Programming note, some upcoming time off in the next two weeks where I will (hopefully) not have access to either the internet or the extra time to put these together. Sorry, folks, but it's been long over due and I really need it. Expect normal operations to be back in swing by the first of June.
Just wanna say I've been looking at my stats. All my Russian friends seem to be putting in some long hours with early days and late nights. Waves to all my Russian friends.
Yanny or Laurel? I really couldn't care less. But it's just another example that what you think of as "reality" is just a holographic construct built and only existing in your brain.
"When Henrietta Lacks was dying of cancer in 1951, her cells were harvested without her knowledge. They became crucial to scientific research and her story became a bestseller. Since then, Lacks has become one of the most powerful symbols for informed consent in the history of science… On Monday, when the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., honored Henrietta Lacks by installing a painting of her just inside one of its main entrances, three of Lacks' grandchildren were there." Mrs. Lacks is the powerful symbol for informed consent because she wasn't asked for consent nor was she (or her family) compensated for her contribution (from which thousands of patents have been granted).
"The study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, finds that Earth’s wetland areas are getting wetter and dry areas are getting drier due to a variety of factors, including human water management, climate change and natural cycles." Makes a note of how Southern California, which produces a lot of vegetables and fruit for our nation, is naturally a desert.
The state of climate science at Fox News. "Could reviving Woolly-Mammoth genes fight the effects of global warming?" While the explanation is (laughably) plausible (requiring the reintroduction of genes to modern elephants to help them tolerate cold temperatures, and then reintroducing them into northern land masses and then have them knock down a shitload of trees, which would help - somewhat - keep permafrost perma-frosty), it's totally non-sensible and basically, "oh, shit, I guess we should have saved the elephants" bad. Seriously? Make elephants cold tolerant and then release them in huge masses to destroy the northern forests so that cold air and ice can reach the ground? That's not even Ig Nobel Prize worthy.
In other Fox News news, Breaking News! (as they'd say); "The parent company of Fox News has paid approximately $10 million to settle 18 lawsuits filed by former employees, according to two sources with knowledge of the deal. The cases arose from intense scrutiny of Fox's workplace culture after it was convulsed by a sexual harassment scandal." Fox news has a racial and misogyny problem? Shocked, shocked I am…
"A sharp and mysterious rise in emissions of a key ozone-destroying chemical has been detected by scientists, despite its production being banned around the world… Unless the culprit is found and stopped, the recovery of the ozone layer, which protects life on Earth from damaging UV radiation, could be delayed by a decade. The source of the new emissions has been tracked to east Asia, but finding a more precise location requires further investigation."mystery mo Warm up the Mystery Mobile, this is a job for Scooby Doo.
"Despite protests from employees, Google is still charging ahead with a Department of Defense collaboration to produce machine-learning software for drones. Google hasn't listened to a contingent of its employees that is unhappy with Google's involvement in the military-industrial complex, and now a report from Gizmodo says 'about a dozen' employees have resigned over the issue." From "Do no evil" to "Try not to be evil" all the way to "Why not evil?" (Grokked from Dan)
"An angry white man insulted and threatened two women for speaking Spanish at a midtown lunch chain on Wednesday, threatening to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement on them because he didn't want to hear the language in 'my country.'" (Grokked from John)
"President Trump, speaking on Wednesday to a gathering of officials from California who oppose the state's 'sanctuary' law, compared some people who illegally cross the U.S. southern border to 'animals.'" Keep trying to tell me about how these people aren't racists, because they keep proving otherwise.
"The number of kids who struggle with thoughts of suicide – or attempt to kill themselves – is rising. New research, published Wednesday in Pediatrics finds children ages 5-17 visited children's hospitals for suicidal thoughts or attempts about twice as often in 2015 as in 2008." As someone who works next to an ER, I can attest this is true.
"An explosion at a medical office building in Southern California that killed at least one person and seriously wounded three others is reportedly being investigated as possibly intentional."
"At MGM Grand Las Vegas, a bookmaker takes bets on sports events at the round counter at the Race & Sports Book near the casino. Hockey is among the games being broadcast on 47 flat screens above while gamblers sit in leather seats to watch and strategize." And now we can do that nation wide! Yeah, not as big a thing for me. On the plus size it'll swell the coffers of NJ in the way Atlantic City did; big for a few years, until neighbors also approve gambling, and then it crashes.
