"A new study has confirmed what many already suspected: the careers of Australia’s female authors are suffering due to gender bias within the literature industry. That female writers are still consistently being overlooked in the 21st century is not only unacceptable; it is embarrassing." The rest of the world's studies that have found consistent biases against women in publishing welcomes the Australian study into their company. (Grokked from Justine Larbalestier)
We control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. Ransomware comes to your smart TV. (Grokked from Dan)
This day we shall light a fire in the skies… No, really, fire. In space. We're lighting a fire in space. Okay, well, we're setting a fire in the returning Cygnus supply ship after it undocks with the ISS on its way to burn up in the upper atmosphere. Just to make sure we understand how fire works in space. (Grokked from Marie Vibbert)
"Because, like so many other women, sisters I have never met, I know a man can claim to love a person, but still throw her down the stairs or spit at her or shoot her four times through a locked toilet door. I know a woman doesn't take her phone to the bathroom with her in the middle of the night and lock herself there, without good reason." On the Oscar Pistorius trial and what is obvious to people who have gone through similar relationships. Also on the prevalent world culture of acceptance when it comes to violence against women. (Grokked from Ferrett Steinmetz)
So while lots of news media talk about Islam's supposed hatred of "teh gayz", on the other side of the island… "After 49 people were gunned down in an Orlando gay nightclub in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, pastors in California and Arizona praised the gunman for massacring 'perverted predators' and 'pedophiles.'"
On that point, muslim's acceptance of gays is higher than some Christian sects. The beam in one's own eye as it were. (Grokked from Paolo Bacigalupi)
Everything old is new again. Newt Gingrich, potential VP, thinks we should restart the House Un-american Activities Committee. Because that worked out so well the first time. SO when you hear the left talk about how the right while talking about "freedom" is actually moving toward totalitarianism, here's a datapoint.
Toxic stress and its impact on developing brains. Note they're not saying that children shouldn't have any stresses, but that the constant stress levels induced by familial disfunction can permanently alter brain function. And here we will remind everybody that more families are dysfunctional in someway than there are families who don't have problems with drugs/alcohol, abuse, neglect, anger management, etc.
In the midst of ignorance about the electoral process (and specifically about the primary process and the electoral college) and in the face of unchecked voter suppression many people are wondering why they should vote when they feel it won't be counted. Dear people, this is exactly what those who instituted all these election changes want you to feel so you won't vote.
A quick primer of the "Clinton Scandals." Your pre-reading before the Trumpster's supposed speech about it.
I think I've said it here before that much of what is wrong with the current news media (that is there is no real analysis or actual political journalism anymore, merely "he said, she said" and press release journalism) is that this came about because the news outlets live in fear of losing access and then, by extrapolation, content to publish. What you're seeing happening with the Trumpster pulling press credentials from places like WaPo, NYT, Univision, etc is exactly that (and that the campaign has accepted credentials from whackaloon outlets is an example of which audience they're going for). So, here is my challenge to the news media, the dynamic is backward. Politicians should be begging you for coverage. But that only will happen when your readers actually trust what you're saying. If you create the megaphone, they'll be lined up out your door to use it.
"(Rep. Jim) Himes called moments of silence 'obnoxious expressions of smug incompetence' on elected officials' part." On Rules of Order, and why sometimes it becomes necessary to make a ruckus and be out of order.
Tweet of my heart: @Soccerpolitics I feel like this presidential election is essentially a battle between the article and the comments section.
Double dip: @peterwsinger If you are a media outlet Not being banned by Trump, at what point do you start asking yourself what are you doing wrong?
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Monday, June 13, 2016
Linkee-poo without a quippy title
I'm not going to link to anything about the Orlando shootings, and especially not to the political insanity playing out on our national stage. I have too many friends who are LGBT, some fully open, some still in the closet. You can't work for 26 years in the arts without knowing a fair share and seeing their pain played out in their art. I'm just going to share some thoughts I had yesterday. One, this shooter's pledge of allegiance to ISIS, and the San Bernardino shooter, is the caliphate version of Pascal's Wager, not any actual connection. ISIS doesn't have the ability to project power internationally. The France/Belgium shooting are still in question of how closely that was directed and even funded through ISIS. At best they've been able to reach into Turkey for assassinations. Second, for all those people who accepted, agreed with, or nodded their heads in consent to any of the recent American Christian blatherings that this or that disaster was brought on by God as punishment for our cultural acceptance of gays (I'm thinking a lot of Katrina here, but almost any hurricane that makes landfall, or any major earthquake, or really any sparrow's fart near a city with an openly gay community) you can take your thoughts and prayers and shove them. For this one, all those people can sit down and STFU. If you have any inclination to say "God/we disapprove of gays" do me a favor and be quiet, because I don't want to hear it anymore. I know friends who are still in the closet to the wider world, and probably will remain there for life. I've seen three friends struggle with coming out to themselves and to accept who they are. Some say it's easier these days, I don't believe them. Anyone who says it's a choice is either an idiot or is bisexual (and for them, it could be a choice to deny part of themselves).
John Scalzi ruminating on how blogs work in the social media market. Things certainly have changed here on Walton's Mountain.
The Radiolab episode on cellmates. So, you may have balked about how we can trace our human ancestry to one guy (and even farther back, one woman). How about this, all life came from one cell that learned how to accommodate mitochondria.
Venus in infrared. Wow. Okay, some people post kitten pics to sooth, I'll take this any day. (Grokked from Tania)
Whelp, Philly is the next place to try a tax on sweetened beverages.
Everybody put on their tinfoil hats (do they still make tinfoil?). The Real Reason™ we went to war in Iraq? A Star Gate. Okay, so, before you start laughing, this part is absolutely true, my first story that was accepted (but never published) was about a transdimensional gateway in Ur that al Qaeda was using to channel in the Old Ones (aka, it was a Cthulhu story). I'm a little impressed and freaked. (Grokked from John)
In other tinfoil hat news, "Last year, the Richmond, California city council passed a ban on space-based weapons that are secretly causing physical and psychological damage against people via 'remote transmission.'"
"The Oklahoma Department of Public Safety has purchased several 'Electronic Recovery and Access to Data' devices to install in police cruisers for seizing funds from prepaid debit cards during roadside arrests." What. The. Fuck. Civil asset seizures in the age of plastic.
Hey, remember that talk radio call-in person who said they had explosive evidence on Benghazi? Remember the Benghazi Committee's direction to the Pentagon to find this mysterious person? Good News, Everybody™, they found him and brought him to Congress to testify. So, how did it go? "Unfortunately, 'John from Iowa' had nothing to tell them that they didn't already know. After holding more hearings on Benghazi than almost any other tragic event in our history and spending millions of dollars up to this point, how sad that they relied on a talk show call in guest to help with their witch hunt." Yep, pretty much as expected (and as well as all their other "bombshells"). I wonder if we can sue the committee to recover the tax money spent on this boondoggle? (Grokked from Jim Wright)
What is becoming a meme; Is the Trumpster a racist/neo-nazi? Well, he sure sounds like one.
Paul Krugman on how "someone who looks so much like a cheap con man bulldoze right through the G.O.P. nomination process?" It's the same reason so many churches fall for serial con-men who offer "only the best deal to let their fellow Christians in on the secret." Once you set up a scheme based on grifting, other grifters will come in and take advantage of it. In case you've maxed out your NYT articles for the month, here's a summary over at Salon. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
Ken Burns' Stanford Graduation speech where he addresses the threat to our democracy posed by the Trumpster. "Vichy Republicans", I'm going to have to remember that one. (Grokked from Joe Hill)
John Scalzi ruminating on how blogs work in the social media market. Things certainly have changed here on Walton's Mountain.
The Radiolab episode on cellmates. So, you may have balked about how we can trace our human ancestry to one guy (and even farther back, one woman). How about this, all life came from one cell that learned how to accommodate mitochondria.
Venus in infrared. Wow. Okay, some people post kitten pics to sooth, I'll take this any day. (Grokked from Tania)
Whelp, Philly is the next place to try a tax on sweetened beverages.
Everybody put on their tinfoil hats (do they still make tinfoil?). The Real Reason™ we went to war in Iraq? A Star Gate. Okay, so, before you start laughing, this part is absolutely true, my first story that was accepted (but never published) was about a transdimensional gateway in Ur that al Qaeda was using to channel in the Old Ones (aka, it was a Cthulhu story). I'm a little impressed and freaked. (Grokked from John)
In other tinfoil hat news, "Last year, the Richmond, California city council passed a ban on space-based weapons that are secretly causing physical and psychological damage against people via 'remote transmission.'"
"The Oklahoma Department of Public Safety has purchased several 'Electronic Recovery and Access to Data' devices to install in police cruisers for seizing funds from prepaid debit cards during roadside arrests." What. The. Fuck. Civil asset seizures in the age of plastic.
Hey, remember that talk radio call-in person who said they had explosive evidence on Benghazi? Remember the Benghazi Committee's direction to the Pentagon to find this mysterious person? Good News, Everybody™, they found him and brought him to Congress to testify. So, how did it go? "Unfortunately, 'John from Iowa' had nothing to tell them that they didn't already know. After holding more hearings on Benghazi than almost any other tragic event in our history and spending millions of dollars up to this point, how sad that they relied on a talk show call in guest to help with their witch hunt." Yep, pretty much as expected (and as well as all their other "bombshells"). I wonder if we can sue the committee to recover the tax money spent on this boondoggle? (Grokked from Jim Wright)
What is becoming a meme; Is the Trumpster a racist/neo-nazi? Well, he sure sounds like one.
Paul Krugman on how "someone who looks so much like a cheap con man bulldoze right through the G.O.P. nomination process?" It's the same reason so many churches fall for serial con-men who offer "only the best deal to let their fellow Christians in on the secret." Once you set up a scheme based on grifting, other grifters will come in and take advantage of it. In case you've maxed out your NYT articles for the month, here's a summary over at Salon. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
Ken Burns' Stanford Graduation speech where he addresses the threat to our democracy posed by the Trumpster. "Vichy Republicans", I'm going to have to remember that one. (Grokked from Joe Hill)
Friday, June 10, 2016
Linkee-poo, and if I catch ya coming back my way, I'm going to sell it to you
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Thursday, June 9, 2016
Linkee-poo wears my sunglasses at night so I can watch you weave then breathe your story lines
Terri Windling Tolkien Lecture with pictures, video and audio. (Grokked from Ellen Kushner)
Sunspring, a movie written by an AI. I would rail against the dying of the light, but given Hollywood's recent attempts at entertainment, I welcome our new robot overlords. (Grokked form John)
"U.S. employers advertised the most open jobs in nine months in April but pulled back on filling them, a sign of caution that may reflect concerns about tepid economic growth." That matches to what I've been hearing. Lots of interviews, no one getting an actual job.
