Aaron Reuben , Fellow — Middlebury College Fellowship in Environmental Journalism - Grist
Stephan: Here is the latest on research about environmental pollutants and human health. As this explains the chemical burden under which many of us labor is simply not recognized. If it was would there would be an outcry? Perhaps it would go like Oklahoma and Fracking, in which the public good has been mostly dismissed.
Air pollution for various political reasons up to now has been one of the U.S.'s few environmental success stories. However as SR reported the House Republicans, who collectively don't believe in climate change, just voted to gut the EPA's power to regulate air pollution. Thankfully, this seems to be an area where President Obama will expand political capital to get cleaner air.
“We should get out of here,” says air pollution chemist Eben Cross. At 7 a.m. on this cold November day the wind blows steadily through the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Cambridge campus, cutting through our thin jackets. But Cross isn’t afraid of the cold. He worries about the air we’re breathing — especially considering the six fire trucks directly ahead, idling in the dim morning light.
“We’re getting hammered right now,” Cross says, shouting over the hum of the engines. He’s taken his gloves off to manipulate the display panel on his pollution monitor. The acrid smell of diesel is unmistakable. “Anytime you can smell it, you are in a regime that is very polluted,” he says. “In many ways your nose is a better mass spectrometer than any device on the market.”
Cross’ monitor measures the presence of microscopic particles suspended in the air. Earlier, in his home, the device reported average concentrations of between 10,000 and 100,000 airborne particles per cubic centimeter of air (the latter after he burned some toast). Now it detects millions. The massive size of the fire trucks’ engines, combined with their inefficient combustion in cold weather, means that the air reaching […]
No Comments
Katie Zavadski , - The Daily Beast
Stephan: There are four things that define religious fundamentalism whether Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, or Mormon. These four things are universal making it clear that it is not the sect or denomination, but something deeper that is the key.
The four attributes are:
1) A sense of self-righteousness
2) A sense of persecution
3) Profound sexual dysfunction, and an overwhelming obsession to control humans with vaginas.
4) Strict authoritarianism.
I think fundamentalism is a category of mental illness, and should be classified as such. This story illustrates the point I am making.
Photo Illustration by Sarah Rogers/The Daily Beast
Ultra-Orthodox Jews are wondering what sects that forbid displaying images of women are to do once a woman unseats Alexander Hamilton on the $10 bill.
Haredim are Orthodox Jews who follow a very strict interpretation of Biblical laws and reject much of modern culture, with a minority going so far as to ban public images of women under modesty laws. That won’t be so easy when a woman is on the money they use. The Treasury Department this month announced plan to replace Alexander Hamitlon on the $10 bill by 2020 with that of a woman.
One letter writer posed the question of what the fringe ultra-Orthodox will do when the $10 is female to the editor of the Country Vue, a Haredi newspaper in upstate New York.
“Dear Editor, How are they going to handle this one? While we were all wondering how the newspapers will handle it if chas v’shalom Hillary Clinton was elected president and they will not be able […]
No Comments
Wednesday, July 1st, 2015
Phil Howard, Professor at the University of Washington and Central European University - Politico Magazine
Stephan: This is a very very important essay. Please read it. Few in the media, although they use the internet constantly, and are very sophisticated about one of its role, seem not to be able to understand the meta-trend. This essay describes it.
The 200 most central autonomous systems are listed in an index which gives their location on the map grid.
Credit: semilattice.net
In the evolving conversation about the “Internet of Things” — the growth of networked everyday objects and the data they generate — analysts tend to focus on business opportunity, or the security risks, or the potential for making our cities smarter.
But larger than all of those possibilities, and of key public importance, is the impact of the Internet of Things on politics.
This might sound unlikely at first, and it won’t be felt right away. But it’s important to realize that when we look at the Internet of Things, we’re seeing a technology, or rather a technological system, that will not just pose challenges for governments, but change them completely. In all of history, there has never been anything like the constant and intimate feedback loop that the Internet of Things is creating between citizens […]
2 Comments
Wednesday, July 1st, 2015
Andrew Dugan, - The Gallup Organization
Stephan: Here is the Great Schism Trend defined by data.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In the U.S., liberals and conservatives report markedly different levels of confidence in nearly every key institution Gallup measures, reflecting the general polarization that typifies the country today. The confidence gap — the difference between groups in levels of confidence for a particular institution — is largest for the presidency (by 36 percentage points), followed by the church (27 points) and the police (26 points). Liberals have more confidence in the presidency, while conservatives are more likely to trust the church and the police.
While most institutions elicit sizable gaps in confidence among liberals and conservatives, Congress and TV news, both lowly regarded institutions, generate similar levels of confidence. Conversely, the military and small business are held in high esteem by large segments of liberals and conservatives.
These results are based on a June 2-7 Gallup poll that included Gallup’s latest update on Americans’ confidence in 15 U.S. institutions.
Overall, confidence in most major U.S. institutions continues to linger well below historical norms, suggesting that Americans’ dissatisfaction with the central organizations of society is not confined to one political philosophy or viewpoint. But given that ideology represents an individual’s values […]
No Comments
Wednesday, July 1st, 2015
DANICA COTO assisted by Andrea Rodriguez, - The Huffington Post
Stephan: Did you know the Caribbean is experiencing major water problems? Don't feel bad, almost nobody does outside the region. Corporate media can't bring itself yet to tell the truth about what is going on, or even to conceptualize the meta-view. But for the people who live on these island nations water is beginning to define their world in a new and scary way.
This June 15, 2015 photo shows mud cracks at the drought affected Carraizo reservoir in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico. Thanks to El Nino, a warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean that affects global weather, the worst drought in five years is creeping across the Caribbean, prompting officials around the region to brace for a bone dry summer.
Credit: AP/Ricardo Arduengo
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO — The worst drought in five years is creeping across the Caribbean, prompting officials around the region to brace for a bone dry summer.
From Puerto Rico to Cuba to the eastern Caribbean island of St. Lucia, crops are withering, reservoirs are drying up and cattle are dying while forecasters worry that the situation could only grow worse in the […]
No Comments
