"Staffers at Hachette Book Group walked out of the publisher’s U.S. offices on Thursday in protest of the company’s decision to publish a new memoir by Woody Allen." Ronan strikes again. (Grokked in a roundabout way from Tobias Buckell)
"It was the first time astronauts were able to enjoy the fruits of their labor after growing produce from seeds and harvesting it." Lettuce in spaaaaaacccceee!
"Twenty-eight thousand students across the United States submitted essays and proposed names for NASA’s newest Mars rover and on Thursday, the agency announced the winner: Perseverance, submitted by Virginia seventh-grader Alexander Mather." And yet, she perserveranced… or something.
Corona! Boo!
"The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy has risen by 41 over the past 24 hours to 148, the Civil Protection Agency said on Thursday, with the contagion in Europe’s worst-hit country showing no sign of slowing."
From inside Wuhan… "At the moment when the city was first locked down, I hoped with all my heart that China's political system, known for concentrating resources to get big jobs done, could save the Wuhanese. But infected patients were treated in the hospital in Wuhan as early as the beginning of December, and for unknown reasons, the government held off informing the public and taking effective action… So they missed the best window of prevention due to this cover-up." Surely our government won't make the same mistakes and will be totally open about our response, the ability of testing, exactly where the virus may be… "One day you may become the price that is paid."
President Trump is known to say what's on his mind, to go with his gut and accentuate the positive. That approach is now colliding with a public health emergency in the form of coronavirus." So much winning. "'So, if we have thousands or hundreds of thousands of people that get better just by, you know, sitting around and even going to work — some of them go to work, but they get better,' Trump said." If we aren't making money, what's the point. Everything is all fun and games, until the incompetencies start getting people killed.
"The White House has acknowledged the nation does not have enough coronavirus test kits as cases of the disease ticked upwards on both US coasts… Vice-President Mike Pence said the Trump administration would not be able to meet its objective of delivering one million testing kits this week… Congress meanwhile moved with unusual speed to approve a bumper emergency aid package to combat the outbreak." No word yet where the $8B is actually coming from. Put it on the tab, I guess.
"The fish are still flying at the Pike Place Market, and, though workers say things seem a little slower than usual, this famous tourist hot spot remains in full operation despite government warnings about the coronavirus… While workers gossiped about the lack of traffic on their morning commute, tourists wandered the narrow streets around the market, snapping selfies with buskers and the spreading displays of butter-yellow daffodils."
"As odds of a global recession rise, governments and central banks around the world are racing to fend off the economic damage from the spread of the coronavirus."
"Alabama inmate Nathaniel Woods was put to death Thursday night, three hours after his scheduled execution was initially delayed when the U.S. Supreme Court stepped in for a last-minute review of his case… Even Woods' co-defendant, Kerry Spencer, who has confessed to being the triggerman and denies Woods was complicit, implored for his execution to be stopped." Alabama, executing innocent people since, well, since there's been an Alabama. It's time to end capital punishment.
Some good news. "A new report from the Labor Department says employers added 273,000 jobs in February — the same as in January. The February increase was about 100,000 more than private analysts had forecast. The unemployment rate dipped to 3.5%, matching a 50-year low… Job gains for December and January were revised up by a total of 85,000." But note those numbers are 3 weeks old.
"In its order late Wednesday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said that next week the administration will have to stop making asylum-seekers wait in Mexico for the U.S. to process their claims, but that the court ban applies only to areas in its jurisdiction, Arizona and California."
Trigger warning for violence. "Manky Lugo has developed a gruesome expertise. Like a human bloodhound, she sniffs out traces of death… Her gray hair wrapped in a bright-green bandanna, the 64-year-old applies her skill during an annual search for remains of fellow citizens who have vanished without a trace — victims of Mexico's drug wars and armed groups. A loved one of her own is among the missing." In case you wonder why people are showing up at our southern border. Abuelas, they're dancing with the dead. The grief and strength of these mothers, grandmothers, sisters, and daughters is stunning.