On the availability of bison on the menu around Yellowstone. I love bison, and to compare it to beef is silly (this is like saying Coke and Pepsi are the same thing). On our Yellowstone vacation we are "game" meat (most of it is farmed) almost everyday. There was a great mix of bison, elk, game birds, and some very delicious wild boar sausages (those were fantastic, but also expensive). So when I went to Alaska I expect similar. Except for the ubiquitous salmon, there was only one place that had caribou. Other than that one night on the cruise there was an option of halibut stake (yes I had it). For a state that is built on subsistence hunting I expected better, Alaska. But, if you've never had it and you get the chance to try a bison burger or a steak, I highly recommend it. Also, when visiting our national parks, obey the signs and don't get too close to the wildlife. In that hot spring area there are signs everywhere to stay on the boardwalks.
Something new has been added (to the Periodic Table). (Grokked from Dan)
What harm does the war on women and abortion have? "More and more young women from Texas are walking across the international bridge for risky, do-it-yourself medical abortions with misoprostol that lack the second drug, mifepristone, and also lack the guidance and supervision by a doctor that the women would get in the U.S." When the two drugs are taken together in the proper regimen, they're 95% effective. With only misoprostal, that drops to around 60% and increases complications. The "…landmark ruling on the constitutionality of the Texas Omnibus Abortion Bill… a decision is expected this month. Abortion rights supporters say if the justices uphold the law, regardless of the FDA label changes, more clinics will close, and the Mexican pharmacies will get even more business."
For all the sparkles and rainbows about the first female major-party nominee, there is this, "We didn’t know where Hillary’s votes were coming from bc they didn’t feel it was safe to tell us in the first place." And there will be a lot of that in the coming months. My neighbor tells me he has an extra Hillary yard sign for me, and I would be lying to say that I didn't think hard about accepting the offer to put it in my yard (and am still thinking hard, not so much for me, but my wife, cats, and property and I live in a supposedly heavily Democratic area). On my commute into work there's already a "Hillary for Prison 2016" yard sign. (Grokked from Kameron Hurley)
Since it's an election year, the GOP controlled Legislature is going to be very careful about which fights they pick. So this year, no defunding of Obamacare or Planned Parenthood. Why? Because they don't want to remind the general populace on how they want to take their health insurance away, screw the poor, and continue the war on women (they need your votes this year). Hey Tea Partiers, you're getting sold down the river.
Robert Reich's open letter to Bernie Sanders.
You know how the Trumpster is all against off-shoring jobs and part of his Make America Great Again campaign is to bring jobs back and to stop offshoring? To bad most of the GOP including 3 of the 4 Republican National Convention committee members are heavily involved with offshoring and inversions. And, yes, in Cleveland when Eaton Corp. pull those stunts it was a big stink. This is part of why the establishment thinks the Trumpster isn't a true conservative.
Could the Trumpster put his assets in a blind trust? That and finding out the President in the US does not have executive immunity and I think he may not continue as a candidate.
Sunspring, a movie written by an AI. I would rail against the dying of the light, but given Hollywood's recent attempts at entertainment, I welcome our new robot overlords. (Grokked form John)
"U.S. employers advertised the most open jobs in nine months in April but pulled back on filling them, a sign of caution that may reflect concerns about tepid economic growth." That matches to what I've been hearing. Lots of interviews, no one getting an actual job.
On the availability of bison on the menu around Yellowstone. I love bison, and to compare it to beef is silly (this is like saying Coke and Pepsi are the same thing). On our Yellowstone vacation we are "game" meat (most of it is farmed) almost everyday. There was a great mix of bison, elk, game birds, and some very delicious wild boar sausages (those were fantastic, but also expensive). So when I went to Alaska I expect similar. Except for the ubiquitous salmon, there was only one place that had caribou. Other than that one night on the cruise there was an option of halibut stake (yes I had it). For a state that is built on subsistence hunting I expected better, Alaska. But, if you've never had it and you get the chance to try a bison burger or a steak, I highly recommend it. Also, when visiting our national parks, obey the signs and don't get too close to the wildlife. In that hot spring area there are signs everywhere to stay on the boardwalks.
Something new has been added (to the Periodic Table). (Grokked from Dan)
What harm does the war on women and abortion have? "More and more young women from Texas are walking across the international bridge for risky, do-it-yourself medical abortions with misoprostol that lack the second drug, mifepristone, and also lack the guidance and supervision by a doctor that the women would get in the U.S." When the two drugs are taken together in the proper regimen, they're 95% effective. With only misoprostal, that drops to around 60% and increases complications. The "…landmark ruling on the constitutionality of the Texas Omnibus Abortion Bill… a decision is expected this month. Abortion rights supporters say if the justices uphold the law, regardless of the FDA label changes, more clinics will close, and the Mexican pharmacies will get even more business."
For all the sparkles and rainbows about the first female major-party nominee, there is this, "We didn’t know where Hillary’s votes were coming from bc they didn’t feel it was safe to tell us in the first place." And there will be a lot of that in the coming months. My neighbor tells me he has an extra Hillary yard sign for me, and I would be lying to say that I didn't think hard about accepting the offer to put it in my yard (and am still thinking hard, not so much for me, but my wife, cats, and property and I live in a supposedly heavily Democratic area). On my commute into work there's already a "Hillary for Prison 2016" yard sign. (Grokked from Kameron Hurley)
Since it's an election year, the GOP controlled Legislature is going to be very careful about which fights they pick. So this year, no defunding of Obamacare or Planned Parenthood. Why? Because they don't want to remind the general populace on how they want to take their health insurance away, screw the poor, and continue the war on women (they need your votes this year). Hey Tea Partiers, you're getting sold down the river.
Robert Reich's open letter to Bernie Sanders.
You know how the Trumpster is all against off-shoring jobs and part of his Make America Great Again campaign is to bring jobs back and to stop offshoring? To bad most of the GOP including 3 of the 4 Republican National Convention committee members are heavily involved with offshoring and inversions. And, yes, in Cleveland when Eaton Corp. pull those stunts it was a big stink. This is part of why the establishment thinks the Trumpster isn't a true conservative.
Could the Trumpster put his assets in a blind trust? That and finding out the President in the US does not have executive immunity and I think he may not continue as a candidate.
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
Linkee-poo is the hairy-handed gent who ran amuck in Kent
Everything that's wrong with your story, given sight unseen. For me, it's number 4 that keeps getting in the way. (Grokked from CC Findlay)
Why inclusion in literature is a Good Idea™, Curious George learns how American-Muslims celebrate Ramadan.
So, how do you know if your writing is any good? Lots of very good information in that response. (Grokked from Justine Larbalestier)
The Bloggess with a great metaphor for depression. I don't think I've been that deep into big D, but I've felt those edges. Sometimes I get fixated on things that I must finish before I can do anything else even if those other things aren't dependent on the thing I'm fixated on.
"Aamodt is a neuroscientist, book author and former editor of a leading brain research journal. She also has become a prominent evangelist of the message that traditional diets just don't work and often leave the dieter worse off than before." Bringing back the concept of set points (something I've experienced in my own quest to lose weight). "Her best recommendation: Stop focusing on weight and start concentrating on regular exercise, good food choices and stress reduction instead." I'm not sure if I said it here, but on my cruise I lost 12 lbs, and it wasn't a "weight-loss" cruise. But I didn't have the stress of the day thing.
"Growing up, sports commentator Kevin Blackistone idolized Muhammad Ali. With Ali's death last week, he wonders why the man he sees in the obituaries is so different than the Ali he remembers." The other whitewashing, taking troublesome minorities who are pilloried while alive and speaking up, suddenly become acceptable in death or inability to communicate. Muhammad Ali isn't the only one. While we venerate Martin Luther King, Jr, during his life he was considered an amazing troublemaker whose "peaceful protests" were always called into question by the establishment as a good facade to hide militant aspirations. Cesar Chavez, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Leonard Peltier, Malcolm X, Harriet Tubman, Susan B Anthony, Margaret Sanger, Harvey Milk, Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth and thousands more. Some of this is society coming to terms with their "radical-at-the-time" ideas and seeing history's long arc bend toward justice. But a lot of it is the sanitizing nature of time and memory and the WASP culture taking what is dangerous and neutering it to make it palatable and acceptable.
The BLM and using river-beds at property boundaries. The major question is if the BLM is fighting to redefine where the border between Texas and Oklahoma to win (and thereby give more land to the Federal Government or actually to some Reservations), or fighting it to lose (to say they tried to do "what is right", but what can you do)?
What rape culture? Seriously, Worcester Polytechnic, you are in charge of your lawyers. Maybe not blaming the victim might be a good idea.
And because we're talking about it, the Stanford rape case sentencing story all the other people are talking about. (Grokked from just about everybody)
So, how did the only Trump endorsed candidate (so far) do yesterday? Whelp, that's not good. Don't worry, I'm sure Trump will forget all about his endorsement. Look! Squirrel! To be far, Rep. Ellmers didn't have a chance with her redrawn district and a record of actually doing work (not to mention her regrets on her attack ad in the previous elections). And I see Clay Aiken, whom she defeated, is taking it well. Stay classy, Clay.
"The Associated Press advised its journalists on Tuesday to 'practice situational awareness' around its bureaus amid sharp backlash over the news organization’s naming Hillary Clinton as the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee." I'm developing a false-flag theory about "Bernie Supporters" and some of the more violent protests at Trump events. It's beginning to feel like a smear campaign designed to suppress voting (through intimidation and "I'm just tired of it all" exhaustion). But maybe I'm misjudging what is being shown in the media.
Tweet of my heart: @acaseforbooks Harry Potter taught me there will always be old guys telling young guys they're special, but it's girls with frizzy hair that get shit done.
