"But experts fear the darker side of the easily accessible tools could worsen something that primarily harms women: nonconsensual deepfake pornography." Having been tinkering with ai art generators and looking at what others are doing, too late. This horse has already left the barn. Hell, there's practically a whole ground swell industry now, which can be difficult to avoid. After nearly 15 years on twitter, in the past 2 months I have reported >50x the number of accounts for violation of ToS (of which I have not heard anything about those reports) that the entire previous 14.5 years. I have blocked an uncountable number of accounts which were doing nothing else.
"Hollywood writers have voted to authorize a strike if their talks with The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers don't end in a new three-year contract. The current contract expires just before midnight on May 1. The Writers Guild of America has been at the table with the studios, negotiating over how much they're compensated for working on films, TV shows and streaming series."
"SpaceX's Starship rocket cleared its launch platform but failed to separate from its booster, exploding four minutes after liftoff during an inaugural test flight on Thursday." Not only did it go boom, but because the launch was rushed they destroyed the launch platform.
"Under a cloudless sky, about 20,000 eclipse chasers watched a rare solar eclipse plunge part of Australia's northwest coast into brief midday darkness Thursday with an accompanying temperature drop."
"The Ohio River forms in Pittsburgh's backyard, where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers converge to create a waterway… The river is much healthier than it was 50 years ago… But the river… is still under threat, according to a report released this week from the conservation advocacy organization American Rivers."
"Around 2015, North Atlantic right whales began disappearing from the waters where they spend summers feeding." And the melting glaciers on Greenland may be a cause. And all the episodes/stories in this series on "Beyond the Poles: The far-reaching dangers of melting ice."
"Spring is here and temperatures are heating up. That means cases of tick-borne illnesses, particularly Lyme disease, are on the rise in the U.S. And the problem is only being exacerbated by prolonged warmer weather across a wider swath of the country, driven by climate change." Ta-da!
"A new report released by UNICEF finds that 67 million children across the world missed out on either some or all routine vaccinations between 2019 and 2021, and 48 million children didn't receive a single dose during this time period."
"Finally, she was getting a treatment that was helping at Rogers Behavioral Health in Oconomowoc, Wis., a small town 35 minutes west of Milwaukee… But a little over two months into her stay, just as Rose was starting to feel better, the family's health insurance – Medical Mutual of Ohio – declined to cover any further treatment."
"After spending almost a year-and-a-half in near-total isolation some 230 feet underground, Beatriz Flamini emerged from a cave in southern Spain and asked: Who's buying the beer?… The climber and mountaineer had entered the cave in Granada on Nov. 21, 2021, determined to spend 500 days alone — monitored from afar by a group of scientists — to explore the effects of isolation on the human body and mind."
"Musk told Fox News host Tucker Carlson in a segment aired Monday night that he plans to create an alternative to the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT that he is calling 'TruthGPT,' which will be a 'maximum truth-seeking AI that tries to understand the nature of the universe.'… The idea, Musk said, is that an AI that wants to understand humanity is less likely to destroy it." I just can't stop laughing at this asshole. And I guess "Truth…(whatever)" is the conservative marketing tag like "i(whatever)" was Apple's schtick.
Why we can't have nice things… "Her grades suffered as a result. In her junior year, she turned to her pre-med adviser for help. 'She was like, well, you know, you're just not going to get into med school with that GPA, so I think you should consider something else. And she didn't really present me with many resources or options other than just giving up,' Spigner says." Been there, have the t-shirt. But being male and white, it was still easier for me.
"The case before the court involves a mail carrier in rural Pennsylvania. The man was told that as part of his job he’d need to start delivering Amazon packages on Sundays. He declined, saying his Sundays are for church and family. U.S. Postal Service officials initially tried to get substitutes for the man’s shifts, but they couldn’t always accommodate him. When he didn’t show, that meant more work for others. Ultimately, the man quit and sued for religious discrimination."
"Oftentimes, the solution isn't as simple as just trying to spend less or learning how to budget. "I've talked to a lot of people who are struggling with debt right now…" So if you find yourself in debt, you're not alone. Watch the video above or on YouTube for tips on how to approach paying off your debt and how to navigate emotional conversations about money."
"Global ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s said Tuesday it supports a plan to unionize by the workers at a retail shop in the same city where the brand, known as much for its social activism as its products, was founded."
"The CEO of an office furniture giant landed at the center of a social media storm this week after she told her staff to focus on being better employees instead of asking whether they'd lose their bonuses." Of course, her bonus had already been paid. If you work for any medium to large company, this is a familiar story this year. Our "big news" is that instead of getting our "performance based raises" in July, we're getting them in June (we were supposed to get them in January, after they were moved from last year's August date, if you're counting that's a year and a half).
"President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Tuesday that contains more than 50 directives to increase access to child care and improve the work life of caregivers." One of the first steps to solving the economic crisis.
"The controversy has residents of this town of 10,000 grappling with big questions about creativity and liberty as it tries to preserve its rural character. Like other White Mountain communities that draw skiers, nature lovers and shoppers, Conway is under development pressure, making the sign dispute fraught with worries that any concession to commerce could change what they hold dear." Small town caught up in discussion of what is art and poorly written ordinances. Here's my take, no, this is not art, this is a commercial sign (this does not denigrate what the students did, it's a great piece). The "art" mirrors the corporate identity of the shop (coloration, the "rays" of the sun, etc) and so becomes an extension of the shop's front sign. However most zoning ordinances have ways to allow exceptions, there should be one made here, some minor "penalty" should be made for not getting permission in advance. Also, the town very much has the right to limit "art" in the public space (it has no right to limit it in private or for installations that are not "permanent").
"Facebook users can now apply for their share of a $725 million privacy lawsuit settlement if they had accounts from May 2007 to December 2022… Facebook's parent company, Meta, is doling out the payments to settle a lawsuit alleging it allowed Cambridge Analytica, a former British political consulting firm used by the 2016 Donald Trump presidential campaign, to access about 87 million users' personal information."
"Southwest Airlines planes were briefly grounded nationwide Tuesday for what the airline called an intermittent technology issue, leading to more than 2,200 delayed flights just four months after the carrier suffered a much bigger meltdown over the Christmas travel rush."
"Zients said Republicans were being irresponsible by 'tying two things together that should never be tied together' — the debt limit and budget discussions… 'I think the off-ramp is very clear. It's the same off-ramp that was taken with no drama three times in the previous administration when President Trump was in the White House,' Zients said." Here we go again, because conservatives haven't learned the lesson from the last 3 times they did this.
"A French publisher has been arrested on terror charges in London after being questioned by UK police about participating in anti-government protests in France… Ernest Moret, 28, a foreign rights manager for Éditions la Fabrique, was approached by two plainclothes officers at St Pancras station on Monday evening after arriving by train from Paris to attend the London book fair."
"Senators passed changes to Iowa’s child labor laws early Tuesday to allow 14- to 17-year-olds to work longer hours and in restricted fields with parental permission… The bill also allows minors to work until 9 p.m. during the school year and until 11 p.m. during the summer — both two hours later than current law — and lets teens work up to six hours a day, up from the four hours currently allowed." The future conservatives want.
"Russia’s military acknowledged that a bomb accidentally dropped by one of its warplanes caused a powerful blast in a Russian city not far from Ukraine’s border, injuring two and scaring local residents." Oopsie.
"The Supreme Court on Friday preserved women’s access to a drug used in the most common method of abortion, rejecting lower-court restrictions while a lawsuit continues."
"Reports that (Tennessee) House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, bought a home in Nashville have sparked accusations that one of Tennessee's most powerful leaders no longer lives in the district he represents and has inappropriately received thousands of dollars in state-funded expense payments."
"A state lawmaker in Tennessee resigned suddenly for an ethics violation that became public Thursday, two weeks after he joined fellow Republicans in expelling two Black Democratic legislators for protesting in support of gun control on the state House floor."
"Oklahoma's governor is seeking the resignation of four county officials after a newspaper's audio recording apparently captured some of them complaining about two of the paper's journalists and knowing hit men and where two holes are dug."
"An Oklahoma sheriff’s office says a newspaper’s audio recording in which the sheriff and other county officials are reportedly heard discussing killing two journalists and hanging Black people was illegal and predicted felony charges will be filed." Wrong tactic to take, but then bullies don't know how to back down.
"An Oklahoma county commissioner resigned on Wednesday after being caught on a recording allegedly making violent and racist remarks and jokes with members of the McCurtain County Sheriff's Office… McCurtain County Commissioner Mark Jennings submitted a curt resignation letter written on lined notebook paper at about 8:30 a.m. local time."
"An 84-year-old white man in Kansas City, Missouri, was charged Monday with first-degree assault for shooting a Black teen who mistakenly went to the man’s home to pick up his younger brothers." That only took way too fucking long to charge him.
But this guy was arrested right away… "A 20-year-old woman was shot and killed by a homeowner in upstate New York on Saturday after the car she was in accidentally went to the wrong address, local authorities said on Monday." Guess what the difference was (other than the local)?
"A man who drove his car into counterprotesters at a 2017 white nationalist rally in Virginia was convicted Friday of first-degree murder, a verdict that local civil rights activists hope will help heal a community still scarred by the violence and the racial tensions it inflamed nationwide."
"An arbitration panel has ordered MyPillow chief executive Mike Lindell to pay $5 million to a software engineer for breach of contract in a dispute over data that Lindell claims proves that China interfered in the U.S. 2020 elections and tipped the outcome to Joe Biden."
"Fox News agreed Tuesday to pay Dominion Voting Systems nearly $800 million to avert a trial in the voting machine company’s lawsuit that would have exposed how the network promoted lies about the 2020 presidential election."
"At 9 a.m. in a federal building downtown, just a few blocks from the courthouse where Donald Trump was arraigned, the field-tripping House Judiciary Committee began a hearing focusing on the man who supposedly has become one of the greatest menaces facing America: Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney… As Jim Jordan, the jacketless committee chairman, declared in an apocalyptic opening statement: 'For the district attorney, justice isn't blind, it's about looking for opportunities to advance … a radical political agenda. Rather than enforcing the law, the D.A. is using his office to do the bidding of left-wing campaign funders.'"
Saturday, April 22, 2023
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
Linkee-poo Wednesday April 19th early morning
"The publisher's only suggested edit was to the author's note: Scholastic had crossed out a key section that references 'the deeply American tradition of racism' to describe the tale's real-life historical backdrop — a time when the U.S. government forcibly relocated more than 120,000 Japanese Americans to dozens of internment sites from 1942-1945."
"In the remote Arctic almost 30 years ago, a group of Inuit middle school students and their teacher invented the Western Hemisphere’s first new number system in more than a century. The 'Kaktovik numerals,' named after the Alaskan village where they were created, looked utterly different from decimal system numerals and functioned differently, too. But they were uniquely suited for quick, visual arithmetic using the traditional Inuit oral counting system, and they swiftly spread throughout the region. Now, with support from Silicon Valley, they will soon be available on smartphones and computers—creating a bridge for the Kaktovik numerals to cross into the digital realm." Something new has been added. (Grokked from Dan)
"A European spacecraft rocketed away Friday on a decade long quest to explore Jupiter and three of its icy moons that could hold buried oceans."
"Late Friday night into early Saturday morning, many Alaskans witnessed a strange spiral moving through the sky over the state. Some said it looked like an alien spaceship or a portal to an alternate universe… In reality, it was likely — as many on Social Media pointed out — rocket exhaust."
"Finland’s much-delayed and costly new nuclear reactor, Europe’s most powerful by production capacity, has completed a test phase lasting over a year and started regular output, boosting the Nordic country’s electricity self-sufficiency significantly."
"The tiny rain-fed wildflowers, no bigger than a few inches, are so vivid and abundant across California this year that their hues of purple and yellow look like paint swatches from space."
"But this week, research published in Nature Microbiology might finally provide a clue that could satisfy Rubin and others… The paper suggests that UTIs can actually change the DNA in the cells lining the urinary tract. Those cells can then change size and start an immune response that actually makes them more susceptible to repeated infections."
"The U.S. has named a veterinary tranquilizer as an 'emerging threat' when it’s mixed with the powerful opioid fentanyl, clearing the way for more efforts to stop the spread of xylazine."
"A study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease Reports reveals that infection with SARS-CoV-2 significantly impacts cognitive function in patients with preexisting dementia, causing rapidly progressive dementia. Researchers investigated 14 patients with various types of dementia and found that following COVID-19 infection, the differences between dementia subtypes became blurred, and cognitive deterioration progressed rapidly." Note that 14 people is an incredibly small sample.
"Today, about 2,000 American adolescents annually get bariatric surgery — the term includes several kinds of procedures done to the digestive track to limit the amount of calories a person can take in. And the American Academy of Pediatrics recently endorsed advanced treatment for severe obesity in kids — including surgery or medication for kids as young as 13." Just as an fyi, bariatric surgery, especially by itself, does not come without risks, and is not always successful.
"Despite a pair of historical failures last month that put the nation’s banking industry into crisis mode, the nation’s biggest banks posted strong profits last quarter, helped by higher interest rates and a U.S. economy that keeps growing and adding jobs even as the Federal Reserve attempts to curb inflation."
"The result of the one-two punch of higher prices and interest rates is that it’s taking Americans much longer to pay off their car loans — which include crossovers, SUVs and pickup trucks — and more buyers are being pushed out of the car market altogether."
"Global and Chinese automakers plan to unveil more than a dozen new electric SUVs, sedans and muscle cars this week at the Shanghai auto show, their first full-scale sales event in four years in a market that has become a workshop for developing electrics, self-driving cars and other technology."
"The federal tax credits for electric vehicles, which have been a cause of confusion for automakers and car shoppers alike for months, are about to go through another big change… Starting Tuesday, fewer vehicles will qualify for the current $7,500 tax credit. Some will get a $3,750 credit instead, and some cars will no longer get any credit at all, thanks to battery sourcing requirements that are kicking in."
