"Today, one popular version of the story tells how the missionaries on Iona were working to build the first chapel on the island. Each day, the builders would make good progress, but by the next morning they were dismayed to discover that the building was in ruins… After some time, St Columba received a 'divine intimation' that one of the monks must be buried alive in the foundations of the chapel order to secure the building." The best part is when they were feeling guilty, they dug the guy up and he said, "Hey, Hell ain't so bad" and they went "Nope" and buried his ass once again.
"These 4 charts explain why the stakes are so high at the U.N. climate summit." We're boned.
"In reality, it's a look at the red giant star CW Leonis as photographed by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope—just in time for celebrating Halloween with creepy celestial sights… The orange-red 'cobwebs' are dusty clouds of sooty carbon engulfing the dying star."
"Scientists revealed the latest discoveries on Jupiter, including surprising findings about the planet's Great Red Spot and the cyclonic storms swirling at the poles, in a NASA press conference on Thursday."
"A major solar flare erupted from the sun on Thursday (Oct. 28) in one of the strongest storms of our star's current weather cycle… The sun fired off an X1-class solar flare, its most powerful kind of flare, that peaked at 11:35 a.m. EDT (1535 GMT), according to an alert from the U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), which tracks space weather events." The coronal mass ejection is expected to hit Earth this weekend. So those of you in the northern parts of the world can be on the look out for increased northern lights.
"Facebook's new corporate name is Meta, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Thursday, in an apparent effort to recast the company's public image from battered social network to tech innovator focused on building the next generation of online interaction, known as the 'metaverse.'"
"There’s nothing that Silicon Valley loves more than the next big thing, and after years of murmurs, the next big thing has suddenly become the metaverse, which big tech is calling the next generation of the internet. The metaverse is a catch-all term for a connected set of immersive virtual experiences that you explore online via your three-dimensional avatar, a character on the screen that may or may not resemble what you look like in the real world." I've seen this movie before. No. Really, it was a movie. But I've also have lived long enough to have been promised the metaverse 3 times already. Neither time has it worked out. Mostly because, once again, techbros have confused metaphor with reality.
"Health equity advocates see President Joe Biden's Build Back Better agenda as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to provide dental coverage to those on Medicare, nearly half of whom did not visit a dentist in 2018 — well before the pandemic paused dental appointments for many people. The rates were even higher for Black (68%), Hispanic (61%) and low-income (73%) seniors."
"E-cigarettes could be prescribed by England's National Health Service under plans to cut smoking rates in the country… The UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is publishing updated guidance which could allow e-cigarette products to be prescribed for those who want to stop smoking, the UK government said in a statement on Friday."
"A cheap antidepressant reduced the need for hospitalization among high-risk adults with COVID-19 in a study hunting for existing drugs that could be repurposed to treat coronavirus… Researchers tested the pill used for depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder because it was known to reduce inflammation and looked promising in smaller studies."
"Double jabbed people are catching Covid and passing it on to those they live with, warn experts who have studied UK household cases… Individuals who have had two vaccine doses can be just as infectious as those who have not been jabbed." Ta-da!
"The U.S. economy grew at a 2% rate in the third quarter, its slowest gain of the pandemic-era recovery, as supply chain issues and a marked deceleration in consumer spending stunted the expansion, the Commerce Department reported Thursday."
"Exxon said Friday that its third-quarter profit was the highest in years as improving demand, higher commodity prices and streamlined operations boosted results."
"The chief executive of ExxonMobil, Darren Woods, was accused of lying to Congress on Thursday after he denied that the company covered up its own research about oil’s contribution to the climate crisis."
How goes Brexit? "The UK could respond in turn if France goes ahead with threats amid a dispute over post-Brexit fishing rights, the environment secretary has said, warning that 'two can play at that game'… France said it could stop UK boats landing in its ports if the row over licences was not resolved by Tuesday."
"A Guantanamo Bay prisoner who went through the brutal U.S. government interrogation program after the 9/11 attacks described it openly for the first time Thursday, saying he was left terrified and hallucinating from techniques that the CIA long sought to keep secret."
"President Joe Biden gave Pope Francis a deeply personal challenge coin during his trip to the Vatican on Friday, marking the gift with a moment of light-heartedness that nods to a long tradition in the US military… In video footage provided by Vatican Television, the two men were seen exchanging a number of gifts, including what's called a challenge coin -- historically collectable pieces of recognition that originated in the military."
"Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican from Illinois who has been a strong critic of former President Donald Trump, announced in a video Friday morning he is not running for reelection."
"America is an outlier when it comes to paid family leave — a matter many Democrats had hoped to fix with President Biden's sweeping domestic spending plan… But the latest framework — which was cut down from its original size to satisfy centrists and which Biden unveiled Thursday — drops paid leave."
"Those searing images, along with years of bitter rhetoric, are costing Trump money. Revenues from some of his high-end properties have declined, vacancies in office buildings have increased and his lenders are warning that the company’s revenues may not be sufficient to cover his debt payments, according to Trump’s financial disclosures as president, Trump Organization records filed with government agencies, and reports from companies that track real-estate company finances." Aw, that's really too bad. You know, they made Jimmy Carter sell his family's farm when he became president.
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