"Louisiana has withstood devastating hurricanes before, but authorities are urging residents not to underestimate the danger and destruction Tropical Storm Barry threatens as it gets closer to the coast Friday." Many people like to remember that Katrina hit as a Cat 5 hurricane. Those categories are based on wind speed, but most of the damage these storms do are from the water. Barry is just a tropical storm, but it has a huge potential to drop water as it makes its way inland. And all that water will find its way to the Mississippi. The slower the storm moves, the more chance it has to pick up water from the Gulf of Mexico and dump it on land. New Orleans survived Katrina's eye-wall, it flooded days after she moved inland as all that water came down the Mississippi. But this time the Mississippi is already close to flood stage.
"The U.S. Geological Survey reports that a 4.6 magnitude earthquake has rattled the Three Lakes area of Washington state. That was followed minutes later by a 3.5 magnitude aftershock near the city of Monroe, some 30 miles northeast of Seattle."
For you higher mathematics types. "Shitov has now sliced through these uncertainties with a crisp, simple demonstration that Hedetniemi’s conjecture is false. In a paper whose main argument boils down to just over one page of dense mathematics, he shows how to construct a type of tensor product that requires fewer colors than either of its constituent graphs." Okay, my brain hurts. (Grokked from Sheila)
"Japan's Hayabusa2 has successfully collected its second sample from the asteroid Ryugu."
Nuclear power is pollutant free. "A small radiation leak from a Soviet nuclear submarine that sank 30 years ago has been found, Norwegian researchers said Thursday, but it poses no risk to people or fish." Except when it isn't.
"A man who was in a vegetative state for 11 years yet at the center of a bitter dispute that divided his family and French courts, and provoked national soul-searching over how to deal with terminally ill patients, died on Thursday." Those cases are never easy. And this is why I tell people, let other know your wishes. Have a durable healthcare power of attorney. You never know when you're going to need it.
"Now a study has answers, finding no difference in hospital deaths, readmissions or costs when comparing results from doctors trained before and after caps limiting duties to 80 hours per week took effect." Yes, some doctors have long hours and it's good to know who can handle them. But sleep deprivation does have quantifiable effects on patient outcomes. This "100-hour work week" bullshit is just hazing.
"The tiny, 1,200-year-old Teutonic Cemetery is the only graveyard inside the walls of Vatican City. The cemetery just behind St. Peter's Basilica is the final resting place of royals, cardinals, artists. Until Thursday, there had been a brief hope that just maybe, the remains of a teenage girl who disappeared 36 years ago might also be inside one of the tombs." It was an anonymous tip, and there was evidence the 19th century graves had been disturbed. But in both tombs they found no human remains. Including the princesses who were supposed to be buried there. If this isn't a storybone, I don't know what one would be. Of possible interest to this story is the history of the Catholic Church "re-finding" relics of saints after many reliquaries were destroyed during the reformation.
"Google today defended its practice of having workers listen to users' Google Assistant queries, following the leak of 1,000 voice recordings to a media outlet. Google also said it will try to prevent future leaks of its users' voice recordings." Note they'e not going to stop recording, or sharing those recordings. They'll just try and not have them leak in the future. (Grokked from John)
"A Texas man who had been missing for months was eaten, bones and all, by his pack of dogs, sheriff’s deputies said."
"The one with the face, known as Apidima 2, is a 170,000-year-old Neanderthal—no surprises there. But the other, Apidima 1, was one of us—a 210,000-year-old modern human. And if the team is right about that, the partial skull is the oldest specimen of Homo sapiens outside Africa, handily beating the previous record holder, a jawbone from Israel’s Misliya Cave that’s about 180,000 years old." Get out the erasers, it's time to rewrite prehistory. Again.
"'The relationship between the slack in the economy or unemployment and inflation was a strong one 50 years ago ... and has gone away,' (Fed Chairman) Powell says." Or, ya know, it could be what or how we're measuring isn't giving us correct information on unemployment or inflation.
"Battling to shape public perceptions of the worsening migrant crisis at the southern U.S. border, Vice President Mike Pence and a group of Republican senators will head to the border to tour a migrant detention center while Democrats host a high-profile hearing about the centers featuring testimony from government watchdog officials and some of their most outspoken members, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez." Wait, I need to make more popcorn.
"US Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to begin the previously postponed raids across the country Sunday to arrest thousands of migrant families who already have court orders to be removed, according to a US official." Because the pause was never meant to be permanent. It was only meant to make the president appear rational. So, considering ICE and CBP facilities are over capacity, just where will they house these 2000 people?
"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday warned her caucus about President Donald Trump’s planned immigration raids this weekend, urging members to spread information about undocumented immigrants' legal rights."
"Officials told NBC News they are targeting approximately 2,000 families in several cities — Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and San Francisco." So why do they announce this? Because this is terrorism by the government. They want undocumented immigrants to be afraid. And that will hamper policing efforts. But then "law and order" conservatives only want law and order for themselves. When it comes to anyone else it's fuck all.
"The first shipment of the Russian-made S-400 air defense missile system has landed in Ankara, in a move that sets up a potential showdown between Turkey and the United States."
"An undercover researcher from a group that supported the bill took Aguero up on his offer and was referred to Republican consulting firm Mobilize the Message, who gave him a contract offering a system of payouts and bonuses for presenting himself to lawmakers as a concerned citizen and repeating their talking points." Man, this gig economy is a killer. (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)
"A Republican candidate for Mississippi governor has refused to be interviewed by a female reporter unless she brings a male colleague with her… During the CNN interview with Ms Campbell and Mr Foster on Thursday, the 36-year-old gubernatorial candidate cited his religion and faith, arguing he made a vow to his wife to not be alone with someone of the opposite sex." You know, if you don't have an adult relationship with your spouse, I'm not sure you are in any position to be elected.
"Former Palm Beach State Attorney Barry Krischer accused Labor Secretary Alex Acosta of trying to 'rewrite history' by suggesting that state prosecutors in Florida went easy on accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein when he got a lenient plea deal more than a decade ago" As Jack Nicholson as the Joke said, "This town needs an enema!"
Editorial updateAlex Acosta has resigned.
"President Donald Trump is expected to announce new executive action Thursday to try to force the inclusion of a citizenship question on the 2020 census, even after the Supreme Court temporarily blocked the effort." If they didn't buy the "to enforce the Voting Rights Act" excuse, I doubt they'll accept the "because I said so" excuse. Republicans know they'll lose in a true representative government, so they'll try every tactic to tilt the field towards themselves.
"President Donald Trump retreated from his quest to add a question about US citizenship to the 2020 census on Thursday, instead asking government agencies to provide records that could determine a head-count of citizens without polling census-takers directly." Note, some of those agencies can't share that information legally. Also please note that the Census is of "all persons", not just citizens. And that congressional reapportionment is of "all persons", not just citizens (or registered voters). There is no reason for the Commerce Department to have this data.
Case in point. "Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose has told House Democrats that county officials are prepared to successfully administer elections no matter what the day. LaRose's message is in response to a letter from House member expressing concerns about potentially changing the date of the 2020 Presidential Primary to March 17, St. Patrick's Day… The two dozen Democrats from the Ohio House are worried that St. Patrick's Day festivities could impact access to polling locations, discourage people from working at the polls, and reduce overall turnout." The move is supposed to be a work around for the GOP primary rules that any states with primaries before March 15 will be winner take all. So, anyone think there will be a credible challenge to Trump (the only way this concern would be legitimate)? Right now this change is in the 2 year budget Ohio needed to pass before July 1st. They're still working on it.
Here we go. "The Trump administration warned of unspecified 'active threats' to U.S. elections as top security officials briefed Congress Wednesday on steps the government has taken to improve election security in the wake of Russian interference in 2016."
"He pushed back against establishment Washington on Thursday with a one-two punch — first by giving conservative bloggers a space to air their grievances about anti-conservative media bias, then by announcing an executive order to collect data about immigrants after the courts blocked him from adding a citizenship question to the census." Because Trump is a weak person's version of a tough guy.
"But, if attendees were hoping for a precise battle plan to emerge from the summit, they may have walked away disappointed. Speaking to CNN Business on the condition of anonymity because their employers had not authorized them to speak to the press, two attendees said that the event was light on substance. In fact, as one attendee put it, there was 'zero substance.'" I'm sorry, your dear leader doesn't need to organize shit, it's your job to praise him and help him get re-elected. Did you miss understand this relationship?
"... in the rose garden of the @whitehouse, @sebgorka just screamed at journalist @briankarem calling him a 'punk.' then someone remarked that gorka could 'kick your punk ass.'" A twitter post with video. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are two of the most ideologically aligned candidates in the Democratic primary — both left-wing populists who rail against a 'rigged' economic system… But the fellow enemies of the 1 percent have surprisingly different bases of support." Next up, water is wet. The question this time is will Bernie unequivocally support the nominee and work for their election?
Friday, July 12, 2019
Thursday, July 11, 2019
Linkee-poo dreams of love as time runs through my hand
Strange Horizons's annual fund raiser. (Grokked from Kameron Hurley)
"Government scientists are starting to peek into the brains of people caught in the nation's opioid epidemic, to see if medicines proven to treat addiction, like methadone, do more than ease the cravings and withdrawal. Do they also heal a brain damaged by addiction? And which one works best for which patient?"
"Since the intelligence test was invented more than 100 years ago, our IQ scores have been steadily increasing. Even the average person today would have been considered a genius compared to someone born in 1919 – a phenomenon known as the Flynn effect… We may have to enjoy it while we can. The most recent evidence suggests that this trend may now be slowing. It may even be reversing, meaning that we have already passed the summit of human intellectual potential." Peak IQ? We peaked? When the fuck did that happen? Then, of course, they start discussing brain sizes (which have nothing to do with it). (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
"Plastic waste gets a lot of attention when photos of dead whales with stomachs full of plastic bags hit the news. Pieces of plastic also litter cities, and tiny plastic particles are even floating in the air… Largely overlooked is how making plastic in the first place affects the environment, especially global warming. Plastic actually has a big carbon footprint, but so do many of the alternatives to plastic. And that's what makes replacing plastic a problem without a clear solution."
And another episode of everything you know is a lie. "Our reverence for breakfast is actually relatively recent. Before the late 19th century in the US, breakfast didn’t have any particular importance ascribed to it. But all that was changed by a small group of religious fanatics and lobbyists for cereal and bacon companies." (Grokked from Justine Larbalestier)
"Bedbugs don't fly or jump or come in from your garden. They crawl very quickly and are great at hiding in your luggage when you travel and hitching a ride into your home — or hotel room."
"Forecasters said Louisiana could see up to 12 inches of rain by Monday, with isolated areas receiving as much as 18 inches. And the storm's surge at the mouth of the Mississippi could also mean a river that's been running high for months will rise even higher."
"President Trump signed an executive order Wednesday directing the Department of Health and Human Services to develop policies addressing three goals: reducing the number of patients developing kidney failure, reducing how many Americans get dialysis treatment in dialysis centers, and making more kidneys available for transplant." Queue the "Live Organ Transplants" scene from Monty Python's The Meaning of Life. "'There is one law that makes this new change possible. The same law that requires people with [pre-existing] conditions get coverage. The ACA,' (Andy Slavitt, who ran the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services under President Obama) wrote. 'Without it, there is no authority to do this.'" I would say this is an oopsie, but then if they strike down Obamacare they can shrug and say, "What can you do?" and go back to doing nothing which is easier.
"'Based on careful analysis and thorough consideration, the president has decided to withdraw the rebate rule,' spokesperson Judd Deere said in a statement. 'The Trump administration is encouraged by continuing bipartisan conversations about legislation to reduce outrageous drug costs imposed on the American people, and President Trump will consider using any and all tools to ensure that prescription drug costs will continue to decline.'" Continue to decline? What drugs are these people on? Cause they gotta stop bogarting them.
"A new study has linked drinking just a small glass of a sugary drink per day -- 100 ml, about a third of a typical can of soda -- to an 18% increase in overall cancer risk and a 22% increase in risk for breast cancer." Again, correlation is not causation.
Do you heard what I hear? "In Philadelphia, 30 parks and recreation centers are outfitted with a small speaker called the Mosquito. It blares a constant, high-pitched ringing noise all night long — but one that only teenagers and young adults can hear… Anyone over age 25 is supposed to be immune because, basically, their ear cells have started to die off." Using sonic weapons domestically, I'm sure nothing bad can happen here. Like radiation bleed over (into non-park areas), or that humans are highly variable and this won't work on some teens and might work on people who aren't teens.
"In September 2008, the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers triggered a financial meltdown from which the world has yet to fully recover. The following month, someone using the name Satoshi Nakamoto introduced BitCoin, the first cryptocurrency. Before our eyes, the very architecture of money was evolving — potentially changing the world in the process. In this hour, On the Media looks at the story of money, from its uncertain origins to its digital reinvention in the form of cryptocurrency."
"In this post-truth era, graphs are being used to skew data and spin narrative like never before. Especially with the velocity at which some of these topics spread across social media." When I worked for management consultants they continually asked me to do stupid shit like this. There's a phrase for it. It's called, "Lying using the truth." Note these are just 5 ways that a chart can be used to mislead, this doesn't include examples of wrong (or non-existent) data, or just not doing the graphic accurately (both of which are Fox News staples). (Grokked from Random Michelle)
"Iranian ships attempted to obstruct a British-flagged commercial oil tanker as it sailed in the Persian Gulf, Britain's Defense Ministry said, a move that comes amid heightened tensions over a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers." Britain seized an Iranian tanker suspected of smuggling to Syria in the waters off Gibraltar last week. Move, counter-move, escalation.
A little perspective on the Iran conflict, "On Aug. 19, 2013, the CIA publicly admitted for the first time its involvement in the 1953 coup against Iran's elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh." NPR's Throughline podcast on how the US chose to overthrow the government of Iran all because of oil.
"For thousands of migrants, their journey to the United States has been derailed in northern Mexico border cities under a U.S. program called Migrant Protection Protocols. With shelters overflowing and work unavailable, they create a home wherever they can." So our shelters/CBP stations are over capacity, and now Mexico's shelters are over capacity. Look, these migrants are facing a high probability of crime and/or death in their homes. Nothing we can do will dissuade them from coming. The numbers are down at the border (even after constant stories about how thousands are crossing together for the past month), and they want to say it's because Mexico is stepping up enforcement (put they can't point to laws the Mexicans are enforcing). But you know what? It's damn hot this time of year.
More good news for those economically worried Trump supporters. "The retreat from agricultural lending by the nation’s biggest banks, which has not been previously reported, comes as shrinking cash flow is pushing some farmers to retire early and others to declare bankruptcy, according to farm economists, legal experts, and a review of hundreds of lawsuits filed in federal and state courts."
