Hope 2020 is better than 2019.
"If you’re a pantser you are not in sole charge of the work. The characters, the plot, the theme, all chip in and drag the book to new and exciting places. You want them to do that. This is the whole point of pantsing in the first place. The book will go to places that you, if you outlined it at the beginning, could never have imagined. You know the thing’s really alive, when it gets up and runs!" For the current WIP (of which I've said little) I am pantsing a lot. I know the major plot move for the end of Act II and I have ideas for how it runs through Act III, but how we get there and how we get through it all, I have no clue. (Grokked from Laura J Mixon)
"The Mars 2020 rover, which sets off for the Red Planet next year, will not only search for traces of ancient life, but pave the way for future human missions, NASA scientists said Friday as they unveiled the vehicle." I have an idea, guys, why not make it dual power, both sunlight and the nuclear reactor, with the reactor as backup (and for keeping warm during the Martian winter)?
"An automotive assembly plant closing in a US county has been associated with 85% higher opioid overdose death rates among working-age adults in that county after five years, according to a study published in the medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine on Monday." This is not my shocked face.
"Gatzke-Plamann is the only full-time family physician in the central Wisconsin village of Necedah, population 916. She wanted to help but had no resources to offer. She and the patient started searching the Internet while still on the phone, trying to find somewhere nearby that could help. No luck." Welcome to rural America. There ain't shit out here. Okay, well, there is a lot of shit, but there's no real services beyond the basics. Also, there is a very good reason you'll find the best orthopedic doctors in or near rural areas. Also good on this doctor for knowing there is more than one way to treat chronic pain and that not all pain medications have the same effect on patients. Wish more doctors understood that.
"The number of homeless homicide victims in Los Angeles is increasing. While only 1% of the city's population lives on the streets or in shelters, homeless people accounted for about 17% of its homicide victims during 2019."
"Canadian police were prepared to shoot Indigenous land defenders blockading construction of a natural gas pipeline in northern British Columbia, according to documents seen by the Guardian… The RCMP commanders also instructed officers to 'use as much violence toward the gate as you want' ahead of the operation to remove a roadblock which had been erected by Wet’suwet’en people to control access to their territories and stop construction of the proposed 670km (416-mile) Coastal GasLink pipeline (CGL)… In a separate document, an RCMP officer states that arrests would be necessary for 'sterilizing [the] site'." They also tried to hide the operation and intent to use force from the media. (Grokked form someone, sorry, lost the link)
"Wang Yi, a leader in one of the most well-known Christian congregations in China, has been quietly sentenced to nine years in prison, according to a statement on the website of the Intermediate People's Court of Chengdu Municipality." Rhut rho.
"West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice announced Monday he has approved recommendations to fire all of the correctional officer cadets who participated in an apparent Nazi salute during a class photo." That only took, what, a month. Oh, and supposedly the salute was to honor the person who taught cultural diversity and supposedly they also encouraged it's use. And they were unaware of the cultural context. Again, stupidity is not a defense (and if they taught cultural diversity to police correctional guards and did not know the heritage of that gesture, they are grossly unqualified). "The participants were instead motivated by 'poor judgement, ignorance, peer pressure, and fear of reprisal.'" And those are disqualifying for being a correctional officer.
"According to an analysis by the New York Times’ Peter Eavis, large corporations have not only lobbied Treasury Department officials to interpret provisions in President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax bill in such a way that they pay less in corporate taxes on offshore profits, but they are also hiding the decreased amounts in their public filings." Not only was it designed to allow them to rape the economy, but it also helps them hide the crime. (Grokked from Laura J Mixon)
Hey, remember that talking point about how embassies of strong presidents are never attacked? It was used against Obama after Benghazi. Whelp… "An angry mob protesting American airstrikes in Iraq and Syria tried to storm the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday, smashing through the main entrance and setting fire to a reception area as Marines guarding the compound fired tear gas to hold them back." They made it through the outer security. Also a reminder that Iraq is considering ending our tenuous SoFA (Status of Forces Agreement).
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