Linkee-poo Monday Sept 14

"The mystery of how giant cyclones stay together in geometric patterns around the poles of Jupiter may now be solved, but new questions have emerged as to how these clusters formed in the first place, a new study finds."

"Scientists say they've detected a gas in the clouds of Venus that, on Earth, is produced by microbial life… The researchers have racked their brains trying to understand why this toxic gas, phosphine, is there in such quantities, but they can't think of any geologic or chemical explanation… The mystery raises the astonishing possibility that Venus, the planet that comes closest to Earth as it whizzes around the sun, might have some kind of life flourishing more than 30 miles up in its yellow, hazy clouds."

"While the idea of dark matter was originally proposed to explain the structure of galaxies, one of its great successes was explaining the nature of the Universe itself. Features of the Cosmic Microwave Background can be explained by the presence of dark matter. And models of the early Universe produce galaxies and galaxy clusters by building on structures formed by dark matter. The fact that these models get the big picture so right has been a strong argument in their favor… But a new study suggests that the same models get the details wrong—by an entire order of magnitude. The people behind the study suggest that either there's something wrong with the models, or our understanding of dark matter may need an adjustment."

"A big chunk of ice has broken away from the Arctic's largest remaining ice shelf - 79N, or Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden - in north-east Greenland… The ejected section covers about 110 square km; satellite imagery shows it to have shattered into many small pieces."

"David Legates, a University of Delaware professor of climatology who has spent much of his career questioning basic tenets of climate science, has been hired for a top position at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration." Breaking government.

"None of this plastic will be turned into new plastic things. All of it is buried… 'To me that felt like it was a betrayal of the public trust," (Laura Leebrick, a manager at Rogue Disposal & Recycling) said. 'I had been lying to people ... unwittingly.'… But when Leebrick tried to tell people the truth about burying all the other plastic, she says people didn't want to hear it." The plastics industry has been lying to you. Most plastics are not recyclable, and those that are can only be recycled a few times. They may have the recyclable symbol on it, but nobody will make anything new from it because it's either too expensive to do so, or the plastic physically can not be renewed. But the industry has made sure you wouldn't ever figure that out.

"Authorities are asking for the public's help in finding the gunman who ambushed and shot two Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies as they sat in their car… Local officials announced a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the gunman."

You can always trust the police… "Federal authorities on Thursday arrested the police chief and the personnel director of Bridgeport, Conn. on charges of fraud, alleging the two rigged the process that led to the chief's hiring in 2018… The FBI and Department of Justice said in a statement that the police chief, Armando Perez, and acting personnel director, David Dunn, are accused of manipulating the police chief examination to ensure Perez would be a finalist for the position, and making false statements to federal agents in the course of their investigation."

"The report, released Thursday by Public Citizen, examines roughly two dozen products on Amazon’s site. Relying on its own observations and data from price-tracking sites, the nonprofit public interest group documented price increases of as much as 1,000% when compared with pre-pandemic levels or prices at other large retailers." When your automation comes back to bite you in the ass.

"The Justice Department's Criminal Division says it has charged 57 people to date over allegedly defrauding a federal program meant to provide relief to small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic… The Criminal Division's acting assistant attorney general, Brian Rabbitt, told reporters that those charged attempted to steal more than $175 million. They actually obtained more than $70 million, he said, and the Justice Department has been to recover or freeze over $30 million."

"When the coronavirus swept the country, a lot of things government did in response were controversial. Politicians fought over mask-wearing rules and quarantine restrictions… But one policy, making sure Americans have ready access to alcohol, was truly bipartisan." The new "bread" in Bread and Circuses.

How goes Brexit? "David Cameron has become the fifth former prime minister to criticise a new bill attempting to override the Brexit withdrawal agreement… No 10 says the Internal Market Bill was a 'critical piece of legislation for the UK'."

"Twenty-six years after Bahrain welcomed an Israeli delegation for the first time, the small Gulf archipelago last week became the latest Arab country to agree to normalise its relationship with Israel." "Latest" meaning, "the only other country besides the UAE."

"More than 100,000 protesters flooded the streets of the capital Minsk on Sunday in ongoing protests calling for Belarus' authoritarian president to resign."

