"An Atlas V rocket lit up the predawn sky over Florida early Tuesday (Dec. 7) to launch a novel NASA laser space communications satellite into orbit alongside a host of other payloads for the U.S. Space Force."
"Space.com pointed out that 'mystery hut' is used as a placeholder name based on its appearance — it is not literally a hut. The site also offered a possible explanation for the object's true origin: It could be a large boulder that was 'excavated by an impact event.'"
"In a wide-ranging conversation, (Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health) answers NPR's questions as to why — for all the taxpayer dollars going to NIH research — there haven't been more gains when it comes to Americans' overall health. He also talks about how tribalism in American culture has fueled vaccine hesitancy, and he advises his successor on how to persevere on research of politically charged topics — like guns and obesity and maternal health — even if powerful lobbies might want that research not to get done."
"Viagra could be a useful treatment against Alzheimer’s disease, according to a US study."
"Using Allegheny County data in the Pittsburgh area, the Black Equity researchers have found a sobering racial gap during the pandemic: Black residents of the county have seen disproportionate hospitalization rates — and have been more likely to land in the ICU or on a ventilator. Weekly hospitalization rates were higher during surges of infection in April, July and December 2020 and again in March and October 2021. Deaths, too, were disproportionate but fluctuated after December 2020… For much of the pandemic, death rates have been higher for African Americans than for other racial groups, the coalition says."
"Signs of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus have been found in California's wastewater, officials said, as the number of cases associated with the new variant rose to double digits this week, including a newly confirmed infection in a Long Beach resident." Ta-da!
"Here is what scientists know: Vaccine-related myocarditis is extremely rare; estimates vary, but the highest figures suggest there have been fewer than 200 cases per million fully vaccinated males ages 12–15, the youngest age group for which such data currently exist. Only about 30 cases per million have been reported in vaccinated females of that age. Pfizer, whose mRNA vaccine was recently authorized for use in five- to 11-year olds, says it did not observe any myocarditis cases in its clinical trial for the latter age group… The risk of getting COVID itself is much greater." Medicine is sometimes playing the numbers. Most pharmaceuticals kill your liver or kidneys, but the effects they have in curing other diseases far outweigh the damage done in the majority of cases. Chemotherapy, when it started, could kill you and you literally had to be given an antidote at the exact time needed for you to survive. We've come a long way since those days, but chemo is still damn hard on the body. The hope is that it kills more of the cancer than of your healthy body tissue. Some people have a bad reaction to the flu vaccines, but the losses from that are far more rare than the potential losses from not vaccinating the population.
"A video obtained by ITV shows senior No 10 staff joking about holding a Christmas party - days after one was held there during lockdown… The PM's then-press secretary Allegra Stratton is asked by colleagues about reports of a party, as they rehearse a news conference in December last year… In jokey exchanges, she says: 'This fictional party was a business meeting and it was not socially distanced.'"
"The so-called Great Resignation lost some steam in October, with the total number of workers leaving their jobs either due to dissatisfaction or better opportunities elsewhere declined, the Labor Department reported Wednesday… Job quitters declined by 4.7%, falling to 4.16 million from 4.36 million, the department said in its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. The rate as a share of the workforce fell from 3% to 2.8%."
"The White House has declared that 'President Biden is committed to using every tool available in government to produce more affordable housing supply as quickly as possible.' Yet on Nov. 24, Biden's Commerce Department announced it was doubling duties on softwood lumber imported from Canada, from an average of 8.99% to 17.9%. Softwood lumber is a crucial material needed to build houses, and levying a large tax on imports only hurts the cause of expanding housing supply." Ugh.
"'If you're on this call, you are part of the unlucky group that is being laid off,' Garg said on a one-way webinar last Wednesday, which lasted three minutes. Garg started immediately and did not wait for workers to trickle into the meeting. 'Your employment here is terminated effective immediately.'" Fired over Zoom.
"The United Arab Emirates will move its weekend to Saturday and Sunday starting next year, the UAE media office said in a tweet on Tuesday… The shift is significant, given Friday has long been a sacred day for worshippers of Islam. Most countries in the Gulf have Friday to Saturday weekends." Money speaks.
"The prosecutor overseeing the case against the student accused in last week's deadly Michigan school shooting and who took the rare step of charging his parents left open the possibility Monday that school officials could also face charges, saying 'in this case, a lot could have been done different.'"
"Ukrainian and Western officials are worried that a Russian military buildup near Ukraine could signal plans by Moscow to invade its ex-Soviet neighbor… The Kremlin insists it has no such intention and has accused Ukraine and its Western backers of making the claims to cover up their own allegedly aggressive designs."
"Far more voters say they want the Supreme Court to leave Roe v. Wade in place than not, but the issue isn't a key motivator heading into the midterm elections, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll… Justices by next June are expected to decide whether to scrap the half-century-old decision underpinning abortion rights and let states chose if they want to ban the procedure early in pregnancy. Already, activists on both sides of the issue are framing the stakes for voters and pouring millions of dollars into ads, voter mobilization efforts and direct campaign donations." That's because the majority of people don't think anything will really happen… to them, at least.
"The Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court is to vote Tuesday on its final report and recommendations, but the panel steers clear of taking a position on many of the most controversial suggestions for changing the court."
"An effort to get back onto the U.S. Naval Academy Board of Visitors by former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer and ex-Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought has hit a roadblock after a federal judge blocked the two men's request for immediate reinstatement." Should have gone for the Fox News gig, fellas.
"In some ways, President Joe Biden’s long-promised Summit for Democracy could not be better timed… The virtual gathering, set for Thursday and Friday, comes as people from Cuba to Belarus have hit the streets in recent years to demand a say in their governance — or, at least, some accountability from their leaders. And it comes as Western leaders have grown increasingly wary of the tactics and intentions of the ruling Chinese Communist Party and alarmed about renewed Russian aggression toward Ukraine."
"Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., an ally of former President Donald Trump, is resigning from his congressional seat to become CEO of Trump's new media company that aims to launch its own social media platform." It's hilarious because Jim Jordan, who ignored sexual abuse of his student wrestlers when he was a coach at Ohio State, then states that Nunes won against the "DC Swamp." Nunes is leaving because he's been picked to run a social media company for a political operator. That is the very definition of the DC Swamp.
And then… "A planned merger between former President Donald Trump's social media startup and a shell company is being investigated by regulators."
"The Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Tuesday sided with Vladimir Putin over Russia's military activity near Ukraine, saying the Russian president 'just wants to keep his western borders secure.'… Russia has denied plans to invade and has said it was just responding to Ukrainian and NATO aggression." Tucker goes full Tokyo Rose.
Wednesday, December 8, 2021
Monday, December 6, 2021
Linkee-poo Monday Dec 6
Bob Dole, and so it goes.
"(Laser Communications Relay Demonstration) will help NASA learn about possible effects to manage, ranging from atmospheric turbulence to cloud deflection, Mitchell noted. The timing is crucial as NASA and its international partners expand its exploration focus over the coming decades… Newly announced private space stations will only expand the need for fast information flowing to and from Earth. Meanwhile, astronauts on the moon and a sample return mission on Mars could benefit from faster communications speeds 10 to 100 times faster than current-day radio." Note that it's not really communications speed, but bandwidth.
"Across the U.S., the weather is simply weird: The highest peaks of Hawaii spent the weekend under a blizzard warning, while record rainfall drenched the Pacific Northwest, unseasonably warm temperatures stretched across the Midwest and South, and a major snow drought in the Rockies means Denver has still not seen its first snowfall of the season."
"More than 20 people in at least 12 U.S. states have tested positive for the omicron variant of the virus that causes Covid-19. The patients range in age, vaccination status and travel history, but none of them have developed severe disease so far… While some patients had recently traveled in southern Africa, where the variant was first detected, others had no travel history, indicating that community transmission is underway in the U.S." Again, South Africa (like Wuhan) is just where it was identified.
"Since May 2021, people living in counties that voted heavily for Donald Trump during the last presidential election have been nearly three times as likely to die from COVID-19 as those who live in areas that went for now-President Biden. That's according to a new analysis by NPR that examines how political polarization and misinformation are driving a significant share of the deaths in the pandemic." Who made this disease a political football and litmus test?
"In other words, don't panic, but do be thoughtful about what risks you want to take… We spoke to several infectious disease experts for advice on living in the age of omicron. But remember: Things are changing quickly, so stay alert. Public health advice may change as we learn more." Get vaccinated, wear a mask.
"The analysis, presented at a scientific conference Friday, suggests the omicron variant is highly transmissible and also more capable of evading the immune system than delta… On Thursday, Pulliam and her colleagues also published a study online showing that reinfections are more likely with omicron than with the delta or the beta variants. The study couldn't estimate the magnitude of this change — that is, how much more likely reinfections will be — but it shows quite strongly that this new variant is more capable of bypassing antibodies generated by a prior infection than previous variants." Also again, if Omicron is more contagious and can out compete Delta, but causes a milder form of COVID-19, this is a Good Thing™. It becomes more likely that SARS-CoV2 may fade into the cloud of viruses that cause colds. Of course, it's already done a huge amount of damage before getting here, and will continue to cause a lot of damage until it fades.
"It's the sort of fringe views that kept political figures away from this conference in the past. But as America heads into midterm elections next year, the political right and the anti-vaccine movement are drawing ever-closer together. It's an alliance that promises to give both sides more power, but the cost is potentially thousands of American lives." Well, yes, they're mostly the same voter stock, the same disregard for science and education, and the susceptibility to Russian disinformation campaigns.
"Criminal groups have been sending threatening messages in the past couple of months to companies that manage broadband phone services all over the world, promising they'll flood the digital phone lines with traffic and take them offline unless victims pay a ransom… What those extortionists have discovered is that the number of phone calls that take place at least partially over the internet has quietly and dramatically increased over recent years — and there's a lot at stake when major providers go down."
"The Biden administration is expected to announce this week that no US government officials will attend the 2022 Beijing Olympics, implementing a diplomatic boycott of the games, according to several sources… The move would allow the US to send a message on the world stage to China without preventing US athletes from competing. The National Security Council, which has been privately discussing the boycott, declined to comment."
"A judge imposed a combined $1 million bond Saturday for the parents of the Michigan teen charged with killing four students at Oxford High School, hours after police said they were caught hiding in a Detroit commercial building." This story isn't adding up yet.
"More than 20 countries, including the United States, issued a joint statement Saturday expressing deep concern over allegations of extra-judicial killings and disappearances of former member of former security forces in Afghanistan… The statement comes after a report was released by Human Rights Watch on Tuesday alleging more than a hundred former Afghan security forces had been killed or forcibly disappeared by the Taliban since their surrender in late summer."
"Thomas Gavin may be one of the most prolific artifact thieves in U.S. history… But Gavin had been on a tear in the '60s and '70s, hitting nearly a dozen museums on the east coast. He mostly stole antique firearms and stashed them in his hideout — a cluttered, non-descript barn in rural Pennsylvania."
"Many in Eastern Europe have concluded that Western liberalism is not a good fit… Orbán and his Fidesz party (in Hungary) have become the flag-bearers of this mindset during their decade in power. The Hungarian government has repeatedly clashed with Brussels over migration, multiculturalism, press freedom and, most recently, LGBTQ rights." Democracy is hard, you have to really want it. Authoritarians (a philosophy which has done more to divide America and the rest of the world as conservatives go at it hard) are never the answer.
"Former Sen. David Perdue has launched a primary challenge against Gov. Brian Kemp, the latest escalation in former President Donald Trump's attack on Republicans that failed to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election… The news of Perdue's re-entry into politics, first reported by Politico, comes less than a week after Democratic rising star Stacey Abrams announced her own campaign for governor, seeking a potential rematch after losing to Kemp by about 55,000 votes in 2018."
"(Laser Communications Relay Demonstration) will help NASA learn about possible effects to manage, ranging from atmospheric turbulence to cloud deflection, Mitchell noted. The timing is crucial as NASA and its international partners expand its exploration focus over the coming decades… Newly announced private space stations will only expand the need for fast information flowing to and from Earth. Meanwhile, astronauts on the moon and a sample return mission on Mars could benefit from faster communications speeds 10 to 100 times faster than current-day radio." Note that it's not really communications speed, but bandwidth.
"Across the U.S., the weather is simply weird: The highest peaks of Hawaii spent the weekend under a blizzard warning, while record rainfall drenched the Pacific Northwest, unseasonably warm temperatures stretched across the Midwest and South, and a major snow drought in the Rockies means Denver has still not seen its first snowfall of the season."
"More than 20 people in at least 12 U.S. states have tested positive for the omicron variant of the virus that causes Covid-19. The patients range in age, vaccination status and travel history, but none of them have developed severe disease so far… While some patients had recently traveled in southern Africa, where the variant was first detected, others had no travel history, indicating that community transmission is underway in the U.S." Again, South Africa (like Wuhan) is just where it was identified.
"Since May 2021, people living in counties that voted heavily for Donald Trump during the last presidential election have been nearly three times as likely to die from COVID-19 as those who live in areas that went for now-President Biden. That's according to a new analysis by NPR that examines how political polarization and misinformation are driving a significant share of the deaths in the pandemic." Who made this disease a political football and litmus test?