Why is the quality of whom sits on the courts and who appoints them important? "A constitutional challenge to President Trump's continued ownership of his businesses has been ordered dismissed by a federal appeals court… A three-judge panel at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit ruled unanimously that the attorneys general did not have the standing to bring the lawsuit and instructed a lower court to dismiss the lawsuit." All 3 judges were appointed by Republicans.
"The police said on Wednesday that (American scientist Suzanne) Eaton was asphyxiated. Minor stab wounds were also found on her body, but police said they were not believed to be the cause of her death. The police believe the body was dumped inside the cave, because it was found face down." Where's Hercule Poirot when you need him.
"The goal of the National African American Gun Association is to introduce black Americans to guns and also instruct them on how to use them… Membership spiked after President Trump was sworn into office, Smith says, attributing some of that growth to a political climate where people with racist views feel emboldened to talk about and act on those views." I'm sure all the people who liked to laugh about how gun ownership and purchases went up after Obama was elected are perfectly fine with this.
"Current and former diplomats say the leak of Ambassador Kim Darroch’s sensitive reports is unfortunate and alarming, particularly given the apparent political motive behind it. Yet, they believe any complications will be temporary even as they create short-term turbulence in relations." There's also more of what were in those cables back home.
"Everything changed when he heard the Access Hollywood tape. And it wasn’t just the party chairman’s own gut reaction. Over the next 36 hours, Priebus fielded scores of phone calls from the most prominent people in Republican politics: congressmen and senators, governors, donors, activists and his own RNC members. Every single person was telling him the same thing: Trump was doomed. The party needed to replace him with Mike Pence atop the ticket." Good thing Russians, I mean Wikipedia, released those emails, amIright?
"During the nearly hour-long press conference, Acosta declined several opportunities to apologize to Epstein’s alleged victims. Instead, he offered lawyerly, mild answers about his investigation, in essence arguing that while the deal the government cut with Epstein was bad, it was much better than what state prosecutors were requesting, and was better than nothing." You know there are playbooks for these situations, but this administration continually grabs the wrong one.
And the 2020 media wars are off with a bang. "The White House's social media summit is just another stunt to game the refs… The views of the summit’s guests confirm that the event is a giant excuse to push the right’s tech grievance narrative." Can't game the election if you can't drive the social media bus. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
More. "President Trump on Thursday is hosting a social media summit with some of his biggest social media supporters and some lawmakers. Facebook and Twitter have reportedly been excluded from the summit."
"If Trump moves ahead, he will be threatening a centuries-old consensus that puts Congress in charge of the Census. This legal foundation has been tested and reaffirmed repeatedly throughout American history—the last time when another Republican Party threatened by immigration considered modifying the census process to fit their political ends… Article One of the Constitution explicitly put the census in the hands of Congress, not the president." A little historical perspective.
"Government scientists are starting to peek into the brains of people caught in the nation's opioid epidemic, to see if medicines proven to treat addiction, like methadone, do more than ease the cravings and withdrawal. Do they also heal a brain damaged by addiction? And which one works best for which patient?"
"Since the intelligence test was invented more than 100 years ago, our IQ scores have been steadily increasing. Even the average person today would have been considered a genius compared to someone born in 1919 – a phenomenon known as the Flynn effect… We may have to enjoy it while we can. The most recent evidence suggests that this trend may now be slowing. It may even be reversing, meaning that we have already passed the summit of human intellectual potential." Peak IQ? We peaked? When the fuck did that happen? Then, of course, they start discussing brain sizes (which have nothing to do with it). (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
"Plastic waste gets a lot of attention when photos of dead whales with stomachs full of plastic bags hit the news. Pieces of plastic also litter cities, and tiny plastic particles are even floating in the air… Largely overlooked is how making plastic in the first place affects the environment, especially global warming. Plastic actually has a big carbon footprint, but so do many of the alternatives to plastic. And that's what makes replacing plastic a problem without a clear solution."
And another episode of everything you know is a lie. "Our reverence for breakfast is actually relatively recent. Before the late 19th century in the US, breakfast didn’t have any particular importance ascribed to it. But all that was changed by a small group of religious fanatics and lobbyists for cereal and bacon companies." (Grokked from Justine Larbalestier)
"Bedbugs don't fly or jump or come in from your garden. They crawl very quickly and are great at hiding in your luggage when you travel and hitching a ride into your home — or hotel room."
"Forecasters said Louisiana could see up to 12 inches of rain by Monday, with isolated areas receiving as much as 18 inches. And the storm's surge at the mouth of the Mississippi could also mean a river that's been running high for months will rise even higher."
"President Trump signed an executive order Wednesday directing the Department of Health and Human Services to develop policies addressing three goals: reducing the number of patients developing kidney failure, reducing how many Americans get dialysis treatment in dialysis centers, and making more kidneys available for transplant." Queue the "Live Organ Transplants" scene from Monty Python's The Meaning of Life. "'There is one law that makes this new change possible. The same law that requires people with [pre-existing] conditions get coverage. The ACA,' (Andy Slavitt, who ran the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services under President Obama) wrote. 'Without it, there is no authority to do this.'" I would say this is an oopsie, but then if they strike down Obamacare they can shrug and say, "What can you do?" and go back to doing nothing which is easier.
"'Based on careful analysis and thorough consideration, the president has decided to withdraw the rebate rule,' spokesperson Judd Deere said in a statement. 'The Trump administration is encouraged by continuing bipartisan conversations about legislation to reduce outrageous drug costs imposed on the American people, and President Trump will consider using any and all tools to ensure that prescription drug costs will continue to decline.'" Continue to decline? What drugs are these people on? Cause they gotta stop bogarting them.
"A new study has linked drinking just a small glass of a sugary drink per day -- 100 ml, about a third of a typical can of soda -- to an 18% increase in overall cancer risk and a 22% increase in risk for breast cancer." Again, correlation is not causation.
Do you heard what I hear? "In Philadelphia, 30 parks and recreation centers are outfitted with a small speaker called the Mosquito. It blares a constant, high-pitched ringing noise all night long — but one that only teenagers and young adults can hear… Anyone over age 25 is supposed to be immune because, basically, their ear cells have started to die off." Using sonic weapons domestically, I'm sure nothing bad can happen here. Like radiation bleed over (into non-park areas), or that humans are highly variable and this won't work on some teens and might work on people who aren't teens.
"In September 2008, the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers triggered a financial meltdown from which the world has yet to fully recover. The following month, someone using the name Satoshi Nakamoto introduced BitCoin, the first cryptocurrency. Before our eyes, the very architecture of money was evolving — potentially changing the world in the process. In this hour, On the Media looks at the story of money, from its uncertain origins to its digital reinvention in the form of cryptocurrency."
"In this post-truth era, graphs are being used to skew data and spin narrative like never before. Especially with the velocity at which some of these topics spread across social media." When I worked for management consultants they continually asked me to do stupid shit like this. There's a phrase for it. It's called, "Lying using the truth." Note these are just 5 ways that a chart can be used to mislead, this doesn't include examples of wrong (or non-existent) data, or just not doing the graphic accurately (both of which are Fox News staples). (Grokked from Random Michelle)
"Iranian ships attempted to obstruct a British-flagged commercial oil tanker as it sailed in the Persian Gulf, Britain's Defense Ministry said, a move that comes amid heightened tensions over a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers." Britain seized an Iranian tanker suspected of smuggling to Syria in the waters off Gibraltar last week. Move, counter-move, escalation.
A little perspective on the Iran conflict, "On Aug. 19, 2013, the CIA publicly admitted for the first time its involvement in the 1953 coup against Iran's elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh." NPR's Throughline podcast on how the US chose to overthrow the government of Iran all because of oil.
"For thousands of migrants, their journey to the United States has been derailed in northern Mexico border cities under a U.S. program called Migrant Protection Protocols. With shelters overflowing and work unavailable, they create a home wherever they can." So our shelters/CBP stations are over capacity, and now Mexico's shelters are over capacity. Look, these migrants are facing a high probability of crime and/or death in their homes. Nothing we can do will dissuade them from coming. The numbers are down at the border (even after constant stories about how thousands are crossing together for the past month), and they want to say it's because Mexico is stepping up enforcement (put they can't point to laws the Mexicans are enforcing). But you know what? It's damn hot this time of year.
More good news for those economically worried Trump supporters. "The retreat from agricultural lending by the nation’s biggest banks, which has not been previously reported, comes as shrinking cash flow is pushing some farmers to retire early and others to declare bankruptcy, according to farm economists, legal experts, and a review of hundreds of lawsuits filed in federal and state courts."
Why is the quality of whom sits on the courts and who appoints them important? "A constitutional challenge to President Trump's continued ownership of his businesses has been ordered dismissed by a federal appeals court… A three-judge panel at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit ruled unanimously that the attorneys general did not have the standing to bring the lawsuit and instructed a lower court to dismiss the lawsuit." All 3 judges were appointed by Republicans.
"The police said on Wednesday that (American scientist Suzanne) Eaton was asphyxiated. Minor stab wounds were also found on her body, but police said they were not believed to be the cause of her death. The police believe the body was dumped inside the cave, because it was found face down." Where's Hercule Poirot when you need him.
"The goal of the National African American Gun Association is to introduce black Americans to guns and also instruct them on how to use them… Membership spiked after President Trump was sworn into office, Smith says, attributing some of that growth to a political climate where people with racist views feel emboldened to talk about and act on those views." I'm sure all the people who liked to laugh about how gun ownership and purchases went up after Obama was elected are perfectly fine with this.
"Current and former diplomats say the leak of Ambassador Kim Darroch’s sensitive reports is unfortunate and alarming, particularly given the apparent political motive behind it. Yet, they believe any complications will be temporary even as they create short-term turbulence in relations." There's also more of what were in those cables back home.
"Everything changed when he heard the Access Hollywood tape. And it wasn’t just the party chairman’s own gut reaction. Over the next 36 hours, Priebus fielded scores of phone calls from the most prominent people in Republican politics: congressmen and senators, governors, donors, activists and his own RNC members. Every single person was telling him the same thing: Trump was doomed. The party needed to replace him with Mike Pence atop the ticket." Good thing Russians, I mean Wikipedia, released those emails, amIright?
"During the nearly hour-long press conference, Acosta declined several opportunities to apologize to Epstein’s alleged victims. Instead, he offered lawyerly, mild answers about his investigation, in essence arguing that while the deal the government cut with Epstein was bad, it was much better than what state prosecutors were requesting, and was better than nothing." You know there are playbooks for these situations, but this administration continually grabs the wrong one.
And the 2020 media wars are off with a bang. "The White House's social media summit is just another stunt to game the refs… The views of the summit’s guests confirm that the event is a giant excuse to push the right’s tech grievance narrative." Can't game the election if you can't drive the social media bus. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
More. "President Trump on Thursday is hosting a social media summit with some of his biggest social media supporters and some lawmakers. Facebook and Twitter have reportedly been excluded from the summit."
"If Trump moves ahead, he will be threatening a centuries-old consensus that puts Congress in charge of the Census. This legal foundation has been tested and reaffirmed repeatedly throughout American history—the last time when another Republican Party threatened by immigration considered modifying the census process to fit their political ends… Article One of the Constitution explicitly put the census in the hands of Congress, not the president." A little historical perspective.
Wednesday, July 10, 2019
Linkee-poo knows that diamonds mean money for this art, but that's not the shape of my heart
Rip Torn, and so it goes. In my head, Rip Torn and Rip Taylor are cross wired, and I think my life is a little better for that.
So, there are now news stories (and a book) about how everything we thought we knew about economics and central banking is wrong. You know, because things just aren't lining up. We have low unemployment, but relatively low inflation. Those two things are supposed to work in opposite directions. We have high deficits, but low interest rates. The market doesn't seem to be stoppable. All of this combined makes us question our basic assumptions… Okay, stop it. I'm here to tell you I've been through this 4 times. The last three times (I was 14 the first time, so I don't remember that well) every recession is proceeded by the stories about "It's All New Rules! Everything We Thought Was Right Is Wrong!" It's more reliable than the Treasury Curve Inversion (cough). This cycle is invariably followed by the stories, "Whelp, I guess all these things were right and the rules still apply" about 2 to 3 years later. The economy is sluggish. It is a slow ship to turn. It can take years for trailing indicators to catch up to leading indicators.
"When Disney announced that Halle Bailey, a teen actress and one-half of the singing group Chloe x Halle, had landed the role of Ariel in the forthcoming live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, some people on social media went bonkers." Waits for Laura Ingraham to pontificate on how, of course, mermaids are all white (I'm sure she already has, I don't even need to look).
"Today, LyricFind resells rights to many companies, including Amazon, Pandora, MetroLyrics and Google. If you’ve ever searched Google for lyrics and they’ve popped up so you don’t have to visit another site to get them, chances are they come from LyricFind." The business of licensing music lyrics. The interesting part, and one I've realized through actually using lyric searches, is that even through these companies are paying licensing fees to publish lyrics, they aren't actually provided the lyrics from the publishers. Those are crowd sourced with all the inherent quality issues that surround crowd sourcing projects.
"For 25 years, the federal Violence Against Women Act has required any state that wants to be eligible for certain federal grants to certify that the state covers the cost of medical forensic exams for people who have been sexually assaulted… nor do they have to pay anything out-of-pocket for that exam at any point (not even if they would be reimbursed later)… And yet for some people who have been raped, the bills keep coming — despite this long-standing federal prohibition and other state laws that provide additional financial protections in many places." Because of course they do.
"A new rule was scheduled to kick in that would require drug companies to disclose the price of prescription drugs in most television ads… Hours before the rule was to be implemented, however, a federal judge in the United States District Court in Washington, D.C. blocked it, saying that the Department of Health and Human Services did not have the authority to force drug companies to disclose prices." Fancy that.
"California has become the first state in the country to offer government-subsidized health benefits to young adults living in the U.S. illegally." Because it's the right thing to do, and probably in the long run it'll save money.
"A panel of federal appeals judges aggressively questioned whether Obamacare can survive during Tuesday afternoon oral arguments in a case that could upend the 2010 health care law." When the conservatives pursuing this case first started they were roundly laughed at in legal circles because of their ridiculous argument, that because the fine for not buying insurance was "$0", that it was no longer really a part of the law (thereby misunderstanding what advanced civilizations all realized that 0 is an actual number) and since Chief Justice Roberts based his defense of the law on the Congressional power of taxation with the mandate, that the entire law was invalid. But conservative justices don't concern themselves with actual law, rationality, precedence, or even logic.
"A mysterious disease marked by muscle weakness or paralysis struck 233 people in 2018, most of them children — marking the worst year since the federal government started tracking the illness in 2014." Whispers, "It's still here and we still don't know hardly anything about it."
"Hummus is having a heyday with American consumers, and that could be as good for the soil as it is for our health." Well, I'm glad my choices are good for the planet. At the hospital they make fun of my choice of meal; a yogurt, an apple, and a sandwich of pickle and humus. It's good, good for you, and easy to make. To quote George Clooney on Friends, "God bless a chickpea."
