"On Feb. 6, Queen Elizabeth II will become the first British monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, or 70 years on the throne. Plenty of pundits will praise the queen for her perseverance, her commitment to public service and her ability to stay above the fray."
"Scientists have announced the first-ever unambiguous discovery of a free-floating black hole, a rogue wanderer in the void some 5,000 light-years from Earth."
"When you hear the word 'Neanderthal,' you probably picture a mindless, clumsy brute. It’s often used as an insult — even by our president, who last year called anti-maskers “Neanderthals.” But what if we have more in common with our ancestral cousins than we think? On this week’s On the Media, hear how these early humans have been unfairly maligned in science and in popular culture." Rethinking our cousins.
"At first glance, the town of Woodside may look more like a sprawl of mansions built on big-tech billions than crucial habitat for threatened California mountain lions… But town officials might suggest looking again." This is the kind of bullshit that requires public ridicule. Okay, assholes, do the 2 year survey to make the claim. It'll most likely cost you a million or so. How many mountain lions do you have, where do they travel, are they residents or just traversing through? Oh, and then we'll need to allow science parties free range over your properties to help manage the wildlife. Hope you didn't want to build any outbuildings or expand your garages.
"It's been a whirlwind 38 days in space for the James Webb Space Telescope, but its chief scientist says the mission is well on track to uncover the universe soon… Webb needs to be very cold for its infrared instruments to pick up subtleties in galaxies, exoplanets and other objects it is examining, and Mather said individual photons (particles of light) are starting to register in the telescope's detectors."
"The remedy was a new type of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) called 'Stanford neuromodulation therapy.' By adding imaging technology to the treatment and upping the dose of rTMS, scientists have developed an approach that's more effective and works more than eight times faster than the current approved treatment."
"With housing costs rising, tiny homes are spreading as a solution to homelessness in California, Indiana, Missouri, Oregon, and beyond. Arnold Schwarzenegger garnered considerable publicity in December when he donated money for 25 tiny houses for homeless veterans in Los Angeles. It reflects a growing interest in outside-the-box ideas to get unhoused people off the streets, especially during winter in cold climates and amid the covid-19 pandemic."
"In a video posted on his Instagram account, Rogan, who hosts a podcast called 'The Joe Rogan Experience,' said his use of the slurs was the 'most regretful and shameful thing that I've ever had to talk about publicly.' But he said the clips were "taken out of context.'… 'It's not my word to use. I am well aware of that now, but for years I used it in that manner,' he said during the six-minute video on his Instagram account. 'I never used it to be racist because I'm not racist.'" Racist is as racist does, Joe. And you're saying the n-word isn't the only example of your bullshit.
"Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of downtown Minneapolis on Saturday demanding justice in the fatal police shooting of a young Black man, Amir Locke, during a 'no-knock' raid on an apartment earlier this week."
"An audit of FirstEnergy Corporation and its subsidiaries released Friday has found that the company will have to refund customers after improperly accounting for millions of dollars… The audit was completed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission." Privatizing never goes well.
"Delta Air Lines’ CEO Ed Bastian asked the U.S. Department of Justice to put convicted unruly travelers on a national 'no-fly' list, the airline’s latest effort to deter aggressive behavior on flights that have surged during the pandemic." Remember when the no-fly list was only going to be for "terrorists" and "ordinary citizens" didn't have to worry about it? Not that I disagree with the move, but we're far past "scope creep" territory now.
"Last month, the Federal Reserve released a much-anticipated paper, laying out the advantages and disadvantages of a digital currency… The Fed says it's a first step, meant to kickstart an important conversation among policymakers and to gather feedback, from average people to some of the country's largest financial institutions." Well, that's an interesting thought. And while the information gathered could be a problem, that information is already gathered by private corporations where we have less control over its content and dissemination. The system could be set up to hold information for only as long as necessary to secure the transaction. They way requests for federal clearance for firearms purchases are handled now.
"A Moroccan boy who had been trapped in a well since Tuesday has died, according to two media outlets, Morocco's state news agency, Maghreb Arab Press, and SNRT."
On the Media podcast short episode… "In 1951, Grove Press was a tiny, almost-defunct independent publisher, with just three titles in its catalog, including Herman Melville’s The Confidence Man. But then Barney Rosset took over and, with a few choice books, helped push America past its Puritanical roots and into the sexual revolution. He died in 2012 and we are re-airing this interview I did with him many years back, to set up this week’s show in which we’ll be trying to unpack the latest round of book banning in America."
"An old threat has returned to classrooms across the country — and it’s made of pages and ink. On this week’s On the Media, hear what it means to ban a book, and who has the right to choose what kids learn. Plus, meet the student who took his school board all the way to the Supreme Court in the 80s."
"Banning books from classrooms and school libraries is nothing new, but it's recently become a topic of considerable political debate… A Tennessee school district drew national attention after banning Maus, a graphic novel about the Holocaust. Toni Morrison's 1987 novel Beloved was a central discussion topic in the final weeks of Virginia's gubernatorial race last fall. In October, Texas state Rep. Matt Krause asked schools in his state to confirm if they possessed any books from a list featuring around 850 titles. Krause stated he chose these books because they 'might make students feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any form of psychological distress because of their race or sex.'" Besides the politics of this movement, which is not about the children, it's being fueled mostly by parents who don't want to discuss these things with their kids. It's driven by embarrassment and parental discomfort (because of inability or ignorance), not about the kids. Same as smoking, racism, true history, evolution, climate change and long division.
"A Missouri man who sought to ban several LGBTQ books from schools for depicting sexual content is now facing a felony charge of second-degree child molestation… Ryan Utterback, a 29-year-old parent from a suburb of Kansas City, also faces a misdemeanor charge of fourth-degree domestic assault and, in a separate case, a misdemeanor of furnishing or attempting to furnish pornographic material to a minor."
"From the western province of Alberta, moving east to Quebec City, and in cities and towns in between, thousands of Canadians have hit the streets in trucks, tractors, cars and on foot to protest the nation's Covid-19 restrictions… With persistent and noisy horn honking, protesters are demanding governments at all levels lift their health restrictions, including vaccine and mask mandates, lockdowns and restrictions on businesses and gatherings."
"Protesters have shut down downtown Ottawa for the past eight days, with some participants waving Confederate or Nazi flags and some saying they wanted to dissolve Canada’s government."
"A divided North Carolina Supreme Court struck down the state's new maps for congressional and General Assembly seats Friday, declaring that state courts had authority to throw out lines engineered to secure a long-term Republican advantage in an otherwise closely divided state."
"The House select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection is now in possession of White House records that provide new details about a phone call Donald Trump made to Republican Rep. Jim Jordan on January 6, 2021… Two sources who have reviewed the call records tell CNN that Trump spoke on the phone at the White House residence with Jordan for 10 minutes on the morning of January 6. That afternoon, Jordan took to the House floor to object to the certification of President Joe Biden's Electoral College win, and pro-Trump supporters attacked the US Capitol."
"It has been widely reported that former President Donald Trump had a penchant for tearing apart presidential documents, but new details have emerged about how his aides disposed of potentially important papers… According to The Washington Post, staffers frequently put documents into 'burn bags' to be incinerated at the Pentagon."
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