Linkee-poo Thursday April 15, former tax day

Bernie Madoff, and so it goes. Listed not because I like the guy, but because he is major news.

"But reducing emissions, even sharply, will not immediately fix the problems up in Earth's atmosphere. It took decades for greenhouse gases to accumulate in the atmosphere and trap heat, and it will take centuries for those gases to dissipate once humans decide to stop pumping them into the air." And that is the major problem.

"Palaeontologists from Portsmouth University have been puzzled at how gigantic flying azhdarchid pterosaurs have managed to support their thin necks as they take off and fly while carrying heavy prey animals… But thanks to new CT scans of intact remains, discovered in Morocco, the mystery has been solved… The findings, published in iScience, show a complex image of spoke-like structures, arranged in a helix around a central tube inside the neck vertebra, similar to that of a bicycle wheel." I understand the infatuation with biomechanics, but evolution is a poor designer.

"Unlike other sites where NASA has sent rovers and landers - including the landing spot of the new Perseverance rover and its Mars helicopter - powerful gusts of wind have not been sweeping Elysium Planitia. These winds, called 'cleaning events,' are needed to blow the red Martian dust off the solar panels of NASA's robots. Without their help, a thick layer of dust has accumulated on InSight, and it's struggling to absorb sunlight."

"The US coast guard and multiple other boats have rescued six people from a commercial platform vessel that capsized off the coast of Louisiana in a sudden and severe storm on Tuesday night and are still searching for more, the agency said on Wednesday."

What's old is new again… "In 2000, syphilis rates were so low that public health officials believed eradication was on the horizon. But the rates started creeping up in 2001, grew steadily for the next two decades, then spiked 74% since 2015. There were nearly 130,000 cases nationwide in 2019, according to data released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

"About 5,800 people who have been vaccinated against coronavirus have become infected anyway, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tells CNN… Some became seriously ill and 74 people died, the CDC said. It said 396 -- 7% -- of those who got infected after they were vaccinated required hospitalization." Yes, vaccination is not 100% proof against disease. That's why a majority of people need to be vaccinated.

"Millions of Americans are battling lingering symptoms of COVID-19 — months after being diagnosed with the disease. An estimated 5 to 10% of COVID patients are "long haulers" who feel endlessly trapped in the virus' grip."

"Denmark has ceased giving the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine amid concerns about rare cases of blood clots, the first European country to do so fully… The move is expected to delay the country's vaccination programme by several weeks."

"But now Tennessee, like much of the nation, is finding that rural white residents need a little more coaxing to roll up their sleeves for the shot. This week, the state published results from a statewide survey, and a focus group of unvaccinated residents. More than 45% of white rural conservatives said they were unwilling to even consider taking the vaccine." Get the goddamn vaccine.

"Fowler testified that Floyd had 'so many conflicting potential mechanisms of death' that he considers the manner of death to be undetermined." You know, I'm willing to go with the cop kneeling on his neck pretty much caused his death.

"Signs of an economic boom are emerging as Americans open up their wallets to spend freely… Retail sales soared 9.8% in March, according to a report Thursday from the Commerce Department. The increase follows a 2.7% slump in February, which analysts blamed partly on severe winter weather… Hope about the economy was further reinforced after data showed the number of Americans filing new state unemployment claims last week dropped to 576,000, a decrease of 193,000 from the previous week." I wonder when they'll get to understanding that one of the new problems holding the economy back is the lack of things to buy as there are still many supply shortages and a distinct lack of supply in housing (and the price of wood is sky-high).

"The world is going to need more batteries. A lot more batteries… Every major automaker is preparing to pivot from gas and diesel cars to electric and hybrid ones. Ford F-150s and Kia crossovers, Volkswagen hatchbacks and BMW sedans: They'll all plug in instead of fill up. It's a remarkable transformation that will change the way we drive and shake up world energy markets."

"In his final letter to shareholders, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on Thursday laid out a broad vision for the future of the company, committing to extend Amazon’s famous obsession over its customers to the same level of care for its employees." Or, in other words, "Got mine, you all need to do better, outta here, bitches." Note, at any time during his rise and tenure at the top of Amazon he could have initiated these "reforms" and "done better" for his employees.

"A court in Houston has authorized an FBI operation to “copy and remove” backdoors from hundreds of Microsoft Exchange email servers in the United States, months after hackers used four previously undiscovered vulnerabilities to attack thousands of networks… The Justice Department announced the operation on Tuesday, which it described as 'successful.'"

