay more in taxes than Californians do, unless those Texans are in the top one percent of all earners." Just more of the upside down world conservatives live in.
"Many of the individuals recently charged by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' new election crimes unit told investigators they had no idea that with their felony convictions, they were unable to vote when they cast ballots in the 2020 election… Their experiences shed new light on Florida's controversial program for felons to restore their voting rights." All of these cases have already been discovered.
"New findings from university researchers and Google, however, reveal that one of the most promising responses to misinformation may also be one of the simplest… In a paper published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, the researchers detail how short online videos that teach basic critical thinking skills can make people better able to resist misinformation."
"Congressman Adam Kinzinger, the Illinois Republican who has been one of the most vocal critics of Donald Trump, called out his party for criticizing Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while continuing to defend the former president’s decision to take sensitive government information to his home at Mar-a-Lago."
"The Office of the Director of National Intelligence will review materials taken from former President Donald Trump's home in Florida for potential national security risks… A spokesperson for ODNI told NPR that intelligence leaders will assess what level of harm could come from releasing documents seized from Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort."
"Many of the GOP’s biggest donors are among those who funneled anonymous contributions to former U.N ambassador Nikki Haley’s nonprofit as she lays the groundwork for a prospective 2024 presidential bid, according to previously unreported tax documents obtained by POLITICO."
"President Joe Biden on Wednesday named Kim Cheatle, a veteran Secret Service official, to be the agency's next director as it faces controversy over missing text messages around the time thousands of supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol."
Set up… "A judge ruled Thursday that an Arizona initiative expanding voting access and rolling back a host of restrictions enacted by the Republican-controlled Arizona Legislature and GOP Gov. Doug Ducey will be on the November ballot, barring a successful appeal to the state Supreme Court, which ordered the judge to explain his ruling."
Chaser… "A voter initiative rolling back Republican-backed election law changes and expanding voting access will not appear on the November ballot, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled Friday, issuing a final death knell after an on-again off-again series of court rulings."
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