An oldie, "New Punctuation Marks for Grammar Nerds", but a goodie. (Grokked from John)
"Although it will be years before the first humans set foot on Mars, NASA is giving the public an opportunity to send their names — stenciled on chips — to the Red Planet with NASA's Mars 2020 rover, which represents the initial leg of humanity’s first round trip to another planet. The rover is scheduled to launch as early as July 2020, with the spacecraft expected to touch down on Mars in February 2021." But you only have until September 30th to add your name.
"To explore those possibilities, NASA sent a trio of Astrobee robots to the International Space Station just last month, and the ISS crew is just now getting around to testing them out. In a new post on NASA’s website, the agency teases an early look at the floating bots as astronauts test them out." Astrobee robots.
"SpaceX has hurtled to the top of the launch industry over the past decade, last year bringing in more revenue than any other rocket company, according to Jefferies on Sunday."
"The study, published in Nature Sustainability on May 20, describes a potential process for converting the extremely potent greenhouse gas methane into carbon dioxide, which is a much less potent driver of global warming. The idea of intentionally releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere may seem surprising, but the authors argue that swapping methane for carbon dioxide is a significant net benefit for the climate." That depends on if it's a 1:1 conversion, or just what the ratio is. It'd be way much better to just capture the methane, though. Also, while it's great to reduce methane at ground level, the major problem is about 5 miles up.
"The little girl is catching up on some vaccines she's behind on: missing doses of the DTaP and polio vaccines. She's over two years old — both of those shots are supposed to happen at a baby's six-month check up… 'It happens a lot,' Siefman says. The Unity Health Care clinic, where Siefman practices, serves mostly low-income, mostly African-American patients. She says her patients often miss vaccinations because of struggles in their parents' lives. The reasons include: 'transportation, couldn't get off work, didn't have insurance and didn't know that they could come in without insurance.'"
"The researchers conducted two studies—one in which a prior scan was available, and one in which it wasn’t. In the former scenario, the deep learning algorithm—which was trained on computed tomography scans of people with lung cancer, without it, and with nodules turned cancerous, the New York Times reported—had a higher identification rate than six radiologists, and in the latter, the humans and machine were even." The AI manager then goes on to say how the AI got an A (by getting 94.4 right). Um, no. In radiology school a 95% is a B. You need a 96% for an A. Ask me how I know that. Also, just to point out again, lung cancer is one of a few hundred things radiologists diagnose in people's lungs. So while this would be a nice (and cheap, let me point out it's gotta be cheap) second look at scans. Also note they don't tell you what the radiologists scored, or what the radiologists specialties were.
"Cannabidiol, the non-psychoactive ingredient in hemp and marijuana, could treat opioid addiction, a new study says. Given to patients with heroin addiction, cannabidiol, also known as CBD, reduced their cravings for the illicit drug as well as their levels of anxiety."
"When LA's air got better, kids' asthma cases dropped." On why the reduction of regulations creating cleaner air and water are important.
"It's always been a chore to get to a doctor out here, and the situation is getting worse by some measures — here, and in many rural places. A new poll by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that one out of every four people living in rural areas said they couldn't get the health care they needed recently. And about a quarter of those said the reason was that their health care location was too far or difficult to get to." Hell, the hospital I work at is literally 20 minutes out of the major suburbs and we have trouble getting doctors to come out there because "it's too far." Even though it takes some over a half hour to drive into the major hospitals downtown.
"But, fueled by momentum from the passage of a restrictive abortion law in Alabama, a coalition of anti-abortion rights groups released a letter Wednesday asking Republican officials to 'reconsider decades-old talking points' on exceptions to such laws." This was always the plan. And it's the logical conclusion of the new concept of a fetus as a full human. There is no compromise position here. Welcome back to the War on Women.
How goes Brexit? "UK Prime Minister Theresa May has announced yet another attempt to get her serially rejected Brexit plan through Parliament -- and this time she dangled the prospect of a second referendum to get it across the line… May used a speech in London to outline what she claimed was a 'new Brexit deal,' which in reality looked a lot like her old Brexit deal with some added sweeteners designed to attract the support of dubious Members of Parliament." Third time is a charm.
How go the Trade Wars? "Some of the world's biggest footwear firms are urging Donald Trump to end the US trade war with China, warning of a 'catastrophic' effect on consumers." Say, what happens in two-and-a-half months?