"In other words, don't panic, but do be thoughtful about what risks you want to take… We spoke to several infectious disease experts for advice on living in the age of omicron. But remember: Things are changing quickly, so stay alert. Public health advice may change as we learn more." Get vaccinated, wear a mask.
"The analysis, presented at a scientific conference Friday, suggests the omicron variant is highly transmissible and also more capable of evading the immune system than delta… On Thursday, Pulliam and her colleagues also published a study online showing that reinfections are more likely with omicron than with the delta or the beta variants. The study couldn't estimate the magnitude of this change — that is, how much more likely reinfections will be — but it shows quite strongly that this new variant is more capable of bypassing antibodies generated by a prior infection than previous variants." Also again, if Omicron is more contagious and can out compete Delta, but causes a milder form of COVID-19, this is a Good Thing™. It becomes more likely that SARS-CoV2 may fade into the cloud of viruses that cause colds. Of course, it's already done a huge amount of damage before getting here, and will continue to cause a lot of damage until it fades.
"It's the sort of fringe views that kept political figures away from this conference in the past. But as America heads into midterm elections next year, the political right and the anti-vaccine movement are drawing ever-closer together. It's an alliance that promises to give both sides more power, but the cost is potentially thousands of American lives." Well, yes, they're mostly the same voter stock, the same disregard for science and education, and the susceptibility to Russian disinformation campaigns.
"Criminal groups have been sending threatening messages in the past couple of months to companies that manage broadband phone services all over the world, promising they'll flood the digital phone lines with traffic and take them offline unless victims pay a ransom… What those extortionists have discovered is that the number of phone calls that take place at least partially over the internet has quietly and dramatically increased over recent years — and there's a lot at stake when major providers go down."
"The Biden administration is expected to announce this week that no US government officials will attend the 2022 Beijing Olympics, implementing a diplomatic boycott of the games, according to several sources… The move would allow the US to send a message on the world stage to China without preventing US athletes from competing. The National Security Council, which has been privately discussing the boycott, declined to comment."
"A judge imposed a combined $1 million bond Saturday for the parents of the Michigan teen charged with killing four students at Oxford High School, hours after police said they were caught hiding in a Detroit commercial building." This story isn't adding up yet.
"More than 20 countries, including the United States, issued a joint statement Saturday expressing deep concern over allegations of extra-judicial killings and disappearances of former member of former security forces in Afghanistan… The statement comes after a report was released by Human Rights Watch on Tuesday alleging more than a hundred former Afghan security forces had been killed or forcibly disappeared by the Taliban since their surrender in late summer."
"Thomas Gavin may be one of the most prolific artifact thieves in U.S. history… But Gavin had been on a tear in the '60s and '70s, hitting nearly a dozen museums on the east coast. He mostly stole antique firearms and stashed them in his hideout — a cluttered, non-descript barn in rural Pennsylvania."
"Many in Eastern Europe have concluded that Western liberalism is not a good fit… Orbán and his Fidesz party (in Hungary) have become the flag-bearers of this mindset during their decade in power. The Hungarian government has repeatedly clashed with Brussels over migration, multiculturalism, press freedom and, most recently, LGBTQ rights." Democracy is hard, you have to really want it. Authoritarians (a philosophy which has done more to divide America and the rest of the world as conservatives go at it hard) are never the answer.
"Former Sen. David Perdue has launched a primary challenge against Gov. Brian Kemp, the latest escalation in former President Donald Trump's attack on Republicans that failed to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election… The news of Perdue's re-entry into politics, first reported by Politico, comes less than a week after Democratic rising star Stacey Abrams announced her own campaign for governor, seeking a potential rematch after losing to Kemp by about 55,000 votes in 2018."
Friday, December 3, 2021
Linkee-poo looks down in my Redshirt
"An iron-rich planet spotted in a nearby solar system could help scientists understand the mystery of how the planet Mercury formed in our own neighborhood… The newly-described planet is about 31 light years away, according to a report in the journal Science. Astronomers haven't seen it directly, but they've been able to estimate its size and mass by watching its effects on the star that it orbits. It appears that this planet is largely made of iron."
"A massive voluntary recall suddenly took many sleep aid devices off the market without offering a replacement… Now, newly released documents are raising questions over whether the company at the center of that recall knew of the problems and risks with its devices for years, but did not immediately act." I'm still waiting on my recall to be processed.
"Their family is among hundreds of military families living near Pearl Harbor with similar complaints after the Navy's water system somehow became contaminated by petroleum. The problems have afflicted one of the most important Navy bases in the world, home to submarines, ships and the commander of U.S. forces in the Indo-Pacific region. The issues may even threaten one of Honolulu's most important aquifers and water sources." Oopsie.
"The World Health Organization's chief scientist told the Reuters Next conference on Friday the Omicron variant could become dominant because it is highly transmissible, but that a different vaccine may not be needed… She said the WHO could not at this stage say that Omicron was a mild variant, even if many infections so far have been associated with less severe symptoms or no symptoms at all… There is not yet conclusive evidence about Omicron's impact on the effectiveness of antibodies." If it is more transmissible than Delta, but causes a milder form of COVID-19, that's Good News™. Also note the part about how we don't really know where it emerged, and punishing South Africa because they sequence more of their samples than most Western countries (coughUSAcough) is not helpful.
"At least five U.S. states have now confirmed cases of the omicron variant of the virus that causes Covid-19, as scientists investigate whether the heavily mutated strain is more infectious and virulent." Again, it's too late to try and stop this. Mostly because we don't test a lot of samples here in the west.
"A past coronavirus infection appears to give little immunity to the new omicron variant rippling across the globe, South African scientists warned Thursday, potentially tearing away one layer of defense that humanity has won slowly and at immense cost." Insert dramatic music here.
"German lawmakers have implemented new curbs for the unvaccinated and made plans to vote on making Covid vaccines mandatory… National and regional leaders agreed on Thursday to ban Germany’s unvaccinated population from all non-essential businesses, such as bars, restaurants and movie theaters in a bid to encourage vaccine uptake."
"New York City is extending a COVID-19 vaccine mandate to teachers and staff of private and religious schools, a plan that would affect approximately 56,000 employees at 938 schools across New York City. The move sets up a potential clash with some religious leaders who have opposed mandates for their communities."
"The U.S. economy created far fewer jobs than expected in November, in a sign that hiring started to slow even ahead of the new Covid threat, the Labor Department reported Friday… Nonfarm payrolls increased by just 210,000 for the month, though the unemployment rate fell sharply to 4.2% from 4.6%, even though the labor force participation rate increased for the month to 61.8%, its highest level since March 2020."
"Employers added just 210,000 jobs in November, according to a monthly snapshot from the Labor Department. Job growth appeared to lose momentum after stronger hiring in September and October. Hiring figures for those months were revised upwards."
"A South Florida teenager has been arrested after investigators learned he made a threat against Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the site of a mass shooting that killed 17 people on Valentine's Day in 2018."
"A 14-year-old Georgia girl was killed when her younger brother was trying to sell a homemade gun, and he fired a shot at people who took the weapon without paying, a sheriff said."
"Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to reestablish a World War II-era civilian military force that he, not the Pentagon, would control… DeSantis pitched the idea Thursday as a way to further support the Florida National Guard during emergencies, like hurricanes. The Florida National Guard has also played a vital role during the pandemic in administering Covid-19 tests and distributing vaccines." Well, that could be interesting. How I read it is a grift, some way to reward loyalists with a "job" and state pension, not really a "stazi" type organization. But it's interesting that a conservative wants to spend more money on duplicating what they already have (in the National Guard).
"Arrogantly self-righteous. Violently xenophobic. Confidently uneducated. Inordinately proud of their own miserable ignorance. Wrapped in the flag of dogmatic nationalism, mindless patriotism, and self-righteous piety. Waving a gun and their Bible… This is what the Republican Party has become: Lauren Boebert." Jim Wright on the current state of conservative politics. There have always been mind-mumblingly ignorant elected officials. But on the conservative side this has become a virtue instead of a liability.
"A group of lawyers aligned with former President Donald Trump -- including Sidney Powell and Lin Wood -- were ordered Thursday by a federal judge to collectively pay more than $175,000 in sanctions-related fees stemming from a bogus election fraud lawsuit they filed last year… US District Judge Linda Parker ordered that the lawyers pay the $21,964.75 in attorneys' fees for the Michigan state officials they sued in the lawsuit. She also ordered that the lawyers pay $153,285.62 in attorneys' fees for the city of Detroit, which was also a defendant in the election reversal lawsuit filed last year."
"A massive voluntary recall suddenly took many sleep aid devices off the market without offering a replacement… Now, newly released documents are raising questions over whether the company at the center of that recall knew of the problems and risks with its devices for years, but did not immediately act." I'm still waiting on my recall to be processed.
"Their family is among hundreds of military families living near Pearl Harbor with similar complaints after the Navy's water system somehow became contaminated by petroleum. The problems have afflicted one of the most important Navy bases in the world, home to submarines, ships and the commander of U.S. forces in the Indo-Pacific region. The issues may even threaten one of Honolulu's most important aquifers and water sources." Oopsie.
"The World Health Organization's chief scientist told the Reuters Next conference on Friday the Omicron variant could become dominant because it is highly transmissible, but that a different vaccine may not be needed… She said the WHO could not at this stage say that Omicron was a mild variant, even if many infections so far have been associated with less severe symptoms or no symptoms at all… There is not yet conclusive evidence about Omicron's impact on the effectiveness of antibodies." If it is more transmissible than Delta, but causes a milder form of COVID-19, that's Good News™. Also note the part about how we don't really know where it emerged, and punishing South Africa because they sequence more of their samples than most Western countries (coughUSAcough) is not helpful.
"At least five U.S. states have now confirmed cases of the omicron variant of the virus that causes Covid-19, as scientists investigate whether the heavily mutated strain is more infectious and virulent." Again, it's too late to try and stop this. Mostly because we don't test a lot of samples here in the west.
"A past coronavirus infection appears to give little immunity to the new omicron variant rippling across the globe, South African scientists warned Thursday, potentially tearing away one layer of defense that humanity has won slowly and at immense cost." Insert dramatic music here.
"German lawmakers have implemented new curbs for the unvaccinated and made plans to vote on making Covid vaccines mandatory… National and regional leaders agreed on Thursday to ban Germany’s unvaccinated population from all non-essential businesses, such as bars, restaurants and movie theaters in a bid to encourage vaccine uptake."
"New York City is extending a COVID-19 vaccine mandate to teachers and staff of private and religious schools, a plan that would affect approximately 56,000 employees at 938 schools across New York City. The move sets up a potential clash with some religious leaders who have opposed mandates for their communities."
"The U.S. economy created far fewer jobs than expected in November, in a sign that hiring started to slow even ahead of the new Covid threat, the Labor Department reported Friday… Nonfarm payrolls increased by just 210,000 for the month, though the unemployment rate fell sharply to 4.2% from 4.6%, even though the labor force participation rate increased for the month to 61.8%, its highest level since March 2020."
"Employers added just 210,000 jobs in November, according to a monthly snapshot from the Labor Department. Job growth appeared to lose momentum after stronger hiring in September and October. Hiring figures for those months were revised upwards."
"A South Florida teenager has been arrested after investigators learned he made a threat against Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the site of a mass shooting that killed 17 people on Valentine's Day in 2018."
"A 14-year-old Georgia girl was killed when her younger brother was trying to sell a homemade gun, and he fired a shot at people who took the weapon without paying, a sheriff said."
"Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to reestablish a World War II-era civilian military force that he, not the Pentagon, would control… DeSantis pitched the idea Thursday as a way to further support the Florida National Guard during emergencies, like hurricanes. The Florida National Guard has also played a vital role during the pandemic in administering Covid-19 tests and distributing vaccines." Well, that could be interesting. How I read it is a grift, some way to reward loyalists with a "job" and state pension, not really a "stazi" type organization. But it's interesting that a conservative wants to spend more money on duplicating what they already have (in the National Guard).
"Arrogantly self-righteous. Violently xenophobic. Confidently uneducated. Inordinately proud of their own miserable ignorance. Wrapped in the flag of dogmatic nationalism, mindless patriotism, and self-righteous piety. Waving a gun and their Bible… This is what the Republican Party has become: Lauren Boebert." Jim Wright on the current state of conservative politics. There have always been mind-mumblingly ignorant elected officials. But on the conservative side this has become a virtue instead of a liability.
"A group of lawyers aligned with former President Donald Trump -- including Sidney Powell and Lin Wood -- were ordered Thursday by a federal judge to collectively pay more than $175,000 in sanctions-related fees stemming from a bogus election fraud lawsuit they filed last year… US District Judge Linda Parker ordered that the lawyers pay the $21,964.75 in attorneys' fees for the Michigan state officials they sued in the lawsuit. She also ordered that the lawyers pay $153,285.62 in attorneys' fees for the city of Detroit, which was also a defendant in the election reversal lawsuit filed last year."
Thursday, December 2, 2021
Happy Holidays
It's been years since I've posted holiday music, and I doubt I'll do so many again, but I wanted to share one of my recent favorites.
Robert Earl Keen - Merry Christmas From The Family.
Robert Earl Keen - Merry Christmas From The Family.
