Alligators is sneaky.
Ross Lowell, inventor of gaffers tape, and so it goes. Didn't know who he was, but damn do I love his product. (Grokked from Annalee Flower Horne)
Hey, remember when it was just silly, new-age woo-woos who said that eating the right foods was the best medicine? Oh, how we all laughed. "Launched in 2017 by the Geisinger Health System at one of its community hospitals, the Fresh Food Farmacy provides healthy foods–heavy on fruits, vegetables, lean meats and low-sodium options–to patients in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, and teaches them how to incorporate those foods into their daily diet." Everything you put in your body affects you. Even how much (and the quality of) water you drink. And no, it's not just for people who have Diabetes Type 2, or who are overweight, it affects everybody. Why do I drink unsweetened green tea? Because black tea doesn't leave me feeling as well as green tea. Listen to your body, not the advertising. Why the change? "But knowing intuitively that food can influence health is one thing, and having the science and the confidence to back it up is another. And it’s only relatively recently that doctors have started to bridge this gap." Yeah, they're finally looking at it instead of dismissing it out of hand. Now we're in the stage were the conversations invariably lead to the Mediterranean diet. Eye-rolls a plenty. (Grokked from Michelle)
"The PETM doesn’t only provide a past example of CO2-driven climate change; scientists say it also points to an unknown factor that has an outsize influence on Earth’s climate. When the planet got hot, it got really hot. Ancient warming episodes like the PETM were always far more extreme than theoretical models of the climate suggest they should have been… Evidence is mounting in favor of the answer that experts have long suspected but have only recently been capable of exploring in detail. 'It’s quite clear at this point that the answer is clouds,' said Matt Huber, a paleoclimate modeler at Purdue University." We're boned. When I say that, you might take it as a tongue-in-cheek joke, and it is to some degree. But this model incorporating a loss of low-altitude clouds predicts an 8°C warming. At 4°C warming we start talking about human extinction being a real possibility (so by the time we reach the CO2 level needed for this change, there's a good chance we'll already be dead, and don't get me started on the ill-fated plans of the prepper community). The bad news is that we may see that in a century if we continue on the same path we are now (with CO2 emissions). (Grokked from Dr Caitlin Green)
"Researchers are monitoring a giant crack in the center of the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica. The crack had been stable for 35 years but has started accelerating toward another called the Halloween crack."
"And yet, the biggest and most influential tech companies are making deals and partnerships with oil companies that move the needle in the opposite direction. Amazon, Google, and Microsoft have all struck lucrative arrangements—collectively worth billions of dollars—to provide automation, cloud, and AI services to some of the world’s biggest oil companies, and they are actively pursuing more." To be fair, they're attempting to bring AI into all industries. And yes, they have teams targeting at specific industries. Now part of the issue is that as renewables become cheaper than fossil fuels (which depending on location and type of power is actually the case at this point, but it's not universal). Making fossil fuel production cheaper may change that equation. But you know what, fossil fuel extraction, even fracking, are mature industries and costs have been driven out of production as they have been automated as much as they can. So, except for back office work (and white collar automation, or inventory management, I don't think there is that much more to reduce here. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)
"Expect sparks to fly Tuesday as senators get a rare chance to grill the heads of seven major pharmaceutical companies under oath about the budget-busting prices of prescription drugs." Other than shaming them in front of the camera, there's not much they will do about as they take Big Pharma checks in their offices.
"Elected officials in Florida and Georgia are upset that in its recent budget deal, Congress didn't include money for long-term assistance for communities hit by Hurricane Michael. Of particular concern: losses to farmers and money needed to rebuild Tyndall Air Force Base." Sorry, the president you all supported (yes, I know, not all of you) is going to take what little money was there for those things and repurpose it to build his wall. I say we start calling the wall Trump's Folly.
Remember when parents complained that Warner Brothers cartoons were too violent for kids to watch? They've got nothing on YouTube. "Tips for committing suicide are appearing in children’s cartoons on YouTube and the YouTube Kids app." And that isn't the only thing appearing in videos aimed at kids. (Grokked from John)
Why do we need a single-payer healthcare system? "Total bill: $48,512, with $46,422 of that total for one preventive medication… What gives: When you are potentially exposed to a fatal disease, you need treatment. In the moment, it's hard to shop around or say no to high prices." Because healthcare is typically something you can't shop around for. If something is not critical, you can sometimes shop around for the best doctor or the best price (those are not typically the same). However, even in that case, not all consumers have a choice either by location, situation, insurance, or combinations of all of those.
"Combs has one of Walmart's trademark front-door jobs: He's a 'people greeter' at a store in Vancouver, Wash. But, he was told, come April 25 his job is going away. And he is not alone. According to Walmart, greeters are being removed at about 1,000 stores around the country… NPR has found that Walmart is changing the job requirements for front-door greeters in a way that appears to disproportionately affect workers with disabilities. Greeters with disabilities in five states told NPR they expect to lose their jobs after April 25 or 26."
