Linkee-poo Thursday

Alligators, man. They'll get you every time.

Kurt Douglas, I am Spartacus.

Who need regulations? "Every summer for the past three years, the phones have been ringing like crazy in the Office of the Indiana State Chemist. Farmers and homeowners were calling, complaining that their soybean fields or tomato plants looked sick, with curled-up leaves. They suspected pesticides from nearby farms — a kind of chemical hit-and-run." Dicamba, again.

The Throughline podcast with planned obsolescence. Yeah, it's a real thing.

"China’s fast-moving coronavirus spread among passengers of a quarantined Japanese cruise liner on Thursday and dragged down production at more global businesses, as scientists across the world searched for a vaccine."

"The Department of Homeland Security has suspended Global Entry and several other trusted traveler programs for all residents of New York… Chad Wolf, the Acting Homeland Security Chief… said that New Yorkers 'can’t enroll or re-enroll' in the Trusted Traveler Programs — which includes Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, Nexus and more — because the department 'no longer [has] access to make sure that they meet those program requirements.'" Bullshit, Chad. And they announced it on Bullshit Mountain to boot. So much for the theory that just having been impeached would make the president a little more wary about stupid moves like these. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)

"In the early morning of June 12, 2017, a group of eight Central American migrants decided to go on a hunger strike to protest conditions at the immigration detention center where they were being held in California." There is no reforming ICE. It needs to be dismantled.

"A draft of an executive order called 'Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again' would establish a classical style, inspired by Greek and Roman architecture, as the default for federal buildings in Washington and many throughout the country, discouraging modern design." I appreciate where they supposedly say this order comes from ("The order, spearheaded by the National Civic Art Society, a nonprofit group that believes contemporary architecture has “created a built environment that is degraded and dehumanizing,'"), and while I have a preference for Greco-Roman design, I strongly disagree with the thrust and intent of this law. First is the cost of that design, both construction and maintenance of the building are much higher than some of the modern designs (although, oddly, brutalist design tends to have higher costs for maintenance, although that's mostly to cutting corners during construction and bad use of the buildings). But mostly I have a very strong negative reaction to it because this is what fascists and dictators do. If this were in place, the Vietnam Memorial would not look like it does, and it's one of the most stirring monuments, drawing millions and inspires interactions that necessitated their own museum. The National Museum of African American History and Culture starts off a little bewildering, but becomes more beautiful the longer you look at it. And for general office buildings do you really want to spend the money and waste the space for porticos and colonnades?

"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., drew the ire of Republicans when she tore up a copy of President Donald Trump’s 2020 State of the Union address… One conservative pundit said she deserved more than just the ridicule of her GOP colleagues." Yeah, that's pant's on fire wrong. (Grokked from Laura J Mixon)

"Pelosi, addressing her caucus Wednesday morning, said she felt 'liberated' after defiantly ripping up Trump’s speech for the world to see, tearing up each page as she stood behind the president after he concluded his annual address." She's crossed her Rubicon.

On the Media podcast on Rush Limbaugh and his legacy and what it means for the US that he has the Medal of Freedom. The only good I see in this story is Rush will soon face his eternal fate.

"Senators voted on Wednesday afternoon to acquit President Trump on two articles of impeachment — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — after a historically unusual but typically contentious trial." And the president, and the Senate GOP have learned nothing except that they can get away with it. It's about to get worse.

"Majority Leader Mitch McConnell cracked a joke during a Tuesday lunch with his Republican colleagues that the previous two weeks had been like a family vacation that had gone on too long."

"For the stay-in-office-at-all-cost representatives and senators, fear is the motivator. They are afraid that Mr. Trump might give them a nickname like 'Low Energy Jeb' and 'Lyin’ Ted,' or that he might tweet about their disloyalty. Or — worst of all — that he might come to their state to campaign against them in the Republican primary." An op-ed from Sherrod Brown, one of my Senators. Integrity is what you do when no one is watching, but that presumes you do the right thing when the whole world is watching.