Linkee-poo Thursday Dec 2
"It's the most wonderful time of the year, and while the holiday season may have snuck up on some of us, that doesn't mean your last-minute shipping woes need to sneak up on you as well… Retailers across the U.S. are urging customers to finish their holiday shopping early this year, as supply chain issues and other shortages are posing a concern for many hot products on this year's shopping lists."
"However, the Laetoli site G footprints weren't the only ancient trackways researchers came across at that time. A set of footprints a mile away, at a place called Laetoli site A, were attributed to a young bear walking upright on its hind legs because they were so different from the tracks left by Australopithecus afarensis… Researchers now believe the Laetoli site A footprints may belong to a different early human ancestor that also walked on two legs, a revelation that could rewrite this chapter of the human story."
"Scientists say they've witnessed a never-before-seen type of replication in organic robots created in the lab using frog cells. Among other things, the findings could have implications for regenerative medicine… The discovery involves a xenobot – a simple, 'programmable' organism that is created by assembling stem cells in a Petri dish — and is described by a team of researchers from Tufts University, Harvard University and the University of Vermont in a paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."
"Robert Lunsford with the American Meteor Society told USA TODAY the comet won't be the most spectacular one ever but will be 'the brightest comet this year.' With the help of binoculars and telescopes, people across the country can already begin to spot it in the sky, and it won't be long before people can view the comet with the naked eye for this once-in-a-lifetime event."
"President Biden is set to announce on Thursday that private health insurance plans will soon reimburse people who buy over-the-counter at-home rapid tests for COVID-19 — one of a series of steps the White House is planning to encourage better detection and prevention of COVID this winter."
"A new kind of COVID-19 vaccine is about to roll out around the world. Although it won't replace the highly successful vaccines currently available, it could make a difference in the course of the pandemic, especially in lower resourced countriesæ These new vaccines are what's called protein subunit vaccines. They work by injecting people with a tiny portion of the virus. In the case of the COVID-19 vaccine, that tiny portion is the so-called spike protein critical for the virus to enter cells." So using the actual spike, instead of the mRNA code for the spike.
Remember the consternation over COVID precautions in the last election? "Former President Donald Trump tested positive for Covid-19 three days before his first presidential debate against Joe Biden, with a subsequent pre-debate test coming back negative, three sources familiar with the matter confirmed Wednesday." In my experience, the tests have a higher chance for a false negative than a false positive.
"With the first case of omicron confirmed in California and more cases expected across the U.S., public health officials who know the difference between good and bad crisis communication say they can't afford to be quiet and wait until scientists know how risky the new variant is before they speak out."
"Marcus Lamb, CEO and founder of the conservative Christian Daystar Television Network who was outspoken against COVID-19 vaccines, has died at age 64 after contracting the virus… Daystar confirmed his death Tuesday." I don't feel bad for them, but I do for all the people they hoodwinked and potentially exposed to this virus.
"As Major League Baseball's players and owners begin in the league's first work stoppage since the mid-1990s, a new published report has accused the league of secretly using two different baseballs during the 2021 season, potentially affecting players' performance and game outcomes… The current collective bargaining agreement between players and owners expired Wednesday at 11:59 p.m. ET. The two sides are not close to an agreement, according to reports." Oh look, a distraction.
"OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers, an influential group known as OPEC+, decided on Thursday to stick to a previously agreed upon plan of hiking output by 400,000 barrels per day in January… However the alliance said in a statement that 'the meeting remains in session,' meaning they can “make immediate adjustments” should the current market conditions shift."
"The report by the environmental groups Stand.earth and Amazon Watch found that on average 1 in every 7 tanks of gas, diesel or jet fuel pumped in southern California last year came from the Amazon rainforest. Among the top 25 largest corporate consumers are companies such as Costco, PepsiCo and Amazon, according to the report." The smarminess and "ha ha, caught you smug bastards" just drips from this article. Oil is international. Yes, oil produced in Ecuador (and the West cost of Central and South America) and shipped to the US would come in through California, and be processed there.
"A 15-year-old boy was charged Wednesday with murder, terrorism and other crimes for a shooting that killed four fellow students and injured others at a Michigan high school."
"The parents of a teenager accused of killing four students and wounding seven others at a high school in Michigan this week could themselves face charges… Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said she is considering charges against the parents of 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley, the suspect in Tuesday's mass shooting at Oxford High School in suburban Detroit."
"Alec Baldwin says he never pulled the trigger on a prop firearm that discharged on the 'Rust' movie set. The October 21 shooting in Santa Fe killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza." Enter Miss Marple, stage left.
"The future of abortion rights faced its most consequential test in nearly 30 years Wednesday when the Supreme Court convened to hear a high-stakes showdown taking aim at early five decades of precedent, with the conservative justices appearing inclined to let stand a Mississippi law at the heart of the case and pave the way for states to impose more stringent limits on abortion."
"Leading Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Senate scrambled on Wednesday to head off the threat of a partial federal government shutdown posed by Republicans opposed to President Joe Biden's COVID-19 vaccine mandates… Congress has until midnight on Friday to pass a measure that would continue funding federal government operations during the pandemic, amid concerns about a new rise in COVID-19 cases and the arrival of the Omicron variant in the United States."
"The House reached a deal Thursday on a short-term government funding bill that would prevent a shutdown before a Friday deadline… The measure would fund the government at current levels through Feb. 18, House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., said in a statement. The House could vote on the legislation Thursday." Kicking the can again. Thanks, Republicans.
"Democrat Stacey Abrams announced Wednesday she's running for governor of Georgia in 2022, setting the stage for a possible rematch against the current governor, Republican Brian Kemp, who narrowly beat Abrams in 2018."
"However, the Laetoli site G footprints weren't the only ancient trackways researchers came across at that time. A set of footprints a mile away, at a place called Laetoli site A, were attributed to a young bear walking upright on its hind legs because they were so different from the tracks left by Australopithecus afarensis… Researchers now believe the Laetoli site A footprints may belong to a different early human ancestor that also walked on two legs, a revelation that could rewrite this chapter of the human story."
"Scientists say they've witnessed a never-before-seen type of replication in organic robots created in the lab using frog cells. Among other things, the findings could have implications for regenerative medicine… The discovery involves a xenobot – a simple, 'programmable' organism that is created by assembling stem cells in a Petri dish — and is described by a team of researchers from Tufts University, Harvard University and the University of Vermont in a paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."
"Robert Lunsford with the American Meteor Society told USA TODAY the comet won't be the most spectacular one ever but will be 'the brightest comet this year.' With the help of binoculars and telescopes, people across the country can already begin to spot it in the sky, and it won't be long before people can view the comet with the naked eye for this once-in-a-lifetime event."
"President Biden is set to announce on Thursday that private health insurance plans will soon reimburse people who buy over-the-counter at-home rapid tests for COVID-19 — one of a series of steps the White House is planning to encourage better detection and prevention of COVID this winter."
"A new kind of COVID-19 vaccine is about to roll out around the world. Although it won't replace the highly successful vaccines currently available, it could make a difference in the course of the pandemic, especially in lower resourced countriesæ These new vaccines are what's called protein subunit vaccines. They work by injecting people with a tiny portion of the virus. In the case of the COVID-19 vaccine, that tiny portion is the so-called spike protein critical for the virus to enter cells." So using the actual spike, instead of the mRNA code for the spike.
Remember the consternation over COVID precautions in the last election? "Former President Donald Trump tested positive for Covid-19 three days before his first presidential debate against Joe Biden, with a subsequent pre-debate test coming back negative, three sources familiar with the matter confirmed Wednesday." In my experience, the tests have a higher chance for a false negative than a false positive.
"With the first case of omicron confirmed in California and more cases expected across the U.S., public health officials who know the difference between good and bad crisis communication say they can't afford to be quiet and wait until scientists know how risky the new variant is before they speak out."
"Marcus Lamb, CEO and founder of the conservative Christian Daystar Television Network who was outspoken against COVID-19 vaccines, has died at age 64 after contracting the virus… Daystar confirmed his death Tuesday." I don't feel bad for them, but I do for all the people they hoodwinked and potentially exposed to this virus.
"As Major League Baseball's players and owners begin in the league's first work stoppage since the mid-1990s, a new published report has accused the league of secretly using two different baseballs during the 2021 season, potentially affecting players' performance and game outcomes… The current collective bargaining agreement between players and owners expired Wednesday at 11:59 p.m. ET. The two sides are not close to an agreement, according to reports." Oh look, a distraction.
"OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers, an influential group known as OPEC+, decided on Thursday to stick to a previously agreed upon plan of hiking output by 400,000 barrels per day in January… However the alliance said in a statement that 'the meeting remains in session,' meaning they can “make immediate adjustments” should the current market conditions shift."
"The report by the environmental groups Stand.earth and Amazon Watch found that on average 1 in every 7 tanks of gas, diesel or jet fuel pumped in southern California last year came from the Amazon rainforest. Among the top 25 largest corporate consumers are companies such as Costco, PepsiCo and Amazon, according to the report." The smarminess and "ha ha, caught you smug bastards" just drips from this article. Oil is international. Yes, oil produced in Ecuador (and the West cost of Central and South America) and shipped to the US would come in through California, and be processed there.
"A 15-year-old boy was charged Wednesday with murder, terrorism and other crimes for a shooting that killed four fellow students and injured others at a Michigan high school."
"The parents of a teenager accused of killing four students and wounding seven others at a high school in Michigan this week could themselves face charges… Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said she is considering charges against the parents of 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley, the suspect in Tuesday's mass shooting at Oxford High School in suburban Detroit."
"Alec Baldwin says he never pulled the trigger on a prop firearm that discharged on the 'Rust' movie set. The October 21 shooting in Santa Fe killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza." Enter Miss Marple, stage left.
"The future of abortion rights faced its most consequential test in nearly 30 years Wednesday when the Supreme Court convened to hear a high-stakes showdown taking aim at early five decades of precedent, with the conservative justices appearing inclined to let stand a Mississippi law at the heart of the case and pave the way for states to impose more stringent limits on abortion."
"Leading Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Senate scrambled on Wednesday to head off the threat of a partial federal government shutdown posed by Republicans opposed to President Joe Biden's COVID-19 vaccine mandates… Congress has until midnight on Friday to pass a measure that would continue funding federal government operations during the pandemic, amid concerns about a new rise in COVID-19 cases and the arrival of the Omicron variant in the United States."
"The House reached a deal Thursday on a short-term government funding bill that would prevent a shutdown before a Friday deadline… The measure would fund the government at current levels through Feb. 18, House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., said in a statement. The House could vote on the legislation Thursday." Kicking the can again. Thanks, Republicans.
"Democrat Stacey Abrams announced Wednesday she's running for governor of Georgia in 2022, setting the stage for a possible rematch against the current governor, Republican Brian Kemp, who narrowly beat Abrams in 2018."
Tuesday, November 30, 2021
Linkee-poo Tuesday Nov 30
Sorry so late and a meager haul (lots of NPR). Rural broadband issues today.
The New Yorker interview of Mel Brooks on writing his memoir.
"Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper has filed suit against the Pentagon, which he says has ordered him to redact portions of an 'unvarnished and candid memoir' that he hopes to publish about his days in the Trump White House."
"It's not exactly classified information — former president Donald Trump and the intelligence community didn't get along. But in an updated book, Getting To Know The President, the story is told from the inside… The author is a former CIA officer, John Helgerson, who spent 38 years at the agency. The publisher is the CIA's in-house research center. And the book is available for free on the CIA website."
"As I see it, there are two very different audiences for Get Back, Peter Jackson's new documentary about The Beatles' Let It Be sessions. There are the most rabid fans, who will watch it and recognize instantly the stuff they've never heard or seen before. And for them — well, for us, because I'm part of that group — this Disney+ docuseries is a true treasure. For everyone else, the first part of The Beatles: Get Back may be slow going."
"A new article published in the journal Science found that trees in urban areas have started turning green earlier than their rural counterparts due to cities being hotter and also having more lights… '[I] found artificial light in cities acts as an extended daylight and cause earlier spring greening and later autumn leaf coloring,' author Lin Meng said."
"Over the past two weeks, omicron has spread to at least seven of South Africa's nine provinces, quickly overtaking the country's outbreak — and thus, it appears, outcompeting delta, says virologist Pei-Yong Shi of the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston… 'Based on the epidemiology data, it seems like the new variant has advantages in transmitting over the previous variants,' Shi says." Of course all the caveats are still here (it's early, we have limited data, blah blah). But there it is.
"The U.S. is enacting travel bans in an effort to limit the spread of the new omicron variant of the coronavirus, which the World Health Organization warns poses a 'very high' global risk."
"They came for an Oasis tribute band and stayed for a massive snowstorm… The Tan Hill Inn in Northern England offers camping, glamping, weddings and now: Snow days… Dozens of people, mostly strangers, spent the weekend snowed in together at the remote pub after heavy snowfall blocked the exits."
"Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama are getting a new vote on whether to form the company's first unionized warehouse in the United States… A U.S. labor-board official is ordering a re-vote after an agency review found Amazon improperly pressured warehouse staff to vote against joining a union, tainting the original election enough to scrap its results. The decision was issued Monday by a regional director of the National Labor Relations Board. Amazon is expected to appeal."
