"New Hubble images have revealed an exploded field of dust around young star HR 4796A that could be debris from colliding infant planets in an evolving exoplanetary system."
When parents are found keeping their children locked away from society, sometimes physically restrained in beds or to furniture, many people wonder how could this happen? Well, I hate to tell you all this, but it is more common than you might think. "YouTube videos surfaced of the 17-year-old Turpin daughter who managed to call police after escaping from her family's home in Perris in January where she and her 12 brothers and sisters were allegedly being held captive. Using a fictitious name, the teenager stood in front of a white door, performing and recording a number of original songs, CBS Los Angeles reports." They hide in plain sight.
"Starting in the early 90's, (Oklahoma) embraced the wind industry, wooing companies with generous tax breaks… But the cost of wind incentives has ballooned as the industry has grown. Lawmakers started missing that lost money as oil prices crashed and state budget gaps widened. Now, some say Oklahoma can no longer afford the tax breaks that helped wind power take hold."
"In just one year, overdoses from opioids jumped by about 30 percent, according to the a report released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." We're not at peak opioid use yet. And now there's a lot of talk about starting therapy in the ER. However, there's a whole lot of problems with that, not the least of which is you need a special certification to prescribe methadone and suboxone, and the job in the ER is to save your life, not to give therapy. Also, if there's no open slots to get the patient into an outpatient (or even inpatient) therapy program, what's the point?
"Forty-five states and the Department of Justice are claiming that generic drug prices are fixed, and the alleged collusion may have cost U.S. business and consumers more than $1 billion."
"Norovirus is responsible for roughly 1 in 5 cases worldwide of acute gastroenteritis. The symptoms are pretty horrible: nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. And it's very, very, very contagious. It takes only one particle to infect a human, compared to roughly 50 to 100 particles of flu virus." Wash your gorram hands.
"Phyllis Petruzzelli spent the week before Christmas struggling to breathe. When she went to the emergency department on Dec. 26, the doctor at Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital, near her home in Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood, said she had pneumonia and needed hospitalization… Then the doctor proposed something that made Petruzzelli nervous: Instead of being admitted to the hospital, she could go back home and let the hospital come to her."
Sure, we don't need the EPA. I mean, what company would poison its customers or neighbors? "The Louisiana facility is the only neoprene manufacturer in the U.S. And, according to an analysis by the EPA's National Air Toxics Assessment, the five census tracts around the plant have the highest cancer risk in the country — more than 700 times the national average in one tract." The solution, of course, it to eliminate the EPA program that helps define "acceptable" levels of chemicals in the environment (IRIS).
"Adult film star Stormy Daniels sued Donald Trump Tuesday, alleging that he never signed the nondisclosure agreement that his lawyer had arranged with her." I didn't make enough popcorn for this presidency.
Hey Thin Blue Line advocates, did you want to get in on the gun debate (with a little louder voice)?
More info about the poisoning of Skripal is coming out. "Some emergency workers were treated after the incident and one remains in hospital."
"After Parkland, there have been many calls to make schools a 'harder target' — for example, by arming teachers. But there's a decent amount of research out there on what actually makes schools safer, and most of it doesn't point to more guns." This path is much harder and requires a heckalotta more work. But mostly it will be shot down by conservatives as being "too bleeding-heart" to work.
"The Trump administration has lifted a ban on importing sport-hunted trophies of elephants from certain African countries, just over three months after President Trump appeared to pause a first attempt to do so amid public uproar." I'm sure the fact that his sons are "big game hunters" didn't enter this one bit.
Called it. "White House counselor Kellyanne Conway violated the Hatch Act on two occasions, the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) informed the Trump administration Tuesday… Appearing in her official capacity, Conway endorsed and advocated against political candidates, the watchdog said, referring its findings to President Trump 'for appropriate disciplinary action.'" Yeah, I don't think anything will happen either. So much for the party of "the rule of law." (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)
"The current link is shot, corroded by age and chemical-tainted flood water. That’s unnerving enough for the 820,000 passengers a day traveling to New York City jobs or some other U.S. Northeast destination. For those farther afield, there’s the chilling fact that a tunnel predating World War I is key to 20 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product." I'm sure it'll be fine. I mean, what would it matter is 20% of GDP just sort of ground to a halt. (Grokked from Joy Reid)
"After the prosecution of a California doctor revealed the FBI’s ties to a Best Buy Geek Squad computer repair facility in Kentucky, new documents released to EFF show that the relationship goes back years. The records also confirm that the FBI has paid Geek Squad employees as informants." (Grokked from Steven Brust)
So let's hypothetically think of a scenario where a hostile foreign power co-ops a presidential candidate and manipulates the election system and public perception to get that person elected. What would that presidential administration look like? "President Donald Trump has asked National Security Council staff to come up with 'deliverables' that he can offer to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Germany next week, The Guardian reported Thursday." Well, yes, that's one part of that. (Grokked from Ken McConnell)
"President Trump insists his isn't a White House in chaos, but it's hard to deny the near constant churn of key aides… A full 43 percent of top-level positions in the Trump White House have seen turnover. That is not normal." Only the best people.
"Cohn, a former Goldman Sachs executive and free trade advocate, announced his plans to resign Tuesday, less than a week after Trump called for stiff tariffs on imported steel and aluminum." I know a lot of people are discussing that he left over a tiff about the tariffs, but 1) he got his massive tax break (part of the "Got mine, fuck you" conservative philosophy) and 2) see tweet of my heart below (again, more of the "Got mine…")
Tweet of my heart: @felixsalmon How many days did Gary Cohn stay on beyond the one-year minimum tour for his Goldman stock sale to go through tax-free? (Grokked from Fred Clark)
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