John Scalzi has a fairly decent take on the current "fuck up" moments in SF/F. And it's time to be clear, I have also fucked up in the past (and probably do still in some ways). Some of that behavior I've recognized and I have tried to change, some of it I may be blind to. I still sometimes affect accents not my own or use an effeminate or overly-masculine voice for "the joke." In my defense the jokes are usually self-deprecating, self-referential, or intended to stab at cultural perceptions of the white-straight-male worldview (my effeminate voice usually comes out when what I'm doing or saying would not be perceived as masculine by the manly-man set, and is meant as a "fuck you" to that group of manly-men and that a human being has both qualities in them, but I recognize that others may not see that aspect of it). I know these are not cool, I've tried to root it out, but I still catch myself usually about half-a-minute too late. And my worse sin is not recognizing when others have made what I consider a safe-place not a safe-place for some of my friends and as such I haven't done enough to rectify those situations. I haven't always recognized predators even though I know the signs and should have seen some of them. These are parts of myself that I'm still working on. If I have wronged you (and you're not a troll or the like), if you feel safe to do so, please let me know this and what I did so that I can change those behaviors.
"NASA has released a time-lapse video of the sun that shows 10 years' worth of activity at the corona in just one hour. The video was created from a selection of some of the 425 million high-resolution images that have been taken of the sun over the last decade." In case you're into such a thing.
"NASA announced Wednesday that the agency’s D.C. headquarters will be named after Mary W. Jackson, its first African American female engineer."
Get out those pencils. "NASA wants you to help put the loo in lunar, so it's offering $35,000 in prizes to design a toilet that can be used on the moon… The space agency has set an ambitious goal of sending astronauts back to the moon by 2024 and the crew will obviously have to go to the bathroom during the mission."
"The US Food and Drug Administration had been warning customers not to eat certain store brand garden salad mixes sold by ALDI, HY-Vee, and Jewel-Osco. The government investigation found that the mix, which is produced by Fresh Express, was also sold at Walmart stores. The mixes are under different brand names at the different stores."
"On Friday, the U.S. reported 45,255 new cases, according to data maintained by Johns Hopkins University. It's the second day of record high increases. Thursday saw 39,972 new cases."
"Bars in Texas were ordered to shut and restaurants will face renewed restrictions as Governor Greg Abbott scales back the economic reopening amid a burst of new Covid-19 cases." A second round of closures begin, we'll see how well people obey this time.
Yet, at the White House yesterday, "… Vice President Mike Pence told Americans that things were going well… And Pence claimed that 'to one extent or another, the volume of new cases coming in is a reflection of a great success in expanding testing across the country' -- yet many states are seeing rising percentages of positive tests, which are indicative of genuinely rising levels of infection in the community." Wow, that spin will give you whiplash.
"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has quietly added three new coronavirus symptoms to its ongoing list… According to the CDC’s website, the following symptoms were added on May 13… Congestion or runny nose… Nausea… Diarrhea." Wouldn't be too bad if the CDC hadn't been telling us those were NOT symptoms of COVID-19 for the past 4 months.
"In addition to respiratory distress, patients with COVID-19 can experience blood clotting disorders that can lead to strokes, and extreme inflammation that attacks multiple organ systems. The virus can also cause neurological complications that range from headache, dizziness and loss of taste or smell to seizures and confusion… And recovery can be slow, incomplete and costly, with a huge impact on quality of life." Not really strange given the newness of the virus. The virus will change us (in terms of generational timescales).
"European Union envoys are close to finalizing a list of countries whose citizens will be allowed to enter Europe again, possibly from late next week, EU diplomats confirmed Saturday. Americans are almost certain to be excluded in the short term due to the number of U.S. coronavirus cases."
"We feel it to be our solemn duty to make a statement about recent events before all our peer institutions beat us to the punch. In this time of division, we flailed through the Provost’s book of inspirational, unifying quotes and landed on the aphorism, “Change begins at home.” As we reflect on our own campus home, we definitively state our intent to stand against hate, prejudice, and other harmful nouns, as well as to fight racism where it lives: elsewhere." Oh, McSweeneys, dont ever change.
"Last August, police officers in Aurora, Colorado, approached 23-year-old Elijah McClain as he walked home from a convenience store. The Aurora Police Department later said that a 911 caller had reported a 'suspicious person' in a ski mask, and that when officers confronted McClain — who was not armed and had not committed any kind of crime — he 'resisted arrest.' In the 15 minutes that followed, the officers tackled McClain to the ground, put him in a carotid hold, and called first responders, who injected him with ketamine. He had a heart attack on the way to the hospital, and died days later, after he was declared brain dead."
"Mississippi is the last state in the country whose flag features the Confederate emblem. And there may be enough lawmakers who want to remove the battle emblem in the state legislature to make the change, a senior state lawmaker told CNN on Friday."
"President Donald Trump said on Twitter Friday that he has signed an executive order on protecting monuments, an action the President had been teasing for the past week… In essence, the order directs the attorney general to enforce the already-existing law."
"Three people are believed to have been stabbed to death in a hotel stairwell in Glasgow city centre… Armed police shot the suspect, who is also understood to have died."
How goes Brexit? "Britain will be ready to quit its transitional arrangements with the European Union 'on Australia terms' if no deal on their future relationship is reached, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki on Saturday."
The retail apocalypse continues unabated. "Well-known stores and mall staples announced they were closing thousands of locations in June as shoppers shift their behavior and the pandemic continues to cripple companies' bottom lines."
"Ford Motor is bringing a new level of technology to its 2021 F-150 pickup to attract new buyers while also trying to please its loyal customers with new features tailored to them." Ooo, they're catching to to where they should have been (checks watch) 5 years ago.
"The GOP has been fighting to eviscerate Obamacare since it was passed a decade ago. But the effort to strip Americans of health care has never appeared more out of touch and tone deaf than it has during a pandemic, when more than 125,000 Americans have died, more than 2.4 million have been infected and many have lost their employer-sponsored health insurance in the waves of layoffs that have decimated the economy."
"President Donald Trump's White House is rolling out a new "skills-based hiring" initiative for the federal government — but it faced instant backlash by making the president's older daughter the new policy's figurehead." Seriously?
"The Trump administration doesn't have the authority to divert Pentagon funds to construct additional barriers on the US-Mexico border, a federal appeals court ruled Friday, days after President Donald Trump's visit to a section of the wall in Arizona… In a 2-1 ruling, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals said that the transfer of $2.5 billion circumvented Congress, which holds the authority to appropriate money."
"American intelligence officials have concluded that a Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing coalition forces in Afghanistan — including targeting American troops — amid the peace talks to end the long-running war there, according to officials briefed on the matter." No no no. That's not how you do it, my Russian friends. You have to pay by the ear or the scalp.
"Attorney General William Barr on Thursday raised concerns that expanding mail-in voting could lead to widespread fraud — but admitted he had no evidence to support his claims." Because there is none. They're just afraid that after working hard to suppress the number of voters, if everyone could vote by mail then conservatives would loose badly. Basically these people don't know how voting actually works, and they're betting you don't either.
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