London is proving to not be a very safe place to live these days. This incident is in no way proven to be connected with the Manchester bombing about 3 weeks ago or the London Bridge stabbing 10 days ago. That being said, London is going through a very rough patch as of right now.
Around 1am last night, a huge fire broke out in Grenfell Tower close to Notting Hill in London. Firefighters were called and they ended up fighting the fire until even after sunrise. Putting it out required the use of over 200 firefighters and multiple ambulance crews. There was so much debris that nearby apartment buildings had to be evacuated as well.
Grenfell Tower itself was an apartment complex that housed over 120 individual apartments. As of right now, as the title of this article suggests, there are 12 confirmed deaths with many other injuries. Throughout the night, nearby citizens reported hearing screams of Grenfell Tower dwellers calling for help and flashing the flashlights on their smart phones on and off to get people’s attention.
Here is an official quote from the London Fire Brigade Commissioner, Dany Cotton, on the incident “An unprecedented incident. In my 29 years of being a firefighter, I have never ever seen anything of this scale. Based on the level of resources need at this fire, we declared this a major incident very early this morning.”
As of right now there is no confirmed cause of the incident. Some are saying it was a faulty refrigerator that caused it and others are saying a potential arsonist was involved. Others still are saying it could be a terrorist attack in line with the Manchester bombing and London Bridge stabbing. This is a completely rational thought to have considering the frequency of attacks on British soil, specifically in London, this close together in time. However, neither ISIS nor other radical terrorist groups have taken responsibility for the attack as of my writing this. That being said, the story is still developing as we speak.
Industry and Service
Republican lawmakers and Apple CEO Tim Cook meet in Washington
Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, is traveling to Washington, D.C., to meet with Republican lawmakers who will probably lead committees that regulate the tech sector.
Republican representatives Jim Jordan of Ohio, Darrel Issa of California, and Cathy McMorris Rogers of Washington are among those with whom Cook has booked meetings.
The meetings were probably planned several weeks, if not months, beforehand. Top conservatives have criticized Apple since the beginning, and many of them have joined with Twitter CEO Elon Musk in their recent dispute with Apple.
Jordan has publicly expressed his support for Elon Musk, as Bloomberg notes.
When the GOP wins over the House in 2023, Jordan is also set to serve as chair of the House Judiciary Committee. The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s chairman is most likely to be McMorris Rodgers.
They both will play a key role in developing the GOP’s technology policy agenda for 2023.
What is particularly on the agenda is unclear. Even when he is not called to testify about big tech, Cook travels to Washington, DC, on several occasions each year.
Gadgets
EPA establishes a new office devoted to civil rights and environmental justice
The goal is to make sure marginalized people are considered in environmental decisions.
According to Reuters, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established a new office to assist underserved communities in coping with the additional responsibilities of pollution and climate change. 200 EPA workers from the Washington headquarters and 10 regional bureaus will work in the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights.
“The establishment of a new office dedicated to advancing environmental justice and civil rights at EPA will ensure the lived experiences of underserved communities are central to our decision-making while supporting community-driven solutions,” remarked Kamala Harris, vice president of the US.
As part of a $60 billion investment in environmental justice, one of the main responsibilities of the new office will be to supervise the distribution of $3 billion in grants for environmental justice that were made possible by the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act. Additionally, it will ensure that other EPA initiatives adhere to President Biden’s Justice40 initiative, which aims to ensure that 40% of certain government spending go to underserved communities. Finally, it will assist localities in obtaining funds, upholding human rights legislation, and resolving environmental disputes.
The opening of the new office took place in Warren County, North Carolina, the scene of demonstrations against the disposal of toxic waste there in 1982. While the 22-acre dump was not stopped as a result of the civil disobedience actions and arrests that followed, the current environmental justice movement was born. Participants remembered the protests’ 40th anniversary last week.
Politics
Pewdiepie has Gotten into Trouble Yet Again
The competition between Pewdiepie and T-Series has been going on for quite a while. I say this mostly because if Pewdiepie was in the middle of a smear campaign, I would certainly believe that it was all a ploy by T-Series in order to make him lose popularity. However, it seems like T-Series doesn’t have to do much as Pewdiepie is no stranger to getting himself into trouble.
So, what did Pewdiepie do this time? Well, in his most recent edition of “Pew News,” a semi-satirical series where Pewds offers his own take on news events or YouTube discussions, he dedicates the last portion of the video to shouting out smaller YouTube creators he enjoys watching. One of those creators is E;R (otherwise known as “EsemicolonR”), an essayist who often includes anti-Semitic, sexist, homophobic, and cruel language in his videos.
At least that’s what TheVerge and so many outlets/other YouTubers are saying. I took a look at E;R’s content and saw mostly meme videos about political stuff. The guy even made a tribute to Tay AI. You can see a whole documentary made about this by Internet Historian down below:
However, the subjects tackled in the videos can be a bit more problematic because of the current political climate with Pewdiepie. As such, we can assume that a lot of people don’t find this very funny and even reprehensible. Especially when the US is caught in the middle of tension thanks to laws like FOSTA, which are an indirect cause of Tumblr’s collapse right now.
Ever since Pewdiepie has made the shoutout, the channel has gained over 15,000 Subscribers. Of course, this also means that the ire of the people who are against him has risen even more. As such, we’re in this situation where Pewdiepie has gotten himself into trouble yet again despite knowing that the current situation is tense. I guess some people will never learn.
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