The Guardian: "Doubts about whether heat pumps work well in subzero conditions shown to be unfounded, say researchers"

"Heat pumps are more than twice as efficient as fossil fuel heating systems in cold temperatures, research shows.

Even at temperatures approaching -30C, heat pumps outperform oil and gas heating systems, according to the research from Oxford University and the Regulatory Assistance Project thinktank.

Heat pump uptake is rising in many countries as fossil fuel energy prices have soared following the invasion of Ukraine and as governments seek to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions.

But the UK has lagged far behind. France, for instance, installs 10 times as many heat pumps as the UK, where many people are unfamiliar with them and doubts about their efficacy have been widely publicised. Reports have spread that they do not work well in low temperatures despite their increasing use in Scandinavia and other cold climates."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/11/heat-pumps-twice-as-efficient-as-fossil-fuel-systems-in-cold-weather-study-finds

You can download and read the full study ->  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OUV613t_fBTcUVGpqB3SM_p_GCNKqZSF/view?usp=drive_link

A heat pump installed in a house in Frankfurt, Germany. The UK is lagging far behind on uptake of the technology. Photograph: Michael Probst/AP

The Guardian: "Gone in two transfers: the email scam that cost Australian homebuyers their life savings"

"Simon Elvins and his wife were excited – they had spent 10 years saving for their first home and they had finally got there. The New South Wales man had just been sent an invoice from his conveyancer, asking him to pay the first lot of his home deposit for a property in the Blue Mountains.

In two transactions on 5 and 8 May, he sent the money and waited. After a few days, he had not heard back, so he emailed the conveyancers.

After a back and forth with the conveyancers and the real estate agent over five days, they worked out what had happened – but it was too late. Scammers had intercepted the email, changed the account details on the invoice and stolen his deposit.

With two quick transfers, Elvins lost $274,311.57."

Continue reading the article (subscription may be required)

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/aug/20/australian-email-payment-redirection-scam

Simon Elvins and his wife had spent 10 years saving for a deposit for their new home in the Blue Mountains only to lose nearly $250,000 to a payment redirection scam. Photograph: Dean Sewell/Oculi

The Guardian: 2 articles on PFAS

Drinking water of millions of Americans contaminated with ‘forever chemicals’

"Drinking water consumed by millions of Americans from hundreds of communities spread across the United States is contaminated with dangerous levels of toxic chemicals, according to testing data released on Thursday by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The data shows that drinking water systems serving small towns to large cities – from tiny Collegeville, Pennsylvania, to Fresno, California – contain measurable levels of so-called “forever chemicals”, a family of durable compounds long used in a variety of commercial products but that are now known to be harmful.

The water of as many as 26 million Americans is contaminated, according to an analysis of the new EPA data performed by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a Washington DC-based non-profit."

Continue reading online (subscription maybe required)

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/aug/17/pfas-us-drinking-water-contaminated-forever-chemicals-epa

New data shows that about one-in-10 drinking water systems contain the two most notoriously dangerous forever chemicals. Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

EPA’s new definition of PFAS could omit thousands of ‘forever chemicals’

"The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) office responsible for protecting the public from toxic substances has changed how it defines PFAS for a second time since 2021, a move critics say they fear will exclude thousands of “forever chemicals” from regulation and largely benefit industry.

Instead of using a clear definition of what constitutes a PFAS, the agency’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics plans to take a “case-by-case” approach that allows it to be more flexible in determining which chemicals should be subjected to regulations.

Equipment used to test for PFAS in drinking water.

Among other uses for the compounds, the EPA appears to be excluding some chemicals in pharmaceuticals and pesticides that are generally defined as PFAS, current and former EPA officials say, and the shift comes amid fierce industry opposition to proposed limits on the chemicals."

Continue reading online (subscription maybe required)

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/aug/18/epa-new-definition-pfas-forever-chemicals

The Guardian: "Revealed: WHO aspartame safety panel linked to alleged Coca-Cola front group"

"Guideline on Diet Coke ingredient by consultants tied to industry is ‘obvious conflict of interest’ and ‘not credible’, report says"

"In May, the World Health Organization issued an alarming report that declared widely used non-sugar sweeteners like aspartame are likely ineffective for weight loss, and long term consumption may increase the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and mortality in adults.

