Urgent: Investigate merger of Kroger and Albertson's
17 November 2022
US citizens: call on the FTC to thoroughly investigate supermarket giant Kroger's proposed merger with Albertsons.
A court already ruled against it, but that's not inevitably final.
Urgent: Questions about menstruation on Florida High School health forms
17 November 2022
Everyone: call on the Florida High School Athletic Association remove questions about menstruation from its student health forms.
Urgent: Fight Republican election lies
17 November 2022
US citizens: call on the Department of Justice to fight Republican election lies.
Urgent: Investigate Salafi Arabia's ownership of Twitter
17 November 2022
US citizens: call for an investigation of Salafi Arabia's ownership of a significant part of Twitter.
Terrorist bombing in Ankara
17 November 2022
A terrorist bombing took place in Ankara, targeting civilians. Turkey blamed the Kurdish militant group PKK, and the Syrian Kurds, but the PKK says that it does not approve of attacking civilians and had nothing to do with it.
Putin forces admit to being forced from north Kherson
17 November 2022
The Putin forces have admitted that they were forced out of the north Kherson region by Ukraine's interdiction of supplies.
This article gives more information on their widespread looting and sabotage. Some looting had to have been organized by the Putin forces commanders. Some sabotage was carried out on the Nova Kakhova dam, Ukraine cannot try to repair the dam until it has chased the Putin forces out of artillery range. Even then, the Putin forces might fire missiles at it,
Google to pay damages for tracking some users
17 November 2022
Google will pay damages of around $400 billion for tracking locations of users who had said not to track them.
This suggests three questions to me.
UK right-wing newspapers attack Labour politicians
17 November 2022
Most UK newspapers are right-wing and will attack any personal detail about an important Labour politician in innumberable absurd and vicious ways. Trying to give them nothing they could attack is self-defeating.
Angela Rayner, who I believe is the only former ally of Corbyn in an important position in Labour, just tried the opposite tactic: tell them something about her they are sure to revile (but not actually wrong in any way), and dare them to attack her.
Bravo, Ms Rayner!
Inadequate medical care in US prisons
17 November 2022
Medical care in US prisons tends to be inadequate. If you have a minor treatable problem, the prison staff can deny you treatment so you develop a serious problem. If you have a serious problem, they can treat it insufficiently or badly, so that you die from it.
I suspect that their attitude is that anyone who isn't satisfied with the medical treatment received is a troublemaker and should be punished by suffering from the disease.
Republican split between corrupter and DeMentis
17 November 2022
Interviews with Republicans reveal their split between the corrupter and DeMentis.
Increase in population is problem to environment
17 November 2022
We must all recognize that increasing human population is a major obstacle to saving civilization from environmental danger.
See also
Speed up of decrease in sperm counts
17 November 2022
We need the human population to start decreasing, to save civilization. But if we want civilization to survive, we must also prevent human species from dying out entirely. The decrease in sperm counts, recorded since 1970, is global, and has sped up since 2000.
There is some evidence that the decrease is due to prenatal environmental pollution.
India continues to boost coal production
17 November 2022
*India "committed to clean energy" but continues to boost coal production.*
Israel condemns investigation of shooting of Shireen abu Akleh
17 November 2022
The FBI is investigating the shooting of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen abu Akleh. Israel condemns the investigation on principle.
The need for this investigation is because Israel's investigation refused to recognize that soldiers must have chosen to kill her for no legitimate reason.
Energy Charter Treaty
17 November 2022
The Energy Charter Treaty, a business-supremacy treaty designed to prevent any and all measures to reduce fossil fuel extraction, incorporates a fundamental conflict of interest which tends to bias its judgments in favor of fossil fuel companies.
However, that is a secondary problem, because the treaty is explicitly designed to promote fossil fuel companies and interfere with measures to regulate them. Even if every judgment were made in a perfectly honest fashion, the tendency would be for them to do harm.
CEOs opinions on pay gap
17 November 2022
Interestingly, most CEOs don't say they believe they morally deserve to be paid enormous sums. On the contrary, many say the gap should be smaller. But they are accustomed to receiving high pay offers, for practical reasons that the article explains, and they don't insist on being paid less than that.
What should society do about this? We could ask investors, executives and directors to consider making executive salaries smaller. But the same factors that have made executive salaries so high are likely to make that request ineffective.
I suggest we instead increase the tax rate on high incomes, and close the loopholes that they use to avoid taxation entirely. It is the obvious solution that many people don't consider because plutocratists have smeared it.
How about the restoring the Eisenhower income tax?
"Feminist" education is good for boys as well as girls
17 November 2022
"Feminist" education that reduces gender stereotyping is good for boys as well as for girls.
