Caught a bunch of typos at the last minute. Hope I caught them all.
Jerry Seinfeld's 5 step comedy writing process.
"A friend recently asked me, 'I’ve written a short story! Now what? How do I sell it?'" Marie Vibbert with some advice for beginners.
"Upon reexamination in the light, these stories are as simple and plainly told as folktales and urban legends. Which is exactly what they were. Schwartz, the man behind your childhood nightmares, was in fact a scholarly folklorist, author of more than fifty books, and the father to four children, who helped him to develop his work. As the children’s literature scholar Sylvia M. Vardell writes: 'Who has done for folklore for children in the United States what the Grimm brothers did in Germany…? Alvin Schwartz, that’s who!'" (Grokked from Bo Bolander)
The Throughline podcast about Milliken v. Bradley. "After the landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, public schools across the country were supposed to become more integrated, but by the 1970s, many weren't. As a way to remedy segregation in their city, the Detroit school board introduced busing across Detroit, including the suburbs. But the plan was met with so much resistance that the issue eventually led all the way to the Supreme Court."
And a little more about the Milliken v Bradley fallout. "Roughly 9 million children — nearly 1 in 5 public school students in the U.S. — attend schools that are racially isolated and receive far less money than schools just a few miles away. That's according to a sweeping new review of the nation's most divisive school district borders from EdBuild, a nonprofit that investigates school funding inequities." Why do we celebrate Brown v Board of Education in our culture (well, not everywhere), but then like to ignore the Milliken v. Bradley decision? Because we're all about thinking we are socially progressive (or at least for most of my life), but we just don't want to have to actually do the hard work.
How is this still working? Well, here's an example just up the road from me. "Gov. Mike DeWine on Thursday blocked a last-minute provision, stealthily inserted by state lawmakers into a 3,000-page budget bill earlier in the week, that would have cut property taxes for residents of wealthy Hunting Valley and cost the local school district millions of dollars." Hunting Valley is very wealthy (locally only Moreland Hills is more wealthy) and very white, but they're a part of the Orange City Schools. Orange is a magnet school that families will break themselves buying any home in the area to send their kids to that school. Many of those people are black. And note the governor's veto wasn't because this was a dumb ass idea (capping total property tax), but that specific communities were called out and not everyone benefited from the tax break. Not that our way of funding schools in Ohio hasn't been found unconstitutional (twice) or that there are systemic funding issues. The amendment "…would have capped the property taxes Hunting Valley residents paid at four times the average operating expenditure per village student enrolled in Orange schools." Most students in Hunting Valley attend private schools, so that catch about how many student "attend" the public school would have drastically cut their taxes.
"Anti-LGBTQ Tennessee Republican resigns after he’s busted for trolling for young men on Grindr." So that's makes how many? Shit, I've lost count. Also, the site is RawStory, which does have a political bent to it, but is somewhat reputable, however just a warning that I did receive a malware invite while clicking off of the story (fake Flash upgrade). My guess is it was one of the ads on the site. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"Some models of Airbus A350 airliners still need to be hard rebooted after exactly 149 hours, despite warnings from the EU Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) first issued two years ago… In a mandatory airworthiness directive (AD) reissued earlier this week, EASA urged operators to turn their A350s off and on again to prevent 'partial or total loss of some avionics systems or functions'." So that's what Boeing Execs have been up to all this time. Update your OS, y'all. (Grokked from Dan)
How goes Brexit? "On his first full day in office, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged the European Union on Thursday to rethink its refusal to renegotiate the Brexit deal, setting himself on a twin-track collision course — with the bloc and his own lawmakers — over his vow to leave the EU by Oct. 31." The EU is preparing for a hard Brexit. While I expect them to "talk" with Boris (or his proxy), which Boris will claim as a victory, the meeting will consist of explaining the EU's position where they've already given the "best" deal and it's up to the UK to accept it or walk away. Hey Boris, let us know how that "positive thinking and a can-do attitude" works out.
"Sixteen U.S. Marines were arrested Thursday on human smuggling and drug allegations at a base in Southern California, military officials said." All the news stories would like to remind you these Marines were not deployed to the border in support of the president's military operations. So, they were self-deployed. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
How go the Trade Wars? "U.S. stocks retreated from record highs as large companies delivered weak earnings reports and disappointing forecasts."
"President Donald Trump failed to achieve his much-ballyhooed 3% target for economic growth in 2018 after all… Updated government figures show that gross domestic product expanded 2.5% on a fourth-quarter-over-fourth-quarter basis last year. That compares with a previous estimate of 3% and an upwardly revised 2.8% in 2017, the first year of Trump’s presidency." They always get you in the corrections.
And "GDP rose 2.1% in the second quarter, down from 3.1% in Q1." So much for that "great economic growth" he's been touting. Expect much tweeting about every other damn thing this weekend.
"An 18-year-old American citizen says he lost 26 pounds because he wasn’t given enough food during the more than three weeks he was wrongfully held by U.S. border agents."
"A U.S. Border Patrol chief on Thursday testified before the House Judiciary Committee that 18-year-old Francisco Erwin Galicia never claimed to be a U.S. citizen when he was in Border Patrol custody for 23 days… But that contradicts a notice to appear in immigration court served to Galicia in which the Department of Homeland Security accused him of falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen while in custody." Well, I know who needs to actually be in custody for making false statements to Congress and on government documents. (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)
Planet Money podcast on a wealth tax.
"This is a fundraising script developed for Conservative Majority Fund, a political action committee. Its aggressive fundraising calls have raised millions of dollars in donations from individuals, many of whom gave small amounts. But most of the money ended up lining the pockets of the PAC’s fundraising firm and political consultants. The PAC and its fundraisers did not respond to requests for comment." (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)
"The U.S. government is poised to carry out the death penalty for the first time in nearly two decades, the Justice Department announced Thursday." I wish I could say this was about justice and not just more performative cruelty.
"A pro-Trump Republican candidate for Congress who is aiming to unseat Ilhan Omar in Minnesota has been charged with a felony after allegedly stealing from stores." Stellar candidate selection you've got there. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
"Former special counsel Robert Mueller’s warning that Russian interference is still happening 'as we sit' is putting pressure on Republican leaders in Congress to join Democrats in passing additional election security legislation." We'll see.
"Senate Republicans blocked two election security bills and a cybersecurity measure on Wednesday in the wake of former special counsel Robert Mueller warning about meddling attempts during his public testimony before congressional lawmakers." So the answer is "nope".
"According to Axios, Trump has narrowed the list of possible sites for the 2020 G-7 conference down to a few finalists, and the Trump National Doral golf club in Miami is on the list." For most intelligent people in positions of power and in the public spotlight, they would eliminate the obvious conflict of interest without hesitation. Instead, Trump is probably trying to push this decision. Why? "The host country of each year’s conference foots the bill, and last year’s G-7 conference in Canada cost Canadian taxpayers an estimated $450 million." Your tax dollars at work.
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