Strange news stories below the fold

I often remark that the Catholics here are into leftist memes and ecology, but the hard working middle class convert to Protestantism with it's idea to live clean and work hard... and are seen as less likely to be corrupt...

Well, looks like the same thing is happening in Brazil, where in contrast to the huge scandals at the federal level, and a lot of debt and financial problems, the city of Rio elected a protestant mayor. and Voila:

Rio Carnival comes under threat after swingeing budget cuts from new Evangelical mayor

an
he has since halved public funding for each of Rio’s 13 leading samba schools, who now say the budget cuts make it financially unviable to organise next year’s parades....

Mr Crivella has said he will use the money saved - one million reais (about £250,000) for each school - to fund meals for children at public daycare centres.

of course, these "schools" could probably raise money on their own, as do the Mummers or the Mardi Gras clubs, but never mind.

One of course wonders if the reason might be because the government money given to the clubs was diverted into pockets...  the school lunch program is helping a lot of folks, but on the other hand, will the money being given for school meals be diverted into pockets  too?

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and then there is this strange headline:

Lifestyle blogger killed by exploding (whipped) cream dispenser.

no, not the pre packaged whipped cream dispenser (which a lot of kids use to get high), but a reusable one. where a bad gas cartridge could cause it to rocket into you.

In Burger’s case, however, the dispenser seems to have malfunctioned and exploded, sending one of these cartridges into her thorax, or chest (according to the description posted by her family). Pressurizing an air-tight container can turn it into a rocket, since the condensed gas inside will rapidly spill out of any available opening.

FAQ on the the product. They use N2O, aka "laughing gas" for the whipped cream because it stablizes the cream bubbles... CO2 is used for selzer water...


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40 disabled protesters removed, many from their wheel chairs for protesting Republican health care bill. that would cut Medicaid funding that allows them to live independently at home.

hello! it is cheaper than putting them in nursing homes...

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Electric vehicles are not really "Green"....
more HERE. it allows manufacturers to 'even out" their carbon footprint so they can manufacture the larger cars that people actually want to buy instead of these expensive cars that are mainly bought by the rich.

and this doesn't even go into the pollution of the battery manufacturing or that it means more electric plants to generate more electricity for them... and a lot of these plants use coal.

this green article claims don't worry: The discarded batteries won't be put in landfills because the car companies will take them to "recycle"...

ah, but this will be a problem. Lots of articles in green sites happily explain they will be recycled by the manufacturers, but since it isn't cost effective, it make me wonder why none of the articles seem to explain how and where this will be done. The last article in the NYTimes that worried about this is dated 2011...


Where are they "recycled" and are they merely going to be discarded in some poor country? Wikipedia article on electronic waste may not be accurate. but if it is this bad for used cellphones and computers, imagine what will happen when the e-car gets old. 

 Informal processing of e-waste in developing countriescan lead to adverse human health effects and environmental pollution.
Electronic scrap components, such as CPUs, contain potentially harmful components such as lead, cadmium, beryllium, or brominated flame retardants. Recycling and disposal of e-wastemay involve significant risk to health of workers and communities in developed countries^[1] and great care must be taken to avoid unsafe exposure in recycling operations and leaking of materials such as heavy metals from landfills and incinerator ashes.^[2]

More here....(athough this is about computer/cellphone etc electronic waste)

Although it is legal to export discarded goods to poor countries if they can be reused or refurbished, much is being sent to Africa or Asia under false pretenses, says Interpol. “Much is falsely classified as ‘used goods’ although in reality it is non-functional. It is often diverted to the black market and disguised as used goods to avoid the costs associated with legitimate recycling,” said a spokesman. “A substantial proportion of e-waste exports go to countries outside Europe, including west African countries. Treatment in these countries usually occurs in the informal sector, causing significant environmental pollution and health risks for local populations,” he said.

dirty little secret: A small bribe will allow you to dump it into the local landfill instead of paying  locals to recycle it safely.

so what will happen with the huge electric car batteries? Will they really be "recycled"?

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