Linkee-poo Thursday May 13

The 2021 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class. (Grokked from Dan)

"Unfortunately, since then although Foster has been paid royalties, more authors have come forward who are in a similar situation: about a dozen authors know they have been denied royalties going back years–but likely others are affected that aren’t aware of what they’re owed. Now, Alan Dean Foster and other authors, including Neil Gaiman, Tess Gerritsen, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Chuck Wendig, have put together a #DisneyMustPay Task Force to fight to have all these authors get paid for their work."

"Here’s a myth we’d like to immediately dispel: Sunscreen is only necessary in the summer, while at the beach or playing sports outdoors. In fact, as experts have been arguing for years, protecting your skin from the sun should be part of your year-round routine given the negative consequences of prolonged exposure to sunlight."

"Tanitoluwa Adewumi, a 10-year-old in New York, just became the country's newest national chess master."

"The U.S. Interior Department approved the country's first large-scale offshore wind project Tuesday, a final hurdle that reverses course from the Trump administration and sets the stage for a major shift in the energy landscape."

"Thirty-five years after the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine exploded in the world’s worst nuclear accident, fission reactions are smoldering again in uranium fuel masses buried deep inside a mangled reactor hall. 'It’s like the embers in a barbecue pit,' says Neil Hyatt, a nuclear materials chemist at the University of Sheffield. Now, Ukrainian scientists are scrambling to determine whether the reactions will wink out on their own—or require extraordinary interventions to avert another accident." That's not worrying at all.

"In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, the New Mexico Department of Health said it is seeing multiple outbreaks of norovirus across the state, including in Bernalillo and Santa Fe counties… A doctor who works in the emergency room at UNM Hospital said he’s seeing more and more patients come in with norovirus. And, there’s concern it could add stress to an already stressed medical system."

"The Covid-19 pandemic was preventable, an independent review panel has said… The panel, set up by the World Health Organization, said the combined response of the WHO and global governments was a 'toxic cocktail'."

"South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster issued a coronavirus mandate Tuesday preventing schools and local governments from creating mask mandates. His order also bans the use of so-called 'vaccine passports' in the state… Under the 15 page executive order, parents — not public school officials or school districts — will decide whether their student wears a mask in class." Idiots at all levels of government. But mostly conservatives.

"Amid dropping vaccine demand in Ohio, Governor Mike DeWine announced five, weekly drawings of $1 million open to residents who've received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. A similar lottery for teenagers will provide the lucky names with a full, four-year scholarship to a public university in Ohio - room and board included."

"If you've spent any time around cats, you've probably noticed that they love to curl up in small, cozy boxes. What you may not know is that they'll also go sit inside the two-dimensional outline of a square box on the floor. What's more, a new study has found that pet cats will also spontaneously sit inside an optical illusion that merely looks like a square." If I fits, I sits.

"Lawyers for relatives of Andrew Brown Jr., a Black man fatally shot by deputies, said Tuesday that body camera videos show that he didn't strike them with his car before they opened fire, contradicting a local prosecutor… The family's lawyers say the footage contradicts statements by the local district attorney, who said in court that deputies didn't start firing until after Brown's vehicle struck them twice. Lynch's description aligns with what another family attorney said after seeing the shorter clip."

"Inflation in April accelerated at its fastest pace in more than 12 years as the U.S. economic recovery kicked into gear and energy prices jumped higher, the Labor Department reported Wednesday."

"You may have already noticed it, but yes, many things you need or love have gotten more expensive. A lot more expensive."

"The percentage of Americans struggling with hunger is now at its lowest level since the pandemic began, suggesting the recent flood in aid from Washington is making a significant difference to families struggling economically… Data released by the U.S. Census Bureau this week shows the percentage of adults living in households that sometimes or often did not have enough to eat dipped to just over 8 percent late last month, down from nearly 11 percent in March. That is a substantial drop, and it came after hundreds of billions in stimulus checks went out."

"Three Fort Campbell soldiers are facing charges of buying and transferring nearly 100 guns to Chicago. Guns bought and handled by the men were later tied to shootings, some fatal, in Chicago, according to federal prosecutors."

"A federal bankruptcy judge dismissed an effort by the National Rifle Association to declare bankruptcy on Tuesday, ruling that the gun rights group had not filed the case in good faith."

Is it infrastructure week again? "Traffic on and below a major bridge over the Mississippi River near Memphis, Tenn., could be halted for several days or longer, causing significant disruptions to motorists and shipping, officials said Wednesday… Authorities in Arkansas and Tennessee, along with the U.S. Coast Guard, indefinitely stopped all traffic related to the Hernando de Soto Bridge on Interstate 40 after inspectors discovered a crack in the steel structure Tuesday, and Tennessee officials said repairs could take some time."

"President Biden continues conversations with congressional Republicans on Thursday in the hopes of landing a bipartisan deal on an infrastructure package, but major hurdles persist over what items would be in the measure, and how it might be paid for."

"Tensions between Israelis and Palestinians have escalated further as Palestinian militants in Gaza fired hundreds of rockets into Israel, which responded with ramped up airstrikes on the coastal enclave, as unrest spread to cities and towns beyond Jerusalem."

"The university's president, Robert Caslen, delivered a speech so bungled — with the wrong school name and closing remarks lifted nearly word-for-word from another famous commencement address — that it prompted widespread criticism from social media users to state legislators in South Carolina… Now, less than a week later, Caslen has resigned."

"The Senate on Tuesday advanced S. 1, the For the People Act, setting up a floor vote for the controversial bill. Senators clashed over voting rights and election procedures for hours in a contentious committee meeting to consider amendments for the massive bill… The committee deadlocked 9-9 along party lines on whether to approve the bill. The committee can't report it out, but Senate rules allow Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to bring the bill to the floor. All nine Republicans voted against the bill, even though some amendments proposed by GOP senators had been adopted."

"Shortly after Arizona Republican lawmakers approved it, GOP Gov. Doug Ducey on Tuesday quickly signed a bill into law that could remove tens of thousands of voters from the state's early ballot mailing list."

"Former Trump White House counsel Don McGahn will testify before the House Judiciary Committee about his role in former special prosecutor Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, the panel announced Wednesday… McGahn will speak only to committee members in private, under an agreement negotiated by his attorneys, the committee and the Justice Department. The interview will be conducted 'as soon as possible' and a transcript will be released publicly shortly thereafter, according to the court filing."

"Former Trump administration officials testified for the first time on the Jan. 6 insurrection before a congressional committee on Wednesday, putting on center stage the bitter partisan divide over the role former President Donald Trump and his supporters played that day… As Republicans looked to focus on what they said were partisan Democratic games to control the narrative of the riot, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee took former acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller and former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen to task."

"House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday papered over the significant skepticism of the 2020 presidential election within the GOP just hours after his conference deposed Rep. Liz Cheney for criticizing fellow Republicans over that very issue… 'I don’t think anybody is questioning the legitimacy of the presidential election,' McCarthy said after meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House alongside other congressional leaders." It's like they don't think we have collective memory and recordings.

"House Republicans have removed Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming as conference chair in retaliation for her unyielding criticism of former President Donald Trump, his continued false claims of a stolen election, his role in the Jan. 6 riot and his future in the Republican Party."

Meanwhile, on Bullshit Mountain… "Memo to President Biden: Life moves pretty fast, and now the world is on fire… Israel is erupting, Americans are utterly confused when masks should be worn for COVID-19 protection and then there are the agita-inducing long lines for gasoline… And that was just Tuesday."