In order to ensure that this thread continues to meet TL standards and follows the proper guidelines, we will be enforcing the rules in the OP more strictly. Be sure to give them a re-read to refresh your memory! The vast majority of you are contributing in a healthy way, keep it up!
NOTE: When providing a source, explain why you feel it is relevant and what purpose it adds to the discussion if it's not obvious. Also take note that unsubstantiated tweets/posts meant only to rekindle old arguments can result in a mod action.
Solar power capacity in the U.S. will have nearly tripled in size in less than three years by 2017 amid an energy shakeup that has seen natural gas solidify its position as the country’s chief source of electricity and coal power continue to fade, according to monthly data published by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Cutting carbon dioxide emissions from electric power plants is a major part of the U.S. strategy for tackling climate change as the country seeks to meet its obligations under the Paris Climate Agreement and keep global warming from exceeding more than 2°C (3.6°F).
Reducing those emissions requires changing the fuels used to produce electricity, including using more natural gas and renewables than coal, historically the country’s largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change.
Renewables still make up only a fraction of the U.S. power supply — 8 percent this year. That’s expected to grow to 9 percent next year, and the biggest driver of that growth is solar.
Solar power has been on a tear in recent years partly because of cheaper solar panels and a federal tax credit for solar installations. Congress extended the solar tax credit early this year, helping to fuel a 39 percent annual growth rate for solar power-producing capacity, to 27 gigawatts by next year from about 10 gigawatts in 2014, or enough to power about 3.5 million homes, the data show.
“Because of pent-up demand due to uncertainty over the federal tax credit, solar had a record year in 2016,” said Doug Vine, senior energy fellow at the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. “Solar capacity buildout is expected to be similar next year.”
By contrast, wind power generating capacity is expected to grow by about 8 percent next year after growing nearly 15.5 percent in 2016.
For most of the past century, coal has been king in the electric power industry. But it has begun to falter as a major energy source in the U.S. because falling natural gas prices have encouraged electric power companies to build more gas-fired power plants.
At the same time, new mercury pollution regulations for coal-fired power plants have taken effect, renewable energy has become cheaper to produce and electric power companies have begun to gear up for the Clean Power Plan — the Obama administration’s climate policy aiming to slash carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants.
For the first time in history, more electricity is produced using natural gas than with coal. That has helped to reduce greenhouse gas emissions because natural gas releases roughly half the carbon dioxide as coal.
This year, 35 percent of U.S. electricity is expected to be produced using natural gas, and 30 percent will be produced using coal, according to the data. Last year, each produced about 33 percent of U.S. electricity.
Speaker Paul Ryan is supporting Donald Trump for president but, for many Republicans, his support his not enthusiastic enough. Specially, many member of the Republican House Caucus were upset at a conference call Ryan convened on October 10 where he said he would no longer “defend” the Republican nominee. During the call, Ryan effectively conceded that Trump would lose. This has prompted rumors that Ryan could be replaced as speaker by pro-Trump forces in Congress. Sean Hannity, a key Trump ally, floated several names to the Washington Post.
This morning, Congressman Meadows (R-NC) was asked about this on WAAV-AM, a local North Carolina station. Meadows revealed that this was more than speculation. There is a real effort underway to replace Ryan, according to Meadows, and it’s “picking up some steam.” “A lot of the people who believe so desperately that we need to put Donald Trump in the White House — they question the loyalty of the speaker,” Meadows said. He added that there “will be real discussions after November 8 on who our leadership will be and what that will look like going forward.” Meadows said that, since Ryan announced he would no longer defend Trump, he’s been flooded with calls about why Ryan is “not supporting the nominee.” He also said he was “flattered that Sean Hannity would mention me as a possible speaker replacement.”
Meadows comments today differ substantially from what he has told national outlets. The Washington Examiner reported that Meadows, along with the other two names Hannity floated, “denied any interest in mounting bids to take the speaker’s chair.” Meadows is known as a collegial presence in Congress. Before being elected in 2012, he operated a sandwich shop. But he has also emerged as hardline conservative and was a key force in ousting former Speaker John Boehner. He introduced a resolution that would have forced his ouster. Soon thereafter, Boehner announced he would resign. In August, the Office of Congressional Ethics said there was “substantial reason to believe” Meadows violated House rules by “paying his departed chief-of-staff a three-month severance package.” The chief-of-staff, Kenneth West, was forced to leave his post after several women said he sexually harassed them. Paul Ryan became Speaker in 2015, grudgingly, after no other candidate with broad support emerged. But his relationship with the Republican caucus has been uneasy — particularly the far-right “Freedom Caucus” of which Meadows is a member.
