- A new poll suggests that Joe Biden has a four point lead over Donald Trump in Michigan.
- Historian Ian Lustick comments that Israel has never ended hostilities with the Palestinians on its own, but only when pressured to do so from outside (most often the US), and doesn't expect anything different this time. Unfortunately the prospects for this in the near future are not good, especially now that the Biden administration is preoccupied with the election campaign. This doesn't bode well for Palestinians in the near future, nor even for Israelis - most recently, two of the hostages taken in October have been killed (whether by Hamas or by an Israeli airstrike is being disputed), and terrorist attacks continue as well.
- As mentioned a few days back, placing a tax on soft drinks is effective in reducing the consumption of said drinks. Boulder is going a step further - they are using the revenue to provide low-income folks with coupons to buy more nutritious food. So you have a carrot (literally) in addition to a stick.
- Speaking of taxes, even fiscal conservatives see the need to raise property taxes in Toronto. TVO's Steve Lafleur points out that even with the increase Toronto's property taxes will be among the lowest in the region, and that municipalities tend to run a pretty tight ship anyway, so there's not a lot of "fat" to trim.
- In the US, fishers are required to pay the salary of observers from the National Marine Fisheries Service who ride along on their boats. This is now going to the US Supreme Court; whatever one thinks of that particular rule, rightwing opponents of regulation of any sort are latching onto the case in the hope of getting a decision that will tie the hands of federal regulators.
- A recent study indicates that agriculture is by far the biggest driver of deforestation around the world. Beef alone is responsible for 41% of deforestation in the tropics; oilseeds (including soy as well as palm) are responsible for 18%. Note that much of the soy grown in the tropics is grown as cattle feed; if it were fed to humans directly rather than to cattle a lot less of it would be needed.
- In California, a new law passed by referendum in 2018 has just taken effect, requiring that meat sold in the state (whether raised domestically or imported) must meet minimum standards of care. Pregnant sows, for instance, have typically been kept in crates too small for them to even turn around, but under the new law they must be provided with a minimum of 24 ft2 of space. Space requirement are also increased for hens and veal calves. The industry fought it all the way to the Supreme Court and lost; they are now hoping for the feds to intervene. Unfortunately there are a lot of exemptions, notably that it doesn't apply to processed meat like sausages, nor does it apply to meat that is sold outside the state.
- Poland gets about 70% of its electricity from coal-fired plants, but the new government there hopes to change that.
- A Russian command aircraft was shot down and another heavily damaged over the Sea of Azov.
- Italy's culture minister is under investigation for possessing, and exhibiting, a stolen 17th century painting.
No comments:
Post a Comment