Sorry, way too much happening and my time is being pulled in many directions. I think part of it also has to do with the resurfacing of That Fucking Guy in the news.
Crazy Uncle Pat is gone? Well, Hallelujah. While most deaths are at the very least regrettable, some are occasions for joy. If you think that's harsh, Pat should have emulated God's incarnation on Earth while he was alive. Instead he choose to use the Bible as a cudgel while engaging in every venal sin in an attempt to glorify himself. By his own standards he did wrong, and any minimal grace and compassion he had was vastly overshadowed by his cruelty, hate, and greed for worldly dominion and lucre.
George Winston, and Silvio Berllusconi, and so it goes.
Enter your zip code in this US Noise Level Map to see how much noise stress you live with. (Grokked from Chang)
"All five passengers aboard the missing Titan submersible have died following a 'catastrophic implosion of the vessel,' the U.S. Coast Guard said Thursday." And then there's this, "When asked about the likelihood of recovering the bodies, Mauger said he does not have an answer and noted the 'incredibly unforgiving environment' of the sea floor." There are no bodies to recover. This isn't a conspiracy statement, this is physics from a small chamber going from 1 atmosphere to 398 in less than a second. Most likely there won't even be a grease stain on the metal. The people inside the Titan were dead before they could even process that something was wrong. And while there is some debate over when you die do you still have enough brain function to know you're dead, but in this case it's a moot question. It's quite possible the air inside the chamber became plasma because of the compression. Even if it didn't, the pressure at that depth, and the sudden change, would have literally ripped the cells of the passengers apart. Within that second there wouldn't even be a braincell left intact.
"An ancient Nevada lakebed beckons as a vast source of the coveted element needed to produce cleaner electric energy and fight global warming. But NASA says the same site — flat as a tabletop and undisturbed like none other in the Western Hemisphere — is indispensable for calibrating the razor-sharp measurements of hundreds of satellites orbiting overhead." Prospectors out in the field, "Wow, this is great, and nobody is using this area or lives around here. Woohoo!" Spacesuited astronaut descends on cable from the sky with a bullhorn, "Stop that!"
"Fortunately, the worst didn’t happen. There are a few reasons why. To reduce demand, many Texans turned up the thermostat by a few degrees to help save power, and ERCOT’s emergency response program paid some large energy customers to scale back usage during peak times. And significantly, solar power, which has been the star of the Texas grid so far during this interminable summer, continued to set records for energy production. If your air conditioner has been steadily running all summer long, you can thank the mighty power of the sun."
"A line of severe storms produced what a meteorologist calls a rare combination of multiple tornadoes, hurricane-force winds and softball-sized hail in west Texas, killing at least four people, injuring nine and causing significant damage around the town of Matador, a meteorologist said Thursday."
"Archeologists have found a pre-Hispanic mummy surrounded by coca leaves on top of a hill in Peru’s capital next to the practice field of a professional soccer club."
"A nationwide Medicare survey released Wednesday found that veterans rated Veterans Affairs hospitals higher than private health care facilities in all 10 categories of patient satisfaction." I think they're taking the wrong lesson from this. It's not that VA care has gotten so much better from when it was rated far below probate care, it's that private care quality has gone in the toilet.
"An Illinois hospital will shutter its doors this week in part because of a devastating cyberattack, which experts say makes it the first hospital to publicly link criminal hackers to its closure." Well, somewhat.
"In late 2021, Isabella Weber, an economist at University of Massachusetts, Amherst published a paper with a new idea. The theory, what she called 'seller's inflation,' sought to address the confounding fact that the economy was seeing rising high prices and skyrocketing corporate profits. The idea quickly moved from the halls of academia to the political arena. And quicker still, it was dismissed—at one point called a 'conspiracy theory.' But now, in 2023, 'greedflation' is popping up across headlines. This week, (On the Media) correspondent Micah Loewinger sits down with Lydia DePillis, a reporter on the business desk at The New York Times, to talk about her 2022 article dissecting the arguments for and against greedflation’s impact on the economy, and everything that's happened since."
"All of it led to the greatest grift in U.S. history, with thieves plundering billions of dollars in federal COVID-19 relief aid intended to combat the worst pandemic in a century and to stabilize an economy in free fall."
"The really remarkable thing isn't just that Microsoft has decided that the future of search isn't links to relevant materials, but instead lengthy, florid paragraphs written by a chatbot who happens to be a habitual liar – even more remarkable is that Google agrees."
"Federal regulators have sued Amazon, alleging the company for years "tricked" people into buying Prime memberships that were purposefully hard to cancel."
"South Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission said Thursday it will investigate 237 more cases of South Korean adoptees who suspect their family origins were manipulated to facilitate their adoptions in Europe and the United States."
"A grainy black-and-white gunsight video Russia released this week to bolster a claim its military blew up some of Ukraine’s most fearsome tanks actually documented the destruction of a tractor, according to a visual analysis by The Associated Press." Glory to the Motherland.
"A deal struck Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group mercenary army that had advanced to the outskirts of Moscow late Saturday, ended what many saw as a coup attempt. Under the terms of the deal, Prigozhin agreed to call off a military assault on the Russian capital, withdraw forces from the captured city of Rostov-on-Don and leave Russia for Belarus." Stay safe, my Russian friends.
"The armed rebellion against the Russian military may have been over in less than 24 hours, but the disarray within the enemy’s ranks was an unexpected gift and timely morale booster for Ukrainian troops."
"Florida Republicans who voted to pass the state's imminent anti-immigration law are trying to curb a potentially disastrous mass exodus of undocumented residents by touting the legislation's many 'loopholes.'"
"Domestic extremists who plot or commit mass killings often share characteristics, like mental health problems and criminal histories. But the most common thread is a record of military service, according to new analysis of three decades of attacks inside the U.S." Funny, that.
"The Battle of Bamber Bridge — which took place 80 years ago this weekend, on June 24-25, 1943 — was a precursor to battles that would unfold on American streets for decades to come, during the Civil Rights era. It horrified the mostly white local villagers, who were unaccustomed to segregation and had befriended their Black guests. But because of wartime censorship, the battle was virtually unknown outside the tiny English village where it happened." The history they don't want you to know.
"A few weeks before last fall’s midterm elections, a paid canvasser in Nevada did what thousands of door-knockers across the country were doing: They went on an app and marked off the homes they had visited that day… There was just one problem. This canvasser never went anywhere near those homes in a neighborhood in south Las Vegas. They were 8 miles away, sitting inside Caesars Palace casino, according to geotracking data obtained by NBC News."
"The court said that in Alabama, a state where there are seven congressional seats and one in four voters is black, the Republican-dominated state legislature had denied African American voters a reasonable chance to elect a second representative of their choice."
"Illinois became the first state in the U.S. to outlaw book bans, after Gov. JB Pritzker on Monday signed legislation that would cut off state funding for any Illinois library that tries to ban books, CBS Chicago reports… The new law comes as predominantly Republican-led states continue to restrict books some consider offensive in schools and libraries across the country."
"The petition filed against Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) and the Ohio Ballot Board alleges that the defendants used 'inaccurate, incomplete ballot language that improperly favor the Amendment in flagrant violation Ohio’s Constitution and laws and this Court’s jurisprudence.' The petitioners also argue that the amendment’s title 'is not impartial and will create prejudice in favor of the Amendment.'" If you live in Ohio, and are registered, don't forget to vote to save our democracy on Aug 8.
"The indictment unsealed early Friday afternoon shows that a grand jury indicted Trump on 37 counts, including 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information and making false statements."
"Donald Trump improperly stored in his Florida estate sensitive documents on nuclear capabilities, repeatedly enlisted aides and lawyers to help him hide records demanded by investigators and cavalierly showed off a Pentagon “plan of attack” and classified map, according to a sweeping felony indictment that paints a damning portrait of the former president’s treatment of national security information."
"The House of Representatives has voted to censure Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff for his past actions while chair of the House Intelligence Committee in leading investigations into then-President Donald Trump."
Monday, June 26, 2023
Wednesday, June 7, 2023
Linkee-poo Late Wednesday Night June7
"Billy Joel is finally moving out of his monthly perch at Madison Square Garden. The singer-songwriter says he will conclude his residency in July 2024 with his 150th lifetime performance at the venue." He is the Entertainer…
"The Warren B. Rudman courthouse is one of several federal facilities around the country participating in the General Services Administration’s Pollinator Initiative, a government program aimed at assessing and promoting the health of bees and other pollinators, which are critical to life on Earth."
"Smoke from Canadian wildfires poured into the U.S. East Coast and Midwest on Wednesday, covering the capitals of both nations in an unhealthy haze, holding up flights at major airports, postponing Major League Baseball games and prompting people to fish out pandemic-era face masks."
"Bystander-initiated CPR may increase those odds to 10%. Survival after CPR for in-hospital cardiac arrest is slightly better, but still only about 17%. The numbers get even worse with age. A study in Sweden found that survival after out-of-hospital CPR dropped from 6.7% for patients in their 70s to just 2.4% for those over 90. Chronic illness matters too. One study found that less than 2% of patients with cancer or heart, lung, or liver disease were resuscitated with CPR and survived for six months." I've been lucky. The 2 people I've done CPR on we got back, at least long enough for me to leave the floor. CPR, while it can be lifesaving, is violent. As I tell the students that come through the hospital, "When you start CPR you'll hear a lot of noise, think of cracking your knuckles but 30 years worth all at one time. That's because that's partly what you're doing to the sternum. The other part is because it's common to break ribs when doing CPR. But know that you can't hurt the patient anymore than they already are. The patient is dead when you start CPR (this is not always or completely true, but close enough), they will not survive unless you do this. So if a doctor or the AED says start compressions, go ahead. You're giving them a chance at life." We then have a discussion of DNR orders, the effects of CPR, the probabilities, and making sure they express their wishes to those who may be in a position to either do CPR, or direct those who may.
"These deaths are often hidden in plain sight. For instance, nearly a thousand deaths a day are linked to diet-related disease — heart disease, complications from Type 2 diabetes and liver disease. And diet now outranks smoking as a leading cause of death around the globe. Chronic stress fueled by poverty and racism also contributes to the toll of preventable deaths… Deaths from chronic disease are not as dramatic, but the tragedy is that despite having the most sophisticated health care system in the world — great doctors, top-notch hospitals, lots of medical breakthroughs — the U.S. as a nation is not getting healthier." That's because those things stated in the first paragraph are considered "moral failings" (or in these later years, "our personal responsibility" to ourselves) and not environmental and political failings.
Yeah, wearing a mask to halt the spread of COVID is "infringing on your liberties." TB steps up and says, "Hold my beer." "A Washington state woman who was diagnosed with tuberculosis has been taken into custody after months of refusing treatment or isolation, officials said on Thursday… The Tacoma woman, who is identified in court documents as V.N., was booked into a room 'specially equipped for isolation, testing and treatment' at the Pierce County Jail, the local health department said, adding that she will still be able to choose whether she gets the 'live-saving treatment she needs.'"
"The latest employment report from the Labor Department showed the country's job market remained red hot, with 339,000 jobs added in May… It was a number that blew past expectations, considering the headwinds facing the economy including higher interest rates. Analysts had forecast around 190,000 jobs would be added."
"Overall, the report painted a mostly encouraging picture of the job market. Yet there were some mixed messages in the May figures. Notably, the unemployment rate rose to 3.7%, from a five-decade low of 3.4% in April. It’s the highest unemployment rate since October. (The government compiles the unemployment data using a different survey than the one used to calculate job gains, and the two surveys sometimes conflict.)"
Why doesn't anyone want to work anymore? "While there's no set rule, many jobs have traditionally required something between two and four interviews. But candidates for many white-collar positions are now up against a growing number of interview rounds — as many as eight, nine, or, in one staggering anecdote, 29 — as recent reporting by Slate and The Wall Street Journal makes clear." Seriously? That's just bad management.I've hired and fired more people than I can remember (okay, firing was about 4 people, I remember those). This is businesses forgetting that part of their job is finding the best person and growing them into the position. They're thinking they'll find someone they don't need to train or mentor. That's complete bullshit and you only find those by luck (not by interviewing technique). You hire the best person you can find, that doesn't take more than 3 interviews (unless the job is a half million or more, I've never been involved in that). If you don't know by then, you don't know how to manage or lead a team (which is the actual problem here).
"'Virtually every strike is based on timing that will hurt the employer,' said Stanford Law School professor William Gould, a former chairman of the National Labor Relations Board, and there was "great concern that the court would rule broadly to limit the rights of strikers. 'But that didn't happen,' he noted in an interview with NPR." Teaching us to be grateful for the crumbs that fall from the table of the rich.
"The bust out tactic wasn't limited to mocking middlebrow family restaurants. For years, the crooks who ran these ops did a brisk trade in blaming the internet. Why did Sears tank? Everyone knows that the 19th century business was an antique, incapable of mounting a challenge in the age of e-commerce. That was a great smokescreen for an old-fashioned bust out that saw corporate looters make off with hundreds of millions, leaving behind empty storefronts and emptier pension accounts for the workers who built the wealth the looters stole…" The pirate economy.
"Customers of Venmo, PayPal and CashApp should not store their money with those apps for the long term because the funds might not be safe during a crisis, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warned Thursday." They aren't banks, folks. There's no insurance to protect you there.
"While Kyiv is keeping silent about the start of any counteroffensive, fighting is raging in several sections of the front line, signaling that the long-expected campaign could be getting underway."
"Why are Republicans abandoning one of the best tools the government has to catch voter fraud? That simple question is the focus of a new NPR investigation, published Sunday… The tool is the Electronic Registration Information Center, better known as ERIC. It was created almost a decade ago as a way for states to share government data, in an effort to keep their voter rolls up to date. It allows election officials better insight into when their voters move and die and the rare times when they vote twice in different states, which is illegal." Because it was never about voter fraud, it was about keeping the "wrong people" from voting.
"In an SEC filing Friday, the company said that on May 26, 2023, it removed 'certain produced content' from its direct-to-consumer streaming services. As a result, Disney will record a $1.5 billion impairment charge in its fiscal third quarter financial statements 'to adjust the carrying value of these content assets to fair value.'" Losing to win.
"On Friday, a complaint was submitted about the signature scripture of the predominant faith in Utah, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, widely known as the Mormon church. District spokesperson Chris Williams confirmed that someone filed a review request for the Book of Mormon but would not say what reasons were listed. Citing a school board privacy policy, he also would not say whether it was from the same person who complained about the Bible."
