Linkee-poo Friday Jan 7

Sidney Poitier, and so it goes.

"A group of scientists announced Thursday that they captured the explosive end to a red supergiant star's life for the first time, documenting its death throes as it collapsed into a type II supernova. Scientists from Northwestern University and the University of California, Berkeley, who released a study on the star's death, called the findings a 'breakthrough' in their understanding of how the massive stars die."

"An international team led by astronomers from the Max Planck Institute of Astronomy (MPIA) recently noticed a massive filament of atomic hydrogen gas in our galaxy. This structure, named 'Maggie', is located about 55,000 light-years away (on the other side of the Milky Way) and is one of the longest structures ever observed in our galaxy."

"At Lake Powell, the nation's second-largest reservoir, record low water levels are transforming the landscape, renewing a longstanding dispute over the land the reservoir drowned — a canyon labyrinth that novelist Edward Abbey once described as 'a portion of earth's original paradise.' For half a century, environmental groups and Colorado River enthusiasts have implored water managers to restore Glen Canyon by draining the reservoir."

"A new scientific study shows that vaccination can cause changes to the timing of menstruation. But it also shows the effects are temporary, more akin to a sore arm than a serious adverse event."

"With infections at all-time highs in the U.S., the clinical picture is now coming together and starting to confirm what other countries have found — a typical case of omicron not only presents slightly differently but also likely carries a lower chance of getting seriously ill… Scientists at Case Western Reserve University have preliminary evidence that the risk of being admitted to the hospital or the intensive care unit during the omicron surge in the U.S. is about half of the risk observed during the delta surge. And this reflects what doctors across the country are now seeing firsthand with their patients." Stare in "my ER is full" mode (although, full truth, last night it wasn't, but we've had single days like that before).

"But many factors can affect how likely a COVID-19 test is to accurately spot an infection. Here's the latest on how these two types of tests work and why they might sometimes offer different results…"

"Another supreme battle at the U.S. Supreme Court Friday: In a special session, the justices are hearing expedited arguments in cases challenging two major Biden administration regulations aimed at increasing the number of vaccinated workers… The cases are in a preliminary posture, but how the court rules will very likely signal how these issues are ultimately resolved."

"Among Tufts' 195-member class of 2025, Lima is one of 26 students who identify as Black or African American — a major jump from nine the year before. And across the country, the number of first-year Black students is up 21%, an unprecedented spike since 2020."

"The U.S. economy added far fewer jobs than expected in December just as the nation was grappling with a massive surge in Covid cases, the Labor Department said Friday… Nonfarm payrolls grew by 199,000, while the unemployment rate fell to 3.9%, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. That compared with the Dow Jones estimate of 422,000 for the payrolls number and 4.1% for the unemployment rate."

"Euro zone inflation hit a new record high in December, raising more questions about the European Central Bank’s monetary policy… Preliminary data showed Friday that the headline inflation rate came in at 5% for the month, compared to the same month last year. The figure represents the highest ever on record and follows November’s all-time high of 4.9%."

"'Hustle culture' is facing an existential crisis with millennials." Except, the article can't even point to millennials as being the main move against "hustle" except that these are the only people they talked to (or the people they talked to only looked at millennials), extols the virtues of "hustle" and just can't grok why someone wouldn't want it. So, in a way, without meaning to, the article becomes a meta meditation on hustle and reads like "what's up with kids these days", which is odd, because it looks like it was written by these kids. Also, again, note the erasure of Gen X.

"As 2022 begins, most people in Afghanistan don't have enough food to eat. Millions are facing hunger and starvation amid a multiyear drought and an economic crash following the Taliban takeover in August. The onset of winter has only made things worse."

"Security forces appeared to have reclaimed the streets of Kazakhstan's main city on Friday after days of violence, and the Russian-backed president said he had ordered his troops to shoot to kill to put down a countrywide uprising… A day after Moscow sent paratroopers to help crush the insurrection, police were patrolling the debris-strewn streets of Almaty, although some gunfire could still be heard."

"American women helped lead the international fight to include women's ski jumping in the Winter Olympics, and the U.S. team was once ranked No. 1 in the world… But in a major blow to the program, American women failed to garner enough points in qualifying competitions to send any athletes to the Beijing Games."

"Top executives at utility giant Florida Power & Light worked closely with the political consultants who orchestrated a scheme to promote spoiler candidates in three key state Senate elections last year, according to documents obtained by the Orlando Sentinel… The records show that the consultants who controlled Grow United Inc., the dark-money nonprofit at the center of the “ghost” candidate scandal, billed FPL for more than $3 million days before they began moving money through the entity."

"Cyber Ninjas, the company that led a partisan review of 2020 ballots in Arizona, is closing down following a scathing report by election officials and the threat of $50,000 a day in fines… 'Cyber Ninjas is shutting down. All employees have been let go,' Rod Thomson, the company's representative, said in a text message Thursday evening." I don't think it was the report shutting them down, but… "Maricopa County Superior Court Judge John Hannah said he would impose a $50,000 fine against Cyber Ninjas every day until it hands over documents related to the so-called audit after the Arizona Republic newspaper filed a public records request, The Associated Press reported Thursday."

"How the hell did we get here?… It's been a year since January 6th, 2021." Jim Wright on the anniversary.

Why are we still here? "First, there's a problem with how Americans are consuming information… Second, Republican elected officials have enabled Trump's lies… McCarthy and McConnell… Trump going unchallenged…"

"Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) took to the spotlight on Thursday to offer a reflection on last year's Capitol riot that varied pretty drastically from most others today… The two Republicans first appeared on Stephen Bannon's podcast to declare 'we're ashamed of nothing,' as Gaetz put it, per Axios. 'We're proud of the work we did on Jan. 6 to make legitimate arguments about election integrity,' Gaetz continued, with Greene's agreement." Fuck these two traitors.