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'Perhaps you would elucidate'?As you are usually so much on the ball with your incredible ability for unearthing postings from obscure websites that criticise Israel and the US I am genuinely surprised you missed this."Wake up at the back there boy" 🤣BBC News"Justin Trudeau apologises after Nazi veteran honoured in parliament"Published27 September 2023'Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has apologised on behalf of Canada's parliament after a Ukrainian man who fought for a Nazi unit was unwittingly applauded in parliament."This is a mistake that deeply embarrassed parliament and Canada," Mr Trudeau said on Wednesday.Speaker Anthony Rota, who has assumed responsibility for inviting Yaroslav Hunka, 98, resigned on Tuesday.The incident has drawn global condemnation.Mr Trudeau also apologised directly to Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky, who was visiting Canada and present in parliament, saying: "Canada is deeply sorry."The Ukrainian leader was among those pictured applauding Mr Hunka, an image that has been exploited in Russian propaganda."All of us who were in this House on Friday regret deeply having stood and clapped even though we did so unaware of the context," Mr Trudeau said. "It was a horrendous violation of the memory of the millions of people who died in the Holocaust."He said what happened was "deeply, deeply painful" to Jewish people and the many millions who were targeted by the Nazi genocide.Mr Hunka, who fought with a Nazi unit in World War Two, got a standing ovation and was praised as a Ukrainian and Canadian "hero".He served in the 14th Waffen-SS Grenadier Division, a voluntary unit made up mostly of ethnic Ukrainians under Nazi command.Division members are accused of killing Polish and Jewish civilians, although the unit has not been found guilty of any war crimes by a tribunal.

John Hawkes ● 41d

I'm certainly not knocking US science, just passing on concerns that a significant proportion of US citizens seem to have about a second Trump administration. Personally, I have significant respect for US science - particularly NASA as I have an amateur interest in astrophysics and astronomy - but we shouldn't forget that amazing projects such as the JWST that's doing fantastic science also have important input from ESA and the UK and, as someone with an IT background, I'm impressed by the way NASA technicians keep fixing Voyagers 1 & 2 remotely; good job Crowdstrike weren't doing the updates! I'd also note that during a Zoom call I was on during the pandemic, someone from NASA indicated that the announcement in March 2019 by Vice President Mike Pence that NASA's Moon landing goal would be accelerated by four years with a planned landing in 2024 had actually delayed the project because of the programme restructuring that was needed.HS2 is a national embarrassment, full stop; let's hope our new government can resurrect it; after a couple of interrailing holidays I'm impressed with the French TGVs, German ICE¹ and Italian long distance trains (and the local trains seem good as well); so let's hope Great British Railways can also sort out the UK rail network. (¹Although, sadly, since they dabled with privatisation Deutsches Bahn haven't been so uber alles!)Looking at the work China has been doing in space and the quantum fields some think China could overtake the US in science, and I believe they are now addressing their environmental issues. (Some of us think there's a good chance the next person to walk on the Moon could be Chinese rather than American. ) And I bet China isn't considering putting an anti-vaxer in charge of health?As noted above, I was just relaying concerns of a significant proportion of the US population, which is fortunately a democracy; unfortunately, the Great Firewall of China means that my Facebook feed can't deliver any concern Chinese citizens have regarding science and the environment.