"In the year since the Supreme Court struck down the nationwide right to abortion, America’s religious leaders and denominations have responded in strikingly diverse ways — some celebrating the state-level bans that have ensued, others angered that a conservative Christian cause has changed the law of the land in ways they consider oppressive."
"Barry, 54, pleaded with the arresting officer seven times back in November. He alerted the jail nurse and a court judge about his condition too. But in the two days that Barry was held at Duval County Jail in Jacksonville, Fla., no one allowed him access to the medication he desperately asked for… Three days after he was released from jail, Barry died from cardiac arrest that was caused by an acute rejection of the heart, Dr. Jose SuarezHoyos, a Florida pathologist who conducted a private autopsy of Barry on behalf of Barry's family, told NPR."
"A federal judge overseeing the First Amendment lawsuit that Walt Disney Parks filed against Gov. Ron DeSantis and others is disqualifying himself, but not because of bias claims made by the Florida governor… Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker said in a court filing Thursday that it was because a relative owns 30 shares of Disney stock. Walker described the person as “a third-degree relative,” which typically means a cousin, a great-aunt or great-uncle, or a great-niece or great-nephew."
"But two and a half years later, the company said it 'will stop removing content that advances false claims that widespread fraud, errors, or glitches occurred in the 2020 and other past U.S. Presidential elections' because things have changed. It said the decision was 'carefully deliberated… In the current environment, we find that while removing this content does curb some misinformation, it could also have the unintended effect of curtailing political speech without meaningfully reducing the risk of violence or other real-world harm,' YouTube said." I call bullshit.
"A top Twitter executive responsible for safety and content moderation has left the company, her departure coming soon after owner Elon Musk publicly complained about the platform’s handling of posts about transgender topics."
"At issue is an internal FBI document known as an FD-1023, which agents use to record unverified tips and information they receive from confidential human sources. The FBI says such documents can contain uncorroborated and incomplete information, and that documenting the tip does not validate it."
"Chris Licht came into the top spot at CNN pronouncing he had a clear view of what was wrong with the cable news channel, the vision to fix it, and the corporate backing that would enable him to turn the ship around… Barely more than a year later, with the channel's battered ratings further sagging, the formats for key shows still in doubt, internal strife at crisis levels, and journalists inside CNN still questioning what his vision is, Licht is gone, ousted by the corporate patron who wooed him to the network, Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav." The keep saying he failed. Nope, he did exactly what was expected of him. He sank CNN.
"More than two years into a conservative push against teaching about Black history, literature and gender identity in public schools, the Southern Poverty Law Center has concluded that a dozen so-called 'parental rights' groups behind the movement are extremist." About time.
"The Warren B. Rudman courthouse is one of several federal facilities around the country participating in the General Services Administration’s Pollinator Initiative, a government program aimed at assessing and promoting the health of bees and other pollinators, which are critical to life on Earth."
"Smoke from Canadian wildfires poured into the U.S. East Coast and Midwest on Wednesday, covering the capitals of both nations in an unhealthy haze, holding up flights at major airports, postponing Major League Baseball games and prompting people to fish out pandemic-era face masks."
"Bystander-initiated CPR may increase those odds to 10%. Survival after CPR for in-hospital cardiac arrest is slightly better, but still only about 17%. The numbers get even worse with age. A study in Sweden found that survival after out-of-hospital CPR dropped from 6.7% for patients in their 70s to just 2.4% for those over 90. Chronic illness matters too. One study found that less than 2% of patients with cancer or heart, lung, or liver disease were resuscitated with CPR and survived for six months." I've been lucky. The 2 people I've done CPR on we got back, at least long enough for me to leave the floor. CPR, while it can be lifesaving, is violent. As I tell the students that come through the hospital, "When you start CPR you'll hear a lot of noise, think of cracking your knuckles but 30 years worth all at one time. That's because that's partly what you're doing to the sternum. The other part is because it's common to break ribs when doing CPR. But know that you can't hurt the patient anymore than they already are. The patient is dead when you start CPR (this is not always or completely true, but close enough), they will not survive unless you do this. So if a doctor or the AED says start compressions, go ahead. You're giving them a chance at life." We then have a discussion of DNR orders, the effects of CPR, the probabilities, and making sure they express their wishes to those who may be in a position to either do CPR, or direct those who may.
"These deaths are often hidden in plain sight. For instance, nearly a thousand deaths a day are linked to diet-related disease — heart disease, complications from Type 2 diabetes and liver disease. And diet now outranks smoking as a leading cause of death around the globe. Chronic stress fueled by poverty and racism also contributes to the toll of preventable deaths… Deaths from chronic disease are not as dramatic, but the tragedy is that despite having the most sophisticated health care system in the world — great doctors, top-notch hospitals, lots of medical breakthroughs — the U.S. as a nation is not getting healthier." That's because those things stated in the first paragraph are considered "moral failings" (or in these later years, "our personal responsibility" to ourselves) and not environmental and political failings.
Yeah, wearing a mask to halt the spread of COVID is "infringing on your liberties." TB steps up and says, "Hold my beer." "A Washington state woman who was diagnosed with tuberculosis has been taken into custody after months of refusing treatment or isolation, officials said on Thursday… The Tacoma woman, who is identified in court documents as V.N., was booked into a room 'specially equipped for isolation, testing and treatment' at the Pierce County Jail, the local health department said, adding that she will still be able to choose whether she gets the 'live-saving treatment she needs.'"
"The latest employment report from the Labor Department showed the country's job market remained red hot, with 339,000 jobs added in May… It was a number that blew past expectations, considering the headwinds facing the economy including higher interest rates. Analysts had forecast around 190,000 jobs would be added."
"Overall, the report painted a mostly encouraging picture of the job market. Yet there were some mixed messages in the May figures. Notably, the unemployment rate rose to 3.7%, from a five-decade low of 3.4% in April. It’s the highest unemployment rate since October. (The government compiles the unemployment data using a different survey than the one used to calculate job gains, and the two surveys sometimes conflict.)"
Why doesn't anyone want to work anymore? "While there's no set rule, many jobs have traditionally required something between two and four interviews. But candidates for many white-collar positions are now up against a growing number of interview rounds — as many as eight, nine, or, in one staggering anecdote, 29 — as recent reporting by Slate and The Wall Street Journal makes clear." Seriously? That's just bad management.I've hired and fired more people than I can remember (okay, firing was about 4 people, I remember those). This is businesses forgetting that part of their job is finding the best person and growing them into the position. They're thinking they'll find someone they don't need to train or mentor. That's complete bullshit and you only find those by luck (not by interviewing technique). You hire the best person you can find, that doesn't take more than 3 interviews (unless the job is a half million or more, I've never been involved in that). If you don't know by then, you don't know how to manage or lead a team (which is the actual problem here).
"'Virtually every strike is based on timing that will hurt the employer,' said Stanford Law School professor William Gould, a former chairman of the National Labor Relations Board, and there was "great concern that the court would rule broadly to limit the rights of strikers. 'But that didn't happen,' he noted in an interview with NPR." Teaching us to be grateful for the crumbs that fall from the table of the rich.
"The bust out tactic wasn't limited to mocking middlebrow family restaurants. For years, the crooks who ran these ops did a brisk trade in blaming the internet. Why did Sears tank? Everyone knows that the 19th century business was an antique, incapable of mounting a challenge in the age of e-commerce. That was a great smokescreen for an old-fashioned bust out that saw corporate looters make off with hundreds of millions, leaving behind empty storefronts and emptier pension accounts for the workers who built the wealth the looters stole…" The pirate economy.
"Customers of Venmo, PayPal and CashApp should not store their money with those apps for the long term because the funds might not be safe during a crisis, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warned Thursday." They aren't banks, folks. There's no insurance to protect you there.
"While Kyiv is keeping silent about the start of any counteroffensive, fighting is raging in several sections of the front line, signaling that the long-expected campaign could be getting underway."
"Why are Republicans abandoning one of the best tools the government has to catch voter fraud? That simple question is the focus of a new NPR investigation, published Sunday… The tool is the Electronic Registration Information Center, better known as ERIC. It was created almost a decade ago as a way for states to share government data, in an effort to keep their voter rolls up to date. It allows election officials better insight into when their voters move and die and the rare times when they vote twice in different states, which is illegal." Because it was never about voter fraud, it was about keeping the "wrong people" from voting.
"In an SEC filing Friday, the company said that on May 26, 2023, it removed 'certain produced content' from its direct-to-consumer streaming services. As a result, Disney will record a $1.5 billion impairment charge in its fiscal third quarter financial statements 'to adjust the carrying value of these content assets to fair value.'" Losing to win.
"On Friday, a complaint was submitted about the signature scripture of the predominant faith in Utah, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, widely known as the Mormon church. District spokesperson Chris Williams confirmed that someone filed a review request for the Book of Mormon but would not say what reasons were listed. Citing a school board privacy policy, he also would not say whether it was from the same person who complained about the Bible."
"In the year since the Supreme Court struck down the nationwide right to abortion, America’s religious leaders and denominations have responded in strikingly diverse ways — some celebrating the state-level bans that have ensued, others angered that a conservative Christian cause has changed the law of the land in ways they consider oppressive."
"Barry, 54, pleaded with the arresting officer seven times back in November. He alerted the jail nurse and a court judge about his condition too. But in the two days that Barry was held at Duval County Jail in Jacksonville, Fla., no one allowed him access to the medication he desperately asked for… Three days after he was released from jail, Barry died from cardiac arrest that was caused by an acute rejection of the heart, Dr. Jose SuarezHoyos, a Florida pathologist who conducted a private autopsy of Barry on behalf of Barry's family, told NPR."
"A federal judge overseeing the First Amendment lawsuit that Walt Disney Parks filed against Gov. Ron DeSantis and others is disqualifying himself, but not because of bias claims made by the Florida governor… Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker said in a court filing Thursday that it was because a relative owns 30 shares of Disney stock. Walker described the person as “a third-degree relative,” which typically means a cousin, a great-aunt or great-uncle, or a great-niece or great-nephew."
"But two and a half years later, the company said it 'will stop removing content that advances false claims that widespread fraud, errors, or glitches occurred in the 2020 and other past U.S. Presidential elections' because things have changed. It said the decision was 'carefully deliberated… In the current environment, we find that while removing this content does curb some misinformation, it could also have the unintended effect of curtailing political speech without meaningfully reducing the risk of violence or other real-world harm,' YouTube said." I call bullshit.
"A top Twitter executive responsible for safety and content moderation has left the company, her departure coming soon after owner Elon Musk publicly complained about the platform’s handling of posts about transgender topics."
"At issue is an internal FBI document known as an FD-1023, which agents use to record unverified tips and information they receive from confidential human sources. The FBI says such documents can contain uncorroborated and incomplete information, and that documenting the tip does not validate it."
"Chris Licht came into the top spot at CNN pronouncing he had a clear view of what was wrong with the cable news channel, the vision to fix it, and the corporate backing that would enable him to turn the ship around… Barely more than a year later, with the channel's battered ratings further sagging, the formats for key shows still in doubt, internal strife at crisis levels, and journalists inside CNN still questioning what his vision is, Licht is gone, ousted by the corporate patron who wooed him to the network, Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav." The keep saying he failed. Nope, he did exactly what was expected of him. He sank CNN.
"More than two years into a conservative push against teaching about Black history, literature and gender identity in public schools, the Southern Poverty Law Center has concluded that a dozen so-called 'parental rights' groups behind the movement are extremist." About time.
Friday, June 2, 2023
Linkee-poo stumbles into Summer, June 2
"Ten lighthouses across the U.S. are being sold or given away for free by the General Services Administration."
"A new federal lawsuit alleges that recent decisions by officials in a Florida county to ban and restrict access to books in school libraries violates constitutional rights to free speech and equal protection under the law."
Feeling crabby? "A crab-like body plan has evolved at least five separate times among decapod crustaceans, a group that includes crabs, lobsters and shrimp. In fact, it's happened so often that there's a name for it: carcinization."
"Arizona will not approve new housing construction on the fast-growing edges of metro Phoenix that rely on groundwater thanks to years of overuse and a multi-decade drought that is sapping its water supply."
"As a math professor who teaches students to use data to make informed decisions, I am familiar with common mistakes people make when dealing with numbers. The Dunning-Kruger effect is the idea that the least skilled people overestimate their abilities more than anyone else. This sounds convincing on the surface and makes for excellent comedy. But in a recent paper, my colleagues and I suggest that the mathematical approach used to show this effect may be incorrect." But note, while this professor showed his math on the number of imaginary students, he declined to state how many real life students took his 25 question test, of if that test was repeated.
"Throwing things away comes with an environmental cost. Manufacturing processes and decomposing products in landfills emit significant levels of climate warming pollution. Some materials, like plastic, never decompose. Savage said it's time human beings reminded themselves that throwaway culture is a relatively new phenomenon. It started about a hundred years ago with the rise of mass manufacturing."
"A USAF official who was quoted saying the Air Force conducted a simulated test where an AI drone killed its human operator is now saying he 'misspoke' and that the Air Force never ran this kind of test, in a computer simulation or otherwise." Is there a drone flying over his head right now? And as I've stated elsewhere, this is exactly the plot to Clarke's 2001 and 2010.
"State Medicaid programs are reviewing the eligibility of roughly 90 million beneficiaries in the U.S., now that a rule suspending that process has expired. Those who remain eligible should be able to keep their coverage, and those who don't will lose it… But new data from states that have begun this process show that hundreds of thousands of people are losing coverage – not because of their income, but because of administrative problems, like missing a renewal notification in the mail."
"As a public health instructor, she taught college students about racial health disparities, including the fact that Black women in the U.S. are nearly three times more likely to die during pregnancy or delivery than any other race. Her home state of Alabama has the third-highest maternal mortality rate in the nation." While much of the community then says, "this is why we need more black doctors," and I agree, this is much more of a "we need to be aware of our bias and consciously work to counter it."
"For more than 20 years, the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) has operated a phone line and online platform for people seeking help with anorexia, bulimia, and other eating disorders. Last year, nearly 70,000 individuals used the helpline… NEDA shuttered that service in May. Instead, the non-profit will use a chatbot called Tessa that was designed by eating disorder experts, with funding from NEDA." Well, the workers there had just unionized. I'm sure this was total coincidence, though. But then, in a twist nobody could have foreseen… "The National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) has taken its chatbot called Tessa offline, two days before it was set to replace human associates who ran the organization’s hotline… following a viral social media post displaying how the chatbot encouraged unhealthy eating habits rather than helping someone with an eating disorder."
