Campfire

Just watching the campfire crackle as I was camping up along West Kill Road.

Why Hawaii is trying to ban a common sunscreen

Why Hawaii is trying to ban a common sunscreen

Ain't nothing like pissing sunscreen and feeding it to our youth ...

"The concern over coral reefs isn’t the only cause for concern when it comes to chemical sunscreens. Some of the same chemicals that have been shown to harm reefs might also harm human healthβ€”because like reefs, we absorb them into our bodies. One study in the International Journal of Andrology detected oxybenzone in 96 percent of the American urine samples it tested, and chemical UV-filters were detected in 85 percent of Swiss breast milk samples."

"Oxybenzone has been found to mimic estrogen in cellular studies, while butylparaben, which is present in a host of cosmetics in addition to sunscreen, has been linked to endocrine disruption, which can cause everything from development delays to poor reproductive health. None of these studies are definitive, and the authors themselves call for more research."

China rationalizes scrap import ban β€” and industry concerns remain

China rationalizes scrap import ban β€” and industry concerns remain

"The Chinese government has begun to offer more rationale for its July 18 World Trade Organization filing that announced plans to begin restricting the imports of numerous scrap categories β€” mainly mixed paper and plastics β€” by the end of the year. A government statement posted on July 27 indicated that this was part of a larger effort to increase domestic recycling to 350 million tons (a 42% increase over 2015 levels) by 2020. To reach that goal, imports that can be substituted with domestic resources will be phased out starting in 2019."

"While the CEOs of publicly traded waste and recycling companies have sought to downplay the potential effects in recent weeks, concern remains high among many players in the scrap industry. The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) has made it clear new markets will need to be explored, as reported by Recycling International, and some Chinese recyclers have already begun discussing plans to move their operations off the mainland, as reported by Plastics News."

China says it won’t take any more foreign garbage

China says it won’t take any more foreign garbage

"China notified the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Tuesday that it would stop accepting shipments of rubbish such as waste plastic and paper as part of a campaign against "foreign garbage"."
"The import ban, which will enter into force by the end of 2017, will also cover slag from steelmaking, and many kinds of waste wool, ash, cotton and yarn."
"We found that large amounts of dirty wastes or even hazardous wastes are mixed in the solid waste that can be used as raw materials. This polluted China's environment seriously," China's WTO filing said."
"To protect China's environmental interests and people's health, we urgently adjust the imported solid wastes list, and forbid the import of solid wastes that are highly polluted."
"China is a major importer of waste. Last year it imported 7.3 million tonnes of waste plastics, valued at $3.7 billion, accounting for 56 percent of world imports."

The Misguided Attacks on ACLU for Defending Neo-Nazis’ Free Speech Rights in Charlottesville

The Misguided Attacks on ACLU for Defending Neo-Nazis’ Free Speech Rights in Charlottesville

"Last week, the ACLU sparked controversy when it announced that it was defending the free speech rights of β€œalt-right” activist Milo Yiannopoulos after the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority refused to allow ads for his book to be displayed on public transit. Lost in the debate was that other groups the ACLU was defending along with Yiannopoulos were also censored under the same rule: Carafem, which helps women access birth control and medical abortion; the animal rights group PETA; and the ACLU itself."

"For representing Yiannopoulos, the civil liberties group was widely accused of defending and enabling fascism. But the ACLU wasn’t β€œdefending Yiannopoulos” as much as it was opposing a rule that allows state censorship of any controversial political messages the state wishes to suppress: a rule that is often applied to groups which are supported by many who attacked the ACLU here."

"The same formula was applied yesterday when people learned that the ACLU of Virginia had represented the white supremacist protesters in Charlottesville after city officials tried to ban the group from gathering in Emancipation Park where a statue of Robert E. Lee was to be removed (city officials tried to move the march to an isolated location one mile away)."

"One board member of the ACLU of Virginia, Waldo Jaquith, waited until the violence erupted to announce on Twitter that he was resigning in protest of the ACLU’s representation of the protesters β€” as though he was unaware when he joined the board that the ACLU has been representing the free speech rights of neo-Nazis and other white supremacist groups (along with communists, Muslims, war protesters, and the full spectrum of marginalized minorities and leftists) for many decades."