Magazine Posts

"The newly discovered Nazca lines depict humans, cats, killer whales, birds, and snakes and date between 100 BCE and 300 CE" Read more

Photo courtesy of Yamagata University

"Forever chemicals or PFAS, can increase health risks for certain cancers and other diseases when present in drinking water in minuscule concentrations measured in parts per trillion. ....... Testing has found more than a dozen Washington public water systems with detections above levels defined by the state to be suitable for long-term consumption — and widespread testing is just ramping up" Read more

The Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony takes place in Oslo City Hall on December 10 – the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death.  The 2022 Peace Prize was awarded to human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski from Belarus, the Russian human rights organization Memorial and the Ukrainian human rights organization Center for Civil Liberties. See all 2022 Nobel Prizes

Alfred Nobel was a Swedish chemist, engineer, and industrialist most famously known for the invention of dynamite. He died in 1896. In his will, he bequeathed all of his "remaining realizable assets" to be used to establish five prizes which became known as "Nobel Prizes." Nobel Prizes were first awarded in 1901.The Nobel Prizes, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." 

Nobel Prizes are awarded in the fields of Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace (Nobel characterized the Peace Prize as "to the person who has done the most or best to advance fellowship among nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and the establishment and promotion of peace congresses"). In 1968, Sveriges Riksbank (Sweden's central bank) funded the establishment of the Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, to also be administered by the Nobel Foundation. Nobel Prizes are widely regarded as the most prestigious awards available in their respective fields.

"I’ve been teaching English for 12 years, and I’m astounded by what ChatGPT can produce.......  Barring outright plagiarism, students have always arrived at that moment when they’re on their own with a blank page, staring down a blinking cursor, the essay waiting to be written...... Now that might be about to change" Read more

"On carbon-negative Samsø Island, renewable energy is collectively owned — which means that the greener the island gets, the more everyone benefits"....... Read more

"Moore v. Harper is a test of whether this Supreme Court can ever be trusted with power." Click to read th full article at Vox

"Northwest SOIL promised to help students with serious disabilities. But when school districts urged action, the state let the private school stay open and receive millions in tax dollars..... For years, the complaints languished with Washington state education officials." ...."Northwest SOIL’s corporate owner, Universal Health Services, has for years skimped on staffing and basic resources while pressuring managers to enroll more students than the staff could handle..." Read more at ProPublica

An analysis released by Accountable.US "reveals that election-deniers that ran for federal office during the 2022 cycle received nearly $65 million from all corporate interests combined including trade groups, despite their open peddling of false claims undermining confidence in democracy. The National Association of Realtors (Realtors PAC) ranked as the top overall donor with over $821,000 in contributions". Read the full article at Accountable.US

Business - Environment - Government - Politics

~ The math on Twitter's debt :: Daring Fireball
~ Beyond passenger cars and pickups... :: The Conversation
~ Chief Justice John Roberts puts temporary hold on release of Trump’s tax returns to Congress :: CNN
~ Only the GOP Celebrates Political Violence :: The Atlantic

"In the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, more than 100 major companies pledged to suspend political giving to the members of Congress who voted to invalidate Joe Biden's presidential victory." However, since then, "At least 228 Fortune 500 companies have provided financial support to members of Congress who sought to invalidate the 2020 presidential election results. Together, the companies have poured a total of nearly $13.2 million into those politicians’ war chests. By contrast, about 100 companies from the Fortune list have not given to these members through their corporate PACs". Read more

"The state officials who administer fair, accessible and secure elections have historically operated quietly without garnering much public attention. Elections happen, votes are counted, the winners are declared and democracy moves on".

"But since 2020, secretaries of state and other state officials who oversee elections have come under increasing scrutiny and been exposed to increasing abuse"......... "given the increasingly polarized and hostile political environment in the U.S., is the country about to experience an Election Day filled with conflict, contested election results and chief election officials who are no longer trusted?.... Read more 

"Psychosis is a temporary state of being in which a person undergoes a disruption in their experience of commonly shared reality that is markedly different from others in their cultural group. During this state, someone can have unusual experiences" ... Read more