Vaska Raeca

AI country singer Breaking Rust tops Billboard with ‘Walk My Walk’ A country hit made by artificial intelligence has climbed to the top of a Billboard chart — a first for the genre.

It's like as if the popular artists turned the genre into such a cliche-ridden, hollow pastiche of itself, post-9/11, that it became a cultural wasteland where an AI slop generator was able to effortlessly copy and paste its way to success.

I'll be more blunt and say I'll use this book to beat to death anyone who tries arguing the poor or destitute shouldn't have a companion.

That is the definition of cursed.

Oh, I meant the 'When he and I met, I was groundskeeping/living in an abandoned foundry.' That's the start of some bittersweet Miyazaki film. (I, too, remember having money once upon a time)

That setup deserves to be an entire story. Also, as to the butt going numb, you use it to test your tolerance for pain like the Gom Jabbar in Dune.

I'm also happy to assist them.

It's amusing watching international news cover Mamdani's victory:

USA: Dangerous socialist Marxist!
France24: Le centrist.

USA: African Muslim terrorist!
Al Jazeera: Your uncle won.

On this night of celebration, spare a thought for us Floridians who are apparently going to be inundated by a deluge of The Worst People.

"I was contaminated": New study reveals widespread pesticide exposure Wristbands worn by Dutch volunteers captured 173 substances in one week.

It's essential that people shift to true organic foods ( labeling in the United States is a mess), not only to keep poison out of their system, but out of the groundwater, out of farmers, and out of the often marginalized fieldworkers who are exposed to contaminants at dangerous levels. #environment

Trump moves to boost greenhouse, toxic emissions in Gulf states Expansions at five petrochemical plants in Texas and Louisiana could add the equivalent of more than 1 million cars’ worth of pollution, advocates say

Texas and Louisiana are essentially petro-states that nominally exist within the borders of the United States. It's no accident that these sacrifice zones, particularly around Cancer Alley, are being expanded at the cost of Black and Brown communities. #environment

Toxic wastewater from oil fields keeps pouring out of the ground. Oklahoma regulators failed to stop it. Salt water laced with cancer-causing chemicals, a byproduct of oil and gas drilling, is spewing from Oklahoma oil wells.

"Ray particularly worried about the volume of wastewater being crammed underground by high-pressure injection — tens of billions of gallons each year, enough to fill the Empire State Building over 300 times." #environment

Trump and Republicans Join Big Oil’s All-Out Push to Shut Down Climate Liability Efforts - Inside Climate News Republican attorneys general, GOP lawmakers, industry groups and the president himself are all maneuvering to foreclose the ability of cities and states to hold the fossil fuel industry liable for…

The fossil fuel industry knows there's evidence to prove they knew they were causing damage and covered it up. They understand convictions will impact them far more than the tobacco companies, and are bribing lawmakers to prevent victims from being able to sue for redress and justice. #environment

A pumpkin? With branding to make it look like Maruchan Instant Noodles. It has string made to look like noodles on top.

Well, that's...unusual.

Nearly 80 years of nuclear waste in the US is currently stranded — stuck in "temporary" storage sites without a permanent place to go. How big of a problem is this? And could recycling this waste… You're Being Lied To About Nuclear Waste | Truth Complex

The United States has spectacularly failed to figure out either a processing or a long-term storage plan for the tons of nuclear waste scattered about the country and growing larger every day. The political failure makes the chance of an accident or attack a catastrophic possibility. #environment

Plastic is everywhere, not just in our rivers and oceans. It permeates the air, soil, and even our bodies. The problem is getting worse, and yet the plastics industry is increasing… How the world is choking on plastic | DW Documentary

As people shift from gas to electric cars, the fossil fuel industry has quietly made deals to offer discounts to manufacturers to make plastic items. This has resulted in record production that is clogging rivers and oceans, poisoning the land, and even getting into our bodies. #environment

Saudi-owned corporate farms are draining Arizona’s desert dry Arizona’s lax water laws let corporate farms pump unlimited groundwater to grow alfalfa for cattle overseas, even as local families spend their savings drilling new wells.