"US broadcaster Univision says its team was briefly detained in the Venezuelan presidential palace where they had been interviewing President Nicolás Maduro… The incident happened after award-winning journalist Jorge Ramos showed Mr Maduro images of Venezuelans eating from a bin lorry, the network says." Hey look, the president has a friend in Venezuela. They like the press just as much. It's almost as if a hatred of the press is a common trait of their personalities.
How goes Brexit? "The pound has hit a 21-month high against the euro following increasing speculation of a delay to Brexit… At one point, sterling was up by nearly one euro cent at €1.1643, its highest since May 2017."
How's that economy working? "Home Depot on Tuesday reported fourth-quarter earnings and sales that missed analysts' expectations and offered a weaker-than-anticipated outlook for fiscal 2019… With U.S. home sales and prices under pressure, fewer shoppers are heading out to buy materials for home projects and renovations." Whispers, "housing is a leading indicator."
"During last fall’s campaign for governor, Republican Mike DeWine ran tough ads – one claimed Richard Cordray would 'raise taxes and kill jobs'… And faced with a hole of more than a billion dollars at the Ohio Department of Transportation, it’s DeWine who’s raising taxes – proposing an 18 cent hike in the state’s 28 cent gas tax – a 64 percent increase. 'You have to have a gas tax increase. There’s no doubt,' DeWine said at an event last week." See, conservatives are willing to raise taxes. Especially if it hits poor people more than rich people. Right now the proposal is to increase Ohio's gas tax by 18 cents a gallon to plug a that budget hole. Note Ohio has been cutting taxes for the past decade plus. And six years ago, faced with a tax increase, Gov. Kasich decided instead to float bond secured against I-80 tolls. Well, that money is running out this year. But don't worry rich people, the lobbyists are trying to get you a tax break somewhere else (to which, I'm sure, you'll be the exclusive beneficiaries). Or you could all buy Teslas. "Asked why he didn’t mention as a candidate that the gas tax might have to be raised at the same time he was claiming that Democratic opponent Rich Cordray would raise taxes, DeWine didn’t directly answer." Now I'm not opposed to raising gas taxes, but instead of raising them under Kasich, which would have been some modest increases, we now have to raise them to cover both new construction/maintenance, but also to cover the debt for those bonds. Conservative fiscal policy, always screwing you in the end.
Makes "ta-da" hands. "State lawmakers are now considering Gov. Mike DeWine’s 18-cent gas tax increase, to plug a hole of more than a billion dollars in the Department of Transportation’s budget. But one legislative leader says they’re also looking for ways to cut taxes – again." Ta-da! Conservatives will try to make Ohio's tax structure more punitive and regressive than it already is (we rely a lot on sale taxes, which impact lower wage earners more than the rich).
"For years Republican state lawmakers have tried repealing or rolling back what they call renewable energy mandates, arguing the standards force companies and ratepayers to pay for expensive energy sources. Senate President Larry Obhof (R-Medina) says he expects the issue to come up once again this year… Obhof added that wind setbacks, which determine where a turbine can be placed in relation to another person's property, is another issue senators are interested in addressing. Fakhoury and other wind energy advocates say the current setbacks are too strict and drastically hamper wind farm development." Yes, they're thinking of increasing setbacks. You know, the party that doesn't want government interfering in your personal life wants to tell you how you can use your land. It's almost as if their anti-zoning rhetoric is all a ploy.
"The House is expected to vote Tuesday to overturn President Donald Trump's emergency declaration to build a wall on the US southern border." It'll pass the House. It might even pass in the Senate, but not by a "veto proof" majority. Conservatives who railed against Obama's executive actions are showing their asses here. They should get a swift kick. This will be determined by the Courts (which it really should be, balance of power and all).
"Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signed an executive order Monday to withdraw all of his state’s National Guard troops from the U.S. southern border with Mexico. Wisconsin troops have been stationed in Arizona since last June. Currently, 112 soldiers are working as part of border security."
"North Korea's main nuclear reactor for making weapons-grade plutonium may be operating, just days before this week's summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un… Satellite images of the Yongbyon Nuclear Research Center from Planet, a San-Francisco based company, indicate the main 5-megawatt reactor on the site is running, according to Jeffrey Lewis, a scholar at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey." Naughty, naughty.
"Trump has maintained that his ultimate goal is to get Kim to relinquish the regime's nuclear program. But, in the lead up to this second summit, he has repeatedly stressed that he's not setting a deadline for North Korea to act." The capitulation begins early. Basically the president is happy if the North Koreans just don't do any testing of their systems. The only reason for that stance is he wants the appearance of having been successful without doing the actual hard work. Like the way he's lead the rest of his life.
"President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen is expected to tell lawmakers this week about alleged criminal conduct Trump committed while in office, NBC News reported, citing a knowledgeable source." I'm willing to bet this is more hype than reality. "Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., told The Associated Press that senators will have staff ask questions in Tuesday's session but will be there to observe."
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