Linkee-poo went down to the demonstration to get my fair share of abuse

"Panasonic's Future Life Factory is developing wearable blinkers, designed to limit your sense of sound and sight, and help you focus on what's directly in front of you… The prototype device, called Wear Space, is designed to keep people distraction-free when working in busy spaces or open-plan offices by blocking them off from their immediate surroundings." Oo, I've got a marketing slogan, "With Wear Space, nobody can see your side-eye." I've got a better idea, corporate America, give people offices with closable doors. These things definitely wouldn't work with me. You block my vision and soundscape and I get both claustrophobic and paranoid. Shit, I have to make noise sometimes while I'm walking through work spaces just so I don't "sneak up" on people and freak them out. (Grokked from Justine Larbalestier)

"The frequency of the tune changed after storms blew through, which in itself is interesting. But what really stood out is a January 2016 warm spell when temperatures cracked freezing. The pitch of the tune dropped during that stretch, indicating that the snow and bits of ice melted, slowing down the propagation of seismic waves through the firn. More importantly, the pitch drop didn’t reverse itself after temperatures cooled back down, indicating permanent or semi-permanent changes in the firn layer." Antarctic ice is "singing", and the song it's playing is, "You're boned."

"Last year, almost $786 million worth of Scottish salmon was exported globally, with the United States as its largest market. The aquaculture industry, which already contributes $2.85 billion to the U.K. economy, has ambitious targets for growth. The Scottish Salmon Producers' Organization, the main industry group, aims to more than double production to as much as 400,000 tons by 2030… That growth, however, comes with high costs for Scotland's environment."

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week issued a warning about a disease known as acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), an illness it says it knows very little about but can cause arm or leg weakness and paralysis, particularly in children. According to a Tuesday press briefing, there have been 62 confirmed cases across 22 states in 2018."

"Rural Americans are profoundly worried about the opioid crisis and their local economies and many are hoping government can help, according to a new poll from NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health." Despite all the rhetoric, not much is happening on the ground.

"Approximately 1 in 5 American adults will experience some form of mental illness in any given year, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). This accounts for approximately 44 million U.S. adults, or 18.6 percent of the entire U.S. adult population." Looks around. Well, yeah.

"A salmonella outbreak likely related to raw chicken has spread across the country, sickening at least five people in Illinois since the spring, officials announced Wednesday… The Illinois Department of Public Health said five cases of the bacterial infection have been reported in the state, one of 29 in which a multi-drug-resistant strain of salmonella has been found. A total of 92 people have been affected nationwide, resulting in 21 hospitalizations and no deaths, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." It isn't so much the salmonella cases, those happen all the time (unfortunately, seriously peoples, learn how to handle raw meat). It's the strain that's worrying. Multi-drug resistant means that unless you're in the ICU getting IV fluids, you're probably not going to get any effective antibiotics to help.

"The oldest evidence of life on Earth probably isn't found in some 3.7 billion-year-old rocks found in Greenland, despite what a group of scientists claimed a couple of years ago." Oopsie.

What's the dumbest possible commercial tie-in to Halloween? "The 'Nightmare King' isn’t just a seasonal name thrown on Burger King’s latest burger… The quarter-pound beef burger topped with chicken, cheese, bacon, onions, and mayo, on a green sesame seed bun, is 'clinically proven to induce nightmares,' according to the burger chain." That's gotta be in the top 10. Ooo, food that will give me more nightmares (for various definitions of nightmares)? Let's have some more of that. Also, "clinically proven" has a defined definition in US law. I hope they covered their asses (because right now they seem to be showing).

"Pink ribbons, pink candles, pink sweaters, pink yogurt labels, pink lipstick: There’s an endless array of products sold in the name of breast cancer awareness, appealing to shoppers’ sense of advocacy and activism by offering an easy way to support a cause. Pink products — which proliferate especially during October, designated since 1985 as Breast Cancer Awareness Month — supposedly give a percentage of profit to cancer research or awareness. The idea is that the money contributed by buying these branded items helps bring the disease one step closer to eradication." It's an advertising gimmick, people. Of course hardly any money is going to actual research from these pink products.

"According to a newly public filing in an ongoing lawsuit, a group of advertisers now says that Facebook has been willfully withholding information about how much time its users spend watching paid ads—if more people spend more time watching ads, then those ads can command higher rates." Math, it's kinda hard.

"A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket launched the satellite, known as Advanced Extremely High Frequency 4 (AEHF-4), at 12:15 a.m. EDT (0415 GMT) from a pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. AEHF-4 is an advanced jam-resistant and nuclear-hardened satellite designed 'to provide survivable, global, secure, protected and jam-resistant communications for high-priority military forces,' according to a U.S. Air force mission description."

