China

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R2K00WGEQIW2Y4/ https://www.amazon.com/review/R3GM2OT8EH1P5T

It's an old hatred:

Islanders are choking, and I love it.

Removing PFAS From Public Water Systems Will Take Billions and Years — Here’s What You Can Do Till Then Chemists invented PFAS in the 1930s to make life easier: Nonstick pans, waterproof clothing, grease-resistant food packaging and stain-resistant carpet were all made possible by PFAS. But in recent years, the growing number of health risks found to be connected to these chemicals has become increasingly alarming. PFAS—perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances—are now either suspected or known to contribute to thyroid disease, elevated cholesterol, liver damage and cancer, among other health issues. They can be found in the blood of most Americans and in many drinking water systems, which is why the Environmental Protection Agency in April 2024 finalized the first enforceable federal limits for six types of PFAS in drinking water systems. The limits—between 4 and 10 parts per trillion for PFOS, PFOA, PFHxS, PFNA and GenX—are less than a drop of water in a thousand Olympic-sized swimming pools, which speaks to the chemicals’ toxicity. The sixth type, PFBS, is regulated as a mixture using what’s known as a hazard index. Meeting these new limits won’t be easy or cheap. And there’s another problem: While PFAS can be filtered out of water, these “forever chemicals” are hard to destroy. My team at the University of Notre Dame works on solving problems involving contaminants in water systems, including PFAS. We explore new technologies to remove PFAS from drinking water and to handle the PFAS waste. Here’s a glimpse of the magnitude of the challenge and ways you can reduce PFAS in your own drinking water: Removing PFAS will cost billions per year The EPA estimated the cost to the nation’s public drinking water systems to comply with the news rules at about US$1.5 billion per year. But other estimates suggest the total costs of testing and cleaning up PFAS contamination will be much higher. The American Water Works Association put the cost at over $3.8 billion per year for PFOS and PFOA alone. Click on the link for the full article

Good. It will hopefully make him more erratic on the weekends when he holds his rallies, and if we're lucky he'll end up with an aneurysm.

Russian Who Bankrolled Trump’s Truth Social Set Up Dodgy Sex Pill Sites The Russian who loaned Donald Trump’s social media platform Truth Social $8 million previously set up websites selling dodgy sex pills, according to records seen by The Daily Beast. The flagship product sold by these sites, Vimax—which promises longer sex and a firmer erection—has prompted warnings from health regulators in the U.S. for containing hidden ingredients that may endanger health. The Food and Drug Administration warned consumers not to buy the supposedly natural male enhancement supplements, and told anyone who had bought the tablets to throw them out. The sites where the pills were sold included vimaxtrialoffer.com which was registered in the name of Anton Postolnikov, 40, according to public domain ownership records. The Russian entrepreneur, who reportedly has family links to the Kremlin, has a history of success in niche online businesses such as providing financial services to porn stars and camgirls. Postolnikov—whose aunt is reportedly married to Aleksandr Smirnov, a former Russian deputy minister of justice and Kremlin insider—emigrated to the U.S. in 2018. In 2021, he gave $30,000 to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Postolnikov has reportedly attracted U.S. prosecutors’ attention for the way he structured the loan to Trump’s Truth Social through Paxum and an obscure entity called “ES Family Trust.” No charges have been filed to date, and the investigation was still in preliminary stages, according to The Guardian, which first reported it. Wire transfer documents show that Trump Media received $2 million from Paxum Bank and another $6 million from ES Family Trust. Documents obtained by the authors show that the trustee for ES Family Trust is Angel Pacheco, who reportedly listed himself as an employee of Paxum Bank on LinkedIn. Pacheco has other connections to those involved in Trump Media. He served as a director of Foundation Card Services LLC, along with Shvartsman at least until 2023. Pacheco could not be reached for comment. Click on the link for the full article

