"Scientists have found evidence for a mysterious “ghost population” of ancient humans that lived in Africa about half a million years ago and whose genes live on in people today… Traces of the unknown ancestor emerged when researchers analysed genomes from west African populations and found that up to a fifth of their DNA appeared to have come from the missing relatives." Something new has been added. What I always find hilarious is that these articles are written and the discovery of Neanderthal DNA in Europeans that the DNA is discussed in relation of "purity" to homo sapiens. But this DNA is a part of us, it is a part of what makes us homo sapiens. It is not "foreign."
"When you think of wildlife photography, do you see mice brawling on a dirty London Underground platform?… That's the moment that won photographer Sam Rowley the LUMIX People's Choice Award for wildlife photography. Wildlife Photographer of the Year is developed and produced by London's Natural History Museum. Winners were announced on Wednesday."
How bad is the fear of COVID-19? "The MS Westerdam with nearly 1,500 passengers aboard had been rebuffed by Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines and the U.S. territory of Guam before ultimately being allowed to dock at the Cambodian port of Sihanoukville… Although none of the passengers or crew aboard had reported any symptoms of COVID-19, the pneumonia-like disease caused by the novel coronavirus, concern of contagion had forced them to remain at sea after the vessel docked in Hong Kong on Feb. 1."
"Fire officials in Australia are celebrating a landmark moment, saying that for the first time in what has been a horrendous wildfire season, every fire in hard-hit New South Wales is now under control. Bushfires have destroyed more than 2,400 homes and burned 5.4 million hectares of land – or about 13.3 million acres — in the country's most populous state." Finally. And it only took the arrival of heavy rains.
"When the United States of America was founded, it was only a union of a small number of states. By the beginning of the 20th century, the United States had become an empire; with states and territories and colonies that spanned the globe. As a result, the country began to not only reconsider its place in the world, but also its very name." The Throughline podcast on "Becoming America."
Okay, the site has a bias, but… "According to the AP, the (Tennessee) GOP lawmakers worried that women would abuse the law and purchase too many feminine hygiene products during the pause on state sales tax on some items — including computers and clothing. The pause lasts only one weekend, starting on the last Friday of July, the AP reported." I… well… um… what the actual fuck?! Sure, tell me again how there's no war on women. (Grokked from Lizz Winstead)
"The two largest teacher unions in the nation on Tuesday called for an end to unannounced active shooter drills and life-like simulations… The American Federation of Teachers and National Education Association made the recommendation with the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, citing the traumatic effects on students." No no no. See, if you stop having active shooter drills then we're going to have to come up with another solution to the problem of guns in our society. And that might lead to having fewer shooting incidents, but it might mean grandpa has to give up some of his guns. (That's sarcasm in case it wasn't clear.) I can tell you when we had a bomb scare at the hospital, frankly it terrorized a lot of the adults I work with. And those are adults. And they didn't have to run for their lives.
"Two Ohio State University football players were arrested on rape and kidnapping charges Wednesday after what local police describe as a violent sexual encounter with a woman last week. The men are scheduled to be arraigned on first-degree felony charges Thursday."
"A judge has overturned a contentious settlement that the University of North Carolina system reached with the Sons of Confederate Veterans over the Confederate monument known as Silent Sam." Seems like the timeline was a little suspicious. Oopsie.
"The U.S. Department of Education says it is opening an investigation of Yale and Harvard universities for failing to disclose hundreds of millions of dollars in gifts and contracts from foreign donors." And what may get lost in this story is the DoE never wrote rules to enforce this law. There was no way for these institutions to comply. This is just more attacks on education and an attack on the supposed "East-coast elites" as red meat for the base.
"Two boys with the same disability tried to get help. The rich student got it quickly. The poor student did not." Shocked… I guess the poor kid needs to go find some bootstraps to pull on and become one of those stories we celebrate people for their hard work and ingenuity so we can ignore fixing broken systems. I hear they have extra bootstraps over in the rich kid's home.
How goes Brexit? "Sajid Javid has shocked Westminster by quitting as chancellor in the middle of Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle… Mr Javid rejected the prime minster's order to fire his team of aides, saying "no self-respecting minister" could accept such a condition." I see we've reached the "tell them you're re-engineering" envelope early (this is a reference to the "3 Envelopes" joke).
"Right before the deadly coronavirus outbreak set in, Germany's economy ground to a halt — setting up the country for a tough 2020 just when it was meant to be kicking into recovery mode."
"Euro zone economic growth slowed as expected in the last three months of 2019 as gross domestic product shrank in France and Italy against the previous quarter, but employment growth picked up more than expected, official estimates showed on Friday."
"Stocks are at record highs, the job market is booming and fears about China’s deadly coronavirus have eased on Wall Street. The bond market, however, is again flashing a potential warning signal for the global economy… A sharp rally in Treasurys (SIC) in recent weeks led parts of the U.S. yield curve to invert, a signal that is often a harbinger of a recession." This is the 3rd inversion in 2 years. Have I mentioned how credit card debt is now the highest ever, and defaults are increasing? Also how the subprime car loan industry is hitting some bumps as well?
"A California man who spent 14 years in prison for the murder of a newspaper columnist has been exonerated thanks to the same DNA technology that caught the Golden State Killer suspect, authorities said." Another broken system.