"France plans to put an 'ecotax' on nearly all airline flights starting in 2020, French Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne said Tuesday. The new tax could bring in some $200 million that would support modes of travel that pollute less — such as trains." Oh sure, do that as I'm planning a trip to France.
"Here's a quick breakdown of the fight for equal pay in American soccer." Pay them at least the same bonus given to the men because, well, they actually fucking placed in the World Cup and they fucking won.
Get the tea leaves ready. "All eyes are on Jerome Powell as the Federal Reserve chair begins two days of testimony before Congress."
"European powers accused Iran on Tuesday of 'pursuing activities inconsistent with its commitments' under a 2015 nuclear deal and called for an urgent meeting of the parties to the agreement to discuss Tehran’s compliance."
"The Seth Rich conspiracy traces back to an SVR operation, reports Yahoo News today. Huge if true, and possibly the Russian military's biggest coup yet, not counting the one that landed Trump in the White House." Waves to my Russian friends. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"The six men — three Russians, three Italians — gathered beneath the spectacular painted glass ceiling in the hotel lobby last October had their eyes on history too. Their nominal purpose was an oil deal; their real goal was to undermine liberal democracies and shape a new, nationalist Europe aligned with Moscow." Russia's goal is to destabilize the West. Their support for ultra-right wing groups and politicians are part of that goal. And they're breaking laws that they have little to fear of retaliation. And once they have their knives in, they will twist. Or to those far-right wingers who are getting help, Russia will burn you once the calculus says that doing so will destroy faith in domestic politics. They will trout before the world your complicity (or whatever leverage they have). Russia doesn't need to colonize the West to gain the benefits. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
"A federal appeals court in Manhattan says President Trump cannot block critics from his Twitter account, calling it 'unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.'" It is to my great disgrace the president has not blocked me. Just WTF do I have to do?
"Facing a House of Representatives controlled by Democrats who are issuing document demands and subpoenas, President Trump's White House counsel's office grew its payroll by nearly a third, newly released records reveal." Well, at least there is one part of government growing.
"Alexander Acosta, the US labor secretary under fire for having granted Jeffrey Epstein immunity from federal prosecution in 2008, after the billionaire was investigated for having run a child sex trafficking ring, is proposing 80% funding cuts for the government agency that combats child sex trafficking." Only the best people. Or criminals protecting criminals. They'll cut the programs that cause them grief, first. But make no mistake, except for Defense, they want to cut everything else. (Grokked from Laura J. Mixon)
"President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Tuesday night in support of Home Depot after social media calls to boycott the home improvement retailer… Shoppers have been taking to Twitter and other social media platforms to call for the boycott following news that co-founder Bernie Marcus plans to back Trump's re-election bid." This is actually illegal. The president can't endorse individual businesses or products, and it especially smacks of quid-pro-quo. Especially since Marcus, while a large shareholder, is no longer involved with the company. Also just a reminder that the president, in his tweets, lambasts the "boycott", a tactic he often employs (to little effect I might add).
"Sir Kim Darroch, 65, said he was resigning to put an end to speculation surrounding how long he would stay on as Britain's envoy in Washington after diplomatic cables he sent back to London described the Trump administration as 'inept' and 'chaotic.'" Telling the truth is dangerous in these times.
So, there are now news stories (and a book) about how everything we thought we knew about economics and central banking is wrong. You know, because things just aren't lining up. We have low unemployment, but relatively low inflation. Those two things are supposed to work in opposite directions. We have high deficits, but low interest rates. The market doesn't seem to be stoppable. All of this combined makes us question our basic assumptions… Okay, stop it. I'm here to tell you I've been through this 4 times. The last three times (I was 14 the first time, so I don't remember that well) every recession is proceeded by the stories about "It's All New Rules! Everything We Thought Was Right Is Wrong!" It's more reliable than the Treasury Curve Inversion (cough). This cycle is invariably followed by the stories, "Whelp, I guess all these things were right and the rules still apply" about 2 to 3 years later. The economy is sluggish. It is a slow ship to turn. It can take years for trailing indicators to catch up to leading indicators.
"When Disney announced that Halle Bailey, a teen actress and one-half of the singing group Chloe x Halle, had landed the role of Ariel in the forthcoming live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, some people on social media went bonkers." Waits for Laura Ingraham to pontificate on how, of course, mermaids are all white (I'm sure she already has, I don't even need to look).
"Today, LyricFind resells rights to many companies, including Amazon, Pandora, MetroLyrics and Google. If you’ve ever searched Google for lyrics and they’ve popped up so you don’t have to visit another site to get them, chances are they come from LyricFind." The business of licensing music lyrics. The interesting part, and one I've realized through actually using lyric searches, is that even through these companies are paying licensing fees to publish lyrics, they aren't actually provided the lyrics from the publishers. Those are crowd sourced with all the inherent quality issues that surround crowd sourcing projects.
"For 25 years, the federal Violence Against Women Act has required any state that wants to be eligible for certain federal grants to certify that the state covers the cost of medical forensic exams for people who have been sexually assaulted… nor do they have to pay anything out-of-pocket for that exam at any point (not even if they would be reimbursed later)… And yet for some people who have been raped, the bills keep coming — despite this long-standing federal prohibition and other state laws that provide additional financial protections in many places." Because of course they do.
"A new rule was scheduled to kick in that would require drug companies to disclose the price of prescription drugs in most television ads… Hours before the rule was to be implemented, however, a federal judge in the United States District Court in Washington, D.C. blocked it, saying that the Department of Health and Human Services did not have the authority to force drug companies to disclose prices." Fancy that.
"California has become the first state in the country to offer government-subsidized health benefits to young adults living in the U.S. illegally." Because it's the right thing to do, and probably in the long run it'll save money.
"A panel of federal appeals judges aggressively questioned whether Obamacare can survive during Tuesday afternoon oral arguments in a case that could upend the 2010 health care law." When the conservatives pursuing this case first started they were roundly laughed at in legal circles because of their ridiculous argument, that because the fine for not buying insurance was "$0", that it was no longer really a part of the law (thereby misunderstanding what advanced civilizations all realized that 0 is an actual number) and since Chief Justice Roberts based his defense of the law on the Congressional power of taxation with the mandate, that the entire law was invalid. But conservative justices don't concern themselves with actual law, rationality, precedence, or even logic.
"A mysterious disease marked by muscle weakness or paralysis struck 233 people in 2018, most of them children — marking the worst year since the federal government started tracking the illness in 2014." Whispers, "It's still here and we still don't know hardly anything about it."
"Hummus is having a heyday with American consumers, and that could be as good for the soil as it is for our health." Well, I'm glad my choices are good for the planet. At the hospital they make fun of my choice of meal; a yogurt, an apple, and a sandwich of pickle and humus. It's good, good for you, and easy to make. To quote George Clooney on Friends, "God bless a chickpea."
"France plans to put an 'ecotax' on nearly all airline flights starting in 2020, French Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne said Tuesday. The new tax could bring in some $200 million that would support modes of travel that pollute less — such as trains." Oh sure, do that as I'm planning a trip to France.
"Here's a quick breakdown of the fight for equal pay in American soccer." Pay them at least the same bonus given to the men because, well, they actually fucking placed in the World Cup and they fucking won.
Get the tea leaves ready. "All eyes are on Jerome Powell as the Federal Reserve chair begins two days of testimony before Congress."
"European powers accused Iran on Tuesday of 'pursuing activities inconsistent with its commitments' under a 2015 nuclear deal and called for an urgent meeting of the parties to the agreement to discuss Tehran’s compliance."
"The Seth Rich conspiracy traces back to an SVR operation, reports Yahoo News today. Huge if true, and possibly the Russian military's biggest coup yet, not counting the one that landed Trump in the White House." Waves to my Russian friends. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"The six men — three Russians, three Italians — gathered beneath the spectacular painted glass ceiling in the hotel lobby last October had their eyes on history too. Their nominal purpose was an oil deal; their real goal was to undermine liberal democracies and shape a new, nationalist Europe aligned with Moscow." Russia's goal is to destabilize the West. Their support for ultra-right wing groups and politicians are part of that goal. And they're breaking laws that they have little to fear of retaliation. And once they have their knives in, they will twist. Or to those far-right wingers who are getting help, Russia will burn you once the calculus says that doing so will destroy faith in domestic politics. They will trout before the world your complicity (or whatever leverage they have). Russia doesn't need to colonize the West to gain the benefits. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
"A federal appeals court in Manhattan says President Trump cannot block critics from his Twitter account, calling it 'unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.'" It is to my great disgrace the president has not blocked me. Just WTF do I have to do?
"Facing a House of Representatives controlled by Democrats who are issuing document demands and subpoenas, President Trump's White House counsel's office grew its payroll by nearly a third, newly released records reveal." Well, at least there is one part of government growing.
"Alexander Acosta, the US labor secretary under fire for having granted Jeffrey Epstein immunity from federal prosecution in 2008, after the billionaire was investigated for having run a child sex trafficking ring, is proposing 80% funding cuts for the government agency that combats child sex trafficking." Only the best people. Or criminals protecting criminals. They'll cut the programs that cause them grief, first. But make no mistake, except for Defense, they want to cut everything else. (Grokked from Laura J. Mixon)
"President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Tuesday night in support of Home Depot after social media calls to boycott the home improvement retailer… Shoppers have been taking to Twitter and other social media platforms to call for the boycott following news that co-founder Bernie Marcus plans to back Trump's re-election bid." This is actually illegal. The president can't endorse individual businesses or products, and it especially smacks of quid-pro-quo. Especially since Marcus, while a large shareholder, is no longer involved with the company. Also just a reminder that the president, in his tweets, lambasts the "boycott", a tactic he often employs (to little effect I might add).
"Sir Kim Darroch, 65, said he was resigning to put an end to speculation surrounding how long he would stay on as Britain's envoy in Washington after diplomatic cables he sent back to London described the Trump administration as 'inept' and 'chaotic.'" Telling the truth is dangerous in these times.
Tuesday, July 9, 2019
Linkee-poo sometimes thinks it's a sin when I feel like I'm winning when I'm losing again
"Starting in July, Microsoft will be closing its e-book library and erasing all content purchased through the Microsoft e-bookstore from devices. Consumers will receive a refund for every e-book bought." Say goodbye to your DRM'ed content.
"'Since the days of Apollo, the greatest adventures in space have been these robots that have gone all over the solar system,' says Emily Lakdawalla, a self-described planetary evangelist at the Planetary Society."
"According to CNN, the national survey is the third dataset committed to gathering information on bees that has been scaled back under Trump. The survey is also reportedly the only government-overseen dataset that tracks losses to the honeybee population… The move comes months after the Trump administration reversed a rule rolled out under the Obama administration that banned the use of pesticides in national wildlife refuges." Can't argue the point if there's no data. It would be funny except for our extinction. (Grokked from Seanan McGuire)
Who needs the environment? "With all Mississippi beaches closed due to blooms of toxic algae, officials are warning people against eating seafood and fish from the affected areas." Note the top picture is of Lake Erie, which is no where near Mississippi.
So, you may have heard about meatless meat, but have you heard about beanless coffee? "Atomo won't reveal exactly what its beanless coffee is made of, but the company says it is a mixture of dozens of compounds found in food, such as antioxidants, flavonoids and coffee acids. Atomo adds caffeine to its blend." Which given the rate of climate change and how it's affecting coffee growing areas this is a just in time technology.
"But Jones has emphasized throughout her career that it's just a matter of time before a devastating earthquake hits a more populated area of Southern California."
"A recent NPR poll of rural Americans found that nearly a quarter have used some kind of telehealth service within the past few years; 14% say they received a diagnosis or treatment from a doctor or other health care professional using email, text messaging, live text chat, a mobile app, or a live video like FaceTime or Skype. And 15% say they have received a diagnosis or treatment from a doctor or other health professional over the phone." Welcome to rural American healthcare. Also note, not all rural areas have "broadband" connections, and even those with a big pipe, compared to urban areas it's still damn slow. And then there is this, "But the policies on the books of what Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers will pay for often means these services are not fully covered." Insurance standing in the way again.
"Rieder likens his experiences trying to get off prescription pain meds to a game of hot potato. 'The patient is the potato,' he says. 'Everybody had a reason to send me to somebody else.'"
"If the lower court ruling is ultimately upheld, the case, Texas v. United States, has the potential to shake the nation's entire health care system to its core. First, such a decision would immediately affect the estimated 20 million people who get their health coverage through programs created under the law. But ending the ACA would also create chaos in other parts of the health care system that were directly or indirectly changed under the law's multitude of provisions — including calorie counts on menus, a pathway for approval of generic copies of expensive biologic drugs and, perhaps most important politically, protections for people who have preexisting conditions."
"Amazon.com Inc. warehouse workers in Minnesota plan to strike during the online retailer’s summer sales extravaganza, a sign that labor unrest persists even after the company committed to paying all employees at least $15 an hour last year." It's almost like pay isn't the only thing that matters, and $15 an hour isn't enough to watch your coworkers die. (Grokked from Justine Larbalestier)
"Retail chain Kohl started a program to accept unwanted Amazon returns at all 1,150 of its stores in April, and it looks like it’s rolling the dice on it big time now that a limited test period has concluded. According to a report in the New York Times on Monday, Kohl’s is now describing the effort to lure Amazon customers unsatisfied with their purchases into its stores as the chain’s 'single biggest initiative' the retailer is pursuing in all of 2019, in what could either be described as a cunning ploy to stave off Amazon encroachment or a big red flag about the future of retail." I think this sounded fabulous in the board room… and won't play-out well in the real world.
"Our call of the day though, kicks things off with a warning from Morgan Stanley which is 'putting our money where our mouth is' and downgrading global equities to underweight from equal-weight." Rhut rho.
"British Airways faces a record $230 million fine after a website failure compromised the personal details of roughly 500,000 customers." Those silly Europeans fining companies for not protecting their consumers' personal data… wait a sec.
Meanwhile, here in the US, "More than 1,000 Android apps harvest data even after you deny permissions."
How go the Trade Wars? "The US State Department has approved a potential arms sale to Taiwan, estimated to be worth $2.2bn (£1.76bn), the Pentagon said." Unfortunately I don't see Trump playing chess with his staff and telling them to "look at the whole board." Hell, I don't think Trump even knows how to play chess.
"Yesterday, Deutsche Bank started a massive overhaul of it's business, cutting 18,000 jobs globally in the process. It's yet another blow to the shrinking European finance industry." Those poor investment bankers all out of a job.