A few months later, WHO declared aspartame, a key ingredient in Diet Coke, to be a “possible carcinogen”, then quickly issued a third report that seemed to contradict its previous findings – people could continue consuming the product at levels determined to be safe decades ago, before new science cited by WHO raised health concerns.

That contradiction stems from beverage industry corruption of the review process by consultants tied to an alleged Coca-Cola front group, the public health advocacy group US Right-To-Know said in a recent report."

Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required)

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/aug/17/who-panel-aspartame-diet-coke-guidelines

‘Because of this conflict of interest, conclusions about aspartame are not credible, and the public should not rely on them,’ US Right-To-Know’s executive director says. Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

The Guardian: "Back to the stone age: the sustainable building material we’ve all been waiting for…"

"It’s strong, plentiful and fireproof, as well as beautiful, yet stone has long been supplanted in the building industry by energy-consuming steel, concrete and brick. A trio of advocates for this age-old material say it’s time for a rethink

Imagine a building material that is beautiful, strong, plentiful, durable and fireproof, whose use requires low levels of energy and low emissions of greenhouse gases. It is one of the most ancient known to humanity, the stuff of dolmens and temples and cathedrals and Cotswolds cottages, but also one whose sustainability makes it well-suited to the future. Such a material, according to a growing body of opinion in the world of construction, is among us. It’s called stone.

Last week I sat in the roof garden of a hefty pile of masonry in central London, talking to three advocates of this magnificent substance: engineer Steve Webb, Pierre Bidaud of the Rutland-based Stonemasonry Company and architect Amin Taha. My initial request, driven by a journalistic preference for highlighting individuals, had been to meet Taha alone, but he pointed out that their work is a collaboration of different disciplines. The building on top of which we met is their joint creation: the six-storey, five-year-old Clerkenwell block where Taha has his office and his home."

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/aug/06/back-to-the-stone-age-the-sustainable-building-material-weve-all-been-waiting-for-amin-taha-groupwork-webb-yates-the-stonemasonry-company

Everyday luxury: affordable housing near Palma, Mallorca, built by Balearic social housing institute Ibavi, constructed from load‑bearing stone quarried locally. Photograph: José Hevia

8 things the world must do to avoid the worst of #ClimateCrisis

Prof. Peter Strachan (@ProfStrachan) tweeted on Tue, Aug 01, 2023:

Eight things the world must do to avoid the worst of #ClimateCrisis
1. Stop methane emissions
2. Stop deforestation
3. Restore degraded land
4. Change what we eat
5. Go #RenewableEnergy
6. Use energy more efficiently
7. Stop burning #FossilFuels
8. #ActNow 

Read more about the steps and actions required ->   https://t.co/8wNURqsLfL

The IPCC updated report referenced ->  https://www.ipcc.ch/assessment-report/ar6/

Shared from Twitter -> https://twitter.com/ProfStrachan/status/1686449318507462675

Wind turbines on a snowfield in Tongliao, Inner Mongolia. Photograph: VCG/Getty Images

Tick borne disease creates meat allergy; raises need for reminders on tick bite prevention steps

"Up to 450,000 Americans may have been affected by a potentially life-threatening red meat allergy caused by ticks as many doctors remain unaware of what it is or how to treat it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In new reports released on Thursday, the CDC found that between 96,000 and 450,000 Americans since 2010 may have been affected by alpha-gal syndrome. The syndrome, also known as a red meat allergy or tick-bite meat allergy, stems from alpha-gal, a sugar molecule not naturally present in humans. Instead, it is found in meat including pork, beef, rabbit, lamb and venison, as well as products made from mammals including gelatin and milk products.

