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Post by mhbruin on Feb 9, 2023 9:49:45 GMT -8
Math Teacher: "If I have 5 bottles in one hand and 6 in the other hand, what do I have?" Student: "A drinking problem."
Is the QOP Suddenly Interested In Facts? Nah!
Montana Public Radio brings us this small story of Republicans being Republicans in the Montana state legislature. Senate Bill 235, sponsored by Republican state Sen. Daniel Emrich of Great Falls, would ban the teaching of "scientific theory" in public schools.
Only "scientific fact" must be taught. The bill states that the state board of public education "may not include in content area standards any standard requiring curriculum or instruction in a topic that is not scientific fact."
You can see where this is going. At the bill's first public hearing, objectors pointed out that this was likely to be interpreted to ban introduction of any scientific concept commonly referred to with the word "theory." The theory of gravity and the theory of evolution are the two most commonly known examples. It would be extremely weird, to say the least, to scrub Newtonian physics from the curriculum because the equations represent a theory of how objects move that, as it turns out, is just a mostly-accurate-enough approximation of what's going on in the quantum realm.
And we still don't understand half of what's happening in the quantum realm, so that's right out too. The Bohr model of the atom is what everyone first learns in school, and likely the only thing about atoms they'll learn unless they go on to higher education, but it's not "scientific fact." It's a brazen simplification of more complex models which are in turn simplified approximations of much fuzzier stuff, and down in that fuzz there are still things the scientific community knows to be in conflict with other things and that's why we've been building big ol' honkin atomic murder donuts to figure out which details we got wrong.
The existence of black holes is theory. The notion that the universe has three spatial dimensions—height, width, depth—is a theory that's both seemingly unassailable and yet almost certain to be, in our lifetimes, proven upsettingly wrong. If we're banning all mentions of things we know in theory, our science classes could run out of material in a week.
The entire classification of animals into reptiles, birds, mammals, and the like is only theory, and the thinner branches of those family trees continue to be scientific war zones as DNA shows what we once thought to be closely related species are, sometimes, not even cousins.
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Post by mhbruin on Feb 9, 2023 9:52:08 GMT -8
So Much For States' Rights
Minnesota recently passed, and Gov Walz signed into law, legislation that would move the state towards 100% carbon-free energy by 2040.
There is a lot packed into the legislation, which included working with the state’s major utilities to ensure they were on board with the moves.
The bill actually has more than one power standard for electric utilities.
One is a renewable energy standard, which expands current law that already required power companies to hit 25% renewables by 2025. Now, utilities would need to reach 55% renewables by 2035.
But the most consequential change is an entirely new carbon-free standard, which ramps up for electric utilities in the bill from 80% in 2030 to 90% in 2035, and then finally to 100% in 2040.
There is a difference in the proposed law in what’s considered to be carbon free and what is defined as renewable. Anything that doesn’t emit carbon is considered to be carbon free. That includes nuclear, hydroelectric power and more, along with wind and solar.
The new law has gotten the attention of their neighbors to the Northwest.
Led by Gov Doug Burgum (R — At One Time A Reasonable Guy), they are treating Minnesota’s actions as some sort of existential threat to their very existence.
They are threatening to sue.
The North Dakota Industrial Commission voiced unanimous support Monday to move toward filing a lawsuit challenging Minnesota’s carbon-free electricity legislation, with North Dakota’s governor arguing the neighboring state is overreaching.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is expected to sign a bill that requires Minnesota utilities to transition to 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040. The bill would prevent North Dakota utilities from exporting power generated from coal and gas to Minnesota. North Dakota exports about 50% of its electricity supply, with the vast majority used in Minnesota, according to the North Dakota Lignite Energy Council.
And So Much For the Free Market
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Post by mhbruin on Feb 9, 2023 9:59:26 GMT -8
We Need a Taller Wall --- To Keep Airplanes From Flying From Mexico to Canada
The number of migrants crossing the border from Canada into the U.S. is rising — in one sector by more than 700% — as more Mexicans desperate to get into the U.S. fly to Canada and attempt to cross in frigid temperatures.
