"The deepest samples—taken from the giant's elbows and feet—rule out a prehistoric Roman origin, indicating that the giant was probably first made by late Saxons sometime between 700 and 1100 AD. However, other samples indicate a later date of around 1560—still predating the first recorded mention of the giant in the 1694 church warden's account."
"A wildfire raging in Oregon is currently the largest fire in the nation, burning more than 201,000 acres across the state, officials said Tuesday. The Bootleg Fire started in Klamath County on July 6, forcing officials to place more than 100 homes under mandatory evacuation orders… As of Tuesday, the fire destroyed 54 structures and 21 homes, according to CBS affiliate KOIN. The cause of the fire is currently unknown."
"'In half of the Moon's 18.6-year cycle, Earth's regular daily tides are suppressed: High tides are lower than normal, and low tides are higher than normal,' NASA explains. 'In the other half of the cycle, tides are amplified: High tides get higher, and low tides get lower. Global sea-level rise pushes high tides in only one direction – higher. So half of the 18.6-year lunar cycle counteracts the effect of sea-level rise on high tides, and the other half increases the effect.'… But this time around, scientists are more concerned. With sea-level rise due to climate change, the next high tide floods are expected to be more intense and more frequent than ever before, exacerbating already grim predictions." To everything, there is a season.
"Johnson & Johnson’s beleaguered COVID-19 vaccine may be associated with a small increased risk of Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare but potentially serious neurological condition, federal officials said Monday. The Food and Drug Administration has added a warning about the potential side effect to its fact sheets about the vaccine."
"Concern about the spread of the COVID-19 delta variant is rising in Mississippi… State health officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said in a tweet Tuesday that seven children are in the ICU and two are on life support because of a surge in delta variant cases."
"The Tennessee Department of Health will halt all adolescent vaccine outreach – not just for coronavirus, but all diseases – amid pressure from Republican state lawmakers, according to an internal report and agency emails obtained by the Tennessean. If the health department must issue any information about vaccines, staff are instructed to strip the agency logo off the documents." In other news, don't go to Tennessee. So that means all disease will have a ready pool of victims in Tennessee. Flu, COVID, Mumps, measles, chicken-pox and what is probably a major part of this push, HPV.
"Canadians can fly to the U.S. but can't cross by land, and most non-Canadians cannot enter Canada either by land or by air. The two countries continue to extend their travel measures — which are not the same in both directions — month by month… In the latest step, which began July 5, the Canadian government lifted a mandatory 14-day quarantine for fully vaccinated Canadians and permanent residents returning to Canada. However, federal ministers have resisted providing a timeline or clear benchmarks for next steps in admitting more visitors."
"Citigroup on Wednesday posted second-quarter results that benefited from a $1.1 billion boost from releasing reserves the bank had set aside for loan losses… While the bank managed to top expectations for revenue, the figure declined 12% from a year earlier, driven by lower results in fixed income trading, falling credit card loans and dropping interest rates."
"Though remote work is sweeping corporate America, Google has been reluctant to let employees do it permanently, an approach Twitter and Reddit have taken. Google isn't the only tech company wrestling with its workforce's increasing desire for flexibility. Apple is facing its own backlash from employees, while Facebook just extended remote work options to all of its employees. But the way the search giant has handled the rollout of its plans has drawn particular scrutiny."
"McDonald’s, perhaps more than any brand, has been caught in the center of that criticism and controversy, even though its franchise model means the vast majority of restaurant locations are actually operated by independent franchisees, like Locke’s TomTreyCo, rather than the franchisor — McDonald’s itself. But thanks to the intensely interwoven nature of the relationship between franchisor and franchisee, a decision to raise wages on either side of the franchise equation can have complex implications."
"For the prior year, Ballmer reported making $656 million. The dollar figure he paid in taxes was large, $78 million; but as a percentage of what he made, it was tiny. Records reviewed by ProPublica show his federal income tax rate was just 12%… That’s a third of the rate James paid, even though Ballmer made five times as much as the superstar player. Ballmer’s rate was also lower than Avila’s — even though Ballmer’s income was almost 15,000 times greater than the concession worker’s."
"Now, cruise ships will be banned from sailing through the city center of Venice from August 1, the Italian government has announced… Instead of sailing past the iconic St Mark's Square, and up the narrow Giudecca Canal, docking in the city-center port, from next month large cruise ships will be rerouted through the Venice lagoon, and dock on the mainland, at the industrial port of Marghera."
"Some seventeen people have died after a hotel collapse in the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou… After 36 hours of search operations, rescue workers found 23 people buried in the rubble - six of whom were found alive."
"Crowds looted shops and businesses in South Africa Wednesday, defying government calls an end to a week of violence that has killed more than 70 people, wrecked hundreds of businesses and shut down a refinery… Protests that followed the jailing of ex-president Jacob Zuma last week for failing to appear at a corruption inquiry have widened into looting and an outpouring of general anger over the hardship and inequality that persist 27 years after the end of apartheid."
"The Taliban are reported to have raised their flag above a key border post between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and claim it is now under their control."
"The men are among five fugitives who police said are armed and dangerous as they continued Wednesday to track down those suspected in the July 7 pre-dawn attack at Moïse’s private home in which the president was shot to death and his wife, Martine, wounded."
"The 43-page indictment unsealed Tuesday details the plan by an Iranian intelligence official and his three assets to track a Brooklyn-based journalist with the goal of bringing her back to Iran. The court records also include information on a fifth person, a woman based in the U.S. who prosecutors say helped fund the operation."
"Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer released sweeping draft legislation Wednesday to legalize weed, officially kickstarting a difficult debate in his chamber that also makes a major splash for one of his campaign promises… The measure floated by the New York Democrat — along with Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) — proposes removing federal penalties on cannabis, expunging nonviolent federal cannabis-related criminal records and letting states decide if or how to legalize the drug."
"The Miami protests mark just over three months since DeSantis signed the so-called 'anti-mob' legislation into law as a response to the summer demonstrations in 2020 against racism and for police reform, sparked by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The new Florida law makes blocking a highway a felony offense, among other things… When asked about the Miami protests, DeSantis instead talked about the protests in Cuba and how they are 'fundamentally different' from the protests last year." One law for you, another for me.
Meanwhile, on Bullshit Mountain… "A protest broke out in Tampa, Florida, on Tuesday in support of the anti-government protesters in Cuba and participants appealed to the Biden administration to take a firmer stance on the crackdown in Havana… 'Where is Biden?' the protesters chanted, according to Fox 13 News. 'Where is Biden?'" You have to go 3 more paragraphs to learn that President Biden has indeed already voiced his support of the protestors in Cuba.
Wednesday, July 14, 2021
Tuesday, July 13, 2021
Linkee-poo Tuesday July 13
"The scientists discovered that the X-ray flares are apparently triggered by regular vibrations of Jupiter's magnetic field lines. These vibrations generate planetary-scale waves of plasma — clouds of electrically charged particles — that send heavy ions 'surfing' along the magnetic field lines until they smash into the planet's atmosphere, releasing energy in the form of X-rays."
"Kristen Roupenian’s viral story draws specific details from my own life. I’ve spent the years since it published wondering: How did she know?" While it's all grist for the mill, don't write someone else's story unless you have permission. And maybe it's just because I've had HIPAA training, but while people should identify with the story, they should see that the people in the story are acting in normal ways, they should never be able to say, "That's me with the serial numbers filed off."
"Pesky, oversized goldfish are causing problems in Minnesota… Authorities in Burnsville, Minn., have urged residents and owners of pet goldfish, not to dispose of the family pet in lakes and ponds. The city tweeted a warning that doing so has resulted in the take over of one local lake by overgrown goldfish."
"The drought gripping the West is contributing to an increased number of mountain lion sightings in Utah, police said."
"Officials at University Hospitals in Cleveland on Monday apologized for the mistake and said two employees have been placed on administrative leave. The kidney given to the wrong patient is compatible and the person is expected to recover, officials said."
"The U.S. has seen a string of COVID-19 outbreaks tied to summer camps in recent weeks in places such as Texas, Illinois, Florida, Missouri and Kansas, in what some fear could be a preview of the upcoming school year… In some cases the outbreaks have spread from the camp to the broader community." Gee, ya think it might be a problem?
"More than 1 million people in France made vaccine appointments in less than a day, figures showed on Tuesday, after the president cranked up pressure on everyone to get vaccinated to save summer vacation and the French economy."
"The Passamaquoddy Tribe held an educational session near a replica of a Christopher Columbus ship that was visiting for Maine’s bicentennial and drew condemnation from tribes."
"Inflation surged in June at its fastest pace in nearly 13 years amid a burst in used vehicle costs and price increases in food and energy, the Labor Department reported Tuesday… The consumer price index increased 5.4% from a year earlier, the largest jump since August 2008, just before the worst of the financial crisis. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting a 5% gain."
"U.S. consumer trends show prices for many grocery items are going up as stores anticipate possible shortages. But Ohio grocers say they’re holding off on price increases for as long as they can… Most small and medium-sized grocery stores are operating on razor thin profit margins, as low as 1% or 2%. So seemingly minor price fluctuations can have a major impact, and they try to minimize the sticker shock whenever possible."
"Approvals for companies to drill for oil and gas on U.S. public lands are on pace this year to reach their highest level since George W. Bush was president, underscoring President Joe Biden's reluctance to more forcefully curb petroleum production in the face of industry and Republican resistance."
"ConAgra, whose brands include Duncan Hines, Slim Jim and Birds Eye, now foresees fiscal 2022 adjusted earnings of about $2.50 per share. It previously predicted earnings of $2.63 to $2.73 per share. Analysts polled by FactSet expect $2.62 per share." So note, they're not losing money, it's just the feel they aren't making enough profit.
"Witnesses say thousands of Tigrayans are being detained and their businesses closed in cities across Ethiopia in a new wave of ethnic targeting by authorities over the eight-month conflict in the Tigray region."
"British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Prince William are denouncing the racist harassment of Black players for England's national soccer team following the team's loss Sunday in the Euro 2020 championship."
"Two Baltimore city police officers were shot and a suspect was killed as a U.S. Marshals’ task force served a warrant outside a mall Tuesday morning, a Baltimore County police spokeswoman said." Seems to be a spate of that gong around.
"Authorities on Monday announced the arrest of a suspect who they say orchestrated the assassination. Haitian-born Christian Emmanuel Sanon, 63, entered the country on a private jet in June, Police Chief Leon Charles said at a news conference… Haitian authorities say that Sanon hired the Florida-based company CTU Security, which they alleged recruited men initially to provide security for Sanon, though their mission appears to have changed thereafter." And this is one of the reasons you do not tolerate mercenaries to operate from your territory.
"In an extraordinary effort to block Republicans from enacting new voting restrictions, Texas Democrats bolted — again… A large group of Democratic members of the state House of Representatives arrived at Dulles International Airport on Monday evening after fleeing the state in a pair of charter jets. At least 51 members were on the flights, a source familiar with the plans told NBC News. At least seven others were en route, as well."
"Texas’s Republican governor, Greg Abbott, has vowed to arrest Democrat lawmakers who have fled the state in an attempt to stop an overhaul of election laws that they say damages the right to vote, especially for communities of color." They will lose again, but it remains to be seen if their flight might stiffen the backbone of some of the Democrats in the US Senate and House.
"President Joe Biden plans to blast the flurry of new Republican-backed voting law changes Tuesday as 'the most egregious attempts to harm the integrity of our democracy since the Civil War' in the first part of what White House officials say will be a sustained effort to assemble a broad coalition to 'overcome this un-American trend.'"
"Exactly one week ago, I wrote these words: 'If you listen to him long enough -- no easy chore -- Donald Trump will tell you all his secrets.'… During his speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas, Texas, over the weekend, Trump let loose with this line explaining his strategy on polling… 'If it's bad, I say it's fake. If it's good, I say that's the most accurate poll ever.'"
"Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani reportedly 'infuriated' former President Donald Trump's advisers by urging him to simply declare he won on election night 2020 'based on nothing.'" It isn't so much this book painting Giuliani as a drunk that I object to, it that they're trying to say Stepien, Miller and Meadows were the adults in the room.
"Kristen Roupenian’s viral story draws specific details from my own life. I’ve spent the years since it published wondering: How did she know?" While it's all grist for the mill, don't write someone else's story unless you have permission. And maybe it's just because I've had HIPAA training, but while people should identify with the story, they should see that the people in the story are acting in normal ways, they should never be able to say, "That's me with the serial numbers filed off."
"Pesky, oversized goldfish are causing problems in Minnesota… Authorities in Burnsville, Minn., have urged residents and owners of pet goldfish, not to dispose of the family pet in lakes and ponds. The city tweeted a warning that doing so has resulted in the take over of one local lake by overgrown goldfish."
"The drought gripping the West is contributing to an increased number of mountain lion sightings in Utah, police said."
"Officials at University Hospitals in Cleveland on Monday apologized for the mistake and said two employees have been placed on administrative leave. The kidney given to the wrong patient is compatible and the person is expected to recover, officials said."
"The U.S. has seen a string of COVID-19 outbreaks tied to summer camps in recent weeks in places such as Texas, Illinois, Florida, Missouri and Kansas, in what some fear could be a preview of the upcoming school year… In some cases the outbreaks have spread from the camp to the broader community." Gee, ya think it might be a problem?
"More than 1 million people in France made vaccine appointments in less than a day, figures showed on Tuesday, after the president cranked up pressure on everyone to get vaccinated to save summer vacation and the French economy."
"The Passamaquoddy Tribe held an educational session near a replica of a Christopher Columbus ship that was visiting for Maine’s bicentennial and drew condemnation from tribes."
"Inflation surged in June at its fastest pace in nearly 13 years amid a burst in used vehicle costs and price increases in food and energy, the Labor Department reported Tuesday… The consumer price index increased 5.4% from a year earlier, the largest jump since August 2008, just before the worst of the financial crisis. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting a 5% gain."
"U.S. consumer trends show prices for many grocery items are going up as stores anticipate possible shortages. But Ohio grocers say they’re holding off on price increases for as long as they can… Most small and medium-sized grocery stores are operating on razor thin profit margins, as low as 1% or 2%. So seemingly minor price fluctuations can have a major impact, and they try to minimize the sticker shock whenever possible."
"Approvals for companies to drill for oil and gas on U.S. public lands are on pace this year to reach their highest level since George W. Bush was president, underscoring President Joe Biden's reluctance to more forcefully curb petroleum production in the face of industry and Republican resistance."