“Because the diagnosis of alpha-gal syndrome requires a positive diagnostic test and a clinical exam, and some individuals with alpha-gal syndrome may not get tested, it is estimated that as many as 450,000 people might have been affected by AGS in the United States,” the CDC said, adding. “Of those aware of AGS, knowledge about diagnosis and management is low.”

Continue reading at The Guardian (subscription maybe required) ->

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/27/tick-bite-red-meat-allergy-ags-cdc

Other news outlet's provide coverage as well

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/07/27/tick-red-meat-allergy/

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/27/metro/lone-star-tick-meat-allergy/

Original report from CDC ->

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/wr/mm7230a2.htm

Franklin's Health Director Cathleen Liberty talks about ticks and insect borne diseases in this podcast ->  https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/05/fm-271-franklin-health-director.html

From 2017 to 2021, there was an annual increase in positive AGS test results across the country, the CDC report said. Photograph: Jason Ondreicka/Alamy

The Guardian: "We can’t afford to be climate doomers"

"Stanford engineering professor and renewable energy expert Mark Z Jacobson tweeted the other day, “Given that scientists who study 100% renewable energy systems are unanimous that it can be done why do we hear daily on twitter and everywhere else by those who don’t study such systems that it can’t be done?” 

A significant percentage of the general public speaks of climate change with a strange combination of confidence and defeatism: confidence in positions often based on inaccurate or outdated or maybe no information; defeatism about what we can do to make a livable future. 

Maybe they just get their facts from other doom evangelists, who flourish on the internet, no matter how much reputable scientists demonstrate their errors."

Continue reading the article in The Guardian (subscription maybe required)

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jul/26/we-cant-afford-to-be-climate-doomers

‘They’re surrendering in advance and inspiring others to do the same.’ Photograph: Vuk Valcic/Sopa Images/Shutterstock

The Guardian: "Why aren’t we more scared of the climate crisis? It’s complicated"

"The emotional response to the climate crisis – even if we feel fearful during an episode of wildfire smoke or flooding – is similar to what many people who live in war zones may experience, Lickel said. While at first, the threat of bombs and attacks are imminent and extremely frightening, eventually those who remain in these areas adapt somewhat to a life in which the threat becomes just another thing to deal with daily. “If they’re not escalating or the nature of the threat’s not changing,” Lickel said, “it is to be expected that the felt emotion is going to go down.”

Though the climate crisis is altering our planet rapidly on a geologic time scale, on a human one, changes are happening relatively slowly. That means that even if we see record-setting temperatures or experience our first indoors-due-to-smoke-days, those occurrences will become a new normal within the timespan of our lives. “I’m skeptical that there is going to be an event that’s going to catalyze us more than any of the things that have already happened,” Lickel said."

Continue reading The Guardian article online (subscription maybe required) ->

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/22/climate-crisis-fear-psychology

Psychologists say we aren’t designed to remain in a high state of fear for long. Photograph: John Locher/AP

What does AI get trained on? Copyrighted material, apparently without permission of the owner

Aside from the fact that AI is neither artificial nor "intelligent", ChatGPT was trained on info as of 2019 (4 years ago (and getting older each day)), and also, as claimed by this lawsuit, to include copyrighted data that was not permissioned for such use.

"Tools like ChatGPT, a highly popular chatbot, are based on large language models that are fed vast amounts of data taken from the internet in order to train them to give convincing responses to text prompts from users.

The lawsuit against OpenAI claims the three authors “did not consent to the use of their copyrighted books as training material for ChatGPT. Nonetheless, their copyrighted materials were ingested and used to train ChatGPT.” The lawsuit concerning Meta claims that “many” of the authors’ copyrighted books appear in the dataset that the Facebook and Instagram owner used to train LLaMA, a group of Meta-owned AI models.

The suits claim the authors’ works were obtained from “shadow library” sites that have “long been of interest to the AI-training community”.

