I just had two personal experiences being charged for two subscriptions I cancelled over a year ago. It took me a total of two hours to get this sorted out, so this story definitely caught my attention. You have probably had similar experiences. We seem to have entered the age of scamming. We get about five scam calls or requests to sign up for something on our landline every day. So tthis story is personal and I thank Biden for what he has done.
President Biden at the White House. Credit: Al Drago / Bloomberg / Getty
The Biden administration on Monday outlined new proposals to make it easier for Americans to cancel unwanted subscriptions.
Why it matters: The initiatives are a part of a broader effort by the administration to eliminate the “unnecessary headaches and hassles” that consumers face, including by getting rid of junk fees.
“Americans know these practices well: it’s being forced to wait on hold just to get the refund we’re owed; the hoops and hurdles to cancel a gym membership or subscription; the unnecessary complications of dealing with health insurance companies; the requirements to do in-person or by mail what could easily be done with a couple of clicks online,” according to a White House fact sheet out Monday.
State of play: Several federal agencies are proposing rules that would combat “corporate tricks and scams like excessive paperwork, long wait times, and more” that companies use to stall consumers from canceling […]
Here is some more good news. Finally, someone has invented a way to get rid of non-compostable plastic bags. I hope this spreads and is embraced in the United States. Chemical plastic bags, as I am sure you know, have become a huge problem.
Mohammed Azhar Mohiuddin with eco-friendly plastic bags. Credit: BioReform
An Indian entrepreneur is using sugar, cellulose, and corn fibers to make a plastic-like carrier bag for small Indian businesses.
His company Bio Reform has already replaced 6 million plastic bags in the checkout counters of stores all over India.
Based in Hyderabad, Mohammed Azhar Mohiuddin first got the idea during the general mayhem that arose during the pandemic. Mohiuddin was looking at global environmental issues with the hope of finding one his entrepreneurial spirit had the capacity to tackle.
He would eventually settle on plastic use, the overreliance on it in society, and the dangers of plastic contamination in the form of microplastic particles. Specifically, he wanted to find an alternative to one of the most common plastic products used today: the plastic shopping bag.
Mohiuddin saw the largest brands substituting plastic ones for those made of paper or even jute, but for medium and small businesses that power the majority of the Indian economy, the small increase in costs from using biodegradable bags was too prohibitive.
DELPHINE FARMER AND MJ RICHES, Professor of Chemistry at Colorado State University. - Atlas Obscura
Stephan:
Gradually, slowly, science is beginning to understand that all living beings have a measure of consciousness. Here is the latest research making this point. What all this research is telling us is that We live in a matrix of consciousness and all consciousnesses are interconnected and interdependent.
Trees and other plants can’t escape wildfire smoke. Credit: Patrick T. Fallon / AFP / AFP / Getty / Conversation
When wildfire smoke is in the air, doctors urge people to stay indoors to avoid breathing in harmful particles and gases. But what happens to trees and other plants that can’t escape from the smoke? They respond a bit like us, it turns out: Some trees essentially shut their windows and doors and hold their breath.
As atmospheric and chemical scientists, we study the air quality and ecological effects of wildfire smoke and other pollutants. In a study that started quite by accident when smoke overwhelmed our research site in Colorado, we were able to watch in real time how the leaves of living pine trees responded.
Plants have pores on the surface of their leaves called stomata. These pores are much like our mouths, except that while we inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, plants inhale carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen.
I thought this story had to be misinformation, but I have checked five sources and it is authentic. I chose to use a British source because it makes the point that this is how the world is reporting about criminal Trump. This is what the MAGAt Republican candidate for president has chosen to do 73 days before the election. He has organized, and is hosting a gala at his New Jersey golf club celebrating his insurrection to overthrow the Constitution and our democracy. How can anyone vote for such a villain?
Pro-Trump supporters storm the U.S. Capitol following a rally with President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. Trump is hosting a “J6 Awards Gala” on September 5, 2024, at his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey, purportedly to recognie the convicts who “have shown incredible courage and sacrifice.” Credit: Getty
Trump announced he would host a “J6 Awards Gala” at his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey on September 5, with himself and Rudy Giuliani among the “invited” — but not confirmed — speakers.
The announcement poster advertises that “attendees will get a chance to win a ‘Justice for All’ Donald J Trump and J6 Prison Choir plaque.” The plaque apparently celebrates the briefly Billboard-charting jailhouse tune — featuring Trump reading the pledge of allegiance and rioters singing the national anthem — that was released earlier this year.
The event’s description says the gala will give attendees the chance to “gather to pay tribute not […]