"For their first Christmas in the White House, the Biden family will celebrate with the theme of 'gifts from the heart' for their holiday decor." The White House Xmas doesn't look like the waiting room to Hell this year! I'm sure we will soon here how this is terrible, unAmerican, and not really celebrating Christianity well enough for the conservatives. Maybe something along the lines of "while America is suffering from shortages and inflation, the Bidens show how out of touch they are for not getting trees and decorations at the local Walmart like the rest of America."
"The phone call between Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., was meant to defuse tensions after the Republican made Islamophobic comments about the Democrat… Both congresswomen agree the call did not go well." Shocked, shocked I am…
"Lawmakers return to Washington, D.C., with a familiar end-of-the-year agenda — a pileup of important bills and not a lot of time to act on them… The most immediate issue is avoiding a partial government shutdown at the end of the week, but they also need to address the nation's borrowing authority and annual defense policy bill… Democrats have also set Christmas as their own deadline for passing the roughly $2 trillion domestic spending bill that includes climate, health care and child care programs. This massive bill is the second piece of President Biden's 'Build Back Better' agenda. (The $1 trillion infrastructure bill was signed earlier this month and Biden has begun an effort to tout its value to communities around the country.)" Ugh, sloppy reporting again… "Federal agencies run out of money at midnight on Friday…" No no no no fucking no. Agencies run out of the authority to spend money at midnight on Friday. "Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen notified Congress earlier this month that they have until Dec. 15 to increase the nation's borrowing limit or risk defaulting on the country's bills…" that's when we run "out of money." But even that isn't true, we just don't have enough to pay all the bills. While we like to equate the federal government "budget" to our own "budgets" it's not the same.
"Hours before the deadly attack on the US Capitol this year, Donald Trump made several calls from the White House to top lieutenants at the Willard hotel in Washington and talked about ways to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s election win from taking place on 6 January… The former president first told the lieutenants his vice-president, Mike Pence, was reluctant to go along with the plan to commandeer his largely ceremonial role at the joint session of Congress in a way that would allow Trump to retain the presidency for a second term." (Grokked from John Scalzi)
"Debate over the 2020 presidential election rages on in the political swing state of Wisconsin, where a prominent Republican lawmaker wants to strip the state's bipartisan elections agency of its power — and give it to the Republican-controlled Legislature." Danger, Warning, Will Robinson.
"Instead, at almost every turn, Trump was helped by people who had little liking for him as a human being or politician, but assessed that he could be useful for purposes of their own. The latest example: the suddenly red-hot media campaign to endorse Trump’s fantasy that he was the victim of a 'Russia hoax.'" Everything old is new again.
The New Yorker interview of Mel Brooks on writing his memoir.
"Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper has filed suit against the Pentagon, which he says has ordered him to redact portions of an 'unvarnished and candid memoir' that he hopes to publish about his days in the Trump White House."
"It's not exactly classified information — former president Donald Trump and the intelligence community didn't get along. But in an updated book, Getting To Know The President, the story is told from the inside… The author is a former CIA officer, John Helgerson, who spent 38 years at the agency. The publisher is the CIA's in-house research center. And the book is available for free on the CIA website."
"As I see it, there are two very different audiences for Get Back, Peter Jackson's new documentary about The Beatles' Let It Be sessions. There are the most rabid fans, who will watch it and recognize instantly the stuff they've never heard or seen before. And for them — well, for us, because I'm part of that group — this Disney+ docuseries is a true treasure. For everyone else, the first part of The Beatles: Get Back may be slow going."
"A new article published in the journal Science found that trees in urban areas have started turning green earlier than their rural counterparts due to cities being hotter and also having more lights… '[I] found artificial light in cities acts as an extended daylight and cause earlier spring greening and later autumn leaf coloring,' author Lin Meng said."
"Over the past two weeks, omicron has spread to at least seven of South Africa's nine provinces, quickly overtaking the country's outbreak — and thus, it appears, outcompeting delta, says virologist Pei-Yong Shi of the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston… 'Based on the epidemiology data, it seems like the new variant has advantages in transmitting over the previous variants,' Shi says." Of course all the caveats are still here (it's early, we have limited data, blah blah). But there it is.
"The U.S. is enacting travel bans in an effort to limit the spread of the new omicron variant of the coronavirus, which the World Health Organization warns poses a 'very high' global risk."
"They came for an Oasis tribute band and stayed for a massive snowstorm… The Tan Hill Inn in Northern England offers camping, glamping, weddings and now: Snow days… Dozens of people, mostly strangers, spent the weekend snowed in together at the remote pub after heavy snowfall blocked the exits."
"Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama are getting a new vote on whether to form the company's first unionized warehouse in the United States… A U.S. labor-board official is ordering a re-vote after an agency review found Amazon improperly pressured warehouse staff to vote against joining a union, tainting the original election enough to scrap its results. The decision was issued Monday by a regional director of the National Labor Relations Board. Amazon is expected to appeal."
"For their first Christmas in the White House, the Biden family will celebrate with the theme of 'gifts from the heart' for their holiday decor." The White House Xmas doesn't look like the waiting room to Hell this year! I'm sure we will soon here how this is terrible, unAmerican, and not really celebrating Christianity well enough for the conservatives. Maybe something along the lines of "while America is suffering from shortages and inflation, the Bidens show how out of touch they are for not getting trees and decorations at the local Walmart like the rest of America."
"The phone call between Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., was meant to defuse tensions after the Republican made Islamophobic comments about the Democrat… Both congresswomen agree the call did not go well." Shocked, shocked I am…
"Lawmakers return to Washington, D.C., with a familiar end-of-the-year agenda — a pileup of important bills and not a lot of time to act on them… The most immediate issue is avoiding a partial government shutdown at the end of the week, but they also need to address the nation's borrowing authority and annual defense policy bill… Democrats have also set Christmas as their own deadline for passing the roughly $2 trillion domestic spending bill that includes climate, health care and child care programs. This massive bill is the second piece of President Biden's 'Build Back Better' agenda. (The $1 trillion infrastructure bill was signed earlier this month and Biden has begun an effort to tout its value to communities around the country.)" Ugh, sloppy reporting again… "Federal agencies run out of money at midnight on Friday…" No no no no fucking no. Agencies run out of the authority to spend money at midnight on Friday. "Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen notified Congress earlier this month that they have until Dec. 15 to increase the nation's borrowing limit or risk defaulting on the country's bills…" that's when we run "out of money." But even that isn't true, we just don't have enough to pay all the bills. While we like to equate the federal government "budget" to our own "budgets" it's not the same.
"Hours before the deadly attack on the US Capitol this year, Donald Trump made several calls from the White House to top lieutenants at the Willard hotel in Washington and talked about ways to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s election win from taking place on 6 January… The former president first told the lieutenants his vice-president, Mike Pence, was reluctant to go along with the plan to commandeer his largely ceremonial role at the joint session of Congress in a way that would allow Trump to retain the presidency for a second term." (Grokked from John Scalzi)
"Debate over the 2020 presidential election rages on in the political swing state of Wisconsin, where a prominent Republican lawmaker wants to strip the state's bipartisan elections agency of its power — and give it to the Republican-controlled Legislature." Danger, Warning, Will Robinson.
"Instead, at almost every turn, Trump was helped by people who had little liking for him as a human being or politician, but assessed that he could be useful for purposes of their own. The latest example: the suddenly red-hot media campaign to endorse Trump’s fantasy that he was the victim of a 'Russia hoax.'" Everything old is new again.
Monday, November 29, 2021
Linkee-poo Monday Nov 29
Stephen Sondheim, and so it goes.
"It's the first study of its kind, the scientists said, that combines Einstein's theory of general relativity with realistic models of the densities of main-sequence stars. The results will help us understand what is happening when we observe the flares of light from distant black holes shredding unfortunate stars… And the simulations, supporting a paper that was published last year, are also gorgeous as heck."
"The World Health Organization is warning that the new omicron variant of the coronavirus poses a 'very high' global risk because of the possibility that it spreads more easily and might resist vaccines and immunity in people who were infected with previous strains."
"Dutch border police have said they’ve arrested and detained a couple who left a coronavirus quarantine hotel and were trying to leave the country… The couple, a man from Spain and woman from Portugal according to Dutch media reports, had been asked to quarantine after one of them tested positive for Covid on arrival in the Netherlands on a flight from South Africa." Again, it's too late for travel bans (but quarantines are still good), more than likely the Omicron (Persied 8) variant has already spread worldwide and we don't know if South Africa was actually where it emerged.
"Before she became sick with a coronavirus infection in January, Semhar Fisseha was a healthy, active 39-year-old… She took walks every day and planned summer vacations with her nine-year-old daughter. Now, even activities that many people take for granted can come at a big cost." The Long COVID story, lots of people are going to learn about Spoon Theory.
"Jack Dorsey is stepping down as CEO of Twitter, the social media company he co-founded in 2006. He will be replaced by Twitter's chief technology officer, Parag Agrawal, a 10-year veteran of the company."
"For nearly a half century abortion has been a constitutional right in the United States. But this week the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments in a Mississippi case that directly challenges Roe v. Wade and subsequent decisions… Those rulings consistently declared that a woman has a constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy in the first two trimesters of pregnancy when a fetus is unable to survive outside the womb. But with the abortion right now in doubt, it's worth looking back at its history."
"So for an entire decade, whether Ohio voters tilted to Democratic or to Republican or a toss-up, when it came to Congress, nothing changed. The makeup was the exact same 12-4 split no matter how the voters voted. In the world’s oldest democracy, the voters basically didn’t matter."
"Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, has signed into law a congressional map that creates 15 new districts in the state, but anti-gerrymandering advocates are slamming the map saying it was drawn to keep a Republican stronghold in Ohio… The plan has 12 seats that either heavily favor or lean in favor of Republicans. That's 80% of the districts in a state that voted for former President Donald Trump with 53% of the vote in 2020… Voter rights groups say Republican lawmakers went out of their way to carve the map in a way that gives them an advantage."
"Lawmakers return to Washington with a familiar end of the year agenda — a pile up of important bills and not a lot of time to act on them… The most immediate issue is avoiding a partial government shutdown at the end of the week, but they also need to address the nation's borrowing authority and annual defense policy bill."
"Specifically, the lawmaker said a number of moderates are upset with how McCarthy, of California, has embraced some of the extremists in the GOP conference and warned it could hurt the party in swing districts and undermine their chances of winning back the majority." Dear "moderate" Republicans (formerly the "hard right"), the party has left you. It's not coming back.
"Democrats in Congress are banking that President Biden's Build Back Better agenda — the largest expansion of the social safety net in decades that includes a wide range of programs to address health care, child care, elder care and climate change — is the ticket to keeping their majorities in the House and Senate in the 2022 midterm elections."
"It's the first study of its kind, the scientists said, that combines Einstein's theory of general relativity with realistic models of the densities of main-sequence stars. The results will help us understand what is happening when we observe the flares of light from distant black holes shredding unfortunate stars… And the simulations, supporting a paper that was published last year, are also gorgeous as heck."
"The World Health Organization is warning that the new omicron variant of the coronavirus poses a 'very high' global risk because of the possibility that it spreads more easily and might resist vaccines and immunity in people who were infected with previous strains."
"Dutch border police have said they’ve arrested and detained a couple who left a coronavirus quarantine hotel and were trying to leave the country… The couple, a man from Spain and woman from Portugal according to Dutch media reports, had been asked to quarantine after one of them tested positive for Covid on arrival in the Netherlands on a flight from South Africa." Again, it's too late for travel bans (but quarantines are still good), more than likely the Omicron (Persied 8) variant has already spread worldwide and we don't know if South Africa was actually where it emerged.
"Before she became sick with a coronavirus infection in January, Semhar Fisseha was a healthy, active 39-year-old… She took walks every day and planned summer vacations with her nine-year-old daughter. Now, even activities that many people take for granted can come at a big cost." The Long COVID story, lots of people are going to learn about Spoon Theory.
"Jack Dorsey is stepping down as CEO of Twitter, the social media company he co-founded in 2006. He will be replaced by Twitter's chief technology officer, Parag Agrawal, a 10-year veteran of the company."
"For nearly a half century abortion has been a constitutional right in the United States. But this week the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments in a Mississippi case that directly challenges Roe v. Wade and subsequent decisions… Those rulings consistently declared that a woman has a constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy in the first two trimesters of pregnancy when a fetus is unable to survive outside the womb. But with the abortion right now in doubt, it's worth looking back at its history."
"So for an entire decade, whether Ohio voters tilted to Democratic or to Republican or a toss-up, when it came to Congress, nothing changed. The makeup was the exact same 12-4 split no matter how the voters voted. In the world’s oldest democracy, the voters basically didn’t matter."
"Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, has signed into law a congressional map that creates 15 new districts in the state, but anti-gerrymandering advocates are slamming the map saying it was drawn to keep a Republican stronghold in Ohio… The plan has 12 seats that either heavily favor or lean in favor of Republicans. That's 80% of the districts in a state that voted for former President Donald Trump with 53% of the vote in 2020… Voter rights groups say Republican lawmakers went out of their way to carve the map in a way that gives them an advantage."
"Lawmakers return to Washington with a familiar end of the year agenda — a pile up of important bills and not a lot of time to act on them… The most immediate issue is avoiding a partial government shutdown at the end of the week, but they also need to address the nation's borrowing authority and annual defense policy bill."
