Linkee-poo Thursday

So. Many. Alligators.

I'm writing this in the morning, before AG Barr's press conference. Unless there is a huge (substantiated) bombshell in there, I probably won't link to too much reporting. Even an un-redacted a report like this takes time to digest. We won't really have good information and analysis until the Sunday Talking Heads shows. There will be breathless press releases flying like song-birds on their annual migration, but again, nobody will really know much until the second or third reads of the report. And then expect the, "this totally exonerates…" as well as the, "what's missing here could be key to criminal…" to continue. I think the fact that the AG and the White House has been attempting to spin this for the last few weeks should tell you something about what is actually in the report. Also that both have scheduled press conferences this morning should be a huge red-flag. There is a ton of grumbling about the redactions (note that previous reports on the president have been released in full including in ways that made news anchors uncomfortable describing oral sex without being graphic). Mueller will be subpoenaed, Barr will be forced to testify about what he did. Expect to hear about how the redactions were too many, and that those who have seen less and un-redacted reports know more than we do (so we should "believe" what they tell us). So we all have the script for the next two days. No real need to belabor the point with wasting your reading time, eh?

"There's a bright magnetar photobombing the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, frustrating astronomers' efforts to study the black hole — called Sagittarius A* — using X-ray telescopes." Damn camera hogs.

"Botswana unveiled the largest rare blue diamond ever discovered within its borders: a super rare 'Fancy blue' diamond weighing more than 20 carats." No word of a curse. Yet.

"Susan's story of delaying care because she's underinsured is not an outlier. A study published last month in Health Affairs examined claims data from a large national insurer for 316,244 women whose employers switched insurance coverage from low-deductible health plans (i.e., deductibles of $500 or less) to high-deductible health plans (i.e., deductibles of $1,000 or more) between 2004 and 2014." Note employer plans aren't as affected by Obamacare as the regular markets (yes, the ACA did add requirements, like must cover birth control, but they're not as strict as the marketplaces). Basically the insurers' method of cost control is to pass as much cost to the individual as they can. This is one of those things that needs fixing (as well as the paperwork and reporting side of insurance). In the end run, the way to reduce costs is a single-payer plan.

"The Yale University research team is careful to say that none of the (pig's) brains regained the kind of organized electrical activity associated with consciousness or awareness. Still, the experiment described Wednesday in the journal Nature showed that a surprising amount of cellular function was either preserved or restored." Back in the 19th century scientists, doctors, and crackpots would demonstrate the effects of electrical currents on "dead" muscle tissue. The results of those experiments, and the brouhaha that enveloped them, led to Mary Shelly writing Frankenstein. And there is a huge chasm between cellular activity and what most people would consider "actual life" in a complex organism.

"Virginia Hall is one of the most important American spies most people have never heard of." But now you will.

"A former student of The College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York, has pled guilty to charges that he destroyed tens of thousands of dollars worth of campus computers using a USB device designed to instantly overwhelm and fry their circuitry." Funny, I've never seen one of those in Amazon's "people who bought this also bought these things" lists. (Grokked from Dan)

"North Korea says leader Kim Jong Un has overseen the testing of a 'new-type tactical guided weapon.' With nuclear negotiations between the U.S. and North Korea stalled, Kim emphasized that he is continuing to upgrade his country's military." Sounds scary, but it isn't all that much so.

"Under orders from the Trump administration, the U.S. Agency for International Development is preparing to lay off most of its Palestinian aid workers in its West Bank and Gaza mission, according to U.S. government communications reviewed by NPR." That ain't good.

"A New Jersey man was arrested after entering St. Patrick’s Cathedral carrying two cans of gasoline, lighter fluid and butane lighters, the New York Police Department said…" I'm sure he had a good reason. Given the way this is being reported, I'mma gonna guess this guy is white.

"The Department of Justice issued an order on Tuesday that could keep thousands of asylum-seekers detained while they wait for their cases to be heard in immigration court — a wait that often lasts months or years." Welcome to the self-made "humanitarian crisis." Hope your 401(k) plans hold stock in for-profit jails.

"A new Trump administration report on international compliance with arms control accords provoked a dispute with U.S. intelligence agencies and some State Department officials concerned that the document politicizes and slants assessments about Iran, five sources with knowledge of the matter said." We've seen this movie before and the franchise really didn't need a reboot.