I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
And so the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're goin' through

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Linkee-poo can ruin your faith with her casual lies

Alligator overload, both professional and personal. So not a lot of stuff today.

Worldbuilders is back with their annual fundraiser for Heifer International.

"An effort to describe the diversity of birds led to one of the first modern color systems. Published by Smithsonian ornithologist Robert Ridgway in 1886, A Nomenclature of Colors for Naturalists categorizes 186 colors alongside diagrams of birds." Ah, color history. Almost as fun as color theory and color physics. (Grokked from John)

"For more than fifty years, he’s traveled deep into the heart of America. But with his new Netflix special—a film of his intense, powerful one-man show on Broadway—Bruce Springsteen reveals that his bravest journey has been wrestling with his own mental health." (Grokked from Delilah S. Dawson)

"The National Rifle Association of America reported $98 million in contributions in 2017, down from nearly $125 million in 2016, according to new tax records obtained by The Daily Beast. Nearly a fifth of its contributions last year came from a single anonymous donor, who chipped in nearly $19 million to the group." For the math challenged, that's almost 20% of their fundraising from one person. I wonder whom it may be? But don't cry for them, Argentina, that's only just the fund-raising, they also have membership dues and magazine sales. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)

Hey, remember Chief Justice John Roberts talking about there being no "Bush", "Obama", "Clinton", or "Trump" judges? Yeah, its' bullshit. "Senate Republicans are working to soon fill the nation's longest judicial vacancy with a North Carolina lawyer whose nomination has raised objections from black lawmakers and civil rights groups concerned about his work defending state laws found to have discriminated against African-Americans." Funny how not being a racists himself, he has often found himself working for racists and working on campaigns that have included racial intimidation. It's almost like a pattern. (Grokked from Joy Reid)

Manafort might think his only liability is to the crimes he's already copped to. He's wrong. "Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort held secret talks with Julian Assange inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London, and visited around the time he joined Trump’s campaign, the Guardian has been told." Mueller is going to make an example out of him. Hang on folks, it's going to get bumpy from here on out. Manafort might have misgambled against drinking polonium tea (but then he also probably figures he'll have enough money just to keep his mouth shut and won't need to work again, this is also a bad bet). (Grokked from Joy Reid)

"A reporter earned praise Monday after she called out President Donald Trump, over one of his more questionable claims, right to his face." We praise this as extraordinary, but I remember a time when this was normal. The problem is, not many people have either the depth of knowledge to do this (or the time to do homework), or they're very busy trying to make their own point. Also this is one way to lose a press pass (see Jim Acosta) or lose access to "sources" (note those sources don't meet with reporters in darkened garages, but typically are behind a podium). It also comes off as "accusatory", and in the age of "balanced" coverage reporters try not to be. The people who claimed the press was biased are the ones using this desire to appear fair to their own advantage. So good on Paula Reid of CBS. Hey all you other people, you may want to follow this example. Don't let the bald-faced lies get past you. And then we can start working on the "disingenuous" comments.

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