Non-IT News Thread
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Amazon fires: France and Ireland threaten to block EU trade deal
France and Ireland say they will not ratify a huge trade deal with South American nations unless Brazil does more to fight fires in the Amazon.
French leader Emmanuel Macron said President Jair Bolsonaro had lied to him about his stance on climate change. There are currently a record number of fires in the Amazon rainforest - a major source of oxygen for the world. Environmental groups say the fires are linked to Mr Bolsonaro's policies, which he denies. European leaders have also expressed dismay over the fires, with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying he is "deeply concerned" about "the impact of the tragic loss of these precious habitats". German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called the fire an "acute emergency... shocking and threatening not only for Brazil and the other affected countries, but also for the whole world". -
Russia launches 'floating Chernobyl' plant across Arctic
Russia on Friday launched a controversial floating nuclear reactor on a nearly 3,100-mile voyage across the Arctic Sea from the port of Murmansk.
Loaded with nuclear fuel, the Akademik Lomonosov with three tug vessels is set to reach the port of Pevek in 4 to 6 weeks. But the maiden voyage comes amid concerns from environmentalists that have only heightened after a recent botched missile test which led to a radiation spike in a town in the same northern region as Murmansk. Lomonosov is part of a plan to bring electric power to one of Russia's most remote regions. The 144-meter (472 feet) long platform, painted in the colors of the Russian flag, is going to supply electricity to settlements and companies extracting hydrocarbons and precious stones in the Chukotka area. A larger agenda is at work, too: aiding President Vladimir Putin's ambitious Arctic expansion plans, which have raised concerns about a larger geopolitical contest. Likhachev, CEO of Rosatom which is in charge of the project, said at a ceremony in Murmansk that Lomonosov will "amount to a significant contribution to creating an Arctic future that is both sustainable and prosperous." -
@mlnews said in Non-IT News Thread:
Russia launches 'floating Chernobyl' plant across Arctic
Russia on Friday launched a controversial floating nuclear reactor on a nearly 3,100-mile voyage across the Arctic Sea from the port of Murmansk.
Loaded with nuclear fuel, the Akademik Lomonosov with three tug vessels is set to reach the port of Pevek in 4 to 6 weeks. But the maiden voyage comes amid concerns from environmentalists that have only heightened after a recent botched missile test which led to a radiation spike in a town in the same northern region as Murmansk. Lomonosov is part of a plan to bring electric power to one of Russia's most remote regions. The 144-meter (472 feet) long platform, painted in the colors of the Russian flag, is going to supply electricity to settlements and companies extracting hydrocarbons and precious stones in the Chukotka area. A larger agenda is at work, too: aiding President Vladimir Putin's ambitious Arctic expansion plans, which have raised concerns about a larger geopolitical contest. Likhachev, CEO of Rosatom which is in charge of the project, said at a ceremony in Murmansk that Lomonosov will "amount to a significant contribution to creating an Arctic future that is both sustainable and prosperous."what could go wrong?
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@mlnews said in Non-IT News Thread:
Amazon fires: France and Ireland threaten to block EU trade deal
France and Ireland say they will not ratify a huge trade deal with South American nations unless Brazil does more to fight fires in the Amazon.
I'm a bit embarrassed to say that everytime I see something on this rainforest fire, I always get confused thinking that Bezos's company is ablaze. It doesn't help that the Fire tablet and Fire Stick are a thing...
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@thegr81337 said in Non-IT News Thread:
@mlnews said in Non-IT News Thread:
Amazon fires: France and Ireland threaten to block EU trade deal
France and Ireland say they will not ratify a huge trade deal with South American nations unless Brazil does more to fight fires in the Amazon.
I'm a bit embarrassed to say that everytime I see something on this rainforest fire, I always get confused thinking that Bezos's company is ablaze. It doesn't help that the Fire tablet and Fire Stick are a thing...
You're not alone.
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BBC News - Trump says US firms 'hereby ordered' to quit China
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49450245 -
@scottalanmiller said in Non-IT News Thread:
BBC News - Trump says US firms 'hereby ordered' to quit China
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49450245HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHH
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BBC News - The African American who moved to Ghana 'to escape US racism'
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-49394354 -
@scottalanmiller said in Non-IT News Thread:
BBC News - The African American who moved to Ghana 'to escape US racism'
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-49394354Interesting stuff. I had not heard about this before.
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Amazon fires: G7 leaders close to agreeing plan to help, says Macron
International leaders gathering at the G7 summit are reportedly nearing an agreement to help fight fires in the Amazon rainforest.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday a deal to provide "technical and financial help" was close. Leaders from the US, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, the UK and Canada continue their meeting in the seaside town of Biarritz on Monday. It comes amid international tension over record fires burning in Brazil. Critics have accused Brazil's President, Jair Bolsonaro, of "green lighting" the Amazon's destruction through anti-environmental rhetoric and a lack of action on deforestation violations. -
Asian stocks drop as US-China trade war escalates
Asian stock markets tumbled on Monday after a sharp escalation in the US-China trade war rattled investors.