"President Biden is ordering a new round of economic sanctions on Russia — a response in part to Moscow's election meddling and a Kremlin-linked computer breach that penetrated numerous U.S. government networks… The sanctions are also meant to impose a penalty over Russia's continued occupation of Crimea, which it infiltrated and annexed from Ukraine seven years ago, and for reportedly offering bounties for attacks against U.S. and coalition military personnel in Afghanistan"

"President Joe Biden, having concluded there is no military solution to the security and political problems plaguing Afghanistan and determined to focus on more pressing national security challenges, will formally announce Wednesday that US troops will withdraw from the country before the 20th anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks, a senior administration official said." And so begins the conservative whinging parade, despite the fact that Trump wanted to pull out by this time.

"Spoiler: Washington won't reach consensus over what 'infrastructure' means. But Gillibrand's tweet gets at a different facet of that conversation: that infrastructure is a gender issue. And that idea is particularly important as the president pitches his plan as a salve for the pandemic-battered economy in which women, particularly women of color, have been left further behind." If you don't think daycare and family care are infrastructure then what exactly was the conservative push to get kids back in school so their parents could go back to work all about?

"The rules on ministers and top officials taking jobs with private firms need urgent reform, the government's adviser on them has said… Lord Pickles said there did not appear to be 'any boundaries at all' between civil servants and the private sector… It comes after news a top civil servant worked for Greensill Capital while still on the government payroll." I would be lying if I said that I didn't choose this article at least in part for "Lord Pickles."

"The Capitol Police ignored critical intelligence ahead of the Jan. 6th riot, including overlooking a warning that, “Congress itself is the target,” according to an internal watchdog report obtained by NBC News… The police force tasked with protecting the U.S. Capitol also lacked policies and procedures that left them severely unprepared to deal with the deadly insurrection, the 104-page report prepared by the Capitol Police’s inspector general found. The report has not been made public."

It's the Daily Beast, so take that for what it's worth… "The report, obtained by The New York Times ahead of a Capitol Hill hearing on Thursday, confirms that officers were specifically instructed by their leaders not to use their most effective tactics to hold off the pro-Trump hordes."

"'We could lock down the building,' (Karen Gibson, newly appointed sergeant-at-arms for the U.S. Senate) says. 'We could keep the three-mile fence up with razor wire and National Guard. But that defeats the purpose of having the people's house that is available and open to constituents, to allowing school groups and tourists to come and, you know, frankly, marvel at the beauty and the history of this building.'"

"A geophysicist who allegedly beat police officers who were trying to help injured rioters during the US Capitol siege will be jailed before trial, a federal judge ruled Wednesday, citing the man's ham-handed attempt to flee to Switzerland as proof that he poses a literal flight risk… Judge Emmet Sullivan said Jeffrey Sabol was too dangerous to release due to the flight risk and because he might continue his fight against 'perceived tyranny' once he is out of jail."

"The first thing some of the women were asked to do when they got to the house parties in the gated community in suburban Orlando was to put away their cellphones, according to two women in attendance who spoke to CNN in recent days. The men inside, a who's who of local Republican officials that often included Rep. Matt Gaetz, did not want the night's activities documented… Details of the parties, which have not been previously reported, were described to CNN by two women who attended several of them over the past few years. Both spoke on condition of anonymity… The behavior of Gaetz and the other high-powered men at the events, and a pattern of digital payments that followed, will likely be items of interest to the Justice Department as part of its probe of Gaetz that includes allegations of sex trafficking and prostitution."

"The likely GOP candidates in Pennsylvania’s open Senate race come in three familiar flavors: anti-Trump, Trumpy and Trumpiest… Though President Donald Trump lost Pennsylvania in 2020 and will have been out of office for nearly two years by the time voters cast their ballots in the Senate election, the Republican primary here is already revolving around him — creating a potential dilemma for the GOP in one of the nation’s most important races next year."

"The most popular link on Facebook about the Johnson & Johnson news was shared by a conspiracy theorist and self-described "news analyst & hip-hop artist" named An0maly who thinks the pandemic is a cover for government control… It's a stark example of what experts warn could be a coming deluge of false and misleading information related to the one-shot vaccine." They're always opening new fronts in the information war. The American public is now primed for conspiracy and counterfactual information. Why? Oh, I don't know. ::cough "Former President Trump primed a portion of the country over the past few years to be skeptical of official sources of science information, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. On Tuesday, he released a statement that included a false conspiracy theory about the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, claiming without evidence that the decision was made to benefit rival drug makers." cough::