MISC NEWS--DO ME'S WORLD

Brilliant move...

--01-17-21 BRILLIANT MOVE: www.cnbc.com/2021/01/17/miami-mayor-francis-suarez-using-twitter-to-build-next-silicon-valley.html
How Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is luring tech players from Silicon Valley and

The city’s weather and low-tax business climate are drawing entrepreneurs and investors, who are in turn trying to draw others.
“People are just happy here. At the end of the day, you meet people and they’re smiling. In San Francisco that’s just not true,” said investor Keith Rabois, a recent transplant.

'The numbers don't lie': The green movement remains overwhelmingly white, report finds
A diversity "report card" focused on major environmental groups indicates that there are more people of color in leadership positions and on boards, but the increases are incremental.

--01-17-21: www.msn.com/en-us/money/smallbusiness/we-re-freelancers-who-relocated-to-a-tiny-town-in-maine-during-the-pandemic-here-s-how-we-earned-over-150-000-in-2020-while-raising-our-toddler-and-enjoying-local-adventures/ar-BB1cPRSp?li=BBnbfcN

We're freelancers who relocated to a tiny town in Maine during the pandemic. Here's how we earned over $150,000 in 2020 while raising our toddler and enjoying local adventures.

--01-17-21: www.msn.com/en-us/money/savingandinvesting/how-many-people-work-at-walmart-in-each-state-and-what-they-are-paid/ss-BB1cPKpC?li=BBnbfcN
How Many People Work at Walmart in Each State, and What They Are Paid.

--01-17-21: us.yahoo.com/lifestyle/80-americans-deficient-mineral-controls-120536027.html
80% of Americans Are Deficient in This Mineral That Controls Sugar Cravings.

--01-17-21: us.yahoo.com/entertainment/bill-gates-becomes-largest-farmland-220106087.html
Bill Gates Becomes the Largest Farmland Owner in the United States: Report.

--01-20-21 IN JAN???: us.cnn.com/2021/01/19/weather/california-santa-ana-winds-power-shut-off/index.html
Up to 100 mph wind gusts rip through California as dangerous Santa Ana winds raise fire risk. AND—01-20-21: www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-01-19/fires-power-outages-bay-area-strong-overnight-winds?utm_source=sfmc_100035609&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=37878+Essential+California+1%2f20%2f21&utm_term=https%3a%2f%2fwww.latimes.com%2fcalifornia%2fstory%2f2021-01-19%2ffires-power-outages-bay-area-strong-overnight-winds&utm_id=21730&sfmc_id=3384599
What month is this? Strong winds, fires, outages hit Bay Area, knock down PG&E lines.

--01-21-21: www.huffpost.com/entry/cities-rent-rising-falling-most-map_l_5ff4aa6dc5b6fd3311118e3c?ncid=newsltushpmgnews
See The 50 Cities Where Rent Is Rising And Falling The Most.

--01-20-21 BRAVO: www.cnbc.com/2021/01/20/denmark-to-trial-green-hydrogen-production-using-offshore-wind-power.html
Denmark to trial green hydrogen production using offshore wind turbines

Orsted is one of many established energy firms looking to investigate the potential of green hydrogen production.
Power for its demonstration project will come from two 3.6 MW offshore wind turbines.

--01-20-21 BRILLIANT MOVE: us.yahoo.com/finance/news/spacex-bought-two-oil-rigs-194936772.html
SpaceX bought two oil rigs to convert into offshore launch pads for Starship.

--01-20-21 BRAVO: www.cnbc.com/2021/01/20/spacex-expands-starlink-public-beta-test-to-canada-united-kingdom.html
SpaceX expands public beta test of Starlink satellite internet to Canada and the UK

SpaceX expanded its Starlink satellite internet internationally, with Elon Musk’s company now offering early public access to the service in Canada and the United Kingdom.

The company has launched more than 1,000 of its Starlink satellites to date, as it aims to build an interconnected internet network with thousands of satellites that are designed to deliver high-speed internet to anywhere on the planet.

Public records show SpaceX has registered Starlink subsidiaries in Austria, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, France, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Africa and Spain.

