Linkee-poo and look where my hand was

I like to say that in healthcare we aren't there to judge, especially in the case of emergency medicine. But we do. And if you bring your sick kid in to the ER with a temperature and nausea and vomiting then tell us you're anti-vaxers, refuse diagnostic imaging and standard blood tests, we're going to judge you harshly.

"Thousands were without power in parts of Brooklyn on Monday morning as New York dealt with another blackout and intense summer weather."

"Dave Davies has confirmed that The Kinks are recording new music after more than two decades apart." Wut?! (Grokked from Dan)

"India has successfully launched its second-ever mission to the Moon, and hopes with it to join a handful of countries that have landed on the lunar surface." Meanwhile in the US we're having a discussion wondering if it's worth the cost to go back to the Moon or to land a human on Mars.

Why did the showrunners and writers of Game of Thrones not show up for this year's ComiCon? "The Game of Thrones cast took the stage in Hall H this weekend for their last San Diego Comic-Con panel for the show, which aired its series finale earlier this year… Those fans were not so pleased, however. The HBO hit's final season was infamously divisive, with many fans taking issue with everything from specific characters' arcs to the pacing of the episodes."

A story on reversing Type II Diabetes, "All these people will have to find a way to get active at home, because there's no gym anywhere close. There's not a proper grocery store nearby either, so healthy cooking can become a real chore. These communitywide obstacles reveal why it can be a struggle for people to maintain their health in rural America."

Who needs costly regulation and a strong EPA? "In the predawn hours of June 21, explosions at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery in South Philadelphia shook houses, sent fireballs into the air and woke up nearby residents… Masur watched as the refinery spewed black smoke above the city, easily visible from his home. But what he didn't know at the time was just how close he and his family came to getting exposed to hydrogen fluoride, one of the deadliest chemicals used by refiners and other industrial manufacturers." Anybody remember Bhopal?

On browser extensions. I have this thing in my head which sets off klaxons whenever someone or a company attempts to appeal to greed.

"Iran said Monday it has arrested 17 Iranian nationals allegedly recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency to spy on the country's nuclear and military sites, and that some have already been sentenced to death."

"Dozens of families in Pennsylvania received an alarming letter from their public school district this month informing parents that if their kid's lunch debt was not settled, their child could be removed from their home and placed in the foster care." In this story I hear absolutely no compassion from the elected school board members. Also what I don't hear is any attempt to say, "Hey, if you need help, we have these programs (like free school lunch), if you qualify we can help set you up." But this coming year it may not be an issue because, "Since the poverty level among students has risen in the district recently, new federal nutrition assistance is expected district-wide to cover meals for all students, regardless of their family's economic means."

"US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has recognised the 'significant advances of Mexican operations' in reducing migrant flows to the United States, Mexico's foreign ministry has said." I'm not sure this is a "win".

"Equifax will pay at least $575 million, and potentially as much as $700 million, to settle allegations over its massive over 2017 data breach, U.S. regulators said in a statement." Here's your twenty-five cents. "Consumers eligible for the fund must submit claims showing they were fraud victims or set up credit-monitoring services following the breach."

"Toys R Us… is making a comeback in time for the 2019 holiday season with a new approach. Instead of providing mile-long aisles filled with a plethora of toys, the company is switching its focus to smaller stores that will feature interactive toy demonstrations, spaces for special events like birthday parties, new activities every day and open play areas." The zombie brand awakens.

Conservatives are all for the free market, until it's one of their own. "(TX Gov.) Abbott surrounded himself with associates and Chick-fil-A menu items and vowed to protect religious liberty in response to criticism citing the fast food chain’s owner's support for anti-gay groups and opposition to gay marriage." Seems San Antonio said no to a siting permit for a wanker chicken outlet near their airport. Well, that can't stand. (Grokked from Jim Wright)

"The French army is creating a 'Red Team' of science fiction writers to help military strategists anticipate future threats to national security." Most militaries have done this exercise. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)

"European stocks lingered on Monday, hamstrung by dialled-down expectations for a larger U.S. rate cut this month, while escalating tensions in the Middle East boosted oil prices and rising fears for a no-deal Brexit haunted the pound." But oil is still below $60 a barrel.

"Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló announced Sunday that he will not seek reelection in 2020." And he thought that might quell the upset. Yeah. That never works.

How go the Trade Wars? "Chinese foreign direct investment into the United States has plummeted since Trump took office, with real estate, autos, tech and agriculture — industries which have all benefited from China's boom — set to lose out."

"Trading on China's new Nasdaq-style stock market got off to a spectacular start Monday as investors sent share prices soaring, creating several new tech billionaires in the process… Beijing hopes Star will help China's high-tech companies tap into vast wealth held by local investors, and entice global leaders such as Alibaba (BABA) and Tencent (TCEHY) to return from stock markets in New York and Hong Kong." It's all fun and games until the grandparents lose their life savings speculating in the market.

"Some three dozen people were injured Sunday night in Hong Kong at a railway station in a turn of violence in which a group of pro-democracy activists and other bystanders were attacked following a night of street demonstrations, according to local reports. The identity of the attackers was not immediately clear." Which only gives the government the pretext to violently clamp down on the protests. Yeah. I wonder who those white shirts were?

How's it going with our Russian friends? "As many as 25,000 protesters rallied in central Moscow Saturday to protest the refusal by city election officials to allow several opposition figures to run for the Moscow city council."

"Israel has begun demolishing a cluster of Palestinian homes it says were built illegally too close to the separation barrier in the occupied West Bank."

"Red faces in Moscow this weekend, with the news that hackers have successfully targeted FSB—Russia's Federal Security Service. The hackers managed to steal 7.5 terabytes of data from a major contractor, exposing secret FSB projects to de-anonymize Tor browsing, scrape social media, and help the state split its internet off from the rest of the world. The data was passed to mainstream media outlets for publishing." Ah, we're deep in the information warfare trenches now. Actual hack or coordinated misinformation campaign? Who knows. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)

"Mark Morgan, acting head of Customs and Border Protection, said Thursday that the Trump administration's new asylum rule, unveiled earlier this week, is being rolled out as a small 'pilot' and that officials expect it to be blocked in court." How the fuck do you "pilot" that? Isn't that just agents deciding whom they like and whom they want to turn away?

"Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan testifies before the House Oversight committee as Democrats push back against Trump administration's policies to address the border crisis." Well that didn't go well. And another report on that testimony. Are all these "acting" heads suffering from TBI? 'Cause it sure sounds like it.

"President Donald Trump on Sunday again ripped into four freshmen Democratic congresswomen who've been the target of his sustained attacks, calling them 'weak' and 'insecure' minutes after blasting a Washington Post story on the fallout over his initial comments about the members a week earlier." The president is unAmerican. He's trying to pick his fight and he thought four women with little power would be his best bet. I think he's chewed off more than he can swallow.

"'I think the term "racist," Chris, has become a label that is too often deployed by the left, Democrats in this country simply to try to silence and punish and suppress people they disagree with, speech that they don't want to hear,' (noted Himler whisperer Stephen) Miller said." I'm sure that gambit worked well in his college dorm and drunk people thought he was being clever.

"House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler on Sunday said Robert Mueller's report presents 'very substantial evidence' that President Donald Trump is 'guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors' -- an impeachable offense." I really wish news rooms would hire intelligent people, because at this moment in our history, we need people who understand exactly what they're saying. "High crimes and misdemeanors" is not an offense, it's a description of a category of offenses.

"Robert Mueller's appearance in Congress this week will be a hinge moment — the question is which way it might swing the political trajectory in Washington." Hope everybody has their bingo cards ready. I really hope the Democrats don't just try and get good quotes out of Mueller, but instead coordinate their questioning to bring out of Mueller the story of the 2016 elections and the president's repeated attempts to subvert justice and make totally clear Mueller's language about not indicting the president because Mueller didn't have the power to indict.

"The historian Jon Meacham described Donald Trump as the most racist president in American history alongside slavery-era Andrew Johnson… Meacham, who has written several presidential biographies, was reacting on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews to Trump's racist tweet about progressive Democratic congresswomen." Next up, water is wet. Now, he's not only racist, he a misogynist, abusive personality, and an authoritarian. (Grokked from Joy Reid)