Tina Turner, and so it goes.
"Once we became aware that data from AO3 was being included in the Common Crawl dataset — which is used to train AI such as ChatGPT — we put code in place in December 2022 requesting Common Crawl not scrape the Archive again."
"Orcas have attacked and sunk a third boat off the Iberian coast of Europe, and experts now believe the behavior is being copied by the rest of the population."
"A deep sea-mapping company has created the first-ever full-sized digital scan of the Titanic, revealing an entirely new view of the world's most famous shipwreck."
"But the rupture in Satartia underscores growing concerns across communities that face the prospect of more CO2 pipelines being built to address climate change. Safety advocates and community residents worry about pipeline safety and gaps in federal regulation, says Bill Caram, executive director of the nonprofit Pipeline Safety Trust. 'We're looking at those pipelines being a lot closer to people and communities than they are right now,' Caram says. 'We are not yet ready.'"
"Human activities have caused more than half of the world's largest lakes to shrink dramatically over the last 30 years, according to a new study published in the journal Science. The implications pose risks to human health, economies and the natural world."
"The idea that profits drove our current bout of inflation surfaced in the last few years among progressive economists and lawmakers but was waved away by more mainstream types as a 'conspiracy theory.' That changed earlier this year." I mean, corporate America only told us this with every quarterly earning report since 2020.
On the enshitification of the internet economy (also known as Web 2.0). "On (On the Media), we’ve spent many hours dissecting the digital anatomy of the internet. We’ve chronicled concerns about privacy, the appeal of connection, the rapture of echo chambers, and the ever-bumbling attempts to regulate it all. But now we turn to the increasingly potent feeling that, when it comes to the world wide web, everything kinda seems to be getting worse… This week, Brooke sits down for the first of three conversations with with Cory Doctorow, journalist, activist, author of the new novel Red Team Blues, and special advisor to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, to discuss his theory on why going online might feel less and more repellent, how that happened, and what we can do about it." Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 which explores some solutions.
"Amanda Gorman's poetry has heralded a presidential inauguration and a U.N. General Assembly — but access to it is now restricted at a Miami-Dade County school, the latest casualty in the fight over library books."
"Target once distinguished itself as being boldly supportive of the LGBTQ+ community… Now that status is tarnished after it removed some LGBTQ+-themed products and relocated Pride Month displays to the back of stores in certain Southern locations in response to online complaints and in-store confrontations that it says threatened employees’ well-being."
"More than 450 Catholic clergy in Illinois sexually abused nearly 2,000 children since 1950, the state’s attorney general found in an investigation released Tuesday, revealing that the problem was far worse than the church had let on." I know, I'm shocked as well. I didn't know the Catholic Church hosted that many drag shows.
"Owners of the Keystone pipeline knew a defect had formed years before the strain finally caused the pipeline to burst and flood a Kansas creek with oil last year… The Keystone pipeline, owned by TC Energy, burst near the Kansas-Nebraska border late last year, spilling almost 13,000 barrels of oil onto adjacent farmland and into Mill Creek." It's almost like they put profits in front of safety and the environment.
"A man in Kentucky’s largest city is facing criminal charges after allegedly shooting his roommate during a dispute over a Hot Pocket, authorities say." Ahh, that polite society the NRA talks about.
"The issue of gun control came to a head in Maryland after a man began regularly standing at a school bus stop with an AR-15-style rifle in his hands… For the past few weeks, J'Den McAdory, 20, has been strolling around his neighborhood in Severn, Md., with a long gun in what he says is a protest against recent state gun control legislation."
"In the wake of the 2018 passage of the internet child protection bill FOSTA-SESTA in the US, fandom’s proudly sex-positive culture has increasingly become sanitized, homogenized, and erased — which has allowed the puritanical voices of these “anti-fans” to take their place… This trend would be bad news in any online community, but it’s been especially heady and unwieldy in fandom, an entire culture built around feeling things strongly, not rationally. The result is one of the unlikeliest fronts of the culture war: an internet community, once the bastion of delightful deviance and subversion, being completely overtaken by a new form of purity culture often spearheaded by people who would otherwise describe themselves as politically liberal." (Grokked form Jason Sanford, I think)
"For more than three hours, investigators presented findings alleging Paxton sought to hide an affair, misused his office to help a donor, skirted protocols “grossly outside” norms and built a culture of fear and retaliation in his office. Investigators told the GOP-led House General Investigating Committee that there was evidence that Paxton repeatedly broke the law over the years, including by misusing official information, abusing his official capacity and retaliation."
"A news story blaming White House immigration policies for causing more than 20 homeless veterans to be booted from their temporary shelters is now being denounced as an elaborate hoax, with the New York lawmaker at the center calling it a heartbreaking affront to his work to help veterans." But, you know, he's not really sad about it because "he is undeterred in his opposition to President Joe Biden’s immigration policies and their potential effects on states like New York. But he conceded that in this case, the concerns were unfounded." (Grokked from Chang)
"Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis launched his 2024 presidential campaign on Wednesday with firm words but a disastrous Twitter announcement that did little to counter criticism that the 44-year-old Republican may not be ready to take on former President Donald Trump."v
"A defiant House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Wednesday the debt ceiling standoff was 'not my fault' as he sent Republican negotiators to the White House to finish out talks, but warned the two sides need more time as they try to reach a budget deal with President Joe Biden." Hey Kevin, you're Speaker of the House. It is your fault, no matter what.
Wednesday, May 24, 2023
Thursday, May 18, 2023
Linkee-poo late Thursday May 18
"Scaffolding in a niche of the Vatican Museums’ Round Hall conceal from view the work of restorers who are removing centuries of grime from the largest known bronze statue of the ancient world: the gilded Hercules Mastai Righetti."
"In a 7-2 vote on Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Andy Warhol infringed on photographer Lynn Goldsmith's copyright when he created a series of silk screen images based on a photograph Goldsmith shot of the late musician Prince in 1981."
"The Mastcam-Z instrument aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover recently collected 152 images while looking deep into Belva Crater, a large impact crater within the far larger Jezero Crater. Stitched into a dramatic mosaic, the results are not only eye-catching, but also provide the rover’s science team some deep insights into the interior of Jezero."
"Temperatures are expected to be warmest relative to average in the country’s midsection from June through August with risks for cooler weather on the East and West coasts, according to the latest outlook from The Weather Company, an IBM Business, and Atmospheric G2… But the fly in this forecast ointment may be a cooler start to summer – particularly in the Southwest and possibly into the South."
"A BP subsidiary will pay a $40 million penalty and install technology to control releases of benzene and other contaminants at its Whiting oil refinery on the Indiana shoreline of Lake Michigan, Biden administration officials said Wednesday."
"The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a nearly $11 billion investment on Tuesday to help bring affordable clean energy to rural communities throughout the country… Rural electric cooperatives, renewable energy companies and electric utilities will be able to apply for funding through two programs, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said during a media briefing on Monday."
"The Biden administration on Wednesday announced $251 million for carbon capture and storage projects in seven states, aiming to reducing reduce planet-warming pollution from power plants and other industrial facilities."
"But fewer haddock will be caught in New England this year after regulators cut fishing quotas. A recent scientific assessment found that the Gulf of Maine haddock stock declined unexpectedly, and that meant the catch quotas for the fish were unsustainably high, federal fishing managers said."
"Griffiths told me the results were astonishing. Not only did (psilocybin) reduce anxiety and depression in patients, for some of them it unlocked a spiritual experience… Now, Griffiths is looking at all this from the other side. In early 2022, he was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. Doctors think he only has a few months to live. I had an incredible conversation with this world-renowned scientist and healer about how he is coming to grips with his own mortality, and the mystery of what comes next."
"But many experts say these officers aren't experiencing fentanyl or opioid overdoses… 'This has never happened,' said Dr. Ryan Marino, a toxicologist and emergency room physician who studies addiction at Case Western Reserve University. 'There has never been an overdose through skin contact or accidentally inhaling fentanyl.'" Funny that. It doesn't mean these officers don't need help or are not actually feeling an affect, but it's not fentanyl.
"With new and used cars still painfully expensive, Ryan Holdsworth says he plans to keep his 9-year-old Chevy Cruze for at least four more years. Limiting his car payments and his overall debt is a bigger priority for him than having a new vehicle."
"The next big potential risk to the U.S. economy may be lurking in corporate towers across the country's downtown districts… With many people still working from home, companies are cutting back on so much office space that it threatens to unleash even more headwinds for the U.S. economy." Or, and just hear me out here, we could redevelop that space into affordable apartment complexes. Alternatively, the could lower rents which would draw back actual offices (as compared to cubical farms).
"Retail sales increased 0.4% in April compared with March, when sales decreased 0.7%. That is the first retail sales increase since January, when unusually warm weather and a big jump in Social Security benefits juiced spending."
"More than a year after launching an effort to unionize, dancers at a topless dive bar in Los Angeles are close to becoming the only unionized group of strippers in the U.S.… Lawyers representing the owners of the Star Garden Topless Dive Bar have withdrawn all election challenges and have agreed to recognize the union, organizers said on Tuesday."
"Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are pushing to keep AM radio in the nation’s cars… A bipartisan group in Congress has introduced the “AM for Every Vehicle Act.” The bill calls on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to require automakers to keep AM radio in new cars at no additional cost." *cough*Salem Media*cough* In case you need reminded, the On the Media Podcast series "The Divided Dial."
"(A) federal investigation found that three Kentucky-based McDonald’s franchises illegally employed at least 305 children, including some as young as 10 years old. The three franchises — Bauer Food LLC, Archways Richwood LLC, and Bell Restaurant Group I LLC — operate 62 stores across Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland, and Ohio."
"Russia’s hypersonic missiles have taken a dual hit this week from Patriots fired by Ukraine and 'patriots' arrested at home… Once touted as unstoppable, the program now faces growing domestic fallout from treason charges against three scientists who worked on the technology, just as Kyiv claims its U.S.-supplied air defense systems have been able to shoot many of the missiles down." Well, someone has to pay for their failure. Although, if I understand it correctly, Russia's hypersonic weapons are ballistic missiles and only achieve their speed very high in the atmosphere (where it's easy), but then look like most other ballistic missiles as they slow down in the thicker air when they get close to their target. Patriot, while not designed as an anti-ballistic system, has shown it can function very well as one.
"The Pentagon has overestimated the value of the weapons it has sent to Ukraine by at least $3 billion — an accounting error that could be a boon for the war effort because it will allow the Defense Department to send more weapons now without asking Congress for more money." Well, isn't that convenient.
"The Ukraine Black Sea grain deal has been extended for two more months, in what U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hailed as 'good news for the world,' a day before Russia could have quit the pact over obstacles to its grain and fertiliser exports."
"A dozen poor countries are facing economic instability and even collapse under the weight of hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign loans, much of them from the world’s biggest and most unforgiving government lender, China." You say that like that wasn't the actual plan. See, then China will forgive, or refinance, if only those governments would, maybe, give China the property they developed, or favorable trade rights, or ownership of ports… Welcome to Belt and Road.
"An investigation led by Republican Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, has sent doctors at an Austin hospital into a panic, causing all the physicians in its adolescent medicine department to depart… Earlier this week, Dell Children’s clinic, which provides gender-affirming care for trans children, announced to parents that they would need to find new providers for their children in transition."
More guns make us safer… "Matthew Davis, 32, admonished Angel Gomez, 20, for being disorderly in the parking lot of the Keene, Texas, restaurant at about 9:40 p.m. last Saturday. A physical altercation ensued, then the juvenile suspect, who is unnamed because they are (12), allegedly shot Davis multiple times from the back seat of Gomez's vehicle, the Keene Police Department said… Davis was transported to the hospital, where he died."
You should keep a gun to protect yourself… "A Mexican woman who killed a man defending herself when he attacked and raped her in 2021 was sentenced to more than six years in prison, a decision her legal defense called 'discriminatory' and vowed to appeal Tuesday."
"A Florida teacher is under investigation by the state's Department of Education after she showed her students a Disney movie that features a gay character… Jenna Barbee, who teaches fifth grade in the Hernando County School District, says a student's mother lodged a complaint with education officials after Barbee showed the film Strange World in her classroom."
"Disney on Thursday upped the ante in its battle with Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, and it cost his state 2,000 white-collar jobs… Disney is scrapping plans to build a $1 billion office complex in Florida, citing 'changing business conditions,' according to a memo provided by a Disney spokesperson."
"Two staff members at Rep. Gerry Connolly's district office in Fairfax, Va., were attacked Monday by a person armed with a baseball bat, according to a statement released by the Democratic lawmaker."
"The report Monday from special counsel John Durham represents the long-awaited culmination of an investigation that Trump and allies had claimed would expose massive wrongdoing by law enforcement and intelligence officials. Instead, Durham’s investigation delivered underwhelming results, with prosecutors securing a guilty plea from a little-known FBI employee but losing the only two criminal cases they took to trial."
"Deegan, who will be the city’s first female mayor, is also only the second Democrat elected mayor in Jacksonville in the past three decades. She framed herself as a voice of opposition who will clean up what she asserts is a widely viewed culture of corruption in city government and bring in those who have historically been “left behind” when it comes to economic development. Her priorities are infrastructure, public health and small business."
"Minnesota Democratic Party leaders met in a closed executive session over Zoom on Thursday evening to discuss a rule change that would permanently ban people involved in violence from party activities, just days after chaos broke out during a weekend convention to endorse a candidate for a Minneapolis City Council race."
"A group of longtime Republican operatives is launching a super PAC supporting the expected presidential campaign of former Vice President Mike Pence… The move is the strongest signal yet that Pence is planning to officially challenge former President Donald Trump for the GOP nomination. Pence has been signaling his plan for months with campaign-style trips to early voting states including Iowa and New Hampshire." Or, it's just another grift and/or way to transfer generational wealth without tax liabilities.
"A man who spent a night in jail for smacking Rudy Giuliani on the back and calling him a “scumbag” is suing him and several New York City police officers for false arrest and defamation."
"A woman who says she worked as an off-the-books employee for Rudy Giuliani during his stint as Donald Trump’s personal lawyer alleges in court papers that the former New York City mayor coerced her into sex and owes her nearly $2 million in unpaid wages." And supposedly there are tapes.
"The lawsuit seeks $2.4 million from the fake electors and their attorneys, alleging they were part of a conspiracy by Trump and his allies to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential race. It also seeks to disqualify the Republicans from ever serving as electors again."
"Computer engineers and tech-inclined political scientists have warned for years that cheap, powerful artificial intelligence tools would soon allow anyone to create fake images, video and audio that was realistic enough to fool voters and perhaps sway an election." But now the technology has matured, and our collective ability to shift through the bullshit has been diminished.
"An independent candidate defeated a longtime Republican office holder to become the first elected Black mayor in Colorado Springs, Colorado’s second largest with a history of being a conservative stronghold."
"The FBI disclosed to the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that two of the scheduled witnesses — Marcus Allen and Steve Friend — had their security clearances revoked earlier this month, according to a letter from Christopher Dunham, the acting assistant director of the FBI." The hypocrisy of the GOP would be funny if it weren't so deadly.
