"'This is a rare opportunity to study catastrophic collisions occurring late in a planetary system's history,' Alycia Weinberger, a staff scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C., and the lead investigator on the project, said in a NASA statement. 'The SOFIA observations show changes in the dusty disk on a timescale of only a few years.'"
"According to a new U.S. Army report, Americans could face a horrifically grim future from climate change involving blackouts, disease, thirst, starvation and war. The study found that the US military itself might also collapse. This could all happen over the next two decades, the report notes… The senior US government officials who wrote the report are from several key agencies including the Army, Defense Intelligence Agency, and NASA." Whistling past the graveyard. Meanwhile the president is having, "I am Ozymandias" carved into every stone. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"Fentanyl remains the deadliest drug in the United States. But in some areas of the country, metamphetamine kills more people." The focus on opioids is important (and that we have the pushers and manufacturers in the country helps with prosecution), but it shouldn't over shadow that what the US has is a drug problem and that opioids are just the latest fad of drugs to use. It's sort of like is people tried to combat alcohol abuse and addiction by just looking at wine sales.
"So how much did the epidemic cost in just one year, 2018? The total number they came to was $179 billion. And those are costs borne by all of society — both by governments providing taxpayer-funded services (estimated to be about a third of the cost), and also individuals, families, employers, private insurers, and more." But not, you'll notice, by the companies that made the drugs.
"Then researchers discovered the unusual truth: Fungi in the man's digestive system was turning carbohydrates into alcohol - a rarely diagnosed condition known as 'auto-brewery syndrome.'"
"Learning to drive small cars helps rats feel less stressed, scientists found… Researchers at the University of Richmond in the US taught a group of 17 rats how to drive little plastic cars, in exchange for bits of cereal."
The Planet Money podcast on a profile of a "Liberty City." "Art Martinez de Vara had a dream: To build a whole new kind of city, one with as few taxes and regulations as possible. That city is Von Ormy—a one-exit kind of place on the outskirts of San Antonio, Texas." This is not a Liberty City. This place would be dust-bowl if it weren't for San Antonio right next door. As for tripling your ticket income, there are only a few ways to do that (lowering your speed limits in ways that trap people, such as sudden large drops, or rising your fines to rapacious levels), both are exploitive. This is a parasite city. If it weren't for the residents ability to get jobs and services in next door San Antonio (for which the San Antonio residents pay for), they wouldn't still be a community.
"Russian officials have reportedly opened a criminal investigation after a bear in a circus attacked and injured its trainers during a performance this week." There was no safety equipment, because who needs costly regulations.
"Video of a police officer fatally shooting a teenager as he ran away has been released two years after the shooting occurred."
"A woman comedian was booed and two attendees kicked out after they protested the appearance of disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein at an event for young performers in lower Manhattan on Wednesday night." How far we still have to go with #MeToo.
"A federal judge has ruled that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and the Department of Education are in contempt of court for violating a federal judge's order on student loans." Also, it's not that the Federal Government is involved with student loans, it's that it outsources servicing those loans. Outsourcing vital government functions are both costly and bad for tax payers (or anyone who has to use those services).
"A senior government official appointed by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos resigned Thursday, saying the current student loan system is 'fundamentally broken' and calling for billions of dollars in debt to be forgiven." Of course the conservative thinking would be "let private companies handle it", which is how we ended up here in the first place. They'll never think, "students shouldn't be going into debt to pay for college in the first place" and help lower the individuals' cost of a college education.
Why is the travel ban a Bad Idea™? "The U.S. denied Keshavarzi's request for a visa to attend this year's Society for Neuroscience meeting, which drew more than 25,000 brain scientists from around the world to Chicago this week. She was also denied a visa for last year's meeting in San Diego… The reason: Keshavarzi holds an Iranian passport, even though she hasn't lived in that country since 2007. Iran is one of seven countries included in President Trump's travel ban, implemented through an executive order." She thought she would be the exception because she actually lives in Australia, but that's the common fault in all of this (administration policies and conservative politics in general), there are no exceptions.
