November 8, 2024
 
With Herr Drumph, often he states his intentions, and then he tries to do it. The only things restraining him are feasibility, and the few people who stand up to him and say "You can't do that; it's illegal."

Project 2025 will sweep away all restraint, and remove every guardrail. It will embed a corps of such fawning sycophants into the government that the Psychopath in Chief will get to try out loads of policies that are doomed to failure because of their stupidity. Or doomed to catastrophe, with the citizens left picking up the broken pieces of their lives.

Of course, this is complicated by the fact the he is a compulsive pathological liar.

For perspective, we can simply assay the shitnado of the 1st Drumph Reign:
Lest We Forget the Horrors: A Catalog of Trump’s Worst Cruelties, Collusions, Corruptions, and Crimes - McSweeney’s Internet Tendency

In the next four years, it will be "more of the same," except now he can simply impose his every whim.

Starting with retribution against his enemies and critics.

---

November 6, 2024

Lessons from the Norwegian resistance.

---

November 1, 2024
 
So, here we are. The very concept of American Democracy is on the line, and it's a "dead heat." 

Science & Tech

• Fix your PayPal settings.
• Fix your DropBox settings to protect your files: Dropbox is sharing users' files with OpenAI, here's how to opt out.
• How loud would the sun be if we could hear it? Jackhammer Sun
• Excellent news: Oxford researchers secure funding for world's first ovarian cancer prevention vaccine.
• Also excellent news: Ozempic, Mounjaro may help with alcohol and opioid addiction.
• Culture & Modern Life
• A different look: The "Prado" Mona Lisa
• Not exactly the Riviera: A travel guide for dismal cities.
• Nice home plant ptojact: Growing mango tree from seed.
• This one was fun: Epic Imgur dump
• Worth a read, to learn about the Religion that infiltrated the US Government: An Illustrated History of Scientology (2nd Ed) | PDF
• Looks like fun: "MICKEY 17" Trailer
• Worth a read, to find out just how bad it actually was: "Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States" (graphic novel version)

Politics & Creeping Fascism

• Great for the rich, bad for everyone else: T**** Win Would Crash the Economy
• A very good series of videos on what we are up against: The Alt-Right Playbook
• It's true: "If you're explaining, you're losing"
• Let's hope: Why Elon Musk says "If he loses, I'm screwed."
• No surprise: T**** issues threats to prosecute political rivals.
• Of course he did: Kremlin claims T**** sent Covid test machines to Putin

Law & Disorder

• Living in a police state. 
• Phoenix police allegedly beat and tased deaf Black man who has cerebral palsy
• Cops use drug-sniffing dogs to detect abortion pills
• Prison work assignments used to lure and rape female inmates

---

October 1, 2024

A wee rant:

As America enters the death throes of Empire: it does seem to be an inexorable slide downwards, doesn't it?

I remember, during the Regan Administration, the alarms raised by economists and historians. Wealth disparity suddenly showed a fast and very large jump. The rich got way richer, damn near overnight, and it has continued to progress, and accelerate, ever since.

This is what happens when you hand the reins of government over to the rich:

• They serve only one constituency: themselves.
• They have only one goal: ownership. Of everything. Nothing else matters.

The citizenry of a nation run by the rich are merely a natural resource to be exploited to the utmost, and the utmost is inevitably slavery.  The rich are vacuuming up every crumb of property in the nation; businesses, housing, land (public and private), material goods and cultural treasures, and now much of what we workers purchase is not ours; it's "leased" from the corporation.

The biggest problem with the rich: they are never rich enough. They will squeeze workers to extract every last drop of "productivity" (profit) until the people collapse and die -- or revolt. The only things restraining them are the regulation of a well-administered government (which they now own) or fear of the rabble. Notice that American police used to look like "The Andy Griffith Show" and now they look like an invading military force. This is not a response to crime. It's the primary tool of oppression.

A wholesale societal collapse is not profitable, so it simply won't be allowed. But the slide toward controlled and managed feudalism is not abating.

The rich are stupid when it comes to long-term forecasting. If the "ruling class" push this hard enough, and long enough, their status (and wealth) will evaporate. One of the most common agents of downfall is the political Strongman; people get so utterly fed up with their plight that they happily elect a Fascist who promises them deliverance. For a while, the rich do splendidly well, coexisting hand-in-hand with the new Fascist rulers. But, just as the rich can never be rich enough, Fascists can never be powerful enough, and the rich get plundered in the pursuit of Empire.

But not all hope is lost: organize. I do believe that the country can be turned around, very simply, and rather quickly. It all comes down to that one single principle: organize. A massive labor movement would turn the rich on their ears, overnight.

An American Democracy has excellent chances of enduring. The unchecked Corporate Hegemony run by American Oligarchs is seeding and cultivating its own doom.

Meanwhile, our political choices are:

1. "I would like to help people get health insurance and buy a house."
2. "I want a national day of unchecked police violence." Let's call it by the real name: "Kristallnacht."

And it's a dead heat.

Science & Tech

• Wow, did I hold a bunch of these: List of common misconceptions - Wikipedia.
• Life begins at ... ? Carl Sagan would approve.
• Hint: nothing. What's the Difference Between Cults and Religion? 
• How some houses survive wildfires.
• The Brightest Flashlights of 2024.
• Better research sources than Google. 
• Paypal Opted You Into Sharing Data Without Your Knowledge.
• If you use PayPal, opt out of new data sharing that begins in November.
• Android sends 20x more data to Google than iOS sends to Apple.

Medicine:

• And here I thought it was besieged olfactory bulbs. Nope: COVID-related loss of smell tied to changes in the brain.
• Coronavirus FAQ: a refresher course.
• New research points to raccoon dogs in Wuhan market as pandemic trigger.
• Far-right group gives Ivermectin to kids with autism — and it's making them sick.
• US undercounts bird flu in cattle as farmers shun testing.
• Illuminating: Pain Scale for chronic illness.
• DNA from marijuana joint leads to driver in 1989 Charlotte hit-and-run.
• Oh, FFS: San Francisco police used database of rape kit VICTIM DNA to identify possible suspects. 
• The Dark Side Of Steroids and The Problem With Deadlifts.
• This x-ray is not for the squeamish: Friendly reminder to keep your feet off the dash board.
• Hint: it may be on your shelf: The culprit in a global lead poisoning mystery.
• Your Herbs and Spices Might Contain Arsenic, Cadmium & Lead.
• Selling poison, persecuting whistle blowers: The Pesticides Rot.
• Poison PR - Lighthouse Reports.
• The Dark Side Of Steroids and The Problem With Deadlifts.
• Florida surgeon kills a patient, by removing the liver instead of the spleen. "Oops."

History:

• History storytime -- but not what you learned in school.  (From this guy: Roy Casagranda)
• The first Drug Empire
• Inventing the Byzantine Empire
• The Spaniards didn't beat the Aztecs by themselves
• The country is "Arabia." The royal family is named "Saudi."
• So why THAT particular "Confederate" flag?
• What happens when a black girl wins the national spelling bee in 1908?
• Timeline of abolition of slavery and serfdom - Wikipedia.
• The place for teens to go have fun in the early 1980s, and sometimes get severely injured. Or die. Action Park - Wikipedia.
• Perhaps the humans with the oldest genetic continuity on the planet: The San people - Wikipedia.
• Previously Unknown Mozart Work Discovered in German Library.
• It's OK, but he was pretty young at the time: W.A. Mozart - Serenata ex C - Eine ganz kleine Nachtmusik.

Culture & Modern Life:

• Let's Make Crispy Roast Potatoes.
• Rustic Dublin Coddle with Sausage and Potatoes.
• Purslane: salad recipe!
• 3 year 'round the world cruise, hope you like Belfast.... A lot.
• Giraffes are fabulous.
• The Therapy Dog, After I Share My Problems.
• Color grading in movies for different places.
• Is she or isn't she? There's something about her...
• Fido plays music: The Fur-tastic Orchestra.
• So dang funny: Scottish Twitter.
• Because we won't pay you more. Ever. Recognition is key to employee retention, Gallup research finds. 
• The Weekly "Toddlers Shooting People" Map. 
• American Airlines sued for sexual assault during flight to New Jersey.
• Mexico decriminalizes abortion.
• There is a big ethical problem with the whole heaven / hell thing.
• Privatized parking meters: Fun fact -- if you don't live in Chicago.
• Who stops a "Bad Guy With A Gun"?
• 10 Funniest The Far Side Comics About Music.
• 200 Missing Persons per year on Cruise Ships.
• Reviewers like this stuff: Chocolat Bonnat | World Wide Chocolate
• You bastards. The English language is at it again. 
• Studies continue to show the (rolling) "Idaho stop" is safer for bicyclists.
• 12% of Americans -- mostly men -- are idiots: Beef-obsessed bros causing crucial climate catastrophes.
• Going on a Mormon mission? The Church will keep you firmly under its Control.
• Better musicians that you might expect. And cute. Ryan Gossling & Will Ferrell, singing.

Creeping Fascism:

• This could be a very, very big deal: Fox News’ fate in the balance as Murdoch family heads to trial.
• Court permanently blocks environmental civil rights protections for Louisiana's Black communities.
• The American Worker's Hellscape: "Go Team!"
• The worst company "perk."
• SCOTUS: The courts implementing Project 2025, without T**** lifting a finger.
• Banking on a violent national uprising, Alex Jones is begging the far right to assassinate T****: "Please, kill him!"
• To Understand JD Vance, You Need to Meet the “TheoBros”.
• Read the JD Vance Dossier.

Law & Disorder: 

• Private security in U.S. increasingly heavily-armed and belligerent.
  
• Also: The Thin Purple Line, by Jasper Craven.
• 17 Guardsmen have died on Gov. Greg Abbott's controversial border mission. 
• Officer fatally shoots man who was self-harming.
• Bystander shot gunman dead -- and was then killed by police. 
• Cop punches woman in face, then arrests her to justify it.
• DOJ investigates Mississippi sheriff's office following 'Goon Squad' torture case.
• Colorado deputy shoots and kills man who popped an anti-anxiety pill.
• Kentucky sheriff settles argument with judge by shooting him dead.
• Matthews N.C. kept video of cop choking man secret for years.
• Hertz to pay $168 million for having their customers arrested and imprisoned.
• Hertz "deeply saddened" that it took 5 years to find the receipt to free an innocent man.

---

August 23, 2024
 
Science & Tech:

• Charming and great fun: British Airways Safety Video: May We Haveth One’s Attention.
• Well, that's a relief: Boeing Stock Rebounds After Front Half of 737 MAX Lands Safely | The Needling.
• I've personally had it with the American obsession with Ruling The Road: Tough Guys Rule The Road.  Do you really need a pickup that weighs well over 5000 lbs, is 20 feet long, 7 feet tall, 8 feet wide and getting 17 mpg -- to go to the grocery store and drive to work? (And that's a small truck, a mere F-150)
  
• Here's a way to compare car sizes: CarSized.
• Selling your data for money, to anyone, government, private, and corporate: It’s Official: Cars Are Terrible at Privacy and Security.
• Why should we care? Cars are a Privacy Nightmare: Here’s Why That Matters.
• In other "Well, Duh" car news: Teslas are uninsurable, so Tesla sells its own car insurance. It's also a lemon.

