MicroWave

MicroWave OP , 3 months ago to news in China could use TikTok to influence US elections, spy chief says

While other companies also have issues, TikTok goes further by having strong connection to the PRC:

Lawmakers have long voiced concerns that the Chinese government could access user data or influence what people see on the app, including pushing content to stoke US political divisions.

MicroWave OP , 3 months ago to news in Europe unprepared for rapidly growing climate risks, report finds

Sure, this article focuses on Europe specific problems though:

Europe has heated up more than any other continent since the Industrial Revolution. It has heated about twice as fast as the global average as carbon dioxide has clogged the atmosphere and trapped sunlight.

MicroWave OP , 3 months ago to worldnews in EU watchdog wants new search and rescue rules after hundreds of migrants drown off Greece

From another article with a little more context:

When 600 people die on a summer’s night in the Mediterranean, their journey known of, or witnessed for many hours and at various times by an EU agency, the maritime authorities of two EU countries, by civil society activists and by multiple private ships and boats – a journey and a drowning effectively in plain sight – there is one obvious question: “How did that happen?”

…

Our inquiry found that for most of the period between the sighting of the Adriana and its capsizing, Frontex had to stand ineffectually by, due to the absence of authorisation by the Greek authorities to do more. The agency is legally obliged to follow the orders and directions of the coordinating national authority.

According to documents inspected by my office, repeated calls offering assistance from the Warsaw-based agency [Frontex] to the Greek rescue and coordination centre went unanswered. A Frontex drone, on offer to assist with the Adriana, was diverted by the Greek authorities to another incident.

When Frontex was finally allowed to return to the site of the Adriana, the boat had capsized, with many hundreds of people already dead.

theguardian.com/…/600-people-drowning-eu-deters-m…

MicroWave OP , 3 months ago to worldnews in Mexico City may be just months away from running of out water

Who are “they” that you’re referring to? The Spanish came and drained the lake where modern Mexico City now sits. You can read more about the drainage here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Texcoco

MicroWave OP , 3 months ago to worldnews in Mexico City may be just months away from running of out water

Not sure if you’re aware of the city’s colonial history. An example from the article:

The Aztecs chose this spot to build their city of Tenochtitlan in 1325, when it was a series of lakes. They built on an island, expanding the city outwards, constructing networks of canals and bridges to work with the water.

But when the Spanish arrived in the early 16th century, they tore down much of the city, drained the lakebed, filled in canals and ripped out forests. They saw “water as an enemy to overcome for the city to thrive,” said Jose Alfredo Ramirez, an architect and co-director of Groundlab, a design and policy research organization.

Their decision paved the way for many of Mexico City’s modern problems. Wetlands and rivers have been replaced with concrete and asphalt. In the rainy season, it floods. In the dry season, it’s parched.

MicroWave OP , 3 months ago to news in Leaked hacking files show Chinese spying on citizens and foreigners alike

Comments like this are so odd. People (rightfully) get all worked up about surveillance in the West like the US and UK, but then kinda shrug off the same stuff when it’s China.

China is no longer weak and isolationist. It’s been flexing its muscles around the world, with 102 overseas police stations in 53 countries, including Italy, France, Canada, Britain and the Netherlands for example.

MicroWave OP , 3 months ago to news in Administration announces $5.8 billion in funding to clean up nation’s drinking water, upgrade infrastructure

Here’s the EPA’s estimate:

Water utilities throughout the United States will need to spend $625 billion over the next 20 years to fix, maintain, and improve the country’s drinking water infrastructure, according to the results of a periodic assessment done by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

pewtrusts.org/…/more-federal-funding-needed-to-im…

That’s $31.25 billion per year. This $5.8 billion is another injection into the $50 billion federal program for improving water infrastructure in 2021.

MicroWave OP , 3 months ago to news in Car insurance prices surge

The article lists several factors:

Because car prices in general have skyrocketed, more Americans are keeping their current cars for longer. This means costly repairs can become more likely, and the car insurers have adjusted their rates accordingly.

