Audience tracking

Okay, it looks like all my new Russian friends are gone. Sad facey frowny. But my friends in Germany are still plugging along. Hi, guys. Enjoying the ride? (Actually I did have several hits from Germany before the whole Russian Troll Farm thing, but traffic from there is about twice the normal, and there's a suspicious amount from former Soviet Block countries)

Linkee-poo, the fat man in front of me is calling black people trash to his children and he's the only trash here I see

Two observations. A while ago I said something about climate change and what happens when a buffer runs out, that the transition isn't a slow one. Anybody else getting a feeling the oceans have become as acidic as they can without a major inversion? Also, it's possible after the "meal down" of Trumpster this past weekend that it occurred too early in the process and he now has the chance to change and not enough time for his solid base to abandon him. While he isn't the brightest bulb in the pack, he's not stupid. He can learn, he can be taught (note speeches where he keeps to the teleprompter). Now would be the exact moment he would need to turn it around.

The Guerrilla WFC panels list all the cool kids are talking about. (Grokked from Sarah Goslee)

Ann Leckie tweetstorm on writing without concern for "market direction" BS. (Grokked from Julie Winningham)

While I normally link to stories about the Trumpster in the politics list, I'm including this one up in the writing links. "The rhetorical challenges of Trump are not just those of substance — or the lack thereof, but of syntax — and the lack thereof… His unscripted speaking style, with its spasmodic, self-interrupting sentence structure, has increasingly come to overwhelm the human brains and tape recorders attempting to quote him." Or, in other words, written dialog is never a transcription of how people actually talk. He's an extreme example, but maybe one to learn on. In other news, our national supply of em dashes is running short. We suggest using en dashes as a temporary substitute, or learn how to use semi-colons and ellipsis. (Grokked from Dan)

Or as some people said of Sarah Palin, "Damnit, I didn't bring enough bread crumbs to follow that."

Interactive temporary tattoos for your future world building ideas, also using them to create on skin interfaces.

Forget the butter cow, there's a butter USS Enterprise at the Iowa State Fair. You win this round Iowa. (Grokked from Julie Winningham)

The Dorito Effect. On how our food became less flavorful, and then the food industry then sold us flavors.

Home based carnivorous robots that use energy from their prey to power their fuel cell. Such as a fly killing robot that "digests" the flies it catches to power itself. I see no way this could go wrong. (Grokked from Dan)

The Great Egg Wars of the Farallones or how do you feed the Gold Rush.

A law professor is suing over the use of stingrays (cell tower simulators/spoofing devices). His suit is hinged on the premise that because the police departments and FBI that use stingrays do not have license to broadcast at the frequencies used by cell phones (and that it interferes with the already tricky 911 function on cell phones) that they are illegal devices that violate FCC regulations. It's a long shot, but an interesting take. (Grokked from Dan)

If only government would get out of the way between you and your doctor and let the professionals get in between you and your doctor. In this case, your health insurance company and their prescription formularies which are dropping coverage for a whole bunch of drugs.

John Oliver on the sub-prime auto industry. History may not repeat, but it sure does rhyme.

The Marines test new equipment, procedures, and tactics in preparation for Sea Dragon 2025.

How the Republicans just can't quit the Trumpster. Or, Frankenstein has to come to grips with the monster he's created before it destroys him. They've got the tiger by the tail there, only they thought they were directing the tiger and forgot it's a metaphor about playing with fire and how once there, you can't let go lest you are also devoured by the tiger. (Grokked from Jim Wright)

"After Donald Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson blamed President Obama for the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, the famously unflappable flack admitted on Monday that she was mistaken." Oh look, it was another faulty earpiece that caused the problem. Jeez people, they can't even make up new excuses. Next up, the dog ate my homework. And on the same day, "'The voters want someone that’s gonna fight back because they are tired of seeing left-wing reporters literally beat Trump supporters into submission into supporting policies they don’t agree with,' Pierson told Fox Business Network, as quoted by Politico." This is the person who is in the campaign position that if (Brid forbid) Trumpster won the election would become the White House Press Secretary.

"Carl Paladino, the co-chair for Donald Trump’s campaign in New York, said that Khizr Khan's remarks at the Democratic National Convention demonstrated a 'lack of character and backbone' that dishonored his son, a Muslim-American soldier killed in combat." Dear Carl Paladino, please fuck off and die. Seriously, how twisted is your soul?