How goes Brexit? "Labour analysis of Environment Agency data, ranked by constituency by website Top of the Poops, shows that in 2022 raw sewage was discharged into cabinet ministers’ constituencies for 180,759 hours. This equates to an average of 64 sewage dumps a day, or a new sewage dump taking place every 22 minutes."
"The Biden administration is closing out a three-week push to highlight the benefits of infrastructure investments in local communities by awarding nearly $300 million to help repair or replace more than a dozen bridges across the country."v "Authorities in northwestern New Mexico on Friday released body camera footage of police officers opening fire and killing a homeowner after they showed up at the wrong address in response to domestic violence call… The video released by the Farmington Police Department — just over a week after the April 5 nighttime shooting — showed officers arriving at the home. They walked up to the front door, passing the address that was posted on the home and illuminated by an exterior light, knocked on the door and announced themselves."v "Webster’s case illustrates chronic bureaucracy in the prisons system and the difficulties in getting anyone off death row. There’s sometimes additional reluctance to act in death row cases given the nature of inmates’ crimes."v "Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Friday placed a hold on a lower court ruling that restricts access to the abortion drug mifepristone until Wednesday night. Alito also instructed that any responses be filed by April 18 at noon."
"The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to block a settlement in a long-running suit involving the adjudication of applications for the cancellation of student loan debts at 151 for-profit colleges."
"Teixeira is accused of leaking classified government documents and sharing them on social media platforms. Some of the documents include information about the war in Ukraine and were revealed online last week. The Department of Justice launched an investigation into the matter, which Attorney General Merrick Garland has said is ongoing."
"Former President Donald Trump was expected to visit the offices of New York’s attorney general Thursday for his second deposition in a legal battle over his company’s business practices… The lawsuit is unrelated to the felony criminal charges filed against Trump by the Manhattan district attorney, which led last week to his historic arraignment, the first for a former president."
I'm not sure who is running the opposition campaign against Justice Thomas, but damn is it successful. So far, most of what has been "rumored" has been proven, and if he weren't on SCOTUS, he most likely would have been gone by now.
"In the remote Arctic almost 30 years ago, a group of Inuit middle school students and their teacher invented the Western Hemisphere’s first new number system in more than a century. The 'Kaktovik numerals,' named after the Alaskan village where they were created, looked utterly different from decimal system numerals and functioned differently, too. But they were uniquely suited for quick, visual arithmetic using the traditional Inuit oral counting system, and they swiftly spread throughout the region. Now, with support from Silicon Valley, they will soon be available on smartphones and computers—creating a bridge for the Kaktovik numerals to cross into the digital realm." Something new has been added. (Grokked from Dan)
"A European spacecraft rocketed away Friday on a decade long quest to explore Jupiter and three of its icy moons that could hold buried oceans."
"Late Friday night into early Saturday morning, many Alaskans witnessed a strange spiral moving through the sky over the state. Some said it looked like an alien spaceship or a portal to an alternate universe… In reality, it was likely — as many on Social Media pointed out — rocket exhaust."
"Finland’s much-delayed and costly new nuclear reactor, Europe’s most powerful by production capacity, has completed a test phase lasting over a year and started regular output, boosting the Nordic country’s electricity self-sufficiency significantly."
"The tiny rain-fed wildflowers, no bigger than a few inches, are so vivid and abundant across California this year that their hues of purple and yellow look like paint swatches from space."
"But this week, research published in Nature Microbiology might finally provide a clue that could satisfy Rubin and others… The paper suggests that UTIs can actually change the DNA in the cells lining the urinary tract. Those cells can then change size and start an immune response that actually makes them more susceptible to repeated infections."
"The U.S. has named a veterinary tranquilizer as an 'emerging threat' when it’s mixed with the powerful opioid fentanyl, clearing the way for more efforts to stop the spread of xylazine."
"A study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease Reports reveals that infection with SARS-CoV-2 significantly impacts cognitive function in patients with preexisting dementia, causing rapidly progressive dementia. Researchers investigated 14 patients with various types of dementia and found that following COVID-19 infection, the differences between dementia subtypes became blurred, and cognitive deterioration progressed rapidly." Note that 14 people is an incredibly small sample.
"Today, about 2,000 American adolescents annually get bariatric surgery — the term includes several kinds of procedures done to the digestive track to limit the amount of calories a person can take in. And the American Academy of Pediatrics recently endorsed advanced treatment for severe obesity in kids — including surgery or medication for kids as young as 13." Just as an fyi, bariatric surgery, especially by itself, does not come without risks, and is not always successful.
"Despite a pair of historical failures last month that put the nation’s banking industry into crisis mode, the nation’s biggest banks posted strong profits last quarter, helped by higher interest rates and a U.S. economy that keeps growing and adding jobs even as the Federal Reserve attempts to curb inflation."
"The result of the one-two punch of higher prices and interest rates is that it’s taking Americans much longer to pay off their car loans — which include crossovers, SUVs and pickup trucks — and more buyers are being pushed out of the car market altogether."
"Global and Chinese automakers plan to unveil more than a dozen new electric SUVs, sedans and muscle cars this week at the Shanghai auto show, their first full-scale sales event in four years in a market that has become a workshop for developing electrics, self-driving cars and other technology."
"The federal tax credits for electric vehicles, which have been a cause of confusion for automakers and car shoppers alike for months, are about to go through another big change… Starting Tuesday, fewer vehicles will qualify for the current $7,500 tax credit. Some will get a $3,750 credit instead, and some cars will no longer get any credit at all, thanks to battery sourcing requirements that are kicking in."
How goes Brexit? "Labour analysis of Environment Agency data, ranked by constituency by website Top of the Poops, shows that in 2022 raw sewage was discharged into cabinet ministers’ constituencies for 180,759 hours. This equates to an average of 64 sewage dumps a day, or a new sewage dump taking place every 22 minutes."
"The Biden administration is closing out a three-week push to highlight the benefits of infrastructure investments in local communities by awarding nearly $300 million to help repair or replace more than a dozen bridges across the country."v "Authorities in northwestern New Mexico on Friday released body camera footage of police officers opening fire and killing a homeowner after they showed up at the wrong address in response to domestic violence call… The video released by the Farmington Police Department — just over a week after the April 5 nighttime shooting — showed officers arriving at the home. They walked up to the front door, passing the address that was posted on the home and illuminated by an exterior light, knocked on the door and announced themselves."v "Webster’s case illustrates chronic bureaucracy in the prisons system and the difficulties in getting anyone off death row. There’s sometimes additional reluctance to act in death row cases given the nature of inmates’ crimes."v "Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Friday placed a hold on a lower court ruling that restricts access to the abortion drug mifepristone until Wednesday night. Alito also instructed that any responses be filed by April 18 at noon."
"The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to block a settlement in a long-running suit involving the adjudication of applications for the cancellation of student loan debts at 151 for-profit colleges."
"Teixeira is accused of leaking classified government documents and sharing them on social media platforms. Some of the documents include information about the war in Ukraine and were revealed online last week. The Department of Justice launched an investigation into the matter, which Attorney General Merrick Garland has said is ongoing."
"Former President Donald Trump was expected to visit the offices of New York’s attorney general Thursday for his second deposition in a legal battle over his company’s business practices… The lawsuit is unrelated to the felony criminal charges filed against Trump by the Manhattan district attorney, which led last week to his historic arraignment, the first for a former president."
I'm not sure who is running the opposition campaign against Justice Thomas, but damn is it successful. So far, most of what has been "rumored" has been proven, and if he weren't on SCOTUS, he most likely would have been gone by now.
Thursday, April 13, 2023
Linkee-poo Thursday, April lucky 13
Al Jaffee, and so it goes.
"NPR said Wednesday it will stop sharing content on Twitter after the social media company labeled NPR “state-affiliated media,” a term also used for Russia- and China-based propaganda outlets… The news outlet’s organizational accounts will no longer post new content on its 52 official Twitter feeds, becoming the first major U.S. news organization to do so since Elon Musk took over Twitter late last year."
"U.S. District Judge Daniel L. Hovland in Bismarck, North Dakota, halted the regulations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers pending the outcome of a lawsuit filed by the 24 states, most of which are led by Republicans. The regulations were finalized in December 2022, repealing a rule implemented during President Donald Trump’s administration but thrown out by federal courts." Who needs clean water anyway?
And who needs clean air anyway? "The EPA says its proposal will reduce ethylene oxide emissions by roughly 80% by targeting 86 medical sterilization facilities across the United States. The companies will also have to test for the antimicrobial chemical in the air and make sure their pollution controls are working properly."
"An evacuation order affecting more than 1,000 people remained in place Wednesday night around a large industrial fire in an Indiana city near the Ohio border where crews worked to douse piles of burning plastics."
"Several hundred people rallied against plans for a large-scale wind energy project in southern Idaho, hoping to convince federal agencies to reject the proposal by Magic Valley Energy… Rancher David Looper… told the crowd he loves living in Idaho because the state has few regulations, but said the lack of rules has also drawn national corporations looking to make a buck." Also, it's so nice to see Idahoans so concerned about (checks notes) "their minorities."
"The Biden administration will propose strict new automobile pollution limits this week that would require at least 54% of new vehicles sold in the U.S. to be electric by 2030 and as many as two of every three by 2032, according to industry and environmental officials briefed on the plan."
"For the last four decades, Medicare has covered hospice services – including grief counseling, spiritual support and pain management – for terminally ill people. The benefit has helped more than 25 million Americans die more on their own terms, often at home, with the support of chaplains, social workers, nurses and others… Research shows hospice can reduce unwanted medical interventions, improve families' satisfaction and, in some cases, save Medicare thousands of dollars." So let's privatize it. Ugh. No, how about instead of throwing up our hands and saying, "you handle it" we actually fix the program, update it for the current needs and concerns, and then fully fund it. Privatizing care has never reduced costs or increased patient satisfaction.
"Downing a spoonful of bubblegum pink amoxicillin is a regular part of being a kid, but a nationwide shortage of the antibiotic is making a particularly bad season of strep throat tougher." I can't remember all the times we've had difficulty finding prescriptions, and now it seems like every other day I overhear a conversation about this in the hospital.
"Now lawmakers in at least a dozen states and the U.S. Congress have pushed legislation to curtail the financial burden that’s pushed many into untenable situations: forgoing needed care for fear of added debt, taking a second mortgage to pay for cancer treatment or slashing grocery budgets to keep up with payments… Some of the bills would create medical debt relief programs or protect personal property from collections, while others would lower interest rates, keep medical debt from tanking credit scores or require greater transparency in the costs of care." I'm sure all this is cheaper than having single-payor.
"This week on Throughline, we explore the origins of federal student loans, the promises the government made, and how an idealistic vision transformed into what some have called a monster."
"Thousands of professors, part-time lecturers and graduate student workers at New Jersey’s flagship university went on strike Monday — the first such job action in the school’s 257-year history."
"The Biden administration is urging U.S. meat processors to make sure children aren’t being illegally hired to perform dangerous jobs at their plants… The call comes after an investigation found more than 100 kids working overnight for a company that cleans slaughterhouses, handling dangerous equipment like skull splitters and razor-sharp bone saws." How about we start putting executives in jail?
"U.S. consumer inflation eased in March, with less expensive gas and food providing some relief to households that have struggled under the weight of surging prices. Yet prices are still rising fast enough to keep the Federal Reserve on track to raise interest rates at least once more, beginning in May."
"Weeks after the collapse of two big banks, small business owners are feeling the pinch… Bank lending has dropped sharply since the failures of Silicon Valley and Signature Banks. That not only hits businesses. It also threatens a further slowdown in economic growth while raising the risk of recession… Credit, after all, is the grease that helps keep the wheels of the economy spinning. When credit gets harder to come by, businesses start to squeak." As a reminder, 2007-2008 started when liquidity dried up and banks stoped lending to each other. So much for our "intrepid and brave" business leaders.
"Turmoil in the banking system after two major banks collapsed led many Federal Reserve officials to envision fewer rate increases this year out of concern that banks will reduce their lending and weaken the economy."
"After acquiring (Twitter), Musk carried out mass layoffs as part of cost-cutting efforts. He said Twitter’s workforce has been slashed to about 1,500 employees from about 8,000 previously, describing it as something that had to be done… Asked if he regretted buying the company, he said it was something that 'needed to be done.'" As someone who has been on twitter, the majority of this pain has been self-inflicted wounds. And given that one of Musk's "goals" was to reduce the bots, the exact opposite has happened, so I'm not sure what he means by "needed to be done." Needed by whom and for what purpose? Before the last month this was idle speculation. Lately it's become more relevent. And the question should be asked, did Musk go on to purchase Twitter as part of a foreign intelligence operation?
"Norway’s government said Thursday that it was expelling 15 Russian diplomats from the country, saying they were suspected of spying while working at the Russian Embassy in Oslo."
"The father of a a Russian girl sent to an orphanage after drawing an antiwar sketch at school has been extradited from Belarus back to Russia, a human rights group reported Wednesday. He faces two years in prison there." You know you're winning when you have to put kids in jail for a drawing.
"U.S. spies caught Russian intelligence officers boasting that they had convinced the oil-rich United Arab Emirates 'to work together against US and UK intelligence agencies,' according to a purported American document posted online as part of a major U.S. intelligence breach."
"Sudan’s military warned Thursday of potential clashes with the country’s powerful paramilitary force, which it said deployed troops in the capital and other cities." You know, the powerful paramilitary force that Sudan's military stood up to attack Darfur and then used to bolster their coup.
"Llano County commissioners in the Texas Hill Country are weighing whether they will shut down their library system instead of complying with a federal judge’s order that they must return 17 banned books to the library shelves… Officials scheduled a special meeting on Thursday during which they will discuss shutting down the three library branches." And people are talking about it like this wasn't the actual plan by conservatives for all these years.
