#western and southern open 2019

[mariacallous]

European liberals erupted into cheers in 2019 when the 45-year-old environmentalist and civil rights lawyer Zuzana Caputova was sworn in as Slovakia’s president. Even though she has fallen short of her ambitious goal of rooting out the persistent corruption and cronyism that course through Slovak society, she has chalked up many successes. These have earned her widespread popularity among Slovaks, who seemed to understand her project would always require more than one five-year term.

There’s just one problem: Caputova, facing new headwinds from the election of a new populist prime minister, has announced she’s not prepared to fight on.

Not only was Caputova the first-ever woman to hold the office, but her progressive, pro-European outlook and squeaky-clean biography stood out in a regional landscape stocked with ethnic nationalists, authoritarians, and other questionable operators. Caputova’s tough anticorruption platform was welcome relief to a country that had been rocked by graft, money laundering, and abuse of power scandals, as well as the contracted murder of a young journalist investigating organized crime.

In the course of her five-year term, the newcomer to elected office acquitted herself remarkably well, navigating Slovakia through the pandemic and then the war in Ukraine, a country with which it shares 60 miles of border to the east. Even as Slovakia’s southern neighbor, Hungary, prevaricated and obstructed transatlantic solidarity with Ukraine—a course many Slovak nationalists applauded—Caputova, suddenly head of a front-line state, stood fast. She has remained unflinchingly pro-Western even in the face of an acute energy crisis and hundreds of thousands of refugees.

Her mission to clean up the Slovakian state also notched impressive wins. Dozens of investigations were launched and cases opened up against figures linked to former governments—many of which led to convictions. In August 2023, Caputova—sometimes referred to as the Erin Brockovich of Slovakia—fired the country’s counterintelligence service chief for interfering in corruption investigations. But her anticorruption drive grew larger in scope when parliamentary elections in September 2023 reinstated Robert Fico, the former prime minister and pro-Russian, anti-American populist with the interests of himself and his associates always foremost in mind.

Many supporters expected that Caputova, as the principled, popular face of a new Slovakia, would soldier on for at least another term come elections in March 2024: to finish the job she had started. But Caputova’s tenure, she announced in June 2023, will come abruptly to an end. Her family’s well-being, she said, was behind her choice not to run again. “My decision is a personal one,” she said. “I am sorry if I disappoint those who expected my candidacy again.” In office, she had received multiple death threats, she said. A year earlier, she had already complained about “people who are threatening to kill me are using the vocabulary of some politicians. It does not only concern me, but also my loved ones.”

At the time of her announcement, Caputova polled as Slovakia’s most trusted politician. “I was surprised and disappointed when I heard the news,” said Pavol Demes of a German Marshall Fund fellow in Bratislava, who served as Slovakia’s foreign minister from 1991 to 1992. “Her track record proves that it was not coincidence that people elected her,” Demes said, adding that he believes Caputova would have prevailed again at the ballot box.

Others admit they’re more than just disappointed with Caputova’s “premature departure,” as the Slovak daily Dennik N put it. “Having an opportunity and not using it is literally a sin,” opined the Slovak newspaper Pravda, “especially if it is one that will never come again. … President Zuzana Caputova’s decision not to run can be considered a mistake. At a time when the chaos in Slovak politics has reached unprecedented proportions and the disillusionment among the population is great, the president bears even more responsibility for the fate of the country.”

In office, Caputova often punched back as hard as she was punched by her less principled opponents. She refused to let Fico, in the opposition since 2020, hound and bully her with impunity. In May 2023, she sued Fico for calling her an “American agent” and of “appointing Soros’ government,” referring to U.S. billionaire-philanthropist George Soros and the technocratic caretaker government she appointed in May 2023. Slovak authorities are still pursuing criminal cases involving dangerous threats made against the president.

Caputova’s aversion to the nastier aspects of Central European politics—in 1995 the son of the then-Slovak president was literally kidnapped—is understandable. But Caputova’s presence is all the more necessary today as Fico and his Smer-SD party are back in power and bent on returning Slovakia to its former incarnation. In just four months, Caputova has checked Fico several times. In October, for example, Caputova quashed the nomination of Rudolf Huliak as environment minister by the Slovak National Party, a Fico ally. Huliak, a nationalist, is known as a climate skeptic and opponent of LGBTQ+ rights.

She is currently weighing a veto of the Fico government’s move to dismantle the special prosecutor’s office—the body that handled the most serious corruption cases—and modify the criminal code, which triggered weeks of protests across Slovakia and rule-of-law concern from the EU. By weakening criminal sanctions for financial crimes, Fico could rescue the likes of Smer-allied oligarchs who would otherwise face prison sentences. One opposition politico charged that the law looks as if the mafia itself had written it. If her veto is overridden, which is likely, Caputova could take the issue to the Constitutional Court.

Caputova’s decision not to run thus opens the way for a multi-candidate race, the first round of which will be held on March 23 with, if necessary, a second in April. The vote is likely to come down to two candidates: National Council Speaker Peter Pellegrini, an on-again, off-again Fico ally; and Ivan Korcok, a liberal-minded former Slovak foreign minister and career diplomat. If Pellegrini triumphs, his victory will open the way for Fico to set in motion a pro-Russia political course that will greatly complicate the West’s defense of Ukraine, among other concerns.

Certainly, there would be no presidential corrective to hinder Fico in emulating his strongman counterpart next door in Hungary, Viktor Orban. Poland’s throwing off of its authoritarian leadership last year could have left Orban completely isolated in Central Europe. But Fico, though unlikely to amass the power of Orban’s Fidesz party or act so defiantly as Law and Justice Poland, sees Orban as a blood brother.

“Fico and his followers are fascinated by Orban’s method of governance since 2018,” Juraj Marusiak of the Slovak Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Political Science told Foreign Policy. “They see this authoritarianism as efficient and Orban as someone who takes care of his country’s national interests. This has made Orban creditable in Central Europe beyond Hungary alone.”

And Caputova’s bright light will be missed beyond diminutive Slovakia. Upon her election in 2019, a Hungarian acquaintance said to me that the only reason someone like Caputova could win in Central Europe is because she seemed to have no drawbacks at all: She was politically clean, charismatic, down to earth, and smart. And in office, she learned the ropes quickly. But she wasn’t perfect, apparently—no one could foresee that there would eventually be limits to her will to lock horns with Slovakia’s ruthless profiteers.

Sadly, there’s only one of her in the region. And soon, by her own choice, there will be none.

[dr-lizortecho]

Inspired by @ajna-eye-cogitations and written for @rnmafterdark day three: white picket fence

It had been months of secret rendezvouses and stolen kisses. Keeping their private lives under wraps from the town’s gossip mill- and therefore their loved ones. Which had been nice, giving Max time to breathe and explore without his siblings prying into his reasonings and emotions. Allowing him a moment to decide what he wanted for himself.

Which was coming home after good and bad days alike to find Kyle’s car parked in front of his place, to wake up to good morning texts sent between patients at the ass crack of dawn and buying keto friendly beer while at the supermarket.

Max smiles to himself as he opens the door to his house, more than pleased to find it already unlocked. It was something he was growing more and more accustomed to since Kyle made himself at home shortly after their relationship came out. Now three or more days a week Max could expect to come home to Kyle cooking in the kitchen or asleep in his bed. More often than not wearing Max’s clothes.

The door closes with a soft click as Max hangs up his keys, his smile falters at the realization his hat isn’t on its hook. It was department issue, meaning the Sheriff would have his ass if it went missing.

“Howdy,” Kyle drawls, voice thick with a fake southern accent.

Max turns, shoulders relaxing as he finds his hat. Kyle is lounged across the couch Max’s hat tipped low on his head, arm draped over the back of the couch and shoulders bare. A laugh falls from Max’s lips at the absurdity of the situation. Kyle has been perfecting his southern slang since he started reading Max’s manuscript, all while insisting the outlaw and the sheriff had homoerotic tension. Saying something about Max writing the first queer great American western.

“Good afternoon,” Max says with a laugh, making his way around the couch.

He sobers up fast- blood rushing south as he takes in the sight awaiting him. Kyle’s fully naked. Or rather wearing black leather assless chaps with nothing underneath them.

read on ao3

#rnmafterdark2023 #roswell new mexico #rnm #max evans #kyle valenti #valevans #rnm fic

[zvaigzdelasas]

[Morocco World News is Moroccan Media]

29 Jun 23

In December 2020, a month after the end of the ceasefire between Morocco and the Polisario, then-President Donald Trump declared U.S. support for Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara. The recognition contravened the United Nations’ position, which considers Western Sahara a “non-self governing territory,” a euphemism for a colony. In return for U.S. support on Western Sahara, Morocco joined the Abraham Accords, a series of diplomatic deals brokered by Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, that resulted in the United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Bahrain, and Morocco normalizing relations with Israel. Since then, Rabat has gone from having covert ties with Tel Aviv to becoming its open ally, and Israel has sold at least 150 drones to Morocco.[...]