Story Bone

The future of art forgery could be data forgery. The Hidden Brain podcast on forgery (youtube). And an NPR intro to the podcast (with text). Right now we have a for of this. After all, identity theft is a form of data forgery. Especially in those cases where people live as those they've taken an identity from (different than just stealing). And hacking is a form of data forgery. But here I'm talking masterpiece, history changing types of data forgery. Creating whole databases of information that you pass off as real in an attempt to gain something (changing history, proving you're the lost heir to whatever, altering the social fabric). So I think if you think big here, beyond the "simple con" there could be an interesting novel (from many sides, the forger, the victim, society, or the detective who is trying to prove the forgery).

There are so many facets to such a story. Credibly forging not only a database, the information and structure to possibly match an outdated piece of software, but generating the metadata needed for the provenance and proof. Plus the psychology of forgery, the insertion of time bombs, etc. Yes, I'm thinking this is a novel length work (although you could do it minority as a short story plot bunny).

Linkee-poo you're an old man, poor man, pleading with your eyes gonna make you some peace some day

Jim Hines on World Fantasy Convention and the apparent racism and sexism of the programming. Since we're talking about old advertising, we used to advertise opium (patent medicine), cigarettes, and use of lysol as a douche. Pointing to old ads as proof of correctness isn't the best idea.

Writers who are veterans want you to know they don't speak for all veterans. Just like all categories of writers, people don't speak for the groups they belong to.

The Stop the Goodreads Bullies group seems to have gone defunct.

Planet Money podcast on Project Eavesdrop. Or what people can learn about you from listening to your smart phone. Note, this is what packet sniffers do. And it's one of the reasons why I didn't update Candy Crush and deleted the app from my phone and iPad. On the phone is said it needed access to my calling logs and a few other things. Nope, no game needs that.

The thing about conservative claims on "religious liberty" and "freedom of speech" is that it usually only applies to their religion and their viewpoint. So if you support abortion, they want to limit your free speech to talk about abortion and make sure you follow their religions precepts on abortion (which really aren't their religions actual stance, but they like to think it is).

Well here's a pleasant story of a former military contractor who has successfully transferred to the civilian market. They make flamethrowers, which the US military no longer purchases. Because who doesn't need one to start that barbecue or to clear out some brush. Or, you know, zombies. (Grokked from Emma Audsley)

The "Employment Policy Institute" has created an app to help business owners fight a minimum wage increase.

Why is that important? "In dollar terms, what group of Americans steals the most from their fellow citizens each year?… It's employers, many of whom are committing what's known as wage theft. It's not just about underpaying workers. They're not paying workers what they're legally owed for the labor they put in." (Grokked from Ferrett Steinmetz)

The bombings in Thailand.

So, just how easy is it to hack the election? Yep. (Grokked from Catherine Asaro)

"(Trumpster) supporters are loud about their grievances, unable to be content with the historical benefits that whiteness still confers upon them, and compelled to rebel against a browning America that no longer solely centers their experience. So rather than adjust or deal with a challenge to their unearned privilege, these angry folks act as if something is being stolen from them." And then they rally to the party that has been stealing from them, but only because that party is pandering to their insecurity, not that they have any intention on helping them. (Grokked from Maureen Johnson)

"The Hannity-Stephens divide is really a fight over how we got to Trump. Hannity argues that Trump’s rise is a logical response to the inability of feckless conservative elites like Stephens to stop Obama. Stephens thinks that Trump is an outgrowth of an anti-intellectual 'echo chamber' inhabited by people like Hannity." On the conservative-commentator spat over who will be to blame for the Trumpster losing and how yelling at each other within an echo chamber is probably a bad thing. (Grokked from Robert J Bennett)

More on top Trumpster advisor Paul Manafort's ties to Putin. That is just frickin' amazing, in the sense of "mushroom cloud of an imploding campaign" amazing. It's becoming clearer that Putin is trying to steer this election. That is just ballsy. Crazy stupid ballsy, the kind that leads to counties falling. (Grokked from John)

"Ivanka Trump is taking a break from the campaign trail to vacation with friends… (she) shared a scenic snap with Wendi Deng Murdoch, the ex-wife of billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch, from Dubrovnik, Croatia." Sounds legit, until you connect that Wendi Deng Murdoch is dating Vladimir Putin. (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)

Also note, one of the theories why the Trumpster isn't releasing his tax returns is that they show monetary ties to Russian banks. Now are you sufficiently freaked out?

Tweet of my heart: @Stonekettle This is how Trump wins. Hillary's crushing Trump in the polls? Cool, I'll write in Bernie as a protest!

