This isn't being reported on BBC news, as far as I am aware, granted it is like to be a tropical storm by the time it reaches land, nevertheless it will still be a devastating storm.

Hurricanes are NOT normal in California.

Meanwhile Canada still burns! As far as I am aware, Yellowknife is facing serious damage and probably loss of life.

Tags

#Science,#Climate,#ClimateChange,#Hurricane,#California,#USA

The banning of books seems to be continuing at pace in the USA. A recent fediverse post provided a link to a lot more information, esp the subject matter that will result in books being banned.

• USA Book bans

Tags

#USA,#Book,#Bans

This is not even hitting the news in the UK. It is a serious incident and has serious public health implications. Looking at the safety sheet for Vinyl Chloride it is pretty nasty stuff, this being the monomer of Poly Vinyl Chloride of course

$\ce{H2C=CHCl}$

Updated post 16/2/2023

Links

• Wikipedia Vinyl Chloride
  • Safety Sheet
• Fedi Discuss
• Science Forums Tags

#USA,#Ohio,#Pollution,#VinylChloride,#Nature,#Health,#Industry

This was posted to the Fediverse earlier, It serves as a dire warning that the US Republican party is very dangerous. We are already seeing book banning in some states, unless those books are approved, schools that have had books donated are clearing shelves, under the threat of a 3rd degree felony charge. And Trans issues does seem to be one of the reasoning behind this.

They are also allowing puberty blockers / Testosterone treatments for cis children, but NOT those who are Trans. It does not take a great deal of intelligence to see what is going on here.

If you are not aware of this, have you been living in a cave for the past few weeks ?

I am sharing this here to help RAISE AWARENESS, these comments are not only disgusting, but show that there are serious issues in society.

This is the SAME Donald Trump that Nick Clegg, former UK deputy prime minister seems to feel is safe enough to be back on Facebook. Trump knows he won't be kicked off Facebook for comments made away Facebook hence the above was on his social media site (don't forget he got in to legal trouble for breaching the AGPL).

He is also facing at least SIX SERIOUS charges including inciting insurrection.

How he was allowed to be back on Facebook is beyond my comprehension. All I can think and a few people have mentioned this on Fedi, is that the decision is about money, after all that is what Facebook is good at, collect data use to sell adverts and don't give a damn about safeguarding anyone on the network.

The UK online safety bill won't even scratch the surface with this,

On the banning of books in schools, this is where it starts, suppress knowledge of groups of people or ideas etc.

#Trump,#USA,#Books,#LGBT

This is happening in the USA right now.

And some more from George Takei (Lt Sulu from Star Trek)

We have got to wake up to this, while this is in the USA, it is a path that seems very dangerous, banning books not approved by state, or from approved suppliers, denying Trans kids access to the same drugs as their cis counterparts. This all adds up. I will post some info on a comment (well more tirade) by Donald Trump on the 3rd of Feb.

All this seems is linked to State Governor Ron DeSantis but also linked to other republicans.

Wake up or face the same thing happening in other countries. This is all being discussed on the Fediverse right now, and people are suffering, teachers can't use books, and kids who can't afford books are being denied access to books.

Related posts or articles

• Another post on this
• Ron DeSantis Has Questions About Your Daughter's Tampon

#USA,#Books,#Curriculum,#AfricanAmericanStudies,#LGBT,#Freedoms, #Suppression.

For the most part, the Fediverse is full of stuff that is positive, however there is a very disturbing situation coming out of Florida and also other parts of the USA.

Teachers have been told to remove any books not sanctioned or approved by the state or obtained from specific suppliers (who would be approved), Not doing so will result in 3rd degree felony charge, (equivalent to manslaughter).

This is happening right now in the USA. There are similar policies being implemented in other states too.

• Florida teachers told to remove books from classroom libraries or risk felony prosecution

I am sharing this as I feel it is important to let people know what us going on.

• Students want new books. Thanks to restrictions, librarians can’t buy them

Quote from above:

Students are upset, especially LGBTQ students, said a Keller employee who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of professional retribution. “They want to see themselves in books, they want to see themselves reflected, and they’re not able to.”

The district wrote in a statement that the book selection “process we have in place … allows librarians to take the lead in curating our libraries, while inviting our community to provide input and to partner with staff to protect our students.” It continued: “Books are not removed simply because they feature LGBTQ characters, and there are still books available that include these characters.”

In a new development,

'a high-ranking legislator from North Dakota, Mike Lefor, is proposing the inevitable next step: banning these books from public libraries.'

#USA,#Florida,#Schools,#Books,#Banning,#Republicans,#CurrentSituation

Seattle GNU/Linux conference is this Friday and Saturday you can find more information and a join link here

You can join online

Fri 9:00–16:30 PST (17:00–00:30 UTC) Sat 9:00–16:30 PST (17:00–00:30 UTC)

Sorry for the short notice, I have only just found out about this.

#conference,#gnu,#linux,#virtual,#seattle,#washington,#usa

18th to 24th October is National Chemistry week, so there are a few activities listed on the American Chemistry Society website out reach pages.

In recent chemistry news ScienceMagazine has an article on a Globular cluster in the Andromeda galaxy that appear to be deficient in elements heavier than Hydrogen and Helium.

This is interesting, there isn't that much information due to the need to sign in, but I would suspect the research papers may be more widely available in due course.

#science,#chemistry,#asc,#astronony.#andromeda,#astrochemistry,#scienceweek,#chemistryweek,#USA

Resources

1. American Chemistry Society