What to Do With Those Eclipse Glasses; Another Student-Loan Forgiveness Plan–Coachella Valley Independent’s Indy Digest: April 8, 2024

Indy Digest: April 8, 2024

So there was a solar eclipse today. Now what?

Wondering what in the heck you should do with those light-blocking viewing glasses? Time magazine offers some tips:

Because most eclipse glasses are made out of cardboard, the arms of the glasses can be recycled so long as the lenses are thrown out, according to the University of Rochester. 

Eclipse lovers can also choose to donate their glasses. Astronomers Without Borders will be collecting gently-used eclipse glasses from the U.S. and Canada. The campaign, which has been running since 2008, redistributes glasses to people in other countries for upcoming eclipses. Of the millions that were donated during the 2017 total solar eclipse that also crossed through the U.S. only tens of thousands were usable. Thanks to a partnership with Astronomers Without Borders, glasses can be dropped off at all Warby Parker locations across the country for recycling.

Did you miss the eclipse today? Or perhaps you were underwhelmed because the Coachella Valley was nowhere near the path of totality?

Well, mark your calendars and get ready to travel if you want to see the next one. As Robert Victor wrote in this month’s astronomy column: “Although there’ll be a total solar eclipse somewhere on Earth in 2026, 2027 and-2028, the next total solar eclipses in parts of U.S. will occur in March 2033 (northwest Alaska); August 2044 (North Dakota and Montana at sunset); and August 2045 (within a path from northern California to Florida). Those will all appear as partial eclipses in the Coachella Valley. Preceding those, we’ll have partial solar eclipses in the Coachella Valley on Jan. 29, 2029, and on Nov. 14, 2031.”

CBS News has maps of those eclipses, as well as the May 2078 and September 2099 eclipses, which will be total in parts of the U.S.

If you want to stay at home here in the Coachella Valley and see a total solar eclipse … well, you’re going to have a wait—a LONG wait. The next annular eclipse—which “happens when the moon passes between the sun and Earth, but when it is at or near its farthest point from Earth,” meaning the moon does not completely cover the sun, per NASA—will happen here on July 14, 2121, a little more than 97 years from now.

As for total solar eclipses here …. well, the last one in the general area happened back in 1923 … and there won’t be another one until sometime beyond 2200.

More specifically: I spent waaaaaay more time playing with this website than I should have to learn that the next total lunar eclipse in Palm Springs won’t happen until … Sept. 3, 2472.

—Jimmy Boegle

More News

• California’s population continues to decrease. A columnist for the Los Angeles Times asked some experts why: “The fact that (Gavin) Newsom has been governor while constituents flee the state is mostly coincidental. Sure, state public policy decisions have helped motivate some people to leave. But they probably would have departed no matter who the governor was. California just got too big for its carrying capacity—at least in the sprawling, ranch-house lifestyle that so many people covet and symbolizes the state’s easy-living persona. ‘Grow and grow and grow and eventually there’s not enough room,’ says Hans Johnson, a demographer at the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California. ‘The easy places for growth have been used up. Growth today means infill development (in cities). That’s expensive and controversial. Or you live further away from your job.’”

• The Biden administration is taking another crack at student-loan forgiveness. CNBC has the details of the plan, announced today: “President Joe Biden unveiled his new plan to forgive student debt on Monday, less than a year after the Supreme Court blocked his initial attempt. … Consumer advocates have long criticized the fact that interest rates on federal student loans may exceed 8%, which can make it tough for borrowers who fall behind or are on certain payment plans to reduce their balances. More than 25 million federal student borrowers owe more than they originally borrowed, according to the Biden administration. It estimates that, if its new plan is enacted as proposed, borrowers will get up to $20,000 of unpaid interest on their federal student debt forgiven, regardless of their income. Certain low- and middle-income borrowers may benefit even more. Single people who earn $120,000 or less, and married borrowers making $240,000 or under, could have the entire amount of interest that has accrued on their debt since they entered repayment canceled under Biden’s plan.”

