Interesting Links for 09-10-2024

[andrewducker]

1. MI5 have foiled 48 mass murder plots from Russia and Iran in the last 7 years

(tags:russia Iran murder war UK intelligence )

2. Hurricane! Milton! From! Space!

(tags:video space wind weather )

3. US finalizes rule to remove lead pipes within a decade. (Do many other countries still use lead water pipes?)

(tags:lead water USA )

4. Trailer for Midgies horror movie released ahead of filming

(tags:Scotland insects horror comedy )

5. Companies Are Forcing People to Work Through Disasters.

(tags:usa weather safety OhForFucksSake business mcdonalds )

6. Nearly all of the Google images results for "baby peacock" are AI generated

(tags:google ai images doom fraud )

Comments

[channelpenguin]

3. WTF? I thought everywhere removed them decades ago...

4. I once attended a horror themed costume party as a midgie!

5. SO fucked up.

6. SO fucked up.

[andrewducker]

Apparently still tiny amounts left: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskEurope/comments/18v0i4k/is_it_still_common_to_have_lead_pipes_in_europe/

But it sounds like they're mostly gone, and you're not allowed to repair them any more, so whenever one develops an issue it gets replaced.

[mellowtigger]

As I understand it, Minneapolis had lead pipes, but they put liners inside them long ago to (hopefully?) prevent leakage of lead into the water. I can't tell if the new service maps (which show my home is lead-free) take that treatment into account when deciding to call a pipe "lead-free".
https://www.minnpost.com/greater-minnesota/2024/05/minnesota-combats-lead-in-drinking-water-with-ambitious-and-costly-pipe-replacement-plan/
https://www.fox9.com/news/minnesota-drinking-water-lead-pipe-address-maps

[hilarita]

3. They often won't have been replaced in areas with hard water unless and until the pipe has to be replaced for other reasons, because you get much less leaching through the layers of calcium carbonate. The "last mile" from the mains to the house might well be lead if it was laid long enough ago, and hasn't needed replacing since. Obviously most water mains are now not lead, but there will be some bits and pieces still hanging around if they've not failed in the interim and haven't caused noticeably elevated lead levels.

5 & 6 : +1.

[redbird]

As the article says, part of the problem with lead pipes in the United States is that many are on private property, which can create perverse incentives: when I lived in New York, hpomeowners could have their tap water checked for lead, but if you sold a house and knew there was lead in the water, you had to disclose that. So people who didn't care if there was lead in their water, wouldn't get it tested, because a possible future buyer might care. It's easier to ban new lead pipes than require old ones to be replaced.

A lot of what we see about lead in the water supply is that it's bad for children, especially young children. This is true, but then some people without kids think it's not worth paying to get lead pipes replaced, especially if their local water supply is literally unpalatable because of the mineral content, so they're using filters or buying bottled water.

And now I have dark thoughts about whether the people who think fluoridation will harm them or their children also object to being told they have to get rid of lead pipes.

[andrewducker]

I suspect so, sadly.

Over here it's illegal to fix lead pipes. If they get damaged then you have to replace them.

[haggis]

It's not just the US, there is still a small amount of lead pipes in the UK, usually within private land. In the UK, potable water is dosed with a chemical usually sodium orthophosphate) to prevent it leaching from old pipes.

[ninetydegrees]

6- I stopped using Google years ago because the results I got were less and less relevant (and I stopped using any Google products whenever I could). I'm glad to see DDG fares better in this particular case even if it's not great either. It ain't easy finding a good search engine nowadays.

[andrewducker]

I use Kagi and like it a great deal.

[ninetydegrees]

Thanks! I'll look into it.

[channelpenguin]

ooooh
I will give Kagi a try