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

Friday, April 23, 2021

Linkee-poo Friday April 23

"The Art of Writing: A conversation with Ohio Authors @LauraMaylene and Marie Vibbert (@mareasie)." A recorded conversation hosted by the Cleveland Public Library. I haven't watched it yet, but Marie is wicked smart. Besides, 3 ladies wearing tiaras talking about writing, what could go wrong?

"Photos: The Culture Of Whales."

"A SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft — carrying four astronauts from three countries — took off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida Friday morning, beginning their six-month stay in space… This launch marked the third-ever crewed flight for Elon Musk's company and the first to make use of a previously flown rocket booster and spacecraft."

"NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter carried out a second successful test flight Thursday, lifting off from a site dubbed 'Wright Brothers Field' in Jezero Crater. It climbed to 16 feet in the ultra-thin Martian atmosphere, tilting to one side for a short out-and-back traverse, and then touched down to close out a 52-second flight."

"Biden on Thursday pledged a drastic reduction in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. But the White House hasn’t set any specific targets yet for agriculture, which accounts for 10 percent of all U.S. emissions, according to the EPA. Those discharges mostly stem from fertilizers, livestock and manure." This is a distraction ploy by the fossil fuels industry. Same as the "well, you drive the car, it isn't the gas producer's fault" line of reasoning.

"Leaders of countries like Brazil, Canada and Japan made commitments on Thursday to curb domestic greenhouse gas emissions and tackle climate change during President Joe Biden’s climate summit…The pledges come shortly after Biden vowed to reduce U.S. emissions by at least 50% by 2030, more than doubling the country’s prior commitment under the 2015 Paris climate agreement."

"A malaria vaccine has proved to be 77% effective in early trials and could be a major breakthrough against the disease, says the University of Oxford team behind it." That's a game changer. But malaria is a parasite infection which lives only part of it's life in humans (IIRC).

"More than 4 million people in Ohio have received at least one COVID-19 vaccination, but there is growing concern about the declining demand to get a shot."

"The U.S. Do Not Travel list now includes Canada, Mexico, Germany and the U.K. A Level 3 warning is in place for a smaller group of nations, such as China, Australia and Iceland. Japan is also on the Level 3 list, despite a worrying rise in new coronavirus cases there."

"People often feel nervous when they visit a doctor with some fearing their symptoms may not be believed. But what if you are the doctor, and your colleagues dismiss your disabilities and mental health difficulties? Miranda Schreiber explores this challenging relationship."

On the Media podcast with… "Since 2007, researchers have been required by law to publish the findings of any clinical trial with human subjects within a year of the trial's conclusion. Over a decade later, even the country's most well-renown research institutions sport poor reporting records. This week, Bob spoke with Charles Piller, an investigative journalist at Science Magazine who's been documenting this dismal state of affairs since 2015. He recently published an op-ed in the New York Times urging President Biden to make good on his 2016 'promise' to start withholding funds to force compliance."

"LeVar Burton will host a week of Jeopardy! this summer, after nearly 250,000 people signed a petition backing the actor and director's long-held aspiration to try out for the job that was left vacant by Alex Trebek, who died last year."

"Clashes between Palestinians from east Jerusalem and Israeli police around the Damascus gate entrance to the Old City erupted in a night of unrest that earlier saw Jewish extremists marching through another city street shouting 'Death to Arabs.'… The violence marks a high point so far in a new phase of complex heightened tensions in the city which began a week and half ago around the start of Ramadan, and prompted an unusual statement Friday morning from the US embassy in Jerusalem in which it called on 'all responsible voices [to] promote an end to incitement.'" Both siderism.

"The U.S. is joining an international search for a missing Indonesian submarine which lost contact with base earlier this week. Authorities say KRI Nanggala 402, if still intact, has less than a day of oxygen to sustain its crew of 53… Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby announced on Twitter Thursday evening that at the request of Indonesia, the U.S. was 'sending airborne assets to assist in the search for the missing submarine.'" I hope we have our rescue vehicles in place.

"Russian troops began pulling back to their permanent bases Friday after a massive buildup that has caused Ukrainian and Western concerns."

"President Joe Biden is preparing to outline the next step of his economic agenda during a joint session to Congress next week and his proposal to pay for it is expected to include new taxes on the wealthiest Americans… Multiple sources familiar with the discussions underway tell CNN that Biden's forthcoming American Family Plan could nearly double the capital gains tax for people who make more than $1 million a year by taxing it like wages and salaries, and raise the top marginal income tax rate from 37% to 39.6% for households making $400,000 or more in income." Can't wait to see the "new blue collar champions" GOP's take on this.

"If President Biden's $2 trillion infrastructure and jobs plan is going to become a reality, it will very likely need the vote of every Democrat in the evenly divided Senate… That simple fact puts a bright spotlight on West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat who represents a deep-red Republican state — a place that Donald Trump carried in the past two elections by some 40 percentage points." And now the unions are getting involved to pressure Manchin. It seems like people forget how politics is actually played. Manchin thought he was in control. He's about to learn that he isn't.

"Union leaders told the Senate Democrats' campaign arm in a private call Wednesday not to expect them to back lawmakers in upcoming elections unless they coalesce behind the pro-labor Protecting the Right to Organize Act, three sources told POLITICO."

"A controversial election bill was surprisingly voted down in Arizona on Thursday… A Republican state senator broke ranks and voted against a GOP-backed measure that could remove tens of thousands of voters from the state's early ballot mailing list."

"Capping nearly two weeks of talks between Democrats and Republicans, the Senate approved legislation on Thursday to ramp up law enforcement efforts to better protect the Asian American and Pacific Islander community from hate crimes… The move marks a rare moment of bipartisan unity needed to approve the Senate legislation despite a new political era marked by increasingly bitter party divisions." This should really be one of those bills that should sail right through.

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