Since 2020, the two countries have implemented a long series of economic and military agreements beyond the sale of drones. For the first time, Israeli troops from the elite Golani unit participated in Africa Lion, an 18-country joint military drill in Morocco, which completed on June 18. In 2021 and 2022, respectively, Gantz, Israel’s then-minister of defense, and then-Head of Israel Defense Forces Aviv Kochavi visited Morocco and signed several military deals, including a $500 million contract for the delivery of the Barak MX missile defense system to Rabat. Early this year, one of the Pentagon Discord leaks allegedly revealed that the system was scheduled to arrive in Morocco in mid-2023. Morocco is reportedly also in advanced negotiations to receive Israeli Merkava tanks. Rabat and Tel Aviv are also cooperating at an intelligence level. Morocco has widely been reported (and accused by other countries) as one of the most eager users of the Pegasus spyware developed by the Israeli NSO Group. Meanwhile, economic cooperation is booming. According to U.N. data analyzed by The Intercept, in pre-Abraham 2019, trade between Israel and Morocco was at $70.7 million. In 2022, the figure reached $178.7 million, and Tel Aviv has declared it is targeting $500 million. From 2019 to 2022, exports from Israel to Morocco increased tenfold, from $3.8 million to $38.5 million. Western Sahara plays an important role in the love story between the two countries. In 2021 and 2022, two Israeli companies, Ratio Petroleum and NewMed Energy, obtained from Morocco rights to research and potentially exploit two separate offshore blocks in the Atlantic Ocean just off Western Sahara’s coastline. Moroccan local news also announced Israel’s Selina group would soon open a hotel in Dakhla. For Morocco, foreign investments in what it considers its “southern province” mean external recognition of its claims on the territory.[...] In March last year, WSRW reported the first shipment of phosphate rock from Western Sahara to Israel. Erik Hagen, board member of WSRW, told The Intercept that the cargo was very small, and it is the only one they observed toward Israel. OCP, the Moroccan company extracting and exporting phosphate rock in Morocco and Western Sahara, hasn’t replied to a request for comment about the episode.

1 Jul 23

[Atalayar is Spanish Media]

As part of the US Senate debate on the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2024, a law that supports the Armed Forces, modernises the Air Force and strengthens US national security, Arizona Democrat Senator Mark Kelly proposed integrating the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces (FAR) into military exercises led by the US Central Command (CENTCOM). Part of this law states the need to assess threats in order to reduce those related to Iran's nuclear capabilities: 'It seeks to improve coordination between the United States and regional partners to counter the shared threat from Iran by supporting Morocco's integration into military exercises led by CENTCOM', as reported by media outlets such as Yabiladi and Morocco Latest News.  The operations carried out by this body seek to "improve coordination" between the US giant and "regional partners" in order to counter the threat posed by Iran to the whole. The US Central Command is one of nine unified security commands within the US Department of Defense and is responsible for US interests in 27 nations, operating in the Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia. [...] Morocco is a permanent partner of the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) and an important player in the annual 'African Lion' exercises, in which a large number of African nations cooperate with the United States to promote defence and security against threats such as jihadist terrorism and organised crime. Now, it appears that Morocco may be close to joining the US military command in the Middle East (CENTCOM), and in addition to the scheduled AFRICOM exercises, Morocco may be called upon to participate in exercises organised by the US military in the Middle East region, thanks in part to a proposal by Senator Mark Kelly. [...] With this possible entry into CENTCOM as the second African country after Egypt, Morocco, a great ally of the United States on the African continent, would thus strengthen its military and security cooperation with the US and, by extension, with other allied partners such as Israel. This privileged position gives Morocco the option of having access to an important market for weapons and technology produced by the US and Israel, which further strengthens the Moroccan military.

1 Jul 23

27 Jun 23

[notaschoolblog]

Social Media Governance (Week 10)

Due to the rapid growth and development of digital communities, spaces such as social media do not satisfactorily govern and regulate the speech of their userbases. Especially due to curated communities like subreddits and the increasing usage of algorithms to feed users agreeable content, the prevalence of ‘self-serving echo chambers’ (Maloney 2019, p. 9) seems to be increasing and opening gateways for real-life harm against marginalised communities.

The subreddit r/gaming is a prolific example of this. As a very ‘masculinised social space’ (Maloney 2019, p. 3) (see my Week 9 post) predominantly used and moderated by men, it has become a notorious hotspot for misogyny. As an echo chamber, ‘the predominately male userbase feels relatively comfortable engaging in transgressive, indeed often offensive, ways’ (Maloney 2019, p. 6): they know even their extreme opinions will be supported there.

Despite how specified these communities are, they are in no way few-and-far-between. The existence of the manosphere—especially the recent overwhelming influence of Andrew Tate (Rich & Bujalkagence 2023), and harassment campaigns such as #GamerGate (which has its own subreddit) have created a ‘networked harassment’ (Marwick & Caplan 2018, p. 547) of women online.

Importantly, this behaviour is not a new phenomenon, as similar groups like the Men’s Rights Activists, which was popularised in the 1970s, began as reactionary to contemporary feminist movements. The shared outlook between the MRA and the manosphere is not that women are fighting for equality against patriarchy to improve society, but rather that ‘the failings of [Western] culture’ (Bean in Marwick & Caplan 2018, p. 546) are the fault of so-called misandrists seeking to destroy the ‘holy’ Western society via diversity. This idea eerily echoes purist nationalist talking points, as these men position themselves as victims who must be on the side of ‘revalorizing masculinity’ (Blais & Dupuis-Deri in Marwick & Caplan 2018, p. 546).

Larger governing powers do sometimes step in though. A few years ago, Reddit terminated r/incels on account of its deeply concerning threats against women, and while this made the community more inaccessible by forcing them to relocate, it also furthered their own victim mentality.

 Other movements to resist this hyper-masculine culture are social ones by other internet users. For example, the subreddit r/gamingcirclejerk intentionally counters r/gaming by relentlessly mocking them through irony (hence ‘circle jerk’) and being aggressively inclusive instead.

To be clear, the misogyny of the manosphere and gaming culture are undoubtedly examples of online hate crimes, as they are ‘motivated by hostility or prejudice against [...a protected…] group’ (Haslop, O’Rourke & Southern 2021, p. 1420). In efforts to avoid discriminatory targeting, women are ‘more likely to self-censor what they post online…to minimise the risk of experiencing further harassment’ (Haslop, O’Rourke & Southern 2021, p. 1421). Thus, a gendered ‘digital divide’ (Jane; Van Dijk in Haslop, O’Rourke & Southern 2021, p. 1420) is established, and is not being adequately governed.

The false, unequal dichotomy of misogyny vs misandry is often excused as inoffensive, personal beliefs which should be protected under ‘free-speech’—but should this really be allowed when it evidently causes so much danger for minority groups that go unrecognised in their marginalisation?

>REFERENCES ARE UNDER THE CUT<

Haslop, C, O’Rourke, F, & Southern, R 2021. ‘#NoSnowflakes: The toleration of harassment and an emergent gender-related digital divide, in a UK student online culture’, Convergence, vol. 27, no .5, pp. 1418–1438. 

Maloney, M, Roberts, S, Graham, T 2019, ‘Introduction’, Gender, masculinity and video gaming, Palgrave, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28262-2_1

Marwick, AE & Caplan, R 2018, 'Drinking male tears: language, the manosphere, and networked harassment', Feminist media studies, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 543-559.

Rich, B & Bujalkagence, E 2023, 'The draw of the ‘manosphere’: understanding Andrew Tate’s appeal to lost men', The conversation, February 13.

Solon, O 2017, 'Incel': Reddit bans misogynist men's group blaming women for their celibacy, The guardian, viewed 8 May 2023, <https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/nov/08/reddit-incel-involuntary-celibate-men-ban>. Square-Enit 2022, Evolution of gaming graphics!, 18 February, viewed 8 May 2023, <https://np.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/svijft/evolution_of_gaming_graphics/hxg2u84/>.

#i am aware of how non-intersectional this is WHOOPS okay i already blasted way over the word count gimme a break #goodbye forever tumblr class miss u xx #mda20009 #essay #analysis

[collinthenychudson]

Day 16: Union Pacific 844

Information from Wikipedia:

Union Pacific 844, also known as the "Living Legend", is a class "FEF-3" 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad for its heritage fleet. Built in December 1944 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Schenectady, New York, No. 844 is one of four surviving FEF Series locomotives and the only one in operation.

The locomotive operated in revenue service until 1959. It was stored while awaiting scrapping, along with the rest of the UP steam locomotive fleet. In 1960, railroad leaders recognized the benefits of having a steam program and retained No. 844 for special activities, the kernel of what has become the Union Pacific's heritage fleet. Today, it is one of UP's oldest serving locomotives and the only steam locomotive owned by a North American Class I railroad that has never been retired.

In 1944, Union Pacific and the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) collaborated on the FEF-3, a class of 10 locomotives designed to pull passenger trains at 90 mph. The FEF-3 could reach and regularly run at 120 mph; one locomotive reportedly pulled a 1,000-ton passenger train at 100 mph. All FEF classes were considered by the Union Pacific to be capable of producing between 4,000 and 5,000 drawbar horsepower.

