Linkee-poo, how'd ya like to stay up late, like the islanders do

It looks like Lane is just going to dissipate over Hawaii.

Not for children. "The Happytime Murders is packed with violence, foul language and graphic felt-on-felt sex. There's also a scene with an octopus that is — well, you need to see it for yourself."

"Parts of Hawaii's Big Island have already reported receiving more than 2 feet of rain as Hurricane Lane lurches northward at about 6 mph." The president has already signed the disaster declaration. Last prediction I saw, the eye will not make land, but skirt to the South and West of the big island. It's also expected to weaken to a Cat 1 storm over the weekend. Note that for a hurricane to weaken, that energy must go somewhere.

"More than 100 dead seals have washed onto Maine beaches this month. That has kicked up response efforts from marine mammal rescuers into overdrive as they try to determine the cause."

"The salmon industry in Alaska is delicately intertwined with its ecosystem. By state law, fishing of wild salmon has to be sustainable, and as a result, fishermen essentially get what they get, harvesting the excess of fish that won’t disrupt future spawns. According to a recent New York Times piece, this year, those fishermen haven’t gotten much at all." We're boned.

"A lengthy drought in Europe has exposed carved boulders, known as 'hunger stones,' that have been used for centuries to commemorate historic droughts — and warn of their consequences."

"Firefighters struggled Friday to tame a wildfire southwest of Berlin but had to maneuver carefully as the blaze set off old World War II ammunition that is still buried in the forests around the German capital." Well that makes it exciting.

"A large new global study published in the Lancet has confirmed previous research which has shown that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption." Sorry, Virginia, the "red-wine miracle" just never panned out.

"Cook was given a restricted stock award when he took over for Steve Jobs in 2011. On Friday, he… earn(ed) 560,000 shares of Apple (AAPL). It's not clear whether he plans to cash out those shares." I'm always interested in which CEO's we hear about (and those we don't).

"Eight dead bodies have been discovered throughout Cancun, Mexico -- a popular resort destination -- each killed in grisly fashion, local prosecutors told The Associated Press."

"The two men convicted of maliciously wounding a black man after last year's white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., have been sentenced to prison time. Jacob Scott Goodwin has been sentenced to serve eight years in prison for his role in the beating, while Alex Michael Ramos has been sentenced to six."? Good.

"Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., will no longer continue to receive medical treatment for brain cancer, his family announced on Friday. The 2008 Republican candidate for president, now 81, was diagnosed with brain cancer last July." John McCain was the last republican I considered voting for. This was in 2000. If he had kept to his guns in 2008 I might have considered him them, but he went full on the Reagan Compromise in 2008 so he wasn't even close to being considered. Before that it was GHW Bush in 1988, but not in 1992 and for similar reasons. Fuck cancer.

"The Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department on Thursday moved to block efforts by lawmakers in California and other Democratic-controlled states to help their residents avoid a new limit on state and local tax deductions." Please note that while these states are "Democratic-controlled", Democrats are in no way the only residents. Also, these states tend to have the richest individuals (ie. the "Donor Class" for this conversation) as residents. So these additional taxes on over $10,000 state and local tax money will hit the GOP's biggest donors as well (yes, not all, but enough). Great plan, guys.

"Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick blamed Democrats and the news media on Thursday for the murder of Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts while arguing that lax immigration policy led to her death." One, the murder was here legally. Two, she is by far not the only woman killed in this time (mostly by spouses, relatives, or those intimately involved with them). And three, the GOP sees this as their best chance to mitigate losses this mid-term election. Finally, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, you can fuck off and die anytime you want.

"The arrest of a Mexican farmworker in the death of an Iowa college student renewed calls to change immigration laws, but it also focused attention on the immigrant workers whose labor is essential to the state’s agricultural industry."

"The year was 1965. On Cinco de Mayo, newspapers across the country reported that Secretary of Labor W. Willard Wirtz wanted to recruit 20,000 high schoolers to replace the hundreds of thousands of Mexican agricultural workers who had labored in the United States under the so-called Bracero Program. Started in World War II, the program was an agreement between the American and Mexican governments that brought Mexican men to pick harvests across the U.S. It ended in 1964, after years of accusations by civil rights activists like Cesar Chavez that migrants suffered wage theft and terrible working and living conditions." Hint, it didn't go well.

"Election officials in a majority black Georgia county voted Friday to scrap a widely condemned proposal to eliminate most of their polling places." Oh look, people are watching, better not do this now. Although, hey, maybe we should look into this election consultant's business (in other news reports, supposed the "consultant" used the name of the Secretary of State to imply he had that person's approval and that the Secretary of State approved his report).

"Russia's meddling online went beyond the 2016 US presidential election and into public health, amplifying online debates about vaccines, according to a new study." Again the Russian goal is to weaken and neutralize the Western powers. If you're able to be vaccinated, please get those vaccinations (we're approach flu season again). Are there risks and do people have reactions? Yes. But the risks are minimal, and those who have reactions obviously shouldn't continue to be vaccinated (which is why it's important for those of us who can be vaccinated continue to do so).

"President Donald Trump is again complaining that social media companies are 'silencing millions of people.'" Hint, no they're not. (Waves to my Russian friends)

"Donald Trump has been warned the 'countdown' to impeachment is underway, after his former lawyer implicated the president in crimes committed during the 2016 election." I'll just note that to win an impeachment in the Senate, you need a supermajority. Which even in the Democrats pick up seats this Fall will mean at least a third of the Republicans in the Senate to vote to convict (if you get all the Democratic and Independent Senators' votes).

"Democratic leaders are wary of impeachment, even as the Democratic base appears more and more animated by the idea."

"President Donald Trump continues to receive poor marks from a majority of Americans on his overall job performance, even as he enjoys relatively good assessments of his handling of the economy." Whistling past the graveyard (for both the president's chances of making it to 2020 and for the good economy).

"President Trump snapped back at Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Friday with a series of Twitter posts that sarcastically took up Sessions' theme about the importance of political independence at the Justice Department." Nothing like investigating your enemies. Narrators voice: The president is full of shit. Clinton has been investigated for 8 years. Nothing has turned up.

"Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired back at President Donald Trump Thursday afternoon, after Trump said he 'never took control' of the Justice Department." I don't like Sessions, I don't like his politics, and I don't believe he's directing the DoJ to focus in the correct places. But that doesn't mean the president gets to fire him because he won't end the Mueller investigation (as is the rumors for after the election).

"South Africa’s government said Friday it had summoned the top U.S. diplomat in the country to 'convey the unhappiness of the people' over President Donald Trump’s tweet about alleged white-owned farm seizures and the 'large scale killing of farmers.'" The president repeated a white nationalist lie that S. Africa was killing white farmers and taking their land. South Africa does have a crime problem, and that's where a lot of people are being killed. Also, "Nearly a quarter-century after the end of apartheid, white South Africans, who comprise about 8 percent of the population, own more than 70 percent of the private agricultural land."

Not only was David Pecker (publisher of AMI which also publishes the National Enquirer) given immunity, but "The National Enquirer kept a safe containing documents about hush-money payments and damaging stories it killed as part of its cozy relationship with Donald Trump leading up to 2016 presidential election, people familiar with the arrangement told The Associated Press."

Oh look, a rabbit hole. "President Donald Trump’s bookkeeper for his personal and business affairs for decades has been granted immunity in the federal probe of former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, media outlets reported Friday." And down we go!