Why inclusion in literature is a Good Idea™, Curious George learns how American-Muslims celebrate Ramadan.
So, how do you know if your writing is any good? Lots of very good information in that response. (Grokked from Justine Larbalestier)
The Bloggess with a great metaphor for depression. I don't think I've been that deep into big D, but I've felt those edges. Sometimes I get fixated on things that I must finish before I can do anything else even if those other things aren't dependent on the thing I'm fixated on.
"Aamodt is a neuroscientist, book author and former editor of a leading brain research journal. She also has become a prominent evangelist of the message that traditional diets just don't work and often leave the dieter worse off than before." Bringing back the concept of set points (something I've experienced in my own quest to lose weight). "Her best recommendation: Stop focusing on weight and start concentrating on regular exercise, good food choices and stress reduction instead." I'm not sure if I said it here, but on my cruise I lost 12 lbs, and it wasn't a "weight-loss" cruise. But I didn't have the stress of the day thing.
"Growing up, sports commentator Kevin Blackistone idolized Muhammad Ali. With Ali's death last week, he wonders why the man he sees in the obituaries is so different than the Ali he remembers." The other whitewashing, taking troublesome minorities who are pilloried while alive and speaking up, suddenly become acceptable in death or inability to communicate. Muhammad Ali isn't the only one. While we venerate Martin Luther King, Jr, during his life he was considered an amazing troublemaker whose "peaceful protests" were always called into question by the establishment as a good facade to hide militant aspirations. Cesar Chavez, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Leonard Peltier, Malcolm X, Harriet Tubman, Susan B Anthony, Margaret Sanger, Harvey Milk, Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth and thousands more. Some of this is society coming to terms with their "radical-at-the-time" ideas and seeing history's long arc bend toward justice. But a lot of it is the sanitizing nature of time and memory and the WASP culture taking what is dangerous and neutering it to make it palatable and acceptable.
The BLM and using river-beds at property boundaries. The major question is if the BLM is fighting to redefine where the border between Texas and Oklahoma to win (and thereby give more land to the Federal Government or actually to some Reservations), or fighting it to lose (to say they tried to do "what is right", but what can you do)?
What rape culture? Seriously, Worcester Polytechnic, you are in charge of your lawyers. Maybe not blaming the victim might be a good idea.
And because we're talking about it, the Stanford rape case sentencing story all the other people are talking about. (Grokked from just about everybody)
So, how did the only Trump endorsed candidate (so far) do yesterday? Whelp, that's not good. Don't worry, I'm sure Trump will forget all about his endorsement. Look! Squirrel! To be far, Rep. Ellmers didn't have a chance with her redrawn district and a record of actually doing work (not to mention her regrets on her attack ad in the previous elections). And I see Clay Aiken, whom she defeated, is taking it well. Stay classy, Clay.
"The Associated Press advised its journalists on Tuesday to 'practice situational awareness' around its bureaus amid sharp backlash over the news organization’s naming Hillary Clinton as the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee." I'm developing a false-flag theory about "Bernie Supporters" and some of the more violent protests at Trump events. It's beginning to feel like a smear campaign designed to suppress voting (through intimidation and "I'm just tired of it all" exhaustion). But maybe I'm misjudging what is being shown in the media.
Tweet of my heart: @acaseforbooks Harry Potter taught me there will always be old guys telling young guys they're special, but it's girls with frizzy hair that get shit done.
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Linkee-poo, and the feeling coming from my bones says find me a home
Wasn't sure where to place this one, but is it a drug or a Tolkien elf name? A quiz. Hate to admit I only got 22 out of 30 (there was a lot of Silmarillion in there, only got through it once). (Grokked from Saladin Ahmed)
"The myth of the meritocracy runs deep in publishing. 'Just write a good book!' is offered up as the singular cure to all of a writer’s worries about the financial success of their title. But writing a good book is no more a magical recipe for success than 'working hard' is a guarantee one will retain gainful employment. As in any industry, there are simply too many factors at play… And yes, one of those factors is still who you know." Kameron Hurley with some of the publishing industry secrets.
Someone scanned in most of the issues of Avant Guarde magazine. I'll be in my bunk. (Note, some NSFW, but they were at the time the magazine was published).
"True, there’s no harm in a quick laugh at this (Rush Limbaugh wondering if we all came from apes, why Harambe was still and ape and not one "of us"), but that religious fervor and fundamentalism are so capable of repressing information, intellectualism and objective scientific fact is pretty concerning." In the article they say it's rare to hear such an argument, but it really isn't. This and the "clock" or "airplane" story, in fact, come up a lot. (Grokked from Vince O'Conner)
"However anecdotal, the evidence suggests that more and more companies—particularly those skewing younger, hipper, and richer—are developing a culture where professional ghosting (never responding after an interview) is acceptable, perhaps even the norm. The more publicly desirable the employer, the more disposable candidates seem to become." One, not a new phenomenon, I stop getting formal responses to job inquiries (even those I interviewed for, including second-level interviews) sometime in the mid-90s. Dear millennials, not new. Dear boomers, not new (and it's your generation that started it). Also, not the correct use of "ghosting" (which is more akin to blackballing, but done from a position of non-power), but I accept it is the current use definition. Despite those two objections, yeah, this is a crappy process. (Grokked from Kameron Hurley)
Please don't suck. "Welcome, my son, welcome to (HPE's) The Machine." Oh gods, the new Star Trek movie looks to be like an extended product placement for HP's vision of the future. I wonder if we get to see Spock or McCoy gripe about having to pay more for ink than they did for the printer and how often they have to replace the cartridges? "If you want a vision of the future, imagine having to replace ink cartridges every 20 pages - forever." - with apologies to George Orwell. (Grokked from John)
The Swiss proposal on a guaranteed income goes down in flames. Pointed to not only for the story, but the picture of the world's largest poster, and example of Swiss Type (incredibly huge). But I'll disagree with "Alain Berset, the head of Switzerland's Federal Department of Home Affairs (who said), 'The results demonstrate that voters are satisfied with the way our economy functions and don't think it needs to be revolutionized.'" Um, no. They just said no to this proposal. That doesn't mean they're perfectly okay with the status quo of the increasingly automated economy.
"So more kids are doing it, more people are dying, it’s costing us more money, yet so many intelligent people I know roll their eyes at calling addiction and alcoholism a disease, or dismiss 12-step recovery groups as cults, or leave negative comments about a dead rock star who asked for help on his last day on earth." On addition to opioids and Prince's "death by ignorance and fear." I've seen ODs (those who make it, and those who don't) up close. I've known people who just "need a little more" of whatever. I've treated people with chronic pain (those who can bare it, and those who are at the end of the rope). And I've had patients who clearly needed medication and refused out of fear or "not wanting to give in." And for all of that, we really need to overhaul how we treat these people, how the medical community views them, how society reacts, and we need to open many, many more treatment clinics. (Grokked from Xeni)
"This is the age of the open office, of half-cubicles and clustered desks, of huge rooms filled by long communal tables where white-collar workers sit shoulder-to-shoulder, wearing white earbuds to block out the noise." I'm fortunate that I still have a cubicle. Yeah, companies may have saved money, but note most people who actually promote these new work environments for their employees still have their offices. "People realized they really wanted walls." I remember reading about the concept when TBWA\CHIAT\DAY started it. Yeah, hated it then. And, yes, I have worked in "open office" spaces. Hate them. The only time the "open office" environment really worked for me was when I was the last employee and the boss was continually absent (supposedly doing client contact and trying to drum up more work, note "supposedly"). And then it was just a really big office with several workstations I could use (and often did run more than one computer at a time to get work done).
"Heralded on the cover of Time magazine in 2000 as a genetically modified (GMO) crop with the potential to save millions of lives in the Third World, Golden Rice is still years away from field introduction and even then, may fall short of lofty health benefits still cited regularly by GMO advocates, suggests a new study from Washington University in St. Louis." A GMO product over-hyped? Unpossible! The best part, the report finds that environmental groups opposed to its introduction really had no impact on the ongoing delays. "'The rice simply has not been successful in test plots of the rice breeding institutes in the Philippines, where the leading research is being done,' Stone said. 'It has not even been submitted for approval to the regulatory agency, the Philippine Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI).'" Ah, the incompetence of industry. Also, this just in, white man fails to save indigenous culture he was heralded as the savior of. So, besides the fact that yields of Golden Rice still lag behind non-GMO cultivars, "As Stone and Glover point out, it is still unknown if the beta carotene in Golden Rice can even be converted to Vitamin A in the bodies of badly undernourished children. There also has been little research on how well the beta carotene in Golden Rice will hold up when stored for long periods between harvest seasons, or when cooked using traditional methods common in remote rural locations, they argue… Meanwhile, as the development of Golden Rice creeps along, the Philippines has managed to slash the incidence of Vitamin A deficiency by non-GMO methods, Stone said." If it weren't for people starving and suffering malnutrition, it would almost be funny. (Grokked from Paolo Bacigalupi)
So, how's the fix to the fix to the fix for the VA healthcare backlog problems going? About as good as the other "fixes." Hey, you wanna know what would really fix the VA? Money. Fully funding the department at the level it's been asking for. For decades. Long before we added all the new vets from Afghanistan and Iraq. Also, it would help if legislators and everybody else actually tried using their own insurance. In the past 7 years I've needed to see a few specialists, wait time is typically 6 months for new patients.
"After months of deliberation over how to create House Republican consensus on an election-year policy agenda, Speaker Paul D. Ryan on Tuesday will unveil a proposal for fighting poverty that identifies a long list of policy ills but stops short of prescribing specific legislative fixes." So, basically, all that pomposity about Speaker Ryan coming forth with policy documents to show how the GOP will fix all our societal ills is exactly the same as before. "Hey look, here's this problem, fuck all if we know what to do about it." From the article, "'He wants to take people out of poverty,' (presumptive GOP nominee Donald) Trump said in an interview with CBS’ Face the Nation. 'So do I. And we’re going to come up with a plan.'" They're going to have a plan Real Soon Now (RSN). Thanks, Paul and Donald. Why don't you go fishing and let the adults run the place for a while? (Grokked from Lisa N. Morton)
If you aren't registered to vote, register. If your are registered, vote. David Byrne (frontman of Talking Heads) wants you to go out and vote, too. I don't care if you agree with me. Seriously, I don't. If you feel Donald Trump would be the best thing for America and nothing I've pointed to here has swayed your mind otherwise, go out and vote for him. If Bernie or Hillary do it for you, go out and vote for them. If Gary Johnson does it for you (I just saw an interview with him and man has he moved his positions to embrace populism on the right) go and vote for him. If Jill Stein is your cup of tea, go out and vote for her. But I'll ask you to also learn about your State and local elections and to vote for those. Those are the people who are directly spending your money and shaping your communities. And now I need one of those Stop Making Sense t-shirts.