UK considering national ID cards again
17 November 2022
The UK is considering imposing a national ID card once again.
Britons, you defeated ID cards 15 years ago. Now you will have to defeat it again.
The question of what data the state will or won't link to the national ID number is a red herring, because many other organizations are likely to index databases by national ID number. It will become the easiest way to keep a data base about individuals. They will do this even if they don't really need to verify anyone's identity.
In Barcelona, I learned 15 years ago, the municipal swimming pools recorded who was a paying member by their national ID numbers. All they really need is to verify that a client paid for a membership, but checking the national ID card was quick and easy — and unjust.
The state too is likely to include a person's national ID number in other data bases of personal data.
Stephen Kinnock is the MP for Aberavon in Wales. If you know people who live there, please talking about the issue with them.
Australia criticised for resisting push to end fossil fuel subsidies
17 November 2022
*Australia criticised for resisting Cop27 push to end international fossil fuel subsidies.*
Russian missiles hit Poland
17 November 2022
Two apparently Russian missiles hit Poland in the region near the Ukrainian border. NATO will probably not respond directly militarily.
Although anything Putin says is likely to include lies, it is possible that these missiles were not fired intentionally at Poland.
High cancer frequency near Iraqi oilfield
17 November 2022
Young people living near an Iraqi oilfield have a very high frequency of cancer, apparently due to pollution from flaring gas from the oil wells.
Large percentage of 12- to 34-year-olds have unsafe listening levels
17 November 2022
*Study suggests 24% of 12- to 34-year-olds globally listen at "unsafe level" on devices and visit noisy venues.*
10 November 2022 ( Putin forces building big concrete blocks to stop Ukrainian tanks )
The Putin forces are building barriers of big concrete blocks to stop tanks from reaching certain strongpoints in the Ukrainian territory they have conquered.
The Putin forces have repeatedly thrown large numbers of untrained and ill-equipped conscripts into attacks against Ukraine's experienced army, with the result of killing most of the conscripts.
Trump prison rape threats against journalists
16 November 2022
*Trump repeats prison rape threat against journalists, has plans to "brutally imprison significant numbers of reporters," says Rolling Stone.*
Elon Musk could have done better with Twitter
16 November 2022
*Elon Musk Would Have Done Better With Twitter If He’d Read Noam Chomsky.*
It is amusing to see Musk wildly change Twitter's rules and find that each change backfires worse than the previous one.
I don't care about Twitter the way many people do, because the requirements for having a Twitter account include things I won't do. And even if I did them, I couldn't afford the time it would cost me to actually use Twitter.
The 1.5C climate target is dead
16 November 2022
*The 1.5C climate target is dead — to prevent total catastrophe, Cop27 must admit it.*
Every target will be crused by planet roasters just as this one was, until the world conclusively defeats them and renders them powerless.
Mandatory course on climate crisis
16 November 2022
* All students at the University of Barcelona will have to take a mandatory course on the climate crisis.*
Biden's plan to cut methane emissions
16 November 2022
*'Welcome' But 'Must Be Improved': Groups React as Biden Unveils Plan to Cut Methane [emissions].*
Putin forces destroy infrastructure in Kherson
16 November 2022
The Putin forces meticulously destroyed all sorts of infrastructure in the areas of Kherson as they retreated.
This destruction was not limited to electricity, phones, and the Nova Kakhova dam. They destroyed even a small town school building, according to another article.
Fanatical Muslims ban release of Pakistani film
16 November 2022
Fanatical Muslims in Pakistan banned the release of a Pakistani film that was submitted as Pakistan's entry for consideration for an award.
Corbyn my have to run as independent
16 November 2022
There is no chance that Corbyn will be allowed to run again under the Labour Party banner. Starmer is blocking anyone who wants change that goes beyond tweaks. Corbyn says he will run for reelection; perhaps he will have to run as an independent.
Given Starmer's plutocratist policies and dirty tricks for imposing them on the party, it is clear he will not allow Momentum or anyone else who wants more leftist policies to have any influence. If I were British, and if Corbyn had inspired me to join Labour, I would quit and support something else.
Could Corbyn join the Green Party and perhaps run as a Green candidate?
US inner city hospitals are closing
16 November 2022
Important hospitals are closing in US inner cities, leaving the people who live there (mainly poor, mainly from disprivileged groups) in danger of dying on the way to a more distant hospital.