"Specifically, the lawmaker said a number of moderates are upset with how McCarthy, of California, has embraced some of the extremists in the GOP conference and warned it could hurt the party in swing districts and undermine their chances of winning back the majority." Dear "moderate" Republicans (formerly the "hard right"), the party has left you. It's not coming back.
"Democrats in Congress are banking that President Biden's Build Back Better agenda — the largest expansion of the social safety net in decades that includes a wide range of programs to address health care, child care, elder care and climate change — is the ticket to keeping their majorities in the House and Senate in the 2022 midterm elections."
Friday, November 26, 2021
Linkee-poo Black Friday Nov 26
Robert Bly, and so it goes.
NPRs 2021 books of the year.
"Detroit isn't alone — communities across the country are seeing an increase in the severity and frequency of flooding due to climate change, testing the limits of water infrastructure built for a more moderate climate. The federal infrastructure bill, recently signed by President Biden, addresses that with billions of dollars for flood prevention."
And then there's the other problem, when too little water falls and toxins accumulate. "Dozens of other public water utilities in Iowa also treat drinking water for nitrates. Water Works has upgraded its facility and constructed deep wells to store more water and it's looking at building additional groundwater wells. Federal clean water laws exempt agricultural runoff. The utility filed a lawsuit five years ago to try and amend the Clean Water Act, so farmers would have to implement more environmental practices but it was ultimately dismissed."
"The launch of the $10bn (£7.5bn) James Webb space telescope has been delayed again, after an incident during the final preparations to place the telescope on top of its launch vehicle… The spacecraft was scheduled to be sent into orbit on 18 December but now it will not launch before 22 December."
"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health advisory Wednesday that cases of influenza have been rising among young adults in recent weeks… While flu cases are still low nationally, more than 90 percent are among children and young adults ages 5 to 24, according to the CDC."
"South African scientists have detected a new COVID-19 variant in small numbers and are working to understand its potential implications, they said on Thursday… The variant - called B.1.1.529 - has a 'very unusual constellation' of mutations, which are concerning because they could help it evade the body's immune response and make it more transmissible, scientists told reporters at a news conference." Sits in the corner whistling nervously. (Grokked from Seanan McGuire)
"The discovery of a new coronavirus variant sent a chill through much of the world Friday as nations raced to halt air travel, markets fell sharply and scientists held emergency meetings to weigh the exact risks, which were largely unknown."
Too late… "Belgium has confirmed a case of the new, heavily mutated variant of the virus that causes Covid-19, according to one of the country’s leading virologists… Marc Van Ranst, who works with the Rega Institute for Medical Research, said a sample was confirmed as the novel B.1.1.529 variant in a traveler who returned from Egypt on Nov. 11. The patient first showed symptoms on Nov. 22."
"Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Friday that Israel is 'on the threshold of an emergency situation' after authorities detected the country’s first case of a new coronavirus variant and barred travel to and from most African countries."
"Whatever happened to Novavax and Sanofi's COVID-19 vaccines? Many people thought at the beginning of the pandemic that these were the two most likely vaccines to succeed."
"Merck said on Friday updated data from the study of its experimental COVID-19 pill showed lower efficacy in reducing the risk of hospitalization and deaths than an earlier interim analysis, cutting them by 30% in the study… The drugmaker released interim data in October showing a roughly 50% reduction in hospitalizations and deaths in 775 patients. The updated rate on Friday is based on data from over 1,400 patients."
"Three German political parties agreed to form a new government on Wednesday, with left-leaning Social Democrat Olaf Scholz set to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor following lengthy coalition negotiations… As part of the coalition agreement, the country plans to raise its minimum wage to €12 ($13.46) an hour, from the current rate of €9.60 ($10.77) an hour."
"While high gas prices have pushed President Biden to tap into the US's strategic oil reserves, America's neighbor to the north is also dealing with a shortage of another so-called 'liquid gold'… The Canadian group Quebec Maple Syrup Producers recently announced it was releasing about 50 million pounds of its strategic maple syrup reserves — about half of the total stockpile."
"Rescue crews have found a survivor in a Siberian coal mine where dozens of miners are presumed dead after a devastating methane explosion, a senior regional official said on Friday."
"Britain and France traded fresh accusations Friday after at least 27 people drowned while trying to cross the channel separating the two countries in small inflatable boats, a disaster that delivered tragic impetus to calls for action on a long-simmering migrant crisis."
"President Emmanuel Macron has told Boris Johnson to 'get serious' or remain locked out of discussions over how to curb the flow of people escaping war and poverty across the Channel."
"A month after a coup ousted civilian leaders in Sudan, protesters demanded a return to civilian rule. And the military seems to be walking back its power grab… The military has reinstated the civilian prime minister, but as recently as today the streets were once again filled with protesters calling on the military to stop its involvement in running the country."
"The 'Afghan Girl' made famous after featuring on the cover of National Geographic magazine in 1985 has been granted refugee status by Italy's Prime Minister Mario Draghi, according to an Italian government press office statement."
"The sacred road, once named 'The Path of God,' connects the Temples of Karnak in the north with Luxor in the south. Paved in sandstone blocks, the 1.7-mile-long road is lined on both sides with more than 1,050 statues of sphinxes and rams. They've spent centuries buried under the desert sands, but slowly, over many years, Egypt's renowned archaeologists are bringing them back into the light of day."
"In the aftermath of Kyle Rittenhouse's acquittal in Kenosha, Wis., last week, advocates are turning back to the case of Chrystul Kizer, who is also arguing it was self-defense when she killed her adult sexual abuser, set his house on fire and stole his car in 2018… Kizer, who was 17 at the time, is accused of shooting Randall P. Volar III in the head; Volar had previously been arrested on child sexual assault charges."
"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that a group of Ukrainians and Russians was planning a coup against him at the beginning of December… Speaking at a news conference, Zelensky said the coup was being planned for December 1 or 2, and there is audio of Ukrainian and Russian plotters discussing the plan."
"The three white men who chased down and killed Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man who was jogging through their Georgia neighborhood last year, were all found guilty of murder charges."
"The Democratic-led House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has issued five new subpoenas to several ex-Trump allies, including Roger Stone and InfoWars founder Alex Jones… The committee said the subpoenas are focused on the planning and financing of Jan. 5 and Jan. 6 rallies in Washington, D.C., the subsequent march and deadly riot."
"Multiple sources told Rolling Stone that Kylie Kremer, an organizer for the (Jan 6) rally that took place at D.C.'s Ellipse park, had an aide buy three burner phones a few days before Jan. 6. Kremer said that it was 'of the utmost importance' that the phones be purchased with cash, one source, who was a member of the March for Trump team, told the magazine." Like you do when you're totally law abiding citizens about to exercise your first amendment rights. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"Greene, who previously told reporters she would be laying out a list of demands to earn her speaker vote, mentioned some of the challenges that lay ahead in McCarthy's quest for the speaker's gavel. Among her demands, the Republican told Gaetz she wants fellow GOP Reps. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and Liz Cheney of Wyoming kicked out of the House Republican Conference for serving on the January 6 committee, something McCarthy has so far resisted. She also said she has no respect for current GOP leadership." This is what happens when you allow the whackaloon fringe into the party.
NPRs 2021 books of the year.
"Detroit isn't alone — communities across the country are seeing an increase in the severity and frequency of flooding due to climate change, testing the limits of water infrastructure built for a more moderate climate. The federal infrastructure bill, recently signed by President Biden, addresses that with billions of dollars for flood prevention."
And then there's the other problem, when too little water falls and toxins accumulate. "Dozens of other public water utilities in Iowa also treat drinking water for nitrates. Water Works has upgraded its facility and constructed deep wells to store more water and it's looking at building additional groundwater wells. Federal clean water laws exempt agricultural runoff. The utility filed a lawsuit five years ago to try and amend the Clean Water Act, so farmers would have to implement more environmental practices but it was ultimately dismissed."
"The launch of the $10bn (£7.5bn) James Webb space telescope has been delayed again, after an incident during the final preparations to place the telescope on top of its launch vehicle… The spacecraft was scheduled to be sent into orbit on 18 December but now it will not launch before 22 December."
"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health advisory Wednesday that cases of influenza have been rising among young adults in recent weeks… While flu cases are still low nationally, more than 90 percent are among children and young adults ages 5 to 24, according to the CDC."
"South African scientists have detected a new COVID-19 variant in small numbers and are working to understand its potential implications, they said on Thursday… The variant - called B.1.1.529 - has a 'very unusual constellation' of mutations, which are concerning because they could help it evade the body's immune response and make it more transmissible, scientists told reporters at a news conference." Sits in the corner whistling nervously. (Grokked from Seanan McGuire)
"The discovery of a new coronavirus variant sent a chill through much of the world Friday as nations raced to halt air travel, markets fell sharply and scientists held emergency meetings to weigh the exact risks, which were largely unknown."
Too late… "Belgium has confirmed a case of the new, heavily mutated variant of the virus that causes Covid-19, according to one of the country’s leading virologists… Marc Van Ranst, who works with the Rega Institute for Medical Research, said a sample was confirmed as the novel B.1.1.529 variant in a traveler who returned from Egypt on Nov. 11. The patient first showed symptoms on Nov. 22."
"Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Friday that Israel is 'on the threshold of an emergency situation' after authorities detected the country’s first case of a new coronavirus variant and barred travel to and from most African countries."
"Whatever happened to Novavax and Sanofi's COVID-19 vaccines? Many people thought at the beginning of the pandemic that these were the two most likely vaccines to succeed."
"Merck said on Friday updated data from the study of its experimental COVID-19 pill showed lower efficacy in reducing the risk of hospitalization and deaths than an earlier interim analysis, cutting them by 30% in the study… The drugmaker released interim data in October showing a roughly 50% reduction in hospitalizations and deaths in 775 patients. The updated rate on Friday is based on data from over 1,400 patients."
"Three German political parties agreed to form a new government on Wednesday, with left-leaning Social Democrat Olaf Scholz set to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor following lengthy coalition negotiations… As part of the coalition agreement, the country plans to raise its minimum wage to €12 ($13.46) an hour, from the current rate of €9.60 ($10.77) an hour."
"While high gas prices have pushed President Biden to tap into the US's strategic oil reserves, America's neighbor to the north is also dealing with a shortage of another so-called 'liquid gold'… The Canadian group Quebec Maple Syrup Producers recently announced it was releasing about 50 million pounds of its strategic maple syrup reserves — about half of the total stockpile."
"Rescue crews have found a survivor in a Siberian coal mine where dozens of miners are presumed dead after a devastating methane explosion, a senior regional official said on Friday."
"Britain and France traded fresh accusations Friday after at least 27 people drowned while trying to cross the channel separating the two countries in small inflatable boats, a disaster that delivered tragic impetus to calls for action on a long-simmering migrant crisis."
"President Emmanuel Macron has told Boris Johnson to 'get serious' or remain locked out of discussions over how to curb the flow of people escaping war and poverty across the Channel."
"A month after a coup ousted civilian leaders in Sudan, protesters demanded a return to civilian rule. And the military seems to be walking back its power grab… The military has reinstated the civilian prime minister, but as recently as today the streets were once again filled with protesters calling on the military to stop its involvement in running the country."
"The 'Afghan Girl' made famous after featuring on the cover of National Geographic magazine in 1985 has been granted refugee status by Italy's Prime Minister Mario Draghi, according to an Italian government press office statement."
"The sacred road, once named 'The Path of God,' connects the Temples of Karnak in the north with Luxor in the south. Paved in sandstone blocks, the 1.7-mile-long road is lined on both sides with more than 1,050 statues of sphinxes and rams. They've spent centuries buried under the desert sands, but slowly, over many years, Egypt's renowned archaeologists are bringing them back into the light of day."
"In the aftermath of Kyle Rittenhouse's acquittal in Kenosha, Wis., last week, advocates are turning back to the case of Chrystul Kizer, who is also arguing it was self-defense when she killed her adult sexual abuser, set his house on fire and stole his car in 2018… Kizer, who was 17 at the time, is accused of shooting Randall P. Volar III in the head; Volar had previously been arrested on child sexual assault charges."
"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that a group of Ukrainians and Russians was planning a coup against him at the beginning of December… Speaking at a news conference, Zelensky said the coup was being planned for December 1 or 2, and there is audio of Ukrainian and Russian plotters discussing the plan."
"The three white men who chased down and killed Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man who was jogging through their Georgia neighborhood last year, were all found guilty of murder charges."
"The Democratic-led House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has issued five new subpoenas to several ex-Trump allies, including Roger Stone and InfoWars founder Alex Jones… The committee said the subpoenas are focused on the planning and financing of Jan. 5 and Jan. 6 rallies in Washington, D.C., the subsequent march and deadly riot."
"Multiple sources told Rolling Stone that Kylie Kremer, an organizer for the (Jan 6) rally that took place at D.C.'s Ellipse park, had an aide buy three burner phones a few days before Jan. 6. Kremer said that it was 'of the utmost importance' that the phones be purchased with cash, one source, who was a member of the March for Trump team, told the magazine." Like you do when you're totally law abiding citizens about to exercise your first amendment rights. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"Greene, who previously told reporters she would be laying out a list of demands to earn her speaker vote, mentioned some of the challenges that lay ahead in McCarthy's quest for the speaker's gavel. Among her demands, the Republican told Gaetz she wants fellow GOP Reps. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and Liz Cheney of Wyoming kicked out of the House Republican Conference for serving on the January 6 committee, something McCarthy has so far resisted. She also said she has no respect for current GOP leadership." This is what happens when you allow the whackaloon fringe into the party.
