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

Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Linkee-poo Fat Tuesday, where's the paczkis

Hosni Mubarak, and so it goes.

Ah, another example of our fine state of paying for healthcare in the US. Man comes back from China, thinks he may have COVID-19, goes to hospital. Fortunately doesn't have COVID-19, just the regular flu, is billed for $3,270 (and maybe more if his "junk" insurance determines it was part of a "pre-existing" condition). Also note it was only that low because he refused a CT scan (note, CT scans can not determine what virus you have, it can only see if you have any reactions to that virus like pneumonia or pluracy and a standard chest X-ray is just as good 99% of the time). And now you know why, if SARS-CoV-2 breaks out in the US that our only saving grace is it has a mortality of around 2% (or so, if you believe the Chinese). (Grokked from Kelly Swails)

"A study by researchers at Brown University has found a quarter of posts about climate change on Twitter were written by bots… Researchers discovered tweets posted by bots created the impression there was a high level of climate change denial." Literally buying the "grass roots support." (Grokked from Annie Wheaton)

"The 24 largest quakes discussed in the paper only reached a magnitude 3 or 4, which on Earth, might be powerful enough to be felt as a rumble on the ground but usually aren’t strong enough to cause serious damage. But unlike on Earth, where quakes can happen closer to the surface, it appears that the marsquakes InSight detected tended to originate far deeper in the planet (30 to 50 kilometers). The deeper the quake, the less shaking is felt on the surface."

"This video uses data gathered from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft to recreate some of the stunning views of the Moon that the Apollo 13 astronauts saw on their perilous journey around the farside in 1970. These visualizations, in 4K resolution, depict many different views of the lunar surface, starting with earthset and sunrise and concluding with the time Apollo 13 reestablished radio contact with Mission Control."

"A nine-day heat wave scorched Antarctica's northern tip earlier this month. New NASA images reveal that nearly a quarter of an Antarctic island's snow cover melted in that time -- an increasingly common symptom of the climate crisis."

"For women who haven’t gone into labor by 42 weeks, just about every medical and birth professional recommends induction… But Judith, an artist and freethinker… had a different kind of birth plan — one that dismissed medical recommendations and relied on nature and intuition, that rejected a sterile hospital for a warm pool in her own home and that avoided doctors and midwives. Instead, Judith wanted to be with only her husband and her closest friend, a plan known as freebirth, or unassisted birth, by the tiny subculture of women who practice it." Which is fine, but it's not an excuse to go completely against medical advice. The major problem is the people she turned to for advice were not medical people. And those people, instead of seeing warning signs that this was a troubled pregnancy, instead continued to push their ideology. There's a lot of things you don't need doctors for. But there is a line where what you're doing on your own isn't effective. Because here's the thing, and I'll use another group as an example, many people who spout the anti-vaxxer line like to say, "What happened before we had all (these advanced medical practices)?" Well the answer is a lot of people died. Should you listen to your body? By all means yes (and take notes). In many cases for minor medical issues you will get better. But the flu, something a lot of people get and don't die from, still kills over 10,000 people in the US every year. So get actual medical advice, talk with your doctors and healthcare providers. If that doctor doesn't help, or you feel they aren't listening to you, find another one (which is easier to say than do). There are many ob-gyns who support home birth. Find one. And when they say, "This ain't right, get thee to a hospital" follow that advice. And here I will also say for many life threatening conditions, there are no warning signs until it is way too late (for instance many cancers you will not feel pain or experience side-effects until it is about to kill you). Even with regular checkups a lot is missed. But a lot more are missed when you don't have regular checkups.

"The White House is requesting $1.25 billion in emergency funding from Congress as part of a total commitment of $2.5 billion to fight the novel coronavirus, according to a congressional official." Hey, there's all this money being freed up for the wall, I bet we could transfer and use that. Also note that the media has no ability to report on this. The virus isn't COVID-19, the disease it causes is. The virus is named SARS-CoV-2.

"Italy reported a total of 229 novel coronavirus cases on Monday, leaping ahead of Japan (156 cases) on the list of worst-hit countries. Six people have died from the respiratory disease COVID-19 in Italy, and 27 more are in intensive care."

"Two years ago, Amazon introduced the idea of high-tech, cashierless shopping with a store that was a cross between a 7-Eleven and a Pret A Manger sandwich shop. Now, Amazon is bringing the same concept to a full-size supermarket."

"As politicians and regulators around the world start to consider the global impact of Amazon — and how to rein in Bezos’ power — FRONTLINE investigates how he executed a plan to build one of the most influential economic and cultural forces in the world."

