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

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Linkee-poo, in a churchyard by a river lazing in the haze of midday, laughing in the grasses and the graves

Video of SpaceX Falcon 9 first stage landing this past weekend. In case you have forgotten that we live in a SF future, this should remind you. My brain still has a hard time believing that's not CGI. (Grokked from Dan)

And, boy, it's getting to be a parking lot outside the International Space Station. Progress 66 is on it's way, and the Dragon capsule launched this weekend had a software error that automatically aborted the attempt to dock (they'll try again on Thursday). They might need a traffic cop up there soon. (Grokked from Dan)

"Britain's Society for Radiological Protection (SRP) also told Motherboard that the exclusive presence of Iodine-131 suggests the source is not a nuclear incident, but rather a medical facility such as a hospital or a supplier of radio-pharmaceuticals. 'The release was probably of recent origin. Further than this it is impossible to speculate,' the SRP's Brian Gornall told Motherboard in an email." Even a low-yield nuclear test would have been detected by seismographs before any radiation would have reached sensors. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)

Rhut rho. "Another bird flu is on the rampage in China. Already this winter there have been 424 cases in humans, more than a third of all those identified since the virus emerged in 2013. And it is spreading. This week it was announced that it seems poised to acquire mutations that could make it a much worse problem." H7N9, you're going to be hearing about this soon.

A chart of how many people would loose their health insurance and how many would loose their jobs if Obamacare is repealed, listed by state. (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)

"Illinois… play(s) host to hunting contests whose goal is to kill as many coyotes as possible in a given period — say, 24 hours. At one 'predator challenge' in southern Illinois in 2015, participants bagged 36 of their quarry… This year's competition, however, also drew a dozen protesters led by the Humane Society of the United States." About time. See, killing coyotes leads to the behaviors we are trying to control for (population increase and predation on livestock). (Grokked from Laura J. Mixon)

Let's go a hiring freeze, what could it hurt? "Trump hiring freeze forces suspension of military child care programs." The problem is we have a know-nothing president who is being advised by know-nothing advisors. (Grokked from Eric VanNewkirk)

"'I’m just not in the position to answer (questions about what Flynn told the FBI about his calls with the Russian ambassador),' (Reince) Priebus said, but then he added, 'Certainly we’ve talked about that issue with leadership at the FBI, but I’m not in a position to talk about that with you.'" Um, wait a sec… (Grokked from Laura J Mixon)

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