"A beluga whale long believed to be a Russian spy has surfaced in Sweden, fueling concerns about his well-being and efforts to protect him from dangerous boat traffic… Hvaldimir — a combination of the Norwegian word for whale (hval) and Russian President Vladimir Putin's first name — has spent the last several years swimming south down the coast of Norway, where he was first spotted by fishermen in 2019."
"Malaysia’s maritime agency said Monday it found a cannon shell believed to be from World War II on a Chinese-registered vessel and was investigating if the barge carrier was involved in the looting of two British warship wrecks in the South China Sea."
"The Marines knew almost immediately it was an accidental case of 'friendly fire' — the deadliest such Marine-on-Marine attack in decades — and they opened an investigation. But the families of the dead Marines were told it was enemy fire and didn't get the truth for three years. It seems the son of a prominent politician — Marine 1st Lt. Duncan D. Hunter — was involved in the mishap. His father, Duncan L. Hunter, was chairman of the powerful House Armed Services Committee at the time. Rather than tell the truth, the Marine Corps buried the report of its investigation for years."
"The Taliban and Iran exchanged heavy gunfire Saturday on the Islamic Republic’s border with Afghanistan, killing and wounding troops while sharply escalating rising tensions between the two countries amid a dispute over water rights."
"The U.S. Supreme Court Court on Thursday (May 25th) significantly curtailed the power of the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate the nation's wetlands and waterways. It was the court's second decision in a year limiting the ability of the agency to enact anti-pollution regulations and combat climate change."
"The FBI is investigating a cybercriminal group called 'the Comm' whose members are allegedly involved in a nationwide wave of swattings that impacted schools and universities earlier this year, according to court records reviewed by Motherboard."
But what do you do when it's the cops who do the SWATting? "On Wednesday morning, a heavily armed Atlanta Police Department SWAT team raided a house in Atlanta and arrested three of its residents. Their crime? Organizing legal support and bail funds for protesters and activists who have faced indiscriminate arrest and overreaching charges in the struggle to stop the construction of a vast police training facility — dubbed Cop City — atop a forest in Atlanta."
"President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached an agreement in principle to avoid a potentially disastrous government default and raise the nation's debt ceiling. But as details — and criticism — of the deal began to trickle out on Sunday, both sides moved to rally support for a plan that negotiators concede will not please everyone."
"Texas’ Republican-led House of Representatives impeached state Attorney General Ken Paxton on Saturday on articles including bribery and abuse of public trust, a sudden, historic rebuke of a GOP official who rose to be a star of the conservative legal movement despite years of scandal and alleged crimes."
"In the recesses of the internet where some of Donald Trump’s most fervent supporters stoke conspiracies and plot his return to the White House, suspected con artists have been mining their disappointment over the last presidential election for gold… They’ve been peddling 'Trump Bucks,' which are emblazoned with photos of the former president, and advertising them online as a kind of golden ticket that will help propel Trump’s 2024 bid and make the 'real patriots' who support him rich when cashed in." Grifters attract other grifters.
"An Arkansas man who propped his feet on a desk in then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office in a widely circulated photo from the U.S. Capitol riot was sentenced Wednesday to more than four years in prison."
"The August election has also drawn opposition from local election officials. A GOP-backed state law that took effect in April made a number of changes to voting, including banning most August special elections. But on May 10, Republican lawmakers approved a statewide vote this upcoming August to decide on a resolution to make it harder to amend the Ohio Constitution… Republicans want voters to raise the threshold for approving future amendments to the Ohio Constitution from a simple majority to 60%, before a possible November ballot measure to codify abortion rights in the constitution." This is a blatant power grab by the legislature. If you're in Ohio and eligible to vote, I encourage you to vote this fucker down.
"A new federal lawsuit alleges that recent decisions by officials in a Florida county to ban and restrict access to books in school libraries violates constitutional rights to free speech and equal protection under the law."
Feeling crabby? "A crab-like body plan has evolved at least five separate times among decapod crustaceans, a group that includes crabs, lobsters and shrimp. In fact, it's happened so often that there's a name for it: carcinization."
"Arizona will not approve new housing construction on the fast-growing edges of metro Phoenix that rely on groundwater thanks to years of overuse and a multi-decade drought that is sapping its water supply."
"As a math professor who teaches students to use data to make informed decisions, I am familiar with common mistakes people make when dealing with numbers. The Dunning-Kruger effect is the idea that the least skilled people overestimate their abilities more than anyone else. This sounds convincing on the surface and makes for excellent comedy. But in a recent paper, my colleagues and I suggest that the mathematical approach used to show this effect may be incorrect." But note, while this professor showed his math on the number of imaginary students, he declined to state how many real life students took his 25 question test, of if that test was repeated.
"Throwing things away comes with an environmental cost. Manufacturing processes and decomposing products in landfills emit significant levels of climate warming pollution. Some materials, like plastic, never decompose. Savage said it's time human beings reminded themselves that throwaway culture is a relatively new phenomenon. It started about a hundred years ago with the rise of mass manufacturing."
"A USAF official who was quoted saying the Air Force conducted a simulated test where an AI drone killed its human operator is now saying he 'misspoke' and that the Air Force never ran this kind of test, in a computer simulation or otherwise." Is there a drone flying over his head right now? And as I've stated elsewhere, this is exactly the plot to Clarke's 2001 and 2010.
"State Medicaid programs are reviewing the eligibility of roughly 90 million beneficiaries in the U.S., now that a rule suspending that process has expired. Those who remain eligible should be able to keep their coverage, and those who don't will lose it… But new data from states that have begun this process show that hundreds of thousands of people are losing coverage – not because of their income, but because of administrative problems, like missing a renewal notification in the mail."
"As a public health instructor, she taught college students about racial health disparities, including the fact that Black women in the U.S. are nearly three times more likely to die during pregnancy or delivery than any other race. Her home state of Alabama has the third-highest maternal mortality rate in the nation." While much of the community then says, "this is why we need more black doctors," and I agree, this is much more of a "we need to be aware of our bias and consciously work to counter it."
"For more than 20 years, the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) has operated a phone line and online platform for people seeking help with anorexia, bulimia, and other eating disorders. Last year, nearly 70,000 individuals used the helpline… NEDA shuttered that service in May. Instead, the non-profit will use a chatbot called Tessa that was designed by eating disorder experts, with funding from NEDA." Well, the workers there had just unionized. I'm sure this was total coincidence, though. But then, in a twist nobody could have foreseen… "The National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) has taken its chatbot called Tessa offline, two days before it was set to replace human associates who ran the organization’s hotline… following a viral social media post displaying how the chatbot encouraged unhealthy eating habits rather than helping someone with an eating disorder."
"A beluga whale long believed to be a Russian spy has surfaced in Sweden, fueling concerns about his well-being and efforts to protect him from dangerous boat traffic… Hvaldimir — a combination of the Norwegian word for whale (hval) and Russian President Vladimir Putin's first name — has spent the last several years swimming south down the coast of Norway, where he was first spotted by fishermen in 2019."
"Malaysia’s maritime agency said Monday it found a cannon shell believed to be from World War II on a Chinese-registered vessel and was investigating if the barge carrier was involved in the looting of two British warship wrecks in the South China Sea."
"The Marines knew almost immediately it was an accidental case of 'friendly fire' — the deadliest such Marine-on-Marine attack in decades — and they opened an investigation. But the families of the dead Marines were told it was enemy fire and didn't get the truth for three years. It seems the son of a prominent politician — Marine 1st Lt. Duncan D. Hunter — was involved in the mishap. His father, Duncan L. Hunter, was chairman of the powerful House Armed Services Committee at the time. Rather than tell the truth, the Marine Corps buried the report of its investigation for years."
"The Taliban and Iran exchanged heavy gunfire Saturday on the Islamic Republic’s border with Afghanistan, killing and wounding troops while sharply escalating rising tensions between the two countries amid a dispute over water rights."
"The U.S. Supreme Court Court on Thursday (May 25th) significantly curtailed the power of the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate the nation's wetlands and waterways. It was the court's second decision in a year limiting the ability of the agency to enact anti-pollution regulations and combat climate change."
"The FBI is investigating a cybercriminal group called 'the Comm' whose members are allegedly involved in a nationwide wave of swattings that impacted schools and universities earlier this year, according to court records reviewed by Motherboard."
But what do you do when it's the cops who do the SWATting? "On Wednesday morning, a heavily armed Atlanta Police Department SWAT team raided a house in Atlanta and arrested three of its residents. Their crime? Organizing legal support and bail funds for protesters and activists who have faced indiscriminate arrest and overreaching charges in the struggle to stop the construction of a vast police training facility — dubbed Cop City — atop a forest in Atlanta."
"President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached an agreement in principle to avoid a potentially disastrous government default and raise the nation's debt ceiling. But as details — and criticism — of the deal began to trickle out on Sunday, both sides moved to rally support for a plan that negotiators concede will not please everyone."
"Texas’ Republican-led House of Representatives impeached state Attorney General Ken Paxton on Saturday on articles including bribery and abuse of public trust, a sudden, historic rebuke of a GOP official who rose to be a star of the conservative legal movement despite years of scandal and alleged crimes."
"In the recesses of the internet where some of Donald Trump’s most fervent supporters stoke conspiracies and plot his return to the White House, suspected con artists have been mining their disappointment over the last presidential election for gold… They’ve been peddling 'Trump Bucks,' which are emblazoned with photos of the former president, and advertising them online as a kind of golden ticket that will help propel Trump’s 2024 bid and make the 'real patriots' who support him rich when cashed in." Grifters attract other grifters.
"An Arkansas man who propped his feet on a desk in then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office in a widely circulated photo from the U.S. Capitol riot was sentenced Wednesday to more than four years in prison."
"The August election has also drawn opposition from local election officials. A GOP-backed state law that took effect in April made a number of changes to voting, including banning most August special elections. But on May 10, Republican lawmakers approved a statewide vote this upcoming August to decide on a resolution to make it harder to amend the Ohio Constitution… Republicans want voters to raise the threshold for approving future amendments to the Ohio Constitution from a simple majority to 60%, before a possible November ballot measure to codify abortion rights in the constitution." This is a blatant power grab by the legislature. If you're in Ohio and eligible to vote, I encourage you to vote this fucker down.
Wednesday, May 24, 2023
Linkee-poo, what's love got to do with it
Tina Turner, and so it goes.
"Once we became aware that data from AO3 was being included in the Common Crawl dataset — which is used to train AI such as ChatGPT — we put code in place in December 2022 requesting Common Crawl not scrape the Archive again."
"Orcas have attacked and sunk a third boat off the Iberian coast of Europe, and experts now believe the behavior is being copied by the rest of the population."
"A deep sea-mapping company has created the first-ever full-sized digital scan of the Titanic, revealing an entirely new view of the world's most famous shipwreck."
"But the rupture in Satartia underscores growing concerns across communities that face the prospect of more CO2 pipelines being built to address climate change. Safety advocates and community residents worry about pipeline safety and gaps in federal regulation, says Bill Caram, executive director of the nonprofit Pipeline Safety Trust. 'We're looking at those pipelines being a lot closer to people and communities than they are right now,' Caram says. 'We are not yet ready.'"
"Human activities have caused more than half of the world's largest lakes to shrink dramatically over the last 30 years, according to a new study published in the journal Science. The implications pose risks to human health, economies and the natural world."
"The idea that profits drove our current bout of inflation surfaced in the last few years among progressive economists and lawmakers but was waved away by more mainstream types as a 'conspiracy theory.' That changed earlier this year." I mean, corporate America only told us this with every quarterly earning report since 2020.
On the enshitification of the internet economy (also known as Web 2.0). "On (On the Media), we’ve spent many hours dissecting the digital anatomy of the internet. We’ve chronicled concerns about privacy, the appeal of connection, the rapture of echo chambers, and the ever-bumbling attempts to regulate it all. But now we turn to the increasingly potent feeling that, when it comes to the world wide web, everything kinda seems to be getting worse… This week, Brooke sits down for the first of three conversations with with Cory Doctorow, journalist, activist, author of the new novel Red Team Blues, and special advisor to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, to discuss his theory on why going online might feel less and more repellent, how that happened, and what we can do about it." Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 which explores some solutions.
"Amanda Gorman's poetry has heralded a presidential inauguration and a U.N. General Assembly — but access to it is now restricted at a Miami-Dade County school, the latest casualty in the fight over library books."
"Target once distinguished itself as being boldly supportive of the LGBTQ+ community… Now that status is tarnished after it removed some LGBTQ+-themed products and relocated Pride Month displays to the back of stores in certain Southern locations in response to online complaints and in-store confrontations that it says threatened employees’ well-being."
"More than 450 Catholic clergy in Illinois sexually abused nearly 2,000 children since 1950, the state’s attorney general found in an investigation released Tuesday, revealing that the problem was far worse than the church had let on." I know, I'm shocked as well. I didn't know the Catholic Church hosted that many drag shows.
"Owners of the Keystone pipeline knew a defect had formed years before the strain finally caused the pipeline to burst and flood a Kansas creek with oil last year… The Keystone pipeline, owned by TC Energy, burst near the Kansas-Nebraska border late last year, spilling almost 13,000 barrels of oil onto adjacent farmland and into Mill Creek." It's almost like they put profits in front of safety and the environment.
"A man in Kentucky’s largest city is facing criminal charges after allegedly shooting his roommate during a dispute over a Hot Pocket, authorities say." Ahh, that polite society the NRA talks about.
"The issue of gun control came to a head in Maryland after a man began regularly standing at a school bus stop with an AR-15-style rifle in his hands… For the past few weeks, J'Den McAdory, 20, has been strolling around his neighborhood in Severn, Md., with a long gun in what he says is a protest against recent state gun control legislation."
"In the wake of the 2018 passage of the internet child protection bill FOSTA-SESTA in the US, fandom’s proudly sex-positive culture has increasingly become sanitized, homogenized, and erased — which has allowed the puritanical voices of these “anti-fans” to take their place… This trend would be bad news in any online community, but it’s been especially heady and unwieldy in fandom, an entire culture built around feeling things strongly, not rationally. The result is one of the unlikeliest fronts of the culture war: an internet community, once the bastion of delightful deviance and subversion, being completely overtaken by a new form of purity culture often spearheaded by people who would otherwise describe themselves as politically liberal." (Grokked form Jason Sanford, I think)
"For more than three hours, investigators presented findings alleging Paxton sought to hide an affair, misused his office to help a donor, skirted protocols “grossly outside” norms and built a culture of fear and retaliation in his office. Investigators told the GOP-led House General Investigating Committee that there was evidence that Paxton repeatedly broke the law over the years, including by misusing official information, abusing his official capacity and retaliation."
