I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
And so the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're goin' through

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

Linkee-poo Wednesday March 24

George Segal, and so it goes.

"Peter S. Beagle’s representatives announced in a press release today that he, as part of a new ownership group, has prevailed after years of litigation in securing control of his literary works and other intellectual property following a sale recently approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Court. This comes after a 2019 California court decision that awarded Beagle $332,000 in damages against his former manager Connor Cochran."

"Fake news on social media about climate change and biodiversity loss is having a worrying impact in the battle to halt the growing environmental threats to the planet, a group of scientists and analysts have warned." We're boned.

"The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration, which produced the first-ever image of a black hole, has today revealed a new view of the massive object at the center of the Messier 87 (M87) galaxy: how it looks in polarized light. This is the first time astronomers have been able to measure polarization, a signature of magnetic fields, this close to the edge of a black hole. The observations are key to explaining how the M87 galaxy, located 55 million light-years away, is able to launch energetic jets from its core."

It' not the only reason I support space exploration, but… "So, it was only a matter of time before its breakthrough tire tech was added to the long list of so-called NASA spinoffs. A startup called Smart is using the airless shape memory alloy (SMA) tire technology — originally built for lunar and Mars rovers —for a bicycle tire called Metl."

"Women in their 40s and 50s appear more at risk of long-term problems following discharge from hospital after COVID-19, with many suffering months of persistent symptoms such as fatigue, breathlessness and brain fog, two UK studies found on Wednesday."

"The European Union moved Wednesday toward imposing stricter export controls for coronavirus vaccines, seeking to make sure there are more COVID-19 shots to boost the bloc’s flagging vaccine campaign as new infections surge." So, how do you feel about Brexit now?

Unforced errors abound… "Boris Johnson has told a private meeting of Tory MPs that the success of the UK's Covid vaccine programme was because of 'capitalism' and 'greed'… But sources said the prime minister had 'very insistently' withdrawn his comments straight after making them during a Zoom call with backbenchers… The remarks were not connected to the EU row over vaccine supply, they added." I'm sure all the government spending had nothing to do with it.

"German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday dropped plans for a five-day shutdown over Easter, which had prompted confusion and criticism. She called the idea a mistake and apologized to Germans."

"After mass shootings in Boulder and Atlanta that killed 18 people in the span of a single week, lawmakers are once again calling for stricter gun regulation in America. The gun industry is already preparing for a surge of sales." Shootings are good for the business of selling guns.

"A skyscraper-sized container ship has become wedged across Egypt's Suez Canal and blocked all traffic in the vital waterway, officials said Wednesday, threatening to disrupt a global shipping system already strained by the coronavirus pandemic." Oopsie.

For when those conservatives start shouting about how the rich will just not pay their taxes if they are raised… "By some estimates, the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans manage to avoid paying about a quarter-trillion dollars of owed taxes every single year. Now, new government data show that audits of the super-rich and large corporations have hit a new low, leaving billions of dollars of uncollected taxes at precisely a moment when lawmakers say new revenue is needed to fund infrastructure and climate investments."

"Election terms, however, stipulate that workers who quit or are discharged for cause after a payroll period ending Jan. 9 are ineligible to vote, according to a decision by the U.S. National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) acting regional director in Atlanta. This group of Amazon workers - those who left after the January payroll period, but still ended up on the NLRB’s voter list - could become a sticking point for both the company and the union." Amazon can't even get who works for them correct. But then it could also be an attempt to pack the ballot with "no" votes, or to simply invalidate it if the Union wins.

"Seizing on Donald Trump’s lies about fraud in the 2020 election, Republicans have launched a brazen attack on voting, part of an effort to entrench control over a rapidly changing electorate by changing the rules of democracy. As of mid-February, 253 bills were pending to restrict voting in 43 states. Many of those restrictions take direct aim at mail-in and early voting, the very policies that led to November’s record turnout." The GOP has gone full anti-democracy and white-supremacy.

"For a political party whose membership skews older, it might be surprising that the spirit that most animates Republican politics today is best described with a phrase from the world of video games: 'Owning the libs.'" Drunk and stupid is no way to go through life.

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