Linkee-poo Tuesday

"'The landing site in Jezero Crater offers geologically rich terrain, with landforms reaching as far back as 3.6 billion years old, that could potentially answer important questions in planetary evolution and astrobiology,' said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate."

"This image of a dusty, gas-rich nebula looks pretty, but appearances can be deceiving. Known as a Wolf-Rayet star system, it’s poised to unleash a catastrophic gamma-ray burst when it finally goes supernova. What’s remarkable about this particular Wolf-Rayet system, however, is that it’s the first to be discovered in our own galaxy." Gamma-ray burst which come from supernova like this (and the x-ray jets coming from blackholes) are thought to be able to "sterilize" whole systems.

"In the not-too-distant future, disasters won't come one at a time. Instead, according to new research, we can expect a cascade of catastrophes, some gradual, others abrupt, all compounding as climate change takes a greater toll." We're boned.

"What’s the benefit of cleaner air? An extra two years of life for the average person in the world, a new study finds." Say, did I mention that as a part of the Trump administrations plan on reducing regulation, they're looking at rolling back rules made under the Clean Air Act?

"These days a restaurant like Tacolicious in San Francisco’s Mission District can be really busy but look really slow. That’s because much of the food is now being sent to customers through third-party delivery apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats and Caviar." What I love about this is the pervasiveness of the thought, "OMG, there's money on the table, I must go after it" is in business. We are watching the "Amazon-ization" of food. You have to get in now, even though you won't make money, even though there is no real plan to make money, and this might not be the actual best solution to the problem. Yes, delivering hot prepared meals could work, but outsourcing that function may not be the best choice.

"The FBI describes the group Proud Boys as an 'extremist group with ties to white nationalism' in a document provided to reporters by law enforcement in the state of Washington."

"Flags outside a Chicago police station have been lowered to half staff Tuesday in honor of a fallen police officer killed in a shooting at Mercy Hospital Monday afternoon on the Near South Side. An ER doctor and a hospital worker killed in the shooting are also being mourned… The other victim, killed in the parking lot, police say was Doctor Tamara O'Neal. Dr. O'Neal was an emergency room physician at Mercy. A family member said she was engaged to the shooter for about a year, but called off the wedding in September." The shooting started with Dr. O'Neal, but you have to get to the 3rd to last paragraph to find that out and even learn her name. The listed her after the pharmacy resident who was killed. In case you ever wondered why Black Lives Matter. Seriously, she is the story here, the pharmacy resident and police officer killed, while news, were secondary or incidental targets. This is a domestic violence story.

And then a few hours later, "One person was killed and four others were injured in a shooting in downtown Denver late Monday afternoon, authorities said. The shooter or shooters remained at large Monday night." (Grokked from Justine Larbalestier)

How bad could gerrymandering be? "Popular vote versus seats won in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina." Now we should have a nuanced discussion on the use of gerrymandering that can help minorities gain representation, but should be the exception to the map, not the rule of the map. (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)

"A voter in Chatham County, Georgia, had a mail-in ballot returned and listed as 'undeliverable' even though it was addressed to a county-approved P.O. box." It was in a pre-printed envelope.

"The Justice Department has discussed the possibility that federal law protecting the confidentiality of responses to the U.S. census may eventually be reconsidered, an internal Trump administration email shows." Oh fuck no. "'There is no debate about whether to keep census information protected — census confidentiality is protected by law,' said Vanita Gupta in a written statement. Gupta is the president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and a former acting head of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division under President Obama. 'The Justice Department's failure to confirm that guarantee is cause for great alarm,' she added." The problem here is the administration is the enforcer of the law.

"The 5,800 troops who were rushed to the southwest border amid President Donald Trump’s pre-election warnings about a refugee caravan will start coming home as early as this week — just as some of those migrants are beginning to arrive." Why it's almost like it was a political stunt or something. Can't wait for all the stories about people running into the concertina wire (or more likely animals running into it).

