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

Tuesday, May 2, 2023

Linkee-poo the wind in the wires made a tattle tale sound

Gordon Lightfoot and Jerry Springer, and so it goes.

A more personal Gofund me for a coworker who is watching her child pass before her eyes. Again, I don't share these often, but this is closer to home than most. Same rules as usual, if you can, please help (I know there's often times I can't). And if not, at least send positive vibes and prayers if you're so inclined for both her child, her and her family.

"Walking into Toni Morrison: Sites of Memory, a new exhibition curated from the late author's archives at Princeton University, is an emotional experience for anyone who loves literature. Dozens of pages are on display, most of them waterlogged and brown from burning."

"Negotiations between the Writers Guild of America and film and TV studios and streamers broke down late Monday night, with leaders of the union now saying they will go on strike 'effective 12:01 AM, Tuesday, May 2.'" Oh Jeez.

"People living along the Mississippi River watched warily Sunday as water levels rose in southeast Iowa and northwest Illinois, awaiting spring crests as floodwaters began to slowly recede and reveal damage in areas further north."

"NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft, which has been probing the outer bounds of the solar system for over 45 years, is running out of power. But a new plan aims to keep its interstellar mission alive for at least three more years."

"Even before the reign of the dinosaurs ended in a mass extinction event about 65 million years ago, mammals had already gotten a humble but solid foothold… That's just one of the findings from a close examination of DNA from 240 different mammalian species, an ambitious effort to understand how hairy, milk-producing mammals — including humans — evolved to have such an astonishing array of sizes, shapes, and special abilities."

"Rates of the disease have soared in recent decades, spurred by the complex interaction of genes that make people more likely to store food as fat, a food system that provides easy and cheap access to processed treats explicitly designed to be overconsumed, and social settings that limit access to healthy options and exercise for many people." The new weight loss drugs, how they work.

"HPV is sexually transmitted. For oropharyngeal cancer, the main risk factor is the number of lifetime sexual partners, especially oral sex. Those with six or more lifetime oral-sex partners are 8.5 times more likely to develop oropharyngeal cancer than those who do not practice oral sex."

"The Minnesota Senate cast its first vote to legalize recreational marijuana Friday, pushing the proposal closer to becoming law than ever before… Senators passed the DFL-led marijuana bill on a 34-33 vote, with all Democrats voting for it and all Republicans opposed."

How's 6 Sigma and Lean Manufacturing working out for everybody? "Shortages of drugs like Adderall are growing in the United States, and experts see no clear path to resolving them. For patients, that can mean treatment delays, medication switches and other hassles filling a prescription."

"From banks to burger joints, the U.S. economy is showing signs of stress as nervous shoppers watch their spending and anxious lenders keep a tight grip on credit… A report from the Commerce Department Thursday shows the nation's gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of just 1.1% in the first three months of the year, compared to a 2.6% pace in the previous quarter. Growth was weighed down by declining inventories and housing investment."

"Nearly three-quarters, or 73%, of adults ages 27 to 42 are living paycheck to paycheck, LendingClub found." Millenials are now in the age category that typically spends the most of their money, so this isn't necessarily an odd finding. But I do agree that the next generations are seeing more fiscal headwinds.

"More than a half million of the poorest Americans could be left without health insurance under legislation passed by House Republicans that would require people to work in exchange for health care coverage through Medicaid." Cruelty is the point.

"Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned lawmakers Monday that the federal government could run short of money to pay its bills as early as June 1 unless the debt ceiling is raised soon."

"Under a new rule proposed by the Bureau of Prisons, however, most of the money Hoolan sends to her son would not go to him. Instead, the majority of the money sent to prisoners' commissary accounts would first go to pay their restitution debts and outstanding court fines… Opponents of the plan say it shifts responsibility to family members, like Hoolan." And that is a completely boneheaded way to try and solve the problem. And in any sane society it would immediately be shut down. This is a form a debtors prison. You want to really help with this? Okay, so for prison employment inmates are paid pennies an hour for their work. Okay, let's keep that, but the companies that use inmate labor (and places like the State of California that uses them as fire jumpers) have to pay the competitive wages for the time. The difference will go to pay restitution and court costs and fines. Do that and I'll believe you're seriousness about this problem.

"Authorities in southeast Texas are offering a $80,000 reward for any tips that lead to the capture of 38-year-old Francisco Oropesa, who police say shot five people to death in a home early Saturday morning and then fled the scene."

"In Nebraska, where abortion is banned after 20 weeks of pregnancy, an effort to ban abortion at about the sixth week of pregnancy fell one vote short of breaking a filibuster. Cheers erupted outside the legislative chamber as the last vote was cast, with opponents of the bill waving signs and chanting, 'Whose house? Our house!'"

"Now that the year-long war of words between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the Walt Disney Co has landed in the courts, the Republican leader might find his verbal barbs directed at the entertainment giant coming back to bite, legal experts said."

"An Arizona House Democrat and ordained minister recorded on video hiding Bibles at a lounge at the state capitol apologized to her peers for her actions… Stahl Hamilton described her actions as a type of protest regarding the separation of church and state."

"But Republican presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis failed to impress British business chiefs at a high-profile London event Friday, in a tired performance described variously as 'horrendous,' 'low-wattage' and 'like the end of an overseas trip.'"

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