Linkee-poo loves Rock 'n Roll, so come and take your time and dance with me

Yes, I can. We're The Superhumans, the Rio Paralympics 2016 Trailer. (Grokked from John)

The jungles of Venus. Early in it's life, Venus might have been habitable. (Grokked from Dan)

Fight choreography on the stage. (Grokked from Christopher Moore)

Watermelons and the history of farm labor in South Texas. Note the quickly mentioned "farms and industry brought in Mexicans to break the US Labor strike against them." Funny how since then it's mostly been immigrants (documented and undocumented) who work our farms and who are blamed for "stealing our jobs." The later often shouted by the very people who would applaud those farm owners and managers for breaking the union strike.

Humans first migrated to the Americas using the Bering Land Bridge. Yeah, probably not. (Grokked from Dan)

"There's a bit of uncertainty associated with the age estimates, but Nielsen says the most likely age for the oldest shark they found was about 390 years." Greenland sharks, possibly the longest living vertebrates.

This tweet storm by Fred Clark on the difference between whistleblowing and being a scumbag. It's a little fuzzy, but still there is a difference.

This just in, Putin claims that a Polish commando force invaded Crimea blowing up the broadcast tower for radio station Sender Gleiwitz in Gleiwitz. Oh, wait, I may have gotten some of that mixed up.

Why does the media focus more on Trumpster's missteps than on Clinton's? "Trump is also the focus of the news more often because he is nearly always making more news — at least by our traditional journalistic definition. He says and does things that are different, that stand out, that surprise and even alter the landscape. Whether being outrageous in debates or carrying his off-the-cuff behavior to extremes in speeches, his sheer defiance of accepted norms and best political practices demands attention… By contrast, the implications surrounding the Clinton emails exhumed by court order are a routine species of scandal stamp-collecting. And they are the fruit of conservative activists and advocates who have been generating anti-Clinton material since her husband was president."

Why should we immediately close Gitmo? "Donald Trump on Thursday said he was willing to try American citizens in military courts at the Guantanamo Bay detention center." That's a good reason. (Grokked from Dan)

Linkee-poo is only willing to hear you cry because I am an innocent man

Oh, hey, the Perseid's should be fabulous this year. They should be at peak tonight and tomorrow night, but there's a shoulder of a few more days. :: checks NE Ohio weather to see which night would be best to watch :: Oh, look, rain, rain, rain, rain, and some more rain until Monday. I really gotta move to a better part of the US.

The hero's journey with plots and subplots explained. (Grokked from Deborah Beale)

Not good at generating maps? How about a free fantasy map generator? That's do.

Diversity in publishing isn't just about getting a writers of color and gender, but it also has to do with where the marketing focus goes. Or in other words, if you come at the problem from a "POC/queer authors don't sell well" and so then you don't do anything to help market books by those authors you're creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.

"Archaeologists are trying to decipher magic spells etched onto tiny rolls of gold and silver that they found alongside skeletons of humans buried almost 2,000 years ago… They are the first such items discovered in Serbia but resemble amulets of 'binding magic' found in other countries…" Spiritual postal delivery of messages to god and demons. Although there is a tradition of burying the dead with letters to them, a way of unburdening the living or saying goodbye. (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)

"The discovery of a 3,000-year-old skeleton in Greece has excited archeologists, who believe that the finding may confirm one of the darkest legends (human sacrifice to the Greek pantheon of gods) of antiquity." Humans, what can you do with them. (Grokked from Dr Caitlin Green)

Need to get away form it all? How about faking your own death? (Note, this rarely works)

"In states with the most coal jobs, many workers could be retrained for the growing solar PV industry -- some at a cost of just a few thousand dollars. For many coal companies, even those filing for bankruptcy, the cost of retraining all employees would be less than a year’s pay for the CEO." Yeah, but it's all about those evil liberals and their climate change hoax that's putting coal miners out of jobs, you know. Not like poor fucking business decisions and the price of natural gas being so low that it's cheaper to build new NG power plants than to keep old coal plants running. It has nothing to do with "drill, baby, drill". And pay no attention to how much those at the top are making (sometimes getting million dollar bonuses during bankruptcy). Nope, nothing about those things. (Grokked from Paolo Bacigalupi)

"Large employers expect health costs to continue rising by about 6 percent in 2017, a moderate increase compared with historical trends that nevertheless far outpaces growth in the economy (and your pay), two new surveys show." Six percent, pah! Let me tell you kiddies of years of 15 to 18% increases during the 90s and the aughts. But there's lots in there about how employers are adjusting plans and switching up what they're doing to lower costs. Mostly it's screwing the employee over (high-deductible plans, smaller networks, changing where you get your care, etc). So how's that single-payor option looking now?