"That was more than two years ago. Vadell and five other executives for the Houston-based oil conglomerate have been held in Venezuelan prisons ever since. The South American government charged them with embezzlement and other crimes, but U.S. officials call them pawns — caught between socialist President Nicolas Maduro’s battle to stay in power and the Trump administration’s effort to oust him." After Guaido appeared at the State of the Union, their internment became a little harsher.
"Turkey will use force against rebel groups violating a ceasefire in Syria’s northwest Idlib region, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Thursday, in an apparent response to Russian criticism." I believe the technical term for this is "escalation."
"Turkey-Syria clashes escalate as 800,000 displaced people battle bitter temperatures."
"A Florida jury acquitted a Chinese woman Wednesday of trespassing at President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort after she testified she didn't understand a security guard who told her to leave." Uh huh. Sure.
"The Senate passed an Iran War Powers resolution on Thursday, a rare measure that was approved with bipartisan support despite the fact that it has been opposed by President Donald Trump and aims to rein in his ability to use military action against Iran without congressional approval." Won't mean much until they can get a veto-proof majority.
How's that border wall coming? "A visit to the now-defunct Fort Brown Memorial Golf Course in Brownsville, Texas, is a cautionary tale of how Trump's border wall can create dead zones. The clubhouse is shuttered, par signs are fading, and the once-manicured greens are fields of weeds." One person is watching the destruction of his personal economics, but still supports Trump. So much for that "economic worried" narrative.
"The Trump administration has notified Congress that it plans to divert $3.8 billion from the Defense Department's budget to build the border wall." That's in addition to all the other money he diverted last year. I didn't know Mexico funded our DoD.
"Jared Kushner has been quietly trying to resurrect discussions to overhaul the U.S. immigration system, multiple people familiar with the conversations have told NPR." So much for peace in the Middle East.
"'When I terminated John Kelly, which I couldn’t do fast enough, he knew full well that he was way over his head. Being Chief of Staff just wasn’t for him. He came in with a bang, went out with a whimper,' Trump wrote in a pair of tweets, accusing Kelly of merely seeking the spotlight." Didn't know the guy. I think he got coffee.
"A barrage of former justice department figures have sounded the alarm following a decision on Tuesday by the US attorney general, William Barr, to undercut a sentencing recommendation for Trump’s friend Roger Stone. In a new court filing, Barr’s office condemned the initial recommendation of seven to nine years in prison as 'excessive and unwarranted'." Unfortunately there is no law that forbids this, but it's been held of obvious that no president would do this for fear of being tossed out of office for corruption. Trump doesn't have that fear.
"Attorney General William Barr is scheduled to testify before the House Judiciary Committee after the Justice Department took the unusual step of intervening in Roger Stone's sentencing recommendation." Anybody taking bets on this yet?
"In an exclusive interview, Attorney General Bill Barr told ABC News on Thursday that President Donald Trump 'has never asked me to do anything in a criminal case' but should stop tweeting about the Justice Department because his tweets 'make it impossible for me to do my job.'" AG Barr says he's not being bullied by the president, and that's true. When you're a willing sycophant, they person of your adoration can't bully you. You do it willingly. While the media is playing this as Barr pushing back against the president, that's not what is happening here. Barr knows what the president wants and is more than willing to just do it.
"Judy Shelton has had a decades-long affinity for the gold standard, but she’s been downplaying that since President Donald Trump nominated her to the Federal Reserve Board. She slammed low interest rates for years, but now she supports Trump’s view that rates should be cut to zero. And she has abandoned her view that the central bank shouldn’t try to cater to financial markets." There goes the Fed.
"The elections office of Florida's third-most populous county was breached by a crippling cyberattack in the weeks leading up to the 2016 election, NPR confirmed on Thursday… There is no indication that the ransomware attack was connected to Russian interference efforts leading up to the last presidential race, but the revelation about it now shows how election officials are preparing for this year's election without knowing all the details of what happened before." Bwu-what?
"Hope Hicks, a one-time close aide and communications director to President Donald Trump, will return to the White House next month after two years away to work closely with key advisors, administration officials said on Thursday."
If you want to know whom the media (and the billionaires who run it) are afraid of, just look to whom their either ignore or dismiss. "After a devastating fourth place finish in New Hampshire Tuesday night, the Massachusetts Democrat's path to her party's nomination for president has drastically narrowed. It is a bleak new political reality for the senator, who was topping national and early state polls as recently as a handful of months ago, and at her peak, seemed to have unstoppable momentum." Notice they're not asking Biden to bow out.
"A new poll found a majority of respondents classified former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden’s job at Burisma as 'inappropriate.'… A Politico/Morning Consult poll found 52 percent of participants found the fact that Hunter Biden sat on the board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma 'inappropriate,' compared to 18 percent of people who thought it was appropriate." Dear The Hill, given your complicity in this scandal, you don't get to comment on this. Also, most of the public would be astonished to find out the real qualifications of people who sit on corporate boards across this country (hint, they're not qualified, but just well connected). Basically in this case, only one side has garnered the attention of the public (because shouting, "hey, here's a scandal" gets more attention than, "it's nothing"). And this article outlines exactly what Trump was trying to do with his call to Ukraine. The Hill also muddles some of the facts with unclear and intentionally poor writing here.
No comments:
Post a Comment