The president has gone full-on shit bonkers. In case you were following the narrative. Apparently he now believes tweets are official communications and he has the right to do anything.
"A top New York state legislator was charged with driving while intoxicated on New Year's Eve after urging his constituents not to drink and drive around the holidays." Who coulda seen that one coming? And he was driving a state vehicle. Oopsie.
"Google’s artificial intelligence system can identify breast cancer more accurately than radiologists, according to a study published in Nature on Wednesday… The system produced a 1.2% reduction of false positives in the U.K. and a 5.7% reduction in the U.S. It was able to reduce false negatives by 2.7% in the U.K. and 9.4% in the U.S." That sounds great, and we are all for better systems and better detection, but let's talk about actual numbers. Those false negatives (2.7% UK and 9.4% US)? Let's say out of every 100 people, 10 have a false negative result (IIRC, this is much higher than actual stats), but that 9.4% US means than instead of 10 false negatives, the software only had 9 false negatives (actually it's a little smaller, but this is a good yardstick measure). For the UK, that would be instead of 10 false negatives for 300 patients, they only had 9. So while, yes, it's better, it's also in the realm of statistical anomaly not actual progress (note that many medical "breakthroughs" fall into this category, although the study here was of 91,000 women, that's pretty large).
"A group of Amazon employees has said the company has threatened to fire some of them for speaking out on environmental issues… Amazon Employees for Climate Justice said the workers were told they were in violation of company policies." Let's see, ah yes, "Number 12, thou shall not bother the Bezos."
"A NASA astronaut developed a blood clot (deep vein thrombosis - DVT) in the jugular vein partway through a long-term mission on the International Space Station. The space agency called in University of North Carolina doctor Stephan Moll, a blood-clot expert, to help develop a treatment plan for the tricky situation." Dr. McCoy to the command bridge, STAT.
"A Texas man who used 'affluenza' as a defense at his trial for killing four people while driving drunk was arrested Thursday after authorities say he violated the terms of his probation." Shocked, shocked I am that a person who feels no responsibility for their actions would have violated their parol by using marijuana.
"She was curious how the regional decline might have shaped her subjects’ politics. But she quickly noticed a startling trend alongside the growing unemployment: Her subjects and their families were struggling with opioid abuse. At community meetings, doctors and coroners would debate solutions to the problem. Should they be arresting people? Should they be creating support groups? She describes one desperate parent who asked whether Donald Trump’s proposed border wall would keep black tar heroin from getting to Pennsylvania." Winner winner, chicken dinner. Economic opportunity and depression, both can be self-medicated with opioids (and other drugs). How the new opioids were marketed certainly is a factor (and the unstated truth that they became the drug cartel, only fully licensed by the government).
"Major Asia markets subdued and oil prices surge as Middle East tensions ramp up." The Aristocrats!
"The US has announced a countrywide ban on some e-cigarette flavours amid concerns about vaping among teens… The ban applies to mint and fruit flavours that are offered in cartridge-based e-cigarettes, like the popular pods sold by Juul." Some people ain't gonna be happy.
They'll cheer us in the streets. "As thousands of mourners flooded the streets of Iran on Sunday to mourn the death of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, a series of dizzying developments convulsed the Middle East, generating new uncertainty around everything from the future of U.S. forces in Iraq to the battle against ISIS and the effort to quell Tehran's nuclear ambitions." With the killing of Soleimani the president has accomplished what people in the Middle East couldn't do after centuries, he united the Shiite factions and revitalized support for Iran's government. He's handed a huge victory to the terrorists and weakened our position in the world even more.
"Iran will no longer honor its commitment to limit its enrichment of uranium, stepping away from a key component of the landmark nuclear deal it agreed to with six nations, including the United States, in 2015." Iran is now less than a year away from building an atomic weapon. And the president's actions have fragmented the fragile coalition that helped walk Iran away from the bomb.
Meanwhile terrorist organizations on the brink of failure are now re-enegerized. "A U.S. service member and two Defense Department contractors were killed Sunday when the terrorist organization al-Shabab attacked a Kenyan airfield used by both Kenyan and U.S. forces." Al-fucking-Shabab.
"President Donald Trump tweeted Saturday evening that if Iran attacks any American assets to avenge the killing of a top Iranian general, the U.S. has 52 targets across the Islamic Republic that 'WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD.'" That is a war crime. Our president is tweeting out that he will commit war crimes.
Remember Trump promised to pull us out of the Middle-East. "Being a U.S. soldier in a fast-response force sometimes means being sent halfway across the world within a day, leaving no time to say goodbye to those staying behind… That’s what happened to April Shumard when her husband, a member of the 82 Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, got the call. He was at home, minding the couple’s five children while Shumard was at work at Healing Hands day spa, when he sent her a text. He had to rush to base. He wasn’t sure if it was a drill or a deployment. Then she got another text: 'We’re leaving tomorrow.'"
"The U.S. military may strike more Iranian leaders if the Islamic Republic retaliates for the Trump administration’s killing of Tehran’s most powerful general last week by attacking Americans or American interests, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday." This violates several conventions of war, this violates standing orders and presidential directives. There's a reason why the CIA was taken out of the assassination game. Because it never works.
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