Linkee-poo Sunday Jan 16

"The man who took hostages at a Texas synagogue on Saturday and died after a stand-off with police was 44-year-old British citizen Malik Faisal Akram, the FBI said in a statement on Sunday… There was 'no indication' that other individuals were involved in the incident, the bureau added."

"A massive underwater volcano that erupted just before sundown Friday sent waves several feet high smashing into the shores of the island nation of Tonga and thousands of miles across the Pacific Ocean from Australia to Canada, including the U.S. West Coast."

What your favorite sad Dad band says about you. Never change, McSweeneys. (Grokked from Amy Walter)

From Elizabeth Bear… "Pro tips for surviving radiotherapy."

"Researchers at ETH Zurich have demonstrated in the lab how well a mineral common at the boundary between the Earth's core and mantle conducts heat. This leads them to suspect that the Earth's heat may dissipate sooner than previously thought."

"As of Saturday, the Ohio Department of Health said 30,922 coronavirus deaths have been reported with at least 2,357,990 cases since the start of the pandemic… The reason for the exponential increase is due to a backlog of positive COVID-19 test results."

"France's parliament gave final approval on Sunday to the government's latest measures to tackle the COVID-19 virus, including a vaccine pass contested by anti-vaccine protestors."

So how's that "we have to get the kids back to in-class education" going? "Watson, who is 25 and an uncredentialed substitute with a degree in Theater Arts, says the "vacancy" calls are on the rise as burned-out teachers and experienced substitutes have abandoned the field. Meanwhile, the fill-in requests have jumped from one or two days on a single assignment to 20 days."

"A month-old ransomware attack is still causing administrative chaos for millions of people, including 20,000 public transit workers in the New York City metro area, public service workers in Cleveland, employees of FedEx and Whole Foods, and medical workers across the country who were already dealing with an omicron surge that has filled hospitals and exacerbated worker shortages."

"Mark Schlissel has been removed as president of the University of Michigan due to an alleged "inappropriate relationship with a university employee," the school said Saturday on its website."

"Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is negotiating a plea deal in his corruption case, a person involved in the talks said Sunday… The deal, which could be signed as early as this week, could usher Netanyahu off the Israeli political stage for years, paving the way for a leadership race in his Likud party and shaking up Israeli politics. Any deal could spare Netanyahu an embarrassing and protracted trial over an issue that has gripped the nation and risks tarnishing his legacy."

"The U.S., Russia and China all have them. And now, North Korea claims to as well: hypersonic weapons… These aerial vehicles go a step further than the kind of ballistic missiles that Pyongyang has periodically tested over the years. They can fly fast and maneuver in ways that make them extremely difficult to detect and destroy."

"The Ohio Supreme Court has struck down the new Republican-drawn state legislative maps as illegal partisan gerrymanders, ordering a panel of elected officials to redraw them quickly for the May election."

"(Texas) Election officials in some of the state’s largest counties are rejecting an alarming number of mail-in applications because they don’t meet the state’s new identification requirements. Some applications are being rejected because of a mismatch between the new identification requirements and the data the state has on file to verify voters." So you're saying the new voter IDs laws are working as designed, which is to disenfranchise as many voters as possible. (Grokked from Laura J Mixon)

"DirecTV is dropping One America News Network from its lineup, a surprise move that's sure to deal a massive blow to the network that rose to prominence during the presidency of Donald Trump… Bloomberg reported Friday that the satellite TV provider notified the owner of OAN, Herring Networks Inc., that it would no longer carry the company's two channels when their contract expires. The other channel, A Wealth of Entertainment, dubs itself a lifestyle channel that features luxury goods." Now do Newsmax and Fox News. Why is it important? "In 2020, an OAN accountant testified that 90% of OAN's revenue came from a contract with AT&T owned platforms such as DirecTV, Reuters reported." Fox News also gets most of its funding from cable TV subscription fees, which is why boycotts of advertisers have been less successful lately.

"Since there’s so much [waves hands everywhere] crazy coming up all of a sudden, let me break down the theory of how the overturning of the election was supposed to go down…" A twitter thread.

"Since the insurrection on January 6, warnings of a second American Civil War have been sounded. This week, On the Media explores whether the civil war talk is an alarmist cry, or actually a sober assessment. Plus, hear how the myth of 'the Dark Ages' paints an unfair portrait of medieval times."

"Former President Donald Trump's administration alarmed career civil servants at the Census Bureau by not only ending the 2020 national head count early, but also pressuring them to alter plans for protecting people's privacy and producing accurate data, a newly released email shows."