"You may have heard about Nauru… the tiny Pacific island that was stripped of all vegetation and made virtually uninhabitable by phosphate mining, then turned into an international pariah by its desperate practice of selling citizenship to crooks, now an offshore detention centre for people seeking asylum in Australia, where cruelty and abuse are legendary." Ah, the legendary hospitality and humanity of Western Civilization.

"'The older you are, the worse the hospital is for you,' says Dr. Ken Covinsky, a physician and researcher at the University of California, San Francisco's division of geriatrics. 'A lot of the stuff we do in medicine does more harm than good. And sometimes with the care of older people, less is more.'"

Life finds a way. In this case, with Guinea Worm infection in humans dropping to single digits, the worm has found other hosts. Mostly dogs, but now there is a fear the dogs are getting them from frogs.

Ted Strickland makes an ass of himself, proving it doesn't take a conservative. However I will note his apology was an actual apology (ie. not being sorry for how someone may take the comment, but acknowledging the comment was wrong and saying sorry). (Grokked from John Scalzi)

With concerns about vote rigging, how about a little comparison between slot machines and voting machines. Yep, that's about it. (Grokked from Ferrett Steinmetz)

"That deposition — 170 transcribed pages — offers extraordinary insights into Trump’s relationship with the truth. Trump’s falsehoods were unstrategic — needless, highly specific, easy to disprove. When caught, Trump sometimes blamed others for the error or explained that the untrue thing really was true, in his mind, because he saw the situation more positively than others did." An article about a 2007 deposition of the Trumpster in a lawsuit he brought. The defense lawyers easily dismantled his claims. Don't worry, his supporters don't believe in the truth. (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)

I guess the only thing that surprised me here, was how far back it went. "On August 6, artist Todd Vaziri observed that all of Trump's angry tweets come from the Twitter client for Android, while the more presidential, less batshit ones come from an Iphone; Vaziri speculated that the latter were sent by a staffer… Now, David Robinson's textual analysis of the two different corpuses show that different people are behind each client's tweets – they tweet at different times, using different syntax and vocabulary, and they use different hashtags and use them differently." (Grokked form John Scalzi)

"A Secret Service official reportedly confirmed that the agency has spoken to the Trump campaign regarding the candidate's Tuesday remark about how 'Second Amendment people' could take action against a Clinton presidency." So, if it came to an actual gun battle between the candidates, which side would the Secret Service come down on?

And now for some humor, Billy West reads Trumpster quotes as Zapp Brannigan (from Futurama). (Grokked from John)

So I guess Sean Hannity is peddling a story that the Trumpster, seeing Marines stranded at Camp Lejeune after the first Operation Desert Storm, sent his personal plane down to ferry the Marines back to their Florida home. Only, that's probably not how it really happened. "Trump Shuttle had a contract with the military and this flight home was part of that contract. Simple as that… The Trump campaign… earns Four Pinocchios for confirming a story that is easily debunked." Remember when a news anchor lost his position when he "enhanced" a story? Also, this is mostly likely a case of false attribution, that is the Marines, having been delayed, get on a plane with Trump's name on it and think that he came to save them. Instead of the more likely story that the Trump Shuttle was supposed to take them home all along and was just late in arriving. (Grokked from Xopher Halftounge)

Linkee-poo watched him on the stage, my hands were clenched in fists of rage, no angel born in Hell, could break that Satan's spell

XKCD on the backup roundabout. Yes, backup your data. But don't get crazy (and stop bad processes). (Grokked from Dan)

What bad choice did we make in 1980? I think I remember. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

We're number 1! Except we really haven't been for years, probably decades. A bipartisan group of legislators looks at why our educational system is failing students and society. The odd thing, most of us who have looked at these proposals have been pushing this for years (early quality education and social justice, higher standards for educators, stop the Career Training is for losers mindset and redirect its focus by modernizing. Unfortunately this report says all these start at the State level. Excuse me folks, but local and state control is what got us here. And the money it would take to do this (add classes, social equality programs so kids aren't - at the very least - going to school hungry and distracted, retrain some educators and reform the system to be more professional - can you say "increase pay"? - and the retooling and revamping shop). A heck of a lotta money, which the states don't have (well, they would if we cut the conservative experiments) and won't offer to the schools. So I predict there were be a lot of chest and table thumping, and in another decade we'll do another study that finds if we did all these things we could turn our school systems around. There's enough "high end" (read "rich neighborhood") schools that keep us just on the other side of the razor's edge that most people don't want to think about it. Also, I live in the rural lands, yeah, try and sell this to the local school boards. I'll wait over here while you bang your head against that rock (like we've done).