The FEF-3 class represented the apex of dual-service steam locomotive development; funds and research were being concentrated into the development of diesel-electric locomotives. Originally designed to burn coal, they were converted to run on fuel oil in 1946. Like the earlier FEF-1 and FEF-2 classes, the FEF-3 locomotives were ultimately reassigned to freight service.

UP 844 was the last steam locomotive delivered to the Union Pacific Railroad, constructed as a member of the FEF-3 class of 4-8-4 "Northern" type locomotives. Upon its entry into service, the locomotive spent most of its career pulling a variety of passenger trains, such as the Overland Limited, Los Angeles Limited, Portland Rose and Challenger. From 1957 to 1959, UP 844 was reassigned to fast freight service in Nebraska when diesel-electric locomotives took over passenger service.

After commercial steam operations ended in 1959, the 844 and the rest of the FEF-3 class was placed into storage. Saved from scrapping in 1960, No. 844 was chosen for rebuilding and is now used on company and public excursion trains, along with hauling revenue freight trains during ferry moves.

Since 1960, No. 844 has run hundreds of thousands of miles as Union Pacific's publicity locomotive. The locomotive often pulled the annual Denver Post-sponsored Cheyenne Frontier Days train that ran round-trip from Cheyenne to Denver every July before it was discontinued in early 2019.

It appeared at Expo '74 in Spokane, Washington; the 1978 dedication of the Utah State Railroad Museum in Ogden, Utah; the 1984 World's Fair in New Orleans; and the 50th anniversary celebration of Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal in 1989, when it performed a side-by-side run with Southern Pacific 4449. On February 14, 1975, it pulled Amtrak's San Francisco Zephyr from Denver, Colorado to Cheyenne, Wyoming with a pair of EMD SDP40Fs. In 1981, it traveled to the opening of the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, along with Union Pacific 3985, which had recently been restored to operational condition.

Over the weekend of October 14, 1990, No. 844 led a procession of special trains from Kansas City Union Station to Abilene, Kansas for World War II veterans to celebrate the 100th birthday of U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The "Eisenhower Centennial Special" was composed of cars from the Union Pacific, Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway business fleets, with additional passenger cars provided by the Norfolk Southern and Chicago and North Western railroads. Also present in Abilene was General Eisenhower's command train, code-named "Bayonet", including the British A4 steam locomotive No. 60008 and communication and staff cars from WWII's European Theater of Operations.

After the end of the 1991 excursion season, 844 was put in the shop for a major running gear overhaul in addition to other repairs. During that time, 844 was repainted from the passenger greyhound scheme to the freight black. It emerged from the shop in 1996.

On June 21, 1997, on the way to the National Railway Historical Society (NRHS)'s annual convention in Salt Lake City, Utah, 844 and Union Pacific's Executive E units pulled 18 passenger cars on the Union Pacific's soon-to-close Tennessee Pass line, which included tracks on a narrow canyon shelf along the Arkansas River.

On June 24, 1999, while on display during RailFair '99, one of the 844's boiler tubes failed, and the locomotive was subsequently towed dead back to Cheyenne by the recently-overhauled No. 3985. The tube was found to have been made of the wrong material during the overhaul in 1996, a discovery that prompted the replacement of the firebox in a complete overhaul that lasted from September 2001 to 2004. On September 9, 2004, the UP steam crew successfully test-fired the 4-8-4. It returned to operating service on November 10, 2004.

On May 18–19, 2007, No. 844 teamed with Southern Pacific 4449 to pull the "Puget Sound Excursion", a round trip from Tacoma to Everett on BNSF Railway tracks.

On June 25 and 26, 2010, it made an excursion trip to Milliken, Colorado's centennial celebration.

In September 2012, the locomotive was used in "UP 150", a celebration of Union Pacific's 150th anniversary celebration, hosted by the California State Railroad Museum. During that time, it also stopped at Walsenburg, Colorado for a night photo session, parked next to ex-Lake Superior and Ishpeming 2-8-0 “consolidation” 18, which was operated by the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad at the time, before that line was shut down.

In June 2013, the locomotive's gyrating Mars Light, installed in 1946, was removed because its mounting bolts had deteriorated. It was also announced that year that the 844 and 3985 would eventually be joined by a third steam locomotive: Big Boy No. 4014.

After the 2013 season, the locomotive was taken out of service for boiler work required by a change in the water treatment. It spent 2014 in Cheyenne, then received an early 15-year inspection the following year.

On June 16 and 17, 2016, the 844 was test-fired. On July 12, 2016, the Union Pacific Steam Team took the locomotive on a "break-in run" as a sort of all-systems check and dress rehearsal for its return to service. The run was described as a complete success. On July 23, 2016, it pulled the annual Cheyenne Frontiers Day excursion.

On October 13, 2016, the Union Pacific Steam Team started its 18-day "Trek To Tennessee" journey: the restored 844's first major trip.

In April 2017, No. 844 made its first run on the Oregon Short Line Railroad to celebrate the 92nd anniversary of the Boise Union Pacific Depot. Because of heavy snows and a wet spring, the trip was cut short and the engine had to run light across the Malad River because of a washed-out bridge.

In December 2018, Union Pacific requested Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) waivers to exempt UP Nos. 844, 3985 and 4014 from federal Positive Train Control (PTC) requirements in February 2019, the FRA officials responded that such waivers were not needed.

On May 4, 2019, No. 844 participated in the inaugural run of the newly-restored Big Boy No. 4014. The train departed the historic Cheyenne Depot following a christening ceremony for No. 4014. The two locomotives arrived at the Ogden Union Station on May 9 for the city's Heritage Festival. The two locomotives were on display at the station until May 12, when the return trip to Cheyenne began. They arrived at Cheyenne on May 19, concluding the first run of No. 4014 in excursion service.

As of January 2020, Nos. 844 and 4014 are the only two operational UP steam locomotives left on the active roster, following the retirement of No. 3985 from excursion service due to its poor mechanical condition. No. 3985 was eventually donated to the Railroading Heritage of Midwest America on April 28, 2022. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, UP cancelled all of its 2020 steam excursions and stated that Nos. 844 and 4014 would not operate for the 2020 operating season. UP eventually resumed excursion operations with No. 4014 in August and September 2021. No future excursions have thus far been scheduled for No. 844.

From 1962 to 1989, the locomotive was numbered UP 8444 because the railroad had given the number 844 to an EMD GP30 locomotive. After the GP30 was retired from active service in June 1989, No. 8444 was renumbered back to 844. That GP30 is now owned by Nevada State Railroad Museum in Boulder City, Nevada, and operates periodically at the Nevada Southern Railroad Museum on excursion runs. There is now an EMD SD70ACe on the UP roster numbered 8444.

On July 21, 2018, while pulling the Cheyenne Frontier Days Special to Denver, Colorado, No. 844 struck and killed a pedestrian in Henderson, Colorado. It was reported that the pedestrian was trying to take photos of the train while standing too close to the tracks before she was hit. The train was stopped immediately following the accident.

UP 844 was documented in the 1981 film "Eighty Four Forty Four" by the Union Pacific Railroad. Some of those clips would be later used for the opening and closing credits of the PBS show Shining Time Station, which ran from 1989 until 1995 (including the four hour-long Family Specials).

UP 844 also appears in Extreme Trains in the episode "Steam Train", in which it pulled the Frontier Days special from Denver to Cheyenne.

UP 844 also makes an appearance in the 2nd Episode of the 3rd Season on the TLC TV series, Mostly True Stories?: Urban Legends Revealed.

In the 1990 PBS special Ghost Trains of the Old West, UP 8444, as it was numbered at the time of filming, is seen pulling a Union Pacific diesel locomotive and passenger train through Wyoming.

UP 844 (and several other restored steam locomotives) appear in the music video with the Pat Metheny Group's "Last Train Home".

The 2014 short film "Locomotive Song" features UP 844—particularly its running gear—accompanied by the song of the same name by boogie-woogie pianist Honey Piazza.

models and route by: Trainz-Forge, Auran, and Download Station

#UP #Union Pacific #Union Pacific Railroad #UP 844 #Union Pacific 844 #844 #FEF #FEF-3 #UP FEF-3 #Union Pacific FEF-3 #Steam Locomotive #Trains #Trainz Simulator #Christmas #Advent Calendar #CHristmas 2022 🎄🎅🎁

[g1bs0ng1rl]

Learning Activity 3.5, Task 1: Where do I live?

I live in Ho Chi Minh city, southern Vietnam. The city still shares their colonial past since the French occupation and is somewhat immersed in western architecture, this signifies the bridge between our past and present culture. Moreover, Ho Chi Minh City is one of the fastest growing cities worldwide with a booming economy, this leads to changes in demographics annually. Since Vietnam is a fairly young country, the speed of growth allows room for more future opportunities and challenges. 

