Jerry Lee Lewis, and Leslie Jordan, and so it goes.
"While Halloween conjures images of candy and costumes around the U.S., the holiday looks different across the globe. Here's a breakdown into how the holiday is celebrated in seven other countries."
"A painting by abstract Dutch artist Piet Mondrian has been hanging upside down in various museums since it was first put on display 75 years ago, an art historian has found, but warned it could disintegrate if it was hung the right side up now." This is one of the longest running jokes in modern art, "which way is up?"
"Two NASA spacecraft at Mars — one on the surface and the other in orbit — have recorded the biggest meteor strikes and impact craters yet."
"Several marketable species harvested by U.S. fishermen are the subject of quota cuts, seasonal closures and other restrictions as populations have fallen and waters have warmed. In some instances, such as the groundfishing industry for species like flounder in the Northeast, the changing environment has made it harder for fish to recover from years of overfishing that already taxed the population."
"The head of the U.S. Forest Service has denounced the arrest by an Oregon sheriff of a Forest Service employee after a planned burn in a national forest spread onto private land."
Not sure if I linked this here before… "A massive recall of millions of sleep apnea machines has stoked anger and frustration among patients, and U.S. officials are weighing unprecedented legal action to speed a replacement effort that is set to drag into next year." Philips has been dicking around with people who rely on these devices (full disclosure, I am one of those). At least they offered this guy $50 for his machine. They only offered me $25 for my machine. CPAP devices typically cost $1,300.
"Commissioner Louis Molina said at a city council hearing Tuesday that fentanyl-soaked children’s drawings, love letters, prayer schedules, and T-shirts have been shipped to detainees. To address that he plans to hire a vendor to scan letters and distribute them to detainees digitally on tablets. Molina also said he may restrict packages so they only come from approved vendors." Note no evidence was presented to back up the claim.
"The authors of the interim report do not claim to have definitively solved the mystery of COVID-19’s origin. 'The lack of transparency from government and public health officials in the [People’s Republic of China] with respect to the origins of SARS-CoV-2 prevents reaching a more definitive conclusion,' the report says, adding that its conclusion could change if more independently verifiable information becomes available." Lemme call bullshit right here. One, this "investigation" into the lab origin theory relies on Kremlinology processes and only focuses on the lab origin theory. It's no wonder they came to this conclusion. Two, no one is saying we shouldn't address lab safety issues, this is an ongoing argument that started decades ago. Three, correlation is not causation. Let's say their analysis is accurate an a Wuhan virology lab had an accident prior to the discovery of the COVID19 outbreak. This does not mean the accident released COVID19. Four, a lot of the "facts" regarding concern for security in a the bio lab center around "discussions" that sound alarming. Considering the research, they should sound this way. The concern for lab safety is a normal thing for labs of this type. China is just a few decades into this high tech world, there should be concern. As for the conditions and "deficiencies" in lab techniques, I'd really hate for you to see JACO reports on the hospitals you go to. And finally, to the statement "adding that its conclusion could change if more independently verifiable information becomes available." There is more independently verified information that shows that SARS-CoV2 is zoonotic in origin, there is an identifiable hotspot that harbored animals that can both carry this type of coronavirus and help it acquire the ability to infect humans, and there are none of the genetic markers that would show any artificial adjustment. The preponderance of available evidence points to an animal sold at a Wuhan wet market "most likely" harbored the virus and spread it to 3 people who visited the market on a single day. That said, the article (and Sen. Burr's single report not authorized by the committee) leverages "scientific speak" (not the Chinese dispatches, but how scientists speak in general) to fan fear and suspicion. Science of this type speaks in probabilities, not concrete terms.
"Early in the pandemic, weight was named a risk factor for severe covid-19. But what if the greater risk is poor medical treatment for fat people? This week, On the Media dives into the fictions, feelings, and fraught history of fat. Including how sugar and the slave trade laid the groundwork for American beauty standards."
"The drug that killed her daughter was rare a decade ago, but fentanyl and other lab-produced synthetic opioids now are driving an overdose crisis deadlier than any the U.S. has ever seen. Last year, overdoses from all drugs claimed more than 100,000 lives for the first time, and the deaths this year have remained at nearly the same level — more than gun and auto deaths combined."
"In September, the share of people 55 and older who were working or looking for work was down 1.5 percentage points as compared with February 2020, according to the Labor Department. (For comparison, prime-age workers, or those 25 to 54 years old, are down just 0.3 percentage points from before the pandemic.)"a I'm sure ageism in hiring has nothing to do with this phenomenon.
"An investigation by nonprofit newsroom The Markup found that four internet providers disproportionately offered lower-income and least-White neighborhoods slow internet service for the same price as speedy connections they offered in other areas." An On The Media midweek (short) podcast.
"The transition to electric vehicles is underway for homeowners who can power up in their own garage, but for millions of renters, access to charging remains a significant barrier. Now, cities across the U.S. are trying to come up with innovative public charging solutions as drivers string power cords across sidewalks, erect private charging stations on city right-of-ways and queue at public facilities." I would say this would force savvy landlords to install chargers as a marketing advantage, but that would require landlords who cared about their renters and not just about how money they can get out of them. But more than likely it'll lead to one realizing they could convert their property to a pay-for-charging outlet.
"Twitter’s unending fight against spam accounts is now a problem for new owner Elon Musk, who pledged in April to defeat the bot scourge or 'die trying!'" Puts my quarter on "dies."
