Paid Actors Flooded City Council Meetings to Win Approval of Fossil Fuel Power Plant
""They paid us to sit through the meeting and clap every time someone said something against wind and solar power," said one actor."
Government
Petition circulates to stop Albany appearance of controversial former sheriff | WNYT.com
President Hubert Humphrey once said, "The right to heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously."
China Is Quietly Setting Global Standards
"High-level trade talks last week between the U.S. and China grabbed headlines around the world, but in many ways they were beside the point. In the years ahead, tariffs and industrial policy — the main focus of the talks — will probably matter less in the growing competition between the two countries, while another, much quieter initiative will matter more."
"As China boosts overseas investment through its Belt and Road infrastructure program, it is increasingly dictating not just the terms of financing but also a broader set of technological applications. In doing so, it is altering the global competitive landscape by defining and exporting technical standards for everything from artificial intelligence to hydropower. This push into global standards-setting has gone largely unnoticed. That's partly because it's boring: Even broaching the topic will make investors' eyes glaze over, and few Western governments have given it much thought."
Shoulder-Fired Weapons May Pose Brain Injury Risk To The Shooter, Army Finds
"During the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, military officials recognized that the blast wave from a roadside bomb could damage a person's brain without leaving any visible sign of injury. And in 2010, the Pentagon issued a memo outlining steps to improve care of troops exposed to these explosions."
"Since then, there's been growing evidence that blasts from weapons like the Carl Gustav recoilless rifle and the AT4 anti-tank weapon can also affect the brain."
"Sgt. John Wagley fires an AT4 anti-tank missile during a training session at Camp Fuji, in Japan. Studies find that some who fire these weapons repeatedly have short-term problems with memory and thinking. It's still not clear, scientists say, whether those temporary changes can lead to permanent deficits."
"If you're looking at a large anti-tank rocket that a soldier would carry on his or her shoulder, that's now a pretty large explosion — and it's happening right next to your head." Scharre says."
New York bill would ban riflery, trap shooting, archery in public schools
A state lawmaker from New York City has authored a bill that would end riflery, trap shooting and archery as a sport in public schools. Assemblywoman Linda B. Rosenthal, a Democrat who represents the 67th Assembly District in western Manhattan, introduced the bill on April 20. At this point, there is no co-sponsor for it in the state Senate. The bill, A10428, which was sent to the Assembly's Education Committee, would amend the state's Education Law and calls for the "prohibition of marksmanship and/or shooting programs in public schools" - a change that "shall take effect immediately." Rosenthal's bill, covering "marksmanship and/or shooting programs," includes "any competitive or recreational shooting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in using various types of ranged weapons, such as firearms and air gun, in forms such as handguns, rifles and shotguns and/or bows or crossbows."
Republicans Are Growing the Deficit to Cut Welfare Programs – The Atlantic
"Republicans are planning to use the deficits created by their own tax cuts to slash the social safety net—but they may end up setting the stage for tax hikes instead."
The IRS Computer System Is the Oldest in the Government
"Though the IRS has periodically upgraded its computing system, today’s system is still running the same code, which was written nearly 60 years ago. Most of it is in the Assembly programming language, which the IRS itself has described as “antiquated” and “inflexible.” Worse, the number of programmers who can understand and maintain the code behind the Individual Master File (IMF) dwindles with every passing year. According to the Government Accountability Office, the IMF and its business counterpart (the BMF) are the oldest computing systems used by the federal government. (The runner-up in this dubious contest is the software used to coordinate the nation’s nuclear weapons.)"
"Plans to replace the IMF with a twenty-first-century equivalent known as CADE (Customer Account Data Engine) have faltered. The transition is now well behind schedule. As a consequence, the likelihood of a catastrophic computer failure during tax season increases with every passing year. That may not pose quite the same danger as an errant missile, but the prospect of lost refund checks, unnecessary audits, and other errors suggests that the time has come to bring the IRS into the 21st century."