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High on pentane Seems I remember a “60 Minutes”(?) story sometime in the wake of Se[tember 11 on the vulnerability of U.S. chemical plants to terrorist attacks. Critics branded Bush Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff’s proposed security upgrades “toothless.” “There are a lot of ways to skin a cat, and we’re going to let chemical operators figure out the right way, as long as the cat gets skinned,” Chertoff said. So. Whatever happened with that? Meantime, hazardous chemicals transported by rail seem to be having a bad 2023 so far (Newsweek): On February 3, a tanker train derailed in the Ohio town of East Palestine, near the state border with Pennsylvania. The crash led to multiple explosions and chemical leaks, prompting the governors of both states to issue evacuation notices for the town and its surrounding areas. Controlled burns of the vinyl chloride from the train’s tanks were initiated, with residents warned that the air could be flooded with dangerous gases like phosgene and hydrogen chloride. The fiery crash was one of more than a dozen train derailments reported in the U.S. this year, only 1 1/2 months in.
An update on the debate on the role of slavery in Britain's growth during the Industial Revolution.
Last Friday’s public hearing featured impassioned pleas from trans kids, who stand to lose access to lifesaving care in Florida.
The post DeSantis-Stacked Medical Boards Ramp Up Bans on Care for Trans Youth appeared first on The Intercept.
GOP wants to “fix” Social Security Republicans are still fuming at President Biden’s calling them out in his State of the Union Address for wanting to unravel Social Security and Medicare. They insist he stop spreading lies about what they clearly want to do. Social Security privatization is another “zombie idea” that should have died long ago, yet continues shambling along, New York Times economist Paul Krugman told Ari Berman Monday on his MSNBC show, “The Beat.” Yet there is former Vice President Mike Pence resurrecting an idea floated in 2005 by then-President George Bush (and soundly defeated in the court of public opinion). Bush meant to turn a portion of people’s Social Security over to Wall Street (and more of it later). “You have to be really naive not to know that what [President Joe] Biden said is true,” Krugman said. “Rick Scott, former chair of the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee was foolish enough to actually put it on paper that we’re [the GOP] going to sunset Social Security and Medicare within five years.
It’s early in the new Congress, but lawmakers are already hotly debating spending and debt levels. As they do so, they risk losing track of an important issue hiding in plain sight: massive Pentagon waste. At least in theory, combating such excess could offer members of both parties common ground as they start the new budget cycle. But there are many obstacles to pursuing such a commonsense agenda. Pentagon waste is a longstanding issue in desperate need of meaningful action. Last November, the Department of Defense once again failed to pass even a basic audit, as it had several times before. In fact, independent auditors weren’t even able to assess the Pentagon’s full financial picture because they couldn’t gather all... Read more
When men kill women, there still seems to be a desire to pin the blame on her, writes Sian Norris
On 8 February, the long awaited report – the Independent Review of Prevent – conducted by the commissioner for public appointments William Shawcross, was published after much scepticism, delay and controversy, even from within the cabinet. Prior to its publication, Open Rights Group joined a range of civil society groups in boycotting the review and contributed to an alternative – […]
As a child, I saw love everywhere, and it became my calling to play matchmaker to my toy bin.
Barbie paired up with my brother’s Luke Skywalker doll (which he insisted was an “action figure”). This romance persisted despite my being schooled on how a Jedi renounces personal attachments, and could I please just put his kimono back on?
A Happy Meal Gonzo wearing an ascot while driving a boat for some reason, and an elephant Beanie Baby that I’m hopeful is worth upward of one hundred dollars on eBay. Gonzo’s gusto seemed a good balance to Peanut’s lethargy. Also, the nose thing?
Donatello and Battle Damage He-Man bonded over their love of oversized weaponry, exaggerated musculature, and pizza. I enjoyed watching He-Man’s battle-ravaged heart heal, not through the Power of Greyskull, but through the power of love in a half-shell.
So, there are different measures of creativity. One of them is divergent thinking, the ability to come up with lots of different ideas. George Land created a famous test for NASA, then applied it to children. Test-takers were given a problem and then had to come up with many different ways to tackle it.
Land’s dead now but before he died he gave a Ted talk. Generally loathe them, but this one is interesting.
Cropping tools like those in Google Docs allow viewers to see the full, original images.
The post Whistleblowers Take Note: Don’t Trust Cropping Tools appeared first on The Intercept.
"Canada's influence on mining is felt in Latin America more than in any other region of the world." And its second most important market is Peru.
Fossil fuel-backed Democrats and Republicans are teaming up to promote natural gas as a clean energy source and maintain its use.
By Christian Downie, Australian National University and Robert Brulle, Brown University / The Conversation You’ve probably seen ads promoting gas and oil companies as the solutions to climate change. They’re meant to be inspiring and hopeful, with scenes of a green, clean future. But shiny ads are not all these companies do to protect their commercial interests in the […]
The post Big Oil’s Trade Group Allies Outspent Clean Energy Groups by a Whopping 27x, With Billions in Ads and Lobbying To Keep Fossil Fuels Flowing appeared first on scheerpost.com.
"We cannot be silent," said Colau.
The post Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau Cuts City’s Ties With Israel Over ‘Crime of Apartheid’ appeared first on scheerpost.com.
The inclusion of Cuba on the US State Sponsors of Terrorism list has further restricted its ability to purchase essential goods for its population.
The post Chomsky and Prashad: Cuba Is Not a State Sponsor of Terrorism appeared first on scheerpost.com.
CBS’s segment on a weight-loss drug featured two doctors paid by the drug maker—which happened to be a sponsor of the broadcast.
The post 60 Minutes’ Weight-Loss Tip: Don’t Bite the Hand That Feeds You appeared first on scheerpost.com.
- by Aeon Video
- by Laura J Martin
- by Alexander Agadjanian
By Patrick Lawrence / Original to ScheerPost Look, it is one thing for reporters and line editors to abandon the fundamental principle of objectivity as they hurl their hatchets at those who provoke their prejudices—Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, this, that or the other governor or senator, this, that, or the other dissident. It is greatly, […]
The post Patrick Lawrence: Objectivity and Its Discontents appeared first on scheerpost.com.
Today’s blog post highlights St. Louis Fed articles on labor force exits, fiscal policy, venture capital, schooling shocks and digital innovations in finance.