"Russia has agreed to a $1.5bn loan with Minsk, President Vladimir Putin said at talks on Monday with Alexander Lukashenko, the embattled Belarusian leader, adding that the Belarusian people should resolve the crisis without foreign interference." I'm sure the $1.5b loan isn't foreign interference. Totally not.

"The Trump administration has secretly siphoned nearly $4 million away from a program that tracks and treats FDNY firefighters and medics suffering from 9/11 related illnesses, the Daily News has learned… The Treasury Department mysteriously started withholding parts of payments — nearly four years ago — meant to cover medical services for firefighters, emergency medical technicians and paramedics treated by the FDNY World Trade Center Health Program, documents obtained by The News reveal."

"It’s not a matter of if a privately built border fence along the shores of the Rio Grande will fail, it’s a matter of when, according to a new engineering report on the troubled project… The report is one of two new studies set to be filed in federal court this week that found numerous deficiencies in the 3-mile border fence, built this year by North Dakota-based Fisher Sand and Gravel. The reports confirm earlier reporting from ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, which found that segments of the structure were in danger of overturning due to extensive erosion if not fixed and properly maintained. Fisher dismissed the concerns as normal post-construction issues." If only the boat (and other items) We Build the Wall founders bought with money they stole from the "non-profit" sank as quickly.

"President Trump signed an executive order Sunday that he says lowers prescription drug prices 'by putting America first,' but experts say the move is unlikely to have any immediate impact." Or any impact at all. And it seems "putting America first" means (checks notes here) following other countries' prescription pricing models.

"The 2020 presidential campaign heads into the fall stretch with a dizzying pace of news developments threatening to upend the contest. But NPR interviews with voters across the country around Labor Day weekend found that most are locked into their support for either President Trump or Democratic nominee Joe Biden. The small contingent of undecided voters said they are unenthusiastic about their choices."

"An interview with top White House trade adviser Peter Navarro went off the rails Sunday when he was pressed about revelations last week that President Donald Trump intentionally downplayed the coronavirus in the early months of the pandemic… Navarro's interview cut out as he clashed with host Jake Tapper on CNN's 'State of the Union,' with the men shouting over each other… Navarro accused Tapper of 'cherry-picking' the president's comments. Tapper responded by saying Trump 'was not honest with the American people' about the virus's impact… '"You're not honest with the American people,' Navarro said. 'CNN is not honest with the American people.'" No, you're the puppet. Seriously, this is the level of debate these assholes have.

"Donald Trump asked Bob Woodward to include the deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates in his book Rage, the author said on Sunday night – and when told that was not possible, tweeted that the book was 'gonna be fake'."

"'And so I'm asking the question, what did the president know, when did he know it, and how did he know it? And I worked for 2 1/2 months to find out and it was finally in May when I discovered that there was this meeting, Jan. 28, in the Oval Office.'… That January meeting is the opening scene of Rage, in which Woodward says national security adviser Robert O'Brien tells Trump that the coronavirus would be the 'biggest national security threat you face in your presidency.'… 'I wish I knew what I learned in May earlier. Unfortunately, I did not,' Woodward said… He added: 'I've done this almost for 50 years, and I think I have a public health responsibility, like any citizen does — or maybe a journalist has more of a responsibility. If at any point I had thought there's something to tell the American people that they don't know, I would do it.'" And, again, even if he had it would have changed nothing.

"Voters looking for a quick resolution this November might have to wait longer than usual to learn who won the presidency. On this week’s On the Media, a look at what we might expect as election night approaches. Plus, lessons on electoral chaos from presidential contests past. And, how QAnon is moving from the web to the streets." That last segment is an except of a podcast extra I linked to last week. Important if you haven't heard it. You can skip if you have.

"Remember hanging chads, Florida's 2000 election nightmare?… The 2020 equivalent could wind up being mismatched signatures… With voting already underway in two states, Democrats and Republicans are drawing battle lines across the country over voter signatures for mail-in ballots, with lawsuits over how signatures are evaluated and whether voters can fix ballots that get tossed. President Donald Trump and Republicans are arguing for strict matches, while Democrats are pushing for easier rules letting people prove they are who they say they are, even if their John Hancocks have changed a bit."