Wednesday, November 24, 2021
Linkee-poo Wednesday like a Friday Nov 24
Busy, busy, mentally strained and attempting to get important stuff done before the snow flies (too late, but hopefully before the ground freezes). Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving… if you celebrate. If not, have a good Thursday.
"Schools and districts around the country have been canceling classes on short notice. The cancellations aren't directly for COVID-19 quarantines; instead schools are citing staff shortages, staff fatigue, mental health and sometimes even student fights… Sudden changes to the calendar leave families scrambling to make alternate arrangements."
"Jobless claims dropped by 71,000 to 199,000, the lowest since mid-November 1969. But seasonal adjustments around the Thanksgiving holiday contributed significantly to the bigger-than-expected drop. Unadjusted, claims actually ticked up by more than 18,000 to nearly 259,000."
"The Philippine navy successfully transported food supplies to marines guarding a disputed shoal in the South China Sea on Tuesday, a week after China's coast guard used water cannons to force the supply boats to turn back, sparking outrage and warnings from Manila, officials said."
"Schools and districts around the country have been canceling classes on short notice. The cancellations aren't directly for COVID-19 quarantines; instead schools are citing staff shortages, staff fatigue, mental health and sometimes even student fights… Sudden changes to the calendar leave families scrambling to make alternate arrangements."
"Jobless claims dropped by 71,000 to 199,000, the lowest since mid-November 1969. But seasonal adjustments around the Thanksgiving holiday contributed significantly to the bigger-than-expected drop. Unadjusted, claims actually ticked up by more than 18,000 to nearly 259,000."
"The Philippine navy successfully transported food supplies to marines guarding a disputed shoal in the South China Sea on Tuesday, a week after China's coast guard used water cannons to force the supply boats to turn back, sparking outrage and warnings from Manila, officials said."
Monday, November 22, 2021
Linkee-poo Monday Nov 22
"At least five people have been killed and more than 40 injured after a car ploughed into a Christmas parade in the US state of Wisconsin, police say… School bands and a dance troupe of grannies were among those marching through the city of Waukesha when a red SUV came speeding down the road."
"Two mothers who died of herpes after giving birth could have been infected by a single surgeon, the BBC has found… The families, who were told there were no connections between the deaths, are calling for inquests to be opened."
"A month ago, new coronavirus cases in the United States were ticking steadily downward and the worst of a miserable summer surge fueled by the delta variant appeared to be over. But as Americans travel this week to meet far-flung relatives for Thanksgiving dinner, new virus cases are rising once more, especially in the Upper Midwest and Northeast."
"As Covid cases surged over the summer, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian took action: Unvaccinated workers would have to pay an extra $200 a month for their health insurance, starting Nov. 1… It felt less onerous than the vaccine mandate imposed on workers by rival United Airlines. But still, it was audacious." Well, that's one way to do it.
"Republican lawmakers across the country look determined to take on the Biden administration's insistence that employers require their workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19." Remember the arguments for limiting both abortion and birth control access in healthcare plans? About how business owners should have a say in the health and medical care of their employees?
"White House health officials are set to announce on Monday that 95% of the federal workforce is in compliance with the Biden administration's vaccine mandate, a senior administration official said… Over 90% of workers have received at least one shot and the other 5% have submitted exception applications that were already approved or are pending."
"Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has criticised three nights of riots over anti-COVID measures, calling the unrest 'pure violence' by 'idiots' and vowed to prosecute those responsible… The riots in several cities around the country since Friday were 'violence under the guise of protest', the prime minister said. He added he would always defend the right to protest, but 'I will never accept is that idiots use pure violence against people … who keep this country safe,' he told Dutch media."
"Target will no longer open its stores on Thanksgiving Day, making permanent a shift to the unofficial start of the holiday season that was suspended during the pandemic." Good.
"Many homebuilders went out of business after the housing crash, and that has led to a historic housing shortage. And now investors large and small are jockeying to snap up homes as the tight supply keeps pushing prices higher… So big companies such as Redfin and Opendoor, countless individual speculators, real estate agents and some more predatory outfits have been contacting homeowners, just on the slim chance that they might be willing to sell to some random person calling on the phone."
"In recent years, Amazon.com Inc has killed or undermined privacy protections in more than three dozen bills across 25 states, as the e-commerce giant amassed a lucrative trove of personal data on millions of American consumers… Amazon executives and staffers detail these lobbying victories in confidential documents reviewed by Reuters."
"Missing Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai told Olympic officials in a video call from Beijing that she was safe and well, the International Olympic Committee said Sunday after Peng reappeared in public at a youth tournament in Beijing, according to photos released by the organizer."
"About 80 people rushed into a Nordstrom store near San Francisco on Saturday and stole merchandise in what authorities called an 'organized theft.'… Police in Walnut Creek said Sunday that they arrested three people in connection with the incident at the luxury department store, including one person allegedly in possession of a gun."
"More than a dozen people stormed a Louis Vuitton store in a Chicago suburb and were caught on surveillance footage grabbing bags and wiping shelves clear, according to police."
"The Transportation Security Administration said in a later statement that an individual had been undergoing a bag search at the airport's main security checkpoint when a TSA official opened a compartment carrying a gun… 'The passenger lunged into the bag and grabbed a firearm, at which point it discharged,' TSA said."
"Electric SUVs generally are among the least reliable vehicles on the road, but it’s not because of the batteries or electric motors that power them… Instead, it’s because of glitch-prone electronics including climate controls and power equipment, the annual auto reliability survey of subscribers by Consumer Reports found… In contrast, compact and plug-in gas-electric hybrids led by the Toyota Prius and Prius Prime and the Honda Insight were the most reliable category, said Jake Fisher, senior director of auto testing for Consumer Reports."
"Kyle Rittenhouse’s claim that he is 'not a racist person', made to Tucker Carlson, landed in an atmosphere of controversy and condemnation ahead of the interview airing in full on Fox News on Monday night… Rittenhouse, 18, was acquitted on Friday on charges stemming from killing two men and wounding one during unrest after the shooting of a Black man by a white police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last year. Rittenhouse is white, as were the men he shot."
"A notorious U.S. Capitol riot suspect and white supremacist livestreamer who goes by the alias 'Baked Alaska' faces new charges in Arizona after allegedly defacing a Hanukkah display at the state capitol." What a fucking tool. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"Two longtime conservative Fox News commentators have resigned in protest of what they call a pattern of incendiary and fabricated claims by the network's opinion hosts in support of former President Donald Trump… In separate interviews with NPR, Stephen Hayes and Jonah Goldberg pointed to a breaking point earlier this month: network star Tucker Carlson's three-part series on the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol that relied on fabrications and conspiracy theories to exonerate the Trump supporters who participated in the attack." No, I'm not congratulating them. They're just the rats leaving a sinking ship.
"Republicans in Georgia are set to approve a new congressional map that adds to their representation in the U.S. House even as they voted to trim their own majority in the state legislature." Gerrymandering as a regard action to losing popularity.
It's by David Brooks, so take that as it is… "Finally, there is something extremely off-putting about the NatCon public pose. In person, as I say, I find many of them charming, warm, and friendly. But their public posture is dominated by the psychology of threat and menace. If there was one expression of sympathy, kindness, or grace uttered from the podium in Orlando, I did not hear it. But I did hear callousness, invocations of combat, and whiffs of brutality." The extreme right is gearing for war and using the state to impose their will on the majority, but David thinks they're still good drinking companions instead of seeing them as the later-day Nazis they are.
"Two mothers who died of herpes after giving birth could have been infected by a single surgeon, the BBC has found… The families, who were told there were no connections between the deaths, are calling for inquests to be opened."
"A month ago, new coronavirus cases in the United States were ticking steadily downward and the worst of a miserable summer surge fueled by the delta variant appeared to be over. But as Americans travel this week to meet far-flung relatives for Thanksgiving dinner, new virus cases are rising once more, especially in the Upper Midwest and Northeast."
"As Covid cases surged over the summer, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian took action: Unvaccinated workers would have to pay an extra $200 a month for their health insurance, starting Nov. 1… It felt less onerous than the vaccine mandate imposed on workers by rival United Airlines. But still, it was audacious." Well, that's one way to do it.
"Republican lawmakers across the country look determined to take on the Biden administration's insistence that employers require their workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19." Remember the arguments for limiting both abortion and birth control access in healthcare plans? About how business owners should have a say in the health and medical care of their employees?
"White House health officials are set to announce on Monday that 95% of the federal workforce is in compliance with the Biden administration's vaccine mandate, a senior administration official said… Over 90% of workers have received at least one shot and the other 5% have submitted exception applications that were already approved or are pending."
"Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has criticised three nights of riots over anti-COVID measures, calling the unrest 'pure violence' by 'idiots' and vowed to prosecute those responsible… The riots in several cities around the country since Friday were 'violence under the guise of protest', the prime minister said. He added he would always defend the right to protest, but 'I will never accept is that idiots use pure violence against people … who keep this country safe,' he told Dutch media."
"Target will no longer open its stores on Thanksgiving Day, making permanent a shift to the unofficial start of the holiday season that was suspended during the pandemic." Good.
"Many homebuilders went out of business after the housing crash, and that has led to a historic housing shortage. And now investors large and small are jockeying to snap up homes as the tight supply keeps pushing prices higher… So big companies such as Redfin and Opendoor, countless individual speculators, real estate agents and some more predatory outfits have been contacting homeowners, just on the slim chance that they might be willing to sell to some random person calling on the phone."
"In recent years, Amazon.com Inc has killed or undermined privacy protections in more than three dozen bills across 25 states, as the e-commerce giant amassed a lucrative trove of personal data on millions of American consumers… Amazon executives and staffers detail these lobbying victories in confidential documents reviewed by Reuters."
"Missing Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai told Olympic officials in a video call from Beijing that she was safe and well, the International Olympic Committee said Sunday after Peng reappeared in public at a youth tournament in Beijing, according to photos released by the organizer."
"About 80 people rushed into a Nordstrom store near San Francisco on Saturday and stole merchandise in what authorities called an 'organized theft.'… Police in Walnut Creek said Sunday that they arrested three people in connection with the incident at the luxury department store, including one person allegedly in possession of a gun."
"More than a dozen people stormed a Louis Vuitton store in a Chicago suburb and were caught on surveillance footage grabbing bags and wiping shelves clear, according to police."
"The Transportation Security Administration said in a later statement that an individual had been undergoing a bag search at the airport's main security checkpoint when a TSA official opened a compartment carrying a gun… 'The passenger lunged into the bag and grabbed a firearm, at which point it discharged,' TSA said."
"Electric SUVs generally are among the least reliable vehicles on the road, but it’s not because of the batteries or electric motors that power them… Instead, it’s because of glitch-prone electronics including climate controls and power equipment, the annual auto reliability survey of subscribers by Consumer Reports found… In contrast, compact and plug-in gas-electric hybrids led by the Toyota Prius and Prius Prime and the Honda Insight were the most reliable category, said Jake Fisher, senior director of auto testing for Consumer Reports."
"Kyle Rittenhouse’s claim that he is 'not a racist person', made to Tucker Carlson, landed in an atmosphere of controversy and condemnation ahead of the interview airing in full on Fox News on Monday night… Rittenhouse, 18, was acquitted on Friday on charges stemming from killing two men and wounding one during unrest after the shooting of a Black man by a white police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last year. Rittenhouse is white, as were the men he shot."
"A notorious U.S. Capitol riot suspect and white supremacist livestreamer who goes by the alias 'Baked Alaska' faces new charges in Arizona after allegedly defacing a Hanukkah display at the state capitol." What a fucking tool. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"Two longtime conservative Fox News commentators have resigned in protest of what they call a pattern of incendiary and fabricated claims by the network's opinion hosts in support of former President Donald Trump… In separate interviews with NPR, Stephen Hayes and Jonah Goldberg pointed to a breaking point earlier this month: network star Tucker Carlson's three-part series on the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol that relied on fabrications and conspiracy theories to exonerate the Trump supporters who participated in the attack." No, I'm not congratulating them. They're just the rats leaving a sinking ship.
"Republicans in Georgia are set to approve a new congressional map that adds to their representation in the U.S. House even as they voted to trim their own majority in the state legislature." Gerrymandering as a regard action to losing popularity.
It's by David Brooks, so take that as it is… "Finally, there is something extremely off-putting about the NatCon public pose. In person, as I say, I find many of them charming, warm, and friendly. But their public posture is dominated by the psychology of threat and menace. If there was one expression of sympathy, kindness, or grace uttered from the podium in Orlando, I did not hear it. But I did hear callousness, invocations of combat, and whiffs of brutality." The extreme right is gearing for war and using the state to impose their will on the majority, but David thinks they're still good drinking companions instead of seeing them as the later-day Nazis they are.
Friday, November 19, 2021
Linkee-poo Thursday Nov 19
"The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards have been unearthing hilarious and heartwarming photos of creatures basically being their best selves since 2015."
