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The day's news roundup + tonight's musical feature: Little Willie Anderson

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Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features Chicago blues harmonica player . Enjoy!

^{Little Willie Anderson - Come Here Mama}

“Since the end of human action, as distinct from the end products of fabrication, can never be reliably predicted, the means used to achieve political goals are more often than not of greater relevance to the future world than the intended goals.”

-- Hannah Arendt

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News and Opinion

Don’t cheer for the Espionage Act being used against Donald Trump. It will backfire

Liberal pundits and Twitter accounts are cheering the investigation into Donald Trump for holding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. What they may not know is that they are also throwing their support behind one of the most pernicious and terrible laws that exists: the Espionage Act. Holding Trump accountable doesn’t mean we should all become cheerleaders for the often-abused law primarily used to prosecute whistleblowers and threaten journalists. Ever since the 100-year old Espionage Act was cited in the warrant for the search of Trump’s Florida residence, Twitter and cable news are rife with misinformation about the law and what it means. Those clamoring for Trump to be prosecuted under the act are spreading a ton of misleading statements in the process.

First, let’s get this out of the way: just because the law is called “the Espionage Act” doesn’t mean there is any evidence Trump committed “espionage”. ... No evidence that the documents fell into the wrong hands is needed to be guilty under the Espionage Act. As Lawfare points out, all that is required is that you retain government documents pertaining to national defense and don’t give them back. The primary target for the Espionage Act in recent years has not been government officials selling secrets to foreign governments, but patriotic whistleblowers who have handed journalists classified proof of wrongdoing inside the US national security apparatus. Sources of stories that uncover illegal mass surveillance, extrajudicial drone strikes, discriminatory FBI practices and matters of war and peace have all been targeted with the law. And that’s exactly why civil liberties advocates have been sounding the alarm about the statute for years.

But it’s not just the law’s usual targets that are the problem. The law is incredibly sweeping and ties the hands of anyone charged under it so they can’t make an adequate defense. Journalists’ sources prosecuted under the Espionage Act have not been allowed to tell their jury why they did what they did (“I did this to expose government wrongdoing or illegal behavior” is inadmissible). They also aren’t allowed to talk about the benefits of the public knowing the information they handed over, nor are they even allowed to challenge whether the information was correctly classified in the first place. ...

Don’t get me wrong. It’s absurd to even suggest Trump is a whistleblower or acting as a journalist. But further legitimizing a terrible law – and even expanding its reach beyond people who sign secrecy agreements – could have implications for the future.

Here's the text of Putin's speech on Ukraine from the Kremlin.ru site:

Address by the President of the Russian Federation

September 21, 2022 09:00

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Friends,

The subject of this address is the situation in Donbass and the course of the special military operation to liberate it from the neo-Nazi regime, which seized power in Ukraine in 2014 as the result of an armed state coup.

Today I am addressing you – all citizens of our country, people of different generations, ages and ethnicities, the people of our great Motherland, all who are united by the great historical Russia, soldiers, officers and volunteers who are fighting on the frontline and doing their combat duty, our brothers and sisters in the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions and other areas that have been liberated from the neo-Nazi regime.

The issue concerns the necessary, imperative measures to protect the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of Russia and support the desire and will of our compatriots to choose their future independently, and the aggressive policy of some Western elites, who are doing their utmost to preserve their domination and with this aim in view are trying to block and suppress any sovereign and independent development centres in order to continue to aggressively force their will and pseudo-values on other countries and nations.

The goal of that part of the West is to weaken, divide and ultimately destroy our country. They are saying openly now that in 1991 they managed to split up the Soviet Union and now is the time to do the same to Russia, which must be divided into numerous regions that would be at deadly feud with each other.

They devised these plans long ago. They encouraged groups of international terrorists in the Caucasus and moved NATO’s offensive infrastructure close to our borders. They used indiscriminate Russophobia as a weapon, including by nurturing the hatred of Russia for decades, primarily in Ukraine, which was designed to become an anti-Russia bridgehead. They turned the Ukrainian people into cannon fodder and pushed them into a war with Russia, which they unleashed back in 2014. They used the army against civilians and organised a genocide, blockade and terror against those who refused to recognise the government that was created in Ukraine as the result of a state coup.

After the Kiev regime publicly refused to settle the issue of Donbass peacefully and went as far as to announce its ambition to possess nuclear weapons, it became clear that a new offensive in Donbass – there were two of them before – was inevitable, and that it would be inevitably followed by an attack on Russia’s Crimea, that is, on Russia.

In this connection, the decision to start a pre-emptive military operation was necessary and the only option. The main goal of this operation, which is to liberate the whole of Donbass, remains unaltered.

The Lugansk People’s Republic has been liberated from the neo-Nazis almost completely. Fighting in the Donetsk People’s Republic continues. Over the previous eight years, the Kiev occupation regime created a deeply echeloned line of permanent defences. A head-on attack against them would have led to heavy losses, which is why our units, as well as the forces of the Donbass republics, are acting competently and systematically, using military equipment and saving lives, moving step by step to liberate Donbass, purge cities and towns of the neo-Nazis, and help the people whom the Kiev regime turned into hostages and human shields.

As you know, professional military personnel serving under contract are taking part in the special military operation. Fighting side by side with them are volunteer units – people of different ethnicities, professions and ages who are real patriots. They answered the call of their hearts to rise up in defence of Russia and Donbass.

In this connection, I have already issued instructions for the Government and the Defence Ministry to determine the legal status of volunteers and personnel of the military units of the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics. It must be the same as the status of military professionals of the Russian army, including material, medical and social benefits. Special attention must be given to organising the supply of military and other equipment for volunteer units and Donbass people’s militia.

While acting to attain the main goals of defending Donbass in accordance with the plans and decisions of the Defence Ministry and the General Staff, our troops have liberated considerable areas in the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions and a number of other areas. This has created a protracted line of contact that is over 1,000 kilometres long.

This is what I would like to make public for the first time today. After the start of the special military operation, in particular after the Istanbul talks, Kiev representatives voiced quite a positive response to our proposals. These proposals concerned above all ensuring Russia’s security and interests. But a peaceful settlement obviously did not suit the West, which is why, after certain compromises were coordinated, Kiev was actually ordered to wreck all these agreements.

More weapons were pumped into Ukraine. The Kiev regime brought into play new groups of foreign mercenaries and nationalists, military units trained according to NATO standards and receiving orders from Western advisers.

At the same time, the regime of reprisals throughout Ukraine against their own citizens, established immediately after the armed coup in 2014, was harshly intensified. The policy of intimidation, terror and violence is taking on increasingly mass-scale, horrific and barbaric forms.

I want to stress the following. We know that the majority of people living in the territories liberated from the neo-Nazis, and these are primarily the historical lands of Novorossiya, do not want to live under the yoke of the neo-Nazi regime. People in the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, in Lugansk and Donetsk saw and are seeing now the atrocities perpetrated by the neo-Nazis in the [Ukrainian-] occupied areas of the Kharkov region. The descendants of Banderites and members of Nazi punitive expeditions are killing, torturing and imprisoning people; they are settling scores, beating up, and committing outrages on peaceful civilians.

There were over 7.5 million people living in the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics and in the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions before the outbreak of hostilities. Many of them were forced to become refugees and leave their homes. Those who have stayed – they number about five million – are now exposed to artillery and missile attacks launched by the neo-Nazi militants, who fire at hospitals and schools and stage terrorist attacks against peaceful civilians.

We cannot, we have no moral right to let our kin and kith be torn to pieces by butchers; we cannot but respond to their sincere striving to decide their destiny on their own.

The parliaments of the Donbass people’s republics and the military-civilian administrations of the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions have adopted decisions to hold referendums on the future of their territories and have appealed to Russia to support this.

I would like to emphasise that we will do everything necessary to create safe conditions for these referendums so that people can express their will. And we will support the choice of future made by the majority of people in the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics and the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.

Friends,

Today our armed forces, as I have mentioned, are fighting on the line of contact that is over 1,000 kilometres long, fighting not only against neo-Nazi units but actually the entire military machine of the collective West.

