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

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Linkee-poo Thurseldays

"More than 1,700 books began the autumn with a chance at winning a National Book Award. Now, after a swanky ceremony Wednesday night in Manhattan, the folks behind just five of those books have each emerged with a trophy, a purse of $10,000 and the right to slap that precious gold medallion on the front cover of their work."

As I've said, bluetooth is a security risk. "A recent rise in laptop and gadget thefts from cars, particularly in San Francisco and the larger Bay Area, has left victims and police wondering if burglars are using Bluetooth scanners to choose target cars based on which have gadgets inside emitting wireless signals. Many laptops and gadgets will put out a sort of beacon by default when their Bluetooth is turned on, so that other Bluetooth devices can find them and potentially pair—even when closed or idle."

"SpaceX’s Starship Mk1 prototype encountered an explosive failure during early testing in Texas on Wednesday… basically it blew its lid during cryogenic testing – a standard test that you use to see if the vehicle can hold up to extreme cold temperatures, like those it would encounter in actual use." Oopsie.

"Astronomers at a Chilean observatory were rudely interrupted earlier this week when a SpaceX satellite train consisting of 60 Starlink satellites drifted overhead, in what scientists are apparently going to have to accept as the new normal." Not content with polluting the oceans and the surface of the Earth, we now are going full scale into polluting our skies (more than we do now). There's a line from Carl Sagan's Contact where he states early man was awe-struck and intimidated by the vastness of the night sky and so built civilization in order to block out the view so we wouldn't feel so insignificant.

"An international team of astronomers has detected a pair of gamma-ray bursts with energies more powerful than anything ever seen before. GRBs are the strongest explosions known in the cosmos, but these latest observations suggests we’ve significantly underestimated their true potential." One teraelectron volt, sweet Jesus.

"The shale oil boom that catapulted the U.S. into the world's largest oil producer may be going bust. As oil prices drop amid weakening demand, bankruptcies and layoffs are up and drilling is down, signs of a crisis that's quietly roiling the industry." Rhut rho. Note the "actual" boom might not have been all it was cracked up to be (pun intended). But we did go forward and alter water tables, pollute the environment, and delay the switch to non-fossil fuels just for the fun of it. Also note that these "fracked" wells don't produce over the long run without inducing more pressure into the well. While older well technology would produce wells whose life was calculated in decades, these new wells often don't (productively/cheaply) last more than 5-8 years.

"A Canadian teen developed a dangerous vaping illness that doesn't look like lung illnesses seen in patients across the U.S. Instead, it resembles the kind of lung damage workers at a microwave popcorn factory developed years ago from breathing in a buttery flavoring."

"Nebraska and federal health officials say a hepatitis A outbreak that includes Nebraska, Indiana and Wisconsin has been traced to blackberries sold in Fresh Thyme grocery stores."

"A northern Indiana hospital has alerted more than 1,000 surgery patients who may have been exposed to hepatitis, HIV and other infectious diseases due to a sterilization failure." Oopsie. Most packages of sterilized instruments have tape keeping the sterile cloth closed. That tape is made to change colors (stripes appear) if the sterilization process has succeeded. So there's more than one failure here. My guess (and I don't have any actual facts here) is that the tech did follow all procedures, but the equipment was faulty.

Our post-racial society… "An Illinois student is facing a hate crime charge after he placed a photo of a black classmate on Craigslist with the caption 'slave for sale,' authorities said."

"The home where Adolf Hitler was born will be turned into a police station, Austrian officials announced Wednesday, putting an end to a years-long debate over what to do with it."

"In a shocking move, Prince Andrew released a statement on Wednesday announcing his decision to 'step back from public duties' following his bombshell interview with the BBC about his ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein." I'm sure they're hoping that will end the criticism and be the biggest penalty he'll have to pay.

"The president of the United Autoworkers Union, Gary Jones, abruptly resigned Wednesday just as union leaders announced they would expel him and another top UAW official in an unfolding corruption scandal." (Insert dramatic music here) There's also claims of Fiat Chrysler bribing UAW officials to get better contracts.

"The lawsuit, filed Thursday by 17 workers from the Chicago area, alleges that McDonald's and its franchisees have failed to protect workers by extending work hours late into the night, designing stores in ways that left workers more vulnerable, and providing inadequate security training and support." Having worked in fast food, yes, this.