How's that Afghan peace deal coming? "Twenty-seven people have been killed in an attack in Afghanistan at a ceremony attended by presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah, he told CNN… Abdullah said he escaped the attack in west Kabul unharmed, and that small arms gunfire followed by rocket fire killed 27 attendees and injured a further 52."
"The Senate Homeland Security Committee is set to vote next Wednesday on a subpoena for records from a Democratic public relations firm related to the panel’s investigation of conflict-of-interest allegations against the Bidens… But Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), a member of the panel, has hinted that he could vote against issuing the subpoena, noting the committee’s investigation might look political in nature given Biden’s resurgence and the increasing likelihood that he’ll become the Democratic presidential nominee." Might look? Might? Dudes, seriously, this is all fucking political bullshit. Notice how this "investigation" went quiet when it looked like Sanders might be the nomination. Why? Because why do the hard work that will lead nowhere when you don't have to. See, this is what happens when you lie. Eventually the work of maintaining what was a minor lie become significant in the face of truth. It's a lot of labor (and cost). Say, remember the 8 Benghazi investigations? You know, each one launched with a "somethings got to be there" fanfare only to come up with a "yeah, still nothing here" result. This is even more so like that. Although, and here's where the hard part comes, while doing this investigation the conservatives will need to somehow paint Hunter Biden's appointment/hire to the board as "outside the norm" because of his "inexperience" all while having to protect all their cosy sibling, children and spouses' board appointments as "perfectly normal" even though many of those fall into the same category of "inexperience." And if the Democrats haven't investigated all the committee's extended family for similar board appointments, shame on them. I mean, I know they'll attack the president's children's incompetence and their positions (although, to be fair, Ivanka and Jared do seem to have something on the ball, and his kids are no less competent than thousands of other kids who work for their parents and have been handed cushy executive jobs). So, yeah, time to burn the patriarchy down! The one flaw in this is those Democrats also probably have extended family members on boards for all the same reasons, and they'd have to be willing to sacrifice those (which I doubt they will). Welcome to the swamp.
"Judge Reggie Walton asked if Barr's actions were a 'calculated attempt' to help President Donald Trump and opined the attorney general had a 'lack of candor' with the public and Congress." Ooo, consequences. I'll go make the popcorn.
"The revolution that Bernie Sanders is promising depends on a new wave of young voters showing up at the polls to propel his campaign. But this week, the Vermont senator acknowledged that those voters, on which his success to some degree hinges, have not shown up in the way he'd hoped." Again, you have to 1) give them reason to come out, 2) talk directly to them and let them know you understand and support them, 3) give them the opportunity to come out, and 4) go out there and fucking whip the vote! (ie. call them, drive them, get them to the polls). This is the everlasting failure of the left. We do "1" pretty well (well, the conservatives help that for our side just like we do for the conservative side). We suck at the other 3 (especially the last one and for minorities we also suck at 2).
"But there is no one black vote, and we're going to talk about that with Chryl Laird. She's the author of 'Steadfast Democrats.'"
"In sum, the incumbent president of the United States has been used as a tool by the Russian government. And now, there’s evidence that maybe Bernie Sanders has too??? That’s the gist… The Times piece describes itself as an exclusive look at documents that depict 'the Soviet effort to exploit Mr. Sanders’s antiwar agenda for their own propaganda purposes.'" It's also the same thing about the Russians "helping" Sanders' campaign.
"It isn't clear precisely how much Russia is doing to help Sanders via the anonymity of cyberspace, but national security officials warned on Monday that social media agitation and disinformation have continued through this year's presidential race."
"A cache of Instagram posts captured by researchers showed that the Russians were 'better at impersonating candidates' and that influence-mongers 'have moved away from creating their own fake advocacy groups to mimicking and appropriating the names of actual American groups,' wrote Young Mie Kim, a University of Wisconsin professor who analyzed the material with her team." The ever-evolving information warfare area of conflict. (Waves to my Russian and Italian friends)
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