"In a 7-2 vote on Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Andy Warhol infringed on photographer Lynn Goldsmith's copyright when he created a series of silk screen images based on a photograph Goldsmith shot of the late musician Prince in 1981."
"The Mastcam-Z instrument aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover recently collected 152 images while looking deep into Belva Crater, a large impact crater within the far larger Jezero Crater. Stitched into a dramatic mosaic, the results are not only eye-catching, but also provide the rover’s science team some deep insights into the interior of Jezero."
"Temperatures are expected to be warmest relative to average in the country’s midsection from June through August with risks for cooler weather on the East and West coasts, according to the latest outlook from The Weather Company, an IBM Business, and Atmospheric G2… But the fly in this forecast ointment may be a cooler start to summer – particularly in the Southwest and possibly into the South."
"A BP subsidiary will pay a $40 million penalty and install technology to control releases of benzene and other contaminants at its Whiting oil refinery on the Indiana shoreline of Lake Michigan, Biden administration officials said Wednesday."
"The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a nearly $11 billion investment on Tuesday to help bring affordable clean energy to rural communities throughout the country… Rural electric cooperatives, renewable energy companies and electric utilities will be able to apply for funding through two programs, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said during a media briefing on Monday."
"The Biden administration on Wednesday announced $251 million for carbon capture and storage projects in seven states, aiming to reducing reduce planet-warming pollution from power plants and other industrial facilities."
"But fewer haddock will be caught in New England this year after regulators cut fishing quotas. A recent scientific assessment found that the Gulf of Maine haddock stock declined unexpectedly, and that meant the catch quotas for the fish were unsustainably high, federal fishing managers said."
"Griffiths told me the results were astonishing. Not only did (psilocybin) reduce anxiety and depression in patients, for some of them it unlocked a spiritual experience… Now, Griffiths is looking at all this from the other side. In early 2022, he was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. Doctors think he only has a few months to live. I had an incredible conversation with this world-renowned scientist and healer about how he is coming to grips with his own mortality, and the mystery of what comes next."
"But many experts say these officers aren't experiencing fentanyl or opioid overdoses… 'This has never happened,' said Dr. Ryan Marino, a toxicologist and emergency room physician who studies addiction at Case Western Reserve University. 'There has never been an overdose through skin contact or accidentally inhaling fentanyl.'" Funny that. It doesn't mean these officers don't need help or are not actually feeling an affect, but it's not fentanyl.
"With new and used cars still painfully expensive, Ryan Holdsworth says he plans to keep his 9-year-old Chevy Cruze for at least four more years. Limiting his car payments and his overall debt is a bigger priority for him than having a new vehicle."
"The next big potential risk to the U.S. economy may be lurking in corporate towers across the country's downtown districts… With many people still working from home, companies are cutting back on so much office space that it threatens to unleash even more headwinds for the U.S. economy." Or, and just hear me out here, we could redevelop that space into affordable apartment complexes. Alternatively, the could lower rents which would draw back actual offices (as compared to cubical farms).
"Retail sales increased 0.4% in April compared with March, when sales decreased 0.7%. That is the first retail sales increase since January, when unusually warm weather and a big jump in Social Security benefits juiced spending."
"More than a year after launching an effort to unionize, dancers at a topless dive bar in Los Angeles are close to becoming the only unionized group of strippers in the U.S.… Lawyers representing the owners of the Star Garden Topless Dive Bar have withdrawn all election challenges and have agreed to recognize the union, organizers said on Tuesday."
"Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are pushing to keep AM radio in the nation’s cars… A bipartisan group in Congress has introduced the “AM for Every Vehicle Act.” The bill calls on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to require automakers to keep AM radio in new cars at no additional cost." *cough*Salem Media*cough* In case you need reminded, the On the Media Podcast series "The Divided Dial."
"(A) federal investigation found that three Kentucky-based McDonald’s franchises illegally employed at least 305 children, including some as young as 10 years old. The three franchises — Bauer Food LLC, Archways Richwood LLC, and Bell Restaurant Group I LLC — operate 62 stores across Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland, and Ohio."
"Russia’s hypersonic missiles have taken a dual hit this week from Patriots fired by Ukraine and 'patriots' arrested at home… Once touted as unstoppable, the program now faces growing domestic fallout from treason charges against three scientists who worked on the technology, just as Kyiv claims its U.S.-supplied air defense systems have been able to shoot many of the missiles down." Well, someone has to pay for their failure. Although, if I understand it correctly, Russia's hypersonic weapons are ballistic missiles and only achieve their speed very high in the atmosphere (where it's easy), but then look like most other ballistic missiles as they slow down in the thicker air when they get close to their target. Patriot, while not designed as an anti-ballistic system, has shown it can function very well as one.
"The Pentagon has overestimated the value of the weapons it has sent to Ukraine by at least $3 billion — an accounting error that could be a boon for the war effort because it will allow the Defense Department to send more weapons now without asking Congress for more money." Well, isn't that convenient.
"The Ukraine Black Sea grain deal has been extended for two more months, in what U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hailed as 'good news for the world,' a day before Russia could have quit the pact over obstacles to its grain and fertiliser exports."
"A dozen poor countries are facing economic instability and even collapse under the weight of hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign loans, much of them from the world’s biggest and most unforgiving government lender, China." You say that like that wasn't the actual plan. See, then China will forgive, or refinance, if only those governments would, maybe, give China the property they developed, or favorable trade rights, or ownership of ports… Welcome to Belt and Road.
"An investigation led by Republican Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, has sent doctors at an Austin hospital into a panic, causing all the physicians in its adolescent medicine department to depart… Earlier this week, Dell Children’s clinic, which provides gender-affirming care for trans children, announced to parents that they would need to find new providers for their children in transition."
More guns make us safer… "Matthew Davis, 32, admonished Angel Gomez, 20, for being disorderly in the parking lot of the Keene, Texas, restaurant at about 9:40 p.m. last Saturday. A physical altercation ensued, then the juvenile suspect, who is unnamed because they are (12), allegedly shot Davis multiple times from the back seat of Gomez's vehicle, the Keene Police Department said… Davis was transported to the hospital, where he died."
You should keep a gun to protect yourself… "A Mexican woman who killed a man defending herself when he attacked and raped her in 2021 was sentenced to more than six years in prison, a decision her legal defense called 'discriminatory' and vowed to appeal Tuesday."
"A Florida teacher is under investigation by the state's Department of Education after she showed her students a Disney movie that features a gay character… Jenna Barbee, who teaches fifth grade in the Hernando County School District, says a student's mother lodged a complaint with education officials after Barbee showed the film Strange World in her classroom."
"Disney on Thursday upped the ante in its battle with Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, and it cost his state 2,000 white-collar jobs… Disney is scrapping plans to build a $1 billion office complex in Florida, citing 'changing business conditions,' according to a memo provided by a Disney spokesperson."
"Two staff members at Rep. Gerry Connolly's district office in Fairfax, Va., were attacked Monday by a person armed with a baseball bat, according to a statement released by the Democratic lawmaker."
"The report Monday from special counsel John Durham represents the long-awaited culmination of an investigation that Trump and allies had claimed would expose massive wrongdoing by law enforcement and intelligence officials. Instead, Durham’s investigation delivered underwhelming results, with prosecutors securing a guilty plea from a little-known FBI employee but losing the only two criminal cases they took to trial."
"Deegan, who will be the city’s first female mayor, is also only the second Democrat elected mayor in Jacksonville in the past three decades. She framed herself as a voice of opposition who will clean up what she asserts is a widely viewed culture of corruption in city government and bring in those who have historically been “left behind” when it comes to economic development. Her priorities are infrastructure, public health and small business."
"Minnesota Democratic Party leaders met in a closed executive session over Zoom on Thursday evening to discuss a rule change that would permanently ban people involved in violence from party activities, just days after chaos broke out during a weekend convention to endorse a candidate for a Minneapolis City Council race."
"A group of longtime Republican operatives is launching a super PAC supporting the expected presidential campaign of former Vice President Mike Pence… The move is the strongest signal yet that Pence is planning to officially challenge former President Donald Trump for the GOP nomination. Pence has been signaling his plan for months with campaign-style trips to early voting states including Iowa and New Hampshire." Or, it's just another grift and/or way to transfer generational wealth without tax liabilities.
"A man who spent a night in jail for smacking Rudy Giuliani on the back and calling him a “scumbag” is suing him and several New York City police officers for false arrest and defamation."
"A woman who says she worked as an off-the-books employee for Rudy Giuliani during his stint as Donald Trump’s personal lawyer alleges in court papers that the former New York City mayor coerced her into sex and owes her nearly $2 million in unpaid wages." And supposedly there are tapes.
"The lawsuit seeks $2.4 million from the fake electors and their attorneys, alleging they were part of a conspiracy by Trump and his allies to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential race. It also seeks to disqualify the Republicans from ever serving as electors again."
"Computer engineers and tech-inclined political scientists have warned for years that cheap, powerful artificial intelligence tools would soon allow anyone to create fake images, video and audio that was realistic enough to fool voters and perhaps sway an election." But now the technology has matured, and our collective ability to shift through the bullshit has been diminished.
"An independent candidate defeated a longtime Republican office holder to become the first elected Black mayor in Colorado Springs, Colorado’s second largest with a history of being a conservative stronghold."
"The FBI disclosed to the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that two of the scheduled witnesses — Marcus Allen and Steve Friend — had their security clearances revoked earlier this month, according to a letter from Christopher Dunham, the acting assistant director of the FBI." The hypocrisy of the GOP would be funny if it weren't so deadly.
Sunday, May 14, 2023
Linkee-poo Sunday May 14
"The numbers speak for themselves: More than 100 movies in over 45 years of acting. Now Tom Hanks is drawing on all that experience to craft a story in a very different medium. He used some of the pandemic slowdown to write a novel. Titled The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece, it tells the story of a comic strip that becomes a multimillion-dollar superhero movie."
"Beware the Nibblerids, for they shall nibble you to shreds. Their name might make them sound like the antagonists in a children's book, but if you're a microbe, nibblerids can be quite scary. These tiny, single-celled organisms are voracious predators that use a tooth-like structure to rip apart their prey bit by bit. They are also, it turns out, occupants of a completely new branch on the tree of life — a novel lifeform quite different, and distant, from any other known living creatures." Something new has been added. (Grokked from John)
"Hydrologists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said deep snowpack across much of the West will bring short-term relief, but the equally deep “bathtub rings” at Lake Powell and Lake Mead reservoirs are a reminder of the long road to bringing supply and demand in balance."
"Daily tides stoked with increasingly warmer water ate a hole taller than the Washington Monument at the bottom of one of Greenland’s major glaciers in the last couple years, accelerating the retreat of a crucial part of the glacier, a new study found… And scientists worry that the phenomenon isn’t limited to this one glacier, raising questions about previous projections of melting rates on the world’s vulnerable ice sheets." We're boned.
"Roads in Florida could soon include phosphogypsum — a radioactive waste material from the fertilizer industry — under a bill lawmakers have sent to Gov. Ron DeSantis." Getting rid of our dangerous byproducts in plain site. I'm not worried about radium, with it being in the open that should quickly dissipate. But I do believe that this is not the solution to the toxic waste in Florida.
"A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the Environmental Protection Agency must regulate perchlorate, reversing a Trump-era rollback on a drinking water contaminant linked to brain damage in infants."
"Breast cancer is very treatable when caught early, and mammograms, which are X-ray images of breasts, are a reliable screening test to detect it. Now, new draft recommendations released Tuesday from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force urges all women to get screened every other year, starting at age 40." Remember when they said you could start later…
"As the Biden administration ends the COVID-19 public health emergency, millions of Americans who contracted the disease continue to suffer from symptoms associated with long COVID… Neuropsychologist James C. Jackson says people with long COVID can suffer from symptoms like exhaustion, shortness of breath and disturbed sleep. Some of the most troubling symptoms are neurological: struggling to remember things, to focus, even to perform basic daily tasks and solve problems." You might remember when COVID-19 started I said because this was a novel virus it will change us by the end of it. This is part of what I was talking about.
"We are witnessing a technological revolution unfolding in real time. The rise of smart machines opens up some scary possibilities; for our economy, for our democracy, even, in the most catastrophic scenarios, for our continued existence as a species. But, if we get our act together, the age of Artificial Intelligence could be one in which we rebuild the middle class, says MIT's David Autor, one of the top labor economists in the world." Yeah. I think he's full of shit.
"The Justice Department said Tuesday that it had disrupted a long-running Russian cyberespionage campaign that infected computer networks in dozens of countries, including in the United States, and resulted in the theft of sensitive information from governments."
"President Vladimir Putin declared Tuesday that the West has unleashed “a real war” against Russia, reprising a familiar refrain at scaled-down Victory Day celebrations that may reflect the toll the Ukraine conflict is taking on his forces."
"Tucker Carlson, who was Fox News' biggest star until his abrupt firing last month, says he's taking his show to Twitter." Haven't we suffered enough on Twitter?
"The man who killed eight people and injured seven more in a shooting at Allen Premium Outlets Saturday was armed with eight weapons and had 'neo-Nazi ideation,' Texas Department of Public Safety officials said Tuesday." But they're still not sure what his motive was. Strong side-eye.
Ma href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/tommy-tuberville-defends-white-nationalists-military-1234733007/">"WBHM Birmingham asked Tuberville if white nationalists should be allowed to serve in the military. 'They call them that,' the senator responded. 'I call them Americans.'… Tuberville had explicitly defended 'white extremists' and 'white nationalists' earlier in the interview, alleging that President Biden is 'destroying' the military by opposing their inclusion." In case you were still wondering what side the GOP was on. After their attempt at a coup failed, they're now trying to subvert from the inside.
"(George) Santos, whose astonishing pattern of lies and fabrications stunned even hardened politicos, has been charged on a 13-count indictment, including seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives."
"Republican Rep. George Santos surrendered to federal authorities at a courthouse in suburban Long Island on Wednesday facing 13 counts of criminal wrongdoing."
"A jury found Donald Trump liable Tuesday for sexually abusing advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in 1996, awarding her $5 million in a judgment that could haunt the former president as he campaigns to regain the White House."
Jim Wright on the CNN spectacle of having That Fucking Guy on.
"Facing growing pressure to show progress in their investigations, House Republicans on Wednesday plan to detail what they say are concerning new findings about President Joe Biden ’s family and their finances… The smoking gun, according to the GOP, is 'thousands of pages' of recently obtained financial records that include more than 150 suspicious activity reports connected to the president’s son Hunter Biden and brother James Biden, as well as a growing number of associates." Again, the fetish with the page numbering. And a heavy dollop of "something must be in there" and not a lot of "what is in those pages."
"Beware the Nibblerids, for they shall nibble you to shreds. Their name might make them sound like the antagonists in a children's book, but if you're a microbe, nibblerids can be quite scary. These tiny, single-celled organisms are voracious predators that use a tooth-like structure to rip apart their prey bit by bit. They are also, it turns out, occupants of a completely new branch on the tree of life — a novel lifeform quite different, and distant, from any other known living creatures." Something new has been added. (Grokked from John)
"Hydrologists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said deep snowpack across much of the West will bring short-term relief, but the equally deep “bathtub rings” at Lake Powell and Lake Mead reservoirs are a reminder of the long road to bringing supply and demand in balance."