"A federal program to help injured veterans and their spouses conceive children through in vitro fertilization is being hobbled by anti-abortion forces that oppose how the process can lead to embryos being destroyed." Because it's not about abortion, it's about the world "being different." Although it is nice to see anti-abortion advocates finally realize the striking inconsistency between "life begins at conception" and exactly how IVF (and other technologies) work. Like they're playing "catch-up". Odd they'd focus here first (except they know how it would play in the general populace). But then, "life at conception" is a relatively new concept in the abortion wars. (Grokked from Justine Larbalestier)
"Chief Justice John Roberts repeatedly voted with the Supreme Court's conservatives this term, except in one, and only one, 5-to-4 decision. Written by Roberts, the ruling blocked the addition of a citizenship question on the 2020 census, leaving an angry President Trump desperately trying to find a way around it." A little on the Chief Justice and how, because he voted the "wrong way" on 2 cases, conservatives are upset. Just in case anyone tries to sell you on that GOP "Big Tent"/Diverse Ideas and how the Democrats all must be "ideologically pure" bullshit. "Curt Levey, president of the conservative Committee for Justice, doesn't go that far, but he said the census decision means that 'having a conservative majority on the court is still a dream rather than a reality.'" Because for conservatives, you can never be too far to the right.
"Attorney General William Barr on Monday announced his recusal from the high-profile Jeffrey Epstein case because his former law firm once represented the convicted sex offender." Huh, so he does have some resemblance of ethics, just not a lot of them.
Conservatives just don't care. "At a golf tournament hosted by a Pennsylvania county’s chamber of commerce, four golfers reportedly dressed up as U.S. Border Patrol agents, while their caddy played the part of an undocumented immigrant driving a cart decorated as the U.S. Mexico border wall." Until they're called on their callousness. Until then, it's all fun and games (note, this group won the "costume award", also note the non-apology).
"'Since the days of Apollo, the greatest adventures in space have been these robots that have gone all over the solar system,' says Emily Lakdawalla, a self-described planetary evangelist at the Planetary Society."
"According to CNN, the national survey is the third dataset committed to gathering information on bees that has been scaled back under Trump. The survey is also reportedly the only government-overseen dataset that tracks losses to the honeybee population… The move comes months after the Trump administration reversed a rule rolled out under the Obama administration that banned the use of pesticides in national wildlife refuges." Can't argue the point if there's no data. It would be funny except for our extinction. (Grokked from Seanan McGuire)
Who needs the environment? "With all Mississippi beaches closed due to blooms of toxic algae, officials are warning people against eating seafood and fish from the affected areas." Note the top picture is of Lake Erie, which is no where near Mississippi.
So, you may have heard about meatless meat, but have you heard about beanless coffee? "Atomo won't reveal exactly what its beanless coffee is made of, but the company says it is a mixture of dozens of compounds found in food, such as antioxidants, flavonoids and coffee acids. Atomo adds caffeine to its blend." Which given the rate of climate change and how it's affecting coffee growing areas this is a just in time technology.
"But Jones has emphasized throughout her career that it's just a matter of time before a devastating earthquake hits a more populated area of Southern California."
"A recent NPR poll of rural Americans found that nearly a quarter have used some kind of telehealth service within the past few years; 14% say they received a diagnosis or treatment from a doctor or other health care professional using email, text messaging, live text chat, a mobile app, or a live video like FaceTime or Skype. And 15% say they have received a diagnosis or treatment from a doctor or other health professional over the phone." Welcome to rural American healthcare. Also note, not all rural areas have "broadband" connections, and even those with a big pipe, compared to urban areas it's still damn slow. And then there is this, "But the policies on the books of what Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers will pay for often means these services are not fully covered." Insurance standing in the way again.
"Rieder likens his experiences trying to get off prescription pain meds to a game of hot potato. 'The patient is the potato,' he says. 'Everybody had a reason to send me to somebody else.'"
"If the lower court ruling is ultimately upheld, the case, Texas v. United States, has the potential to shake the nation's entire health care system to its core. First, such a decision would immediately affect the estimated 20 million people who get their health coverage through programs created under the law. But ending the ACA would also create chaos in other parts of the health care system that were directly or indirectly changed under the law's multitude of provisions — including calorie counts on menus, a pathway for approval of generic copies of expensive biologic drugs and, perhaps most important politically, protections for people who have preexisting conditions."
"Amazon.com Inc. warehouse workers in Minnesota plan to strike during the online retailer’s summer sales extravaganza, a sign that labor unrest persists even after the company committed to paying all employees at least $15 an hour last year." It's almost like pay isn't the only thing that matters, and $15 an hour isn't enough to watch your coworkers die. (Grokked from Justine Larbalestier)
"Retail chain Kohl started a program to accept unwanted Amazon returns at all 1,150 of its stores in April, and it looks like it’s rolling the dice on it big time now that a limited test period has concluded. According to a report in the New York Times on Monday, Kohl’s is now describing the effort to lure Amazon customers unsatisfied with their purchases into its stores as the chain’s 'single biggest initiative' the retailer is pursuing in all of 2019, in what could either be described as a cunning ploy to stave off Amazon encroachment or a big red flag about the future of retail." I think this sounded fabulous in the board room… and won't play-out well in the real world.
"Our call of the day though, kicks things off with a warning from Morgan Stanley which is 'putting our money where our mouth is' and downgrading global equities to underweight from equal-weight." Rhut rho.
"British Airways faces a record $230 million fine after a website failure compromised the personal details of roughly 500,000 customers." Those silly Europeans fining companies for not protecting their consumers' personal data… wait a sec.
Meanwhile, here in the US, "More than 1,000 Android apps harvest data even after you deny permissions."
How go the Trade Wars? "The US State Department has approved a potential arms sale to Taiwan, estimated to be worth $2.2bn (£1.76bn), the Pentagon said." Unfortunately I don't see Trump playing chess with his staff and telling them to "look at the whole board." Hell, I don't think Trump even knows how to play chess.
"Yesterday, Deutsche Bank started a massive overhaul of it's business, cutting 18,000 jobs globally in the process. It's yet another blow to the shrinking European finance industry." Those poor investment bankers all out of a job.
"A federal program to help injured veterans and their spouses conceive children through in vitro fertilization is being hobbled by anti-abortion forces that oppose how the process can lead to embryos being destroyed." Because it's not about abortion, it's about the world "being different." Although it is nice to see anti-abortion advocates finally realize the striking inconsistency between "life begins at conception" and exactly how IVF (and other technologies) work. Like they're playing "catch-up". Odd they'd focus here first (except they know how it would play in the general populace). But then, "life at conception" is a relatively new concept in the abortion wars. (Grokked from Justine Larbalestier)
"Chief Justice John Roberts repeatedly voted with the Supreme Court's conservatives this term, except in one, and only one, 5-to-4 decision. Written by Roberts, the ruling blocked the addition of a citizenship question on the 2020 census, leaving an angry President Trump desperately trying to find a way around it." A little on the Chief Justice and how, because he voted the "wrong way" on 2 cases, conservatives are upset. Just in case anyone tries to sell you on that GOP "Big Tent"/Diverse Ideas and how the Democrats all must be "ideologically pure" bullshit. "Curt Levey, president of the conservative Committee for Justice, doesn't go that far, but he said the census decision means that 'having a conservative majority on the court is still a dream rather than a reality.'" Because for conservatives, you can never be too far to the right.
"Attorney General William Barr on Monday announced his recusal from the high-profile Jeffrey Epstein case because his former law firm once represented the convicted sex offender." Huh, so he does have some resemblance of ethics, just not a lot of them.
Conservatives just don't care. "At a golf tournament hosted by a Pennsylvania county’s chamber of commerce, four golfers reportedly dressed up as U.S. Border Patrol agents, while their caddy played the part of an undocumented immigrant driving a cart decorated as the U.S. Mexico border wall." Until they're called on their callousness. Until then, it's all fun and games (note, this group won the "costume award", also note the non-apology).
Monday, July 8, 2019
Linkee-poo hates myself for loving you
Helen Gould's Eastercon address, "Subtle Forms of Racism to Avoid in SFF." Recommended for both writers and readers, as well as to understand some current political context.
"Since 1850, the plant lay frozen under a 100-foot-thick slab of ice as humans discovered antibiotics, visited the moon and burned 2 trillion tons of fossil fuels… Thanks to this latest exploit, evolutionary biologist Catherine La Farge arrived centuries later at Teardrop's melting edge to find the tuft of the species Aulacomnium turgidum finally free from its icy entombment. The moss was faded and torn but sported a verdant hue - a possible sign of life." You might remember an ancient form of anthrax that was recently revived as reindeer in Russia feed on land contaminated by thawing carcasses. So it's not all giggles and grapes.
"The U.S. women's soccer team is still the world's best after dominating the Netherlands in the Women's World Cup final and winning 2-0. Throughout the tournament, the U.S. brushed aside criticism, complaints of arrogance and calls for the team to tone down their goal celebrations. All the team did was win. All seven World Cup games, in fact." Pay them the same as the men, because 1) it's the right thing to do, but also 2) they fucking earned it.
How goes the Trade Wars? "China and the rest of the world must co-exist, Vice President Wang Qishan said on Monday, in an indirect jab at the United States, with which Beijing is trying to resolve a bitter trade war."
So how did the numbers turn out? "Nonfarm payrolls rose 224,000 in June, well above market expectations of 165,000, according to the Labor Department." Not shabby, but we'll see how much is adjusted.
"The election result gave New Democracy an outright majority with 158 seats in the 300-member Greek parliament. This marks a significant shift for the crisis-hit country that was run for almost a decade by fragile coalitions of ideologically divergent parties united by their stance either in favour or against Greece's bailout deals." Not stated in the article, there were no seats won by Golden Dawn, the ultra-far-right party. The question is now will New Democracy continue austerity programs, or will they buck the international systems?
"The drama on this round is intensified by the overarching clash between the Republican administration of Trump, who has tried in vain to win repeal of the ACA, and the now Democratic-led House of Representatives, which has intervened to try to keep the law in the place. The administration wants the judiciary to do what it could not win legislatively: eliminate the entire 2010 law." Once again conservatives are trying to strike down Obamacare. Because of course they are.
"The four-star admiral set to become the Navy’s top officer on Aug. 1 will instead retire, an extraordinary downfall prompted by what Navy Secretary Richard Spencer called poor judgment regarding a professional relationship." Well at least someone still has standards.
"US President Donald Trump has issued a warning to Iran after the country moved to increase uranium enrichment beyond the purity threshold reached in a landmark nuclear deal Washington pulled out of last year." You know what would have helped our position here? Staying in the agreement.
"A federal grand jury in New York is investigating top Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy, examining whether he used his position as vice chair of President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee to drum up business deals with foreign leaders, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press and people familiar with the matter." This is my shocked face. Only the best people, eh Sparky? (Grokked from Joy Reid)
Turns out there was a child sex-ring… only it wasn't Democrats. From 2018, "One of President Trump’s loudest supporters will likely spend the rest of his life in jail after the conclusion of his child sex trafficking case." From the wikipedia, "Timothy L. Nolan… is a registered sex offender and an American former state district court judge, a former leader in the Republican Party and a former Campbell County chairman of Donald Trump's presidential campaign in Kentucky. On February 9, 2018, he pled guilty to 19 counts of child sex trafficking and human trafficking; on February 11, 2018 he was sentenced to serve 20 years in prison." (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"The arrest of financier and registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on federal child sex trafficking charges elicited fresh demands for the resignation of Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, who helped Epstein secure a "sweetheart plea deal" for previous allegations while serving as Miami's top federal prosecutor over a decade ago."
"President Donald Trump said Sunday he wants members of the press to 'go in and see' migrant detention centers." They have. And I have a great idea, let them in whichever one they want into, and do it right now. This is a bully tactic that he believes no one will really do. But they're waiting to do it. Allow them in, allow them cameras, allow them to interview the detainees.
"The leak of confidential memos from Britain’s ambassador to the United States in which he describes President Donald Trump’s administration as 'dysfunctional' and 'inept' could damage relations, a British minister said on Monday." No matter how true it may be.
"The Justice Department announced a major shakeup Sunday in its team of lawyers involved in the ongoing legal battle over the citizenship question the Trump administration wants to add to the 2020 census forms." You know, after SCOTUS said, basically, the Executive Branch was full of shit with their reasoning. But, you know, Trump may somehow add the question to the preprinted forms through executive order because as we all know executive orders trump SCOTUS rulings, or something. See earlier comment about "inept."
"Since 1850, the plant lay frozen under a 100-foot-thick slab of ice as humans discovered antibiotics, visited the moon and burned 2 trillion tons of fossil fuels… Thanks to this latest exploit, evolutionary biologist Catherine La Farge arrived centuries later at Teardrop's melting edge to find the tuft of the species Aulacomnium turgidum finally free from its icy entombment. The moss was faded and torn but sported a verdant hue - a possible sign of life." You might remember an ancient form of anthrax that was recently revived as reindeer in Russia feed on land contaminated by thawing carcasses. So it's not all giggles and grapes.
"The U.S. women's soccer team is still the world's best after dominating the Netherlands in the Women's World Cup final and winning 2-0. Throughout the tournament, the U.S. brushed aside criticism, complaints of arrogance and calls for the team to tone down their goal celebrations. All the team did was win. All seven World Cup games, in fact." Pay them the same as the men, because 1) it's the right thing to do, but also 2) they fucking earned it.
How goes the Trade Wars? "China and the rest of the world must co-exist, Vice President Wang Qishan said on Monday, in an indirect jab at the United States, with which Beijing is trying to resolve a bitter trade war."
So how did the numbers turn out? "Nonfarm payrolls rose 224,000 in June, well above market expectations of 165,000, according to the Labor Department." Not shabby, but we'll see how much is adjusted.
"The election result gave New Democracy an outright majority with 158 seats in the 300-member Greek parliament. This marks a significant shift for the crisis-hit country that was run for almost a decade by fragile coalitions of ideologically divergent parties united by their stance either in favour or against Greece's bailout deals." Not stated in the article, there were no seats won by Golden Dawn, the ultra-far-right party. The question is now will New Democracy continue austerity programs, or will they buck the international systems?
"The drama on this round is intensified by the overarching clash between the Republican administration of Trump, who has tried in vain to win repeal of the ACA, and the now Democratic-led House of Representatives, which has intervened to try to keep the law in the place. The administration wants the judiciary to do what it could not win legislatively: eliminate the entire 2010 law." Once again conservatives are trying to strike down Obamacare. Because of course they are.
"The four-star admiral set to become the Navy’s top officer on Aug. 1 will instead retire, an extraordinary downfall prompted by what Navy Secretary Richard Spencer called poor judgment regarding a professional relationship." Well at least someone still has standards.
"US President Donald Trump has issued a warning to Iran after the country moved to increase uranium enrichment beyond the purity threshold reached in a landmark nuclear deal Washington pulled out of last year." You know what would have helped our position here? Staying in the agreement.