"A news story blaming White House immigration policies for causing more than 20 homeless veterans to be booted from their temporary shelters is now being denounced as an elaborate hoax, with the New York lawmaker at the center calling it a heartbreaking affront to his work to help veterans." But, you know, he's not really sad about it because "he is undeterred in his opposition to President Joe Biden’s immigration policies and their potential effects on states like New York. But he conceded that in this case, the concerns were unfounded." (Grokked from Chang)
"Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis launched his 2024 presidential campaign on Wednesday with firm words but a disastrous Twitter announcement that did little to counter criticism that the 44-year-old Republican may not be ready to take on former President Donald Trump."v "A defiant House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Wednesday the debt ceiling standoff was 'not my fault' as he sent Republican negotiators to the White House to finish out talks, but warned the two sides need more time as they try to reach a budget deal with President Joe Biden." Hey Kevin, you're Speaker of the House. It is your fault, no matter what.
"Once we became aware that data from AO3 was being included in the Common Crawl dataset — which is used to train AI such as ChatGPT — we put code in place in December 2022 requesting Common Crawl not scrape the Archive again."
"Orcas have attacked and sunk a third boat off the Iberian coast of Europe, and experts now believe the behavior is being copied by the rest of the population."
"A deep sea-mapping company has created the first-ever full-sized digital scan of the Titanic, revealing an entirely new view of the world's most famous shipwreck."
"But the rupture in Satartia underscores growing concerns across communities that face the prospect of more CO2 pipelines being built to address climate change. Safety advocates and community residents worry about pipeline safety and gaps in federal regulation, says Bill Caram, executive director of the nonprofit Pipeline Safety Trust. 'We're looking at those pipelines being a lot closer to people and communities than they are right now,' Caram says. 'We are not yet ready.'"
"Human activities have caused more than half of the world's largest lakes to shrink dramatically over the last 30 years, according to a new study published in the journal Science. The implications pose risks to human health, economies and the natural world."
"The idea that profits drove our current bout of inflation surfaced in the last few years among progressive economists and lawmakers but was waved away by more mainstream types as a 'conspiracy theory.' That changed earlier this year." I mean, corporate America only told us this with every quarterly earning report since 2020.
On the enshitification of the internet economy (also known as Web 2.0). "On (On the Media), we’ve spent many hours dissecting the digital anatomy of the internet. We’ve chronicled concerns about privacy, the appeal of connection, the rapture of echo chambers, and the ever-bumbling attempts to regulate it all. But now we turn to the increasingly potent feeling that, when it comes to the world wide web, everything kinda seems to be getting worse… This week, Brooke sits down for the first of three conversations with with Cory Doctorow, journalist, activist, author of the new novel Red Team Blues, and special advisor to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, to discuss his theory on why going online might feel less and more repellent, how that happened, and what we can do about it." Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 which explores some solutions.
"Amanda Gorman's poetry has heralded a presidential inauguration and a U.N. General Assembly — but access to it is now restricted at a Miami-Dade County school, the latest casualty in the fight over library books."
"Target once distinguished itself as being boldly supportive of the LGBTQ+ community… Now that status is tarnished after it removed some LGBTQ+-themed products and relocated Pride Month displays to the back of stores in certain Southern locations in response to online complaints and in-store confrontations that it says threatened employees’ well-being."
"More than 450 Catholic clergy in Illinois sexually abused nearly 2,000 children since 1950, the state’s attorney general found in an investigation released Tuesday, revealing that the problem was far worse than the church had let on." I know, I'm shocked as well. I didn't know the Catholic Church hosted that many drag shows.
"Owners of the Keystone pipeline knew a defect had formed years before the strain finally caused the pipeline to burst and flood a Kansas creek with oil last year… The Keystone pipeline, owned by TC Energy, burst near the Kansas-Nebraska border late last year, spilling almost 13,000 barrels of oil onto adjacent farmland and into Mill Creek." It's almost like they put profits in front of safety and the environment.
"A man in Kentucky’s largest city is facing criminal charges after allegedly shooting his roommate during a dispute over a Hot Pocket, authorities say." Ahh, that polite society the NRA talks about.
"The issue of gun control came to a head in Maryland after a man began regularly standing at a school bus stop with an AR-15-style rifle in his hands… For the past few weeks, J'Den McAdory, 20, has been strolling around his neighborhood in Severn, Md., with a long gun in what he says is a protest against recent state gun control legislation."
"In the wake of the 2018 passage of the internet child protection bill FOSTA-SESTA in the US, fandom’s proudly sex-positive culture has increasingly become sanitized, homogenized, and erased — which has allowed the puritanical voices of these “anti-fans” to take their place… This trend would be bad news in any online community, but it’s been especially heady and unwieldy in fandom, an entire culture built around feeling things strongly, not rationally. The result is one of the unlikeliest fronts of the culture war: an internet community, once the bastion of delightful deviance and subversion, being completely overtaken by a new form of purity culture often spearheaded by people who would otherwise describe themselves as politically liberal." (Grokked form Jason Sanford, I think)
"For more than three hours, investigators presented findings alleging Paxton sought to hide an affair, misused his office to help a donor, skirted protocols “grossly outside” norms and built a culture of fear and retaliation in his office. Investigators told the GOP-led House General Investigating Committee that there was evidence that Paxton repeatedly broke the law over the years, including by misusing official information, abusing his official capacity and retaliation."
"A news story blaming White House immigration policies for causing more than 20 homeless veterans to be booted from their temporary shelters is now being denounced as an elaborate hoax, with the New York lawmaker at the center calling it a heartbreaking affront to his work to help veterans." But, you know, he's not really sad about it because "he is undeterred in his opposition to President Joe Biden’s immigration policies and their potential effects on states like New York. But he conceded that in this case, the concerns were unfounded." (Grokked from Chang)
"Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis launched his 2024 presidential campaign on Wednesday with firm words but a disastrous Twitter announcement that did little to counter criticism that the 44-year-old Republican may not be ready to take on former President Donald Trump."v "A defiant House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Wednesday the debt ceiling standoff was 'not my fault' as he sent Republican negotiators to the White House to finish out talks, but warned the two sides need more time as they try to reach a budget deal with President Joe Biden." Hey Kevin, you're Speaker of the House. It is your fault, no matter what.
Thursday, May 18, 2023
Linkee-poo late Thursday May 18
"Scaffolding in a niche of the Vatican Museums’ Round Hall conceal from view the work of restorers who are removing centuries of grime from the largest known bronze statue of the ancient world: the gilded Hercules Mastai Righetti."
"In a 7-2 vote on Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Andy Warhol infringed on photographer Lynn Goldsmith's copyright when he created a series of silk screen images based on a photograph Goldsmith shot of the late musician Prince in 1981."
"The Mastcam-Z instrument aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover recently collected 152 images while looking deep into Belva Crater, a large impact crater within the far larger Jezero Crater. Stitched into a dramatic mosaic, the results are not only eye-catching, but also provide the rover’s science team some deep insights into the interior of Jezero."
"Temperatures are expected to be warmest relative to average in the country’s midsection from June through August with risks for cooler weather on the East and West coasts, according to the latest outlook from The Weather Company, an IBM Business, and Atmospheric G2… But the fly in this forecast ointment may be a cooler start to summer – particularly in the Southwest and possibly into the South."
"A BP subsidiary will pay a $40 million penalty and install technology to control releases of benzene and other contaminants at its Whiting oil refinery on the Indiana shoreline of Lake Michigan, Biden administration officials said Wednesday."
"The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a nearly $11 billion investment on Tuesday to help bring affordable clean energy to rural communities throughout the country… Rural electric cooperatives, renewable energy companies and electric utilities will be able to apply for funding through two programs, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said during a media briefing on Monday."
"The Biden administration on Wednesday announced $251 million for carbon capture and storage projects in seven states, aiming to reducing reduce planet-warming pollution from power plants and other industrial facilities."
"But fewer haddock will be caught in New England this year after regulators cut fishing quotas. A recent scientific assessment found that the Gulf of Maine haddock stock declined unexpectedly, and that meant the catch quotas for the fish were unsustainably high, federal fishing managers said."
"Griffiths told me the results were astonishing. Not only did (psilocybin) reduce anxiety and depression in patients, for some of them it unlocked a spiritual experience… Now, Griffiths is looking at all this from the other side. In early 2022, he was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. Doctors think he only has a few months to live. I had an incredible conversation with this world-renowned scientist and healer about how he is coming to grips with his own mortality, and the mystery of what comes next."
"But many experts say these officers aren't experiencing fentanyl or opioid overdoses… 'This has never happened,' said Dr. Ryan Marino, a toxicologist and emergency room physician who studies addiction at Case Western Reserve University. 'There has never been an overdose through skin contact or accidentally inhaling fentanyl.'" Funny that. It doesn't mean these officers don't need help or are not actually feeling an affect, but it's not fentanyl.
"With new and used cars still painfully expensive, Ryan Holdsworth says he plans to keep his 9-year-old Chevy Cruze for at least four more years. Limiting his car payments and his overall debt is a bigger priority for him than having a new vehicle."
"The next big potential risk to the U.S. economy may be lurking in corporate towers across the country's downtown districts… With many people still working from home, companies are cutting back on so much office space that it threatens to unleash even more headwinds for the U.S. economy." Or, and just hear me out here, we could redevelop that space into affordable apartment complexes. Alternatively, the could lower rents which would draw back actual offices (as compared to cubical farms).
"Retail sales increased 0.4% in April compared with March, when sales decreased 0.7%. That is the first retail sales increase since January, when unusually warm weather and a big jump in Social Security benefits juiced spending."
"More than a year after launching an effort to unionize, dancers at a topless dive bar in Los Angeles are close to becoming the only unionized group of strippers in the U.S.… Lawyers representing the owners of the Star Garden Topless Dive Bar have withdrawn all election challenges and have agreed to recognize the union, organizers said on Tuesday."
"Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are pushing to keep AM radio in the nation’s cars… A bipartisan group in Congress has introduced the “AM for Every Vehicle Act.” The bill calls on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to require automakers to keep AM radio in new cars at no additional cost." *cough*Salem Media*cough* In case you need reminded, the On the Media Podcast series "The Divided Dial."
"(A) federal investigation found that three Kentucky-based McDonald’s franchises illegally employed at least 305 children, including some as young as 10 years old. The three franchises — Bauer Food LLC, Archways Richwood LLC, and Bell Restaurant Group I LLC — operate 62 stores across Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland, and Ohio."
"Russia’s hypersonic missiles have taken a dual hit this week from Patriots fired by Ukraine and 'patriots' arrested at home… Once touted as unstoppable, the program now faces growing domestic fallout from treason charges against three scientists who worked on the technology, just as Kyiv claims its U.S.-supplied air defense systems have been able to shoot many of the missiles down." Well, someone has to pay for their failure. Although, if I understand it correctly, Russia's hypersonic weapons are ballistic missiles and only achieve their speed very high in the atmosphere (where it's easy), but then look like most other ballistic missiles as they slow down in the thicker air when they get close to their target. Patriot, while not designed as an anti-ballistic system, has shown it can function very well as one.
"The Pentagon has overestimated the value of the weapons it has sent to Ukraine by at least $3 billion — an accounting error that could be a boon for the war effort because it will allow the Defense Department to send more weapons now without asking Congress for more money." Well, isn't that convenient.
"The Ukraine Black Sea grain deal has been extended for two more months, in what U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hailed as 'good news for the world,' a day before Russia could have quit the pact over obstacles to its grain and fertiliser exports."
"A dozen poor countries are facing economic instability and even collapse under the weight of hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign loans, much of them from the world’s biggest and most unforgiving government lender, China." You say that like that wasn't the actual plan. See, then China will forgive, or refinance, if only those governments would, maybe, give China the property they developed, or favorable trade rights, or ownership of ports… Welcome to Belt and Road.
"An investigation led by Republican Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, has sent doctors at an Austin hospital into a panic, causing all the physicians in its adolescent medicine department to depart… Earlier this week, Dell Children’s clinic, which provides gender-affirming care for trans children, announced to parents that they would need to find new providers for their children in transition."
More guns make us safer… "Matthew Davis, 32, admonished Angel Gomez, 20, for being disorderly in the parking lot of the Keene, Texas, restaurant at about 9:40 p.m. last Saturday. A physical altercation ensued, then the juvenile suspect, who is unnamed because they are (12), allegedly shot Davis multiple times from the back seat of Gomez's vehicle, the Keene Police Department said… Davis was transported to the hospital, where he died."
You should keep a gun to protect yourself… "A Mexican woman who killed a man defending herself when he attacked and raped her in 2021 was sentenced to more than six years in prison, a decision her legal defense called 'discriminatory' and vowed to appeal Tuesday."
"A Florida teacher is under investigation by the state's Department of Education after she showed her students a Disney movie that features a gay character… Jenna Barbee, who teaches fifth grade in the Hernando County School District, says a student's mother lodged a complaint with education officials after Barbee showed the film Strange World in her classroom."
"Disney on Thursday upped the ante in its battle with Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, and it cost his state 2,000 white-collar jobs… Disney is scrapping plans to build a $1 billion office complex in Florida, citing 'changing business conditions,' according to a memo provided by a Disney spokesperson."
"Two staff members at Rep. Gerry Connolly's district office in Fairfax, Va., were attacked Monday by a person armed with a baseball bat, according to a statement released by the Democratic lawmaker."
"The report Monday from special counsel John Durham represents the long-awaited culmination of an investigation that Trump and allies had claimed would expose massive wrongdoing by law enforcement and intelligence officials. Instead, Durham’s investigation delivered underwhelming results, with prosecutors securing a guilty plea from a little-known FBI employee but losing the only two criminal cases they took to trial."
"Deegan, who will be the city’s first female mayor, is also only the second Democrat elected mayor in Jacksonville in the past three decades. She framed herself as a voice of opposition who will clean up what she asserts is a widely viewed culture of corruption in city government and bring in those who have historically been “left behind” when it comes to economic development. Her priorities are infrastructure, public health and small business."
"Minnesota Democratic Party leaders met in a closed executive session over Zoom on Thursday evening to discuss a rule change that would permanently ban people involved in violence from party activities, just days after chaos broke out during a weekend convention to endorse a candidate for a Minneapolis City Council race."
"A group of longtime Republican operatives is launching a super PAC supporting the expected presidential campaign of former Vice President Mike Pence… The move is the strongest signal yet that Pence is planning to officially challenge former President Donald Trump for the GOP nomination. Pence has been signaling his plan for months with campaign-style trips to early voting states including Iowa and New Hampshire." Or, it's just another grift and/or way to transfer generational wealth without tax liabilities.