The number of people infected with three major sexually transmitted diseases is at an all-time high, according to a CDC report released Wednesday. And the increase in reported cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis is hitting teenagers and young adults hardest.
Over half of gonorrhea and chlamydia cases are in people under the age of 25, says Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention for the CDC.
These STDs can have serious long term health consequences, including chronic pain and fertility problems. Pregnant women can pass syphilis on to their children, leading to stillbirth or birth defects.
State and local budget cuts to STD care and prevention programs are major drivers in the surge in STDs, Mermin says. "Our ability to prevent STDs is only as strong as the public health infrastructure to support it," he says. "More than half of state and local STD programs have experienced budget cuts. In 2012, 20 health departments reported having to close their STD clinics."
Syphilis infections have been increasing at a particularly troubling rate, according to the report. In 2015, 23,872 cases were reported, a 19 percent increase since 2014. Syphilis cases have been going up over the past decade, while the spike in cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea is more recent. There were 395,216 cases of gonorrhea and 1.5 million cases of chlamydia reported in the same year, showing a rise of 6 and 13 percent over the past year. All three infections can be treated with antibiotics, though gonorrhea is becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics.
"This basically tells us we have to do a better job of reach out to some of these communities that are disproportionately affected by these infections," says Dr. Jose Bazan, a medical director for an STD clinic at Columbus Public Health and an assistant professor of internal medicine at Ohio State University who was not involved with the report.
Men who have sex with men face a greater risk of being infected with syphilis. Over 80 percent of male syphilis cases were reported among gay and bisexual males, and over 90 percent of all syphilis cases were in men. People in racial and sexual minority groups can have more than the usual trouble finding care for preventing and treating STDs.
According to a congressional briefing last April by Dr. Gail Bolan, the director for the CDC Division of STD Prevention, over 40 percent of health departments reduced clinic hours, screening, or tracing people who may have been infected. "If that infrastructure gets eroded, people are more likely to have their STDs for a longer period of time, and that can lead to increased transmission," Mermin says.
The federal government also helps fund state and local STD programs through the CDC, but federal funds have not helped make up for some of the budget cuts on the local level, according to David Harvey, the executive director for the National Coalition of STD Directors. "We believe there's a direct relationship between budget cuts and increases in STDs in the United States. There has been no federal increases for STD programs in this country since 2003," he says.
So young gay men don't want to use condoms or what? It's not like they don't know they exist. This isn't Africa. My 9 year old has seen multiple condom commercials (unfortunately). Anyone know why this would be the case?
I read that truvada has basically taken the fear of AIDS away as it works as a pre-emptive protective shield. We've basically cured AIDS in the first world. People at risk of it can engage in the risky activities with a drug that shields them from joining the ranks of the infected while the infected can live perfectly healthy lives with the right drugs. In a rational world we'd just age out AIDS, the infected would die at below replacement rate. Unfortunately it's not so simple but the lack of condoms is a response to just how good we've been at curing AIDS.
Both of them were a little hostile (mostly Trump which is why they started booing him hard for a bit) for the environment but neither one is half as good at executing jokes as Obama so it just feels like a let down though i would also say neither one is half as good as even McCain or Romney were.
The number of people infected with three major sexually transmitted diseases is at an all-time high, according to a CDC report released Wednesday. And the increase in reported cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis is hitting teenagers and young adults hardest.
Over half of gonorrhea and chlamydia cases are in people under the age of 25, says Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention for the CDC.
These STDs can have serious long term health consequences, including chronic pain and fertility problems. Pregnant women can pass syphilis on to their children, leading to stillbirth or birth defects.
State and local budget cuts to STD care and prevention programs are major drivers in the surge in STDs, Mermin says. "Our ability to prevent STDs is only as strong as the public health infrastructure to support it," he says. "More than half of state and local STD programs have experienced budget cuts. In 2012, 20 health departments reported having to close their STD clinics."
Syphilis infections have been increasing at a particularly troubling rate, according to the report. In 2015, 23,872 cases were reported, a 19 percent increase since 2014. Syphilis cases have been going up over the past decade, while the spike in cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea is more recent. There were 395,216 cases of gonorrhea and 1.5 million cases of chlamydia reported in the same year, showing a rise of 6 and 13 percent over the past year. All three infections can be treated with antibiotics, though gonorrhea is becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics.
"This basically tells us we have to do a better job of reach out to some of these communities that are disproportionately affected by these infections," says Dr. Jose Bazan, a medical director for an STD clinic at Columbus Public Health and an assistant professor of internal medicine at Ohio State University who was not involved with the report.
Men who have sex with men face a greater risk of being infected with syphilis. Over 80 percent of male syphilis cases were reported among gay and bisexual males, and over 90 percent of all syphilis cases were in men. People in racial and sexual minority groups can have more than the usual trouble finding care for preventing and treating STDs.