In this situation, I consider it necessary to take the following decision, which is fully adequate to the threats we are facing. More precisely, I find it necessary to support the proposal of the Defence Ministry and the General Staff on partial mobilisation in the Russian Federation to defend our Motherland and its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to ensure the safety of our people and people in the liberated territories.

As I have said, we are talking about partial mobilisation. In other words, only military reservists, primarily those who served in the armed forces and have specific military occupational specialties and corresponding experience, will be called up.

Before being sent to their units, those called up for active duty will undergo mandatory additional military training based on the experience of the special military operation.

I have already signed Executive Order on partial mobilisation.

In accordance with legislation, the houses of the Federal Assembly – the Federation Council and the State Duma – will be officially notified about this in writing today.

The mobilisation will begin today, September 21. I am instructing the heads of the regions to provide the necessary assistance to the work of military recruitment offices.

I would like to point out that the citizens of Russia called up in accordance with the mobilisation order will have the status, payments and all social benefits of military personnel serving under contract.

Additionally, the Executive Order on partial mobilisation also stipulates additional measures for the fulfilment of the state defence order. The heads of defence industry enterprises will be directly responsible for attaining the goals of increasing the production of weapons and military equipment and using additional production facilities for this purpose. At the same time, the Government must address without any delay all aspects of material, resource and financial support for our defence enterprises.

Friends,

The West has gone too far in its aggressive anti-Russia policy, making endless threats to our country and people. Some irresponsible Western politicians are doing more than just speak about their plans to organise the delivery of long-range offensive weapons to Ukraine, which could be used to deliver strikes at Crimea and other Russian regions.

Such terrorist attacks, including with the use of Western weapons, are being delivered at border areas in the Belgorod and Kursk regions. NATO is conducting reconnaissance through Russia’s southern regions in real time and with the use of modern systems, aircraft, vessels, satellites and strategic drones.

Washington, London and Brussels are openly encouraging Kiev to move the hostilities to our territory. They openly say that Russia must be defeated on the battlefield by any means, and subsequently deprived of political, economic, cultural and any other sovereignty and ransacked.

They have even resorted to the nuclear blackmail. I am referring not only to the Western-encouraged shelling of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, which poses a threat of a nuclear disaster, but also to the statements made by some high-ranking representatives of the leading NATO countries on the possibility and admissibility of using weapons of mass destruction – nuclear weapons – against Russia.

I would like to remind those who make such statements regarding Russia that our country has different types of weapons as well, and some of them are more modern than the weapons NATO countries have. In the event of a threat to the territorial integrity of our country and to defend Russia and our people, we will certainly make use of all weapon systems available to us. This is not a bluff.

The citizens of Russia can rest assured that the territorial integrity of our Motherland, our independence and freedom will be defended – I repeat – by all the systems available to us. Those who are using nuclear blackmail against us should know that the wind rose can turn around.

It is our historical tradition and the destiny of our nation to stop those who are keen on global domination and threaten to split up and enslave our Motherland. Rest assured that we will do it this time as well.

I believe in your support.

Russia FM rejects Western accusations on Ukraine at Security Council

NATO sabotages Ukraine-Russia talks as Europe suffers

Biden performs comedy routine at UNGA:

At UN General Assembly, Biden Says Russia Can’t Take a Country’s Territory by Force

At the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, President Biden focused most of his speech on Ukraine and accused Russia of violating the UN Charter by launching the war. ...

Biden’s comments highlight US hypocrisy on the issue as Washington currently occupies a major portion of eastern Syria despite the Syrian government’s opposition. The US also supports Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and its blockade of Gaza, and Saudi Arabia’s war and blockade on its neighbor Yemen.

Biden said that the US will continue to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia based on the principle that “you cannot seize a nation’s territory by force.”

Russia Reaches Bakhmut Centre, Prepares Major Winter Offensive, Defends Liman, Exchanges Prisoners

Azerbaijan's Deadly Attack on Armenia Inflames Decades-Long Conflict in South Caucasus

North Korea denies supplying weapons or ammunition to Russia

North Korea has said it has never supplied weapons or ammunition to Russia and does not plan to do so in the future, according to a statement released by the state media service, KCNA.