"Flu outbreaks on college campuses most likely indicate a bad flu season ahead, but experts say the unpredictable nature of the flu virus means it’s too soon to know for sure how this season will unfold."
"In a new statement, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the vials found in a Pennsylvania lab contained vaccinia, the virus used in the smallpox vaccine." Ah, the method of tricking people into becoming vaccinated, label the vaccine as the virus and people will clamor to have you inject them with it. Brilliant.
"Ann Arbor will require all public restrooms in the city to carry menstrual products under a new ordinance that takes effect in January… It means pads and tampons, as well as soap and toilet paper, will have to be available for free in every public restroom throughout the Michigan city."
Why are large medical bills a problem, example #1486. "She was terrified of a potential bill from the same ER in Pulaski, Tenn., that had treated her husband. So even though she was deliriously ill, she hit the road in search of cheaper treatment, asking her parents to drive her. They headed south. The first stop was an ER in Huntsville, Ala., but it was so full of COVID-19 patients that she would have had to wait all day. Then they drove north nearly an hour to Maury Regional Medical Center, a public hospital in Columbia, Tenn., where she was diagnosed with Rocky Mountain spotted fever, a potentially deadly tick-borne infection. She got treatment with appropriate antibiotics and IV fluids… 'I would have had organ damage or possibly death in a few days,' she said… And then the bills came."
"As cases of Covid-19 rise throughout the U.S., health officials warn that an increasing number of fully vaccinated people are being hospitalized or going to the emergency room. The concern about waning immunity against severe Covid infection comes as the Food and Drug Administration is expected to authorize a Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine booster shot for all adults 18 and older."
"U.S. regulators on Friday moved to open up COVID-19 booster shots to all adults, expanding the government’s campaign to shore up protection and get ahead of rising coronavirus cases that may worsen with the holidays."
"A fresh look at the possible origins of the Covid-19 pandemic points straight back to the Huanan seafood market in the Chinese city of Wuhan, a scientist who has been studying the pandemic from the beginning asserted Thursday… The researcher, Michael Worobey of the University of Arizona, has put together a painstaking timeline of all the known cases of SARS-Cov-2 before it was known a pandemic was starting."
"Austria will become the first country in western Europe to reimpose a full coronavirus lockdown this autumn to tackle a new wave of infections, and will require its whole population to get vaccinated as of February, the government said on Friday."
"Here's a whirlwind tour of the past, present and future of vaccine mandates, with some surprises along the way."
"But one of the lessons from inflationary eras past is that voters are less interested in causal responsibility than in forcing a change. In other words, if you are in office now, you are holding the bag."
"At a September school board meeting in Southlake, Texas, a parent named Tara Eddins strode to the lectern during the public comment period and demanded to know why the Carroll Independent School District was paying counselors 'at $90K a pop' to give students lessons on suicide prevention… Two days after Eddins made the remarks, Southlake Families PAC — a group that has fought to stop a diversity plan at Carroll — sent an email to supporters calling on the school district to 'Leave mental health and parenting to parents.'" Why we can't have nice things.
"President Biden on Thursday hosted the Canadian and Mexican heads of state for a trilateral summit — the first North American leader summit of its kind since 2016." End the fucking trade wars.
"Despite pleas for a peaceful surrender, the four-day manhunt for ex-Baltimore County Police Officer Robert Vicosa and his two kidnapped daughters ended in tragedy Thursday, with both girls dead… When police approached the car, they discovered all four people inside had been shot, Maryland State Police spokeswoman Elena Russo said at an evening news conference."
"The city of Aurora, Colo., has agreed to pay $15 million to the family of 23-year-old Elijah McClain, a Black man who died after being stopped by police, manhandled and drugged. His family had filed a civil rights lawsuit… City leaders say they are prepared to sign the agreement as soon as the McClain family completes a separate process on dividing up the settlement." At this point I believe the best concrete hope for police reform will be the insurance companies.
"Polish Border Guard spokeswoman Anna Michalska said on Friday that a group of 500 people had tried to enter the European Union member state on Thursday evening, aided by Belarusian authorities who had earlier cleared the main camps at the border… '[The Belarusians] were bringing more migrants to the place where there was a forced attempt to cross,' Michalska said… 'At the start, there were 100 people, but then the Belarusian side brought more people in trucks. Then there were 500 people.'" This is not a normal migration situation, this is an attempt by Belarus to destabilize Poland and the EU. Unfortunately the migrants are the ones who will be most harmed in this play.
"The head of the Women's Tennis Association is questioning the authenticity of an email he received purporting to be from Chinese star player Peng Shuai, who hasn't been heard from since she made sexual assault allegations against a top Communist Party official two weeks ago."
"But Rittenhouse’s attorneys seized on a subsection of the Wisconsin law that states the ban on minors possessing dangerous weapons applies to minors armed with rifles or shotguns only if those weapons are short-barreled."
"House Democrats have voted to pass President Joe Biden's sweeping $1.9 trillion social safety net expansion legislation, a victory for the party even as the legislation faces a tough road ahead in the Senate… Senate Democrats have no margin of error to approve the legislation and key lawmakers -- most prominently moderate West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin -- have expressed concerns over elements of the plan as policy fights loom on the horizon."
"People close to both men first noticed the palpable shift in Trump's posture toward DeSantis earlier this year as enthusiasm for the Florida governor swelled among donors and GOP operatives who praised his laissez-faire response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The more DeSantis' popularity soared, the more obsessed Trump became with receiving credit for his political celebrity." You can not be as popular as the big guy. That's also a way to be on the outs.
"Flu outbreaks on college campuses most likely indicate a bad flu season ahead, but experts say the unpredictable nature of the flu virus means it’s too soon to know for sure how this season will unfold."
"In a new statement, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the vials found in a Pennsylvania lab contained vaccinia, the virus used in the smallpox vaccine." Ah, the method of tricking people into becoming vaccinated, label the vaccine as the virus and people will clamor to have you inject them with it. Brilliant.
"Ann Arbor will require all public restrooms in the city to carry menstrual products under a new ordinance that takes effect in January… It means pads and tampons, as well as soap and toilet paper, will have to be available for free in every public restroom throughout the Michigan city."
Why are large medical bills a problem, example #1486. "She was terrified of a potential bill from the same ER in Pulaski, Tenn., that had treated her husband. So even though she was deliriously ill, she hit the road in search of cheaper treatment, asking her parents to drive her. They headed south. The first stop was an ER in Huntsville, Ala., but it was so full of COVID-19 patients that she would have had to wait all day. Then they drove north nearly an hour to Maury Regional Medical Center, a public hospital in Columbia, Tenn., where she was diagnosed with Rocky Mountain spotted fever, a potentially deadly tick-borne infection. She got treatment with appropriate antibiotics and IV fluids… 'I would have had organ damage or possibly death in a few days,' she said… And then the bills came."
"As cases of Covid-19 rise throughout the U.S., health officials warn that an increasing number of fully vaccinated people are being hospitalized or going to the emergency room. The concern about waning immunity against severe Covid infection comes as the Food and Drug Administration is expected to authorize a Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine booster shot for all adults 18 and older."
"U.S. regulators on Friday moved to open up COVID-19 booster shots to all adults, expanding the government’s campaign to shore up protection and get ahead of rising coronavirus cases that may worsen with the holidays."
"A fresh look at the possible origins of the Covid-19 pandemic points straight back to the Huanan seafood market in the Chinese city of Wuhan, a scientist who has been studying the pandemic from the beginning asserted Thursday… The researcher, Michael Worobey of the University of Arizona, has put together a painstaking timeline of all the known cases of SARS-Cov-2 before it was known a pandemic was starting."
"Austria will become the first country in western Europe to reimpose a full coronavirus lockdown this autumn to tackle a new wave of infections, and will require its whole population to get vaccinated as of February, the government said on Friday."
"Here's a whirlwind tour of the past, present and future of vaccine mandates, with some surprises along the way."
"But one of the lessons from inflationary eras past is that voters are less interested in causal responsibility than in forcing a change. In other words, if you are in office now, you are holding the bag."
"At a September school board meeting in Southlake, Texas, a parent named Tara Eddins strode to the lectern during the public comment period and demanded to know why the Carroll Independent School District was paying counselors 'at $90K a pop' to give students lessons on suicide prevention… Two days after Eddins made the remarks, Southlake Families PAC — a group that has fought to stop a diversity plan at Carroll — sent an email to supporters calling on the school district to 'Leave mental health and parenting to parents.'" Why we can't have nice things.
"President Biden on Thursday hosted the Canadian and Mexican heads of state for a trilateral summit — the first North American leader summit of its kind since 2016." End the fucking trade wars.
"Despite pleas for a peaceful surrender, the four-day manhunt for ex-Baltimore County Police Officer Robert Vicosa and his two kidnapped daughters ended in tragedy Thursday, with both girls dead… When police approached the car, they discovered all four people inside had been shot, Maryland State Police spokeswoman Elena Russo said at an evening news conference."
"The city of Aurora, Colo., has agreed to pay $15 million to the family of 23-year-old Elijah McClain, a Black man who died after being stopped by police, manhandled and drugged. His family had filed a civil rights lawsuit… City leaders say they are prepared to sign the agreement as soon as the McClain family completes a separate process on dividing up the settlement." At this point I believe the best concrete hope for police reform will be the insurance companies.
"Polish Border Guard spokeswoman Anna Michalska said on Friday that a group of 500 people had tried to enter the European Union member state on Thursday evening, aided by Belarusian authorities who had earlier cleared the main camps at the border… '[The Belarusians] were bringing more migrants to the place where there was a forced attempt to cross,' Michalska said… 'At the start, there were 100 people, but then the Belarusian side brought more people in trucks. Then there were 500 people.'" This is not a normal migration situation, this is an attempt by Belarus to destabilize Poland and the EU. Unfortunately the migrants are the ones who will be most harmed in this play.
"The head of the Women's Tennis Association is questioning the authenticity of an email he received purporting to be from Chinese star player Peng Shuai, who hasn't been heard from since she made sexual assault allegations against a top Communist Party official two weeks ago."
"But Rittenhouse’s attorneys seized on a subsection of the Wisconsin law that states the ban on minors possessing dangerous weapons applies to minors armed with rifles or shotguns only if those weapons are short-barreled."
"House Democrats have voted to pass President Joe Biden's sweeping $1.9 trillion social safety net expansion legislation, a victory for the party even as the legislation faces a tough road ahead in the Senate… Senate Democrats have no margin of error to approve the legislation and key lawmakers -- most prominently moderate West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin -- have expressed concerns over elements of the plan as policy fights loom on the horizon."
"People close to both men first noticed the palpable shift in Trump's posture toward DeSantis earlier this year as enthusiasm for the Florida governor swelled among donors and GOP operatives who praised his laissez-faire response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The more DeSantis' popularity soared, the more obsessed Trump became with receiving credit for his political celebrity." You can not be as popular as the big guy. That's also a way to be on the outs.
Thursday, November 18, 2021
Linkee-poo is a hazy shade of winter
"Thousands of farm animals have died and many more are trapped by floods in desperate need of food and water after the Pacific north-west storm battered a major hub of Canadian agriculture… Abbotsford, one of Canada’s most intensively and diversely farmed areas, was among places hardest hit. Home to more than 1,200 farms, it supplies half of the dairy, eggs and poultry consumed by British Columbia’s 5.2 million residents." Wow, good thing global climate change isn't real or this could be a real problem going forward (note: global climate change is real, and yes, this is going to be a major problem going forward). Conservatives asked us to "look at the cost of mitigating climate change and what benefit it might have." Well, motherfuckers, here is the cost of not doing anything. (Grokked from Laura J Mixon)
"Harry Potter fans have something big to look forward to in the new year. The cast and crew of the movies will be reuniting for a look back on the franchise. But one person you shouldn't count on seeing? Author J.K. Rowling."
"An increasing number of attacks by (wild boars), including one that bit a police officer last week, triggered an operation Wednesday night in a district less than half an hour’s drive from Hong Kong’s financial center. Experts used dart guns to capture seven wild boars, which were later put down via medicine injections, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said in a statement." Wild pigs are very dangerous animals, but they're also very delicious.
"The longest partial lunar eclipse in nearly 600 years will grace the night sky late Thursday night and early Friday across the entire country, weather permitting… According to NASA, the eclipse will last three hours and 28 minutes, the longest partial eclipse of this century and the longest in 580 years."
"By now, you've likely heard of the metaverse… The thing is, the word and concept aren't new. Neal Stephenson coined the term in his 1992 science-fiction book Snow Crash, in which people use avatars to explore an online world. A number of small metaverses have since developed, where people meet, play games and even watch live shows… Some of those early adopters aren't happy with a large corporation staking claim."
"Apple today announced Self Service Repair, which will allow customers who are comfortable with completing their own repairs access to Apple genuine parts and tools." And yes, this benefit is brought to you by lawsuits.
"Linda Holmes, who has worked as a technician with LiceDoctors for five years, came straight from her day job at a hospital after she got the call from a dispatcher that the Marker family needed her ASAP… According to those in the world of professional nitpicking, Pediculus humanus capitis, the much-despised head louse, has returned… Colds and more serious bugs like respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, are also back. That may leave some to wonder: With all the COVID prevention measures in place, how are kids sharing these things?"