***--01-26-21 AN ARTICLE FOR INGER: us.yahoo.com/news/surging-global-ice-melt-suggests-224608530.html
Surging global ice melt suggests sea level rise predictions are far too conservative.

The world's ice is melting so fast that sea level rise predictions can't keep up.

In the 1990s, the Earth's ice was melting at a rate of about 760 billion tons per year. That has surged 60 percent to an average of 1.2 trillion tons per year in the 2010s, a study published Monday in the journal The Cryosphere estimates.

And as another study published earlier this month in Science Advances makes clear, the problem is feeding into itself.

Climate change is largely responsible for the huge ice melt surge, the Cryosphere study reports. In fact, about three percent of all the energy trapped within the Earth's systems because of climate change has gone toward that ice melt, the study estimates. "That’s like more than 10,000 'Back to the Future' lightning strikes per second of energy melting ice around-the-clock since 1994," William Colgan, an ice-sheet expert at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, told The Washington Post. "That is just a bonkers amount of energy."

Climate change not only melts ice sheets on land, but also warms ocean waters to melt glaciers from the bottom up as well.

--01-26-21: www.cnbc.com/2021/01/26/elon-musk-favorite-job-interview-question-to-ask-to-spot-a-liar-science-says-it-actually-works.html
Elon Musk asks this question at every interview to spot a liar—why science says it actually works

--01-25-21: us.yahoo.com/finance/news/jeff-bezos-backing-ancient-kind-202600988.html
Jeff Bezos Is Backing an Ancient Kind of Nuclear Fusion.

--01-26-21 MAKES NO DAMN SENSE!!!: www.cnbc.com/2021/01/26/shipping-carriers-rejected-us-agricultural-exports-sent-empty-containers-to-china.html

--01-28-21 VERY SAD: edition.cnn.com/2021/01/28/world/sharks-rays-decline-study-intl-hnk-scli-scn/index.html
Shark and ray populations have dropped 70% and are nearing 'point of no return,' study warns.

--01-29-21: BRAVO!!!--THE OLD TIMERS WILL BITCH, MOAN, COMPLAIN, CRY, ETC. ABOUT THIS COMING THEIR WAY:
www.cnbc.com/2021/01/29/consumers-abandon-cash-altogether-because-of-covid.html
Another consequence of Covid: a world without cash.

Amid the coronavirus crisis, Americans are abandoning cash almost entirely in favor of “tap and go” transactions.
Experts say that the growing trend of contactless payments is here to stay even when the pandemic is over.

--01-27-21 I WONDER IF THE H/O’S KNOW SUCH???: www.cnbc.com/2021/01/27/nearly-one-third-us-homes-natural-disaster-high-risk-new-study-says.html
Nearly one-third of U.S. homes are at high risk of natural disaster, study says

Twenty-two weather- or climate-related disasters each resulted in at least $1 billion in damages last year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

2020 tied 2016 for the warmest year on record, according to NASA, and the expectation is that temperatures will continue to rise if more is not done to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

“Nearly every property in the U.S. has exposure to peril risk,” said Frank Nothaft, chief economist at CoreLogic

--01-27-21 BIG BRAVO: www.huffpost.com/entry/states-local-officials-30-2030-conservation-biden-administration_n_600f41c0c5b634dc373790be?ri18n=true&ncid=newsltushpmgnews

State And Local Leaders Push Biden To Protect 30% Of U.S. Land, Waters By 2030.
In an open letter, more than 400 elected officials pledge to do their part to achieve the new administration’s ambitious conservation goal.

--02-02-21 TEQUILA, START PACKING WE ARE MOVING TO OREGON!!!:
www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/oregon-measure-decriminalizing-possession-drugs-takes-effect-first-u-s-n1256436
Oregon measure decriminalizing possession of drugs takes effect, in a first in U.S.
The ballot measure decriminalizing possession of small amounts of drugs, passed by voters in November, took effect Monday. It's the first state to do so.

SALEM, Ore. — Police in Oregon can no longer arrest someone for possession of small amounts of heroin, methamphetamine, LSD, oxycodone and other drugs as a ballot measure that decriminalized them took effect on Monday.