“Recently, the US and other hostile forces talked about the ‘violation of a resolution’ of the UNSC [UN security council], spreading a ‘rumour of arms dealings’ between the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] and Russia … we have never exported weapons or ammunition to Russia before and we will not plan to export them,” said KCNA (Korean Central news agency). ...

North Korea, in its new statement, warned the US to “keep its mouth shut” and stop circulating such rumours, which seem to be “aimed at tarnishing [the country’s] image”.

Germany nationalises biggest gas importer to avert supply crisis

Germany has agreed to nationalise its biggest gas importer, Uniper, to avert a crisis as it battles energy shortages resulting from Russia’s war in Ukraine. The deal builds on a rescue package agreed in July, when Berlin took a 30% stake in the company, and includes a capital injection of €8bn (about £7bn) of government money.

Uniper had been controlled by the Finnish state-owned energy company Fortum, which welcomed the announcement. It said Berlin would buy its shares for €500m, giving the state a 98.5% stake in the gas company.

Fortum’s chief executive, Markus Rauramo, said: “Under the current circumstances in the European energy markets and recognising the severity of Uniper’s situation, the divestment of Uniper is the right step to take, not only for Uniper but also for Fortum. ... He said Uniper’s losses caused by Russia’s limiting natural gas supplies to European countries supporting Ukraine had reached almost €8.5bn. Missing deliveries from Russia have had to be replaced with expensive supplies from the open market, where prices for gas have risen sharply.

Shireen Abu Akleh’s family submits complaint to ICC

The family of Shireen Abu Akleh has formally submitted a complaint to the international criminal court (ICC) including evidence from a new report that found the veteran Palestinian-American journalist was deliberately killed by Israeli forces.

“The evidence is overwhelming. It’s been over four months since Shireen was killed. Our family shouldn’t have to wait another day for justice,” her family wrote in a statement after the official submission at The Hague on Tuesday.

“It’s obvious that Israeli war criminals cannot investigate their own crimes. The US still has an obligation to investigate and take meaningful action for one of their own citizens. But when an individual state fails to protect its own citizens, it’s the responsibility of the international community to protect them instead.”

Abu Akleh, 51, a well-known figure in the Arab world, was shot in the head in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin in May while covering an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) raid.

Israel initially blamed the reporter’s death on Palestinian militants, but after widespread international outrage later said there was a “high possibility” she was killed by an Israeli soldier. The IDF maintains the shooting was accidental, and therefore a criminal investigation is not warranted.

Fed raises interest rate by 0.75 percentage points

The Federal Reserve announced another sharp hike in interest rates on Wednesday as the central bank struggles to rein in runaway inflation.

The Fed raised its benchmark interest rate by 0.75 percentage points, the third such outsized rate increase in a row, bringing the Fed rate to 3%-3.25% and increasing the cost of everything from credit card debt and mortgages to company financing.

The central bank signaled more raises to come, predicting rates would reach 4.4% by the end of the year and not start coming down until 2024. The Fed expects the rate rises to hit the job market – raising unemployment from 3.7% to 4.4% next year – housing prices and to lower economic growth.

“We have got to get inflation behind us. I wish there were a painless way to do that. There isn’t,” the Fed chair, Jerome Powell, said. “We have always understood that restoring price stability while achieving a relatively modest increase in unemployment and a soft landing would be very challenging. And we don’t know. No one knows whether this process will lead to a recession or if so, how significant that recession would be.”

Central bankers around the world are raising rates sharply as they too attempt to tackle the cost of living crisis. This week the Bank of England is expected to announce its largest rate rise in 25 years. The European Central Bank raised interest rates across the eurozone by a record margin earlier this month.

Fed in 'Full Recession-Creating Mode' Comes Under Fire for Another Interest Rate Hike

Progressive economists and other critics on Wednesday called out the U.S. Federal Reserve for officially announcing its widely expected third 75-basis-point interest rate hike this year.

While addressing the decision during an afternoon press conference, Fed Chair Jerome Powell also said that "we anticipate that ongoing increases will be appropriate" to meet the central bank's goal of returning inflation to 2%.

