"(Tor.com wants) to make reading our stories even easier by offering a brand new short fiction-only newsletter. Subscribers will get two months’ worth of short fiction delivered to their inboxes in multiple digital formats on a bimonthly basis…" The service launched yesterday (sorry). (Grokked from Elizabeth Bear)
"As existentialists, we of course reject the idea that behavior constitutes identity. Still, the emergence of these new swears, their consistency in combination with their popularity, suggests a certain type of person. Willy Staley, a story editor at The New York Times Magazine, calls them 'swear nerds.' What quality they share besides their interest in new swears is ineffable, but one encounters it again and again, in different but somehow uniform iterations." America tries out the new British Invasion. And as always, by the time it gets out of the hands of the cool kids it's somehow dated and retro. But that may just be an attempt to harsh my mellow. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)
David Gilmore auctions off 120 of his guitars. Makes grabby hands.
"The world’s southernmost continent is jettisoning six times more ice now than it was four decades ago." We're boned.
"SpaceX is getting excruciatingly close to catching a part of its rocket that falls out of the sky after each launch. A new video, released by the company on Twitter, shows a recent drop test of the rocket’s nose cone, the bulbous shell that shields the vehicle’s satellite and then breaks away during flight. In the footage, the nose cone nearly lands on SpaceX’s recovery boat, but ultimately, it falls into the water."
"Two papers published today in Nature present an updated timeline for the occupation of Denisova cave by Neanderthals and Denisovans. The new research suggests the Denisovans—a sister species to the Neanderthals—made this cave their home for a longer period than Neanderthals, first venturing into the cave as far back as 287,000 years ago. Neanderthals arrived at the site around 140,000 years ago, possibly sharing the space with the Denisovans for thousands of years. It’s further evidence that Neanderthals and Denisovans interbred—and that this co-mingling happened at or near Denisova."
"A dinosaur relative about the size of an iguana, which lived at the bottom of the world 250 million years ago, is throwing paleontologists for a loop. Antarctanax shackletoni, named for explorer Ernest Shackleton, hints at unexpected biodiversity on the now-frozen continent of Antarctica."
Who needs regulations? "Air pollution is recognized as a public health threat in China, linked to heart disease, cancer, cognitive decline and even risky behavior. Now a study analyzing air quality data and social media posts on China’s version of Twitter suggests that poor air quality may also harm people’s sense of well-being."
"A new report estimates that nearly half of all U.S. adults have some form of heart or blood vessel disease, a medical milestone that's mostly due to recent guidelines that expanded how many people have high blood pressure."
"In just a few weeks’ time, extreme temperatures have smashed records around the world this year, with parts of the Midwestern U.S. seeing the mercury drop as low as minus 38 degrees Fahrenheit as Australia endures triple-digit high temperatures, reigniting concerns about a changing planet."
"Now, a stunning new void has been revealed amidst this massive vanishing act, and it's a big one: a gigantic cavity growing under West Antarctica that scientists say covers two-thirds the footprint of Manhattan and stands almost 300 metres (984 ft) tall." We're boned.
"Gov. Steve Sisolak of Nevada railed against the Department of Energy for what he described as 'unacceptable deception,' after the agency transported a half-ton of weapons-grade plutonium to Nevada, allegedly without the state's consent." Oopsie.
"For the rest of the country looking on, the question of what we would do if we missed two paychecks in a row was on many people’s minds. And for many, it was no mystery: They wouldn’t be able to afford it… Early in my career, when I suggested to working families that they put away this amount in an untouched emergency fund, most would look at me with shock. I quickly learned that the idea of moving from living paycheck to paycheck to having six months of earnings saved in the bank was so implausible, it was comical." From a personal standpoint, I don't have six-months of savings (yet, I'm working on it), but I'm no longer living paycheck to paycheck. But I'm working 50+ hours a week (more commonly 60+ hours) at two jobs plus two side-hustles (buy my t-shirts!), and I only started moving out of that paycheck to paycheck life when I was able to earn overtime (which accounted for almost 50% of my income some years). Many people can't do that physically, mentally, emotionally, and I'd be lying if I said it hasn't substantially decreased my quality of life. I can also feel I'm approaching a point were I won't be able to do that and I worry about what it's done to my long-term health. That's all beyond the rage and hopelessness I feel about not being able to write regularly (and the now 10-year pause on a writing career). "One piece of advice I always give to someone who is just starting an emergency fund is to ignore the advice of three to six months savings for now. Instead, just try to save $500. If the goal feels achievable, you’ll be much more motivated to get started." The article also offers other ideas. Here's some advice on how I save money. When you're looking at making a purchase outside the normal expenses (or even with what you consider normal), calculate how many hours you have to work to make that much money. Is lunch/dinner worth an hour of your time, or is 15-minutes more reasonable? Is that phone worth a weak and a half of your labor? I do a similar calculation with calories compared to cans of pop. And then you can start making other calculations along the lines of "okay, this costs 150% of the lowest cost option, but it'll serve my needs better/work better/last longer/make my life easier that it's worth it." Finally, from the article, "8) Support candidates who want to improve our safety net…" Yes, that. (Grokked from Laura J Mixon)
"Asian markets rise on welcome news from Fed and Chinese factories." I wonder how long it'll take before people realize that 1) the Chinese are notorious liars when it comes to factory output and their GDP and 2) not raising interest rates is actually a warning signal about the economy? As of this writing the Dow is down only a little.
