I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
And so the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're goin' through

Thursday, September 8, 2016

Linkee-poo, to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before

Fifty years of Star Trek.

Ah, history. A collection of crack screens from Apple II games. That takes me back. (Grokked from John)

How to check the balance of your d20s.

"Sales of Kaepernick's jersey have skyrocketed since his protest became public." So, all those conservative "free market" types will now need to shut up, 'cause the market has spoken.

Just so you all know how long the various social movements out there will take. "It took an act of Congress, but World War II pilot Elaine Harmon is finally being laid to rest on Wednesday at Arlington National Cemetery."

"Now, for the first time, the United Nations will consider whether to combat that threat (of antibiotic resistance)—and what it decides will determine whether resistance becomes an international priority or fades from the policy landscape." That's a good thing, because bacteria really don't respect international borders and immigration controls. And now let us cue up right-wing freakout over the UN trying to control our diseases in 3… 2… 1… (Grokked from Kelly Swails)

"Right now, broken ice and open waters are inching closer to the geographic North Pole. This is extremely rare, but likely not unprecedented, said Mark Serreze, the director of the National Climatic Data Center, in an interview." I believe he meant, "unexpected", as "unprecedented" means this has happened before. Oh, and we're boned. (Grokked from Paolo Bacigalupi)

"The risk is always on those downstream, the downwinders, the ones who never agreed to take it and who rarely if ever profit from it." Jim Wright on the costs of living modern lives and who takes the risks and who takes the rewards. There are thousands of examples here. Chemical companies that blow poisons out their stacks which are mostly upwind of the poorest neighborhoods, and the resulting health problems of those who live there not only keep them in poverty, but also cost the rest of us in taxes (direct payments to providers, mostly hospitals) and higher health premiums. He also didn't mention one of the greatest changes in pollution controls caused by acid rain where the effects of pumping sulfur into the air wasn't felt by the electrical generation companies, but was paid for by those downwind who have to live with damaged lakes, forests, and older buildings and sculptures. Until we passed the Clean Air Act, but then it just required those companies to scrub their emissions of a few things, for which the passed the cost onto the electrical consumers (instead of lowering their profit margins). And this is the argument for carbon taxes.

Oh, and don't forget the Gold King Mine incident.

Matt Lauer kinds blows it going out of the gate. "The criticism captured what has become a common complaint about media coverage during this election: that news organizations and interviewers treat Mrs. Clinton as a serious candidate worthy of tough questions, while Mr. Trump is sometimes handled more benignly." (Grokked from Jason Sanford)

"Priebus fired off a tweet calling the Democratic nominee 'angry + defensive' during the national security-focused event. 'No smile and uncomfortable,; he added." Not this again. Hey Reince, buy a fucking clue already. It's one thing for someone running for dog catcher to keep making this mistake, but you're the vocal piece of a major party.

"Yet another North Carolina Republican party official was caught directing members of local election boards to limit early voting hours in what has been a pattern of GOP attempts to undermine an appeals court ruling knocking down state voting restrictions."

"Fake voter registration drives 'targeting particular student populations' on campus prompted a warning this week at Kennesaw State University, although no other major university in metro Atlanta or at the University of Georgia in Athens reported a similar problem." Three guesses on which "particular" students they're targeting. (Grokked from TPM)

No comments: