And because if I'm anything, I'm ironic. So just a heads up that I'm taking the weekend off. I hope you have a fantastic 4th if you're here in the US (or an ex-pat). For the rest of you, have a great long weekend.
On the Media podcast with Aaron Copland, music, polital pivots of the 20th Century, and their intersections. "There are many Americas. Nowadays they barely speak to each other. But during the most perilous years of the last century, one young composer went in search of a sound that melded many of the nation's strains into something singular and new. He was a man of the left, though of no political party: gay, but neither closeted nor out; Jewish, but agnostic, unless you count music as a religion. His name was Aaron Copland. On this July 4th weekend, WNYC’s Sara Fishko tells his story." For my England Pre-history to 1066 class our professor famously would only have 3 questions on his exams. He would divide the section of history we had discussed for 4 weeks into 3, and ask us to write an essay about the political, cultural, economic, military, and religious aspects of that time and their major events. This forced us to see them all intertwined. This podcast episode does the same thing, but for just before the Great Depression to post-mccarthyism. There are answers in there, and you can see the genesis of our current politic.
Brooke Bolander's "Who Should Live in Flooded Old New York?" An op-ed from the future.
"A cicada-infecting fungus produces drugs that make the insects literally mate their butts off." And then, after they lose their abdomens, they're so doped out of their heads they still try to mate. Yeah, I've been to parties like that.
"By measuring people’s neural activity as they viewed pictures of humans and robots, researchers identified a region of the brain that seems to underlie the “uncanny valley” effect — the unsettling sensation sometimes caused by robots or animations that look almost, but not quite, human. Better understanding the neural circuitry that causes this feeling may help designers create less unnerving androids." By zapping your brain… I'm just guessing here.
"Parts of Kagoshima prefecture, on Kyushu, could see more than 80 millimeters (3.1 inches) of rainfall per hour, forecasters warned. Japan's Meteorological Agency said a number of places within the prefecture, which has a population of 1.6 million people, were at risk of landslides and flooding."
"The federal government's rule designed to support health workers who opt out of providing care that violates their moral or religious beliefs will not go into effect in July as scheduled. The effective date has been delayed by four months, according to court orders." Look, if you can't or won't do the work, you shouldn't be in the position to be asked.
"A patient at Seattle Children's Hospital has died from a mold infection… The patient was one of six to develop an infection from 2018-2019, according to Alyse Bernal, public relations manager for the hospital."
"Using a combination of CRISPR gene-editing technology and a therapeutic treatment called LASER ART, scientists at Temple University and the University of Nebraska Medical Center said they erased HIV DNA from the genomes of animals in what they call an unprecedented study that was published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications." But, "The virus did not return in nine of the 21 mice in which the method was tested, according to Khalili."
"Summer has barely begun, but temperature records are already being broken. Data released today show that the European-average temperature for June 2019 was higher than for any other June on record. Average temperatures were more than 2°C above normal and it has become the hottest June ever recorded." We're boned. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"They've found that, in fact, small farmers in Latin America and Africa do benefit from the minimum price that Fair Trade guarantees and the extra money it delivers to farmer cooperatives. Researchers have documented higher wages, greater participation in community decisions, and even greater gender equity… Yet Eva Meemken, an agricultural economist currently at Cornell University, noticed a blind spot in all that research: 'They mostly look at farmers. Almost nobody looks at workers' on those farms, she says."
"The labor market was already being upended by global trade and technology, which killed manufacturing and other middle-class jobs. Wage growth was pathetic. Corporate power was rising, and union power was declining. Then along came the financial crisis, which made everything worse. The result, Blanchflower argues, is a situation where workers have crummier jobs and less bargaining power." Or, you know, it could just be that the majority of employers are psychopathic assholes who haven't woken up to the modern reality. But also note, essentially all these people are arguing for a lower short-term Fed Rate.
How go the Trade Wars? "Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday pledged to an assembly of global business leaders and government representatives that Beijing will push to create an equal playing field in the country for all companies." Uh, yeah, Bob.
"A fire on one of the Russian navy’s deep-sea submersibles killed 14 sailors, the Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday without giving the cause of the blaze or saying if there were survivors." Oh my Russian friends.
"The Trump administration appears to have missed its own deadline Monday to start the printing of paper forms and other mailings that will play a key role in next year's constitutionally mandated head count of every person living in the U.S." Because President Do-Over wants to get that citizenship question on. It's imperative for GOP elections in the future.
"Chief Justice John Roberts is now the swing vote." Six takeaways from the previous SCOTUS term.
"The government’s own internal watchdog warned as far back as May that conditions at an El Paso, Texas, border station were so bad that border agents were arming themselves against possible riots, countering Friday’s assertion by a top Trump administration official that reports of poor conditions for migrants were 'unsubstantiated.'" (Grokked from Chip Dawes)
"In a strongly worded report, the inspector general said the prolonged detention of migrants without proper food, hygiene or laundry facilities — some for more than a month — requires 'immediate attention and action.'"
"A report from government auditors includes images of people penned into overcrowded Border Patrol facilities, including one man pressing a cardboard sign to a cell window with the word 'help.'"
"A Texas congressman says he released video and photos of migrant women being held at a border facility in his state so the public could better understand 'awful' conditions under President Donald Trump’s policies."
Meanwhile, over on Bullshit Mountain, "Hispanic pastors tour border facility lambasted by AOC and say they are 'shocked by misinformation'." I believe the term is "sell out." How do you know it's bullshit, because of the "begging" language used by the "agent" this minister talked with. Why the bullshit? Because they know they're losing.
"Divers are searching for a 2-year-old girl believed to have gone missing in the Rio Grande River near Del Rio, Texas, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced Tuesday. Agents from the Del Rio Border Patrol Station said a woman from Haiti told them Monday that she had lost her daughter, a national of Brazil, while crossing the river."
"A Seattle federal judge ruled Tuesday that asylum-seeking migrants detained for being in the U.S. illegally have the right to a bond hearing in immigration court rather than being held until their cases are complete."
"ICE’s arrest of student and activist Jose Bello—less than 36 hours after Bello publicly recited a poem criticizing the immigration system—is cause for serious concern for all those who support freedom of expression and First Amendment rights, PEN America said today." (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
"Iran's President Hassan Rouhani issued a fresh ultimatum Wednesday over its civilian-use nuclear program, saying the country would on Sunday 'take the next step' toward increasing its enrichment of uranium unless European powers are able to find a way to offset the impact of the Trump administration's sanctions on its economy." How's that "better deal" coming along, Sparky?
"An attack has killed up to 40 migrants at a detention centre on the outskirts of the Libyan capital Tripoli, government officials say." Libya is still without stable national government.
"The German captain of a rescue charity ship who angered Italy’s interior minister by bringing African migrants to an Italian island has received threats and been moved to a secret location, the charity she works for said."
"Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) on Tuesday said that the Republican Party is 'in a coma' because of a 'willingness to only absorb that that supports what you currently think.'" And then he engages in both-siderism. Fuck you, John. I see your record with Ohio. While you may have been the least offensive of the crowd in 2016, that doesn't mean you weren't offensive as a candidate. Say, tell ya what, Johnny. Why don't you take your political capital in the party and actually do something about that instead of trying to just profit and cash-in all your time in office. (Grokked from Joy Reid)
Here's the problem, I think he's right. Come 2021 the conservatives and GOP will shudder awake and say, "OMG, what have we done?!" And then just as easily slide into "That's all in the past, we have to move forward." Fuck that shit. We're taking down names.
"President Donald Trump has hijacked what for decades had been a nonpolitical Independence Day celebration on the National Mall, packing his ticketed-event speech with political appointees and Republican donors… The Republican National Committee has been offering major donors tickets to Trump’s speech, as have political appointees at the White House and executive branch agencies." Oh look, something new has been written, "Some animals are more equal than others." I wonder what that means? (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
"Trump has been obsessed by the idea of a massive military parade ever since attending the Bastille Day celebration in Paris two years ago, first ordering up a Veterans Day parade for 2018 that was canceled only after the price tag proved embarrassingly high. For someone who literally cannot grasp the possibility that more people voted for his opponent than him, or that fewer people came to his inaugural than his predecessor’s, it is not much of a reach to imagine that in the president’s mind he will see the flyovers and the fireworks as a nation paying tribute to the greatness of a man, rather than the other way around."
"The military is telling Washington, D.C., residents not to panic this evening if they see an armored personnel carrier rolling through their neighborhood." It's just a fascist display of dick waging. Nothing to worry about. Move along, citizen. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"Other elements of the spectacle have raised eyebrows, particularly the revelation that the White House is doling out exclusive tickets to the event for its political allies via the Republican National Committee as HuffPost reported. This raises questions about whether massive federal government resources are being devoted to a partisan political effort." Your tax dollars at work. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
"A House committee has filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking President Donald Trump’s tax returns." Finally.
"The National Rifle Association aired an avalanche of TV ads and pushed its 5 million-plus members to the polls for Donald Trump in 2016, propelling him in the Rust Belt states that delivered him the presidency… Now, the gun rights group is in total meltdown — and senior Republicans and Trump 2020 officials are alarmed." I'm sure Russian money will help prop it up, again. But two of the three main groups are now seeking to rebrand themselves as "non-partisan" (the Kochs and the US Chamber of Commerce). That smacks more of a coordinated infiltration than a strategic retreat.
Now in "News You Couldn't Possibly Write in Fiction," "Trump Facebook ads use models to portray actual supporters." And the models and the video aren't all from the US. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
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