Welcome to the Overnight News Digest (OND) for Tuesday, March 29, 2016
OND is a regular community feature on Daily Kos, consisting of news stories from around the world, sometimes coupled with a daily theme, original research or commentary. Editors of OND impart their own presentation styles and content choices, typically publishing near 12:00AM Eastern Time. Creation and early water-bearing of the OND concept came from our very own Magnifico - respect is due.
This diary is named for its "Hump Point" video: Hole Hearted by Extreme
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Top News |
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High court gives unions a victory
By Sam Hananel
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In the clearest sign yet of the impact of Justice Antonin Scalia’s death, U.S. labor unions scored a major victory Tuesday with a tie vote in a high-profile Supreme Court case they had once seemed all but certain to lose.
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But it was a blow to conservative groups that have spent years pushing the court to overrule a 1977 precedent that allows unions to collect fees from members and nonmembers alike to cover the costs of collective bargaining.
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The union case is just one among a handful of key disputes this term in which Justice Scalia’s vote had been expected to tip the balance toward a conservative result. During arguments in the case in January, Justice Scalia and the court’s four other conservatives had made it clear they were prepared to deal a blow to the unions.
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Union officials have worried that the potential loss of tens of millions of dollars in fees would reduce their power to bargain for higher wages and benefits for government employees. More than 5 million workers in 23 states and Washington, D.C., are required to pay fair-share fees to public-sector unions that represent them in bargaining. Unions say the fees are necessary because the organization has a legal duty to represent all teachers, even those who are not members of the union.
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Arctic Sea Ice Dwindles to New Record Winter Low
By Gayathri Vaidyanathan
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The Arctic is a portent for climate change, as it is warming at a faster rate than the rest of the planet. Some scientists think the loss of sea ice during wintertime leads to atmospheric “waves” that propel the polar vortex into the Lower 48 states (ClimateWire, Aug. 18, 2014). Between 1975 and 2012, sea ice in the central Arctic Basin has thinned by 65 percent, according to a study published in Cryosphere in February last year.
“The Arctic is in crisis,” Ted Scambos, a glaciologist at NSIDC, said in a statement. “Year by year, it’s slipping into a new state, and it’s hard to see how that won’t have an effect on weather throughout the Northern Hemisphere.”
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Other scientists pointed to warming oceans as a potential cause. The ice extent was below average in the Barents Sea due to an influx of warm Atlantic Ocean waters from the Norwegian Sea, said Ingrid Onarheim, an oceanographer at the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research in Norway.
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“Not only is the sea ice in steep decline, but snow cover in spring in the Northern Hemisphere, permafrost is thawing, we are losing the Canadian and Alaskan glaciers, and Greenland is shrinking,” he said. “It is a signal of the continuing unraveling of the Arctic.”
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UK: Poor reporting, media illiteracy fuel Islamophobia
By (Al Jazeera)
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The way the UK's mainstream media covers certain issues relating to Muslims and the British Islamic community's inability to represent itself are contributing to rising Islamophobia, recent research suggests.
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"British minority group disaffection with local media is encouraging their members to turn to media from their regions of origin, which may be concerning for government," said Roxane Farmanfarmaian, principal at the university's Centre of the International Studies of the Middle East and North Africa.
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Following recent attacks across Europe and the Middle East - including the shootings in January 2015 at the offices of the Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris, deadly violence across the French capital in November 2015, and the twin attacks in Brussels earlier this month - Muslims tend to feel judged by the media, Farmanfarmaian added, as many equate the Islamic faith with "terrorism".
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A recent survey conducted in December 2015 by City University London found that 0.4 percent of British journalists identified as Muslim or Hindu, 31.6 percent were Christian, and 61.1 percent had "no religion". Meanwhile, 0.2 percent were Black, 2.5 percent Asian, and 94 percent Caucasian.
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US election: Obama blames media for Trump's success
By (BBC)
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Speaking at an event for political reporters, Mr Obama said it was not enough to give "someone a microphone".