"The message for the migrant caravan was clear from marchers on Sunday in Tijuana, Mexico: We don't want you here." Nationalism is contagious.

"U.S. District Judge Jon S. Tigar issued a temporary restraining order on Monday, preventing the Trump administration from following through with its latest efforts to crack down on immigration at the southern border."

But here emails… "Ivanka Trump, daughter and adviser of President Trump, sent hundreds of emails to government officials through a personal email account last year, according to The Washington Post." Let's see, what was that thing Ivanka's daddy encouraged his followers to think of when they thought of Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server? Oh yes, "lock her up."

"U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke blamed the (California's) fires on 'radical environmentalists' who he said have prevented forest management." Note in this case, "forest management" equals "clear cut." Also, this is my favorite part… "'It's not time for finger-pointing,' Zinke said. 'We know the problem. It’s been years of neglect, and in many cases it’s been these radical environmentalists that want nature to take its course.…You know what? This is on them.'" It's not a time for finger-pointing but those fuckers are responsible. Please feel free to fuck off, Secretary Zinke. Say, aren't you still mired in budgetary scandals?

"The worst fear they have is that there could be another election meltdown in two years, when the state could again be instrumental in deciding the presidential race." Better get your act together, Florida. One of the problems is that in Florida county election supervisors are an elected position (IIRC).

"The Democrats organizing an effort to block Nancy Pelosi from retaking the House speaker's gavel have finally gone public." This is a protest without any real goal. They have no alternative candidate. This is Tim Ryan puffing out his chest.

"'Ronald Reagan in 1987 was technically the first president to use the word "pardon" about a turkey, but it was really just a way to deflect questions about the Iran-Contra scandal and whether he would pardon key players involved — Oliver North and John Poindexter. The bird, "Charlie," was already headed for a petting zoo, but after Sam Donaldson of ABC News pressed Reagan on whether he'd pardon North and Poindexter, Reagan responded, "If they'd given me a different answer on Charlie and his future, I would have pardoned him."'" Same as it ever was.

"This year, Arkansas became the first state to roll out the requirement. It — so far, it affects a small percentage of those who got Medicaid coverage through the Affordable Care Act. But more than 12,000 people have lost their coverage for not complying, and thousands more are expected to follow suit." Work requirements are not about "dignity" and making sure "those who deserve it, get help." They're about adding complicated rules which are difficult to follow. "Users or their authorized designees then have to record that time in an online-only portal. That portal shuts down every night at 9:00 until 7:00 the next morning. And Arkansas has the lowest household Internet access of any state." There's no fucking reason the portal should shut down. It's all an attempt to throw people off the roles. Besides being intentionally cruel, it's wasteful. "Without his meds, he landed in the hospital multiple times and missed a lot of work. His supervisor tried to accommodate him, but he wasn't healthy enough to perform his job. So he lost it." So for saving $420 of medication, we now will have to cover his multiple hospital visits (more than likely through the ER, which is already the most expensive way to get care) and now we have to cover other support costs for him. "On the day we visited, he opened bills totaling more than $4,000… But even if he can get his meds, and the state covers the backlog of bills, and he gets his job back, his health may be permanently damaged." (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)

"An influential eastern Ohio Republican leader says he has deleted an 'inartful' image he’d published to his Facebook page that said the ongoing California wildfire was 'God’s punishment to Liberal California.'… 'Look, that’s a meme. And it’s how I feel about liberals, but did I mean that God is going to punish everyone who lives in California? No. It’s a figure of speech, and I probably shouldn’t have done it. But I did, and it doesn’t change how I feel about what’s happened in California,' Johnson said." You're all going to burn in Hell, it's a figure of speech. Sure. And he's sorry if anyone is offended. Dear Columbiana County Republican Party Chairman Dave Johnson, please fuck off and die. It's a figure of speech. Sorry if you were offended.