"ConAgra, whose brands include Duncan Hines, Slim Jim and Birds Eye, now foresees fiscal 2022 adjusted earnings of about $2.50 per share. It previously predicted earnings of $2.63 to $2.73 per share. Analysts polled by FactSet expect $2.62 per share." So note, they're not losing money, it's just the feel they aren't making enough profit.
"Witnesses say thousands of Tigrayans are being detained and their businesses closed in cities across Ethiopia in a new wave of ethnic targeting by authorities over the eight-month conflict in the Tigray region."
"British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Prince William are denouncing the racist harassment of Black players for England's national soccer team following the team's loss Sunday in the Euro 2020 championship."
"Two Baltimore city police officers were shot and a suspect was killed as a U.S. Marshals’ task force served a warrant outside a mall Tuesday morning, a Baltimore County police spokeswoman said." Seems to be a spate of that gong around.
"Authorities on Monday announced the arrest of a suspect who they say orchestrated the assassination. Haitian-born Christian Emmanuel Sanon, 63, entered the country on a private jet in June, Police Chief Leon Charles said at a news conference… Haitian authorities say that Sanon hired the Florida-based company CTU Security, which they alleged recruited men initially to provide security for Sanon, though their mission appears to have changed thereafter." And this is one of the reasons you do not tolerate mercenaries to operate from your territory.
"In an extraordinary effort to block Republicans from enacting new voting restrictions, Texas Democrats bolted — again… A large group of Democratic members of the state House of Representatives arrived at Dulles International Airport on Monday evening after fleeing the state in a pair of charter jets. At least 51 members were on the flights, a source familiar with the plans told NBC News. At least seven others were en route, as well."
"Texas’s Republican governor, Greg Abbott, has vowed to arrest Democrat lawmakers who have fled the state in an attempt to stop an overhaul of election laws that they say damages the right to vote, especially for communities of color." They will lose again, but it remains to be seen if their flight might stiffen the backbone of some of the Democrats in the US Senate and House.
"President Joe Biden plans to blast the flurry of new Republican-backed voting law changes Tuesday as 'the most egregious attempts to harm the integrity of our democracy since the Civil War' in the first part of what White House officials say will be a sustained effort to assemble a broad coalition to 'overcome this un-American trend.'"
"Exactly one week ago, I wrote these words: 'If you listen to him long enough -- no easy chore -- Donald Trump will tell you all his secrets.'… During his speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas, Texas, over the weekend, Trump let loose with this line explaining his strategy on polling… 'If it's bad, I say it's fake. If it's good, I say that's the most accurate poll ever.'"
"Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani reportedly 'infuriated' former President Donald Trump's advisers by urging him to simply declare he won on election night 2020 'based on nothing.'" It isn't so much this book painting Giuliani as a drunk that I object to, it that they're trying to say Stepien, Miller and Meadows were the adults in the room.
Monday, July 12, 2021
Linkee-poo Monday July 12
"In April, scores of birds in the greater Washington, D.C., area began displaying strange symptoms. Their eyes were swollen and crusty; some became disoriented, started twitching, and died. 'They were having a hard time seeing,' says Nicole Nemeth of the SCWDS. 'Sometimes they don’t seem to be able to use their hind legs.'… By the end of May, similar reports were rolling in from across Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia. By June, the disease had spread to Delaware, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Florida, Indiana, and Pennsylvania." (Grokked from Steve in a roundabout way)
"Today, a high-speed stream of solar wind is expected to hit Earth's magnetic field. Wind speeds could top 600 km/s, sparking minor (G1-class) geomagnetic storms and high latitude auroras."
"The hottest place on Earth is as hot as it's ever been — at least in terms of recorded temperatures in modern times. Death Valley, Calif., recorded high temperatures of 130 degrees Fahrenheit on Friday and 129.4 degrees on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service." We're boned.
"California's Death Valley is known to be a hot place, but it hit 130 degrees Fahrenheit (54.4 degrees Celsius) Friday for only the fifth time in recorded history -- that's only five days out of more than 40,000 days on record."
"Firefighters working in searing weather struggled to contain a northern California wildfire that forced the temporary closure of a major highway, one of several large blazes burning across the US west amid another heatwave that shattered records and strained power grids."
"With the Pacific region hitting record-setting temperatures in the last few weeks, a new study from Canada shows the heat waves' enormous impact on marine life: An estimated 1 billion sea creatures on the coast of Vancouver have died as a result of the heat, a researcher said."
"Sir Richard Branson and a crew of three others grazed the edge of space on Sunday in a rocket built by the British billionaire's company, Virgin Galactic."
And speaking of people with more money than sense… "A sealed copy of video game Super Mario 64 has sold at auction for more than $1.5m (£1.1m), shattering records… The 1996 cartridge was a launch title for the Nintendo 64 console, and was one of the most influential early 3D platformers."
"The SpiroNose, made by the Dutch company Breathomix, is just one of many breath-based COVID-19 tests under development across the world. In May, Singapore’s health agency granted provisional authorization to two such tests, made by the domestic companies Breathonix and Silver Factory Technology. And researchers at Ohio State University say they have applied to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for an emergency authorization of their COVID-19 breathalyzer." I just want to take the moment to point out that if we're nearing the end of the pandemic, why are these companies and researchers still developing these tools? (Hint, it's going to be with us for a long time.)
"As the highly transmissible delta Covid variant continues to spread rapidly across the United States and elsewhere around the world, scientists and other health experts are warning that indoor mask mandates and other public health measures will likely make a return in the U.S. this fall." Ta-da!
"Defeating this pandemic and the highly contagious Delta variant isn't just about protecting yourself through vaccination -- it's also about having others in the community vaccinated, doctors say."
"It is possible to be infected with two different strains of the coronavirus at the same time, experts say, after the case of an unvaccinated elderly woman who was found to be infected with both the alpha and beta variants of Covid-19." Nobody, literally nobody, in the healthcare field ever said you couldn't. In fact, the concern was after being infected with one strain your "natural immunity" might only protect you from that one strain. It's just now we have definitive proof of simultaneous infection.
"Days after Canada dropped its quarantine requirement for fully vaccinated Canadians entering the country, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rejected the idea that non-essential visitors will soon be allowed in."
"'We could be on the cusp of a rubber apocalypse,' Ohio State University professor Katrina Cornish told CNBC… Rubber producers are facing climate change, the Covid-19 pandemic, a destructive fungus and the fight for shipping containers." Okay, who had "rubber" on the Apocalypse Bingo card?
The On the Media podcast short "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. This independence day (or near enough!), we revisit Sara Fishko's 2017 piece on the story of Aaron Copland."
"China's military said it 'drove away' a U.S. warship that illegally entered Chinese waters near the Paracel Islands Monday, the anniversary of an international court ruling that held Beijing had no claim over the South China Sea."
"Thousands of Cubans took to the streets across the country on Sunday in an unusual protest in which civilians shouted slogans against the Communist government, such as 'We want freedom' and 'We are no longer afraid.'… The demonstrations came at a time when Cuba faces the worst economic crisis since the fall of the Soviet Union, an increase in repression against political opponents and a strained health system during a critical stage of the pandemic. Health authorities reported almost 7,000 new cases and 47 deaths — a record for infections and deaths on the Caribbean island of just over 11 million people."
"The top US general in Afghanistan will step down on Monday as the United States' military withdrawal from the country nears completion… Gen. Austin Scott Miller will transition his command authorities to Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the leader of US Central Command, in a ceremony in Kabul, according to a US defense official with direct knowledge of the plans."
"Haitian National Police Chief Léon Charles announced on Sunday that 63-year-old Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a doctor based in Florida, is suspected of playing a major role in last week's assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, and has been arrested."
"The police department has not announced details about the evidence, but local ABC affiliate Denver7, citing multiple law enforcement sources, reported Saturday that police discovered 16 long guns, body armor and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition from an eighth-floor hotel room that had a balcony overlooking Denver's downtown area."
"The White House announced a sweeping executive order Friday to promote competition throughout the U.S. economy, in the most ambitious effort in generations to reduce the stranglehold of monopolies and concentrated markets in major industries."
"A federal inspector general's investigation has exonerated six government executives who were suspended last year after raising red flags about actions taken by then-President Donald Trump's appointee at the parent agency of the Voice of America… The State Department inspector general's reports, reviewed by NPR, say U.S. Agency for Global Media CEO Michael Pack and his closest aides appeared to have targeted the executives for reprisal."
"The U.S. Senate returns on Monday to one of its most ambitious agendas in years as Democratic President Joe Biden seeks trillions of dollars in infrastructure spending and Republicans promise 'a hell of a fight' against raising taxes to pay for it."
"Hailee Mouch woke up at 2am Saturday morning so she could drive to her state’s capital city of Austin and testify at two competing public hearings on Texas’s restrictive voting bills… She knew she had to return to the Dallas area to be at work by 6am Sunday. But she was determined to stay as long as possible to tell state lawmakers how their proposals would hurt democracy in the small city where she goes to college."
"This week (published on July 2) marks six months since January 6th, the day a pro-Trump mob stormed the US Capitol. Over 500 rioters have since been arrested, but the legal consequences of what they did are only just beginning to roll in. In this hour, we revisit reporting by OTM's Micah Loewinger surrounding the organizing tactics, media narratives, and evolution of far-right militias." On the Media podcast with an update to several stories.
"The ex-President showed this weekend that defeat after a single term, the disgrace of his insurrection against American democracy and the deaths of 400,000 Americans on his watch in a pandemic he downplayed don't hurt his appeal to Republicans. In fact, the efforts of potential 2024 rivals to replicate his extremism show Trump's strange magic is only validated by his transgressions."
Meanwhile, on Bullshit Mountain… "Former President Trump sat down with 'Fox & Friends' enterprise reporter Lawrence Jones at CPAC in Dallas, arguing that in order to curb crime, 'you have to give police back their authority.'… During a wide-ranging interview that is available now on Fox Nation, Trump pointed out that violent crime is currently soaring in 'Democrat states,' including Illinois and New York, specifically in cities like Chicago and New York City." What authority was taken from them?
"Former President Donald Trump on Sunday widely praised those who attended the Jan. 6 rally that preceded the insurrection at the Capitol, repeatedly using the word 'love' to describe the tone of the event… Echoing his rhetoric about the 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., Trump said, 'These were peaceful people, these were great people.'" And then he states that it was all Nancy Pelosi's fault.
"So the colloquial stories we hear about Trump suggest that he somehow created a whole bunch of hatred in American politics. And instead, what this data shows is that what he did was serve as a place where people who already held a lot of animus towards marginalized groups, they all sort of gathered around him. So this was a latent faction of Americans that had just - that had already been sitting there and had already existed." So much for the "we can't be racists, we don't hate anybody" argument.
"Today, a high-speed stream of solar wind is expected to hit Earth's magnetic field. Wind speeds could top 600 km/s, sparking minor (G1-class) geomagnetic storms and high latitude auroras."
"The hottest place on Earth is as hot as it's ever been — at least in terms of recorded temperatures in modern times. Death Valley, Calif., recorded high temperatures of 130 degrees Fahrenheit on Friday and 129.4 degrees on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service." We're boned.
"California's Death Valley is known to be a hot place, but it hit 130 degrees Fahrenheit (54.4 degrees Celsius) Friday for only the fifth time in recorded history -- that's only five days out of more than 40,000 days on record."
"Firefighters working in searing weather struggled to contain a northern California wildfire that forced the temporary closure of a major highway, one of several large blazes burning across the US west amid another heatwave that shattered records and strained power grids."
"With the Pacific region hitting record-setting temperatures in the last few weeks, a new study from Canada shows the heat waves' enormous impact on marine life: An estimated 1 billion sea creatures on the coast of Vancouver have died as a result of the heat, a researcher said."
"Sir Richard Branson and a crew of three others grazed the edge of space on Sunday in a rocket built by the British billionaire's company, Virgin Galactic."
And speaking of people with more money than sense… "A sealed copy of video game Super Mario 64 has sold at auction for more than $1.5m (£1.1m), shattering records… The 1996 cartridge was a launch title for the Nintendo 64 console, and was one of the most influential early 3D platformers."
"The SpiroNose, made by the Dutch company Breathomix, is just one of many breath-based COVID-19 tests under development across the world. In May, Singapore’s health agency granted provisional authorization to two such tests, made by the domestic companies Breathonix and Silver Factory Technology. And researchers at Ohio State University say they have applied to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for an emergency authorization of their COVID-19 breathalyzer." I just want to take the moment to point out that if we're nearing the end of the pandemic, why are these companies and researchers still developing these tools? (Hint, it's going to be with us for a long time.)
"As the highly transmissible delta Covid variant continues to spread rapidly across the United States and elsewhere around the world, scientists and other health experts are warning that indoor mask mandates and other public health measures will likely make a return in the U.S. this fall." Ta-da!
"Defeating this pandemic and the highly contagious Delta variant isn't just about protecting yourself through vaccination -- it's also about having others in the community vaccinated, doctors say."
"It is possible to be infected with two different strains of the coronavirus at the same time, experts say, after the case of an unvaccinated elderly woman who was found to be infected with both the alpha and beta variants of Covid-19." Nobody, literally nobody, in the healthcare field ever said you couldn't. In fact, the concern was after being infected with one strain your "natural immunity" might only protect you from that one strain. It's just now we have definitive proof of simultaneous infection.
"Days after Canada dropped its quarantine requirement for fully vaccinated Canadians entering the country, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rejected the idea that non-essential visitors will soon be allowed in."
"'We could be on the cusp of a rubber apocalypse,' Ohio State University professor Katrina Cornish told CNBC… Rubber producers are facing climate change, the Covid-19 pandemic, a destructive fungus and the fight for shipping containers." Okay, who had "rubber" on the Apocalypse Bingo card?
The On the Media podcast short "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. This independence day (or near enough!), we revisit Sara Fishko's 2017 piece on the story of Aaron Copland."
"China's military said it 'drove away' a U.S. warship that illegally entered Chinese waters near the Paracel Islands Monday, the anniversary of an international court ruling that held Beijing had no claim over the South China Sea."
