"In an unusual move, the Swedish Academy doled out Nobel Prizes in literature to two authors on Thursday: Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk, who won the postponed 2018 award, and Austrian author Peter Handke, who won the prize for this year. The academy's permanent secretary, Mats Malm, announced the winners at a press briefing in Stockholm." As usual, there is some controversy.
"Using 10 years of data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, the team of astronomers concluded that there is more gas coming into our galaxy than leaving it. Rather than an equilibrium of gas entering and escaping, there is a significant imbalance, though the team behind this finding has not yet found the source for this gaseous disparity." It's the beans.
"A refrigerator-sized satellite soared into orbit aboard an air-launched Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket Thursday night over the Atlantic Ocean, finally setting off on a $252 million mission to probe the dynamic boundary region where space and Earth’s atmosphere meet." And a description of a space shot from a rocket dropped from an airplane.
"NASA astronomers have used data from the Voyager probes to measure the bustle of particles rippling at the very edge of our Solar System, and discovered the pressure in the distant borderlands of our star is higher than they expected." Go go Voyagers.
Banning drive-thru windows. "But such legislation is also sometimes promoted as an opportunity to create healthier food environments and curb obesity. In a study analyzing drive-through bans in 27 Canadian cities, researchers noted, 'health promotion and chronic disease prevention are public health gains from the implementation of fast food drive-through service bylaws.'"
"Beyond that, though, 'the key difference I think of in terms of costs and risks are that the traditional company pension, the [defined benefit], place a lot of cost and risk on the employer and the 401(k) style defined contribution transfers the cost and risk to the employee,' Brooks said."
"There are allegations that the psychiatric unit staff at Monmouth Medical Center falsified medical records and gave patients Benadryl to make them fall asleep to create less work… The whistleblowing nurse is now suing, claiming she was punished for raising these issues. Plaintiff Patricia Moran had worked at the hospital for 31 years, and according to her attorney, was considered a model employee until she complained."
How go the Trade Wars? "A Chinese state newspaper said on Friday that a “partial” trade deal would benefit China and the United States, and Washington should take the offer on the table, reflecting Beijing’s aim of cooling the row before more U.S. tariffs kick in." Up again, down again. Man I'm getting sick of this roller-coaster. Hows abouts you?
"In the industrial city of Dongguan, China, the effects of the trade war on the Chinese economy are measured in idled machinery and empty bar stools." The trade war is just exacerbating the issues and accelerating the trend of moving to cheaper markets.
And what comes as a surprise to no one… "A shooting at a synagogue in the German city of Halle on Wednesday was a far-right terror attack, said Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht… Alleged perpetrator Stephan Balliet had four kilos (9lb) of explosives in his car, Ms Lambrecht said in a statement with attorney-general Peter Frank."
"An oil tanker belonging to the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) was hit and damaged by two missiles on Friday, Iranian state news IRNA reported." Proportional response?
"So the administration tried something different: It is restricting who can apply for the diversity visa, in a way that advocates say will make it much harder for low-income immigrants to apply." Because the goal of conservatives isn't to end immigration, but stop immigration of POC and those who aren't "Christian." To cover for and enact that change, they're limiting overall immigration and attempting to rewrite the rules (again) to favor WASPs.
"The growing divide between President Trump and many of his fellow Republicans over his decision to move U.S. troops in Syria out of the way of a Turkish incursion threatens his delicate alliance with the congressional GOP at a time when he needs their support more than ever, party strategists say." Don't worry, they'll get over their "concerns" when it comes time to vote. They always do.
"The debate over Facebook's decision to allow President Trump's reelection campaign to pay to run false ads on its platform encapsulates the awkward moral, social and civil questions that have dogged the company since 2016." Social media is not your friend.
"Two associates of Rudy Giuliani connected to efforts to dig up dirt in Ukraine on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden have been arrested and indicted on criminal charges for allegedly funneling foreign money into US elections… The charges against the men suggest Giuliani's push on Ukraine and President Donald Trump's receptiveness to it had ties to an illegal effort to influence US politics and policy using foreign funds. The indictment involves two people central to the impeachment inquiry in the House." So besides the outright bribery/quid-pro-quo deals here, the is also the money laundering of a foreign national's money into the election fundraising. Guess which country that foreign national is from. Aw, it's no fun unless you guess.
"As we spoke, I could hear a voice that resembled Giuliani’s shout 'asshole' in the background. 'Oh, sorry,' the woman told me. 'He was talking to the TV.'"
"Over the course of about a week in Ukraine, the message from two dozen government officials and anti-corruption investigators quickly became clear: The allegations against the Bidens are entirely lacking in evidence… But they persist, and not only because Trump and his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, keep repeating them."
"President Trump pressured then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to help convince the Department of Justice (DOJ) to drop a criminal investigation against an Iranian-Turkish gold trader who was also a client of Trump's current personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, Bloomberg reports… Tillerson refused Trump's 2017 request, saying it would be illegal to interfere with an ongoing investigation. He repeated his stance to then-chief of staff John Kelly in a hallway conversation in the White House." Oh what wicked webs we weave…
Tweet of my heart: @samstein So the guys Rudy turned to to root out corruption were…. corrupt. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
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