"Daily tides stoked with increasingly warmer water ate a hole taller than the Washington Monument at the bottom of one of Greenland’s major glaciers in the last couple years, accelerating the retreat of a crucial part of the glacier, a new study found… And scientists worry that the phenomenon isn’t limited to this one glacier, raising questions about previous projections of melting rates on the world’s vulnerable ice sheets." We're boned.
"Roads in Florida could soon include phosphogypsum — a radioactive waste material from the fertilizer industry — under a bill lawmakers have sent to Gov. Ron DeSantis." Getting rid of our dangerous byproducts in plain site. I'm not worried about radium, with it being in the open that should quickly dissipate. But I do believe that this is not the solution to the toxic waste in Florida.
"A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the Environmental Protection Agency must regulate perchlorate, reversing a Trump-era rollback on a drinking water contaminant linked to brain damage in infants."
"Breast cancer is very treatable when caught early, and mammograms, which are X-ray images of breasts, are a reliable screening test to detect it. Now, new draft recommendations released Tuesday from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force urges all women to get screened every other year, starting at age 40." Remember when they said you could start later…
"As the Biden administration ends the COVID-19 public health emergency, millions of Americans who contracted the disease continue to suffer from symptoms associated with long COVID… Neuropsychologist James C. Jackson says people with long COVID can suffer from symptoms like exhaustion, shortness of breath and disturbed sleep. Some of the most troubling symptoms are neurological: struggling to remember things, to focus, even to perform basic daily tasks and solve problems." You might remember when COVID-19 started I said because this was a novel virus it will change us by the end of it. This is part of what I was talking about.
"We are witnessing a technological revolution unfolding in real time. The rise of smart machines opens up some scary possibilities; for our economy, for our democracy, even, in the most catastrophic scenarios, for our continued existence as a species. But, if we get our act together, the age of Artificial Intelligence could be one in which we rebuild the middle class, says MIT's David Autor, one of the top labor economists in the world." Yeah. I think he's full of shit.
"The Justice Department said Tuesday that it had disrupted a long-running Russian cyberespionage campaign that infected computer networks in dozens of countries, including in the United States, and resulted in the theft of sensitive information from governments."
"President Vladimir Putin declared Tuesday that the West has unleashed “a real war” against Russia, reprising a familiar refrain at scaled-down Victory Day celebrations that may reflect the toll the Ukraine conflict is taking on his forces."
"Tucker Carlson, who was Fox News' biggest star until his abrupt firing last month, says he's taking his show to Twitter." Haven't we suffered enough on Twitter?
"The man who killed eight people and injured seven more in a shooting at Allen Premium Outlets Saturday was armed with eight weapons and had 'neo-Nazi ideation,' Texas Department of Public Safety officials said Tuesday." But they're still not sure what his motive was. Strong side-eye.
Ma href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/tommy-tuberville-defends-white-nationalists-military-1234733007/">"WBHM Birmingham asked Tuberville if white nationalists should be allowed to serve in the military. 'They call them that,' the senator responded. 'I call them Americans.'… Tuberville had explicitly defended 'white extremists' and 'white nationalists' earlier in the interview, alleging that President Biden is 'destroying' the military by opposing their inclusion." In case you were still wondering what side the GOP was on. After their attempt at a coup failed, they're now trying to subvert from the inside.
"(George) Santos, whose astonishing pattern of lies and fabrications stunned even hardened politicos, has been charged on a 13-count indictment, including seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives."
"Republican Rep. George Santos surrendered to federal authorities at a courthouse in suburban Long Island on Wednesday facing 13 counts of criminal wrongdoing."
"A jury found Donald Trump liable Tuesday for sexually abusing advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in 1996, awarding her $5 million in a judgment that could haunt the former president as he campaigns to regain the White House."
Jim Wright on the CNN spectacle of having That Fucking Guy on.
"Facing growing pressure to show progress in their investigations, House Republicans on Wednesday plan to detail what they say are concerning new findings about President Joe Biden ’s family and their finances… The smoking gun, according to the GOP, is 'thousands of pages' of recently obtained financial records that include more than 150 suspicious activity reports connected to the president’s son Hunter Biden and brother James Biden, as well as a growing number of associates." Again, the fetish with the page numbering. And a heavy dollop of "something must be in there" and not a lot of "what is in those pages."
Monday, May 8, 2023
Linkee-poo midnight rider
"Carrie Fisher is receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a May the Fourth tribute to one of the 'Star Wars' franchise’s most beloved figures." Finally.
"But it’s the concerns of insiders in the AI research community that are attracting particular attention. A pioneering researcher and the so-called 'Godfather of AI' Geoffrey Hinton quit his role at Google so he could more freely speak about the dangers of the technology he helped create."
"As hot as the Earth's weather has been in recent years, it's about to get hotter: El Niño is on the way, with warmer sea temperatures promising new weather extremes, U.S. and international forecasters say." We're boned.
"From Montego to Miami, an influx of algae called sargassum is leaving stinky brown carpets over what was once prime tourist sand. It's the most sargassum researchers have tracked this early in the year… Deciding what to do with it is proving more challenging the more we learn about it — and inspiring some entrepreneurs to rethink removing sargassum altogether."
"The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced its 2023 class of inductees on Wednesday, with seven performers being awarded the distinction out of the original 14 nominees announced back in February. The class reflects a wide-range of artists across genres, from country and rock singer-songwriters like Willie Nelson and Sheryl Crow, to the late, soulful pop star George Michael and quintessential soul vocal group The Spinners."
"The Writers Guild of America is on strike, and a vital part of the entertainment industry could be in for a long work stoppage… By many accounts, the TV and film industry is overdue for a reckoning, after the pandemic made the 2020 contract bargaining season a dud. That prevented writers and their employers, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, from reaching new agreements on emerging technology and business practices."
"When Utahns logged onto adult content site PornHub on Monday, May 1, they were met with a message saying the company has 'made the difficult decision to completely disable access to the website in Utah.' The preemptive block came two days before a new state law requiring the site to verify the age of users went into effect… The move almost instantly sparked conversations about the unintended consequences of the law — and ways for Utahns to get around it."
"The Biden administration on Thursday cautioned Americans about the growing risks of medical credit cards and other loans for medical bills, warning in a new report that high interest rates can deepen patients' debts and threaten their financial security."
"In an unprompted Tuesday email, Musk wrote: 'So is NPR going to start posting on Twitter again, or should we reassign @NPR to another company?'" Musk is keeping his nail clipping and urine in jars now, isn't he.
"Both manufacturers are offering affected customers free software upgrades they say will fix the problem, but cars affected by the vulnerability are still on the market, despite the fact that a growing list of major insurance companies say they won't cover them for the time being. Most states require drivers to have automobile insurance to be on the road."
"The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by another quarter percentage point Wednesday, extending its 14-month crackdown on stubborn inflation… With signs of a softening job market and slower economic growth, this could be the central bank's last rate hike for a while, especially as turmoil in the banking sector raises new uncertainties."
How did that work out? "U.S. employers added 253,000 jobs in April, according to a report from the Labor Department Friday, a significant uptick from the month before… Meanwhile, the unemployment rate fell to 3.4% in April from 3.5% in March. The unemployment rate for African Americans fell to 4.7% — a record low."
"New York’s City Council will introduce a pair of bills on Wednesday afternoon aimed at curbing the use of facial recognition and other types of biometric surveillance by private businesses and landlords."
"Russian authorities accused Ukraine of trying to carry out drone strikes on the Kremlin overnight to assassinate President Vladimir Putin, and warned of possible retaliation." Sure, Vlad. Sure.v "Ukraine and Russia pressed their wartime rhetoric Thursday, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressing confidence that Vladimir Putin would be convicted of war crimes and the Kremlin alleging that the U.S. was behind an assassination attempt against the Russian president." Wouldn't count on it, Henry Kissinger just turned 100, and he's still free.
"The choking death of a man in the New York subway was setting off powerful reactions Thursday, with some calling it a homicide and others defending the passenger’s actions as defense against disorder." It was murder.
"The death of a Black man who appeared to be suffering from mental illness on an F train on Monday is stirring outrage after a white man who had placed him in a chokehold wasn’t charged by the NYPD."
"Eight people are dead and nine others injured in Brownsville, Texas, after a car ran into pedestrians Sunday morning while they were waiting at a bus stop, police said."v "The man who opened fire Saturday at an outlet mall in Allen, Texas, killing eight people and wounding at least seven others was identified (ed note, fuck his identity)… Authorities have not yet zeroed in on a specific motive, but investigators uncovered an extensive social media presence by the gunman, including a possible link to right-wing extremism, a senior law enforcement source familiar with the investigation told CNN."
"Lawmakers in Montana, Tennessee and Kansas have voted in the past few weeks to narrowly define who is 'female' and who is 'male' in state law using such terms as 'gametes,' 'ova,' 'sex chromosomes,' 'genitalia' and 'immutable biological sex.'" Immutable biological… Fungus has entered the conversation and would like a word.
"A jury in Washington, D.C., found Tarrio guilty of seditious conspiracy after hearing from dozens of witnesses over more than three months in one of the most serious cases brought in the stunning attack that unfolded on Jan. 6, 2021, as the world watched on live TV." Boom.
"Fox News is opposing a renewed effort by three news organizations to unseal documents related to its recently settled defamation lawsuit, saying it would do nothing but 'gratify private spite or promote public scandal.'" Legalize for, "it would be awfully embarrassing."
"A week after Fox News fired star host Tucker Carlson — for reasons that remain unexplained — he has been the subject of a handful of embarrassing stories about some of his private messages and statements while at the network."
"'The highest court in the land shouldn't have the lowest ethical standards,' said Senate Judiciary Chairman Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., at a hearing on ethics oversight at the high court. 'That reality is driving a crisis in public confidence in the Supreme Court. The status quo must change.'" But, Senator Durbin, only one of us has the power to enact that change.
"
"But it’s the concerns of insiders in the AI research community that are attracting particular attention. A pioneering researcher and the so-called 'Godfather of AI' Geoffrey Hinton quit his role at Google so he could more freely speak about the dangers of the technology he helped create."
"As hot as the Earth's weather has been in recent years, it's about to get hotter: El Niño is on the way, with warmer sea temperatures promising new weather extremes, U.S. and international forecasters say." We're boned.
"From Montego to Miami, an influx of algae called sargassum is leaving stinky brown carpets over what was once prime tourist sand. It's the most sargassum researchers have tracked this early in the year… Deciding what to do with it is proving more challenging the more we learn about it — and inspiring some entrepreneurs to rethink removing sargassum altogether."
"The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced its 2023 class of inductees on Wednesday, with seven performers being awarded the distinction out of the original 14 nominees announced back in February. The class reflects a wide-range of artists across genres, from country and rock singer-songwriters like Willie Nelson and Sheryl Crow, to the late, soulful pop star George Michael and quintessential soul vocal group The Spinners."
"The Writers Guild of America is on strike, and a vital part of the entertainment industry could be in for a long work stoppage… By many accounts, the TV and film industry is overdue for a reckoning, after the pandemic made the 2020 contract bargaining season a dud. That prevented writers and their employers, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, from reaching new agreements on emerging technology and business practices."
"When Utahns logged onto adult content site PornHub on Monday, May 1, they were met with a message saying the company has 'made the difficult decision to completely disable access to the website in Utah.' The preemptive block came two days before a new state law requiring the site to verify the age of users went into effect… The move almost instantly sparked conversations about the unintended consequences of the law — and ways for Utahns to get around it."
"The Biden administration on Thursday cautioned Americans about the growing risks of medical credit cards and other loans for medical bills, warning in a new report that high interest rates can deepen patients' debts and threaten their financial security."
"In an unprompted Tuesday email, Musk wrote: 'So is NPR going to start posting on Twitter again, or should we reassign @NPR to another company?'" Musk is keeping his nail clipping and urine in jars now, isn't he.
"Both manufacturers are offering affected customers free software upgrades they say will fix the problem, but cars affected by the vulnerability are still on the market, despite the fact that a growing list of major insurance companies say they won't cover them for the time being. Most states require drivers to have automobile insurance to be on the road."
"The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by another quarter percentage point Wednesday, extending its 14-month crackdown on stubborn inflation… With signs of a softening job market and slower economic growth, this could be the central bank's last rate hike for a while, especially as turmoil in the banking sector raises new uncertainties."
How did that work out? "U.S. employers added 253,000 jobs in April, according to a report from the Labor Department Friday, a significant uptick from the month before… Meanwhile, the unemployment rate fell to 3.4% in April from 3.5% in March. The unemployment rate for African Americans fell to 4.7% — a record low."
"New York’s City Council will introduce a pair of bills on Wednesday afternoon aimed at curbing the use of facial recognition and other types of biometric surveillance by private businesses and landlords."
"Russian authorities accused Ukraine of trying to carry out drone strikes on the Kremlin overnight to assassinate President Vladimir Putin, and warned of possible retaliation." Sure, Vlad. Sure.v "Ukraine and Russia pressed their wartime rhetoric Thursday, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressing confidence that Vladimir Putin would be convicted of war crimes and the Kremlin alleging that the U.S. was behind an assassination attempt against the Russian president." Wouldn't count on it, Henry Kissinger just turned 100, and he's still free.
"The choking death of a man in the New York subway was setting off powerful reactions Thursday, with some calling it a homicide and others defending the passenger’s actions as defense against disorder." It was murder.
"The death of a Black man who appeared to be suffering from mental illness on an F train on Monday is stirring outrage after a white man who had placed him in a chokehold wasn’t charged by the NYPD."
"Eight people are dead and nine others injured in Brownsville, Texas, after a car ran into pedestrians Sunday morning while they were waiting at a bus stop, police said."v "The man who opened fire Saturday at an outlet mall in Allen, Texas, killing eight people and wounding at least seven others was identified (ed note, fuck his identity)… Authorities have not yet zeroed in on a specific motive, but investigators uncovered an extensive social media presence by the gunman, including a possible link to right-wing extremism, a senior law enforcement source familiar with the investigation told CNN."
"Lawmakers in Montana, Tennessee and Kansas have voted in the past few weeks to narrowly define who is 'female' and who is 'male' in state law using such terms as 'gametes,' 'ova,' 'sex chromosomes,' 'genitalia' and 'immutable biological sex.'" Immutable biological… Fungus has entered the conversation and would like a word.
"A jury in Washington, D.C., found Tarrio guilty of seditious conspiracy after hearing from dozens of witnesses over more than three months in one of the most serious cases brought in the stunning attack that unfolded on Jan. 6, 2021, as the world watched on live TV." Boom.
"Fox News is opposing a renewed effort by three news organizations to unseal documents related to its recently settled defamation lawsuit, saying it would do nothing but 'gratify private spite or promote public scandal.'" Legalize for, "it would be awfully embarrassing."