"Thousands of Cubans took to the streets across the country on Sunday in an unusual protest in which civilians shouted slogans against the Communist government, such as 'We want freedom' and 'We are no longer afraid.'… The demonstrations came at a time when Cuba faces the worst economic crisis since the fall of the Soviet Union, an increase in repression against political opponents and a strained health system during a critical stage of the pandemic. Health authorities reported almost 7,000 new cases and 47 deaths — a record for infections and deaths on the Caribbean island of just over 11 million people."
"The top US general in Afghanistan will step down on Monday as the United States' military withdrawal from the country nears completion… Gen. Austin Scott Miller will transition his command authorities to Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the leader of US Central Command, in a ceremony in Kabul, according to a US defense official with direct knowledge of the plans."
"Haitian National Police Chief Léon Charles announced on Sunday that 63-year-old Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a doctor based in Florida, is suspected of playing a major role in last week's assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, and has been arrested."
"The police department has not announced details about the evidence, but local ABC affiliate Denver7, citing multiple law enforcement sources, reported Saturday that police discovered 16 long guns, body armor and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition from an eighth-floor hotel room that had a balcony overlooking Denver's downtown area."
"The White House announced a sweeping executive order Friday to promote competition throughout the U.S. economy, in the most ambitious effort in generations to reduce the stranglehold of monopolies and concentrated markets in major industries."
"A federal inspector general's investigation has exonerated six government executives who were suspended last year after raising red flags about actions taken by then-President Donald Trump's appointee at the parent agency of the Voice of America… The State Department inspector general's reports, reviewed by NPR, say U.S. Agency for Global Media CEO Michael Pack and his closest aides appeared to have targeted the executives for reprisal."
"The U.S. Senate returns on Monday to one of its most ambitious agendas in years as Democratic President Joe Biden seeks trillions of dollars in infrastructure spending and Republicans promise 'a hell of a fight' against raising taxes to pay for it."
"Hailee Mouch woke up at 2am Saturday morning so she could drive to her state’s capital city of Austin and testify at two competing public hearings on Texas’s restrictive voting bills… She knew she had to return to the Dallas area to be at work by 6am Sunday. But she was determined to stay as long as possible to tell state lawmakers how their proposals would hurt democracy in the small city where she goes to college."
"This week (published on July 2) marks six months since January 6th, the day a pro-Trump mob stormed the US Capitol. Over 500 rioters have since been arrested, but the legal consequences of what they did are only just beginning to roll in. In this hour, we revisit reporting by OTM's Micah Loewinger surrounding the organizing tactics, media narratives, and evolution of far-right militias." On the Media podcast with an update to several stories.
"The ex-President showed this weekend that defeat after a single term, the disgrace of his insurrection against American democracy and the deaths of 400,000 Americans on his watch in a pandemic he downplayed don't hurt his appeal to Republicans. In fact, the efforts of potential 2024 rivals to replicate his extremism show Trump's strange magic is only validated by his transgressions."
Meanwhile, on Bullshit Mountain… "Former President Trump sat down with 'Fox & Friends' enterprise reporter Lawrence Jones at CPAC in Dallas, arguing that in order to curb crime, 'you have to give police back their authority.'… During a wide-ranging interview that is available now on Fox Nation, Trump pointed out that violent crime is currently soaring in 'Democrat states,' including Illinois and New York, specifically in cities like Chicago and New York City." What authority was taken from them?
"Former President Donald Trump on Sunday widely praised those who attended the Jan. 6 rally that preceded the insurrection at the Capitol, repeatedly using the word 'love' to describe the tone of the event… Echoing his rhetoric about the 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., Trump said, 'These were peaceful people, these were great people.'" And then he states that it was all Nancy Pelosi's fault.
"So the colloquial stories we hear about Trump suggest that he somehow created a whole bunch of hatred in American politics. And instead, what this data shows is that what he did was serve as a place where people who already held a lot of animus towards marginalized groups, they all sort of gathered around him. So this was a latent faction of Americans that had just - that had already been sitting there and had already existed." So much for the "we can't be racists, we don't hate anybody" argument.
Friday, July 9, 2021
Linkee-poo Friday July 9
"More Tyson Foods chicken is being recalled for possible listeria contamination… The massive recall, first announced Saturday, grew by nearly 500,000 pounds Thursday, according to an update posted on the recall notice on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service website."
"Being discouraged is part and parcel of a working writer's life. Negative reviews, ditto. Some of us are naturally more thick-skinned about them than others, and most of us develop coping strategies over the years. This is where networking with other writers can be very helpful." (Grokked from Deborah Beal)
"Large satellites used for TV broadcasting could be quickly and easily repurposed as asteroid deflectors if a space rock were to threaten Earth, according to a study by the European aerospace company Airbus."
"Branson's Virgin Galactic Holding Inc (SPCE.N) is due on Sunday to send the company's passenger rocket plane, the VSS Unity, on its first fully crewed test flight to the edge of space, with the British billionaire founder among the six individuals strapping in for the ride."
"Did lead poisoning cause downfall of Roman Empire? The jury is still out." This is one of the problems with our Western Cultural concepts of science, causality, and perception that we look for the "one crazy trick" solutions when, in fact, many factors caused the Roman Empire to fall, including a stagnating culture. But yes, lead was one of those factors.
"A new data analysis identifies clusters of unvaccinated people, most of them in the southern United States, that are vulnerable to surges in Covid-19 cases and could become breeding grounds for even more deadly Covid-19 variants."
"Despite early successes last year in controlling the pandemic, South Korea Friday announced it would raise restrictions in the capital region to the highest level, as a fourth wave of infections is gaining speed."
"The mRNA vaccines from BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna are possibly linked to rare cases of heart inflammation, according to analysis of 321 cases post-vaccination released Friday by the European Medicines Agency."
"Vaccines based on mRNA, first used for covid-19, may soon protect people from the influenza virus as well. This week, Moderna announced the start of a phase I/II trial testing out its vaccine candidate for the seasonal flu. Ultimately, the company hopes to develop a combination vaccine that can offer protection against the flu, covid-19, and other common respiratory viruses at the same time." Pharmaceutical companies have been pushing for mRNA vaccine development for over a decade. Now they have their chance.
How goes Brexit? "People returning to England from abroad could face peak-time airport queues of up to six hours when travel measures are eased, a union has warned… Fully jabbed UK citizens coming back from amber list countries will no longer need to quarantine from 19 July… The Immigration Service Union said the "sheer number" of passengers arriving and a shortage of Border Force officers would slow down checks."
"Three Ohio electric companies owned by Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. will refund money collected from a guaranteed revenue provision included in a tainted energy bill, according to an order issued on Wednesday by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio… Ohio Edison, Toledo Edison, and Cleveland Electric Illuminating companies will begin crediting customers a total of $27.5 million. Amounts will vary based on customers’ electric use this August." Sounds good, right? Like consumers are getting the better of the deal, right? Well, let's compare that $27.5M from the 3 companies (all First Energy companies, IIRC) to the estimated $60M that just First Energy used to bribe lawmakers and regulators "to get the bill approved and to prevent a statewide referendum on repealing the law." Still sound like a win here?
"Chime, a 'neobank' serving millions, is racking up complaints from users who can’t access their cash. The company says it’s cracking down on an “extraordinary surge” in fraudulent deposits. That’s little consolation to customers caught in the fray."
"Wells Fargo is ending a popular consumer lending product, angering some of its customers, CNBC has learned… The bank is shutting down all existing personal lines of credit in coming weeks and has stopped offering the product, according to customer letters reviewed by CNBC."
"Over the past several months, however, Linehan has noticed a spike in prices for necessities like food and gasoline. He has seen higher costs for grocery staples like bread and milk. There have also been steady hikes in gasoline prices, limiting his ability to travel." Inflation affects those on fixed income the most.
"His executive order on competition contains directives for a dozen government agencies to take 72 measures — some big, some small — to shake up key markets for consumers, workers, farmers and small businesses, White House officials told NPR. They spoke on the condition of anonymity ahead of Biden's announcement."
"Seventeen suspects have been detained so far in the stunning assassination of Haiti's president, and Haitian authorities say two are believed to hold dual U.S.-Haitian citizenship and Colombia's government says at least six are former members of its army… Canada's foreign relation department released a statement that did not refer to Solages by name but said one of the men detained for his alleged role in the killing had been 'briefly employed as a reserve bodyguard' at its embassy by a private contractor." Where have I heard this story before?
"Two dramatic trends that for years have defined the shifting landscape of religion in America — a shrinking white Christian majority, alongside the rise of religiously unaffiliated Americans — have stabilized, according to a new, massive survey of American religious practice."
"In the two weeks since a 12-story condo tower in this coastal community suddenly crumbled, killing at least 64 people, DeSantis has stood somberly with local officials, including Democrats, as they assessed the damage. He nodded in agreement when Biden visited and hailed their joint appearance as a sign that those with opposing political views can work together in a crisis. And he even skipped a rally in Sarasota headlined by former President Donald Trump, whose early endorsement was crucial in helping DeSantis win the governor’s race in 2018." Remember when Chris Christy hugged President Obama in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy? Also, the article is a pretty damning statement on the toxicity of conservative politics.
"Even for a pol known for chaos and controversy, Allen West had a doozy of a first week as a Texas gubernatorial candidate… Top state Republicans called on him to quit his post immediately as state GOP chair Tuesday, citing a conflict of interest with his campaign (he refused). He called the party’s vice chair “a cancer” on Wednesday (she’s a cancer survivor). Then West committed a Texas-sized error by heading Friday to Alaska for a joint Texas-Alaska GOP fundraiser bearing a title that strikes at Lone Star pride: 'THE HEART OF ALASKA IS BIGGER THAN TEXAS.'" Driving to the right.
"Being discouraged is part and parcel of a working writer's life. Negative reviews, ditto. Some of us are naturally more thick-skinned about them than others, and most of us develop coping strategies over the years. This is where networking with other writers can be very helpful." (Grokked from Deborah Beal)
"Large satellites used for TV broadcasting could be quickly and easily repurposed as asteroid deflectors if a space rock were to threaten Earth, according to a study by the European aerospace company Airbus."
"Branson's Virgin Galactic Holding Inc (SPCE.N) is due on Sunday to send the company's passenger rocket plane, the VSS Unity, on its first fully crewed test flight to the edge of space, with the British billionaire founder among the six individuals strapping in for the ride."
"Did lead poisoning cause downfall of Roman Empire? The jury is still out." This is one of the problems with our Western Cultural concepts of science, causality, and perception that we look for the "one crazy trick" solutions when, in fact, many factors caused the Roman Empire to fall, including a stagnating culture. But yes, lead was one of those factors.
"A new data analysis identifies clusters of unvaccinated people, most of them in the southern United States, that are vulnerable to surges in Covid-19 cases and could become breeding grounds for even more deadly Covid-19 variants."
"Despite early successes last year in controlling the pandemic, South Korea Friday announced it would raise restrictions in the capital region to the highest level, as a fourth wave of infections is gaining speed."
"The mRNA vaccines from BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna are possibly linked to rare cases of heart inflammation, according to analysis of 321 cases post-vaccination released Friday by the European Medicines Agency."
"Vaccines based on mRNA, first used for covid-19, may soon protect people from the influenza virus as well. This week, Moderna announced the start of a phase I/II trial testing out its vaccine candidate for the seasonal flu. Ultimately, the company hopes to develop a combination vaccine that can offer protection against the flu, covid-19, and other common respiratory viruses at the same time." Pharmaceutical companies have been pushing for mRNA vaccine development for over a decade. Now they have their chance.
How goes Brexit? "People returning to England from abroad could face peak-time airport queues of up to six hours when travel measures are eased, a union has warned… Fully jabbed UK citizens coming back from amber list countries will no longer need to quarantine from 19 July… The Immigration Service Union said the "sheer number" of passengers arriving and a shortage of Border Force officers would slow down checks."
"Three Ohio electric companies owned by Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. will refund money collected from a guaranteed revenue provision included in a tainted energy bill, according to an order issued on Wednesday by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio… Ohio Edison, Toledo Edison, and Cleveland Electric Illuminating companies will begin crediting customers a total of $27.5 million. Amounts will vary based on customers’ electric use this August." Sounds good, right? Like consumers are getting the better of the deal, right? Well, let's compare that $27.5M from the 3 companies (all First Energy companies, IIRC) to the estimated $60M that just First Energy used to bribe lawmakers and regulators "to get the bill approved and to prevent a statewide referendum on repealing the law." Still sound like a win here?
"Chime, a 'neobank' serving millions, is racking up complaints from users who can’t access their cash. The company says it’s cracking down on an “extraordinary surge” in fraudulent deposits. That’s little consolation to customers caught in the fray."
"Wells Fargo is ending a popular consumer lending product, angering some of its customers, CNBC has learned… The bank is shutting down all existing personal lines of credit in coming weeks and has stopped offering the product, according to customer letters reviewed by CNBC."
"Over the past several months, however, Linehan has noticed a spike in prices for necessities like food and gasoline. He has seen higher costs for grocery staples like bread and milk. There have also been steady hikes in gasoline prices, limiting his ability to travel." Inflation affects those on fixed income the most.
"His executive order on competition contains directives for a dozen government agencies to take 72 measures — some big, some small — to shake up key markets for consumers, workers, farmers and small businesses, White House officials told NPR. They spoke on the condition of anonymity ahead of Biden's announcement."
"Seventeen suspects have been detained so far in the stunning assassination of Haiti's president, and Haitian authorities say two are believed to hold dual U.S.-Haitian citizenship and Colombia's government says at least six are former members of its army… Canada's foreign relation department released a statement that did not refer to Solages by name but said one of the men detained for his alleged role in the killing had been 'briefly employed as a reserve bodyguard' at its embassy by a private contractor." Where have I heard this story before?
"Two dramatic trends that for years have defined the shifting landscape of religion in America — a shrinking white Christian majority, alongside the rise of religiously unaffiliated Americans — have stabilized, according to a new, massive survey of American religious practice."
"In the two weeks since a 12-story condo tower in this coastal community suddenly crumbled, killing at least 64 people, DeSantis has stood somberly with local officials, including Democrats, as they assessed the damage. He nodded in agreement when Biden visited and hailed their joint appearance as a sign that those with opposing political views can work together in a crisis. And he even skipped a rally in Sarasota headlined by former President Donald Trump, whose early endorsement was crucial in helping DeSantis win the governor’s race in 2018." Remember when Chris Christy hugged President Obama in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy? Also, the article is a pretty damning statement on the toxicity of conservative politics.
