Linkee-poo Friday

NPR's Life Kit podcast on running for office. "If you've ever typed 'How do I run for office?' into a search engine, this guide is for you. We'll tell you where to start and how to navigate everything from campaign fundraising to building a 'kitchen cabinet.'" While they walk through their tips, they don't reiterate the one I think is most relevant; have a goal, something you want to accomplish. Change, introduce, correct, reduce a power block's influence, hell even "maintain status quo" is a goal of elected office; but have that something. Because you're going to need it both during the campaign and while sitting in that seat if you get elected. It won't be the only thing you do, but it'll keep you going through the long meetings when you discuss the most boring subject over and over. Running for office is easier than you think it is, winning the office is difficult but doable, doing the work of the office is harder. And while they don't mention this, I recommend sitting in on the meetings for the office you want just to observe everything that's going on and to keep relevant to the topics of the concern.

"On Wednesday night, the Bangor City Council unanimously approved a request by King and his wife Tabitha to rezone their home as a non-profit, allowing it to house an archive of King’s work (offering restricted visits by appointment) and up to five writers at a time. The couple was not present at the meeting. In recent years, the family has spent most of their time on the road or in Florida or Oxford County, Maine, according to their lawyer, Warren Silver." OMG. (Grokked from Seanan McGuire)

"As a culture, we often fetishize the debut writer as some sort of self-arising wunderkind, someone that comes “out of nowhere” or had “splashed onto the scene” unannounced, seemingly without a pre-history or predecessors. This is compounded for writers of color, who seem, according to this narrative, to arrive at the literary table by “transcending” their cultural, economic or racial milieu into the hegemonic literati. I want to take a moment, in light of this, to put some shine on 10 books that made my debut, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, possible." (Grokked from Deborah Beale)

"But some trees did survive the test of heat and drought. Now, scientists are racing to collect them, and other species around the globe, in the hope that these 'climate survivors' have a natural advantage that will allow them to better cope with a warming world." Or, ya know, they were the lucky ones in a micro-climate that allowed them to survive.

"Almost precisely 35 years after the first American woman walked in space, NASA is setting another milestone Friday morning, with astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir conducting the first all-female spacewalk."

There's this argument in GMO debates about how it's just the same as the couple of thousand years of selective breeding. One, no, no it's not the same. And two, who said that selective breeding was all that good anyway? "A few years ago, Dechow and some of his colleagues at Penn State made a discovery that shocked a lot of people. All the Holstein bulls that farmers were using could trace their lineage back to one of just two male ancestors." If you have never seen a modern holstein, they are weird animals that have been turned into monsters all in a quest to increase how many milk pounds they can produce. And in that drive, we've lost genetic diversity and come close to monoculture. This is a good thing to those whose view of farming is more akin to a factory (every cow is the same, a known quantity). But this is a bad thing in reality.

"Suicides and homicides are on the rise among children, teens and young adults in America, according to a new report that highlights what experts say is a disturbing trend among the young." I see this all the time in the ER.

"Upselling customers on high-tech breast cancer screenings is just one way the 3D mammography industry aggressively promotes its product." The marketing has sold the techs as "this is better for the patients", and that's why many will push the technology. As technologists, while some portion of our job review is based on productivity, and our department's budget is based on how much revenue we generate (although sometimes in a perverse way, that is sometimes we aren't given our due for our numbers), we as techs don't see a direct relationship between the billing and out compensation. We do what's best for our patients.

"Group Health Cooperative in Seattle, one of the United States' oldest and most respected nonprofit health insurance plans, is accused of bilking Medicare out of millions of dollars in a federal whistleblower case." And they aren't the only ones. Privatization of government functions is a Bad Thing™.

"A brutal attack on one of Hong Kong's most prominent pro-democracy leaders, who was reportedly beaten with hammers by a group of unknown assailants, is being widely condemned by the territory's government, opposition lawmakers and Amnesty International."

