"So you want to be a traditionally published author. Congratulations! First, you’ll need an agent. Many guides to finding a literary agent will advise you to “research” your potential agents without specifying what that means. Is it hours poring over sales records? Digging up sample agency agreements? Cyberstalking. It’s cyberstalking." Well, it's learning about the agent, what they rep, what they don't, and anything that may end up souring the relationship. (Grokked from Christine Daigle)
"Now, initial analysis of those final months of science suggest that Ceres may have been active much more recently than scientists had dared to imagine, according to an article summarizing seven different research papers published today (Aug. 10) in the journals Nature Communications, Nature Geoscience and Nature Astronomy."
The problem with "herd immunity." A podcast.
So how's that "in person" schooling going? "In the six days that Cherokee County schools have been in session, the north Georgia district has had to direct 826 students to quarantine due to possible exposure to COVID-19, along with 42 teachers." Jazz hands.
"Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the approval of a coronavirus vaccine for use on Tuesday, claiming it as a 'world first,' amid continued concern and unanswered questions over its safety and effectiveness." If I didn't like my Russian friends I'd advise them to rush out and get vaccinated ASAP.
"Contrary to his predictions, President Trump won't have a coronavirus vaccine ready by Election Day, vaccine experts tell CNN after reviewing data from Moderna, the first company to begin its Phase 3 clinical trials of a coronavirus vaccine in the United States." Also, we still don't know how effective or lasting it will be.
"Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies detained three teenagers at gunpoint last week after bystanders called 911 to report that the teens were being attacked by a man with a knife, an attorney for one of the teen’s families said Monday." Cruelty and terror is the program.
"Police Chief Carmen Best announced her retirement Monday night, shortly after the Seattle's City Council voted to cut nearly $4 million from the police department's budget… Best's announcement came on the same day the council approved the mid-year budget cut from the police department's 2019-2020 budget of $400 million."
"With a litany of metrics showing rapid growth in the value of money waiting in banks and other liquid accounts, investors from Ray Dalio to Paul Tudor Jones have warned that the era of tepid price rises may be coming to an end." As the 2007-2008 stimulus showed inflation isn't a simple "more money, more inflation" equation. But understand at that time the Fed was also retiring debt at a similar (but lower and slightly time delayed) rate as they were creating it. The net result was a lot of money flowing through the system ("economy"), but not much stayed in the system (IIRC, Pres. Obama never did have them mint that platinum coin with a high face value). The Fed also had plans to "claw back" a lot of their stimulus quickly if they saw inflation increasing. As to the notion that inflation is relatively low, sure, by the measures we use. However, have you seen the price of your food lately?
"'I’m barely making it,' says Tindall, whose brother and daughter have been giving her money to cover more than $1,000 in monthly bills including rent, utilities and phone costs. 'If it weren't for my family, I’d be homeless.'… 'I’m too old to find a new career. I’m about to give up,' Tindall says. 'I don’t have anything saved for retirement. My bank account is negative for the first time.'" The current and coming catastrophe.
"But the unemployment rate isn’t exactly dropping at the rate you’d expect for an economy that’s roaring back to life: The improvement from June to July was less than half as large as the one from May to June. And if the economy’s momentum is slowing, that means the recovery could be long and painful — particularly if Congress, which is currently deadlocked over the next round of coronavirus relief, cuts back on the aid it’s been pouring into the economy since March."
"The number of people in work in Britain has suffered the biggest drop since 2009 and signs are growing that the coronavirus will take a heavier toll on the labour market as the government winds down its huge job-protection scheme."
"Crude oil prices rose on Tuesday, underpinned by expectations of U.S. economic stimulus to support the world’s biggest oil consumer as well as a rebound in Asian demand as economies reopen." Tell me again how stocks and futures aren't gambling.
"An episode of hit US sitcom Black-ish, which was pulled by ABC over concerns that it was too anti-Trump, has become available to watch for the first time… The network dropped Please, Baby, Please in 2018 because it was worried about the script's 'partisanship', creator Kenya Barris said at the time." You should not insult the king.
"Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said on Tuesday student protesters had gone too far after some issued a 10-point call for reform of the monarchy, which is considered sacred in the country’s conservative culture."<.a< More people not protesting in approved ways.
"Belarus's main opposition leader says she took a 'very difficult decision' to leave the country, after disputing an election result she claimed was rigged… In a YouTube video, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya said she did it for her children as protests continued for a second night. One person has died."
"Most economists — along with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle — have been lukewarm about a payroll tax cut, pointing to its relatively limited effectiveness, since it doesn’t help people who are unemployed, retired or otherwise out of the workforce. But the Trump administration has steadily pushed for one since the early days of the pandemic." That's because it's not about actual economic help, it's about 1) promising people money for his re-election and 2) ending Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid which he believes will win him historic resonance in the Republican Party.
"President Donald Trump erroneously stated Monday that the Spanish Flu of 1918 ended World War II, incorrectly citing both the year the pandemic occurred and the year that the Second World War ended." One of the tell tale traits of an autocratic leader is the lies they tell, and who agrees or covers for them. So the media is missing the point entirely here. Trump is ignorant and stupid (and most likely senile), but this is an autocrat attempting to enforce their reality. Did Trump get the dates wrong? Doesn't matter, it matters what the narrative he's pushing says, that deaths and disease are a "good thing." They stopped wars. This is exactly the same as his "Thighland" gaff. Did he pronounce it wrong? Doesn't fucking matter. What matters is who came to his defense, who said, "Yes, that's how smart people in the know say it." It is classic fascist tactics. Even saying, "Trump got his dates wrong" is enabling. "Oo, silly president, he mixed up his dates." No, he's telling you a lie and seeing if you agree with him. It's a loyalty test. The emperor has no clothes.
To wit, "At 51, the software consultant is planning to vote Democrat for the first time. 'I think Lindsey Graham, to a large degree, has been a talking head for Trump,' Quattlebaum told me recently. 'I know in his heart he doesn’t support everything that Trump represents, yet he does it anyway. And I have a problem with that.'" Lindsey is doing what is expected of him under an autocratic ruler. He's a boot licker.
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