Don’t Leave Home Without It 💳
ScienceAlert: A New Pathway Found in The Brain Could Help Spell The End of Migraines
A newly discovered communication pathway linking far-flung nerve centers within the brain and skull, and the body beyond, could provide a new target to stop migraine pain in its tracks.
TorStar: The Conservatives are conducting a war on expertise
Experts whose research and opinions don’t dovetail with the policies of Pierre Poilievre’s Tories are becoming political targets, Bruce Arthur writes.
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“There were, like (400) economists that signed that letter, but (the CPC) specifically singled out (11),” says economist Mike Moffatt, who was also on the list. “I mean, it’s clear that they’re trying to silence people. That is highly, highly problematic. I don’t think (the involvement of CPC-aligned academics, or media) is collusion, or anything like that. But I think there’s just this cultural understanding on parts of the right that this is part of the playbook.”
CBC: Liberal government enacts controversial digital services tax, raising trade concerns
The federal government has enacted a controversial digital services tax that will bring in billions of dollars while threatening Canada’s trading relationships by taxing the revenue international firms earn in Canada.
The Liberal government proposed the tax in its 2019 election platform. It later agreed to delay implementing the measure until the end of 2023 in the hopes it could reach a deal with other OECD countries on how multinational digital companies should be taxed.
Negotiations on an international deal continued to drag on past that date and the federal government issued an order in council on June 28 to enact the digital services tax (DST), which received royal assent June 20.
Jason Fried (Hey.com): Introducing Writebook
You know, it’s really easy to publish short form content on a variety of social platforms. And individual blog posts on a number of other platforms. These are solved problems.
But it’s surprisingly challenging to publish books on the web in nice, cohesive, tight, easy-to-navigate HTML format. A collection of 20 essays can be a book. Or a company’s handbook can be a book. Or an actual book like Shape Up can be a book.
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So we did something about it. Introducing Writebook. It’s a dead simple platform to publish web-based books. They have covers, they can have title pages, they can have picture pages, and they can have text pages. Each book gets its own URL, and navigating and keeping track of your progress is all built right in.
Writebook isn’t a service — it’s software you download and install on your own server. We’ve made it incredibly easy to get going — it just takes a few minutes. Even non-technical folks can get it all set up. We’ll email you a single command you paste into a terminal and it takes care of the rest. No maintenance required either, it takes care of itself, auto-updates, etc.
WriteBook: Can I charge for the books I publish using Writebook?
We don’t offer a way to sell your books through Writebook, but if you want to put a paywall in front of your copy of Writebook, that’s up to you. However, the software license “does not include the rights to publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, source code or products derived from it.” Further, you can not, for example, sell a separate hosted service on top of Writebook using Writebook code.
BBC: Liz Truss and Jacob Rees-Mogg among big-name Conservative losses
Former prime minister Liz Truss has lost her seat in Labour’s landslide election victory, as the Conservatives slump to a historic defeat.
She lost her South West Norfolk constituency to Labour by 630 votes, having previously held a huge 24,180 majority.
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Speaking after her defeat, Ms Truss said her party had not “delivered sufficiently” in areas such as “keeping taxes low” and reducing immigration.
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Speaking earlier, before his defeat, Sir Jacob said it was “clearly a terrible night” for his party, that had come to take its “core vote for granted”.
“We need to win voters at every single election. If you take your base for granted… your voters will look to other parties.”
There is a lesson here for the Liberals.
CleanTechnica: Fossil Fuel Advocates Ask Supreme Court To Protect Them From CARB
The question of whether California may set greenhouse gas emissions for itself and other states “is undeniably major,” the plaintiffs said, especially since California has asked the EPA for a waiver for its plan to end sales of gasoline-only vehicles by 2035. “The waiver and authority claimed here are the key parts of a coordinated agency strategy to convert the Nation from liquid fuel powered vehicles to electric vehicles,” the filing said, pointing out that doing so would hurt demand for petroleum fuels and biofuels. Other parties to the suit include the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, the Kansas Corn Growers Association, and the National Association of Convenience Stores.
There’s a lot to unpack in this editorial.
iPhone in Canada: Netflix, Disney and More Take CRTC to Court Over Streaming Tax
Netflix, Disney, and other U.S. streaming companies have filed a legal challenge against last month’s CRTC decision to mandate foreign streaming services to pay 5% of Canadian revenues towards Canadian news and content.
The Motion Picture Association-Canada argues that the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission exceeded its authority with this order and overlooked the significant investments these companies already make in Canada.
CBC: CRTC announces $272M conditional funding for fibre link to 4 Nunavut communities
Iqaluit, Kinngait, Coral Harbour and Kimmirut all to get high-speed internet.
Still talking about it 10 years on…
Wales Online: Dentist warns one type of toothpaste could be damaging your mouth
A dentist has warned that a particular type of toothpaste could be damaging people’s oral health. Dr Ferakh Hamid said it could be leading to symptoms such as ulcers and allergic reactions.
Dr Hamid, from Aesthetique Dental Care, said: “SLS (Sodium lauryl sulfate) is a common ingredient in toothpaste, but it can cause irritation, especially for those with sensitive mouths. Research has shown a link between SLS and more frequent mouth ulcers. Using SLS-free toothpaste can help patients with oral sensitivities.
“Most toothpastes use SLS to create foam, which helps clean teeth. However, patients with taste issues or discomfort after brushing might benefit from SLS-free toothpaste. These alternatives are especially good for people with dry mouth or sensitivity.
Just Have a Think (YouTube): How China is winning the GREEN ENERGY race.
China’s perceived march towards global domination appears to be ruffling some feathers here in the Western world. Their version of the industrial revolution has lifted hundreds of millions out of abject poverty, but it is still held up by some as the greatest modern sin against humanity and our climate. So, how accurate is that allegation?
A somewhat different view of China’s march into modern energy production and consumption technologies.
NYT: Masoud Pezeshkian Wins Iran Election
Mr. Pezeshkian, 69, a cardiac surgeon, got 16.3 million votes to defeat the hard-line candidate, Saeed Jalili, delivering a blow to the conservative faction and a major victory for the reformist faction that had been sidelined from politics for the past few years. Mr. Jalili received 13.5 million votes.
After polls closed at midnight, turnout stood at 50 percent, about 10 percentage points higher than in the first round of the election with about 30.5 million ballots cast in total, according to Iran’s interior ministry. The first round saw a record-low turnout because many Iranians had boycotted the vote as an act of protest.
However, the prospect of a hard-line administration that would double down on strict social rules, including enforcing mandatory hijab on women, and remain defiant in negotiations to lift sanctions, apparently spurred Iranians to turn up at the polls in slightly larger numbers.
Next year, could Iran be less of a theocracy than the US?
Last Updated: 05.Jul.2024 23:56 EDT
