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

Saturday, January 16, 2016

Linkee-poo hopes your life without a chaperone is what you thought it would be

The evolving rules of Twitter. (Grokked from BoingBoing)

The PBS Newshour report on age discrimination, especially for women over 50. I so have the feels for this. No, really, this is what the reboot was all about. Because while women do suffer it more (and it begins at 35), it also hits men (just a little less proportionately). And it has deep roots (they say "evolutionary" but it's actually "cultural"). And some more on it.

So, now that congressional staffers have been exposed to lead (from paint removal in their cafeteria), can we now have a serious discussion of the crisis in Flint? And by "serious" I mean having arrests, and getting those people more help than filters and bottled water (note, showering and bathing with the water can also cause problems because of accidental ingestion and aerosols).

Hey, remember that gas leak in California which may be our nation's worst chemical spill? Turns out it's probably worse than we thought.

Fast construction, Chinese style. A train truck that helps build the train tracks as it goes along, dropping precast concrete sections to build the elevated track. Amazing, until you remember the devastation of some natural disasters that completely destroyed some buildings, or that in one warehouse they stored volatile chemicals too close together and took out a few city blocks. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

A super bright supernova. The light thrown off by this dying star is some few hundred billion times brighter than our own sun. The only reason you can't see it is that it is also incredibly far away. The brightness level, if it holds up, is way above the theoretical limits for how we think these things happen. So that means New Theory is needed! Science! (Grokked from Steven Gould)

"Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) mistakenly called South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) an immigrant in a radio interview posted on his YouTube account Wednesday…" Yea, I'm sure that's not a racist flub.

"'There probably has not been a more racially divisive, economic divisive president in the White House since we had presidents who supported slavery,' (Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL)) said on Alabama radio show 'The Dale Jackson Show,'…" Uh, yea, right. Look, just because he brings out the racist in some meagerly minded people, doesn't mean it's him being divisive. This is what's known as blaming the victim.

Turns out there are a few thousand artifacts stored at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and a lot of archeological sites spread around. So while this article is interesting for that part, and for the complete ignorance on the part of the occupiers about real life and history, I just loved where it ended. "'We also recognize that the Native Americans had the claim to the land, but they lost that claim,' Bundy said. 'There are things to learn from cultures of the past, but the current culture is the most important.'" OMG, that is so ironic I think I hurt something reading it.

Just how slimy is Sheldon Adelson? Well, he once sued a reporter for a book that casually linked his rise in Boston vending at a time where that industry was mob-controlled. And he offered not only to settle his lawsuit, but pay the reporter's healthcare bills for his child (who had cancer and the bills were enough to drive him to bankruptcy), and all that reporter had to do was admit he intentionally libeled Mr. Adelson. Which would have ended said reporter's career.

Well, things aren't going well for the Bundy clan. First, one of Ammon Bundy's bodyguard, Brian Cavalier (aka Fluffy Unicorn) is arrested in Arizona on outstanding warrants. Turns out he also isn't the war hero Marine he told everyone. And then one of his men is arrested for driving a federal vehicle just outside the refuge. So far, neither were federal arrests, but I have a feeling the feds were involved. A second vehicle was also recovered, although no one else was arrested.

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