Insert clip of Basil Fawlty saying, "Don't mention the War." "OPEC has urged its members not to mention oil prices when discussing policy in a break from the past, as the oil producing group seeks to avoid the risk of U.S. legal action for manipulating the market, sources close to OPEC said."

"Amazon just raised its minimum wage to $15, but that's not enough for some progressive politicians… Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders sent a letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on Tuesday scolding the company for allegedly distributing a 45-minute instructional video to managers at recently-acquired grocery chain Whole Foods on how to defuse union organizing." That's CNN and not an editorial. Let's have a hand for our "liberally biased media" everybody.

"Are GOP Tax Cuts To Blame For The Jump In The Federal Deficit?" Yes.

"USMCA… says that 40 percent of a car must be made in a plant where workers make at least $16 an hour in order to avoid U.S. import tariffs. That would mean a fivefold boost to the average Mexican autoworker's wage of $3.14 an hour… But while that looks good on paper, some experts are skeptical that it will happen anytime soon."

"'We have today informed the countries of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador that if they allow their citizens, or others, to journey through their borders and up to the United States, with the intention of entering our country illegally, all payments made to them will STOP (END)!' Trump tweeted on Tuesday evening." How's that wall coming, big guy? Starts writing doctoral dissertation about how American cold war politics and the War Against Drugs monumentally fucked over Central and South America.

"Dozens of black senior citizens were ordered off a bus taking them to vote this week in Georgia… Jefferson County Administrator Adam Brett told the AJC that the county considered the transporting of the group to be 'political activity,' which would violate county policy, since they operate they senior center." Total bullshit. (Grokked from Jim Wright)

"Was Gary Hart set up?… What are we to make of the deathbed confession of the political operative Lee Atwater, newly revealed, that he staged the events that brought down the Democratic candidate in 1987?" Not all the pieces line up well, but it's certainly a possibility. And an interesting take of alternative history, what if Gary Hart had become president? A lot of dominoes don't get tipped over. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)

"A senior adviser for the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) was charged Wednesday with leaking suspicious financial activity reports related to President Donald Trump's former campaign advisers, Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, as well as the Russian embassy."

The Hidden Brain podcast "Voting with a middle finger: Two views on the White Working Class" and why they voted for Trump. Looks at Middle-America and the economics that haven't changed, "How'd that work out for you?"

"One of the 15 Saudis who flew to Turkey on the day journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared has been killed in a car crash, it has been claimed." First rule of assassination, kill the assassin. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)

I've been saying this since the 80s, conservative evangelicals are not Christians. "Appearing on Christian television show The 700 Club, Pat Robertson, founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network, said America’s relationship with Saudi Arabia is too important to risk… 'These people are key allies,' Robertson said Monday on the show, first reported by Vox. 'I don’t think on this issue we need pull sanctions and get tough. I just think it’s a mistake.'" That the Reverend Par Robertson, former leader of the Moral Majority, on his broadcast specifically aimed at other Christians, saying that state sanctioned murder is not as important as arms deals. This is as serious as it gets when it comes down to "God or Caesar." This is literally wanting your 30 pieces of silver more than your soul. When the Devil said, "Follow me and I'll give you Asia," and Jesus replied, "Get thee behind me," Pat is over to the side saying, "Wait now, let's hear him out." So when he gets all "Right-to-Lifey" again, just remember which side he chose when the rubber hit the road. It's the side most of these people would choose. (Grokked from Tania)

"White House counsel Don McGahn has left the job effective Wednesday. But his influence will live on for years, thanks to the dozens of conservative judges that McGahn helped President Trump put on the federal bench." One of the people who have screwed us over. Also, again, if you doubt my statements about the conservatives realizing their base was shrinking and developing a plan to control the courts to keep their ideology alive, here's this from the article: "McGahn oversaw the president's judicial selection process, picking nominees who are uniformly conservative — often suggested by the Federalist Society or the Heritage Foundation — and typically young — capable of shaping the federal courts' decisions for decades to come." The Federalist Society was founded in the 80s to groom those hard-line conservative lawyers to get them ready for judgeships. The Heritage Foundation, also founded in the 80s, was designed to be the "go to" think-tank for conservative thought. "McConnell and his fellow GOP senators cleared the way for McGahn's courthouse makeover by refusing to fill judicial vacancies during the latter years of the Obama administration. That left a large number of openings on the bench for Trump to fill as soon as he came into office — most notably the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia." The same thing happened with Bill Clinton. This is a coup d'é·tat.