"A federal appeals court preserved access to the abortion pill mifepristone for now but reduced the period of pregnancy when the drug can be used and said it could not be dispensed by mail."
"(Iowa) Attorney General Brenna Bird’s office said it has suspended payment for emergency contraception for sexual assault victims while they are reviewing state policy… 'While not required by Iowa law, the victim compensation fund has previously paid for Plan B and abortions…' Under Iowa law, the state is required to pay for medical examinations for sexual assault victims."
"A Texas man says three women helped his now-ex-wife obtain pills for an abortion last year 'without his knowledge,' and he's suing them for $1 million each… The wrongful death lawsuit, believed to be the first of its kind since the U.S. Supreme Court curtailed abortion rights last summer, highlights concerns about digital privacy and reproductive health. And it comes as a battle over the future of access to medication abortion plays out in the federal court system."
"But a fight between the two is brewing in the Florida Senate. An existing state law, supported and promoted by the Miami-based A Safe Haven, allows parents to surrender newborns to firefighters and hospital workers without giving their names. A new bill, supported by the Indiana-based Safe Haven Baby Boxes, would give fire stations and hospitals the option to install the group’s ventilated and climate-controlled boxes, where parents could drop off their babies without interacting with fire or hospital employees."
"An alternate juror in the trial of a U.S. Army sergeant convicted of murder said Wednesday that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s rush for a pardon is an 'egregious overreach' to wipe aside the jury’s unanimous decision over a 2020 shooting during a Black Lives Matter protest." It wouldn't be political theater if it wasn't overreach.
"A woman believed to be one of the 20 wives of a polygamous sect leader jailed in Arizona faces federal charges for allegedly sending threatening emails to child welfare workers in a bid to get her two daughters released from state foster care."
"A ProPublica report on a railroad cost-cutting approach called Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR) concludes that a strategy that employs longer trains with fewer employees puts profits ahead of safety in the freight rail industry." We all knew this. Didn't we all know this?
"Pearson and Jones are returning to the legislature on an interim basis, but they can both run in a special election to regain the seat until the next general election, in 2024… Pearson and Jones were kicked out of the House on April 6. Jones was reinstated to his seat on Monday."
"Recuperating U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California asked Wednesday to be temporarily replaced on the Judiciary Committee, shortly after two House Democrats called on her to resign after her extended absence from Washington."
"At today's pre-trial hearings in the billion-dollar Fox defamation lawsuit, the Delaware judge overseeing the case declared he would sanction Fox News and launch an investigation into Fox's apparent repeated failures to disclose information, including about the role of Fox founder Rupert Murdoch."
"NPR said Wednesday it will stop sharing content on Twitter after the social media company labeled NPR “state-affiliated media,” a term also used for Russia- and China-based propaganda outlets… The news outlet’s organizational accounts will no longer post new content on its 52 official Twitter feeds, becoming the first major U.S. news organization to do so since Elon Musk took over Twitter late last year."
"U.S. District Judge Daniel L. Hovland in Bismarck, North Dakota, halted the regulations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers pending the outcome of a lawsuit filed by the 24 states, most of which are led by Republicans. The regulations were finalized in December 2022, repealing a rule implemented during President Donald Trump’s administration but thrown out by federal courts." Who needs clean water anyway?
And who needs clean air anyway? "The EPA says its proposal will reduce ethylene oxide emissions by roughly 80% by targeting 86 medical sterilization facilities across the United States. The companies will also have to test for the antimicrobial chemical in the air and make sure their pollution controls are working properly."
"An evacuation order affecting more than 1,000 people remained in place Wednesday night around a large industrial fire in an Indiana city near the Ohio border where crews worked to douse piles of burning plastics."
"Several hundred people rallied against plans for a large-scale wind energy project in southern Idaho, hoping to convince federal agencies to reject the proposal by Magic Valley Energy… Rancher David Looper… told the crowd he loves living in Idaho because the state has few regulations, but said the lack of rules has also drawn national corporations looking to make a buck." Also, it's so nice to see Idahoans so concerned about (checks notes) "their minorities."
"The Biden administration will propose strict new automobile pollution limits this week that would require at least 54% of new vehicles sold in the U.S. to be electric by 2030 and as many as two of every three by 2032, according to industry and environmental officials briefed on the plan."
"For the last four decades, Medicare has covered hospice services – including grief counseling, spiritual support and pain management – for terminally ill people. The benefit has helped more than 25 million Americans die more on their own terms, often at home, with the support of chaplains, social workers, nurses and others… Research shows hospice can reduce unwanted medical interventions, improve families' satisfaction and, in some cases, save Medicare thousands of dollars." So let's privatize it. Ugh. No, how about instead of throwing up our hands and saying, "you handle it" we actually fix the program, update it for the current needs and concerns, and then fully fund it. Privatizing care has never reduced costs or increased patient satisfaction.
"Downing a spoonful of bubblegum pink amoxicillin is a regular part of being a kid, but a nationwide shortage of the antibiotic is making a particularly bad season of strep throat tougher." I can't remember all the times we've had difficulty finding prescriptions, and now it seems like every other day I overhear a conversation about this in the hospital.
"Now lawmakers in at least a dozen states and the U.S. Congress have pushed legislation to curtail the financial burden that’s pushed many into untenable situations: forgoing needed care for fear of added debt, taking a second mortgage to pay for cancer treatment or slashing grocery budgets to keep up with payments… Some of the bills would create medical debt relief programs or protect personal property from collections, while others would lower interest rates, keep medical debt from tanking credit scores or require greater transparency in the costs of care." I'm sure all this is cheaper than having single-payor.
"This week on Throughline, we explore the origins of federal student loans, the promises the government made, and how an idealistic vision transformed into what some have called a monster."
"Thousands of professors, part-time lecturers and graduate student workers at New Jersey’s flagship university went on strike Monday — the first such job action in the school’s 257-year history."
"The Biden administration is urging U.S. meat processors to make sure children aren’t being illegally hired to perform dangerous jobs at their plants… The call comes after an investigation found more than 100 kids working overnight for a company that cleans slaughterhouses, handling dangerous equipment like skull splitters and razor-sharp bone saws." How about we start putting executives in jail?
"U.S. consumer inflation eased in March, with less expensive gas and food providing some relief to households that have struggled under the weight of surging prices. Yet prices are still rising fast enough to keep the Federal Reserve on track to raise interest rates at least once more, beginning in May."
"Weeks after the collapse of two big banks, small business owners are feeling the pinch… Bank lending has dropped sharply since the failures of Silicon Valley and Signature Banks. That not only hits businesses. It also threatens a further slowdown in economic growth while raising the risk of recession… Credit, after all, is the grease that helps keep the wheels of the economy spinning. When credit gets harder to come by, businesses start to squeak." As a reminder, 2007-2008 started when liquidity dried up and banks stoped lending to each other. So much for our "intrepid and brave" business leaders.
"Turmoil in the banking system after two major banks collapsed led many Federal Reserve officials to envision fewer rate increases this year out of concern that banks will reduce their lending and weaken the economy."
"After acquiring (Twitter), Musk carried out mass layoffs as part of cost-cutting efforts. He said Twitter’s workforce has been slashed to about 1,500 employees from about 8,000 previously, describing it as something that had to be done… Asked if he regretted buying the company, he said it was something that 'needed to be done.'" As someone who has been on twitter, the majority of this pain has been self-inflicted wounds. And given that one of Musk's "goals" was to reduce the bots, the exact opposite has happened, so I'm not sure what he means by "needed to be done." Needed by whom and for what purpose? Before the last month this was idle speculation. Lately it's become more relevent. And the question should be asked, did Musk go on to purchase Twitter as part of a foreign intelligence operation?
"Norway’s government said Thursday that it was expelling 15 Russian diplomats from the country, saying they were suspected of spying while working at the Russian Embassy in Oslo."
"The father of a a Russian girl sent to an orphanage after drawing an antiwar sketch at school has been extradited from Belarus back to Russia, a human rights group reported Wednesday. He faces two years in prison there." You know you're winning when you have to put kids in jail for a drawing.
"U.S. spies caught Russian intelligence officers boasting that they had convinced the oil-rich United Arab Emirates 'to work together against US and UK intelligence agencies,' according to a purported American document posted online as part of a major U.S. intelligence breach."
"Sudan’s military warned Thursday of potential clashes with the country’s powerful paramilitary force, which it said deployed troops in the capital and other cities." You know, the powerful paramilitary force that Sudan's military stood up to attack Darfur and then used to bolster their coup.
"Llano County commissioners in the Texas Hill Country are weighing whether they will shut down their library system instead of complying with a federal judge’s order that they must return 17 banned books to the library shelves… Officials scheduled a special meeting on Thursday during which they will discuss shutting down the three library branches." And people are talking about it like this wasn't the actual plan by conservatives for all these years.
"A federal appeals court preserved access to the abortion pill mifepristone for now but reduced the period of pregnancy when the drug can be used and said it could not be dispensed by mail."
"(Iowa) Attorney General Brenna Bird’s office said it has suspended payment for emergency contraception for sexual assault victims while they are reviewing state policy… 'While not required by Iowa law, the victim compensation fund has previously paid for Plan B and abortions…' Under Iowa law, the state is required to pay for medical examinations for sexual assault victims."
"A Texas man says three women helped his now-ex-wife obtain pills for an abortion last year 'without his knowledge,' and he's suing them for $1 million each… The wrongful death lawsuit, believed to be the first of its kind since the U.S. Supreme Court curtailed abortion rights last summer, highlights concerns about digital privacy and reproductive health. And it comes as a battle over the future of access to medication abortion plays out in the federal court system."
"But a fight between the two is brewing in the Florida Senate. An existing state law, supported and promoted by the Miami-based A Safe Haven, allows parents to surrender newborns to firefighters and hospital workers without giving their names. A new bill, supported by the Indiana-based Safe Haven Baby Boxes, would give fire stations and hospitals the option to install the group’s ventilated and climate-controlled boxes, where parents could drop off their babies without interacting with fire or hospital employees."
"An alternate juror in the trial of a U.S. Army sergeant convicted of murder said Wednesday that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s rush for a pardon is an 'egregious overreach' to wipe aside the jury’s unanimous decision over a 2020 shooting during a Black Lives Matter protest." It wouldn't be political theater if it wasn't overreach.
"A woman believed to be one of the 20 wives of a polygamous sect leader jailed in Arizona faces federal charges for allegedly sending threatening emails to child welfare workers in a bid to get her two daughters released from state foster care."
"A ProPublica report on a railroad cost-cutting approach called Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR) concludes that a strategy that employs longer trains with fewer employees puts profits ahead of safety in the freight rail industry." We all knew this. Didn't we all know this?
"Pearson and Jones are returning to the legislature on an interim basis, but they can both run in a special election to regain the seat until the next general election, in 2024… Pearson and Jones were kicked out of the House on April 6. Jones was reinstated to his seat on Monday."
"Recuperating U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California asked Wednesday to be temporarily replaced on the Judiciary Committee, shortly after two House Democrats called on her to resign after her extended absence from Washington."
"At today's pre-trial hearings in the billion-dollar Fox defamation lawsuit, the Delaware judge overseeing the case declared he would sanction Fox News and launch an investigation into Fox's apparent repeated failures to disclose information, including about the role of Fox founder Rupert Murdoch."
Monday, April 10, 2023
Linkee-poo Monday April 10
"Recently, archaeologists excavated an unusual set of talismanic nails from a mountaintop necropolis on the outskirts of Sagalassos in southwestern Turkey. In an early Roman imperial tomb, 41 broken nails were found scattered among the cremated remains of an adult male who had lived in the second century A.D. and was buried in situ. Twenty-five of the nails were headless and deliberately bent at right angles; the others were complete roundheaded nails with the shanks twisted multiple times. The unusual funerary practice is the subject of a new study published in the journal Antiquity." The use of iron nails as funerary objects in the ancient (and not so ancient) world.
"Amateur astronomers, get out your datebooks… The next total solar eclipse visible from the U.S. will occur just shy of one year from now on April 8, 2024… For just a few minutes, the moon will pass directly in front of the afternoon sun and cover it up, creating the unusual celestial phenomenon of the total solar eclipse."
"Rusher is the project manager for the land which was recently acquired by Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and she's taken community members on countless hikes like this one to show them why this old golf course should be part of the national park."
"An estimated 53 million Americans are acting as unpaid caregivers to loved ones, according to the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP's Caregiving in the U.S. 2020 report. That means 1 in 5 people you know have had their lives upended to ensure the health and safety of loved ones. This often comes at the expense of their own mental, physical and emotional health." Tips on how to navigate this time. I'm seeing a lot more of this at the hospital with family bringing in their older relatives and being at their wits end.
"Casiano knew that Texas banned abortions, but she didn't think those laws would apply in a situation where the fetus was certain to die. But the laws do apply." The option for abortion is healthcare.
"For example, if you have a respiratory infection in the U.S., doctors can identify the pathogen causing the infection only about 40% of the time. There's growing evidence that the other 60% of infections could be caused by animal viruses such as a dog coronavirus found in Malaysia, Haiti and Arkansas, or even possibly the same virus Hause and his colleagues found in those pigs. Recent studies have made clear that this virus floats in the air at farms and is likely infecting people who work there." Something new has been added.
"When President Biden inked the $1 trillion deal to give roads, bridges and transit systems a boost, union officials and business leaders said a large scale investment in infrastructure was long overdue… But nearly a year and a half later, and about a third of the way through the funding's lifetime, economists and hiring managers point out that all that infrastructure money won't do any good if there aren't enough people qualified to do the work."
"The U.S. job market is showing signs of softening as rising interest rates and slowing economic growth begin to take their toll on hiring… Employers added 236,000 jobs in March, according to a report from the Labor Department Friday. That's down from 326,000 jobs that were added the month before."
