Alligator quotient, eyeball level it is. Sorry, I know lots of stuff happening, but baby's gotta eat, ya know.
Not sure if I linked to this before, John Hodgman interviews GRR Martin.
"I spent 15 years sanding and grinding mussel shells to create my sculptures. Then I was diagnosed with heavy-metal poisoning." On creating art and subliming one's life to that art. For most of the visual arts, there are many professional and occupational hazards. For graphic design it includes carpel tunnel, poor eyesight, kyphosis, as well as chemical poisoning (although it's now less with the advent of direct to press technology and other advances, like low organic solvent inks). There are several older books on color theory which are now handled as toxic items (because of the solvents and ingredients of some of the inks). (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
"NASA has picked nine companies, ranging from startups to aerospace giants, to be eligible for future contracts to deliver payloads to the surface of the moon, but with no guarantee of business for any of them."
"Two more women, including a fellow astronomer, say Neil deGrasse Tyson is guilty of inappropriate sexual conduct." (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)
"Since millennials first started entering the workforce, their spending habits have been blamed for killing off industries ranging from casual restaurant dining to starter houses. However, a new study by the Federal Reserve suggests it might be less about how they are spending their money and more about not having any to spend." And we have a new runner up for the "Duh" Awards! Also, so what the headlines should have been is, "Capitalism is killing capitalism." Because it does. Oh, BTW news media, the Gen X-ers weren't that much better off. All the trends you see squeezing the Millennials started just as we came to the age where we should have been piling the money away. "The researchers also examined debt between each generation. While the comparisons were 'somewhat mixed,' researchers said it 'seems fair' to conclude that millennials have levels of debt about the same as Generation X and more debt than baby boomers." There's nothing "fair" about it, assholes. (Grokked from Mur Lafferty)
"Allegations of voting irregularities in and around Bladen County swirled on Thursday, with the North Carolina Democratic Party calling for an official hearing and a flurry of affidavits surfacing involving absentee ballots… The allegations are apparently behind this week’s decision by the State Board of Elections and Ethics Reform to not certify the results of the congressional race in the 9th District." Voter fraud, it's amazing how it's mostly the GOP committing it. (Grokked from Laura J Mixon)
"Stock markets across the world rose Monday after the United States and China agreed to a temporary truce in their trade war, negotiated over dinner in Argentina on Saturday… But stark differences in the language used by Washington and Beijing in announcing the deal could spell trouble as both countries begin negotiations aimed at striking a permanent end to trade tensions." It's not a truce, it's a status quo agreement.
"She said she met Epstein only once, but she often helped arrange for girls — many of them underage — to be sent to his homes in New York, Palm Beach and his island in the Caribbean for parties. She heard salacious rumors about Epstein’s parties, but testified she had no firsthand knowledge about whether they involved sex." A sex scandal involve trafficking young girls to have sex with powerful or well connected men. Many of whom you might recognize from their positions in the current administration and Fox News. (Grokked from Xeni Jardin, I think)
"Last week’s admission by Michael Cohen that he lied to Congress about a Trump Organization real estate project in Moscow suggests the Russian government may have damaging information about President Trump, a top Democrat said Sunday." And now the GOP has rallied around the narrative that "sure he was doing business with Russia" completely forgetting the (now) president adamantly denied having any business dealings with Russia. Also, now that the president has admitted these dealings, if they are true, spell big problems for the president. First, as a part of the deal they were offering Putin a $50M penthouse apartment for free (apparently unaware that Putin has more trust issues than the president and wouldn't live in a building with other people around him) which is a direct violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Also the Trump organization was negotiating funding from VTB bank, which was (and still is) under US sanctions. Those sanctions forbid any US entities from doing business with them.
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