With each rate hike—and other central banks following suit—warnings of a global recession have mounted, and opponents of the Fed's approach have stressed that low-income workers and other marginalized people are bound to bear the brunt of the negative impacts.

"It's a central bank in full recession-creating mode," Crooked Media editor in chief Brian Beutler said Wednesday after the Federal Reserve rose its rate up to a range of 3%-3.25%.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a vocal critic of previous hikes, was among those who focused on the expected effects for those who can least afford another rate increase.

"Chair Powell just announced another extreme interest rate hike while forecasting higher unemployment," she said Wednesday. "I've been warning that Chair Powell's Fed would throw millions of Americans out of work—and I fear he's already on the path to doing so."

Janelle Jones, chief economist at the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), similarly said that "today the Fed decided to risk mass joblessness in its fight against inflation. Raising interest rates, and pushing the economy toward a recession, will result in millions of workers being unemployed or taking pay cuts."

"And we know who those workers will be," she continued. "The workers most likely to face an economic crisis are workers of color, women, and low-wage workers. The same groups who already face worse economic outcomes in the labor market."

Briahna Joy Gray: GOP, Bernie May ALIGN To Kill Manchin's Fossil Fuel Donor HANDOUT

Blackjewel still hasn’t paid many of its coalminers three years on

In July 2019, about 1,700 coalminers working for an affiliate of one of the largest coalmine operators in the US, Blackjewel, found their paychecks had bounced. Many were left with bank accounts in the negative while bills and late fees piled up. Blackjewel then filed for bankruptcy and abruptly shut down its mines in Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky and Wyoming, laying off miners without notice and leaving them without pay for the work they had completed the past two weeks.

This prompted several miners to start a protest in Harlan county, Kentucky, blocking a train full of coal from one of Blackjewel’s mines from leaving until miners were paid what they were owed.

Now, more than three years later, hundreds of miners and their families are still waiting for what they are owed. And, despite the passage of time, the wounds left by their treatment are fresh – as are the economic hardships they endure in parts of the country where working at the mine was often one of the few well-paid jobs around. ...

In February 2021, a settlement of $17.3m was reached in the case, but workers have yet to receive any of those funds despite many of the mines having been sold off and reopened under new owners. Other mine sites abandoned due to the bankruptcy are still facing reclamation and cleanup costs that fall to local or state agencies.

Blackjewel investors have also filed their own lawsuit against the former president and CEO Jeffery Hoops, accusing him of stripping the company of assets before the bankruptcy filing to keep funds away from creditors.

Hoops has been building a luxury resort in Milton, West Virginia, that received millions in tax breaks. The golf course had a soft opening in August 2022, while construction of the rest of the resort has undergone significant delays.

Facebook CAN’T Censor! Says Federal Court

Why don't they ask them what I want to know, "what sort of gun would Jesus purchase for himself?"

Majority of Republican Voters Say US Should Be Declared a 'Christian Nation'

Far-right Republican lawmakers who have recently invoked Christian nationalist messages appear to be representing a growing portion of their voter base, according to a new poll released Wednesday showing that a sizable majority of Republicans believe the U.S. should be declared a "Christian nation."

As Professors Stella Rouse and Shibley Telhami of the University of Maryland wrote at Politico, the school's critical issues poll found that while a majority of Republican voters agree that such a declaration would be unconstitutional, most also believe that the U.S. should be officially known as Christian.

The professors surveyed 2,091 voters between May 6-16, 2022, first asking them "if they believed the Constitution would even allow the United States government to declare the U.S. a 'Christian Nation'" and finding that 57% of Republicans—as well as more than 80% of Democrats—said no.

Yet "fully 61% of Republicans supported declaring the United States a Christian nation," Rouse and Telhami wrote.

The poll, showing widespread disregard for one of the nation's foundational documents, was released as government watchdogs issue warnings about a plot some Republican lawmakers are pushing to rewrite the Constitution.

The critical issues poll showed that older Republicans were more likely than Millennial voters and members of Generation Z—who range in age from 18 to 41—to think Christian nationalist beliefs should be codified, younger members of the party were also largely supportive.