Universities accepting money from fossil fuel industry
16 November 2022
*When universities accept money from the fossil fuel industry, they demonstrate a complete lack of regard for their students' futures.*
Antibiotics used in Tasmanian salmon farms
16 November 2022
*Tasmanian salmon farms used more than a tonne of antibiotics in 2022 disease outbreaks.*
This tends to make bacteria evolve resistance, which can kill people. Bacteria can share genes even between species, so resistant bacteria infecting salmon can transmit resistance to other bacteria that infect humans.
Faux News' pseudo-issues
16 November 2022
Faux News brings up distraction pseudo-issues to swing elections. The mainstream media pick up the same pseudo-issues.
Effects of melting permafrost in the Arctic
16 November 2022
Melting permafrost in the Arctic leaks CO2 and methane, and promotes large wildfires. That can make the difference between survival of civilization and destruction of civilization.
Secondarily, the melting causes buildings to sink into the melting permafrost underneath them.
Countries can continue scientific cooperation even when they are at war, if they decide to. It is important for the US and Russia to agree to do this. The US can make an exception to its sanctions for specific research projects.
Automated car control features can backfire
16 November 2022
Automated car control features supposedly will make the car safer, but they can just as easily backfire.
Merger of Penguin Random House and Simon and Schuster blocked
16 November 2022
A court blocked the proposed merger of Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster.
We should not have allowed Penguin and Random House to merge. And we should not have allowed a giant conglomerate to buy either Simon & Schuster. The bigger a company is, the harder it is to keep it from harming people, intimidating people, or cheating people.
Musk's leveraged buyout of Twitter
16 November 2022
Musk's takeover of Twitter is a leveraged buyout. Musk could have borrowed the money himself, but he chose to foist the debt on Twitter. That will make it difficult for Twitter to survive, and he could hardly be unaware of this.
This approach means $13 billion less that Musk will lose if Twitter goes bankrupt. These facts increase my suspicion that he aims to destroy Twitter.
Nonetheless, this is only speculation. I can't be sure it is true.
Democrats control government of Michigan
16 November 2022
Democrats now control the government of Michigan.
This is the result of an initiative petition for impartial redistricting. Republicans can no longer elect a majority of the legislature with a minority of votes.
Spam warning in 'free speech' Twitter
16 November 2022
Musk's new "free speech" Twitter put a spam warning on a message that made a quip criticizing Musk for his handling of Twitter.
Should we call that site "Musk-ovy" now?
Profits soar for seven biggest oil firms
16 November 2022
*Profits at world's seven biggest oil firms soar to almost £150bn ($173bn) this year.*
Taliban imposing full cruelty of Islamic law
16 November 2022
The Taliban will henceforth impose the full cruelty of Islamic law.
US EPA criteria for pesticides
15 November 2022
Is the US EPA distorting its criteria to please the pesticide industry by avoiding banning the herbicice paraquat?
The article offers reasons to suspect it may be doing that, but not conclusive proof.
It is an exaggeration to say that paraquat is "banned across the world"; According to Wikipedia, it is banned in the EU since 2007, and the UK and Switzerland; the article says it is also banned in China.
How many years will be required to conclusively determine whether there has been a decrease in Parkinson's disease among agricultural workers in Europe, those who are working on crops on which paraquat was used before 2007?
Australia will buy land where homes are flooding
15 November 2022
Australia will buy the land of people in Lismore whose homes are now vulnerable to repeated flooding, so they can move without being made destitute.
This is the right way to deal with the spread of flooding, However, it doesn't mean that sea-level rise is no longer a problem. One way or another, society will inevitably bear that cost, and must go to great lengths to curb global heating to minimize this and other costs.
Voter-suppression make it difficult for disabled people to vote
15 November 2022
Republican voter-suppression measures make it very difficult for some disabled people to vote at all.
Political ideology dominating Serbia
15 November 2022
Serbia is politically dominated by an ideology that calls for conquest of neighboring lands that "are supposed to be" part of Serbia, and lionizes the war criminals of the 1990s. They idolize Putin for trying to conquer Ukraine, because that provides an example of what they want Serbia to do on a smaller scale.
Syria trying to attract tourists
15 November 2022
Syria is investing in convincing tourists to come there and ignore Assad's record of murder and torture.
They must feel that since Egypt and Salafi Arabia succeed at this, Syria can do it too.
(satire) AI bug treats black people equally
15 November 2022
(satire) *AI Software Company Patches Bug That Caused App To Treat Black People Equally.*
(serious): This being a piece of nonfree software, I presume the correction made it treat everyone equally badly.
Some states voted to bar forced labor as punishment
15 November 2022
*Voters in Alabama, Tennessee, Oregon, and Vermont approved ballot measures Tuesday that would bar forced labor as punishment for those convicted of crimes in those states.*