News (old posts, page 941)

Far-right conspiracy theories spread online in aftermath of the Texas floods

Some social media users falsely claimed that the extreme weather was being controlled by the US government

Disasters and tragedies have long been the source of American conspiracy theories, old and new. So when devastating flash floods hit Texas over the Fourth of July weekend, and as the death toll continues to rise, far-right conspiracists online saw their opportunity to come out in full force, blurring the lines of what’s true and untrue.

Some people, emerging from the same vectors associated with the longstanding QAnon conspiracy theory, which essentially holds that a shadowy “deep state” is acting against President Donald Trump, spread on X that the devastating weather was being controlled by the government.

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New York City’s congestion pricing has cut pollution and traffic – but Trump still wants to kill it

With less congestion, less carbon pollution, less accidents, could it be a model for other US cities? Six months in, environmentalists say yes

It has faced threats and lawsuits and even had its death proclaimed by Donald Trump as he startlingly depicted himself as a king in a social media post. But New York City’s congestion charge scheme for cars has now survived its first six months, producing perhaps the fastest ever environmental improvement from any policy in US history.

New York vaulted into a global group of cities – such as London, Singapore and Stockholm – that charge cars for entering their traffic-clogged metropolitan hearts but also ushered in a measure that was unknown to Americans and initially unpopular with commuters, and was confronted by a new Trump administration determined to tear it down.

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Sauce Boss the rodeo bull becomes latest US animal escape artist

Bull also known as Twinkle Toes eluded capture for days in Colorado after reportedly escaping through a fence gap

Animals that have proven themselves to be escape artists as of late in the US have included a terrier and nearly four dozen monkeys. And now a rodeo bull reportedly referred to by the names of Sauce Boss and Twinkle Toes can join their ranks after breaking free from his handlers and spending four days at large.

The bull in question was being unloaded in preparation for the Snowmass Village, Colorado, rodeo on 2 July when he somehow got away, local police chief Brian Olson told the state’s Aspen Times. Olson suspected the creature found and forced his way through a gap in the fencing that was being used during the unloading.

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Something stinks in Philadelphia – and it’s not just the uncollected garbage | Arwa Mahdawi

The city give its sanitation workers a rise only after eight days of strike action. But there was no shortage of money for the police or mayor Cherelle Parker and her inner circle

If nobody stopped me, I could talk about urban sanitation for hours on end. Unfortunately, somebody (normally my wife) always stops me – usually in the first minute or two. It seems few people share my pathological fixation with littering and ways to optimise waste management.

Until recently, that is. Now every single resident of Philadelphia, my home town, is talking trash. Almost 10,000 city workers, members of the city’s largest blue-collar union, went on strike for eight days, affecting everything from libraries to public swimming pools. But the most visible signs of the strike were the huge piles of trash that accumulated (nicknamed “Parker Piles” after mayor Cherelle Parker) because there was no garbage pickup. Did I mention it has been boiling hot? You can imagine the situation. The rats are in heaven; I am in hell.

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