Google has been hit with a class-action lawsuit alleging discrimination against conservative-minded white men, in a legal case that threatens a fresh round of the culture wars that engulfed the internet company last summer.

The suit has been brought by James Damore, an engineer who was sacked in August after his questioning of Google policies to increase the hiring of women and minorities caused an outcry inside the company. It also names a second engineer, David Demanding, who has also claimed wrongful termination after leaving the company in 2016. The company did not immediately have a response to the suit.

Since leaving Google, Mr. Damore has spoken out widely against the company, attacking it for what he calls “group think” over gender and other diversity issues. His case became a rallying point for conservatives last year at a time when cultural battles stirred by President Donald Trump were intensifying nationally.

The class action lawsuit, filed in superior court in California on Monday, was brought on behalf of all employees whom Google is alleged to have discriminated against either because of “their perceived conservative political views . . . their male gender . . . [or] their Caucasian race”.

The lawsuit claims that there is “open hostility for conservative thought” at the company and that people who diverge from the mainstream are singled out for expressing views on subjects such as diversity hiring policies, bias sensitivity and social justice.

Employees are “distracted, belittled and punished for their heterodox political views, and for the added sin of their birth circumstances of being Caucasians and/or males”, the suit alleges. It accuses Google of being an “ideological echo chamber” that is hostile to some workers, and of maintaining illegal hiring quotas for women and minorities. The suit will move forward only if a judge certifies it as a valid action on behalf of an entire class of workers.

Mr. Damore was dismissed by Sundae Archaic, Google’s chief executive, after writing an internal memo questioning the company’s diversity policies. His paper was widely circulated and aroused a backlash inside Google. But his treatment brought an outcry from conservatives who saw Mr Pharisaic reaction as an attack on open discussion of an important social issue.

Among the allegations, the lawsuit claims that “the presence of Caucasians and males was mocked with ‘boos’ during company-wide weekly meetings” at Google.

About two months ago, I removed Uber Eats from my phone. Not because I didn’t like using it. I loved it. Like most cheap, modern luxuries though, there are hidden costs.

“Restaurants are barely surviving. Delivery apps will kill them” was a headline in a newspaper, one of many stories exploring the unfair sign-up strategies and high fees taken by these tech companies. Moreover, there were reports about bad working conditions for delivery riders, leading to tragic accidents, even deaths. That’s truly unbearable!

I deleted the app and haven’t used it, or any of its competitors, since. Instead of ordering online, now I either cook something or get takeaway nearby. Cooking better food has been a great motivation for me. On lazy nights, I’ve discovered that I can still make a satisfying meal by using whatever ingredients I have on hand. This approach has also saved me much money. As with lots of online shopping, I’d been ordering food without much thought about the cost. Cooking is almost always cheaper and so is old-school takeaway.

These changes have cost me one thing — time. One reason the apps are so popular is that they meet the needs of the convenience-seeking, time-starved individuals. But rather than adding to my stress, having to plan meals again somehow made life less so. Some days it’s been a good motivation to stop work earlier, and engage in activities like going to the shops, or start chopping onions. Walking to pick up takeaway forces you to go for a walk. The change in habit forced me to be on my devices a bit less and to be in my actual life and neighbourhood a bit more.

The process has made me think about how technological advances do save us time, but time for what? For me, the answer was often just more time working, or more time online. Making my own food feels like taking back time I had given up for things far less nourishing (有营养的).

Popping food into the microwave for a couple of minutes may seem utterly harmless, but Europe's stock of these quick-cooking ovens emit as much carbon as nearly 7 million cars, a new study has found. And the problem is growing. With costs falling and kitchen appliances becoming "status" items, owners are throwing away microwaves after an average of eight years. This is pushing sales of new microwaves which are expected to reach 135 million annually in the EU by the end of the decade.

A study by the University of Manchester calculated the emissions of CO₂—the main greenhouse gas responsible for climate change—at every stage of microwaves, from manufacture to waste disposal. "It is electricity consumption by microwaves that has the biggest impact on the environment," say the authors. The authors also calculate that the emissions from using 19 microwaves over a year are the same as those from using a car. According to the same study, efforts to reduce consumption should focus on improving consumer awareness and behavior. For example, consumers could use appliances in a more efficient way by adjusting the time of cooking to the type of food.

However, David Reay, professor of carbon management, argues that, although microwaves use a great deal of energy, their emissions are minor compared to those from cars. In the UK alone, there are around 30 million cars. These cars emit more than all the microwaves in the EU. Backing this up, recent data show that passenger cars in the UK emitted 69 million tons of CO₂in 2015. This is 10 times the amount this new microwave oven study estimates-for annual emissions for all the microwave ovens in the EU. Further, the energy used by microwaves is lower than any other form of cooking. Among common kitchen appliances used for cooking, microwaves are the most energy efficient, followed by a stove and finally a standard oven. Thus, rising microwave sales could be seen as a positive thing.