There's battle lines being drawn.
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong.
Young people speaking their minds
getting so much resistance from behind

Monday, April 10, 2023

Linkee-poo Monday April 10

"Recently, archaeologists excavated an unusual set of talismanic nails from a mountaintop necropolis on the outskirts of Sagalassos in southwestern Turkey. In an early Roman imperial tomb, 41 broken nails were found scattered among the cremated remains of an adult male who had lived in the second century A.D. and was buried in situ. Twenty-five of the nails were headless and deliberately bent at right angles; the others were complete roundheaded nails with the shanks twisted multiple times. The unusual funerary practice is the subject of a new study published in the journal Antiquity." The use of iron nails as funerary objects in the ancient (and not so ancient) world.

"Amateur astronomers, get out your datebooks… The next total solar eclipse visible from the U.S. will occur just shy of one year from now on April 8, 2024… For just a few minutes, the moon will pass directly in front of the afternoon sun and cover it up, creating the unusual celestial phenomenon of the total solar eclipse."

"Rusher is the project manager for the land which was recently acquired by Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and she's taken community members on countless hikes like this one to show them why this old golf course should be part of the national park."

"An estimated 53 million Americans are acting as unpaid caregivers to loved ones, according to the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP's Caregiving in the U.S. 2020 report. That means 1 in 5 people you know have had their lives upended to ensure the health and safety of loved ones. This often comes at the expense of their own mental, physical and emotional health." Tips on how to navigate this time. I'm seeing a lot more of this at the hospital with family bringing in their older relatives and being at their wits end.

"Casiano knew that Texas banned abortions, but she didn't think those laws would apply in a situation where the fetus was certain to die. But the laws do apply." The option for abortion is healthcare.

"For example, if you have a respiratory infection in the U.S., doctors can identify the pathogen causing the infection only about 40% of the time. There's growing evidence that the other 60% of infections could be caused by animal viruses such as a dog coronavirus found in Malaysia, Haiti and Arkansas, or even possibly the same virus Hause and his colleagues found in those pigs. Recent studies have made clear that this virus floats in the air at farms and is likely infecting people who work there." Something new has been added.

"When President Biden inked the $1 trillion deal to give roads, bridges and transit systems a boost, union officials and business leaders said a large scale investment in infrastructure was long overdue… But nearly a year and a half later, and about a third of the way through the funding's lifetime, economists and hiring managers point out that all that infrastructure money won't do any good if there aren't enough people qualified to do the work."

"The U.S. job market is showing signs of softening as rising interest rates and slowing economic growth begin to take their toll on hiring… Employers added 236,000 jobs in March, according to a report from the Labor Department Friday. That's down from 326,000 jobs that were added the month before."

"Police fired clouds of tear gas against unruly protesters in Paris and other French cities Thursday as hundreds of thousands of people returned to streets across the country to vent anger against President Emmanuel Macron’s contested pension reforms."

"Top-secret Pentagon documents with details about the war in Ukraine have been published on at least two social media sites, Twitter and Telegram… The revelation set off alarm bells at the Pentagon, which is trying to determine how the material was leaked or stolen."

"Swedish prosecutors said Thursday a state actor was the most likely culprit for the explosions that incapacitated the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea last year, an act deemed as sabotage. However, they cautioned that the identity of the perpetrator was still unclear and hinted that it was likely to remain so." Not really big news, as, yes, it would take someone with access to skills and technology that would require immense capital.

"Federal agents and military personnel conducting a training exercise at a Boston hotel interrogated an unsuspecting civilian after they entered the wrong room by mistake… Authorities confirmed to NPR that no one was injured in the incident, which happened around 10 p.m. Tuesday night and is now under review by the FBI and Department of Defense." Oopsie. Also, why are special forces training in a commercial hotel?

"An NPR investigation found that the explosion at the schoolhouse in Fallujah was a tragic accident — the worst Marine-on-Marine "friendly fire" of recent decades. Officers determined almost immediately that the explosion was caused by an errant 81 mm mortar fired by the victims' own comrades, yet the families of the dead men weren't told for years, despite Marine Corps regulations. Some of the wounded have never been told."

"The Kansas Legislature finally rallied enough votes on Wednesday needed to override Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of a bill banning transgender girls and women from girls and women’s sports at public schools and colleges… Kansas now stands with 19 other states that have enacted laws limiting transgender girls to participating in sports that align with the gender they were assigned at birth. The Kansas law does not affect transgender boys."

"One of America's fundamental narratives is that it is a land of equal opportunity and upward mobility for all; that any citizen, no matter their background, can ascend from "rags to riches." But in light of how many are locked in extreme poverty, what's meant to be an inspirational promise looks more like a cruel joke. Why does the myth persist?" On the Media looks at poverty. Again.

"American roads are deadlier than they were before the pandemic and many are looking at changes in police traffic enforcement as a cause… Deaths spiked during 2020, and the fatality rate — deaths per million miles traveled — is still about 18% higher now than in 2019." I dunno, maybe refrain from killing people over minor traffic stops might be a good idea.

"Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Saturday that he is seeking to pardon a U.S. Army sergeant who was convicted of murder in the 2020 fatal shooting of an armed protester during nationwide protests against police violence and racial injustice." Ah, the party of Law and Order.

"The rapid escalation between Disney and DeSantis this week comes in the aftermath of a Central Florida governing board that had been controlled by Disney passing a series of agreements that ensured Disney would keep a large degree of power despite a new law passed in February that created a new board controlled by the governor… The moves stunned the DeSantis administration and the governor’s hand-picked board, which has since hired lawyers to examine whether it should challenge the legality of the agreements." Dude, Disney keeps handing you your ass. Maybe stop digging. I know, I know, Streisand Effect in play here.

"The Tennessee House’s youngest Reps. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, and Justin J. Pearson, D-Memphis — who are both Black — have been expelled from the chamber for their participation in gun control protests last week on the House floor. Meanwhile, Knoxville Rep. Gloria Johnson, who is white, narrowly escaped the same fate."

"For more than two decades, Thomas has accepted luxury trips virtually every year from the Dallas businessman without disclosing them, documents and interviews show. A public servant who has a salary of $285,000, he has vacationed on Crow’s superyacht around the globe… The extent and frequency of Crow’s apparent gifts to Thomas have no known precedent in the modern history of the U.S. Supreme Court… These trips appeared nowhere on Thomas’ financial disclosures." Look, when you're a part of the government, especially when you're high in the structure, you no longer as just a "private citizen." Your life is open. This is part of the trade off. So even if Crow offered these like he would offer to "any other close friend" it doesn't fucking matter. It doesn't matter if Thomas and Crow discussed cases before the court. You have to report it. It's time for Justice Thomas to go.

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