Category Archives: News to use

Useful news for all to advance knowledge of the world and how it works

How the infrastructure bill’s $65 billion in broadband spending will be doled out – MarketWatch

A major chunk, $42.45 billion, will be overseen by the Commerce Department and its telecom division. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is responsible for making grants to states. President Joe Biden recently nominated Alan Davidson to head the NTIA.

Another significant slice, $14.2 billion, will go to the Federal Communications Commission to establish an Affordable Connectivity Program, an extension and revision of the Emergency Broadband Benefit that provides $30 monthly broadband subsidies for eligible households.

The rest of the package: $2.75 billion for a Digital Equity Program to ensure that “individuals and communities have the information technology capacity that is needed for full participation in the society and economy of the United States”; $2 billion for RUS ReConnect; $2 billion for the Tribal Broadband Program; $1 billion for a new middle-mile program overseen by NTIA; and $600 million for Private Activity Bonds for broadband deployments. The infrastructure bill also highlights funding for WiFi networks in apartment buildings.

The breadth and scope of the infrastructure goodies drew consistently high praise from wireless and telecom experts like USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter. “It recognizes the private model of broadband deployment in the United States, with targeted public support in unserved or hard-to-reach communities, is the key to achieving 100% connectivity,” Spalter said in a statement.

“This ‘open toolbox’ approach will help consumers by driving innovation and keeping internet plans affordable and accessible to all,” the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association, which lobbied for a “tech-neutral” approach to the bill rather than one that favored fiber, said in a statement.

Source: How the infrastructure bill’s $65 billion in broadband spending will be doled out – MarketWatch

Covid-19: Vaccines to be compulsory for frontline NHS staff in England – BBC News

Sajid Javid told MPs that he expected to set a deadline for the beginning of April to give 103,000 unvaccinated workers time to get both jabs.

He said the move would help protect patients and the NHS as a whole.

But concerns have been raised that it could lead some workers to leave, adding to healthcare staffing issues.

More than 93% of NHS frontline staff have had their first dose and 90% are fully vaccinated, Javid said. That is higher than the general working-age population, where about 81% have had both doses.

The government’s decision follows a consultation which considered whether both the Covid and flu jabs should be compulsory.

Mr Javid said the flu vaccine would not be made mandatory.

Those with a medical reason not to have the Covid jab would be exempt, he said, as would those who do not have face-to-face contact with patients.

In a Commons statement, Mr Javid said compulsory vaccination would “protect patients in the NHS, protect colleagues in the NHS and, of course, protect the NHS itself”.

He said the requirement would be enforced 12 weeks after parliamentary approval – likely to be from April.

No unvaccinated worker should be “scapegoated or shamed”, said Mr Javid, and should instead be supported to make “a positive choice”.

Thursday is the deadline for care home workers in England to get vaccinated.

Source: Covid-19: Vaccines to be compulsory for frontline NHS staff in England – BBC News

France To Build New Nuclear Energy Reactors – Slashdot (Me: Kick environmental nuclear disaster 50 years down the road… and when the nuke waste plan fails… what then?)

France will start building its first new nuclear reactors in decades as part of efforts to meet its promises to reduce planet-warming emissions, French President Emmanuel Macron announced Tuesday. The Associated Press reports: He spoke as climate negotiators in Glasgow debate how to speed up effort…

Source: France To Build New Nuclear Energy Reactors – Slashdot

EU: Belarus visa suspension

EUROPE DIPLOMATIC

Brussels 09.11.2021 “The Council today adopted a decision partially suspending the application of the EU-Belarus visa facilitation agreement. This decision is a response to the ongoing hybrid attack launched by the Belarusian regime.

“The suspension covers the provisions that waive requirements for documentary evidence, regulate the issuing of multiple entry visas and reduce visa application fees as they apply to officials of the Belarus regime. This decision will not affect ordinary citizens of Belarus, who will continue to enjoy the same benefits under the visa facilitation agreement as they do currently.

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UK industry leaders come together to cut soybeans linked to deforestation and conversion by 2025 – Mágica Mistura を from supply chains

  • Leading brands, including Tesco, Nestlé United Kingdom and Ireland, Sainsbury’s, Nando’s, KFC United Kingdom and Ireland, Morrisons and McDonald’s United Kingdom and Ireland, signed the UK Soy Manifesto
  • Commitment means that UK signatories commit to buying deforestation-free soy, protecting forests and valuable native vegetation
  • Signatories represent about 60% of all soybeans purchased in the UK each year 

Source: UK industry leaders come together to cut soybeans linked to deforestation and conversion by 2025 – Mágica Mistura を from supply chains

Leaf Carpet

Michael Stephen Wills Photography

Wednesday last I enjoyed shuffling along a forest carpet along the South Rim Trail of Taughannock Falls Park. It is a lost pleasure now the first snow is with us.

Click photograph for a larger view. To do this from WordPress Reader, you need to first click the title of this post to open a new page.

Photographs in Gallery

Copyright 2021 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

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Things You Should Unlearn As An Adult

Fire of Moods

Full-time Adulting Now that I’ve been subscribed to the full-time package for adulting for almost a decade I feel like I can part some wisdom on you younger bloggers out there. I’m not sure why I said that but it sounded cool in my head so I will be leaving it in. Back in my […]

Things You Should Unlearn As An Adult

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COP26: Surging wood pellet industry threatens climate, say experts

  • With the U.N. climate summit (COP26) in its second week, Earth is on track to warm by 2.7° Celsius (4.86° Fahrenheit) by 2100, a catastrophic forecast based on projected carbon emissions. However, analysts say that those projections exclude major emissions currently escaping from biomass-burning power plants.
  • A carbon accounting loophole in global climate change policy classifies burning woody biomass for energy as “carbon neutral,” and is accepted by the U.N. and many of the world’s nations. But scientists have proven otherwise, even as the forestry industry gets massive subsidies to produce millions of tons of wood pellets annually.
  • Those subsidies are fueling rapid growth of the biomass industry, as forests are cut in the U.S., Canada, Eastern Europe, Russia, Vietnam, and Malaysia. The E.U. and U.K. are the largest biomass energy market, but with rapid expansion now occurring in Japan and South Korea, the biomass boom is just beginning.
  • Scientists and activists say that to avoid disastrous global warming impacts, forest large biomass subsidies must end, which will make the industry unprofitable and free up funding for real climate solutions. But the topic is not even on the COP26 agenda, and action on the biomass burning issue anytime soon seems unlikely.

Representatives from 192 nations continue meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, at COP26 this week in hopes of making deals to save humanity, cool the planet, and salvage their nations’ reputations.

However, absent from the conference agenda are discussions of carbon accounting loopholes that scientists say are dangerously underreporting emissions and speeding climate change. An overlooked issue is forest biomass: burning wood to produce energy. Despite research proving otherwise, the practice continues to be called carbon neutral by nations and the forestry industry, allowing significant greenhouse gas emissions to go uncounted.

Source: COP26: Surging wood pellet industry threatens climate, say experts