"More than 500 authors have signed a letter supporting members of the HarperCollins Union, who are currently on strike. The signees include HarperCollins' own authors and those associated with other publishers, including names such as Barbara Kingsolver, Jacqueline Woodson, Kwame Alexander, and more."
"A Tokyo company aimed for the moon with its own private lander Sunday, blasting off atop a SpaceX rocket with the United Arab Emirates' first lunar rover and a toylike robot from Japan that's designed to roll around up there in the gray dust."
"Truck manufacturers and an industry trade group privately lobbied to weaken U.S. climate policies while publicly promoting zero-emissions trucks, according to a new report from a think tank that tracks corporate influence on climate policy."
"State officials have delayed approving an expansion for a wood pellet plant in northeastern North Carolina while they consider concerns about how the plant affects the environment and nearby communities of color."
"A winter storm packing powerful winds, heavy rain and potentially several feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada shut down mountain highways, toppled trees and triggered flood watches and avalanche warnings on Saturday from the coast of Northern California to Lake Tahoe."
"I've heard all the supposed arguments. It seems every time anything even tangentially related to electric cars is published, certain people feel compelled to share their own research. You've probably heard it all, too: A Prius is worse for the planet than a Hummer. EVs are coal-powered cars. Electric cars produce more CO2 than internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. Lithium mining is uniquely bad for the environment. Cobalt mining relies largely on slave labor, if not child slave labor. Actually, that last part is sadly true. But the rest? Lies."
"The Keystone pipeline spill in a creek running through rural pastureland in Washington County, Kansas, about 150 miles northwest of Kansas City, also was the biggest in the system's history, according to U.S. Department of Transportation data. The operator, Canada-based TC Energy, said the pipeline that runs from Canada to Oklahoma lost about 14,000 barrels, or 588,000 gallons."
"Two lead sarcophaguses discovered buried under the nave at Notre Dame Cathedral in what was described as an “extraordinary and emotional” find have begun giving up their secrets, French scientists announced on Friday."
"But today the Dead Sea is dying, and its banks are collapsing. The water level is dropping close to 4 feet every year. The main part of the lake is now around 950 feet deep — about 15% shallower, and a third of the surface area, compared to its shape half a century ago."
"Public health officials are revisiting the topic of indoor masking, as three highly contagious respiratory viruses take hold during the holiday season… Over the past few weeks, a surge in cases of COVID, the flu and respiratory syncytial virus — known as RSV — has been sickening millions of Americans, overwhelming emergency rooms and even causing a cold medicine shortage. The triple threat has been called a 'tripledemic' by some health experts."
"The jet transformed an industry, bringing luxurious amenities and lengthy nonstop flights to the masses — all in a design that was both enormous and elegant. But the reign of the mighty 747 has ended, and Boeing says the last plane left its assembly line this week, after 54 years of production."
A Planet Money podcast on… "Jelle says that these are custom-built. Each one costs nearly 500 dollars. And Jelle has a problem with his cheese racks. Once the cheese is sold, the racks are supposed to be returned to him. But out of the 2000 or so racks his company owns, he can only account for a couple dozen. Even in this friendly industry, Jelle's customers are just not returning the racks."
"Lee is one of the quarter of Americans who live in multigenerational households. According to a 2021 Pew Research study, such arrangements (defined as two or more adult generations living together) have been on the rise for the past 50 years. The trend is growing fastest among those between ages 25 and 34." Oh look, it's the 90s again.
"Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Moscow could adopt what he described as a U.S. concept of using preemptive military strikes, noting it has the weapons to do the job, in a blunt statement amid rising Russia-NATO tensions over Ukraine." Ah, more saber rattling. This really doesn't change Russia's nuclear strategy, it's just Vladi thinking he is being clever. Also note the reason for retaining first strike options, because launching a response would be severely limited. This is because, again, there is no such thing as a limited nuclear strike. If you've decided to use them, the only logical step is to launch everything all at once.
"Pregnant patients with diabetes, like Petranek, have elevated risks of birth defects, preterm birth, preeclampsia and more. 'Even though my diabetes is well managed, it's always a risk,' she says. And in places that ban abortion, care for complications can be more difficult to access if doctors and nurses are nervous about being accused of violating the law."
"U.S. authorities have apprehended a Libyan man suspected of constructing the bomb that destroyed a passenger plane over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988, killing 270 people, including 190 Americans."
"A makeshift new barrier built with shipping containers is being illegally erected along part of the US-Mexico border by Arizona’s Republican governor – before he has to hand over the keys of his office to his Democratic successor in January… Doug Ducey is driving a project that is placing double-stacked old shipping containers through several miles of national forest, attempting to fill gaps in Donald Trump’s intermittent border fencing."
"A 2020 story about Hunter Biden's hacked laptop keeps finding its way back into the news cycle. On this week's On the Media, a look at Elon Musk's so-called Twitter Files and whether they’re newsworthy. Plus, the meteoric rise and fraught future of HBO, which turned 50 this year."
"The Florida lawmaker who sponsored the controversial law critics call “Don’t Say Gay” resigned on Thursday, one day after authorities announced his indictment on charges of defrauding a federal coronavirus loan program for small businesses."
"The first Gen Z member of Congress was denied a D.C. apartment due to bad credit."
"That said, there is, of course, some speculation on the matter, with the most prominent rumor pertaining to the lawmaker's presence at the 2021 Met Gala. At the time, Ocasio-Cortez instantly ruffled feathers with her designer "Tax the Rich" dress, a (somewhat ironic) message upon which Republicans instantly seized. But two ethics complaints later followed, alleging the lawmaker broke the House's Gift Rule by accepting what may have been free tickets to the gala and/or by wearing the designer dress. Further, if Ocasio-Cortez "used campaign funds to pay for this ticket, she has also violated FEC prohibitions on campaign funds being used for entertainment purposes," Thomas Jones, founder of the conservative American Accountability Foundation, added in his complaint."
"Sinema told Politico she will not caucus with Republicans. She also said she won't attend weekly Democratic Caucus meetings, but rarely does that now. And she wrote in her op-ed that becoming an independent won't change her work in the Senate, adding that 'my service to Arizona remains the same.'" I'm sure it's totally not about fending off a primary challenge from the left.
Wait, Originalism might be at odds with the current conservative ideology? Well, time for a new legal theory… "In conservative legal circles, Vermeule has become the most prominent proponent of 'common good constitutionalism,' a controversial new theory that challenges many of the fundamental premises and principles of the conservative legal movement. The cornerstone of Vermeule’s theory is the claim that “the central aim of the constitutional order is to promote good rule, not to ‘protect liberty’ as an end in itself” — or, in layman’s terms, that the Constitution empowers the government to pursue conservative political ends, even when those ends conflict with individual rights as most Americans understand them." Originalism was a bullshit theory. This new one is even deeper in the manure pile.
"The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol is planning to release its final report and a hold a "formal presentation," which could include a hearing, the week of Dec. 19. Specifically, members are eyeing the date of Dec. 21, according to sources familiar with the panel's proceedings."
An On the Media Podcast mini-series called the Divide Dial about AM talk radio, its conservative leanings, and it's rise in America. The podcast is in 5 episodes (IIRC). Episode 1, "We meet the company whose hosts never backed down from the lies of the stolen 2020 election: Salem Media Group, the largest Christian, conservative multimedia company in the country – and perhaps the most influential media company you’ve never heard of." Episode 2: From Pulpit to Politics, Episode 3 - The Liberal Bias Boogeyman, and Episode 4 - From The Extreme to The Mainstream. Episode 5 will most likely post in the middle of this week.
No comments:
Post a Comment