A boy in California is told by his school to not wear his hat. Boy cites his "First amendment Rights" (shh, nobody tell him). Normally I try not to link to things about people having their paranoia being fed by circumstance, except for this last line, "It looks like Autry may be able to return to school without the temptation of wearing his hat, though: Fox News reported that his dog tore it to shreds while he was swimming." Now that is hilarious. Either "the dog ate my homework" or "the dog having better sense than the human" jokes would work here. Also, in my day, we weren't allowed to wear hats in school.
Why won't Donald Trump release his income tax forms? "The presumptive GOP presidential nominee’s latest property tax bill shows he was awarded a credit under the STAR program, or the New York State School Tax Relief Program. To be eligible for STAR, a married couple must have annual income of $500,000 or less… he has received the credit for several years…" Well, that could be one reason. (Grokked from Dan)
"Even after endorsing Trump, many Republicans are finding themselves constantly forced to distance themselves from Trump's inflammatory statements. Saying they disagree is beginning to sound hollow so Republicans have taken another tack. They promise that the courts and Congress will safeguard the United States from Trump's authoritarian whims." That's hilarious coming from the party that complains about "King Obama ruling dictate and executive order and ZOMG we can't do nothing about it". Seriously GOP, is there anyone on watch there?
Turns out this Trump U story has legs. So, besides the Florida AG asking for a donation before dropping his suit, there's also the brouhaha in Texas about the very same thing.
So, now that the AP has called the nomination for Hillary Clinton, there's a lot of garments being rent and teeth being gnashed, I'd like to remind Bernie's supporters of his campaign launch speech. "Let’s be clear. This campaign is not about Bernie Sanders. It is not about Hillary Clinton… This campaign is about the needs of the American people, and the ideas and proposals that effectively address those needs… Politics in a democratic society should not be treated like a baseball game, a game show or a soap opera. The times are too serious for that." The job isn't done, don't bail now. The next few months will be the "Coming to Jesus" moment for the progressives, and I think we can all support our eventual nominee with more enthusiasm and gusto than our conservative opposition can muster. "You can't always get what you want, but if you try, sometimes you get what you need."
Pointed to because I've seen way to much shit like this during this election cycle (including the meme of the left recruiting people for violence at Trump rallies using Craigslist). Oh, and in case you really think it's been "shopped". (Grokked from Robert J Bennett)
"The myth of the meritocracy runs deep in publishing. 'Just write a good book!' is offered up as the singular cure to all of a writer’s worries about the financial success of their title. But writing a good book is no more a magical recipe for success than 'working hard' is a guarantee one will retain gainful employment. As in any industry, there are simply too many factors at play… And yes, one of those factors is still who you know." Kameron Hurley with some of the publishing industry secrets.
Someone scanned in most of the issues of Avant Guarde magazine. I'll be in my bunk. (Note, some NSFW, but they were at the time the magazine was published).
"True, there’s no harm in a quick laugh at this (Rush Limbaugh wondering if we all came from apes, why Harambe was still and ape and not one "of us"), but that religious fervor and fundamentalism are so capable of repressing information, intellectualism and objective scientific fact is pretty concerning." In the article they say it's rare to hear such an argument, but it really isn't. This and the "clock" or "airplane" story, in fact, come up a lot. (Grokked from Vince O'Conner)
"However anecdotal, the evidence suggests that more and more companies—particularly those skewing younger, hipper, and richer—are developing a culture where professional ghosting (never responding after an interview) is acceptable, perhaps even the norm. The more publicly desirable the employer, the more disposable candidates seem to become." One, not a new phenomenon, I stop getting formal responses to job inquiries (even those I interviewed for, including second-level interviews) sometime in the mid-90s. Dear millennials, not new. Dear boomers, not new (and it's your generation that started it). Also, not the correct use of "ghosting" (which is more akin to blackballing, but done from a position of non-power), but I accept it is the current use definition. Despite those two objections, yeah, this is a crappy process. (Grokked from Kameron Hurley)
Please don't suck. "Welcome, my son, welcome to (HPE's) The Machine." Oh gods, the new Star Trek movie looks to be like an extended product placement for HP's vision of the future. I wonder if we get to see Spock or McCoy gripe about having to pay more for ink than they did for the printer and how often they have to replace the cartridges? "If you want a vision of the future, imagine having to replace ink cartridges every 20 pages - forever." - with apologies to George Orwell. (Grokked from John)
The Swiss proposal on a guaranteed income goes down in flames. Pointed to not only for the story, but the picture of the world's largest poster, and example of Swiss Type (incredibly huge). But I'll disagree with "Alain Berset, the head of Switzerland's Federal Department of Home Affairs (who said), 'The results demonstrate that voters are satisfied with the way our economy functions and don't think it needs to be revolutionized.'" Um, no. They just said no to this proposal. That doesn't mean they're perfectly okay with the status quo of the increasingly automated economy.
"So more kids are doing it, more people are dying, it’s costing us more money, yet so many intelligent people I know roll their eyes at calling addiction and alcoholism a disease, or dismiss 12-step recovery groups as cults, or leave negative comments about a dead rock star who asked for help on his last day on earth." On addition to opioids and Prince's "death by ignorance and fear." I've seen ODs (those who make it, and those who don't) up close. I've known people who just "need a little more" of whatever. I've treated people with chronic pain (those who can bare it, and those who are at the end of the rope). And I've had patients who clearly needed medication and refused out of fear or "not wanting to give in." And for all of that, we really need to overhaul how we treat these people, how the medical community views them, how society reacts, and we need to open many, many more treatment clinics. (Grokked from Xeni)
"This is the age of the open office, of half-cubicles and clustered desks, of huge rooms filled by long communal tables where white-collar workers sit shoulder-to-shoulder, wearing white earbuds to block out the noise." I'm fortunate that I still have a cubicle. Yeah, companies may have saved money, but note most people who actually promote these new work environments for their employees still have their offices. "People realized they really wanted walls." I remember reading about the concept when TBWA\CHIAT\DAY started it. Yeah, hated it then. And, yes, I have worked in "open office" spaces. Hate them. The only time the "open office" environment really worked for me was when I was the last employee and the boss was continually absent (supposedly doing client contact and trying to drum up more work, note "supposedly"). And then it was just a really big office with several workstations I could use (and often did run more than one computer at a time to get work done).
"Heralded on the cover of Time magazine in 2000 as a genetically modified (GMO) crop with the potential to save millions of lives in the Third World, Golden Rice is still years away from field introduction and even then, may fall short of lofty health benefits still cited regularly by GMO advocates, suggests a new study from Washington University in St. Louis." A GMO product over-hyped? Unpossible! The best part, the report finds that environmental groups opposed to its introduction really had no impact on the ongoing delays. "'The rice simply has not been successful in test plots of the rice breeding institutes in the Philippines, where the leading research is being done,' Stone said. 'It has not even been submitted for approval to the regulatory agency, the Philippine Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI).'" Ah, the incompetence of industry. Also, this just in, white man fails to save indigenous culture he was heralded as the savior of. So, besides the fact that yields of Golden Rice still lag behind non-GMO cultivars, "As Stone and Glover point out, it is still unknown if the beta carotene in Golden Rice can even be converted to Vitamin A in the bodies of badly undernourished children. There also has been little research on how well the beta carotene in Golden Rice will hold up when stored for long periods between harvest seasons, or when cooked using traditional methods common in remote rural locations, they argue… Meanwhile, as the development of Golden Rice creeps along, the Philippines has managed to slash the incidence of Vitamin A deficiency by non-GMO methods, Stone said." If it weren't for people starving and suffering malnutrition, it would almost be funny. (Grokked from Paolo Bacigalupi)
So, how's the fix to the fix to the fix for the VA healthcare backlog problems going? About as good as the other "fixes." Hey, you wanna know what would really fix the VA? Money. Fully funding the department at the level it's been asking for. For decades. Long before we added all the new vets from Afghanistan and Iraq. Also, it would help if legislators and everybody else actually tried using their own insurance. In the past 7 years I've needed to see a few specialists, wait time is typically 6 months for new patients.
"After months of deliberation over how to create House Republican consensus on an election-year policy agenda, Speaker Paul D. Ryan on Tuesday will unveil a proposal for fighting poverty that identifies a long list of policy ills but stops short of prescribing specific legislative fixes." So, basically, all that pomposity about Speaker Ryan coming forth with policy documents to show how the GOP will fix all our societal ills is exactly the same as before. "Hey look, here's this problem, fuck all if we know what to do about it." From the article, "'He wants to take people out of poverty,' (presumptive GOP nominee Donald) Trump said in an interview with CBS’ Face the Nation. 'So do I. And we’re going to come up with a plan.'" They're going to have a plan Real Soon Now (RSN). Thanks, Paul and Donald. Why don't you go fishing and let the adults run the place for a while? (Grokked from Lisa N. Morton)
If you aren't registered to vote, register. If your are registered, vote. David Byrne (frontman of Talking Heads) wants you to go out and vote, too. I don't care if you agree with me. Seriously, I don't. If you feel Donald Trump would be the best thing for America and nothing I've pointed to here has swayed your mind otherwise, go out and vote for him. If Bernie or Hillary do it for you, go out and vote for them. If Gary Johnson does it for you (I just saw an interview with him and man has he moved his positions to embrace populism on the right) go and vote for him. If Jill Stein is your cup of tea, go out and vote for her. But I'll ask you to also learn about your State and local elections and to vote for those. Those are the people who are directly spending your money and shaping your communities. And now I need one of those Stop Making Sense t-shirts.