"Even for a pol known for chaos and controversy, Allen West had a doozy of a first week as a Texas gubernatorial candidate… Top state Republicans called on him to quit his post immediately as state GOP chair Tuesday, citing a conflict of interest with his campaign (he refused). He called the party’s vice chair “a cancer” on Wednesday (she’s a cancer survivor). Then West committed a Texas-sized error by heading Friday to Alaska for a joint Texas-Alaska GOP fundraiser bearing a title that strikes at Lone Star pride: 'THE HEART OF ALASKA IS BIGGER THAN TEXAS.'" Driving to the right.
Thursday, July 8, 2021
Linkee-poo Thursday July 8
"A somber moment of silence marked the end of the two-week search for survivors of a Florida condominium collapse, as rescue workers stood at solemn attention and clergy members hugged a line of local officials while many of them sobbed."
"According to the report, something is creating methane on Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons. Methane is a greenhouse gas that microorganisms simultaneously break down and produce. The levels of methane on Enceladus are so high that it matches what scientists would expect from microbes."
"More than nine out of 10 Americans who died from Covid-19 in the US in June were unvaccinated, according to Dr Anthony Fauci – a statistic that health officials say is especially concerning given the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy in some regions and the rise of the Delta variant."
"The recent emergence of a virus that typically sickens children in colder months has baffled U.S. pediatricians and put many infants in the hospital with troublesome coughs and breathing trouble."
"Police in Long Beach, Calif., have opened a hate crime investigation after discovering that a local statute of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. had been vandalized with racist graffiti."
"Initial filings for unemployment insurance unexpectedly rose last week, a possible hint that the rapid job growth seen in the first half of 2021 could face hurdles in the months ahead, the Labor Department reported Thursday… First-time jobless claims totaled 373,000 for the week ended July 3, compared with the 350,000 Dow Jones estimate. The previous week’s level was revised up by 7,000 from 364,000 to 371,000."
"As early as last week, the expectations were that oil prices would either stabilize or rise gradually — until an OPEC+ meeting that was supposed to be routine ended in an unexpected impasse, with no agreement on what to do about oil production… Now analysts are bracing for everything from a price spike to a price plunge. As millions of Americans hit the road again, there's just no certainty around where crude is headed."
"That's not the end of the story, however. Lumber prices may have fallen but they are still elevated, creating new headaches for the critical housing sector. And companies in the lumber industry are wrestling with a new pandemic problem: a shortage of workers." And while all the economics reporting are "return to pre-pandemic pricing levels" I'll remind you those were still high because of a trade war with Canada.
"Fans were banned from the pandemic-postponed Tokyo Olympics which will open in two weeks, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said after meeting with IOC and Japanese organizers on Thursday."
"Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Tuesday compared officials carrying out President Joe Biden's latest Covid-19 vaccination push to Nazi-era 'brown shirts,' just weeks after apologizing for her comments comparing Capitol Hill mask-wearing rules to the Holocaust." No, they don't learn.
"An FBI Task Force officer and 30-year police department veteran was shot and killed in the line of duty after being ambushed outside an FBI building in Indiana, police say."
"Clinical psychologist Ephrem Fernandez analyzed more than 130 mass shootings in the U.S. from 2000 to 2015. He found that most were not random; in fact, many involved intense anger. And in many cases where a person’s rage turns violent, they tend to give off warning signs like purchasing weapons or making concerning comments."
"President Biden is trying to tread a thin, tangled line. He's trying to pass a police reform bill as a surge of violent crime sweeps the country. He's also trying to balance calls from activists within his own party for a major overhaul of policing with growing safety concerns from the broader public… For years, Biden was a loyal ally to law enforcement, dating back to his days in the Senate when he crafted the 1994 Crime Bill with their direct help."
"In the latest state-level swing at LGBTQ health care access, Ohio will now allow medical providers to refuse to administer any medical treatment that violates their moral, ethical, or religious beliefs." Fuck conservatives. So does this mean I can refuse to help those wearing MAGA gear or those who have Nazi tattoos?
"South Africa's former President Jacob Zuma has handed himself in to police to begin serving a 15-month jail sentence for contempt of court… He was admitted to Estcourt Correctional Centre in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday."
"Women have taken up guns in northern and central Afghanistan, marching in the streets in their hundreds and sharing pictures of themselves with assault rifles on social media, in a show of defiance as the Taliban make sweeping gains nationwide." I wish them luck. "'Women will never pick up guns against us. They are helpless and forced by the defeated enemy,' said a (Taliban) spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid. 'They can’t fight.'" Oh no, he didn't.
"Nearly six months into President Joe Biden’s administration, Wall Street remains divided over the likelihood, and impact of, one of the Democrat’s key campaign promises: higher taxes… While the president and his Cabinet have made progress in persuading foreign partners to back a global minimum corporate tax rate, the Biden team does not appear any closer to passing the types of sweeping tax reform he promised during his 2020 campaign." OMG, we forgot to raise taxes!
"A Washington, D.C., court has suspended the law license for Rudy Giuliani, former President Donald Trump's attorney, just weeks after New York similarly took action against him… Giuliani's law license will remain suspended in the nation's capital pending the resolution of his case in New York, according to the District of Columbia appeals court."
"According to the report, something is creating methane on Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons. Methane is a greenhouse gas that microorganisms simultaneously break down and produce. The levels of methane on Enceladus are so high that it matches what scientists would expect from microbes."
"More than nine out of 10 Americans who died from Covid-19 in the US in June were unvaccinated, according to Dr Anthony Fauci – a statistic that health officials say is especially concerning given the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy in some regions and the rise of the Delta variant."
"The recent emergence of a virus that typically sickens children in colder months has baffled U.S. pediatricians and put many infants in the hospital with troublesome coughs and breathing trouble."
"Police in Long Beach, Calif., have opened a hate crime investigation after discovering that a local statute of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. had been vandalized with racist graffiti."
"Initial filings for unemployment insurance unexpectedly rose last week, a possible hint that the rapid job growth seen in the first half of 2021 could face hurdles in the months ahead, the Labor Department reported Thursday… First-time jobless claims totaled 373,000 for the week ended July 3, compared with the 350,000 Dow Jones estimate. The previous week’s level was revised up by 7,000 from 364,000 to 371,000."
"As early as last week, the expectations were that oil prices would either stabilize or rise gradually — until an OPEC+ meeting that was supposed to be routine ended in an unexpected impasse, with no agreement on what to do about oil production… Now analysts are bracing for everything from a price spike to a price plunge. As millions of Americans hit the road again, there's just no certainty around where crude is headed."
"That's not the end of the story, however. Lumber prices may have fallen but they are still elevated, creating new headaches for the critical housing sector. And companies in the lumber industry are wrestling with a new pandemic problem: a shortage of workers." And while all the economics reporting are "return to pre-pandemic pricing levels" I'll remind you those were still high because of a trade war with Canada.
"Fans were banned from the pandemic-postponed Tokyo Olympics which will open in two weeks, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said after meeting with IOC and Japanese organizers on Thursday."
"Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Tuesday compared officials carrying out President Joe Biden's latest Covid-19 vaccination push to Nazi-era 'brown shirts,' just weeks after apologizing for her comments comparing Capitol Hill mask-wearing rules to the Holocaust." No, they don't learn.
"An FBI Task Force officer and 30-year police department veteran was shot and killed in the line of duty after being ambushed outside an FBI building in Indiana, police say."
"Clinical psychologist Ephrem Fernandez analyzed more than 130 mass shootings in the U.S. from 2000 to 2015. He found that most were not random; in fact, many involved intense anger. And in many cases where a person’s rage turns violent, they tend to give off warning signs like purchasing weapons or making concerning comments."
"President Biden is trying to tread a thin, tangled line. He's trying to pass a police reform bill as a surge of violent crime sweeps the country. He's also trying to balance calls from activists within his own party for a major overhaul of policing with growing safety concerns from the broader public… For years, Biden was a loyal ally to law enforcement, dating back to his days in the Senate when he crafted the 1994 Crime Bill with their direct help."
"In the latest state-level swing at LGBTQ health care access, Ohio will now allow medical providers to refuse to administer any medical treatment that violates their moral, ethical, or religious beliefs." Fuck conservatives. So does this mean I can refuse to help those wearing MAGA gear or those who have Nazi tattoos?
"South Africa's former President Jacob Zuma has handed himself in to police to begin serving a 15-month jail sentence for contempt of court… He was admitted to Estcourt Correctional Centre in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday."
"Women have taken up guns in northern and central Afghanistan, marching in the streets in their hundreds and sharing pictures of themselves with assault rifles on social media, in a show of defiance as the Taliban make sweeping gains nationwide." I wish them luck. "'Women will never pick up guns against us. They are helpless and forced by the defeated enemy,' said a (Taliban) spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid. 'They can’t fight.'" Oh no, he didn't.
"Nearly six months into President Joe Biden’s administration, Wall Street remains divided over the likelihood, and impact of, one of the Democrat’s key campaign promises: higher taxes… While the president and his Cabinet have made progress in persuading foreign partners to back a global minimum corporate tax rate, the Biden team does not appear any closer to passing the types of sweeping tax reform he promised during his 2020 campaign." OMG, we forgot to raise taxes!
"A Washington, D.C., court has suspended the law license for Rudy Giuliani, former President Donald Trump's attorney, just weeks after New York similarly took action against him… Giuliani's law license will remain suspended in the nation's capital pending the resolution of his case in New York, according to the District of Columbia appeals court."
Wednesday, July 7, 2021
Linkee-poo Wednesday July 7
"Gunmen assassinated Haitian President Jovenel Moïse and wounded his wife in their home early Wednesday, inflicting more chaos on the unstable Caribbean country that was already enduring an escalation of gang violence, anti-government protests and a recent surge in coronavirus infections."
"Key West streets turned to roaring rivers and Tampa was blasted by high winds and heavy rains as Elsa, weakening slightly but still a powerful storm, rolled up Florida's west coast Wednesday."
"The release of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature is already sending advertisers flocking to Android. Originally released as part of iOS 14.5, Apple’s new iPhone privacy-oriented feature provides users with an unprecedented amount of control over the data apps are allowed to track."
"New York City will hold its first ticker-tape parade Wednesday in nearly two years, an emotional trip along Manhattan's iconic Canyon of Heroes that will honor the essential workers who helped guide the one-time pandemic epicenter through the worst public health crisis in more than a century."
Kids can't get it. "More than 125 campers and adults who attended a church camp in Texas have tested positive for COVID-19, Texas officials say… The pastor at Clear Creek Community Church in League City said hundreds more people were likely exposed to the virus at the camp or when the campers returned home."
"Economists say it’s only a matter of time before open roles are filled, and the least desirable jobs with the lowest pay and benefits will be the last to go. They don’t see the job market as a sign of shifting economic forces unleashed by the pandemic, or of a workforce made comfortable or lazy by stimulus payments… 'Nothing about this is going to be permanent,' said Heidi Shierholz, a senior economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute… Yet some trends are emerging clearly. The struggle to fill jobs is hitting smaller businesses disproportionately. Workers may be in a prime position to secure better conditions and pay, but without changes at the federal level, economists said the gains will be short-lived — and white-collar workers may gain the most, entrenching inequality." Don't worry, everything fine. In a year or two people will be begging for your shitty jobs like they used to. No need to change to be, I don't know, a descent person/manager, to value your employees and help them grow and reach their dreams. Nah, we'll be back to exploiting people just as soon as you know it.
"Automation hasn’t replaced all the workers in warehouses, but it has made work more intense, even dangerous, and changed how tightly workers are managed. Gig workers can find themselves at the whims of an app’s black-box algorithm that lets workers flood the app to compete with each other at a frantic pace for pay so low that how lucrative any given trip or job is can depend on the tip, leaving workers reliant on the generosity of an anonymous stranger. Worse, gig work means they’re doing their jobs without many typical labor protections… In these circumstances, the robots aren’t taking jobs, they’re making jobs worse. Companies are automating away autonomy and putting profit-maximizing strategies on digital overdrive, turning work into a space with fewer carrots and more sticks."
"The huge container ship that disrupted global marine traffic after it blocked the Suez Canal for nearly a week in March has been released and set sail Wednesday after spending months under seizure."
"Disagreement within OPEC could trigger a more a volatile period for oil, with prices jumping on lack of new supply or sinking suddenly if member countries decide to release crude independently."
"A Chicago police officer and two federal agents were shot early Wednesday while working undercover, suffering non-life-threating injuries while entering I-57 in an unmarked vehicle in the city's Morgan Park neighborhood on the Far South Side, authorities said… All three - a male Chicago police officer and two agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, one male and one female - were working together in an undercover capacity when the shooting occurred, Brown said."
"In a blow to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Israel's parliament failed to renew a controversial law that prevents Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza from getting residency in Israel after they marry Palestinians with Israeli citizenship."
"Texas lawmakers are reconvening in a special legislative session that begins Thursday in which voting restrictions are expected to be a top priority for Republicans… The special session starts less than a week after the Supreme Court gave a green light to an Arizona law that imposed some restrictions on how ballots may be cast and collected. Voting rights activists worry that the court's decision is a signal that the federal courts won't step in if states like Texas try to make it harder for citizens to cast a ballot."
"House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is finalizing a House GOP roster for a Democratic-led investigation into the deadly January 6 insurrection, canning the idea of a boycott on adding Republicans to the panel on the theory that it's better to join in and play an active defense."
"Former President Donald Trump announced Wednesday he is filing suits against three of the country's biggest tech companies: Facebook, Twitter and Google, as well as their CEOs." We'll need some more popcorn.
"Hackers associated with the Russian government gained access last week to a contractor for the Republican National Committee, the RNC said in a statement Tuesday… The RNC said that its contractor Synnex had been hacked but added no access was gained to any RNC data."
"Key West streets turned to roaring rivers and Tampa was blasted by high winds and heavy rains as Elsa, weakening slightly but still a powerful storm, rolled up Florida's west coast Wednesday."
"The release of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature is already sending advertisers flocking to Android. Originally released as part of iOS 14.5, Apple’s new iPhone privacy-oriented feature provides users with an unprecedented amount of control over the data apps are allowed to track."
"New York City will hold its first ticker-tape parade Wednesday in nearly two years, an emotional trip along Manhattan's iconic Canyon of Heroes that will honor the essential workers who helped guide the one-time pandemic epicenter through the worst public health crisis in more than a century."