"A man who spent a night in jail for smacking Rudy Giuliani on the back and calling him a “scumbag” is suing him and several New York City police officers for false arrest and defamation."
"A woman who says she worked as an off-the-books employee for Rudy Giuliani during his stint as Donald Trump’s personal lawyer alleges in court papers that the former New York City mayor coerced her into sex and owes her nearly $2 million in unpaid wages." And supposedly there are tapes.
"The lawsuit seeks $2.4 million from the fake electors and their attorneys, alleging they were part of a conspiracy by Trump and his allies to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential race. It also seeks to disqualify the Republicans from ever serving as electors again."
"Computer engineers and tech-inclined political scientists have warned for years that cheap, powerful artificial intelligence tools would soon allow anyone to create fake images, video and audio that was realistic enough to fool voters and perhaps sway an election." But now the technology has matured, and our collective ability to shift through the bullshit has been diminished.
"An independent candidate defeated a longtime Republican office holder to become the first elected Black mayor in Colorado Springs, Colorado’s second largest with a history of being a conservative stronghold."
"The FBI disclosed to the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that two of the scheduled witnesses — Marcus Allen and Steve Friend — had their security clearances revoked earlier this month, according to a letter from Christopher Dunham, the acting assistant director of the FBI." The hypocrisy of the GOP would be funny if it weren't so deadly.
"In a 7-2 vote on Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Andy Warhol infringed on photographer Lynn Goldsmith's copyright when he created a series of silk screen images based on a photograph Goldsmith shot of the late musician Prince in 1981."
"The Mastcam-Z instrument aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover recently collected 152 images while looking deep into Belva Crater, a large impact crater within the far larger Jezero Crater. Stitched into a dramatic mosaic, the results are not only eye-catching, but also provide the rover’s science team some deep insights into the interior of Jezero."
"Temperatures are expected to be warmest relative to average in the country’s midsection from June through August with risks for cooler weather on the East and West coasts, according to the latest outlook from The Weather Company, an IBM Business, and Atmospheric G2… But the fly in this forecast ointment may be a cooler start to summer – particularly in the Southwest and possibly into the South."
"A BP subsidiary will pay a $40 million penalty and install technology to control releases of benzene and other contaminants at its Whiting oil refinery on the Indiana shoreline of Lake Michigan, Biden administration officials said Wednesday."
"The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a nearly $11 billion investment on Tuesday to help bring affordable clean energy to rural communities throughout the country… Rural electric cooperatives, renewable energy companies and electric utilities will be able to apply for funding through two programs, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said during a media briefing on Monday."
"The Biden administration on Wednesday announced $251 million for carbon capture and storage projects in seven states, aiming to reducing reduce planet-warming pollution from power plants and other industrial facilities."
"But fewer haddock will be caught in New England this year after regulators cut fishing quotas. A recent scientific assessment found that the Gulf of Maine haddock stock declined unexpectedly, and that meant the catch quotas for the fish were unsustainably high, federal fishing managers said."
"Griffiths told me the results were astonishing. Not only did (psilocybin) reduce anxiety and depression in patients, for some of them it unlocked a spiritual experience… Now, Griffiths is looking at all this from the other side. In early 2022, he was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. Doctors think he only has a few months to live. I had an incredible conversation with this world-renowned scientist and healer about how he is coming to grips with his own mortality, and the mystery of what comes next."
"But many experts say these officers aren't experiencing fentanyl or opioid overdoses… 'This has never happened,' said Dr. Ryan Marino, a toxicologist and emergency room physician who studies addiction at Case Western Reserve University. 'There has never been an overdose through skin contact or accidentally inhaling fentanyl.'" Funny that. It doesn't mean these officers don't need help or are not actually feeling an affect, but it's not fentanyl.
"With new and used cars still painfully expensive, Ryan Holdsworth says he plans to keep his 9-year-old Chevy Cruze for at least four more years. Limiting his car payments and his overall debt is a bigger priority for him than having a new vehicle."
"The next big potential risk to the U.S. economy may be lurking in corporate towers across the country's downtown districts… With many people still working from home, companies are cutting back on so much office space that it threatens to unleash even more headwinds for the U.S. economy." Or, and just hear me out here, we could redevelop that space into affordable apartment complexes. Alternatively, the could lower rents which would draw back actual offices (as compared to cubical farms).
"Retail sales increased 0.4% in April compared with March, when sales decreased 0.7%. That is the first retail sales increase since January, when unusually warm weather and a big jump in Social Security benefits juiced spending."
"More than a year after launching an effort to unionize, dancers at a topless dive bar in Los Angeles are close to becoming the only unionized group of strippers in the U.S.… Lawyers representing the owners of the Star Garden Topless Dive Bar have withdrawn all election challenges and have agreed to recognize the union, organizers said on Tuesday."
"Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are pushing to keep AM radio in the nation’s cars… A bipartisan group in Congress has introduced the “AM for Every Vehicle Act.” The bill calls on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to require automakers to keep AM radio in new cars at no additional cost." *cough*Salem Media*cough* In case you need reminded, the On the Media Podcast series "The Divided Dial."
"(A) federal investigation found that three Kentucky-based McDonald’s franchises illegally employed at least 305 children, including some as young as 10 years old. The three franchises — Bauer Food LLC, Archways Richwood LLC, and Bell Restaurant Group I LLC — operate 62 stores across Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland, and Ohio."
"Russia’s hypersonic missiles have taken a dual hit this week from Patriots fired by Ukraine and 'patriots' arrested at home… Once touted as unstoppable, the program now faces growing domestic fallout from treason charges against three scientists who worked on the technology, just as Kyiv claims its U.S.-supplied air defense systems have been able to shoot many of the missiles down." Well, someone has to pay for their failure. Although, if I understand it correctly, Russia's hypersonic weapons are ballistic missiles and only achieve their speed very high in the atmosphere (where it's easy), but then look like most other ballistic missiles as they slow down in the thicker air when they get close to their target. Patriot, while not designed as an anti-ballistic system, has shown it can function very well as one.
"The Pentagon has overestimated the value of the weapons it has sent to Ukraine by at least $3 billion — an accounting error that could be a boon for the war effort because it will allow the Defense Department to send more weapons now without asking Congress for more money." Well, isn't that convenient.
"The Ukraine Black Sea grain deal has been extended for two more months, in what U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hailed as 'good news for the world,' a day before Russia could have quit the pact over obstacles to its grain and fertiliser exports."
"A dozen poor countries are facing economic instability and even collapse under the weight of hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign loans, much of them from the world’s biggest and most unforgiving government lender, China." You say that like that wasn't the actual plan. See, then China will forgive, or refinance, if only those governments would, maybe, give China the property they developed, or favorable trade rights, or ownership of ports… Welcome to Belt and Road.
"An investigation led by Republican Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, has sent doctors at an Austin hospital into a panic, causing all the physicians in its adolescent medicine department to depart… Earlier this week, Dell Children’s clinic, which provides gender-affirming care for trans children, announced to parents that they would need to find new providers for their children in transition."
More guns make us safer… "Matthew Davis, 32, admonished Angel Gomez, 20, for being disorderly in the parking lot of the Keene, Texas, restaurant at about 9:40 p.m. last Saturday. A physical altercation ensued, then the juvenile suspect, who is unnamed because they are (12), allegedly shot Davis multiple times from the back seat of Gomez's vehicle, the Keene Police Department said… Davis was transported to the hospital, where he died."
You should keep a gun to protect yourself… "A Mexican woman who killed a man defending herself when he attacked and raped her in 2021 was sentenced to more than six years in prison, a decision her legal defense called 'discriminatory' and vowed to appeal Tuesday."
"A Florida teacher is under investigation by the state's Department of Education after she showed her students a Disney movie that features a gay character… Jenna Barbee, who teaches fifth grade in the Hernando County School District, says a student's mother lodged a complaint with education officials after Barbee showed the film Strange World in her classroom."
"Disney on Thursday upped the ante in its battle with Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, and it cost his state 2,000 white-collar jobs… Disney is scrapping plans to build a $1 billion office complex in Florida, citing 'changing business conditions,' according to a memo provided by a Disney spokesperson."
"Two staff members at Rep. Gerry Connolly's district office in Fairfax, Va., were attacked Monday by a person armed with a baseball bat, according to a statement released by the Democratic lawmaker."
"The report Monday from special counsel John Durham represents the long-awaited culmination of an investigation that Trump and allies had claimed would expose massive wrongdoing by law enforcement and intelligence officials. Instead, Durham’s investigation delivered underwhelming results, with prosecutors securing a guilty plea from a little-known FBI employee but losing the only two criminal cases they took to trial."
"Deegan, who will be the city’s first female mayor, is also only the second Democrat elected mayor in Jacksonville in the past three decades. She framed herself as a voice of opposition who will clean up what she asserts is a widely viewed culture of corruption in city government and bring in those who have historically been “left behind” when it comes to economic development. Her priorities are infrastructure, public health and small business."
"Minnesota Democratic Party leaders met in a closed executive session over Zoom on Thursday evening to discuss a rule change that would permanently ban people involved in violence from party activities, just days after chaos broke out during a weekend convention to endorse a candidate for a Minneapolis City Council race."
"A group of longtime Republican operatives is launching a super PAC supporting the expected presidential campaign of former Vice President Mike Pence… The move is the strongest signal yet that Pence is planning to officially challenge former President Donald Trump for the GOP nomination. Pence has been signaling his plan for months with campaign-style trips to early voting states including Iowa and New Hampshire." Or, it's just another grift and/or way to transfer generational wealth without tax liabilities.
"A man who spent a night in jail for smacking Rudy Giuliani on the back and calling him a “scumbag” is suing him and several New York City police officers for false arrest and defamation."
"A woman who says she worked as an off-the-books employee for Rudy Giuliani during his stint as Donald Trump’s personal lawyer alleges in court papers that the former New York City mayor coerced her into sex and owes her nearly $2 million in unpaid wages." And supposedly there are tapes.
"The lawsuit seeks $2.4 million from the fake electors and their attorneys, alleging they were part of a conspiracy by Trump and his allies to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential race. It also seeks to disqualify the Republicans from ever serving as electors again."
"Computer engineers and tech-inclined political scientists have warned for years that cheap, powerful artificial intelligence tools would soon allow anyone to create fake images, video and audio that was realistic enough to fool voters and perhaps sway an election." But now the technology has matured, and our collective ability to shift through the bullshit has been diminished.
"An independent candidate defeated a longtime Republican office holder to become the first elected Black mayor in Colorado Springs, Colorado’s second largest with a history of being a conservative stronghold."
"The FBI disclosed to the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that two of the scheduled witnesses — Marcus Allen and Steve Friend — had their security clearances revoked earlier this month, according to a letter from Christopher Dunham, the acting assistant director of the FBI." The hypocrisy of the GOP would be funny if it weren't so deadly.
Sunday, May 14, 2023
Linkee-poo Sunday May 14
"The numbers speak for themselves: More than 100 movies in over 45 years of acting. Now Tom Hanks is drawing on all that experience to craft a story in a very different medium. He used some of the pandemic slowdown to write a novel. Titled The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece, it tells the story of a comic strip that becomes a multimillion-dollar superhero movie."
"Beware the Nibblerids, for they shall nibble you to shreds. Their name might make them sound like the antagonists in a children's book, but if you're a microbe, nibblerids can be quite scary. These tiny, single-celled organisms are voracious predators that use a tooth-like structure to rip apart their prey bit by bit. They are also, it turns out, occupants of a completely new branch on the tree of life — a novel lifeform quite different, and distant, from any other known living creatures." Something new has been added. (Grokked from John)
"Hydrologists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said deep snowpack across much of the West will bring short-term relief, but the equally deep “bathtub rings” at Lake Powell and Lake Mead reservoirs are a reminder of the long road to bringing supply and demand in balance."
"Daily tides stoked with increasingly warmer water ate a hole taller than the Washington Monument at the bottom of one of Greenland’s major glaciers in the last couple years, accelerating the retreat of a crucial part of the glacier, a new study found… And scientists worry that the phenomenon isn’t limited to this one glacier, raising questions about previous projections of melting rates on the world’s vulnerable ice sheets." We're boned.
"Roads in Florida could soon include phosphogypsum — a radioactive waste material from the fertilizer industry — under a bill lawmakers have sent to Gov. Ron DeSantis." Getting rid of our dangerous byproducts in plain site. I'm not worried about radium, with it being in the open that should quickly dissipate. But I do believe that this is not the solution to the toxic waste in Florida.
"A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the Environmental Protection Agency must regulate perchlorate, reversing a Trump-era rollback on a drinking water contaminant linked to brain damage in infants."
"Breast cancer is very treatable when caught early, and mammograms, which are X-ray images of breasts, are a reliable screening test to detect it. Now, new draft recommendations released Tuesday from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force urges all women to get screened every other year, starting at age 40." Remember when they said you could start later…
"As the Biden administration ends the COVID-19 public health emergency, millions of Americans who contracted the disease continue to suffer from symptoms associated with long COVID… Neuropsychologist James C. Jackson says people with long COVID can suffer from symptoms like exhaustion, shortness of breath and disturbed sleep. Some of the most troubling symptoms are neurological: struggling to remember things, to focus, even to perform basic daily tasks and solve problems." You might remember when COVID-19 started I said because this was a novel virus it will change us by the end of it. This is part of what I was talking about.
"We are witnessing a technological revolution unfolding in real time. The rise of smart machines opens up some scary possibilities; for our economy, for our democracy, even, in the most catastrophic scenarios, for our continued existence as a species. But, if we get our act together, the age of Artificial Intelligence could be one in which we rebuild the middle class, says MIT's David Autor, one of the top labor economists in the world." Yeah. I think he's full of shit.
"The Justice Department said Tuesday that it had disrupted a long-running Russian cyberespionage campaign that infected computer networks in dozens of countries, including in the United States, and resulted in the theft of sensitive information from governments."
"President Vladimir Putin declared Tuesday that the West has unleashed “a real war” against Russia, reprising a familiar refrain at scaled-down Victory Day celebrations that may reflect the toll the Ukraine conflict is taking on his forces."
"Tucker Carlson, who was Fox News' biggest star until his abrupt firing last month, says he's taking his show to Twitter." Haven't we suffered enough on Twitter?
"The man who killed eight people and injured seven more in a shooting at Allen Premium Outlets Saturday was armed with eight weapons and had 'neo-Nazi ideation,' Texas Department of Public Safety officials said Tuesday." But they're still not sure what his motive was. Strong side-eye.