How goes Brexit? "A Brexiteer who is running against Anna Soubry in the general election has been convicted of harassing the Change UK leader… Amy Dalla Mura was banned from entering the Broxtowe constituency at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Wednesday." Broxtowe is the constituency she is running for. Just when you think the car is empty, out pops another clown.

"Few chance encounters have had a greater political impact than Gordon Brown’s fateful meeting with Gillian Duffy on an April morning in Rochdale in 2010. When the then prime minister was caught on a hot mic calling the Labour-voting pensioner a 'bigoted woman' – after she cornered him with complaints about immigrants 'flocking”]' into Britain – it did not just sink his floundering campaign. It set the tone for the way immigration would become the most toxic issue in British politics for the decade to come." I wonder how Russia ever figured out race relations were the way to cripple the West? "Study after study has showed that EU migration, in particular from A8 countries, produced a net economic gain for the UK." But don't confuse people with the facts.

"Chinese officials and state media have reacted with fury to the almost-unanimous passage of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act by the US House of Representatives on Wednesday." Now it remains to be seen if the president, in his belligerence against China will sign it, or in a sign of his weak hand in negotiations, veto it.

"Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has claimed victory over the ongoing unrest in the country, state media reported Wednesday, six days after nationwide protests erupted following an abrupt spike in gas prices." Yet the internet is mostly still offline.

"Nine days after Evo Morales resigned the presidency, Bolivia remains in political and social turmoil… At least six people were killed in violence Tuesday as the military escorted fuel tankers from a gasoline plant in the high plateau city of El Alto. Supporters of Morales had blockaded the plant for five days, causing fuel and food shortages in La Paz, the administrative capital."

"The United States on Thursday denied a South Korean news report that it was considering withdrawing up to 4,000 troops from South Korea if it does not pay more for maintaining a 28,500-strong U.S. contingent deterring North Korean aggression." I'm sure that we can trust the word of this administration and they wouldn't pull any hijinks while attempting to strong-arm the S Koreans into agreeing to a 400% increase.

"While the Southern border gets all the attention with President Trump's massive wall and the backlog of desperate asylum-seekers stuck in Mexico, things are tense on the northern border with Canada, as well. The number of illegal crossers is on the rise. And residents complain that heightened security has changed the character of the once-neighborly frontier."

"Every election cycle seems to have a key demographic said to define the race, and 2020 is no different. This is the campaign of the 'boo-hoo billionaire'." Apparently billionaires are very sensitive people. I'll just note that as Bill Gates is supposedly this era's Rockefeller handing out dimes to everyone and trying to give away his fortune and by doing so his net worth has :: check notes :: increased by a few billion dollars making him the richest person in America, making Jeff Bezos number 2.

"The White House attempted to get access to EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland’s explosive opening statement days before his public hearing, but was denied access by Sondland’s lawyers, the Washington Post reported Wednesday." De-nied. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)

"Sondland's impeachment testimony proves Trump foreign policy is run by corrupt clowns." An opinion piece, but I don't think it stops at just foreign policy.

"Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has told three prominent Republicans in recent weeks that he plans to resign from the Trump Administration to run for the U.S. Senate from Kansas in next year’s elections. The problem: how to get out in one piece." This just in, rats worried ship is sinking. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)

"The public gallery watching Wednesday’s impeachment hearing gave it a cinematic climax – they stood and applauded after Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) concluded the session with a lengthy statement explaining why Gordon Sondland’s testimony was 'deeply significant and troubling.'… 'Getting caught is no defense – not to a violation of the Constitution, or to a violation of his oath of office. And it certainly doesn’t give us reason to ignore our oath of office.'" When even the entertainment business gets into political discourse.

"Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman corrected Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) and asked him to call him by his military title during an impeachment hearing." A side show, but instructive of how the conservatives are conducting themselves. No, they don't actually support the military except to use as props to demonstrate "toughness" and as a foil to suck up as much money as possible (and give contracts to their friends and supporters).

"Laura Cooper shared some startling information during her opening statement in Wednesday’s impeachment inquiry hearings: evidence that Ukrainian officials may have known about a hold on U.S. assistance well before news of it broke in late August… The Pentagon official said that as early as July 25 — the same day President Donald Trump spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — her staffers received two emails indicating the Ukrainians were aware of the hold." So much for the "they didn't know" and the "no pressure" defense.

"(Fiona) Hill is telling lawmakers about the concerns she had about Trump's efforts to seek concessions from Ukraine's president in exchange for engagement and continued financial assistance that had been authorized by Congress."

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