• Hey: If you decide to get some Botox, please make sure you’re getting real Botox from someone who knows what they’re doing. NBC News reports: “Fake Botox injections may have led to the hospitalizations of two people in Illinois, the state’s Public Health Department said Monday. ‘Illinois residents should exercise caution when considering cosmetic treatment,’ Dr. Sameer Vohra, the state’s public health director, said in a media statement. ‘Receiving these treatments in unlicensed, unapproved settings can put you or your loved ones at serious risk for health problems.’ Warnings nationwide about medical procedures at unregulated med spas are growing. The Illinois patients received injections from a nurse ‘who was performing work outside her authority,’ according to the Public Health Department. … In the latest cases, patients ‘reported symptoms similar to botulism such as blurred/double vision, droopy face, fatigue, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, hoarse voice following injection with either Botox or a possibly counterfeit version of the product,’ Illinois public health authorities said.”

• Insurers are now having drones take aerial photos of properties—and using those photos to make coverage decisions. The Wall Street Journal (subscription required to read the whole piece) reports: “Nearly every building in the country is being photographed, often without the owner’s knowledge. Companies are deploying drones, manned airplanes and high-altitude balloons to take images of properties. No place is shielded: The industry-funded Geospatial Insurance Consortium has an airplane imagery program it says covers 99% of the U.S. population. The array of photos is being sorted by computer models to spy out underwriting no-nos, such as damaged roof shingles, yard debris, overhanging tree branches and undeclared swimming pools or trampolines. The red-flagged images are providing insurers with ammunition for nonrenewal notices nationwide. ‘We’ve seen a dramatic increase across the country in reports from consumers who’ve been dropped by their insurers on the basis of an aerial image,’ said Amy Bach, executive director of consumer group United Policyholders.”

• Sometimes, scientific studies reveal new information. Other times, they confirm the seemingly obvious. For an example of the latter, we’ll turn to a set of researchers writing for The Conversation: “We found that a strong majority of Americans support DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) training for each of the professions we listed in the survey. On average, 7 in 10 Americans support DEI training for medical professionals, teachers, police officers, members of the U.S. armed forces and public employees, while 65% of Americans support this training for private sector employees. However, among Americans with negative racial attitudes—which is a phrase used by scholars of public opinion to characterize respondents who hold prejudicial, stereotypical or racist views of people of color—support for DEI training was much lower.”

• If you’ve bought “weighted goods” at Walmart in the last half-decade or so, you may soon be eligible for a portion of a $45 million class-action lawsuit settlement. The Washington Post says: “Walmart agreed to the settlement to resolve a class-action complaint filed by Vassilios Kukorinis, a Walmart customer who lives in Tampa. The lawsuit alleges that Walmart uses ‘unfair and deceptive business practices,’ such as inflating the weight of certain products, mislabeling them and overcharging for clearance products, ‘to deceivingly, misleadingly, and unjustly pilfer, to Walmart’s financial benefit, its customers’ hard-earned grocery dollars.’ The lawsuit alleged that Walmart’s business practices resulted in customers ‘paying more than a product’s lowest advertised per pound/ounce price.’ Walmart has denied any wrongdoing. It has agreed to settle the case ‘to avoid the risk, uncertain outcome, and expense of continued litigation,’ according to the settlement website.”

• Today’s recall news involves … laundry detergent! However, the issue is the packaging, not what’s inside, as explained by The Associated Press: “Procter & Gamble is recalling more than 8 million bags of Tide, Gain, Ace and Ariel laundry detergent packets sold in the U.S. and Canada due to a defect in the products’ child-resistant packaging. According to Friday notices from both P&G and product-safety regulators in the U.S. and Canada, the outer packaging meant to prevent easy access to the liquid laundry detergent pods can split open near the zipper track, posing serious risks to children and others who may ingest them, in addition to possible skin or eye injuries. So far, there have been no confirmed injuries directly tied to the defect. During the time period that the recalled lots were sold, there were four reports of children accessing the laundry packets in the U.S., including three ingestion cases—but whether these pods actually came from the recalled bags is still unknown, P&G and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said.”

• And finally … Wired magazine offers up, and I quote from the headline, “An Interview With a Guy Who Got a Vasectomy During the East Coast Earthquake.” Key quote from the patient in question: “And then the doctor was like, ‘Oh my, God. That’s an earthquake.’ I thought he was messing with me. I thought it was just him trying to be funny. But as this was happening, the desk staff outside the room started screaming about an earthquake, and I was like ‘Oh, wow this is really happening.’ And the doctor puts the tools down and asks, ‘How long does an earthquake normally last?’ and the nurse said, ‘I think about a minute or two.’ So we stopped and waited, and he resumed as soon as it was done.” So there ya go.

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