There's battle lines being drawn.
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong.
Young people speaking their minds
getting so much resistance from behind

Monday, June 24, 2019

Linkee-poo deals with Monday

"Somewhere back down the line, the West woke up to the Fox Woman gone. And when she left, she took many stories with her. And, when the day is dimming and our great successes have been bragged to exhaustion, the West sits, lonely in its whole body for her. For stories are more than just a dagger between our teeth. More than just a bellow of conquest. We have turned our face away from the pelt. Underneath our wealth, the West is a lonely hunter." Terri Windling with a cut of manuscript from Martin Shaw about the importance of story.

Who farted? "The American space agency's Mars rover Curiosity has recorded its largest measurement yet of methane."

"Their island getaways went bad in ways that sound similar: crippling stomach cramps, explosive diarrhea and malaise that lasted after they returned home… But in some ways, they consider themselves lucky. They survived their trips to the Dominican Republic." Who needs regulations and consumer protections?

"Compared to traditional open surgery, robotic surgery is minimally invasive and recovery time is often shorter, making the technology attractive to patients and doctors. But the da Vinci surgical system is expensive, costing as much as $2 million, and recent studies show that for certain procedures it can sometimes lead to worse long-term outcomes than other types of surgery."

"They're part of a sober social club, made up mostly of women in their 30s who want to have fun and make friends without alcohol… The members of this club work out, have demanding jobs and simply don't want to feel foggy or hungover anymore. Without alcohol, they say, they just feel better." Sober curious? We used to have a name for people like this. We called them people. How screwed up is society that people wanting to not drink throws a monkey wrench into the works.

How goes Brexit? "Sky News has said it will be forced to cancel a debate between the two men vying to be the next Tory leader unless Boris Johnson agrees to take part… Mr Johnson has faced three days of questions over his private life after a row with his partner Carrie Symonds."

"Analysts have rebuked the economic part of the United States's Middle East peace plan for failing to address the main problem that has heavily curbed the Palestinian economy - the 52-year-old Israeli military occupation over the Palestinian territories." Without a political solution, no amount of economic stimulus will help.

"President Donald Trump is threatening to impose 'major' new sanctions against Iran on Monday, ramping up the pressure on the Islamic Republic at a time when its economy is straining under the weight of financial restrictions." What remains to be sanctioned?

"China’s Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Zhang Jun said on Monday that China will not allow the Group of 20 nations to discuss the Hong Kong issue at its summit this week." Oo, the family dinner doesn't look like it'll go well.

"Tens of thousands of Czechs filled Prague's Letna Plain park on Sunday, taking part in what its organizers described as 'the biggest protest since the fall of Communism.'… They were demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Andrej Babis, a controversial politician accused of fraud and collaborating with the Communist-era secret police, and his justice secretary Marie Benesova."

"Istanbul has elected a new mayor in a rerun that is widely being seen as a referendum on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his grip on Turkey after the first mayoral elections were annulled." For the second time.

"U.S. President Donald Trump will visit South Korea this weekend after an exchange of letters with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un boosted hopes for talks aimed at ending North Korea’s nuclear program." We've been here before, right. It feels like we've been here before.

"President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence responded separately to criticism over reports that the government is not providing detained immigrant children with adequate food, water, soap, toothbrushes, or blankets. In three interviews that aired Sunday, both men blamed Democrats for the conditions at detention facilities." They know this is a PR problem for them, so they're trying to shift the blame. This is a direct result of the Trump administration policies, they just didn't care that they didn't have the money to implement them properly. It was their stated goal to make these detentions horrible as a deterrent.

Understand that these migrants know this is a possible outcome. "Border Patrol agents found four bodies, including three children, near the Rio Grande River in South Texas on Sunday, Hidalgo County Sheriff Eddie Guerra said." And they're still coming. Do you think a little unsanitary conditions will stop them? Besides the health concerns, it just makes Americans look bad.

"President Trump is delaying immigration raids that were set to begin this weekend, saying he will give Congress two weeks to make changes to asylum law before dispatching Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents around the country to deport undocumented immigrants." Holding immigrants hostages all to force Democrats to give him more powers to be even worse to immigrants.

"South Bend mayor and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg faced his constituents at a tense town hall Sunday afternoon one week after the fatal shooting of Eric Logan, an African American man, by South Bend Police Sgt. Ryan O'Neill, a white police officer." No matter the outcome, this will be a hell of a albatross for Buttigieg.

"A popular knitting social media website has banned support for President Donald Trump on its platform, accusing his administration of propagating 'open white supremacy.'" I think we'll all remember where we were when we learned that the knitting community got fed up with bullshit. And it may be my own confirmation bias, but I'm thinking that conservatives were starting to get obnoxious with their proselytizing. (Grokked from Dan)

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