One family recently stopped by Border Patrol in Vermont was carrying an 8-month-old baby in -4 degree Fahrenheit temperatures. A picture of the family shared by Customs and Border Protection on Facebook showed a man and woman carrying the baby and a 2-year-old in their arms through snow and ice in the dark of night.
Apprehensions in the area where the family was found, known as the Swanton Sector, which includes sections of Vermont, New York and New Hampshire, have increased to 1,146 from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2022, from just 136 the year prior. Across the northern border, crossings from Canada into the U.S. have increased from 16,000 to 42,000 over the same time period, according to CBP data.
Mexicans are by far the leading nationality crossing into the U.S. in the Swanton Sector, followed by Haitians and Guatemalans, according to CBP data.
As the Biden administration continues to use Covid restrictions, via the Title 42 policy, to block migrants at the southern border, Mexicans at those crossings are turned away more than any other nationality, making up more than 60% of all expulsions.
But for those who can afford the roughly $350 one-way plane ticket from Mexico to Montreal or Toronto, their prospects of not being sent back under Title 42 are much better. One migrant, whose last name is Cruz and was recently stopped by Border Patrol and named in a court filing, told border agents he and his wife legally entered Canada by flying to Toronto.
The couple had trouble finding work in Canada, Cruz told border agents, so they attempted to cross to the U.S. before they were apprehended, according to the court filing.
Much like migrants seeking to cross the southern border, organized criminal organizations play a role in smuggling migrants into Canada as well.
Cruz told border agents he wired $1,000 to a man as a deposit for him and his wife to enter the U.S., with the understanding he would pay another $1,000 after crossing. It was his hope that he and his wife would eventually be taken to live and work in New York City, he said, before he was stopped in Derby Line, Vermont, driving with a Chilean national, a man presumed to be the smuggler he paid.
“This area has been used in the past for human smuggling,” a border agent testified in court.
Border officials say they are worried about subzero temperatures that send migrants into hypothermia, especially those with young children.
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Post by mhbruin on Feb 9, 2023 10:06:16 GMT -8
Who Has the Right to Declare a Police Action?
Democratic and Republican U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation on Thursday seeking to repeal two longstanding authorizations for past wars in Iraq, renewing an ongoing effort to reassert Congress' role in deciding whether to send troops into combat.
Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, Republican Senator Todd Young, Republican Representatives Tom Cole and Chip Roy and Democratic Representatives Barbara Lee and Abigail Spanberger led the effort to repeal the 1991 and 2002 Authorizations for the Use of Military Force, or AUMFs.
"The 1991 and 2002 AUMFs are no longer necessary, serve no operational purpose, and run the risk of potential misuse. Congress owes it to our servicemembers, veterans, and families to pass our bill repealing these outdated AUMFs and formally ending the Gulf and Iraq wars," Kaine, who has championed years of efforts to repeal old AUMFs, said in a statement.
Republican and Democratic members of Congress have been arguing for years that Congress has ceded too much authority to the White House over whether troops should be sent into combat, by passing and then failing to repeal open-ended war authorizations.
But members of Congress have been divided over whether it is better for national security to let the AUMFs stand, leaving it to military commanders to decide how best to fight America's enemies.
"Three presidents have come and gone since Congress last voted to authorize a U.S. invasion of Iraq over twenty years ago; a fourth is now in office. Yet the legacy of these horrific forever wars lives on in the form of the now-obsolete 2002 and 1991 AUMFs," Lee said in a statement.
Under the Constitution, Congress, not the president, has the right to declare war.
The Last Time the US Declared War Was in 1942 on Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania
Since then, we have had Korea, Viet Nam, two wars with Iraq, Grenada, Panama, Somalia, and others.
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Post by mhbruin on Feb 9, 2023 10:08:22 GMT -8
Ethics Are For Little People
The Supreme Court has failed to reach consensus on an ethics code of conduct specific to the nine justices despite internal discussion dating back at least four years, according to people familiar with the matter.
It remains an active topic at the court, these people said, and the court’s legal counsel Ethan Torrey prepared a working document of issues for them to consider. There is no timeline for the justices to act, however. Those familiar with the matter spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the situation.