"A federal grand jury in New York is investigating top Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy, examining whether he used his position as vice chair of President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee to drum up business deals with foreign leaders, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press and people familiar with the matter." This is my shocked face. Only the best people, eh Sparky? (Grokked from Joy Reid)
Turns out there was a child sex-ring… only it wasn't Democrats. From 2018, "One of President Trump’s loudest supporters will likely spend the rest of his life in jail after the conclusion of his child sex trafficking case." From the wikipedia, "Timothy L. Nolan… is a registered sex offender and an American former state district court judge, a former leader in the Republican Party and a former Campbell County chairman of Donald Trump's presidential campaign in Kentucky. On February 9, 2018, he pled guilty to 19 counts of child sex trafficking and human trafficking; on February 11, 2018 he was sentenced to serve 20 years in prison." (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"The arrest of financier and registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on federal child sex trafficking charges elicited fresh demands for the resignation of Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, who helped Epstein secure a "sweetheart plea deal" for previous allegations while serving as Miami's top federal prosecutor over a decade ago."
"President Donald Trump said Sunday he wants members of the press to 'go in and see' migrant detention centers." They have. And I have a great idea, let them in whichever one they want into, and do it right now. This is a bully tactic that he believes no one will really do. But they're waiting to do it. Allow them in, allow them cameras, allow them to interview the detainees.
"The leak of confidential memos from Britain’s ambassador to the United States in which he describes President Donald Trump’s administration as 'dysfunctional' and 'inept' could damage relations, a British minister said on Monday." No matter how true it may be.
"The Justice Department announced a major shakeup Sunday in its team of lawyers involved in the ongoing legal battle over the citizenship question the Trump administration wants to add to the 2020 census forms." You know, after SCOTUS said, basically, the Executive Branch was full of shit with their reasoning. But, you know, Trump may somehow add the question to the preprinted forms through executive order because as we all know executive orders trump SCOTUS rulings, or something. See earlier comment about "inept."
Thursday, July 4, 2019
Linkee-poo unexpected 4th edition
I'm not here, but there was a lot of things late on Wednesday.
Arte Johnson, and so it goes. Or should I say, "Verrrry interesting."
"Legendary people, places and objects are terrific tools in storytelling, but what actually creates the sensation that stirs in us the feeling that what we’re reading about is legendary? Legendary has to start somewhere, and often that is not with what a person, place or object actually does in a story but in what he, she or it has previously done." Donald Maass on the stuff dreams are made of.
"Two NASA space telescopes have teamed up to identify, for the first time, the detailed chemical 'fingerprint' of a planet between the sizes of Earth and Neptune. No planets like this can be found in our own solar system, but they are common around other stars."
"At Oak Ridge National Laboratory in eastern Tennessee, physicist Leah Broussard is trying to open a portal to a parallel universe." FFS, haven't these people read their science fiction. Do you want Spock with a goatee? Cause this is how you get Spock with a goatee. (which, hey, points for NBC that they actually joke about that in the article) (Grokked from Fran Wilde)
"A young female fox, just shy of her first birthday, stunned scientists by covering an unbelievable distance during a short, four-month trek. The animal, also known as a coastal or blue fox, traveled more than 2,700 miles from Spitsbergen, the largest island of the Svalbard Archipelago of Norway, to Ellesmere Island in Nunavut, Canada. The journey is among the longest dispersal events ever recorded for the species." Clever girl.
"It was the battle of unbeatens at this Women's World Cup. Both teams were 5-0. The U.S. — the defending and three-time World Cup champion — and England — which was ranked third in the world but had never advanced past the semifinals. The game in Lyon, France, lived up to its billing with the U.S defeating England 2-1 to advance to Sunday's final."
"These are decades old arguments often heard in Washington, D.C., but they've moved from hypothetical to urgent since Congress legalized oil development in the northern slice of the (Alaska Wildlife) refuge in 2017. The Trump administration is pushing to let oil companies bid on land there by the end of the year." In the tale of two towns you have the environmental debate in a nutshell. One town like the development, but believes their lives won't change when it comes (other than make them richer). The other town believes everything will change and it will threaten their way of life.
"The American Medical Association is suing North Dakota to block two abortion-related laws, the latest signal the doctors' group is shifting to a more aggressive stance as the Trump administration and state conservatives ratchet up efforts to eliminate legal abortion."
"Nearly two years after Hurricane Maria, the town of Utuado is finally getting a new bridge over the Viví River to replace the old cement and steel one that was heavily damaged during the storm and has been closed ever since."
"A massive fire destroyed a Jim Beam warehouse in northern Kentucky on Wednesday, but officials said no one was injured. Firefighters were working to extinguish the blaze at a warehouse in Versailles, which is filled with about 45,000 barrels of bourbon." I expect a new "burnt oak" flavor will be popular soon.
How go the Trade Wars? "President Donald Trump on Wednesday accused China and Europe of playing a 'big currency manipulation game.' He said the United States should match that effort, a move that directly contradicts official U.S. policy not to manipulate the dollar’s value to gain trade advantages." So much winning.
"Private payrolls rose 102,000 in June, missing Wall Street expectations of 135,000, according to a report Wednesday from ADP and Moody’s Analytics… The number sets the stage for another possible disappointment from Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report, which is expected to show growth of 165,000 after May’s lackluster 75,000." We'll see what it comes in as on Friday.
"Police thought I murdered my wife — and they didn’t kill me. People are surprised by that." (Grokked form Joy Reid)
"A North Carolina man charged with anonymously threatening to lynch a Muslim-American political candidate in Virginia also is accused of posting an anti-Semitic threat on a Florida synagogue’s Facebook page." Funny how often anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim vitriol commingle in the same assholes.
"A military jury in San Diego has acquitted Navy SEAL Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher of all but one count of war crimes in a case that revolved around the killing of a 17-year-old ISIS prisoner who had been wounded and died in U.S. custody… The jury convicted Gallagher of posing with the body of the dead prisoner." The man bragged about killing the kid.
"A decorated Navy SEAL who was acquitted of murder in the death of a teenage ISIS fighter thanked President Donald Trump and Fox News on Wednesday for championing his defense." Well, at least he knew whose ass to kiss.
"Rick Snyder on Wednesday withdrew from a research fellowship at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, reversing course less than a week after his announced appointment sparked blowback over the former governor’s handling of the Flint water crisis." Huh, actual consequences. Whodda thought it.
"Putin’s decree, released on Wednesday, formalizes Russia’s departure from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty with the United States following Washington’s withdrawal from the pact." Note we withdrew nominally because Russia was developing intermediate-range delivery vehicles. But to repeat again, there is no such thing as a winnable nuclear exchange. Every scenario leads to a full exchange. The only "smart" move is to launch everything at once.
"The Trump administration has decided to print the 2020 census forms without a citizenship question, and the printer has been told to start the printing process, Justice Department spokesperson Kelly Laco confirms to NPR." So now begins the disinformation campaign to make people think the question is still there so they'll toss the forms without even looking. Wait to see the Fox News Breaking Alert about the test questionnaires sent out with the citizen question to be conflated with the actual 2020 Census count.
Arte Johnson, and so it goes. Or should I say, "Verrrry interesting."
"Legendary people, places and objects are terrific tools in storytelling, but what actually creates the sensation that stirs in us the feeling that what we’re reading about is legendary? Legendary has to start somewhere, and often that is not with what a person, place or object actually does in a story but in what he, she or it has previously done." Donald Maass on the stuff dreams are made of.
"Two NASA space telescopes have teamed up to identify, for the first time, the detailed chemical 'fingerprint' of a planet between the sizes of Earth and Neptune. No planets like this can be found in our own solar system, but they are common around other stars."
"At Oak Ridge National Laboratory in eastern Tennessee, physicist Leah Broussard is trying to open a portal to a parallel universe." FFS, haven't these people read their science fiction. Do you want Spock with a goatee? Cause this is how you get Spock with a goatee. (which, hey, points for NBC that they actually joke about that in the article) (Grokked from Fran Wilde)
"A young female fox, just shy of her first birthday, stunned scientists by covering an unbelievable distance during a short, four-month trek. The animal, also known as a coastal or blue fox, traveled more than 2,700 miles from Spitsbergen, the largest island of the Svalbard Archipelago of Norway, to Ellesmere Island in Nunavut, Canada. The journey is among the longest dispersal events ever recorded for the species." Clever girl.
"It was the battle of unbeatens at this Women's World Cup. Both teams were 5-0. The U.S. — the defending and three-time World Cup champion — and England — which was ranked third in the world but had never advanced past the semifinals. The game in Lyon, France, lived up to its billing with the U.S defeating England 2-1 to advance to Sunday's final."
"These are decades old arguments often heard in Washington, D.C., but they've moved from hypothetical to urgent since Congress legalized oil development in the northern slice of the (Alaska Wildlife) refuge in 2017. The Trump administration is pushing to let oil companies bid on land there by the end of the year." In the tale of two towns you have the environmental debate in a nutshell. One town like the development, but believes their lives won't change when it comes (other than make them richer). The other town believes everything will change and it will threaten their way of life.
"The American Medical Association is suing North Dakota to block two abortion-related laws, the latest signal the doctors' group is shifting to a more aggressive stance as the Trump administration and state conservatives ratchet up efforts to eliminate legal abortion."
"Nearly two years after Hurricane Maria, the town of Utuado is finally getting a new bridge over the Viví River to replace the old cement and steel one that was heavily damaged during the storm and has been closed ever since."
"A massive fire destroyed a Jim Beam warehouse in northern Kentucky on Wednesday, but officials said no one was injured. Firefighters were working to extinguish the blaze at a warehouse in Versailles, which is filled with about 45,000 barrels of bourbon." I expect a new "burnt oak" flavor will be popular soon.
How go the Trade Wars? "President Donald Trump on Wednesday accused China and Europe of playing a 'big currency manipulation game.' He said the United States should match that effort, a move that directly contradicts official U.S. policy not to manipulate the dollar’s value to gain trade advantages." So much winning.
"Private payrolls rose 102,000 in June, missing Wall Street expectations of 135,000, according to a report Wednesday from ADP and Moody’s Analytics… The number sets the stage for another possible disappointment from Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report, which is expected to show growth of 165,000 after May’s lackluster 75,000." We'll see what it comes in as on Friday.
"Police thought I murdered my wife — and they didn’t kill me. People are surprised by that." (Grokked form Joy Reid)
"A North Carolina man charged with anonymously threatening to lynch a Muslim-American political candidate in Virginia also is accused of posting an anti-Semitic threat on a Florida synagogue’s Facebook page." Funny how often anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim vitriol commingle in the same assholes.
"A military jury in San Diego has acquitted Navy SEAL Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher of all but one count of war crimes in a case that revolved around the killing of a 17-year-old ISIS prisoner who had been wounded and died in U.S. custody… The jury convicted Gallagher of posing with the body of the dead prisoner." The man bragged about killing the kid.
"A decorated Navy SEAL who was acquitted of murder in the death of a teenage ISIS fighter thanked President Donald Trump and Fox News on Wednesday for championing his defense." Well, at least he knew whose ass to kiss.
"Rick Snyder on Wednesday withdrew from a research fellowship at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, reversing course less than a week after his announced appointment sparked blowback over the former governor’s handling of the Flint water crisis." Huh, actual consequences. Whodda thought it.
"Putin’s decree, released on Wednesday, formalizes Russia’s departure from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty with the United States following Washington’s withdrawal from the pact." Note we withdrew nominally because Russia was developing intermediate-range delivery vehicles. But to repeat again, there is no such thing as a winnable nuclear exchange. Every scenario leads to a full exchange. The only "smart" move is to launch everything at once.
"The Trump administration has decided to print the 2020 census forms without a citizenship question, and the printer has been told to start the printing process, Justice Department spokesperson Kelly Laco confirms to NPR." So now begins the disinformation campaign to make people think the question is still there so they'll toss the forms without even looking. Wait to see the Fox News Breaking Alert about the test questionnaires sent out with the citizen question to be conflated with the actual 2020 Census count.
Wednesday, July 3, 2019
Linkee-poo, for I have crossed the Rubicon, let the bridge be burned behind me! Come what may, come what may. Commitment!
And because if I'm anything, I'm ironic. So just a heads up that I'm taking the weekend off. I hope you have a fantastic 4th if you're here in the US (or an ex-pat). For the rest of you, have a great long weekend.
On the Media podcast with Aaron Copland, music, polital pivots of the 20th Century, and their intersections. "There are many Americas. Nowadays they barely speak to each other. But during the most perilous years of the last century, one young composer went in search of a sound that melded many of the nation's strains into something singular and new. He was a man of the left, though of no political party: gay, but neither closeted nor out; Jewish, but agnostic, unless you count music as a religion. His name was Aaron Copland. On this July 4th weekend, WNYC’s Sara Fishko tells his story." For my England Pre-history to 1066 class our professor famously would only have 3 questions on his exams. He would divide the section of history we had discussed for 4 weeks into 3, and ask us to write an essay about the political, cultural, economic, military, and religious aspects of that time and their major events. This forced us to see them all intertwined. This podcast episode does the same thing, but for just before the Great Depression to post-mccarthyism. There are answers in there, and you can see the genesis of our current politic.
Brooke Bolander's "Who Should Live in Flooded Old New York?" An op-ed from the future.
"A cicada-infecting fungus produces drugs that make the insects literally mate their butts off." And then, after they lose their abdomens, they're so doped out of their heads they still try to mate. Yeah, I've been to parties like that.
"By measuring people’s neural activity as they viewed pictures of humans and robots, researchers identified a region of the brain that seems to underlie the “uncanny valley” effect — the unsettling sensation sometimes caused by robots or animations that look almost, but not quite, human. Better understanding the neural circuitry that causes this feeling may help designers create less unnerving androids." By zapping your brain… I'm just guessing here.
"Parts of Kagoshima prefecture, on Kyushu, could see more than 80 millimeters (3.1 inches) of rainfall per hour, forecasters warned. Japan's Meteorological Agency said a number of places within the prefecture, which has a population of 1.6 million people, were at risk of landslides and flooding."
"The federal government's rule designed to support health workers who opt out of providing care that violates their moral or religious beliefs will not go into effect in July as scheduled. The effective date has been delayed by four months, according to court orders." Look, if you can't or won't do the work, you shouldn't be in the position to be asked.
"A patient at Seattle Children's Hospital has died from a mold infection… The patient was one of six to develop an infection from 2018-2019, according to Alyse Bernal, public relations manager for the hospital."
"Using a combination of CRISPR gene-editing technology and a therapeutic treatment called LASER ART, scientists at Temple University and the University of Nebraska Medical Center said they erased HIV DNA from the genomes of animals in what they call an unprecedented study that was published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications." But, "The virus did not return in nine of the 21 mice in which the method was tested, according to Khalili."
"Summer has barely begun, but temperature records are already being broken. Data released today show that the European-average temperature for June 2019 was higher than for any other June on record. Average temperatures were more than 2°C above normal and it has become the hottest June ever recorded." We're boned. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"They've found that, in fact, small farmers in Latin America and Africa do benefit from the minimum price that Fair Trade guarantees and the extra money it delivers to farmer cooperatives. Researchers have documented higher wages, greater participation in community decisions, and even greater gender equity… Yet Eva Meemken, an agricultural economist currently at Cornell University, noticed a blind spot in all that research: 'They mostly look at farmers. Almost nobody looks at workers' on those farms, she says."
