Linkee-poo for a Sunday, because I expect tomorrow to a shitshow

So two black guys were waiting at Starbucks for a friend, and then employees called the police and the cops put handcuffs on them and escorted them out of the restaurant. They weren't bothering anyone. One did want to use the restroom. Yeah, sure there's no systematic racism in this country.

"An Atlantic Ocean current that helps regulate the global climate has reached an 1,000-year low, according to two new studies in the journal Nature." We're boned.

"Blizzards are affecting much of the Great Lakes region this weekend, and the National Weather Service says it's 'shaping up to be a historic storm.' The snow is just one part of a massive storm system affecting areas from the Gulf Coast to northern Wisconsin and Michigan." This makes, what, the third or fourth "historic storm" this season?

"In Goldman Sachs's April 10 report, 'The Genome Revolution,' its analysts ponder the rise of biotech companies who believe they will develop 'one-shot' cures for chronic illnesses; in a moment of rare public frankness, the report's authors ask, 'Is curing patients a sustainable business model?'" (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)

"If Denis Winter suffered from heart failure, cancer or almost any other deadly disease, his family could rest assured that his care would be largely covered by insurance… But Winter has Alzheimer’s disease. So the extraordinary cost of his care — $8,500 a month, or $102,000 a year — is borne entirely by his wife, Linda. It is quickly draining their lifetime of savings." Medicare/Medicaid does not cover dementia care, which usually lasts longer and is more expensive than standard nursing home or assisted living care. Facing this myself, the article is a little light. It's a much darker experience and affects whole extended families. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)

"'Like, of course they see that they’re different. They’re five. They’re not stupid. They see each other, but they don’t care. It doesn’t matter.'" Because it doesn't matter. You have to be carefully taught. (Grokked from Xopher)

"After Mark Zuckerberg's two-day testimony before Congress, we consider whether a reckoning for the social media giant might finally be on the horizon. A new documentary looks at how the state of Montana has been fighting back against dark money ever since the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, and a legal scholar explains the unlikely history of corporations' rights. Plus, a second look at two infamous, misunderstood crimes: the Pulse Nightclub shooting and the Steubenville rape case." On The Media show from this weekend.

"The latest data show that people use guns for self-defense only rarely. According to a Harvard University analysis of figures from the National Crime Victimization Survey, people defended themselves with a gun in nearly 0.9 percent of crimes from 2007 to 2011." Mostly a lot of the incidents fall into the "I was so scared something was going to happen, but I had my gun with me." Also note the line about how there's not even an effective training measure for police.

"'Modern thinkers feel the need to strip away our natural born right to self-protection by limiting the available weapons that are at our disposal. They blame mental illness without documentation. They blame everything except the sole responsible party, the person involved in the action.'" As others said, I think the guns help the criminals a lot. And again, there are more damaging firearms available in the world than are available to the general public in the US. And yet, the guns used in crimes in the us, including mass shootings, are all those commercially available in the US. If the line about criminals would still get guns was true, you'd expect to see more high-capacity shotguns, automatic weapons (not semi-autos that have been modified), and non-improvised high-explosives.

"'As surely as we're having this conversation, children were harmed - some physically, some sexually, some were introduced to drugs for the first time because they were vulnerable and left alone. It's offensive, really. If you want to write a story, that's the kind of thing you should talk about.'" The GOP governor of Kentucky everybody. What a wonderful person. Say, dickhead, if that's your belief, maybe you should actually fucking fund social programs to help protect those kids, reduce family stress (security and economic), and maybe, I don't know, pay teachers well because obviously they're the front line of your family intervention program.

"More than 100 missiles were launched early Saturday morning by the U.S. and its allies France and the U.K., targeting three chemical weapons sites in Syria. The mission, according to Pentagon officials, has 'significantly crippled' Syrian President Bashar Assad's ability to manufacture chemical weapons. No casualties have been reported." This article highlights what feels to me like wrestlers trash talking each other before the main event.

"A report by the department's inspector general confirmed that investigators concluded McCabe had violated Justice Department policy by authorizing an aide to talk with the Wall Street Journal about the FBI's probe into the Clinton Foundation — and that McCabe had 'lacked candor' in discussing the matter afterward inside the Justice Department."

For there being no collusion, there sure are a lot of Russians hanging around. Rotem Rosen, "CEO of the American branch of Africa Israel, the Putin oligarch Leviev’s holding company", son-in-law to a Russian oligarch who made his money catering to Soviets in NYC in the 70s (whom Trump called "a great friend). His marriage was at Mar-a-Lago. Strangely he keeps showing up in pictures with Trump and this past week having cigars with Michael Cohen as they played hooky outside of his court hearing about the raids on Cohen's office and hotel room. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)