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Back to the Future: Redwood Signs Deal To Recycle BMW EV Batteries in US (Maria)
The author writes, “Battery recycling company Redwood Materials gained a new automaker partner today. It has agreed to a deal with BMW of North America to recycle lithium-ion battery packs from BMW’s electrified vehicles and will eventually use recycled material from Redwood in battery packs for BMWs built in North America as the automaker works toward a closed-loop supply chain. ‘Our partnership with BMW of North America ensures responsible end-of-life battery management that will improve the environmental footprint of lithium-ion batteries.’ … said Cal Lankton, chief commercial officer at Redwood Materials.”
Postal Service Insists It’s Ready for a Flood of Mail-in Ballots (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy assured state election officials in a letter released Monday that he’ll work with them to handle their warnings of problems with election mail delivery during the primary season, while insisting that the Postal Service will be ready for the flood of mail-in ballots ahead of the November election. The Postal Service already dealt with most concerns raised by election officials, he said, after they warned that properly addressed election mail was returned — a problem that can cause voters to be automatically placed on inactive status — and that mail-in ballots were postmarked on time but arrived after election deadlines.”
No Tax on Tips: An Answer in Search of a Question (Gerry)
From the Brookings Institution: “In recent weeks, both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have announced proposals to exempt tips from federal taxes, much to the chagrin of economists across the ideological spectrum. The obvious problem is that the proposals are inconsistent with sound tax policy. The less obvious problem is that exempting tips would not even help the vast majority of low-income workers. Still, the proposal opens the door for discussing better ways to organize taxes and help low-income workers, such as expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC).”
Scientific American Makes Presidential Endorsement for Only the Second Time in Its 179-Year History (Sean)
From The Independent: “A top science magazine has waded into the political sphere after making a presidential endorsement, only the second in its 179-year history. ‘Vote for Kamala Harris to Support Science, Health and the Environment,’ read the headline in Scientific American on Monday, announcing the publication’s official support for the Democratic presidential candidate. Harris is Scientific American’s second presidential endorsement in its history, after the magazine backed President Joe Biden during the 2020 election. ‘The US faces two futures,’ the editors wrote, pushing one candidate who ‘offers the country better prospects, relying on science, solid evidence and the willingness to learn from experience.’”
If Trump Wins the Election, This Is What’s at Stake (Laura)
The author writes, “Here is the biggest thing happening on our planet as we head into the autumn of 2024: the Earth is continuing to heat dramatically. Scientists have said that there’s a better than 90% chance that this year will top 2023 as the warmest ever recorded. And paleoclimatologists were pretty sure last year was the hottest in the last 125,000 years. The result is an almost-cliched run of disasters: open Twitter/X anytime for pictures of floods pushing cars through streets somewhere. It is starting to make life on this planet very difficult, and in some places impossible. And it’s on target to get far, far worse.”
Express Scripts Sues FTC and Demands Drug Pricing Report Retraction (DonkeyHotey)
The author writes, “Express Scripts, a subsidiary of The Cigna Group, has filed a federal lawsuit against the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over a July 2024 report claiming that the report is ‘false and defamatory’ and makes ‘misleading claims’ regarding Express Scripts and the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) industry. As part of the lawsuit, the US-based PBM has demanded the retraction of the FTC report. The company claims that the report is ‘seventy-four pages of unsupported innuendo leveled against Express Scripts and other PBMs under a false and defamatory headline and accompanied by a false and defamatory press release.’”
The Lion of Venice Was Made in China: Isotopic Analyses and Stylistic Comparisons Prove It (Dana)
From Arkeonews: “Recent scientific studies have revealed that the famous bronze-winged lion above one of the two columns in Piazzetta San Marco, the universal symbol of Venice, may have a Chinese origin. A recent metallurgical analysis of the bronze revealed that a significant portion originated in China in the eighth century. It traveled to Venice, where it was combined with other elements and reconstructed to conform to the winged lion’s standard iconography, a symbol of both Venice and Mark the Evangelist.”
