"The sad, short answer is that any pressure one need not take seriously is no pressure at all. If you feel this pressure to write that breakout novel, you must take it seriously… That doesn’t mean, however, that you need to sit down and try to write a breakout novel." Nick Mamatas on Publishing 201. (Grokked from Cat Rambo)
Remember the kid who went blind after only eating "junk food"? Well, some people had a problem with that. "The news article I just linked to has a giant picture of French fries, but while French fries are a convenient scapegoat that makes this whole thing cognitively easier to digest, demonizing specific foods is not what we should be focusing on. The focus should be on mental health as it relates to eating, and how systemic factors can lead to a child like this going so long without appropriate help. We should be talking about how this was a preventable tragedy, not about junk food and veganism." And the author both has a point (the disease was caused by the underlying eating disorder which lead to a limited diet which included highly processed/"junk" food), but also misses the point ("junk food" diets are really bad for you, here's an extreme case). And yes, not discussing the eating disorder is a mistake (as was missing the disorder in the first place, which is not really a given, but certainly was not covered in the initial news). They also conflated the "vegan diet" with a "well-planned vegan diet" which is not the same criticism at all (just "going vegan" without researching how to eat a well balanced diet of plant based food is asking for trouble in the same way that serving "salads" is not the same as serving "vegan" food). I'll also point out that the author is diagnosing the patient without examining that patient and could be simply applying a diagnosis code with limited data (this is a corollary with medical students self-diagnosing with everything as they begin studying diseases) and that the author has an axe to grind (that there is poor societal awareness of eating disorders). But the end result of this should be, "eat a balanced diet that fulfills your nutritional needs, because if you don't bad things happen." And if you notice children being consistently picky and limiting the type and quantity of foods they eat (to extreme levels and for prolonged periods), that may not just be a stage or fussiness, but could be the start of a disease process. (Grokked from Xopher Halftongue)
"The family that owns Purdue Pharma, maker of Oxycontin, has rejected a demand that they give up $4.5 billion of their personal wealth to settle opioid claims against the company, according to state attorneys general negotiating with the company." No no no. That's money they rightly profited from their scheme to addict the country to opioid pain killers and then quickly skimmed off the top into their personal bank accounts before they decided to give the company (and it's attendant liability) to the "public good."
"India has located the lander from its Chandrayaan-2 mission to soft land a rover on the moon but has not yet been able to establish communication, India's space agency said." Space is hard.
This is how the horror movie starts. "An underwater laboratory disappeared one night last month, and scientists have no idea what happened… Because they weigh more than 1,500 pounds combined, GEOMAR said it suspects a storm, current or sea creature is to blame for the uprooting." Wait, what "sea creature"? (Grokked in a roundabout way from Kelly Link)
"An electrocatalysis reactor built at Rice University recycles carbon dioxide to produce pure liquid fuel solutions using electricity. The scientists behind the invention hope it will become an efficient and profitable way to reuse the greenhouse gas and keep it out of the atmosphere." The problem is the conversion process to formic acid, which "more" efficient than other processes, is still less than 50% (which means you use more than twice as much energy to produce the fuel than you can get back out of the fuel). And then, of course, the byproduct of using that fuel is CO2.
"Around the U.S., a number of health care providers, such as Garfield in Chicago and the non-profit 'Bootcamp for New Dads' in New York City, have begun trying to change their approach to such classes. Some go so far as to hold single-sex prenatal classes specifically for men."
"It's impossible to fully capture the devastation we see every day. We're only about 80 miles from Florida, but the miles of rubble Dorian left in its wake have made this part of the Bahamas feel as remote as any place on Earth."
"Over the weekend, nearly 1,500 evacuees arrived in Palm Beach, Florida, on board the Grand Celebration humanitarian cruise ship. All of them were properly documented to enter the country, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said… But on Sunday, a different story." Performative cruelty.
"The (ACLU's) letter asked (Michigan University) to withdraw an interim policy that requires students who file sexual misconduct complaints to undergo cross-examination conducted personally by their alleged abusers." Oh U of M, you are soooo going to get sued because of that. And in a way that will make you long for the days when you were just dealing with Larry Nassar. (Grokked from Annalee Flower Horne)
Conservatives love thems some free markets and letting businesses do what they want. Until they don't do what the conservatives want. "The U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether the decision of four automakers in July to reach a voluntary agreement with California to adopt state emissions standards violated antitrust law, people briefed on the matter said on Friday." It's a dicey legal argument (again it sounds like one of those "drunken libertarians reading of the law" kinds of things). But I don't think they're hoping to win, but just to scare companies of going against the wishes of the Trump administration. And that they're doing it over the issue of fuel efficiency (the administration is actually going to argue against progress in fuel efficiencies) shows how drastic and desperate the forces working to accelerate climate change will go to.
"Faced with the prospect of a widespread pilot strike, British Airways is giving its customers some simple advice: 'please do not go to the airport.'"
"The (power plant) operator blamed its failure to apply the firewall security updates on the lack of a proper firmware review process to vet security updates before being deployed. Work was being done on standardizing such process, but the procedure had not been ready in time, resulting in a bottleneck of firmware updates not being reviewed and deployed." That's tech-geek speak for "we didn't think we had to do that at all."