On Friday, US President Donald Trump announced tariff hikes on effectively all Chinese imports to the US.It came after Beijing said it would impose fresh duties and raise tariffs on US imports into China. In China, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slid 3.2% while the Shanghai Composite gave up 1.3%. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index dropped 2.3%. The Chinese yuan weakened to a fresh 11-year low against the US dollar. The onshore yuan was around 7.15 per dollar in morning Asian trade. Sharp falls in the yuan earlier this month prompted the US to officially name China a "currency manipulator", adding to tensions between the two countries. -
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BBC News - Opioid crisis: Johnson & Johnson hit by landmark ruling
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49452373 -
@scottalanmiller said in Non-IT News Thread:
BBC News - Opioid crisis: Johnson & Johnson hit by landmark ruling
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49452373How is this not more on the prescribing providers? Is there a such thing as an inverse class action lawsuit?
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Amazon fires: What about Bolivia?
All eyes have been on the burning of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, as international pressure - and sharp criticism - have been heaped upon its president.
But fires do not stop at borders, and Bolivia's rainforest is burning too. The Amazon sprawls for millions of square miles across nine different countries - and Bolivia has seen fires rage across the forest near its borders with Brazil and Paraguay. The size of the fires is estimated to have doubled since Thursday. About one million hectares - or more than 3,800 square miles- are affected. Yet while Brazil's President Bolsonaro has been trading rhetorical blows with world leaders over his actions to protect the rainforest, little attention has been given to the blaze in Bolivia and its causes. Bolivian President Evo Morales is in the midst of a controversial re-election campaign, having gone to the courts to abolish term limits as he seeks a fourth time as the country's leader. Unlike his Brazilian counterpart, he has decided to accept international help in fighting the fires - securing a Boeing 747 "supertanker" from the US to drop water, and welcoming the offer of aid from the G7 summit at the weekend. -
@Dashrender said in Non-IT News Thread:
@scottalanmiller said in Non-IT News Thread:
BBC News - Opioid crisis: Johnson & Johnson hit by landmark ruling
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49452373How is this not more on the prescribing providers? Is there a such thing as an inverse class action lawsuit?
Needs to hit the vendors first, then they can go after prescribers.
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@scottalanmiller said in Non-IT News Thread:
@Dashrender said in Non-IT News Thread:
@scottalanmiller said in Non-IT News Thread:
BBC News - Opioid crisis: Johnson & Johnson hit by landmark ruling
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49452373How is this not more on the prescribing providers? Is there a such thing as an inverse class action lawsuit?
Needs to hit the vendors first, then they can go after prescribers.
I don't really follow - the vendors aren't advertising directly to patients - they are advertising to providers - providers who should be doing their due diligence and knowing the side effects, etc and not prescribing when not called for.
I would totally blame the manufacturers (is that who you are calling the vendors? - if not, who are the vendors in your mind?) IF people could buy this crap over the counter and there was no safeguards to it's purchase - which of course we know there is a black market for this stuff, but that's basically outside the scope, unless you want to claim the manufacturers are getting supply to the black market easily and on purpose.
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Brazil will reject $20 million of Amazon fire aid from G7
Brazil will reject an offer of $20 million in international aid for the fires that are burning across the Amazon rainforest, according to the president's office.
The special communications office for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro told CNN on Tuesday that the country would turn down the money that was pledged at the G7 summit in France on Monday. The blazes in the Amazon have caused a public spat between Bolsonaro and French President Emmanuel Macron, who has been vocal about the need for an international response to the fires. According to news site G1 Globo, Bolsonaro's chief of staff suggested that the aid should be used elsewhere instead. "We are thankful, but maybe those resources would be more relevant to reforest Europe," Onyx Lorenzoni was quoted as saying by G1 Globo late Monday night. But on Tuesday morning, around an hour after his communications office confirmed that Brazil would reject the funding, Bolsonaro appeared to cast doubt on the matter. "Did I say that? Did I? Did Jair Bolsonaro speak?" he asked reporters outside the presidential residence, adding that he would only respond to the offer once Macron withdrew his insults of him. -
@Dashrender said in Non-IT News Thread:
I don't really follow - the vendors aren't advertising directly to patients - they are advertising to providers - providers who should be doing their due diligence and knowing the side effects, etc and not prescribing when not called for.
Yup, so first you have to prove, as they just did, that there is something going on before you can prove that the individual prescriptions are a problem.
