On this International Pi Day we lose Professor Hawking.
An interview with agent DongWon Song. (Grokked from Mary Robinette Kowal)
"United Airlines has accepted 'full responsibility' for a dog's in-flight death after a flight attendant put the pet in the overhead locker." Dear airlines, you really need to look at your training.
Not sure where to file this one. "A coordinated effort, which included hashtags like #HuxLive, urged Lucasfilm and Disney to keep Hux alive through all three films. Johnson didn’t really know why Russian bots were so eager for General Hux to survive, though some speculate it’s because of how they idolize authoritarian regimes." Huhn. So there's this moment in the Last Jedi where my inner editor howled at the screen as to why Kylo didn't kill Hux. I would have been a very natural progression of the story, and it would have fit to everybody's motivations. To my Russian friends, Hux is a straight out Nazi. He is literally pulled from films of the Nuremberg Rallies. I don't know about the younger generations, but the Russians I dealt with would be appalled by this. JFC, remember what the Nazis did to your country?
"'Our examination…uncovered no evidence that fracking can be practiced in a manner that does not threaten human health,' states a blistering 266-page report released today by Concerned Health Professionals of New York and the Nobel Peace Prize-winning group, Physicians for Social Responsibility." Before I believe any industry official here, release the property owners from their NDAs and let's hear from them first. (Grokked from Paolo Bacigalupi)
"The family of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich, who was killed in 2016, has filed a lawsuit against Fox News, an investigative reporter and one of the network's frequent guests over a story about Rich and allegations that he was involved in a conspiracy, according to the lawsuit." About time. And to Ed Butowsky, you intentionally created the story that had no basis in reality. This wasn't even a "slant". You lied. Your network profited from that lie (note the amount of attention it received at the time). Both of those were intentional. Those things have consequences. Welcome to journalism.
"Virginia is among 18 states that have not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. But this year, the state legislature is going into a special session to continue discussions about whether or not to include it in its budget. By the time the regular session adjourned Saturday, members of Virginia's GOP-controlled House of Delegates and Senate could not reach agreement on whether or not to expand Medicaid."
"Votes are still being tallied in Tuesday's special election in Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District — and it appears nearly every single one will need to be counted." And then they'll be recounted because it appears to be less than 1% difference. Never let them tell you your vote doesn't count. Note that this part of PA is often looked to as "Trump Country." This is where a lot of the reporters who have written articles on the "forgotten" parts of the country have gone to. Trump won this district by 20 points. That this election is just so close should send a chill through the GOP (instead they tried to frame it as if the election is close that should be seen as a rejection of Democrats). And while this seat will need to be re-won come this November, the district lines will be different (because the courts have determined that PA was over gerrymandered in 2010 and so need to redraw the lines - thesis still being litigated).
We should arm and train teachers so they can stop the next school shooter. What could possibly go wrong? "A school resource officer accidentally fired his gun inside a middle school in Alexandria, Virginia, Tuesday morning, police say. No one was hurt." Fortunate about that last part. I don't know about Virginia, but here in Ohio police officers have to re-qualify for firearms every year. Remember kids, guns don't kill people, they just help a whole fucking lot. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
Let's arm teachers and bring guns into the classroom. What could possibly go wrong? "At approximately 1:20pm March 13 at Seaside High, Dennis Alexander, a math and administration of justice teacher who is also a Seaside city councilman and a reserve officer for Sand City Police Department, accidentally discharged his firearm during a gun safety demonstration… According to a statement from Seaside Police, no one was seriously injured in the incident, although Seaside Police Chief Abdul Pridgen says a male student was struck in the neck by 'debris or fragmentation' from something overhead, and was transported to the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula for treatment." To quote Jim Wright, there are no accidents with guns. This is someone who not only has to prequalify every year to carry a firearm, he was teaching the student firearm safety. First order of business, safety the weapon and visually inspect the open chamber to make sure the weapon is not charged (ie. no bullet in the chamber). He failed both of those. Fortunately the firearm wasn't pointed directly at any of the kids in the class (or passed through the ceiling or wall to strike someone else). But even if you don't get hit with the bullet they can still injure you. Also, "(the school superintendent), in a follow up conversation, says it's against state law and district board policy to have a non-authorized individual carry a firearm on campus, and that Alexander was not authorized by the school district to have one." Fail times three. And this from a Washington Post article, "(the teen's father) said he learned about the incident when his 17-year-old son came home with blood on his shirt and bullet fragments in his neck." This is more than the teacher, that's a fail of the whole school.
"Two U.S. officials say the White House has fired one of Rex Tillerson’s top aides after he contradicted the official account of the secretary of state’s dismissal by President Donald Trump." Well run ship there, Small-hands.
"Republicans on the committee and in the full House of Representatives are eager to put the Capitol Hill investigations to rest, according to people familiar with the matter, citing the coming midterm election season… 'We have not been informed that there will not be any more interviews conducted; we have also not been informed that the investigation has ended,' a senior Democratic aide on the committee said." Nothing to see here, citizen. Move along. (Grokked from Katheryn Cramer)
"'The decision to shut down the investigation before key witnesses could be interviewed and vital documentary evidence obtained will prevent us from fully discharging our duty to the House and to the American people,' the report from the Democrats says… It then lays out a long list of witnesses the committee hadn't yet interviewed or gotten enough documents from as of Monday, when Republicans on the committee deemed the investigation complete." I believe the technical term they're looking for is 'whitewash.' "The Republican leading the House investigation, Rep. Mike Conaway of Texas, appeared to back away from the committee's Monday position that it had found no evidence that the Russians tried to help Trump. As Conaway told reporters on Tuesday, 'Whether or not they were trying to hurt Hillary, help Trump ... it's kind of the glass half full, glass half empty.'" This is like saying that because the person survived the attempt, there is no murder case.
Tweet of my heart: @KarlreMarks My favourite bit on Twitter is when you have to reverse-engineer the jokes to figure out what the news is. (Grokked from S. A. Chakraborty and Kathryn Cramer)
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