Kids can't get it. "More than 125 campers and adults who attended a church camp in Texas have tested positive for COVID-19, Texas officials say… The pastor at Clear Creek Community Church in League City said hundreds more people were likely exposed to the virus at the camp or when the campers returned home."
"Economists say it’s only a matter of time before open roles are filled, and the least desirable jobs with the lowest pay and benefits will be the last to go. They don’t see the job market as a sign of shifting economic forces unleashed by the pandemic, or of a workforce made comfortable or lazy by stimulus payments… 'Nothing about this is going to be permanent,' said Heidi Shierholz, a senior economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute… Yet some trends are emerging clearly. The struggle to fill jobs is hitting smaller businesses disproportionately. Workers may be in a prime position to secure better conditions and pay, but without changes at the federal level, economists said the gains will be short-lived — and white-collar workers may gain the most, entrenching inequality." Don't worry, everything fine. In a year or two people will be begging for your shitty jobs like they used to. No need to change to be, I don't know, a descent person/manager, to value your employees and help them grow and reach their dreams. Nah, we'll be back to exploiting people just as soon as you know it.
"Automation hasn’t replaced all the workers in warehouses, but it has made work more intense, even dangerous, and changed how tightly workers are managed. Gig workers can find themselves at the whims of an app’s black-box algorithm that lets workers flood the app to compete with each other at a frantic pace for pay so low that how lucrative any given trip or job is can depend on the tip, leaving workers reliant on the generosity of an anonymous stranger. Worse, gig work means they’re doing their jobs without many typical labor protections… In these circumstances, the robots aren’t taking jobs, they’re making jobs worse. Companies are automating away autonomy and putting profit-maximizing strategies on digital overdrive, turning work into a space with fewer carrots and more sticks."
"The huge container ship that disrupted global marine traffic after it blocked the Suez Canal for nearly a week in March has been released and set sail Wednesday after spending months under seizure."
"Disagreement within OPEC could trigger a more a volatile period for oil, with prices jumping on lack of new supply or sinking suddenly if member countries decide to release crude independently."
"A Chicago police officer and two federal agents were shot early Wednesday while working undercover, suffering non-life-threating injuries while entering I-57 in an unmarked vehicle in the city's Morgan Park neighborhood on the Far South Side, authorities said… All three - a male Chicago police officer and two agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, one male and one female - were working together in an undercover capacity when the shooting occurred, Brown said."
"In a blow to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Israel's parliament failed to renew a controversial law that prevents Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza from getting residency in Israel after they marry Palestinians with Israeli citizenship."
"Texas lawmakers are reconvening in a special legislative session that begins Thursday in which voting restrictions are expected to be a top priority for Republicans… The special session starts less than a week after the Supreme Court gave a green light to an Arizona law that imposed some restrictions on how ballots may be cast and collected. Voting rights activists worry that the court's decision is a signal that the federal courts won't step in if states like Texas try to make it harder for citizens to cast a ballot."
"House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is finalizing a House GOP roster for a Democratic-led investigation into the deadly January 6 insurrection, canning the idea of a boycott on adding Republicans to the panel on the theory that it's better to join in and play an active defense."
"Former President Donald Trump announced Wednesday he is filing suits against three of the country's biggest tech companies: Facebook, Twitter and Google, as well as their CEOs." We'll need some more popcorn.
"Hackers associated with the Russian government gained access last week to a contractor for the Republican National Committee, the RNC said in a statement Tuesday… The RNC said that its contractor Synnex had been hacked but added no access was gained to any RNC data."
Tuesday, July 6, 2021
Linkee-poo Tuesday July 6
"The weather was getting worse in southern Florida on Tuesday morning as Tropical Storm Elsa began lashing the Florida Keys, complicating the search for survivors in the condo collapse and prompting a hurricane watch for the peninsula’s upper Gulf Coast."
"When NASA sent the Ingenuity helicopter to Mars, it was gamble. Now it's pushing its limits, flying fast and reaching new heights. NASA announced on Monday Ingenuity successfully completed its ninth and 'most challenging' flight yet."
"Singapore researchers have developed a smart foam material that allows robots to sense nearby objects, and repairs itself when damaged, just like human skin." Well, not "just like" human skin, because skin regenerates, this foam just remolds itself.
"Tantalizing evidence has been uncovered for a mysterious population of 'free-floating' planets, planets that may be alone in deep space, unbound to any host star. The results include four new discoveries that are consistent with planets of similar masses to Earth, published today in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society."
"In August 1974, the CIA produced a study on 'climatological research as it pertains to intelligence problems'. The diagnosis was dramatic. It warned of the emergence of a new era of weird weather, leading to political unrest and mass migration (which, in turn, would cause more unrest). The new era the agency imagined wasn’t necessarily one of hotter temperatures; the CIA had heard from scientists warning of global cooling as well as warming. But the direction in which the thermometer was travelling wasn’t their immediate concern; it was the political impact. They knew that the so-called “little ice age”, a series of cold snaps between, roughly, 1350 and 1850, had brought not only drought and famine, but also war – and so could these new climatic changes."
"Mercy Springfield is treating more than 100 patients for COVID-19, and the hospital is running short on ventilators… As of July 5, the hospital reports more than 115 COVID-19 hospital admissions. Mercy is running around 50 ventilators, according to Mercy Chief administrative officer Erik Frederick… As a result, the hospital is bringing in ventilators from surrounding Mercy hospitals, including Northwest Arkansas and St. Louis."
"Shrinkflation, or downsizing, is probably as old as mass consumerism. Over the years, Dworsky has documented the downsizing of everything from Doritos to baby shampoo to ranch dressing. 'The downsizing tends to happen when manufacturers face some type of pricing pressure,' he says. For example, if the price of gasoline or grain goes up."
"Oil producer group OPEC has been plunged into crisis, with bitter infighting between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates raising questions about the future of the energy alliance… OPEC and non-OPEC partners, a group of some of the world’s most powerful oil producers, abruptly abandoned plans to reconvene on Monday after last week’s meetings unexpectedly failed to broker a deal on oil production policy. The group did not set a new date to resume talks."
"Between 800 and 1,500 businesses around the world have been affected by a ransomware attack centered on U.S. information technology firm Kaseya, its chief executive said on Monday."
"France has hit back at a new Russian law ordering French champagne makers to label their bottles as sparkling wine… France has strict rules protecting its bubbly, meaning to be called champagne it must be from the French region that shares the name… But under Russia's new law, only local producers can call their drinks 'shampanskoye' - the Russian equivalent of champagne." There was this running gag in the original Star Trek where Ensign Chekov would state how of course he knew about some technology because "it was invented in Russia."
"Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones has turned down a tenure offer from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and will instead accept a faculty position at Howard University, the historically Black institution in Washington, D.C." Well played, Howard University. Well played.
"'They started engaging with citizens of Philadelphia, who were none too happy about what they were saying. These males felt threatened, and, at one point, somebody in their crowd threw a type of smoke bomb to cover their retreat, and they literally ran away from the people of Philadelphia,' said Philadelphia Police Officer Michael Crum." You don't bring that shit to Philly.
"The U.S. left Afghanistan’s Bagram Airfield after nearly 20 years by shutting off the electricity and slipping away in the night without notifying the base’s new Afghan commander, who discovered the Americans’ departure more than two hours after they left, Afghan military officials said."
"I have found no single answer to why we lost the war. While various explanations address different parts of the puzzle, the one I want to highlight here can perhaps be seen most clearly in the conversations I’ve had with the Taliban themselves, often in their native Pashto. 'The Taliban fight for belief, for janat (heaven) and ghazi (killing infidels). … The army and police fight for money,' a Taliban religious scholar from Kandahar told me in 2019. 'The Taliban are willing to lose their head to fight. … How can the army and police compete?'" I have a simpler explanation, just like Vietnam, we refused to understand the country and instead imposed our value structure on our strategic decisions.
"By 11:30 p.m. on Monday, the Gun Violence Archive reported 189 people killed and 516 injured in shootings over the course of a 72-hour period starting Friday. In total, there were more than 540 shootings over the holiday weekend, the organization reported."
"Amid mounting concern about a fresh wave of pro-Trump violence in August, more than a dozen current and former Capitol Police officers, Capitol security officials, lawmakers and aides tell CNN that not nearly enough has been done to address the security failures exposed by the January 6 attack on the US Capitol six months ago."
"Interviews with diehard Trump fans suggest that the riot denialism is working. Many refuse to condemn the insurrectionists who beat police officers, smashed windows and called for then Vice-President Mike Pence to be hanged. The swirl of conspiracy theories, combined with Trump’s deluded claims of a stole election, raise fears of a replay that could be even more violent."
"MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell has named the date on which he believes former President Donald Trump will take the impossible step of being reinstated as president: August 13."
"When NASA sent the Ingenuity helicopter to Mars, it was gamble. Now it's pushing its limits, flying fast and reaching new heights. NASA announced on Monday Ingenuity successfully completed its ninth and 'most challenging' flight yet."
"Singapore researchers have developed a smart foam material that allows robots to sense nearby objects, and repairs itself when damaged, just like human skin." Well, not "just like" human skin, because skin regenerates, this foam just remolds itself.
"Tantalizing evidence has been uncovered for a mysterious population of 'free-floating' planets, planets that may be alone in deep space, unbound to any host star. The results include four new discoveries that are consistent with planets of similar masses to Earth, published today in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society."
"In August 1974, the CIA produced a study on 'climatological research as it pertains to intelligence problems'. The diagnosis was dramatic. It warned of the emergence of a new era of weird weather, leading to political unrest and mass migration (which, in turn, would cause more unrest). The new era the agency imagined wasn’t necessarily one of hotter temperatures; the CIA had heard from scientists warning of global cooling as well as warming. But the direction in which the thermometer was travelling wasn’t their immediate concern; it was the political impact. They knew that the so-called “little ice age”, a series of cold snaps between, roughly, 1350 and 1850, had brought not only drought and famine, but also war – and so could these new climatic changes."
"Mercy Springfield is treating more than 100 patients for COVID-19, and the hospital is running short on ventilators… As of July 5, the hospital reports more than 115 COVID-19 hospital admissions. Mercy is running around 50 ventilators, according to Mercy Chief administrative officer Erik Frederick… As a result, the hospital is bringing in ventilators from surrounding Mercy hospitals, including Northwest Arkansas and St. Louis."
"Shrinkflation, or downsizing, is probably as old as mass consumerism. Over the years, Dworsky has documented the downsizing of everything from Doritos to baby shampoo to ranch dressing. 'The downsizing tends to happen when manufacturers face some type of pricing pressure,' he says. For example, if the price of gasoline or grain goes up."
"Oil producer group OPEC has been plunged into crisis, with bitter infighting between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates raising questions about the future of the energy alliance… OPEC and non-OPEC partners, a group of some of the world’s most powerful oil producers, abruptly abandoned plans to reconvene on Monday after last week’s meetings unexpectedly failed to broker a deal on oil production policy. The group did not set a new date to resume talks."
"Between 800 and 1,500 businesses around the world have been affected by a ransomware attack centered on U.S. information technology firm Kaseya, its chief executive said on Monday."
"France has hit back at a new Russian law ordering French champagne makers to label their bottles as sparkling wine… France has strict rules protecting its bubbly, meaning to be called champagne it must be from the French region that shares the name… But under Russia's new law, only local producers can call their drinks 'shampanskoye' - the Russian equivalent of champagne." There was this running gag in the original Star Trek where Ensign Chekov would state how of course he knew about some technology because "it was invented in Russia."
"Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones has turned down a tenure offer from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and will instead accept a faculty position at Howard University, the historically Black institution in Washington, D.C." Well played, Howard University. Well played.
"'They started engaging with citizens of Philadelphia, who were none too happy about what they were saying. These males felt threatened, and, at one point, somebody in their crowd threw a type of smoke bomb to cover their retreat, and they literally ran away from the people of Philadelphia,' said Philadelphia Police Officer Michael Crum." You don't bring that shit to Philly.
"The U.S. left Afghanistan’s Bagram Airfield after nearly 20 years by shutting off the electricity and slipping away in the night without notifying the base’s new Afghan commander, who discovered the Americans’ departure more than two hours after they left, Afghan military officials said."
"I have found no single answer to why we lost the war. While various explanations address different parts of the puzzle, the one I want to highlight here can perhaps be seen most clearly in the conversations I’ve had with the Taliban themselves, often in their native Pashto. 'The Taliban fight for belief, for janat (heaven) and ghazi (killing infidels). … The army and police fight for money,' a Taliban religious scholar from Kandahar told me in 2019. 'The Taliban are willing to lose their head to fight. … How can the army and police compete?'" I have a simpler explanation, just like Vietnam, we refused to understand the country and instead imposed our value structure on our strategic decisions.
"By 11:30 p.m. on Monday, the Gun Violence Archive reported 189 people killed and 516 injured in shootings over the course of a 72-hour period starting Friday. In total, there were more than 540 shootings over the holiday weekend, the organization reported."
"Amid mounting concern about a fresh wave of pro-Trump violence in August, more than a dozen current and former Capitol Police officers, Capitol security officials, lawmakers and aides tell CNN that not nearly enough has been done to address the security failures exposed by the January 6 attack on the US Capitol six months ago."
"Interviews with diehard Trump fans suggest that the riot denialism is working. Many refuse to condemn the insurrectionists who beat police officers, smashed windows and called for then Vice-President Mike Pence to be hanged. The swirl of conspiracy theories, combined with Trump’s deluded claims of a stole election, raise fears of a replay that could be even more violent."
"MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell has named the date on which he believes former President Donald Trump will take the impossible step of being reinstated as president: August 13."
Monday, July 5, 2021
Linkee-poo Monday July 5
"The center of Tropical Storm Elsa is just about to move over the south coast of Cuba. It will emerge into the Florida Straits tonight. The storm looks messy on the satellite, but the top wind speed has not changed much. The main feature of the storm is the band of strongest winds and heaviest rain well displaced from the center to the east – on the right side. That will come into play late tonight and early tomorrow when the storm center passes the Keys."
"Blasts of flashy pyrotechnics across the country marked something of a return to normal, a year after the coronavirus pandemic dampened most Fourth festivities… But on America's 245th birthday, there was perhaps even more reason to celebrate in the name of freedom. About half of Americans are fully vaccinated against the virus, lockdowns have been lifted and infections remain relatively low in the U.S."
