Linkee-poo is on the pavement, thinking about the government, the man in the trench coat, badge out, laid off says he's got a bad cough, wants to get it paid off

There's also a new Rogue One trailer out today.

Ann Leckie tweet storm on politics in literature.

In case you need it, Alpha Bravo Charlie word chart. (Grokked from Alex C. Renwick)

IBM's Watson makes a film trailer. It's kinda fitting that it was for a horror movie. And the analysis is mostly "we have questions", not a "how well did Watson do." Also, what's not stated, is movie trailers are kinda formulaic, Watson just did pattern recognition and put the pieces together. It's a milestone that it Watson was able to identify the parts of the movie and pull clips to make a (somewhat) coherent story. But it wasn't artistic, and Watson analyzed the "final form" of the film (that is, post production, post music, post voice over, post CGI, etc), something most trailer producers never get. And movies provide lots of clues as to the content and scene breaks, much more than the visual aspects of the movie. So, yeah, Watson started with a huge advantage. (Grokked from Stewart Sternberg)

Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 return kit includes a thermally protected box (and gloves to use placing the phone in the box). (Grokked from Dan)

As a pallet cleanser, have this video of a real life Tortoise Vs Hare race. (Grokked from Miranda Suri)

Feeding cows a certain kind of seaweed could reduce their methane emissions by 90%. Of course, feeding them an appropriate diet (instead of what is cheap and puts on the pounds) would also be a good idea (and reduces methane as well). (Grokked from Robert J Bennett)

Oklahoma Governor calls for prayers for the oil and gas industry. Non-christians need not apply.

"Coffee lovers, alert! A new report says that the world's coffee supply may be in danger owing to climate change. In the world's biggest coffee-producing nation, Brazil, the effects of warming temperatures are already being felt in some communities." Shit just got real.

The Hidden Brain podcast on America's troubled history of immigration and xenophobia. And no, more than likely your ancestors didn't immigrate legally, because for most of our history, there weren't any laws about it.

"Federal prosecutors will charge Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio with criminal contempt of court for violating a judge's order to stop immigration patrols that led to a court finding of racial profiling." Please note how this has been slow walked allowing Arpaio every chance of avoiding it.

Andersen Cooper doing the real journalist's thing. Pinning Trumpster spox Conway on if settling lawsuits is equivalent to guilt (as she implied with Clinton, but can't defend her boss' settling lawsuits). Kids, this is what journalism actually looked like when I was kid. The journalist was prepared, had existing knowledge about subjects, and was dogged about getting an answer to a question. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)

There's this meme in conservative circles they like to throw at the media whenever they can (it's a part of the legacy of the GoPAC memo, the strategy of throwing so much shit at the conversation that the opposition can't respond to it all, so some of it gets through) about liberals voting for anyone with a D after their name, no matter how criminal or disgusting. Whelp, with this election I think you can see what a whopping load of projectional horse shit that is.

National Anthem singer takes a knee before an NBA exhibition game and explains the protest quite well.

Yesterday I did a tweet storm about the return of Cold War posturing and the advent of a potential Trump presidency. In the last few years as Putin solidified his power, I've had flashbacks more than once. Including this interview with Sergey Lavrov by Christiane Amanpour when she talks about Pussy Riot in Russia and the recent Trumpster word diarrhea (note warning for unsavory language). Lavrov's response is a classic Cold War putdown and started my brain down this avenue. But then there are these former nuclear missile officers who are warning the same thing. Do not let that madman near the football. On a lighter note, there was also this NPR story on visual markers used for spy satellites. I knew instantly what they were.

And then, not a half hour after typing that, "'But if they vote for Hillary it's war. It will be a short movie. There will be Hiroshimas and Nagasakis everywhere.'" A Putin advisor on the American election. (Grokked from Robert J Bennett)

Sure he may be a terrible person, but "'The bigger point is he is going to appoint the right justices to the Supreme Court.'" Jerry Falwell, Jr on supporting the Trumpster while 250 of the students, alumni, and faculty sign on to a letter decrying such support. Junior then goes on to explain how he doesn't really understand the admonition of the Christ to "render unto Caesar…". But he is correct, the students are young and have much to learn. Like how to compromise your values and integrity by selling your religion "unto Caesar" and turn your back on the Christ while saying duplicitously that you're serving him. That's a hard lesson for those so young. Junior, you've not only invited the money changers into the Temple, you've offered to carry their water.

"Federal investigators believe Russian hackers were behind cyberattacks on a contractor for Florida's election system that may have exposed the personal data of Florida voters, according to US officials briefed on the probe." It's fine. Everything is fine. Hanging chads aren't looking so bad now, are they? (Grokked from Paolo Bacigalupi)

"Roger Stone, a longtime confidante of Donald Trump's, confirmed Wednesday night that he has had 'back-channel communication' with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange." But there's no collusion. Nope. None at all. The same way candidates don't coordinate with SuperPACS that support them.