"For the first time in a decade, a Florida Senate committee scheduled a meeting Monday to discuss the impact of climate change on the peninsula state… What did senators learn?… 'We lost a decade,' said Sen. Tom Lee, the Thonotosassa Republican who chairs the Committee on Infrastructure and Security." No shit, dipwaddle. And whose fault is that (strong side-eye at now Senator Rick Scott and all of the fucking GOP)? I guess ignoring science, public sentiment, and fucking reality wasn't really a winning strategy against the goddamn sea, now was it. "King tides and sunny-day flooding are disrupting postal delivery in many communities, eroding utility boxes, requiring law enforcement to manage traffic corridors where flooding has closed roads, (Jennifer Jurado, chief resilience officer for Broward County) said." (Grokked from Robert J Bennett)

"Coca-Cola on Friday reported quarterly revenue that topped analysts’ expectations as more customers are drawn in by healthier options, like Zero Sugar soda and smaller size cans." SCALZI! (Said like "KHAN!")

"Striking General Motors workers will remain on the picket lines for at least another week, even as the United Auto Workers national council voted to recommend a tentative agreement with GM for ratification." The deal doesn't seem to have much they wanted. Note that sometimes union negotiators will take the offer of management to the membership for an up or down vote just to demonstrate to the management that they know where their workers stand and how committed to the strike they may be.

How go the Trade Wars? "China said Friday its economy grew by 6% in the third quarter from a year earlier. It’s believed to be China’s slowest GDP gain in at least 27½ years." Well, the slowest reported GDP rate.

"Heavily armed gunmen went on a shooting rampage through the city of Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa state on Mexico's Pacific coast, battling security forces after authorities attempted to arrest a son of imprisoned drug lord Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán."

"Vice President Mike Pence announced Thursday that the United States reached a cease-fire agreement with Turkey to suspend its military operation in Syria to allow Kurdish forces to retreat from a designated safe zone." So after saying he wouldn't, Ergodan meets with Pence when it's made clear Ergodan will get everything he wanted. "'Everybody agreed to things that three days ago they would have never agreed to — that includes the Kurds,' Trump said. 'This is a situation where everyone is happy.'" Except for the dead people, they're still dead. And I think the Kurdish refugees (and the SDF) might have a different take on this.

"As CNN reported earlier tonight, the deal appears to secure Turkey most of its military objectives, forcing America's one-time allies in the fight against ISIS— Kurdish forces—to cede a vast swath of territory, with one senior US official very familiar with operations in Syria telling CNN that the deal meant the US was 'validating what Turkey did and allowing them to annex a portion of Syria and displace the Kurdish population.'"

"CREW sued the DOJ after receiving no response to our June 7, 2019 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Department for the disclosure of Attorney General William Barr’s calendar entries reflecting appointments of any kind with John H. Durham, U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut." More dominos to fall in impeachment. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)

"'Get over it. There's going to be political influence in foreign policy,' (Mick Mulvaney) said, adding that 'elections have consequences.'" Yes, political influence, but that's not what happened here, the president was using his office for personal political favors to help him get re-elected. That's a whole 'nother thing. "But he did admit that Trump held up aid to Ukraine as part of a quid pro quo — something Trump himself has denied." And again, because it was for a personal political request, that makes that corruption. I'm sorry you don't understand that this is a corrupt action, but that ain't on me, that's on your own conscience (and demonstrates your warped view of reality). So, Micky, fuck you and the syphilitic horse you rode in on.

"Mulvaney reiterated the rationale later in the briefing: 'I was involved with the process by which the money was held up temporarily, OK? Three issues for that: the corruption in the country, whether or not other countries were participating in support of the Ukraine and whether or not they were cooperating in an ongoing investigation with our Department of Justice. That's completely legitimate.'" Mike Mulvaney had a very bad day yesterday.

Ricky also doesn't seem to be having a good day either. "Energy Secretary Rick Perry faces a subpoena deadline Friday to turn over documents relating to House Democrats' impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump, a day after he offered his resignation."

You know, someone should look into how long you need to be in an appointed position before you get vetted for a retirement program. Because if it weren't for the rank stupidity and criminality of these appointees resigning or being forced out because of scandal, it would look like a fleecing job.

"The Department of Justice improperly redacted a court filing related to the Mueller investigation and must reveal the names of two individuals who figured prominently in the probe, a federal judge in Washington ruled on Thursday." Well, ya know, once you start striking things out with that marker it's a little fun.

Tweet of my heart: @MuellerSheWrote Dear everyone: note my tweet does not say “BREAKING: magical fucking hero turns on Trump”. Sondland is a POS, and don’t read into things that aren’t there. I never called this person a hero, nor would I. (Grokked from Eric VanNewkirk)