These Cities Have the Highest Murder Rates in America For much of the last four decades, rates of deadly violence have been trending downward in the United States. Between the early 1990s and the mid-2010s, the U.S. murder rate fell by more than 50% — from a multi-decade high of nearly 10 homicides for every 100,000 people in 1991, down to just 4.4 per 100,000 in 2014. But more recent FBI crime data suggests that the sustained period of improvement has come to an end. The U.S. homicide rate rose in five of the last eight years — including 2020, when the number of murders spiked by an unprecedented 30%. Climbing again the following year, the national homicide rate hit its highest level in a quarter century in 2021, at 6.8 murders per 100,000 people. As of 2022, the latest year of available data, there were 6.3 murders for every 100,000 people nationwide — below the highs reported in much of the 1980s and 1990s, but well above more recent annual rates. Homicide data at the local level shows that historically high rates of deadly violence are being driven by certain U.S. cities, places where murder rates are many times higher than they are nationwide. Using data compiled by the nonprofit organization Murder Accountability Project 24/7 Wall St. identified the American cities with the highest murder rates. Among the 50 metro areas on this list, homicide rates range from 10.2 per 100,000 people, to 28.8 per 100,000. 50. Goldsboro, NC - Murder rate in 2022: 10.2 homicides per 100,000 people 46. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD - Murder rate in 2022: 10.5 homicides per 100,000 people 38. Greenville, NC - Murder rate in 2022: 11.5 homicides per 100,000 people 36. Richmond, VA - Murder rate in 2022: 11.6 homicides per 100,000 people 31. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD - Murder rate in 2022: 12.6 homicides per 100,000 people 28. Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC - Murder rate in 2022: 12.7 homicides per 100,000 people 1. Macon, GA - Murder rate in 2022: 28.8 homicides per 100,000 people Click on the link for the full list

Well the insurrection did function to point out some of the traitors in our midst.

Port of Baltimore opens third temporary channel for vessels following Key Bridge collapse A third temporary channel in the Port of Baltimore opened late Friday, allowing more vessels and goods to flow into the crucial shipping center following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March. The passageway was opened by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) as it continues to clear away the wreckage of the Dali, the container ship that collided with the bridge, as well as the twisting metal and chunks of concrete from the bridge itself. As The National Desk reported Friday, USACE, Coast Guard, and other responding crews have been able to remove around 120 containers from the wreck of the Dali, and hope to finally move the ship after taking away 140. 3,000 tons of bridge steel has also been removed from the port. Click on the link for the full article

7 human-caused wildfires reported in central B.C. in 1 afternoon Wildfire crews are battling an out-of-control wildfire in the Cariboo region of British Columbia — one of seven human-caused blazes reported in the province's central Interior on Saturday afternoon. The Burgess Creek fire has ballooned overnight, growing from 0.5 square kilometres to 16 square kilometres in size on Sunday. It is burning about 50 kilometres south of Quesnel, a city about 415 kilometres northeast of Vancouver. The fire is sending a thick plume of smoke into the air that is visible from Quesnel, Williams Lake and Highway 97, according to B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS) information officer Madison Dahl. However, Dahl said Sunday afternoon that no homes or buildings are threatened at this time, and firefighters were able to more accurately map the size of the wildfire on Sunday morning. "Due to the incredibly dry conditions and the strong winds we had [Saturday], we did see an an increase in the size of that wildfire this morning," she told CBC News. The Cariboo Regional District has issued an evacuation alert covering more than 32 square kilometres in the Burgess Creek area. Click on the link for the full article I guess fire season has begun.