A boy in California is told by his school to not wear his hat. Boy cites his "First amendment Rights" (shh, nobody tell him). Normally I try not to link to things about people having their paranoia being fed by circumstance, except for this last line, "It looks like Autry may be able to return to school without the temptation of wearing his hat, though: Fox News reported that his dog tore it to shreds while he was swimming." Now that is hilarious. Either "the dog ate my homework" or "the dog having better sense than the human" jokes would work here. Also, in my day, we weren't allowed to wear hats in school.
Why won't Donald Trump release his income tax forms? "The presumptive GOP presidential nominee’s latest property tax bill shows he was awarded a credit under the STAR program, or the New York State School Tax Relief Program. To be eligible for STAR, a married couple must have annual income of $500,000 or less… he has received the credit for several years…" Well, that could be one reason. (Grokked from Dan)
"Even after endorsing Trump, many Republicans are finding themselves constantly forced to distance themselves from Trump's inflammatory statements. Saying they disagree is beginning to sound hollow so Republicans have taken another tack. They promise that the courts and Congress will safeguard the United States from Trump's authoritarian whims." That's hilarious coming from the party that complains about "King Obama ruling dictate and executive order and ZOMG we can't do nothing about it". Seriously GOP, is there anyone on watch there?
Turns out this Trump U story has legs. So, besides the Florida AG asking for a donation before dropping his suit, there's also the brouhaha in Texas about the very same thing.
So, now that the AP has called the nomination for Hillary Clinton, there's a lot of garments being rent and teeth being gnashed, I'd like to remind Bernie's supporters of his campaign launch speech. "Let’s be clear. This campaign is not about Bernie Sanders. It is not about Hillary Clinton… This campaign is about the needs of the American people, and the ideas and proposals that effectively address those needs… Politics in a democratic society should not be treated like a baseball game, a game show or a soap opera. The times are too serious for that." The job isn't done, don't bail now. The next few months will be the "Coming to Jesus" moment for the progressives, and I think we can all support our eventual nominee with more enthusiasm and gusto than our conservative opposition can muster. "You can't always get what you want, but if you try, sometimes you get what you need."
Pointed to because I've seen way to much shit like this during this election cycle (including the meme of the left recruiting people for violence at Trump rallies using Craigslist). Oh, and in case you really think it's been "shopped". (Grokked from Robert J Bennett)
Monday, June 6, 2016
Linkee-poo floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee
We're going to miss you, Champ. Having been impossible, the underdog, the despised and enemy of the state, and the greatest who stood by his principles and live his life as he wanted, generous of heart and soul, that was sure a full life.
The Dr. Phil Memorial Scholarship Fund gofundme page. (Grokked from Janiece)
"Faced with these results, the paper suggests that besides going after (movie) pirates, Hollywood can also tweak its own business strategies (of delaying DVD releases in different countries) to target the problem." Yeah, like that's going to happen. (Grokked from John)
"A… woman bought her neighbor's used freezer for $30, not realizing it contained frozen parts of the seller's dead mother." If you wrote that as a story nobody would ever believe you.
"24 Things Women Over 30 Should Wear." Yeah, that pretty well sums it up. (Grokked from Elizabeth Bear)
Sharing that you're a schizophrenic. On overcoming the social stigma of discussing mental health issues.
"The US government, in a first, is preparing to approve a private commercial space mission beyond the Earth's orbit, the Wall Street Journal has reported." (Grokked from Warren Ellis)
Plugless wireless electrical vehicle charging. (Grokked from Dan)
Before climate denial there was smog denial. The long history of the oil (and by extension the fossil-fuels) industry trying to refute the science that says they're poisoning the planet. After over half a century, the playbook remains the same. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
Whither Nest. This is what happens when a company with some great ideas is told they need to grow and expand, are given a lot of cash to do so, but move outside the realm of their abilities and original vision. The Nest thermostat was a really great idea (although way too expensive for my tastes). But then they tried other things after being acquired by Google/Alphabet, and it appears as if that spelled the doom for Nest. Whenever someone talks about the hottest new thing and how it's going to revolutionize the way we live, I think of thousands of stories like this one. I've seen this story way too often. (Grokked from John)
NPR interviews three generations of people about their views on politics. Speaking from the "Shadow" generation (not exactly boomers, but not exactly Xers either), we fall between the 45 and 65 year olds. I remember Walter Cronkite (who developed my love for news), Watergate was my first identifiable political memory (I do remember protests and hippies), but I also remember Reagan differently (and I remember the deepened recession he brought when he came into office). In '82 when I was first looking for a paycheck job (I was already mowing several people's lawns for money) was the deepest recession until the most recent. In 91 I lost my first professional job (less than 1 year into it) during that recession and the First Gulf War. I remember the military struggling to rid itself of drugs and grappling with a changing world and its expectations (racism and sexism). I remember working in offices before computers were ubiquitous. I remember people smoking and drinking at their desks, not to mention pin-up (and more explicit) calendars in work areas. I remember discussions of how the Presidency had lost its imprimatur of power and respect. I remember the Moral Majority and their puritanical effect on our culture. I remember HIV and AIDS, LGBT people coming out of the closet (I still know some older friends who are still in the closet), the scandal of rampant child abuse coming into the open for discussion. The world is entirely different and oddly the same from when I was born.
"Americans died at a higher rate in 2015, news that comes as a surprise to experts who are used to seeing a decline in the number of deaths." No worries.
"In California, 1,734 hives were stolen during peak almond pollination season in 2016. In Butte County alone, the number of stolen hives jumped from 200 in 2015 to 400 this year, according to Freeman." So, bee hive rustling is a thing now. So are "bee brokers" who sell the services of other people's bee hives. (Grokked from Kameron Hurley)
If only all those low-wage income earners would just be smart about their money they wouldn't be so in debt. You know, except when that's actually the employer's plan, to put them in dent and shift the cost of business to their employees. Fuckstockings. (Grokked from Chip Dawes)
Maine Gov. Paul LePage's office sends letters out treating environmental supporters. Because, you know, he's all built of the feelies or something. (Grokked from Karl Ziellenbach)
In North Carolina, the Tea Party begins to eat its own. In a special election tomorrow, we could see a Tea Party darling, with the support of the Trumpster, lose her primary because she had fallen a few percentages short of perfection. "'She's someone who got to Washington and realized she wanted to get things done,' (political science professor Steven) Greene said of her seeming evolution over the past six years. 'And that's not a popular thing in the GOP.'"
Hey look, when people with big-microphones hold institutions accountable, suddenly they do what is right. And then go back just as soon as the spotlight drifts away. Yep, greed is good is still the business mantra.
It's going to be a short, hot summer for the House of Representatives. So, here is the next test of Speaker Ryan, to actually get shit done in an election year, even with much lowered expectations of what needs to get done.
About the African-American the Trumpster pointed out last week, "'I am not a Trump supporter,' (Gregory) Cheadle said. 'I went to go hear Donald Trump because I have an open mind.'" He's also running for office. Not exactly a Joe the Plumber moment, but if you're a Trumpster advisor, you really can't be liking this.
Tweet of my heart: @thomas_violence its such a weird coincidence that all these young financial successes all have rich parents, despite being completely self-made
The Dr. Phil Memorial Scholarship Fund gofundme page. (Grokked from Janiece)
"Faced with these results, the paper suggests that besides going after (movie) pirates, Hollywood can also tweak its own business strategies (of delaying DVD releases in different countries) to target the problem." Yeah, like that's going to happen. (Grokked from John)
"A… woman bought her neighbor's used freezer for $30, not realizing it contained frozen parts of the seller's dead mother." If you wrote that as a story nobody would ever believe you.
"24 Things Women Over 30 Should Wear." Yeah, that pretty well sums it up. (Grokked from Elizabeth Bear)
Sharing that you're a schizophrenic. On overcoming the social stigma of discussing mental health issues.
"The US government, in a first, is preparing to approve a private commercial space mission beyond the Earth's orbit, the Wall Street Journal has reported." (Grokked from Warren Ellis)
Plugless wireless electrical vehicle charging. (Grokked from Dan)
Before climate denial there was smog denial. The long history of the oil (and by extension the fossil-fuels) industry trying to refute the science that says they're poisoning the planet. After over half a century, the playbook remains the same. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
Whither Nest. This is what happens when a company with some great ideas is told they need to grow and expand, are given a lot of cash to do so, but move outside the realm of their abilities and original vision. The Nest thermostat was a really great idea (although way too expensive for my tastes). But then they tried other things after being acquired by Google/Alphabet, and it appears as if that spelled the doom for Nest. Whenever someone talks about the hottest new thing and how it's going to revolutionize the way we live, I think of thousands of stories like this one. I've seen this story way too often. (Grokked from John)
NPR interviews three generations of people about their views on politics. Speaking from the "Shadow" generation (not exactly boomers, but not exactly Xers either), we fall between the 45 and 65 year olds. I remember Walter Cronkite (who developed my love for news), Watergate was my first identifiable political memory (I do remember protests and hippies), but I also remember Reagan differently (and I remember the deepened recession he brought when he came into office). In '82 when I was first looking for a paycheck job (I was already mowing several people's lawns for money) was the deepest recession until the most recent. In 91 I lost my first professional job (less than 1 year into it) during that recession and the First Gulf War. I remember the military struggling to rid itself of drugs and grappling with a changing world and its expectations (racism and sexism). I remember working in offices before computers were ubiquitous. I remember people smoking and drinking at their desks, not to mention pin-up (and more explicit) calendars in work areas. I remember discussions of how the Presidency had lost its imprimatur of power and respect. I remember the Moral Majority and their puritanical effect on our culture. I remember HIV and AIDS, LGBT people coming out of the closet (I still know some older friends who are still in the closet), the scandal of rampant child abuse coming into the open for discussion. The world is entirely different and oddly the same from when I was born.
"Americans died at a higher rate in 2015, news that comes as a surprise to experts who are used to seeing a decline in the number of deaths." No worries.