It's insane how we've normalized international corporations coming in and wreaking havoc in community after community like a serial killer. Time and time again, state governments refuse to create laws or regulations to stop the destructive extraction, meaning the public eats the costs. #environment

Illegal gold mining clears 140,000 hectares of Peruvian Amazon Armed criminal groups tear down precious rainforest to capitalise on record gold prices, report finds

The jewelry stores telling you to buy gold to show off, the investment firms selling gold futures, it is greed with a terrible cost for the land, which is obliterated, and the people who live there, who are displaced, often by deadly force. Gold needs to be viewed like blood diamonds. #environment

Oil sustains South Sudan’s fragile economy, and for decades, international companies have operated there. But those who live near the oil fields allege pollution has tainted their water, causing… The Hidden Cost of Oil

When the Republic of South Sudan gained independence in 2011, pundits claimed its oil reserves would benefit the nation. Instead, it suffered the same resource curse as other African nations, where profits go to an elite while the people see their land polluted and children become ill. #environment

As millions face climate relocation, the nation’s first attempt sparks warnings and regret Three years after a federally funded move, Indigenous residents of Louisiana’s Isle de Jean Charles report broken homes — and promises

Isle de Jean Charles is a warning: that climate change is real, displacement will happen, that governments are unwilling or unprepared, communities will be hurt, and people will suffer. It should have been a wake-up call to America; instead, the victims are left alone with the wreckage. #environment

In Arizona, a fight against a deadly fungus is under threat from Trump’s health policies What one Arizona doctor’s quest to stop valley fever says about America’s preparedness for climate-driven disease.

People began noticing Valley Fever in the 1990s when the drying climate made storms more common and infections skyrocketed from California to Arizona. A new program of health monitoring is targeted by Trump for cuts, meaning as the heat worsens, more will be infected, sickened, and die. #environment

These Florida Communities Wanted to Be More Sustainable and Resilient. A New State Law Blocks Their Efforts. - Inside Climate News The DeSantis administration has since targeted local sustainability and resilience policies. Now local governments and other detractors are firing back with litigation.

When I drive from Tarpon Springs to Tampa, I can still count thousands of homes devastated by Milton. Yet the communities that yielded to reality and made policies to mitigate climate change have been torpedoed by DeSantis and developers who pushed SB180, making this planning illegal #environment

I'm fatigued from merely reading the bad news day after day. I can't imagine the exhaustion of journalists who have to research and write it.

California cops can no longer conceal police killings while interrogating loved ones for dirt A Reveal investigation helped spark a crackdown on a disturbing, widespread practice.

When cops kill someone, they're legally required to notify family, but training created by Bruce Praet, used by nearly every state department, instructs them to hold off and instead gather evidence they can use to smear the victim. Thankfully, California has now outlawed this odious practice. #acab

Revealed: police across US spread false rumors about Venezuelan gang threats Claim that Tren de Aragua planned to attack officers was widely shared – only for FBI to later acknowledge it was mistaken, internal files show

Every decade, the police get hysterical about some supposed threat (see: the yardies, yakuza, russian mob, etc.) It's always racism combined with pleas for more militarization and laws. This time, it conveniently echoes talking points by the administration about the 'threat' from Venezuela. #acab

Refinery fires, other chemical disasters may no longer get safety investigations Because of the federal government shutdown and proposed budget, key federal investigations may stop, including into what happened at a Chevron refinery in California in October 2025.

Besides having a great YouTube channel, the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board does amazing work examining industrial disasters, detailing systemic problems before issuing recommendations. But now Trump has zeroed the agencies' tiny 14 million budget on behalf of his corporate backers.

Coal Miners and Advocates Plead With Trump to Enforce Black Lung Rule - Inside Climate News In a rally outside the U.S. Department of Labor, miners and their advocates stressed the need to limit silica exposure and protect workers from irreversible health impacts.

It was frustrating to watch coal counties ignore changes Biden enacted and overwhelmingly vote for Trump despite how he actively harmed them during his first term. Now in his second term, the mines are still closing, and the scant health resources available to the afflicted are being halted.

The GOP Is Fine With You Getting Your Fingers Chopped Off Donald Trump’s yes-men at the Consumer Product Safety Commission are withdrawing a series of proposed safety rules, including an appendage-saving safety mandate for table saws. This will mean…

Bosch, DeWalt, and Milwaukee bribed Trump to kill a regulation that would have added automatic anti-finger brakes to table saws. Almost ten people a day suffer an injury with a table saw, which means two billion dollars in health care costs and leaves several thousand with permanent disfigurement.

Nobody Loves a Goose - Offrange Why the overabundance of Canada geese are causing environmental, health, and crop issues far and wide.

The Canadian Goose is Canada's third-worst export (after Drake and Jordan Peterson) and like them, it's been appallingly successful so much so that migratory populations are fouling places with their excrement and displacing other species. #environment

Women in Mexico step up to protect the island farms traditionally inherited by men This story is a collaboration between The Associated Press and Mongabay. MEXICO CITY, Mexico — Jasmín Ordóñez looks out at the water as the wooden boat she is in crosses a narrow channel that connects...

The chinampas are a patchwork of farms, similar to ribbon farms of the American South, that cover Xochimilco. They are a vital ecosystem that provides a sanctuary for wildlife and keeps the little water that remains of the Valley of Mexico clean and alive. #environment