"A week after Fox News fired star host Tucker Carlson — for reasons that remain unexplained — he has been the subject of a handful of embarrassing stories about some of his private messages and statements while at the network."
"'The highest court in the land shouldn't have the lowest ethical standards,' said Senate Judiciary Chairman Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., at a hearing on ethics oversight at the high court. 'That reality is driving a crisis in public confidence in the Supreme Court. The status quo must change.'" But, Senator Durbin, only one of us has the power to enact that change.
"
Tuesday, May 2, 2023
Linkee-poo the wind in the wires made a tattle tale sound
Gordon Lightfoot and Jerry Springer, and so it goes.
A more personal Gofund me for a coworker who is watching her child pass before her eyes. Again, I don't share these often, but this is closer to home than most. Same rules as usual, if you can, please help (I know there's often times I can't). And if not, at least send positive vibes and prayers if you're so inclined for both her child, her and her family.
"Walking into Toni Morrison: Sites of Memory, a new exhibition curated from the late author's archives at Princeton University, is an emotional experience for anyone who loves literature. Dozens of pages are on display, most of them waterlogged and brown from burning."
"Negotiations between the Writers Guild of America and film and TV studios and streamers broke down late Monday night, with leaders of the union now saying they will go on strike 'effective 12:01 AM, Tuesday, May 2.'" Oh Jeez.
"People living along the Mississippi River watched warily Sunday as water levels rose in southeast Iowa and northwest Illinois, awaiting spring crests as floodwaters began to slowly recede and reveal damage in areas further north."
"NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft, which has been probing the outer bounds of the solar system for over 45 years, is running out of power. But a new plan aims to keep its interstellar mission alive for at least three more years."
"Even before the reign of the dinosaurs ended in a mass extinction event about 65 million years ago, mammals had already gotten a humble but solid foothold… That's just one of the findings from a close examination of DNA from 240 different mammalian species, an ambitious effort to understand how hairy, milk-producing mammals — including humans — evolved to have such an astonishing array of sizes, shapes, and special abilities."
"Rates of the disease have soared in recent decades, spurred by the complex interaction of genes that make people more likely to store food as fat, a food system that provides easy and cheap access to processed treats explicitly designed to be overconsumed, and social settings that limit access to healthy options and exercise for many people." The new weight loss drugs, how they work.
"HPV is sexually transmitted. For oropharyngeal cancer, the main risk factor is the number of lifetime sexual partners, especially oral sex. Those with six or more lifetime oral-sex partners are 8.5 times more likely to develop oropharyngeal cancer than those who do not practice oral sex."
"The Minnesota Senate cast its first vote to legalize recreational marijuana Friday, pushing the proposal closer to becoming law than ever before… Senators passed the DFL-led marijuana bill on a 34-33 vote, with all Democrats voting for it and all Republicans opposed."
How's 6 Sigma and Lean Manufacturing working out for everybody? "Shortages of drugs like Adderall are growing in the United States, and experts see no clear path to resolving them. For patients, that can mean treatment delays, medication switches and other hassles filling a prescription."
"From banks to burger joints, the U.S. economy is showing signs of stress as nervous shoppers watch their spending and anxious lenders keep a tight grip on credit… A report from the Commerce Department Thursday shows the nation's gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of just 1.1% in the first three months of the year, compared to a 2.6% pace in the previous quarter. Growth was weighed down by declining inventories and housing investment."
"Nearly three-quarters, or 73%, of adults ages 27 to 42 are living paycheck to paycheck, LendingClub found." Millenials are now in the age category that typically spends the most of their money, so this isn't necessarily an odd finding. But I do agree that the next generations are seeing more fiscal headwinds.
"More than a half million of the poorest Americans could be left without health insurance under legislation passed by House Republicans that would require people to work in exchange for health care coverage through Medicaid." Cruelty is the point.
"Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned lawmakers Monday that the federal government could run short of money to pay its bills as early as June 1 unless the debt ceiling is raised soon."
"Under a new rule proposed by the Bureau of Prisons, however, most of the money Hoolan sends to her son would not go to him. Instead, the majority of the money sent to prisoners' commissary accounts would first go to pay their restitution debts and outstanding court fines… Opponents of the plan say it shifts responsibility to family members, like Hoolan." And that is a completely boneheaded way to try and solve the problem. And in any sane society it would immediately be shut down. This is a form a debtors prison. You want to really help with this? Okay, so for prison employment inmates are paid pennies an hour for their work. Okay, let's keep that, but the companies that use inmate labor (and places like the State of California that uses them as fire jumpers) have to pay the competitive wages for the time. The difference will go to pay restitution and court costs and fines. Do that and I'll believe you're seriousness about this problem.
"Authorities in southeast Texas are offering a $80,000 reward for any tips that lead to the capture of 38-year-old Francisco Oropesa, who police say shot five people to death in a home early Saturday morning and then fled the scene."
"In Nebraska, where abortion is banned after 20 weeks of pregnancy, an effort to ban abortion at about the sixth week of pregnancy fell one vote short of breaking a filibuster. Cheers erupted outside the legislative chamber as the last vote was cast, with opponents of the bill waving signs and chanting, 'Whose house? Our house!'"
"Now that the year-long war of words between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the Walt Disney Co has landed in the courts, the Republican leader might find his verbal barbs directed at the entertainment giant coming back to bite, legal experts said."
"An Arizona House Democrat and ordained minister recorded on video hiding Bibles at a lounge at the state capitol apologized to her peers for her actions… Stahl Hamilton described her actions as a type of protest regarding the separation of church and state."
"But Republican presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis failed to impress British business chiefs at a high-profile London event Friday, in a tired performance described variously as 'horrendous,' 'low-wattage' and 'like the end of an overseas trip.'"
A more personal Gofund me for a coworker who is watching her child pass before her eyes. Again, I don't share these often, but this is closer to home than most. Same rules as usual, if you can, please help (I know there's often times I can't). And if not, at least send positive vibes and prayers if you're so inclined for both her child, her and her family.
"Walking into Toni Morrison: Sites of Memory, a new exhibition curated from the late author's archives at Princeton University, is an emotional experience for anyone who loves literature. Dozens of pages are on display, most of them waterlogged and brown from burning."
"Negotiations between the Writers Guild of America and film and TV studios and streamers broke down late Monday night, with leaders of the union now saying they will go on strike 'effective 12:01 AM, Tuesday, May 2.'" Oh Jeez.
"People living along the Mississippi River watched warily Sunday as water levels rose in southeast Iowa and northwest Illinois, awaiting spring crests as floodwaters began to slowly recede and reveal damage in areas further north."
"NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft, which has been probing the outer bounds of the solar system for over 45 years, is running out of power. But a new plan aims to keep its interstellar mission alive for at least three more years."
"Even before the reign of the dinosaurs ended in a mass extinction event about 65 million years ago, mammals had already gotten a humble but solid foothold… That's just one of the findings from a close examination of DNA from 240 different mammalian species, an ambitious effort to understand how hairy, milk-producing mammals — including humans — evolved to have such an astonishing array of sizes, shapes, and special abilities."
"Rates of the disease have soared in recent decades, spurred by the complex interaction of genes that make people more likely to store food as fat, a food system that provides easy and cheap access to processed treats explicitly designed to be overconsumed, and social settings that limit access to healthy options and exercise for many people." The new weight loss drugs, how they work.
"HPV is sexually transmitted. For oropharyngeal cancer, the main risk factor is the number of lifetime sexual partners, especially oral sex. Those with six or more lifetime oral-sex partners are 8.5 times more likely to develop oropharyngeal cancer than those who do not practice oral sex."
"The Minnesota Senate cast its first vote to legalize recreational marijuana Friday, pushing the proposal closer to becoming law than ever before… Senators passed the DFL-led marijuana bill on a 34-33 vote, with all Democrats voting for it and all Republicans opposed."
How's 6 Sigma and Lean Manufacturing working out for everybody? "Shortages of drugs like Adderall are growing in the United States, and experts see no clear path to resolving them. For patients, that can mean treatment delays, medication switches and other hassles filling a prescription."
"From banks to burger joints, the U.S. economy is showing signs of stress as nervous shoppers watch their spending and anxious lenders keep a tight grip on credit… A report from the Commerce Department Thursday shows the nation's gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of just 1.1% in the first three months of the year, compared to a 2.6% pace in the previous quarter. Growth was weighed down by declining inventories and housing investment."
"Nearly three-quarters, or 73%, of adults ages 27 to 42 are living paycheck to paycheck, LendingClub found." Millenials are now in the age category that typically spends the most of their money, so this isn't necessarily an odd finding. But I do agree that the next generations are seeing more fiscal headwinds.
"More than a half million of the poorest Americans could be left without health insurance under legislation passed by House Republicans that would require people to work in exchange for health care coverage through Medicaid." Cruelty is the point.
"Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned lawmakers Monday that the federal government could run short of money to pay its bills as early as June 1 unless the debt ceiling is raised soon."
"Under a new rule proposed by the Bureau of Prisons, however, most of the money Hoolan sends to her son would not go to him. Instead, the majority of the money sent to prisoners' commissary accounts would first go to pay their restitution debts and outstanding court fines… Opponents of the plan say it shifts responsibility to family members, like Hoolan." And that is a completely boneheaded way to try and solve the problem. And in any sane society it would immediately be shut down. This is a form a debtors prison. You want to really help with this? Okay, so for prison employment inmates are paid pennies an hour for their work. Okay, let's keep that, but the companies that use inmate labor (and places like the State of California that uses them as fire jumpers) have to pay the competitive wages for the time. The difference will go to pay restitution and court costs and fines. Do that and I'll believe you're seriousness about this problem.
"Authorities in southeast Texas are offering a $80,000 reward for any tips that lead to the capture of 38-year-old Francisco Oropesa, who police say shot five people to death in a home early Saturday morning and then fled the scene."
"In Nebraska, where abortion is banned after 20 weeks of pregnancy, an effort to ban abortion at about the sixth week of pregnancy fell one vote short of breaking a filibuster. Cheers erupted outside the legislative chamber as the last vote was cast, with opponents of the bill waving signs and chanting, 'Whose house? Our house!'"
"Now that the year-long war of words between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the Walt Disney Co has landed in the courts, the Republican leader might find his verbal barbs directed at the entertainment giant coming back to bite, legal experts said."
"An Arizona House Democrat and ordained minister recorded on video hiding Bibles at a lounge at the state capitol apologized to her peers for her actions… Stahl Hamilton described her actions as a type of protest regarding the separation of church and state."
"But Republican presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis failed to impress British business chiefs at a high-profile London event Friday, in a tired performance described variously as 'horrendous,' 'low-wattage' and 'like the end of an overseas trip.'"
Wednesday, April 26, 2023
Linkee-poo April 26 late edition
Harry Belafonte, and so it goes.
The when do I earn out" web app to figure out how many books you'll need to sell to earn out your advance.
"We’re proud to announce that the Scalzi Family Foundation will be this year’s Gen Con Writers’ Symposium Legendary Sponsor!"
"Astronomers have captured the first image showing a powerful jet being launched from the edge of a black hole’s event horizon into intergalactic space."
"Auroras were reported across parts of Europe and Asia. In the U.S., skygazers took in the sights from Wisconsin, Washington state, Colorado, California, New Mexico and even Arizona — mostly a reddish glow instead of the typical green shimmer." And of course it rained here in Ohio.
"Now, two historians are suggesting that while parts of that story are accurate — Watson and Crick did rely on research from Franklin and her lab without their permission — Franklin was more a collaborator than just a victim." And they're basing their case on an unpublished news article (which can be read, an unvetted and fact checked article). If she was a collaborator, why wasn't she named as coauthor or even a researcher on the paper describing the double helix structure of DNA? No, this is an attempt to "clean up" the reputations of Watson and Crick.
"He and his family and dogs could get out in less than an hour, they figure, should more heavy rain or hot weather melt so much mountain snow that gushing water overwhelms the rivers and channel that surround their tight-knit, rural Central California community and give it its name, the Island District."
"Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo personally altered a state-driven study about Covid-19 vaccines last year to suggest that some doses pose a significantly higher health risk for young men than had been established by the broader medical community, according to a newly obtained document."
"The Texas Department of Agriculture is ordering its employees to comply with a new dress code, mandating they abide by it in a "manner consistent with their biological gender." An ACLU attorney says it violates federal law that bans employment discrimination based on one's sexual orientation or gender identity."
"A student denied entry to their Nashville high school prom is getting another chance to take part in the annual tradition thanks to their community… B Hayes, an 18-year-old student at Nashville Christian School, was banned from going to their prom because they wore a suit and not a dress."
"Aimenn Penny, a 20-year-old from Alliance who is a member of a 'white lives matter' group that espouses racist and neo-Nazi views, tried to burn down the Community Church of Chesterland early on March 25, authorities allege in court documents unsealed Monday… According to the criminal complaint, Penny said he tried to burn down the church using Molotov cocktails because he wanted to 'protect the children and stop the drag show event.' He also regretted that it didn’t work, authorities said."
"Zephyr, who represents parts of Missoula, is the first transgender woman elected to the legislature. She's been blocked from speaking since last Tuesday when she told supporters of a bill to ban gender-affirming care for minors that she hoped they would see 'blood on [their] hands,' alluding to studies that show that transgender health care can reduce suicidality."
"The formal punishment decided Wednesday bans Zephyr from attending or speaking during floor sessions. She will only be allowed to vote remotely in the remaining days of the legislative session. It's a lesser punishment than expulsion, which was also on the table, according to House leadership."
"Just like that, the Chevy Bolt is gone in a flash… General Motors CEO Mary Barra announced in an earnings call Tuesday… it was in order to shift operations at its assembly plant in Orion Township, Mich., toward the production of two electric trucks: the GMC Sierra EV and the Chevy Silverado EV." Again, the American manufacturers year passenger car development to foreign companies while the focus on trucks and their higher margins.
"Geraldine Tyler bought her condo in Minneapolis in 1999 and lived there until 2010, when at age 81 she moved to a senior assisted-living center at the urging of her children. After that, she stopped paying taxes on the condo, which she still owned… By 2015, she owed $15,000 in unpaid taxes, interest and fees… The county took possession of the property under state law and sold the condo at auction for $40,000. But like at least a dozen other states, it did not pay Tyler the surplus $25,000 from the sale."
"The contradictions that make up Israel — its economic and military prowess and its deep divisions and rancorous politics — were on full display Tuesday as the country mourned its fallen soldiers and began celebrating its 75th Independence Day."
"A mob in the Haitian capital beat and burned 13 suspected gang members to death with gasoline-soaked tires Monday after pulling the men from police custody at a traffic stop, police and witnesses said… The horrific vigilante violence underlined public anger over the increasingly lawless situation in Port-au-Prince where criminal gangs have taken control over an estimated 60% of the city since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse."
"Oklahoma's Republican majority ultimately blocked many of the proposals teachers walked out for in 2018. But this session, something unexpected is happening: The state's Republicans are now backing record-level education funding measures, including teacher raises and a slew of pro-labor bills." Amazing what happens when :: checks notes :: you can't attract enough people to fill teacher slots.
"Seventeen apartment buildings were evacuated Saturday in a Russian city near the Ukrainian border after an explosive device was found at the site where a bomb accidentally dropped by a Russian warplane caused a powerful blast this week, authorities said."
"Benjamin Franklin said the only certainties in life are death and taxes. Sifting through receipts, deciphering confusing codes, and filling out forms is an annual ritual that's about much more than money. The history of the income tax and the battle over who should pay how much is about what we value as a nation. In this conversation (on the podcast Throughline) with historian Molly Michelmore we'll explore the past, present, and future of the income tax."
"Fox News settled with Dominion Voting Systems for over 780 million dollars on Tuesday. On this week’s On the Media, the impact media moguls, and their families, have had on our culture at large. Plus, the bigger lessons we can learn about money and free speech from the revelations surrounding Clarence Thomas."
"The former head of a Michigan marijuana licensing board pleaded guilty to bribery Tuesday, acknowledging he accepted at least $110,000 in exchange for approving applications for the lucrative business."
"Chief Justice John Roberts has declined an invitation from Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to testify before the panel, calling such testimony by chief justices 'exceedingly rare.'… The Senate panel had planned to hold a hearing on May 2 to examine what Durbin called "common sense proposals" to hold Supreme Court justices to the same ethical standards as the rest of the federal judiciary, and Durbin had invited Roberts 'or his designate' to take part."
"In interviews with dozens of Republicans, the vast majority – even among the staunchest opponents of abortion– rejected the idea of Congress pursuing a national ban and said leadership has no plans on the horizon for it to be a centerpiece of their agenda, despite passing federal restrictions on the procedure in previous years when they were in power." They're just waiting until there is no chance of opposition (when they control both houses and the White House). Part of this is the reality that Biden would not sign it into law and they don't have the votes to overrule that veto. The other, big part, is they recognize that they've gone too far and there is a backlash.
"North Dakota on Monday adopted one of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country as Republican Gov. Doug Burgum signed legislation banning the procedure throughout pregnancy, with slim exceptions up to six weeks' gestation… In those early weeks, abortion would be allowed only in cases of rape, incest or medical emergency, such as ectopic pregnancy."
"The House of Representatives is expected to vote on a bill as early as Wednesday drafted by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy that links lifting the country's debt ceiling with spending cuts and a series of GOP policy changes… 'We'll be ready to move as early as today,' House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told reporters Wednesday. 'We want to get this done as soon as possible. But more importantly, we want President Biden to finally start getting engaged in this process.'" And then they didn't have the votes.
And then they did… "House Republicans narrowly passed sweeping legislation Wednesday that would raise the government’s legal debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion in exchange for steep spending restrictions, a tactical victory for Speaker Kevin McCarthy as he challenges President Joe Biden to negotiate and prevent a catastrophic federal default this summer."
"Fox News on Monday ousted prime-time host Tucker Carlson, whose stew of grievances and political theories about Russia and the Jan. 6 insurrection had grown to define the network in recent years and make him an influential force in GOP politics."
"That's according to political historian Nicole Hemmer… She tells Morning Edition that Carlson's exit may magnify a 'level of distrust' between Fox News and audience members who are skeptical of the network's call of the 2020 presidential election." Same as it was for Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly and the rest. Meanwhile OANN and Newsmax are struggling to gain audience.
"Before ousting Tucker Carlson, Fox News had twice fired wildly popular hosts – and both times the network recovered better than the stars it cut loose." Fox News doesn't need advertisers, they get most of their cash flow from the amount they charge cable providers. The gain viewers because Fox gives those people what they want, someone telling them their hate and fear are justified and they shouldn't be ashamed of their racism.
The when do I earn out" web app to figure out how many books you'll need to sell to earn out your advance.
"We’re proud to announce that the Scalzi Family Foundation will be this year’s Gen Con Writers’ Symposium Legendary Sponsor!"
"Astronomers have captured the first image showing a powerful jet being launched from the edge of a black hole’s event horizon into intergalactic space."
"Auroras were reported across parts of Europe and Asia. In the U.S., skygazers took in the sights from Wisconsin, Washington state, Colorado, California, New Mexico and even Arizona — mostly a reddish glow instead of the typical green shimmer." And of course it rained here in Ohio.
"Now, two historians are suggesting that while parts of that story are accurate — Watson and Crick did rely on research from Franklin and her lab without their permission — Franklin was more a collaborator than just a victim." And they're basing their case on an unpublished news article (which can be read, an unvetted and fact checked article). If she was a collaborator, why wasn't she named as coauthor or even a researcher on the paper describing the double helix structure of DNA? No, this is an attempt to "clean up" the reputations of Watson and Crick.
"He and his family and dogs could get out in less than an hour, they figure, should more heavy rain or hot weather melt so much mountain snow that gushing water overwhelms the rivers and channel that surround their tight-knit, rural Central California community and give it its name, the Island District."
"Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo personally altered a state-driven study about Covid-19 vaccines last year to suggest that some doses pose a significantly higher health risk for young men than had been established by the broader medical community, according to a newly obtained document."
"The Texas Department of Agriculture is ordering its employees to comply with a new dress code, mandating they abide by it in a "manner consistent with their biological gender." An ACLU attorney says it violates federal law that bans employment discrimination based on one's sexual orientation or gender identity."
"A student denied entry to their Nashville high school prom is getting another chance to take part in the annual tradition thanks to their community… B Hayes, an 18-year-old student at Nashville Christian School, was banned from going to their prom because they wore a suit and not a dress."
"Aimenn Penny, a 20-year-old from Alliance who is a member of a 'white lives matter' group that espouses racist and neo-Nazi views, tried to burn down the Community Church of Chesterland early on March 25, authorities allege in court documents unsealed Monday… According to the criminal complaint, Penny said he tried to burn down the church using Molotov cocktails because he wanted to 'protect the children and stop the drag show event.' He also regretted that it didn’t work, authorities said."
"Zephyr, who represents parts of Missoula, is the first transgender woman elected to the legislature. She's been blocked from speaking since last Tuesday when she told supporters of a bill to ban gender-affirming care for minors that she hoped they would see 'blood on [their] hands,' alluding to studies that show that transgender health care can reduce suicidality."
"The formal punishment decided Wednesday bans Zephyr from attending or speaking during floor sessions. She will only be allowed to vote remotely in the remaining days of the legislative session. It's a lesser punishment than expulsion, which was also on the table, according to House leadership."
"Just like that, the Chevy Bolt is gone in a flash… General Motors CEO Mary Barra announced in an earnings call Tuesday… it was in order to shift operations at its assembly plant in Orion Township, Mich., toward the production of two electric trucks: the GMC Sierra EV and the Chevy Silverado EV." Again, the American manufacturers year passenger car development to foreign companies while the focus on trucks and their higher margins.
"Geraldine Tyler bought her condo in Minneapolis in 1999 and lived there until 2010, when at age 81 she moved to a senior assisted-living center at the urging of her children. After that, she stopped paying taxes on the condo, which she still owned… By 2015, she owed $15,000 in unpaid taxes, interest and fees… The county took possession of the property under state law and sold the condo at auction for $40,000. But like at least a dozen other states, it did not pay Tyler the surplus $25,000 from the sale."
"The contradictions that make up Israel — its economic and military prowess and its deep divisions and rancorous politics — were on full display Tuesday as the country mourned its fallen soldiers and began celebrating its 75th Independence Day."
"A mob in the Haitian capital beat and burned 13 suspected gang members to death with gasoline-soaked tires Monday after pulling the men from police custody at a traffic stop, police and witnesses said… The horrific vigilante violence underlined public anger over the increasingly lawless situation in Port-au-Prince where criminal gangs have taken control over an estimated 60% of the city since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse."
"Oklahoma's Republican majority ultimately blocked many of the proposals teachers walked out for in 2018. But this session, something unexpected is happening: The state's Republicans are now backing record-level education funding measures, including teacher raises and a slew of pro-labor bills." Amazing what happens when :: checks notes :: you can't attract enough people to fill teacher slots.
"Seventeen apartment buildings were evacuated Saturday in a Russian city near the Ukrainian border after an explosive device was found at the site where a bomb accidentally dropped by a Russian warplane caused a powerful blast this week, authorities said."
"Benjamin Franklin said the only certainties in life are death and taxes. Sifting through receipts, deciphering confusing codes, and filling out forms is an annual ritual that's about much more than money. The history of the income tax and the battle over who should pay how much is about what we value as a nation. In this conversation (on the podcast Throughline) with historian Molly Michelmore we'll explore the past, present, and future of the income tax."
"Fox News settled with Dominion Voting Systems for over 780 million dollars on Tuesday. On this week’s On the Media, the impact media moguls, and their families, have had on our culture at large. Plus, the bigger lessons we can learn about money and free speech from the revelations surrounding Clarence Thomas."
"The former head of a Michigan marijuana licensing board pleaded guilty to bribery Tuesday, acknowledging he accepted at least $110,000 in exchange for approving applications for the lucrative business."
"Chief Justice John Roberts has declined an invitation from Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to testify before the panel, calling such testimony by chief justices 'exceedingly rare.'… The Senate panel had planned to hold a hearing on May 2 to examine what Durbin called "common sense proposals" to hold Supreme Court justices to the same ethical standards as the rest of the federal judiciary, and Durbin had invited Roberts 'or his designate' to take part."
"In interviews with dozens of Republicans, the vast majority – even among the staunchest opponents of abortion– rejected the idea of Congress pursuing a national ban and said leadership has no plans on the horizon for it to be a centerpiece of their agenda, despite passing federal restrictions on the procedure in previous years when they were in power." They're just waiting until there is no chance of opposition (when they control both houses and the White House). Part of this is the reality that Biden would not sign it into law and they don't have the votes to overrule that veto. The other, big part, is they recognize that they've gone too far and there is a backlash.
"North Dakota on Monday adopted one of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country as Republican Gov. Doug Burgum signed legislation banning the procedure throughout pregnancy, with slim exceptions up to six weeks' gestation… In those early weeks, abortion would be allowed only in cases of rape, incest or medical emergency, such as ectopic pregnancy."
"The House of Representatives is expected to vote on a bill as early as Wednesday drafted by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy that links lifting the country's debt ceiling with spending cuts and a series of GOP policy changes… 'We'll be ready to move as early as today,' House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told reporters Wednesday. 'We want to get this done as soon as possible. But more importantly, we want President Biden to finally start getting engaged in this process.'" And then they didn't have the votes.
And then they did… "House Republicans narrowly passed sweeping legislation Wednesday that would raise the government’s legal debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion in exchange for steep spending restrictions, a tactical victory for Speaker Kevin McCarthy as he challenges President Joe Biden to negotiate and prevent a catastrophic federal default this summer."
"Fox News on Monday ousted prime-time host Tucker Carlson, whose stew of grievances and political theories about Russia and the Jan. 6 insurrection had grown to define the network in recent years and make him an influential force in GOP politics."
"That's according to political historian Nicole Hemmer… She tells Morning Edition that Carlson's exit may magnify a 'level of distrust' between Fox News and audience members who are skeptical of the network's call of the 2020 presidential election." Same as it was for Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly and the rest. Meanwhile OANN and Newsmax are struggling to gain audience.
"Before ousting Tucker Carlson, Fox News had twice fired wildly popular hosts – and both times the network recovered better than the stars it cut loose." Fox News doesn't need advertisers, they get most of their cash flow from the amount they charge cable providers. The gain viewers because Fox gives those people what they want, someone telling them their hate and fear are justified and they shouldn't be ashamed of their racism.
Saturday, April 22, 2023
Linkee-poo Saturday April 22 early morning
"But experts fear the darker side of the easily accessible tools could worsen something that primarily harms women: nonconsensual deepfake pornography." Having been tinkering with ai art generators and looking at what others are doing, too late. This horse has already left the barn. Hell, there's practically a whole ground swell industry now, which can be difficult to avoid. After nearly 15 years on twitter, in the past 2 months I have reported >50x the number of accounts for violation of ToS (of which I have not heard anything about those reports) that the entire previous 14.5 years. I have blocked an uncountable number of accounts which were doing nothing else.
"Hollywood writers have voted to authorize a strike if their talks with The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers don't end in a new three-year contract. The current contract expires just before midnight on May 1. The Writers Guild of America has been at the table with the studios, negotiating over how much they're compensated for working on films, TV shows and streaming series."
"SpaceX's Starship rocket cleared its launch platform but failed to separate from its booster, exploding four minutes after liftoff during an inaugural test flight on Thursday." Not only did it go boom, but because the launch was rushed they destroyed the launch platform.
"Under a cloudless sky, about 20,000 eclipse chasers watched a rare solar eclipse plunge part of Australia's northwest coast into brief midday darkness Thursday with an accompanying temperature drop."
"The Ohio River forms in Pittsburgh's backyard, where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers converge to create a waterway… The river is much healthier than it was 50 years ago… But the river… is still under threat, according to a report released this week from the conservation advocacy organization American Rivers."
"Around 2015, North Atlantic right whales began disappearing from the waters where they spend summers feeding." And the melting glaciers on Greenland may be a cause. And all the episodes/stories in this series on "Beyond the Poles: The far-reaching dangers of melting ice."
"Spring is here and temperatures are heating up. That means cases of tick-borne illnesses, particularly Lyme disease, are on the rise in the U.S. And the problem is only being exacerbated by prolonged warmer weather across a wider swath of the country, driven by climate change." Ta-da!
"A new report released by UNICEF finds that 67 million children across the world missed out on either some or all routine vaccinations between 2019 and 2021, and 48 million children didn't receive a single dose during this time period."
"Finally, she was getting a treatment that was helping at Rogers Behavioral Health in Oconomowoc, Wis., a small town 35 minutes west of Milwaukee… But a little over two months into her stay, just as Rose was starting to feel better, the family's health insurance – Medical Mutual of Ohio – declined to cover any further treatment."
"After spending almost a year-and-a-half in near-total isolation some 230 feet underground, Beatriz Flamini emerged from a cave in southern Spain and asked: Who's buying the beer?… The climber and mountaineer had entered the cave in Granada on Nov. 21, 2021, determined to spend 500 days alone — monitored from afar by a group of scientists — to explore the effects of isolation on the human body and mind."
"Musk told Fox News host Tucker Carlson in a segment aired Monday night that he plans to create an alternative to the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT that he is calling 'TruthGPT,' which will be a 'maximum truth-seeking AI that tries to understand the nature of the universe.'… The idea, Musk said, is that an AI that wants to understand humanity is less likely to destroy it." I just can't stop laughing at this asshole. And I guess "Truth…(whatever)" is the conservative marketing tag like "i(whatever)" was Apple's schtick.
Why we can't have nice things… "Her grades suffered as a result. In her junior year, she turned to her pre-med adviser for help. 'She was like, well, you know, you're just not going to get into med school with that GPA, so I think you should consider something else. And she didn't really present me with many resources or options other than just giving up,' Spigner says." Been there, have the t-shirt. But being male and white, it was still easier for me.