"The labor market was already being upended by global trade and technology, which killed manufacturing and other middle-class jobs. Wage growth was pathetic. Corporate power was rising, and union power was declining. Then along came the financial crisis, which made everything worse. The result, Blanchflower argues, is a situation where workers have crummier jobs and less bargaining power." Or, you know, it could just be that the majority of employers are psychopathic assholes who haven't woken up to the modern reality. But also note, essentially all these people are arguing for a lower short-term Fed Rate.
How go the Trade Wars? "Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday pledged to an assembly of global business leaders and government representatives that Beijing will push to create an equal playing field in the country for all companies." Uh, yeah, Bob.
"A fire on one of the Russian navy’s deep-sea submersibles killed 14 sailors, the Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday without giving the cause of the blaze or saying if there were survivors." Oh my Russian friends.
"The Trump administration appears to have missed its own deadline Monday to start the printing of paper forms and other mailings that will play a key role in next year's constitutionally mandated head count of every person living in the U.S." Because President Do-Over wants to get that citizenship question on. It's imperative for GOP elections in the future.
"Chief Justice John Roberts is now the swing vote." Six takeaways from the previous SCOTUS term.
"The government’s own internal watchdog warned as far back as May that conditions at an El Paso, Texas, border station were so bad that border agents were arming themselves against possible riots, countering Friday’s assertion by a top Trump administration official that reports of poor conditions for migrants were 'unsubstantiated.'" (Grokked from Chip Dawes)
"In a strongly worded report, the inspector general said the prolonged detention of migrants without proper food, hygiene or laundry facilities — some for more than a month — requires 'immediate attention and action.'"
"A report from government auditors includes images of people penned into overcrowded Border Patrol facilities, including one man pressing a cardboard sign to a cell window with the word 'help.'"
"A Texas congressman says he released video and photos of migrant women being held at a border facility in his state so the public could better understand 'awful' conditions under President Donald Trump’s policies."
Meanwhile, over on Bullshit Mountain, "Hispanic pastors tour border facility lambasted by AOC and say they are 'shocked by misinformation'." I believe the term is "sell out." How do you know it's bullshit, because of the "begging" language used by the "agent" this minister talked with. Why the bullshit? Because they know they're losing.
"Divers are searching for a 2-year-old girl believed to have gone missing in the Rio Grande River near Del Rio, Texas, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced Tuesday. Agents from the Del Rio Border Patrol Station said a woman from Haiti told them Monday that she had lost her daughter, a national of Brazil, while crossing the river."
"A Seattle federal judge ruled Tuesday that asylum-seeking migrants detained for being in the U.S. illegally have the right to a bond hearing in immigration court rather than being held until their cases are complete."
"ICE’s arrest of student and activist Jose Bello—less than 36 hours after Bello publicly recited a poem criticizing the immigration system—is cause for serious concern for all those who support freedom of expression and First Amendment rights, PEN America said today." (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
"Iran's President Hassan Rouhani issued a fresh ultimatum Wednesday over its civilian-use nuclear program, saying the country would on Sunday 'take the next step' toward increasing its enrichment of uranium unless European powers are able to find a way to offset the impact of the Trump administration's sanctions on its economy." How's that "better deal" coming along, Sparky?
"An attack has killed up to 40 migrants at a detention centre on the outskirts of the Libyan capital Tripoli, government officials say." Libya is still without stable national government.
"The German captain of a rescue charity ship who angered Italy’s interior minister by bringing African migrants to an Italian island has received threats and been moved to a secret location, the charity she works for said."
"Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) on Tuesday said that the Republican Party is 'in a coma' because of a 'willingness to only absorb that that supports what you currently think.'" And then he engages in both-siderism. Fuck you, John. I see your record with Ohio. While you may have been the least offensive of the crowd in 2016, that doesn't mean you weren't offensive as a candidate. Say, tell ya what, Johnny. Why don't you take your political capital in the party and actually do something about that instead of trying to just profit and cash-in all your time in office. (Grokked from Joy Reid)
Here's the problem, I think he's right. Come 2021 the conservatives and GOP will shudder awake and say, "OMG, what have we done?!" And then just as easily slide into "That's all in the past, we have to move forward." Fuck that shit. We're taking down names.
"President Donald Trump has hijacked what for decades had been a nonpolitical Independence Day celebration on the National Mall, packing his ticketed-event speech with political appointees and Republican donors… The Republican National Committee has been offering major donors tickets to Trump’s speech, as have political appointees at the White House and executive branch agencies." Oh look, something new has been written, "Some animals are more equal than others." I wonder what that means? (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
"Trump has been obsessed by the idea of a massive military parade ever since attending the Bastille Day celebration in Paris two years ago, first ordering up a Veterans Day parade for 2018 that was canceled only after the price tag proved embarrassingly high. For someone who literally cannot grasp the possibility that more people voted for his opponent than him, or that fewer people came to his inaugural than his predecessor’s, it is not much of a reach to imagine that in the president’s mind he will see the flyovers and the fireworks as a nation paying tribute to the greatness of a man, rather than the other way around."
"The military is telling Washington, D.C., residents not to panic this evening if they see an armored personnel carrier rolling through their neighborhood." It's just a fascist display of dick waging. Nothing to worry about. Move along, citizen. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"Other elements of the spectacle have raised eyebrows, particularly the revelation that the White House is doling out exclusive tickets to the event for its political allies via the Republican National Committee as HuffPost reported. This raises questions about whether massive federal government resources are being devoted to a partisan political effort." Your tax dollars at work. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
"A House committee has filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking President Donald Trump’s tax returns." Finally.
"The National Rifle Association aired an avalanche of TV ads and pushed its 5 million-plus members to the polls for Donald Trump in 2016, propelling him in the Rust Belt states that delivered him the presidency… Now, the gun rights group is in total meltdown — and senior Republicans and Trump 2020 officials are alarmed." I'm sure Russian money will help prop it up, again. But two of the three main groups are now seeking to rebrand themselves as "non-partisan" (the Kochs and the US Chamber of Commerce). That smacks more of a coordinated infiltration than a strategic retreat.
Now in "News You Couldn't Possibly Write in Fiction," "Trump Facebook ads use models to portray actual supporters." And the models and the video aren't all from the US. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
On the Media podcast with Aaron Copland, music, polital pivots of the 20th Century, and their intersections. "There are many Americas. Nowadays they barely speak to each other. But during the most perilous years of the last century, one young composer went in search of a sound that melded many of the nation's strains into something singular and new. He was a man of the left, though of no political party: gay, but neither closeted nor out; Jewish, but agnostic, unless you count music as a religion. His name was Aaron Copland. On this July 4th weekend, WNYC’s Sara Fishko tells his story." For my England Pre-history to 1066 class our professor famously would only have 3 questions on his exams. He would divide the section of history we had discussed for 4 weeks into 3, and ask us to write an essay about the political, cultural, economic, military, and religious aspects of that time and their major events. This forced us to see them all intertwined. This podcast episode does the same thing, but for just before the Great Depression to post-mccarthyism. There are answers in there, and you can see the genesis of our current politic.
Brooke Bolander's "Who Should Live in Flooded Old New York?" An op-ed from the future.
"A cicada-infecting fungus produces drugs that make the insects literally mate their butts off." And then, after they lose their abdomens, they're so doped out of their heads they still try to mate. Yeah, I've been to parties like that.
"By measuring people’s neural activity as they viewed pictures of humans and robots, researchers identified a region of the brain that seems to underlie the “uncanny valley” effect — the unsettling sensation sometimes caused by robots or animations that look almost, but not quite, human. Better understanding the neural circuitry that causes this feeling may help designers create less unnerving androids." By zapping your brain… I'm just guessing here.
"Parts of Kagoshima prefecture, on Kyushu, could see more than 80 millimeters (3.1 inches) of rainfall per hour, forecasters warned. Japan's Meteorological Agency said a number of places within the prefecture, which has a population of 1.6 million people, were at risk of landslides and flooding."
"The federal government's rule designed to support health workers who opt out of providing care that violates their moral or religious beliefs will not go into effect in July as scheduled. The effective date has been delayed by four months, according to court orders." Look, if you can't or won't do the work, you shouldn't be in the position to be asked.
"A patient at Seattle Children's Hospital has died from a mold infection… The patient was one of six to develop an infection from 2018-2019, according to Alyse Bernal, public relations manager for the hospital."
"Using a combination of CRISPR gene-editing technology and a therapeutic treatment called LASER ART, scientists at Temple University and the University of Nebraska Medical Center said they erased HIV DNA from the genomes of animals in what they call an unprecedented study that was published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications." But, "The virus did not return in nine of the 21 mice in which the method was tested, according to Khalili."
"Summer has barely begun, but temperature records are already being broken. Data released today show that the European-average temperature for June 2019 was higher than for any other June on record. Average temperatures were more than 2°C above normal and it has become the hottest June ever recorded." We're boned. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"They've found that, in fact, small farmers in Latin America and Africa do benefit from the minimum price that Fair Trade guarantees and the extra money it delivers to farmer cooperatives. Researchers have documented higher wages, greater participation in community decisions, and even greater gender equity… Yet Eva Meemken, an agricultural economist currently at Cornell University, noticed a blind spot in all that research: 'They mostly look at farmers. Almost nobody looks at workers' on those farms, she says."
"The labor market was already being upended by global trade and technology, which killed manufacturing and other middle-class jobs. Wage growth was pathetic. Corporate power was rising, and union power was declining. Then along came the financial crisis, which made everything worse. The result, Blanchflower argues, is a situation where workers have crummier jobs and less bargaining power." Or, you know, it could just be that the majority of employers are psychopathic assholes who haven't woken up to the modern reality. But also note, essentially all these people are arguing for a lower short-term Fed Rate.
How go the Trade Wars? "Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday pledged to an assembly of global business leaders and government representatives that Beijing will push to create an equal playing field in the country for all companies." Uh, yeah, Bob.
"A fire on one of the Russian navy’s deep-sea submersibles killed 14 sailors, the Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday without giving the cause of the blaze or saying if there were survivors." Oh my Russian friends.
"The Trump administration appears to have missed its own deadline Monday to start the printing of paper forms and other mailings that will play a key role in next year's constitutionally mandated head count of every person living in the U.S." Because President Do-Over wants to get that citizenship question on. It's imperative for GOP elections in the future.
"Chief Justice John Roberts is now the swing vote." Six takeaways from the previous SCOTUS term.
"The government’s own internal watchdog warned as far back as May that conditions at an El Paso, Texas, border station were so bad that border agents were arming themselves against possible riots, countering Friday’s assertion by a top Trump administration official that reports of poor conditions for migrants were 'unsubstantiated.'" (Grokked from Chip Dawes)
"In a strongly worded report, the inspector general said the prolonged detention of migrants without proper food, hygiene or laundry facilities — some for more than a month — requires 'immediate attention and action.'"
"A report from government auditors includes images of people penned into overcrowded Border Patrol facilities, including one man pressing a cardboard sign to a cell window with the word 'help.'"
"A Texas congressman says he released video and photos of migrant women being held at a border facility in his state so the public could better understand 'awful' conditions under President Donald Trump’s policies."
Meanwhile, over on Bullshit Mountain, "Hispanic pastors tour border facility lambasted by AOC and say they are 'shocked by misinformation'." I believe the term is "sell out." How do you know it's bullshit, because of the "begging" language used by the "agent" this minister talked with. Why the bullshit? Because they know they're losing.
"Divers are searching for a 2-year-old girl believed to have gone missing in the Rio Grande River near Del Rio, Texas, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced Tuesday. Agents from the Del Rio Border Patrol Station said a woman from Haiti told them Monday that she had lost her daughter, a national of Brazil, while crossing the river."
"A Seattle federal judge ruled Tuesday that asylum-seeking migrants detained for being in the U.S. illegally have the right to a bond hearing in immigration court rather than being held until their cases are complete."
"ICE’s arrest of student and activist Jose Bello—less than 36 hours after Bello publicly recited a poem criticizing the immigration system—is cause for serious concern for all those who support freedom of expression and First Amendment rights, PEN America said today." (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
"Iran's President Hassan Rouhani issued a fresh ultimatum Wednesday over its civilian-use nuclear program, saying the country would on Sunday 'take the next step' toward increasing its enrichment of uranium unless European powers are able to find a way to offset the impact of the Trump administration's sanctions on its economy." How's that "better deal" coming along, Sparky?
"An attack has killed up to 40 migrants at a detention centre on the outskirts of the Libyan capital Tripoli, government officials say." Libya is still without stable national government.
"The German captain of a rescue charity ship who angered Italy’s interior minister by bringing African migrants to an Italian island has received threats and been moved to a secret location, the charity she works for said."
"Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) on Tuesday said that the Republican Party is 'in a coma' because of a 'willingness to only absorb that that supports what you currently think.'" And then he engages in both-siderism. Fuck you, John. I see your record with Ohio. While you may have been the least offensive of the crowd in 2016, that doesn't mean you weren't offensive as a candidate. Say, tell ya what, Johnny. Why don't you take your political capital in the party and actually do something about that instead of trying to just profit and cash-in all your time in office. (Grokked from Joy Reid)
Here's the problem, I think he's right. Come 2021 the conservatives and GOP will shudder awake and say, "OMG, what have we done?!" And then just as easily slide into "That's all in the past, we have to move forward." Fuck that shit. We're taking down names.
"President Donald Trump has hijacked what for decades had been a nonpolitical Independence Day celebration on the National Mall, packing his ticketed-event speech with political appointees and Republican donors… The Republican National Committee has been offering major donors tickets to Trump’s speech, as have political appointees at the White House and executive branch agencies." Oh look, something new has been written, "Some animals are more equal than others." I wonder what that means? (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
"Trump has been obsessed by the idea of a massive military parade ever since attending the Bastille Day celebration in Paris two years ago, first ordering up a Veterans Day parade for 2018 that was canceled only after the price tag proved embarrassingly high. For someone who literally cannot grasp the possibility that more people voted for his opponent than him, or that fewer people came to his inaugural than his predecessor’s, it is not much of a reach to imagine that in the president’s mind he will see the flyovers and the fireworks as a nation paying tribute to the greatness of a man, rather than the other way around."
"The military is telling Washington, D.C., residents not to panic this evening if they see an armored personnel carrier rolling through their neighborhood." It's just a fascist display of dick waging. Nothing to worry about. Move along, citizen. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"Other elements of the spectacle have raised eyebrows, particularly the revelation that the White House is doling out exclusive tickets to the event for its political allies via the Republican National Committee as HuffPost reported. This raises questions about whether massive federal government resources are being devoted to a partisan political effort." Your tax dollars at work. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
"A House committee has filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking President Donald Trump’s tax returns." Finally.
