Linkee-poo Friday

Alligators. They're back.

"… The querying process can be unnerving. It's hard to figure out how to write that perfect query letter, and there is a lot of contrasting advice out there. Some of us like comparative titles, some agents don't care about them. Some agents want a brief bio, others don't… Here are some links to the query letters by some of my authors, complete with details about why these pitches were so good…" (Grokked from Delilah S. Dawson)

"In November, (NASA) tagged nine American companies as eligible to bid on delivering robotic NASA payloads to the moon, via Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contracts. Thursday (Feb. 14), NASA officials announced that the first "task order" for such a delivery will likely come out in a month or so — and that flight is expected to follow in relatively short order."

"More bad news for diet soda lovers: Drinking two or more of any kind of artificially sweetened drinks a day is linked to an increased risk of clot-based strokes, heart attacks and early death in women over 50, according to a new study by the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association." Not to mention what artificial sweeteners do to your liver, brain, and kidneys. But again, you have to understand how the numbers are being presented. And "This study, as well as other research on the connection between diet beverages and vascular disease, is observational and cannot show cause and effect." Finally, "Critics also point to the possible benefit of artificially sweetened drinks for weight loss…" There is no evidence this actually is the case.

"The United States is in the middle of flu season and new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says this year's flu vaccine appears to be working." For those who got the flu shot. Good news considering the last few years haven't been good one for the flu prediction part of the vaccines.

Things that keep one awake at night. "Current and former employees of an Ohio nursing facility are accused of mistreating two patients in their care, including one who died as a result of the nurses' actions, Attorney General Dave Yost said Thursday."

"For well over a year, visitors to Florida's beautiful Gulf Coast beaches have found dead fish lining the shoreline. A red tide algae bloom afflicted coastal communities from Florida's Panhandle to its southern tip. But in the past few weeks, monitoring conducted by marine scientists shows that the red tide bloom is finally disappearing."

"A Dallas man was sentenced to eight years in prison on Wednesday after the authorities caught him with a partially 3-D-printed rifle and what federal prosecutors described as a hit list of lawmakers in his backpack… The man, Eric Gerard McGinnis, had been under a court order that prohibited him from possessing a firearm when he was discovered to have had the partially printed AR-15-style rifle in July 2017, according to a statement from the United States attorney’s office for the Northern District of Texas." Alex, I'll take why gun restrictions are necessary for $400. (Grokked from Jim Wright)

"After the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., last year, many schools received federal funding through the Stop School Violence Act to establish a threat assessment program to help prevent school shootings and other kinds of violence… Van Dreal's school district has been using its own version of the approach since 2000 with good success in identifying kids in crisis and getting them off the path to violence." Please examine the case they consider a "success." The kid is blind in one eye and had abdominal surgery because of beatings he received at the hands of his fellow students. I'm not sure schools are focused on the real problem here.

"India said there was 'incontrovertible evidence' that Pakistan had a 'direct hand' in a bomb attack on a convoy that killed 37 paramilitary soldiers in Indian-administered Kashmir." Double plus ungood.

"Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday accused Iran of pursuing 'another Holocaust' as he lashed out at some of America's closest allies for trying to undercut U.S. sanctions against Tehran." I'll just note that for this conference in Poland we sent our top diplomates, including the VP and the Sec. of State. Other countries send their second and third tier functionaries.

"A member of Portland's city council said Thursday a newspaper's report that the commander for the police rapid response team exchanged friendly text messages with a leader of far-right protests that have rocked the city confirms collusion exists between some police and right-wing extremists."

How goes Brexit? "'Has the prime minister's new defeat in parliament made the EU more likely to compromise?'… In a word: no." Dear UK, you need the EU more than the EU needs you. A no-deal Brexit would be bad for both sides, but comparably would be devastating for the UK and just a major pain for the EU.

"Those wondering how many zeros Amazon, which is valued at a trillion dollars, has to pay in federal taxes might be surprised to learn that its check to the IRS will read exactly $0.00." Second year in a row. Tell me again how fair our tax system is. I keep forgetting. (Grokked from Lara Kristin Herndon)

"The reasons for these smaller refunds vary. For most people, it's because each paycheck has grown slightly, thanks to reduced withholding. On balance, they are likely to come out ahead." Note that this is just speculation, not actual data. "What started off as a strong holiday shopping season ended with a whimper, as consumers, rattled by a trade war and a government shutdown, tightened their belts. The Commerce Department said retail sales fell 1.2 percent between November and December, the sharpest drop in nine years." Maybe I was a little early with my mea culpa? Nah. It was a bad drop during the holiday shopping season, and it will certainly drag down GDP numbers, but not enough to send us into a recession. What I think hilarious is people saying, "Oh, but January was better, look at the stock market!" Yeah. Not so much. And for those talking about how the shutdown affected the numbers, yeah. No so much. I think looking at the numbers of people in arrears on their loans and you might seem something more important.

"Amazon will no longer build its additional headquarters in New York City… The decision announced Thursday comes after an outcry from local politicians, union leaders and community organizers who had organized weeks of protests against massive financial breaks promised to Amazon, one of the world's most valuable companies."

Why is it important for government to work? "A critical new report from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Inspector General finds the department's student loan unit failed to adequately supervise the companies it pays to manage the nation's trillion-dollar portfolio of federal student loans. The report also rebukes the department's office of Federal Student Aid for rarely penalizing companies that failed to follow the rules." Because when it doesn't, it ruins peoples' lives. It's also a story of why outsourcing government functions is never a good idea.

"President Donald Trump plans to sign a compromise border security measure Friday and then announce that he is using executive action, including declaring a national emergency, to spend $8 billion for border barriers, a White House official said."

"When President Donald Trump declares a national emergency to free up funding for his border wall he will follow a long line of presidents dating back to George Washington who have relied on emergency authority to achieve a goal… But experts say national emergencies have rarely been used in the way Trump intends."

There's always a tweet. "In 2014, President Donald Trump railed against then President Barack Obama over his use of executive power on immigration. Fast forward five years and Trump is expected to do the same thing." But here is the difference, President Obama used his power to extend protections to groups of people, enhancing their lives, removing their fear, and improving our economy while costing us less. President Trump will remove protections, worsen lives, is increasing fear, and driving our economy into the toilet while spending more deficit money.