"The case before the court involves a mail carrier in rural Pennsylvania. The man was told that as part of his job he’d need to start delivering Amazon packages on Sundays. He declined, saying his Sundays are for church and family. U.S. Postal Service officials initially tried to get substitutes for the man’s shifts, but they couldn’t always accommodate him. When he didn’t show, that meant more work for others. Ultimately, the man quit and sued for religious discrimination."
"Oftentimes, the solution isn't as simple as just trying to spend less or learning how to budget. "I've talked to a lot of people who are struggling with debt right now…" So if you find yourself in debt, you're not alone. Watch the video above or on YouTube for tips on how to approach paying off your debt and how to navigate emotional conversations about money."
"Global ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s said Tuesday it supports a plan to unionize by the workers at a retail shop in the same city where the brand, known as much for its social activism as its products, was founded."
"The CEO of an office furniture giant landed at the center of a social media storm this week after she told her staff to focus on being better employees instead of asking whether they'd lose their bonuses." Of course, her bonus had already been paid. If you work for any medium to large company, this is a familiar story this year. Our "big news" is that instead of getting our "performance based raises" in July, we're getting them in June (we were supposed to get them in January, after they were moved from last year's August date, if you're counting that's a year and a half).
"President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Tuesday that contains more than 50 directives to increase access to child care and improve the work life of caregivers." One of the first steps to solving the economic crisis.
"The controversy has residents of this town of 10,000 grappling with big questions about creativity and liberty as it tries to preserve its rural character. Like other White Mountain communities that draw skiers, nature lovers and shoppers, Conway is under development pressure, making the sign dispute fraught with worries that any concession to commerce could change what they hold dear." Small town caught up in discussion of what is art and poorly written ordinances. Here's my take, no, this is not art, this is a commercial sign (this does not denigrate what the students did, it's a great piece). The "art" mirrors the corporate identity of the shop (coloration, the "rays" of the sun, etc) and so becomes an extension of the shop's front sign. However most zoning ordinances have ways to allow exceptions, there should be one made here, some minor "penalty" should be made for not getting permission in advance. Also, the town very much has the right to limit "art" in the public space (it has no right to limit it in private or for installations that are not "permanent").
"Facebook users can now apply for their share of a $725 million privacy lawsuit settlement if they had accounts from May 2007 to December 2022… Facebook's parent company, Meta, is doling out the payments to settle a lawsuit alleging it allowed Cambridge Analytica, a former British political consulting firm used by the 2016 Donald Trump presidential campaign, to access about 87 million users' personal information."
"Southwest Airlines planes were briefly grounded nationwide Tuesday for what the airline called an intermittent technology issue, leading to more than 2,200 delayed flights just four months after the carrier suffered a much bigger meltdown over the Christmas travel rush."
"Zients said Republicans were being irresponsible by 'tying two things together that should never be tied together' — the debt limit and budget discussions… 'I think the off-ramp is very clear. It's the same off-ramp that was taken with no drama three times in the previous administration when President Trump was in the White House,' Zients said." Here we go again, because conservatives haven't learned the lesson from the last 3 times they did this.
"A French publisher has been arrested on terror charges in London after being questioned by UK police about participating in anti-government protests in France… Ernest Moret, 28, a foreign rights manager for Éditions la Fabrique, was approached by two plainclothes officers at St Pancras station on Monday evening after arriving by train from Paris to attend the London book fair."
"Senators passed changes to Iowa’s child labor laws early Tuesday to allow 14- to 17-year-olds to work longer hours and in restricted fields with parental permission… The bill also allows minors to work until 9 p.m. during the school year and until 11 p.m. during the summer — both two hours later than current law — and lets teens work up to six hours a day, up from the four hours currently allowed." The future conservatives want.
"Russia’s military acknowledged that a bomb accidentally dropped by one of its warplanes caused a powerful blast in a Russian city not far from Ukraine’s border, injuring two and scaring local residents." Oopsie.
"The Supreme Court on Friday preserved women’s access to a drug used in the most common method of abortion, rejecting lower-court restrictions while a lawsuit continues."
"Reports that (Tennessee) House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, bought a home in Nashville have sparked accusations that one of Tennessee's most powerful leaders no longer lives in the district he represents and has inappropriately received thousands of dollars in state-funded expense payments."
"A state lawmaker in Tennessee resigned suddenly for an ethics violation that became public Thursday, two weeks after he joined fellow Republicans in expelling two Black Democratic legislators for protesting in support of gun control on the state House floor."
"Oklahoma's governor is seeking the resignation of four county officials after a newspaper's audio recording apparently captured some of them complaining about two of the paper's journalists and knowing hit men and where two holes are dug."
"An Oklahoma sheriff’s office says a newspaper’s audio recording in which the sheriff and other county officials are reportedly heard discussing killing two journalists and hanging Black people was illegal and predicted felony charges will be filed." Wrong tactic to take, but then bullies don't know how to back down.
"An Oklahoma county commissioner resigned on Wednesday after being caught on a recording allegedly making violent and racist remarks and jokes with members of the McCurtain County Sheriff's Office… McCurtain County Commissioner Mark Jennings submitted a curt resignation letter written on lined notebook paper at about 8:30 a.m. local time."
"An 84-year-old white man in Kansas City, Missouri, was charged Monday with first-degree assault for shooting a Black teen who mistakenly went to the man’s home to pick up his younger brothers." That only took way too fucking long to charge him.
But this guy was arrested right away… "A 20-year-old woman was shot and killed by a homeowner in upstate New York on Saturday after the car she was in accidentally went to the wrong address, local authorities said on Monday." Guess what the difference was (other than the local)?
"A man who drove his car into counterprotesters at a 2017 white nationalist rally in Virginia was convicted Friday of first-degree murder, a verdict that local civil rights activists hope will help heal a community still scarred by the violence and the racial tensions it inflamed nationwide."
"An arbitration panel has ordered MyPillow chief executive Mike Lindell to pay $5 million to a software engineer for breach of contract in a dispute over data that Lindell claims proves that China interfered in the U.S. 2020 elections and tipped the outcome to Joe Biden."
"Fox News agreed Tuesday to pay Dominion Voting Systems nearly $800 million to avert a trial in the voting machine company’s lawsuit that would have exposed how the network promoted lies about the 2020 presidential election."
"At 9 a.m. in a federal building downtown, just a few blocks from the courthouse where Donald Trump was arraigned, the field-tripping House Judiciary Committee began a hearing focusing on the man who supposedly has become one of the greatest menaces facing America: Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney… As Jim Jordan, the jacketless committee chairman, declared in an apocalyptic opening statement: 'For the district attorney, justice isn't blind, it's about looking for opportunities to advance … a radical political agenda. Rather than enforcing the law, the D.A. is using his office to do the bidding of left-wing campaign funders.'"
"Hollywood writers have voted to authorize a strike if their talks with The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers don't end in a new three-year contract. The current contract expires just before midnight on May 1. The Writers Guild of America has been at the table with the studios, negotiating over how much they're compensated for working on films, TV shows and streaming series."
"SpaceX's Starship rocket cleared its launch platform but failed to separate from its booster, exploding four minutes after liftoff during an inaugural test flight on Thursday." Not only did it go boom, but because the launch was rushed they destroyed the launch platform.
"Under a cloudless sky, about 20,000 eclipse chasers watched a rare solar eclipse plunge part of Australia's northwest coast into brief midday darkness Thursday with an accompanying temperature drop."
"The Ohio River forms in Pittsburgh's backyard, where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers converge to create a waterway… The river is much healthier than it was 50 years ago… But the river… is still under threat, according to a report released this week from the conservation advocacy organization American Rivers."
"Around 2015, North Atlantic right whales began disappearing from the waters where they spend summers feeding." And the melting glaciers on Greenland may be a cause. And all the episodes/stories in this series on "Beyond the Poles: The far-reaching dangers of melting ice."
"Spring is here and temperatures are heating up. That means cases of tick-borne illnesses, particularly Lyme disease, are on the rise in the U.S. And the problem is only being exacerbated by prolonged warmer weather across a wider swath of the country, driven by climate change." Ta-da!
"A new report released by UNICEF finds that 67 million children across the world missed out on either some or all routine vaccinations between 2019 and 2021, and 48 million children didn't receive a single dose during this time period."
"Finally, she was getting a treatment that was helping at Rogers Behavioral Health in Oconomowoc, Wis., a small town 35 minutes west of Milwaukee… But a little over two months into her stay, just as Rose was starting to feel better, the family's health insurance – Medical Mutual of Ohio – declined to cover any further treatment."
"After spending almost a year-and-a-half in near-total isolation some 230 feet underground, Beatriz Flamini emerged from a cave in southern Spain and asked: Who's buying the beer?… The climber and mountaineer had entered the cave in Granada on Nov. 21, 2021, determined to spend 500 days alone — monitored from afar by a group of scientists — to explore the effects of isolation on the human body and mind."
"Musk told Fox News host Tucker Carlson in a segment aired Monday night that he plans to create an alternative to the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT that he is calling 'TruthGPT,' which will be a 'maximum truth-seeking AI that tries to understand the nature of the universe.'… The idea, Musk said, is that an AI that wants to understand humanity is less likely to destroy it." I just can't stop laughing at this asshole. And I guess "Truth…(whatever)" is the conservative marketing tag like "i(whatever)" was Apple's schtick.
Why we can't have nice things… "Her grades suffered as a result. In her junior year, she turned to her pre-med adviser for help. 'She was like, well, you know, you're just not going to get into med school with that GPA, so I think you should consider something else. And she didn't really present me with many resources or options other than just giving up,' Spigner says." Been there, have the t-shirt. But being male and white, it was still easier for me.
"The case before the court involves a mail carrier in rural Pennsylvania. The man was told that as part of his job he’d need to start delivering Amazon packages on Sundays. He declined, saying his Sundays are for church and family. U.S. Postal Service officials initially tried to get substitutes for the man’s shifts, but they couldn’t always accommodate him. When he didn’t show, that meant more work for others. Ultimately, the man quit and sued for religious discrimination."
"Oftentimes, the solution isn't as simple as just trying to spend less or learning how to budget. "I've talked to a lot of people who are struggling with debt right now…" So if you find yourself in debt, you're not alone. Watch the video above or on YouTube for tips on how to approach paying off your debt and how to navigate emotional conversations about money."
"Global ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s said Tuesday it supports a plan to unionize by the workers at a retail shop in the same city where the brand, known as much for its social activism as its products, was founded."
"The CEO of an office furniture giant landed at the center of a social media storm this week after she told her staff to focus on being better employees instead of asking whether they'd lose their bonuses." Of course, her bonus had already been paid. If you work for any medium to large company, this is a familiar story this year. Our "big news" is that instead of getting our "performance based raises" in July, we're getting them in June (we were supposed to get them in January, after they were moved from last year's August date, if you're counting that's a year and a half).
"President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Tuesday that contains more than 50 directives to increase access to child care and improve the work life of caregivers." One of the first steps to solving the economic crisis.
"The controversy has residents of this town of 10,000 grappling with big questions about creativity and liberty as it tries to preserve its rural character. Like other White Mountain communities that draw skiers, nature lovers and shoppers, Conway is under development pressure, making the sign dispute fraught with worries that any concession to commerce could change what they hold dear." Small town caught up in discussion of what is art and poorly written ordinances. Here's my take, no, this is not art, this is a commercial sign (this does not denigrate what the students did, it's a great piece). The "art" mirrors the corporate identity of the shop (coloration, the "rays" of the sun, etc) and so becomes an extension of the shop's front sign. However most zoning ordinances have ways to allow exceptions, there should be one made here, some minor "penalty" should be made for not getting permission in advance. Also, the town very much has the right to limit "art" in the public space (it has no right to limit it in private or for installations that are not "permanent").
"Facebook users can now apply for their share of a $725 million privacy lawsuit settlement if they had accounts from May 2007 to December 2022… Facebook's parent company, Meta, is doling out the payments to settle a lawsuit alleging it allowed Cambridge Analytica, a former British political consulting firm used by the 2016 Donald Trump presidential campaign, to access about 87 million users' personal information."
"Southwest Airlines planes were briefly grounded nationwide Tuesday for what the airline called an intermittent technology issue, leading to more than 2,200 delayed flights just four months after the carrier suffered a much bigger meltdown over the Christmas travel rush."
"Zients said Republicans were being irresponsible by 'tying two things together that should never be tied together' — the debt limit and budget discussions… 'I think the off-ramp is very clear. It's the same off-ramp that was taken with no drama three times in the previous administration when President Trump was in the White House,' Zients said." Here we go again, because conservatives haven't learned the lesson from the last 3 times they did this.
"A French publisher has been arrested on terror charges in London after being questioned by UK police about participating in anti-government protests in France… Ernest Moret, 28, a foreign rights manager for Éditions la Fabrique, was approached by two plainclothes officers at St Pancras station on Monday evening after arriving by train from Paris to attend the London book fair."
"Senators passed changes to Iowa’s child labor laws early Tuesday to allow 14- to 17-year-olds to work longer hours and in restricted fields with parental permission… The bill also allows minors to work until 9 p.m. during the school year and until 11 p.m. during the summer — both two hours later than current law — and lets teens work up to six hours a day, up from the four hours currently allowed." The future conservatives want.
"Russia’s military acknowledged that a bomb accidentally dropped by one of its warplanes caused a powerful blast in a Russian city not far from Ukraine’s border, injuring two and scaring local residents." Oopsie.
"The Supreme Court on Friday preserved women’s access to a drug used in the most common method of abortion, rejecting lower-court restrictions while a lawsuit continues."
"Reports that (Tennessee) House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, bought a home in Nashville have sparked accusations that one of Tennessee's most powerful leaders no longer lives in the district he represents and has inappropriately received thousands of dollars in state-funded expense payments."
"A state lawmaker in Tennessee resigned suddenly for an ethics violation that became public Thursday, two weeks after he joined fellow Republicans in expelling two Black Democratic legislators for protesting in support of gun control on the state House floor."
"Oklahoma's governor is seeking the resignation of four county officials after a newspaper's audio recording apparently captured some of them complaining about two of the paper's journalists and knowing hit men and where two holes are dug."
"An Oklahoma sheriff’s office says a newspaper’s audio recording in which the sheriff and other county officials are reportedly heard discussing killing two journalists and hanging Black people was illegal and predicted felony charges will be filed." Wrong tactic to take, but then bullies don't know how to back down.
"An Oklahoma county commissioner resigned on Wednesday after being caught on a recording allegedly making violent and racist remarks and jokes with members of the McCurtain County Sheriff's Office… McCurtain County Commissioner Mark Jennings submitted a curt resignation letter written on lined notebook paper at about 8:30 a.m. local time."
"An 84-year-old white man in Kansas City, Missouri, was charged Monday with first-degree assault for shooting a Black teen who mistakenly went to the man’s home to pick up his younger brothers." That only took way too fucking long to charge him.