Ma href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/tommy-tuberville-defends-white-nationalists-military-1234733007/">"WBHM Birmingham asked Tuberville if white nationalists should be allowed to serve in the military. 'They call them that,' the senator responded. 'I call them Americans.'… Tuberville had explicitly defended 'white extremists' and 'white nationalists' earlier in the interview, alleging that President Biden is 'destroying' the military by opposing their inclusion." In case you were still wondering what side the GOP was on. After their attempt at a coup failed, they're now trying to subvert from the inside.
"(George) Santos, whose astonishing pattern of lies and fabrications stunned even hardened politicos, has been charged on a 13-count indictment, including seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives."
"Republican Rep. George Santos surrendered to federal authorities at a courthouse in suburban Long Island on Wednesday facing 13 counts of criminal wrongdoing."
"A jury found Donald Trump liable Tuesday for sexually abusing advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in 1996, awarding her $5 million in a judgment that could haunt the former president as he campaigns to regain the White House."
Jim Wright on the CNN spectacle of having That Fucking Guy on.
"Facing growing pressure to show progress in their investigations, House Republicans on Wednesday plan to detail what they say are concerning new findings about President Joe Biden ’s family and their finances… The smoking gun, according to the GOP, is 'thousands of pages' of recently obtained financial records that include more than 150 suspicious activity reports connected to the president’s son Hunter Biden and brother James Biden, as well as a growing number of associates." Again, the fetish with the page numbering. And a heavy dollop of "something must be in there" and not a lot of "what is in those pages."
"Beware the Nibblerids, for they shall nibble you to shreds. Their name might make them sound like the antagonists in a children's book, but if you're a microbe, nibblerids can be quite scary. These tiny, single-celled organisms are voracious predators that use a tooth-like structure to rip apart their prey bit by bit. They are also, it turns out, occupants of a completely new branch on the tree of life — a novel lifeform quite different, and distant, from any other known living creatures." Something new has been added. (Grokked from John)
"Hydrologists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said deep snowpack across much of the West will bring short-term relief, but the equally deep “bathtub rings” at Lake Powell and Lake Mead reservoirs are a reminder of the long road to bringing supply and demand in balance."
"Daily tides stoked with increasingly warmer water ate a hole taller than the Washington Monument at the bottom of one of Greenland’s major glaciers in the last couple years, accelerating the retreat of a crucial part of the glacier, a new study found… And scientists worry that the phenomenon isn’t limited to this one glacier, raising questions about previous projections of melting rates on the world’s vulnerable ice sheets." We're boned.
"Roads in Florida could soon include phosphogypsum — a radioactive waste material from the fertilizer industry — under a bill lawmakers have sent to Gov. Ron DeSantis." Getting rid of our dangerous byproducts in plain site. I'm not worried about radium, with it being in the open that should quickly dissipate. But I do believe that this is not the solution to the toxic waste in Florida.
"A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the Environmental Protection Agency must regulate perchlorate, reversing a Trump-era rollback on a drinking water contaminant linked to brain damage in infants."
"Breast cancer is very treatable when caught early, and mammograms, which are X-ray images of breasts, are a reliable screening test to detect it. Now, new draft recommendations released Tuesday from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force urges all women to get screened every other year, starting at age 40." Remember when they said you could start later…
"As the Biden administration ends the COVID-19 public health emergency, millions of Americans who contracted the disease continue to suffer from symptoms associated with long COVID… Neuropsychologist James C. Jackson says people with long COVID can suffer from symptoms like exhaustion, shortness of breath and disturbed sleep. Some of the most troubling symptoms are neurological: struggling to remember things, to focus, even to perform basic daily tasks and solve problems." You might remember when COVID-19 started I said because this was a novel virus it will change us by the end of it. This is part of what I was talking about.
"We are witnessing a technological revolution unfolding in real time. The rise of smart machines opens up some scary possibilities; for our economy, for our democracy, even, in the most catastrophic scenarios, for our continued existence as a species. But, if we get our act together, the age of Artificial Intelligence could be one in which we rebuild the middle class, says MIT's David Autor, one of the top labor economists in the world." Yeah. I think he's full of shit.
"The Justice Department said Tuesday that it had disrupted a long-running Russian cyberespionage campaign that infected computer networks in dozens of countries, including in the United States, and resulted in the theft of sensitive information from governments."
"President Vladimir Putin declared Tuesday that the West has unleashed “a real war” against Russia, reprising a familiar refrain at scaled-down Victory Day celebrations that may reflect the toll the Ukraine conflict is taking on his forces."
"Tucker Carlson, who was Fox News' biggest star until his abrupt firing last month, says he's taking his show to Twitter." Haven't we suffered enough on Twitter?
"The man who killed eight people and injured seven more in a shooting at Allen Premium Outlets Saturday was armed with eight weapons and had 'neo-Nazi ideation,' Texas Department of Public Safety officials said Tuesday." But they're still not sure what his motive was. Strong side-eye.
Ma href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/tommy-tuberville-defends-white-nationalists-military-1234733007/">"WBHM Birmingham asked Tuberville if white nationalists should be allowed to serve in the military. 'They call them that,' the senator responded. 'I call them Americans.'… Tuberville had explicitly defended 'white extremists' and 'white nationalists' earlier in the interview, alleging that President Biden is 'destroying' the military by opposing their inclusion." In case you were still wondering what side the GOP was on. After their attempt at a coup failed, they're now trying to subvert from the inside.
"(George) Santos, whose astonishing pattern of lies and fabrications stunned even hardened politicos, has been charged on a 13-count indictment, including seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives."
"Republican Rep. George Santos surrendered to federal authorities at a courthouse in suburban Long Island on Wednesday facing 13 counts of criminal wrongdoing."
"A jury found Donald Trump liable Tuesday for sexually abusing advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in 1996, awarding her $5 million in a judgment that could haunt the former president as he campaigns to regain the White House."
Jim Wright on the CNN spectacle of having That Fucking Guy on.
"Facing growing pressure to show progress in their investigations, House Republicans on Wednesday plan to detail what they say are concerning new findings about President Joe Biden ’s family and their finances… The smoking gun, according to the GOP, is 'thousands of pages' of recently obtained financial records that include more than 150 suspicious activity reports connected to the president’s son Hunter Biden and brother James Biden, as well as a growing number of associates." Again, the fetish with the page numbering. And a heavy dollop of "something must be in there" and not a lot of "what is in those pages."
Monday, May 8, 2023
Linkee-poo midnight rider
"Carrie Fisher is receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a May the Fourth tribute to one of the 'Star Wars' franchise’s most beloved figures." Finally.
"But it’s the concerns of insiders in the AI research community that are attracting particular attention. A pioneering researcher and the so-called 'Godfather of AI' Geoffrey Hinton quit his role at Google so he could more freely speak about the dangers of the technology he helped create."
"As hot as the Earth's weather has been in recent years, it's about to get hotter: El Niño is on the way, with warmer sea temperatures promising new weather extremes, U.S. and international forecasters say." We're boned.
"From Montego to Miami, an influx of algae called sargassum is leaving stinky brown carpets over what was once prime tourist sand. It's the most sargassum researchers have tracked this early in the year… Deciding what to do with it is proving more challenging the more we learn about it — and inspiring some entrepreneurs to rethink removing sargassum altogether."
"The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced its 2023 class of inductees on Wednesday, with seven performers being awarded the distinction out of the original 14 nominees announced back in February. The class reflects a wide-range of artists across genres, from country and rock singer-songwriters like Willie Nelson and Sheryl Crow, to the late, soulful pop star George Michael and quintessential soul vocal group The Spinners."
"The Writers Guild of America is on strike, and a vital part of the entertainment industry could be in for a long work stoppage… By many accounts, the TV and film industry is overdue for a reckoning, after the pandemic made the 2020 contract bargaining season a dud. That prevented writers and their employers, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, from reaching new agreements on emerging technology and business practices."
"When Utahns logged onto adult content site PornHub on Monday, May 1, they were met with a message saying the company has 'made the difficult decision to completely disable access to the website in Utah.' The preemptive block came two days before a new state law requiring the site to verify the age of users went into effect… The move almost instantly sparked conversations about the unintended consequences of the law — and ways for Utahns to get around it."
"The Biden administration on Thursday cautioned Americans about the growing risks of medical credit cards and other loans for medical bills, warning in a new report that high interest rates can deepen patients' debts and threaten their financial security."
"In an unprompted Tuesday email, Musk wrote: 'So is NPR going to start posting on Twitter again, or should we reassign @NPR to another company?'" Musk is keeping his nail clipping and urine in jars now, isn't he.
"Both manufacturers are offering affected customers free software upgrades they say will fix the problem, but cars affected by the vulnerability are still on the market, despite the fact that a growing list of major insurance companies say they won't cover them for the time being. Most states require drivers to have automobile insurance to be on the road."
"The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by another quarter percentage point Wednesday, extending its 14-month crackdown on stubborn inflation… With signs of a softening job market and slower economic growth, this could be the central bank's last rate hike for a while, especially as turmoil in the banking sector raises new uncertainties."
How did that work out? "U.S. employers added 253,000 jobs in April, according to a report from the Labor Department Friday, a significant uptick from the month before… Meanwhile, the unemployment rate fell to 3.4% in April from 3.5% in March. The unemployment rate for African Americans fell to 4.7% — a record low."
"New York’s City Council will introduce a pair of bills on Wednesday afternoon aimed at curbing the use of facial recognition and other types of biometric surveillance by private businesses and landlords."
"Russian authorities accused Ukraine of trying to carry out drone strikes on the Kremlin overnight to assassinate President Vladimir Putin, and warned of possible retaliation." Sure, Vlad. Sure.v "Ukraine and Russia pressed their wartime rhetoric Thursday, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressing confidence that Vladimir Putin would be convicted of war crimes and the Kremlin alleging that the U.S. was behind an assassination attempt against the Russian president." Wouldn't count on it, Henry Kissinger just turned 100, and he's still free.
"The choking death of a man in the New York subway was setting off powerful reactions Thursday, with some calling it a homicide and others defending the passenger’s actions as defense against disorder." It was murder.
"The death of a Black man who appeared to be suffering from mental illness on an F train on Monday is stirring outrage after a white man who had placed him in a chokehold wasn’t charged by the NYPD."
"Eight people are dead and nine others injured in Brownsville, Texas, after a car ran into pedestrians Sunday morning while they were waiting at a bus stop, police said."v "The man who opened fire Saturday at an outlet mall in Allen, Texas, killing eight people and wounding at least seven others was identified (ed note, fuck his identity)… Authorities have not yet zeroed in on a specific motive, but investigators uncovered an extensive social media presence by the gunman, including a possible link to right-wing extremism, a senior law enforcement source familiar with the investigation told CNN."
"Lawmakers in Montana, Tennessee and Kansas have voted in the past few weeks to narrowly define who is 'female' and who is 'male' in state law using such terms as 'gametes,' 'ova,' 'sex chromosomes,' 'genitalia' and 'immutable biological sex.'" Immutable biological… Fungus has entered the conversation and would like a word.
"A jury in Washington, D.C., found Tarrio guilty of seditious conspiracy after hearing from dozens of witnesses over more than three months in one of the most serious cases brought in the stunning attack that unfolded on Jan. 6, 2021, as the world watched on live TV." Boom.
"Fox News is opposing a renewed effort by three news organizations to unseal documents related to its recently settled defamation lawsuit, saying it would do nothing but 'gratify private spite or promote public scandal.'" Legalize for, "it would be awfully embarrassing."
"A week after Fox News fired star host Tucker Carlson — for reasons that remain unexplained — he has been the subject of a handful of embarrassing stories about some of his private messages and statements while at the network."
"'The highest court in the land shouldn't have the lowest ethical standards,' said Senate Judiciary Chairman Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., at a hearing on ethics oversight at the high court. 'That reality is driving a crisis in public confidence in the Supreme Court. The status quo must change.'" But, Senator Durbin, only one of us has the power to enact that change.
"
"But it’s the concerns of insiders in the AI research community that are attracting particular attention. A pioneering researcher and the so-called 'Godfather of AI' Geoffrey Hinton quit his role at Google so he could more freely speak about the dangers of the technology he helped create."
"As hot as the Earth's weather has been in recent years, it's about to get hotter: El Niño is on the way, with warmer sea temperatures promising new weather extremes, U.S. and international forecasters say." We're boned.
"From Montego to Miami, an influx of algae called sargassum is leaving stinky brown carpets over what was once prime tourist sand. It's the most sargassum researchers have tracked this early in the year… Deciding what to do with it is proving more challenging the more we learn about it — and inspiring some entrepreneurs to rethink removing sargassum altogether."
"The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced its 2023 class of inductees on Wednesday, with seven performers being awarded the distinction out of the original 14 nominees announced back in February. The class reflects a wide-range of artists across genres, from country and rock singer-songwriters like Willie Nelson and Sheryl Crow, to the late, soulful pop star George Michael and quintessential soul vocal group The Spinners."
"The Writers Guild of America is on strike, and a vital part of the entertainment industry could be in for a long work stoppage… By many accounts, the TV and film industry is overdue for a reckoning, after the pandemic made the 2020 contract bargaining season a dud. That prevented writers and their employers, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, from reaching new agreements on emerging technology and business practices."
"When Utahns logged onto adult content site PornHub on Monday, May 1, they were met with a message saying the company has 'made the difficult decision to completely disable access to the website in Utah.' The preemptive block came two days before a new state law requiring the site to verify the age of users went into effect… The move almost instantly sparked conversations about the unintended consequences of the law — and ways for Utahns to get around it."
"The Biden administration on Thursday cautioned Americans about the growing risks of medical credit cards and other loans for medical bills, warning in a new report that high interest rates can deepen patients' debts and threaten their financial security."
"In an unprompted Tuesday email, Musk wrote: 'So is NPR going to start posting on Twitter again, or should we reassign @NPR to another company?'" Musk is keeping his nail clipping and urine in jars now, isn't he.
"Both manufacturers are offering affected customers free software upgrades they say will fix the problem, but cars affected by the vulnerability are still on the market, despite the fact that a growing list of major insurance companies say they won't cover them for the time being. Most states require drivers to have automobile insurance to be on the road."
"The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by another quarter percentage point Wednesday, extending its 14-month crackdown on stubborn inflation… With signs of a softening job market and slower economic growth, this could be the central bank's last rate hike for a while, especially as turmoil in the banking sector raises new uncertainties."