"The National Rifle Association aired an avalanche of TV ads and pushed its 5 million-plus members to the polls for Donald Trump in 2016, propelling him in the Rust Belt states that delivered him the presidency… Now, the gun rights group is in total meltdown — and senior Republicans and Trump 2020 officials are alarmed." I'm sure Russian money will help prop it up, again. But two of the three main groups are now seeking to rebrand themselves as "non-partisan" (the Kochs and the US Chamber of Commerce). That smacks more of a coordinated infiltration than a strategic retreat.
Now in "News You Couldn't Possibly Write in Fiction," "Trump Facebook ads use models to portray actual supporters." And the models and the video aren't all from the US. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
Tuesday, July 2, 2019
Linkee-poo, you know it's quite bizarre to think that here we are playing midwives to an egg
"Penguin Random House comprises the vast majority of ebooks published on a yearly basis and Macmillan and Hachette almost comprise of the rest. These companies have recently revised their contracts with the public library. Libraries will now have to purchase ebooks that are only good for two year contracts and then will have to devote the resources to see what books they want to buy again and which ones they do not. This is a far cry from the old policy which only had the library make a one time purchase for every ebook they wanted and could loan it out with abandon. Major publishers are now deliberately sabotaging the library system and their rational is they don’t want to devalue their front-list books and want people to buy them, instead of borrow them." Have we learned nothing from the past two-decades? (Grokked from Jason Sanford)
Then Jason went an interviewed Fritz Foy, president and publisher of Tom Doherty Associates, for his Patreon newsletter. Jason has made that issue of the newsletter public and there's some interesting points made in there. The one that pricked my ears up was, "'All but one title we compared (in the Tor experiment group) had higher sales after the four month embargo on ebook sales to libraries,' he said." There's also a lot of hints as to how Macmillian/Tor may change its pricing scheme for library e-books in the future. But this data dovetails into the experiment Cory Doctorow has been running for a long time now (pay what you want for his DRM Free e-books). Also I think it acknowledges a well know publishing fact that public libraries increase readerships. I know my personal use of libraries certainly fits that (I'll try someone from the library, and if I like I'll buy the book or at least their future titles).
"The Orion capsule aced a critical launch-abort test this morning (July 2), showing that it can indeed get astronauts out of harm's way during a liftoff emergency and keeping the craft on target for a first crewed flight in 2022."
"Interstellar object 'Oumuamua - that strange, cigar-shaped chunk of rock from somewhere a vast distance beyond the Solar System - is, new research has concluded, absolutely, positively not an alien spaceship… OK, well, probably not." Strong side-eye.
"The amount of ice floating in waters off Antarctica has declined significantly since 2014, a new study shows. But the same research — a detailed analysis of 40 years of satellite data about sea ice — shows that the amount of Antarctic sea ice grew unexpectedly for almost four decades before the steep decline, even as sea ice in the Arctic region declined." Whispers, "not all ice is the same."
"It was in talking with those children and their families, she says, that she first realized how many of her patients experiencing the worst health outcomes — those with the highest levels of chronic asthma, for example — were also living with significant adversity, such as growing up in a household where a parent was mentally ill, abusive or substance dependent." No correlate this to what we're doing with minors at our Southern Border.
"Despite FirstEnergy Solutions’ past warnings that its two Ohio nuclear power plants would close if lawmakers didn’t pass a bailout bill by June 30, the company is now indicating that it’s willing to wait a little longer for lawmakers to give them hundreds of millions of dollars in public subsidies." Of course they will. And what does our conservative lead government do? "The Ohio House passed HB 6 in late May; its version sought to charge every Ohio electricity customer $1 per month to raise about $190 million per year in subsidies, and to do away with energy-efficiency and renewable-energy mandates for utilities. However, the Ohio Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee has spent the last few weeks reworking the bill, rolling back the nuclear subsidies to $150 million per year and keeping the clean-energy mandates (though in in a diminished form)." They're bickering about how much to screw us over, that's what.
"The boy was involved with an assault. But what plays out over the next three hours is a restorative justice conference — a guided conversation between a juvenile who broke the law and the person whom the juvenile hurt."
"A machine at a Facebook mailing facility in Menlo Park, California, alerted employees Monday that a package might contain sarin, according to fire officials." I guess the frown face "like" icon wasn't enough. Yes, there are machines that do this. My old company used to make them. Although many common household items can set off the sensors. (Grokked from Dan)
"China on Tuesday condemned violent protests in Hong Kong as an 'undisguised challenge' to the formula under which the city is ruled, hours after police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters who stormed and trashed the legislature." Only if you think of China wanting full control over the city.
"The U.N. envoy for Myanmar said Monday that progress on alleviating the crisis that led more than 720,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to neighboring Bangladesh has been slow and if there is no action it will be time to 'ring the alarm bell.'" Let's ring that bell now, shall we.
"Soon the tensions escalated, with a black-clad activist striking the conservative journalist Andy Ngo in the face while others slimed him with what protesters said were vegan coconut milkshakes. Mr. Ngo was left bloodied and obviously shaken, reporting the attack in a video livestreamed to his more than 140,000 Twitter followers when a city medic arrived to check on him." Note how the paragraph of collecting weapons during a demonstration fails to mention that was a right-wing demonstration, leaving the impression it was an anti-fa demonstration.
"It was called the 'The Sewing Circle,' an unlikely name for a secret subsect of Navy SEALs. Its purpose was even more improbable: A chat forum to discuss alleged war crimes they said their chief, a decorated sniper and medic, committed on a recent tour of duty in Iraq."
"Members of a secret Facebook group for current and former Border Patrol agents joked about the deaths of migrants, discussed throwing burritos at Latino members of Congress visiting a detention facility in Texas on Monday and posted a vulgar illustration depicting Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez engaged in oral sex with a detained migrant, according to screenshots of their postings." Just your reminder that back in the GW administration they tried to make CBP a professional organization with standards, including a pre-hire polygraph (just like most federal law enforcement agencies). Hiring practically came to a standstill. (Grokked from Kelly Link)
"Customs and Border Protection has launched an investigation into a secret Facebook group for current and former Border Patrol agents who posted derogatory remarks targeting migrants and lawmakers."
"Democratic members of Congress expressed outrage Monday over the growing humanitarian crisis on the southern border after touring two Texas border facilities prompted by reports of deteriorating conditions." And what does Fox News focus on? "Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., allegedly screamed at Customs and Border Protection agents 'in a threatening manner' during a recent visit to a southern border facility in Texas, according to a report — after she made the explosive claim that women being held at at least one facility are being forced to drink 'out of toilets.'" First, while both of those happened, they weren't connected. Also AOC may have yelled to stop agents from surreptitiously taking "selfies" with her (which was one of those items covered in the Facebook story above).
"President Trump said Monday he would leave an intelligence presence in Afghanistan, though he has long hoped for a full withdrawal of U.S. military presence from the country." Uh, yeah, Bob.
"The Transportation Department is moving to relax the federal regulations that required Francois to pull over, a long sought goal of the trucking industry and a move that would highlight its influence with the Trump administration. Interest groups that represent motor carriers and truck drivers have lobbied for revisions they say would make the rigid 'hours of service' rules more flexible." Should there be some flexibility? Sure. But what the industry wants isn't that flexibility, they want to be able to push their drivers to the limits of their fatigue. As it is they can drive 11 of 14 hours on duty within a 24 hour cycle.
"House Oversight Committee chair Elijah Cummings (D-MD 7th District) today expanded his investigation into use of personal e-mail by officials in the Trump White House." But her emails? (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)
"The study, by researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, does not prove that Russian interference swung the election to Trump. But it demonstrates that Trump's gains in popularity during the 2016 campaign correlated closely with high levels of social media activity by the Russian trolls and bots of the Internet Research Agency, a key weapon in the Russian attack." Waves to my Russian friends. "The study noted that Trump's own policy proposals occasionally seemed to dovetail with Russian propaganda." Funny, that. Also I notice you guys are getting into the office earlier. That must suck. Look, it's going to be a long election. So just relax into the day and get a coffee first. (Grokked from Justine Larbalestier)
"An image graphic purportedly comparing how Obama, Clinton, Bush and Trump celebrated the 4th of July consists of cherry-picked photographs, none taken on Independence Day." Confirmation bias, don't fall for it. But while we're talking about July 4th I just want to make the point about conservatives trying to make this holiday about the military. It's not. This is about the citizens, residents, and even the undocumented who live here in the USA. Don't let them hijack out holiday.
"The Pentagon declined to comment on any costs associated with the July 4th celebration and with the units associated." There is a part of me deeply disturbed by having tanks and armored vehicles "stationed" in the nation's capital. Especially when it's just to stoke the ego of the president.
Tweet of my heart: @ItsDanSheehan Baby Boomers did that thing where you leave a single square of toilet paper on the roll and pretend it’s not your turn to change it but with a whole society (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)
Then Jason went an interviewed Fritz Foy, president and publisher of Tom Doherty Associates, for his Patreon newsletter. Jason has made that issue of the newsletter public and there's some interesting points made in there. The one that pricked my ears up was, "'All but one title we compared (in the Tor experiment group) had higher sales after the four month embargo on ebook sales to libraries,' he said." There's also a lot of hints as to how Macmillian/Tor may change its pricing scheme for library e-books in the future. But this data dovetails into the experiment Cory Doctorow has been running for a long time now (pay what you want for his DRM Free e-books). Also I think it acknowledges a well know publishing fact that public libraries increase readerships. I know my personal use of libraries certainly fits that (I'll try someone from the library, and if I like I'll buy the book or at least their future titles).
"The Orion capsule aced a critical launch-abort test this morning (July 2), showing that it can indeed get astronauts out of harm's way during a liftoff emergency and keeping the craft on target for a first crewed flight in 2022."
"Interstellar object 'Oumuamua - that strange, cigar-shaped chunk of rock from somewhere a vast distance beyond the Solar System - is, new research has concluded, absolutely, positively not an alien spaceship… OK, well, probably not." Strong side-eye.
"The amount of ice floating in waters off Antarctica has declined significantly since 2014, a new study shows. But the same research — a detailed analysis of 40 years of satellite data about sea ice — shows that the amount of Antarctic sea ice grew unexpectedly for almost four decades before the steep decline, even as sea ice in the Arctic region declined." Whispers, "not all ice is the same."
"It was in talking with those children and their families, she says, that she first realized how many of her patients experiencing the worst health outcomes — those with the highest levels of chronic asthma, for example — were also living with significant adversity, such as growing up in a household where a parent was mentally ill, abusive or substance dependent." No correlate this to what we're doing with minors at our Southern Border.
"Despite FirstEnergy Solutions’ past warnings that its two Ohio nuclear power plants would close if lawmakers didn’t pass a bailout bill by June 30, the company is now indicating that it’s willing to wait a little longer for lawmakers to give them hundreds of millions of dollars in public subsidies." Of course they will. And what does our conservative lead government do? "The Ohio House passed HB 6 in late May; its version sought to charge every Ohio electricity customer $1 per month to raise about $190 million per year in subsidies, and to do away with energy-efficiency and renewable-energy mandates for utilities. However, the Ohio Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee has spent the last few weeks reworking the bill, rolling back the nuclear subsidies to $150 million per year and keeping the clean-energy mandates (though in in a diminished form)." They're bickering about how much to screw us over, that's what.
"The boy was involved with an assault. But what plays out over the next three hours is a restorative justice conference — a guided conversation between a juvenile who broke the law and the person whom the juvenile hurt."
"A machine at a Facebook mailing facility in Menlo Park, California, alerted employees Monday that a package might contain sarin, according to fire officials." I guess the frown face "like" icon wasn't enough. Yes, there are machines that do this. My old company used to make them. Although many common household items can set off the sensors. (Grokked from Dan)
"China on Tuesday condemned violent protests in Hong Kong as an 'undisguised challenge' to the formula under which the city is ruled, hours after police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters who stormed and trashed the legislature." Only if you think of China wanting full control over the city.
"The U.N. envoy for Myanmar said Monday that progress on alleviating the crisis that led more than 720,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to neighboring Bangladesh has been slow and if there is no action it will be time to 'ring the alarm bell.'" Let's ring that bell now, shall we.
"Soon the tensions escalated, with a black-clad activist striking the conservative journalist Andy Ngo in the face while others slimed him with what protesters said were vegan coconut milkshakes. Mr. Ngo was left bloodied and obviously shaken, reporting the attack in a video livestreamed to his more than 140,000 Twitter followers when a city medic arrived to check on him." Note how the paragraph of collecting weapons during a demonstration fails to mention that was a right-wing demonstration, leaving the impression it was an anti-fa demonstration.
"It was called the 'The Sewing Circle,' an unlikely name for a secret subsect of Navy SEALs. Its purpose was even more improbable: A chat forum to discuss alleged war crimes they said their chief, a decorated sniper and medic, committed on a recent tour of duty in Iraq."
"Members of a secret Facebook group for current and former Border Patrol agents joked about the deaths of migrants, discussed throwing burritos at Latino members of Congress visiting a detention facility in Texas on Monday and posted a vulgar illustration depicting Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez engaged in oral sex with a detained migrant, according to screenshots of their postings." Just your reminder that back in the GW administration they tried to make CBP a professional organization with standards, including a pre-hire polygraph (just like most federal law enforcement agencies). Hiring practically came to a standstill. (Grokked from Kelly Link)
"Customs and Border Protection has launched an investigation into a secret Facebook group for current and former Border Patrol agents who posted derogatory remarks targeting migrants and lawmakers."
"Democratic members of Congress expressed outrage Monday over the growing humanitarian crisis on the southern border after touring two Texas border facilities prompted by reports of deteriorating conditions." And what does Fox News focus on? "Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., allegedly screamed at Customs and Border Protection agents 'in a threatening manner' during a recent visit to a southern border facility in Texas, according to a report — after she made the explosive claim that women being held at at least one facility are being forced to drink 'out of toilets.'" First, while both of those happened, they weren't connected. Also AOC may have yelled to stop agents from surreptitiously taking "selfies" with her (which was one of those items covered in the Facebook story above).
"President Trump said Monday he would leave an intelligence presence in Afghanistan, though he has long hoped for a full withdrawal of U.S. military presence from the country." Uh, yeah, Bob.
"The Transportation Department is moving to relax the federal regulations that required Francois to pull over, a long sought goal of the trucking industry and a move that would highlight its influence with the Trump administration. Interest groups that represent motor carriers and truck drivers have lobbied for revisions they say would make the rigid 'hours of service' rules more flexible." Should there be some flexibility? Sure. But what the industry wants isn't that flexibility, they want to be able to push their drivers to the limits of their fatigue. As it is they can drive 11 of 14 hours on duty within a 24 hour cycle.
