"Bernt’s words are an echo of those commonly cited by wind power’s opponents, with arguments often hinging on the idea that wind developers under-deliver on their promises. Unpicking facts from fiction — and the gray area of people’s personal feelings in between — is difficult. And even some local leaders who can see money flowing into government coffers say they had trouble understanding a complex taxing system at first."
"An Associated Press analysis of county tax data from local governments in Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska — states either with many wind farms or a high potential for wind power — found wind companies rank among the biggest taxpayers in many rural communities, with their total tax bills at times outstripping that of large farms, power plants and other major businesses. While that tax income from wind power does not represent a significant percent of counties’ budgets, it totals millions of dollars some local leaders say has translated into meaningful change. But the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University, which tallies local opposition to wind power, finds efforts to block wind projects are 'widespread and growing.'"
"Sensor readings seemed to show that oxygen was being made on the seabed 4,000 meters (about 13,100 feet) below the surface, where no light can penetrate. The same thing happened on three subsequent voyages to a region known as the Clarion-Clipperton Zone."
"While recent research shows many pervasive health problems, including cancers, heart disease, obesity and depression are linked to UPFs (ultra processed foods), there’s no proof, as yet, that they are caused by them... For example, a recent meeting of the American Society for Nutrition in Chicago was presented with an observational study of more than 500,000 people in the US. It found that those who ate the most UPFs had a roughly 10% greater chance of dying early, even accounting for their body-mass index and overall quality of diet."
"End-of-life decisions can be extremely upsetting for surrogates, the people who have to make those calls on behalf of another person, says David Wendler, a bioethicist at the US National Institutes of Health. Wendler and his colleagues have been working on an idea for something that could make things easier: an artificial-intelligence-based tool that can help surrogates predict what patients themselves would want in any given situation." Fuck no.
"Researchers have found that including the words 'artificial intelligence' in product marketing is a major turn-off for consumers, suggesting a growing backlash and disillusionment with the tech — and that startups trying to cram 'AI' into their product are actually making a grave error." AI is the new "connected to the web." It's something manufacturers think they can add and jack up the price all while they try and figure out why anyone would really want to have their dishwasher connected to the internet. "Companies are feverishly trying to stuff what they claim to be AI into every product, from dating apps to automated car salesmen — despite glaring shortcomings that have yet to be solved and mounting, astronomical costs."
"Buchholz is one of the many small sellers overwhelmed with a flood of knockoff and counterfeit versions of their work appearing for sale online. Major platforms allow these fakes to quickly find an audience — he estimates dozens of his work on Facebook alone. And while there are ways to get them taken down, it’s time-consuming to chase down every fake to get it removed, and demoralizing to see ripoffs continue to proliferate across the internet." I'm not as big, but yes this. And it is a game of whack-a-mole.
"The Medicaid Estate Recovery Program (MERP)—a controversial initiative mandated by Congress in the early ’90s and first implemented in Texas in 2005—requires the state to collect money from the estates of people over the age of 55 who received Medicaid. If an individual receives Medicaid for long-term institutional care, in-home services, prescription drugs, or hospitalization costs, the state can 'recover' or 'claw back' (to use agency speak) funds after the individual dies." This is a program that needs to die right now.
You know that line, guns don't kill people? https://www.npr.org/2024/07/26/nx-s1-5023043/sig-sauer-guns-military-new-hampshire-investigation">"The gun that wounded the sergeant is a version of one of the country’s most popular pistols: Sig Sauer’s P320, which is manufactured in New Hampshire. The gun has also been at the center of dozens of lawsuits claiming it has a design or manufacturing flaw that leaves it susceptible to these types of incidents: people being shot by their own gun, without a trigger pull." To be fair, for the weapon to discharge there has to be a round in the chamber, which if you are not about fire the weapon, is a no no.
"A judge on Friday rejected an effort by GOP lawmakers to use the term 'unborn human being' to refer to a fetus in the pamphlet that Arizona voters would use to weigh a ballot measure that would expand abortion access in the state."
"Wisconsin Republicans are asking voters to take away the governor’s power to unilaterally spend federal money, a reaction to the billions of dollars that flowed into the state during the COVID-19 pandemic."
"Hurricane Beryl caused some significant power outages in Houston, and with temperatures in the 90s, it’s a dangerous, miserable situation all around. It’s bad enough that many utility workers came in from out of state to assist with the attempts to restore power across the city. Instead of being greeted by grateful residents expressing their appreciation, though, some utility workers have been threatened, assaulted and even shot at. Things got so bad that Texas Governor Greg Abbott was forced to address it, Click2Houston reports." Ah, this must be that "an armed society is a polite society" I hear about. Also, as just a note, the stress if this situation, which was life and death, was exceedingly high.
"In May, a group of right-wing 'undercover journalists' descended on a hotel in… the city of Dearborn, which has a large Arab population, to infiltrate pro-Palestinian groups. But the effort was derailed on their first day in town when they got drunk and rowdy at their hotel, and the leader of the group was hauled off in handcuffs after he hurled insults and expletives at police officers, according to a police report and bodycam video obtained by NBC News." Ah, those wonderful people at Project Veritas strike again.
"Americans released in Russian prisoner swap are back in the U.S."
"New details emerged Friday on the largest prisoner swap since the Cold War, with the Kremlin acknowledging for the first time that some of the Russians held in the West belonged to its security services. Families of freed dissidents, meanwhile, expressed their joy at the surprise release of their loved ones."
"I’m thinking right now about the psychological state of Trump Land, which in a matter of two days has gone from hubristic triumphalism to overwhelming panic and fear… Just last week, their Anointed Savior had, after miraculously dodging a literal bullet, appeared before them to claim his long-ordained nomination to the presidency, which at the moment he seemed overwhelmingly likely to recapture. His opponents were demoralized and desperate; his fortunes were ascending by the hour; the sweet ambrosia of ultimate victory seemed almost close enough to taste… And then everything went very, very wrong."
"John Oliver discusses Donald Trump’s plans for a second term, why it could be much worse than his first term, and what Trump has in common with a hamster."
"Kamala Harris’s campaign has raised more than $200 million since President Biden endorsed her last Sunday and terminated his own presidential bid — with two-thirds of the vice president’s haul coming from first-time donors, according to Harris campaign officials."
"Trump also urged Christians to turn out for him ahead of Election Day, calling it the 'most important election ever.' He added that if elected, Christian-related concerns will be 'fixed' so much so that they would no longer need to be politically engaged... 'You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what? It’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians,' he said." There is some debate over exactly what he is saying here (because the man is a moron and frankly more than a little dotty) with some people linking this in with Project 2025 and other statements by the conservative fringe about ending elections and some people saying he's only saying that he'll give the "Christians" everything they want (the social conservative movement, which has been called various flavors of "Christian" were really not a voting block until Reagan mobilized them in 1980 to put him over the top and since then conservatives have had to put a lot of energy into keeping the larger block motivated to vote).
"Two former FBI officials settled lawsuits with the Justice Department on Friday, resolving claims that their privacy rights were violated when the department leaked to the news media text messages that they had sent one another that disparaged former President Donald Trump."
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