How did that work out? "U.S. employers added 253,000 jobs in April, according to a report from the Labor Department Friday, a significant uptick from the month before… Meanwhile, the unemployment rate fell to 3.4% in April from 3.5% in March. The unemployment rate for African Americans fell to 4.7% — a record low."
"New York’s City Council will introduce a pair of bills on Wednesday afternoon aimed at curbing the use of facial recognition and other types of biometric surveillance by private businesses and landlords."
"Russian authorities accused Ukraine of trying to carry out drone strikes on the Kremlin overnight to assassinate President Vladimir Putin, and warned of possible retaliation." Sure, Vlad. Sure.v "Ukraine and Russia pressed their wartime rhetoric Thursday, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressing confidence that Vladimir Putin would be convicted of war crimes and the Kremlin alleging that the U.S. was behind an assassination attempt against the Russian president." Wouldn't count on it, Henry Kissinger just turned 100, and he's still free.
"The choking death of a man in the New York subway was setting off powerful reactions Thursday, with some calling it a homicide and others defending the passenger’s actions as defense against disorder." It was murder.
"The death of a Black man who appeared to be suffering from mental illness on an F train on Monday is stirring outrage after a white man who had placed him in a chokehold wasn’t charged by the NYPD."
"Eight people are dead and nine others injured in Brownsville, Texas, after a car ran into pedestrians Sunday morning while they were waiting at a bus stop, police said."v "The man who opened fire Saturday at an outlet mall in Allen, Texas, killing eight people and wounding at least seven others was identified (ed note, fuck his identity)… Authorities have not yet zeroed in on a specific motive, but investigators uncovered an extensive social media presence by the gunman, including a possible link to right-wing extremism, a senior law enforcement source familiar with the investigation told CNN."
"Lawmakers in Montana, Tennessee and Kansas have voted in the past few weeks to narrowly define who is 'female' and who is 'male' in state law using such terms as 'gametes,' 'ova,' 'sex chromosomes,' 'genitalia' and 'immutable biological sex.'" Immutable biological… Fungus has entered the conversation and would like a word.
"A jury in Washington, D.C., found Tarrio guilty of seditious conspiracy after hearing from dozens of witnesses over more than three months in one of the most serious cases brought in the stunning attack that unfolded on Jan. 6, 2021, as the world watched on live TV." Boom.
"Fox News is opposing a renewed effort by three news organizations to unseal documents related to its recently settled defamation lawsuit, saying it would do nothing but 'gratify private spite or promote public scandal.'" Legalize for, "it would be awfully embarrassing."
"A week after Fox News fired star host Tucker Carlson — for reasons that remain unexplained — he has been the subject of a handful of embarrassing stories about some of his private messages and statements while at the network."
"'The highest court in the land shouldn't have the lowest ethical standards,' said Senate Judiciary Chairman Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., at a hearing on ethics oversight at the high court. 'That reality is driving a crisis in public confidence in the Supreme Court. The status quo must change.'" But, Senator Durbin, only one of us has the power to enact that change.
"
Tuesday, May 2, 2023
Linkee-poo the wind in the wires made a tattle tale sound
Gordon Lightfoot and Jerry Springer, and so it goes.
A more personal Gofund me for a coworker who is watching her child pass before her eyes. Again, I don't share these often, but this is closer to home than most. Same rules as usual, if you can, please help (I know there's often times I can't). And if not, at least send positive vibes and prayers if you're so inclined for both her child, her and her family.
"Walking into Toni Morrison: Sites of Memory, a new exhibition curated from the late author's archives at Princeton University, is an emotional experience for anyone who loves literature. Dozens of pages are on display, most of them waterlogged and brown from burning."
"Negotiations between the Writers Guild of America and film and TV studios and streamers broke down late Monday night, with leaders of the union now saying they will go on strike 'effective 12:01 AM, Tuesday, May 2.'" Oh Jeez.
"People living along the Mississippi River watched warily Sunday as water levels rose in southeast Iowa and northwest Illinois, awaiting spring crests as floodwaters began to slowly recede and reveal damage in areas further north."
"NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft, which has been probing the outer bounds of the solar system for over 45 years, is running out of power. But a new plan aims to keep its interstellar mission alive for at least three more years."
"Even before the reign of the dinosaurs ended in a mass extinction event about 65 million years ago, mammals had already gotten a humble but solid foothold… That's just one of the findings from a close examination of DNA from 240 different mammalian species, an ambitious effort to understand how hairy, milk-producing mammals — including humans — evolved to have such an astonishing array of sizes, shapes, and special abilities."
"Rates of the disease have soared in recent decades, spurred by the complex interaction of genes that make people more likely to store food as fat, a food system that provides easy and cheap access to processed treats explicitly designed to be overconsumed, and social settings that limit access to healthy options and exercise for many people." The new weight loss drugs, how they work.
"HPV is sexually transmitted. For oropharyngeal cancer, the main risk factor is the number of lifetime sexual partners, especially oral sex. Those with six or more lifetime oral-sex partners are 8.5 times more likely to develop oropharyngeal cancer than those who do not practice oral sex."
"The Minnesota Senate cast its first vote to legalize recreational marijuana Friday, pushing the proposal closer to becoming law than ever before… Senators passed the DFL-led marijuana bill on a 34-33 vote, with all Democrats voting for it and all Republicans opposed."
How's 6 Sigma and Lean Manufacturing working out for everybody? "Shortages of drugs like Adderall are growing in the United States, and experts see no clear path to resolving them. For patients, that can mean treatment delays, medication switches and other hassles filling a prescription."
"From banks to burger joints, the U.S. economy is showing signs of stress as nervous shoppers watch their spending and anxious lenders keep a tight grip on credit… A report from the Commerce Department Thursday shows the nation's gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of just 1.1% in the first three months of the year, compared to a 2.6% pace in the previous quarter. Growth was weighed down by declining inventories and housing investment."
"Nearly three-quarters, or 73%, of adults ages 27 to 42 are living paycheck to paycheck, LendingClub found." Millenials are now in the age category that typically spends the most of their money, so this isn't necessarily an odd finding. But I do agree that the next generations are seeing more fiscal headwinds.
"More than a half million of the poorest Americans could be left without health insurance under legislation passed by House Republicans that would require people to work in exchange for health care coverage through Medicaid." Cruelty is the point.
"Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned lawmakers Monday that the federal government could run short of money to pay its bills as early as June 1 unless the debt ceiling is raised soon."
"Under a new rule proposed by the Bureau of Prisons, however, most of the money Hoolan sends to her son would not go to him. Instead, the majority of the money sent to prisoners' commissary accounts would first go to pay their restitution debts and outstanding court fines… Opponents of the plan say it shifts responsibility to family members, like Hoolan." And that is a completely boneheaded way to try and solve the problem. And in any sane society it would immediately be shut down. This is a form a debtors prison. You want to really help with this? Okay, so for prison employment inmates are paid pennies an hour for their work. Okay, let's keep that, but the companies that use inmate labor (and places like the State of California that uses them as fire jumpers) have to pay the competitive wages for the time. The difference will go to pay restitution and court costs and fines. Do that and I'll believe you're seriousness about this problem.
"Authorities in southeast Texas are offering a $80,000 reward for any tips that lead to the capture of 38-year-old Francisco Oropesa, who police say shot five people to death in a home early Saturday morning and then fled the scene."
"In Nebraska, where abortion is banned after 20 weeks of pregnancy, an effort to ban abortion at about the sixth week of pregnancy fell one vote short of breaking a filibuster. Cheers erupted outside the legislative chamber as the last vote was cast, with opponents of the bill waving signs and chanting, 'Whose house? Our house!'"
"Now that the year-long war of words between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the Walt Disney Co has landed in the courts, the Republican leader might find his verbal barbs directed at the entertainment giant coming back to bite, legal experts said."
"An Arizona House Democrat and ordained minister recorded on video hiding Bibles at a lounge at the state capitol apologized to her peers for her actions… Stahl Hamilton described her actions as a type of protest regarding the separation of church and state."
"But Republican presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis failed to impress British business chiefs at a high-profile London event Friday, in a tired performance described variously as 'horrendous,' 'low-wattage' and 'like the end of an overseas trip.'"
A more personal Gofund me for a coworker who is watching her child pass before her eyes. Again, I don't share these often, but this is closer to home than most. Same rules as usual, if you can, please help (I know there's often times I can't). And if not, at least send positive vibes and prayers if you're so inclined for both her child, her and her family.
"Walking into Toni Morrison: Sites of Memory, a new exhibition curated from the late author's archives at Princeton University, is an emotional experience for anyone who loves literature. Dozens of pages are on display, most of them waterlogged and brown from burning."
"Negotiations between the Writers Guild of America and film and TV studios and streamers broke down late Monday night, with leaders of the union now saying they will go on strike 'effective 12:01 AM, Tuesday, May 2.'" Oh Jeez.
"People living along the Mississippi River watched warily Sunday as water levels rose in southeast Iowa and northwest Illinois, awaiting spring crests as floodwaters began to slowly recede and reveal damage in areas further north."
"NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft, which has been probing the outer bounds of the solar system for over 45 years, is running out of power. But a new plan aims to keep its interstellar mission alive for at least three more years."
"Even before the reign of the dinosaurs ended in a mass extinction event about 65 million years ago, mammals had already gotten a humble but solid foothold… That's just one of the findings from a close examination of DNA from 240 different mammalian species, an ambitious effort to understand how hairy, milk-producing mammals — including humans — evolved to have such an astonishing array of sizes, shapes, and special abilities."
"Rates of the disease have soared in recent decades, spurred by the complex interaction of genes that make people more likely to store food as fat, a food system that provides easy and cheap access to processed treats explicitly designed to be overconsumed, and social settings that limit access to healthy options and exercise for many people." The new weight loss drugs, how they work.
"HPV is sexually transmitted. For oropharyngeal cancer, the main risk factor is the number of lifetime sexual partners, especially oral sex. Those with six or more lifetime oral-sex partners are 8.5 times more likely to develop oropharyngeal cancer than those who do not practice oral sex."
"The Minnesota Senate cast its first vote to legalize recreational marijuana Friday, pushing the proposal closer to becoming law than ever before… Senators passed the DFL-led marijuana bill on a 34-33 vote, with all Democrats voting for it and all Republicans opposed."
How's 6 Sigma and Lean Manufacturing working out for everybody? "Shortages of drugs like Adderall are growing in the United States, and experts see no clear path to resolving them. For patients, that can mean treatment delays, medication switches and other hassles filling a prescription."
"From banks to burger joints, the U.S. economy is showing signs of stress as nervous shoppers watch their spending and anxious lenders keep a tight grip on credit… A report from the Commerce Department Thursday shows the nation's gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of just 1.1% in the first three months of the year, compared to a 2.6% pace in the previous quarter. Growth was weighed down by declining inventories and housing investment."
"Nearly three-quarters, or 73%, of adults ages 27 to 42 are living paycheck to paycheck, LendingClub found." Millenials are now in the age category that typically spends the most of their money, so this isn't necessarily an odd finding. But I do agree that the next generations are seeing more fiscal headwinds.
"More than a half million of the poorest Americans could be left without health insurance under legislation passed by House Republicans that would require people to work in exchange for health care coverage through Medicaid." Cruelty is the point.
"Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned lawmakers Monday that the federal government could run short of money to pay its bills as early as June 1 unless the debt ceiling is raised soon."
"Under a new rule proposed by the Bureau of Prisons, however, most of the money Hoolan sends to her son would not go to him. Instead, the majority of the money sent to prisoners' commissary accounts would first go to pay their restitution debts and outstanding court fines… Opponents of the plan say it shifts responsibility to family members, like Hoolan." And that is a completely boneheaded way to try and solve the problem. And in any sane society it would immediately be shut down. This is a form a debtors prison. You want to really help with this? Okay, so for prison employment inmates are paid pennies an hour for their work. Okay, let's keep that, but the companies that use inmate labor (and places like the State of California that uses them as fire jumpers) have to pay the competitive wages for the time. The difference will go to pay restitution and court costs and fines. Do that and I'll believe you're seriousness about this problem.
"Authorities in southeast Texas are offering a $80,000 reward for any tips that lead to the capture of 38-year-old Francisco Oropesa, who police say shot five people to death in a home early Saturday morning and then fled the scene."
"In Nebraska, where abortion is banned after 20 weeks of pregnancy, an effort to ban abortion at about the sixth week of pregnancy fell one vote short of breaking a filibuster. Cheers erupted outside the legislative chamber as the last vote was cast, with opponents of the bill waving signs and chanting, 'Whose house? Our house!'"
"Now that the year-long war of words between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the Walt Disney Co has landed in the courts, the Republican leader might find his verbal barbs directed at the entertainment giant coming back to bite, legal experts said."
"An Arizona House Democrat and ordained minister recorded on video hiding Bibles at a lounge at the state capitol apologized to her peers for her actions… Stahl Hamilton described her actions as a type of protest regarding the separation of church and state."
"But Republican presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis failed to impress British business chiefs at a high-profile London event Friday, in a tired performance described variously as 'horrendous,' 'low-wattage' and 'like the end of an overseas trip.'"
Wednesday, April 26, 2023
Linkee-poo April 26 late edition
Harry Belafonte, and so it goes.
The when do I earn out" web app to figure out how many books you'll need to sell to earn out your advance.
"We’re proud to announce that the Scalzi Family Foundation will be this year’s Gen Con Writers’ Symposium Legendary Sponsor!"
"Astronomers have captured the first image showing a powerful jet being launched from the edge of a black hole’s event horizon into intergalactic space."
"Auroras were reported across parts of Europe and Asia. In the U.S., skygazers took in the sights from Wisconsin, Washington state, Colorado, California, New Mexico and even Arizona — mostly a reddish glow instead of the typical green shimmer." And of course it rained here in Ohio.
"Now, two historians are suggesting that while parts of that story are accurate — Watson and Crick did rely on research from Franklin and her lab without their permission — Franklin was more a collaborator than just a victim." And they're basing their case on an unpublished news article (which can be read, an unvetted and fact checked article). If she was a collaborator, why wasn't she named as coauthor or even a researcher on the paper describing the double helix structure of DNA? No, this is an attempt to "clean up" the reputations of Watson and Crick.
"He and his family and dogs could get out in less than an hour, they figure, should more heavy rain or hot weather melt so much mountain snow that gushing water overwhelms the rivers and channel that surround their tight-knit, rural Central California community and give it its name, the Island District."
"Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo personally altered a state-driven study about Covid-19 vaccines last year to suggest that some doses pose a significantly higher health risk for young men than had been established by the broader medical community, according to a newly obtained document."