Medicine & Health:

• Now it's not just American people who are left to die because they are poor. It's also our pets: Private equity takeovers of veterinary practices are driving prices through the roof.
• Keep up to date  on this, folks: More brands in the FDA's alert for lead-contaminated cinnamon.
• Say, what?? The FDA is investigating whether lead in applesauce pouches was deliberately added.
  
• I didn't know this, and it's actually a real thing that arrives in emergency rooms all the time: Why you should never boil an egg in the microwave: it can explode.
• It's complicated: Intersex - Wikipedia.
• Anything that helps can be a relief: fast at home Tinnitus help.
• Coaches drove women to damage their health for decades: More women track and field athlete reject the idea that 'thinner is faster'.
• Ah, the American Dream: U.S. Athletes Took Full Advantage of Free Healthcare in France.
• Too true: Clueless male doctors with women patients.
• Covid:
• We get to live with the danger: COVID has become endemic.
• Keeping track of the pandemic where you live: CDC COVID Data Tracker: Maps.
• It's still out there, it's still dangerous, and we are still in failure mode: PSA: American Covid Failure.
• New KP.2 Variant COVID booster vaccines get green light from FDA.
• Not a cure, but beginning to understand it: Scientists make a breakthrough on MIS-C, the scary COVID-linked childhood illness.

Modern Life & Culture:

• Had it with religion? I think The Seven Fundamental Tenets actually sound pretty good to me.
• The aim of Russian Propaganda is not to make us believe anything in particular. It's to make us believe NOTHING: Hannah Arendt, German Historian.
• How to make Chick-fil-A sauce, so you don't have to go buy it from a bunch of bigoted racists. 
• Amazing skill on an unfamiliar instrument: AC/DC - Thunderstruck Guzheng Cover.
• Make it so: Super Friday Star Trek Dump!
• Because you are not allowed to save money: Customers who conserve electricity are forced to pay back the utility company for "lost profits."
• Pretty stuff: "Jimmy Red" corn was grown by bootleggers, as it made spectacular hooch. It was brought back from the brink of extinction.
  
• It reminds me of Bloody Butcher corn, (Sean Brock uses it) one of the heirloom varieties that made southern cornbread so good before corporate agri-business took over.
  
• Let me tell you a tale of a magical time and place where art flourished and artists played in freedom -- until it went corporate: Burning Man ticket sales dry up after sloppy year.
• The dating scene is dismal, and discouraging. Here's a little tip for women to screen out assholes ahead of time: It's a low bar.
  
• Hint: it's horrifying. 25and.me: How Does Project 2025 Affect Me?
• To complete your new account, please choose a new password: The Password Game.
• It's all in good fun: Neal.fun

Politics & Christofascism: 

• Of course they do: Iowa bans most abortions after about 6 weeks.
• But, freedumbs? Judge permanently overturns part of Florida’s ‘Stop WOKE Act’.
• The formation of the American Gestapo: 14 hours of Project 2025's secret training videos leaked in Trump Campaign hack.
• Leaked Project 2025 training videos instructs participants to avoid using paper or emails because they are traceable.
  
• Want to know when the beginning of the end started? Regan's America: the Rich got way richer, and they're still going strong.
• Fascism isn't a good look for a college: Florida's New College does a book purge.
• Company towns, company stores, all too familiar: If you haven't heard of it, look up the Vance-Yarvin connection. It's horrifying.
• There's a reason this song hit so hard:
  
• You load sixteen tons, what do you get?
  Another day older and deeper in debt
  Saint Peter, don't you call me 'cause I can't go
  I owe my soul to the company store.

Law & Disorder:

• Police solve just 2% of all major crimes.
• The police do not protect you.
  
• The police do not help you when a crime was committed against you.
  
• The police treat civilians like the enemy.
  
• The police only do one thing: enforce social order.
  
• In other words, they protect Capitalism.
  

• They got away with it while they were cops, why not keep going? 4 ex-law enforcement officers face extortion charges.
• Indiana Police use drug dogs to sniff out cash in FedEx facilities -- and then they just steal it. "Civil Asset Forfeiture" means kiss your property goodbye. 
• Stealing entire lives:
• Chris Dunn released from prison, 30 years after wrongful conviction.
• Innocent, and after almost 50 years on death row, here's $7 million. 

---

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July 29, 2024

Science, Tech & History:

• Covid & other nasties:
• Yes, everyone really is sick a lot more often after COVID
• "Razor blades in my throat": FLiRT Covid variants packing a nasty punch.
• The lasting damage COVID-19 causes throughout the body.
• U.S. labs not prepared test for bird flu in case of outbreak.

• Compounded semaglutide is dangerous; eat oatmeal.
• Betting on Beta-Glucans.
• Beta Glucan: Health Benefits in Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome.

• Black People in the US Were Enslaved Well into the 1960s.
• 500-Pound Prehistoric Bird Was a ‘Giga-Goose’.
• Voyager 1 Is Back!
• New map of medieval London.
• Eat cheese, have vivid dreams: Stilton Dreams.
• Bitcoin mining wastes massive amounts of electricity -- and fossil fuels: Bitcoin finds yet another way to scam.
• Actually, it's a good idea: Hospitalized, with a medic alert bracelet "Allergic To Bees".
• Longer Freight Trains Are More Likely to Derail.
• I want: The EV pickup for urban living and weekend adventuring.
• The Enduring Myths of 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'.
• Newly released Pillars of Creation photo is stunning.
• A drug may slow aging, human testing coming.
• How to recognize the new generation of AI text.
• Former inspector: Boeing used scrap parts on assembly lines.
• Ghost Ships and How Are They Impact The Environment.
• Climate scientist explaining we're absolutely fucked.
• How to reduce arsenic levels in your rice.
• Why you are paying more to get deteriorating services, every year: "Enshittification."
• PFAS widely added to US pesticides despite EPA denial.
• No, Yellowstone Won't Explode And End Civilisation.
• Magic is science: if you ever see someone playing with cups and balls, bet on the person running the game. 99% of people get this wrong!
• "Can you show me the data on that?" Why, yes, I believe I can: Our World in Data.

Modern Life & Culture

Happy Juneteenth -- Every American should know this anthem: Kirk Franklin - Lift Every Voice and Sing.

• You'd never know it by listening to the news or the GOP, but Over the last 200 years, the world is getting better.
• Will Robots Take My Job?
• Behind The Scenes | Stranger Things 5.
• How a farm bill blunder legalized weed across America.
• Wealthy Family Wanted An Ocean View,  So They Poisoned Their Neighbor's Trees.
• EV sales slipping?  No, just Tesla.
• J.R.R. Tolkien's response to the Nazi Party.
• Homemade Spice Blends - Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons.  
• Wells Fargo refuses to refund $45k stolen from retiree's account.
• "Ah, I think that's supposed to be Acorns." No, I quite sure it's The "Eggcorn" Database.
• If At First You Don't Succeed It's 99% Perspiration. Love a good malaphor.
• Viral TikTok Home Inspector Goes to War With Humiliated Builders.
• Your Lifestyle Was Designed To Preserve Corporate Profits.
• One guess, Red or Blue? 10 US States With The Lowest Quality Of Life.
• Masterful, live, and great fun: Sweeney Todd: NPR Tiny Desk Concert.

Politics & Christofascism

• This is important information to have: Interactive Map: Current State Abortion Policies and Access.
• She has sued: Texas woman jailed and charged with murder after taking an abortion pill.
• T**** getting dragged down by JD Vance's historical low poll numbers.
• T**** is down by 20 points with young voters.
• T**** tells Christian supporters "you won't have to vote anymore" if he's elected.
• Missouri church calls for "all young men" between 18–29 to "form a militia".

Law & Disorder

• Woman behind bars 43 years for the murder a corrupt cop committed.
• Fujitsu "expert" helped UK Post Office falsely convict postmasters in IT scandal.
• Public inquiry launched after 736 UK post office workers falsely convicted of fraud. 

---

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June 14, 2024
 
History:

• D-Day's 80th Anniversary [June 6th, 1944]

Climate:

• There are More effective sunscreen ingredients available -- but not in the U.S.
• Like, for example, Bioré UV Aqua Rich Weightless Moisturizer with SPF 50.
• Brace yourselves: 2024 will be the most active hurricane season in the Atlantic.
• It used to be that ocean currents were quite stable year to year, and perhaps once every 20 years or so, we had a "la Nina" or "el Nino" aberration, which then returned to normal. Now, we flip back and forth between them, alternating every few months. What La Niña means for Atlantic hurricane season and U.S. weather.
• This is very problematic, as hiker's water filters can not remove dissolved metals: Warming climate is putting more metals into Colorado's mountain streams.
• Tick ranges are expanding dramatically due to climate change: How to avoid ticks — and what to do if you get bitten.

Science & Tech:

• RIP: Arecibo Telescope - Nov, 1963 / Nov, 2020.
• Could be exciting: Nova explosion visible to the naked eye expected any day now.
• Trying to make Google searches work again: "&udm=14" strips AI junk from Google results.
• Oh, those rascally corporations: Consumer watchdog sues gas stove maker for failing to warn consumers about health risks.
• Well, duh: New study provides the "definitive answer on masks." They work.
• Even more duh: NC Senate Bans Masks - Even for Cancer Patients.
• Payback is a bitch: Bunch of bored teenage orcas looking for something to do.
• On second thought, Maybe I don't want a cheap Chinese electric car after all.
• Utah's amazing aspen grove: Pando (tree) - Wikipedia
• What the actual slimy heck? "Star Jelly" Mystery Still Unsolved.
• Tastes like chicken? Wooly mammoths to be reborn by 2027, says biotech firm.
• Does not taste like chicken: How Eating Porcupine Brains Can Save Your Life When Lost And Starving In Wyoming.
• It looks so majestic, soaring away: My ultralight camping tent is too light.
• Cool:  Performing a G-turn on a MB G 580.

Boeing:

• How this all happened is a bit of a tale, but it all comes down to maximizing profit: Boeing’s Downfall - Before the McDonnell Douglas Merger. There are several videos in the series, if you want an education in corporate psychopathy. Boeings’s Downfall - “Greed is Good” the McDonnell Douglas Merger.
• FAA investigates another midair incident with a Boeing 737 Max.
• Another Boeing plane catches fire — makes emergency landing in Indonesia.

