The Daily Populous

Thursday February 20th, 2020 evening edition

image for Washington state takes bold step to restrict companies from bottling local water

Washington has taken a major step toward becoming the first US state to restrict companies looking to extract, bottle and sell local water supplies.

On Monday night the state senate passed a bill that would ban new permits for water bottling operations.

SB 6278 states “any use of water for the commercial production of bottled water is deemed to be detrimental to the public welfare and the public interest” and would apply retroactively to new permits filed after 1 January 2019.

The move was hailed by water campaigners, who declared it a breakthrough moment in the fight against the privatization of such a valuable public asset.

“Washington State is carving the path towards a groundbreaking solution,” said Mary Grant, the director of Food & Water Action’s public water for all campaign, in a statement.

In 2019, studies by the Center for Environmental Health and Consumer Reports found elevated arsenic levels in several bottled water brands.

Other states are also looking to limit or tax commercial water bottling operations, with state bills introduced in Maine and Michigan and local ballot measures passed in Oregon and Montana. »

Bloomberg won’t release women from nondisclosure agreements

Authored by apnews.com

Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg speaks during his presidential campaign in Austin, Texas, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020.

NEW YORK (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg said Wednesday that he won’t release women from confidentiality agreements they’ve signed relating to allegations of a hostile work environment at his company.

Bloomberg then speculated that “an awful lot of the women” would not want to disclose details of the confidentiality agreements. »

US-trained cartel terrorises Mexico

Authored by aljazeera.com

However, critics say the specific skills learned by the Zetas primed them for careers as contract killers and drug dealers.

About 29,000 people have died since Felipe Calderon, Mexico's president, declared war on the drug cartels in 2006.

And, if winning the war on drugs is the goal, training the most violent cartel probably isn't a great start. »

Everyone — especially Bernie Sanders — owes Elizabeth Warren for her Bloomberg TKO

Authored by salon.com
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Right from the top, it was Bloomberg punching time, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts taking the lead to the extent that it stopped feeling like a debate and more like a interrogation.

When moderators invited Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the polling leader both in Nevada and nationwide, to insult Bloomberg, he did OK.

He was particularly robust after Bloomberg sneered that the Sanders platform is "communism," which is a flat-out lie. »