Smoking Bans, Concert Tickets, & The Most Important Boats In The World
April 17, 2024
Hello, readers – happy Wednesday! Today, we’re talking about FISA, calls for a ceasefire, China’s role in the fentanyl crisis, a U.K. bill to ban smoking, Live Nation getting sued, New Mexico’s rivers, and internet cables.
Here’s some good news: The Biden administration issued new rules this week to reduce the allowable level of silica dust when workers drill for coal and other ores. This will avert an estimated 1,067 deaths and 3,746 silica-related illnesses. Also, Houston Rockets star Boban Marjanovic intentionally missed two free throws, knowing that by doing so, the fans of the L.A. Clippers would get free Chick-fil-A as a result.
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Gaza Problem Only Gets Worse For Biden
USC announced this week that it would be canceling its valedictorian speech at its commencement ceremony due to safety concerns. Asna Tabassum, the school’s valedictorian, is a loud critic of Zionism. Her position on the issue has earned criticism from pro-Israel groups both on and off campus, who welcomed the university’s decision. In a statement, Tabassum noted that she’d requested to see USC’s evidence for its security concerns, but the university declined to show her anything.
Meanwhile, protesters demonstrated across the country this week against the war in Gaza. They shut down the Golden Gate Bridge and held demonstrations at O’Hare International Airport, the Brooklyn Bridge, and Sea-Tac International Airport.
These incidents reflect the divisiveness of the Israel-Hamas war across the U.S., but might also spell disaster for President Joe Biden’s attempt at a second term. The president has been a self-described Zionist for decades, but the public has become increasingly opposed to Israel’s actions – in a March poll, 55% of Americans said they disapproved of the IDF’s actions in Gaza, and just 18% of Democrats now approve of Israel’s military operations. While the protests might draw some backlash from the general public, Biden might soon be forced to change his foreign policy if he wants to keep the White House.
The Congressional Urge To Expand The Surveillance State
U.S. lawmakers are looking to expand America’s already-bloated surveillance programs by sneaking through an extension to a Bush-era wiretapping law. Last week, the House voted in favor of extending Section 702 for two years, allowing the government to collect the communications of people living abroad without a warrant, even if they’re communicating through American companies. The government can also wiretap those individuals’ communications with American citizens.
In 2022, a company issued a secret lawsuit against the government, alleging that it did not need to participate in the wiretapping program because it was not an “electronic communications service provider,” as specified in Section 702. Two courts sided with the company, but suggested that Congress re-word the law. Now, a bipartisan amendment would expand the law to “any other service provider who has access to equipment that is being or may be used to transmit or store wire or electronic communications.” The amendment passed the House 236 to 186 and is now headed to the Senate.
Privacy advocates have pointed out that the expansion and extension of Section 702 could essentially turn American businesses into mass wiretapping operations. Nevertheless, surveilling Americans and foreigners seems to be a bipartisan topic for American lawmakers, as the Senate is expected to pass the bill with little issue.
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No Nicotine For Teens
- While the U.S. and China battle it out over newer drugs, the U.K. is clamping down on the grandfather of all narcotics – tobacco. On Tuesday, British lawmakers voted on a bill barring children turning 15 this year or younger from ever being able to legally access tobacco. Parliament voted 383 to 67 in favor of giving the bill a second reading, meaning it will live to see another vote (eventually).
- Currently, it’s illegal to sell cigarettes, tobacco, or vapes to anyone under the age of 18 in the U.K., but the bill would restrict a new generation of Britons from ever legally accessing the drug. Smoking tobacco still won’t be a criminal act, but regulators say the increased barriers to tobacco access will help reduce smoking across the population. About 13% of people in the U.K. say they still smoke tobacco to this day, leading to about 80,000 deaths a year in the country. Smoking remains the country’s top preventable cause of death, disability, and poor health.
“According To My Google Searches, China Is To Blame”
- According to a new report by the House Select Committee on China, the Communist Party of China is complicit in fueling America’s fentanyl crisis. The report claims that the committee has “found no evidence of new criminal enforcement actions” by Beijing against businesses illicitly producing fentanyl ingredients.