"Police fired clouds of tear gas against unruly protesters in Paris and other French cities Thursday as hundreds of thousands of people returned to streets across the country to vent anger against President Emmanuel Macron’s contested pension reforms."
"Top-secret Pentagon documents with details about the war in Ukraine have been published on at least two social media sites, Twitter and Telegram… The revelation set off alarm bells at the Pentagon, which is trying to determine how the material was leaked or stolen."
"Swedish prosecutors said Thursday a state actor was the most likely culprit for the explosions that incapacitated the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea last year, an act deemed as sabotage. However, they cautioned that the identity of the perpetrator was still unclear and hinted that it was likely to remain so." Not really big news, as, yes, it would take someone with access to skills and technology that would require immense capital.
"Federal agents and military personnel conducting a training exercise at a Boston hotel interrogated an unsuspecting civilian after they entered the wrong room by mistake… Authorities confirmed to NPR that no one was injured in the incident, which happened around 10 p.m. Tuesday night and is now under review by the FBI and Department of Defense." Oopsie. Also, why are special forces training in a commercial hotel?
"An NPR investigation found that the explosion at the schoolhouse in Fallujah was a tragic accident — the worst Marine-on-Marine "friendly fire" of recent decades. Officers determined almost immediately that the explosion was caused by an errant 81 mm mortar fired by the victims' own comrades, yet the families of the dead men weren't told for years, despite Marine Corps regulations. Some of the wounded have never been told."
"The Kansas Legislature finally rallied enough votes on Wednesday needed to override Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of a bill banning transgender girls and women from girls and women’s sports at public schools and colleges… Kansas now stands with 19 other states that have enacted laws limiting transgender girls to participating in sports that align with the gender they were assigned at birth. The Kansas law does not affect transgender boys."
"One of America's fundamental narratives is that it is a land of equal opportunity and upward mobility for all; that any citizen, no matter their background, can ascend from "rags to riches." But in light of how many are locked in extreme poverty, what's meant to be an inspirational promise looks more like a cruel joke. Why does the myth persist?" On the Media looks at poverty. Again.
"American roads are deadlier than they were before the pandemic and many are looking at changes in police traffic enforcement as a cause… Deaths spiked during 2020, and the fatality rate — deaths per million miles traveled — is still about 18% higher now than in 2019." I dunno, maybe refrain from killing people over minor traffic stops might be a good idea.
"Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Saturday that he is seeking to pardon a U.S. Army sergeant who was convicted of murder in the 2020 fatal shooting of an armed protester during nationwide protests against police violence and racial injustice." Ah, the party of Law and Order.
"The rapid escalation between Disney and DeSantis this week comes in the aftermath of a Central Florida governing board that had been controlled by Disney passing a series of agreements that ensured Disney would keep a large degree of power despite a new law passed in February that created a new board controlled by the governor… The moves stunned the DeSantis administration and the governor’s hand-picked board, which has since hired lawyers to examine whether it should challenge the legality of the agreements." Dude, Disney keeps handing you your ass. Maybe stop digging. I know, I know, Streisand Effect in play here.
"The Tennessee House’s youngest Reps. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, and Justin J. Pearson, D-Memphis — who are both Black — have been expelled from the chamber for their participation in gun control protests last week on the House floor. Meanwhile, Knoxville Rep. Gloria Johnson, who is white, narrowly escaped the same fate."
"For more than two decades, Thomas has accepted luxury trips virtually every year from the Dallas businessman without disclosing them, documents and interviews show. A public servant who has a salary of $285,000, he has vacationed on Crow’s superyacht around the globe… The extent and frequency of Crow’s apparent gifts to Thomas have no known precedent in the modern history of the U.S. Supreme Court… These trips appeared nowhere on Thomas’ financial disclosures." Look, when you're a part of the government, especially when you're high in the structure, you no longer as just a "private citizen." Your life is open. This is part of the trade off. So even if Crow offered these like he would offer to "any other close friend" it doesn't fucking matter. It doesn't matter if Thomas and Crow discussed cases before the court. You have to report it. It's time for Justice Thomas to go.
"Amateur astronomers, get out your datebooks… The next total solar eclipse visible from the U.S. will occur just shy of one year from now on April 8, 2024… For just a few minutes, the moon will pass directly in front of the afternoon sun and cover it up, creating the unusual celestial phenomenon of the total solar eclipse."
"Rusher is the project manager for the land which was recently acquired by Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and she's taken community members on countless hikes like this one to show them why this old golf course should be part of the national park."
"An estimated 53 million Americans are acting as unpaid caregivers to loved ones, according to the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP's Caregiving in the U.S. 2020 report. That means 1 in 5 people you know have had their lives upended to ensure the health and safety of loved ones. This often comes at the expense of their own mental, physical and emotional health." Tips on how to navigate this time. I'm seeing a lot more of this at the hospital with family bringing in their older relatives and being at their wits end.
"Casiano knew that Texas banned abortions, but she didn't think those laws would apply in a situation where the fetus was certain to die. But the laws do apply." The option for abortion is healthcare.
"For example, if you have a respiratory infection in the U.S., doctors can identify the pathogen causing the infection only about 40% of the time. There's growing evidence that the other 60% of infections could be caused by animal viruses such as a dog coronavirus found in Malaysia, Haiti and Arkansas, or even possibly the same virus Hause and his colleagues found in those pigs. Recent studies have made clear that this virus floats in the air at farms and is likely infecting people who work there." Something new has been added.
"When President Biden inked the $1 trillion deal to give roads, bridges and transit systems a boost, union officials and business leaders said a large scale investment in infrastructure was long overdue… But nearly a year and a half later, and about a third of the way through the funding's lifetime, economists and hiring managers point out that all that infrastructure money won't do any good if there aren't enough people qualified to do the work."
"The U.S. job market is showing signs of softening as rising interest rates and slowing economic growth begin to take their toll on hiring… Employers added 236,000 jobs in March, according to a report from the Labor Department Friday. That's down from 326,000 jobs that were added the month before."
"Police fired clouds of tear gas against unruly protesters in Paris and other French cities Thursday as hundreds of thousands of people returned to streets across the country to vent anger against President Emmanuel Macron’s contested pension reforms."
"Top-secret Pentagon documents with details about the war in Ukraine have been published on at least two social media sites, Twitter and Telegram… The revelation set off alarm bells at the Pentagon, which is trying to determine how the material was leaked or stolen."
"Swedish prosecutors said Thursday a state actor was the most likely culprit for the explosions that incapacitated the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea last year, an act deemed as sabotage. However, they cautioned that the identity of the perpetrator was still unclear and hinted that it was likely to remain so." Not really big news, as, yes, it would take someone with access to skills and technology that would require immense capital.
"Federal agents and military personnel conducting a training exercise at a Boston hotel interrogated an unsuspecting civilian after they entered the wrong room by mistake… Authorities confirmed to NPR that no one was injured in the incident, which happened around 10 p.m. Tuesday night and is now under review by the FBI and Department of Defense." Oopsie. Also, why are special forces training in a commercial hotel?
"An NPR investigation found that the explosion at the schoolhouse in Fallujah was a tragic accident — the worst Marine-on-Marine "friendly fire" of recent decades. Officers determined almost immediately that the explosion was caused by an errant 81 mm mortar fired by the victims' own comrades, yet the families of the dead men weren't told for years, despite Marine Corps regulations. Some of the wounded have never been told."
"The Kansas Legislature finally rallied enough votes on Wednesday needed to override Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of a bill banning transgender girls and women from girls and women’s sports at public schools and colleges… Kansas now stands with 19 other states that have enacted laws limiting transgender girls to participating in sports that align with the gender they were assigned at birth. The Kansas law does not affect transgender boys."
"One of America's fundamental narratives is that it is a land of equal opportunity and upward mobility for all; that any citizen, no matter their background, can ascend from "rags to riches." But in light of how many are locked in extreme poverty, what's meant to be an inspirational promise looks more like a cruel joke. Why does the myth persist?" On the Media looks at poverty. Again.
"American roads are deadlier than they were before the pandemic and many are looking at changes in police traffic enforcement as a cause… Deaths spiked during 2020, and the fatality rate — deaths per million miles traveled — is still about 18% higher now than in 2019." I dunno, maybe refrain from killing people over minor traffic stops might be a good idea.
"Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Saturday that he is seeking to pardon a U.S. Army sergeant who was convicted of murder in the 2020 fatal shooting of an armed protester during nationwide protests against police violence and racial injustice." Ah, the party of Law and Order.
"The rapid escalation between Disney and DeSantis this week comes in the aftermath of a Central Florida governing board that had been controlled by Disney passing a series of agreements that ensured Disney would keep a large degree of power despite a new law passed in February that created a new board controlled by the governor… The moves stunned the DeSantis administration and the governor’s hand-picked board, which has since hired lawyers to examine whether it should challenge the legality of the agreements." Dude, Disney keeps handing you your ass. Maybe stop digging. I know, I know, Streisand Effect in play here.
"The Tennessee House’s youngest Reps. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, and Justin J. Pearson, D-Memphis — who are both Black — have been expelled from the chamber for their participation in gun control protests last week on the House floor. Meanwhile, Knoxville Rep. Gloria Johnson, who is white, narrowly escaped the same fate."
"For more than two decades, Thomas has accepted luxury trips virtually every year from the Dallas businessman without disclosing them, documents and interviews show. A public servant who has a salary of $285,000, he has vacationed on Crow’s superyacht around the globe… The extent and frequency of Crow’s apparent gifts to Thomas have no known precedent in the modern history of the U.S. Supreme Court… These trips appeared nowhere on Thomas’ financial disclosures." Look, when you're a part of the government, especially when you're high in the structure, you no longer as just a "private citizen." Your life is open. This is part of the trade off. So even if Crow offered these like he would offer to "any other close friend" it doesn't fucking matter. It doesn't matter if Thomas and Crow discussed cases before the court. You have to report it. It's time for Justice Thomas to go.
Friday, April 7, 2023
Linkee-poo Friday April 7th early morning
"Now, 12 of California’s 17 major reservoirs are filled above their historical averages for the start of spring. That includes Folsom Lake, which controls water flows along the American River, as well as Lake Oroville, the state’s second largest reservoir and home to the nation’s tallest dam." Just a reminder, while surface water is abundant, it takes decades to replenish aquifers. Also, the conditions that brought this year's water can reverse quickly.
"Human attempts to kill cockroaches with sugary poison have had an unintended consequence: It has cramped the bugs' sex lives… But now, some roaches appear to have tweaked the recipe for the sweet substance that males use to woo females — allowing the bugs to be fruitful and multiply once more." Evolution for the win.
"A new exhibit hosted by Museum of Templo Mayor in Mexico City marks the 45th anniversary of the discovery of a monolith depicting Coyolxauhqui, the Mexica lunar goddess. The finding was a milestone for Mexican archaeology, as it shed light on Mexica civilization before the Spanish conquest."
"Nearly five decades after being captured and held in the Miami Seaquarium, Lolita the orca will finally be able to return to the Pacific to live out the rest of her days… During a news conference (last month), the Miami Seaquarium announced its plans to move the nearly 5,000-pound killer whale — who was initially called Tokitae, or Toki — to her original home in the waters of the Pacific Northwest."
"Just before Christmas, federal health officials confirmed life expectancy in America had dropped for a nearly unprecedented second year in a row – down to 76 years. While countries all over the world saw life expectancy rebound during the second year of the pandemic after the arrival of vaccines, the U.S. did not."
"A second country in Africa has recently reported cases of Marburg, an infectious disease that has high fatality rates and, according to the World Health Organization, epidemic potential. The news has lent urgency to ongoing efforts to develop a vaccine for Marburg — and concern among public health officials that earth's changing climate could be fueling the outbreaks."
"Amazon is cutting another 9,000 workers, adding to the massive downsizing happening across an embattled tech sector that is uncertain about the economic future… The layoffs will happen 'in the next few weeks,' according to CEO Andy Jassy, who announced the cuts in a memo shared with staff and uploaded in a blog post on Monday."
"A lawsuit that Louisiana and other Republican-leaning states filed challenging figures the Biden administration uses to calculate damages from greenhouse gasses was dismissed Wednesday by a federal appeals court."
"Are tech companies moving too fast in rolling out powerful artificial intelligence technology that could one day outsmart humans?… That's the conclusion of a group of prominent computer scientists and other tech industry notables such as Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak who are calling for a 6-month pause to consider the risks." Yeah, that ain't gonna happen. A lot of free time in the last two weeks has been spent diving into AI. While it is amazing, it's also crap. But people are so used to such pablum that the AI's look positively genius because their pablum is slightly more specific.
"Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, who is being sought for war crimes for deporting children from Ukraine, told a U.N. meeting Wednesday that the children were taken for their safety and Moscow is coordinating with international organizations to return them to their families."
"Israel is in a pivotal moment of crisis, triggered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to weaken the independence of the country's judicial system and make its judges more subject to political control… Netanyahu postponed the final vote of the legislation that had been slated for Monday. In a national address lasting around seven minutes, he said he would hold discussions and bring the legislation up for a vote sometime after lawmakers return from a recess at the end of April."
"An atheist and secular humanist is suing multiple officials in charge of the agency that runs West Virginia’s jails and prisons, accusing the state of violating his constitutional rights by requiring Christian-affiliated programming as a condition of release."
"More than 150 Catholic priests and others associated with the Archdiocese of Baltimore sexually abused over 600 children and often escaped accountability, according to a long-awaited state report released Wednesday that revealed the scope of abuse spanning 80 years and accused church leaders of decades of coverups." And nary a transgender person or drag queen to be found among the lot.
"The video, shared with Texas Public Radio by a human rights worker who asked to remain anonymous due to their work with the Mexican government, appeared to show guards at the detention facility walking away as the fire raged… It's not clear what happened before or after the video was taken."