Population Pyramid  of the World from 1950 - 2100. “Population of Vietnam in 2024” [Photograph.] https://www.populationpyramid.net/viet-nam/2022/

Age and sex

Vietnam’s demographic in 2024 reported to have a population of 99,497,680 people. Interestingly enough, the country has a strong age group ranging from 15 - 39, indicating that there are an abundance of young people in the workforce. This also plays a role in the immensely growing economy of Vietnam, the pyramid also shows a low number of seniors within the population. There tends to be more females than males starting from 35 - 39 but the gap between genders doesn’t widen until one hits the age group of 75 - 79,where there are 929, 621 females compared to 567,000 males. Overall, the quantity of females and males in the population balances each other out quite well. 

Ethnic Groups

According to Open Development Vietnam, the country has a total of 54 ethnic groups, in which Kinh ethnic group takes up 85.4% of Vietnamese population  (Open Development Vietnam, 2019), whereas the rest takes up 14.6% of the country’s total population. Even though Vietnam promotes unity in diversity, the government does not acknowledge other ethnic minorities as Indigenous people, including Hoa ethnic group that was not referred to or considered an ethnic minority (Open Development Vietnam, 2019). Interestingly, each ethnic group develops and has their own subculture. An example of this is how Hmong and Nung people are more connected to agriculture, because they are strongly connected to the forest. There are approximately 96% of ethnic groups speaking their mother tongue (Open Development Vietnam, 2019). Overall, Vietnam is a multicultural and ethnic country, diversity is deeply rooted in the trees of our ancestry.  

Religions

Vietnam is a blended pot of all backgrounds and cultures, thus leading religious diversity in the country. In addition, there are so many religions being practiced in Vietnam due to oversea imports from other cultures (Open Development Vietnam, 2023). As of now, there are: Buddhism, Protestantism, Islam, Catholicism, Hoahoaism and Caodism reported in the country. Although Vietnam has high rates of religious diversity, individuals that follow no system of beliefs or religion are reported to be as high as 86.32%. This is according to Open Development Vietnam with their official data, however the data may not be fully accurate as many people in Vietnam historically do not report their faith due to the country's history.

Fertility Rates

 According to the United Nations Population Found, Vietnam’s total fertility rate has dropped significantly compared to 1989, with 2.09 children per woman in 2019 compared to 3.80 per woman in 1989.  Even though the population is fairly stable with a large group of youth driving the workforce. Most women from 25 - 29 have a high fertility rate in urban places, whereas in rural areas women are in the age group of 20 - 24 per region. As shown in the demographic shown below, women in Ho Chi Minh city are less likely to have kids than women in rural places.   

Challenges and changes

As explained above about how low the fertility rate was in Ho Chi Minh city, it posed a certain problem since the city’s population is rapidly aging. Vietnam News Gazette reported that the rate of people aged over 60 has exceeded 10%, a worrisome concern that may spark shortage of labor and increasing demands for more young people in the workforce. This may not be a problem if it was short termed, but in the long run it can eventually cross a certain line. An example of this is Vietnam’s regional peers like China, South Korea and Japan, who are facing issues regarding a rapid aging population, and not enough reproductions to balance society.  

Government attempts to fix challenges

   The People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh city aimed to raise the Rate of Natural Increase to over 1.3% by 2030, an attempt to achieve this goal is by implementing a programme  on fertility rate adjustment. Government’s tools to fix the challenge of low fertility rate is providing education on productive and reproductive health, expanding access to reproductive health care and services. Moreover, there are also attempts to issue appropriate population policies. 

Conclusion

Ho Chi Minh city is the cultivator of future innovations and bearer of great diversity from all over the world. Like any other places, they have their own challenges and changes to combat with. As a person who lived in a constantly changing city, I have witnessed its growth as a child and note its adaptable nature. Vietnamese culture has come a long way ever since the war. My country’s fast and effective effort in rebuilding their business, population, and urbanization has proved that it has a great potential to keep growing. 

Works Cited

Ethnic minorities and indigenous people. (n.d.). Open Development Vietnam. Retrieved April 23, 2024, from https://vietnam.opendevelopmentmekong.net/topics/ethnic-minorities-and-indigenous-people/#:~

An Overview of Population and Development in Vietnam. (n.d.). Population Reference Bureau. Retrieved April 23, 2024, from https://www.prb.org/resources/an-overview-of-population-and-development-in-vietnam/

Population of Viet Nam 2022 - PopulationPyramid.net. (n.d.). Population Pyramid. Retrieved April 23, 2024, from https://www.populationpyramid.net/viet-nam/2022/#google_vignette

United Nations Population Funds. (2020, 12 20). Fertility in Viet Nam: In-depth analysis from the 2019 Census. UNFPA Vietnam. https://vietnam.unfpa.org/vi/video/video/waiting-last-train-home?page=5

Current Status And Determinants Of Fertility in Vietnam. (n.d). United Nations Population Fund in Vietnam. 

Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh City suffers low fertility rate and aging population. (2023, Jul 25). Asia News Monitor

Ho Chi Minh City moves to tackle low fertility rate. (2023, Mar 03). Vietnam News Gazette

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 12.31 (after 1950)

1951 – Cold War: The Marshall Plan expires after distributing more than US$13.3 billion in foreign aid to rebuild Western Europe. 1955 – General Motors becomes the first U.S. corporation to make over US$1 billion in a year. 1956 – The Romanian Television network begins its first broadcast in Bucharest. 1961 – RTÉ, Ireland's state broadcaster, launches its first national television service. 1963 – The Central African Federation officially collapses, subsequently becoming Zambia, Malawi and Rhodesia. 1965 – Jean-Bédel Bokassa, leader of the Central African Republic army, and his military officers begin a coup d'état against the government of President David Dacko. 1968 – The first flight of the Tupolev Tu-144, the first civilian supersonic transport in the world. 1968 – MacRobertson Miller Airlines Flight 1750 crashes near Port Hedland, Western Australia, killing all 26 people on board. 1981 – A coup d'état in Ghana removes President Hilla Limann's PNP government and replaces it with the Provisional National Defence Council led by Flight lieutenant Jerry Rawlings. 1983 – The AT&T Bell System is broken up by the United States Government. 1983 – Benjamin Ward is appointed New York City Police Department's first ever African American police commissioner. 1983 – In Nigeria, a coup d'état led by Major General Muhammadu Buhari ends the Second Nigerian Republic. 1991 – All official Soviet Union institutions have ceased operations by this date, five days after the Soviet Union is officially dissolved. 1992 – Czechoslovakia is peacefully dissolved in what is dubbed by media as the Velvet Divorce, resulting in the creation of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. 1994 – This date is skipped altogether in Kiribati as the Phoenix Islands and Line Islands change time zones from UTC−11:00 to UTC+13:00 and UTC−10:00 to UTC+14:00, respectively. 1994 – The First Chechen War: The Russian Ground Forces begin a New Year's storming of Grozny. 1998 – The European Exchange Rate Mechanism freezes the values of the legacy currencies in the Eurozone, and establishes the value of the euro currency. 1999 – The first President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, resigns from office, leaving Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as the acting President and successor. 1999 – The U.S. government hands control of the Panama Canal (as well all the adjacent land to the canal known as the Panama Canal Zone) to Panama. This act complied with the signing of the 1977 Torrijos–Carter Treaties. 1999 – Indian Airlines Flight 814 hijacking ends after seven days with the release of 190 survivors at Kandahar Airport, Afghanistan. 2000 – The last day of the 20th Century and 2nd Millennium. 2004 – The official opening of Taipei 101, the tallest skyscraper at that time in the world, standing at a height of 509 metres (1,670 ft). 2009 – Both a blue moon and a lunar eclipse occur. 2010 – Tornadoes touch down in midwestern and southern United States, including Washington County, Arkansas; Greater St. Louis, Sunset Hills, Missouri, Illinois, and Oklahoma, with a few tornadoes in the early hours. A total of 36 tornadoes touched down, resulting in the deaths of nine people and $113 million in damages. 2011 – NASA succeeds in putting the first of two Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory satellites in orbit around the Moon. 2014 – A New Year's Eve celebration stampede in Shanghai kills at least 36 people and injures 49 others. 2015 – A fire breaks out at the Downtown Address Hotel in Downtown Dubai, United Arab Emirates, located near the Burj Khalifa, two hours before the fireworks display is due to commence. Sixteen injuries were reported; one had a heart attack, another suffered a major injury, and fourteen others with minor injuries. 2019 – The World Health Organization is informed of cases of pneumonia with an unknown cause, detected in Wuhan. This later turned out to be COVID-19, the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic. 2020 – The World Health Organization issues its first emergency use validation for a COVID-19 vaccine.

#Events

[jcmarchi]

Wildfires can unlock toxic metal particles from soils - Technology Org

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/wildfires-can-unlock-toxic-metal-particles-from-soils-technology-org/

Wildfires can unlock toxic metal particles from soils - Technology Org

A new study from Stanford University finds that wildfires can transform benign metals in soils and plants into toxic particles that easily become airborne. 

Burned serpentine chaparral at McLaughlin Natural Reserve after the 2020 LNU Lightning Complex. Image credit: Alandra Lopez

Published in Nature Communications, the research documents high levels of a hazardous form of the metal chromium at wildfire sites with chromium-rich soils and certain kinds of vegetation compared to adjacent unburned sites. Known as hexavalent chromium or chromium 6, this is the same toxin made notorious by the 2000 film Erin Brockovich.