"Whose Bot Army Is Following Manoush?" A Note to Self podcast about bots, bot armies, junk news versus fake news, and what they (may) be trying to do (and how). Also, why are the Europeans (in general) doing better than us.
Why is immigration important? "The birth rate fell for nearly every group of women of reproductive age in the U.S. in 2017, reflecting a sharp drop that saw the fewest newborns since 1978, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." It's also why we should fix both our economy (income distribution), our job market, and our environmental mess.
"Revlimid appears to have caught the attention of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar who used it as an example Wednesday — without naming it outright — of how some drug's prices rise with impunity. He said the copay for the average senior taking the drug rose from $115 to about $690 per month in the last year." From the personal files, just paid for an antibiotic outside the insurance coverage (for various reasons), the cost was over $600. For what's basically a Z-pack. Pharmaceutical execs are making a strong case for being the first against the wall when the revolution comes. This is all a short-term money grab and this type of behavior is exactly why we have regulations, and companies behaving this way typically receive a heavy amount of regulation and oversight… eventually.
"Trade negotiators for the United States, Canada and Mexico are running out of time to complete an overhaul of the North American Free Trade Agreement, making it likely the effort won't be completed this year." Not surprising given the President's actual goal of scrapping the deal entirely.
And today in the "water is wet" category, "Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday appeared to offer an implicit rebuke of his old boss, as he warned of a 'growing crisis in ethics and integrity' during a commencement address at the Virginia Military Institute." I guess now he's on the outs it's a problem, when it wasn't a problem a few months ago.
"The transcripts and notes reaffirm accounts of the meeting that people involved already have given — that Donald Trump Jr. and his compatriots sought "dirt" offered to them on Hillary Clinton and received at least one political intelligence tip but nothing as explosive as they had hoped."
"The Senate Judiciary Committee unleashed a new tranche of records on Wednesday that offered the most detail yet about one of the most important subplots in the Russia imbroglio."
"President Donald Trump revealed in his financial disclosure that he reimbursed personal attorney Michael Cohen as much as $250,000 for unspecified 'expenses,' with no mention of a $130,000 payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about a sexual tryst she said they had."
"But in Knox County, Tenn., it wasn't the fact that Glenn Jacobs, also known to wrestling fans as Kane, was running for mayor that gained national attention on the county primary day, May 1… It was that the county's election website, at the time the site was supposed to begin posting election results, came under attack… Malicious cyber actors shut down the county website and broke into the web server, according to county officials and a report done by the cyber security firm Sword and Shield." (Waves to my Russian friends) The cat is on the roof and won't come down. This works to erode people's trust in elections, even though the result reporting sites aren't connected to the vote tallying machines. Mostly because people don't understand (or accept) that. Hell, they don't understand how the internet works let alone their computers and smart phones, so they don't understand that there are still systems where it takes a human to transcribe information from one machine to another.
3 comments:
Hi! I've been 'lurkn' here for a month or so and wanted to say thanks for what you do. I give care to my mother and do not get 'out' much, so having the humor in storybones helps bring me some fun when I am checking the news. Again, thanks and enjoy your break from stone quarry. I'm from Maryland, not a Russian, but pretty sure some of my neighbors are.
-Take care
Hey Anonymous, thanks. While I look at the numbers (mostly to track our Russian friends, I get a little kick of how they think they can hide their numbers), it's always nice to know there are people out there who enjoy what I do.
And for being a caregiver, you have our thanks and sympathies. While we don't do direct care with our Mom, we help take care of her as well. There's been a ton of events in the past two weeks with that, which I don't know how much I'll share here, but it's been a huge strain on myself, my wife, my sister-in-law and the whole team (and it is a team effort). We can only hope that the systems we've put in place will allow us to enjoy what time Mom has left with us instead of the constant tread mill it's been for the last two years. Don't forget to take care of yourself, there's a high burnout rate for caregivers as well as a high incidence of (stress related) diseases. It's very easy to lose yourself in their care. I hope you also have a much help as I have had and you're able to take a break soon as well.
Hi Steve, sorry this is tardy, but wanted to say thanks for kind words and thoughtful advice. I too, hope your rough spots turn out smooth. And you, who said was taking a break-I've got some catching up to do! Again, thanks for Storybones. Cheers!
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