Michael Ixer ● 47d

On a serious note, looking at my Facebook news feed, I think a number of US citizens are looking at a more robust way of countering any attacks on the environment, science, etc. (I don't think they'll be playing with Lego unless it's a way of solving a complex three dimensional problem.)For example, this is a posting from the Alt National Park Service, setup during the previous Trump term: 《People often ask, “What exactly are we resisting?” So, we decided to keep a detailed list. From 2017 to 2021, the Trump administration reversed over 100 environmental regulations, affecting climate policy, air, water, wildlife, and chemical safety. Additionally, more than a dozen other rollbacks were in progress but not finalized by the end of the term, prompting questions about the potential impact of another four years. You might wonder what another four years could look like. Here's a summary of Trumps last four years in office:
- Weakened fuel economy and greenhouse gas standards.
- Revoked California's stricter emissions standards.
- Withdrawn legal basis for limiting mercury from coal plants.
- Exited the Paris climate agreement.
- Altered Clean Air Act cost-benefit analysis methods.
- Canceled methane emissions reporting for oil and gas companies.
- Revised rules on methane emissions from drilling on public lands.
- Eliminated methane standards for oil and gas facilities.
- Withdrew rule limiting toxic emissions from industrial polluters.
- Eased pollution safeguards for new power plants.
- Changed refinery pollution monitoring rules.
- Reversed emissions reduction during power plant malfunctions.
- Weakened air pollution rules for national parks and wilderness areas.
- Loosened state air pollution plan oversight.
- Established minimum threshold for regulating greenhouse gases.
- Relaxed pollution regulations for waste coal plants.
- Repealed hydrofluorocarbon leak and venting rules.
- Ended use of social cost of carbon in rulemaking.
- Allowed increased ozone pollution from upwind states.
- Stopped including greenhouse gas emissions in environmental reviews.
- Revoked federal greenhouse gas reduction goal.
- Repealed tailpipe emissions tracking on federal highways.
- Lifted ban on higher ethanol gasoline blends in summer.
- Extended deadlines for methane emissions plans for landfills.
- Withdrew rule reducing pollutants at sewage plants.
- Dropped tighter pollution standards for offshore oil and gas.
- Amended emissions standards for ceramics manufacturers.
- Relaxed leak monitoring at oil and gas facilities.
- Cut two national monuments in Utah.
- Ended freeze on new coal leases on public lands.
- Permitted oil and gas development in Arctic Refuge.
- Opened land for drilling in National Petroleum Reserve, Alaska.
- Lifted ban on logging in Tongass National Forest.
- Approved Dakota Access pipeline near Sioux reservation.
- Rescinded water pollution rules for fracking.
- Withdrawn rig decommissioning cost proof requirement.
- Moved cross-border project permits to presidential office.
- Altered FERC's greenhouse gas considerations in pipelines.
- Revised ocean and coastal water policy.
- Loosened offshore drilling safety regulations post-Deepwater Horizon.
- Weakened National Environmental Policy Act.
- Revoked flood standards for federal projects.
- Eased federal infrastructure project environmental reviews.
- Ended financing for overseas coal plants.
- Revoked directive to minimize natural resource impacts.
- Revoked climate resilience order for Bering Sea.
- Reversed public land-use planning update.
- Withdrawn climate change consideration in national park management.
- Limited environmental study length and page count.
- Dropped Obama-era climate change and conservation policies.
- Eliminated planning system to minimize oil and gas harm on sensitive lands.
- Withdrawn policies for improving resources affected by federal projects.
- Revised Forest Service project review process.
- Ended natural gas project environmental impact reviews.
- Rolled back migratory bird protections.
- Reduced habitat for northern spotted owl.
- Altered Endangered Species Act application.
- Weakened habitat protections under the Endangered Species Act.
- Ended automatic protections for threatened species.
- Reduced environmental protections for California salmon and smelt.
- Removed gray wolf from endangered list.
- Overturned bans on lead ammo and fishing tackle on federal lands.
- Reversed ban on predator hunting in Alaskan refuges.
- Reversed rule against baiting grizzly bears for hunting.
- Amended fishing regulations.
- Removed commercial fishing restrictions in marine preserve.
- Proposed changes to endangered marine mammal injury limits.
- Loosened fishing restrictions for Atlantic Bluefin Tuna.
- Overturned migratory bird handicrafts ban.
- Reduced Clean Water Act protections for tributaries and wetlands.
- Revoked stream debris dumping rule for coal companies.
- Weakened toxic discharge limits for power plants.
- Extended lead pipe removal time in water systems.
- Eased Clean Water Act for federal project permits over state objections.
- Allowed unlined coal ash ponds to continue operating.
- Withdrawn groundwater protections for uranium mines.
- Rejected chlorpyrifos pesticide ban.
- Declined financial responsibility rules for spills and accidents.
- Opted against requiring mining industry pollution cleanup proof.
- Narrowed toxic chemical safety assessment scope.
- Reversed braking system upgrades for hazardous material trains.
- Allowed liquefied natural gas rail transport.
- Rolled back hazardous chemical site safety rules.
- Narrowed pesticide application buffer zones.
- Removed copper filter cake from hazardous waste list.
- Limited use of scientific studies in public health regulations.
- Reduced corporate settlement funding for environmental projects.
- Repealed light bulb energy-efficiency regulation.
- Weakened dishwasher efficiency standards.
- Loosened efficiency standards for showerheads and appliances.
- Altered energy efficiency standard-setting process.
- Blocked efficiency standards for furnaces and water heaters.
- Simplified appliance efficiency test exemption process.
- Limited environmentally focused investments in 401(k) plans.
- Changed policy on using sand from protected ecosystems.
- Halted contributions to the Green Climate Fund.
- Reversed national park plastic bottle sale restrictions. 》