"More women are dying in childbirth in the US than in any other developed country. And experts say the problem is likely to keep getting worse." (Grokked from Steven Brust)

Lead isn't the only problematic component of our potable water supply. (Grokked from Dan)

A car drives into a protestor/marcher in Ferguson on the second anniversary of Michael Brown's death. Shots were fired at the car, and the police release a statement saying the driver didn't see the people marching in the street and didn't intentionally drive into the protest. You know, nothing connected to all those public statements made at other BLM protests about "just driving over them" if they blocked the street.

"If colleges are a hunting ground, as they've been called, for sexual predators, advocates say that high schools are the breeding ground — and that any solution must start there. They say efforts at college are too little, too late." IMHO, high school is also a little late.

"A woman was shot and killed by a police officer in front more than 30 people Tuesday evening during a live gun demonstration at police headquarters here, the department said." It was a practice "Shoot/Don't Shoot" situation, with "simulated lethal force." Only someone forgot the "simulated" part. This was a controlled scenario, in a controlled setting, the firearm was supposed to be loaded with blanks. This isn't just a screwup by the officer, this is the range officer's fault as well. That is a failure on so many levels it's hard to count.

So, not only are the Baltimore PD officers racially biased, the report also shows they're gender biased as well, shown by how they handle sexual assault cases. Funny how those two things go together. Also, hey, here are the shining examples of our "boys in blue" (not really, but you get the point). (Grokked from Kelly Link)

As Professor Farnsworth said, "I don't want to live on this planet anymore." Well Good News™, people NASA just published thousands of photos of Mars. I guess they just finished getting done with scrubbing all those faces off the planet. (Grokked from Dan)

"(Sean Hannity) 'can’t even swear competently,' Stephens wrote." As the kids saw, "Aw, sick." I usually don't like to point out such pissing-wars, but I have a special place for Hannity and his hucksterism.

"'Frankly, over the years, and the many years I've been doing this... they frankly enjoy floods. They'd like to see a flood about every 7 years, because they want new cars, they want their homes redone,' (Harris County Commissioner Steve) Radack said at the meeting." And then the crowd of flood victims he was speaking to tore him to shreds and feed him to their dogs. Only kidding, we don't do that anymore. But, yeah, what an asshole. This is the ol' "47%" argument all over again. Added into that mix were people complaining that their houses were located in the area's water retention (meaning, this is where we gather flood water and allow evaporation to remove it). (Grokked from BoingBoing)

Some polling on the belief set of Trumpster supporters. Oh my. And that, friends, is an example of the echo chamber at work. (Grokked from Ferrett Steinmetz)

"Longtime Donald Trump ally Roger Stone claimed on Monday that he was in touch with the founder of Wikileaks about documents the organization plans to release to derail Hillary Clinton's campaign." Just to remind everybody, Julian Assange is a wanted man in the US with an (supposed) outstanding, sealed warrant for his arrest. Say, isn't aiding and abetting a criminal still a crime in the US? Also, "'If there’s voter fraud, this election will be illegitimate, the election of the winner will be illegitimate, we will have a constitutional crisis, widespread civil disobedience, and the government will no longer be the government,' Stone said in a podcast with Breitbart’s Milo Yiannopoulos, despite the overwhelming evidence that voter fraud is virtually nonexistent in the United States." He seems nice. So, basically, Roger Stone is admitting that a foreign power is attempting to interfere with an internal election.

"'If (Clinton) gets to pick her judges,' (the Trumpster) said, 'nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is.'" Whelp, that for me was the point where we went from "possibly a Night of Long Knives" to "yeah, it's coming." This King Whackaloon shouldn't be allowed to command a dingy, let alone a country. He just "won't someone rid me of this troublesome priest"ed Clinton. "Trump also argued that he is being held to a different standard than Clinton, saying that 'it would be a whole different ball game' if he used the same excuses she did." I agree, time to put Trump in front of a Congressional Committee Hearing.