Culture & Modern Life:

• How it happened: a huge Thai seafood distribution corporation bought majority shares in Red Lobster, installed their own managers, locked the company into buying all of their excess shrimp at inflated prices, locked them into an "all you can eat" menu, and bankrupted Red Lobster while making millions for themselves. Crustacean corruption scheme revealed in the wake of Red Lobster bankruptcy.
• "My computer is updating." How to take a thirty minute break at work.
• Duh: Drunken tourist kicked bison in Yellowstone.
• Pretty amazing vocal acrobatics: Ekaterina Shelehova Italia's Got Talent.
• Getting squeezed by your own company: Google search raters (like me) lack fair wages, benefits.
• Blocking medical evacuation to extort payment: Cruise passenger rushing to ER stopped by staff: Pay up!
• English is just weird: Lost Positives in the English language.
• READ THE FINE PRINT! Yo-yo car sales ensnare buyers in bad deals. Will the FTC crack down on dealers?
• I have done every single one of these: A day in the life of a clumsy person.
• Why women live longer: Really? Right in front of my OSHA handbook?
• A guide to Pronunciation for British, American, Aussie, and Swamp Thing.
• A guide to Pronunciation for Scottish People.
• Also, Life in Scotland.
• Good to know: The safest (and most dangerous) national parks.

Fascism:

• T**** posts Truth Social video with headline about a 'unified reich'.
• Project 2025 - Wikipedia
  

Law & Disorder:

• "It wasn't us." L.A. Sheriff's department denies involvement in death of detainee they claim never to have arrested.
• Pray the cops never come to your house: "More than Just Collateral Damage: Pet Shootings by Police" top 10,000 per year.
• Huh? Teen fined $580 for using phone in McDonald's drive-thru line.
• Black cop beaten by colleagues wins $23.5m.
• Judge awards $23.5 million to undercover St. Louis officer beaten by colleagues during protest.
• Also, tug your forelock and avert your filthy eyes: Louisiana law would make it illegal to be closer than 25ft to cops or talk to them.
• Police withheld his medication, lied that his father was dead, threatened to kill his dog, forced him to confess to a murder that never happened: "psychological torture" interrogation for 17 hours.
• Terrorizing school kids as an object lesson: Burlington cops arranged for pretend school shooter to open fire with simulated gunshots at terrified children.
• They laughed and bragged about it: Los Angeles Sheriff's Department left man to die after police chase.
• "Sit your black ass down": Security guard forced Four Tops singer forced into straitjacket during a heart attack for claiming to be Four Tops singer.

---

---

May 18, 2024

Science & Tech:

• Duh: The USDA’s gardening zones shifted -- this map shows you what’s changed in vivid detail.
• I didn't know there are actual rules for this, and it's interesting: Syllable stress for nouns and verbs.
• By the way, print-writing is just as effective as cursive for this: As schools reconsider cursive, research homes in on handwriting's brain benefits.
• Not the vacation view one hopes for: an image that looks scary and is scary.
• To date, there are no fixes for this, no apps to detect it, and no programs to prevent it: The Spy Inside Your Smartphone - Reveal.
• Heavy, expensive, but kinda cool: Testing Motorized Shoes That Make You Walk 250% Faster.
• Wars will be fought over Lithium: Nevada's Rare Tiehm's Buckwheat Threatened from Lithium Mining.
• I could sure use one of these Magic paint removal machines: Dry Ice Blaster for Rent - United Rentals.
• This is amazing: Students Decipher 2,000-Year-Old Herculaneum Scrolls.
• From absolute zero to absolute hot. The temperatures of the universe. Absolute zero is the temperature where all molecular motion ceases. There is a theory that, once all atomic forces cease to function at absolute zero, the only remaining force is gravity, which will take over and collapse the matter into a singularity, making an instant Black Hole -- although it only applies to the amount of stuff that hits 0 degrees Kelvin. One the other end, at absolute hot, you get an instant Big Bang -- or more likely, a "Little Bang", just from the stuff you made too dang hot.

Boeing &Flying:

• And another one bites the dust: Boeing flight catches fire, hospitalizing 10 people.
• A company in free-fall -- which is a bad metaphor for an airplane manufacturer: Boeing "violated deal" to avoid prosecution after 737 Max crashes.
• As a result, Justice Department may prosecute Boeing for 737 Max crashes.
• "I'd rather ride a donkey:" a post from 2020: how to tell if you're flying on a Boeing Max 737.
• How not to write headlines: Why not to panic when planes make emergency landings.

Culture & Modern Life:

• Not really a "secret code," just some unconventional extra expression indications that never got printed. Beethoven scholars will be pouring over urtext facsimiles to uncover Beethoven’s Secret Code.
• Not actually new information; we've known for decades that lead poisoning was probably the cause: Why did Beethoven go deaf? Laboratory hair testing reveals clues. 
• I have high hopes for her: Chicago graduate makes history by earning doctorate at 17.
• Texas' deregulation strikes again: More than 100 schools in Houston without power after fatal storms.
• I used to love this stuff, but it's actually long gone. The modern version bears no resemblance: WHAT'S IN HAWAIIAN PUNCH? — Ingredient Inspector.
• FaceBook approaches its "jump the shark" event horizon: Facebook is invaded by AI-generated spam.
• You know that pervasive feeling that we are living in a dystopian hellscape? US falls out of world’s top 20 happiest countries list for the first time ever.
• And the very latest frontiers of the tech industry show us what's coming for us meatbots: Essays explore the hellscape of freelance AI model training.
• I did not know that they were using period - correct Japanese language in "Shogun".
• You can do this with a big pot, a temperature probe, and stove supervision: The Guide to Sous Vide Eggs.
• One of my heroes: David Tennant tells anti-trans bigots to “F**ck off”.
• Just like diamonds, it turns out that gallery and auction art prices are massively inflated: Why Are Art Resale Prices Plummeting?
• Worth reading: Lies My Teacher Told Me - Wikipedia
• I'm so dang old that I remember these:  British insults that are dying out.

Politics & Fascism:

• The American people have been devastated by 50 years of trickle down economics
• New doctors avoiding states with abortion bans. Oh, and doctors already in practice are also leaving.
• Yes, the mob really was going to kill him, along with AOC, Bernie, and Pelosi. New book reports Mike Pence "nearly lost" during Jan 6 riot.
• Banning a jerk Governor from much of her own state: Native tribes ban Kristi Noem from nearly 20% of South Dakota. 
• Wonder why women are suspicious of period-tracking apps? Wants Federal Database Of Pregnant Women. Opposes Federal Databse Of Gun Owners. 

Law & Disorder:

• This is one of those bits of American History that was glossed over when it happened, under-reported afterwards, and never taught in schools. Yes, it's "complicated," and yes, things got out of hand. But the fact remains that, on May 13, 1985, after 500 police officers shot over 10,000 rounds into a residential row house, the Philadelphia Police used a helicopter to drop bombs on the roof, burning down 65 houses and killing five children and five adults. And they shot at people trying to get out of the fire. MOVE (Philadelphia organization) - Wikipedia.
  
• "Freedom" of speech, American style: Judge to black man: apologize to the cop for being "rude" or go to jail.
• The school-to-prison pipeline, with sexual abuse: Juvenile detention abuse allegations are on the rise around the country. 
• Wrong house -- again: What to know about the U.S. Airman Roger Fortson, who was fatally shot by police.

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May 10, 2024

Science & Tech:

• We've known for quite some time that gas kitchen stoves are bad for respiratory health: 
• Study links gas stoves to 50,000 current cases of childhood asthma.
  
• We've also known that Cleaner, healthier gas burners were developed decades ago. Why aren't they available?
  
• While Appliance makers know how to make a cleaner natural gas stove burner, they still fail to do so -- except for tailgating: Barton Infrared Burner Cooktop.
  
• To date, not one single option exists for retrofitting cleaner burners to an existing stove, though this company shows some promise: High-Efficiency, Low-Emissions Premixed Flame Gas Burners with Flame Stabilizer.
• Some rather unexpected sounds, good to know just in case you hear them in the woods: Have you ever heard a cougar chirp?
• Not that you WILL ever hear this in the woods, but it's still cool to know: T-Rex vocalizations.
• It's still out there: Can you pass this test on current theories about how SARS-CoV-2 spreads?
• Tinnitus can be a plague, and here's a very cool new treatment, fast and effective, without drugs: An FDA approved device offers a new treatment for ringing in the ears.
• Hint: probably. Will 2024 be the hottest summer our lives?
• I always liked this blog: Top Science News of the Week April 22 - 28, 2024.
• One of these days, one of these cancer breakthroughs is actually going to work. Maybe. ‘Real hope’ for cancer cure: mRNA vaccine trial for melanoma.
• Not at all surprising: Long commutes and depression go hand in hand.
• NASA has the highest number of science heroes per capita: Voyager 1's incredible journey continues after NASA patches code in 46-year-old chip from a distance of 15 billion miles.
• Being Human: What Neanderthals looked like 75,000 years ago.
• Helpful info, especially for inexperienced travelers: A Cool Guide to Psilocybin Dosages.

Culture & Modern Life:

• Homophobia has become crippling for far too many men.
  
• Dismal personal hygiene, because washing yourself "down there" is "gay."
  
• Huge pickup trucks, because small, fuel-efficient commuter cars are "gay."
  
• Abuse of women, because any guy who isn't "100% in control" of his woman is "gay."
  
• Insecure men paranoid about ... everything: Fellas, is it gay to...?
• The British accent here is perfect: A Heartfelt Message From All Women.
• As always, she nails it: Taylor Tomlinson on adulting.
• Interesting for about 2 minutes, and possibly useful, but probably not: Alternative Shoe Lacing Methods.
• Not far from the truth: The Daily Show imagines "Cocaine News" starring Don Jr.
• I'm sort of a font fan, and this is cool: Thames New Roman: how the famed Doves Type was rescued from the bottom of a river. Here it is for free: Mebinac Font.
• Protect the Great American Sacred Cows: Dairy Industry Forces 1st Prize Cancellation of Vegan Cheese.
• A professional shows us How to open a pomegranate.
• I'll bet this is a fun place to hang out: "The Sports Bra"- a bar showing only women's sports, in Portland.
• This has become a thing lately: Women: would you rather be in the woods with a bear, or a man?
• Scam / dangerous product alert: Herbal company fined $12.8 million after paying for fake Amazon reviews.
• Kinda obvious, but it still bears pointing out The real reason Tesla is tanking: Musk's political self-sabotage.
• Tesla recalls nearly every car it has sold in America.
• California calls it "false advertising," but Tesla claims "free speech".
• Cultural heroes: How a husband-wife duo rescued star trek from cancellation.
• How the US Government was deeply and massively infiltrated, by a cult: Operation Snow White - Wikipedia.
• Sorry about those deaths: Panera says it will stop serving 'Charged Sips' drinks at center of lawsuits.

Politics & Fascism:

• "False Flag" operations running today: A suspect flyer sparks conspiracy theories about migrant group.
• This could probably be addressed in 49 other state capitols: Culture of social drinking runs deep in the traditions of the Colorado state Capitol.
• Preserving and expanding the wealth and power of the wealthy and powerful: Tech bro fascism looks like a lot like old-fashioned fascism.
• When the uterus is State Property: 
• Pregnant women in some states can't get divorced.
• Delaware GOP Nominee: Force Women Off Road for Pregnancy Test Checkpoints.
• What a bunch of assholes: Zoombombing: Hate Mobs Attack Town Halls with Antisemitism.
• In the past, we often heard hints about a candidates unsuitability for high office, if we were listening. Here's one: Photographer Says Photo Shoot with RFK Jr Was Horrific.
• I'm feeling pretty dang paranoid about this one: This is what the 2024 map might look like on election night.
• Let's hope he soon achieves the obscurity he so richly deserves: George Santos drops House bid as federal trial looms.

