Hi.

I’m a bit of a news junkie.

I’m also MicroWave on lemm.ee.

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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 12th, 2023

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  • From another article with a little more context:

    When 600 people die on a summer’s night in the Mediterranean, their journey known of, or witnessed for many hours and at various times by an EU agency, the maritime authorities of two EU countries, by civil society activists and by multiple private ships and boats – a journey and a drowning effectively in plain sight – there is one obvious question: “How did that happen?”

    Our inquiry found that for most of the period between the sighting of the Adriana and its capsizing, Frontex had to stand ineffectually by, due to the absence of authorisation by the Greek authorities to do more. The agency is legally obliged to follow the orders and directions of the coordinating national authority.

    According to documents inspected by my office, repeated calls offering assistance from the Warsaw-based agency [Frontex] to the Greek rescue and coordination centre went unanswered. A Frontex drone, on offer to assist with the Adriana, was diverted by the Greek authorities to another incident.

    When Frontex was finally allowed to return to the site of the Adriana, the boat had capsized, with many hundreds of people already dead.

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/28/600-people-drowning-eu-deters-migrants-adriana-tragedy



  • Not sure if you’re aware of the city’s colonial history. An example from the article:

    The Aztecs chose this spot to build their city of Tenochtitlan in 1325, when it was a series of lakes. They built on an island, expanding the city outwards, constructing networks of canals and bridges to work with the water.

    But when the Spanish arrived in the early 16th century, they tore down much of the city, drained the lakebed, filled in canals and ripped out forests. They saw “water as an enemy to overcome for the city to thrive,” said Jose Alfredo Ramirez, an architect and co-director of Groundlab, a design and policy research organization.

    Their decision paved the way for many of Mexico City’s modern problems. Wetlands and rivers have been replaced with concrete and asphalt. In the rainy season, it floods. In the dry season, it’s parched.


  • Your comment seems to suggest that the boat was far away from Taiwan, which was not the case. For context, the boat was touring Taiwan’s Kinmen Islands, which are just a few kilometers/miles from the Chinese mainland (Wikipedia says 10 km/6.2 mi), and had to veer toward the Chinese side of the water to avoid shoals.

    According to the article, this seems like an escalation by the PRC:

    For years, sightseeing boat tours between Kinmen and Xiamen, the closest city on the Chinese mainland, have offered Taiwanese tourists a chance to gaze at China’s dazzling skyline without the hassle of border checks, with China operating similar tour boats for its citizens too.

    Ian Chong, a political scientist at the National University of Singapore, said the latest measures are part of China’s “gray zone” tactics, referring to coercive or aggressive state actions that stop short of open warfare – something Beijing has used increasingly in recent years in the East and South China Seas, as well as toward Taiwan.

    The inspection of a Taiwanese tour boat by China’s coast guard, which Chong said had not happened before, was meant to provoke Taiwan and see if it would either escalate or accept this sort of behavior as given.



  • To be more specific:

    Asbestos is a known carcinogen to humans, meaning it is capable of causing cancer. When asbestos fibres become airborne and are inhaled, they are known to lodge in the lungs and other parts of the airways, where they can cause scarring, inflammation, asbestosis – an inflammatory condition leading to permanent lung damage – and cell damage that lead to cancers, including mesothelioma, an incurable cancer of the lining that covers organs such as the lungs. For decades, however, the risk from swallowing asbestos has been thought of as small as most fibres were assumed to pass through the gut and be expelled in faeces.






  • The Philippines generally has a positive view of the US. But from 2016 to 2022, the relationship deteriorated because the Filipino president at the time (Rodrigo Duterte) tried courting China, but it didn’t pan out. A quote from the article:

    Manila-based political analyst Julio Amador III described the U.S. outreach as “unprecedented love-bombing” aimed at resetting the U.S.-Philippines relationship. Marcos’ predecessor, the populist firebrand Rodrigo Duterte, was openly hostile to the United States and attempted to bring his country closer to communist China during his six-year term.


  • From the article:

    Marcos’ father, the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos Sr, was a steadfast U.S. ally who was deposed in 1986 after Filipinos revolted against his regime. The elder Marcos was accused of orchestrating the detention and killing of thousands of political enemies and illegally siphoning billions of dollars from public coffers. He died in exile in Hawaii in 1989 without facing trial. After his death, family members returned to the Philippines, where they have remained a force in politics.

    Araneta, Marcos’ brother-in-law, told Reuters that the president and his family had long felt “betrayed” by Washington for the U.S. role in supporting the change of government that pushed the elder Marcos from power. Still, Araneta said, Marcos Jr is a pragmatist who spent a lot of time thinking before his election about “how to get the Americans back” for the sake of the Philippines’ economy and security.

    The Biden administration lost no time in trying to reset relations. After Biden’s congratulatory call, the U.S. president sent Marcos an invitation to the White House. In September 2022, the two met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.


  • Looks like it does from another article:

    Heman’s mentor, 3M product engineering specialist Deborah Isabelle, said she could see the teen’s energy and passion for the project from their first meeting. She described Heman as “focused on making the world a better place for people he hasn’t necessarily even met yet.”

    The soap, called Skin Cancer Treating Soap (SCTS), works by using a compound that helps revive dendritic cells, which are killed by cancer cells. Once the dendritic cells are revived, they are able to then fight against the cancer cells. In essence, it reactivates the body’s healing power, Isabelle said.

    Similar creams and ointments exist, Heman said, but he doesn’t believe soap has ever been used to fight against skin cancers in their early stages.

    He has a five-year plan, which includes seeking approval from the Food and Drug Administration. Isabelle has already connected him with other scientists who specialize in medical products to help him move forward with his plans.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/10/25/heman-bekele-skin-cancer-soap/