“Our study suggests far more attention should be paid to wildfire-modified chromium, and we presume additional metals as well, to characterize the overall threats wildfires pose to human health more thoroughly,” said lead study author Alandra Lopez, a postdoctoral scholar in Earth system science at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.

An overlooked hazard

Smoke plumes from wildfires are known to carry dangerous air pollutants, including gases, organic aerosols, and fine particulate matter, which can trigger asthma attacks, heart attacks, and early death.

Scientists and regulators have focused less on potential harm from metals like chromium, common in soils across the western United States, Australia, Brazil, Europe, Indonesia, and South Africa. With wildfires expected to become more frequent and severe due to climate change, the researchers said the health risks posed by airborne chromium to firefighters, downwind residents, and others must be better understood.

“In the complex mixture of gasses and particles that wildfires spew out as smoke and leave behind as dust, heavy metals such as chromium have largely been overlooked,” said senior study author Scott Fendorf, the Terry Huffington Professor in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.

Scientific opportunity knocks

In nature, chromium mostly occurs in a form known as trivalent chromium or chromium 3, an essential nutrient that our bodies use to break down glucose. Chromium 6, which increases cancer risk when inhaled or ingested via contaminated drinking water, most often results from industrial processes. High levels of chromium 6 historically have entered the environment from industrial runoff and wastewater.

Although natural chemical processes can trigger this transformation, laboratory experiments led by researchers at Australia’s Southern Cross University provided evidence in 2019 that chromium 6 could also form rapidly from chromium 3 in surface soils heated by wildfires.

Intrigued by those findings, Fendorf and Lopez set out to test the theory that wildfires can leave soils contaminated with chromium 6. Focusing on California’s North Coast Range, they identified sites in four ecological preserves that have recently burned across soils formed from naturally chromium-rich rocks, such as serpentinite.

Lopez collected soil from the preserves and separated out the smallest particles, which are most sensitive to wind transport. She measured hexavalent chromium concentrations in this ultra-fine dust from burned and unburned areas, and gathered data on the local fire severity and the prevailing soil, underlying geology, and ecosystem types, ranging from open grasslands to dense forests.

The researchers found all these factors influenced chromium 6 levels in soil. Most dramatically, in the chromium-rich areas where vegetation allowed fires to burn at high heat for long durations, toxic chromium concentrations came in approximately seven times higher than in unburned areas, suggesting significant amounts of chromium 6 could become airborne.

Mitigating the risks

In terms of exposure risks, fire-induced toxic chromium would initially be encountered by first responders and people living near the conflagrations. Even after fires end, local communities downwind could be exposed because strong winds may carry fine particles of chromium-laced soil.

Much of the risk of inhaling airborne hexavalent chromium would likely decline after the first big rainfall washes the metal away and underground, said Fendorf, who is also a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. Yet before the rains come – which might take many months, especially as climate change brings more frequent and severe droughts to the American West – exposure risks would loom for people working to revegetate or rebuild burned areas, as well as recreationists checking out burn scars. More research is needed to understand potential threats to ecosystems and human health if fire-induced chromium 6 is washing into waterways or groundwater.

Fendorf said future research into wildfire-related toxic chromium exposure could help inform public health guidance, such as recommendations to wear an N95 mask when visiting a burn site.

To learn more, Lopez is now contributing to an assessment of firefighter health and exposure to metal-containing dusts. With support from the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment’s Environmental Ventures Program, Fendorf is working with colleagues to develop geospatial tools for predicting threats of toxic chromium generation and downstream exposure. These tools could eventually help researchers develop better ways to limit exposure to chromium and other overlooked metallic pollutants.

“While chromium is one of the metals of highest concern, we’re sure it’s not the only one,” said Fendorf. “We expect subsequent studies to bear out additional metal inhalation exposure risks posed by wildfires.”

Source: Stanford University

You can offer your link to a page which is relevant to the topic of this post.

#aerosols #Africa #air #Australia #Brazil #Cancer #change #chemical #Chemistry &amp; materials science news #chromium #climate #climate change #communications #data #drinking #drinking water #dust #earth #Ecosystems #Environment #Environmental #Europe #Firefighters #first responders #form #Future #Geology #geospatial #glucose #groundwater

[sleeppaw]

Something that doesn't make sense about Harry Potter

About The Hogwarts Express. According to She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the Hogwarts Castle locomotive was built in 1827 at Crewe. Now, look at railway history:

1825: The Stockton and Darlington railway opens, the first public railway to use steam locomotives. (Two years before Hogwarts Express)

1827: The year Hogwarts Castle is built at Crewe (Two years before the Rainhill Trials, three years before the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, thirteen years before Crewe locomotive works is established, seventy five year before the Great Western Railway standardises it's designs, ninety six years before the construction of the Castle Class, 110 years before Olton Hall's construction)

1840: Crewe Works is founded (Many steam locomotives that would run on the later LMS railway would be constructed here)

1890: The year Hogwarts Legacy takes place (The Hogwarts Express is shown to be a GWR Castle Class, despite said Class being thirty three years away from introduction. Plus the GWR was using broad gauge in 1890 and will do for another two years)

1902: The GWR Saint Class is introduced (The most notable features of the locomotives is their brass safety value bonnet and copper capped chimneys which would be found on subsequent GWR locomotives; served as predecessors to the Hall Class. In 2019 it went full circle, as 4942 Maindy Hall was converted from a Hall into a Saint named Lady of Legend; the first Hall Class was rebuilt from a Saint Class)

1908: The GWR Star Class is built (One locomotive from this class survives, Lode Star). The GWR would construct a locomotive, named The Great Bear, in this year (The Great Bear was the first 4-6-2 built in the UK, however, it was severely restricted. The locomotive would be the only 4-6-2 the GWR would operate, the locomotive being rebuilt into a Castle Class. The Great Bear would pave the way for the later LMS, LNER and Southern Railways to build their own Pacific Types, with the 4-6-2 even making their way down to 15 inch gauge)

1923: The GWR introduces the Castle Class (The introduction of the Castle Class would trigger a competition between the GWR and the Southern Railway to create the most powerful 4-6-0 locomotive). Flying Scotsman is built by the newly formed LNER (It would become the most famous steam locomotive in the world). River Esk is built on the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway (River Esk would pave the way for the construction of a miniature main line)

1926: The Southern Railway introduces the LN Class (Snatching the title from the GWR)

1927: The GWR introduces the King Class.

1937: Olton Hall is constructed

#anti harry potter

[newsaljazeera]

[whatsonmedia]

Multisport: Can't-Miss Sporting Events This Week!

This week is jam-packed with major sporting events, from cricket to football to tennis to golf to auto racing to MMA. Here are just a few of the highlights: Cricket:  There are two West Indies vs India T20 matches this week, on Sunday, August 6th and Tuesday, August 8th. Both matches will be played at the Providence Stadium in Guyana. >West Indies vs India (2nd T20)০ Date: Sunday 06 August, 2023০ Time: 10:30০ Venue: Providence Stadium, Guyana>West Indies vs India (3rd T20)০ Date: Tuesday 08 August, 2023০ Time: 10:30০ Venue: Providence Stadium, Guyana Football:  The Women's World Cup 2023 is currently underway in New Zealand. There are several matches scheduled for this week, including Switzerland vs Spain on Saturday, August 5th, Japan vs Norway on Saturday, August 5th, Netherlands vs South Africa on Sunday, August 6th, and England vs Nigeria on Monday, August 7th. Soccer Football - Women's World Cup - Round of 16 - Spain v United States - Stade Auguste-Delaune, Reims, France - June 24, 2019 Megan Rapinoe of the U.S. scores their second goal from the penalty spot REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo >Women's World cup 2023There will be a plenty of Women’s World Cup matches played this week, including:>Switzerland vs Spain০ Date: Saturday 5 August, 2023০ Time: 6:00০ Venue: Eden Park Outer Oval >Japan vs Norway০ Date: Saturday 5 August, 2023০ Time: 9:00০ Venue: Wellington Regional Stadium>Netherlands vs South Africa০ Date: Sunday 6 August, 2023০ Time: 3:00০ Venue: Allianz Stadium>England vs Nigeria ০ Date: Monday 7 August, 2023.০ Time: 8:30০ Venue: Suncrop Stadium Football (England):  The English Championship is also in full swing. There are several matches scheduled for this week, including Sheffield Wednesday vs Southampton on Friday, August 4th, Blackburn vs West Brom on Saturday, August 5th, Leicester vs Coventry on Sunday, August 6th, and Leeds vs Cardiff on Sunday, August 6th. There is also the Community Shield match between Arsenal and Manchester City on Sunday, August 6th. Championship matchesThere are few championship matches this week, including :>Sheff Wed vs Southampton০ Date : Friday, 4 August, 2023০ Time : 20:00০ Venue : Hillsborough>Blackburn vs West Brom০ Date : Saturday, 5 August, 2023০ Time : 15:00০ Venue : Ewood Park>Leicester vs Coventry০ Date : Sunday 6 August, 2023০ Time : 12:00০ Venue : King Power Stadium>Leeds vs Cardiff০ Date : Sunday 6 August, 2023০ Time : 14:30০ Venue : Elland RoadThere's one Community Shield Match :>Arsenal vs Man city০ Date : Sunday 6 August, 2023০ Time : 16:00০ Venue : Wembley Stadium Basketball:  The WNBA is also in season. There are several matches scheduled for this week, including Seattle Storm at Phoenix Mercury on Saturday, August 5th, Las Vegas Aces at Dallas Wings on Tuesday, August 8th, and Minnesota Lynx at Chicago Sky on Tuesday, August 8th. There is also a USA Basketball Showcase match between Puerto Rico and the United States on Monday, August 7th. WNBA Basketball Matches :>Seattle Storm at Phoenix Mercury০ Date : Saturday 5 August, 2023০ Time : 10:00 pm০ Venue : Climate Pledge Arena>Las Vegas Aces at Dallas Wings০ Date : Tuesday, 8 August, 2023০ Time : 8:00 pm০ Venue : Las Vegas>Minnesota Lynx at Chicago Sky০ Date : Tuesday, 8 August, 2023০ Time : 8:00 pm০ Venue : Wintrust ArenaUSA Basketball Showcase :>Puerto Rico vs. United States০ Date : Monday, 7 August, 2023০ Time : 10:00 pm০ Venue : Las Vegas Tennis:  The Western & Southern Open is taking place in Cincinnati, Ohio, from August 7-14. This is a Masters 1000 event, one of the biggest tournaments on the ATP and WTA tours. ০ Date: August 7-14০ Time: 10:00 pm০ Venue: Cincinnati, Ohio Read the full article