"Twitter has labeled National Public Radio as 'state-affiliated media' on the social media site, a move some worried Wednesday could undermine public confidence in the news organization."
"After clearing both legislative chambers, Idaho could become the first state in the country, according to Planned Parenthood, to criminally charge those who help pregnant minors get an abortion across state lines without parental consent."
"Transgender youth in Idaho are one step away from being unable to obtain cross-sex hormones, puberty blockers or gender-confirmation surgery… State senators passed a bill Monday afternoon 22-12 making it a felony for doctors to prescribe these medications, facing up to 10 years in prison if convicted. Gender-confirmation surgeries aren’t performed on minors in Idaho – something the legislation’s sponsors have admitted."
"A former senior producer for Fox News hosts Tucker Carlson and Maria Bartiromo is offering herself as a star witness for Dominion Voting System's $1.6 billion defamation suit against the network."
"Every year, sixth-grade students at Tallahassee Classical School have been taught and shown a picture of Michelangelo's 'David' statue, but this month, things went awry — sparking an apology letter to parents, an emergency school board meeting and a principal's resignation… On Monday even the museum that houses the sculpture in Italy took notice"
"It's been a busy news week, and it's only Wednesday. Michel Martin and I are here in Studio 31 in Washington, D.C., and we've called former federal prosecutor Shan Wu, who's going to help us to analyze the Trump indictment."
"Human attempts to kill cockroaches with sugary poison have had an unintended consequence: It has cramped the bugs' sex lives… But now, some roaches appear to have tweaked the recipe for the sweet substance that males use to woo females — allowing the bugs to be fruitful and multiply once more." Evolution for the win.
"A new exhibit hosted by Museum of Templo Mayor in Mexico City marks the 45th anniversary of the discovery of a monolith depicting Coyolxauhqui, the Mexica lunar goddess. The finding was a milestone for Mexican archaeology, as it shed light on Mexica civilization before the Spanish conquest."
"Nearly five decades after being captured and held in the Miami Seaquarium, Lolita the orca will finally be able to return to the Pacific to live out the rest of her days… During a news conference (last month), the Miami Seaquarium announced its plans to move the nearly 5,000-pound killer whale — who was initially called Tokitae, or Toki — to her original home in the waters of the Pacific Northwest."
"Just before Christmas, federal health officials confirmed life expectancy in America had dropped for a nearly unprecedented second year in a row – down to 76 years. While countries all over the world saw life expectancy rebound during the second year of the pandemic after the arrival of vaccines, the U.S. did not."
"A second country in Africa has recently reported cases of Marburg, an infectious disease that has high fatality rates and, according to the World Health Organization, epidemic potential. The news has lent urgency to ongoing efforts to develop a vaccine for Marburg — and concern among public health officials that earth's changing climate could be fueling the outbreaks."
"Amazon is cutting another 9,000 workers, adding to the massive downsizing happening across an embattled tech sector that is uncertain about the economic future… The layoffs will happen 'in the next few weeks,' according to CEO Andy Jassy, who announced the cuts in a memo shared with staff and uploaded in a blog post on Monday."
"A lawsuit that Louisiana and other Republican-leaning states filed challenging figures the Biden administration uses to calculate damages from greenhouse gasses was dismissed Wednesday by a federal appeals court."
"Are tech companies moving too fast in rolling out powerful artificial intelligence technology that could one day outsmart humans?… That's the conclusion of a group of prominent computer scientists and other tech industry notables such as Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak who are calling for a 6-month pause to consider the risks." Yeah, that ain't gonna happen. A lot of free time in the last two weeks has been spent diving into AI. While it is amazing, it's also crap. But people are so used to such pablum that the AI's look positively genius because their pablum is slightly more specific.
"Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, who is being sought for war crimes for deporting children from Ukraine, told a U.N. meeting Wednesday that the children were taken for their safety and Moscow is coordinating with international organizations to return them to their families."
"Israel is in a pivotal moment of crisis, triggered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to weaken the independence of the country's judicial system and make its judges more subject to political control… Netanyahu postponed the final vote of the legislation that had been slated for Monday. In a national address lasting around seven minutes, he said he would hold discussions and bring the legislation up for a vote sometime after lawmakers return from a recess at the end of April."
"An atheist and secular humanist is suing multiple officials in charge of the agency that runs West Virginia’s jails and prisons, accusing the state of violating his constitutional rights by requiring Christian-affiliated programming as a condition of release."
"More than 150 Catholic priests and others associated with the Archdiocese of Baltimore sexually abused over 600 children and often escaped accountability, according to a long-awaited state report released Wednesday that revealed the scope of abuse spanning 80 years and accused church leaders of decades of coverups." And nary a transgender person or drag queen to be found among the lot.
"The video, shared with Texas Public Radio by a human rights worker who asked to remain anonymous due to their work with the Mexican government, appeared to show guards at the detention facility walking away as the fire raged… It's not clear what happened before or after the video was taken."
"Twitter has labeled National Public Radio as 'state-affiliated media' on the social media site, a move some worried Wednesday could undermine public confidence in the news organization."
"After clearing both legislative chambers, Idaho could become the first state in the country, according to Planned Parenthood, to criminally charge those who help pregnant minors get an abortion across state lines without parental consent."
"Transgender youth in Idaho are one step away from being unable to obtain cross-sex hormones, puberty blockers or gender-confirmation surgery… State senators passed a bill Monday afternoon 22-12 making it a felony for doctors to prescribe these medications, facing up to 10 years in prison if convicted. Gender-confirmation surgeries aren’t performed on minors in Idaho – something the legislation’s sponsors have admitted."
"A former senior producer for Fox News hosts Tucker Carlson and Maria Bartiromo is offering herself as a star witness for Dominion Voting System's $1.6 billion defamation suit against the network."
"Every year, sixth-grade students at Tallahassee Classical School have been taught and shown a picture of Michelangelo's 'David' statue, but this month, things went awry — sparking an apology letter to parents, an emergency school board meeting and a principal's resignation… On Monday even the museum that houses the sculpture in Italy took notice"
"It's been a busy news week, and it's only Wednesday. Michel Martin and I are here in Studio 31 in Washington, D.C., and we've called former federal prosecutor Shan Wu, who's going to help us to analyze the Trump indictment."
Tuesday, March 28, 2023
Spring Break
Sorry for the lack of posting. Many things happening this past month including troll fights, having a hard drive meltdown, home repairs, unexpected computer and power interruptions, and working several extra shifts and plenty of double shifts. So, yeah, exhausting. Hopefully back at it in April (but I already have a schedule of things including our mandate switch to "all black scrubs" without any reason given). I'm going to call this an unnounced (and hopefully temporary) Spring Break. Hope your time has been going better.
Saturday, March 18, 2023
Linkee-poo Saturday March 18
"The retailer hopes this will turn a new leaf. Barnes & Noble sales have been rising, and last year grew more than 4%, according to Shannon DeVito, director of books."
"The remains of a glacier have been found near the Martian equator, suggesting that some form of water could still exist in a region on the red planet where humans may one day land… The ice mass is no longer there, but scientists spotted telltale remains among other mineral deposits near Mars’ equatorial region. The deposits there usually contain light-colored sulfate salts."
"The Webb Space Telescope has captured the rare and fleeting phase of a star on the cusp of death."
"Moonwalking astronauts will have sleeker, more flexible spacesuits that come in different sizes when they step onto the lunar surface later this decade." Lookin' slim, Buzz.
"Nuclear power is pollution free," they say. Hold my beer for a second… "Water containing tritium, a radioactive form of hydrogen, leaked out of Xcel Energy's nuclear power plant in Monticello, Minn. in November, state officials said Thursday… Xcel reported that about 400,000 gallons of the tritiated water leaked from a water pipe between two buildings." It's true that they don't spew carbon dioxide and other gases, and that the amount of pollution is much less, but what does come out is deadlier and lasts way longer.
"It stretches over 5,000 miles. It weighs over 10 million tons. And it's circling around the Gulf of Mexico and the mid-Atlantic, where the right combination of currents and wind could push it ashore… If you haven't heard of the great Atlantic sargassum belt, or even if you have, chances are high that you'll see it pop into your news feed at least once this summer. After a decade of record-breaking blooms, 2023's sargassum mass is again shaping up to cause headaches (literally and figuratively) for beachside towns and tourists." The blob is coming for Florida.
One of the major problems of climate change… "Some of the tall, stately trees that have grown up in California's Sierra Nevada are no longer compatible with the climate they live in, new research has shown… Hotter, drier conditions driven by climate change in the mountain range have made certain regions once hospitable to conifers — such as sequoia, ponderosa pine and Douglas fir — an environmental mismatch for the cone-bearing trees." Now do where we live and grow our crops.
Apparently they held the Oscars again. "Making this the comeback Oscars was, of course, consistent with the industry's chosen narrative of rebirth. But it's also part of the Academy's effort to revive interest in the ceremony after years of hearing the theory that the ratings were dropping because blockbusters weren't being nominated. That theory might turn out to be right or it might be wrong, but if this year didn't do it, then nominating big movies isn't a solution to the ratings problem as has so often been speculated."
"What's the big deal? You mean aside from the prospect of having your brain tracked? Farahany worries about potential privacy issues, and outlines various scenarios in which access to this information could be problematic, if the right protections aren't put in place."
"Almost four years ago, Gray became one of the first patients with a genetic disorder — and the first patient with sickle cell disease — to get an experimental treatment that uses the revolutionary gene-editing technique known as CRISPR."
"A rare tick-borne disease is on the rise in the northeastern United States, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention… Cases of babesiosis rose by 25% from 2011 to 2019, causing the CDC to add three states — Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire — to the list of those where the illness is considered endemic."
"Mint Mobile, partly owned by actor Ryan Reynolds, is being acquired by T-Mobile as part of a cash-and-stock deal worth as much as $1.35 billion."
"For workers, there were jobs; for employers, there were workers filling shortfalls caused by the pandemic; for the Federal Reserve, there were indications that the labor market was loosening and wage pressures were easing… Then again, the total of 311,000 net jobs added was significantly higher than expectations of 205,000, and the unemployment rate surprisingly grew to 3.6%."
"An unexpected spending spree by U.S. shoppers seems to have calmed… Retail spending declined 0.4% in February compared to January, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday. That's after a surprise start-of-the-year shopping spree that contradicted the Federal Reserve's goal of cooling down the economy to fight high prices."
"Latitude’s pricey AI bills underscore an unpleasant truth behind the recent boom in generative AI technologies: The cost to develop and maintain the software can be extraordinarily high, both for the firms that develop the underlying technologies, generally referred to as a large language or foundation models, and those that use the AI to power their own software." Still, the rise of this AI (which is just machine learning married with big data) was founded exactly on how low the cost of storage and processing power has become. But I still wonder when the switch from CPU to GPU will happen. We tried that slightly with the advent of RIS chips being used as CPUs. Also, much of these costs should come down in the next few years, and then drop significantly as the Biden initiative to bring chip manufacture back to the US engages and bears fruit. IT will also be interesting when the developers of these AI models realize that each "inference" is an opportunity for the machine learning program to continue to train (but then, that will also require more GPU cycles…).
"The Biden administration has announced that customers of Silicon Valley Bank will have full access to their deposits, an extraordinary move by federal officials to backstop billions of dollars in uninsured money amid fears that the bank's collapse could lead to greater panic."
But they're going to let the investors take the hit, like Ohio's STRS which will lose $27.2 million.
"Shares in the globally connected Swiss bank Credit Suisse plunged Wednesday and dragged down other major European lenders as fears about deeper problems in the world banking system spread in the wake of bank failures in the United States." Rhut rho.
"Banks across the nation are reassuring their customers that they will not collapse like Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., says Congress and the Federal Reserve are to blame for bank failures." Could be, Rabbit, could be.
"The biggest banks in the U.S. are stepping in to save First Republic Bank… A group of 11 lenders says they will deposit $30 billion in the beleaguered midsized lender in an effort to prop it up."
"French President Emmanuel Macron ordered his prime minister to wield a special constitutional power Thursday that skirts parliament to force through a highly unpopular bill raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 without a vote." "We're gonna see a brave new world where they run everyone a wire and hook us all up to the grid. Yessir, a veritable age of reason - like they had in France."
"The Pentagon and U.S. European Command said that two Russian Su-27 aircraft dumped fuel on the MQ-9, which was conducting a routine surveillance mission over the Black Sea in international airspace. They said the Russian jets flew around and in front of the drone several times for 30 to 40 minutes, and then one of the Russian aircraft 'struck the propeller of the MQ-9, causing U.S. forces to have to bring the MQ-9 down in international waters.'" Naughty naughty, my Russian friends.
"The Kremlin said the incident proved again that Washington is directly involved in the fighting and added that Moscow would try to recover the wreckage of the drone from the Black Sea. U.S. officials said the incident showed Russia’s aggressive and risky behavior and they pledged to continue their surveillance." Of course they will, that was the whole objective of this exercise. The question is did the drone have internal destruction charges, were they activated, and how badly did the drone crash (like, how many pieces does Russia have to put back together).
"The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for alleged war crimes involving accusations that Russia has forcibly taken Ukrainian children… The ICC also issued a warrant for Putin's commissioner for children's rights, Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova." Well, it doesn't mean much, except that it will curtail their travel outside the Russian sphere. Sleep safe, my Russian friends.
But what does it really mean? "Poland’s prime minister said Tuesday that his government may hand its Soviet-made MiG-29 fighters jets over to Ukraine 'within the next four to six weeks.'" And there have been other pledges made recently.
"The United States has described the China-brokered normalisation deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran as a 'good thing', despite the message it may send about waning US influence in the region… The pact between Riyadh and Tehran, announced last week in Beijing, merely cements the reality of China’s growing role as a significant trade — and now diplomatic — partner in the Gulf, analysts say." Good for them. Although in the long run I expect it will mean as much as when Sadat and Begin shook hands, which mostly signaled a long term cease fire.