- “This failure — when combined with new evidence establishing the PRC incentivizing the export of illegal drugs abroad and ownership stake in companies doing the same — casts doubt on the veracity of the PRC’s claims that it will act to stem the massive export of illicit fentanyl materials and other dangerous synthetic narcotics, and reinforces the need for global cooperation and communication between law enforcement agencies,” reads the report.
- The committee’s investigation apparently trawled online resources to come to its conclusion. Those sources included Chinese websites, CPC documents stored online, and online records of narcotics sales (how many of those could there be?). The report blames China for supplying most of the chemicals used by Mexican cartels to produce fentanyl, which is then used to cut drugs like heroin.
More Mixed Nuts
- Sydney church stabbing was ‘terrorist’ attack, police say (BBC)
- Ukraine Sees ‘Hypocrisy’ in Western Allies’ Defense of Israel (NYT, $)
- Biden has to decide soon whether to sanction Venezuela. Here’s what to know (NPR)
- Boat full of decomposing corpses spotted by fishermen off Brazil coast (CBS)
- Anything could happen’: Gaza Strip left hanging while Israel plots response to Iran’s attack (Guardian)
- UN office says Israel must stop settler attacks on Palestinians (AP)
Trust-Busters Take On Ticketmaster
- The Wall Street Journal is reporting that, according to anonymous sources familiar with the Justice Department’s plans, the DOJ is going to sue concert promoter and ticketing website Live Nation. Live Nation Entertainment, the parent company of Ticketmaster, is accused of having violated antitrust legislation.
- When Ticketmaster was incapable of handling the traffic of ticket sales of Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” in 2022, U.S. lawmakers united against the company, even holding a Congressional hearing about the fiasco in early 2023. Shares of Live Nation dropped nearly 7% in premarket trading yesterday after the news of the (alleged) lawsuit broke.
No Protections In New Mexico
- In the U.S., only New Mexico, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts lack the permitting power to regulate how much pollution is in their surface water, which means they rely entirely on federal protections to keep their water safe from pollution. The Sackett v Environmental Protection Agency decision issued by the Supreme Court last May stripped many of those protections, leaving New Mexico particularly vulnerable.
- According to a new report by American Rivers, New Mexico’s rivers, which include the Rio Grande, Gila, San Juan, and Pecos, are America’s most threatened waterways. More than 90% of the state’s surface waters have been left without federal protections from industrial pollution because the Sackett decision says only “relatively permanent” stream, and wetlands with a “continuous surface connection” are subject to Clean Water Act protections.
More Nuts In America
- Biden unveils draft rule for his latest student debt relief plan (Politico)
- Atlantic City mayor charged with abusing teenage daughter (Guardian)
- Former Marine sentenced to 9 years in prison for firebombing Planned Parenthood clinic (NBC)
- Supreme Court allows Idaho to enforce ban on gender-affirming care for nearly all transgender minors for now (CBS)
- Maine joins compact to elect the president by popular vote but it won’t come into play this November (AP)
The Boats That Make The World Go ‘Round
- While the world might have gone digital, the infrastructure needed to keep the internet running is very much physical. The internet’s data is actually carried around the world through a complex network of underwater cables, linking countries together even across oceans. Those physical connections are constantly breaking, and a fleet of aging ships is responsible for fixing things to keep the world running.
- According to a new story by The Verge, there are about 800,000 miles of submarine cables that keep the internet connected. Those networks deal with breakages about once every other day (about 200 breakages per year). While there are 77 cable ships operating across the globe, only 22 of those are designated for repairing cables – and they’re getting older. One of the cable repair companies is hoping to keep its ships running for over 40 years – twice the lifespan of a carrier ship.
- But even more critical than the ships are their crews. Most people working to repair cables are, at this point, industry veterans who have learned their craft through years of hands-on experience. The industry has branched out to lure new talent, with underwater cables even trending on TikTok at one point, but leaders are still concerned about the future of cable repair – companies are continuing to lay new cable each year, but nobody is investing in maintenance, a decision that might come back to haunt the internet as a whole someday.
More Loose Nuts
- CDC investigating botched Botox shots in 9 states (NBC)
- Survey finds generative AI proving major threat to the work of translators (Guardian)
- Returning samples from Mars will require a new plan, NASA says (CNN)
- Gang members fire at Bollywood star’s home in antelope killing row (Guardian)
- Paris 2024: Olympic flame is lit in choreographed event high in symbolism (CNN)