[xtruss]

Seaweed encroaches on the coast of Le Gosier, a city on the French Caribbean Island of Guadeloupe, on April 23, 2018. The Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt, as its known, is making its way through the Caribbean again this year and is headed toward Florida. Photograph By Helene Valenzuela, AFP/Getty Images

A giant, Rotting Mass of Seaweed Threatens Beach Season in the U.S.

The 10-million-pound mass of floating seaweed—called the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt—is heading to Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean right as tourism peaks.

— By Sarah Gibbens | Mrch 16, 2023

A 10 million-pound blob is riding ocean currents, heading for the tip of Florida.

The Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt—a goopy mass of leafy, floating seaweed stretching across 5,000 miles—is meandering its way past Florida and through the Caribbean.

“In the vast expanse of the ocean, it can be an oasis,” says Brian Barnes, a marine scientist at the University of South Florida. The patches of seaweed can be a home and source of food for passing fish and sea turtles.

Historically, sargassum has been a natural part of the ocean ecosystem, but in the past decade that oasis has blossomed into a nuisance capable of causing serious damage—and a rotting, smelly one at that. Here's what we know about where it came from—and whether you need to worry about it.

Where Did it Come From; Where is it Going?

Volunteers and municipal workers collect sargassum in Puerto Morelos, a port town in Quintana Roo, Mexico, on August 8, 2018. The clumps of seaweed colored the water brown and gave off a fetid smell. Photograph By STR, AFP/Getty Images

“I try to shy away from the term blob. That’s not really what it is,” says Barnes, who says that the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt is really a series of many small blobs with individual patches that are as large as an acre. Smushed together, he adds, it would be roughly the size of Delaware.

Sargassum is a golden-hued seaweed, a large macroalgae, that’s continuously whisked atop the ocean’s currents. Unlike other types of seaweed, such as the kelp that’s anchored to the shallow ocean floor, sargassum is adapted to life on the open sea and lives solely in floating patches.

Much of it can be found in the western Atlantic’s Sargasso Sea, which is such an important ocean habitat to so many marine creatures it’s been called the “golden floating rainforest.”

Because sargassum is made for life adrift, it regularly travels across the sea. The ocean is full of different currents that move across the globe like conveyor belts. The sargassum nearing U.S. beaches will have spent time off the western coast of Africa, then the high seas of the Atlantic Ocean, and finally in the Caribbean Sea, where much of the sargassum resides this time of year.

Based on currents, Barnes says, the sargassum will likely soon enter the Gulf of Mexico, make a U-turn, and then reenter the Atlantic Ocean, passing by southern Florida from around April to June.

A Growing Threat

Residents remove sargassum from the shores of Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, Mexico, on May 15, 2019. Worried about the increase in seaweed washing up on Caribbean beaches, scientists, hotel owners, and government officials have been working to find ways to get rid of it. Photograph By Rodrigo Arangua, AFP/Getty Images

Sargassum has existed for about 30 million years, but blooms of this massive size are a rising concern.

“To our best knowledge, 2011 was the first year that there was a big bloom of this stuff,” says Barnes.

Dangerous algal blooms like red tides are often fueled by pollution, and sargassum is no different. When farmers spray fertilizers on land, they release chemicals laden with nutrients to help crops grow. When those fertilizers leak into rivers and make their way out to sea, they release the same plant-growing nutrients onto sea plants, unintentionally giving them a boost.

In the past decade, one culprit has been the Amazon River, says Cynthia Heil, the director of the Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium’s Red Tide Institute.

When that excess sargassum piles up on beaches, it’s—at best—a nuisance for businesses that rely on tourists flocking to clean, seaweed-free beaches.

After a large sargassum bloom in 2018, occupancy rates at Riviera Maya hotels along the Yucatan Peninsula dropped.

This year, that same shoreline is bracing for three feet of sargassum.

In addition to blocking beach access, sargassum stinks, says Heil. As it decomposes it releases a gas called hydrogen sulfide that smells like rotten eggs. That gas can irritate the eyes, nose, and throat, according to the Florida Department of Health. Tiny sea creatures, like jellyfish, may also live in sargassum and can irritate skin.

The seaweed, in excess, can also harm the ecosystem. The thick, tangled mass can smother coral reefs and mangroves, and tiny creatures living in the land like crabs and clams.

Currently, there’s no easy fix for getting rid of sargassum, say scientists, and removal can cost tens of millions of dollars.

[biglisbonnews]

Marine Stratocumulus Clouds May Be the Most Important Clouds on Earth From a beach or the deck of a ship, marine stratocumulus clouds don’t look like anything special. Quite frankly, they’re too big—often stretching for hundreds of miles—for us to appreciate from below. We see only a fraction of a formation, a lumpy or ripply blanket draped across the sky, from our typical puny human vantage. It’s only from far above, thanks to satellite imagery, that their shifting patterns of light and dark catch the eye. Climate scientists have been keeping close watch on these formations for years, because of the role they play in global climate and what they can reveal about hyperlocal environmental conditions. On any given day, almost a quarter of Earth’s oceans are covered with marine stratocumulus clouds—they’re one of the most common kinds of cloud moving through the atmosphere. You’ll find them primarily along western coasts in the mid- to lower latitudes, where upwelling occurs. That’s when Earth’s rotation can push warm surface water away from the coast, bringing cold water surging up from the depths. This chilly water cools the air above it, ultimately leading to these low-lying clouds, which are roughly a mile above the surface. And that’s when things get interesting. The clouds organize into open- or closed-cell formations; the latter, as you might imagine, is denser and puffier, and the sun’s radiation largely bounces off it. These closed-cell marine stratocumulus clouds essentially shade the planet, cooling off the surface by reflecting sunlight back into space. Open-cell marine stratocumulus clouds, on the other hand, are thin and ethereal, with an open center that allows the sun to shine through and hit the surface of the planet, heating it up. They also tend to break up faster, unlike their closed-cell cousins, which can stick around for the better part of a day—for now. In 2019, a Nature Geoscience paper showed that, in simulations, high concentrations of greenhouse gases caused closed-cell marine stratocumulus clouds to break up and not re-form. This exposed more of Earth’s surface to the sun, which increased warming. The levels of carbon dioxide used in the simulations were considerably higher than they are on Earth today—1,200 parts per million, or about three times current levels—and the authors considered the results preliminary. But the research hints at the importance of keeping these common clouds around. As a result, marine stratocumulus clouds are among the most closely studied types of cloud. NOAA/PUBLIC DOMAIN Even on a local scale, marine stratocumulus clouds are sensitive to environmental changes. Papers in the Journal of Geophysical Research and other peer-reviewed journals found that emissions from ships chugging across the oceans, as well as pollutants, smoke from wildfires, sand from dust storms, and other matter that gets released into the atmosphere all affect whether the clouds are open- or closed-cell. Speaking of things getting released into the atmosphere, if you’re along the Southern California coast and see something big and white floating by, don’t assume it’s a spy balloon. In February, researchers from UC-San Diego’s Scripps Institute and the Department of Energy began a yearlong project that includes plans to release four weather balloons each day to study marine stratocumulus clouds in real time. It’s just the latest effort to understand how these clouds may be critical for climate control—and canaries in the coal mine for changes in global patterns. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/marine-stratocumulus-clouds

#Gemma Tarlach #Atlas Obscura

[bizztrue]

Advantages of Concentrating on in the USA | Understudy Visa USA

The best training network on the planet and the country with the most instructive establishments are both tracked down in the US. The USA has the most colleges recorded among the main 100 advanced education establishments on the planet, with roughly 4,000 schools and colleges.