"In California, 1,734 hives were stolen during peak almond pollination season in 2016. In Butte County alone, the number of stolen hives jumped from 200 in 2015 to 400 this year, according to Freeman." So, bee hive rustling is a thing now. So are "bee brokers" who sell the services of other people's bee hives. (Grokked from Kameron Hurley)
If only all those low-wage income earners would just be smart about their money they wouldn't be so in debt. You know, except when that's actually the employer's plan, to put them in dent and shift the cost of business to their employees. Fuckstockings. (Grokked from Chip Dawes)
Maine Gov. Paul LePage's office sends letters out treating environmental supporters. Because, you know, he's all built of the feelies or something. (Grokked from Karl Ziellenbach)
In North Carolina, the Tea Party begins to eat its own. In a special election tomorrow, we could see a Tea Party darling, with the support of the Trumpster, lose her primary because she had fallen a few percentages short of perfection. "'She's someone who got to Washington and realized she wanted to get things done,' (political science professor Steven) Greene said of her seeming evolution over the past six years. 'And that's not a popular thing in the GOP.'"
Hey look, when people with big-microphones hold institutions accountable, suddenly they do what is right. And then go back just as soon as the spotlight drifts away. Yep, greed is good is still the business mantra.
It's going to be a short, hot summer for the House of Representatives. So, here is the next test of Speaker Ryan, to actually get shit done in an election year, even with much lowered expectations of what needs to get done.
About the African-American the Trumpster pointed out last week, "'I am not a Trump supporter,' (Gregory) Cheadle said. 'I went to go hear Donald Trump because I have an open mind.'" He's also running for office. Not exactly a Joe the Plumber moment, but if you're a Trumpster advisor, you really can't be liking this.
Tweet of my heart: @thomas_violence its such a weird coincidence that all these young financial successes all have rich parents, despite being completely self-made
Friday, June 3, 2016
Linkee-poo, just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving
The struggle to pay for college doesn't just include the costs of college. This isn't new, but I have a feeling a lot of boomer parents are just discovering this. When I graduated with my BFA, I had to quit my job at the Admissions Office and at the campus bookstore. My landlord was also sad to lose his helper (especially since I was repainting his properties) and I lost some freelance clients (not that I was making much there). And with the current associates degree, I was still working a full-time job while going to class and clinicals full-time. Have I ever mentioned stealing toilet-paper as an undergraduate to help make ends meet (which is why I consider real, comfortable toilet paper a luxury even to this day)? Yeah. Not a new story.
Has somebody checked the Florence house of Gucci designer Alessandro Michele for signs of stroke? Because evidence suggests ischemic changes to the brain. Seriously fashion press, give it all the wine tasting adjectives you want, this shit isn't a "quirky Italian vision", it's ugly. Nobody dresses like this. And if they did you'd be justified for taking them to the hospital. (Grokked from John)
Smart earplugs for the battlefield. Yeah, I'm not sure I'd wear them either. But then having good training before you engage in a real firefight would be necessary. You have to learn to trust the tools (and know their limits).
"Donald Trump on Thursday ramped up criticism of the judge presiding over fraud cases against Trump University, declaring that U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel has 'an absolute conflict' in the case because of his 'Mexican heritage.'… 'I’m building a wall. It’s an inherent conflict of interest…'" Well, at least the Trumpster knows he's being racists.
"A Donald Trump delegate from Tennessee… has said that while he's backed the people rising up to take back their government from tyranny, he believes some U.S. leaders need to be 'eliminated.'" Gee, why do liberals see conservatives as whackaloons? I don't know.
So, six years after promising to show us what the GOP plan was for governing, other than saying "NO" to President Obama, Paul Ryan rolls out his plan for "a better way." Sorta, he didn't actually have the plan, just a stack of papers to show and a bunch of "rah rah, America" talk. So, six years in and still no actual plan. Anybody else think his staff is just ripping off the covers of his "budget" and "healthcare plan" and recovering them with "A Better Way"? But on the positive side, the GOP seems to have cornered the market on dramatic and rising tension music clips. I'm reminded of the Door's front man Jim Morrison's arrest for public indecency for supposedly exposing himself to the audience, which there's good evidence he didn't. But after he supposedly did he asked the crowd, "Did you see it, you saw it didn't you?" Same thing, people will want to believe because Paul Ryan held up a stack of papers that he actually showed them the plan. "It is a tale. Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing." - Macbeth Act 5.
Has somebody checked the Florence house of Gucci designer Alessandro Michele for signs of stroke? Because evidence suggests ischemic changes to the brain. Seriously fashion press, give it all the wine tasting adjectives you want, this shit isn't a "quirky Italian vision", it's ugly. Nobody dresses like this. And if they did you'd be justified for taking them to the hospital. (Grokked from John)
Smart earplugs for the battlefield. Yeah, I'm not sure I'd wear them either. But then having good training before you engage in a real firefight would be necessary. You have to learn to trust the tools (and know their limits).
"Donald Trump on Thursday ramped up criticism of the judge presiding over fraud cases against Trump University, declaring that U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel has 'an absolute conflict' in the case because of his 'Mexican heritage.'… 'I’m building a wall. It’s an inherent conflict of interest…'" Well, at least the Trumpster knows he's being racists.
"A Donald Trump delegate from Tennessee… has said that while he's backed the people rising up to take back their government from tyranny, he believes some U.S. leaders need to be 'eliminated.'" Gee, why do liberals see conservatives as whackaloons? I don't know.
So, six years after promising to show us what the GOP plan was for governing, other than saying "NO" to President Obama, Paul Ryan rolls out his plan for "a better way." Sorta, he didn't actually have the plan, just a stack of papers to show and a bunch of "rah rah, America" talk. So, six years in and still no actual plan. Anybody else think his staff is just ripping off the covers of his "budget" and "healthcare plan" and recovering them with "A Better Way"? But on the positive side, the GOP seems to have cornered the market on dramatic and rising tension music clips. I'm reminded of the Door's front man Jim Morrison's arrest for public indecency for supposedly exposing himself to the audience, which there's good evidence he didn't. But after he supposedly did he asked the crowd, "Did you see it, you saw it didn't you?" Same thing, people will want to believe because Paul Ryan held up a stack of papers that he actually showed them the plan. "It is a tale. Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing." - Macbeth Act 5.
Thursday, June 2, 2016
Linkee-poo, the righteous rise with burning eyes of hatred and ill-will
The Open Letter to American People signed by many authors as an attempt to say, "we see what you're doing there, Donald, and we've seen your kind before." And the Open Letter to the Writers pointing out that their own letter is full of the problems they are railing against (while also saying they're against Trump). Truth is always the casualty of populism and politics. That "shining city on a hill" (American Exceptionalism) which Reagan reinvoked sounds so wonderful, few people realize that it was built on the bones of those sacrificed to avarice, constructed by slaves and its populace marched forth to shibboleth while treading on the dispossessed and the underprivileged from the time it was first cribbed from Jesus by John Winthrop as he sat off the shores of Plymouth. When I hear that phrase (which in my youthful ignorance once used as well) I cringe. (Grokked from Justine Larbalestier)
"'I have made it a hobby to investigate the stories of such prodigies,' Ericsson writes, 'and I can report with confidence that I have never found a convincing case for anyone developing extraordinary abilities without intense, extended practice.'" On the myth of "talent" and benefit of deliberate practice.
NPR's Hidden Brain podcast on the behavior science behind losing weight. Big news; stress and lack of planning lead to increased weight gain, eating a bigger breakfast (and smaller other meals) actually leads to losing weight (for consuming the same number of calories). Also, consciously having "cheat days" in a diet doesn't really change how much weight you lose on the diet (because people cheat anyway, but allowing yourself to do it helps reduce stress).
"A germ that can't be treated with an antibiotic that is often used as the last resort has shown up for the first time in the United States." Want to really know why drug companies aren't developing antibacterials? You know how they say, "It costs too much and they don't feel they could charge a 'realistic' price"? Yeah, last year Pfizer paid out $1.20 in dividends to their shareholders, on all 6B shares outstanding. That's nearly US$9B in one year. Cash out the door. Tell me again how much it cost to develop drugs. Oh yeah, it's US$2.6B. That means for the money Pfizer (and Pfizer alone) sent out as payments to their shareholders, they could have developed 3.5 new antibiotics. From just their profits of the last year (note, drug development is typically a decade long process). And smart people are saying we need to offer big pharma a prize to develop new antibiotics (note in article he says 37 are in development, I would do the research to knock that number down, but it's a long day and I have other things to do). They don't need a prize. They just need to have their priorities readjusted (and maybe we need a little price controls like other countries have, or maybe just allow Medicare to negotiate drug costs). Fuck big pharma. (We won't discuss how most antibiotics we have are refinements of penicillin and not anything really "new", which is part of the reason we're seeing such strong resistance develop so quickly, overuse in both humans and mostly in animals is another reason.)
Sure, you can trust police officers. Dear good cops who will say we're painting all cops with the same brush, you need to cull these people from your midst. It's possible. I did it for our local force. It sucks, it hurts, and it causes bad feelings, but you and your profession will be better for it.
North Carolina Gov. McCrory gets a little temper-tantrumish as the 4th Circuit Court (which also hold jurisdiction over NC) confirms the right of a transgender child to use the bathroom of their gender identity. The best part comes from the good governor who is famous for saying that the states should have the right to determine these issues, especially in the face of an overreaching Obama administration, "Alternatively, the U.S. Congress could take action to clarify the scope of federal anti-discrimination laws so there is consistent application across our country." Bless his little (shriveled and cowardly) heart. (Grokked from Mur Lafferty)
"'A lot of this (attempts to reinstate provisions of the Voting Rights Act that were struck down by SCOTUS) in my view doesn’t have anything to do with anything other than their estimation of what would give them an electoral advantage,' (Sen. Majority Leader Mitch) McConnell told USA Today, suggesting the efforts were motivated by Democratic partisanship. 'It’s not really about knocking down barriers. There are no serious barriers to voting anymore anywhere in America.'" And there in a few sentences he goes from projections to dismissal. Good job, Mitch. We've pretty much established that the vast majority of newly enacted voting laws are an attempt to suppress the votes of likely Democratic supporting voters given the GOP representatives statements to exactly that fact. And then he says there are no barriers. Seriously, this guy is considered the "thoughtful moderate"? He's a partisan hack interested in holding power for no other benefit than to be in charge.