"The troops moving toward the capitol had been ordered to block and destroy 'nationalist resistance,' according to the Royal United Services Institute, a London think tank that has reviewed copies of Russia’s battle plans. Soldiers used lists compiled by Russian intelligence and conducted 'zachistka' — cleansing operations — sweeping neighborhoods to identify and neutralize anyone who might pose a threat."
"Authorities in Iowa are investigating a woman’s claim that her late father was a prolific serial killer who murdered dozens of people over decades… Fremont County Sheriff’s Sgt. Andrew Wake said his office is looking into allegations, first reported last week by Newsweek, that Donald Dean Studey buried the bodies around his property in Thurman, in southwest Iowa near the border with Nebraska." She tried to tell them earlier, but they brushed her off.
The Throughline podcast with - "Is the U.S. on the brink of civil war? It's a question that has been in the air for a while now, as divisions continue to worsen. Beyond the political speeches and debates in the halls of Congress, it's something you're likely feeling in your day-to-day life. Vaccines, school curriculums, climate change, what you define as a human rights issue, even who you call a friend. Some say we've moved beyond the point of discussion. But when words fail, what comes next? In conversation with Malcolm Nance, Anne Applebaum, and Peniel Joseph, we take a deeper look at what we mean when we say civil war, how exactly the country reached this political moment, and where we go from here." Nice democracy you got there. Shame if anything happened to it.
"Crime and public safety are among the issues that have taken center stage in many midterm races nationwide, from Wisconsin to Pennsylvania to New York… Republicans are repeating a page from their 2020 playbook by ramping up ads accusing Democrats of being soft on crime. The GOP spent nearly $40 million on crime-related messaging in September alone, as NPR has reported — and ad spending tends to be a good indication of what candidates and their backers think will sway voters."
"With early midterm voting underway, Fox News has been increasing crime coverage to drive voters to the polls. On this week’s On the Media, a look at the ways fear impacts our minds and bodies, both on and off screen. Plus, how filmmakers like Jordan Peele have inspired a renaissance of the Black Horror genre."
"U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials in the Trump administration compiled extensive intelligence dossiers on people who were arrested, even for minor offenses, during Black Lives Matter protests in Oregon… Initial drafts of the dossiers even included friends of the subjects as well as their interests, but those were later removed and replaced with a note that they would be made available upon request, according to an internal review by the Department of Homeland Security." Of course they did.
"Brazilians head to the polls Sunday to vote in a crucial presidential election that is testing the world's fourth-largest democracy and could have a critical impact on the fight against climate change."
"The next day, Steve Bannon, Donald Trump’s former chief strategist and a family friend of Bolsonaro’s, took to his podcast, ‘Bannon’s War Room’, to raise allegations of electoral fraud. Bannon was joined by Matthew Tyrmand, a board member for Project Veritas – a discredited US group that uses hidden cameras to supposedly ‘expose’ leftist journalists – and Darren Beattie, a former Trump speechwriter who was fired in 2018 after it emerged he had met with white nationalists two years earlier. (Beattie told US media he had said 'nothing objectionable' at this meeting.)" The warmup.
"A Tennessee man who dragged a police officer into a mob of rioters, initiating one of the most harrowing acts of violence during the U.S. Capitol attack, was sentenced on Thursday to more than seven years in prison."
"A 78-year-old woman is taking Bullhead City, Ariz., to court over her arrest earlier this year for feeding the homeless community at a local public park… The Institute for Justice wants a federal court to effectively end the city ordinance that prohibits Norma Thornton from giving food to the hungry in a public park. Thornton's attorneys say the ordinance violates several of the woman's civil rights granted under the 14th amendment."
"Most notably, a passage in the recalled version of the book (2,000 Mules) that accused specific, named nonprofit organizations of involvement in illegal 'ballot trafficking' has been rewritten, softening certain claims and outright removing the names of the groups. Separately, sections of the book that purported to link election fraud to antifa and the Black Lives Matter movement have also been deleted." When you tell the truth, and have actual evidence, you don't need to do that.
"The most influential anti-abortion group in Kansas politics is urging voters in mailers to remove five of the seven justices on a state Supreme Court that declared access to abortion a fundamental right under the state constitution."
"Election Day is 12 days away. But in courtrooms across the country, efforts to sow doubt over the outcome have already begun… More than 100 lawsuits have been filed this year around the Nov. 8 elections. The legal challenges, largely by Republicans, target rules for mail-in voting, early voting, voter access, voting machines, voting registration, the counting of mismarked absentee ballots and access for partisan poll watchers."
"Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose said those voters who heed advice from a prominent national group of Republican election deniers and hold onto their paper ballots until Nov. 8 must deliver them to their county board of elections office. Poll workers at precinct-level voting locations cannot accept them, he said." No, they don't know what they're doing.
"The husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was attacked and severely beaten with a hammer by an assailant who broke into the couple’s San Francisco home early Friday, searching for the Democratic leader and shouting, 'Where is Nancy, where is Nancy?'" And rightwing media and talking heads have spent the last few days trying everything from deflection, denial, and saying he had it coming.
"Officials in Ann Arbor, Mich., Union County, N.C., and Contra Costa County, Calif., are posting infographics on social media urging people to 'think critically' about what they see and share about voting and to seek out reliable election information… Earlier this month, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency put out a public service announcement saying cyberattacks are not likely to disrupt voting."
"Social media users are sharing an edited video showing an interaction between Jean-Pierre and Doocy after he asked about Biden’s plans to combat high gas prices during an Oct. 19 White House press briefing."
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