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

Monday, June 6, 2016

Linkee-poo floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee

We're going to miss you, Champ. Having been impossible, the underdog, the despised and enemy of the state, and the greatest who stood by his principles and live his life as he wanted, generous of heart and soul, that was sure a full life.

The Dr. Phil Memorial Scholarship Fund gofundme page. (Grokked from Janiece)

"Faced with these results, the paper suggests that besides going after (movie) pirates, Hollywood can also tweak its own business strategies (of delaying DVD releases in different countries) to target the problem." Yeah, like that's going to happen. (Grokked from John)

"A… woman bought her neighbor's used freezer for $30, not realizing it contained frozen parts of the seller's dead mother." If you wrote that as a story nobody would ever believe you.

"24 Things Women Over 30 Should Wear." Yeah, that pretty well sums it up. (Grokked from Elizabeth Bear)

Sharing that you're a schizophrenic. On overcoming the social stigma of discussing mental health issues.

"The US government, in a first, is preparing to approve a private commercial space mission beyond the Earth's orbit, the Wall Street Journal has reported." (Grokked from Warren Ellis)

Plugless wireless electrical vehicle charging. (Grokked from Dan)

Before climate denial there was smog denial. The long history of the oil (and by extension the fossil-fuels) industry trying to refute the science that says they're poisoning the planet. After over half a century, the playbook remains the same. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)

Whither Nest. This is what happens when a company with some great ideas is told they need to grow and expand, are given a lot of cash to do so, but move outside the realm of their abilities and original vision. The Nest thermostat was a really great idea (although way too expensive for my tastes). But then they tried other things after being acquired by Google/Alphabet, and it appears as if that spelled the doom for Nest. Whenever someone talks about the hottest new thing and how it's going to revolutionize the way we live, I think of thousands of stories like this one. I've seen this story way too often. (Grokked from John)

NPR interviews three generations of people about their views on politics. Speaking from the "Shadow" generation (not exactly boomers, but not exactly Xers either), we fall between the 45 and 65 year olds. I remember Walter Cronkite (who developed my love for news), Watergate was my first identifiable political memory (I do remember protests and hippies), but I also remember Reagan differently (and I remember the deepened recession he brought when he came into office). In '82 when I was first looking for a paycheck job (I was already mowing several people's lawns for money) was the deepest recession until the most recent. In 91 I lost my first professional job (less than 1 year into it) during that recession and the First Gulf War. I remember the military struggling to rid itself of drugs and grappling with a changing world and its expectations (racism and sexism). I remember working in offices before computers were ubiquitous. I remember people smoking and drinking at their desks, not to mention pin-up (and more explicit) calendars in work areas. I remember discussions of how the Presidency had lost its imprimatur of power and respect. I remember the Moral Majority and their puritanical effect on our culture. I remember HIV and AIDS, LGBT people coming out of the closet (I still know some older friends who are still in the closet), the scandal of rampant child abuse coming into the open for discussion. The world is entirely different and oddly the same from when I was born.

"Americans died at a higher rate in 2015, news that comes as a surprise to experts who are used to seeing a decline in the number of deaths." No worries.

"In California, 1,734 hives were stolen during peak almond pollination season in 2016. In Butte County alone, the number of stolen hives jumped from 200 in 2015 to 400 this year, according to Freeman." So, bee hive rustling is a thing now. So are "bee brokers" who sell the services of other people's bee hives. (Grokked from Kameron Hurley)

If only all those low-wage income earners would just be smart about their money they wouldn't be so in debt. You know, except when that's actually the employer's plan, to put them in dent and shift the cost of business to their employees. Fuckstockings. (Grokked from Chip Dawes)

Maine Gov. Paul LePage's office sends letters out treating environmental supporters. Because, you know, he's all built of the feelies or something. (Grokked from Karl Ziellenbach)

In North Carolina, the Tea Party begins to eat its own. In a special election tomorrow, we could see a Tea Party darling, with the support of the Trumpster, lose her primary because she had fallen a few percentages short of perfection. "'She's someone who got to Washington and realized she wanted to get things done,' (political science professor Steven) Greene said of her seeming evolution over the past six years. 'And that's not a popular thing in the GOP.'"

Hey look, when people with big-microphones hold institutions accountable, suddenly they do what is right. And then go back just as soon as the spotlight drifts away. Yep, greed is good is still the business mantra.

It's going to be a short, hot summer for the House of Representatives. So, here is the next test of Speaker Ryan, to actually get shit done in an election year, even with much lowered expectations of what needs to get done.

About the African-American the Trumpster pointed out last week, "'I am not a Trump supporter,' (Gregory) Cheadle said. 'I went to go hear Donald Trump because I have an open mind.'" He's also running for office. Not exactly a Joe the Plumber moment, but if you're a Trumpster advisor, you really can't be liking this.

Tweet of my heart: @thomas_violence its such a weird coincidence that all these young financial successes all have rich parents, despite being completely self-made

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