XPost: alt.global-warming   
      
   While we're waiting for the Putbots to get their act together for   
   today -- news from Australia.   
      
      
   Item 1: Frends agin.   
   Facebook has friend-ed the Australian govt again just as the govt was   
   set to pull all its paid advertising from the wayward   
   platform. Facebook AUS has agreed to controversial legislation that   
   will see digital platforms operating in AUS negotiate contacts to pay   
   for (at least) local news content.  It's supposedly a win for   
   everyone. The govt gets Facebook to "enter into good-faith   
   negotiations" and Facebook gets a couple extra clauses in the laws   
   that will see it given some kind of ack that it is supporting local   
   reportage.  There is no word on when Facebook will again link to Aus   
   news sources or emergency information. It apparently will take longer   
   than the 24 hrs it took to remove anything that looked like an Aus   
   newspaper, sometimes deleting work for Aus-based NGO's and self-help   
   groups that took months or years to set up.   
      
   Item 2: Too craycray for conserbatib politiks.   
   The fed govt is on a knife edge after a rouge MP has signalled he will   
   leave the conservative LP/NP coalition and sit as an independent. Things   
   came to a head for Mr Kelly after his continued support of   
   "alternative information" about the coronavirus and "unconventional   
   treatments" like drinking bleach and chloroquine saw him called to the   
   headmaster's office a few days ago and told to stop it because it was   
   against govt policy. Mr Kelly had been warned at least a couple of   
   times in the past but he says his conscience would not come to the party.   
      
   --   
   [Cost of NG:]   
   Texans 'slugged $US1,000 a day for electricity' during deadly deep freeze   
   ABC News, 21 Feb 2021 at 11:53pm   
   Elected officials in TX say the state should help pay some of the   
   eye-watering electricity bills sent to residents after the devastating and   
   deadly winter storm that caused widespread blackouts.   
      
   [Good news!! 4 new super aggresive & deadly spiders discovered in Australia!]   
   Blind luck: Nullarbor cavers bring 4 new trapdoor spider species into the   
   light   
   ABC Radio Perth, 22 Feb 2021 01:00Z   
   Scientists name limestone cave-dwelling spiders after Thai cave-rescue   
   heroes following rare discoveries deep underground and some painstaking   
   scientific detective work.   
      
   Ghost particle from shredded star reveals cosmic particle accelerator   
   Phys.org, 22 Feb 2021 16:40Z   
   Tracing back a ghostly particle to a shredded star, scientists have   
   uncovered a gigantic cosmic particle accelerator. The subatomic particle,   
   called a neutrino, ...   
      
   We're on a 'one-way road to freedom,' Boris Johnson tells Britain after   
   Covid lockdowns   
   CNBC, 22 Feb 2021 20:38Z   
   The lockdown easing for England will come in a number of steps and will be   
   data dependent at every stage, the British prime minister said.   
      
   Jobseeker to be raised by $50 a fortnight when coronavirus supplement scrapped   
   [After 25y boosted from $40 to a generous $43.57 a day].   
   The Guardian, 22 Feb 2021 16:36Z   
   The modest increase to the unemployment benefit is well below the $350   
   proposed by welfare advocates.   
      
   Israel is giving the world a glimpse into a post-vaccine future. But not   
   everyone is happy   
   ABC News, 22 Feb 2021 15:08Z   
   Australia's vaccine scheme is only just getting started. But in Israel,   
   where half its population has received at least one dose, the vaccinated are   
   getting their old lives back, with gyms, pools and sporting grounds opening   
   just for them.   
      
   Boeing recommends grounding its 777 aircraft after Denver engine failure   
   ABC News, 22 Feb 2021 16:35Z   
   Most airline companies that operate 777 planes say they'll follow the advice   
   to temporarily withdraw them from their operating fleet.   
      
   This 17,300-year-old kangaroo is Australia's oldest known rock art   
   ABC Science, 22 Feb 2021 16:57Z   
   The 17,300-year-old roo, portrayed in dark mulberry paint on the ceiling of   
   a rock shelter in the Kimberley, is one of a suite of animal depictions --   
   and the odd human-like figure -- unveiled today.   
      
   Cosmologists create 4,000 virtual universes to solve Big Bang mystery   
   Livescience.com, 22 Feb 2021 12:53Z   
   Cosmologists simulated 4000 versions of the universe in order to understand   
   what its structure today tells us about its origins.   
      
   Dominion Seeks $1.3 Billion In Lawsuit Against MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell   
   NPR, 22 Feb 2021 15:48Z   
   Dominion Voting Systems filed a defamation lawsuit against MyPillow Inc. and   
   its CEO Mike Lindell on Mon, saying he spread false information that its   
   voting ...   
      
   Trump to tell CPAC he is Republican 'presumptive 2024 nominee' - report   
   The Guardian, 22 Feb 2021 15:49Z   
   Unnamed source tells news site Axios Trump's speech to the rightwing event   
   will have the message 'I'm still in charge'   
      
   Supreme Court Denies Trump's Bid to Conceal Financial Records   
   The New York Times, 22 Feb 2021 16:09Z   
   Washington. The Supreme Court on Mon rejected a last-ditch attempt by   
   former President Donald J. Trump to shield his financial records, issuing a   
   brief ...   
      
     An Ex-KGB Agent Says Trump Was a Russian Asset Since 1987. Does it Matter?   
     New York Magazine, 20 Feb 2021 14:22Z   
     Donald Trump's relation to Russia was never explained completely. Craig   
     Unger's new book, "American Kompromat," has former KGB agent Yuri Shvets   
     saying ...   
      
     A Ripple Effect of Loss: US Covid Deaths Approach 500,000   
     Twice as many Americans have died as early worst-case projections.   
     The New York Times, 21 Feb 2021 08:24Z   
     [Any questions?]   
      
   Lead levels in two-year-olds hit 10-year high in SA smelter city   
   ABC North and West SA, 22 Feb 2021 05:07Z   
   Smelter owner Nyrstar had promised a multi-mn-dollar upgrade would   
   halve the smelter's lead emissions, but they increased in the second half of   
   last year.   
      
   Melbourne doctors under investigation after endorsing hydroxychloroquine   
   ABC News, 22 Feb 2021 06:06Z   
   The Therapeutic Goods Administration issues a "cease and desist" letter to a   
   group of Melbourne doctors who have been vocal in their support of an   
   unapproved COVID-19 treatment.   
      
   30,000 Macs Infected With Newly Detected Form Of Malware, Dubbed 'Silver   
   Sparrow'   
   Yahoo Finance, 21 Feb 2021 22:45Z   
   Some 30000 Mac computers have been infected with what until last week had   
   been undetected malware, Ars Technica has reported. The 30000 detections ...   
      
   Big GOP Donors Seek to Funnel Money to Anti-Trump Republicans to Prise Party   
   from His Grip   
   Newsweek, 22 Feb 2021 04:43Z   
   Republicans are looking to inject large donations into the campaigns of   
   candidates and politicians who have stood against Donald Trump as they seek   
   to pry the ...   
      
   Government to escalate Facebook feud by pulling advertising spend   
   ABC News, 21 Feb 2021 at 11:28pm   
   The govt seeks to punish Facebook for "seeking to exert power or   
   influence over our democratic systems", pulling ad spending which is   
   potentially worth mns of dollars.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)