"A Maryland resident who recently returned to the country on a flight from Nigeria has tested positive for monkeypox, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday. It is the second confirmed case of the rare disease in the U.S. since an outbreak infected 43 people in 2003."
"More than 100,000 people in the U.S. died of a drug overdose during the first year of the pandemic, a nearly 29% increase from the same time period in 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday. The vast majority of those deaths were due to opioids, particularly synthetic opioids like fentanyl."
"When Greta Christina fell into a deep depression five years ago, she called up her therapist in San Francisco — someone she'd had a great connection with when she needed therapy in the past. And she was delighted to find out that he was now "in network" with her insurance company, meaning she wouldn't have to pay out of pocket anymore to see him… But her excitement was short-lived. Over time, Christina's appointments with the therapist went from every two weeks, to every four weeks, to every five or six." No do physical therapy as well.
"A steep rise in Covid-19 cases in Europe should serve as a warning that the US could also see significant increases in coronavirus cases this winter, particularly in the nation’s colder regions, scientists say… Evidence shows vaccine-conferred protection against hospitalization and death remains high several months after inoculation, vaccines for children older than 5 can reduce Covid transmission, and new antiviral medications hold the promise of making Covid-19 a treatable disease."
"Winter is almost here. After weeks of steady decline, Covid-19 cases appear to be on the rise again… Is a surge inevitable? How should families think about the winter ahead? What can they do to prepare and get through this period safely?"
"The Farm Bureau's calculations include turkey, stuffing mix, sweet potatoes, rolls with butter, peas, cranberries, a veggie tray, pumpkin pie with whipped cream, coffee and milk, with enough for leftovers. The turkey itself costs 24% more than last year, the group says; it's $23.99 for a 16-pound turkey… In order to find the average costs, the Farm Bureau used volunteer shoppers between Oct. 28 and Nov. 8. — but the group, which lobbies on behalf of the agricultural industry, acknowledged that prices have already fallen in the time since the survey was conducted."
"The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell for the seventh straight week to a pandemic low of 268,000… U.S. jobless claims dipped by 1,000 last week from the week before, the Labor Department reported Thursday."
"Some further thoughts on inflation and what to do next. Inflation has of course come in much higher than Team Transitory predicted — the Fed was predicting only 2.4% PCE growth as late as March. So the inflation worriers have in a way been vindicated, but… The details of what's happened are very different from what they predicted early this year." A Paul Krugman tweet thread about the economy. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
"Deere & Co. workers approved a new contract Wednesday that will deliver 10% raises immediately and end a monthlong strike for more than 10,000 employees… The United Auto Workers union says 61% of the members approved the deal with the tractor maker on their third vote, even though this offer was strikingly similar to one that 55% of workers rejected two weeks ago." It is often very small things that make the difference between a yes and a no vote. And the report again focuses on the pay, which is usually the least of the problems (although in some cases the pay increases, or lack thereof, is a major stumbling block).
How goes Brexit? "The number of people who have been sent back to Europe after travelling to the UK across the Channel in small boats has plummeted since Brexit, an immigration minister has admitted to MPs… Tom Pursglove, a minister for the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice… replied: 'On returns related to small boat arrivals … the answer in this year is five.' Later he added: 'There is not a returns agreement with the European Union in place at the moment'… More than 23,000 people have arrived in the UK this year after crossing the Channel in small boats. This is almost three times the total of about 8,500 in 2020." Well done.
"The government has scrapped the Leeds leg of the HS2 high-speed rail line as part of a package that ministers promise will transform services… Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has told the Commons the overhaul will bring faster journeys up to 10 years earlier than planned… HS2 trains were to run on a new East Midlands-Leeds high-speed line, but will now run on existing routes… Critics accused Mr Shapps of breaking investment promises." We're not going to do anything, but you'll have better service. How does that work?
"A Chinese American teenager who was fatally shot by Pennsylvania State Police last year had his hands in the air when troopers opened fire, new videos reveal, prompting calls for an independent investigation… The videos, recorded by the State Police, show the final moments of Christian Hall’s life on the afternoon of Dec. 30, 2020." There is nothing "justifiable" about this. (Grokked from Laura J Mixon)
"Turns out, Harvard students aren’t that smart after all." Duh. Exclusivity doesn't mean better.
"Julius Jones, 41, who has maintained his innocence for more than two decades, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection Thursday at the State Penitentiary in McAlester for the 1999 slaying of a Paul Howell, a businessman in the affluent Oklahoma City suburb of Edmond."
"Florida Republicans approved a sweeping bill Wednesday to hobble coronavirus vaccine mandates in businesses, rejecting claims that they were sacrificing public health to hand Gov. Ron DeSantis a win in his fight against White House virus rules." A state law doesn't trump a federal law (or rule). Although now this places Floridians in the position of either being fined by the federal government, or punished by the state government. Also this… "Separately, lawmakers passed a bill to stop the state health officer from being able to mandate vaccines during a public health emergency." Because despite conservative chest beating, yes public health officers do have that power and can enforce it.
"President Biden has nominated Saule Omarova, a law professor at Cornell University, to be the next head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), which is responsible for regulating the assets held by more than 1,000 banks… Progressive Democrats applauded that announcement, seeing in her a person who would bring a tougher approach to banks at an agency that has been criticized for being too friendly with he sector. But Republican critics, including Sen. Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., see someone else: a 'radical' nominee who wants to nationalize banking."
"The House passed a resolution punishing Gosar by a vote of 223 to 207, with Republicans Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois joining all Democrats in support of the measure and one Republican voting 'present.' After the resolution was approved, Gosar stood in the well of the House chamber while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi read aloud the formal rebuke against him."
Tweet of my heart: @OutAndAbouter Do not go gently into that good night rage rage against the meticulously researched, peer reviewed, double blind science that could have saved your fucking life you obnoxious twat. (Dying of the light). (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"Harry Potter fans have something big to look forward to in the new year. The cast and crew of the movies will be reuniting for a look back on the franchise. But one person you shouldn't count on seeing? Author J.K. Rowling."
"An increasing number of attacks by (wild boars), including one that bit a police officer last week, triggered an operation Wednesday night in a district less than half an hour’s drive from Hong Kong’s financial center. Experts used dart guns to capture seven wild boars, which were later put down via medicine injections, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said in a statement." Wild pigs are very dangerous animals, but they're also very delicious.
"The longest partial lunar eclipse in nearly 600 years will grace the night sky late Thursday night and early Friday across the entire country, weather permitting… According to NASA, the eclipse will last three hours and 28 minutes, the longest partial eclipse of this century and the longest in 580 years."
"By now, you've likely heard of the metaverse… The thing is, the word and concept aren't new. Neal Stephenson coined the term in his 1992 science-fiction book Snow Crash, in which people use avatars to explore an online world. A number of small metaverses have since developed, where people meet, play games and even watch live shows… Some of those early adopters aren't happy with a large corporation staking claim."
"Apple today announced Self Service Repair, which will allow customers who are comfortable with completing their own repairs access to Apple genuine parts and tools." And yes, this benefit is brought to you by lawsuits.
"Linda Holmes, who has worked as a technician with LiceDoctors for five years, came straight from her day job at a hospital after she got the call from a dispatcher that the Marker family needed her ASAP… According to those in the world of professional nitpicking, Pediculus humanus capitis, the much-despised head louse, has returned… Colds and more serious bugs like respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, are also back. That may leave some to wonder: With all the COVID prevention measures in place, how are kids sharing these things?"
"A Maryland resident who recently returned to the country on a flight from Nigeria has tested positive for monkeypox, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday. It is the second confirmed case of the rare disease in the U.S. since an outbreak infected 43 people in 2003."
"More than 100,000 people in the U.S. died of a drug overdose during the first year of the pandemic, a nearly 29% increase from the same time period in 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday. The vast majority of those deaths were due to opioids, particularly synthetic opioids like fentanyl."
"When Greta Christina fell into a deep depression five years ago, she called up her therapist in San Francisco — someone she'd had a great connection with when she needed therapy in the past. And she was delighted to find out that he was now "in network" with her insurance company, meaning she wouldn't have to pay out of pocket anymore to see him… But her excitement was short-lived. Over time, Christina's appointments with the therapist went from every two weeks, to every four weeks, to every five or six." No do physical therapy as well.
"A steep rise in Covid-19 cases in Europe should serve as a warning that the US could also see significant increases in coronavirus cases this winter, particularly in the nation’s colder regions, scientists say… Evidence shows vaccine-conferred protection against hospitalization and death remains high several months after inoculation, vaccines for children older than 5 can reduce Covid transmission, and new antiviral medications hold the promise of making Covid-19 a treatable disease."
"Winter is almost here. After weeks of steady decline, Covid-19 cases appear to be on the rise again… Is a surge inevitable? How should families think about the winter ahead? What can they do to prepare and get through this period safely?"
"The Farm Bureau's calculations include turkey, stuffing mix, sweet potatoes, rolls with butter, peas, cranberries, a veggie tray, pumpkin pie with whipped cream, coffee and milk, with enough for leftovers. The turkey itself costs 24% more than last year, the group says; it's $23.99 for a 16-pound turkey… In order to find the average costs, the Farm Bureau used volunteer shoppers between Oct. 28 and Nov. 8. — but the group, which lobbies on behalf of the agricultural industry, acknowledged that prices have already fallen in the time since the survey was conducted."
"The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell for the seventh straight week to a pandemic low of 268,000… U.S. jobless claims dipped by 1,000 last week from the week before, the Labor Department reported Thursday."
"Some further thoughts on inflation and what to do next. Inflation has of course come in much higher than Team Transitory predicted — the Fed was predicting only 2.4% PCE growth as late as March. So the inflation worriers have in a way been vindicated, but… The details of what's happened are very different from what they predicted early this year." A Paul Krugman tweet thread about the economy. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
"Deere & Co. workers approved a new contract Wednesday that will deliver 10% raises immediately and end a monthlong strike for more than 10,000 employees… The United Auto Workers union says 61% of the members approved the deal with the tractor maker on their third vote, even though this offer was strikingly similar to one that 55% of workers rejected two weeks ago." It is often very small things that make the difference between a yes and a no vote. And the report again focuses on the pay, which is usually the least of the problems (although in some cases the pay increases, or lack thereof, is a major stumbling block).
How goes Brexit? "The number of people who have been sent back to Europe after travelling to the UK across the Channel in small boats has plummeted since Brexit, an immigration minister has admitted to MPs… Tom Pursglove, a minister for the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice… replied: 'On returns related to small boat arrivals … the answer in this year is five.' Later he added: 'There is not a returns agreement with the European Union in place at the moment'… More than 23,000 people have arrived in the UK this year after crossing the Channel in small boats. This is almost three times the total of about 8,500 in 2020." Well done.
"The government has scrapped the Leeds leg of the HS2 high-speed rail line as part of a package that ministers promise will transform services… Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has told the Commons the overhaul will bring faster journeys up to 10 years earlier than planned… HS2 trains were to run on a new East Midlands-Leeds high-speed line, but will now run on existing routes… Critics accused Mr Shapps of breaking investment promises." We're not going to do anything, but you'll have better service. How does that work?
"A Chinese American teenager who was fatally shot by Pennsylvania State Police last year had his hands in the air when troopers opened fire, new videos reveal, prompting calls for an independent investigation… The videos, recorded by the State Police, show the final moments of Christian Hall’s life on the afternoon of Dec. 30, 2020." There is nothing "justifiable" about this. (Grokked from Laura J Mixon)
"Turns out, Harvard students aren’t that smart after all." Duh. Exclusivity doesn't mean better.
"Julius Jones, 41, who has maintained his innocence for more than two decades, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection Thursday at the State Penitentiary in McAlester for the 1999 slaying of a Paul Howell, a businessman in the affluent Oklahoma City suburb of Edmond."
"Florida Republicans approved a sweeping bill Wednesday to hobble coronavirus vaccine mandates in businesses, rejecting claims that they were sacrificing public health to hand Gov. Ron DeSantis a win in his fight against White House virus rules." A state law doesn't trump a federal law (or rule). Although now this places Floridians in the position of either being fined by the federal government, or punished by the state government. Also this… "Separately, lawmakers passed a bill to stop the state health officer from being able to mandate vaccines during a public health emergency." Because despite conservative chest beating, yes public health officers do have that power and can enforce it.
"President Biden has nominated Saule Omarova, a law professor at Cornell University, to be the next head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), which is responsible for regulating the assets held by more than 1,000 banks… Progressive Democrats applauded that announcement, seeing in her a person who would bring a tougher approach to banks at an agency that has been criticized for being too friendly with he sector. But Republican critics, including Sen. Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., see someone else: a 'radical' nominee who wants to nationalize banking."
"The House passed a resolution punishing Gosar by a vote of 223 to 207, with Republicans Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois joining all Democrats in support of the measure and one Republican voting 'present.' After the resolution was approved, Gosar stood in the well of the House chamber while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi read aloud the formal rebuke against him."
Tweet of my heart: @OutAndAbouter Do not go gently into that good night rage rage against the meticulously researched, peer reviewed, double blind science that could have saved your fucking life you obnoxious twat. (Dying of the light). (Grokked from Jim Wright)
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