And with all of his, "Hey, it was a joke, I was really talking about NRA members going out to vote…", or a "joke gone bad" as Speaker Paul Ryan tried to say, don't worry, the intended recipients of the dog-whistle heard it loud and clear. (Grokked from Robert J Bennett)

"I will absolutely do three debates,' Trump said in a phone interview with Time. 'I want to debate very badly. But I have to see the conditions.'" See, he has to have the right set of conditions to do well in the debates. You know, like the President gets whenever a crisis comes up, he/she will have to have the conditions changed and negotiated before they'll act. And up until this point people have wanted him (or his money) so he gets what he demands. Until now, when he has nothing they want. "A commission official told Time that while certain 'fine points' could be negotiated, the format as announced was non-negotiable." The commission has no fucks to give.

And exchange on "Morning Joe" exemplifies what is wrong with the GOP. See, you can't trust anything a Democrat might say because they are a Democrat. And if you're a woman and a Democrat, well, good luck then.

Ex-Chris Christie aid texted another staffer that Christie "flat out lied" to investigators over the Bridgegate scandal. Text sent at the time such lying happened. Now that this has come out of court documents, Gov. Christie wants you to know that it's "old news, nothing new" and pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Whew, good thing that guy didn't win the nomination (note, Trumpster has already said Christie would be a part of his cabinet, probably Secretary of Transportation if I had to hazard a guess).

Just in case you need it

Linkee-poo, don't give me no hand-me-down world, I've got one already

"The Green Bay Packers and Indianapolis Colts were sent packing before the teams could even take the field in Canton, Ohio (for the Hall of Fame Game). At issue was paint on the midfield logo and in the end zones that hardened and raised anxieties that players might slip and suffer injuries." (insert unintelligible mutterings here) What in the Wide, Wide World of Sports is a going on here?! Remember when it was just chalk? Remember when they didn't have artwork at centerfield (or end zones)? Come on Canton, it's like you're making it hard to be a fan of the Hall of Fame (don't get me started on the "Hall of Fame Village" concept and what it's doing to one of the neighborhoods in Canton or how they've "expanded" the schedule of the week to try and squeeze as much money as they can.

PR 101, when caught in a lie, capitulate fully, expose everything at once flooding the news, show contrition. Or, you could do what VW is doing and have everything drag out over a long time period. Apparently, which finally admitting to the "mistake" of "rogue software" on their 2 liter engines, there are some "secret" programs on their 3 liter engines as well. (Grokked from Dan)

"But most (peat) stays where it is, and because it accumulates carbon over such a long time, it contains more carbon than is in all the world’s trees and plants… Like forests, peatlands are threatened by climate change. Warming temperatures can dry out bogs, making them more susceptible to fires, and to deeper, more intense burning. A peat fire, which can smolder like a cigarette for months, can release a lot of carbon." (Grokked from Paolo Bacigalupi)

"A new study suggests that low-income people living in states with Obamacare's Medicaid expansion are healthier than those in states without it, the New York Times reported. The study's authors — who published their results in JAMA Internal Medicine Monday — were hesitant to say that Medicaid expansion prompted the results, the Times said, but the low-income people surveyed in expansion states Kentucky and Arkansas reported feeling healthier than those in Texas, a non-expansion state." Funny that. "While the 19 non-expansion states would spend a total of $75.9 billion if they expanded Medicaid with moderate enrollment because of the increase in caseloads, that money would be matched by $568.5 billion in federal funds. The states, meanwhile, would save $21.8 billion in uncompensated costs, while the U.S. government would save $129.1 billion in reductions in federal subsidies on exchanges, along with its own $34.9 billion saved in uncompensated care." And now you know why the conservatives want to kill it, because it's actually saving money.

"For nearly 40 years, Hotez has crusaded against parasitic worms, a sometimes lonely job. They affect nearly 1.5 billion people on the planet, making children too sick to go to school and adults too sick to work. But there's been a lack of funding and interest for research into treatments."

Man arrested after killing another man by firing a "warning shot" from his house. Just in general, while I don't know the law in NC, in most places firing a "warning shot" is not the law and is, in fact, a crime in and of itself (discharge of a firearm and aggravated menacing). That the guy who fired the shot is being held without bail is a good sign that justice may actually happen in this case.

