"Valuable atlases, maps, and large plate books that show the colorful breadth of Western civilization have been stolen from the rare books room of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in Oakland, right under the gaze of Andrew Carnegie’s portrait." Round up the usual suspects. (Grokked from Vincent O'Connor)
"The University of Sydney acquired the coffin 150 years ago and a series of academics incorrectly classified it as empty… Their error was only discovered by chance late last year when more recent academics removed the lid to the coffin and discovered the tattered remains of a mummy." Oopsie.
"Parts of the Amazon previously thought to have been almost uninhabited were really home to thriving populations of up to a million people, new research shows."
"Twenty-five years ago, brown bear mothers in Sweden rarely spent more than 18 months raising their cubs. Today, it's not unusual for moms to devote 2 1/2 years to their cubs before they go off on their own… What's behind this new passion for parenting? Researchers attribute it to a hunting regulation that protects mother bears and their cubs."
How gerrymandered is the US? "Because of maps designed to favor Republicans, Democrats would need to win by a nearly unprecedented nationwide margin in 2018 to gain control of the House of Representatives. To attain a bare majority, Democrats would likely have to win the national popular vote by nearly 11 points. Neither Democrats nor Republicans have won by such an overwhelming margin in decades. Even a strong blue wave would crash against a wall of gerrymandered maps." So NDCC, it's time to up the "Get Out The Vote" drive. Also, you better have a good plan to take back the state houses in 2020. (Grokked from Laura J Mixon)
"But one other organization that has ready access to Facebook’s trove of personal data has a much better track record of using such information effectively: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement." (Grokked from Laura J Mixon)
"A question about citizenship status will be added to the 2020 US census, for the first time since 1950… US officials say the move will help the federal government enforce the Voting Rights Act and give it the data it needs to allocate resources." Let's call bullshit on that. See, the Census doesn't just do one census every decade. There are continuing censuses that drill down into some of the deep demographics, the 2020 census (of which there will be smaller census tallies run concurrently) is for enumeration, the intent is to count every person here (regardless of immigration of citizenship status). I worked on the 2010 Census and I can't tell you how important it is to accurately count everyone. But here is the other thing with the Census. With the decacentennial census whatever you answer on the questions is meant to be taken as the truth. The rules for the 2010 census were "if the respondent tells you they are a 'Purple-American Non-Hispanic who believes in the Jedi faith,' that's what you write down in the appropriate boxes" (the census I worked on didn't ask religious affiliation). There are legal ramifications for lying, though. So I wouldn't tell you to lie on your census forms by saying you're a citizen when you're not.
"Last week, The Atlantic hired Kevin Williamson, a conservative famous for his flamboyant bigotry, a flair most famously exhibited when he wrote that women who have abortions should be hanged along with their nurses and doctors." What the FUCK?! Dear Atlantic. 1) Uh no. 2) Fuck no. 3) I think you've missed that progressive minded people may watch/hear sad things when we're sad (no, really, it's a thing, google it) but we don't rage watch/read/listen. It's not in our chemistry. Sure there are some, but there's a fine line that troglodyte minds like this crossed a long time ago. 4) The only good thing is that progressives are good at ignoring these things and just skipping them. But this really hurts your brand. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"While the NRA claims it does not receive foreign money for election purposes, the movement of its money among accounts could make it difficult, if not impossible, to track how the money is spent since it is not isolated or sequestered." Hey, remember the argument about not being able to fund Planned Parenthood (and other organizations) even though the "regular" health care and abortion services have a firewall because any money to PP for one side could release other money for the abortion side and therefore it's exactly the same thing as funding abortion? Apparently conservative causes magically can keep that from happening.
"Authorities arrested a man in Washington state on Tuesday in connection with a number of suspicious packages that arrived Monday at federal facilities around Washington, D.C."
"A white supremacist gang that rewards members for murder is in turmoil after its members allegedly killed one of their own at a house party… They tried claiming Hallmark was shot during a gas station robbery, but accidentally discussed the cover up while on the phone with police." (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
"'I’m also more of a hawk on immigration than even the president,' (Mitt) Romney said Monday when he was asked about his conservative credentials at the event at the Provo Library. 'My view was these DACA kids shouldn’t all be allowed to stay in the country legally.'" Why, it's almost like the GOP politicians realize they have to be more racist than thou to whoo the conservative base. So much for Mittens being a check on Trump.
"A Kentucky teenager was charged in court this week with making second-degree terroristic threats — and police say that he planned to carry out a school shooting using an AR-15 rifle that he bought with money that his mother had given him for a tattoo." His mother says she doesn't believe her son would commit a mass murder… you know, even though he lied to her about the need for money and bought the damn rifle. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
"Sheriff Anthony Wickersham says a 23-year-old CPL holder from Macomb Township was with a friend in the seasonal aisle when his gun went off. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"'When I say he was adjusting his holster, this is a statement that is coming from him and, obliviously, somehow pressure was put on the trigger and the gun went off,' Wickersham says. He says the bullet went through his foot… Now some are wondering if supermarkets should become gun-free zones like schools." You mean like they used to be? Guns, they may not kill people, but sometimes they just like to "go off." Sort of like how porn just shows up on your phone. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"President Donald Trump has privately floated the idea of funding construction of a border wall with Mexico through the US military budget in conversations with advisers, two sources confirmed to CNN Tuesday."
"Chris Wylie, the former Cambridge Analytica employee turned whistleblower whose revelations about Facebook data being misused for political campaigning has wiped billions off the share price of the company in recent days and led to the FTC opening a fresh investigation, has suggested the scale of the data leak is substantially larger than has been reported so far."
"'They don't care whether or not what they do is legal as long as it gets the job done,' (Chris Wylie) said. 'Broadly, this is a company that goes around the world and undermines civil institutions of countries that are struggling to develop those institutions. ... They are an example of what modern-day colonialism looks like.'"
"Alex van der Zwaan, who pleaded guilty to lying to special counsel (Mueller's) prosecutors and the FBI, is asking for no jail time." Good luck with that. Look, if you're negotiating a plea arrangement, you put all of it on the table to get it all taken care of. Coming back after the deal (which was also covering lying to investigators) is just bad form. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
"The special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election revealed Tuesday night that prosecutors say they have connected former Trump deputy campaign chairman Rick Gates to a person with ties to a Russian intelligence service while Gates worked on the campaign." Here we go. Typically reveals start this way with a tenuous connection, and then you add cables to that suspension bridge showing more and more contacts, and eventually it's a huge structure. Also, not really sympathetic to his family situation. Is it sad? Yes. Is it mitigating circumstances, no. What's the phrase? "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time." (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
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