China Has 8.3M People Who Can't Repay Their Debts: Here Are The Shocking Ways They Are Punished Since the pandemic, the second-largest economy in the world, China, has been facing a prolonged market slump and a real estate crisis which have thwarted its attempts at a robust economic rebound. However, while China navigates dynamic geopolitical landscapes, many of its citizens in debt face various limitations in their day-to-day activities. According to The New York Times Journal, blacklisted from social services are 8.3 million people who struggle to repay their debts. These debtors have been ordered by courts to pay back the money, and the blacklist contains their personal information. Debtors who are on the blacklist cannot book vacations or expensive hotels, buy properties, access higher insurance coverage, use toll roads or payment apps, or even board bullet trains or planes. They are also barred from holding high-ranking positions in state-owned institutions. The South China Post reported in February that over 17 million people were prevented from buying plane tickets, and over 5.5 million were barred from purchasing bullet train tickets last year. Exclusive Ringtone for Debtors Furthermore, Chinese telecom companies are now assigning ringtones to blacklisted debtors. Anyone who calls a debtor will be warned by a recorded voice note about the person's financial crisis. Debtor Details Available Publicly China's supreme court maintains a public online database of blacklisted defaulters. Under each name, you can find their partially redacted government ID details, age, home cities, and debt records. This delinquency blacklist is different from the "social credit" system. Unlike in the US, carrying debt in China is not appreciated everywhere, and those who fail to repay it are sometimes called "laolai" or "deadbeat debtors." You may be unable to file bankruptcy to write off debts in China. The government can take several measures, like taking control of your income as restitution, leaving you with only living expenses. Social Credit System Roll Out Meanwhile, the social credit system is a mandatory program built on the idea that "keeping trust is glorious and breaking trust is disgraceful." It tracks people's movements and behavior to take appropriate actions and ranks them with social credits. People have been punished for loitering in the streets, spreading fake news, driving impaired, and even buying too many video games. The system has already been tested on millions of people, and authorities are working to launch it across the country. Click on the link for the full article

He can just run them through his Boring tunnels, that way they will stay on track.

This is why Trump is such a bad businessman. He's putting up $175 million in cash to the insurer (bonding company) rather than just paying the bond himself. Now he also owes the bonding company a fee which is several million dollars. Not sure why he didn't just pay the bond himself and save the cost of the fee.

Happy Earth Day!

Dozens of Texas water systems exceed new federal limits on “forever chemicals” In Texas, 49 public water utility systems have reported surpassing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s first-ever limits for five “forever chemicals” in drinking water, according to data submitted to the federal agency. Experts say there are likely more since not all water systems have submitted their data. PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are widespread and long lasting in the environment. They are called “forever chemicals” because they don't break down and can persist in water and soil, and even human blood indefinitely. The chemicals have been used since the 1940s to repel oil and water and resist heat. They have been included in thousands of household products from nonstick cookware to industrial products like firefighting foam. There are more than 12,000 types of individual forever chemicals, but new EPA standards announced last week set new limits for five of them: PFOA and PFOS have a limit of 4 parts per trillion while PFHxS, PFNA, and HFPO-DA have a limit of 10 parts per trillion. One part per trillion is equivalent to a single drop of water in 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools. The new standards will require water utilities to meet them within five years. The EPA estimates that the new limits, which are legally enforceable, will reduce exposure for 100 million people nationwide and help prevent thousands of deaths and illnesses, including from cancer. Click on the link for the full article

Hospital staff plead with bite victims to stop bringing snakes to emergency departments Snake bite victims are endangering medical staff by bringing the reptiles with them to hospital, doctors say. In Queensland's Wide Bay region, doctors have come face to face with some of the world's most venomous snakes captured by patients believing it'll help with identification and treatment. In one case earlier this month, emergency staff at Bundaberg Hospital, four hours north of Brisbane, were handed a plastic food container with a small eastern brown snake inside peering back at them. "Any attempts to either get close to a snake to catch or to kill, or to photograph the snake, just puts people at risk." Click on the link for the full article

What the Supreme Court case on tent encampments could mean for homeless people On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments for the most consequential case in decades concerning the rights of people experiencing homelessness. In Grants Pass v. Johnson, the Supreme Court will decide whether it constitutes cruel and unusual punishment to fine, ticket, or jail someone for sleeping outside on public property if they have nowhere else to go. A ruling in favor of the plaintiffs would make it easier for communities to clear out homeless people’s tent encampments, even if no available housing or shelter exists. Over 650,000 people in America experience homelessness on any given night, and roughly 40 percent of those individuals are sleeping outside on the streets, in cars, parks, train stations, and other settings not designed primarily for human residence. Federal data published in late 2023 shows a rise in homelessness in most states. In two major decisions over the last six years, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that criminalizing homelessness when a city lacks adequate shelter or housing violates the Eighth Amendment of the US Constitution. But amid a worsening homelessness crisis, government leaders have pressed the Supreme Court to reconsider, arguing those earlier rulings were incorrectly decided and left them unable to safely manage their communities. “The Ninth Circuit and respondents have tried to downplay the ways in which the ruling ties local leaders’ hands, but their arguments only confirm the decision’s ambiguity and unworkability,” Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote in an amicus brief filed in September. Click on the link for the full article