How go the Trade Wars? "The escalating U.S.-China trade war is unwinnable by either side, according to new research shown exclusively to TIME." Yes, trade wars, like cold wars, are not "winnable." At best they are "survivable." The markets for agriculture products which Trump's tariffs have destroyed will never be like they were before, even if they gain back some of the sales to China. Trade wars like these cut into muscle, and while muscle may heal (and possibly grow), because of the extent of damage they are never as strong as they were before.
"Nearly three decades after the Cold War ended between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, a new debate is stirring: Is the U.S. heading into a new Cold War, this time with China?" Too late.
"So the two sides have laid down their arms and agreed to a ceasefire in hopes of 'creating the conditions' that will make it possible for discussions to resume in October… Unfortunately those talks, should they ever occur, will achieve little aside from temporarily calming financial markets. Donald Trump's trade war is a trade war that cannot be won."
"That has led to a scrambled and sometimes incoherent message from Trump’s rivals even as global markets gyrate, U.S. consumer prices of Chinese imports rise and farmers lose their biggest export market as a result."
"The Chinese Labor Watch group released a lengthy report alleging several violations of Chinese law against Foxconn, the key iPhone assembler. Apple said it investigated and denies most of the allegations but did say that it found Foxconn’s iPhone factory workforce was made up of 50% temporary labor, way above the 10% rule according to the law."
How goes Brexit? It seems the British people are growing tired of their government and don't trust them (from either side) to do what it right. And besides the economic damage to the UK and EU, that might have been the Russian goal all along. It's at least something that aids their cause.
"A report out Wednesday by the San Antonio Express-News found that a gun owner in Texas had sent more than 100 pages of racist and violent letters to the Texas Attorney General's office threatening to kill undocumented immigrants over the course of a year and a half, and that nothing was done to stop him or to communicate the threat to local authorities." While I don't believe there is a mandatory reporting law for white supremacy, there are laws about reporting crimes or criminal intent. And seriously, this is the fucking AG, he should know better. (Grokked from Xopher Halftongue)
"Sen. Roy Blunt, a member of the Senate's Republican leadership, called on President Donald Trump Sunday to make clear what he would support on gun control legislation." Yeah, that ain't gonna happen. How would Russia funnel funds to his re-election if he pisses off the NRA?
"'The Adrian Darya oil tanker finally docked on the Mediterranean coast ... and unloaded its cargo,' Iranian state news agency IRNA quoted Abbas Mousavi as saying, according to Reuters… The news outlet reported that the vessel had been photographed near a Syrian port."
"Experts say Iran’s ability to keep the Darya out of the U.S. government’s long reach illustrates the shortfalls of the U.S. strategy. And it comes as Iran leaders once again rejected negotiations with Washington, saying Trump must lift U.S. sanctions first."
"Republican and Democratic leaders sharply criticized the president over two main concerns: bringing members of the Taliban to the U.S.—specifically to Camp David, a presidential retreat for presidents used for administrations, and the timing of the meeting — just days before the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks." The whole story sounds fishy, and there are a ton of various takes on this. I suspect we won't know what's close to the truth for a number of years. Inviting them to Camp David was a stupid move, but we must either ramp up our presence in Afghanistan and be prepared to occupy it for a decade to allow reforms to take root, or we need to a negotiated settlement to leave. There's also talk about "both Trump and the Taliban wanting Russia to be present at any signing". Really? You all do remember when, where and why the Taliban started, right?
"In an appearance on Fox News Sunday, Pompeo, the U.S. Secretary of State, said it was the president's idea to hold the talks at the presidential retreat in Maryland, adding it was a 'perfectly appropriate place' to do so." How to throw your boss under the bus while appearing to support him.
"Instead, when Harris was first asked by the media about the remark, she stated, 'I would never condone anyone using that word in any way, shape or form, even including the guy -- against the guy I'm running against.'"
"Senior Republicans concede they’re at risk of losing dozens of state-level elections that will determine who wields power over the post-2020 congressional map — and potentially which party controls the chamber for the following 10 years. While Republicans are establishing a massive national infrastructure devoted to reelecting President Donald Trump and winning congressional majorities, party officials say the state legislative races are being overlooked." Also add to the fact that in response to RedMap (the GOP 2010 initiative), many states passed laws taking the redistricting process out of a completely political process controlled by the party in majority and the continuing shifting demographics.
"Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford will launch a longshot primary challenge for the 2020 Republican nomination, he announced Sunday, giving President Donald Trump another Republican challenger as he runs for reelection." One philanderer against another. Great look for the GOP. And his stated goals, to bring Republicanism back to it's (80's) roots is a little too late. Trump recognized the true makeup of the GOP on the ground and played to that base, the base created by 40 years of GOP campaigning and the Reagan Compromise (to bring in the social conservatives). While he may give the GOP a good retreat position for (and "acceptable" public facing mask) 2024, he's not really going to be able to "change" the party. At this point, you'd have to burn it down to the stump and replant.
"All of this disinformation is taxpayer-funded. It is being directly supported by the American people." I'm old enough to remember when Congressional franking was considered a big issue.
"ThinkProgress, the influential news site that rose to prominence in the shadow of the Bush administration and helped define progressivism during the Obama years, is shutting down." (Grokked from Justine Larbalestier)
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