There's battle lines being drawn.
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong.
Young people speaking their minds
getting so much resistance from behind

Thursday, March 18, 2021

Linkee-poo Thursday March 18

"Realistically, almost nobody will reach that point. The vast majority of Substack newsletter writers will never make money that’s equivalent to a year’s salary, which is what the staffers get. Instead, they will provide Substack with free content, hoping to get that sweet subscriber cash one day. And Substack will dangle its 'successful' writers in front of its rank-and-file membership to keep them going." There's lots of these scams out there (stares in Amazon Kindle), and I even participate in one (buy my t-shirts!). However, I walked into mine with my eyes open (I know I could make 3x+ more money by setting up my own website, making my own shirts, and handling all that stuff), but I love designing things, I come up with these ideas anyway, and I'm (mostly) okay with making pizza money. Except in my wildest dreams do I expect to quit everything else for my t-shirts. And really, only two designs have earned back the money I put into them (if I charged my discount rate to design them). But here's the tell, even though I only make pizza money (means I make enough each month to buy a large pizza), I am one of the top 20% of designers on some of the sites I sell my designs. Could I make more? Certainly, I barely market myself, I haven't done optional SEO research, I'm not very involved in "the community" aspects. But again, I went in knowing what I could get out (I still haven't made my goal, but I'm getting there). And walking into the casino knowing you're mostly likely going to lose is a whole lot different that expecting to make bank because the dealer is telling you how much you could win.

"Marvel Comics is celebrating the 80th anniversary of Captain America with a gay teen superhero… The publishing company said in a news release that its newest hero, Aaron Fischer, is making his debut June 2. He’ll be featured in a new limited series titled 'The United States of Captain America.'" Waits for the inevitable right-wing backlash.

"The NHS has warned of a 'significant reduction in the weekly supply' of Covid vaccines in England next month in a letter to local health organisations… The letter says there has been a 'reduction in national inbound vaccines supply' and asks organisations to 'ensure no further appointments are uploaded' to booking systems in April."

"Coronavirus reinfections are relatively rare, but it's more common for people 65 and older to get infected more than once, according to a study published Wednesday in the Lancet medical journal… A team of scientists, including some from Denmark's Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Prevention, noted that most people who have had Covid-19 seemed to have protection from reinfection that remained stable for more than six months. In the follow up after six months, the study didn't find any evidence that protection was waning. But a check of the demographics of who was getting infected again showed it was mostly people 65 and older."

"The research, from both the U.S. and the U.K., shows that when ICUs fill up, COVID-19 patients' chances of dying from the disease rise dramatically, and this is despite improvements in treatment and care developed since last spring." Ta-da!

"Two separate teams found different ways to produce versions of a blastocyst – the stage of development around five days after a sperm fertilizes an egg – potentially opening the door for a huge expansion of research… The scientists make clear that the models differ from human blastocysts and are not capable of developing into embryos. But their work comes as new ethical guidelines on such research are being drafted and could spark fresh debate."

"Of the eight people who were killed when a White man attacked three metro Atlanta spas, six were Asian women… Investigators said it was too early to say whether the crime was racially motivated, and instead pointed to the suspect's claim of a potential sex addiction… But experts and activists argue it's no coincidence that six of the eight victims were Asian women. And the suspect's remarks, they say, are rooted in a history of misogyny and stereotypes that are all too familiar for Asian and Asian American women."

"Texas and several other U.S. states have sued the administration of President Joe Biden over his decision to revoke a key permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement late on Wednesday… The lawsuit states that Biden does not have the unilateral authority to change energy policy that the U.S. Congress has set, Paxton said."

"First-time claims for jobless benefits showed an unexpected jump to 770,000 as the labor market tries to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic that sent more than 22 million Americans to the unemployment line a year ago, the Labor Department reported Thursday… Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for a total of 700,000 for the week ended March 13. The total represented an increase from the previous week’s upwardly revised 725,000."

"As the Biden administration holds its highest-level meetings with China since taking office, it enjoys broad bipartisan support for taking a tough stance toward Beijing but also faces skepticism about whether the talks will bring real policy changes."

"Russia wants an apology from the United States after President Joe Biden said he thought Vladimir Putin was a killer and may retaliate against Washington unless it gets one, a senior Russian lawmaker said on Thursday." I got your apology right here.

"A man was arrested Wednesday afternoon near the Naval Observatory, Vice President Kamala Harris' official residence, for gun offenses. Police initially said a rifle and ammunition were found in his vehicle, located about a block away… The police report, obtained by CBS Washington, D.C. affiliate WUSA-TV, said he had an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, 113 rounds of unregistered ammunition and five 30-round magazines."

"The House approved with bipartisan support a reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, a popular 1994 law that protects and provides resources for victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence. The measure passed 244-172."

"During a closed-door conference meeting, House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) went after McCarthy for not being more supportive of a conservative-led effort to force a series of lengthy — and largely fruitless — procedural votes that have snarled the floor, according to sources in the room." And then there's this, "Biggs added that, as a member of the minority party, 'You’ve got to get in the way and try to slow things down as much as you possibly can.'" No, that's not actually what you're supposed to do. And it's part of the problem in Washington, conservatives don't know what government looks like.

"House Democrats are undeterred by the mounting GOP criticism over their review of a contested congressional race that could potentially overturn a state-certified Republican victory in southeast Iowa, brushing back attacks that they are seeking to subvert the will of voters just months after lambasting former President Donald Trump for trying to reverse his electoral defeat."

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