From last year, but… "As with last year’s findings, the report features 156 countries ranked by how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be, according to their evaluations of their own lives. This year it also analyzes how life evaluations and emotions, both positive and negative, have evolved over the whole run of the happiness surveys since 2012." The 10 most happiest countries. You'll note, the US is not there. Also, they say Iceland is like Middle Earth, but dudes, seriously, New Zealand (#8) is like Middle Earth. Iceland (#4) is like Game of Thrones. Stop having boomers write your copy, Forbes. (Grokked from Joe Hill)

"Accusers of Harvey Weinstein have welcomed the guilty verdicts in the rape and sexual assault case against the former Hollywood mogul… Actress Rose McGowan told the BBC 'this is a great day', while others said the ruling brought hope to victims that their voices would be heard." Harvey was led out of court without his walker. Whispers… he never used it correctly anyway. Also, because I'm hearing it stated this way in the media, Weinstein was not convicted because of the #MeToo movement, he was convicted because he's a serial rapists and a serial sexual harasser. His accusers came forward as a part of the empowerment of the #MeToo movement (and IIRC Rose McGowan's honesty and bravery launched the movement when she publicly accused Weinstein). This is not to take away from #MeToo but to clarify the #MeToo didn't change the laws (although there is now a movement to extend the time victims can come forward) and that the only change is that for some of the rapists and abusers their positions of power are not going to completely shield them.

"(Crypto AG) made millions of dollars selling equipment to more than 120 countries well into the 21st century. Its clients included Iran, military juntas in Latin America, nuclear rivals India and Pakistan, and even the Vatican… But what none of its customers ever knew was that Crypto AG was secretly owned by the CIA in a highly classified partnership with West German intelligence. These spy agencies rigged the company’s devices so they could easily break the codes that countries used to send encrypted messages." Why backdoors are a Bad Idea™ and why your government wants them. (Grokked from Dan)

"A Chinese court has sentenced Hong Kong bookseller Gui Minhai to 10 years in jail for 'illegally providing intelligence overseas'… Mr Gui, who holds Swedish citizenship, has been in and out of Chinese detention since 2015, when he went missing during a holiday in Thailand." Books are important.

"That's because ever since the first modern combat helmet came out in 1915, these so-called 'brain buckets' have been designed to protect heads not from invisible shock waves, but from shrapnel, bullets and other blunt physical objects." We're always fighting the last war and not the current one. There's not much that can protect you from an over pressurization event (blast). And that's the point of it being a part of the current wars. And what is not pointed out in the article that the best protection for injury that a soldier has is to never be placed into a war situation in the first place. Everything else from the point diplomacy fails is a trade-off of bad outcomes.

"A car has been driven into a crowd at a carnival parade in the western German town of Volkmarsen." The use of the passive voice is annoying.

"Experts said that Trump’s first state visit to India signifies the growing strength of the relations between Washington and New Delhi, amid China’s rising clout in South Asia. As part of his two-day visit which began on Monday, Trump was in New Delhi and Ahmedabad, the largest city in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat." If only he was actually that strategic. Also this story ignores the fact that historically India and China are at odds and not allies.

"Chad Wolf, now the acting head of D.H.S., used to advise colleagues to placate Miller by picking one item from his long list of demands, and vowing to execute it. 'It’s a war of attrition,' Wolf told them. 'Maybe he forgets the rest for a while, and you buy yourself some time.'" So besides being a neo-Nazi and white supremacist, Stephen Miller is a fucking asshole.

"In the rush to replace insecure, unreliable electronic voting machines after Russia’s interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential race, state and local officials have scrambled to acquire more trustworthy equipment for this year’s election, when U.S. intelligence agencies fear even worse problems." Only the technology isn't transparent, is more susceptible to undetected hacking, cost shitloads more, and take 3x as long to use as standard paper ballots. This is how fucked our election services are here in the US. Just use marked paper ballots. They can't be hacked (although the counting machines can be, but that's what will be found in an audit). They're cheaper. They're proven technology. There is a very-low learning curve to use. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)

"President Donald Trump’s top aides faced an increasingly urgent threat Monday with potentially monumental implications: a global outbreak knocking down the U.S. economy and walloping markets in an election year, all against accusations about whether the Trump administration had mismanaged and underfunded a critical response with American lives on the line." It's not a knockout blow, but it does make the stool wobble.

How's that late-capitalism campaign going? "To bolster his support (in California), the Los Angeles Times reports, the (Bloomberg) campaign has hired 500 'deputy field organizers," paying them $2,500 each to promote Bloomberg on social media to their friends and family. A Bloomberg spokesperson said in a statement that the goal is to meet "voters everywhere on any platform that they consume their news… At one point, another organizer texted his friends, 'Sam Donaldson just nailed it: Mike Bloomberg is the president we need to unite our country!' using the exact wording suggested by the Bloomberg campaign. He promptly followed up with a text reading, 'Please disregard, vote Bernie or Warren.'" Can't buy me love, as the Beatles sang so long ago. (Grokked from Bo Bolander)

"Bernie Sanders’ nomination could drag down vulnerable House Democrats trying to hold onto their competitive districts, according to a new poll conducted for Mike Bloomberg's campaign that is circulating among members — providing fresh data for moderates warning about a wipeout if Sanders emerges to lead their ticket against President Donald Trump." Consider the source, Democrats. If this were true, AOC and Omar would be depressing turn out as well. But I will agree that the Trump campaign is most ready for Bernie. And now you know why Russia may be interfering to help him win the nomination (although just their presence pushing for Bernie causes a disruptive action, because, again, the operation has little downside to any of the outcomes for Putin).

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