"Today’s launch day for the Falcon Heavy rocket that’s key to the future goals of Elon Musk-founded SpaceX… Launch time is set for 1:30 p.m. at Cape Canaveral, from Launch Pad 39A. Forecasters have expected an 80 percent chance of favorable conditions." The preview animation is a leans a lot on the opening of Heavy Metal (hat tip to Dan for that one).
"V.E. Schwab, the best-selling author of the Shades of Magic series (A Darker Shade of Magic, A Gathering of Shadows, and A Conjuring of Light), has signed a million-dollar deal with publisher Tor Books, EW can announce exclusively." w00t! And to my fellow wannabes, she's another outlier, but shoot for the stars. (Grokked from Mary Robinette Kowal)
"Bosses at Doritos have revealed they are to launch a new 'lady-friendly' version of the snack which are quieter to eat and a lot less messy." Dear Pepsico, it won't just be for the ladies. Several years ago you all reformulated your chips for the kids making them more messy (because "kids like to get this stuff all over themselves" or so the thinking went). I remember when I didn't have to get a wet towel to wipe my fingers off (even if I lick my fingers) to eat snacks. But also, please quit with the sexist bullshit (including "smaller packages to fit into purses) and just make good products. You'd be amazed at the branding opportunities.
"Until now, the only planets ever discovered sat within the boundaries of the Milky Way. For the first time ever, astrophysicists have found a population of planets beyond the edge of our galaxy." Microlensing becomes mainstream.
"Aaron Traywick made himself a guinea pig for a never-before-tested gene therapy for herpes made by his own company. Legal experts say that distributing these unproven therapies may be against the law." So at a biohacking conference he injected himself in front of the crowd. Yeah, we have a phrase for this. It's the same as getting someone to bend themselves in half to do some bit of dirty work. We call it, "Young and Dumb." As in the person is too young and inexperienced to take adequate protections (like "lift with your legs, not your back"). Add in the popular culture myth about scientists experimenting on themselves and it leads to actions like this. Note you only hear about the successes.
"A CNN employee discovered copies of them, along with other sensitive DHS material, in the seat-back pocket of a commercial plane. The reports were accompanied by the travel itinerary and boarding pass of the government scientist in charge of BioWatch, the DHS program that conducted the anthrax drills in preparation for Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis." Whelp, someone is out of a job. And then, "CNN decided to withhold publication of this article until after the Super Bowl after government officials voiced concerns that publishing it prior to the game could jeopardize security for the event." Let me call bullshit on that later part. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)
Hey, remember the ozone hole? Remember how it's been healing. You know great news, right? Meanwhile over the rest of the Earth "(t)he Earth’s ozone shield continues to thin across much of the planet, scientists have discovered. With the decline sited over some of the most populous places on Earth, this decrease could be even more damaging than the Antarctic hole." As good ol' Ronnie Reagan once quipped, I guess people should start wearing hats again.
"Epidemiologists at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) say they've identified the largest cluster of advanced black lung disease ever reported, a cluster that was first uncovered by NPR 14 months ago." Good thing we're cutting all those horrible regulations to help bring the coal industry back. If only there were a clean coal initiative for mining the stuff (there might be, clean coal is a myth after all).
"Karen Batts, 52, died from hypothermia Saturday in the Smart Park parking garage in Portland, Oregon, homeless over $338 in delinquent rent. Batts is the second person to freeze to death, alone, on Portland’s streets in 2017." As the song goes, "For the want of the price of tea and a slice the old man died." (Grokked from Xopher Halftongue)
"Why didn't she just get out of there as soon as she felt uncomfortable? many people explicitly or implicitly asked… It's a rich question, and there are plenty of possible answers. But if you're asking in good faith, if you really want to think through why someone might have acted as she did, the most important one is this: Women are enculturated to be uncomfortable most of the time. And to ignore their discomfort." And there is the root of the issue. Unfortunately, even in the #MeToo age, we will probably only deal with the symptoms and not the cause. (Grokked from someone, sorry, lost the link)
"Nearly a quarter century ago, a group of women accused a prominent playwright of sexual misconduct. A Boston newspaper published allegations of sexual harassment, unwanted touching and forced kissing. For the most part, the complaints went nowhere." The Hidden Brain podcast on the #MeToo movement. Trigger warnings, but recommended listening.
"The rout in cryptocurrencies rolled on, sending Bitcoin to its lowest level since October, as worries over tighter regulation by U.S. authorities and central bankers elsewhere gave traders fresh reasons to sell after a brutal start to 2018." Hope you sold when it was over $10,000.
So Steve, you may be asking, given the blow hardiness of Trump, Ryan, et all over how grand the stock market has been performing and the effect of the Tax Cuts (a whole $1.50! - if you don't get it, it's a little late to explain it), do you still think a recession is in the offering this year? "The stock market continued to lose ground Monday after Friday's steep drop, with the Dow Jones industrial average down nearly 1,000 points in afternoon trading… At one point Monday afternoon, the Dow was down 1,579 points — the largest intraday point drop in the history of the index." Yes. Yes I do. While the Dow is not the economy, with last week's drop and Monday's drop (note, this is written before market close), we are in "Correction" territory. Also, it's not just the Dow, it's all indexes are down, worldwide.
"Devin Nunes said Monday the FBI had disclosed political backing for a Trump-Russia dossier in October 2016, but a controversial GOP memo released last week did not mention it." Not only did the memo not mention it, IIRC two of the bullet points specifically stated the FBI never informed the court about the Steele Dossier funding (also note that the Democrats only funded the end of the research, which was started by conservative donors and primary challengers). (Grokked from Joy Reid)
"The Supreme Court on Monday denied Republican requests to delay a Pennsylvania state court ruling requiring the state’s congressional map be redrawn, increasing the likelihood that the map will be redrawn ahead of November's midterm elections." And it was Justice Samuel Alito who spiked the request. My guess is because the complaint was filed as a violation of Pennsylvania Constitution and Law and not the US Constitution. Of course now there's word that the Penn State Legislature is weighing impeaching the Penn State Supreme Court Justices.
"Two-thirds of Americans say people brought to the United States as children and now residing in the country illegally should be granted legal status — and a majority are against building a wall along the border with Mexico, according to a new NPR/Ipsos poll." Gee, there's something about ~33% that reminds me of some other statistic.
"President Trump slammed Democrats who didn't stand and applaud during his State of the Union speech last week as 'un-American' and 'treasonous.'" In this presidency of "unprecedented" actions, let me add my own. Dear Mr. President, please fuck off. The right was so busy making up myths of how government worked they've forgotten their own complicity in your ignorance. There is no king in America.
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