CloudWatcher
CloudWatcher's JournalSea of Azov in danger of becoming a toxic wasteland
19 May 2022 13:44
Leakage of hazardous substance could kill all flora and fauna in the Sea of Azov
There was a threat of the complete extinction of the Sea of Azov due to enemy bombing of the Azovstal metallurgical plant in the besieged Mariupol.
On Wednesday, May 18, the press service of the Mariupol City Council announced the impending threat of an eco-catastrophe in a telegram.
The city council said that the destruction of the steel plant could damage the technical structure, which stores tens of thousands of tons of hydrogen sulfide solution.
"The leakage of this liquid will completely kill the flora and fauna of the Sea of Azov. Further, dangerous substances can enter the Black and Mediterranean Seas," they warned.
Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko emphasized that international experts and the United Nations must be immediately admitted to the facility to study the situation and prevent a "world-class environmental catastrophe."
More at link. https://ecopolitic.com.ua/en/news/bombarduvannya-azovstali-zagrozhuie-ekologichnoju-katastrofoju-svitovogo-rivnya-2-2/
Who knew? Australia requires people to vote!
Not only is voting compulsory, it seems to have a lot of benefits. Here's a BBC video on it:
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-australia-61186402
Of course there is no chance of us doing this nation-wide, but ... maybe a good idea in the blue states?
As pushback to the GOP trying to restrict voting?
The video is short, but fyi the bullet points for advantages are:
* Moderate contest more likely
* Marginalized people better represented
* More migrant participation
I like the idea because it helps put across the idea that good government is up to you. You can't just ignore it and then complain.
Today's math question ... what are 4.2% and 18.8%
The US has approximately 4.2% of the world's population. And has 18.8% of the world's deaths due to Covid.
We have over 307,000 dead now. MAGA indeed.
https://www.worldometers.info
Arecibo is getting decommissioned
NSF begins planning for decommissioning of Arecibo Observatory’s 305-meter telescope due to safety concerns.
https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=301674#.X7afajgoo88.twitter
The decision comes after NSF evaluated multiple assessments by independent engineering companies that found the telescope structure is in danger of a catastrophic failure and its cables may no longer be capable of carrying the loads they were designed to support. Furthermore, several assessments stated that any attempts at repairs could put workers in potentially life-threatening danger. Even in the event of repairs going forward, engineers found that the structure would likely present long-term stability issues.
Well that sucks. Thanks again 2020.
Maybe we could seriously consider building a radio telescope on the far side of the moon now?
Tuesday deadline to apply for membership on Colorado redistricting commissions!
Do you have some time to help shape the next 10 years of Colorado politics? Willing to work for a modest per diem?
From Colorado Sun:
Colorado needs more people to help redraw political maps. And lack of diversity remains an issue.
Instead, they got a fraction of that number and a group that does not reflect the diversity of the state. That sparse response has led officials and advocates to sound the alarm just days before Tuesday’s application deadline.
...
The underwhelming number of applicants is exacerbated by a lack of diversity among those who have applied. Amendments X and Y require the state commission to reflect “Colorado’s racial, ethnic, gender, and geographic diversity.” But so far, both pools of applicants are disproportionately white, over the age of 60 and male.
Apply here! Deadline is Tuesday!!
https://redistricting.colorado.gov
[on edit: removed inappropriate comment about not applying if you're a white male over 60]
Think the press is doing a good job?
So ... do you think the news does a good job of covering important stories? Or at least attempts to?
Want to get outraged over which news the MSM chooses to cover?
Here's some important numbers that might be of interest (sorry I don't have any disaster videos to attach):
So far there have been about 850,000 total deaths world-wide due to the coronavirus.
Just yesterday there were about 4,200 dead world wide.
Awful. Really terrible right? I agree. Governments should be falling from their mismanagement of this crisis.
But now notice this under-reported news:
There are about 9 million deaths a year from hunger and hunger-related diseases.
That's about 25,000 a day.
Every day.
Funny how we don't even really hear about it. Maybe a story once in a great while, but easily forgotten among the 24x7 torrent of useless trivia that is considered news today. Never focused or loud enough for us to comprehend and grasp the magnitude and the sheer horror that is ... not news.
Our so-called civilization leaves a lot to be desired.
Corona Virus Source
Hunger Source
Why should you trust *your* VPN???
VPN services sound like a great idea. Send all your traffic (encrypted) to a VPN server and they fan out to the internet at large. So someone snooping on your traffic (e.g. your ISP) won't see anything about you but traffic to and from your VPN.
But ... now you must trust your VPN provider, since they will have all your traffic flowing through them.
And a lot of VPN's are not local to the US. Many are hosted in unfriendly waters. They are obviously high value targets for state-sponsored (and random) hacking.
This article showed up today writing about several VPN services in Hong Kong. All of them advertise "no logs kept" ... and all of them are keeping logs. And even keeping them in publicly accessible places.
https://www.theregister.com/2020/07/17/ufo_vpn_database/
... seven Hong-Kong-based VPN providers – UFO VPN, FAST VPN, Free VPN, Super VPN, Flash VPN, Secure VPN, and Rabbit VPN – all share a common entity, which provides a white-labelled VPN service. And they were all leaking data onto the internet
... records of websites visited, connection logs, people's names, subscribers' email and home addresses, plain-text passwords, Bitcoin and Paypal payment information, messages to support desks, device specifications, and account info.
Security is hard, the fear is strong, and the combination makes VPN services a ripe field for fraud.
Is there room yet?
So let me get this straight ... on 4/7/2019 Trump famously tweeted: Our Country is FULL!
So ... now that he's killed off well over 120,000 of us by criminally mismanaging the epidemic ... is there room yet?
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1115057524770844672
100,269 Dead
Over 100k dead now in the US from the virus [*]. That's about a 9/11 every day for over a month.
And with all the idiots we have following Trump, I think we'll be lucky to keep it under 200k before this is over.
Wrongful death lawsuits?
Are there any lawyers here? I am honestly confused why the owners of almost all businesses are not scared sh*tless over the prospect of wrongful death claims against them if they reopen before the virus is under control.
It looks like reopening too soon will cost an enormous number of lives. Do business owners now have the right to kill their staff and customers to make a profit? Or does the virus count as some kind of "act of god" that gives everyone immunity from being incredibly stupid and reckless with other people's lives?
In a just world, the politicians would be held culpable as well, but I can imagine how they'd have some protection from the consequences of their stupidity. But business owners? I don't get it.
All I can think of is that it's not been a focus of the news, and those few that do consider it assume that the almighty GOP will hold them blameless.
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Name: JimGender: Male
Hometown: Frostbitefalls
Member since: Mon Apr 2, 2018, 08:44 PM
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