But this guy was arrested right away… "A 20-year-old woman was shot and killed by a homeowner in upstate New York on Saturday after the car she was in accidentally went to the wrong address, local authorities said on Monday." Guess what the difference was (other than the local)?
"A man who drove his car into counterprotesters at a 2017 white nationalist rally in Virginia was convicted Friday of first-degree murder, a verdict that local civil rights activists hope will help heal a community still scarred by the violence and the racial tensions it inflamed nationwide."
"An arbitration panel has ordered MyPillow chief executive Mike Lindell to pay $5 million to a software engineer for breach of contract in a dispute over data that Lindell claims proves that China interfered in the U.S. 2020 elections and tipped the outcome to Joe Biden."
"Fox News agreed Tuesday to pay Dominion Voting Systems nearly $800 million to avert a trial in the voting machine company’s lawsuit that would have exposed how the network promoted lies about the 2020 presidential election."
"At 9 a.m. in a federal building downtown, just a few blocks from the courthouse where Donald Trump was arraigned, the field-tripping House Judiciary Committee began a hearing focusing on the man who supposedly has become one of the greatest menaces facing America: Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney… As Jim Jordan, the jacketless committee chairman, declared in an apocalyptic opening statement: 'For the district attorney, justice isn't blind, it's about looking for opportunities to advance … a radical political agenda. Rather than enforcing the law, the D.A. is using his office to do the bidding of left-wing campaign funders.'"
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
Linkee-poo Wednesday April 19th early morning
"The publisher's only suggested edit was to the author's note: Scholastic had crossed out a key section that references 'the deeply American tradition of racism' to describe the tale's real-life historical backdrop — a time when the U.S. government forcibly relocated more than 120,000 Japanese Americans to dozens of internment sites from 1942-1945."
"In the remote Arctic almost 30 years ago, a group of Inuit middle school students and their teacher invented the Western Hemisphere’s first new number system in more than a century. The 'Kaktovik numerals,' named after the Alaskan village where they were created, looked utterly different from decimal system numerals and functioned differently, too. But they were uniquely suited for quick, visual arithmetic using the traditional Inuit oral counting system, and they swiftly spread throughout the region. Now, with support from Silicon Valley, they will soon be available on smartphones and computers—creating a bridge for the Kaktovik numerals to cross into the digital realm." Something new has been added. (Grokked from Dan)
"A European spacecraft rocketed away Friday on a decade long quest to explore Jupiter and three of its icy moons that could hold buried oceans."
"Late Friday night into early Saturday morning, many Alaskans witnessed a strange spiral moving through the sky over the state. Some said it looked like an alien spaceship or a portal to an alternate universe… In reality, it was likely — as many on Social Media pointed out — rocket exhaust."
"Finland’s much-delayed and costly new nuclear reactor, Europe’s most powerful by production capacity, has completed a test phase lasting over a year and started regular output, boosting the Nordic country’s electricity self-sufficiency significantly."
"The tiny rain-fed wildflowers, no bigger than a few inches, are so vivid and abundant across California this year that their hues of purple and yellow look like paint swatches from space."
"But this week, research published in Nature Microbiology might finally provide a clue that could satisfy Rubin and others… The paper suggests that UTIs can actually change the DNA in the cells lining the urinary tract. Those cells can then change size and start an immune response that actually makes them more susceptible to repeated infections."
"The U.S. has named a veterinary tranquilizer as an 'emerging threat' when it’s mixed with the powerful opioid fentanyl, clearing the way for more efforts to stop the spread of xylazine."
"A study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease Reports reveals that infection with SARS-CoV-2 significantly impacts cognitive function in patients with preexisting dementia, causing rapidly progressive dementia. Researchers investigated 14 patients with various types of dementia and found that following COVID-19 infection, the differences between dementia subtypes became blurred, and cognitive deterioration progressed rapidly." Note that 14 people is an incredibly small sample.
"Today, about 2,000 American adolescents annually get bariatric surgery — the term includes several kinds of procedures done to the digestive track to limit the amount of calories a person can take in. And the American Academy of Pediatrics recently endorsed advanced treatment for severe obesity in kids — including surgery or medication for kids as young as 13." Just as an fyi, bariatric surgery, especially by itself, does not come without risks, and is not always successful.
"Despite a pair of historical failures last month that put the nation’s banking industry into crisis mode, the nation’s biggest banks posted strong profits last quarter, helped by higher interest rates and a U.S. economy that keeps growing and adding jobs even as the Federal Reserve attempts to curb inflation."
"The result of the one-two punch of higher prices and interest rates is that it’s taking Americans much longer to pay off their car loans — which include crossovers, SUVs and pickup trucks — and more buyers are being pushed out of the car market altogether."
"Global and Chinese automakers plan to unveil more than a dozen new electric SUVs, sedans and muscle cars this week at the Shanghai auto show, their first full-scale sales event in four years in a market that has become a workshop for developing electrics, self-driving cars and other technology."
"The federal tax credits for electric vehicles, which have been a cause of confusion for automakers and car shoppers alike for months, are about to go through another big change… Starting Tuesday, fewer vehicles will qualify for the current $7,500 tax credit. Some will get a $3,750 credit instead, and some cars will no longer get any credit at all, thanks to battery sourcing requirements that are kicking in."
How goes Brexit? "Labour analysis of Environment Agency data, ranked by constituency by website Top of the Poops, shows that in 2022 raw sewage was discharged into cabinet ministers’ constituencies for 180,759 hours. This equates to an average of 64 sewage dumps a day, or a new sewage dump taking place every 22 minutes."
"The Biden administration is closing out a three-week push to highlight the benefits of infrastructure investments in local communities by awarding nearly $300 million to help repair or replace more than a dozen bridges across the country."v "Authorities in northwestern New Mexico on Friday released body camera footage of police officers opening fire and killing a homeowner after they showed up at the wrong address in response to domestic violence call… The video released by the Farmington Police Department — just over a week after the April 5 nighttime shooting — showed officers arriving at the home. They walked up to the front door, passing the address that was posted on the home and illuminated by an exterior light, knocked on the door and announced themselves."v "Webster’s case illustrates chronic bureaucracy in the prisons system and the difficulties in getting anyone off death row. There’s sometimes additional reluctance to act in death row cases given the nature of inmates’ crimes."v "Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Friday placed a hold on a lower court ruling that restricts access to the abortion drug mifepristone until Wednesday night. Alito also instructed that any responses be filed by April 18 at noon."
"The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to block a settlement in a long-running suit involving the adjudication of applications for the cancellation of student loan debts at 151 for-profit colleges."
"Teixeira is accused of leaking classified government documents and sharing them on social media platforms. Some of the documents include information about the war in Ukraine and were revealed online last week. The Department of Justice launched an investigation into the matter, which Attorney General Merrick Garland has said is ongoing."
"Former President Donald Trump was expected to visit the offices of New York’s attorney general Thursday for his second deposition in a legal battle over his company’s business practices… The lawsuit is unrelated to the felony criminal charges filed against Trump by the Manhattan district attorney, which led last week to his historic arraignment, the first for a former president."
I'm not sure who is running the opposition campaign against Justice Thomas, but damn is it successful. So far, most of what has been "rumored" has been proven, and if he weren't on SCOTUS, he most likely would have been gone by now.
"In the remote Arctic almost 30 years ago, a group of Inuit middle school students and their teacher invented the Western Hemisphere’s first new number system in more than a century. The 'Kaktovik numerals,' named after the Alaskan village where they were created, looked utterly different from decimal system numerals and functioned differently, too. But they were uniquely suited for quick, visual arithmetic using the traditional Inuit oral counting system, and they swiftly spread throughout the region. Now, with support from Silicon Valley, they will soon be available on smartphones and computers—creating a bridge for the Kaktovik numerals to cross into the digital realm." Something new has been added. (Grokked from Dan)
"A European spacecraft rocketed away Friday on a decade long quest to explore Jupiter and three of its icy moons that could hold buried oceans."
"Late Friday night into early Saturday morning, many Alaskans witnessed a strange spiral moving through the sky over the state. Some said it looked like an alien spaceship or a portal to an alternate universe… In reality, it was likely — as many on Social Media pointed out — rocket exhaust."
"Finland’s much-delayed and costly new nuclear reactor, Europe’s most powerful by production capacity, has completed a test phase lasting over a year and started regular output, boosting the Nordic country’s electricity self-sufficiency significantly."
"The tiny rain-fed wildflowers, no bigger than a few inches, are so vivid and abundant across California this year that their hues of purple and yellow look like paint swatches from space."
"But this week, research published in Nature Microbiology might finally provide a clue that could satisfy Rubin and others… The paper suggests that UTIs can actually change the DNA in the cells lining the urinary tract. Those cells can then change size and start an immune response that actually makes them more susceptible to repeated infections."
"The U.S. has named a veterinary tranquilizer as an 'emerging threat' when it’s mixed with the powerful opioid fentanyl, clearing the way for more efforts to stop the spread of xylazine."
"A study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease Reports reveals that infection with SARS-CoV-2 significantly impacts cognitive function in patients with preexisting dementia, causing rapidly progressive dementia. Researchers investigated 14 patients with various types of dementia and found that following COVID-19 infection, the differences between dementia subtypes became blurred, and cognitive deterioration progressed rapidly." Note that 14 people is an incredibly small sample.
"Today, about 2,000 American adolescents annually get bariatric surgery — the term includes several kinds of procedures done to the digestive track to limit the amount of calories a person can take in. And the American Academy of Pediatrics recently endorsed advanced treatment for severe obesity in kids — including surgery or medication for kids as young as 13." Just as an fyi, bariatric surgery, especially by itself, does not come without risks, and is not always successful.
"Despite a pair of historical failures last month that put the nation’s banking industry into crisis mode, the nation’s biggest banks posted strong profits last quarter, helped by higher interest rates and a U.S. economy that keeps growing and adding jobs even as the Federal Reserve attempts to curb inflation."
"The result of the one-two punch of higher prices and interest rates is that it’s taking Americans much longer to pay off their car loans — which include crossovers, SUVs and pickup trucks — and more buyers are being pushed out of the car market altogether."
"Global and Chinese automakers plan to unveil more than a dozen new electric SUVs, sedans and muscle cars this week at the Shanghai auto show, their first full-scale sales event in four years in a market that has become a workshop for developing electrics, self-driving cars and other technology."
"The federal tax credits for electric vehicles, which have been a cause of confusion for automakers and car shoppers alike for months, are about to go through another big change… Starting Tuesday, fewer vehicles will qualify for the current $7,500 tax credit. Some will get a $3,750 credit instead, and some cars will no longer get any credit at all, thanks to battery sourcing requirements that are kicking in."
How goes Brexit? "Labour analysis of Environment Agency data, ranked by constituency by website Top of the Poops, shows that in 2022 raw sewage was discharged into cabinet ministers’ constituencies for 180,759 hours. This equates to an average of 64 sewage dumps a day, or a new sewage dump taking place every 22 minutes."
"The Biden administration is closing out a three-week push to highlight the benefits of infrastructure investments in local communities by awarding nearly $300 million to help repair or replace more than a dozen bridges across the country."v "Authorities in northwestern New Mexico on Friday released body camera footage of police officers opening fire and killing a homeowner after they showed up at the wrong address in response to domestic violence call… The video released by the Farmington Police Department — just over a week after the April 5 nighttime shooting — showed officers arriving at the home. They walked up to the front door, passing the address that was posted on the home and illuminated by an exterior light, knocked on the door and announced themselves."v "Webster’s case illustrates chronic bureaucracy in the prisons system and the difficulties in getting anyone off death row. There’s sometimes additional reluctance to act in death row cases given the nature of inmates’ crimes."v "Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Friday placed a hold on a lower court ruling that restricts access to the abortion drug mifepristone until Wednesday night. Alito also instructed that any responses be filed by April 18 at noon."
"The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to block a settlement in a long-running suit involving the adjudication of applications for the cancellation of student loan debts at 151 for-profit colleges."
"Teixeira is accused of leaking classified government documents and sharing them on social media platforms. Some of the documents include information about the war in Ukraine and were revealed online last week. The Department of Justice launched an investigation into the matter, which Attorney General Merrick Garland has said is ongoing."
"Former President Donald Trump was expected to visit the offices of New York’s attorney general Thursday for his second deposition in a legal battle over his company’s business practices… The lawsuit is unrelated to the felony criminal charges filed against Trump by the Manhattan district attorney, which led last week to his historic arraignment, the first for a former president."
I'm not sure who is running the opposition campaign against Justice Thomas, but damn is it successful. So far, most of what has been "rumored" has been proven, and if he weren't on SCOTUS, he most likely would have been gone by now.
Thursday, April 13, 2023
Linkee-poo Thursday, April lucky 13
Al Jaffee, and so it goes.
"NPR said Wednesday it will stop sharing content on Twitter after the social media company labeled NPR “state-affiliated media,” a term also used for Russia- and China-based propaganda outlets… The news outlet’s organizational accounts will no longer post new content on its 52 official Twitter feeds, becoming the first major U.S. news organization to do so since Elon Musk took over Twitter late last year."
"U.S. District Judge Daniel L. Hovland in Bismarck, North Dakota, halted the regulations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers pending the outcome of a lawsuit filed by the 24 states, most of which are led by Republicans. The regulations were finalized in December 2022, repealing a rule implemented during President Donald Trump’s administration but thrown out by federal courts." Who needs clean water anyway?
And who needs clean air anyway? "The EPA says its proposal will reduce ethylene oxide emissions by roughly 80% by targeting 86 medical sterilization facilities across the United States. The companies will also have to test for the antimicrobial chemical in the air and make sure their pollution controls are working properly."
"An evacuation order affecting more than 1,000 people remained in place Wednesday night around a large industrial fire in an Indiana city near the Ohio border where crews worked to douse piles of burning plastics."
"Several hundred people rallied against plans for a large-scale wind energy project in southern Idaho, hoping to convince federal agencies to reject the proposal by Magic Valley Energy… Rancher David Looper… told the crowd he loves living in Idaho because the state has few regulations, but said the lack of rules has also drawn national corporations looking to make a buck." Also, it's so nice to see Idahoans so concerned about (checks notes) "their minorities."
"The Biden administration will propose strict new automobile pollution limits this week that would require at least 54% of new vehicles sold in the U.S. to be electric by 2030 and as many as two of every three by 2032, according to industry and environmental officials briefed on the plan."
"For the last four decades, Medicare has covered hospice services – including grief counseling, spiritual support and pain management – for terminally ill people. The benefit has helped more than 25 million Americans die more on their own terms, often at home, with the support of chaplains, social workers, nurses and others… Research shows hospice can reduce unwanted medical interventions, improve families' satisfaction and, in some cases, save Medicare thousands of dollars." So let's privatize it. Ugh. No, how about instead of throwing up our hands and saying, "you handle it" we actually fix the program, update it for the current needs and concerns, and then fully fund it. Privatizing care has never reduced costs or increased patient satisfaction.
"Downing a spoonful of bubblegum pink amoxicillin is a regular part of being a kid, but a nationwide shortage of the antibiotic is making a particularly bad season of strep throat tougher." I can't remember all the times we've had difficulty finding prescriptions, and now it seems like every other day I overhear a conversation about this in the hospital.