"The 4th of July started with a bang in Ocean City. Sunday morning a truck transporting fireworks was unintentionally set off, causing an explosion that could be seen and heard from blocks away."
"Angel Carrizales, head of Mexico's oil safety regulator ASEA, wrote on Twitter that the incident 'did not generate any spill,' according to Reuters news agency, but did not explain what was burning on the water's surface." And instead of being focused on what actually happened, most news agencies instead gave a lot to the "eye of fire" or referenced Godzilla.
"'Everybody depends on the water in the Klamath River for their livelihood. That’s the blood that ties us all together. ... They want to have the opportunity to teach their kids to fish for salmon just like I want to have the opportunity to teach my kids how to farm,' DuVal said of the downriver Yurok and Karuk tribes. 'Nobody’s coming out ahead this year. Nobody’s winning.'"
"Since 1999 there have been a number of attempts to develop some kind of follow-up to Galaxy Quest. And in a new interview, Emmy-winning writer/producer Georgia Pritchett revealed to the UK’s Times she is working on a television spinoff, with Simon Pegg." (Grokked from Dan)
"Rescue workers dug through sludge and debris Monday looking for dozens of people who may be trapped after a a torrent of mud, trees and rocks ripped with a roar through a Japanese seaside resort town, killing at least four people."
"A new study disputes the prevailing hypothesis on why Mercury has a big core relative to its mantle (the layer between a planet's core and crust). For decades, scientists argued that hit-and-run collisions with other bodies during the formation of our solar system blew away much of Mercury's rocky mantle and left the big, dense, metal core inside. But new research reveals that collisions are not to blame—the sun's magnetism is."
"The sun erupted with a surprise solar flare on Saturday (July 3), the largest since 2017, in an early explosion of cosmic fireworks ahead of the Fourth of July."
"Ticks aren't known as beach-lovers, so ecologist Dan Salkeld and a colleague were surprised when they found 180 ticks in less than a mile on a coastal trail near Muir Beach in California one day in 2016."
"Anthony Fauci on Sunday lamented the 'avoidable and preventable' deaths among people who are unvaccinated against the coronavirus now that vaccines are widely available in the United States."
"Capitalism is an economic system, but it's also so much more than that. It's become a sort of ideology, this all-encompassing force that rules over our lives and our minds. It might seem like it's an inevitable force, but really, it's a construction project that took hundreds of years and no part of it is natural or just left to chance." A quick print story, but worth listening to the Throughline podcast to hear the whole discussion.
"Cybersecurity teams worked feverishly Sunday to stem the impact of the single biggest global ransomware attack on record, with some details emerging about how the Russia-linked gang responsible breached the company whose software was the conduit… An affiliate of the notorious REvil gang, best known for extorting $11 million from the meat-processor JBS after a Memorial Day attack, infected thousands of victims in at least 17 countries on Friday, largely through firms that remotely manage IT infrastructure for multiple customers, cybersecurity researchers said."
"'Amazon founder Jeff Bezos isn't a fan of the phrase "work-life balance.'… At an April 2018 event hosted by Insider's parent company, Bezos said new Amazon employees shouldn't view work and life as a balancing act. Instead, Bezos said that it's more productive to view them as two integrated parts." Said in the way only a billionaire workaholic could.
"A professional golfer and two other men were killed in a shooting at an Atlanta-area country club and the suspect is still at large, authorities said."
"Pope Francis 'reacted well' to planned intestinal surgery Sunday evening at a Rome hospital, the Vatican said, without giving much detail about the pontiff's condition."
"The Vatican on Saturday announced that is charging 10 people with financial crimes, including a prominent Italian cardinal. The charges included embezzlement, money laundering, fraud, extortion and abuse of office relating to financial investments the financial arm of the Vatican made in London in 2018."
"Any foreign troops left in Afghanistan after Nato's September withdrawal deadline will be at risk as occupiers, the Taliban has told the BBC… It comes amid reports that 1,000 mainly US troops could remain on the ground to protect diplomatic missions and Kabul's international airport." Because of course they would.
"The Democrats write that they believe Greene's conduct has reached an 'unacceptable level,' referring to several incidents from her short tenure in Congress, including Greene's posting of an anti-transgender sign outside of her office, directly across the hall from another lawmaker who has a transgender child… 'Rep. Greene's conduct does not comport with what we expect from a member of the House of Representatives,' the letter reads. 'Moreover, we are extremely concerned that her conduct is creating an unsafe work environment for members, and that her actions could lead to violence against members of Congress.'"
"The group of heavily armed men refused to comply with police Saturday morning north of Boston, prompting I-95 to be closed and shelter-in-place orders for residents of Wakefield and Reading. Police lifted the shelter-in-place orders shortly after the suspects were taken into custody… 'We have several armed persons accounted for at this scene on Rt 95. They are refusing to comply with orders to provide their information and put down their weapons,' state police said on Twitter." Waits for the NRA to start talking about the need for gun control, like they did in the late 60s and early 70s.
"Surveillance video from the Sheffield Lake Police Department in Ohio shows the longtime chief printing a note reading 'Ku Klux Klan' and placing it on a Black officer's raincoat, according to the city's mayor." Yeah, the quote from the mayor is about how I would have played it as well. Talk to the hand, leave everything that is the city's, take your shit and get gone. Of course, ya know, it was meant to be a joke, he says. Yeah, that's the problem with humor, sometimes people don't see it that way. And also, nobody jokes like that. Plus I have a feeling this wasn't the first incident. And finally, the chief had to know there are cameras there.
"Americans are hitting the road in droves for the long Fourth of July weekend and Republicans are turning to another tried-and-true tradition: blaming the president for high gasoline prices… Prices at the pump have climbed to a national average of $3.126 per gallon, nearly $1 higher than a year ago when the nation was cooped up at home as the pandemic raged. But AAA is predicting a record 44 million people will take road trips this weekend, and Republicans hope they'll think of President Joe Biden when they fill up." And they're hoping you forget that most of that climb was when Trump was president.
"Former President Donald Trump said he was the one who told Gov. Ron DeSantis not to attend his July Fourth weekend rally in Sarasota, Florida… The pair had a conversation, during which both sides stressed they agreed the governor should stay in Surfside, where a condominium building partially collapsed over a week ago that left at least 24 dead and 121 missing."
"Nancy Pelosi’s creation of a House select committee to investigate the 6 January insurrection reopens the possibility of a comprehensive inquiry into myriad security failures and the causes of the deadly attack on Congress by a pro-Trump mob… The committee will have subpoena power and a broad mandate to examine the facts, circumstances and causes of the Capitol attack against the seat of modern American democracy."
"Six months later, many of those companies have resumed funneling cash to political action committees that benefit the election efforts of lawmakers whether they objected to the election certification or not. When it comes to seeking political influence through corporate giving, business as usual is back, if it ever left." Because of course they have. and they think you've stopped caring or looking at what they've done.
"On the campaign trail and while he was in the White House, former President Donald Trump repeatedly said he was smart for paying as little taxes as possible. And he often bragged about knowing the tax code so well that he could use it to his advantage. In a 2017 interview with the New York Times, for example, Trump bragged: 'I know the details of taxes better than anybody. Better than the greatest C.P.A.' It was quite a different story Saturday night in Florida, where Trump held his second rally since leaving office."
"Blasts of flashy pyrotechnics across the country marked something of a return to normal, a year after the coronavirus pandemic dampened most Fourth festivities… But on America's 245th birthday, there was perhaps even more reason to celebrate in the name of freedom. About half of Americans are fully vaccinated against the virus, lockdowns have been lifted and infections remain relatively low in the U.S."
"The 4th of July started with a bang in Ocean City. Sunday morning a truck transporting fireworks was unintentionally set off, causing an explosion that could be seen and heard from blocks away."
"Angel Carrizales, head of Mexico's oil safety regulator ASEA, wrote on Twitter that the incident 'did not generate any spill,' according to Reuters news agency, but did not explain what was burning on the water's surface." And instead of being focused on what actually happened, most news agencies instead gave a lot to the "eye of fire" or referenced Godzilla.
"'Everybody depends on the water in the Klamath River for their livelihood. That’s the blood that ties us all together. ... They want to have the opportunity to teach their kids to fish for salmon just like I want to have the opportunity to teach my kids how to farm,' DuVal said of the downriver Yurok and Karuk tribes. 'Nobody’s coming out ahead this year. Nobody’s winning.'"
"Since 1999 there have been a number of attempts to develop some kind of follow-up to Galaxy Quest. And in a new interview, Emmy-winning writer/producer Georgia Pritchett revealed to the UK’s Times she is working on a television spinoff, with Simon Pegg." (Grokked from Dan)
"Rescue workers dug through sludge and debris Monday looking for dozens of people who may be trapped after a a torrent of mud, trees and rocks ripped with a roar through a Japanese seaside resort town, killing at least four people."
"A new study disputes the prevailing hypothesis on why Mercury has a big core relative to its mantle (the layer between a planet's core and crust). For decades, scientists argued that hit-and-run collisions with other bodies during the formation of our solar system blew away much of Mercury's rocky mantle and left the big, dense, metal core inside. But new research reveals that collisions are not to blame—the sun's magnetism is."
"The sun erupted with a surprise solar flare on Saturday (July 3), the largest since 2017, in an early explosion of cosmic fireworks ahead of the Fourth of July."
"Ticks aren't known as beach-lovers, so ecologist Dan Salkeld and a colleague were surprised when they found 180 ticks in less than a mile on a coastal trail near Muir Beach in California one day in 2016."
"Anthony Fauci on Sunday lamented the 'avoidable and preventable' deaths among people who are unvaccinated against the coronavirus now that vaccines are widely available in the United States."
"Capitalism is an economic system, but it's also so much more than that. It's become a sort of ideology, this all-encompassing force that rules over our lives and our minds. It might seem like it's an inevitable force, but really, it's a construction project that took hundreds of years and no part of it is natural or just left to chance." A quick print story, but worth listening to the Throughline podcast to hear the whole discussion.
"Cybersecurity teams worked feverishly Sunday to stem the impact of the single biggest global ransomware attack on record, with some details emerging about how the Russia-linked gang responsible breached the company whose software was the conduit… An affiliate of the notorious REvil gang, best known for extorting $11 million from the meat-processor JBS after a Memorial Day attack, infected thousands of victims in at least 17 countries on Friday, largely through firms that remotely manage IT infrastructure for multiple customers, cybersecurity researchers said."
"'Amazon founder Jeff Bezos isn't a fan of the phrase "work-life balance.'… At an April 2018 event hosted by Insider's parent company, Bezos said new Amazon employees shouldn't view work and life as a balancing act. Instead, Bezos said that it's more productive to view them as two integrated parts." Said in the way only a billionaire workaholic could.
"A professional golfer and two other men were killed in a shooting at an Atlanta-area country club and the suspect is still at large, authorities said."
"Pope Francis 'reacted well' to planned intestinal surgery Sunday evening at a Rome hospital, the Vatican said, without giving much detail about the pontiff's condition."
"The Vatican on Saturday announced that is charging 10 people with financial crimes, including a prominent Italian cardinal. The charges included embezzlement, money laundering, fraud, extortion and abuse of office relating to financial investments the financial arm of the Vatican made in London in 2018."
"Any foreign troops left in Afghanistan after Nato's September withdrawal deadline will be at risk as occupiers, the Taliban has told the BBC… It comes amid reports that 1,000 mainly US troops could remain on the ground to protect diplomatic missions and Kabul's international airport." Because of course they would.
"The Democrats write that they believe Greene's conduct has reached an 'unacceptable level,' referring to several incidents from her short tenure in Congress, including Greene's posting of an anti-transgender sign outside of her office, directly across the hall from another lawmaker who has a transgender child… 'Rep. Greene's conduct does not comport with what we expect from a member of the House of Representatives,' the letter reads. 'Moreover, we are extremely concerned that her conduct is creating an unsafe work environment for members, and that her actions could lead to violence against members of Congress.'"
"The group of heavily armed men refused to comply with police Saturday morning north of Boston, prompting I-95 to be closed and shelter-in-place orders for residents of Wakefield and Reading. Police lifted the shelter-in-place orders shortly after the suspects were taken into custody… 'We have several armed persons accounted for at this scene on Rt 95. They are refusing to comply with orders to provide their information and put down their weapons,' state police said on Twitter." Waits for the NRA to start talking about the need for gun control, like they did in the late 60s and early 70s.
"Surveillance video from the Sheffield Lake Police Department in Ohio shows the longtime chief printing a note reading 'Ku Klux Klan' and placing it on a Black officer's raincoat, according to the city's mayor." Yeah, the quote from the mayor is about how I would have played it as well. Talk to the hand, leave everything that is the city's, take your shit and get gone. Of course, ya know, it was meant to be a joke, he says. Yeah, that's the problem with humor, sometimes people don't see it that way. And also, nobody jokes like that. Plus I have a feeling this wasn't the first incident. And finally, the chief had to know there are cameras there.
"Americans are hitting the road in droves for the long Fourth of July weekend and Republicans are turning to another tried-and-true tradition: blaming the president for high gasoline prices… Prices at the pump have climbed to a national average of $3.126 per gallon, nearly $1 higher than a year ago when the nation was cooped up at home as the pandemic raged. But AAA is predicting a record 44 million people will take road trips this weekend, and Republicans hope they'll think of President Joe Biden when they fill up." And they're hoping you forget that most of that climb was when Trump was president.
"Former President Donald Trump said he was the one who told Gov. Ron DeSantis not to attend his July Fourth weekend rally in Sarasota, Florida… The pair had a conversation, during which both sides stressed they agreed the governor should stay in Surfside, where a condominium building partially collapsed over a week ago that left at least 24 dead and 121 missing."
"Nancy Pelosi’s creation of a House select committee to investigate the 6 January insurrection reopens the possibility of a comprehensive inquiry into myriad security failures and the causes of the deadly attack on Congress by a pro-Trump mob… The committee will have subpoena power and a broad mandate to examine the facts, circumstances and causes of the Capitol attack against the seat of modern American democracy."
"Six months later, many of those companies have resumed funneling cash to political action committees that benefit the election efforts of lawmakers whether they objected to the election certification or not. When it comes to seeking political influence through corporate giving, business as usual is back, if it ever left." Because of course they have. and they think you've stopped caring or looking at what they've done.
