All posts tagged: Protect

Calls grow for urgent talks to protect future of Grangemouth oil refinery | Oil

Calls grow for urgent talks to protect future of Grangemouth oil refinery | Oil

Published by skeptic

The UK and Scottish governments have been asked to arrange urgent talks to protect the future of Scotland’s only remaining oil refinery at Grangemouth. Daniel Johnson, Scottish Labour’s economy spokesperson, has written to PetroChina, part of the joint venture that owns the site, seeking to discuss the future of the complex where oil refining is due to cease next year. He is also urging the Scottish and Westminster governments to arrange meetings. Petroineos has said it is preparing to shut the Grangemouth facility, where refining has taken place since 1919, to convert it into a fuels import terminal. Petroineos, a joint venture formed in 2011 between PetroChina, the state-owned Chinese oil company, and Ineos, which is controlled by billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, will operate the complex as normal until at least spring 2025. After that it would operate as an import oil terminal facility only, prompting concerns for the future of 500 jobs. Grangemouth, on the Forth estuary, is one of six remaining oil refineries in Britain and supplies much of the petrol and diesel …

How can parents protect their children from sextortion? | Online abuse

How can parents protect their children from sextortion? | Online abuse

Published by skeptic

“I’m naked on cam now I’ll call you. Answer the call don’t be shy.” The teenage boy did as he was told by the girl he had been chatting with over social media. The next message was chilling: “If you don’t want to get into trouble, you better listen. I’ve enough to destroy you.” This is blackmail in real time, as seen through messages from teenage victims of “sextortion”, who have been lured into sharing intimate images, then stung – in many cases, by criminal gangs. “Would you like me to show your nude video to all your friends? All these followers?” the blackmailer demands. “Tell me the amount you can pay now or I will start posting and ruin your life.” Experts say the consequences can be devastating for the young people and families targeted. In some cases, it can be tragic – as it was for the family of 16-year-old Dinal De Alwis, who killed himself after being extorted. This week, the National Crime Agency (NCA) sent an alert to teachers, warning that …

Governments aren’t doing enough to protect press freedom

Governments aren’t doing enough to protect press freedom

Published by skeptic

Threats posed by governments and lawmakers are among the most concerning challenges for journalists around the world, Reporters Without Borders said in a report on Friday. More governments and political authorities are failing to support and respect press freedom, the media watchdog, known as RSF, said as it released its annual World Press Freedom Index. The rankings look at the political, legal, and economic factors affecting media, as well as the security situation for journalists in 180 countries and territories. Each is then assigned a score, where 1 shows the best environment. The political sector saw the greatest deterioration of press freedom across all regions, RSF said. “Political actors are more emboldened to denigrate the media, to vilify the press, to attack individual members of the press and journalists, to seek to weaponize the government apparatus against individual media outlets that are critical of them,” Clayton Weimers, the head of RSF’s U.S. office, told VOA. That trend is all the more worrisome in a year where dozens of countries are set to hold national elections …

Poo Plumes In The Bathroom And How To Protect Yourself

Poo Plumes In The Bathroom And How To Protect Yourself

Published by skeptic

A wise philosopher once noted, “everybody poops,” and if you live in the United States and many other parts of the world, you’re probably using a toilet when you do. So just how germy are they? And what can we do to keep our toilets, our bathrooms, and ourselves as faecal-matter-free as possible? That’s what we — Raj Punjabi and Noah Michelson, hosts of HuffPost’s “Am I Doing It Wrong?” podcast — asked microbiologist Jason Tetro, aka “The Germ Guy,” when he recently chatted with us about the grossest parts of our bathrooms and how to vanquish the bad germs that might be thriving in them. Listen to the full episode by pressing play: “There are trillions and trillions and trillions of microbes that are essentially part of you,” Tetro, the author of “The Germ Files” and “The Germ Code,” told us. “The majority of them happen to be in your gastrointestinal system … As you might expect then, the majority of germs that we’re going to encounter in any household happen to be in …

Protect your skin this summer with ELEMIS’ new Pro-Collagen SPF Fluid

Protect your skin this summer with ELEMIS’ new Pro-Collagen SPF Fluid

Published by Sam

It’s easy to dismiss SPF as a holiday-only addition to your beauty kit, especially when you live in the UK. Sun protection when rays can barely break through the clouds? Give over. At least, that’s what the mindset used to be. These days there’s a much greater understanding of SPF and the need for daily application – whether you’re at home or sunbathing on palm-fringed foreign beaches – to protect skin and slow the ageing process. According to the World Health Organisation, up to 80 per cent of UV rays can filter through light clouds, which puts skin in the firing line – even if it’s overcast. Standing for Sun Protection Factor, SPF comes in ratings and refers to UV rays; high-energy ultra-violet rays radiated by the sun that can cause reddening, blistering and burning. The SPF’s number is a good guide of how much protection to expect. For example, SPF 2 affords just 50 per cent protection from UV rays, while high SPF 50 will block 98 per cent of them and protect 50 …