"Ohio filed a lawsuit against railroad Norfolk Southern to make sure it pays for the cleanup and environmental damage caused by a fiery train derailment on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border last month, the state's attorney general said Tuesday."
"A Wisconsin man who drove past the vacation home of Michigan’s governor during a scheme to kidnap her in 2020 is returning to court to change his not-guilty plea, records show."
"The shortage in this conservative region has not been driven by political forces, national efforts to reform law enforcement or the movement of funding to programs that help reduce crime, but rather years-long labor issues. The sheriff’s office in the county, one of the poorest in the state, has pay rates far below nearby agencies and has struggled to recruit and retain its employees." We had similar problems in my little part of the world, so I know first hand that pay is not the only problem. It took years to restructure my police department, and I'm quite proud of that work and the people I hired, and it took the county to elect a new sheriff to change things. We won back the confidence of the local populace. Then we added extra money, and everything got a little easier.
"Florida Republicans on Tuesday advanced a proposal to ban classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity through the eighth grade, expanding the controversial law critics call 'Don’t Say Gay.'"
"Federal prosecutors in New York involved in the criminal investigation into Donald Trump’s social media company last year started examining whether it violated money laundering statutes in connection with the acceptance of $8m with suspected Russian ties, according to sources familiar with the matter." Once again, for no collaboration or coordination, there sure a lot of fucking Russians around.
"The U.S. government on Wednesday charged Guo Wengui, an exiled Chinese businessman with ties to former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon, with leading a complex conspiracy to defraud Guo's online followers out of more than $1 billion." (Grokked from Dan)
"At least two dozen people – from Mar-a-Lago resort staff to members of Donald Trump’s inner circle at the Florida estate – have been subpoenaed to testify to a federal grand jury that’s investigating the former president’s handling of classified documents, multiple sources familiar with the investigation told CNN." Like my friend Jim says, "We've got Skynet by the balls now."
"The remains of a glacier have been found near the Martian equator, suggesting that some form of water could still exist in a region on the red planet where humans may one day land… The ice mass is no longer there, but scientists spotted telltale remains among other mineral deposits near Mars’ equatorial region. The deposits there usually contain light-colored sulfate salts."
"The Webb Space Telescope has captured the rare and fleeting phase of a star on the cusp of death."
"Moonwalking astronauts will have sleeker, more flexible spacesuits that come in different sizes when they step onto the lunar surface later this decade." Lookin' slim, Buzz.
"Nuclear power is pollution free," they say. Hold my beer for a second… "Water containing tritium, a radioactive form of hydrogen, leaked out of Xcel Energy's nuclear power plant in Monticello, Minn. in November, state officials said Thursday… Xcel reported that about 400,000 gallons of the tritiated water leaked from a water pipe between two buildings." It's true that they don't spew carbon dioxide and other gases, and that the amount of pollution is much less, but what does come out is deadlier and lasts way longer.
"It stretches over 5,000 miles. It weighs over 10 million tons. And it's circling around the Gulf of Mexico and the mid-Atlantic, where the right combination of currents and wind could push it ashore… If you haven't heard of the great Atlantic sargassum belt, or even if you have, chances are high that you'll see it pop into your news feed at least once this summer. After a decade of record-breaking blooms, 2023's sargassum mass is again shaping up to cause headaches (literally and figuratively) for beachside towns and tourists." The blob is coming for Florida.
One of the major problems of climate change… "Some of the tall, stately trees that have grown up in California's Sierra Nevada are no longer compatible with the climate they live in, new research has shown… Hotter, drier conditions driven by climate change in the mountain range have made certain regions once hospitable to conifers — such as sequoia, ponderosa pine and Douglas fir — an environmental mismatch for the cone-bearing trees." Now do where we live and grow our crops.
Apparently they held the Oscars again. "Making this the comeback Oscars was, of course, consistent with the industry's chosen narrative of rebirth. But it's also part of the Academy's effort to revive interest in the ceremony after years of hearing the theory that the ratings were dropping because blockbusters weren't being nominated. That theory might turn out to be right or it might be wrong, but if this year didn't do it, then nominating big movies isn't a solution to the ratings problem as has so often been speculated."
"What's the big deal? You mean aside from the prospect of having your brain tracked? Farahany worries about potential privacy issues, and outlines various scenarios in which access to this information could be problematic, if the right protections aren't put in place."
"Almost four years ago, Gray became one of the first patients with a genetic disorder — and the first patient with sickle cell disease — to get an experimental treatment that uses the revolutionary gene-editing technique known as CRISPR."
"A rare tick-borne disease is on the rise in the northeastern United States, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention… Cases of babesiosis rose by 25% from 2011 to 2019, causing the CDC to add three states — Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire — to the list of those where the illness is considered endemic."
"Mint Mobile, partly owned by actor Ryan Reynolds, is being acquired by T-Mobile as part of a cash-and-stock deal worth as much as $1.35 billion."
"For workers, there were jobs; for employers, there were workers filling shortfalls caused by the pandemic; for the Federal Reserve, there were indications that the labor market was loosening and wage pressures were easing… Then again, the total of 311,000 net jobs added was significantly higher than expectations of 205,000, and the unemployment rate surprisingly grew to 3.6%."
"An unexpected spending spree by U.S. shoppers seems to have calmed… Retail spending declined 0.4% in February compared to January, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday. That's after a surprise start-of-the-year shopping spree that contradicted the Federal Reserve's goal of cooling down the economy to fight high prices."
"Latitude’s pricey AI bills underscore an unpleasant truth behind the recent boom in generative AI technologies: The cost to develop and maintain the software can be extraordinarily high, both for the firms that develop the underlying technologies, generally referred to as a large language or foundation models, and those that use the AI to power their own software." Still, the rise of this AI (which is just machine learning married with big data) was founded exactly on how low the cost of storage and processing power has become. But I still wonder when the switch from CPU to GPU will happen. We tried that slightly with the advent of RIS chips being used as CPUs. Also, much of these costs should come down in the next few years, and then drop significantly as the Biden initiative to bring chip manufacture back to the US engages and bears fruit. IT will also be interesting when the developers of these AI models realize that each "inference" is an opportunity for the machine learning program to continue to train (but then, that will also require more GPU cycles…).
"The Biden administration has announced that customers of Silicon Valley Bank will have full access to their deposits, an extraordinary move by federal officials to backstop billions of dollars in uninsured money amid fears that the bank's collapse could lead to greater panic."
But they're going to let the investors take the hit, like Ohio's STRS which will lose $27.2 million.
"Shares in the globally connected Swiss bank Credit Suisse plunged Wednesday and dragged down other major European lenders as fears about deeper problems in the world banking system spread in the wake of bank failures in the United States." Rhut rho.
"Banks across the nation are reassuring their customers that they will not collapse like Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., says Congress and the Federal Reserve are to blame for bank failures." Could be, Rabbit, could be.
"The biggest banks in the U.S. are stepping in to save First Republic Bank… A group of 11 lenders says they will deposit $30 billion in the beleaguered midsized lender in an effort to prop it up."
"French President Emmanuel Macron ordered his prime minister to wield a special constitutional power Thursday that skirts parliament to force through a highly unpopular bill raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 without a vote." "We're gonna see a brave new world where they run everyone a wire and hook us all up to the grid. Yessir, a veritable age of reason - like they had in France."
"The Pentagon and U.S. European Command said that two Russian Su-27 aircraft dumped fuel on the MQ-9, which was conducting a routine surveillance mission over the Black Sea in international airspace. They said the Russian jets flew around and in front of the drone several times for 30 to 40 minutes, and then one of the Russian aircraft 'struck the propeller of the MQ-9, causing U.S. forces to have to bring the MQ-9 down in international waters.'" Naughty naughty, my Russian friends.
"The Kremlin said the incident proved again that Washington is directly involved in the fighting and added that Moscow would try to recover the wreckage of the drone from the Black Sea. U.S. officials said the incident showed Russia’s aggressive and risky behavior and they pledged to continue their surveillance." Of course they will, that was the whole objective of this exercise. The question is did the drone have internal destruction charges, were they activated, and how badly did the drone crash (like, how many pieces does Russia have to put back together).
"The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for alleged war crimes involving accusations that Russia has forcibly taken Ukrainian children… The ICC also issued a warrant for Putin's commissioner for children's rights, Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova." Well, it doesn't mean much, except that it will curtail their travel outside the Russian sphere. Sleep safe, my Russian friends.
But what does it really mean? "Poland’s prime minister said Tuesday that his government may hand its Soviet-made MiG-29 fighters jets over to Ukraine 'within the next four to six weeks.'" And there have been other pledges made recently.
"The United States has described the China-brokered normalisation deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran as a 'good thing', despite the message it may send about waning US influence in the region… The pact between Riyadh and Tehran, announced last week in Beijing, merely cements the reality of China’s growing role as a significant trade — and now diplomatic — partner in the Gulf, analysts say." Good for them. Although in the long run I expect it will mean as much as when Sadat and Begin shook hands, which mostly signaled a long term cease fire.
"Ohio filed a lawsuit against railroad Norfolk Southern to make sure it pays for the cleanup and environmental damage caused by a fiery train derailment on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border last month, the state's attorney general said Tuesday."
"A Wisconsin man who drove past the vacation home of Michigan’s governor during a scheme to kidnap her in 2020 is returning to court to change his not-guilty plea, records show."
"The shortage in this conservative region has not been driven by political forces, national efforts to reform law enforcement or the movement of funding to programs that help reduce crime, but rather years-long labor issues. The sheriff’s office in the county, one of the poorest in the state, has pay rates far below nearby agencies and has struggled to recruit and retain its employees." We had similar problems in my little part of the world, so I know first hand that pay is not the only problem. It took years to restructure my police department, and I'm quite proud of that work and the people I hired, and it took the county to elect a new sheriff to change things. We won back the confidence of the local populace. Then we added extra money, and everything got a little easier.
"Florida Republicans on Tuesday advanced a proposal to ban classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity through the eighth grade, expanding the controversial law critics call 'Don’t Say Gay.'"
"Federal prosecutors in New York involved in the criminal investigation into Donald Trump’s social media company last year started examining whether it violated money laundering statutes in connection with the acceptance of $8m with suspected Russian ties, according to sources familiar with the matter." Once again, for no collaboration or coordination, there sure a lot of fucking Russians around.
"The U.S. government on Wednesday charged Guo Wengui, an exiled Chinese businessman with ties to former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon, with leading a complex conspiracy to defraud Guo's online followers out of more than $1 billion." (Grokked from Dan)
"At least two dozen people – from Mar-a-Lago resort staff to members of Donald Trump’s inner circle at the Florida estate – have been subpoenaed to testify to a federal grand jury that’s investigating the former president’s handling of classified documents, multiple sources familiar with the investigation told CNN." Like my friend Jim says, "We've got Skynet by the balls now."
Sunday, March 12, 2023
Linkee-poo Sunday March 12
"As for how small the chance of impact (from a newly discovered asteroid) is currently estimated to be, NASA puts it at '1 in 560 odds of impact.' Put another way, there is only a 0.18% chance of hitting Earth, or a 99.82% chance that the asteroid will streak harmlessly past our planet."
"Last winter, most ski resorts at Lake Tahoe had to postpone their usual November openings because there wasn’t enough snow… This season, several have been forced to close at times because there’s been too much."
"A new study in the journal PLOS Biology finds that (bees) can actually learn to solve puzzles from one another, suggesting that even some invertebrates like these social insects have a capacity for what we humans call 'culture.'" But we already knew bees "danced" to show other bees where to go for pollen.
"School cafeterias typically don’t turn away a hungry kid, but debts for unpaid school meals have been rising — showing the level of need, and raising questions about how schools will keep feeding everyone, without federal money to do it. The neediest kids are eligible for free or reduced-price meals, as before the pandemic, but qualifying for those benefits requires applications that haven’t been necessary for several years."
"U.S. health officials are alerting consumers about two more recalls of eyedrops due to contamination risks that could lead to vision problems and serious injury… The announcements follow a recall last month of eyedrops made in India that were linked to an outbreak of drug-resistant infections. One person died and at least five others had permanent vision loss."
"Some studies suggest that rates of (transgender people completing transitioning) regret have declined over the years as patient selection and treatment methods have improved. In a review of 27 studies involving almost 8,000 teens and adults who had transgender surgeries, mostly in Europe, the U.S and Canada, 1% on average expressed regret. For some, regret was temporary, but a small number went on to have detransitioning or reversal surgeries, the 2021 review said."
"Researchers have found long-term evidence that actively monitoring localized prostate cancer is a safe alternative to immediate surgery or radiation… The results, released Saturday, are encouraging for men who want to avoid treatment-related sexual and incontinence problems, said Dr. Stacy Loeb, a prostate cancer specialist at NYU Langone Health who was not involved in the research."
"It is a nail-biting limbo state that many tech startups deeply entrenched in Silicon Valley Bank are now facing in the wake of the bank's implosion, the largest American bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis… For tech startups, which for decades have relied heavily on the bank based in Santa Clara, Calif., it has set off a crisis that could lead to mass layoffs, or hundreds of startups collapsing, according to industry insiders." Sure seems different when rich people are about to lose everything as compared to less well off people who lost everything in 2007. The FDIC is supposedly holding an auction for SVBs business.
"Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sunday that the federal government would not bail out Silicon Valley Bank, but is working to help depositors who are concerned about their money." Just going to give a gentle reminder about all the times the tech industry has yelled that they don't want any government interference of regulations.
