I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
And so the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're goin' through

Monday, October 28, 2019

Linkee-poo comes off the weekend

Waving high to all our new readers all across the globe, and especially to our friends in Russia and "Unknown Region", although that may be redundant.

John Conyers, and so it goes. Conyers leaves a mixed legacy and demonstrates that bad behavior is not limited to the bad guys.

"Early on Sunday, the US Air Force announced that its X-37B space plane had returned to Earth, touching down at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida. The uncrewed space plane had spent 779 days, 17 hours in space, breaking its own long-duration record." (Grokked from John)

"NASA's InSight lander has been struggling to send a heat probe beneath the planet's surface. Just when it seemed to be making progress, Mars rejected it." Space is hard.

"The German space agency (DLR)'s eROSITA telescope, which has been making observations since Oct. 13, has taken combined X-ray images of pieces of the night sky. Those include pictures of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and A3391/3395, an interacting pair of galaxy clusters located about 800 million light-years from Earth."

The long drought is nearly over. "After two grueling months for Popeyes fans, the chicken sandwich is coming back November 3."

"Located on the west side of Detroit, the Linwood neighborhood remains underdeveloped, with few retail businesses, countless empty lots and many vacant buildings. But Wright and Greene see potential here. It's why they've chosen this neighborhood to open a bodega that sells healthy food. Like other neglected neighborhoods in urban areas, fresh fruits and vegetables aren't a basic necessity here — they're a luxury."

"Slashing soft drinks from your diet is a quick way to improve your health and lose weight -- that much you probably already know… But actually giving up your soda habit isn't always an easy task. While some people can function just fine without soft drinks, others find they need their fix starting at breakfast." Soft drinks are bad for you, even the ones made with cane sugar. And gods do I miss the rush they give me.

"A North Carolina man on his way to his final chemotherapy treatment won a $200,000 scratch-off prize, according to a statement from the North Carolina Education Lottery." He plans to use "some of it" to pay off his medical bills. Fortunately he has "good insurance" so he might get to keep some.

"Police were still searching Monday for a suspect in a deadly shooting at an off-campus party in Texas, which drew a Sunday vigil that also saw more shots fired." More guns making us more safe.

How go the Trade Wars? "Florida Caribbean Distillers has begun importing truckloads of bulk wine from France and bottling the product at its plant between Tampa and Orlando. That conveniently sidesteps the 25% levy imposed last week, as part of a long-running trade battle between Airbus and Boeing."

"A Russia-linked group is believed to have utilized Iranian tools to conduct cyber attacks against dozens of countries, in an apparent effort to mask their identities, according to joint advisories by the U.S. and the U.K." Waves to our friends in Russia. (Grokked from Dan)

"Rep. Katie Hill, D-Calif., says she plans to resign in the face of an ethics investigation stemming from allegations that she had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a member of her congressional staff." This shows the inherent double standard for women and Democrats. But it also shows the stronger ethics committee now under control of the Democrats (it was mostly toothless under Republican rule).

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and so it goes. The fucker is dead (possibly, we've been down this road before). And while most of the media in the US is focused on his Western victims, the vast majority of the pain this asshole introduced into the world was visited on Muslims. Unfortunately, just like killing Osama bin Laden was not the end of al Qaeda, al-Baghdadi's death doesn't signal the end of ISIS/DASH, which has diversified and decentralized in the last 3 years.

"'Right now President Trump is dismantling the infrastructure that made this (Baghdadi) raid possible -- in fact made all the success we've enjoyed against ISIS since 2015,' Boot said." Max Boot, Wolfe Blitzer? Seriously, CNN, this isn't a morality play.

"The mother of Kayla Mueller, a deceased female aid worker who was captured and tortured by the Islamic State, criticized former President Barack Obama on Sunday by saying that her daughter might still be alive if he had been 'as decisive' as President Donald Trump." The grief of a mother is hard to deny, but she's wrong here.

"Argentina's center-left has swept to victory in general elections, ousting conservative President Mauricio Macri, as voters thumped the incumbent for failing to deliver on a promise to create more jobs and raise the country's standard of living." Although I'm not sure even a "moderate Peronist" is a Good Idea™.

"Philip Reeker, a U.S. diplomat who oversees European affairs, told House members he had plans of defending former Ukrainian Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch in the face of a smear campaign against her, but Reeker was overruled by top State Department officials, according to a person familiar with Reeker's testimony."

"But Kupperman, who had been the top aide to then-National Security Adviser John Bolton, filed a lawsuit on Friday night describing himself as caught between two competing orders. He wants a court ruling on whether he should comply with the House subpoena to testify — or comply with a White House order to stay away because the nature of his job as adviser means he is exempt from the congressional order." Okay, this should be interesting.

"The president attended Game 5 of the World Series tonight in Washington D.C., and he was shown on the big screen after the third inning. His image was not well received." They chanted "Lock Him Up." It won't be the last time. If he was a normal candidate, or was running a "normal" presidency, I'd agree with those calling for "civility." But this president has encouraged similar behavior from his supporters, and thoroughly trashed the reputation of the presidency, and has called for the jailing of his political opponents for no other reason than they don't agree with him. Live by the sword and see what happens.

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