According to a congressional briefing last April by Dr. Gail Bolan, the director for the CDC Division of STD Prevention, over 40 percent of health departments reduced clinic hours, screening, or tracing people who may have been infected. "If that infrastructure gets eroded, people are more likely to have their STDs for a longer period of time, and that can lead to increased transmission," Mermin says.
The federal government also helps fund state and local STD programs through the CDC, but federal funds have not helped make up for some of the budget cuts on the local level, according to David Harvey, the executive director for the National Coalition of STD Directors. "We believe there's a direct relationship between budget cuts and increases in STDs in the United States. There has been no federal increases for STD programs in this country since 2003," he says.
So young gay men don't want to use condoms or what? It's not like they don't know they exist. This isn't Africa. My 9 year old has seen multiple condom commercials (unfortunately). Anyone know why this would be the case?
I read that truvada has basically taken the fear of AIDS away as it works as a pre-emptive protective shield. We've basically cured AIDS in the first world. People at risk of it can engage in the risky activities with a drug that shields them from joining the ranks of the infected while the infected can live perfectly healthy lives with the right drugs. In a rational world we'd just age out AIDS, the infected would die at below replacement rate. Unfortunately it's not so simple but the lack of condoms is a response to just how good we've been at curing AIDS.
This has had the unfortunate side effect of skyrocketing other STD rates, including syphilis, around the country in MSM communities. But oh well.
The number of people infected with three major sexually transmitted diseases is at an all-time high, according to a CDC report released Wednesday. And the increase in reported cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis is hitting teenagers and young adults hardest.
Over half of gonorrhea and chlamydia cases are in people under the age of 25, says Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention for the CDC.
These STDs can have serious long term health consequences, including chronic pain and fertility problems. Pregnant women can pass syphilis on to their children, leading to stillbirth or birth defects.
State and local budget cuts to STD care and prevention programs are major drivers in the surge in STDs, Mermin says. "Our ability to prevent STDs is only as strong as the public health infrastructure to support it," he says. "More than half of state and local STD programs have experienced budget cuts. In 2012, 20 health departments reported having to close their STD clinics."
Syphilis infections have been increasing at a particularly troubling rate, according to the report. In 2015, 23,872 cases were reported, a 19 percent increase since 2014. Syphilis cases have been going up over the past decade, while the spike in cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea is more recent. There were 395,216 cases of gonorrhea and 1.5 million cases of chlamydia reported in the same year, showing a rise of 6 and 13 percent over the past year. All three infections can be treated with antibiotics, though gonorrhea is becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics.
"This basically tells us we have to do a better job of reach out to some of these communities that are disproportionately affected by these infections," says Dr. Jose Bazan, a medical director for an STD clinic at Columbus Public Health and an assistant professor of internal medicine at Ohio State University who was not involved with the report.
Men who have sex with men face a greater risk of being infected with syphilis. Over 80 percent of male syphilis cases were reported among gay and bisexual males, and over 90 percent of all syphilis cases were in men. People in racial and sexual minority groups can have more than the usual trouble finding care for preventing and treating STDs.
According to a congressional briefing last April by Dr. Gail Bolan, the director for the CDC Division of STD Prevention, over 40 percent of health departments reduced clinic hours, screening, or tracing people who may have been infected. "If that infrastructure gets eroded, people are more likely to have their STDs for a longer period of time, and that can lead to increased transmission," Mermin says.
The federal government also helps fund state and local STD programs through the CDC, but federal funds have not helped make up for some of the budget cuts on the local level, according to David Harvey, the executive director for the National Coalition of STD Directors. "We believe there's a direct relationship between budget cuts and increases in STDs in the United States. There has been no federal increases for STD programs in this country since 2003," he says.
So young gay men don't want to use condoms or what? It's not like they don't know they exist. This isn't Africa. My 9 year old has seen multiple condom commercials (unfortunately). Anyone know why this would be the case?
I read that truvada has basically taken the fear of AIDS away as it works as a pre-emptive protective shield. We've basically cured AIDS in the first world. People at risk of it can engage in the risky activities with a drug that shields them from joining the ranks of the infected while the infected can live perfectly healthy lives with the right drugs. In a rational world we'd just age out AIDS, the infected would die at below replacement rate. Unfortunately it's not so simple but the lack of condoms is a response to just how good we've been at curing AIDS.
Whoa that's pretty great, I've wanted to use Grindr but I've been super paranoid about AIDS, I should definitely get a prescription for this
That's still the opposite of what you should have taken from this. Use condoms.
Two documentary film-makers are facing decades in prison for recording US oil pipeline protests, with serious felony charges that first amendment advocates say are part of a growing number of attacks on freedom of the press.
