Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
IronLionZion
IronLionZion's Journal
IronLionZion's Journal
May 1, 2021
Ban On Menthol Cigarettes Could 'Solve A Fundamental Problem' In The U.S., Says Surgeon General
April 27, 2021
DC Water Just Finished Digging A 5-Mile Tunnel 100 Feet Below The City
https://dcist.com/story/21/04/27/dc-water-finishes-digging-tunnel-stop-flooding-sewage-overflow-anacostia-river/

Chris has been underground since 2018, diligently digging, starting at RFK Stadium and slowly moving northwest. Now, Chriss work is complete a 5-mile long, 23-ft. wide tunnel that will soon prevent sewage overflows into the Anacostia River and stop flooding in low-lying neighborhoods, including Le Droit Park and Bloomingdale.
Chris is a massive tunnel boring machine, longer than a football field, that simultaneously digs the tunnel and constructs its concrete walls, all 100 feet below ground. The tunnel runs underneath Metros tunnels (and everything else humans have built underground) and is wider than a Metro tunnel, too.
Its amazing accomplishment, says Carlton Ray, vice president of DC Waters Clean Rivers Project. The project aims to build 18 miles of such tunnels, capturing sewage overflow that would otherwise flow into the Anacostia, the Potomac, and Rock Creek. This sewage overflow is a result of D.C.s antiquated sewer system, and one of the major reasons the citys water bodies are too polluted to swim or fish in.
The federal government left D.C. this undersized sewer system that basically when it rains, we have raw sewage or combined sewage overflows into the river, Ray says. Were capturing that that sewage and ultimately are going to make the Anacostia River fishable and swimmable.


Chris has been underground since 2018, diligently digging, starting at RFK Stadium and slowly moving northwest. Now, Chriss work is complete a 5-mile long, 23-ft. wide tunnel that will soon prevent sewage overflows into the Anacostia River and stop flooding in low-lying neighborhoods, including Le Droit Park and Bloomingdale.
Chris is a massive tunnel boring machine, longer than a football field, that simultaneously digs the tunnel and constructs its concrete walls, all 100 feet below ground. The tunnel runs underneath Metros tunnels (and everything else humans have built underground) and is wider than a Metro tunnel, too.
Its amazing accomplishment, says Carlton Ray, vice president of DC Waters Clean Rivers Project. The project aims to build 18 miles of such tunnels, capturing sewage overflow that would otherwise flow into the Anacostia, the Potomac, and Rock Creek. This sewage overflow is a result of D.C.s antiquated sewer system, and one of the major reasons the citys water bodies are too polluted to swim or fish in.
The federal government left D.C. this undersized sewer system that basically when it rains, we have raw sewage or combined sewage overflows into the river, Ray says. Were capturing that that sewage and ultimately are going to make the Anacostia River fishable and swimmable.

April 17, 2021
4 of the dead victims of Indianapolis mass shooting were Sikhs
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/indianapolis-shooter-was-former-fedex-employee-had-had-gun-seized-by-police-authorities-say/2021/04/16/5b9b6038-9ef3-11eb-8a83-3bc1fa69c2e8_story.html
Authorities said they were investigating what might have motivated the killer, whom they identified as Brandon Hole. He appeared to have fired his rifle at random, officials said, and the entire attack lasted no more than a couple of minutes. For hours afterward, relatives of those who had been at work at FedEx waited to learn whether their loved ones had lived or died.
Authorities identified the victims as Matthew R. Alexander, 32; Samaria Blackwell, 19; Amarjeet Johal, 66; Jaswinder Kaur, 64; Jaswinder Singh, 68; Amarjit Sekhon, 48; Karli Smith, 19; and John Weisert, 74. A family member gave a different age for Sekhon 49 and a different age and name spelling for Jasvinder Kaur, age 50.
At least four of those killed were members of the Sikh community in Indianapolis, according to the Sikh Coalition, a national advocacy group. Among them was Johal a hard worker who took night shifts at the FedEx facility to support her family, including at least three grandchildren, according to Gurpreet Singh, the president of her temple.
Johals granddaughter, Komal Chohan, said that she is heartbroken and that several other family members who work at the FedEx facility are traumatized.
My nani, my family and our families should not feel unsafe at work, at their place of worship or anywhere, Chohan said. Enough is enough our community has been through enough trauma.

Authorities said they were investigating what might have motivated the killer, whom they identified as Brandon Hole. He appeared to have fired his rifle at random, officials said, and the entire attack lasted no more than a couple of minutes. For hours afterward, relatives of those who had been at work at FedEx waited to learn whether their loved ones had lived or died.
Authorities identified the victims as Matthew R. Alexander, 32; Samaria Blackwell, 19; Amarjeet Johal, 66; Jaswinder Kaur, 64; Jaswinder Singh, 68; Amarjit Sekhon, 48; Karli Smith, 19; and John Weisert, 74. A family member gave a different age for Sekhon 49 and a different age and name spelling for Jasvinder Kaur, age 50.
At least four of those killed were members of the Sikh community in Indianapolis, according to the Sikh Coalition, a national advocacy group. Among them was Johal a hard worker who took night shifts at the FedEx facility to support her family, including at least three grandchildren, according to Gurpreet Singh, the president of her temple.
Johals granddaughter, Komal Chohan, said that she is heartbroken and that several other family members who work at the FedEx facility are traumatized.
My nani, my family and our families should not feel unsafe at work, at their place of worship or anywhere, Chohan said. Enough is enough our community has been through enough trauma.

April 2, 2021
Lots of good images and diagrams at link that don't show up completely when hotlinked here.
Swarms of cicadas sound biblical.
What is Brood X? When do cicadas come out in 2021?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/04/01/cicadas-come-out-2021-brood-x/?itid=hp-top-table-main
Sometime this spring, billions of cicadas that have been underground since 2004 will emerge en masse and blanket parts of the Eastern United States with their song and, eventually, their carcasses.
If youre in the right location, they will be impossible to ignore.
That depends on the weather. This brood has been quietly rummaging around underground for the past 17 years and will not emerge until the soil temperature about a foot below ground reaches 64 degrees. Most will wait for a humid (but not stormy) evening to pop out of the tunnels theyve been building for weeks.
They dont all appear at once, but it may seem like it.
Where will the cicadas emerge in 2021?
If you live in the D.C. area, lucky you! Youll be in the middle of cicada-Palooza, where huge concentrations will emerge simultaneously.
Sometime this spring, billions of cicadas that have been underground since 2004 will emerge en masse and blanket parts of the Eastern United States with their song and, eventually, their carcasses.
If youre in the right location, they will be impossible to ignore.
That depends on the weather. This brood has been quietly rummaging around underground for the past 17 years and will not emerge until the soil temperature about a foot below ground reaches 64 degrees. Most will wait for a humid (but not stormy) evening to pop out of the tunnels theyve been building for weeks.
They dont all appear at once, but it may seem like it.
Where will the cicadas emerge in 2021?
If you live in the D.C. area, lucky you! Youll be in the middle of cicada-Palooza, where huge concentrations will emerge simultaneously.
Lots of good images and diagrams at link that don't show up completely when hotlinked here.
Swarms of cicadas sound biblical.
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: Southwestern PA
Home country: USA
Current location: Washington, DC
Member since: Mon Nov 10, 2003, 06:36 PM
Number of posts: 44,293