"We see that 51% of Millennial Republicans and 51% of Generation Z Republicans want the U.S. to be declared a Christian nation," wrote Rouse and Telhami.

More than 70% of Republicans born before 1965 supported such a declaration.

The poll results were released as GOP candidates and elected officials have outwardly expressed Christian nationalist beliefs with greater frequency.

Earlier this month, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) told an audience at a conference held by the Truth and Liberty Coalition that "we need God back at the center of our country."

"It's time for us to position ourselves and rise up and take our place in Christ and influence this nation as we were called to do," she told supporters of the coalition, which says it "stands for preserving America's constitutional republic of government" and "guaranteeing to each citizen their Creator-given rights."

Former Minneapolis officer sentenced to three years in George Floyd’s murder

A former Minneapolis police officer who pleaded guilty to a state charge of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter in the killing of George Floyd was sentenced on Wednesday to three years. Thomas Lane is already serving a two-and-a-half-year federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights. In the state case, prosecutors and Lane’s attorneys agreed to a recommended sentence of three years, to be served at the same time, in a federal prison.

The Wednesday sentencing hearing was held remotely. Lane appeared from the Federal correctional institution Englewood, a low-security federal prison camp in Littleton, Colorado. ...

When Lane pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter, he admitted that he intentionally helped restrain Floyd in a way that created an unreasonable risk and caused his death. As part of the plea agreement, a more serious count of aiding and abetting second-degree unintentional murder was dismissed.

In his plea agreement, Lane admitted that he knew from his training that restraining Floyd in that way created a serious risk of death, and that he heard Floyd say he couldn’t breathe, knew Floyd fell silent, had no pulse and appeared to have lost consciousness.

The plea agreement says Lane knew Floyd should have been rolled on to his side – and evidence shows he asked twice if that should be done – but he continued to assist in the restraint despite the risk. Lane agreed the restraint was “unreasonable under the circumstances and constituted an unlawful use of force”.

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New York attorney general lawsuit accuses Trump of ‘staggering’ fraud

The attorney general of New York state has filed a civil fraud lawsuit against Donald Trump and three of his children involved in the family real-estate business, for falsely inflating his net worth by billions in order to enrich himself and secure favorable loans.

Announcing the suit in New York on Wednesday, Letitia James also said referrals had been made to federal prosecutors and the Internal Revenue Service – a move sure to anger the former US president and increase consternation among his inner circle about the depth of his legal predicament. ...

The lawsuit seeks to bar all four Trumps from serving as executives in New York, and to prohibit the Trump Organization from acquiring any commercial real estate or receiving loans from New York-based entities for five years.

James added: “The complaint demonstrates that Donald Trump falsely inflated his net worth by billions of dollars to unjustly enrich himself and to cheat the system, thereby cheating all of us. He did this with the help of the other defendants.”

James said her office uncovered evidence of federal criminal violations including issuing false statements to financial institutions and bank fraud, and had referred the matter to the southern district of New York and the IRS. The lawsuit states: “The number of grossly inflated asset values is staggering, affecting most if not all of the real estate holdings in any given year.”

NY AG Seeks To END Trump Business Forever

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How the climate crisis is fueling the spread of a brain-eating amoeba

The death of a child in Nebraska this summer put the rare but deadly Naegleria fowleri – more commonly known as brain-eating amoeba – back in the headlines. The amoeba lives in warm, fresh water and can enter the body through the nose, where it travels to the brain and starts to destroy tissue.

The case underscored a troubling new reality – climate change is encouraging the amoeba to pop up in parts of the US where it isn’t typical, such as the north and west.

Naegleria grows best in warm waters – temperatures above 30C, and can tolerate temperatures of up to 46C, says Charles Gerba, a microbiologist at the University of Arizona. That makes it well-suited to spread in a warming climate. “It likes warm surface waters during the summer in the northern latitudes,” he says.

The amoeba causes an illness called primary amebic meningoencephalitis, and while getting sick is rare – between 2012 to 2021, only 31 cases were reported in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control – it’s incredibly lethal. According to the CDC, only four people out of 151 have survived the infection between 1962 and 2020.