The controversial prosecutions of Deia Schlosberg and Lindsey Grayzel are moving forward after a judge in North Dakota rejected “riot” charges filed against Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman for her high-profile reporting at the Dakota Access pipeline protests.
But authorities in other parts of North Dakota and in Washington state have continued to target other film-makers over their recent reporting on similar demonstrations, raising concerns that the lesser-known journalists are not getting the same kind of public support and national attention.
chlosberg, a New York-based film-maker, is facing three felony conspiracy charges for filming protesters on 11 October at a TransCanada Keystone Pipeline site in Pembina County in North Dakota, with prosecutors alleging that she was “recruited to record the criminal activity”.
The 36-year-old – who is producing a documentary called How to Let Go of the World and Love All the Things Climate Can’t Change – could face 45 years in prison. US whistleblower Edward Snowden recently tweeted his support of Schlosberg, writing: “This reporter is being prosecuted for covering the North Dakota oil protests. For reference, I face a mere 30 years.”
Grayzel, an independent film-maker from Portland, Oregon, was also arrested and jailed on 11 October while filming at a separate pipeline protest in Skagit County, Washington. She and her cinematographer, Carl Davis, had their footage and equipment seized and were kept behind bars for a day.
The two were filming activist Ken Ward attempting to shut down the Trans Mountain pipeline, and they now face 30 years in prison for a felony burglary charge, a felony “criminal sabotage” charge and a misdemeanor trespass offense. There were a series of pipeline protests across the US on 11 October.
The number of people infected with three major sexually transmitted diseases is at an all-time high, according to a CDC report released Wednesday. And the increase in reported cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis is hitting teenagers and young adults hardest.
Over half of gonorrhea and chlamydia cases are in people under the age of 25, says Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention for the CDC.
These STDs can have serious long term health consequences, including chronic pain and fertility problems. Pregnant women can pass syphilis on to their children, leading to stillbirth or birth defects.
State and local budget cuts to STD care and prevention programs are major drivers in the surge in STDs, Mermin says. "Our ability to prevent STDs is only as strong as the public health infrastructure to support it," he says. "More than half of state and local STD programs have experienced budget cuts. In 2012, 20 health departments reported having to close their STD clinics."
Syphilis infections have been increasing at a particularly troubling rate, according to the report. In 2015, 23,872 cases were reported, a 19 percent increase since 2014. Syphilis cases have been going up over the past decade, while the spike in cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea is more recent. There were 395,216 cases of gonorrhea and 1.5 million cases of chlamydia reported in the same year, showing a rise of 6 and 13 percent over the past year. All three infections can be treated with antibiotics, though gonorrhea is becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics.
"This basically tells us we have to do a better job of reach out to some of these communities that are disproportionately affected by these infections," says Dr. Jose Bazan, a medical director for an STD clinic at Columbus Public Health and an assistant professor of internal medicine at Ohio State University who was not involved with the report.
Men who have sex with men face a greater risk of being infected with syphilis. Over 80 percent of male syphilis cases were reported among gay and bisexual males, and over 90 percent of all syphilis cases were in men. People in racial and sexual minority groups can have more than the usual trouble finding care for preventing and treating STDs.
According to a congressional briefing last April by Dr. Gail Bolan, the director for the CDC Division of STD Prevention, over 40 percent of health departments reduced clinic hours, screening, or tracing people who may have been infected. "If that infrastructure gets eroded, people are more likely to have their STDs for a longer period of time, and that can lead to increased transmission," Mermin says.
The federal government also helps fund state and local STD programs through the CDC, but federal funds have not helped make up for some of the budget cuts on the local level, according to David Harvey, the executive director for the National Coalition of STD Directors. "We believe there's a direct relationship between budget cuts and increases in STDs in the United States. There has been no federal increases for STD programs in this country since 2003," he says.
So young gay men don't want to use condoms or what? It's not like they don't know they exist. This isn't Africa. My 9 year old has seen multiple condom commercials (unfortunately). Anyone know why this would be the case?
I read that truvada has basically taken the fear of AIDS away as it works as a pre-emptive protective shield. We've basically cured AIDS in the first world. People at risk of it can engage in the risky activities with a drug that shields them from joining the ranks of the infected while the infected can live perfectly healthy lives with the right drugs. In a rational world we'd just age out AIDS, the infected would die at below replacement rate. Unfortunately it's not so simple but the lack of condoms is a response to just how good we've been at curing AIDS.
Whoa that's pretty great, I've wanted to use Grindr but I've been super paranoid about AIDS, I should definitely get a prescription for this
Wrap it up friend.
You don't want a good night to turn into a bad life cause some stranger said they were clean and were wrong.
EPT