"The U.S. administration is considering limits to Chinese video surveillance firm Hikvision’s ability to buy U.S. technology, the New York Times reported on Tuesday, in a move that deepens worries about trade frictions between the world’s two top economies."
"But as the Trump administration has pursued hard-line moves with major trading partners, especially China, farmers have found themselves with huge surpluses — and on the receiving end of government aid." Farmers, facing the second year of sanctions, want this over. Sorry guys, not gonna happen as GHW Bush used to say.
"In 1996, internationally known televangelist Ernest Angley admitted to his assistant minister that he had had sexual relations with a man who was employed by their church, Grace Cathedral in Cuyahoga Falls." If you're not from the area or don't remember the 80s well this might not mean much to you, but boy-howdy if you do. Angley was pretty big, and Akron was a hotbed of "independent" (now "mega") churches. (Grokked from John)
"US Democratic politicians expressed scepticism and alarm after receiving closed-door briefings from key Trump administration officials on Tuesday about escalating tensions with Iran." The dog that won't be wagged.
"That gap was a hangover from the Great Recession, when workers lost negotiating power and companies found a way to reduce wages. It's also one of the pieces of the puzzle that help explain why wages stagnated for years, even as the economy came roaring back." The tiered wage system is a joke and was designed solely to tear unions apart. Instead they sank morale, productivity, and lead to production floor strife. But here you see how unions are supposed to work (by bringing everyone up). While it's not stated in the story, my guess is the long-timers either put of increasing their own pay, or reduced their ask to help bring the new workers up to their level. Then note that companies are still trying to roll out tiered systems because on the face of them they're supposed to reduce costs. They do, but at the expense of the bottom line from low productivity, turnover and general resentment.
"The U.S. Department of Justice has put the state of Alabama on notice to fix dangerous and deadly prison conditions or face a lawsuit that could result in a federal takeover of the prison system." But instead they spent a hellalotta time on their abortion bill. Way to have your priorities set, Alabama. If you actually believe life is sacred and has value, you sure aren't showing it.
"Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada, a Republican, said on Tuesday he plans to step down from his position after lewd and racist text messages between him and his former chief of staff were leaked to the media." Well it's simple mathematics, the GOP gerrymandered their legislative majorities so it stands to reason more GOP politicians would need to resign over :: checks notes here :: being obnoxious dicks.
"HUD Secretary Ben Carson sent a pack of Oreos to a lawmaker after he flubbed a question about REOs during a congressional hearing." Completely unprepared administration officials.
"Yevgeny Prigozhin, the man widely referred to as 'Putin’s chef,' doesn’t actually prepare food. Instead, he cooks up international plots — like Russia’s campaign to use social media to undermine Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign and promote Donald Trump’s." From last year, but a good reminder. (Waves to my Russian friends) (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
"Russians who were linked to interference in the 2016 U.S. election discussed ambitious plans to stoke unrest and even violence inside the U.S. as recently as 2018, according to documents reviewed by NBC News." Not shocked. And there's Yevgeny Prigozhin again. Also, here's the plan, "One document said that President Donald Trump’s election had 'deepened conflicts in American society' and suggested that, if successful, the influence project would 'undermine the country’s territorial integrity and military and economic potential.'" Putin's plan is to weaken the West. It's the only way he can succeed. And just a reminder to my Russian friends, he's also screwing you over as well, it's just if the West cracks you won't notice it as much (think of the comparative pain equations). (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
What's Steve Bannon up to these days? "Ahead of elections this week for a new European Parliament, 11 populist leaders rallied last Saturday in Milan's Piazza Duomo. They vowed to reassert their national sovereignty by wresting control from European Union bureaucrats headquartered in Brussels. Their host: Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, the leader of Italy's far-right League party and Europe's rising populist star." Nazis gonna nazi.
"The chairman of the House intelligence committee, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., canceled what he'd called a planned 'enforcement' session because he said the Justice Department would comply with a subpoena and provide documents related to its investigation of Russia's interference in the 2016 election." It's all fun and games until the US Marshals come to town.
"That latter ruling, issued Monday by Judge Amit Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, found that the House Oversight Committee had a right to review Trump’s financial records. Mehta said that according 'to the Oversight Committee, it believes that the requested records will aid its consideration of strengthening ethics and disclosure laws, as well as amending the penalties for violating such laws.' Mehta also pointed out that the committee believes Trump’s financial records will allow it to ensure that the president complies with anti-bribery guidelines outlined in the Constitution."
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