"On the campaign trail and while he was in the White House, former President Donald Trump repeatedly said he was smart for paying as little taxes as possible. And he often bragged about knowing the tax code so well that he could use it to his advantage. In a 2017 interview with the New York Times, for example, Trump bragged: 'I know the details of taxes better than anybody. Better than the greatest C.P.A.' It was quite a different story Saturday night in Florida, where Trump held his second rally since leaving office."
Friday, July 2, 2021
Linkee-poo Friday July 2
The NPR reading of the Declaration of Independence.
"Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit delivered satellites from three countries into space Wednesday, its second successful rocket launch from a plane."
"On June 13, the Hubble Space Telescope took itself offline due to a fault in its payload computer, which manages the telescope's scientific instruments. Since then, NASA has been doing the sort of troubleshooting that's familiar to many of us—with the added pressure of the hardware being irreplaceable, in space, and about the same vintage as a Commodore 64."
"Tropical Storm Elsa strengthened into the first hurricane of the 2021 Atlantic storm season on Friday as it battered the eastern Caribbean, where officials closed schools, businesses and airports."
"Part of the Arctic is nicknamed the 'Last Ice Area,' because floating sea ice there is usually so thick that it’s likely to withstand global warming for decades. So, scientists were shocked last summer when there was suddenly enough open water for a ship to pass through." We're boned.
"Video clips released by the Greenpeace investigation project Unearthed show Keith McCoy, the oil giant's senior director for federal relations, talking frankly about Exxon Mobil's lobbying strategies. Channel 4 from the United Kingdom first reported the comments… McCoy was tricked by the activists who said they were job recruiters. He talked about working with 'shadow groups,' supporting a carbon tax that he believes will never happen and influencing senators to weaken climate elements of President Biden's infrastructure plan."
"The Navy’s decision to pause research at year’s end frees up resources for hypersonic missiles, directed-energy systems like lasers and electronic warfare systems, said Lt. Courtney Callaghan, a Navy spokesperson." Good-bye railgun.
"Dermatologists say cancer-prone areas are often left neglected. Joshua Zeichner, a dermatologist and researcher at New York City's Mount Sinai Hospital, says he regularly sees patients forgetting to slap sunscreen on the sides of their neck and the tips of their ears — spots, he says, that are particularly sensitive to UV rays owing to the thinness of the skin."
"Long hidden, such price variations are supposed to be available in stark black and white under a Trump administration price transparency rule that took effect at the start of this year. It requires hospitals to post a range of actual prices — everything from the rates they offer cash-paying customers to costs negotiated with insurers… But some hospitals bury the data deep on their websites or have not included all the categories of prices required, according to industry analysts. A sizable minority of hospitals have not disclosed the information at all." Notice how nobody is really expecting the industry to change because of these disclosures, just insurers negotiating better deals and some people dumping those insurers who don't have the best deal. Just wait until find out about pharmacy billing practices.
"Local officials are sounding the alarm over an increase in Covid-19 infections just as the nation prepares to celebrate a Fourth of July holiday that many hoped would mark the start of the resumption of normal life… In Arkansas, which has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the nation, cases are surging, officials said. In Los Angeles County, where the vaccination rate is slightly above the national average, officials warned about a possible new wave of infections, especially given the rapid spread of the Delta variant."
"A California woman who wrongly accused a Black teen of taking her phone at a New York City hotel late last year and grabbed at him as he tried to leave is now charged with a hate crime."
"The Boy Scouts of America has reached an $850 million settlement with more than 60,000 men who sued the iconic institution over alleged sexual abuse by adults in scouting over several decades."
"Job growth leaped higher in June as businesses looked to keep up with a rapidly recovering U.S. economy, the Labor Department reported Friday… Nonfarm payrolls increased 850,000 for the month, compared with the Dow Jones estimate of 706,000 and better than the upwardly revised 583,000 in May. The unemployment rate, however, rose to 5.9% against the 5.6% expectation."
"It's a common complaint. Restaurants, beauty parlors and factories all have plenty of customers right now but not enough workers to meet the demand… States ending the benefits early hope to push more people back to work, but the effect so far is unclear. The scheduling software company HomeBase found somewhat stronger job gains last month in states that left the benefits in place."
"Ford Motor’s June and second quarter sales were below analyst expectations as a global shortage of semiconductor chips caused significant production cuts and inventory constraints."
"A Boeing 737 cargo plane made an emergency landing off the coast of Honolulu early Friday after pilots reported engine trouble, the Federal Aviation Administration said."
"Some 130 countries have agreed on a global minimum tax backed by President Joe Biden as part of a worldwide effort to keep multinational firms from dodging taxes by shifting their profits to countries with low rates." Good.
"After nearly 20 years, the U.S. military left Bagram Airfield, the epicenter of its war to oust the Taliban and hunt down the al-Qaida perpetrators of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America, two U.S. officials said Friday."
"Gov. Tom Wolf has signed legislation to allow college athletes in Pennsylvania to start earning money based on their fame and celebrity without fear of sanctions from their school or athletic association."
"Adult recreational use of marijuana will become legal in Virginia this week, but the commercial production and sale of marijuana is still almost three years away."
"Officially called The Light of Truth Ida B. Wells National Monument, the commemoration created by sculptor Richard Hunt was dedicated in the South Side neighborhood where Wells lived out her life."
"A Canadian Indigenous group said Wednesday a search using ground-penetrating radar has found 182 human remains in unmarked graves at a site near a former Catholic Church-run residential school that housed Indigenous children taken from their families."
"Her acceptance of the donation from Johnson, who doesn’t even live in Noem’s state but rather in Tennessee, has drawn intense scrutiny. It landed in state coffers Tuesday and though it came from Johnson’s private foundation and appears to be legal, experts say it sets a troubling precedent in which a wealthy patron is effectively commandeering U.S. military might to address private political motivations." South Dakota National Guard unit sold out as mercenaries.
"But the site is more than just a local news outlet, it's part of the Star News Network - an expanding network of pro-Trump sites seeking to influence local politics with conservative opinion by mimicking the look and feel of local newspaper sites. The group operates eight state-focused news sites, including in key Electoral College states such as Michigan, Arizona, Ohio and Florida… Steve Bannon, a former strategist for former President Donald Trump, described The Georgia Star News in a radio interview as content 'you can't get anywhere else… We're not Conservative, Inc.,' he said. 'It's very populist, it's very nationalist, it's very MAGA, it's very American First.'"
"Lawyers for the Trump Organization and one of its top executives pleaded not guilty to a slew of charges in a lower Manhattan courtroom on Thursday, as prosecutors alleged a 16-year scheme of brazen fraud and tax evasion by former President Donald Trump's namesake company… A grand jury returned a 15-count indictment against the Trump Organization and Allen Weisselberg, its chief financial officer, late Wednesday evening. Prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney's Office detailed the alleged crimes at Thursday's initial court appearance and in the 25-page indictment filed in state court."
"Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit delivered satellites from three countries into space Wednesday, its second successful rocket launch from a plane."
"On June 13, the Hubble Space Telescope took itself offline due to a fault in its payload computer, which manages the telescope's scientific instruments. Since then, NASA has been doing the sort of troubleshooting that's familiar to many of us—with the added pressure of the hardware being irreplaceable, in space, and about the same vintage as a Commodore 64."
"Tropical Storm Elsa strengthened into the first hurricane of the 2021 Atlantic storm season on Friday as it battered the eastern Caribbean, where officials closed schools, businesses and airports."
"Part of the Arctic is nicknamed the 'Last Ice Area,' because floating sea ice there is usually so thick that it’s likely to withstand global warming for decades. So, scientists were shocked last summer when there was suddenly enough open water for a ship to pass through." We're boned.
"Video clips released by the Greenpeace investigation project Unearthed show Keith McCoy, the oil giant's senior director for federal relations, talking frankly about Exxon Mobil's lobbying strategies. Channel 4 from the United Kingdom first reported the comments… McCoy was tricked by the activists who said they were job recruiters. He talked about working with 'shadow groups,' supporting a carbon tax that he believes will never happen and influencing senators to weaken climate elements of President Biden's infrastructure plan."
"The Navy’s decision to pause research at year’s end frees up resources for hypersonic missiles, directed-energy systems like lasers and electronic warfare systems, said Lt. Courtney Callaghan, a Navy spokesperson." Good-bye railgun.
"Dermatologists say cancer-prone areas are often left neglected. Joshua Zeichner, a dermatologist and researcher at New York City's Mount Sinai Hospital, says he regularly sees patients forgetting to slap sunscreen on the sides of their neck and the tips of their ears — spots, he says, that are particularly sensitive to UV rays owing to the thinness of the skin."
"Long hidden, such price variations are supposed to be available in stark black and white under a Trump administration price transparency rule that took effect at the start of this year. It requires hospitals to post a range of actual prices — everything from the rates they offer cash-paying customers to costs negotiated with insurers… But some hospitals bury the data deep on their websites or have not included all the categories of prices required, according to industry analysts. A sizable minority of hospitals have not disclosed the information at all." Notice how nobody is really expecting the industry to change because of these disclosures, just insurers negotiating better deals and some people dumping those insurers who don't have the best deal. Just wait until find out about pharmacy billing practices.
"Local officials are sounding the alarm over an increase in Covid-19 infections just as the nation prepares to celebrate a Fourth of July holiday that many hoped would mark the start of the resumption of normal life… In Arkansas, which has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the nation, cases are surging, officials said. In Los Angeles County, where the vaccination rate is slightly above the national average, officials warned about a possible new wave of infections, especially given the rapid spread of the Delta variant."
"A California woman who wrongly accused a Black teen of taking her phone at a New York City hotel late last year and grabbed at him as he tried to leave is now charged with a hate crime."
"The Boy Scouts of America has reached an $850 million settlement with more than 60,000 men who sued the iconic institution over alleged sexual abuse by adults in scouting over several decades."
"Job growth leaped higher in June as businesses looked to keep up with a rapidly recovering U.S. economy, the Labor Department reported Friday… Nonfarm payrolls increased 850,000 for the month, compared with the Dow Jones estimate of 706,000 and better than the upwardly revised 583,000 in May. The unemployment rate, however, rose to 5.9% against the 5.6% expectation."
"It's a common complaint. Restaurants, beauty parlors and factories all have plenty of customers right now but not enough workers to meet the demand… States ending the benefits early hope to push more people back to work, but the effect so far is unclear. The scheduling software company HomeBase found somewhat stronger job gains last month in states that left the benefits in place."
"Ford Motor’s June and second quarter sales were below analyst expectations as a global shortage of semiconductor chips caused significant production cuts and inventory constraints."
"A Boeing 737 cargo plane made an emergency landing off the coast of Honolulu early Friday after pilots reported engine trouble, the Federal Aviation Administration said."
"Some 130 countries have agreed on a global minimum tax backed by President Joe Biden as part of a worldwide effort to keep multinational firms from dodging taxes by shifting their profits to countries with low rates." Good.
"After nearly 20 years, the U.S. military left Bagram Airfield, the epicenter of its war to oust the Taliban and hunt down the al-Qaida perpetrators of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America, two U.S. officials said Friday."
"Gov. Tom Wolf has signed legislation to allow college athletes in Pennsylvania to start earning money based on their fame and celebrity without fear of sanctions from their school or athletic association."
"Adult recreational use of marijuana will become legal in Virginia this week, but the commercial production and sale of marijuana is still almost three years away."
"Officially called The Light of Truth Ida B. Wells National Monument, the commemoration created by sculptor Richard Hunt was dedicated in the South Side neighborhood where Wells lived out her life."
"A Canadian Indigenous group said Wednesday a search using ground-penetrating radar has found 182 human remains in unmarked graves at a site near a former Catholic Church-run residential school that housed Indigenous children taken from their families."
"Her acceptance of the donation from Johnson, who doesn’t even live in Noem’s state but rather in Tennessee, has drawn intense scrutiny. It landed in state coffers Tuesday and though it came from Johnson’s private foundation and appears to be legal, experts say it sets a troubling precedent in which a wealthy patron is effectively commandeering U.S. military might to address private political motivations." South Dakota National Guard unit sold out as mercenaries.
"But the site is more than just a local news outlet, it's part of the Star News Network - an expanding network of pro-Trump sites seeking to influence local politics with conservative opinion by mimicking the look and feel of local newspaper sites. The group operates eight state-focused news sites, including in key Electoral College states such as Michigan, Arizona, Ohio and Florida… Steve Bannon, a former strategist for former President Donald Trump, described The Georgia Star News in a radio interview as content 'you can't get anywhere else… We're not Conservative, Inc.,' he said. 'It's very populist, it's very nationalist, it's very MAGA, it's very American First.'"
"Lawyers for the Trump Organization and one of its top executives pleaded not guilty to a slew of charges in a lower Manhattan courtroom on Thursday, as prosecutors alleged a 16-year scheme of brazen fraud and tax evasion by former President Donald Trump's namesake company… A grand jury returned a 15-count indictment against the Trump Organization and Allen Weisselberg, its chief financial officer, late Wednesday evening. Prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney's Office detailed the alleged crimes at Thursday's initial court appearance and in the 25-page indictment filed in state court."
Thursday, July 1, 2021
Linkee-poo Thursday July1
Delia Fiallo and Donald Rumsfeld, and so it goes.
The outgoing SFWA president, Mary Robinette Kowal, is asking for donations to SFWA
"How Twitter can ruin a life… Isabel Fall’s sci-fi story 'I Sexually Identify as an Attack Helicopter' drew the ire of the internet. This is what happened next." A long story about an incident that I was only tangentially aware of at the time; on personhood and social media and their intersection. How what we say can have devastating impact, the exploration of self through story, the weaponization of social media, the tricky road of reclaiming dignity, and what it means to be a trans person in this culture.
"Behold the highest-resolution image of atoms ever seen. Cornell University researchers captured a sample from a crystal in three dimensions and magnified it 100 million times, doubling the resolution that earned the same scientists a Guinness World Record in 2018. Their work could help develop materials for designing more powerful and efficient phones, computers and other electronics, as well as longer-lasting batteries."
"In their death throes, roughly 97% of all stars become a smoldering stellar zombie called a white dwarf, one of the densest objects in the cosmos. A newly discovered white dwarf is being hailed as the most 'extreme' one of these on record, cramming a frightful amount of mass into a surprisingly small package."
"There are more than 2 million people across the United States who have no option when it comes to health insurance. They're in what's known as the "coverage gap" — they don't qualify for Medicaid in their state, and make too little money to be eligible for subsidized health plans on the Affordable Care Act insurance exchanges." This is a political choice. Again, Obamacare was a good first step. But it was just the first step.