"More than a dozen retailers have dropped a flurry of financial reports in recent weeks. They have a broad view of consumer spending, which is a key driver of the U.S. economy. Here's what they say… People are still spending, though stores' forecasts are cautious…"
"The maker of the Funko Pop! collectibles plans to toss millions of dollars' worth of its inventory, after realizing it has more of its pop culture figurines than it can afford to hold on to." Funko Pop!, 2020's Beanie Baby.
"News Corp., the parent company of The Wall Street Journal and several other news outlets, said that hackers were inside its network for nearly two years and made off with private documents and emails… News Corp. first disclosed the breach in February 2022, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission and an article in The Wall Street Journal. The company said at the time that it discovered “persistent cyberattack activity” a month earlier in a third-party cloud service it used. Security firm Mandiant, which aided News Corp. in investigating the intrusion, told the WSJ it believed the attack was conducted by a threat actor aligned with the Chinese government."
"In one exchange, Lavrov received loud applause for accusing the West of having a double standard, noting its heavy criticism of Russia's invasion of Ukraine despite Western powers having invaded Iraq and Afghanistan. In another, the reaction was less positive… 'The war, which we are trying to stop, which was launched against us using Ukrainian people,' he said… Before Lavrov could finish his sentence, the audience laughed and groaned — loud enough for the foreign minister to pause and stumble on his words."
"Russian forces have made progress in their campaign to capture the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, the focus of the war’s longest ground battle, but their assault will be difficult to sustain without more significant personnel losses, British military officials said Saturday." Russian military doctrine has a very different view of losses when compared to the West.
"'It is not a crime to give someone the finger. Flipping the proverbial bird is a God-given, Charter enshrined right that belongs to every red-blooded Canadian,' Judge Dennis Galiatsatos wrote in the Feb. 24 ruling." Fucking right.
"A new bill introduced in the South Carolina Statehouse could put the death penalty on the table for women who get an abortion." Remember when it was about the "sanctity of life"?
"Five women who were denied abortions under Texas law while facing medical crises are suing the state, asking a judge to clarify exceptions to the laws… '[The women] have been denied necessary and potentially life-saving obstetrical care because medical professionals throughout the state fear liability under Texas's abortion bans,' says the lawsuit, filed in state court by the Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of the five women and two doctors."
"A new bill in the Ohio House would strike out all references to federal firearm policy from state law in an attempt to render state and local law enforcement in Ohio no longer responsible for enforcing federal gun laws." Ohio, where the crazy comes to live.
"A federal jury found both former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and ex-Ohio Republican Party chairman Matt Borges guilty of racketeering conspiracy Thursday – a dramatic outcome in the biggest public corruption case in state history." And while the nuclear plant bailout part of the bill has been repealed, most of House Bill 6 remains in effect, including the bailout for the coal powered plants. So Ohioans are still getting ripped off.
"Former Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday harshly criticized former President Donald Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, widening the rift between the two men as they prepare to battle over the Republican nomination in next year’s election." But he's still going to kiss Trump's ass.
"The states announced in tandem Monday that they were beginning the process to pull out, after weeks of tense negotiations over potential changes the organization could make to appease GOP members who have been facing constituent pressure about ERIC, in part due to a sustained misinformation campaign from the far-right." For the far right there is never a "too far to the right", and for authoritarians there can be no other expert, no-one else in the spotlight.
Just like… "In writing, the new board will end Disney's long practice of taxing itself to develop on the 25,000 unincorporated acres sandwiched between Osceola and Orange counties. It'll oversee services like sewage treatment and maintain the local roads, as well as decide how much Disney will pay for those services… But in effect, DeSantis said last week, the board will also serve as a moral arbiter."
"But the five board members appointed by DeSantis hinted Wednesday at future controversial actions they may take, including prohibiting COVID-19 restrictions at Disney World and recommending the elimination of two cities that were created after the Florida Legislature in 1967 approved the theme park resort’s self-governance."
"Last winter, most ski resorts at Lake Tahoe had to postpone their usual November openings because there wasn’t enough snow… This season, several have been forced to close at times because there’s been too much."
"A new study in the journal PLOS Biology finds that (bees) can actually learn to solve puzzles from one another, suggesting that even some invertebrates like these social insects have a capacity for what we humans call 'culture.'" But we already knew bees "danced" to show other bees where to go for pollen.
"School cafeterias typically don’t turn away a hungry kid, but debts for unpaid school meals have been rising — showing the level of need, and raising questions about how schools will keep feeding everyone, without federal money to do it. The neediest kids are eligible for free or reduced-price meals, as before the pandemic, but qualifying for those benefits requires applications that haven’t been necessary for several years."
"U.S. health officials are alerting consumers about two more recalls of eyedrops due to contamination risks that could lead to vision problems and serious injury… The announcements follow a recall last month of eyedrops made in India that were linked to an outbreak of drug-resistant infections. One person died and at least five others had permanent vision loss."
"Some studies suggest that rates of (transgender people completing transitioning) regret have declined over the years as patient selection and treatment methods have improved. In a review of 27 studies involving almost 8,000 teens and adults who had transgender surgeries, mostly in Europe, the U.S and Canada, 1% on average expressed regret. For some, regret was temporary, but a small number went on to have detransitioning or reversal surgeries, the 2021 review said."
"Researchers have found long-term evidence that actively monitoring localized prostate cancer is a safe alternative to immediate surgery or radiation… The results, released Saturday, are encouraging for men who want to avoid treatment-related sexual and incontinence problems, said Dr. Stacy Loeb, a prostate cancer specialist at NYU Langone Health who was not involved in the research."
"It is a nail-biting limbo state that many tech startups deeply entrenched in Silicon Valley Bank are now facing in the wake of the bank's implosion, the largest American bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis… For tech startups, which for decades have relied heavily on the bank based in Santa Clara, Calif., it has set off a crisis that could lead to mass layoffs, or hundreds of startups collapsing, according to industry insiders." Sure seems different when rich people are about to lose everything as compared to less well off people who lost everything in 2007. The FDIC is supposedly holding an auction for SVBs business.
"Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sunday that the federal government would not bail out Silicon Valley Bank, but is working to help depositors who are concerned about their money." Just going to give a gentle reminder about all the times the tech industry has yelled that they don't want any government interference of regulations.
"More than a dozen retailers have dropped a flurry of financial reports in recent weeks. They have a broad view of consumer spending, which is a key driver of the U.S. economy. Here's what they say… People are still spending, though stores' forecasts are cautious…"
"The maker of the Funko Pop! collectibles plans to toss millions of dollars' worth of its inventory, after realizing it has more of its pop culture figurines than it can afford to hold on to." Funko Pop!, 2020's Beanie Baby.
"News Corp., the parent company of The Wall Street Journal and several other news outlets, said that hackers were inside its network for nearly two years and made off with private documents and emails… News Corp. first disclosed the breach in February 2022, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission and an article in The Wall Street Journal. The company said at the time that it discovered “persistent cyberattack activity” a month earlier in a third-party cloud service it used. Security firm Mandiant, which aided News Corp. in investigating the intrusion, told the WSJ it believed the attack was conducted by a threat actor aligned with the Chinese government."
"In one exchange, Lavrov received loud applause for accusing the West of having a double standard, noting its heavy criticism of Russia's invasion of Ukraine despite Western powers having invaded Iraq and Afghanistan. In another, the reaction was less positive… 'The war, which we are trying to stop, which was launched against us using Ukrainian people,' he said… Before Lavrov could finish his sentence, the audience laughed and groaned — loud enough for the foreign minister to pause and stumble on his words."
"Russian forces have made progress in their campaign to capture the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, the focus of the war’s longest ground battle, but their assault will be difficult to sustain without more significant personnel losses, British military officials said Saturday." Russian military doctrine has a very different view of losses when compared to the West.
"'It is not a crime to give someone the finger. Flipping the proverbial bird is a God-given, Charter enshrined right that belongs to every red-blooded Canadian,' Judge Dennis Galiatsatos wrote in the Feb. 24 ruling." Fucking right.
"A new bill introduced in the South Carolina Statehouse could put the death penalty on the table for women who get an abortion." Remember when it was about the "sanctity of life"?
"Five women who were denied abortions under Texas law while facing medical crises are suing the state, asking a judge to clarify exceptions to the laws… '[The women] have been denied necessary and potentially life-saving obstetrical care because medical professionals throughout the state fear liability under Texas's abortion bans,' says the lawsuit, filed in state court by the Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of the five women and two doctors."
"A new bill in the Ohio House would strike out all references to federal firearm policy from state law in an attempt to render state and local law enforcement in Ohio no longer responsible for enforcing federal gun laws." Ohio, where the crazy comes to live.
"A federal jury found both former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and ex-Ohio Republican Party chairman Matt Borges guilty of racketeering conspiracy Thursday – a dramatic outcome in the biggest public corruption case in state history." And while the nuclear plant bailout part of the bill has been repealed, most of House Bill 6 remains in effect, including the bailout for the coal powered plants. So Ohioans are still getting ripped off.
"Former Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday harshly criticized former President Donald Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, widening the rift between the two men as they prepare to battle over the Republican nomination in next year’s election." But he's still going to kiss Trump's ass.
"The states announced in tandem Monday that they were beginning the process to pull out, after weeks of tense negotiations over potential changes the organization could make to appease GOP members who have been facing constituent pressure about ERIC, in part due to a sustained misinformation campaign from the far-right." For the far right there is never a "too far to the right", and for authoritarians there can be no other expert, no-one else in the spotlight.
Just like… "In writing, the new board will end Disney's long practice of taxing itself to develop on the 25,000 unincorporated acres sandwiched between Osceola and Orange counties. It'll oversee services like sewage treatment and maintain the local roads, as well as decide how much Disney will pay for those services… But in effect, DeSantis said last week, the board will also serve as a moral arbiter."
"But the five board members appointed by DeSantis hinted Wednesday at future controversial actions they may take, including prohibiting COVID-19 restrictions at Disney World and recommending the elimination of two cities that were created after the Florida Legislature in 1967 approved the theme park resort’s self-governance."
Friday, March 3, 2023
Linkee-poo, in like a lion, March 3
Sorry about the chaotic pubishing lately. I think part of it is the distraction of the t-shirt business, but part of it is my subonscious rebelling at still going at 7 years after I said I would take a hiatus. I'm realy glad these last few years I can focus on something other than politics, and I'm resentful that the GOP and certain assholes remain committed to making politics the main point of discussions and news. I'm not sure how to fix this at the moment. It may be I need to step away for a little bit, but we're already into the election positioning for 2024 and lots of pieces are moving quickly (including my suspecion that Trump installed his own Deep State to wage an information battle which is just gearing up as exemplified by the DoJ announcement of the possibility that COVID-19 was a lab leak, even while being stated that it's own conclusion was of "low confidence" which almost lost during the first few days it made a splash, and which fortunately burried the story in irrelevance except for far right corners). Plus part of the time has been adsorbed (yes, that's the word) by playing with AI tools. Which I should probably talk about at some point. Right now I'm trying to see if they can be a starting point for designs I can't find references for, and use as a photo scrap book for novel writing (in the same way writes clip photos). BEcause right now while some people can create journeyman level pieces, mostly it's crap, just interesting looking crap.
"Jimmy Carter took great pride in pointing out that the United States didn't start any new wars during his term as president. But after he left office he launched a war against 'neglected' diseases — diseases in far-off lands that most Americans will never suffer from and may not have even heard of. Diseases like lymphatic filariasis, trachoma, river blindness, schistosomiasis ... and a nasty little bug called Guinea worm disease."
Fish on Fridays? "Alas, Christendom never really developed a hankering for snake. But fish — well, they'd been associated with sacred holidays even in pre-Christian times. And as the number of meatless days piled up on the medieval Christian calendar — not just Fridays but Wednesdays and Saturdays, Advent and Lent, and other holy days — the hunger for fish grew. Indeed, fish fasting days became central to the growth of the global fishing industry. But not because of a pope and his secret pact."
"Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic strip, went on a racist rant this week on his Coffee with Scott Adams online video show, and we will no longer carry his comic strip in The Plain Dealer."
"The distributor of Scott Adams' 'Dilbert' comic strip, Andrews McMeel Universal, announced Sunday it was severing ties with the cartoonist." Note that this isn't the first time Mr. Adams has done this kind of thing. This is, IIRC, about the 4th major blowup regarding his racist viewpoint.
"Things took a weird turn when Associated Press technology reporter Matt O'Brien was testing out Microsoft's new Bing, the first-ever search engine powered by artificial intelligence, last month." Hey, remember when Microsoft released their first social media chatbot and then had to pull the plug less than 8 hours later because it had become a raving Nazi? It seems that Skynet or the paranoid and psychotic HAL9000 is the inevitable end of the process.
"On February 15, Neil Clarke shared a graph showing an exponential jump in submission bans for Clarkesworld, with nearly 350 bans in the first half of this month alone. The graph accompanied his essay 'A Concerning Trend' on how AI chatbot stories were responsible for the vast majority of these bans." This is not the robot uprising I was promised. Jason Sanford has been doing some good work here, and this Grapevine post also includes a story about Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki detention and denied admission to the US to attend another award ceremony, and an update about the Chengdu Worldcon.
"The key to being a good writer? It’s being a good reader, authors including Carol Ann Duffy and Alan Moore have said this World Book Day. However, commonly doled-out advice such as 'write what you know' is 'dreadful', says Lee Child."
"Don't mess with Roald Dahl's language or his 'swashboggling' fans. When his UK publisher announced it would be changing some of his words, the response was fierce. 'An affront to democracy,' wrote one reader responding to The Daily Telegraph's report on the proposed changes. 'An exercise in priggish stupidity,' read a headline in The Sydney Morning Herald. Even the Queen Consort and U.K. Prime Minister dismissed the idea of tampering with Dahl's original language."
"Dr. Seuss fans might find their hearts growing three sizes this coming holiday season with the release of a sequel to the 1957 classic children’s book 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'" Ugh.