From Gavin Neswome, an ad to be played in Alabama:

Biden administration finalizes controversial minimum staffing mandate at nursing homes The Biden administration finalized on Monday the first-ever minimum staffing rule at nursing homes, Vice President Kamala Harris announced. The controversial mandate requires that all nursing homes that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding provide a total of at least 3.48 hours of nursing care per resident per day, including defined periods from registered nurses and from nurse aides. That means a facility with 100 residents would need at least two or three registered nurses and at least 10 or 11 nurse aides, as well as two additional nurse staff, who could be registered nurses, licensed professional nurses or nurse aides, per shift, according to a White House fact sheet. Plus, nursing homes must have a registered nurse onsite at all times. The mandate will be phased in, with rural communities having longer timeframes, and temporary exemptions will be available for facilities in areas with workforce shortages that demonstrate a good faith effort to hire. The rule, which was first proposed in September and initially called for at least three hours of daily nursing care per resident, is aimed at addressing nursing homes that are chronically understaffed, which can lead to sub-standard or unsafe care, the White House said. “When facilities are understaffed, residents may go without basic necessities like baths, trips to the bathroom, and meals – and it is less safe when residents have a medical emergency,” the fact sheet said, noting that it will also “ensure that workers aren’t stretched too thin by having inadequate staff on site.” Nursing home operators strongly objected to the minimum staffing proposal in September, saying they already struggle to fill open positions. Such a requirement could force some facilities to close. Meeting the proposed mandate would require nursing homes to hire more than 100,000 additional nurses and nurse aides at an annual cost of $6.8 billion, according to a September analysis released by the American Health Care Association, which represents more than 14,000 nursing homes and other long-term care facilities that provide care to approximately 5 million people annually. Some 94% of nursing homes were not meeting at least one of the proposed staffing requirements, the analysis found. Click on the link for the full article

38 trillion dollars in damages each year: World economy already committed to income reduction of 19 % due to climate change Even if CO2 emissions were to be drastically cut down starting today, the world economy is already committed to an income reduction of 19 % until 2050 due to climate change, a new study published in “Nature” finds. These damages are six times larger than the mitigation costs needed to limit global warming to two degrees. Based on empirical data from more than 1,600 regions worldwide over the past 40 years, scientists at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) assessed future impacts of changing climatic conditions on economic growth and their persistence. “Strong income reductions are projected for the majority of regions, including North America and Europe, with South Asia and Africa being most strongly affected. These are caused by the impact of climate change on various aspects that are relevant for economic growth such as agricultural yields, labour productivity or infrastructure,” says PIK scientist and first author of the study Maximilian Kotz. Overall, global annual damages are estimated to be at 38 trillion dollars, with a likely range of 19-59 trillion Dollars in 2050. These damages mainly result from rising temperatures but also from changes in rainfall and temperature variability. Accounting for other weather extremes such as storms or wildfires could further raise them. “Our analysis shows that climate change will cause massive economic damages within the next 25 years in almost all countries around the world, also in highly-developed ones such as Germany, France and the United States,” says PIK scientist Leonie Wenz who led the study. ”These near-term damages are a result of our past emissions. We will need more adaptation efforts if we want to avoid at least some of them. And we have to cut down our emissions drastically and immediately – if not, economic losses will become even bigger in the second half of the century, amounting to up to 60% on global average by 2100. This clearly shows that protecting our climate is much cheaper than not doing so, and that is without even considering non-economic impacts such as loss of life or biodiversity.” Click on the link for more

More evidence pointing to syphilitic dementia.