Continue reading the article online ->

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/jul/10/sarah-silverman-sues-openai-meta-copyright-infringement

It is claimed that Sarah Silverman and the other authors’ works were obtained from ‘shadow library’ sites. Photograph: Rich Fury/Getty Images for THR

The Guardian: "'It’s like a death pit’: how Ghana became fast fashion’s dumping ground"

"It’s mid-morning on a sunny day and Yvette Yaa Konadu Tetteh’s arms and legs barely make a splash as she powers along the blue-green waters of the River Volta in Ghana. This is the last leg of a journey that has seen Tetteh cover 450km (280 miles) in 40 days to become the first person known to swim the length of the waterway.

It’s an epic mission but with a purpose: to find out whatis in the water and raise awareness of pollution in Ghana.

As the 30-year-old swims, a crew shadows her on a solar-powered boat, named The Woman Who Does Not Fear, taking air and water samples along the way that will be analysed to measure pollution.

It is hoped that the swim will draw attention to some of the pristine environments in Ghana, in contrast with places such as Korle Lagoon in the capital city of Accra, one of the most polluted water bodies on Earth."

Continue reading the article online -> (subscription maybe required)

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/jun/05/yvette-yaa-konadu-tetteh-how-ghana-became-fast-fashions-dumping-ground

The Guardian: "'It’s like a death pit’: how Ghana became fast fashion’s dumping ground"

Want a lighthouse? "US to give away free lighthouses as GPS makes them unnecessary"

"Ten lighthouses that for generations have stood like sentinels along America’s shorelines protecting mariners from peril and guiding them to safety are being given away at no cost or sold at auction by the federal government.

The aim of the program run by the General Services Administration is to preserve the properties, most of which are more than a century old.

The development of modern technology, including GPS, means lighthouses are no longer essential for navigation, said John Kelly of the GSA’s office of real property disposition. And while the Coast Guard often maintains aids to navigation at or near lighthouses, the structures themselves are often no longer mission critical.

Yet the public remains fascinated by the evocative beacons, which are popular tourist attractions, beloved local landmarks and the subject of countless photographers and artists, standing lonely but strong against tides and storms, day and night and flashing life-saving beams of light whatever the weather."

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/26/us-free-lighthouses-gps

Nobska Point lighthouse, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Photograph: lucky-photographer/Alamy

The Guardian: "PFAS levels in ground and air could be higher than expected, research suggests"

"Background levels of toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” in the ground and air may be much higher than previously thought, federal testing of spatially random soil samples from across New Hampshire suggests.

The analysis found high levels of PFAS in all 100 shallow soil samples, which were taken from undisturbed land not close to known polluters. The chemicals are thought to largely have gotten there through the air, and the study, along with recent EU research, suggests similar levels of soil and air contamination throughout the world.

The findings are “pretty disturbing” and raise fresh questions about contamination of food and water, said Mindi Messmer, a former New Hampshire state representative who advocates for stronger PFAS bans.

“However it got here, it’s there and it is widespread,” she added. “It’s the fault of decades of regulatory inaction.”

Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required) ->

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/26/pfas-ground-air-pollution-study

Studies have found rain to contain high PFAS levels. Photograph: Joe Portlock/Formula 1/Formula Motorsport Limited/Getty Images

What global warming is doing to ocean temperatures

"By the end of March, the surface temperature of the world’s oceans was above anything seen in the 40 years that satellites have been measuring it.

Records were “headed off the charts” and, as the heat refused to fade for more than a month, the Earth marched into “uncharted territory”, scientists said.

The temperature at the ocean’s surface – like on land – is being pushed higher by global heating but can jump around from one year to the next as weather systems come and go.

But in the 2km below the surface, that variability is almost nowhere to be seen. The rising heat down there has been on a relentless climb for decades, thanks to burning fossil fuels."

Continue reading the article at The Guardian (subscription may be required)

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/15/oceans-have-been-absorbing-the-worlds-extra-heat-but-theres-a-huge-payback

As the ocean heats up, it expands, pushing up sea levels around the globe. Photograph: Kerem Yücel/AFP/Getty Images

The Guardian: "US food pesticides contaminated with toxic ‘forever chemicals’ testing finds"

We heard at the Town Council meeting last week that PFAS regulations will require additional cost to mitigate yet, PFAS is still prevalent and not yet stopped being produced. This article helps to confirm the extensive spread of PFAS in our environment.