The inertia has frustrated critics, whose demands for reform have intensified. The court’s profile has only increased as a new majority has moved rapidly on a range of polarizing issues. That has also increased scrutiny on the justices, the activities of their spouses and when the court’s members should recuse themselves from cases.
"Ethics" Can Be Either Singular or Plural, Depending on the Use
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Post by mhbruin on Feb 9, 2023 10:11:09 GMT -8
Deported TO the United States
Nicaragua has released 222 of the 245 opposition prisoners it was holding.
The freed prisoners, who are critics of President Daniel Ortega, have been deported to the United States.
The US state department welcomed the move, which it said had been made "unilaterally" by the Nicaraguan government.
Among those freed are opposition politicians who had planned to run against Mr Ortega in the 2021 election but who were jailed in its run-up.
With his fiercest opponents in prison, Mr Ortega won a fourth consecutive term in the election. He has been in power without interruption since 2007.
Nicaraguan opposition sources said that those freed have been stripped of their Nicaraguan nationality and an official from the Nicaraguan judiciary described them as "traitors" who had been deported.
"The deportees were declared traitors to the homeland and sentenced for different crimes and banned perpetually from publicly serving the Nicaraguan state as well as from holding positions of public office, with their citizens' rights perpetually suspended," magistrate Octavio Rothschuh said.
The Biden administration, which described the 2021 election in Nicaragua as "a pantomime", had been pressuring the Nicaraguan government to release the prisoners. The US said they had been arbitrarily detained.
The US state department said that the US had helped arrange their charter flight to Dulles airport, near Washington DC.
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Post by mhbruin on Feb 9, 2023 10:12:09 GMT -8
Palestinians to the Rescue!
A Palestinian aid team is joining the international emergency response in Turkey and Syria, as rescue efforts to locate and extract survivors from the rubble intensify.
Seventy-three rescuers, led by the Palestinian International Cooperation Agency (PICA), packed softshell jackets displaying the logo of their organisation into red duffle bags on Thursday, before boarding a bus at the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ramallah.
The team will be travelling to Jordan, where it will divide equally into two groups headed to southern Turkey and northwest Syria.
Emad Zuhairi, head of PICA, said that despite growing needs at home, his team could not but respond to the call for help.
“It is because we are suffering that we feel for the suffering of others,” Zuhairi told Al Jazeera.
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Post by mhbruin on Feb 9, 2023 10:13:32 GMT -8
Farewell to Mouse-schwitz
Disney CEO Bob Iger announced some big changes for the company Wednesday in order to cut costs.
Disney plans to cut $5.5 billion in costs and lay off 7,000 employees, about 4% of the company’s workforce, The New York Times reported.
The cuts come as Disney reported better than expected earnings, with revenue rising 8% to $23.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to CNN Business.
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Post by mhbruin on Feb 9, 2023 10:15:47 GMT -8
What's Scarier than a 14-Year-Old With an AR-15?
The Republican-controlled Missouri House of Representatives rejected a proposal Wednesday that would have banned children from being able to openly carry firearms on public land without adult supervision.
The proposal, which was part of a long debate in the chamber on how to fight crime in St. Louis, was soundly defeated by a vote of 104-39, with just one Republican voting in support of the ban. After the amendment on the open-carry restrictions for minors was initially supported by the Republican legislator sponsoring a broader crime bill, GOP lawmakers on a committee that he leads removed the firearms provision last week.
“Every time we talked about the provision related to guns, we knew that was going to be difficult on our side of the aisle,” state Rep. Lane Roberts (R) said Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.
State Rep. Donna Baringer (D), who represents St. Louis and sponsored the amendment to H.B. 301, said she brought the proposal to the chamber after police in her district requested tighter regulations to stop “14-year-olds walking down the middle of the street in the city of St. Louis carrying AR-15s.”
“Now they have been emboldened, and they are walking around with them,” Baringer said. “Until they actually brandish them, and brandish them with intent, our police officers’ hands are handcuffed.”
A 12-Year-Old With an AR-15
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