Instead, those found in possession would face a $100 fine or a health assessment that could lead to addiction counseling. Backers of the ballot measure, which Oregon voters passed by a wide margin in November, hailed it as a revolutionary move for the United States.

“Today, the first domino of our cruel and inhumane war on drugs has fallen, setting off what we expect to be a cascade of other efforts centering health over criminalization,” said Kassandra Frederique, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, which spearheaded the ballot initiative.

--02-03-21 GREAT NEWS—ABOUT TIME: us.yahoo.com/finance/news/gasoline-is-becoming-worthless-210636353.html
Gasoline is becoming worthless

You still have to pay a couple bucks for a gallon of gas (more in California, as always), but automakers are discovering that gas-powered cars may be a liability that detracts from their valuations, instead of an asset that enhances values.

New research from Morgan Stanley argues that traditional internal combustion engines—the mainstay of automobiles for more than a century—are destined to become money-losers as early as 2030.

“We believe the market may be ascribing zero (or even negative?) value for ICE-derived revenues at GM and Ford,” auto analyst Adam Jonas wrote in a Jan. 29 analysis. He lists a variety of factors likely to “transform what were once profit-generating assets into potentially loss-making and cash-burning businesses.”

In late January, General Motors (GM) said it plans to stop selling vehicles with tailpipe emissions by 2035.

That means GM won’t sell any gas- or diesel-powered vehicles, the types of cars that now account for nearly all GM sales and profit. That would require an all-electric fleet, powered off the electrical grid, as with most current electrics, or perhaps through on-board fuel cells powered by hydrogen.

While most automakers are developing electric vehicles, GM is the first big one to commit to a full transition.

--02-03-21 BRAVO—WE NEED MORE: www.cnbc.com/2021/02/03/siemens-energy-unit-picked-to-install-turbines-at-offshore-wind-hub-.html
Siemens Energy unit picked to install ‘next generation turbines’ at $9 billion offshore wind hub

The East Anglia Hub will be able to power millions of homes once fully up and running.
Several large-scale offshore wind projects are being planned for the U.K., where authorities want offshore wind capacity to hit 40 gigawatts by the year 2030.

Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy has been given the nod to supply and install turbines for the £6.5 billion (around $9 billion) East Anglia Hub, a major offshore wind development planned for waters off the east coast of England.

In a statement Tuesday, project developer Scottish Power Renewables said the plan was to use over 200 “next generation turbines” for the scheme which, if fully realized, will consist of the East Anglia ONE North, East Anglia TWO and East Anglia THREE facilities.

SPR did not provide specific details of the turbines slated to be used by the wind farms but described them as “some of the world’s most powerful and productive.”

According to the firm, which is part of the Iberdrola Group, the East Anglia Hub will be able to produce as much as 3.1 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy, powering millions of homes in the process.

--02-02-21 BRAVO; SHOULD FINE THEM TOO: www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/delta-has-now-banned-nearly-1-000-passengers-for-not-wearing-masks/ar-BB1dkjPb?li=BBnbklE
Delta Has Now Banned Nearly 1,000 Passengers for Not Wearing Masks.

--02-01-21: edition.cnn.com/style/article/singapore-tengah-eco-town/index.html
Singapore is building a 42,000-home eco 'smart' city.

In a country where over 80% of residents live in public housing, a government commitment to sustainable urban design could have huge implications. And when it's a tropical country where convenience and air conditioning are a way of life, the impact could be greater still.

Promising 42,000 new homes across five residential districts, the eco-town of Tengah -- the Malay word for "middle," though it's in the island's western region -- will be the 24th new settlement built by Singapore's government since World War II. It is, however, the first with centralized cooling, automated trash collection and a car-free town center, which conservationists hope offers a roadmap for slashing carbon emissions in the Southeast Asian city-state.

The development is being dubbed a "forest town" by officials, due to its abundant greenery and public gardens. Once home to brickmaking factories, and later used for military training, the 700-hectare (2.7-square-mile) site has been reclaimed by an extensive secondary forest in recent years.

A 328-foot-wide ecological "corridor" will be maintained through its center, providing safe passage to wildlife and connecting a water catchment area on one side to a nature reserve on the other.