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

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Linkee-poo, to dumb to give up, to stubborn to change

That NPS thing? Here's BadIandsNPS (with a capital I) and the BadlandsNPS (with a lower-case L) twitter feeds. (Grokked from John)

The writing productivity pipeline. (Grokked from Mer Haskell, who shares her own version)

"It’s difficult to say these things out loud to new writers, that most of the books you write will mean a lot to some people, but that they won’t make you rich. They won’t even pay enough for food and health insurance. You will have to work two jobs, novels and day job, until you retire. And maybe even still then. We want to talk about the six or seven figure book deals, the breakout hits, the fairytale stories. But the majority of writers face only this: writing the next book and the next book and the next book, building an audience from scratch, from the ground up, hustling out a living just like everyone else does, cobbling together novel contracts, Patreon money, day jobs, and freelancing gigs." Kameron Hurley on disappointment in success and not quitting the day job.

"I have given quite a few speeches since the election and inevitably some variation of this 'reaching out' issue is raised in the form of a question, and my answer is always the same: The Enlightenment must never bow to the Inquisition." Remember when the political right was "pissed-off" and that became the Tea Party. As I remember, the Tea Party never had a turn out like last week.

Ima just leave this here. "Aetna executives backed up those arguments by citing poor financial performance as a reason for its withdrawals… But internal company communications suggest that, in three states, Aetna had other motives: It was trying to win approval of its controversial bid to merge with Humana… Some of the plans that Aetna shut down were actually making money, the documents indicate. And Aetna remained optimistic that Obamacare plans would be profitable in the long run." (Grokked from Michele)

The growth of CO2 in the atmosphere. We're boned. (Grokked from Kelly Swails)

Look at those pages while you can. "U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to remove the climate change page from its website, two agency employees told Reuters, the latest move by the newly minted leadership to erase ex-President Barack Obama's climate change initiatives." The good thing, if you want to call it "good", is that we are experiencing climate change's effects right this moment. It's going to be hard to hide the weather. (Grokked from Lisa N. Morton)

"Scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency who want to publish or present their scientific findings likely will need to have their work reviewed on a 'case by case basis' before it can be disseminated, according to a spokesman for the agency's transition team." They have no clue as to the magnitude of work that is done at the EPA. But I think that's also part of the plan, because if they can't get a review, that's just as good as suppression. Again, those who critiqued the Obama Administration for not being transparent enough are about to be reminded just how opaque and agency can be. (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)

I remember a pre-election article that basically said that if Trump won the presidency, he still wouldn't get what he desires the most. "Donald Trump holds the most powerful office in the world. But he's dogged by insecurity over his loss of the popular vote in the election and a persistent frustration that the legitimacy of his presidency is being challenged by Democrats and the media, aides and associates say." Pre-election, Omarosa Manigault said on camera, "Every critic, every detractor, will have to bow down to president Trump… It’s everyone who’s ever doubted Donald, who ever disagreed, who ever challenged him. It is the ultimate revenge to become the most powerful man in the universe." How's that working for you, Donald? (Grokked from Dan)

It's pretty early for the cracks to start showing, but as a reporter who went to both "DeploraBalls" shows us, the drive to monetize their loyalty to Trump is now on display. Also note the Darwinian musical chairs game being played in the politics of the group. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)

Just in case anyone tells you the right is so much more civil and wouldn't punch anyone. "Top Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway allegedly punched a tuxedo-clad man at an exclusive inauguration ball just hours after the new commander-in-chief was sworn in, according to a witness." Okay, I didn't see that plot-twist. Who's writing this thing anyway? (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)

"The man who told police he shot and wounded another man during a violent demonstration over the appearance of Milo Yiannopoulos at the University of Washington sent a social-media message to the Breitbart News editor just an hour before the shooting." It would have been nice for the Seattle Times to clarify the statement of the witness who used general pronouns and it's not exactly clear to me who was doing what. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)

The REINS Act politics explained. Do you know why regulatory agencies write rules? Because Congress doesn't have the time to research and pass actual legislation. So the law is the intent of Congress, who then leaves it up to the agencies to write the rules and regulations to make it happen. (Grokked from Joe Hill)

Tweet of my heart: @MichaelClear: Dystopian science fiction writers must be embarrassed they never thought the resistance would be park services and Teen Vogue.

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