"Some of the United States’ most widely used food pesticides are contaminated with “potentially dangerous” levels of toxic PFAS “forever chemicals”, new testing of the products finds.

The Environmental Protection Agency has previously been silent on PFAS in food pesticides, even as it found the chemicals in non-food crop products. The potential for millions of acres of contaminated food cropland demands swifter and stronger regulatory action, the paper’s authors say.

“I can’t imagine anything that could make these products any more dangerous than they already are, but apparently my imagination isn’t big enough,” said Nathan Donley, environmental health science director at the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), which co-authored the study. “The EPA has to take control of this situation and remove pesticide products that are contaminated with these extremely dangerous, persistent chemicals.”

Continue reading online (subscription maybe required) ->

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/07/food-pesticides-toxic-forever-chemicals-pfas

PFAS at the Town Council meeting skip to 1:51:00 of the recording to view

https://www.youtube.com/live/mhRDmkdk7og?feature=share

Spraying pesticide at grape vineyard in the San Joaquin Valley, California. Photograph: Education Images/UIG/Getty Images

The Guardian: "The digital media bubble has burst. Where does the industry go from here?"

"Toward the end of Traffic, a new account of the early rock n roll years of internet publishing, Ben Smith writes that the failings of Buzzfeed News had come about as a result of a “utopian ideology, from a kind of magical thinking”.

No truer words, perhaps, for a digital-based business that for a decade paddled in a warm bath of venture capital funding but never fully controlled its pricing and distribution, a basic business requirement that applies to information as much as it does to selling lemonade in the school yard or fossil fuels.

Buzzfeed News, a pioneer of the internet news business that walked away with a Pulitzer Prize for international reporting in 2021, said it was shutting down its newsroom on 20 April after shares in the company tumbled 90% since the company went public. Buzzfeed CEO Jonah Peretti said the company “can no longer continue to fund” the site.

But that was just one of the pieces of bad news hitting the digital media sector."

Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required) -> 

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/may/07/the-digital-media-bubble-has-burst-where-does-the-industry-go-from-here

Buzzfeed News, a pioneer of the internet news business, announced it was closing its newsroom on 20 April. Photograph: M4OS Photos/Alamy

Disinformation is real - "Latest disclosure includes claims that social media platforms detect false accounts only 1% of the time"

"Russia has increased the effectiveness of its disinformation campaigning on social media and boasts that vast amounts of fake accounts are escaping detection, according to a report on leaked US intelligence documents.

The latest material disclosed on the Discord chat platform contains claims by Russian operators of false social media accounts that they are detected by social media platforms only 1% of the time. The Russian disinformation network is known as Fabrika, according to the leak.

The claim was detailed in an analysis of Russia’s effectiveness at pushing propaganda on platforms including Twitter, TikTok, Telegram and YouTube. The document, seen by the Washington Post, is undated but refers to internet activity in late 2022 and appears to have been prepared by the US joint chiefs of staff, US Cyber Command and Europe Command, which directs US military activity in Europe."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/17/pentagon-leak-suggests-russia-honing-disinformation-drive-report

Disinformation is real - "Latest disclosure includes claims that social media platforms detect false accounts only 1% of the time"

EPA proposes updates to PFAS regulations

"The US Environmental Protection Agency has taken the extraordinary step of setting legal drinking water limits for six of the most studied and toxic PFAS compounds, known commonly as “forever chemicals”, that are at the center of an ongoing environmental crisis.

The new limits mark the first time in 26 years that the EPA has set legal limits for a contaminant in drinking water. Municipal utilities will be required to remove the compounds from drinking water, which could set off a wave of lawsuits directed at PFAS polluters, including the US military and chemical producers like 3M, DuPont and Chemours.

The new rules are “groundbreaking”, said Erik Olson, senior strategic director for the Natural Resources Defense Council non-profit, which tracks PFAS pollution.