Law & Disorder:

• Why change, when this keeps our prisons full and profitable? Flawed Police Lineups Still Putting Innocent People in Jail.
• Know your rights, and be safe: Campus protests: What to do if police stop you.
• It's called "Stochastic Terrorism": A Kent State shooting survivor reflects and shares lessons on campus protests.

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April 21, 2024

Science & Technology:

• Not just annoying: New studies find thousands of annual U.S. deaths linked to wildfire smoke.
• Great theory, based on a "particle" that probably doesn't exist: The universe may be dominated by "Tachyons."
• It's so massive that it drops the local sea level by 348 feet: The Largest Gravity Hole in the World Has a Mysterious Origin.
• There's a perfectly logical reason why Nigerian Scam Emails Are Deliberately Dumb.
• The hidden medical "score" that you can't appeal: "Addiction Risk Scores" Won’t Solve the Opioid Crisis.
• There has to be a middle ground. It won't be simple, and it will require making compassionate decisions, but something must be done: Could the U.S. force treatment on mentally ill people (again)?
• The current road symbol of tone-deaf douchbaggry has yet another problem (along with jammed accelerator pedals, getting stuck easily, suspension components breaking, rusting in days, dangerously obstructed visibility, and overall "why would anyone buy this": Washing a Cybertruck can "brick" it.
• Also, every test of The Real World Highway Range Of Today's Electric Cars reveals that Tesla vastly overstates its vehicles' range.

Modern Life:

• A helping hand can change a life: Paying it forward by becoming a nurse.
• $600 a month to rent a "sleep pod." Dystopia Now.
• Forced advertising in a public bathroom: Wait, what was that I just said about "Dystopia"?
• The Corporate World's biggest assholes: Nestle's Ongoing Infant Formula Scandal.
• And guess what? Nestlé STILL adds sugar to infant milk sold in poorer countries.

Culture, Past & Present:

• There was a good reason: Why didn't Slaves wear "slave uniforms" in Rome?
• If you've ever seen a mysterious antique doohicky made of spring wire and a couple of glass marbles, Here’s what it is. 
• Reddit users speak up on What is the most shameful line of work?
• Sounds pretty cool: The best sci-fi show you aren’t watching is getting a spin-off.
• For educational and entertainment purposes only: 9 Levels of Pickpocketing: Easy to Complex.
• Speaking truth to idiots: Real archaeologist braves the Joe Rogan podcast.
• An interesting and thoughtful article about How historical markers and monuments rewrite U.S. history.

Politics: 

• UK MP's have a problem: Honeytrap scam exposes Westminster's ambient stupidity threshold.
• Doing the bidding of her handler: Comrade Marjorie Taylor Greene Parrots Putin's Lies.
• One problem with this short video: I think it could be much worse. "Don't Say You Weren't Warned" -- What T****'s First 100 Horrific Days Would Look Like.

Law & Disorder:

• Black cop beaten by cops wins $23.5m.
• Why did a Maine cop lie about taking a missing person to hospital?

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April 13, 2024

Science & Tech

• Utterly useless -- for now: "Scathing" reviews of AI Pin that's supposed to replace your cellphone. Of course, technology will change, and change fast.
  
• There's a simple blood test that detects concussions within minutes of injury. Football coaches are working hard to keep it away from the sidelines, and the US Military banned the tests as soon as they started detecting a 100% concussion rate for soldiers firing some high-power weapons. Maine lawmakers call for military brain scans.
• Maggie is pretty darned cool: NASA has a possible Ingenuity successor and her name is MAGGIE. 
• Crust this old is very rare, because almost all of it gets subsumed back into the mantle over time: 3.75 Billion Years Old – Scientists Discover Evidence of Ancient Segment of Earth’s Crust.
• Maybe I'm being nit-picky, but golly gosh 6k miles seems awfully fragile for tires -- at $460 per. EV owners shocked that tires wear out -- in 6,000 miles.
• Duh. 'Why do my eyes hurt?' Google searches spike after solar eclipse.
• And here's the map of the problem: Google Searches after the eclipse.
• Growing up in Colorado, my teachers used to say that if the state was flattened out, it would be bigger than Texas. These guys flattened it, and squished it, too: A 1" thick flattened Colorado will blow your mind.
• It ain't pretty. And it's often fatal: What severe alcohol withdrawal looks like.
• Nice beat: Drug Side effects.
• Reality has a well-known Liberal Bias: Mistrust of the science that times an eclipse to the millisecond.

History:

• I'd love to tour the Isles with this guy as my guide: Putlog holes and Dovecots.
• I actually preferred Hydrox: Remember Hydrox? Kansas City created the original Oreo cookie.
• Duh: The richest families in Florence in 1427 are still the richest families in Florence today.

Modern Life & Culture:

• Was the poor dear home-schooled? Stupidity over solar energy.
• Wages? No. Supply Line costs? No. Greed? Yes: Corporate Greed tries to blame inflation on workers.
• For your convenience: fill-in-the-blanks mass shooting report form.
• Now it makes sense: Australia explained to Americans.
• It was mismanagement and shrinking wages for working class buyers: Failing dollar stores blame shoplifters. No-ones buying it anymore.
• Has anyone noticed yet that we are squeezing workers so badly that they can't afford anything anymore? U.S. retailers admit they lied about shoplifting, again.
• And again: Retailers stop complaining about shoplifting, for reasons.
• Progress, just waiting to be crushed: 50th anniversary of women being able to get a credit card without a man's signature.
• Even when you HAVE insurance: Insurance refused to pay for her baby's air ambulance ride.
• Hint: it's tiny white text embedded in the assignment: Teacher devises an ingenious way to detect ChatGPT cheating on essays.
• How to comfort a grammarian: There, their, they're.
• How can anyone (who isn't rich) buy a house today? State of the housing market.
• Seems reasonable, considering: Botswana threatens to send 20,000 elephants to Germany.
• Truth: An abuser’s guilt is not their victim’s burden to bear. Also, if you ever have a therapist tell you that you have to "confront your abuser" in order to heal, fire that therapist immediately. It's a guaranteed source of additional trauma and guilt, and it only benefits the therapist, who will need months to put you back together again.
  
• Taking two minutes to go look at a once-in-a-lifetime natural phenomenon = lost profits: Keep your heads down, peons! - eclipse post.
• "Hie thee away, dipwad": How a vampire might talk in today's world.
• Possibly excellent Streaming tv sources?
• How to kidnap people and make them pay for it, in broad daylight: Trying to tow away a car that was waiting at a red light.
• Turns out they are real wankers: So, About Hello Fresh.
• The sadness and catastrophe of believing wacko conspiracy theories: Who Was Ayoka? She was terrified of the eclipse, an Astrology Influencer Suspected of Gruesome Killings.
• We've known for decades that homework does little to nothing for improving academic achievement: Poland's kids rejoice over new rules against homework.

Politics & Creeping Christofascism:

• Trying to jump off the stupid bandwagon: Oklahoma hydroxychloroquine: State officials are trying to return the state’s $2 million stockpile.
• What's it actually good for? Hydroxychloroquine - Wikipedia.
• The Republic Of Gilead takes another big step -- backward: Texas Republicans push death penalty for abortion AND IVF.
• Criminalizing the gay: Kansas classifies being gay as adult content.

Law & Disorder:

• They have an addiction to stealing citizen's assets at a rate that dwarfs all other criminal activity: Kansas cops love taking cash and cars. Can they be stopped?
• They hired lawyers and private investigators to keep it hidden: Matthews N.C. kept video of cop choking man secret for years.

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March 24, 2024

Science & Tech:

• K a  -  -  -  B  O  O  O  M.  This website lets you simulate the effects of crater impacts anywhere on Earth.
• Coming soon to a specialty food vendor on the internet: Scientists Grow Date Trees From 2,000-Year-Old Seeds.
• Big Brother is looking for ways to make more money: Car Data Sharing Spying Leads to Higher Insurance Rates.
• Good idea: New York wants you to protect your retinas.
• Where to watch: New York State Solar Eclipse.
• Absolutely stunning Webb Images/Science 2024.
• It's a huge known problem, and insurance companies flat refuse to cover them now: Stolen Kia stolen again, twice, even after security "fix".

Medicine:

• Garments used to burst into flames and kill hundreds of women and children: Your Flannelette Cure: Fire Tests with Textiles (1910). They fixed it with the "snowdon process" fireproofing but to this day, the ingredients are "undisclosed."
  
• Keep up with your personal testing schedule, folks: Colon cancer incidence rises sharply in under 50s.
• Selling Aluminum Cans: Liquid Death transcends water by hijacking our lizard brains.
• It's about time: Germany legalizes weed.
• Remember, It was the ACTUAL essential workers who kept us alive.
  
• Learn the symptoms. March is blood clot awareness month.

Culture & Modern Life:

• What happened to Nex Benedict?
• What is the Royal Order of Adjectives? Opinion, Size, Physical quality, Shape, Age, Color, Origin, Material, Type, Purpose.
  
• Hilarious: Stuntwoman vs gymnast… again.
• Not so hilarious: Boeing 737 loses exterior panel during flight into Oregon.
• How to keep corporate malfeasance under wraps: Boeing whistleblower warned he could be killed – then he died.
• Want to buy a cheap Leatherman? Or a thousand of them? TSA-confiscated items end up in a store in Texas.

Politics:

• Here's what the GOP actually plans, and it's the end of American Democracy. All Hail The New Trumpocracy: Guide to the right-wing Project 2025
• Here's a detailed write-up: A guide to Project 2025, the extreme right-wing agenda for the next Republican administration.
• It's a bit complicated, but here's how Retiring GOP house rep Ken Buck screwed over Lauren Boebert.
• Here's What Happens When You Stop Suppressing And Persecuting People.
  
• The cost of ignorance and fanaticism: Mother's QAnon beliefs lead to family's tragic death in Colorado wilderness.
• If only he could get paid what he's owed by T****: Rudy Giuliani must pay $148m to election workers he lied about.

Law & Disorder

• The Police Killing of Daniel Shaver. The officer was cleared, and is now retired with a full police pension.
  
• Is There A Serial Killer Deputy in the Collier County, FL Sheriff's Office?
• 2 Mississippi deputies get yearslong sentences for torturing 2 Black men.
• 40 years for Mississippi cop who tortured and raped man in own home.
• All six "Goon Squad" officers now sentenced in Mississippi torture case.

