"Oregon passed a law at the turn of the year which allows people in rural areas to pump their own gas. So what? Is that it? What do I care? All the above are perfectly understandable reactions to a seemingly mundane piece of legal news, which you wouldn’t expect to make much of a splash outside of the few counties affected."
"However, this is a big deal for some Oregonians, many of whom have reacted to the law change with a fury that many outsiders find bizarre, and quite amusing. Scroll down below to check out some of the reactions from the internet at large, and feel free to add your own take on the issue in the comments!"
A prohibition on law enforcement and District Attorneys on discussing criminal trials prior to start makes a lot of sense. This will protect the privacy of both victims and accused, and avoid prejudicing juries. While private citizens have a first amendment right, police officers and District Attorneys are government employees and be prohibited form discussing sensitive matters. This would stop the media frenzy, because the media would be kept in dark. But then again, it would make it hard for police and District Attorneys to go the politicians and demand more resources to fill more patronage jobs and get more toys.
"In our research, Eric Madfis and I have identified three major consequences of the media coverage. One, it creates a kind of competition for mass shooters to maximize the number of victims they kill. The second is that it’s rewarding these offenders with fame and attention, which is often what they want – it serves to give them a legacy. Even if they die, they may be remembered, according to their distorted views, as someone who mattered, as a somebody rather than a nobody."
"Apart from that, the media advertises the behavior. So regardless what kind of behavior it is, if you want to increase it, the best way is to advertise it. When it comes to mass shooters, that advertising produces what’s known as both contagion and copycat effects. Contagion essentially means that the ideas about committing this type of attack spread through society and permeate the minds of at-risk individuals. And copycat effects have been documented among many offenders who have specifically identified previous mass shooters as role models."
This is a good demonstration on how traffic lights work, at least those controlled by mechanical cams. It used to be all kinds of devices were controlled by cams like these, but these cam mechanisms have become mostly replaced by integrated circuit controllers hooked up to mechanical relays or transistors.
I am inclined to say having accurate categories based on how people self-identify is more important then protecting the census from nefarious purposes. Never has the privacy of the census been broken to reveal individual identities, even during World War II during the interment, Japanese Americans were not targeted by individual households but were targeted by the blocks they lived -- Wartime Security Zones targeted whole Japanese neighborhoods, not just individual persons of Japanese descent.
"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to roll back emission safeguards against sales of dirty trucks, leaving the public to cough and wheeze on more air pollution. NRDC is opposing the rollback at a public hearing on Dec. 4 in Washington, DC."
"The EPA proposal would lift restrictions on the number of new trucks that can be sold using old, refurbished engines (so-called "glider vehicles") that don't meet modern emissions standards. The proposal creates a dirty truck loophole that permits niche industry players to circumvent necessary clean air safeguards and sell an unlimited number of new, dirty trucks on the cheap."
"Approximately 10,000 heavy trucks have been sold annually in recent years that lack modern combustion and emissions control technologies to reduce dangerous nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) from diesel exhaust. These pollutants contribute to ground-level ozone, or smog, and soot, and are directly linked to asthma attacks, respiratory and heart problems, and premature death."