"Now lawmakers in at least a dozen states and the U.S. Congress have pushed legislation to curtail the financial burden that’s pushed many into untenable situations: forgoing needed care for fear of added debt, taking a second mortgage to pay for cancer treatment or slashing grocery budgets to keep up with payments… Some of the bills would create medical debt relief programs or protect personal property from collections, while others would lower interest rates, keep medical debt from tanking credit scores or require greater transparency in the costs of care." I'm sure all this is cheaper than having single-payor.
"This week on Throughline, we explore the origins of federal student loans, the promises the government made, and how an idealistic vision transformed into what some have called a monster."
"Thousands of professors, part-time lecturers and graduate student workers at New Jersey’s flagship university went on strike Monday — the first such job action in the school’s 257-year history."
"The Biden administration is urging U.S. meat processors to make sure children aren’t being illegally hired to perform dangerous jobs at their plants… The call comes after an investigation found more than 100 kids working overnight for a company that cleans slaughterhouses, handling dangerous equipment like skull splitters and razor-sharp bone saws." How about we start putting executives in jail?
"U.S. consumer inflation eased in March, with less expensive gas and food providing some relief to households that have struggled under the weight of surging prices. Yet prices are still rising fast enough to keep the Federal Reserve on track to raise interest rates at least once more, beginning in May."
"Weeks after the collapse of two big banks, small business owners are feeling the pinch… Bank lending has dropped sharply since the failures of Silicon Valley and Signature Banks. That not only hits businesses. It also threatens a further slowdown in economic growth while raising the risk of recession… Credit, after all, is the grease that helps keep the wheels of the economy spinning. When credit gets harder to come by, businesses start to squeak." As a reminder, 2007-2008 started when liquidity dried up and banks stoped lending to each other. So much for our "intrepid and brave" business leaders.
"Turmoil in the banking system after two major banks collapsed led many Federal Reserve officials to envision fewer rate increases this year out of concern that banks will reduce their lending and weaken the economy."
"After acquiring (Twitter), Musk carried out mass layoffs as part of cost-cutting efforts. He said Twitter’s workforce has been slashed to about 1,500 employees from about 8,000 previously, describing it as something that had to be done… Asked if he regretted buying the company, he said it was something that 'needed to be done.'" As someone who has been on twitter, the majority of this pain has been self-inflicted wounds. And given that one of Musk's "goals" was to reduce the bots, the exact opposite has happened, so I'm not sure what he means by "needed to be done." Needed by whom and for what purpose? Before the last month this was idle speculation. Lately it's become more relevent. And the question should be asked, did Musk go on to purchase Twitter as part of a foreign intelligence operation?
"Norway’s government said Thursday that it was expelling 15 Russian diplomats from the country, saying they were suspected of spying while working at the Russian Embassy in Oslo."
"The father of a a Russian girl sent to an orphanage after drawing an antiwar sketch at school has been extradited from Belarus back to Russia, a human rights group reported Wednesday. He faces two years in prison there." You know you're winning when you have to put kids in jail for a drawing.
"U.S. spies caught Russian intelligence officers boasting that they had convinced the oil-rich United Arab Emirates 'to work together against US and UK intelligence agencies,' according to a purported American document posted online as part of a major U.S. intelligence breach."
"Sudan’s military warned Thursday of potential clashes with the country’s powerful paramilitary force, which it said deployed troops in the capital and other cities." You know, the powerful paramilitary force that Sudan's military stood up to attack Darfur and then used to bolster their coup.
"Llano County commissioners in the Texas Hill Country are weighing whether they will shut down their library system instead of complying with a federal judge’s order that they must return 17 banned books to the library shelves… Officials scheduled a special meeting on Thursday during which they will discuss shutting down the three library branches." And people are talking about it like this wasn't the actual plan by conservatives for all these years.
"A federal appeals court preserved access to the abortion pill mifepristone for now but reduced the period of pregnancy when the drug can be used and said it could not be dispensed by mail."
"(Iowa) Attorney General Brenna Bird’s office said it has suspended payment for emergency contraception for sexual assault victims while they are reviewing state policy… 'While not required by Iowa law, the victim compensation fund has previously paid for Plan B and abortions…' Under Iowa law, the state is required to pay for medical examinations for sexual assault victims."
"A Texas man says three women helped his now-ex-wife obtain pills for an abortion last year 'without his knowledge,' and he's suing them for $1 million each… The wrongful death lawsuit, believed to be the first of its kind since the U.S. Supreme Court curtailed abortion rights last summer, highlights concerns about digital privacy and reproductive health. And it comes as a battle over the future of access to medication abortion plays out in the federal court system."
"But a fight between the two is brewing in the Florida Senate. An existing state law, supported and promoted by the Miami-based A Safe Haven, allows parents to surrender newborns to firefighters and hospital workers without giving their names. A new bill, supported by the Indiana-based Safe Haven Baby Boxes, would give fire stations and hospitals the option to install the group’s ventilated and climate-controlled boxes, where parents could drop off their babies without interacting with fire or hospital employees."
"An alternate juror in the trial of a U.S. Army sergeant convicted of murder said Wednesday that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s rush for a pardon is an 'egregious overreach' to wipe aside the jury’s unanimous decision over a 2020 shooting during a Black Lives Matter protest." It wouldn't be political theater if it wasn't overreach.
"A woman believed to be one of the 20 wives of a polygamous sect leader jailed in Arizona faces federal charges for allegedly sending threatening emails to child welfare workers in a bid to get her two daughters released from state foster care."
"A ProPublica report on a railroad cost-cutting approach called Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR) concludes that a strategy that employs longer trains with fewer employees puts profits ahead of safety in the freight rail industry." We all knew this. Didn't we all know this?
"Pearson and Jones are returning to the legislature on an interim basis, but they can both run in a special election to regain the seat until the next general election, in 2024… Pearson and Jones were kicked out of the House on April 6. Jones was reinstated to his seat on Monday."
"Recuperating U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California asked Wednesday to be temporarily replaced on the Judiciary Committee, shortly after two House Democrats called on her to resign after her extended absence from Washington."
"At today's pre-trial hearings in the billion-dollar Fox defamation lawsuit, the Delaware judge overseeing the case declared he would sanction Fox News and launch an investigation into Fox's apparent repeated failures to disclose information, including about the role of Fox founder Rupert Murdoch."
"NPR said Wednesday it will stop sharing content on Twitter after the social media company labeled NPR “state-affiliated media,” a term also used for Russia- and China-based propaganda outlets… The news outlet’s organizational accounts will no longer post new content on its 52 official Twitter feeds, becoming the first major U.S. news organization to do so since Elon Musk took over Twitter late last year."
"U.S. District Judge Daniel L. Hovland in Bismarck, North Dakota, halted the regulations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers pending the outcome of a lawsuit filed by the 24 states, most of which are led by Republicans. The regulations were finalized in December 2022, repealing a rule implemented during President Donald Trump’s administration but thrown out by federal courts." Who needs clean water anyway?
And who needs clean air anyway? "The EPA says its proposal will reduce ethylene oxide emissions by roughly 80% by targeting 86 medical sterilization facilities across the United States. The companies will also have to test for the antimicrobial chemical in the air and make sure their pollution controls are working properly."
"An evacuation order affecting more than 1,000 people remained in place Wednesday night around a large industrial fire in an Indiana city near the Ohio border where crews worked to douse piles of burning plastics."
"Several hundred people rallied against plans for a large-scale wind energy project in southern Idaho, hoping to convince federal agencies to reject the proposal by Magic Valley Energy… Rancher David Looper… told the crowd he loves living in Idaho because the state has few regulations, but said the lack of rules has also drawn national corporations looking to make a buck." Also, it's so nice to see Idahoans so concerned about (checks notes) "their minorities."
"The Biden administration will propose strict new automobile pollution limits this week that would require at least 54% of new vehicles sold in the U.S. to be electric by 2030 and as many as two of every three by 2032, according to industry and environmental officials briefed on the plan."
"For the last four decades, Medicare has covered hospice services – including grief counseling, spiritual support and pain management – for terminally ill people. The benefit has helped more than 25 million Americans die more on their own terms, often at home, with the support of chaplains, social workers, nurses and others… Research shows hospice can reduce unwanted medical interventions, improve families' satisfaction and, in some cases, save Medicare thousands of dollars." So let's privatize it. Ugh. No, how about instead of throwing up our hands and saying, "you handle it" we actually fix the program, update it for the current needs and concerns, and then fully fund it. Privatizing care has never reduced costs or increased patient satisfaction.
"Downing a spoonful of bubblegum pink amoxicillin is a regular part of being a kid, but a nationwide shortage of the antibiotic is making a particularly bad season of strep throat tougher." I can't remember all the times we've had difficulty finding prescriptions, and now it seems like every other day I overhear a conversation about this in the hospital.
"Now lawmakers in at least a dozen states and the U.S. Congress have pushed legislation to curtail the financial burden that’s pushed many into untenable situations: forgoing needed care for fear of added debt, taking a second mortgage to pay for cancer treatment or slashing grocery budgets to keep up with payments… Some of the bills would create medical debt relief programs or protect personal property from collections, while others would lower interest rates, keep medical debt from tanking credit scores or require greater transparency in the costs of care." I'm sure all this is cheaper than having single-payor.
"This week on Throughline, we explore the origins of federal student loans, the promises the government made, and how an idealistic vision transformed into what some have called a monster."
"Thousands of professors, part-time lecturers and graduate student workers at New Jersey’s flagship university went on strike Monday — the first such job action in the school’s 257-year history."
"The Biden administration is urging U.S. meat processors to make sure children aren’t being illegally hired to perform dangerous jobs at their plants… The call comes after an investigation found more than 100 kids working overnight for a company that cleans slaughterhouses, handling dangerous equipment like skull splitters and razor-sharp bone saws." How about we start putting executives in jail?
"U.S. consumer inflation eased in March, with less expensive gas and food providing some relief to households that have struggled under the weight of surging prices. Yet prices are still rising fast enough to keep the Federal Reserve on track to raise interest rates at least once more, beginning in May."
"Weeks after the collapse of two big banks, small business owners are feeling the pinch… Bank lending has dropped sharply since the failures of Silicon Valley and Signature Banks. That not only hits businesses. It also threatens a further slowdown in economic growth while raising the risk of recession… Credit, after all, is the grease that helps keep the wheels of the economy spinning. When credit gets harder to come by, businesses start to squeak." As a reminder, 2007-2008 started when liquidity dried up and banks stoped lending to each other. So much for our "intrepid and brave" business leaders.
"Turmoil in the banking system after two major banks collapsed led many Federal Reserve officials to envision fewer rate increases this year out of concern that banks will reduce their lending and weaken the economy."
"After acquiring (Twitter), Musk carried out mass layoffs as part of cost-cutting efforts. He said Twitter’s workforce has been slashed to about 1,500 employees from about 8,000 previously, describing it as something that had to be done… Asked if he regretted buying the company, he said it was something that 'needed to be done.'" As someone who has been on twitter, the majority of this pain has been self-inflicted wounds. And given that one of Musk's "goals" was to reduce the bots, the exact opposite has happened, so I'm not sure what he means by "needed to be done." Needed by whom and for what purpose? Before the last month this was idle speculation. Lately it's become more relevent. And the question should be asked, did Musk go on to purchase Twitter as part of a foreign intelligence operation?
"Norway’s government said Thursday that it was expelling 15 Russian diplomats from the country, saying they were suspected of spying while working at the Russian Embassy in Oslo."
"The father of a a Russian girl sent to an orphanage after drawing an antiwar sketch at school has been extradited from Belarus back to Russia, a human rights group reported Wednesday. He faces two years in prison there." You know you're winning when you have to put kids in jail for a drawing.
"U.S. spies caught Russian intelligence officers boasting that they had convinced the oil-rich United Arab Emirates 'to work together against US and UK intelligence agencies,' according to a purported American document posted online as part of a major U.S. intelligence breach."
"Sudan’s military warned Thursday of potential clashes with the country’s powerful paramilitary force, which it said deployed troops in the capital and other cities." You know, the powerful paramilitary force that Sudan's military stood up to attack Darfur and then used to bolster their coup.
"Llano County commissioners in the Texas Hill Country are weighing whether they will shut down their library system instead of complying with a federal judge’s order that they must return 17 banned books to the library shelves… Officials scheduled a special meeting on Thursday during which they will discuss shutting down the three library branches." And people are talking about it like this wasn't the actual plan by conservatives for all these years.
"A federal appeals court preserved access to the abortion pill mifepristone for now but reduced the period of pregnancy when the drug can be used and said it could not be dispensed by mail."
"(Iowa) Attorney General Brenna Bird’s office said it has suspended payment for emergency contraception for sexual assault victims while they are reviewing state policy… 'While not required by Iowa law, the victim compensation fund has previously paid for Plan B and abortions…' Under Iowa law, the state is required to pay for medical examinations for sexual assault victims."
"A Texas man says three women helped his now-ex-wife obtain pills for an abortion last year 'without his knowledge,' and he's suing them for $1 million each… The wrongful death lawsuit, believed to be the first of its kind since the U.S. Supreme Court curtailed abortion rights last summer, highlights concerns about digital privacy and reproductive health. And it comes as a battle over the future of access to medication abortion plays out in the federal court system."
"But a fight between the two is brewing in the Florida Senate. An existing state law, supported and promoted by the Miami-based A Safe Haven, allows parents to surrender newborns to firefighters and hospital workers without giving their names. A new bill, supported by the Indiana-based Safe Haven Baby Boxes, would give fire stations and hospitals the option to install the group’s ventilated and climate-controlled boxes, where parents could drop off their babies without interacting with fire or hospital employees."
"An alternate juror in the trial of a U.S. Army sergeant convicted of murder said Wednesday that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s rush for a pardon is an 'egregious overreach' to wipe aside the jury’s unanimous decision over a 2020 shooting during a Black Lives Matter protest." It wouldn't be political theater if it wasn't overreach.
"A woman believed to be one of the 20 wives of a polygamous sect leader jailed in Arizona faces federal charges for allegedly sending threatening emails to child welfare workers in a bid to get her two daughters released from state foster care."
"A ProPublica report on a railroad cost-cutting approach called Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR) concludes that a strategy that employs longer trains with fewer employees puts profits ahead of safety in the freight rail industry." We all knew this. Didn't we all know this?
"Pearson and Jones are returning to the legislature on an interim basis, but they can both run in a special election to regain the seat until the next general election, in 2024… Pearson and Jones were kicked out of the House on April 6. Jones was reinstated to his seat on Monday."
"Recuperating U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California asked Wednesday to be temporarily replaced on the Judiciary Committee, shortly after two House Democrats called on her to resign after her extended absence from Washington."
"At today's pre-trial hearings in the billion-dollar Fox defamation lawsuit, the Delaware judge overseeing the case declared he would sanction Fox News and launch an investigation into Fox's apparent repeated failures to disclose information, including about the role of Fox founder Rupert Murdoch."
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