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When he travels, the president said, people always ask him what is happening in American politics, because it is a place where you "can't afford completely crazy politics".
Politicians, journalists and citizens are all responsible for the divisive and bitter political atmosphere, he said, but reporters should be digging deeper on the 2016 presidential candidates.
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Billions of dollars in free media should come with serious accountability, especially when politicians issue unworkable plans or make promises they cannot keep, he said.
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International |
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Myanmar swears in first elected civilian president
By (BBC)
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Htin Kyaw from the National League for Democracy (NLD) takes over from Thein Sein, who introduced wide-ranging reforms during his five years in power.
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Five years ago Myanmar was an international pariah, rusting in the sidings. Sanctions were in place, and people were scared to speak their minds. More than 2,000 political prisoners languished in jail.
Now, as Thein Sein hands over the controls to Aung San Suu Kyi and her NLD, Myanmar is a country on the up.
Where once people were jailed for criticising the junta, there is now a vibrant media and open public debate. The economy's growing rapidly and a telecoms revolution is under way.
With a few exceptions, notably the Rohingya minority, life for Burmese people has got better, and much of the credit for that must go to the stewardship of Thein Sein.
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USA |
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The Surprising Gaps in HIV Care for Louisiana Prisoners
By Madison Pauly
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With the highest diagnosis rate of any state, Louisiana is a hotbed for new HIV cases, and the groups at greatest risk of infection are the same as those most likely to be imprisoned in the state's sprawling corrections system: people who inject drugs, sex workers, the poor and racial minorities. But a new report from Human Rights Watch found that for some HIV-positive Louisiana prisoners, medical care is delayed or non-existent, depending on the facility where they are housed.
. . . only a handful of the state's 104 parish jails conduct regular testing, with some HIV-positive inmates experiencing treatment that is "delayed, interrupted, and in some cases denied altogether," according to the report.
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The result? Parish jail inmates can go weeks or months without treatment, potentially resulting in higher viral loads, increased resistance to medication, and a greater likelihood of infecting others, according to the report.
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Welcome to the "Hump Point" of this OND.
News can be sobering and engrossing - at this point in the diary, an offering of brief escapism:
Random notes related to this video:
Songfacts: Was there a real relationship that inspired "Hole Hearted"?
Nuno: "Hole Hearted" was one of those songs where I had my first 12-string [guitar] sent to me. I was in the studio, and the album was pretty much done. I opened the twelve-string, and the first thing I played were those opening chords. The song, once again, just happened.
Oddly enough - I don't know if this is too much information - but I wrote it on the toilet! I got kind of excited that I had my first 12-string, and it made me want to go to the toilet. I sat down, took my time, and dare I say, the ideas just came out. They came pouring out.
But that song was written fast, and I remember coming out of the bathroom, saying, "I've got this really cool tune," and everybody looked at me kind of weird. I was listening to Led Zeppelin III at the time a lot, and there was a lot of acoustic stuff on there. So I kind of took the groove a little bit, borrowed that feel from being inspired by the Zep III album.
Back to what's happening:
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Environmental |
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The Feds Just Issued an Earthshaking Report About Fracking
By Gregory Barker
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For the first time, the US Geological Survey has included "human-induced" earthquakes in its seismic hazard forecast. These man-made tremors are most often attributed to the injection wells in which oil and gas companies dispose of wastewater from hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking." The USGS seismologists estimate that some 7 million people in the central and eastern United States now live in areas at risk of a damaging earthquake.
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In the past six years, that danger has spiked. From 1973 to 2008, the central United States saw an average of 24 earthquakes each year with a magnitude of 3.0 or greater (earthquakes weaker than that are not typically felt). The rate increased steadily between 2009 and 2015, averaging 318 earthquakes per year and reaching 1,010 in 2015. The tremors haven't abated this year, the USGS says; through mid-March, there have been 226 earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or larger in the central United States.