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March 15, 2024

Science & Medicine:

• Dedicated fans can pay a heavy price, and it's not just for tickets: Fans suffering frostbite after freezing Chiefs game may need amputations.
• For anyone who wants to track their training, or monitor their cardio health, ECG smartwatches explained: How they work and the best on the market.
• Check you labels: The FDA issues an alert for 6 brands of cinnamon possibly containing lead.
• I'd love to see these wandering about High Plains and alpine countryside: Stem-cell milestone for woolly mammoth restoration.
• I need to keep every point I can: COVID-19 can cause "significant drops in IQ scores".
• Stay healthy: Metabolic syndrome, including high blood sugar, blood pressure, linked to cancer.
• It's about damn time: FDA To Finally Ban Brominated Vegetable Oils From Beverages, Which Was Already Banned Around The World.   It's actually fairly nasty stuff: Brominated vegetable oil - Wikipedia,  and it's in A LOT of foods: The Full List of Food Products Containing Brominated Vegetable Oil, Which the FDA Wants to Ban.
• Cloning and genetically modifying bighorn sheep, for rich Texans to kill: Man plotted to create giant hybrid sheep for captive hunting.

Tech, Culture, & Modern Life:

• Oh, those dear sweet summer children from Down South: The amount of snow it takes to cancel school.
• An electric, solar charging, super efficient two seat car. I'd love to get one of them: Aptera Motors.  And there's a Savings Calculator
• Wad and stuff into a drawer, or How to fold a fitted sheet.
• I love how he sunk the putt, and then ran over to hide behind his buddies: Golf Goose.
• You know, it could be that Boing needs a little help here. Like, perhaps being nationalized, and their corporation dissolved for violating the public trust. Another Boeing disaster when plane nosedives, tossing 30 to roof.  And then there's also this: Boeing whistleblower found dead in his truck -- just before he was to testify.  Oh, and there's also this: Tire falls off departing jet, crushing vehicles in parking lot.
• Here we go again. Mysterious massive metal monolith appears on Wales hillside.
• A description of the ultra-conservative mindset: Philistinism - Wikipedia.
• Just go to antique stores and estate sales. Why sofas are crap.
• Some cool films: Oscars 2024: The complete list of winners.
• Hint: they were trying to explain away dismal sales. Retailers howled about theft last year. Why not now?
• This may be a malicious attempt to force the business into bankruptcy, a favorite tactic of big corporations: Tesla cancels $16k pie order.
• How exactly do you "ban" AirTags? Lufthansa "bans AirTags in luggage" after passengers publicly shame it with location of lost bags.
• The historical events around The 1888 match factory women's strike are pretty bone-chilling, and they were portrayed beautifully in the movie Enola Holmes 2.
• Hard to place all the blame on the inexperienced, inept person who should NEVER have been hired: Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

Politics:

• Surprise (I'm not surprised): US firm that paid indicted FBI informant tied to T**** associates.
• Prescient: Warning about Russia in 2022.
• Of course they are: ExxonMobil is suing investors who want tougher action on climate change.
• Of course this is why: Why PragerU is trying to get its videos into schools.
• Of course he is: George Santos says he's running for office again in N.Y.
• You mean Thoughts And Prayers aren't enough? Private evangelical college Liberty University fined $14 million for campus safety violations.

Law & disorder: 

• The GOP strikes again: House blocks Memphis police reform, blindsiding the family of Tyre Nichols.
• I predict they will start releasing any prisoners who cost them too much money: The U.S. prison population is graying fast. Prisons aren't ready.

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March, 2, 2024

Climate & Environment:

• But is anyone listening? The Atlantic Ocean is freakishly warm right now. Scientists are sounding the alarm.
• Lobbying by utilities: What killed a 1980s program to kickstart a green home revolution in Colorado?
• One really big solar flare could fry the electronic world: In light of the solar maximum, a look at the biggest solar storm in recorded history.
• It has the worst weather in America: 6 hikers stuck on Mt. Baldy wearing only hoodies airlifted days after woman's body was found.
• "Cost" means things like "death": The human cost of climate-related disasters is undercounted.
• Just like the oil industry, they knew all along: New report unveils what plastic makers knew about recycling.

Science:

• Synthetic spider silk, coming soon to a garment on you: Bolt Threads to Become a Public Company, Growing its Pioneering Biomaterials.
• High in healthful micro-nutrients, too: A genetically modified purple tomato can now be raised by home gardeners.
• A laboratory freak: Meet the Sturddlefish.  It hasn't escaped into the wild. Yet. Sturddlefish - Wikipedia.
• A prehistoric shark 52 feet long, with a body like a Barracuda: Giant shark Megalodon may not have been built like a Great White.
• Actually quite interesting: Why It Was Almost Impossible to Make the Blue LED.
• I was never a fan, but I may have to catch up now that I can stream it commercial-free: Two Scenes Adam Refused to Film on MythBusters.
• Instead of a "BOOM", it's more of a long rumble: NASA, Lockheed Martin Reveal X-59 Quiet Supersonic Aircraft.
• For coastal residents, this could be a major lifesaver: New solar device makes desalinated seawater cheaper than tap water.

Medicine & health

• The "War On Drugs" was always aimed at minorities, and it's failed at everything except filling American privatized prisons, resulting in soaring profits. And so we now take a giant step backwards, and the new crack-down begins:
• Drug busts of 'magic mushrooms' went way up.
• Oregon’s drug decriminalization experiment appears dead. 
• Too few nurses, stretched too thin, and patients die: A widower joins with nurses to push for hospital staffing rules.
• It appears to be caused by the aftermath of an acute infection: ME/CFS study offers clues to chronic fatigue syndrome.
• Score another "win" for the idiot anti-vaxers: 6th child from same Florida school gets measles in outbreak.
• Keep safe: JN.1 takes over as the most prevalent COVID-19 variant.
  
• Wear your damn helmet: E-bike head trauma soars as helmet use falls.

Modern Life & Culture:

• Doonesbury Sunday cartoon (Damn you, CRT) censored by Gannett: Conservative Newspaper Conglomerate Banns ‘Doonesbury.’
• Worth looking up: How a law prof got a judge to rule that speeding cam tickets are unenforceable.
• And yet, they pay no taxes: Mormon church fined over scheme to hide $32 billion investment fund behind shell companies. 
• The hidden nature of depression: You’re not alone.
• Foreign bad guys trying to kill dissidents in America: DOJ says it has foiled 4 state-sponsored murder attempts since 2022.
• These are becoming more common: Beware of card skimmers.

Politics:

• Tightening their grip on women's bodies: Alabama Rules That Frozen Embryos Are 'Children'.
• Tightening their grip on workers: House Bill 500 Takes Away Kentucky Workers’ Lunch and Rest Breaks and Cuts Their Pay.
• Tightening their grip on education: Georgia bill would cut all American Library Association ties.
• Banning books isn't enough: West Virginia considers prosecuting librarians. 
• This has resulted in Montana's GOP legislators vowing to remove the Right To Privacy from the Montana Constitution: Montana judge declares 3 laws restricting abortion unconstitutional.

Law & Disorder

• Hide from school shooters, but shoot at the handcuffed black man in your back seat: Florida cop confuses acorn falling on his car with a gunshot and starts shooting at nothing.
• All Hail Our New AI Overlords: AI screw-up results in man being fined $400 for scratching his head. 
• And yet he faces no charges: Policeman Cody Wood spent a year falsely arresting people on DUI and drugs charges.

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February 16, 2024

Climate:

Scientists have been warning about possible "tipping points" in global climate change; not simply the point at which things become unrecoverable, but the point where things suddenly start to go to hell quite rapidly. We've known about this, as a world, a society, a nation, and a body of officials in power, for decades, and we've done: nothing. Because the people making money by destroying the planet have too much political power to overcome.

• World's first year-long breach of key 1.5C warming limit.
• Chart: Ocean Temperatures Are The Highest On Record.

Well, boys and girls, we may just now be heading into the maelstrom of global climate collapse, thanks to the human-caused disruption of The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC): A Tipping Point in Our Climate System.

What is the AMOC? It's part of the system of ocean currents (which includes the Gulf Stream) that brings warm water from the area around the Gulf Of Mexico all the way up and around the Atlantic, warming every part of the continent of Europe from Iceland to Spain. A disruption of these currents could give all of Europe a climate that is far colder than it enjoys today, as it has for millennia. The Gulf Stream is why the climate of Paris is lovely and the climate of Fargo is cold, even though Paris is further north.

Science & Tech:

• For causing disability, Long COVID in on a par with cancer.
• If you have one, get it serviced or replaced now: 561 deaths tied to recalled Philips sleep apnea machines.
• Longevity has its drawbacks: Why Ginkgo trees are lonely.
• Probably the best activity for anti-aging on the planet, Tai chi is better at reducing blood pressure than aerobic exercise.
• Our intuitive grasp of numbers, and how much richer the ultra-wealthy really are: One trillion seconds is about 30,000 years.
• New eyeglasses technology: Spiral-shaped lens provides clear vision at a range of distances and lighting conditions.
• Decades of Corporate Culture makes for great profits, and a lousy safety record. Boeing withdraws application for safety exemption for 737 MAX 7.
• Despite MAGA predictions and claims of dismal failure, Havre's electric school buses ace their test in subzero temperatures.

Modern Life And Culture:

• Respect. Yeah, man, it's true.
• Here we go again. Venezuela says it will annex most of Guyana—and all of that newly-found oil there.
• Semper Fi, unless you are overrun by little kids: US Marines Vs. Norwegian elementary kids in a snowballs fight.
• Why Predatory Student Loans Must Be Forgiven.
• If you play D&D, here's some adjustments you can make for a better game experience: Former Dungeons & Dragons designer Mike Mearls admits flaws in the game's Challenge Rating system.
• The Rich will cheerfully destroy the world and then retreat to their walled compounds: Mark Zuckerberg reportedly building a doomsday bunker in Hawaii. 
• Watching this video reinforces every single reason why I have absolutely zero interest in taking a luxury cruise. The NEW Biggest Cruise Ship in the World - Icon of the Seas.  It's basically "Live Like What A Poor Person Thinks A Rich Person Lives Like, For A Week Or So," and I just don't care. World's largest cruise ship sets sail on first voyage.
• Curing an Incurable medical condition, by doing some decent layman research: Dammit, Jim, I'm a draftsman, not a doctor.
• Good writer. Good advice. DAVID BRIN: Advice for New Writers.

Politics:

• Arizona just went Fascist: Proposed Bill Would Give Arizona Legislature Power to Overturn Presidential Popular Vote.
• The lying liar and his lies: Michigan GOP Watch on X: "T**** paid a non union shop in Clinton Township $20,000 to pretend he was addressing the United Auto Workers. 
• Stochastic Terrorism strikes again: Pro-T**** Republican candidate hired man to shoot Democrats after failing to win local elections.
• Self censorship induced by economic pressure: Authors ‘excluded from Hugo awards over China concerns’. And: The 2023 Hugo Awards: A Report on Censorship and Exclusion.  And: China meets expectations. Hugo on the other hand? 

Law & Disorder:

• Yes, you can still get busted: Marijuana Laws by State in 2024 [UPDATED].
• Real life taken directly from the plot of "The Milagro Beanfield War": Entire Town’s Newspapers Stolen On Day It Runs Story About Rape At Police Chief’s Home.
• Off-duty Omaha cops kill two men in alleyway.
• Ohio Commissioner Arrested for Criticizing Sheriff, Files Lawsuit.

