Linkee-poo Tuesday child

The Dow Jones Industrials doesn't seem to be having a good day today either.

So, how did NASA's asteroid impact simulation go? "In a NASA simulation of a fictional scenario, New York City was hit with an asteroid packing 1,000 times the destruction of the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima." Ah well; win some, lose some.

"A leather bag stuffed with ritual items, found high in the Andes Mountains, has yielded rare clues to South American shamans’ hallucinatory visions around 1,000 years ago." A thousand years ago some Andean shaman in the village starts patting all of his pockets and clothing shouting, "Aw man, where'd I leave my stash!" Although it looks and sounds much cooler in the original.

"You can be taught to have a more positive attitude. And — if you work at it — a positive outlook can lead to less anxiety and depression." I'm pretty sure they're only talking about little-d depression.

"The fact is, when we shed pounds, we trigger mechanisms that make it hard to keep the weight off. There are some factors that are within our control, but many are not. Understanding how this works might make you look more kindly on your body."

"Scientists who recently announced an experimental genetic test that can help predict obesity got immediate pushback from other researchers, who wonder whether it is really useful." Hint: no, it's not. It's just a way to sell more genetic testing.

"Dr. Brian Chesebro… has calculated that by simply using the anesthesia gas sevoflurane in most surgeries, instead of the similar gas desflurane, he can significantly cut the amount of global warming each procedure contributes to the environment."

"Jeff Bezos introduced Amazon's annual letter to shareholders last month with a set of data that spanned the past 10 years and which showed how Amazon's independently (SIC) sellers are outpacing its main business. 'To put it bluntly: Third-party sellers are kicking our first party butt. Badly,' he wrote." Uh yeah, Bob. Whispers, Amazon takes a cut of all those "independent" sales. They're doing nicely. Also I view that $90k/yr figure in the same way I view the numbers for all those "self-publishing millionaires".

"Uber and Lyft drivers are planning a two-hour strike in several major cities around the world on Wednesday… Labor groups organizing the strike are protesting the companies’ payment and labor practices, and they hope to stymie the ride-hail apps during the crucial morning rush hour on the day before Uber is expected to debut on the public markets." Good luck with that.

"In Austin, Texas, a new raft of anti-LGBT legislation is working its way through the state legislature. One of the bills would allow state licensed professionals of all stripes — from doctors and pharmacists to plumbers and electricians — to deny services on religious grounds. Supporters say the legislation is needed to protect religious freedoms. But opponents call them 'religious refusal bills' or 'bigot bills.'" Because as we all know, the Christ (and we should be clear this is strictly for Christians, because I doubt the legislature would uphold a follower of Islam to refuse service to a Christian because of their deeply held religious beliefs) routinely refused service to anyone who wasn't a strict follower of Kosher laws. Dear socially conservative Christians, you're doing religion wrong.

"The Trump administration Thursday finalized new rules making it easier for health care workers to refuse to provide care that violates their religious or moral beliefs, advancing a policy favored by anti-abortion groups and Christian conservatives closely allied with the Trump administration." (Grokked from Xopher Halftongue)

So besides the obvious "abortion" and "LGBTQ" issues, this is why this "religious freedom" crisis is bullshit. "Councilman Jim Cleveland defended the mayor, while confirming many aspects of the story.'“I’m a Christian and my Christian beliefs are you don’t do interracial marriage. That’s the way I was brought up and that’s the way I believe,' he said." See, back before the Civil War, and ever since, people have been using their supposed religion to codify and approve a whole parcel full of discriminatory behaviors. There are thousands of crimes, including genocide, which have been attributed to people's "deeply held religious beliefs." And it's all bullshit. (Grokked from Jim Wright)

"Two Reuters journalists jailed in Myanmar under the country's Official Secrets Act for reporting on a massacre of Rohingya civilians have been freed after more than 500 days."

"President Donald Trump on Monday granted a pardon to a former first lieutenant in the US Army who was sentenced to prison in 2009 for killing an Iraqi detainee, according to the White House." I know it can be difficult for people who have never experienced these things to be able to tell the difference between a murder and killing someone in combat. This was a murder. This was a soldier taking revenge. These were not the actions of a professional military officer, but a street thug. There is a bright line, and this soldier crossed it.

"In threatening an escalation of a trade war with China over the weekend, President Donald Trump asserted that the tariffs already in place have boosted the economy… Economists disagree."

"President Trump escalated the trade fight with China this week, saying he will steeply increase tariffs on Chinese products this Friday… But while the White House projects a unified front in favor of wielding tariffs as a weapon against China, it wasn't always this way."

"Los Angeles' city attorney is suing tax-preparation software companies H&R Block and TurboTax maker Intuit, alleging that they 'defrauded the lowest earning 70 percent of American taxpayers' by impeding public access to an IRS program. The IRS Free File program is intended to help people who make less than $66,000 a year file their taxes for free using commercial services." Go get'em.

"U.S. officials told ABC News the deployments were in response to "clear indications" Iranian and Iranian proxy forces were preparing for a possible attack against U.S. forces on land, including in Iraq and Syria, and at sea. U.S. Central Command requested approval from acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan to move additional assets into the region, which Shanahan approved on Sunday, one official said." Might be true, might be wag the dog.

"US Navy sailors were instructed by the ship's senior enlisted sailor to 'clap like we're at a strip club' for Vice President Mike Pence's arrival aboard the USS Harry S. Truman on Tuesday… The ship's public information officer confirmed to CNN the comments were made prior to Pence's arrival aboard the Truman in Norfolk, Virginia, and called the statement 'inappropriate.'" Fake it until you make it. "He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother."

"The Trump administration plans to allow 30,000 more foreign workers temporarily into the United States for seasonal work through the end of September, a move that reflects how the booming economy has complicated President Donald Trump’s efforts to restrict legal immigration." Look, someone's gotta work at Trump hotels to services all those fundraisers.

"The Trump administration may alter the way it determines the national poverty threshold, putting Americans living on the margins at risk of losing access to welfare programs… The possible move would involve changing how inflation is calculated in the “official poverty measure,” the White House Office of Management and Budget said in a regulatory filing on Monday. The formula has been used for decades to determine whether people qualify for certain federal programs and benefits." They aren't stupid, they're just mean. (Grokked from Laura J Mixon)

"The House Judiciary Committee will proceed on a vote to hold the attorney general in contempt for defying a subpoena, despite DOJ efforts to negotiate." Next up, Mnuchin. Also, you know someone is pissed when they start using the phrase, "tripartite system."

"The letter posted online by Justice Department alumni, who served under presidents from both parties, said the report from special counsel Robert Mueller contained repeated instances of Trump committing obstruction of justice, and that he would have been charged with obstruction if he was not protected as President by an opinion from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel that Mueller cited." (Grokked from Dan)