In the US, Naegleria has typically been limited to the southern states, but in recent years it has spread steadily northward. A 2021 study showed that even though the rate of infections hasn’t budged, the amoeba is moving from southern states to midwestern areas. It’s been found as far north as Minnesota.

Indigenous leaders urge businesses and banks to stop supporting deforestation

Indigenous leaders from the Amazon have implored major western brands and banks to stop supporting the ongoing destruction of the vital rainforest through mining, oil drilling and logging, warning that the ecosystem is on the brink of a disastrous collapse.

Representatives of Indigenous peoples from across the Amazon region have descended upon New York this week to press governments and businesses, gathered in the city for climate and United Nations gatherings, to stem the flow of finance to activities that are polluting and deforesting large areas of the rainforest.

A new report by the Association of Brazil’s Indigenous Peoples (APIB) alleges that brands such as Apple, Microsoft and Tesla all have products that may be tainted by gold illegally mined in Amazon Indigenous territories. ...

Indigenous activists have also accused several major US financiers, including Blackrock, Vanguard and JP Morgan Chase, of funding ongoing logging and mining activities in the Amazon that are contributing to the rainforest’s degradation. The Amazon’s deforestation rate in Brazil has hit a six-year high, data released in July found, with scientists warning the fabled ecosystem is facing a transformation into a grassy savannah due to global heating and the clearing of trees to make way for agriculture.

‘What are they thinking?’: toxic ‘forever chemicals’ found in school uniforms

Toxic PFAS chemicals are frequently used to make children’s clothing and textiles resist water and stains, but exposure to the compounds in clothes represents a serious health risk, a new peer-reviewed study finds.

The study, published in the Environmental and Science Technology journal, detected the chemicals in 65% of school uniforms, rain gear, snowsuits, snowshoes, mittens, bibs, hats and stroller covers tested, and at levels authors characterized as “high”.

“It’s one of those things where you hang your head and say ‘What are they thinking?’” said co-author and University of Notre Dame researcher Graham Peaslee. “Everyone thinks stain-resistant clothes are great progress, but if little Johnny or Jane is covered in PFAS, is that great progress?”

PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a class of about 12,000 compounds used to make consumer products resist water, stains and heat. They are called “forever chemicals” because they do not naturally break down, and they accumulate in the environment and human body. Researchers have linked PFAS to cancer, birth defects, kidney disease, decreased immunity, reproductive problems and other serious health issues.

The study of textiles purchased in the US and Canada builds off previous studies that have found the toxic compounds in children’s outdoor clothing, but it’s the first to examine their use in school uniforms and other indoor children’s clothing. Peaslee said the only textile in which he had found higher levels of PFAS than school uniforms was turnout gear used to protect firefighters.

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Also of Interest

Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.

Idiots Are Just Discovering That This War Is Dangerous: Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix

Defensive West Smears Samarkand Summit

Brainwashed for War With Russia

U.S. Senators Propose Secondary Sanctions On Russian Oil

What the Fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan Is Really About and Why It’s Likely to Get Worse

US Bombs Somalia, Says 27 al-Shabaab Fighters Killed

Riotsville, USA: the shocking story of fake army towns that militarised police

Thousands Take To The Streets In Belgium Against Soaring Energy Prices

Data Reveals Poverty Is a Political Choice

Volunteers extend a hand to migrants from Texas: ‘We welcome them’

Neptune and its rings shown in striking new light by Webb telescope

Gris-gris enigma: can a new posthumous release shed light on the elusive genius of Dr John?

Did Ukraine kill its own extremist fighters in rocket strike?

US gov't backs Ukrainian kill lists targeting journalists, kids

US Imperialism & Sanctions Are Driving Venezuela Migrant Crisis, NOT COMMUNISM

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A Little Night Music

Little Willie Anderson - Everything gonna be alright

Little Willie Anderson - Willie's women blues

Willie Anderson - Had A Dream

Little Willie Anderson - West Side Baby

Little Willie Anderson - Been Around

Little Willie Anderson - Big Fat Mama

Little Willie Anderson - Lester Leaps In

Little Willie Anderson - Looking For You Baby

Little Willie Anderson - 69th Street Bounce

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