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January 16, 2024

Science:

• Coronavirus FAQ: we are in another surge.
• Aaarr matey! Life on a 17th century pirate ship was less chaotic than you think.
• Otherworldly mini-Yellowstone found in the deep sea.
• Why U.S. streets are becoming deadlier for pedestrians.
• “Fentanyl exposure” is not a thing.
• Anti-Vaxxers Are Gargling with Iodine.
• Nanoplastics Discovered in Bottled Water.
• Ranked: The Foods With the Largest Environmental Impact.

Culture & Modern Life:

• Often this is the first step in a scam, or a setup for pickpockets: Beware of "bumping uncles" who deliberately ram into people at crowded stations in Japan. 
• Where does the H in "Jesus H. Christ" come from?
• victim of "cyber-kidnapping" found.
• eBay to pay $3M over harrassment charges.
• Cafe Du Monde Beignets copycat recipe.
• How to peel a pomegranate.
• Apple Watch pulled from shelves over patent ruling.
• Anyone in the market for a $16k 2021 Tesla with 80K+ miles?
• Wildfires were set by man who claimed they were a government conspiracy. 
• If you have to leave in an emergency, just grab your dirty laundry basket.
• Coaches high pay is one reason why college is unaffordable.

Politics:

• The Right Is Winning Its War on Schools.
• The five truths T**** hopes you will forget about January 6, 2021.
• The Russian propaganda ads of 2016.
• When the Klan runs the schools.
• Iowa refuses children's food assistance.

Law & Disorder:

• Police who lied to convict him face no charges: Michigan to pay $1.75 million to innocent man after 35 years in prison.
• Innocent man spends 44 years in prison.
• 50 years for a crime he didn't commit, and the state won't compensate him.
• Los Angeles Sheriff's deputy shoots and kills domestic violence victim who called 911 - and it's the second time he's done it.
• Police have unlimited warrantless access to Americans' medical records via Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid and other pharmacies.
• Paramedics who injected Elijah McClain with lethal dose of drugs found guilty of negligent homicide.
• Springdale officer shoots, kills attacking dogs, hits victim as well.
• Food Not Bombs of Houston TX police harassment has escalated to police violence -- Video.
• One of them was killed by a policeman on the highway, and "couldn't be identified." 215 people have been buried behind a Mississippi jail since 2016.
• Three migrants drown in Rio Grande after Texas blocks Border Patrol from rescue.

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December 23, 2023

Merry Christmas:

• Nicely done: Billie Eilish: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Live)
• In place of a Star on top of the tree, the Burning Eye Of Sauron: One Tree to rule them all.
• Was he a good boy this year? Oh, yes he was! Don't forget to tell Santa about your pets.

Science:

• Having your sinuses steam cleaned from the inside out is good for you: Wasabi linked to "really substantial" boost in memory.
• 'Bout damn time: FDA approves first genetic treatments for sickle cell disease.
• But they are so cute: The murderous cat you live with.
• I also want the Saber Tooth Tiger reintroduced: Wolves are returning to Colorado. But is it too crowded for them to thrive?
• It doesn't explain everything, but he has some points: Boomers and Generational Trauma.
• Erythritol: A new study says a widely-used artificial sweetener may cause heart problems.

Modern Life And Culture:

• "Panned" (sorry) by the critics, but loved: 'Hook' was once a movie musical by John Williams; here's the long-lost songs.
• Read the full Transcript of Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech.
• Look-alikes on the silver screen: Famous faces, playing famous faces.
• It's not that hard: A Guide to Understanding Gender Identity and Pronouns.
• It's way worse than you probably thought: Tesla blamed drivers for failures of parts it long knew were defective.
• Crested Butte stood up, and Gunnison caved: How a Colorado gas utility fought local action on climate change.
• Worth doing: Dropbox is sharing users' files with OpenAI, here's how to opt out.
• Let us all welcome the all-seeing eyes of our Benevolent Police Surveillance State: How Amazon's Ring camera network alters L.A. neighborhoods.
• The goal is to strip every dying American of every last penny: My grandmother died at home, just as she wanted. It cost $145,000.
• Customer Service: Alberta BMO customer on the hook after almost $10K disappeared from her account.

Politics:

• “Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition: there must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, and out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.” -- Frank Wilhoit. (This keeps getting credited to the wrong Frank Wilhoit.)
  
• It's now within the margin of error: Nikki Haley surges in poll to within four points of Republican leader T****.
• Dear Florida: do you feel freer now? 673 Books banned in Florida.
• Parliamentarian: "Israel will suffer the wrath of Allah." God: "Here's an instant heart attack on the assembly floor."
• The descent of America into a Dickensian Dystopia: Some states may finally stop stealing Social Security checks from foster children.
• Gee, guess why: Tech companies are losing interest in Texas.

Law & Disorder:

• Police: "We absolutely swear that our tear gas didn't make a house blow up. Again." Police ID suspect in Arlington, Va., house explosion.
• Like they did at Waco: The Siege at Waco: What Happened According to People There.
• Technology Assessment: Tear gas safety and usage practices.
• Lack of study and oversight raises concerns about tear gas.
• It’s Time to Stop the Use of Tear Gas Against Civilians.
• Tear Gas Is Way More Dangerous Than Police Let On.
• My Neighbor the Tear Gas Factory.
• 83-Year-Old Woman's Win in Police Brutality Case. 
• Shooter: hide. Book: attack! Massachussets police barge into school to search for a copy of "Gender Queer" book.
• The Texas GOP now owns women's bodies:
  
• Texas Attorney General threatens to prosecute over court-ordered emergency abortion of nonviable, life-threatening fetus.
• Texas Supreme Court blocks emergency abortion for woman whose life is threatened by nonviable fetus.
• Vermont man sues after being arrested for flipping off police. 
• How cops and politicians neutralized body-cams: footage is now routinely kept secret.
• Mother of 11-year-old boy shot by police wants release of police body-cam footage.
• Innocence is no excuse:
• Judge vacates Marvin Haynes’ nearly 20-year-old murder conviction.
• Judge vacates murder conviction of Chicago man wrongfully jailed for 35 years.
• Colorado town to pay $400k settlement to man falsely arrested for DUI.
• Exonerated after 48 years in prison.

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December 5, 2023

Science & Tech:

• How to make someone hear voices: The Frey Effect: Synthetic Telepathy
• This could be fun: Conversion kit to change petrol or diesel cars into EVs.
• Retrofit electric car wheel motors.
• Why does this grown woman sound like she's nine years old?
  
• Kelly Johnson's Toddler Voice: Nature or Evangelical Nurture?
• Speaker Johnson's Wife Kelly Sits Down with Kayleigh McEnany.
• Around the House with Michelle Duggar.

Health:

• The next one? Mysterious pneumonia outbreak leaves China's hospitals 'overwhelmed with sick children'
• Climate change = disease migration: 48 dead from mosquitoes in Colorado.
• Parkinson's May Be Caused by a Common Aquatic Bacterium.
• “A catatonic woman awakened after 20 years. Her story may change psychiatry.” (Her schizophrenia was an untreated autoimmune disease)
• Lead-tainted fruit snacks sicken dozens of children.
• It's not the olive oil: universal healthcare post.
• When visiting Vietnam, do not get into a bar fight. Man suffering from headaches surprised when doctors find chopsticks in his skull.
• Medical tourism gone very wrong: Washington Woman Jets to Mexico for Cosmetic Surgery, Wakes Up With Unwanted Breast Implants.
• As if buying NFTs as investments wasn't bad enough: Bored Apes Yacht Club party attendees suffer eye injuries.
• How hypothyroidism mystifies doctors and patients.
• Therapist: Pets are family.
• We've known this for decades: Bigger cars and trucks are leading to more pedestrian fatalities.
• US chemical industry likely spent $110m trying to thwart PFAS legislation.

History:

• 'Tis the season to remember the Donner Party - Wikipedia
• Lice DNA records the moment Europeans colonized the Americas.
• Antique engraved knives for singing Grace before dinner.
• In hiding: Secret room with Michelangelo's sketches on the walls opening in Florence.
• The “vice squad” arrest Ella Fitzgerald for singing to an integrated audience.
• The remarkable life of Sir Christopher Lee.
• A photo tour: A GI visits his old tour of duty just two years after WWII, with his new bride.
• Forgotten US history: St. Clair's defeat - Wikipedia
• Maybe Leonardo, maybe not: Controversial painting of a younger Mona Lisa.

Oh, those whimsical Billionaires:

• How to manage a big corporation in America.
• A story of managing Elon.
• Elon Musk to file ‘thermonuclear lawsuit’ as advertisers leave.
• An interesting take on the Twitter debacle.
• How has ex-twitter not been deplatformed yet?

Flying:

• Air Canada refused to divert for a passenger having a heart attack, and he died.
• Air Canada made a disabled man drag himself out of the cabin.
• Air Canada kicks customers off plane and adds them to no-fly list for refusing to sit in vomit-soaked seats.
• Air Canada was hacked, user info stolen. If you're a user, change your password.
• Air Canada served a bottle of water as the vegan meal on 10-hour flight.
• Lawsuit accuses Frontier Airlines of bogus baggage fees.
• Lost luggage: What do the airlines do with it? It gets sold, for super cheap.

Culture and Modern Life:

• Have you been "Pipped" yet? Performance improvement - Wikipedia.
• Young activists who won Montana climate case want to stop power plant on Yellowstone River.
• How debt can lead to prison.
• Citizens scare anti-LGBTQ+ neo-Nazi leader & his "training camp" out of town.
• DIY Hand Wiped Tinning of Old Copper Pots.
• Hunter shoots woman walking her dog.
• The Sewlo Artist.
• Egg producers collaborated to throttle supply, so they could raise prices.
• 'Squid Game: The Challenge' should never have been green-lit in the first place.
• Squid Game: The Challenge Contestants Threaten Lawsuit Over Injuries.

Politics

• This is how politics works. 
• Democrats who swept Moms For Liberty off school board fight superintendent's $700,000 exit deal.
• "Mom's For Liberty" are in bed with The Proud Boys.
• GOP Melts Down As Dick Durbin Uses Their Tactics For Advancing Biden Judges.
• J6 Riot: Uncovered Audio Reveals Oath Keepers' Intent.
• A City in Tennessee Banned Public Homosexuality.
• What happens when you piss off the wrong politician.

Herr Drumph's Fascist Plans: 

• T****'s Shocking Post-Election Military Crackdown Plan.
• T****'s plan: Revenge.
• "Sweeping Raids, Giant Internment Camps, And Mass Deportations."
• T*** Lawyer Threatens MSNBC Host with Gulag if T**** Wins.
• T**** allies pre-screen loyalists for unprecedented power grab.
• T****'s coup has not stopped. It's ongoing, and Project 2025 is waiting for him or whoever is the next Republican to take power.
• GOP senators feel ambushed by T****’s policy promises.
• T**** campaign official called for police suicides after Jan. 6 riot.
•  “You’re Telling Me That Thing Is Forged?”: How T****’s “Body Guy” Ordered a Massive Military Withdrawal.
• T**** Disclosed Trademarks in China and Russia After Leaving the Presidency.
• MAGA nuts call cops on school librarian.

