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

Monday, January 6, 2020

Linkee-poo that's great, it starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes, and aeroplanes

"The researchers concluded that telling people what you want to achieve creates a premature sense of completeness. While you feel a sense of pride in letting people know what you intend to do, that pride doesn't motivate you and can in fact hurt you later on." Well, one, 47 people is an extremely small study and the results could just be an anomaly (there's actually a movement to replicate economic and psychological studies to see if they're results are repeatable). But yes. It's also why I don't worry about word counts anymore and took those counters off the blog (also because I've abandoned some of those projects). (Grokked from Laura J Mixon)

The Hidden Brain podcast on developing habits and the strength of those habits. There's a little bit of ableism in here (for more than willpower). But they also talk about just how inconsequential willpower is.

You've heard how AI can help diagnose and treat patients "better than doctors", now a little from the other side of the equation. "(AI) Systems developed in one hospital often flop when deployed in a different facility, Cho said. Software used in the care of millions of Americans has been shown to discriminate against minorities. And AI systems sometimes learn to make predictions based on factors that have less to do with disease than the brand of MRI machine used, the time a blood test is taken or whether a patient was visited by a chaplain. In one case, AI software incorrectly concluded that people with pneumonia were less likely to die if they had asthma ― an error that could have led doctors to deprive asthma patients of the extra care they need."

"A mysterious viral pneumonia that has infected dozens in central China is not Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars), health chiefs have said… They also discounted bird flu and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, and said investigations were continuing."

"We're only a few days into 2020 and SpaceX is already gearing up for its first launch of the year. On Jan. 6, the workhorse Falcon 9 booster will be sending a batch of 60 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit, part of the company's plans to deliver broadband internet across the globe."

"While (Venus) is known to have been volcanically active as recent as 2.5 million years ago, no concrete evidence has been found that there are still volcanic eruptions on Venus’ surface. However, new research led by the USRA’s Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) has shown that Venus may still have active volcanoes, making it the only other planet in the Solar System (other than Earth) that is still volcanically active today."

"A 5.8-magnitude quake hit Puerto Rico before dawn Monday, unleashing small landslides, causing power outages and severely cracking some homes. It was one of the strongest quakes yet to hit the U.S. territory that has been shaking for the past week." Someone please remind the president that Puerto Rico is a part of the United States.

"Australia’s government said Monday it was willing to pay 'whatever it takes' to help communities recover from deadly wildfires that have ravaged the country."

"Movie mogul Harvey Weinstein heads to court Monday to face sex assault charges that could send him to prison for the rest of his life."

"Oil prices jumped 1% during Monday trading — building on Friday’s gains — as tensions in the Middle East escalated over the weekend."

"Students across India have been protesting against an attack on a prestigious Delhi university by masked men wielding sticks on Sunday… At least 40 students and staff of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) were admitted to hospital with injuries."

"Venezuelan security forces on Sunday blocked opposition leader Juan Guaidó from a special session of the National Assembly, where he was expected to be reelected as the legislature's leader — an apparent bid by President Nicolás Maduro to outmaneuver the man who has staked a rival claim to the presidency."

"It's become nearly impossible for migrants at the Southern border to win asylum. And even when they do get protection from a judge, the Trump administration sometimes sends them to Mexico anyway." These people believe they're Sheriff Cooley from O Brother, Where Art Thou?

"Reports of Iranians and Iranian-Americans being detained for questioning upon entering the U.S. kicked off a furor on Sunday from Washington state to Washington, D.C., marking a new domestic blowback to the Trump administration’s targeted killing of a key Iranian leader." US Citizens of Iranian descent held at the border. For no other reason than their Iranian ancestral ties.

And of course… "U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a statement saying allegations they are singling out and stopping Iranian Americans as they try to enter the country are false."

"Tehran's streets were packed with black-clad mourners Monday as a sea of people turned out to pay their respects to Qasem Soleimani, the Iranian general killed by a US drone strike in Baghdad last week." Well, that's one way to unite a fractured people.

"On the night of June 19, President Donald Trump approved and then abruptly called off military strikes against Iran in retaliation for a downed US surveillance drone… The next time an opportunity arose to strike back at Iran, the hawks hoped, Trump would be primed to act." There are few sane people left in Trump's direct orbit.

"More than a year after his death, a cache of computer files saved on the hard drives of Thomas Hofeller, a prominent Republican redistricting strategist, is becoming public… Republican state lawmakers in North Carolina fought in court to keep copies of these maps, spreadsheets and other documents from entering the public record. But some files have already come to light in recent months through court filings and news reports." If it weren't the the ongoing trash fires, this would be a bigger news story.

"So for those just tuning back in for the first full workweek of 2020, nothing substantive has changed in the story (of impeachment) — but that also means the coming month may churn into a whirlwind." Welcome my friends to the show that never ends…

"U.S. senators, who had expected just weeks ago to be turning their attention to an impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, will kick off the week focusing on 'ordinary business,' with lawmakers still at loggerheads over trial rules."

"Ruslan Parshutin was just a teenager, but he still remembers New Year's Eve 20 years ago… Boris Yeltsin, Russia's first president, flickered on TV screens, speaking slowly and deliberately. Eight years of political and economic turmoil following the collapse of the Soviet Union had taken its toll on him. Yeltsin announced his resignation and handed over power to his energetic 47-year-old prime minister, Vladimir Putin."

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