Linkee-poo, you better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone

"Below are samples of my pitching and development documents, pilot and episodic scripts, and other writing. While my own career is a work in progress, and nothing below is in any way definitive, or even "good" and "correct" for that matter, I hope that by reading the documents below - some for successful sales, others for failed experiments and unsold projects - those looking for guidance will find a useful example." (Grokked from Kameron Hurley)

"Since March 2009, NASA has discovered more than 2,600 planets, including potentially habitable ones, thanks to the Kepler Space Telescope. Last week, after nearly a decade of hunting for new planets, the Kepler finally ran out of fuel. NASA decided to officially retire Kepler within its current orbit, away from Earth, on Oct. 30, 2018."

"A new opioid tablet that is 1,000 times more potent than morphine and 10 times stronger than fentanyl was approved by the Food and Drug Administration Friday as a fast-acting alternative to IV painkillers used in hospitals." Because why would we need new antibiotics when they can sell us new pain killers?

"A man in Australia has died from rat lungworm caused by a garden slug he ate for a dare eight years earlier." Look peoples, don't eat worms. Okay? Yes, I know slugs aren't worms. But you get what I'm saying, right?

"The growing number of campaigns to ban plastic waste are putting pressure on companies to find alternatives – not just for straws, but for all kinds of plastic packaging. So BillerudKorsnäs tests out products they hope to sell in the budding market for plastic replacements." It may just be a designer thing, but man I love coming up with a good cardboard packaging design that solves a lot of mechanical problems.

So, as you may know, I'm kinda a DebbieDowner on human level AI (or being able to "upload" your brain) in computers. There's a reason for this. We don't know, really, how the brain actually works. "Miller and Constantinidis agree that working memory is critical to just about everything the brain does… But they are on opposite sides of a lively debate about how working memory works." And they may both be wrong. The brain is not a computer. It's just that computers are the most complex machine we have now (and frankly, digital subtraction is still beyond most people's ken). That's why we compare the brain to a computer.

"But maybe the hours she spent lining those little blocks ('tetriminos') into perfect rows of 10 weren't a total waste. Her latest research suggests that Tetris can ease us through periods of anxiety, by getting us to a blissfully engrossed mental state that psychologists call 'flow.'" As a young man (okay, in my 20s) I had dreams of Tetris. Just say no. This is just distraction (which, yes, can sometimes be helpful).

"Should I start drawing down my savings or claim Social Security early?… There's no perfect answer, but here's what you should consider."

"Trump has sought to slash hundreds of millions of dollars from U.S. funding for AIDS programs at home and abroad, but the U2 frontman says members of Congress 'have so far turned down this president’s request to cut AIDS funding — right and left in lockstep together on this.'"

"World stocks slipped on Monday, halting a four-day recovery rally as anxiety surrounding global trade conditions and rising U.S. interest rates dampened risk appetite." ZOMG, uncertainty. What'll we ever do? Note that you don't hear the conservatives, who were all against uncertainty up until 2 years ago, sounding the alarm klaxon this time. "'Everyone’s on hold until the (end-November) G20 and also the Fed coming up,' said Arbuthnot Latham’s Perdon. 'Our sense is absolutely that there’s a lot of cash on the sidelines right now.'" You mean the market is making a bet that also looks quite similar as to what they would do if they felt we were approaching a recession? You don't say.

"There is unspeakable sadness in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. The community gathered Sunday night to remember four lives taken suddenly in a hit-and-run crash, reports CBS Minnesota… Three young Girl Scouts and a mother were killed Saturday while cleaning garbage out of a ditch in Lake Hallie, Wisconsin."

"A big group of Central Americans pushed on toward Mexico City from a coastal state Monday, planning to exit a part of the country that has long been treacherous for migrants seeking to get to the United States."

"A hunting guide and his client accidentally shot each other and then blamed it on undocumented migrants, police in the US have said." But not after they raised almost $26,000 on GoFundMe. Paranoia strikes deep. (Grokked from Vincent O'Connor)

For the "more guns make us safer" crowd. "An 11-year-old boy shot and killed his grandmother before turning the gun on himself Saturday, the boy's grandfather told police in Arizona… The Litchfield Park man told detectives that he and his 65-year-old wife 'asked their grandson to clean his room and pick up after himself throughout the day, as he was being stubborn about it,' Maricopa County Sheriff's Office spokesman Joaquin Enriquez said in a statement Sunday."

Fox News host fact checks Fox News host in real time. Awkward.

"A New York federal judge is poised to hear evidence from critics of a Commerce Department decision to put a citizenship question on the 2020 Census."

"The U.S. has officially imposed what the Trump administration describes as the 'toughest ever' sanctions against Iran, meant to curb Tehran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs and contain its growing influence in the Middle East." "Toughest ever" translates to a subset of what we had in place before the nuclear deal, and significantly less international support. The president can not tell the truth.

"Around the world, conservative groups have been gaining influence, bolstering the power of right-wing leaders. It is a trend driven not only by older generations but also by the young." And, again, it's mostly driven by fear.

"In the final days before pivotal midterm elections, President Donald Trump is painting a distorted picture of immigration while exaggerating his record of achieving economic gains for non-whites and improving health care for veterans."

"House forecast: Democrats will win 226 seats (and the House majority) while Republicans will win just 209 seats. A Democratic win of 203 seats and 262 seats is within the margin of error."

"Republicans would have to sweep virtually all of the 22 races currently rated as toss-ups to hold onto their House majority — a nearly insurmountable challenge — according to a new POLITICO analysis." From this weekend's talking heads shows, basically nobody knows what will happen tomorrow. Good chance the Dems take the House, the Senate is a tossup. But what is more important are the local/statewide races.

"'A vote for any Democrat this November is a vote to really put extreme far-left politicians in charge of Congress and to destroy your jobs, slash your incomes, undermine your safety and put illegal aliens before American citizens. Not good.' — President Donald Trump on the stakes of the midterm elections." Again with the projection. "Barbed wire, used properly, can be a beautiful sight." Arbeit macht frei.

On the Media podcast, "After a week of hate-fueled attacks, we examine the "dotted line" from incitement to violence. We dig deep into tribalism and how it widens the gulf between Republicans and Democrats. Plus, the history of antisemitic propaganda and how it inspires modern-day violence. Also, why is the GOP running against California in midterm races around the country?"

But, hey, the good thing is on Wednesday we can start talking about 2020 (and a groan went up from the crowd).