Law & Disorder:

• School locks 11-year-old Texan boy in solitary after he asks for grief counseling.
• Seattle has new policy on police department ‘ruses’ and when it is permissible for officers to lie.
• Questions about Seattle Police disinformation and ‘chain of command’ during protest.
• Single mother evicted and left to pay for damages after police standoff with no one inside.
• Ex-Warren cop indicted in federal court after assault incident in June.
• Man asks NYPD cop to wear a mask. Cop beats him senseless.
• A "Goon Squad" of Mississippi Deputies got away with years of brutality.
• Two wrongfully convicted NYC men exonerated in one day.

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November 3, 2023

Science, Tech and Nature:

• Doomsday coming:
• ‘Gobsmackingly bananas’: scientists stunned by planet’s record September heat.
• A stunning but temporary lake has formed in California's Death Valley.
• Doomsday author’s analysis: We have destroyed our ecosystem – now we await the collapse of civilization.
• Humans have blown past key limits for Earth's stability.
• Humans Have Exceeded Six of the Nine Boundaries Keeping Earth Habitable.
• Shell earnings: Oil giant reports record annual profits.
• "We Created A Lot Of Value For Our Sharholders."
• How gas utilities used tobacco tactics to sell more gas stoves.
• Hikers killed by a bear in Banff sent one last message: 'Bear attack bad'
• Many medications have been tested to remain effective years or decades past expiration.
• I had no choice but to share this article about a new book that says free will is an illusion.
• Now in the USA: Tiny sand flies that spread disfiguring infection.
• Starting September 25, you can once again request free COVID tests via the mail from the CDC.
• Meet Nightshade, the new tool allowing artists to 'poison' AI models.
• Study finds 22-minute walk offsets mortality associated with sitting on butt all day.
• All USB-C cables are not created equally: USB-C head-to-head teardown.
• Sweaty Cortisol: No.1 Neuroscientist: Stress Leaks Through Skin, Is Contagious & Gives You Belly Fat.
• Selling your DNA Data to Big Pharma: 23andMe Is Selling Access to Consumer DNA Data.
• Tesla autopilot is killing people: Musk wants to use Tesla cameras to spy on drivers and win autopilot lawsuits.
• Easier ways to learn calculus and physics: Every calculus teacher should read this.

Food:

• Hot enough for ya? World's hottest pepper, Pepper X, is three times spicier than the Ghost Pepper.
• It's all about the Barley: More fiber in the diet may help boost levels of GLP-1, an Ozempic-like hormone.
• Raw mushrooms are mostly indigestible: Man learns uncomfortable lesson after under-cooked shiitake meal.
• Sort of a cross between Bannock Bread and Pan Forte: Survival Rations Inspired by History - Just 3 a day will keep you full of energy!

Culture:

• The indigenous tree climber who saved a burning sequoia – and became a living legend.
• Whatever happened to the Congressional bill to make DST year-around? Daylight saving 2023: Here are the states that want it to end.
• In case you need to know How to wash your marmot.
• It's magical: Black 4.0 is the blackest paint you can buy.
• Do not eat: Review of Brach's Turkey Dinner candy corn. Oh, the humanity.
• Scathing and fascinating: John Malkovich stars as 'The Music Critic,' skewering great classical composers.
• A good source for news: The Guardian.
• How badly I dance: "Balter": it's not much, but it's all I have.
• Tis the season to listen to The Santaland Diaries.
• She's still out there crushing it: Q&A With Heather “Anish” Anderson On Her Summer FKTs.

Modern Life:

• Utah Phillips - Two Bums.
• Facebook mistakes coding teacher for animal trader, bans him for life with no appeal.
• Alec Baldwin likely to be recharged with manslaughter after tests on gun suggest trigger was pulled.
• The Problem With Jon Stewart ending over AI and China coverage.
• Demolition company accidentally bulldozed wrong home.
• ‘It’s like a cemetery’: the trend turning San Francisco’s colorful houses ‘gentrification gray’.
• How an Algorithm Can Spread Hate.
• Management company empties wrong apartment then punishes victim with an eviction notice.

Politics and Creeping Fascism:

• Jacob Johns, 42, a Native American Climate Activist, Was Gunned Down By A T**** Supporter In New Mexico.
  
• Florida taxpayers to foot DeSantis' $4.5m legal bill against Disney.
• Jim Jordan Tried to Help T**** Mount a Coup. Now He Gets to Be Speaker?
• Dan Patrick keeps money tied to PAC leader but chides Nick Fuentes visit.
• Woman Says Deli Clerk Assaulted Her After Mistaking Her As Transgender.
• Cue the tell-all book deals in 3, 2, 1... Judge Issues Victory for Jessica Denson, Permanently Frees All 2016 T**** Campaign Workers From Illegal NDAs.
• Texas Republicans Ban Women From Using Highways for Abortion Appointments.
• Biden surges ahead of T**** with RFK Jr. in the mix, according to new poll.
• Angry parents are fighting back against Moms for Liberty's school board takeovers.

Law & Disorder

• FBI investigation of DEA flips professional switch, blows open culture of bribery and corruption.
• Spokane County Sheriff's deputy on paid leave after beating 62-year-old man so badly that jailers refused to book him.
• Man imprisoned 16 years for wrongful conviction fatally shot by Georgia deputy.
• Sask. asks court to penalize Anishinabe man over published jail torture videos.
• Escaped Pet Emu Strangled to Death by Arizona Sheriff's Deputies.
• Michigan officer on leave after killing Annie, the ‘friendly’ deer.
• "Questions linger" after Connecticut cops shoot man dead in his bed.
• Cop: not laughing at my joke question creates reasonable suspicion. Laughing at it creates reasonable suspicion too.

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October 1, 2023

Science:

• ​​​​​​​Irradiating Richard Nixon: The Moscow Signals Declassified.
• DNA Proves Leonard Mack’s Innocence After 47 Years of Wrongful Conviction.
• On track to discover treatments for long COVID.
• Contamination Turns The Iskitimka River beetroot red.
• How umami became the fifth taste and how it makes food irresistible.
• Not a surprise: Aliens" debunked and "Alien" Corpses Did Not Convince Scientists.
• An experimental cure for Autoimmune diseases: Inverse vaccine innovation.
• Isn't this the start of several Sci-Fi horror movies? Worm that jumps from rats to slugs to human brains has invaded Southeast US.
• Make smooth queso: Homemade sodium citrate = smooth cheese sauce.

Modern Life & Culture:

• Carrying less weight in you backpack is always better: Smallest possible butane-stove set-up? - Backpacking Light
• But then again, the outdoors can be "sporty": Rock climber fights off bear on mountain cliff edge - YouTube.
• So you could just bring the outdoors indoors, in miniature: Sagebrush Bonsai.
• Fighting the Good Fight: Books Unbanned | Seattle Public Library.
• And also: Former "South Park" writer mocks "Moms for Liberty."
• Our Corporate Overlords consolidate even more power over us: Twinkies maker Hostess Brands sold to J.M. Smucker for $5.6 billion.
• After listening to wacko Right Wing propaganda about vaccines, Cumberland man who murdered his brother & sister in-law is deemed "Incompetent to stand trial."
  
• Or they could, you know, like, PAY THEM a bit more, maybe? Colorado mountain towns where teachers can’t afford housing have a new solution: tiny homes built by teens.
• A very cool YouTube historian, with delightful videos, in costume: J. Draper - YouTube
• There are a few ways to protect yourself, but beware that Interstate moving company fraud is very common.
• This was all planned from the start, and carefully designed: Obedience, Oppression and Capitalism: the legacy of schools.
• Stochastic terrorism works. It's why a Q-anan dad snapped and killed his family.

Politics and Creeping Fascism:

• British Writer Pens A Scathing Description Of T****.
• Florida accepts conservative and Christian-backed test as alternative to the SAT.
• No More FORCED BIRTH.
• Anti-Trans Legislative Risk Assessment Map.
• This day, 2020, GOP admits fetuses are not children.
• T****'s Disgust With Wounded Veteran Sparks Fury.
• Why T****refused to wear COVID mask: it smudged his bronzer.
• Oy. It's just ... Oy. Pardons Granted by President Donald J. T**** (2017-2021)
• T**** Vows to Nullify the Constitution by Executive Order.
• The Right’s Assault on No-Fault Divorce Will Put More Women at Risk.
• Twitter removes protections for transgender users.
• Two California women were charged with murder after having stillbirths.
• "Let’s just flood the libraries": Mt. Juliet couple donates 500+ Christian books to schools amid book banning debate
• Thankfully, it's probably not going anywhere: Lauren Boebert celebrates passage of her amendment banning support for LGBTQ+ federal employees.

Law & Disorder:

• The widespread practice of police killing pets.
• Idaho Sheriff Won’t Return Library Books He Calls "Obscene."
• FBI abused surveillance law to snoop on protesters, donors.
• Florida girl, arrested and handcuffed by cops at age 6, diagnosed with PTSD.
• Off-duty officer shoots Houston neighbor through a closed door.
• Many federal inmates don't get medical care they need. Some don't survive.
• FBI investigate alleged abuse in Baton Rouge police building called 'Brave Cave'.
• French authorities must drop investigation into environmental photo-journalist.
• Alabama school band teacher was tased by police for not stopping performance.
• 2 Cleveland Cops Who Robbed People During Traffic Stops Sentenced To Prison.

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September 27, 2023
Some interesting Science stuff.

• Medicine:
• Mice given transporter viruses, loaded with telomerase genes, not only experience healthier aging with less disease, but also live 25% longer.
• This is probably not mushroom poisoning, which takes weeks to develop. A food pathogen which just happened to be hitchhiking on mushrooms is much more likely: Restaurant’s sushi roll blamed for poisoning 41 and killing 2 in Montana.
• Longitudinal analysis reveals high prevalence of Epstein-Barr virus associated with multiple sclerosis.
• Oregon State research shows hemp compounds prevent coronavirus from entering human cells.
• Groundbreaking Israeli cancer treatment has 90% success rate.
• Psychology:
• Learning Styles Debunked: There is No Evidence Supporting Auditory and Visual Learning.
• Autistic people are just as empathetic as anyone else, for the emotions and hardships they have experienced: Double empathy problem.
• Climate:
• The rape of resources for profit, the destruction of natural habitats for profit, and the burning of fossil fuels for profit: Two new scientific papers break down how the rich are destroying Earth.
• Much of the US will be an 'extreme heat belt' by the 2050s.
• Archaeology:
• The first evidence of large scale warfare, somewhere between 13,000 and 18,000 years ago: Jebel Sahaba.
• Varna Man and the Wealthiest Grave of the 5th Millennium BC.
• Perhaps 10,000 years old, a 4,000 km path from the Atlantic to the Pacific: South America's unknown ancient path.
• Native Americans adopted Spanish horses before colonization by other European powers.
• Geology:
• Evidence of the Storegga Tsunami, 8200 years ago: A (very) "Large-Scale" Marine Event in Mesolithic Northern Europe.
• Weird structures near Earth's core may be scars from a primordial interplanetary collision.
• Is the Yellowstone Supervolcano going to blow any second now? (Hint: no.) Questions About Supervolcanoes.
• New 'quasi-moon' discovered near Earth has been traveling alongside our planet since 100 BC.
• Biology:
• Production of spider silk fabrics will be a game changer for many applications, including clothing textiles, ultralight camping gear, and aviation: Synthetic biology and the rise of the 'spider-goats.'
• Physics:
• "Solid, Liquid, Gas," right? It's actually 27 different states: List of states of matter.
• Astrophysics:
• A solar flare could really mess us up: The 1859 Carrington Event.
• Oddball science history:
• "Hey guys, I've got a great idea: let's improve our military communications by launching 480 Million little 3/4 inch copper antennas into orbit." Project West Ford (1961).

