AMUSING, INTERESTING, OUTRAGEOUS, or PROFOUND

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I was 98.6% sure that this guy had to be a Republican, and became more certain when all the coverage omitted any mention of his political party. With some Google Fu, though, I found this, from the: Texas State Directory.

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• Deserts' biggest threat? Flooding.     (Archived link)

• Shocked by extreme storms, a Maine fishing town fights to save its waterfront

• Hotter, drier and all-around different: How climate change will alter life in L.A.     (Archived link)

• Brazil braces for more fires amid extreme low humidity

• Sharks deserting coral reefs as oceans heat up, study shows

• A quarter of America's bridges may collapse within 26 years, and we saw the whole thing coming     (Archived link)

• Cars plunge into river as super typhoon destroys Vietnam bridge

• Great Barrier Reef has already been dealt its death blow —scientist

• Global warming may melt some glaciers in Austria in 10-15 years

• Italy’s Marmolada glacier could disappear by 2040, experts say

• A brown tide of sargassum is causing havoc in Barbados

• Methane emissions are at new highs

• We’re all doomed, says freshwater ecologist Dr Mike Joy

… but there are still profits to be made, so la de da, la de da...

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• Two years after deadly floods hit Pakistan, it's happening again

• Climate change threatens Iraq's dates, a country once known as "30 million palm trees"

• It's been the hottest summer on record, European officials say

• Fireflies face 'one-two punch' of climate change, habitat loss, and light pollution

• Big Oil wields influence on universities, delaying green transition: study

• Surprising new research links infant mortality to crashing bat populations

• Electrocuted birds are bursting into flames and starting wildfires     (Archived link)

• A pediatrician wrote the book on how climate change is making kids sick     (Archived link)

• The ozone hole above Antarctica will keep opening up each spring for decades to come – here’s why that still matters

• Eastern equine encephalitis, which has a high mortality rate, is becoming more common in North America as climate changes expands the habitats of insects     (Archived link)

• Coastal flooding is getting more common, even on sunny days

• "Sustainable" logging operations are clear-cutting Canada's climate-fighting forests     (Archived link)

• In the Sahara desert, one of the driest places on Earth, a very wet September

... but there's money to be made, so la di da, la di da...

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Being old, death gets my attention, so I read the obituaries. This is a collection of recent obits, mostly of people whose work touched my life, because I want to say thanks (or maybe give 'em a final fuck you).

There’ll be a roundup like this occasionally, until I’m on the list myself.

   
• Christian Angulo     (Archived link)
kid

• Richard Aspinwall
math teacher

• Simeon Bihesi     (Archived link)
forgotten person

• James Darren     (Archived link)
Gidget's Moondoggie

• Linda Deutch     (Archived link)
journalist

• David Egle
in county jail

• Aysenur Eygi
activist

• Chance Gainer
football player

• Christopher Garcia     (Archived link)
football player

• Eric Gilliland     (Archived link)
writer, Roseanne

• Warren Curtis Grant
kid

• Nicholas Paul Grubb
"Pinnacle Man"

• Aamonte Hadley     (Archived link)
in county jail

• Cristina Irimie     (Archived link)
math teacher

• Will Jennings     (Archived link)
songwriter, "My Heart Will Go On"

• Rachel Johnson
in county jail

• Sérgio Mendes
bossa nova

• Margaret Miller Johnson
forgotten person

• Mason Schermerhorn     (Archived link)
kid

• Screamin’ Scott Simon     (Archived link)
rock'n'roller, Sha Na Na

• Brian Trueman
Danger Mouse

• George Washington
in county jail

• Howard Ziehm
porn pioneer

   
Previously dead

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• Pedophile priest victims urge action from pope

• Lawyers for priest accused of child rape question court's authority, saying Catholic Church, not state, should adjudicate priest's sex abuse claims

• In the Pacific, a "dumping ground" for priests accused or convicted of abuse
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• Philippine police confident that fugitive "son of God" pastor still in church compound

• Christian group recruits "Trojan horse" election skeptics as US poll workers

• Pastor fired over "predatory" texts with men and underage teenager, Texas church says

• The Meeting House, once one of Canada's largest churches, shuts down after scandal

• Former Gateway Church employee molested 3 children on several occasions: arrest warrant
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• Diocese of Scranton removes priest after "credible" allegation of child molestation decades ago
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• Circle of Hope Girls Ranch faces new federal lawsuit by youngest victim to take action
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• Bond granted for former pastor accused of criminal sexual conduct

• Chicago priest removed from parish amid child molestation claims
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• Almost 2,400 allegations of historical sexual abuse at more than 300 religious-run schools in Ireland
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• Pastor resigns from church, school board amid abuse allegations

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Corporate-controlled medicine is so evil, so vile, this seems like a step toward a sane alternative. Here's an anarchist collective with some chemistry know-how, teaching folks how to make their own medicines. I've spent a morning browsing the Four Thieves Vinegar Collective's website, and declare them good guys.

From the article:

... Unlike many other drugs that treat viruses, Sovaldi does not suppress hepatitis C, a virus that kills roughly 250,000 people around the world each year. It cures it.

“Normally you have a virus, and your body fights it off or your body fights it to a standstill and you just have it forever, basically, and hope it remains dormant more or less,” Laufer said. “The holy grail for every virologist is to find a way to drain the viral reservoir, and Sovaldi does this. You take one pill of Sovaldi a day for 12 weeks and then you don’t have hepatitis C anymore.”

The problem is that those pills are under patent, and they cost $1,000 per pill.

“Literally, if you have $84,000 then hepatitis C is not your problem anymore,” Laufer said. “But given that there are other methodologies for managing hepatitis C that are not curing it and that are cheaper, insurance typically will not cover [Sovaldi]. And so we’ve got this incredible technology and it’s sitting on the shelf except for people who are ridiculously wealthy.”

So Four Thieves Vinegar Collective set out to teach people how to make their own version of Sovaldi. Chemists at the collective thought the DIY version would cost about $300 for the entire course of medication, or about $3.57 per pill. But they were wrong.

“It’s actually just a little under $70 (83 cents per pill), which just kind of blew my mind when they finally showed me the results,” Laufer said. “I was like, can we do the math here again?” ...

• Record rainfall spoils crops in China, rattling its leaders

• Climate change can cause bridges to "fall apart like tinkertoys," experts say

• Even desert plants known for their resilience are burning and dying in the heat

• How Halloween pumpkins contribute to the climate crisis
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• WMO report highlights vicious cycle of climate change, wildfires, and air pollution

• Higher temperatures with lower humidity will kill you quicker than previously though, study shows

• Climate change is already forcing millions of people to migrate – and it will only get worse

• Japan and China record their hottest summers on record amidst intensifying global heatwaves

• African nations are losing up to 5% of their GDP per year with climate change, a new report says
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• How climate change accelerated spring winds
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• Italy's southern islands drought made 50% more likely by climate change, study finds

... but there's money to be made, so la di da, la di da.

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