“We have a five-alarm fire, and setting strong standards will help ensure the fundamental right of every family to have safe water flowing from their kitchen tap,” he said."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required) 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/14/epa-drinking-water-limits-pfas-forever-chemicals

The EPA page has more information on the proposed regulation changes  ->    https://www.epa.gov/pfas

Franklin currently has one well offline due to PFAS. The annual water quality report shows the results of regular water testing. A podcast series (approx. 90 minutes total) talks through the process of water quality from well to faucet. It can be found posted on the Town page 

Water quality (consumer confidence reports) https://www.franklinma.gov/water-sewer-division/pages/consumer-confidence-reports

The water system podcast series https://www.franklinma.gov/water-sewer-division/news/franklin-matters-conversations-doug-martin-jake-standley

 

EPA proposes updates to PFAS regulations

The Guardian: turf issue link to Phillies health?; heat pump explainer

“There is a high number of Philadelphia Phillies diagnosed with this rare cancer and it looks weird, so that should be a red flag,” said Bennett. “We don’t know what those chemicals are doing to us – what happened to exercising caution when we’re talking about human health?”

However, all brain cancer experts who have spoken with the Guardian or were quoted in previous stories on the Phillies deaths cautioned that it is impossible to prove that the ball players’ cancers were caused by PFAS from the turf.

“The bottom line is anything in the world is possible, but what’s plausible and provable are totally different things,” said Henry Friedman, a neuro-oncologist at Duke University who treated two of the players. “There is no way to now say, ‘If these chemicals are there, they are causing the tumors.’”

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/mar/10/phillies-ball-players-cancer-artifical-turf

"Few climate technologies have ever had a moment quite like the one heat pumps are currently enjoying.

While the share of electric vehicles and induction stoves sales may be growing, they still represent a sliver of all cars and stoves sold respectively. US heat pump sales, though, surpassed those of gas furnaces last year as the tech of choice to keep homes comfortable.

The sudden rise of the heat pump may have you wondering: what actually are they, how do they work, and are there incentives that can help lower the price?"

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/11/heat-pump-revolution-what-you-need-to-know

A heat pump can do both – warm and cool the house depending on the season. Composite: The Guardian/Getty Images

The Guardian: "US educational authorities must resist ‘anti-woke’ censorship"

Editorial signed by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Angela Davis, Nikole Hannah-Jones, Ibram X Kendi, Gloria Steinem, Cornel West and others... 

"As academics, artists, advocates, policy-makers and concerned persons from different parts of the world, we emphatically oppose the attacks being waged on educational curricula in the United States and elsewhere against intersectionality, critical race theory, Black feminism, queer theory and other frameworks that address structural inequality. We join the thousands of signatories who have opposed censoring critical content in public and higher education. We also agree with the 30 Black LGBTQ organizations that have denounced the “relentless attacks that have led to book banning, curriculum censorship, politically motivated purges of educators, and an exodus of skilled teachers”.

Here we write as concerned individuals in professions ranging from education and research to policymaking, clinical care, and advocacy who have benefited from and continue to use intersectionality and a family of related concepts in our work. In this letter, we express our concerns about the coordinated and dangerous disinformation campaigns that seek to discredit and censor vital tools such as intersectionality and Black feminism. This strategy has surfaced in conjunction with the recent debacle concerning college-level curriculum for high school students in the United States, but has appeared elsewhere as well.

Since the summer of 2020, an emboldened and well-resourced faction in the United States, and increasingly around the globe, has declared war on hard-fought advances in civil and human rights, social justice and democratic participation. This faction, which includes multiple state legislators and governors, has attacked the democratization of the teaching of US history, attempting to censor concepts that sprang to life out of decades of struggle against racism, sexism, ableism, colonialism and related forms of domination."

Continue reading the editorial online -> 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/08/anti-woke-censorship-colleges-open-letter

A woman holds a sign outside a bookstore where Florida governor Ron DeSantis was signing copies of his book on 28 February 2023. Photograph: Marco Bello/Reuters