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

Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Linkee-poo, but let me get to the point, let's roll another joint and turn the radio loud, I'm too alone to be proud

And so it goes. There were so many great lines of his it was hard to choose. But ever since I heard "You Don't Know How It Feels", in my head that's just been the quintessential summation of his work. You can hear the Heartbreakers, the Wilburys, and his own work all wrapped up in there. Plus it has the feel of such ease that it hides the complexity beneath that smooth surface. Plus he starts the bridge guitar solo on the bottom two strings, nobody does that. "Think of me what you will, I gotta little space to fill…"

There's a few older links I just found hiding that I don't think I've included yet.

"A team of theoretical physicists from Oxford University in the UK has shown that life and reality cannot be merely simulations generated by a massive extraterrestrial computer. The finding -- an unexpectedly definite one -- arose from the discovery of a novel link between gravitational anomalies and computational complexity." Well, until we find a mathematical shortcut to would reduce the processing power of simulating a particular physical property of metals. This is also based on an assumption that the computer modeling our universe is very much like our existing computers. (Grokked from Dan)

There's a new giant rat in the world. Okay, well, new to us.

"The NBA is recommending teams address fans or show videos expressing themes of unity before their first home games, while reminding them of the rule that players must stand for the national anthem."

We don't need any stinkin' regulations. "For most people, buying a 'fragrance-free' or 'hypoallergenic' moisturizer that turns out to be neither, might be frustrating, but not harmful. But for people with sensitive skin or conditions like eczema or psoriasis it can be a big problem."

"Tom Price’s fondness for taxpayer-funded private jet trips drew the ire on Wednesday of President Trump, who said he was disappointed in his secretary of health and human services, and would personally examine any financial malfeasance." Trump is going to "personally" examine any… Do they even know how they sound when they say stupid shit like that? Also, for a supposed business man, he doesn't get how his travel influences the travel decisions of his subordinates. Corporate culture flows from the top down, buddy.

"The number of abortions in Ohio last year went down for the fourth year in a row. Both sides in the debate are pleased, but have differing opinions on why."

SCOTUS hears a case that may (hopefully) change our politics, Gill v. Whitford. "The plan was amazingly on target. In the next election in 2012, Republicans, carried only a minority of the state vote — 48.6 percent — but, as the GOP map designers had privately predicted, Republicans still won close to two-thirds of the state assembly seats, a 60-to-39 seat majority." Given how much some conservatives have been decrying "vote tampering" because "one illegal vote cancels out one legitimate vote and that's one too many," you'd think they would be for Gill winning (which would overturn extreme gerrymandering). After all, what is the result of the gerrymander but to water down the will of the majority. And there are some republicans who think REDMAP was a mistake. But the opposite argument is that this could "over politicize" the court. That train left the station with Bush v Gore (and actually a long time before that).

Meanwhile, on the other side of the island… "A car and knife attack on a police officer outside a football game and a high-speed chase of a moving van that left four people injured was the work of a Somali refugee who was likely working alone and was known to police for extremist ideology, Canadian authorities said Sunday." So then my cynical brain kicks in and thinks, too bad for the anti-immigrant lobby that the Vegas story overshadowed this one. But here's the interesting part, "The van eventually flipped near a downtown hotel and the suspect was arrested after a Taser was employed. No shots were fired by police or the suspect."

"Without any major legislative accomplishments to point to despite the advantage of a Republican-controlled Congress, Trump on Monday is giving a speech highlighting his own directives to agencies, which have been ordered to cut two regulations for every new one imposed. There’s plenty for him to talk about, including dozens of executive orders and other scaling-back on a range of issues, from immigration policy to campus sexual assault." The Trump Administration, making you less safe, less equal, and more likely to be victimized. By design.

Did President Trump leave Puerto Rico $33M of debt when his Coco Beach golf course when belly up. Snopes calls it a mixture.

"President Donald Trump says the federal government has done a good job in Puerto Rico responding to the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria, but says local officials need to 'give us more help.'… Trump says Tuesday that 'in Texas and in Florida we get an A-plus, and I’ll tell you what, I think we’ve done just as good in Puerto Rico.'" So, is the president actually saying that the leaders in PR just aren't giving the president enough good press? 'Cause I think that's what he's saying here.

"Compared to other recent presidents, news reports about President Trump have been more focused on his personality than his policy, and are more likely to carry negative assessments of his actions, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center's Journalism Project." That's because there is no policy. President Trump is, by his own admission, a "personality." He's constantly talking about his "ratings", and the worst sin a cabinet secretary can commit is causing bad press for the president. The Puerto Rico story is just an example. "While some may be tempted to read this as evidence of media bias, the leader of Pew's Journalism Project said that isn't a conclusion one can draw from the study." No, it could be that Trump is a lousy president and Obama was a great one.

"House Speaker Paul Ryan says there’s no plan for the House to act soon on a National Rifle Association-backed bill to ease regulations on gun silencers." Oh, well, thank God for that. Yes, this is a "we'll wait until things calm down and then pass it quickly" statement. But here in Ohio, there's a bunch of laws in the work to "expand gun rights" as they say. Including a law to allow anyone to conceal carry without a license or any training. Yeah. That'll help. But then there are also bump stocks already available.

For the Las Vegas shooting I'll point out that before "terrorism!" came into the mainstream of US consciousness we still had mass shootings. So, yeah, it's possible that this is one of those. That doesn't mean it wasn't meant to instill "terror" in people, but without a political motivation the actions don't fall into "terrorism" (remember, a terrorist is a failed revolutionary and is a political animal at heart). On the flip side of this, that also means that if a mass shooting (or other crime) is perpetrated by someone who is brown or black or has a "funny" name that doesn't automatically make it terrorism either.

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