"Two lawmakers in Sweden have nominated Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg for the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize." That sound you hear? Those are conservative minds imploding. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
"NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) spacecraft has discovered 'layers' and 'rifts' in the electrically charged part of the upper atmosphere (the ionosphere) of Mars. The phenomenon is very common at Earth and causes unpredictable disruptions to radio communications. However, we do not fully understand them because they form at altitudes that are very difficult to explore at Earth."
"Scientists have long known that higher air temperatures are contributing to the surface melting on Greenland's ice sheet… But a new study has found another threat that has begun attacking the ice from below: Warm ocean water moving underneath the vast glaciers is causing them to melt even more quickly." We're boned.
"Eventually we learned thanks to an announcement from Microsoft on Twitter why Teams went down: the company forgot to renew the service's SSL certificate." Math is hard. Having suffered the same issue this past weekend (and coming up with the workaround for our site until IT got it's shit together 3 hours later) let me speak to all IT managers responsible for this, it's called an electric calendar. Outlook has one (on a Mac you can use iCal). It can send you alerts and reminders, even email, so you don't forget this shit. And while you're at it, mark your spouse's, parents', kids', relatives', and friends' birthdays and anniversaries.
From yesterday, "Chinese stocks recorded their worst day in years as investors finally got a chance to react to the worsening coronavirus outbreak… The losses wiped out a combined $445 billion in market value." Oh no, now it's serious. Rich people are losing money.
"So Ganguli is worried about the results of a big study she and colleagues published Monday in Annals of Internal Medicine: Adults with commercial health insurance are visiting primary care providers less often than they did about a decade ago." While this is also me, this is a bad development. "It's hard to pinpoint exactly what's behind this decline, the researchers say. But the evidence points toward rising out-of-pocket costs as a factor." Gee, ya fuckin' think so? And note, this is a feature of the private healthcare insurance industry, not a bug.
The Retail Apocalypse continues… "Forever 21′s $81 million deal is with a group that includes Simon Property Group, Brookfield Property Partners and Authentic Brands."
A Forbes article… "Imagine this scenario: All $1.6 trillion of your student loan debt is forgiven. Now, what happens next?… Here’s what you need to know…" Chaos! Mass Hysteria! Cats and dogs living together! Seriously, this is how rich people try to keep us down.
How goes Brexit? "The pound has fallen in value as comments from Prime Minister Boris Johnson renewed concerns the UK faces leaving the EU without a trade deal… Mr Johnson said he favoured a Canada-style free trade deal, but would use the existing Withdrawal Agreement with the EU if they failed to reach terms."
"Iran's top court has confirmed a death sentence for a man convicted of spying for the CIA… Amir Rahimpour 'earned a lot of money' to pass on information about Iran's nuclear programme to the US, judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said… He added that 'two more American spies' had been sentenced to 10 years in prison for espionage and five years for acting against national security… Mr Esmaili did not name them, but said they had been working for a charity." Uh, sure, Bob.
Another day in America, "One person was killed and five others were wounded when gunfire erupted on an overnight Greyhound bus traveling from Los Angeles to San Francisco, CBS LA reported. The bus left Los Angeles at 11:45 p.m. Most of the passengers were asleep when they heard shouting and gunshots around 2 a.m."
And… "A high school student was struck and killed by a pick-up truck Monday while training with other members of a cross country track team in Moore, Oklahoma… Five other students were also hit by the vehicle."
"The Justice Department and nearly all state attorneys general have opened investigations into allegations that Alphabet’s Google has broken antitrust law. The probes focus on search bias, advertising and management of Google’s Android operating system." Wow, I still have the t-shirt form the Microsoft anti-trust investigation.
Sure you can trust the police. "A homeless man is suing the Honolulu Police Department and the city after he says officers forced him to lick a urinal in a public restroom."
"Rush Limbaugh revealed he has been diagnosed with an advanced lung cancer." Seems like a metaphor. As one twitter user said, I don't wish this on anyone, but it's good that he has insurance and a plan for treatment, we just wish everyone had that same access and ability.
"Turkey and Syria traded attacks near their shared border in a spasm of direct, deadly violence that threatens to escalate the friction between two increasingly bitter neighbors — and more deeply entangle Syria's ally Russia." Checks watch, yep, right about on time.
