CHAOS THEORY

Bill Nye explains climate change in 45 seconds, on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

Why “The Science Guy” Is Worried
Science. It’s the only way we’re going to stop two things that are killing us right now: climate change and COVID-19. Unfortunately, when it comes to America’s science literacy, "We are failing the test," said Bill Nye, "The Science Guy" on PBS and now host of Science Rules! “It’s a very serious problem.”
According to the UN, if greenhouse gases don’t drop in half over the next decade (and the odds of that happening are very slim indeed) the earth will become unlivable. Unfortunately, fossil fuel companies have spent millions undermining the credibility of science and telling people their off-the-cuff opinions are as valid as hard evidence. There’s an incredible amount of nonsense being circulated on social media, which Nye considers a blessing and a curse, or as he calls it, “a blurse.”
So how’s your science literacy, especially when it comes to climate change?

Try this mini quiz — just four questions!
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I was chagrined to get just two right. “Don’t feel bad,” wrote the quiz’s authors. “You’re not alone. Researchers surveyed 965 people in the United States and Canada, and only one answered three of four questions correctly. Nobody got all four questions right.” Yikes! No wonder Bill Nye is worried!
—Karen McCann
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​Chaos Theory
Another week with every new story worse than the last: drilling permits in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge, encouraging supporters to vote twice, ending racial sensitivity training, eliminating (then restoring) the military newspaper Stars and Stripes... Is it all a clever strategy to stay at the top of the news cycle? An attempt to distract attention from illegal actions by Trump allies? I heard a podcast host compare Trump to a tenant who knows he’s never getting his security deposit back—so he’s “just breaking shit on the way out.” (I wish I could remember which podcast… our motto: We Listen To Political Podcasts Till Our Ears Bleed, So You Don’t Have To!)
We recommended this before, but let's check in again: the Brookings Institute's interactive Reg Tracker lists Trump administration actions to dismantle regulations in areas such as education, environment, finance, transportation, and federal ethics.
—Kathy Sherretts
Wrap It Up:
Unearthed: Oil-backed trade group is lobbying the Trump administration to push plastics across Africa by Emma Howard
Senator Tom Udall: “It is outrageous that petrochemical and plastic industries claim the solution to our mounting plastic waste crisis is to produce more disposable plastics…then point the finger at developing nations for the plastic waste showing up in our oceans.”

A Woman's Place is in the House:
The Lily: 100 years ago, these congresswomen broke barriers. But their legacy is a cautionary tale for today. by Cornelia Powers
Congress’s original “Woman’s Bloc,” Reps. Alice Robertson (R-Okla.), Winnifred Huck (R-Ill.) and Mae Nolan (R-Calif.) set the tone for the next century of female political participation. Even today, congresswomen find it hard to legislate for their own interests or those of the women they represent.

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Ready to Vote?

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