The On the Media podcast with, "The Lincoln Memorial debacle showed how vulnerable the press are to a myriad of social and political forces. This week, we examine how the outrage unfolded and what role MAGA hat symbolism might have played. And, a graphic photo in the New York Times spurs criticism. Plus, a reality show that attempts to bridge the gap between indigenous people and white Canadians." I said yesterday that the UK would need to have a hard and truthful conversation about what happened with the Brexit Referendum, we in the Americas also need to have a similar conversation.
"The Department of Education has been inundated with approximately 100,000 public comments on its proposed new rules for how campuses handle cases of sexual assault. Secretary Betsy DeVos opened the public comment period two months ago, after unveiling her plan to replace Obama-era rules with regulations that, she says, would better protect the accused. The window for comments (closed) Wednesday at midnight."
The coming shit storm, a twitter thread. "You see, they don't need to target everyone. They only need to target the right people, with the right technique(s), at the right time to cause cascading failures which destroy you and everyone else within, or allied with, your nation… That is one coming storm. We need defenses." What's not stated in this is the cost to the attackers, which is about as much as starting a SPAM email. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)
That historian that spoke up to Michael Dell by pointing out that, yes, a 70%+ marginal tax rate has worked during economic expansion, it worked in the US for several decades, also was on a panel about economic fairness and says that it's all bullshit unless we start talking about taxes. The panel was asked to comment about how we can talk about higher taxes when unemployment is so low, which they talked about the quality of those jobs (most are exploitive of the workers). On the conservative side, they kind of exclude the truth and make it appear as if his rhetorical question has no answer. (Link to expanded comments at the World Economic Forum grokked from Laura J Mixon)
"The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) does not have valid evidence that most of the revised behavioral indicators (28 of 36) used in its behavior detection activities can be used to identify individuals who may pose a threat to aviation security. GAO defined valid evidence as original research that meets generally accepted research standards and presents evidence that is applicable in supporting the specific behavioral indicators in TSA's revised list. Original research sources presenting valid evidence are important because the data and conclusions they present are derived from empirical research that can be replicated and evaluated. In GAO's review of all 178 sources TSA cited as support for its revised list, GAO found that 98 percent (175 of 178) of the sources do not provide valid evidence that is applicable to the specific behavioral indicators TSA cited them as supporting." A GAO report on security theater. (Grokked from Brandie Tarvin)
"The United States and Russia announced Thursday that they had failed to reconcile their differences over a Cold War-era nuclear pact, something some experts warn could spark a new arms race in Europe." Shitswizzle! (Did I do that correctly?)
End game. "Just another outlandish comment from a lawmaker trying to draw attention to the plight of crisis-torn Venezuela? Perhaps not. For one thing, Guerra is a former central bank economist who remains in touch with old colleagues there. For another, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg News Tuesday that 20 tons of gold have been set aside in the central bank for loading. Worth some $840 million, the gold represents about 20 percent of its holdings of the metal in Venezuela, the person said. He provided no further information on plans for those bars." If true, except Maduro to escape within the week. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
"President Donald Trump chastised his own intelligence officials Wednesday morning for being soft on Iran a day after they contradicted numerous administration claims of foreign policy success." I guess they didn't agree with Fox and Friends. Also, hey, what's that? Look over there! (Pay no attention to the Russians behind the curtain) Plus, you might have seen the warnings about foreign actors gearing up for the 2020 elections. Our intelligence community are our best chance at a defense.
"Frustrated Republicans say it’s time for the Senate to reclaim more power over foreign policy and are planning to move a measure Thursday that would be a stunning rebuke to a president of their own party."
McConnell wags his finger at the president. I'm sure it's all about the unstableness of Trump, not a preview of what we saw in Wisconsin, Michigan and SC where a party facing the prospect of losing the executive branch moved to limit the powers of that branch (which they surrendered when the executive branch was controlled by their party). OR to use this as a bat against the Senate Democrats. I sure it's nothing about that.
Every time I think they can't get more ridiculous, the tell me to hold their beer. "White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday that God 'wanted Donald Trump to become president.'" Um, one I'm gonna need to see that memo. Two, Putin may think he's God, and signs his checks that way, but he really isn't. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"A pro-Russian Twitter account used information from a criminal case that Robert Mueller's team brought against a Russian social media company as part of a disinformation campaign, according to a new filing from the Justice Department… That publication of documents that had been shared with defense attorneys, but not made public in the ongoing case, was yet another disinformation campaign from Russia -- this time aimed at discrediting Mueller's investigation, federal prosecutors wrote in the filing Wednesday." Naughty naughty. (Grokked from Laura J Mixon)
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