"The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday is proposing new regulations to protect consumers from predatory lending practices that the CFPB's top regulator calls 'debt traps.'" About damn time. Of course, the pay-day lending industry has a hellalotta money to throw into lobbying, which is why Congress has already offered their version of the rules which are significantly weaker. Also, keeping the CFPB strong is one of the (many, many) reasons I wouldn't vote for the Trumpster or any GOP candidate.
Ferrett Steinmetz with a communications strategy to go after the Trumpster. That's good as far as it goes. What the Democrats really need to accept is you're not going to sway the 35% who will vote for the Trumpster no matter what (and the extra 10-15% who will vote against Hillary Clinton), but there are some you can sway while keeping the base engaged and reminded that letting Trump into the White House can only happen if they don't turn out to vote. This is especially true if you just continue the line of "the Trumpster is lying to you." His support base doesn't give a fig. To attempt to sway that base you need to show them how Trump is playing them for chumps, how he is a just another politician (albeit of a different stripe) who will abandon them once in office. You need to show them that Trump isn't selling them a sand castle, he's selling them the idea of a sand castle that he will attempt to build later. Maybe. And to do that you're going to have to nail him on being specific. Not just "how will he get Mexico to pay for the wall" but get him to define "winning." What does it mean when he says his supporters will be "winners again." Winners in life, badminton, the lottery… what exactly will they be winning. Force him to give a concrete answer. And when he dodges (which he will, because he doesn't have an answer) explain how his supporters are being suckered and that Donald winning means they'll lose again.
Instead I expect the Democrats to seize on the Trumpsters history of bad business deals and attack his personal story (just like they've always done). His supporters don't care about that. What they care about is the GOP has been using them to win elections and then not giving them what they want. You have to show them that Donnie will do exactly the same, because he doesn't want what they really want. We don't need policy papers. Just nail down what "winning" means and how he'll do it.
"'I have made it a hobby to investigate the stories of such prodigies,' Ericsson writes, 'and I can report with confidence that I have never found a convincing case for anyone developing extraordinary abilities without intense, extended practice.'" On the myth of "talent" and benefit of deliberate practice.
NPR's Hidden Brain podcast on the behavior science behind losing weight. Big news; stress and lack of planning lead to increased weight gain, eating a bigger breakfast (and smaller other meals) actually leads to losing weight (for consuming the same number of calories). Also, consciously having "cheat days" in a diet doesn't really change how much weight you lose on the diet (because people cheat anyway, but allowing yourself to do it helps reduce stress).
"A germ that can't be treated with an antibiotic that is often used as the last resort has shown up for the first time in the United States." Want to really know why drug companies aren't developing antibacterials? You know how they say, "It costs too much and they don't feel they could charge a 'realistic' price"? Yeah, last year Pfizer paid out $1.20 in dividends to their shareholders, on all 6B shares outstanding. That's nearly US$9B in one year. Cash out the door. Tell me again how much it cost to develop drugs. Oh yeah, it's US$2.6B. That means for the money Pfizer (and Pfizer alone) sent out as payments to their shareholders, they could have developed 3.5 new antibiotics. From just their profits of the last year (note, drug development is typically a decade long process). And smart people are saying we need to offer big pharma a prize to develop new antibiotics (note in article he says 37 are in development, I would do the research to knock that number down, but it's a long day and I have other things to do). They don't need a prize. They just need to have their priorities readjusted (and maybe we need a little price controls like other countries have, or maybe just allow Medicare to negotiate drug costs). Fuck big pharma. (We won't discuss how most antibiotics we have are refinements of penicillin and not anything really "new", which is part of the reason we're seeing such strong resistance develop so quickly, overuse in both humans and mostly in animals is another reason.)
Sure, you can trust police officers. Dear good cops who will say we're painting all cops with the same brush, you need to cull these people from your midst. It's possible. I did it for our local force. It sucks, it hurts, and it causes bad feelings, but you and your profession will be better for it.
North Carolina Gov. McCrory gets a little temper-tantrumish as the 4th Circuit Court (which also hold jurisdiction over NC) confirms the right of a transgender child to use the bathroom of their gender identity. The best part comes from the good governor who is famous for saying that the states should have the right to determine these issues, especially in the face of an overreaching Obama administration, "Alternatively, the U.S. Congress could take action to clarify the scope of federal anti-discrimination laws so there is consistent application across our country." Bless his little (shriveled and cowardly) heart. (Grokked from Mur Lafferty)
"'A lot of this (attempts to reinstate provisions of the Voting Rights Act that were struck down by SCOTUS) in my view doesn’t have anything to do with anything other than their estimation of what would give them an electoral advantage,' (Sen. Majority Leader Mitch) McConnell told USA Today, suggesting the efforts were motivated by Democratic partisanship. 'It’s not really about knocking down barriers. There are no serious barriers to voting anymore anywhere in America.'" And there in a few sentences he goes from projections to dismissal. Good job, Mitch. We've pretty much established that the vast majority of newly enacted voting laws are an attempt to suppress the votes of likely Democratic supporting voters given the GOP representatives statements to exactly that fact. And then he says there are no barriers. Seriously, this guy is considered the "thoughtful moderate"? He's a partisan hack interested in holding power for no other benefit than to be in charge.
"The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday is proposing new regulations to protect consumers from predatory lending practices that the CFPB's top regulator calls 'debt traps.'" About damn time. Of course, the pay-day lending industry has a hellalotta money to throw into lobbying, which is why Congress has already offered their version of the rules which are significantly weaker. Also, keeping the CFPB strong is one of the (many, many) reasons I wouldn't vote for the Trumpster or any GOP candidate.
Ferrett Steinmetz with a communications strategy to go after the Trumpster. That's good as far as it goes. What the Democrats really need to accept is you're not going to sway the 35% who will vote for the Trumpster no matter what (and the extra 10-15% who will vote against Hillary Clinton), but there are some you can sway while keeping the base engaged and reminded that letting Trump into the White House can only happen if they don't turn out to vote. This is especially true if you just continue the line of "the Trumpster is lying to you." His support base doesn't give a fig. To attempt to sway that base you need to show them how Trump is playing them for chumps, how he is a just another politician (albeit of a different stripe) who will abandon them once in office. You need to show them that Trump isn't selling them a sand castle, he's selling them the idea of a sand castle that he will attempt to build later. Maybe. And to do that you're going to have to nail him on being specific. Not just "how will he get Mexico to pay for the wall" but get him to define "winning." What does it mean when he says his supporters will be "winners again." Winners in life, badminton, the lottery… what exactly will they be winning. Force him to give a concrete answer. And when he dodges (which he will, because he doesn't have an answer) explain how his supporters are being suckered and that Donald winning means they'll lose again.
Instead I expect the Democrats to seize on the Trumpsters history of bad business deals and attack his personal story (just like they've always done). His supporters don't care about that. What they care about is the GOP has been using them to win elections and then not giving them what they want. You have to show them that Donnie will do exactly the same, because he doesn't want what they really want. We don't need policy papers. Just nail down what "winning" means and how he'll do it.
Wednesday, June 1, 2016
Linkee-poo, it's another tequila sunrise, this old world still looks the same, another frame
Donald Maas on literary and commercial fiction. Okay, I'm going to have to reread this when my brain can process it more.
The Fandom Is Broken blogpost all the cool kids are talking about. I disagree with much of the analysis in the post, but I understand from where it comes. He somewhat hints that fan criticism might well go back to the Greeks in the auditorium, and that's pretty true. People used to kill artists because their art challenged their world view. They were religious zealots, competitors, dueling patrons, and fans. He's correct that in the past these death threats where a whole lot harder to make when it required handwriting (or typing, or cutting out and gluing letters from newspapers) on paper and attaching an actual stamp (not to mention finding an address to send it to). But it still happened. Don't believe me? Ask Stephen King, Thomas Becket or Gianni Versace (Mr. King is fortunately still with us, but makes mention of his critics in On Writing). Gods I'd hate to see the mail Lucille Ball received. And here let me say, death threats are not okay (even the ones I've been close to). The only thing that is different is the ease with which such messages can be sent, and the community those fans can surround themselves with (instead of being isolated). This is part of the human condition many people have been working to change for the better. It's a symptom of the sickness in the human psyche, a very old archetype. It's not entitlement, it's not privilege (although it often leads to that). Humans can be crappy to each other ever since one stole berries from another one.
Also, let me point out what everybody else has, "OMG, a man is forced off of social media and then another gets a death threat… (falls on conveniently positioned fainting couch)!" Where as a woman says, "Hi, twitter, I'm here" and gets rape and death threats just for doing that. Privilege.
What happens when you get parents involved in school and give the public data about chronic absences? You increase attendance. One of the three legs of successful schooling, involved and engaged parents.
"Student evaluations of teaching are not only unreliable, they are significantly biased against female instructors." While the article states that universities rely solely on SET for hiring, promotions, and firings. Let me call bs on that. Universities justify their decisions with SETs, when they match what they want. When they don't, universities will toss the SETs. Just because someone says they're doing something doesn't mean they're actually doing it. Most often SETs go into a file and are never reviewed… until the university needs to justify a decision. And then they cherry-pick their data. (Grokked from Justine Larbalestier)
Why do welfare funds go to marriage counseling? Because conservatives love the nanny-state when it promotes their ideas of social norms. Also, note the report that less than a quarter of Welfare block grant moneys go to actual cash assistance. Oh yeah, and tell me all about how it was Clinton who signed Welfare Reform into law. I lived through that, I remember the political pressure from the GOP. Also, Florida is dropping people from SNAP. It's that compassionate conservatism coming back into play. I remember one conversation from about a decade back where conservatives were saying that in America nobody is starving to death. Yes, in the richest country in the world we don't have villages filled with Kwashiorkor babies. But that doesn't mean people aren't hungry and just getting by.
Ah, the "Constitutional" sheriffs. They're so cute in their ignorance. First of all, let's be clear, the only requirement for being the sheriff is to win an election. Next up, I wonder how the good sheriff will feel when he's brought before a real Federally appointed judge (instead of the kangaroo "Constitutional" courts - talk about your "creating Sharia Law" conspiracies) for "interference with Federal Officers and their official duties." Also, a State doesn't have the power to strip a Federal official of their powers. They can refuse to cooperate, but that'll just be harder on their constituents (who will then need to be "processed" in federal offices far from their homes). Also, BLM only can enforce laws on Federal Land. So all those "but we've always done this" defenses come down to "whaaaa!" Yes, I know all about that. People cried when we started enforcing our local ordinances and claimed exactly the same thing, "but we've always done this." And my response was, "Yes, you've always been allowed to break the law, you're not being granted that privilege anymore." And that included tearing down some people's fences (which overstepped their properties). You want to see an "entitlement culture," there it is.