Busted: Paul Gosar campaign consultant linked to antisemitism and white nationalism The campaign committee of far-right Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) is engaging a North Carolina firm whose owner proudly promotes white nationalism and antisemitic tropes, while pushing false narratives surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The Gosar campaign has paid Southern Pines Strategies a total of $136,342 for “fundraising services” since 2020. The campaign’s most recent filing shows that a consulting firm owned by political consultant Noel Fritsch received $594 in the first quarter of 2024, spread out across nine payments ranging from $3.50 to $138.25, most recently on March 10. In one recent X post, Fritsch sarcastically wrote, “Not shifty at all,” while resharing a post by an anonymous account calling attention to the fact that the Jewish owner of the World Trade Center broke with custom by not eating breakfast in the North Tower on the morning of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack. Alon Milwicki, a senior research analyst at the extremism watchdog group Southern Poverty Law Center, told Raw Story that antisemitic content is increasingly prevalent on social media, including X. Gosar has cultivated ties with election deniers and white nationalists, but he breaks with many in the far-right movement through his professed supporting Israel. The Gosar campaign could not be reached for comment for this story. Payments from the Gosar campaign to Fritsch’s firm — representing a cut from small-dollar donations — peaked at $84,798 in 2021, following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Fritsch told Raw Story he no longer does “business” with the Gosar campaign. But when informed that the Gosar campaign reported nine payments to his firm in the first three months of 2024, Fritsch declined to elaborate on what “fundraising services” he provided, suggesting the phrase is self-explanatory. Click on the link for the full article

Bird flu has spread to more farm animals. Here’s what to know about food safety A bird flu outbreak in U.S. dairy cows has grown to affect more than two dozen herds in eight states, just weeks after the nation’s largest egg producer found the virus in its chickens. Health officials stress that the risk to the public is low and that the U.S. food supply remains safe and stable. “At this time, there continues to be no concern that this circumstance poses a risk to consumer health, or that it affects the safety of the interstate commercial milk supply,” the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said in a statement. As of Friday, the strain of bird flu that has killed millions of wild birds in recent years has been found in at least 26 dairy herds in eight U.S. states: Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas and South Dakota. The virus, known as Type A H5N1, has been detected in a range of mammals over the last few years, but this is the first time it has been found in cattle, according to federal health and animal agencies. Genetic analysis of the virus does not show that it has changed to spread more easily in people, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Click on the link for the full article

New Hampshire’s GOP Is Taking a Stand—Against the Polio Vaccine New Hampshire could soon beat Florida—known for its anti-vaccine Surgeon General—when it comes to loosening vaccine requirements. A first-in-the-nation bill that’s already passed New Hampshire’s state House, sponsored only by Republican legislators, would end the requirement for parents enrolling kids in childcare to provide documentation of polio and measles vaccination. New Hampshire would be the only state in the US to have such a law, although many states allow religious exemptions to vaccine requirements. Currently, Republicans control New Hampshire’s state House, Senate and governor’s office—but that isn’t a guarantee that the bill will be signed into law, with GOP Gov. Chris Sununu seemingly flip-flopping when it comes to disease control. Sununu did sign a bill in 2021 allowing people to use public places and services even if they did not receive the Covid-19 vaccine. But the next year, the governor vetoed a bill that would bar schools from implementing mask mandates. The bill would strike language requiring that immunization records be submitted to childcare agencies, but would keep those requirements for students enrolling in kindergarten through 12th grade. As of 2022, according to the nonprofit ChildCare Aware of America, there are some 700 licensed childcare centers and homes in New Hampshire (which doesn’t require the Covid-19 vaccine for enrollment in childcare, either, despite its efficiency in reducing both death rates and acute symptoms). Vaccine hesitancy is rising among parents of young children. A 2023 survey from the Pew Research Center found that around half of parents with kids four or younger thought that not all standard childhood vaccines—a list that also includes hepatitis B, rotavirus, DTaP and chickenpox—may be necessary. Anti-vaccine misinformation plays a role in this phenomenon, which began before the Covid-19 pandemic, but has certainly increased since. In a 2019 UK report, about 50 percent of parents of young kids encountered false information about vaccines on social media. Click on the link for the full article