Various web links I found to be of interest recently.
Skeptoid Podcast
And so the final conclusion on the subject of plastic bag bans is that the best solution - supported by climate science, ecology, economic theory, and proven by experimentation - is to continue to allow lightweight single-use bags to be provided for a fee by retail merchants, and to encourage shoppers to reuse durable reusable plastic bags.
Also for more information see:
Pros and Cons of the Plastic Bag Ban Debate
and
Plastic Bag Bans and the Coronavirus - How Are They Related?
Old but still hilarious video illustrating the case for fairness and why inequality is a problem.
The process by which business seeks government intervention to sustain
long-term economic profit is called "rent seeking." The outcome of
successful rent seeking is "crony capitalism," that is, when the
government intervenes on behalf of business to allow it to sustain
economic profit.
...
The existence of crony capitalism is not an all-or-nothing
affair. Crony capitalism can exist alongside a robust competitive
sector. This is called a "dual economy." In the crony sector economic
profits exist; in the competitive sector economic profits do not
exist. In the competitive sector putative economic profits get
dissipated to everyone through lower prices. In the crony sector,
business owners are able to keep economic profits for themselves.
...
Given what exists today, and what has existed for the last century
in the U.S., the probability of successfully forming a political
coalition that would systematically root out crony capitalism in
the U.S. political system is close to zero. On the other hand,
successful political coalitions supporting labor unions existed in
the past, and continue today (albeit in a weakened form).
Jeffrey D. Sachs
America's plutocrats and their media allies are certain that US
presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is unelectable, or that,
if somehow elected, he would bring about the collapse of the
republic. This disdain is both telling and absurd.
...
In Europe, Sanders would be a mainstream social democrat.
He wants to restore some basic decency to American life:
universal publicly financed health care; above-poverty wages
for full-time workers, along with basic benefits such as
family leave for infants and paid leave for illness;
college education that does not drive young adults into lifelong
debt; elections that billionaires cannot buy; and public policy
determined by public opinion, not corporate lobbying (which reached
$3.47 billion in the United States in 2019).
Google's black box algorithm controls which political emails land in your main inbox. For 2020 presidential candidates, the differences are stark.
Administrative costs account for one-quarter to one-third of total
health-care spending in the United States-far greater than the amount
necessary to deliver effective health care. Excessive administrative
burden results in higher costs for physicians, insurers, and patients alike.
...
Cutler proposes several reforms to the U.S. health-care system aimed at
reducing administrative costs. Specifically, his proposal would establish
a clearinghouse for bill submission, simplify prior authorization,
harmonize quality reporting, and enhance data interoperability in the
health-care system. Cutler's proposal to lower administrative costs
could save $50 billion annually.
The strange, startling, and competing explanations for human--and possibly nonhuman--consciousness.
In his new book, "Rethinking Consciousness: A Scientific Theory
of Subjective Experience," the neuroscientist and psychologist
Michael Graziano writes that consciousness is simply a mental illusion,
a simplified interface that humans evolved as a survival strategy
in order to model the processes of the brain.
...
One of its pioneers, the neuroscientist Christof Koch, has a new book,
"The Feeling of Life Itself: Why Consciousness Is Widespread but Can't
Be Computed," in which he argues that consciousness is not unique to
humans but exists throughout the animal kingdom and the insect world,
and even at the microphysical level.