"A dozen dead whales have washed up on New York and New Jersey beaches since December. It's part of a years-long trend in whale deaths up and down the east coast. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is trying to figure out what's going on."
Something new has been added… "Egypt's antiquities authorities on Thursday unveiled a newly discovered, sealed-off chamber inside one of the Great Pyramids at Giza, just outside of Cairo, that dates back some 4,500 years ago… The corridor — on the northern side of the Pyramid of Khufu — was discovered using modern scanning technology. It measures nearly 30 feet in length and is over 6 feet wide, perched above the main entrance of the pyramid."
"It's been nearly a month since a Norfolk Southern train derailed and spilled hundreds of thousands of pounds of toxic chemicals into the air, soil and water around East Palestine, Ohio. In the weeks since, authorities have undertaken a massive operation to clean up the hazardous materials." A story exploring the difficulties of cleaning up toxic waste, and some of the unique challenges of this accident site.
"Seeing a political opportunity, former President Donald Trump and a cadre of other conservatives descended on the small town of fewer than 5,000 residents. Trump handed out campaign hats, 'Trump'-branded water and Trump-branded insults of the Biden administration. Then, under political pressure, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg made his way there, too, met with local leaders and offered his own rejoinders for the former president." I wonder if anyone reminded East Palestine that Trump rolled back the rules that might have prevented the derailment or have reduced the impact and scale of the disaster?
"As Women’s History Month gets underway, mobile billboards are visiting college campuses in 14 states with abortion bans carrying a reminder that abortion pills are still accessible all across the country… Mayday.Health, a nonprofit launched last year after legal abortions were heavily restricted or banned in 26 states, was created to provide information on where and how to safely order abortion pills. The traveling billboards are fitted with QR codes that direct people to resources specific to the state where they are hoping to have pills delivered."
"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention raising warning doctors and the public about an increase in extensively drug-resistant (XDR) cases of Shigella, a highly transmissible bacteria that causes an infection called shigellosis, an inflammatory diarrhea."
"Black married couples, in general, pay more in tax costs than white, married couples, according to a new report by the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center… Officially, the U.S. tax code is considered race blind, William Gale, one of the report's authors, told NPR… 'But what we've suspected, and what we found, was that the income tax can still impose differential burdens on Black and white households' because of several factors, he said."
They will greet us as liberators is always a lie… "Kherson was the first major city occupied by Russian forces. With Kherson's deep historical ties to Russia, Moscow did not expect it to be a center of resistance. But the city, like the rest of Ukraine, defied the Kremlin's expectations."
"We firmly believe that it is journalism’s sacred duty to endanger the lives of as many trans people as possible… Indeed, there are critical questions to be asked about the social complexities of gender, as well as medical ethics in a profit-driven healthcare system. We are simply not interested in any of that. Instead, we will use flawed data and spurious logic to repeatedly write the same hand-wringing arguments asking whether there are suddenly too many trans people around. Journalistic integrity demands nothing less." Oh Onion, don't ever change.
"Former College Park, Maryland, Mayor Patrick Wojahn was arrested Thursday on several charges of child pornography, city officials announced… The Prince George's County Police Department was notified by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on Feb. 17 that there was a social media account in the county posting child pornography, and police tracked it back to Wojahn, 47, the department said." Still not a drag show to be found.
"Transgender youth may soon no longer be able to access gender-affirming health care. A ban on medical transitioning for minors has passed the Tennessee General Assembly and is on its way to the governor’s desk… The bill would mean no hormone therapy, no surgeries and no puberty blockers — with two exceptions. One is for intersex kids who aren’t easily assigned a gender at birth. Another would be a temporary exception for trans kids who are already taking hormones before the law goes into effect July 1. After that, minors have until March of 2024 to stop their treatments."
"One side effect of political division in the states — blue states getting bluer and red states getting redder — is that some policies don't have a chance of getting passed by partisan state legislatures, even if a majority of voters back them… But a left-leaning advocacy group called the Fairness Project has created a playbook for using ballot initiatives to go around GOP-led state legislatures." And now you know why some states are making it harder to get initiatives on the ballot.
"The event may be the closest thing yet to Greene’s vision for the GOP, which she has urged to become the 'party of Christian nationalism.' The Idaho Panhandle’s especially fervent embrace of the ideology may explain why Greene, who has sold T-shirts reading 'Proud Christian Nationalist,' traveled more than 2,300 miles to a county with fewer than 67,000 Republican voters to talk about biblical truth: Amid ongoing national debate over Christian nationalism, North Idaho offers a window at what actually trying to manifest a right-wing vision for a Christian America can look like — and the power it can wield in state politics." Cue up Poltergeist clip of little girl saying, "They'e here."
"The report describes attempts by top officials to link protesters to an imaginary terrorist plot in an apparent effort to boost Trump’s reelection odds, raising concerns now about the ability of a sitting president to co-opt billions of dollars’ worth of domestic intelligence assets for their own political gain. DHS analysts recounted orders to generate evidence of financial ties between protesters in custody; an effort that, had they not failed, would have seemingly served to legitimize President Trump’s false claims about 'Antifa,' an 'organization' that even his most loyal intelligence officers failed to drum up proof ever existed." Who was weaponizing the government?
"Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, the former chair of the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack, says House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's decision to release security video of that day to Fox News host Tucker Carlson could compromise the security of the U.S. Capitol by exposing the placement of cameras throughout the complex."
"A Republican state senator in Florida has introduced a bill that, if passed, would require bloggers who write about Gov. Ron DeSantis, his Cabinet or state legislators to register with the state." Fuck this Nazi shit, and fuck the Florida Mussolini DeSantis.
"Jimmy Carter took great pride in pointing out that the United States didn't start any new wars during his term as president. But after he left office he launched a war against 'neglected' diseases — diseases in far-off lands that most Americans will never suffer from and may not have even heard of. Diseases like lymphatic filariasis, trachoma, river blindness, schistosomiasis ... and a nasty little bug called Guinea worm disease."
Fish on Fridays? "Alas, Christendom never really developed a hankering for snake. But fish — well, they'd been associated with sacred holidays even in pre-Christian times. And as the number of meatless days piled up on the medieval Christian calendar — not just Fridays but Wednesdays and Saturdays, Advent and Lent, and other holy days — the hunger for fish grew. Indeed, fish fasting days became central to the growth of the global fishing industry. But not because of a pope and his secret pact."
"Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic strip, went on a racist rant this week on his Coffee with Scott Adams online video show, and we will no longer carry his comic strip in The Plain Dealer."
"The distributor of Scott Adams' 'Dilbert' comic strip, Andrews McMeel Universal, announced Sunday it was severing ties with the cartoonist." Note that this isn't the first time Mr. Adams has done this kind of thing. This is, IIRC, about the 4th major blowup regarding his racist viewpoint.
"Things took a weird turn when Associated Press technology reporter Matt O'Brien was testing out Microsoft's new Bing, the first-ever search engine powered by artificial intelligence, last month." Hey, remember when Microsoft released their first social media chatbot and then had to pull the plug less than 8 hours later because it had become a raving Nazi? It seems that Skynet or the paranoid and psychotic HAL9000 is the inevitable end of the process.
"On February 15, Neil Clarke shared a graph showing an exponential jump in submission bans for Clarkesworld, with nearly 350 bans in the first half of this month alone. The graph accompanied his essay 'A Concerning Trend' on how AI chatbot stories were responsible for the vast majority of these bans." This is not the robot uprising I was promised. Jason Sanford has been doing some good work here, and this Grapevine post also includes a story about Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki detention and denied admission to the US to attend another award ceremony, and an update about the Chengdu Worldcon.
"The key to being a good writer? It’s being a good reader, authors including Carol Ann Duffy and Alan Moore have said this World Book Day. However, commonly doled-out advice such as 'write what you know' is 'dreadful', says Lee Child."
"Don't mess with Roald Dahl's language or his 'swashboggling' fans. When his UK publisher announced it would be changing some of his words, the response was fierce. 'An affront to democracy,' wrote one reader responding to The Daily Telegraph's report on the proposed changes. 'An exercise in priggish stupidity,' read a headline in The Sydney Morning Herald. Even the Queen Consort and U.K. Prime Minister dismissed the idea of tampering with Dahl's original language."
"Dr. Seuss fans might find their hearts growing three sizes this coming holiday season with the release of a sequel to the 1957 classic children’s book 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'" Ugh.
"A dozen dead whales have washed up on New York and New Jersey beaches since December. It's part of a years-long trend in whale deaths up and down the east coast. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is trying to figure out what's going on."
Something new has been added… "Egypt's antiquities authorities on Thursday unveiled a newly discovered, sealed-off chamber inside one of the Great Pyramids at Giza, just outside of Cairo, that dates back some 4,500 years ago… The corridor — on the northern side of the Pyramid of Khufu — was discovered using modern scanning technology. It measures nearly 30 feet in length and is over 6 feet wide, perched above the main entrance of the pyramid."
"It's been nearly a month since a Norfolk Southern train derailed and spilled hundreds of thousands of pounds of toxic chemicals into the air, soil and water around East Palestine, Ohio. In the weeks since, authorities have undertaken a massive operation to clean up the hazardous materials." A story exploring the difficulties of cleaning up toxic waste, and some of the unique challenges of this accident site.
"Seeing a political opportunity, former President Donald Trump and a cadre of other conservatives descended on the small town of fewer than 5,000 residents. Trump handed out campaign hats, 'Trump'-branded water and Trump-branded insults of the Biden administration. Then, under political pressure, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg made his way there, too, met with local leaders and offered his own rejoinders for the former president." I wonder if anyone reminded East Palestine that Trump rolled back the rules that might have prevented the derailment or have reduced the impact and scale of the disaster?
"As Women’s History Month gets underway, mobile billboards are visiting college campuses in 14 states with abortion bans carrying a reminder that abortion pills are still accessible all across the country… Mayday.Health, a nonprofit launched last year after legal abortions were heavily restricted or banned in 26 states, was created to provide information on where and how to safely order abortion pills. The traveling billboards are fitted with QR codes that direct people to resources specific to the state where they are hoping to have pills delivered."
"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention raising warning doctors and the public about an increase in extensively drug-resistant (XDR) cases of Shigella, a highly transmissible bacteria that causes an infection called shigellosis, an inflammatory diarrhea."
"Black married couples, in general, pay more in tax costs than white, married couples, according to a new report by the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center… Officially, the U.S. tax code is considered race blind, William Gale, one of the report's authors, told NPR… 'But what we've suspected, and what we found, was that the income tax can still impose differential burdens on Black and white households' because of several factors, he said."
They will greet us as liberators is always a lie… "Kherson was the first major city occupied by Russian forces. With Kherson's deep historical ties to Russia, Moscow did not expect it to be a center of resistance. But the city, like the rest of Ukraine, defied the Kremlin's expectations."
"We firmly believe that it is journalism’s sacred duty to endanger the lives of as many trans people as possible… Indeed, there are critical questions to be asked about the social complexities of gender, as well as medical ethics in a profit-driven healthcare system. We are simply not interested in any of that. Instead, we will use flawed data and spurious logic to repeatedly write the same hand-wringing arguments asking whether there are suddenly too many trans people around. Journalistic integrity demands nothing less." Oh Onion, don't ever change.
"Former College Park, Maryland, Mayor Patrick Wojahn was arrested Thursday on several charges of child pornography, city officials announced… The Prince George's County Police Department was notified by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on Feb. 17 that there was a social media account in the county posting child pornography, and police tracked it back to Wojahn, 47, the department said." Still not a drag show to be found.
"Transgender youth may soon no longer be able to access gender-affirming health care. A ban on medical transitioning for minors has passed the Tennessee General Assembly and is on its way to the governor’s desk… The bill would mean no hormone therapy, no surgeries and no puberty blockers — with two exceptions. One is for intersex kids who aren’t easily assigned a gender at birth. Another would be a temporary exception for trans kids who are already taking hormones before the law goes into effect July 1. After that, minors have until March of 2024 to stop their treatments."
"One side effect of political division in the states — blue states getting bluer and red states getting redder — is that some policies don't have a chance of getting passed by partisan state legislatures, even if a majority of voters back them… But a left-leaning advocacy group called the Fairness Project has created a playbook for using ballot initiatives to go around GOP-led state legislatures." And now you know why some states are making it harder to get initiatives on the ballot.
"The event may be the closest thing yet to Greene’s vision for the GOP, which she has urged to become the 'party of Christian nationalism.' The Idaho Panhandle’s especially fervent embrace of the ideology may explain why Greene, who has sold T-shirts reading 'Proud Christian Nationalist,' traveled more than 2,300 miles to a county with fewer than 67,000 Republican voters to talk about biblical truth: Amid ongoing national debate over Christian nationalism, North Idaho offers a window at what actually trying to manifest a right-wing vision for a Christian America can look like — and the power it can wield in state politics." Cue up Poltergeist clip of little girl saying, "They'e here."
"The report describes attempts by top officials to link protesters to an imaginary terrorist plot in an apparent effort to boost Trump’s reelection odds, raising concerns now about the ability of a sitting president to co-opt billions of dollars’ worth of domestic intelligence assets for their own political gain. DHS analysts recounted orders to generate evidence of financial ties between protesters in custody; an effort that, had they not failed, would have seemingly served to legitimize President Trump’s false claims about 'Antifa,' an 'organization' that even his most loyal intelligence officers failed to drum up proof ever existed." Who was weaponizing the government?
"Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, the former chair of the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack, says House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's decision to release security video of that day to Fox News host Tucker Carlson could compromise the security of the U.S. Capitol by exposing the placement of cameras throughout the complex."
"A Republican state senator in Florida has introduced a bill that, if passed, would require bloggers who write about Gov. Ron DeSantis, his Cabinet or state legislators to register with the state." Fuck this Nazi shit, and fuck the Florida Mussolini DeSantis.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)