"The art of good headline writing and image selection in order to get someone to click and go to a website is usually called 'clickbaiting,' but I think we should call it 'bullshit curation.' And this primary, the bullshit curators made a massive cottage industry out of your desire to read nasty things about Hillary Clinton. So much so that people still believe things that are patently untrue." Yep, seeing a heckofa lotta that this cycle. And it's soaking up a good deal of time reading all the bullshit. Serious signal to noise issues. (Grokked from Ferrett Steinmetz)

"One analysis of three distinct data sets… found that people who were more open to experience… were more likely to show a high level of interest in politics, to report following politics, to be politically informed, and to engage in political discussions. Extraverts were likely to engage in political discussions, but not so likely to be politically informed. More surprisingly, people who were highly conscientious (e.g., organized, responsible) were neither particularly informed nor interested in politics, and those who were highly agreeable… had a modest but consistent tendency to avoid political matters." Have I shown you a picture of my desk. I have it right here under all this crap on my desk. Also, just a reminder that as the Now Cast on 538's site puts Trump at less than 5% chance of winning, we are still below 50% of eligible voters paying attention to the election.

"Donald Trump on Monday peddled largely uncontroversial Republican economic plans during a major policy address in Detroit—but he also pushed a slew of falsehoods about the health of the American economy." Yawn. Okay, so we do all know that Trumpster's business plan is to screw over the little guy and declare bankruptcy when it looks like you'd have to actually pay for something, right?

So, the Trumpster came to my old stomping grounds to have a fundraiser. Note, I drive by that club on the way to my Mom's house. Very snooty, for no real good reason. But it's hosted by Jane and Tim Timken. Let me give you a little hometown knowledge of this couple. Timken was very big in Canton. There was a high-school named in their honor, one of the hospitals bears their name as well as the huge factory that made Canton, Ohio a prime-strike target in almost everyone's nuclear war plans. The Timken's parents were staunch proponents of their home town and refused to move the factory and they were very public about their dedication to keep manufacturing of ball bearings in Canton (they do have a world-wide operation). The very day after Old Lady Timken died, Jr announced he was moving manufacturing out of NE Ohio (much of the factory right off I-77 is empty now). Fuck them, fuck Trump and his "we're going to bring manufacturing back" lie. (Grokked from Dan)

"After months ago promising he would tone down his rhetoric as part of a more 'presidential' general election pivot, Donald Trump on Tuesday said that it doesn't make any sense for him to change his strategy now that he's 'winning.'" You go with your crazy self. Although it's apparent that someone else is handling his twitter account, and someone else is writing his speeches, it's not known exactly how long that will last (my guess is only when the cameras are on). Oh, and how's that winning thing going?

"The parents of two Americans killed in the 2012 attack on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya, on Monday sued Hillary Clinton for allegedly contributing to their sons’ deaths by using a private email server during her tenure in the State Department." Okay, so when this is tossed out by a Federal Judge will that end this fixation on nonexistent issues? I appreciate the family is in pain over their loss and that the world they're in only contributes to their feelings of frustration and unfairness. However, "Klayman, who filed the suit on the parents' behalf, is known for his activist style of lawyering. He sued the Clintons repeatedly in the 1990s and filed a petition in 2014 to have President Barack Obama, who he insists is an 'illegal alien,' deported from the U.S."

Story Bone

I've been searching through some boxes looking for something and have realized I used to write a hellofalotta notes about writing. Think like bits of conversation, ideas, plot lines, etc. And I don't do that as often as I use to. So let me share this gem.

Time travelers would be subject to infectious diseases that their immune systems are not prepared to handle. Would then need a series of vaccines? Would doctors know what to inoculate them with? Or could they bring back to their future time a plague that would wipe out large portions of their population leading to political will to never time travel again, or societal collapse leading them to never be able to time travel again?

Linkee-poo lite

With lots of things happening, not much of news. Especially now that the Trumpster campaign has wrestled his twitter account away from his control. Hopefully more soon (including a number of personal updates).

The coyote, from trickster to survivor. Coyote is always out there waiting, and Coyote is always hungry. (Grokked from Paolo Bacigalupi)

The family of the boy who built a digital clock and found himself in jail when he brought it to school is suing the school district. Not entirely surprised here.

"Jim, what happens if Trump quits the race?" Jim Wright on why Trump won't quit the race.

