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Twelve Billionaires’ Climate Emissions Out-Pollute 2M Homes, Analysis Finds (Maria)
The author writes, “Twelve of the world’s wealthiest billionaires produce more greenhouse gas emissions from their yachts, private jets, mansions and financial investments than the annual energy emissions of 2 million homes, research shared exclusively with the Guardian reveals. The tycoons include the Amazon boss, Jeff Bezos, the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, the tech billionaires Bill Gates, Larry Page and Michael Dell, the inventor and social media company owner Elon Musk and the Mexican business magnate Carlos Slim. Analysis by Oxfam and US researchers of their luxury purchases … combined with the impact of their financial investments and shareholdings, reveals that they account for almost 17 million tons of CO2 and equivalent greenhouse gas emissions annually.”
China Is Using the World’s Largest Known Online Disinformation Operation to Harass Americans (Reader Jim)
From CNN: “The Chinese government has built up the world’s largest known online disinformation operation and is using it to harass US residents, politicians, and businesses—at times threatening its targets with violence, a CNN review of court documents and public disclosures by social media companies has found. The onslaught of attacks — often of a vile and deeply personal nature — is part of a well-organized, increasingly brazen Chinese government intimidation campaign targeting people in the United States, documents show.”
New Social Security Report Shows Growing Overpayment Problem Tops $23B (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “A new financial report released by the Social Security Administration this week shows that the scope of the agency’s overpayment problem has continued to grow. As of Oct. 1, the SSA had an uncollected balance of $23 billion in overpayments — money the agency had determined it mistakenly paid to beneficiaries across the country but had not been able to claw back, despite repeated attempts to do so.”
How Does Climate Change Threaten Where You Live? A Region-by-Region Guide. (Laura)
The author writes, “Every four years, the federal government is required to gather up the leading research on how climate change is affecting Americans, boil it all down, and then publish a National Climate Assessment. This report, a collaboration between more than a dozen federal agencies and a wide array of academic researchers, takes stock of just how severe global warming has become and meticulously breaks down its effects by geography — 10 distinct regions in total, encompassing all of the country’s states and territories.”
Huckleberry Nation (Al)
From The American Crisis: “In 2022 some 8,000 eighth graders … took an hour exam in U.S. History as part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress. The average score was 258 out of 500. 90% scored below 300 — in a conventional grading scale, they failed. The administrators very generously call scores between 295 and 325 ‘proficient,’ but only 14% of students scored in that range. Keep in mind that 325 — the high end of ‘proficient’ — is a score of 65%, which is a D. The number of students who scored higher than 325 is too small to be statistically relevant.”
Is a TikTok Famous Statue of the Virgin Mary Really Crying? (Dana)
The author writes, “A congregation of churchgoers in Mexico may have borne witness to a real-life miracle… or did they? Visitors were shocked and moved when a statue of the Virgin Mary appeared to shed real tears. The event has been dubbed a ‘miracle,’ but is there a more scientific explanation?”