Still, it's possible the earthquake risk could diminish with similar speed, the researchers note, given that unlike tectonic plates, industrial practices can be regulated. In an interview with the Oklahoman, Tom Robins, the state's deputy energy secretary, noted that recent efforts to rein in wastewater injection are not yet reflected in the USGS data. That includes a call from regulators earlier this month for a 40 percent reduction in wastewater injection volume.
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Science and Health |
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Training with unpredictability improves memory recall, study finds
By (ScienceDaily)
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Memory training with unpredictable components could be more effective in enhancing episodic memory than training with predictable elements, according to new findings from UT Dallas researchers published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.
Episodic memories are those associated with autobiographical events, such as a past birthday party or first trip to an amusement park. This type of memory is crucial to our ability to accurately retell stories.
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Working memory involves the ability to keep information in the focus of attention and to manipulate or reorder it despite distractions -- the sort of mental juggling required in everyday life, she said.
"When you have multiple items to remember, you need to focus your attention on what is most relevant and up-to-date, setting aside what may be distracting," Basak said. "Such focusing of attention is more challenging when cues appear in an unpredictable order, thus requiring more cognitive control. It seems from our study that improving the efficiency of focusing attention to the target using unpredictable training strategy led to more accurate episodic memory."
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Technology |
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Affordable Teslas? Elon Musk is about to take your brain to mars
By Suzanne Jacobs
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. . .
As we reported last month, General Motors is also vying for a spot in the history books with its new Chevy Bolt, a relatively affordable and practical electric vehicle that the auto giant has slated for production sometime next year. Tesla’s Model 3 is also supposed to go into production next year, and customers can even start placing orders this week, but with the company’s history of missed deadlines and unmet production goals, some predict that the Model 3 will actually go into production sometime in 2018. Which means GM could very well beat Tesla to the market.
Still, as Business Insider’s transportation editor points out, the scrappy little car company that could will always have one thing going for it — a vision. Plenty of tech entrepreneurs say it, but Musk really does want to change the world. Sure, he’s also a businessman who wants to make a profit, but if that was his primary motive, then he wouldn’t have invested a fortune in an attempt to overthrow the American auto industry. And if he can’t out-compete companies like GM, then at least he can change the conversation.
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So even if the Bolt does beat out the Model 3 in overall sales, there’s a good chance that Tesla will maintain a strong base of supporters who respect the company’s vision. Supporters who would rather give their money to a company that’s trying to save the world, rather than one that shamelessly chases profits until it ends up peddling abominations like the Hummer.
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Cultural |
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When You Become The Person You Hate On The Internet
By Sarah Hepola
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I was feeling cheeky one afternoon when I posted to Facebook that the '90s hit, "Breakfast at Tiffany's," was the worst song of all time. It had been nearly two decades since the release of that single — about a bickering couple who reconcile thanks to an Audrey Hepburn film — but I heard the chorus in passing that day, and it got stuck on this crazy-making loop in my brain.
From the reaction to my post, I could see I wasn't the only one who still held a grudge against a harmless '90s earworm. My friends piled on, creating a delightful little bonfire of disdain, but I had forgotten one detail: A guy from the band was in my friend circle.
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We hear a lot about how social media lets us present our glossy, perfect selves, but use social media enough and it will put you directly in touch with your own mistakes. Some clumsy opinion. Some joke you wish you could take back. We can all be thoughtless, we can all be cruel, which is good to remember the next time you find yourself on the receiving end of that random scorn.
I wish people would be more civil online. I wish they'd be more civil off-line, for that matter. But the messy human-ness of the Internet is part of what makes it so endlessly fascinating. I don't think the mass of humanity will ever stop throwing rocks, but I'm trying to be a little smarter about when I chuck mine.
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(word cloud)
Meteor Blades is known to offer an enlightening Evening Open Diary - you might consider checking that out tonight if you haven't already.