And in that vein, the brouhaha over a proposed Main Woods National Park. Note that the exact people who would claim their "private property rights" are exactly the ones who hate that the owners of the property are the ones driving the push for a National Monument designation or making the land a National Park. Oh, if they only had zoning or some collective way of preserving their property (and yes, I'm laughing hard here). Seen that one before. "What do you mean I can't do what I want with my prop… hey, stop my neighbor from putting up a 10 foot fence on his property, and keep him from making so much noise repairing cars at midnight!" (and yes, that was an actual conversation during a meeting, although there were about three minutes of rambling at that ellipses, although it was a different fence than the one mentioned above).
Why do liberals think (some) gun proponents are nuts? "A firearms instructor urged parents to store guns in their kids’ bedrooms as a safety precaution during the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, Think Progress reported Monday." And where did the liberals get the impression that gun owners are talking about a insurrection if they don't get their way at the ballot box? "The former head of an influential pro-gun lobbying group said over the weekend that losing the White House could mean pro-gun activists 'have to resort to the bullet box' to protect the Second Amendment." Yeah, I don't know where we get those ideas.
"A Pew Research Center study released earlier this year found that at least 21 states do not have a single dedicated reporter covering Congress." Yeah, that's a problem. (Grokked from Merrie Haskell)
It says a lot about America politics that Donald Trump is going to be the nominee of a major party. But he isn't the wackiest one running for office this year. Remember when we said, "Isn't the internet great because now disparate like-minded people can get together and offer support and encouragement"? Maybe that wasn't always such a good thing.
The Fandom Is Broken blogpost all the cool kids are talking about. I disagree with much of the analysis in the post, but I understand from where it comes. He somewhat hints that fan criticism might well go back to the Greeks in the auditorium, and that's pretty true. People used to kill artists because their art challenged their world view. They were religious zealots, competitors, dueling patrons, and fans. He's correct that in the past these death threats where a whole lot harder to make when it required handwriting (or typing, or cutting out and gluing letters from newspapers) on paper and attaching an actual stamp (not to mention finding an address to send it to). But it still happened. Don't believe me? Ask Stephen King, Thomas Becket or Gianni Versace (Mr. King is fortunately still with us, but makes mention of his critics in On Writing). Gods I'd hate to see the mail Lucille Ball received. And here let me say, death threats are not okay (even the ones I've been close to). The only thing that is different is the ease with which such messages can be sent, and the community those fans can surround themselves with (instead of being isolated). This is part of the human condition many people have been working to change for the better. It's a symptom of the sickness in the human psyche, a very old archetype. It's not entitlement, it's not privilege (although it often leads to that). Humans can be crappy to each other ever since one stole berries from another one.
Also, let me point out what everybody else has, "OMG, a man is forced off of social media and then another gets a death threat… (falls on conveniently positioned fainting couch)!" Where as a woman says, "Hi, twitter, I'm here" and gets rape and death threats just for doing that. Privilege.
What happens when you get parents involved in school and give the public data about chronic absences? You increase attendance. One of the three legs of successful schooling, involved and engaged parents.
"Student evaluations of teaching are not only unreliable, they are significantly biased against female instructors." While the article states that universities rely solely on SET for hiring, promotions, and firings. Let me call bs on that. Universities justify their decisions with SETs, when they match what they want. When they don't, universities will toss the SETs. Just because someone says they're doing something doesn't mean they're actually doing it. Most often SETs go into a file and are never reviewed… until the university needs to justify a decision. And then they cherry-pick their data. (Grokked from Justine Larbalestier)
Why do welfare funds go to marriage counseling? Because conservatives love the nanny-state when it promotes their ideas of social norms. Also, note the report that less than a quarter of Welfare block grant moneys go to actual cash assistance. Oh yeah, and tell me all about how it was Clinton who signed Welfare Reform into law. I lived through that, I remember the political pressure from the GOP. Also, Florida is dropping people from SNAP. It's that compassionate conservatism coming back into play. I remember one conversation from about a decade back where conservatives were saying that in America nobody is starving to death. Yes, in the richest country in the world we don't have villages filled with Kwashiorkor babies. But that doesn't mean people aren't hungry and just getting by.
Ah, the "Constitutional" sheriffs. They're so cute in their ignorance. First of all, let's be clear, the only requirement for being the sheriff is to win an election. Next up, I wonder how the good sheriff will feel when he's brought before a real Federally appointed judge (instead of the kangaroo "Constitutional" courts - talk about your "creating Sharia Law" conspiracies) for "interference with Federal Officers and their official duties." Also, a State doesn't have the power to strip a Federal official of their powers. They can refuse to cooperate, but that'll just be harder on their constituents (who will then need to be "processed" in federal offices far from their homes). Also, BLM only can enforce laws on Federal Land. So all those "but we've always done this" defenses come down to "whaaaa!" Yes, I know all about that. People cried when we started enforcing our local ordinances and claimed exactly the same thing, "but we've always done this." And my response was, "Yes, you've always been allowed to break the law, you're not being granted that privilege anymore." And that included tearing down some people's fences (which overstepped their properties). You want to see an "entitlement culture," there it is.
And in that vein, the brouhaha over a proposed Main Woods National Park. Note that the exact people who would claim their "private property rights" are exactly the ones who hate that the owners of the property are the ones driving the push for a National Monument designation or making the land a National Park. Oh, if they only had zoning or some collective way of preserving their property (and yes, I'm laughing hard here). Seen that one before. "What do you mean I can't do what I want with my prop… hey, stop my neighbor from putting up a 10 foot fence on his property, and keep him from making so much noise repairing cars at midnight!" (and yes, that was an actual conversation during a meeting, although there were about three minutes of rambling at that ellipses, although it was a different fence than the one mentioned above).
Why do liberals think (some) gun proponents are nuts? "A firearms instructor urged parents to store guns in their kids’ bedrooms as a safety precaution during the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, Think Progress reported Monday." And where did the liberals get the impression that gun owners are talking about a insurrection if they don't get their way at the ballot box? "The former head of an influential pro-gun lobbying group said over the weekend that losing the White House could mean pro-gun activists 'have to resort to the bullet box' to protect the Second Amendment." Yeah, I don't know where we get those ideas.
"A Pew Research Center study released earlier this year found that at least 21 states do not have a single dedicated reporter covering Congress." Yeah, that's a problem. (Grokked from Merrie Haskell)
It says a lot about America politics that Donald Trump is going to be the nominee of a major party. But he isn't the wackiest one running for office this year. Remember when we said, "Isn't the internet great because now disparate like-minded people can get together and offer support and encouragement"? Maybe that wasn't always such a good thing.
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Linkee-poo gears grinding
After two weeks of vacation, having a little trouble starting back up (plus all the madness at the day thing after 2 weeks of me not here and trying to correct their "stop gap" measures). So a short one today.
Just in case you thought the VA screwing over veterans was a new thing. "Last year, an NPR investigation found the Department of Veterans Affairs failed to notify thousands of mustard gas test subjects of their eligibility to apply for compensation — and that it routinely denied claims from veterans who qualified. In many cases, the VA has said veterans don't have enough evidence of their participation in the tests to get benefits — even though the tests were kept off official records." And you thought I was going to go for the Agent Orange scandal, didn't you. Note, I didn't go back to the "Bonus Army" (note the long history of promised compensation which never materialized in that article).
So, after two weeks of vacation, how far has the Trumpster gone in being "presidential." Ah, still at the same point when I left. Good to know. In case you might not see it, this is a classic move of enforcing codependency. By calling the press "shameful" and saying he "wanted the donations to veterans groups to be 'private' and that he didn't want 'credit' for the money he raised…" he is entangling the press (and by extension how much time and air he consumes daily) in an abusive relationship. And that it'll probably be close to the lead (if not the actual lead) in the nightly news is an example of why the abused spouse/child/SO doesn't leave and will eventually defended the abuser. You're watching it play out in our national press right now. And yes, I am serious about that comparison. You might remember that the Trumpster was overjoyed by press coverage of his fundraiser and how he was taking TV share from the Fox News debate.
Tweet of my heart: @Olivianuzzi To recap: Trump said he raised $6 million for veterans. He didn't raise $6 million for veterans. He believes pointing this out is dishonest.
Just in case you thought the VA screwing over veterans was a new thing. "Last year, an NPR investigation found the Department of Veterans Affairs failed to notify thousands of mustard gas test subjects of their eligibility to apply for compensation — and that it routinely denied claims from veterans who qualified. In many cases, the VA has said veterans don't have enough evidence of their participation in the tests to get benefits — even though the tests were kept off official records." And you thought I was going to go for the Agent Orange scandal, didn't you. Note, I didn't go back to the "Bonus Army" (note the long history of promised compensation which never materialized in that article).
So, after two weeks of vacation, how far has the Trumpster gone in being "presidential." Ah, still at the same point when I left. Good to know. In case you might not see it, this is a classic move of enforcing codependency. By calling the press "shameful" and saying he "wanted the donations to veterans groups to be 'private' and that he didn't want 'credit' for the money he raised…" he is entangling the press (and by extension how much time and air he consumes daily) in an abusive relationship. And that it'll probably be close to the lead (if not the actual lead) in the nightly news is an example of why the abused spouse/child/SO doesn't leave and will eventually defended the abuser. You're watching it play out in our national press right now. And yes, I am serious about that comparison. You might remember that the Trumpster was overjoyed by press coverage of his fundraiser and how he was taking TV share from the Fox News debate.
Tweet of my heart: @Olivianuzzi To recap: Trump said he raised $6 million for veterans. He didn't raise $6 million for veterans. He believes pointing this out is dishonest.
Friday, May 20, 2016
Back June 1
This is one of one unscheduled blogging lulls I talked about earlier. Everything is fine. Spending money like a drunken yuppie. Hope you're having fun as well.
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