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US Energy Reform Bill Is a ‘Wishlist’ for Fossil Fuel Industry, Environmental Groups Say (Maria)
The authors write, “US senators should reject an energy-permitting reform bill being brought to committee on Wednesday by senators Joe Manchin and John Barrasso because it’s a ‘wishlist for the fossil industry’ of the kind envisioned by Project 2025, environmental groups say. … Earthjustice described the legislation as an ‘egregious attempt to fulfill the wishlist of the fossil fuel industry, which is laid out in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, under the guise of promoting renewable energy and developing transmission infrastructure.’”
The Horrifying Fascist Manifesto Endorsed By J.D. Vance (Laura)
From Current Affairs: “The book Unhumans, by Jack Posobiec and Joshua Lisec, is a fascist manifesto. It argues that the ‘Great Men of History’ should take their cues from homicidal dictators like Augusto Pinochet and Francisco Franco, reject reason and democracy, and ruthlessly annihilate the gangs of communist ‘unhumans’ who are currently threatening to destroy the United States. It explicitly advocates ‘eye for an eye’ justice, promising a new McCarthyism complete with blacklists, along with the immediate banning of all teachers’ unions. It is perhaps the most paranoid, hateful, and terrifying book I have ever picked up. (I say this as someone who has read Mein Kampf.) And it comes with a warm and supportive blurb from Ohio senator J.D. Vance, who is currently the Republican party’s vice presidential nominee.”
The US Might Lose a War With China, Congressional Commission Says (Russ)
The author writes, “The U.S. military ‘lacks both the capabilities and the capacity required to be confident it can deter and prevail in combat,’ in the judgment of a congressional commission whose new report finds that collaboration between Russia, China, and other autocratic states is increasing the chance of a multi-front conflict—and that the U.S. would have trouble sustaining such a fight. … The group found big gaps between the Defense Department’s ambitions of deterring or prevailing in a major conflict and reality. One of the reasons they came to that conclusion is the current state of the U.S. defense industrial base compared to China’s.”
Beware the People Who Claim ‘America Isn’t Ready for a Black Woman President’ (Dana)
From The Nation: “The Democratic Party is about to run a Black, South Asian woman against a white supremacist former president. It’s about to run a person whose parents were immigrants against a xenophobe who supports mass deportations. It’s about to run a woman who prosecuted sexual predators against a sexual predator who has been judged to be a rapist. And it’s about to run a fierce defender of reproductive rights against a person who proudly claims responsibility for overturning Roe v. Wade. Add it all up, and what you get is that the Democrats are about to run the walking embodiment of what America is against the avenging specter of what America was.”
Police Recruit Who Lost Both Legs in ‘Barbaric Hazing Ritual’ Sues Denver, Paramedics and Officers (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “A police recruit who had to have both of his legs amputated after losing consciousness and repeatedly collapsing during fight training at Denver’s police academy is suing those who allegedly forced him to continue the ‘barbaric hazing ritual’ after paramedics ignored warning signs. Victor Moses, 29, alleges in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that aggressive officers knocked him down multiple times in the second round of ‘fight day’ last year, with one of them shoving him off the mat and causing him to hit his head on the floor. He said he was pressured to continue, with officers picking him up and setting him back on his feet, before paramedics standing by were asked to check him out, the lawsuit said.”
How Soon Might the Atlantic Ocean Break? Two Sibling Scientists Found an Answer — and Shook the World (Sean)
From Wired: “Off the southwest tip of Iceland, you’ll find what’s often called a ‘marginal’ body of water. This part of the Atlantic, the Irminger Sea, is one of the stormiest places in the northern hemisphere. On Google Maps it gets three stars: ‘very windy,’ says one review. It’s also where something rather strange is happening. As the rest of the planet has warmed since the 20th century — less in the tropics, more near the poles — temperatures in this patch of ocean have hardly budged. In some years they’ve even cooled. … If global warming were a blanket, the Irminger Sea and its neighboring waters are where the moths ate through. Scientists call it the warming hole. The warming hole could be a very big problem. That’s because it’s a sign that something may be wrong with the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation.”
Verifying Facts in the Age of AI — Librarians Offer Five Strategies (Gerry)
The authors write, “The phenomenal growth in artificial intelligence tools has made it easy to create a story quickly, complicating a reader’s ability to determine if a news source or article is truthful or reliable. For instance, earlier this year, people were sharing an article about the supposed suicide of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s psychiatrist as if it were real. It ended up being an AI-generated rewrite of a satirical piece from 2010. … As library scientists, we combat the increase in misinformation by teaching a number of ways to validate the accuracy of an article. These methods include the SIFT Method, the P.R.O.V.E.N. Source Evaluation method, and lateral reading.”