Almost 66% of understudies who need to concentrate on abroad position the US among their main three decisions for advanced education, making it one of the top areas for global searchers. The upsides of concentrating on in the USA are gigantic, with renowned schools being one among them.

Over 1.1 million unfamiliar understudies came to concentrate on in the US somewhere in the range of 2019 and 2020. Concentrating on in the US can further develop your work amazing open doors as well as being home to probably the best colleges on the planet.

It’s likewise an extraordinary spot to investigate, with such countless energizing urban communities in each state — there’s an explanation it claims 14 of the QS Smartest Understudy Urban communities universally. With a USA concentrate on visa, you can now get into the best universities in the US.

The fourth-biggest country in the globe is the US. The US is encircled by water on every one of the four of its northern, eastern, southern, and western sides: Canada, Mexico, and the Pacific Sea.

Schooling, transportation, wellbeing and social government assistance, public security (counting state policing jail staff), lodging, and work are instances of state administrations. The US economy is the greatest on the planet, which is another verifiable truth.

The top advantages of concentrating on in the USA

1. Learn at a portion of the top colleges on the planet

Various understudies decide to concentrate on in US to a great extent because of its exceptionally respected colleges. 352 foundations are remembered for the latest QS World College Rankings: USA 2021, and US colleges represent half of the main 10 organizations. Harvard College, which is positioned first in quite a while rankings, Stanford College, which is positioned second in the US, and Massachusetts Organization of Innovation are prominent establishments (third in the US).

You have a ton of choices with regards to choosing the sort of involvement you need since there are such countless US foundations and schools. Consider the college’s area, programs, lodging, size, staff, enlistment, educational expenses, sports projects and offices while pursuing your choice. With a USA concentrate on visa, you can get the best quality training.

The best colleges in the US each proposition many projects in a large number of subjects. You’ll get the opportunity to find out about probably the most state of the art subjects from famous specialists in the field. It is easy to tweak your certificate to match your inclinations and occupation objectives since understudies can blend various disciplines as majors and minors. 2. Find the astonishing understudy way of life

US colleges are all around perceived for their energetic understudy way of life, whether you’re attempting to experience your aspiration of going to Harvard Regulation.

Join sports groups, clubs, brotherhoods, and sororities, live nearby, and get to know the understudies in your course to capitalize on your college experience in the US. Embrace school life in the US and attempt new exercises and meet new individuals.

Investigate the general climate as opposed to simply remaining on your grounds. Figure out what’s going on in your area, whether your college is situated in a city, a town, or in a country area. 3. Help your English capability

Concentrating on in the US is a decent way to deal with further develop your English language capacities on the off chance that you’re an abroad understudy learning the language. What better method for realizing this ability than to live among individuals for whom English is their most memorable language?

Regardless of whether you communicate in English well, connecting with local speakers frequently and turning in your scholastic work in English will assist you with working on your jargon and language. 4. Make global fellowships

Most of abroad understudies focus on concentrating on in the US. You’ll meet many people from various countries while you’re there considering.

Alongside finding out about various societies and meeting fascinating people, your time in the US will permit you to meet new individuals and fashion kinships that will endure forever.

Moreover, it will be basic for you to visit close by US urban communities and states so you can investigate new spots, collaborate with charming individuals, and have a great time. 5. Get experience abroad to work on your resume

The degree of instruction presented by US universities is all around recognized. Especially on the off chance that your college is situated in a major city, there are often numerous chances to finish work experience temporary jobs and fabricate transferrable abilities.

Since you will communicate with clients and colleagues from a wide range of foundations and societies, the variety at most US colleges is brilliant preparation for working in a worldwide organization. The way that organizations are keen on utilizing graduates with certifications from US colleges is accordingly to be expected. 6. Benefit from a hearty organization of help for global understudies

US foundations offer different administrations to cause novices from abroad to feel comfortable. Worldwide understudies can constantly go to the workplace for global understudies at their school notwithstanding Undergrad introduction and getting a guide.

A worldwide understudy counsel who can help with all that from visas, temporary positions, and understudy money will be doled out to every understudy here.

Worldwide understudies as often as possible approach monetary assistance since US colleges can be exceptionally costly. This could appear as awards, credits, grants, or bursaries. Your point of view on the world will expand in the event that you concentrate on in the US. You’ll progress by and by as well as expertly. 7. Vocation Open doors are huge

Notwithstanding where you decide to work in the wake of finishing your schooling, having a degree from the US conveys weight and can expand your viewpoints.

Regardless of whether you need to come to the US, you might in any case get the vital expert and relational abilities to stand apart to bosses. Moves on from renowned US colleges get serious beginning compensations in the USA. On the off chance that you can land the right profession, you can procure more than $50,000 regardless of whether you go to a mid-level college.

The experiential learning potential open doors gave to understudies through temporary positions and occupation situations are another of the primary benefits of concentrating on in the US for worldwide understudies.

In the space important to you, you can acquire pragmatic experience. You can acquire abroad insight for your resume and utilize your review visa to recover a portion of the costs of your US schooling. 8. Work Grant for Post-Concentrate in the USA

The US offers a few unique kinds of understudy visas, of which the F1 understudy visa permits graduates to live and work in the US for a year in the wake of finishing their certificate.

All understudies applying to concentrate on abroad mean to live and work in the country they move on from. Understudies who work in a place that is explicitly associated with their field of study are qualified to apply for a Discretionary Functional Preparation (Pick) year.

STEM (Science, Innovation, Designing, and Arithmetic) qualifying certifications allow graduates the opportunity to remain and work in the US for two extra years in the wake of procuring their certification. Thus, subsequent to accepting their certificate, understudies have a sum of three years in the US.

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[newstfionline]

Wednesday, September 21, 2022

Pentagon opens sweeping review of clandestine psychological operations (Washington Post) In response to a report released by independent internet researchers, the Pentagon has ordered an audit of all the U.S. military’s clandestine information warfare operations. The move comes after the White House and other Washington, D.C. agencies have voiced concerns about the military’s psychological online campaigns. According to a report, Twitter and Facebook have taken down over 150 fake personas and pages over the past three years, with some linked to the U.S. military. Many profiles were pretending to be average people speaking Arabic or Farsi, making claims that ranged from deceased Afghan refugees being returned from Iran with missing organs to anti-Russia narratives and information about Covid-19 originating from China. Unfortunately for the Pentagon, Facebook and Twitter easily caught the military’s phony accounts, going so far as to contact the Department of Defense to warn it about the takedowns. According to one official, Facebook’s director for global threat disruption told the Pentagon, “We know what DOD is doing. It violates our policies. We will enforce our policies” and so “DOD should knock it off.” An even worse look than being found out by Facebook? Most of the military’s super secret social media campaigns had zero social media clout. The “vast majority of posts and tweets” found in the report received “no more than a handful of likes or retweets.”

UN General Assembly Commences (1440) Leaders from over 150 countries are gathering in New York City this week as the United Nations opens the 77th session of the General Assembly, its first fully in-person meeting since 2019. This year’s agenda is expected to be dominated by Russia’s war in Ukraine and its impact on the global food and energy supply; notably, top leaders from Russia, China, and India have opted out of attending. Ukraine’s embattled President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will deliver the only remote speech of the session.

On Anniversary of Hurricane Maria, Storm Leaves Puerto Rico in the Dark (NYT) Hurricane Fiona deluged Puerto Rico with unrelenting rain and terrifying flash floods on Monday, forcing harrowing home rescues and making it difficult for power crews to reach many parts of the island. Now the island is once again in darkness, five years after Hurricane Maria inflicted more damage on Puerto Rico than any other disaster in recent history. While Fiona will be the direct culprit, Puerto Ricans will also blame years of power disruptions, the result of an agonizingly slow effort to finally give the island a stable grid. Hurricane Maria, a near-Category 5 storm, hit on Sept. 20, 2017, leaving about 3,000 dead and damaging 80 percent of the system. The last house was not reconnected to the system until nearly a year later. Hurricane Fiona, with far less ferocious winds, is the strongest storm to reach the island since. Its copious rains on Sunday and Monday—more than 30 inches in some areas in southern Puerto Rico and its central mountainous region—caused the island’s vast lattice of canals and creeks to swell, turned entire streets into muddy rivers and forced the rescues of more than 1,000 people. At least one person died, while operating a generator, while another death was recorded in the Dominican Republic. (AP) Hurricane Fiona blasted the Turks and Caicos Islands on Tuesday as a Category 3 storm after devastating Puerto Rico, where most people remained without electricity or running water and rescuers used heavy equipment to lift survivors to safety. The Hurricane Center said the storm was likely to strengthen into a Category 4 hurricane as it approaches Bermuda on Friday.