"But during the national anthem at his own Super Bowl watch party Sunday night, a brief video posted to Instagram shows Trump greeting guests, adjusting his chair, and straightening his suit jacket as other attendees — including first lady Melania Trump and their teenage son — stand with their hands over their hearts. As 'The Star Spangled Banner' crescendoes, Trump raises both of his hands in the air, and twirls them around as if conducting the music… The video was included in an Instagram story by a real estate agent for a Russian-American firm who frequents Mar-a-Lago and other Trump properties and events." One, again, a lot of fucking Russians hanging around here. And two, the worm begins to turn? (Grokked from Eric VanNewkirk)
"Donald Trump’s decision to change definitions of domestic violence and sexual assault has rolled back women’s rights by half a century, campaigners have warned… The Trump administration quietly changed the definition of both domestic violence and sexual assault back in April but the move has only just surfaced." Considering the abuse the president has been accused of (including raping his first wife), it's not entirely unsurprising. (Grokked from Laura J Mixon)
"A man who voted for President Donald Trump in 2016 now says he would never back the president a second time after his own wife got deported to Mexico… 'I had to go with the fact that my wife would be fine because she was not a bad person,' he explained. 'I was wrong.'" Of course he's not sure who he'll vote for because none of the Dems excite him. I'm more sorry for his wife and kid than I am for him. Another example of the Shirley Exception, as in surely the people I like will be an exception to the rules. Narrator voice: No, they won't be. (Grokked from Wesley Chu)
"The Montana Republican Party on Saturday condemned a comment made by a state GOP lawmaker who said the U.S. Constitution calls for people who identify as socialists to be jailed or shot." So, sure, conservatives aren't fascists. I mean, the party condemned what he said out loud what they say in private when they think no one is listening.
"State party officials said Tuesday morning they are certain 'the underlying data' collected at caucus sites is sound but that an issue arose in reporting that data. Results are expected later Tuesday. Chair Troy Price said though the app was recording data accurately, 'it was reporting out only partial data' because of a 'coding issue in the reporting system.'" I know it's fallen out of favor recently, but when I was a young boy we used to have these things called "Beta Tests" before going golden. The IT world may want to re-examine implementing them, or at least build robust testing benches. I'm also dealing with these issues at the second job and it really it quite amazing to me that no one tests changes to systems before rolling out the code. I mean, you can't plan for every contingency, but damn, IT people, you ain't even getting the basics of interoperation between systems.
"As word of the confusion and chaos spread, the IDP held a conference call with the presidential campaigns in an effort to explain the issues with the reporting system. In another call with reporters at 2 a.m., state party Chairman Troy Price said he wanted to emphasize this is a 'reporting issue, not a hack' and 'this is why we have a paper trail.' The party said it was turning to other methods to collect results." Much of the issues are the media and the campaigns who are used to instant feedback, so when they have to wait it's unusual. In the empty space there has been some disinformation pushed out. But that's why they had a paper trail. They can always go back to the paper trail. As to the GOP having a clean process, well congrats GOP, I guess you can organize a 1 car parade. My apologies.
And the media is angry they don't have grist for the mill. "The Democratic 2020 crusade to oust President Donald Trump could not have got off to a more disastrous and embarrassing start… The party couldn't even deliver a first-in-the-nation election night winner after a vote-reporting debacle in Iowa — where candidates spent months and millions of dollars vying for a glittering opening prize in their nominating duel." And so begins the left-wing conspiracies.
"Another debunked claim from a right wing 'activist' group responsible for chronic disinformation continued to spread on social media on February 3 2020 as voters in Iowa prepared for the Democratic Party presidential caucus… But despite being debunked by both state officials and news outlets like the Washington Post, a spokesperson for Twitter said that platform would not take action against its spread." Social media will not save us, they can't even effectively police themselves (and there is cause to believe that as long as the alt-right is marching forward, they won't try hard).
"Contrary to Biden's assertion on Monday that no one had said his son was offered the seat to gain access to him, several Republicans, including President Donald Trump, have suggested exactly that… And though no U.S. or Ukrainian officials have alleged the Bidens acted illegally, Republicans like Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham have said the matter has not been examined closely enough." Benghazi 2, Electric Boogaloo.
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