"The Texas Department of Agriculture is ordering its employees to comply with a new dress code, mandating they abide by it in a "manner consistent with their biological gender." An ACLU attorney says it violates federal law that bans employment discrimination based on one's sexual orientation or gender identity."
"A student denied entry to their Nashville high school prom is getting another chance to take part in the annual tradition thanks to their community… B Hayes, an 18-year-old student at Nashville Christian School, was banned from going to their prom because they wore a suit and not a dress."
"Aimenn Penny, a 20-year-old from Alliance who is a member of a 'white lives matter' group that espouses racist and neo-Nazi views, tried to burn down the Community Church of Chesterland early on March 25, authorities allege in court documents unsealed Monday… According to the criminal complaint, Penny said he tried to burn down the church using Molotov cocktails because he wanted to 'protect the children and stop the drag show event.' He also regretted that it didn’t work, authorities said."
"Zephyr, who represents parts of Missoula, is the first transgender woman elected to the legislature. She's been blocked from speaking since last Tuesday when she told supporters of a bill to ban gender-affirming care for minors that she hoped they would see 'blood on [their] hands,' alluding to studies that show that transgender health care can reduce suicidality."
"The formal punishment decided Wednesday bans Zephyr from attending or speaking during floor sessions. She will only be allowed to vote remotely in the remaining days of the legislative session. It's a lesser punishment than expulsion, which was also on the table, according to House leadership."
"Just like that, the Chevy Bolt is gone in a flash… General Motors CEO Mary Barra announced in an earnings call Tuesday… it was in order to shift operations at its assembly plant in Orion Township, Mich., toward the production of two electric trucks: the GMC Sierra EV and the Chevy Silverado EV." Again, the American manufacturers year passenger car development to foreign companies while the focus on trucks and their higher margins.
"Geraldine Tyler bought her condo in Minneapolis in 1999 and lived there until 2010, when at age 81 she moved to a senior assisted-living center at the urging of her children. After that, she stopped paying taxes on the condo, which she still owned… By 2015, she owed $15,000 in unpaid taxes, interest and fees… The county took possession of the property under state law and sold the condo at auction for $40,000. But like at least a dozen other states, it did not pay Tyler the surplus $25,000 from the sale."
"The contradictions that make up Israel — its economic and military prowess and its deep divisions and rancorous politics — were on full display Tuesday as the country mourned its fallen soldiers and began celebrating its 75th Independence Day."
"A mob in the Haitian capital beat and burned 13 suspected gang members to death with gasoline-soaked tires Monday after pulling the men from police custody at a traffic stop, police and witnesses said… The horrific vigilante violence underlined public anger over the increasingly lawless situation in Port-au-Prince where criminal gangs have taken control over an estimated 60% of the city since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse."
"Oklahoma's Republican majority ultimately blocked many of the proposals teachers walked out for in 2018. But this session, something unexpected is happening: The state's Republicans are now backing record-level education funding measures, including teacher raises and a slew of pro-labor bills." Amazing what happens when :: checks notes :: you can't attract enough people to fill teacher slots.
"Seventeen apartment buildings were evacuated Saturday in a Russian city near the Ukrainian border after an explosive device was found at the site where a bomb accidentally dropped by a Russian warplane caused a powerful blast this week, authorities said."
"Benjamin Franklin said the only certainties in life are death and taxes. Sifting through receipts, deciphering confusing codes, and filling out forms is an annual ritual that's about much more than money. The history of the income tax and the battle over who should pay how much is about what we value as a nation. In this conversation (on the podcast Throughline) with historian Molly Michelmore we'll explore the past, present, and future of the income tax."
"Fox News settled with Dominion Voting Systems for over 780 million dollars on Tuesday. On this week’s On the Media, the impact media moguls, and their families, have had on our culture at large. Plus, the bigger lessons we can learn about money and free speech from the revelations surrounding Clarence Thomas."
"The former head of a Michigan marijuana licensing board pleaded guilty to bribery Tuesday, acknowledging he accepted at least $110,000 in exchange for approving applications for the lucrative business."
"Chief Justice John Roberts has declined an invitation from Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to testify before the panel, calling such testimony by chief justices 'exceedingly rare.'… The Senate panel had planned to hold a hearing on May 2 to examine what Durbin called "common sense proposals" to hold Supreme Court justices to the same ethical standards as the rest of the federal judiciary, and Durbin had invited Roberts 'or his designate' to take part."
"In interviews with dozens of Republicans, the vast majority – even among the staunchest opponents of abortion– rejected the idea of Congress pursuing a national ban and said leadership has no plans on the horizon for it to be a centerpiece of their agenda, despite passing federal restrictions on the procedure in previous years when they were in power." They're just waiting until there is no chance of opposition (when they control both houses and the White House). Part of this is the reality that Biden would not sign it into law and they don't have the votes to overrule that veto. The other, big part, is they recognize that they've gone too far and there is a backlash.
"North Dakota on Monday adopted one of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country as Republican Gov. Doug Burgum signed legislation banning the procedure throughout pregnancy, with slim exceptions up to six weeks' gestation… In those early weeks, abortion would be allowed only in cases of rape, incest or medical emergency, such as ectopic pregnancy."
"The House of Representatives is expected to vote on a bill as early as Wednesday drafted by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy that links lifting the country's debt ceiling with spending cuts and a series of GOP policy changes… 'We'll be ready to move as early as today,' House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told reporters Wednesday. 'We want to get this done as soon as possible. But more importantly, we want President Biden to finally start getting engaged in this process.'" And then they didn't have the votes.
And then they did… "House Republicans narrowly passed sweeping legislation Wednesday that would raise the government’s legal debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion in exchange for steep spending restrictions, a tactical victory for Speaker Kevin McCarthy as he challenges President Joe Biden to negotiate and prevent a catastrophic federal default this summer."
"Fox News on Monday ousted prime-time host Tucker Carlson, whose stew of grievances and political theories about Russia and the Jan. 6 insurrection had grown to define the network in recent years and make him an influential force in GOP politics."
"That's according to political historian Nicole Hemmer… She tells Morning Edition that Carlson's exit may magnify a 'level of distrust' between Fox News and audience members who are skeptical of the network's call of the 2020 presidential election." Same as it was for Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly and the rest. Meanwhile OANN and Newsmax are struggling to gain audience.
"Before ousting Tucker Carlson, Fox News had twice fired wildly popular hosts – and both times the network recovered better than the stars it cut loose." Fox News doesn't need advertisers, they get most of their cash flow from the amount they charge cable providers. The gain viewers because Fox gives those people what they want, someone telling them their hate and fear are justified and they shouldn't be ashamed of their racism.
The when do I earn out" web app to figure out how many books you'll need to sell to earn out your advance.
"We’re proud to announce that the Scalzi Family Foundation will be this year’s Gen Con Writers’ Symposium Legendary Sponsor!"
"Astronomers have captured the first image showing a powerful jet being launched from the edge of a black hole’s event horizon into intergalactic space."
"Auroras were reported across parts of Europe and Asia. In the U.S., skygazers took in the sights from Wisconsin, Washington state, Colorado, California, New Mexico and even Arizona — mostly a reddish glow instead of the typical green shimmer." And of course it rained here in Ohio.
"Now, two historians are suggesting that while parts of that story are accurate — Watson and Crick did rely on research from Franklin and her lab without their permission — Franklin was more a collaborator than just a victim." And they're basing their case on an unpublished news article (which can be read, an unvetted and fact checked article). If she was a collaborator, why wasn't she named as coauthor or even a researcher on the paper describing the double helix structure of DNA? No, this is an attempt to "clean up" the reputations of Watson and Crick.
"He and his family and dogs could get out in less than an hour, they figure, should more heavy rain or hot weather melt so much mountain snow that gushing water overwhelms the rivers and channel that surround their tight-knit, rural Central California community and give it its name, the Island District."
"Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo personally altered a state-driven study about Covid-19 vaccines last year to suggest that some doses pose a significantly higher health risk for young men than had been established by the broader medical community, according to a newly obtained document."
"The Texas Department of Agriculture is ordering its employees to comply with a new dress code, mandating they abide by it in a "manner consistent with their biological gender." An ACLU attorney says it violates federal law that bans employment discrimination based on one's sexual orientation or gender identity."
"A student denied entry to their Nashville high school prom is getting another chance to take part in the annual tradition thanks to their community… B Hayes, an 18-year-old student at Nashville Christian School, was banned from going to their prom because they wore a suit and not a dress."
"Aimenn Penny, a 20-year-old from Alliance who is a member of a 'white lives matter' group that espouses racist and neo-Nazi views, tried to burn down the Community Church of Chesterland early on March 25, authorities allege in court documents unsealed Monday… According to the criminal complaint, Penny said he tried to burn down the church using Molotov cocktails because he wanted to 'protect the children and stop the drag show event.' He also regretted that it didn’t work, authorities said."
"Zephyr, who represents parts of Missoula, is the first transgender woman elected to the legislature. She's been blocked from speaking since last Tuesday when she told supporters of a bill to ban gender-affirming care for minors that she hoped they would see 'blood on [their] hands,' alluding to studies that show that transgender health care can reduce suicidality."
"The formal punishment decided Wednesday bans Zephyr from attending or speaking during floor sessions. She will only be allowed to vote remotely in the remaining days of the legislative session. It's a lesser punishment than expulsion, which was also on the table, according to House leadership."
"Just like that, the Chevy Bolt is gone in a flash… General Motors CEO Mary Barra announced in an earnings call Tuesday… it was in order to shift operations at its assembly plant in Orion Township, Mich., toward the production of two electric trucks: the GMC Sierra EV and the Chevy Silverado EV." Again, the American manufacturers year passenger car development to foreign companies while the focus on trucks and their higher margins.
"Geraldine Tyler bought her condo in Minneapolis in 1999 and lived there until 2010, when at age 81 she moved to a senior assisted-living center at the urging of her children. After that, she stopped paying taxes on the condo, which she still owned… By 2015, she owed $15,000 in unpaid taxes, interest and fees… The county took possession of the property under state law and sold the condo at auction for $40,000. But like at least a dozen other states, it did not pay Tyler the surplus $25,000 from the sale."
"The contradictions that make up Israel — its economic and military prowess and its deep divisions and rancorous politics — were on full display Tuesday as the country mourned its fallen soldiers and began celebrating its 75th Independence Day."
"A mob in the Haitian capital beat and burned 13 suspected gang members to death with gasoline-soaked tires Monday after pulling the men from police custody at a traffic stop, police and witnesses said… The horrific vigilante violence underlined public anger over the increasingly lawless situation in Port-au-Prince where criminal gangs have taken control over an estimated 60% of the city since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse."
"Oklahoma's Republican majority ultimately blocked many of the proposals teachers walked out for in 2018. But this session, something unexpected is happening: The state's Republicans are now backing record-level education funding measures, including teacher raises and a slew of pro-labor bills." Amazing what happens when :: checks notes :: you can't attract enough people to fill teacher slots.
"Seventeen apartment buildings were evacuated Saturday in a Russian city near the Ukrainian border after an explosive device was found at the site where a bomb accidentally dropped by a Russian warplane caused a powerful blast this week, authorities said."
"Benjamin Franklin said the only certainties in life are death and taxes. Sifting through receipts, deciphering confusing codes, and filling out forms is an annual ritual that's about much more than money. The history of the income tax and the battle over who should pay how much is about what we value as a nation. In this conversation (on the podcast Throughline) with historian Molly Michelmore we'll explore the past, present, and future of the income tax."
"Fox News settled with Dominion Voting Systems for over 780 million dollars on Tuesday. On this week’s On the Media, the impact media moguls, and their families, have had on our culture at large. Plus, the bigger lessons we can learn about money and free speech from the revelations surrounding Clarence Thomas."
"The former head of a Michigan marijuana licensing board pleaded guilty to bribery Tuesday, acknowledging he accepted at least $110,000 in exchange for approving applications for the lucrative business."
"Chief Justice John Roberts has declined an invitation from Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to testify before the panel, calling such testimony by chief justices 'exceedingly rare.'… The Senate panel had planned to hold a hearing on May 2 to examine what Durbin called "common sense proposals" to hold Supreme Court justices to the same ethical standards as the rest of the federal judiciary, and Durbin had invited Roberts 'or his designate' to take part."
"In interviews with dozens of Republicans, the vast majority – even among the staunchest opponents of abortion– rejected the idea of Congress pursuing a national ban and said leadership has no plans on the horizon for it to be a centerpiece of their agenda, despite passing federal restrictions on the procedure in previous years when they were in power." They're just waiting until there is no chance of opposition (when they control both houses and the White House). Part of this is the reality that Biden would not sign it into law and they don't have the votes to overrule that veto. The other, big part, is they recognize that they've gone too far and there is a backlash.
"North Dakota on Monday adopted one of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country as Republican Gov. Doug Burgum signed legislation banning the procedure throughout pregnancy, with slim exceptions up to six weeks' gestation… In those early weeks, abortion would be allowed only in cases of rape, incest or medical emergency, such as ectopic pregnancy."
"The House of Representatives is expected to vote on a bill as early as Wednesday drafted by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy that links lifting the country's debt ceiling with spending cuts and a series of GOP policy changes… 'We'll be ready to move as early as today,' House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told reporters Wednesday. 'We want to get this done as soon as possible. But more importantly, we want President Biden to finally start getting engaged in this process.'" And then they didn't have the votes.
And then they did… "House Republicans narrowly passed sweeping legislation Wednesday that would raise the government’s legal debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion in exchange for steep spending restrictions, a tactical victory for Speaker Kevin McCarthy as he challenges President Joe Biden to negotiate and prevent a catastrophic federal default this summer."
"Fox News on Monday ousted prime-time host Tucker Carlson, whose stew of grievances and political theories about Russia and the Jan. 6 insurrection had grown to define the network in recent years and make him an influential force in GOP politics."
"That's according to political historian Nicole Hemmer… She tells Morning Edition that Carlson's exit may magnify a 'level of distrust' between Fox News and audience members who are skeptical of the network's call of the 2020 presidential election." Same as it was for Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly and the rest. Meanwhile OANN and Newsmax are struggling to gain audience.
"Before ousting Tucker Carlson, Fox News had twice fired wildly popular hosts – and both times the network recovered better than the stars it cut loose." Fox News doesn't need advertisers, they get most of their cash flow from the amount they charge cable providers. The gain viewers because Fox gives those people what they want, someone telling them their hate and fear are justified and they shouldn't be ashamed of their racism.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)