Archived version: https://archive.ph/XeqEM (But this source is really worth subscribing to if you're in the Southland.)

Many factors explain why people across Western democracies vote for politicians like former President Trump, including economic concerns, rural resentment and racial animosity. Although Trump supporters have been characterized as “left behind,” “stigmatized” or even “marginalized,” these ascriptions are dangerously off base.

For one, they fuel the self-victimization narratives common among radical right movements, driving conspiracies and support for this ideology. Moreover, they neglect that historically powerful groups such as white people, men and Christians are overrepresented among Trump supporters. Even today, these groups remain privileged politically, economically and culturally. By objective measures, most Trump supporters are not left behind, stigmatized or marginalized.

...will it take three tries to get their coffin in the ground?

(Not exactly climate related but might explain some of how we got into our current climate mess.)

Also from goodreads... "When we avoid taking a decision, what happens to it? In The Unaccountability Machine, Dan Davies examines why markets, institutions and even governments systematically generate outcomes that everyone involved claims not to want. He casts new light on the writing of Stafford Beer, a legendary economist who argued in the 1950s that we should regard organisations as artificial intelligences, capable of taking decisions that are distinct from the intentions of their members."

Also a book excerpt from netinterest... "What do bad decision-making organizations have in common? Quite a few things, but one of the clearest signs is something you might call an “accountability sink”. This is something that might be familiar to anyone who has been bumped from an overbooked flight. There is no point getting angry at the gate attendant; they are just implementing a corporate policy which they have no power to change. But nor can you complain to the person who made the decision – that is also forbidden by the policy. The airline has created an arrangement whereby the gate attendant speaks to you with the voice of an amorphous algorithm, but you have to speak back as if to a human being like yourself. The communication between the decision-maker and the decided-upon has been broken – they have created a handy sink into which negative feedback can be poured without any danger of it affecting anything."

"The Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust—the name refers to a Dodge logo— combines various chambers underneath the Charger's body with some woofers and mid-range speakers, all driven by a dedicated 600 W amplifier. The system is also designed to transmit vibrations into the chassis through elastomeric bushings, mimicking an internal combustion engine and its motor mounts."

"July had the two hottest days recorded but fell 0.04° Celsius short of last year."

The SayHi translation app (from Amazon) has been discontinued as of 8/5/24. My existing install no longer works, and the app is not available on the stores. The app main page just has the discontinuation notice, but no explanation.

I still have DeepL to fall back on, but had found SayHi to be a good alternative. I miss it.

Does anyone know why this was discontinued? Any idea if Amazon is expected to release a replacement?

Any suggestions for a replacement? What has worked for you?

https://apnews.com/article/a625eb01979bc9cf5570d03242f198b1

“An AP analysis of vote tally sheets released Friday by Venezuela’s main opposition indicates that their candidate won significantly more votes in Sunday’s election than the government has claimed, casting serious doubt on the official declaration that President Nicolás Maduro won.”

“According to the calculations, the opposition’s Edmundo González received 6.89 million votes, nearly half a million more than the government says Maduro won with. The tabulations also show Maduro received 3.13 million votes from the tally sheets released.

By comparison, updated results from the governmental National Electoral Council made public Friday said that based on 96.87% of tally sheets, Maduro had 6.4 million votes and Gonzalez 5.3 million. National Electoral Council President Elvis Amoroso attributed the delay in updating results to “massive attacks” on the “technological infrastructure.”

Until we have our old steel pipes replaced, we're dealing with rust that apparently gets caught in our faucet cartridges, thereby causing drips. We've had to replace them regularly. It seems like such a waste to throw out the entire cartridge when just the ceramic pieces and a washer cause the problem.

So rebuild kits aren't available anywhere? I've searched with all the keywords I can think of.

Sales of zero-emissions electric cars continue to tick up in California, driving the state on a vastly different trajectory than the rest of the country. Nearly 24% of all new cars sold here during the first three months of the year were zero-emissions electric vehicles, known as ZEVs, according to new data from the California Energy Commission. By comparison, just 7.5% of cars sold nationwide were ZEVs, according to the California New Car Dealers Association, which represents auto dealers.

In the last week, California surpassed both its zero-emissions truck sales and vehicle sales goals — two years ahead of schedule — and surpassed its goal of installing 10,000 fast EV chargers, more than a year ahead of schedule.

Another reason EV sales in California are outpacing sales in other parts of the country is people are keenly aware how the climate crisis uniquely impacts California. In recent decades, California has continued to face significant pollution and climate challenges. In fact, the state includes seven of the 10 worst areas for ozone pollution in the country and six of the 10 worst areas for small particulate matter, according to Newsom’s office. The state also faces increasing risks from record-setting fires, heat waves, storm surges, sea-level rise, water supply shortages and extreme heat. And these conditions are made worse by climate change.

Sorry if you encounter a paywall!

The union representing 48,000 graduate student teaching assistants, researchers and other student workers across the University of California’s 10 campuses have voted to strike and cause “maximum chaos,” alleging that their workers’ rights have been violated at several universities by actions against pro-Palestinian protests, union leaders announced Wednesday evening.

Though the vote gives the union permission to strike as soon as Wednesday night, it was unclear when or where the walkouts would occur. The union represents teaching assistants, tutors, researchers and postdoctoral scholars.

Rafael Jaime, the union’s co-president and a PhD candidate in UCLA’s English department, said the goal would be to “maximize chaos and confusion” at universities where the union alleges officials have violated workers’ rights over workplace conditions during student protests against the Israel-Hamas war.

“Our members have been beaten, concussed, pepper sprayed, both by counter-protesters and by police forces. As a union, it is our responsibility to stand beside them,” the union said in a statement. “In order to de-escalate the situation, UC must substantively engage with the concerns raised by the protesters — which focus on UC’s investments in companies and industries profiting off of the suffering in Gaza.”

The academic worker strike would be modeled after last year’s “stand up” strikes at against Ford, Stellantis and General Motors and similar to recent strikes at Southern California hotels. The walkouts would not target all campuses at once, Jaime said, but one by one based on how receptive administrations are to pro-Palestinian activists.