Linkee-poo less weak sauce

Still too many alligators, but I did get some reading done.

Sword porn. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)

"Behold the Sola-Busca Tarot Deck, the earliest complete set of Tarot Cards (1490)." (Grokked from Matt Staggs)

"The Curiosity rover is living its best life on Mars. NASA chose the Gale Crater as the vehicle's stomping ground in part because of the siren call of the crater's 'clay-bearing unit.' The rover has now finally drilled into that area, nearly seven years after landing on the red planet."

"Across the U.S., many doctors, nurses and other health care workers have remained silent about what is being called an epidemic of violence against them… The violent outbursts come from patients and patients' families. And for years, it's been considered part of the job." Code Violet. It's called usually once a time during my shifts at the hospital. We don't have metal detectors. Yet.

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says a deadly, drug-resistant fungus is spreading around healthcare facilities and is 'a serious global health threat.'"

"Getting the right amount of vitamins and minerals can lower your risk of an early death, but they should come from food instead of supplements, a study published Tuesday suggests… Researchers from Tufts University say they found no association between the use of dietary supplements and a lower risk of death." Again, the form of these molecules is crucial. To say the "heme" in your blood is iron misses that it's a specific type of iron ("organic iron") and other types of iron could be very harmful. Everything in moderation, vitamins don't cure, but your body needs certain amounts to keep functioning well. Also just a reminder that no one in the "health care industry" makes money from vitamins, that's an entirely different business.

"There was a major break in the investigation of a Florida woman's 1993 disappearance when the mother's son found her body buried in the backyard of his childhood home."

"When it comes to dollar bills, a new report from the federal government says they're lasting more than twice as long as they were at the beginning of the decade… And that's upending an old argument about replacing the dollar bill with a $1 coin."

How go the Trade Wars? "For regular American shoppers, major household appliances perfectly illustrate the complicated reality of the trade dispute. One tariff was a boon to some domestic manufacturers. But other tariffs hiked costs for the entire industry worldwide. Prices on appliances are now slowly recovering from their biggest increase in about five years."

How goes Brexit? "European leaders will decide on Wednesday whether to grant the U.K. another extension to its departure from the bloc, due to take place on Friday April 12." I love how the analysis is, "nobody benefits from a hard Brexit." Nope, the EU could want to send a message of, "Leave the EU at your peril."

"Rapidly escalating violence is limiting civilians' ability to travel in and out of Libya's capital. An airstrike on Tripoli's international airport Monday and other recent clashes have now forced some 3,400 people to leave their homes, according to the U.N.'s Humanitarian Affairs office."

Tit meet tat. "The Trump administration is designating Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organization, taking an unprecedented step as it seems to increase pressure on Iran's regime… Iranian lawmakers have prepared legislation that would label part of the U.S. military as a terrorist group, according to Iran's state-run IRNA news agency."

"When it came down to a final issue for Israeli voters to ponder before Tuesday's elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made an extraordinary campaign pledge: If re-elected, he said on Saturday, he would annex Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank." And that's one way to continue war for another generation or 3. If that happens, there will be no peace until one side is eliminated, and then there will be many wars after that.

"Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to be on the cusp of securing a record fifth term as Israeli Prime Minister Wednesday after a dramatic finish to a closely fought election race."

"A Ugandan government official said on Wednesday that a total of eight people were in custody over the kidnapping of an American tourist and her guide, and he rejected President Donald Trump's 'lectures' on how to keep visitors to the nation safe." I believe that's international speak for, "please go fuck yourself."

Texas "State legislators stayed up well into the morning hearing emotional testimony about a proposed abortion ban… House Bill 896 would criminalize abortion and classify it as a homicide. Women who have abortions could be sentenced to the death penalty." Just in case you thought this was just about stopping abortion. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)

"The House Oversight Committee is attempting to study how drug companies set prescription drug prices, but Republicans have warned the industry that it may be better for them not to cooperate." The fuckers. But it's not the first time conservatives have run this game. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)

"Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), the chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, engaged in a fiery exchange Tuesday with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin over the length of his testimony before the committee." Things just aren't the same here on Walton's Mountain. Also, Mnuchin just keeps demonstrating what an ass he is.

"A federal judge in California blocked the Trump administration from requiring asylum-seekers to return to Mexico as they await court hearings in the U.S. But the judge delayed implementing his ruling to give the government time to appeal."

"Trump has already faced more joint challenges from states in his first two years than either Barack Obama or George W. Bush did in their eight years in office, according to Paul Nolette, a political science professor at Marquette University who tracks the lawsuits." And now you know why conservatives want to change the makeup of the courts and Majority Leader McConnell has stripped away any of the minorities rights in challenging court appointees (including ignoring blue slips, removing the filibuster, and now limiting debate from 30 hours to 2 hours). They are trying to steal our freedoms and our democracy.

"While some migrant families were separated during the Obama and Bush administrations when immigration officials determined parents posed a risk to their children, there was no government policy of systematically separating children from their parents… Under the discontinued 'zero tolerance' policy of increased prosecution for those who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, the Trump administration forcibly separated more than 2,600 migrant children from their families near the southern border and designated them as unaccompanied minors."