"House Oversight Committee chair Elijah Cummings (D-MD 7th District) today expanded his investigation into use of personal e-mail by officials in the Trump White House." But her emails? (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)
"The study, by researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, does not prove that Russian interference swung the election to Trump. But it demonstrates that Trump's gains in popularity during the 2016 campaign correlated closely with high levels of social media activity by the Russian trolls and bots of the Internet Research Agency, a key weapon in the Russian attack." Waves to my Russian friends. "The study noted that Trump's own policy proposals occasionally seemed to dovetail with Russian propaganda." Funny, that. Also I notice you guys are getting into the office earlier. That must suck. Look, it's going to be a long election. So just relax into the day and get a coffee first. (Grokked from Justine Larbalestier)
"An image graphic purportedly comparing how Obama, Clinton, Bush and Trump celebrated the 4th of July consists of cherry-picked photographs, none taken on Independence Day." Confirmation bias, don't fall for it. But while we're talking about July 4th I just want to make the point about conservatives trying to make this holiday about the military. It's not. This is about the citizens, residents, and even the undocumented who live here in the USA. Don't let them hijack out holiday.
"The Pentagon declined to comment on any costs associated with the July 4th celebration and with the units associated." There is a part of me deeply disturbed by having tanks and armored vehicles "stationed" in the nation's capital. Especially when it's just to stoke the ego of the president.
Tweet of my heart: @ItsDanSheehan Baby Boomers did that thing where you leave a single square of toilet paper on the roll and pretend it’s not your turn to change it but with a whole society (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)
Monday, July 1, 2019
Linkee-poo, you're in the mud in the maze of her imagination
Luis Alvarez, and so it goes.
First, just want to point out I did a linkee-poo late Sunday.
DongWon Song on writer conventions. (Grokked from Elizabeth Bear)
"A freak hail storm blanketed large parts of Guadalajara on Sunday, coating the southwestern Mexican city's roads with up to five feet of ice and snow."
"Five small Japanese whaling ships set sail for the first time in more than three decades Monday following that country's controversial decision to resume the hunt for the huge marine mammal." Truth be told they never really stopped, but they called it "scientific research". I think it was in Good Omens where Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchet quipped that the research boiled down to "how many whales can a ship capture in a season?"
"Back in the 1800s, Charles Darwin was among the first to come up with what modern scientists further developed into the 'facial feedback hypothesis.' That's the idea that smiling can make you happier and frowning can make you sadder or angrier — that changing your facial expression can intensify or even transform your mood… But researchers are now finding that this phenomenon may be more complicated than they once thought. A recent study that reviewed around 50 years of data, including the results of nearly 300 experiments testing the facial feedback theory, has found that if smiling boosts happiness, it's only by a tiny bit."
"Scientists have long known about such properties of light as wavelength. More recently, researchers have found that light can also be twisted, a property called angular momentum. Beams with highly structured angular momentum are said to have orbital angular momentum (OAM), and are called vortex beams. They appear as a helix surrounding a common center, and when they strike a flat surface, they appear as doughnut-shaped. In this new effort, the researchers were working with OAM beams when they found the light behaving in a way that had never been seen before." The Ninth Ray? (Grokked from Dan)
"That's according to a study published Monday in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, which found that in 2015, an estimated 53 million adults -- or nearly 1 in 5 -- said they had experienced at least one harm attributable to someone else's drinking in the past year. That harm ranged from property damage to physical injury."
"A study from Columbia University finds that sitting for long periods in front of the television is more dangerous than sitting at work." No transcript yet, but this. Also note that while sitting at work is less harmful (they think because you actually are moving around while doing work) that the human body was evolved to keep moving.
"Gene Kranz may be the most famous flight director in NASA's history. He directed the actual landing portion of the first mission to put men on the moon, Apollo 11, and led Mission Control in saving the crew of Apollo 13 after an oxygen tank exploded on the way to the lunar surface… The room where Kranz directed some of NASA's most historic missions, heralding U.S. exploration of space, was decommissioned in 1992. Since then, it had become a stop on guided tours of the space center, but fallen into disrepair. Kranz has led a $5 million dollar, multi-year effort to restore Mission Control in time for the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing on July 20." Shiny.
"As thousands gathered in New York City for the world's largest LGBTQ celebration, some other events across the country were unable to proceed due to threats and safety concerns." Threatening story hours and events for LGBTQ teens. But the "Return to Order" is a new name to add to the lists. Apparently it is a "Catholic" conservative organization and is a special campaign of the American branch of TFP (American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property originally founded in Brazil) and they seem to want to reinstate Satanic Panic politics. The 20,000 signatures is a quite interesting figure, as it's the exact same figure of their petition to Netflix to cancel Good Omens (which they've not acknowledged their mistake and blame it on the intern). While I haven't done much research on them (are you surprised I do that kind of thing) I would guess that this 20,000 signature numbers would show up a few times more (some more research shows the 20,000 to be on the money, although they self-report between 20,000 and 30,000 signatures).
"But on Sunday, an inauspicious milestone was achieved: The yield curve remained inverted for three months, or an entire quarter, which has for half a century been a clear signal that the economy is heading for recession in the next nine to 18 months, according to Campbell Harvey, a Duke University finance professor who spoke to NPR on Sunday. His research in the mid-1980s first linked yield curve inversions to recessions." Insert dramatic music here.
"A Canadian cartoonist's illustration of President Donald Trump playing golf over the bodies of two drowned migrants went viral Wednesday. Two days later, Michael de Adder said on Twitter that he had been let go by a publishing company in New Brunswick, Canada." The publishing company has a different version of the story, saying they had already decided to hire a different cartoonist, that Michael de Adder was just on contract (which had expired), and that he never offered the cartoon in question to the newspaper.
"Protesters tore down protective fencing around Hong Kong's Legislative Council building Monday as demonstrations marking the anniversary of the former British colony's return to Chinese rule grew surly."
"A 43-year-old El Salvadoran man who crossed into the U.S. with his daughter collapsed at a border station and later died at a hospital, officials said Saturday."
It's a core tenant of "organization change management" that change only happens when the perceived pain of change is less than the status quo. "Some migrant families this weekend contemplated crossing the swirling Rio Grande from Mexico to seek asylum in the U.S. despite several recent drowning deaths… Cuban migrant Viviana Martinez was considering the dangerous crossing with her husband and 1-year-old son. She’s five months pregnant and has been in the northeast border city of Matamoros waiting to cross the border legally into Texas for more than two weeks." These migrants know very well what they're in for, but they come anyway. Because even the possibility of death is less pain than the assured death where they are at.
"The Trump administration's immigration policies have drawn condemnation, but increasingly the criticism has also turned to a web of companies that are part of the multi-billion-dollar industry that runs detention facilities housing tens of thousands of migrants around the country." As well they should.
And just in case you haven't been paying attention, "Note that the Pentagon, which warns of US destruction by Russia, is being weakened: there hasn't been a Secretary of Defense since 2018" and many top positions are unfulfilled. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"The moment encapsulated the unusually prominent role Ivanka Trump has played during Trump's trip to Asia: a first daughter assuming the spotlight and duty beyond that of a senior aide on the world stage, the latest in her ongoing efforts to style herself as a diplomat… Back in Washington, national security officials bristled at the large presence Ivanka assumed while overseas. But those close to the President described it as business as usual."
"President Donald Trump has drawn fire after announcing plans to relax the ban on US companies doing business with the Chinese tech giant Huawei." So, he backed down with nothing to show for it.
"The Trump International Hotel in Washington, just five blocks from the White House, charged the Secret Service more than $200,000 in taxpayer money during the first year of Trump’s presidency." President Small Tight-fisted should have comped them, but then he wouldn't make as much money. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"After an eventful month and the conclusion of the first round of Democratic debates, there is a new top tier — and a sense among many campaigns and Democratic operatives that Biden and Sanders are suddenly within reach in a race that has broken wide open." And the media shows its preference for conflict.
"Last week, Republicans launched a new online fundraising tool called WinRed. It's a platform they hope will close the gap between the GOP and Democrats, even though the digital highway is littered with their several previous failed attempts." While Republicans have held a lead in developing talent (to mixed results) through their network of conservative think tanks, Democrats have held the lead on online campaign technologies. While I would like to be cynical and say when it comes to money sharing conservatives have a built-in conflict of interest, this one might work. Because it has to.
First, just want to point out I did a linkee-poo late Sunday.
DongWon Song on writer conventions. (Grokked from Elizabeth Bear)
"A freak hail storm blanketed large parts of Guadalajara on Sunday, coating the southwestern Mexican city's roads with up to five feet of ice and snow."
"Five small Japanese whaling ships set sail for the first time in more than three decades Monday following that country's controversial decision to resume the hunt for the huge marine mammal." Truth be told they never really stopped, but they called it "scientific research". I think it was in Good Omens where Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchet quipped that the research boiled down to "how many whales can a ship capture in a season?"
"Back in the 1800s, Charles Darwin was among the first to come up with what modern scientists further developed into the 'facial feedback hypothesis.' That's the idea that smiling can make you happier and frowning can make you sadder or angrier — that changing your facial expression can intensify or even transform your mood… But researchers are now finding that this phenomenon may be more complicated than they once thought. A recent study that reviewed around 50 years of data, including the results of nearly 300 experiments testing the facial feedback theory, has found that if smiling boosts happiness, it's only by a tiny bit."
"Scientists have long known about such properties of light as wavelength. More recently, researchers have found that light can also be twisted, a property called angular momentum. Beams with highly structured angular momentum are said to have orbital angular momentum (OAM), and are called vortex beams. They appear as a helix surrounding a common center, and when they strike a flat surface, they appear as doughnut-shaped. In this new effort, the researchers were working with OAM beams when they found the light behaving in a way that had never been seen before." The Ninth Ray? (Grokked from Dan)
"That's according to a study published Monday in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, which found that in 2015, an estimated 53 million adults -- or nearly 1 in 5 -- said they had experienced at least one harm attributable to someone else's drinking in the past year. That harm ranged from property damage to physical injury."
"A study from Columbia University finds that sitting for long periods in front of the television is more dangerous than sitting at work." No transcript yet, but this. Also note that while sitting at work is less harmful (they think because you actually are moving around while doing work) that the human body was evolved to keep moving.
"Gene Kranz may be the most famous flight director in NASA's history. He directed the actual landing portion of the first mission to put men on the moon, Apollo 11, and led Mission Control in saving the crew of Apollo 13 after an oxygen tank exploded on the way to the lunar surface… The room where Kranz directed some of NASA's most historic missions, heralding U.S. exploration of space, was decommissioned in 1992. Since then, it had become a stop on guided tours of the space center, but fallen into disrepair. Kranz has led a $5 million dollar, multi-year effort to restore Mission Control in time for the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing on July 20." Shiny.
"As thousands gathered in New York City for the world's largest LGBTQ celebration, some other events across the country were unable to proceed due to threats and safety concerns." Threatening story hours and events for LGBTQ teens. But the "Return to Order" is a new name to add to the lists. Apparently it is a "Catholic" conservative organization and is a special campaign of the American branch of TFP (American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property originally founded in Brazil) and they seem to want to reinstate Satanic Panic politics. The 20,000 signatures is a quite interesting figure, as it's the exact same figure of their petition to Netflix to cancel Good Omens (which they've not acknowledged their mistake and blame it on the intern). While I haven't done much research on them (are you surprised I do that kind of thing) I would guess that this 20,000 signature numbers would show up a few times more (some more research shows the 20,000 to be on the money, although they self-report between 20,000 and 30,000 signatures).
"But on Sunday, an inauspicious milestone was achieved: The yield curve remained inverted for three months, or an entire quarter, which has for half a century been a clear signal that the economy is heading for recession in the next nine to 18 months, according to Campbell Harvey, a Duke University finance professor who spoke to NPR on Sunday. His research in the mid-1980s first linked yield curve inversions to recessions." Insert dramatic music here.
"A Canadian cartoonist's illustration of President Donald Trump playing golf over the bodies of two drowned migrants went viral Wednesday. Two days later, Michael de Adder said on Twitter that he had been let go by a publishing company in New Brunswick, Canada." The publishing company has a different version of the story, saying they had already decided to hire a different cartoonist, that Michael de Adder was just on contract (which had expired), and that he never offered the cartoon in question to the newspaper.
"Protesters tore down protective fencing around Hong Kong's Legislative Council building Monday as demonstrations marking the anniversary of the former British colony's return to Chinese rule grew surly."
"A 43-year-old El Salvadoran man who crossed into the U.S. with his daughter collapsed at a border station and later died at a hospital, officials said Saturday."
It's a core tenant of "organization change management" that change only happens when the perceived pain of change is less than the status quo. "Some migrant families this weekend contemplated crossing the swirling Rio Grande from Mexico to seek asylum in the U.S. despite several recent drowning deaths… Cuban migrant Viviana Martinez was considering the dangerous crossing with her husband and 1-year-old son. She’s five months pregnant and has been in the northeast border city of Matamoros waiting to cross the border legally into Texas for more than two weeks." These migrants know very well what they're in for, but they come anyway. Because even the possibility of death is less pain than the assured death where they are at.
"The Trump administration's immigration policies have drawn condemnation, but increasingly the criticism has also turned to a web of companies that are part of the multi-billion-dollar industry that runs detention facilities housing tens of thousands of migrants around the country." As well they should.
And just in case you haven't been paying attention, "Note that the Pentagon, which warns of US destruction by Russia, is being weakened: there hasn't been a Secretary of Defense since 2018" and many top positions are unfulfilled. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"The moment encapsulated the unusually prominent role Ivanka Trump has played during Trump's trip to Asia: a first daughter assuming the spotlight and duty beyond that of a senior aide on the world stage, the latest in her ongoing efforts to style herself as a diplomat… Back in Washington, national security officials bristled at the large presence Ivanka assumed while overseas. But those close to the President described it as business as usual."
"President Donald Trump has drawn fire after announcing plans to relax the ban on US companies doing business with the Chinese tech giant Huawei." So, he backed down with nothing to show for it.
"The Trump International Hotel in Washington, just five blocks from the White House, charged the Secret Service more than $200,000 in taxpayer money during the first year of Trump’s presidency." President Small Tight-fisted should have comped them, but then he wouldn't make as much money. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"After an eventful month and the conclusion of the first round of Democratic debates, there is a new top tier — and a sense among many campaigns and Democratic operatives that Biden and Sanders are suddenly within reach in a race that has broken wide open." And the media shows its preference for conflict.
"Last week, Republicans launched a new online fundraising tool called WinRed. It's a platform they hope will close the gap between the GOP and Democrats, even though the digital highway is littered with their several previous failed attempts." While Republicans have held a lead in developing talent (to mixed results) through their network of conservative think tanks, Democrats have held the lead on online campaign technologies. While I would like to be cynical and say when it comes to money sharing conservatives have a built-in conflict of interest, this one might work. Because it has to.
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