In the last year, car repair prices also climbed 7 percent, outpacing inflation by more than double.

A supply chain slowdown and ongoing labor shortages have also pushed the insurance industry to implement price hikes on customers, insuranceQuotes.com analyst Michael Giusti said.

“None of that even mentions the higher medical costs they have to pay after accidents,” Giusti said. “Today’s higher premiums are just a reflection of those higher costs.”

The sudden rise of electric vehicle purchases also carried some of the blame, since EVs are more expensive to purchase and repair, Henn said.

MicroWave OP , 3 months ago to news in Car insurance prices surge

You don’t use an adblocker?

MicroWave OP , 4 months ago (edited 4 months ago) to news in 'Disenfranchised' millennials feel 'locked out' of the housing market and it taints every part of economic life, top economist Mark Zandi says

The saying goes you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. Seems, however, that both you and pixxelkick have oddly chosen vinegar.

MicroWave OP , 4 months ago to news in 'Disenfranchised' millennials feel 'locked out' of the housing market and it taints every part of economic life, top economist Mark Zandi says

Oh, I read your comment as countering GingaNinga’s.

MicroWave OP , 4 months ago to news in 'Disenfranchised' millennials feel 'locked out' of the housing market and it taints every part of economic life, top economist Mark Zandi says

Huh? If you want to talk data, this is directly from your article:

Substantially fewer of those born between 1981 and 1996 are homeowners today than Gen X and baby boomers were at the same age. Housing affordability is taking a toll on all generations, but the lack of entry-level homes and the dearth of new builds are particularly impacting millennials.

According to the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey, homeownership rates for millennials sat at 51.5% in 2022, compared to 56.5% for baby boomers in 1990 and 58.2% for Gen X in 2006.

From the end of 2019 to the end of 2022, the median sales price of new houses sold in the U.S. has ballooned over 42% to $457,800. Concurrently, 30-year fixed mortgage interest rates rose from 3.74% to 6.42% largely in response to the Federal Reserve hiking the federal funds rate to fight inflation.

This jump in both the price of new homes and cost of taking out a mortgage have made the last six months one of the most unaffordable times to buy a home since 2006, according to the Atlanta Fed’s Home Ownership Affordability Monitor.

MicroWave OP , 4 months ago to news in Why the Cost of Biden’s Climate Law Keeps Going Up

From your article beyond the headline:

Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a climate change law passed last year, made oil and gas auctions a prerequisite for renewable energy development. It also, however, requires higher royalty rates and minimum bids meant to boost taxpayer returns.

Biden’s Interior Department has issued far fewer new leases than previous administrations. The agency issued 527 leases in fiscal years 2021 and 2022 combined, compared with 2,740 in the previous two years, during the Trump administration, according to BLM data.

MicroWave OP , 4 months ago to news in Wellness influencers fueled pandemic misinformation. Now they have another big conspiracy in their sights

And he plays dumb by just “asking questions”:

Joseph Mercola, the man behind the @drmercola Instagram account, told CNN that “humans are absolutely impacting the environment and the climate.” When asked about his comments on Hawaii’s wildfires, he said he accepts the consensus that dry conditions and strong winds fueled the blaze. “It was never stated that it was definitely intentional,” he said, “although some have speculated that is a possibility.”

His climate posts are often framed in this way, not making definitive claims but rather asking questions like: Is the idea of eating insects “part of globalists’ ‘green agenda?’” Or advertising guest posts suggesting the “war on climate change” follows “the same playbook used by nefarious individuals who lust for complete power over the citizens.”

MicroWave OP , 4 months ago to news in Students reported her for a lesson on race. Then she taught it again.

It’s all good. I figured that was what you were doing. I just wanted to encourage more people to read the full article (which I think is fantastic) by sharing relevant quotes from it.