"One conspiracy site even claimed vaccinated people were dying at higher rates than those who had not received the jab, which is untrue… This site and others use real figures in a misleading way, to arrive at a completely false conclusion - that the vaccine may not be working or even doing more harm than good."
"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization don't share the same perspective when it comes to the coronavirus. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told NBC's Today show on Wednesday that people who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus do not need to wear masks because they're 'safe' from the virus. The advice openly contradicts the WHO's recommendation last week that fully vaccinated people should continue wearing face masks to curb the spread of the virus and dangerous new variants."
"The NHS has been given the green light to start planning a Covid vaccine booster programme in the UK ahead of this winter… A bigger flu season than normal is expected, meaning extra protection against Covid is likely to be needed… More than 30 million of the most vulnerable should receive a third dose, vaccine experts are advising."
"Initial filings for unemployment insurance fell sharply last week, indicating continued improvement in the U.S. jobs market, the Labor Department reported Thursday… First-time jobless claims totaled 364,000 for the week ended June 26, compared with the 390,000 Dow Jones estimate. That marked a new pandemic-era low and a decline of 51,000 from the previous week."
"British Columbia reports more than a dozen other fires… The province is currently fighting multiple wildfires, according to the British Columbia Wildfire Service."
"Residents of a Canadian village which recorded the country's highest ever temperature, 49.6C (121.3F), have been forced to flee by a wildfire… The mayor of Lytton, British Columbia, ordered people to evacuate, saying flames had spread through the village in just 15 minutes."
"FEMA is supposed to help people who lost property, maybe even their homes, in a natural disaster. But year after year, FEMA has been denying a higher percentage of claims. Data from the agency shows that Brenda and Francis Dairy are just one household of thousands in Oregon and California that indicated they had damage from wildfires last year but were denied help by FEMA." Government is broken, by intention. It's time to fix it.
"A stockpile of illegal fireworks detonated following attempts by the Los Angeles Police Department's bomb squad to destroy the explosives. The force of the blast destroyed the department's armored truck, injured 17 people and required the evacuation of nearby homes… On Wednesday evening LAPD bomb squad officers were in the process of seizing more than 5,000 pounds of illegal fireworks at a home in South Los Angeles, the department said. Some of those fireworks were being stored in the department's armored trailer as a precautionary measure when it exploded." That doesn't sound like a backyard enthusiast.
"Comedian Bill Cosby has been released from prison after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Wednesday vacated the indecent assault conviction against him… In an 79-page opinion by the court, the justices found that Cosby's due process rights were violated when he was charged for a 2004 assault after prosecutors previously told the comedian they wouldn't bring criminal charges against him." But it wasn't in writing.
"Trustees for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill voted Wednesday afternoon at a closed session to give tenure to star New York Times writer Nikole Hannah-Jones several months after refusing to consider her proposed tenure… The case inspired a bruising debate over race, journalism and academic freedom."
"The movement to cancel Canada Day celebrations comes after hundreds of unmarked graves thought to contain the remains of Indigenous children were recently discovered at the sites of two former boarding schools in the country."
"China's ruling Communist Party is throwing itself a party, kicking off a month of celebrations today to memorialize its founding 100 years ago." Happy birthday, ya bastards.
"It inspires comparisons to Area-51: A massive, three-mile-long runway in a remote patch of Chinese desert, hundreds of miles from any cities… Now, it looks like the site is undergoing an expansion."
"Yang also noted that Kim has publicly admitted that his country faces another crisis: a food shortage. While food shortages are a chronic condition in the North, due in part to economic mismanagement, the situation has been aggravated by pandemic-related border closures and poor harvests as a result of typhoons last year."
"Starting immediately, an applicant for a U.S. passport can simply check 'M' or 'F' as their gender – without needing to provide medical certification if that gender doesn't match their other documents. And soon, applicants will have the option to select a gender option that isn't male or female, the State Department said Wednesday."
"The justices voted 6-3 along ideological lines to side with two nonprofit groups, including one with links to billionaire Charles Koch. The groups argued that California’s policy of collecting the information violates the First Amendment."
"The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled 6-3 along partisan lines to uphold Arizona voting rules supported by Republicans that Democrats alleged unlawfully discriminated against the state’s Native American, Hispanic and Black voters."
"But this week, DeSantis vetoed a bill centered on civic literacy education that would have developed a civic literacy practicum and established the existing program at USF St. Petersburg as the Citizen Scholars Program, providing high school students with college credit for their participation."
"A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked a new Florida law regulating how social media companies can moderate content, saying hours before the law was set to take effect that the legislation violates the First Amendment and contradicts federal law."
"In a largely party-line vote, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives approved legislation on Wednesday to create a select committee to launch a new inquiry into the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol… With a larger share of Republicans voting against the plan, it marks the latest turn in a partisan fight to investigate the riot." For all the republicans saying that they oppose this because it's not bipartisan, well, you had you chance for a non-partisan investigation. You should have convinced your Senate compatriots to vote for that.
"Arizona Republicans have stripped the secretary of state's office — currently held by a Democrat — of the right to defend the state's election laws in court, or choose not to, a change enacted as part of Arizona's newly signed budget."
"A few days earlier, McBroom, a Republican state senator who chairs the Oversight Committee, had released a report detailing his eight-month-long investigation into the legitimacy of the 2020 election… His committee interviewed scores of witnesses, subpoenaed and reviewed thousands of pages of documents, dissected the procedural mechanics of Michigan’s highly decentralized elections system, and scrutinized the most trafficked claims about corruption at the state’s ballot box in November. McBroom’s conclusion hit Lansing like a meteor: It was all a bunch of nonsense."
"On consecutive nights this week, Fox News prime-time host Tucker Carlson has alleged that the National Security Agency — charged with monitoring communications abroad to keep the U.S. safe — is spying on him in hopes of getting his top-rated show canceled… He did not, however, offer anything more concrete. And Fox News has notably not reported on Carlson's allegations within its news programs, according to a review of transcripts." I'm now beginning to wonder just what scandal is about to break that Tucker is pre-positioning his argument to be "they're just out to get me."
"Allen Weisselberg, the chief financial officer who oversaw day-to-day management of the Trump Organization while Donald Trump was in the White House, surrendered himself to authorities at a New York City courthouse Thursday morning. The move comes ahead of expected criminal charges against Weisselberg and Trump's family business later in the day." The charges might be about payment of "benefits" (more like reimbursements for non-corporate expenses) without declaring them on taxes. If that's true, he's not the only one in jeopardy, the persons who received those payments are also on the hook.
The outgoing SFWA president, Mary Robinette Kowal, is asking for donations to SFWA
"How Twitter can ruin a life… Isabel Fall’s sci-fi story 'I Sexually Identify as an Attack Helicopter' drew the ire of the internet. This is what happened next." A long story about an incident that I was only tangentially aware of at the time; on personhood and social media and their intersection. How what we say can have devastating impact, the exploration of self through story, the weaponization of social media, the tricky road of reclaiming dignity, and what it means to be a trans person in this culture.
"Behold the highest-resolution image of atoms ever seen. Cornell University researchers captured a sample from a crystal in three dimensions and magnified it 100 million times, doubling the resolution that earned the same scientists a Guinness World Record in 2018. Their work could help develop materials for designing more powerful and efficient phones, computers and other electronics, as well as longer-lasting batteries."
"In their death throes, roughly 97% of all stars become a smoldering stellar zombie called a white dwarf, one of the densest objects in the cosmos. A newly discovered white dwarf is being hailed as the most 'extreme' one of these on record, cramming a frightful amount of mass into a surprisingly small package."
"There are more than 2 million people across the United States who have no option when it comes to health insurance. They're in what's known as the "coverage gap" — they don't qualify for Medicaid in their state, and make too little money to be eligible for subsidized health plans on the Affordable Care Act insurance exchanges." This is a political choice. Again, Obamacare was a good first step. But it was just the first step.
"One conspiracy site even claimed vaccinated people were dying at higher rates than those who had not received the jab, which is untrue… This site and others use real figures in a misleading way, to arrive at a completely false conclusion - that the vaccine may not be working or even doing more harm than good."
"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization don't share the same perspective when it comes to the coronavirus. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told NBC's Today show on Wednesday that people who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus do not need to wear masks because they're 'safe' from the virus. The advice openly contradicts the WHO's recommendation last week that fully vaccinated people should continue wearing face masks to curb the spread of the virus and dangerous new variants."
"The NHS has been given the green light to start planning a Covid vaccine booster programme in the UK ahead of this winter… A bigger flu season than normal is expected, meaning extra protection against Covid is likely to be needed… More than 30 million of the most vulnerable should receive a third dose, vaccine experts are advising."
"Initial filings for unemployment insurance fell sharply last week, indicating continued improvement in the U.S. jobs market, the Labor Department reported Thursday… First-time jobless claims totaled 364,000 for the week ended June 26, compared with the 390,000 Dow Jones estimate. That marked a new pandemic-era low and a decline of 51,000 from the previous week."
"British Columbia reports more than a dozen other fires… The province is currently fighting multiple wildfires, according to the British Columbia Wildfire Service."
"Residents of a Canadian village which recorded the country's highest ever temperature, 49.6C (121.3F), have been forced to flee by a wildfire… The mayor of Lytton, British Columbia, ordered people to evacuate, saying flames had spread through the village in just 15 minutes."
"FEMA is supposed to help people who lost property, maybe even their homes, in a natural disaster. But year after year, FEMA has been denying a higher percentage of claims. Data from the agency shows that Brenda and Francis Dairy are just one household of thousands in Oregon and California that indicated they had damage from wildfires last year but were denied help by FEMA." Government is broken, by intention. It's time to fix it.
"A stockpile of illegal fireworks detonated following attempts by the Los Angeles Police Department's bomb squad to destroy the explosives. The force of the blast destroyed the department's armored truck, injured 17 people and required the evacuation of nearby homes… On Wednesday evening LAPD bomb squad officers were in the process of seizing more than 5,000 pounds of illegal fireworks at a home in South Los Angeles, the department said. Some of those fireworks were being stored in the department's armored trailer as a precautionary measure when it exploded." That doesn't sound like a backyard enthusiast.
"Comedian Bill Cosby has been released from prison after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Wednesday vacated the indecent assault conviction against him… In an 79-page opinion by the court, the justices found that Cosby's due process rights were violated when he was charged for a 2004 assault after prosecutors previously told the comedian they wouldn't bring criminal charges against him." But it wasn't in writing.
"Trustees for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill voted Wednesday afternoon at a closed session to give tenure to star New York Times writer Nikole Hannah-Jones several months after refusing to consider her proposed tenure… The case inspired a bruising debate over race, journalism and academic freedom."
"The movement to cancel Canada Day celebrations comes after hundreds of unmarked graves thought to contain the remains of Indigenous children were recently discovered at the sites of two former boarding schools in the country."
"China's ruling Communist Party is throwing itself a party, kicking off a month of celebrations today to memorialize its founding 100 years ago." Happy birthday, ya bastards.
"It inspires comparisons to Area-51: A massive, three-mile-long runway in a remote patch of Chinese desert, hundreds of miles from any cities… Now, it looks like the site is undergoing an expansion."
"Yang also noted that Kim has publicly admitted that his country faces another crisis: a food shortage. While food shortages are a chronic condition in the North, due in part to economic mismanagement, the situation has been aggravated by pandemic-related border closures and poor harvests as a result of typhoons last year."
"Starting immediately, an applicant for a U.S. passport can simply check 'M' or 'F' as their gender – without needing to provide medical certification if that gender doesn't match their other documents. And soon, applicants will have the option to select a gender option that isn't male or female, the State Department said Wednesday."
"The justices voted 6-3 along ideological lines to side with two nonprofit groups, including one with links to billionaire Charles Koch. The groups argued that California’s policy of collecting the information violates the First Amendment."
"The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled 6-3 along partisan lines to uphold Arizona voting rules supported by Republicans that Democrats alleged unlawfully discriminated against the state’s Native American, Hispanic and Black voters."
"But this week, DeSantis vetoed a bill centered on civic literacy education that would have developed a civic literacy practicum and established the existing program at USF St. Petersburg as the Citizen Scholars Program, providing high school students with college credit for their participation."
"A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked a new Florida law regulating how social media companies can moderate content, saying hours before the law was set to take effect that the legislation violates the First Amendment and contradicts federal law."
"In a largely party-line vote, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives approved legislation on Wednesday to create a select committee to launch a new inquiry into the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol… With a larger share of Republicans voting against the plan, it marks the latest turn in a partisan fight to investigate the riot." For all the republicans saying that they oppose this because it's not bipartisan, well, you had you chance for a non-partisan investigation. You should have convinced your Senate compatriots to vote for that.
"Arizona Republicans have stripped the secretary of state's office — currently held by a Democrat — of the right to defend the state's election laws in court, or choose not to, a change enacted as part of Arizona's newly signed budget."
"A few days earlier, McBroom, a Republican state senator who chairs the Oversight Committee, had released a report detailing his eight-month-long investigation into the legitimacy of the 2020 election… His committee interviewed scores of witnesses, subpoenaed and reviewed thousands of pages of documents, dissected the procedural mechanics of Michigan’s highly decentralized elections system, and scrutinized the most trafficked claims about corruption at the state’s ballot box in November. McBroom’s conclusion hit Lansing like a meteor: It was all a bunch of nonsense."
"On consecutive nights this week, Fox News prime-time host Tucker Carlson has alleged that the National Security Agency — charged with monitoring communications abroad to keep the U.S. safe — is spying on him in hopes of getting his top-rated show canceled… He did not, however, offer anything more concrete. And Fox News has notably not reported on Carlson's allegations within its news programs, according to a review of transcripts." I'm now beginning to wonder just what scandal is about to break that Tucker is pre-positioning his argument to be "they're just out to get me."
"Allen Weisselberg, the chief financial officer who oversaw day-to-day management of the Trump Organization while Donald Trump was in the White House, surrendered himself to authorities at a New York City courthouse Thursday morning. The move comes ahead of expected criminal charges against Weisselberg and Trump's family business later in the day." The charges might be about payment of "benefits" (more like reimbursements for non-corporate expenses) without declaring them on taxes. If that's true, he's not the only one in jeopardy, the persons who received those payments are also on the hook.
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