"The United States will station additional forces in eastern Syria to protect oilfields in another policy shift that one former senior American official called a 'shocking ignorance' of history and geography." Anyone who thinks this is a way to run foreign policy is an idiot.
We should know who the whistleblowers are! "The office created under the Trump administration to protect whistleblowers in the Department of Veterans Affairs is doing the opposite by putting whistleblowers at risk, according to a report released on Thursday by the agency's inspector general." No, no we shouldn't as long as their claims prove out.
"An internal White House memo published today by Axios reveals that recent changes to the information operations and security organizations there have left the security team in tumult, with many members headed for the door. And the chief of the White House's computer network defense branch—who wrote the memo after submitting his resignation—warned that the White House was likely headed toward another network compromise and theft of data." Nothing to see here, citizen. Move along. (Grokked from John)
"In other words, Barr has told foreign intelligence leaders that he does not believe his own country’s intelligence officials and and gone to Italy to ask if U.S. intelligence officials are telling the truth." (Grokked from Laura J Mixon)
"Senate Republicans are stepping up their attacks on the House’s impeachment inquiry, as the prospect of a trial in the upper chamber grows more likely by the day and President Donald Trump has demanded that his Capitol Hill allies form a firewall of support around him." And now you know why there are partial leaks of testimony. "'The Senate is different than the House,' Graham said. 'I just don’t have the ability to call anybody I want to call, the other side gets a say. And I would be careful what you wish for.'" Because Graham knows any witness he could call would be irrelevant or they would be discredited or forced to admit to more crimes during the Democratic's time at the microphones.
"So it was another big week in House Democrats' impeachment investigation of Trump and the Ukraine affair — and for Republicans' increasingly aggressive defense of the president… Here's what you need to know." And because it's looking bad, expect distraction actions. Like the "storming of the SCIF" of which a quarter of those who "demanded to know" what was going on, could have been sitting inside the room without resorting to this action. Or attempting to change the new cycle (like announcing a criminal investigation). "The Wall Street Journal picked up McCarthy's thread on Thursday with an editorial that echoed earlier defenses of the Russia imbroglio: Even if Trump and aides wanted a certain outcome, they might have bumbled in trying to achieve it — failing to commit a crime means there was no crime and, accordingly, no case for impeachment or removal." Let me call bullshit on that. Attempting a crime is the same as the crime. The crime isn't getting the goods, the crime is the attempt to use the presidential office and duly appropriated funds to extort a personal political favor. Let's say you tell me you'll give me $1000 to kill someone. If I go immediately to the cops and tell them about this, you will still be arrested for the crime, even though nothing happened (more than likely the cops will tell me to play along but try to get the money upfront and once you pass the money they'll arrest you, this is to avoid the "I was just kidding" defense).
"It occurred when William Taylor, the lead U.S. envoy to Ukraine, described a video conference call in July with officials from the White House Office of Management and Budget. Even Republicans who were present expressed concern, the source said, because the call made a direct link between President Donald Trump and the withholding of military aid to Ukraine for political purposes." If that proves out, and the partial transcript of the call stands, there's the crime.
"The US justice department has launched a criminal investigation into the origins of the Mueller inquiry, US media report… An administrative review into the special counsel's investigation of 2016 election interference began in May." Okay, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but don't you have to allege a specific crime to open a "criminal" investigation? This is why the AG's office is meant to be separate and politically independent. This is also an abuse of office and is an example of the corruption at the heart of the Trump administration.
"And in recent weeks the President's eagerness for the Justice Department to focus on his perceived critics has caused awkward issues for Durham and the department." Also points back to story about Barr trying to get Italian Intelligence officials to contradict US intelligence.
"Once a fixture on cable channels and Sunday news shows, President Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, has all but disappeared since two of his associates were arrested this month on campaign finance charges… The former New York City mayor's sudden reticence may have been spurred by a concern about his own potential legal peril as his dealings reportedly come under scrutiny by federal investigators." If your strategy is to "skate fast over the thin ice" it helps if you actually, you know, skate fast (although in reality speed doesn't help).
"Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, announced in a video and email to supporters on Friday she would not seek re-election to her congressional seat and would continue running for president." Uh, sure.
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