Michael Ixer ● 47d

@Steven RoseI nearly choked laughing when I heard this on Nick Ferrari's show this morning!🤣 How on earth would these fragile darlings cope if they had to cover a REAL tragedy such as Aberfan or Dunblane, or more recently Grenfell? Would these snowflakes be given time off for stress, followed by even more for PTSD? The mind boggles.Omg, just had a thought, will our forum Guardianistas need therapy as well? As Kemi said to Ange 'we are all here for you' 😂From DM:'When Guardian editor sends her traumatised staff an email offering 'free support services', you know something truly joyous has happened!What exquisite weeping and gnashi of teeth there has been since the horrified liberal elites on both sides of the Atlantic realised that they had been denied the opportunity to chant their much-dreamed-of phrase 'Madam President' – and grasped instead that they were hurtling back towards the shimmering orange reality of Trump's America.After it became clear the 45th President would also become – by a landslide – the 47th, Britain's wokest and most po-faced radio presenter, LBC's James O'Brien, spoke for many of his bewildered, factually ignorant pundits, luvvies and failed politicians as he wailed: 'What fresh hell is this?!'No, James, it's not hell: it's the real world, where more than 72 million voters made a rational, democratic choice to reject the Democrats' toxic identity politics and give Trump another chance to tackle the problems that worsened under Joe Biden, from mass illegal immigration to Iran-backed Islamist terror.'https://mol.im/a/14056395I particularly relish the reference to James O'Brien who is (in my opinion) the most obnoxious presenter on LBC ~ remember 'gammon' during Brexit? He hasn't stopped banging on and moaning about Brexit since it happened🙄but as Ferrari said, now he (O'Brien) has something else to focus on for the next 4 years.😆

Sue Hammond ● 48d

'What the Democrats failed to understand is that though voters don’t necessarily like Trump, many of  them, indeed a majority as it turned out, agree with his views viz. that American prosperity is undermined by unrestricted illegal immigration, that outsourcing threatens American jobs, that the economy needs to be protected by tariffs against cheap imports from countries like China, that Americans should not have to pay for the defence of Europe, that America should be a land of equal opportunity not equality, that family values are being eroded by woke activists etc'.As Bill Clinton rightly said, in the main "It's the economy, stupid".But another key issue is that Trump is a patriot.He believes in foreword looking policies that will 'Make America Great Again' because he believes that it is a great country of which he is proud.The problem with the Labour Party and most of its supporters is they in fact could loosely be called unpatriotic.Forever had wringing and looking back to all the problems we are said to have caused in the past; all the people we have exploited; all the reparations we should pay for our historical treatment of others.No recognition of the good we have done or the achievements we have made; the Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution, the advancement of political rights, leading the abolition of slavery.As regards slavery, apparently the descendants of slaves now living in Barbados have a life expectancy of 77 or so years.The people of  Benin where the slaves were taken by the Arabs and sold to the British have a life expectancy of 60 years. And that of West Africa's most affluent country Ghana is 63 years.Similar discrepancies show in people's incomes.Perhaps rather than us paying reparations, we should receive payments !

John Hawkes ● 49d