Tweet of my heart: @morninggloria America is like the latest episodes of Game Of Thrones in that nerds who read all the books have no idea what the fuck is going on anymore (Grokked from Elizabeth Bear)

Double dip: @Karnythia The best scam ever run on poor white people was the idea that their financial struggles are the fault of POC & not rich white people.(Grokked from Kameron Hurley)

Linkee-poo really sang with screwed up eyes and screwed down hairdo like some cat from Japan

Two interviews with agent Jennifer Johnson-Blalock. Questions on being an agent and what agents look for. (Grokked from Hannah Bowman)

"Write every single day… It’s one of the most common pieces of writing advice and it’s wildly off base." I think I need to read this blog post on writing begins with forgiveness a few more times. Yes. Part of what's blocking me now is guilt and shame. I'm writing this entry on Friday nite, and I should be writing or working on t-shirt art. And I'm not doing either (I did some art, but didn't "finish" anything). There is a huge amount of inertia right now. At least Sisyphus had momentum and drive. Feeling very short on both these days. And I keep beating myself up about it. Maybe I need to develop some ritual to do this. (Grokked from Justine Larbalestier)

Remember in the Obamacare discussions when the conservatives kept on saying how they didn't want Government between you and your doctor because nothing should get between you and your doctor, but then didn't get the whole "but insurers have been between the patient and the doctor since forever" argument? "Prior authorization requirements can also pressure doctors to change how they prescribe a drug such as Suboxone. Sometimes an insurer will push for a lower dosage than the doctor wants, or it will require a patient to start tapering the use of a medication even when the doctor thinks the patient needs more time." Whelp, they still are there between you and your doctor. Also, because I have 1st hand knowledge, they'll even get in the way when it comes to a CT scan.

Who needs any stinking regulation? "In 2014, undercover Congressional investigators set out to test the countermeasures put in place to test the regulatory system that is supposed to detect and interdict terrorists who are assembling a dirty bomb -- countermeasures set in place after a red team found that it would be easy to do just that in 2007. They found that it was still very easy to beat all the detection systems."

"Alabama judge who wouldn’t marry gays suspended over sexual messages." Something something sin something something rock. (Grokked from Annalee Flower Horne)

"According to one highly-placed source, Solivan worked out of what Fox insiders called 'the Black Room,' an operation Ailes established around 2011 to conduct PR and surveillance campaigns against people he targeted both inside and outside the company." And was probably more of the reason for Ailes ousting within a few weeks of the allegations of his sexual harassment became public knowledge, as he funneled Fox New profits into his own "enemies" projects. (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)

"In the intelligence business, we would say that Mr. Putin had recruited Mr. Trump as an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation." Putin found the weakness and exploited it. Michael J. Morell, acting director and deputy director of the CIA from 2010 to 2013, endorses Hillary Clinton calling Trump a liability. (Grokked from just about everybody by now)

Just an observation. In the past week I've seen many conservatives talking or tweeting and including the argument about control of the Supreme Court and why that makes this the most important election in generations. See, they get it. Dems need to start beating that drum as well. It's almost fallen off their radar screens.

"'It’s such a breath of fresh air,' (Former Rep. Todd Aiken) said. 'When he says things and gets everybody excited, there are people like me who are clapping. It is still a free speech country.'" You may remember Todd from the "real rape" discussion in 2012. He still doesn't understand why he lost so much support. You're still an asshole, Todd. See, free speech. It never went away.

There's this meme where us progressives and liberals call the Trumpster's rhetoric racist and then they say it's not. Well, let's ask one, shall we? "Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke is running for U.S. Senate and tells NPR that he believes he'll be getting the votes of Donald Trump supporters." So, yep, racist. Also noted because "Make American Great Again" was one of his former slogans when Duke ran for office before. "I don't know if (Trump is) with me or not but I would hope that he and others would realize that the same lies they make about him is what they say about me,' (Duke) said. 'I've always said that I'm for equal rights for all people, but I also believe that European-Americans shouldn't be facing discrimination (it's the classic "reverse racism" argument) either… We've already polled inside the Trump voters, and we know that we're going to carry 75 to 80 percent of those who are going to vote for Trump.'"

Apparently the Trumpster's campaign hired former AOL and ComCast payment systems administrators because there is no way to actually cancel monthly payments to the campaign once you set one on short of cancelling your card or contesting the charges with your bank. Ain't that special. So much for knowing how to actually run a business. Unless you want our government run like AOL or ComCast. (Grokked from Robert J Bennett)

"'James O’Keefe is a professional liar,' Dickerson said. 'He just isn’t very good at it.'" Well, at least he's learning to not commit a crime (although IANAL, but I believe in some state just the act of impersonating someone to an election official, or other government office, is a crime). I wonder if there's also something about a convicted felon committing an impersonation or entering a poling place being a crime? Did I link to the story about O'Keefe being recognized when he tried to impersonate a Bernie supporter during the protests at the DNC?

Tweet of my heart: @GeorgeTakei Trump has floated Ivanka for a cabinet position. In other news Lucius Malfoy has elevated Draco to head the Dept of Magical Law Enforcement.