Gaythia Weis @Gaythia@qoto.org

The Texas State Board of Education altered its internal guidance to schools last month to emphasize the “positive” aspects of fossil fuels in science textbooks.

Campaigns like this also work well for the #FossilFools just by indoctrinating our youth into believing that there is no "truth" and to not trust authorities on subjects.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/texas-weakens-climate-science-education-guidelines/

This post by @mekkaokereke was a wonderful (and timely) reminder that technology in the right hands can be life-changing and full of optimism. Go for the engineering, stick around to have your eyes opened about Rwanda.

https://hachyderm.io/@mekkaokereke/110047457010857775

Stop thinking of Twitter, TikTok, IG, (et al) as social media sites.

They are **Content Refineries.**

Like processed food manufacturers they take user content & extract the most addicting/engaging content. Brains eat it up but in an unhealthy “devour the whole bag of chips” way.

They make hyper-processed social media junk food.

Mastodon is more like a potluck. We're all bringing dishes. It's a mess. Kids are running all over. But we are, at least, real people sharing real things.

A Georgia county’s legal fees (>$1 million) fighting one employee’s gender-affirming surgery have amounted to almost ***three times*** its annual physical and mental health budget.

“Is this a good use of public money? No.” https://www.propublica.org/article/georgia-county-spent-one-million-fighting-coverage-gender-affirming-care @ProPublica

Is this a joke.. Florida may ban girls' period talk in elementary grades https://apnews.com/article/7e2e5843d296dc9d8fbf82d55fe8cc70

This is a huge victory in the fight to restrict these toxic "forever chemicals." The Biden administration and the EPA are finally delivering on our demands for safer drinking water and prioritizing public health. A great first step!

Just because I'm blind, that doesn't mean I don't see things. I see the way kids try to avoid bumping into me in the hallway, and how they cringe if they end up doing so, or laugh about it with their friends, as if they've just performed the greatest comity act in the past 10 years. I see the way people sigh when they're sat next to the blind girl. I see the way my parents sigh whenever I'm dealing with an accessibility issue, not out of feeling sorry for me, but because they don't want me to ask them for help. I see the way they view me, as a tiny child who can't make her own choices. I see the way many teachers get annoyed when having to adapt for accessibility. I see the way some people who I thought were my friends whisper behind my back, and never tell me about it. In a way, I'm a girl that sees everything.

Calling something “woke” is just a way to avoid proposing real solutions or doing anything to actually fix problems.

Racism? It’s those “woke” schools and colleges!
Bank failures? “Woke” board policies!
Oppression of LGBTQs? It’s “woke” culture’s fault!

Stay woke, friends.

"Sandra Lajoie learned about the strength and resilience of Black women at a very young age. After an unfortunate incident left her blind in one eye, she worked twice as hard to overcome the stigmas created against her. Years later, Lajoie is the Vice President of Communications at NBCUniversal: NBC and Bravo by day, working on her memoir by night and inspiring the rest of the world 24/7."

#womenshistorymonth #disability

https://hellobeautiful.com/3793600/sandra-lajoie-vice-president-communications-nbc-bravo/

Many of the same Republicans complaining about Biden’s proposed budget voted for Trump’s tax cuts, which cost $2 trillion alone.

When it’s tax cuts for the rich, Republicans get in line. But when it’s investments in the American people, they complain about the deficit.

REMINDER: The only reason there is an FDIC that protects $250,000 of accounts in banks is because FDR and Democrats in Congress enacted it in 1933. If it was up to GOP, there NEVER would be this protection. Same goes for Social Security and Medicare: ALL Democratic policies!

If you love ants there is a great new video up from The Ant Network! #ants #antvideo

The Forest Ants of Florida. All about making a new home for some girls who like to live inside of twigs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29dmZf6pwBo

Don’t take good #AirQuality for granted. There are good chances that you are breathing polluted air.

“99% of People Breathe Dangerous Particulate Matter, Study Finds”

https://flip.it/o9sJPP

Indoor air is full of flu and COVID viruses. Will countries clean it up?
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00642-9

“Specialists in indoor air quality are buoyed by the prospect that the pandemic could bring lasting improvements to the air we breathe indoors.”

We really do need to improve indoor air quality to reduce the threat posed by air transmissible diseases.

#COVID #Nature #AirQuality #Science

HOA Foreclosures Are a “Lose-Lose” Game for Coloradans, but These Lawyers Win Regardless of the Outcome
--

A retired NFL player’s legal battle with a homeowners association spotlights why critics say Colorado law incentivizes attorneys to advise that HOAs foreclose on residents rather than find less expensive solutions.

#HOA #Colorado #Lawsuit #Foreclosure #Lawyers #Denver #DenverBroncos #NFL #RealEstate

https://www.propublica.org/article/colorado-hoa-lawsuits-foreclosure-law-firms-paymah?utm_medium=social&utm_source=mastodon&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

The plot thickens!

Silicon Valley Bank chief pressed Congress to weaken risk regulations
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/mar/11/silicon-valley-bank-weaken-risk-regulations-svb

> CEO Greg Becker personally led the bank’s half-million-dollar push to reduce scrutiny of his institution – and lawmakers obliged

> [T]he bank was lobbying lawmakers on “financial regulatory reform” and the Systemic Risk Designation Improvement Act of 2015 – a bill that was the precursor to legislation ultimately signed by President Donald Trump

🤡 🤣

#SVB

The Company Testing Air in East Palestine Homes Was Hired by Norfolk Southern.

Experts Say That Testing Isn’t Enough.
--
“It’s almost like if you want to find nothing, you run in and run out,” says one expert.

CTEH, the contractor doing these air quality tests in the area around the derailment, was hired by the operator of the freight train that derailed.

#Ohio #NorfolkSouthern #Safety #AirQuality #EastPalestine #CTEH

https://www.propublica.org/article/east-palestine-ohio-norfolk-southern-cteh?utm_medium=social&utm_source=mastodon&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

Welp, here's the most bonkers editorial feedback I've ever gotten. Editor tells me he's removed my reference to union organizing in a story because the audience for his publication is on average in their mid-60s and "wouldn't relate." I was like, um, you do know that union organizing in the US was at its peak in the 1950s, right? Our elders were unionized. I think it's clear where this magazine's anti-union edits are coming from.