Linkee-poo and it's one more beer and I don't hear you anymore

So many Alligators they're spilling out into the streets.

"But no matter your feelings about WotF, I believe most people in the genre agree helping new writers is a good thing. And that there should be more than one path for new writers to take to gain experience, training, and initial success… Along those lines it is exciting to hear about the new Dream Foundry, whose mission is 'to bolster and sustain the nascent careers of professionals working in the field of speculative literature.'" Jason Sanford on a possible new non-profit who is also holding an fundraiser to generate startup money.

"Humanity has wiped out 60% of mammals, birds, fish and reptiles since 1970, leading the world’s foremost experts to warn that the annihilation of wildlife is now an emergency that threatens civilisation." It's the 6th Mass Extinction, folks. What are we gonna eat? But sure, we don't need the EPA. Or FDA. Hope you like fried insects. (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)

"IBM is shrinking… and its stock is down a whopping 35% since its current CEO took over at the beginning of 2012… So what better time to make the biggest acquisition in its history? That's what IBM's October 29 deal is to pay $33 billion… to acquire open source software maker Red Hat, according to CNBC." What could go wrong? (Grokked from John)

"Greyhound abandons 400 remote communities in Canada." Because profitability. And the death of small communities continues unabated. (Grokked form Xeni Jardin)

"Simply stated, (Section) 1201 (of the DMCA) makes it illegal to 'circumvent' locks put on products by the manufacturer without permission. It shifts control of our products from us, the owners, to the original makers of the equipment. This law has been a significant contributor to the steady erosion of ownership rights." The little guy finally wins (a little bit). (Grokked from John)

"Convicted mobster James 'Whitey' Bulger, who rose to power as a secret informant to the FBI and counted on FBI agents to help him get away with murder and extortion, was found dead in prison Tuesday. He was 89."

"The Interior Department’s Office of Inspector General has referred one of its ongoing probes into the conduct of Secretary Ryan Zinke to the Justice Department for further investigation, according to two individuals familiar with the matter." Okay, I'mma gonna need a ruling here, just what was "drain the swamp" code for? (Grokked from Joshua Parker)

Jeff Sessions is driving ministers to protest him (video). And Jeff calls it an "attack" while others boo the minister. In the Book off Revelations there's only one test for those who are on the right hand or left hand during Judgement.

"Vice President Mike Pence was roundly criticized on Monday for appearing at a campaign rally in Michigan at which a 'Messianic rabbi' invoked Jesus in mourning the deaths of 11 people at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh… Messianic Judaism, which believes that Jesus is the messiah and considers the New Testament to be authentic, is not recognized as Jewish by any mainstream Jewish movement in the United States, or by the Chief Rabbinate, the supreme spiritual authority for Judaism in Israel." That's because they're Christian evangelicals who think they can hoodwink Jews into becoming Christians. The good "rabbi" also prayed for conservatives up for election, by name, but failed to name any of the Jews killed in the synagogue. The Vice President choose this man. Our VP is a horrible person and a Christian In Name Only (CINO). Also note, XINO is the conservative Christian name for liberal Christians (and yet they don't like to use Xmas, funny that).

"Loren Jacobs, who was invited onstage by Vice President Mike Pence to speak at a rally in Michigan for a GOP congressional candidate, was defrocked 15 years ago, according to a spokeswoman for the Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations." So apparently even the fake Jews didn't want him either. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)

"Video shared to KTSM from MVS Noticias El Paso/Juarez show law enforcement officers practicing formations on the Santa Fe bridge… There does not appear to be any vehicles or pedestrians on the bridge at the time, however, CBP said in a statement that the training only cause delays and did not shut down the bridge… However, the CBP bridge wait time website still has 'Lanes Closed' for the Stanton bridge's Pedestrian and standard passenger vehicle lanes." Yeah, I don't know how America will survive an invasion of a few thousand footsore women and children. (Grokked in a roundabout way from Kathryn Cramer)

"Late last week, about 60 percent of the conversation was driven by likely bots. Over the weekend, even as the conversation about the caravan was overshadowed by more recent tragedies, bots were still driving nearly 40 percent of the caravan conversation on Twitter. That's according to an assessment by Robhat Labs, a startup founded by two UC Berkeley students that builds tools to detect bots online. The team's first product, a Chrome extension called BotCheck.me, allows users to see which accounts in their Twitter timelines are most likely bots. Now it's launching a new tool aimed at news organizations called FactCheck.me, which allows journalists to see how much bot activity there is across an entire topic or hashtag." It's officially an arms race. Unfortunately at this time, FactCheck.me isn't a live tool (like botcheck.me). Instead they get requests, run the numbers "manually" and then return a report in 24-hours. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)

What happens when you try to fake a sexual assault scandal. "At least two conservative media personalities appeared linked to an apparent hoax that may have been designed to ensnare Washington reporters, if not also cause political damage to Mueller… That person, according to the account, asks her to establish contact over an encrypted messaging application and then, in exchange for tens of thousands of dollars, to make false but potentially politically damaging misconduct claims against Mueller." These kinds of things never work, despite the fervent victimization dreams of the right. Mueller has referred the matter (including his investigation of it) to the FBI. Seriously, dudes, you should have kept Mueller in your good graces. You've now made it personal (which might also have been an part of this attempt at mud slinging).

What it looks like to actually drain the swamp. "Voters in more than a dozen states will vote on ballot questions next Tuesday to enact stringent laws on campaign finance and other government ethics issues affecting state and local lawmakers… The surge in ballot questions comes as national Democrats are embracing ethics reform issues. House Democrats have legislation ready to launch, with more than 100 Democratic congressional candidates signing a letter this month calling for reforms to be "the very first item Congress addresses" in January. And 120 Democratic nonincumbents on next week's ballots have pledged to reject contributions from corporate PACs."