Updated Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidelines protect pronouns, bathrooms and abortion 

Updated Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidelines protect pronouns, bathrooms and abortion 

Published by skeptic

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) updated the federal workplace guidelines after a quarter of a century to protect pronouns, bathrooms and abortion.  The new guidance, released on Monday by the federal agency, fortified transgender employees’ rights such as being protected from misgendering and using the bathroom that matches their gender identity. Employees not complying with the guidelines are committing unlawful workplace harassment. The agency’s update to the guidelines — the first in 25 years — showcases how it would enforce the anti-bias laws, although it is not legally binding. They came according to the legal standards shielding workers from harassment in relation to the protected characteristics, ranging from color, race, religion to sex.  Within the last category, gender identity and sexual orientation are included along with pregnancy.  Abortion was also included, as the discrimination toward employees who decide to have one is considered sex discrimination.  “Harassment, both in-person and online, remains a serious issue in America’s workplaces,” EEOC Chair Charlotte A. Burrows said in a statement. “The EEOC’s updated guidance on harassment is …

Ron DeSantis Requested a Sit-Down to Kiss Trump’s Ring, Protect His 2028 Ambitions: Report

Ron DeSantis Requested a Sit-Down to Kiss Trump’s Ring, Protect His 2028 Ambitions: Report

Published by skeptic

During the 2024 Republican primary, before Florida governor Ron DeSantis dropped out, Donald Trump: Claimed DeSantis openly wept while begging for an endorsement during his first gubernatorial run Told people DeSantis would be working for a law firm or “a Pizza Hut” if it wasn’t for him Nicknamed DeSantis “Ron DeSanctimonious” Ominously threatened to reveal “things about him that won’t be very flattering” Shared on Truth Social an image of DeSantis appearing to party with high school girls, and the claim that DeSantis was “grooming high school girls with alcohol as a teacher” (Trump’s own captions read, “No way?” and “That’s not Ron, is it? He would never do such a thing!”)* After DeSantis dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed Trump—but not as enthusiastically as some people believed he should have—a top Trump adviser called the governor a “sad little man” who would only be remembered for “chicken fingers and pudding cups.” Later, after DeSantis told reporters he would help Trump campaign “nationally,” but probably not in Florida because it won’t be a …

10 Things You Should Be Doing Today to Protect Your Eye Health

10 Things You Should Be Doing Today to Protect Your Eye Health

Published by skeptic

Vision loss is a major problem that interrupts daily life. It’s also more common than you think. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 93 million adults in the US are at high risk of vision loss. Although you can’t always restore the vision loss you’ve experienced, it doesn’t mean you can’t take precautions to protect your eyes going forward. You’d be surprised by how easy it is to put your vision at the forefront of your wellness. Try implementing these simple habits into your daily routine to protect your eye health today. Read more: 12 Best Foods for Eye Health Want more health tips? Check out why omega-3-rich foods offer benefits for your health, why your glasses get foggy and how to stop it and the right color of sunglasses for eye health.  1. Wear sunglasses  Exposing your eyes to ultraviolet rays may cause damage over time. Wearing sunglasses can block harmful UV light, lowering your risk of eye diseases like cataracts, sunburn, eye cancer and growths around the eye, per the American Academy of …

Blackpool rock maker leads crusade to protect British seaside staple | Food & drink industry

Blackpool rock maker leads crusade to protect British seaside staple | Food & drink industry

Published by skeptic

Today, Parma Violet, bubblegum and salted caramel flavours are being made. On other days, it could be banoffee pie, hot chilli, the nuclear-strength super sour or, for an afterwork treat, Jägerbomb-flavoured rock. At a small factory making Blackpool rock, the flavours might be different from previous generations but the techniques and skills are the same as they were 60 years ago. Stepping inside the Stanton & Novelty factory in Blackpool is like entering a time capsule. The smell of burnt sugar is intense. Big splodges of colourful hot toffee are like abstract artworks. Workers handroll 30ft-long snakes of the almost finished rock, which are cut into sticks and wrapped by people, not a machine. ‘If you chopped David in half, it would say Blackpool rock.’ David Thorp, director at Stanton & Novelty Confectioners. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian One of the newest things in the factory is the boss, 34-year-old David Thorp, who was working in recruitment in London when, seven years ago, he had to decide whether to take on the family business, set up …