Powerful earthquake hits Mexico on fateful anniversary, killing at least 2 (Reuters) A magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck western Mexico on Monday on the anniversary of two devastating temblors, killing at least two people, damaging buildings, knocking out power and sending residents of Mexico City scrambling outside for safety. Two died in the Pacific port of Manzanillo, authorities said, one crushed by the facade of a department store while another was found dead at a mall. The quake hit shortly after 1 p.m. (1800 GMT) near Mexico’s west coast and close to Michoacan’s border with the state of Colima—where major port Manzanillo is located. Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said there were no immediate reports of major damage in the capital after the quake struck, which rumbled through Mexico on the same day as destructive earthquakes battered the country in 1985 and 2017.

Ukraine, using captured Russian tanks, firms up its lines (AP) Ukraine is now deploying captured Russian tanks to solidify its gains in the northeast amid an ongoing counteroffensive, a Washington-based think tank said Tuesday, as Kyiv vowed to push further into territories occupied by Moscow. The Institute for the Study of War said that Ukraine had been using left-behind Russian T-72 tanks as it tries to push into the Russian-occupied region of Luhansk. “The initial panic of the counteroffensive led Russian troops to abandon higher-quality equipment in working order, rather than the more damaged equipment left behind by Russian forces retreating from Kyiv in April, further indicating the severity of the Russian rout,” the institute said.

One Big Problem for Ukraine Is Clear: Glass (NYT) There was one topic of conversation among the women bundled up in front of a bombed-out building the other day as they waited in a long line at a humanitarian food truck, a nippy wind swirling around them. “When are you going to get your glass?” This is becoming a big problem in Ukraine. So many windows have been shattered by explosions—“millions of them,” one humanitarian official estimated—that there is a nationwide run on glass. In the towns and cities that the Russian military has pounded with earthshaking artillery barrages, nothing has been spared—not the high rises, not the schools, not the squat little cottages. Just on Monday, the shock waves from a powerful Russian missile that exploded more than 800 feet from a nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine blew out more than 100 of the plant’s windows. This is what has happened to countless people’s homes in the line of fire: They might have been spared a direct hit, but all their windows have been shattered. And winter is coming. Fast. No doubt that Ukraine is facing a host of crises within crises, but one of the most urgent is the scramble to get damaged homes ready for winter, and that is where the glass comes in.

An economically illiterate junta is running Myanmar into the ground (Economist) Queues snake away from open-backed trucks that sell cooking oil on the streets of Yangon. Since July people in Myanmar’s commercial capital have stood for hours in the tropical heat and rain to buy discounted oil from wholesalers. At 3,000 kyats ($0.90) a kilo it costs about half what it would on the open market. That still makes oil almost 50% dearer than it was last year, before a military coup put Myanmar’s economy into a tailspin. Queues snake away from open-backed trucks that sell cooking oil on the streets of Yangon. Since July people in Myanmar’s commercial capital have stood for hours in the tropical heat and rain to buy discounted oil from wholesalers. At 3,000 kyats ($0.90) a kilo it costs about half what it would on the open market. That still makes oil almost 50% dearer than it was last year, before a military coup put Myanmar’s economy into a tailspin. Rather than take responsibility for the crisis, junta supremo General Min Aung Hlaing lectures the Burmese on the importance of a lean diet. But the economy is ailing, and the junta is facing unprecedented resistance from ethnic and pro-democracy guerrillas.

US-Taliban Hostage Swap (1440) President Joe Biden announced the release of Mark Frerichs, a US prisoner held hostage for over two years in Afghanistan, as part of a prisoner swap for Bashir Noorzai, a Taliban drug lord serving a life sentence in federal prison. Frerichs, a 60-year-old Navy veteran, was first abducted from Kabul in 2020 after being lured to a fake business meeting while working as a civil engineering contractor. Frerichs, an Illinois native, had worked in the country for over a decade and is said to be in stable health. Noorzai was convicted in 2008 of directing a drug-trafficking operation and was a financier of the Taliban in the 1990s. The news comes just days after the president met with family members of Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, Americans detained in Russia. More than 60 Americans are believed to be wrongfully detained worldwide, including at least one other American, Ivor Shearer, in Taliban custody.

Young Palestinians arm themselves for a new era of violent resistance (Washington Post) Jenin Refugee Camp, West Bank—It is just after midnight. Young men gear up in black shirts and black face masks, tie ribbons with militant group insignia around their foreheads, and parade their weapons through the narrow streets. Israeli officials fear that the black-market AK-47s, pistols, Kalashnikovs and M16s on display in the Jenin refugee camp will be directed at Israelis during the Jewish holidays that begin next week, as they brace for a new chapter of violent Palestinian resistance. Expectations of the passing of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas—the deeply unpopular, heavy-smoking 86-year-old autocrat who is believed to be in ill health—have already sparked a bloodier social order in this occupied city. In Abbas’s wake, “there will be fauda”—“chaos” in Arabic—said Mohammad Sabbagh, head of the People’s Services Committee of the Jenin refugee camp. Thousands of young people in Jenin are on Israel’s terrorism watch list, making them ineligible for work permits in Israel that would allow them to make a living. And they have watched as Israeli raids have killed dozens of noncombatants in recent months, already making 2022 the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since 2015. Poverty and fury have made the camp a hotbed of militancy.

Church attendance (Baptist Press) Americans experienced seismic changes over the past two years, including, for many, how they attend church. The biennial State of Theology study conducted by Lifeway Research found relative stability in some of the religious and cultural beliefs U.S. adults hold. After months of quarantines and social distancing, however, Americans increasingly believe worshiping apart from a church is as good as attending church services. In March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic was just beginning in the United States, 58 percent of Americans said worshipping alone or with one’s family was a valid replacement for regularly attending church, with 26 percent strongly agreeing. In 2022, 66 percent believe worshiping apart from a local congregation is as valid as worshiping with one, with 35 percent strongly agreeing.

Scientists have calculated how many ants are on Earth (Washington Post) A new estimate for the total number of ants burrowing and buzzing on Earth comes to a whopping total of nearly 20 quadrillion individuals. That staggering sum—20,000,000,000,000,000, or 20,000 trillion—reveals ants’ astonishing ubiquity. In a paper released Monday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a group of scientists from the University of Hong Kong analyzed 489 studies and concluded that the total mass of ants on Earth weighs in at about 12 megatons. Put another way: If all the ants were plucked from the ground and put on a scale, they would outweigh all the wild birds and mammals put together. For every person, there are about 2.5 million ants. “It’s unimaginable,” Patrick Schultheiss, a lead author on the study who is now a researcher at the University of Würzburg in Germany.

#headlines #news

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 11.14 (after 1970)

1970 – Soviet Union enters ICAO, making Russian the fourth official language of organization. 1970 – Southern Airways Flight 932 crashes in the mountains near Huntington, West Virginia, killing 75, including almost all of the Marshall University football team. 1971 – Mariner 9 enters orbit around Mars. 1973 – In the United Kingdom, Princess Anne marries Captain Mark Phillips, in Westminster Abbey. 1973 – The Athens Polytechnic uprising, a massive demonstration of popular rejection of the Greek military junta of 1967–74, begins. 1975 – With the signing of the Madrid Accords, Spain abandons Western Sahara. 1977 – During a British House of Commons debate, Labour MP Tam Dalyell poses what would become known as the West Lothian question, referring to issues related to devolution in the United Kingdom. 1978 – France conducts the Aphrodite nuclear test as 25th in the group of 29 1975–78 French nuclear tests. 1979 – US President Jimmy Carter issues Executive Order 12170, freezing all Iranian assets in the United States in response to the hostage crisis. 1982 – Lech Wałęsa, the leader of Poland's outlawed Solidarity movement, is released after eleven months of internment near the Soviet border. 1984 – Zamboanga City mayor Cesar Climaco, a prominent critic of the government of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, is assassinated in his home city. 1990 – After German reunification, the Federal Republic of Germany and Poland sign a treaty confirming the Oder–Neisse line as the border between Germany and Poland. 1991 – American and British authorities announce indictments against two Libyan intelligence officials in connection with the downing of the Pan Am Flight 103. 1991 – Cambodian Prince Norodom Sihanouk returns to Phnom Penh after thirteen years in exile. 1992 – In poor conditions caused by Cyclone Forrest, Vietnam Airlines Flight 474 crashes near Nha Trang, killing 30. 1995 – A budget standoff between Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Congress forces the federal government to temporarily close national parks and museums and to run most government offices with skeleton staffs. 2001 – War in Afghanistan: Afghan Northern Alliance fighters take over the capital Kabul. 2001 – A magnitude 7.8 earthquake strikes a remote part of the Tibetan plateau. It has the longest known surface rupture recorded on land (~400 km) and is the best documented example of a supershear earthquake. 2003 – Astronomers discover 90377 Sedna, the most distant trans-Neptunian object. 2008 – The first G-20 economic summit opens in Washington, D.C. 2012 – Israel launches a major military operation in the Gaza Strip in response to an escalation of rocket attacks by Hamas. 2016 – A magnitude 7.8 earthquake strikes Kaikōura, New Zealand, at a depth of 15 km (9 miles), resulting in the deaths of two people. 2017 – A gunman kills four people and injures 12 others during a shooting spree across Rancho Tehama, California. He had earlier murdered his wife in their home. 2019 – A mass shooting occurs at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California, resulting in three deaths, including that of the perpetrator, and three injuries.

#Events