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September 2, 2023

Science:

• Just part of life now, I guess; Coronavirus FAQS: What's up with the new variant? How long do boosters last?
• Learn the symptoms, act quickly: Stroke Informational
• Worms, possibly good?
• Hookworms successfully prevent type 2 diabetes in human trial
• Could Worms In Your Gut Cure Your Allergies?
• Worms, definitely bad: 
• ‘Oh my god’: live worm found in Australian woman’s brain in world-first discovery
• Emporer penguin colonies lost all chicks as sea ice melts
• As we learn that More US Dog Owners "Suspicious" Of Rabies Vaccines, it's a good time to point out what happens if your dog bites someone and your Veterinarian cannot provide a current valid Certificate Of Rabies Vaccination.
1. Your dog will immediately be tested for rabies. This is done by killing and decapitating the animal, and doing a biopsy on two parts of the dog's brain.
2. You get to pay the laboratory and vet fees for this.
   

Modern Life:

• Looking forward to watching Maestro. The trailer looks amazing: Bradley Cooper Transforms Into Leonard Bernstein. And, of course, two random "blogger / influencers" got all Gate-Keepy: Bradley Cooper criticized for his prosthetic nose in "Maestro". God Bless The Onion for "Leonard Bernstein’s Children Release Statement Confirming Father Wore Big Prosthetic Nose In Real Life."
• A Blast From The Past: Vivaldi Gloria at La Pieta, Venice.

Politics:

• Christian activist plans to defund public schools
• California store owner shot and killed over a Pride flag displayed in her shop
• Giuliani is liable for defaming Georgia election workers.
• DEFINITELY NOT A CULT: T**** Voters Trust Ex-President More Than Their Family and Friends
• Conservative Plan To Dismantle U.S. Government And Replace With T****'s Vision:
• Playbook | Project 2025 
• Policy | Project 2025
• 2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf
• T**** Media’s proposed merger partner Digital World faces collapse
• Winchester man to serve 9 years for planting bomb at Cedar Creek reenactment
• Fascism in action: how to silence anyone who opposes you. Live updates: TN legislature special session addresses safety, guns

Law & Disorder:

• Jurors award mom nearly $24 million after LA cops killed her son.
• Pregnant mother of two killed by Ohio officer.
• Aurora police kill a robbery victim.
• Bodycam video shows Ohio police killing a pregnant woman.
• Fort Wayne officer kills pedestrian, pleads guilty to "failure to yield."
• Trans woman wins landmark settlement after horrific jailhouse abuse.

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August 18, 2023

Science:

• CDC says summer COVID wave may have begun.
• Illinois COVID hospitalizations jump again: Maps show where it’s worst.
• COVID nails: these changes to your fingernails may show you've had coronavirus.
• Long COVID is linked to a gene in new research.
• Guide to Choosing the Right Color Temperature for LED Lighting.
• Researchers discover stardust sprinkled on a nearby asteroid.
• Chemists develop sustainable method to remove 'forever chemicals' from water.
• Critical Thinking list.
• The Whitest White Paint Ever Made Can Cool Surfaces.
• Astronomers Have Discovered a "Goldilocks Zone" planet.
• Room Temperature Superconductors are not quite, as such.
• How to be a programmer.

The Changing Planet:

• Hawaii on Fire.
• Rich investors exposed for trying to get Lahaina wildfire victims to sell land amid disaster.
• Naomi Klein | The Shock Doctrine.
• The Shock Doctrine - Wikipedia
• Post Katrina: High ground, high prices.
• Canada: mandatory fire evacuation airplane tickets are CA $303   $4,665.
  
• Judge sides with youth in Montana climate change trial, finds two pro-industry laws unconstitutional.
• Conservatives have already written a climate denial plan for T****'s second term.

Modern Life & Culture:

• For "Proud Boy" Enrique Tarrio:
• Blue PYLE-PRO Bullhorn: $49.
• Amber Oakley Sunglasses:  $136.
• 33 years in prison: PRICELESS. 
• "Washington's Gay General" is a fabulous look at the queerness of America's founding.
• HOA-foreclosed homes are auctioned off for a fraction of their value.
• First, give the homeless housing.
• The Onion strikes again, with an all-too-plausible headline:
  
• Florida Students Given Lifelike Dolls To Simulate Responsibility Of Owning A Slave.

The Creeping Christofascist State:

• German students learn about American propaganda in school.
• How librarians, kids and the country are paying for the ongoing rancor.
• Attorneys argue 1st-grade teacher shot in school is ‘workplace injury’ and just part of the HAZARDS OF 1^st GRADE.
• Evangelicals Are Now Rejecting 'Liberal' Teachings of Jesus As "Too Weak."
• A 'chilling' attack on press freedom.
• Indiana Republican Wins Primary Despite Being Jailed on Murder Charges.
• Houston school libraries to close, covert to "disciplinary centers."
• Trans patients sue hospital for giving their medical records to transphobic state AG.
• Prying into women's healthcare records, Idaho Republicans also issue a chilling threat.
• Child Dies on one of Abbot's Migrant Deportation Busses to Chicago.
• Keeping women in their place: killing no-fault divorce.
• Coming soon, to a red state near you: Taliban burn musical instruments.

Law & Disorder:

• Karl Ashanti Defended the NYPD, Then He Was Arrested.
• 2023: 3.1 people killed every day by cops. So far.
• Six white Mississippi police officers who enjoyed sexually torturing two Black men and shot one in the mouth plead guilty.
• A police officer beat a trans man, for having a car air freshener.
• Video Verdict reached in trial against Colorado police officer who abandoned his prisoner to be hit by a train.
• Arkansas deputy shoots at small dog but hits woman instead.

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July 28, 2023

The Congressional Hearings on UFO / UAP phenomenon were sorta weird. As expected, there was a lot of "I can't talk about that" because it's STILL CLASSIFIED.
People talked "around" information instead of divulging any, and much of the discussion was over how information is "handled" -- that is, kept from Congress.

Science:

• In mental health news, here's an excellent program from Hidden Brain, on The Paradox of Pleasure. It turns out that dopamine pursuit can lead to addiction, even when it does not involve substance abuse. Recovery and a dramatic improvement in quality of life is possible: The Path to Enough.

• A while back I read an article about the LEDs From Dubai: The Royal Lights You Can’t Buy. They have an astonishing lifespan, because they use more filaments driven at lower wattage to generate the light, thus preventing overheating and filament shock from cycling. Sadly, most LED bulbs sold in the US are cheap and flickering, with a lifespan of 15k hours or much less -- which nobody tries to collect on, because they are cheap and we expect them to have a dismally high failure rate. Have LED Bulbs Reached Their Final (and Cheapest) Form?

This got me wondering: What Happened To The 100,000-Hour LED Bulbs?  And, do US-marketed bulbs which use more filaments (for a given wattage) have a longer lifespan? Why yes, as a mater of fact, they do, lasting up to 30k hours. And they usually have a much higher Color Rendering Index (cri) which looks far more lifelike and pleasing to the eyes. For high quality, bulbs with one filament per watt seem to prevail.

Here's a listing of what I found, stating with the best of the best:

• Yansun 10w - 10 Filaments (1800 Lumens = 115 watt equivalent) 90 cri, 2700k (warm white), 30k hours,$7.25 ea

Some other great bulbs:

• Brimax 4w - 4 filament (380L=35) 80 cri, 2700k, 30k hours, $3.17 ea
• Brimax 6w - 6 filament (600L=50) 80 cri, 2700k, 30k hours, $3.34 ea
• Brimax 8w - 8 fialment (800L=60) 80 cri, 2700k, 30k hours, $3.75 ea
•  I just ordered these: MAXvolador 13w frosted (1500=95) 85 cri, 4000k (neutral white daylight), 25k hours, $2.82 ea and they are really excellent. The improved color and "naturalness" of the high CRI is a revelation.
  

• One of my all time favorite songs: The Galaxy Song - Monty Python Live in O2 Arena. With a lovely cameo by an unexpected guest, or two.
• Learn them, resist them: Techniques of Science Denial.
• Sadly, thy didn't keep track of them: USSR Sprinkled Over 2,500 Nuclear Generators Across The Country.
• This sounds like the plot of a bad Sci-Fi movie: Why There May Be Parts Of An Ancient Planet Inside Earth.
• Alas, the "CSI Effect" has led us all to believe that this was a forensic gold-standard: Study Reveals Unreliability of Bitemark Analysis in Trials.
• It always worked, and we thought we knew how: Everyone Was Wrong About Reverse Osmosis—Until Now.
• Kratom at the center of a spate of wrongful death lawsuits. Granted, the deaths involve using concentrates, and clear substance abuse. Similarly, caffeine will kill, too. But we can count on politicians jumping on this and banning it forthwith.
• 'Bout damn time: Lung damage in countertop makers is leading to safety measures in California.
• There's lots I didn't know about CuNiFe & Cobalt Chrome Guitar Pickups.
• Doors opening into the universe: Scientists Find the Gravitational Wave Background.
• "Older" (over 30) mothers are always warned about the higher risk of Down's syndrome in pregnancy. But old dads? Hardly ever a mention: The influence of paternal age on down syndrome.
• It turns out that surviving the 1918 Influenza Epidemic has perks: Why some folks never got sick from COVID: It could be in their genes.

Climate:

• Earth Could Feasibly Descend Into Climate Chaos, Physicists Warn.
• A shifting ocean current shows the planet is changing faster than we understand.
• Could wild horses save us from wildfires?
• 101.1 degree sea temperature in Florida a global record if confirmed.
• Graph reveals terrifying trend of Antarctic sea ice loss.
• More hikers found dead as heatwave persists.
• Phoenix, Arizona: 19 days over 110 degrees and counting.  

Modern Life & Culture:

• Know anyone who got one of those "Hi, Grandma, it's me!" calls, asking for money? Imposter scams are the top U.S. fraud.
• It's illegal to say this in Florida, but Black People in the US Were Enslaved Well into the 1960s.
• One of the best in the country, with recipes: Tartine Bakery.
• Nixon fretted, but Reagan's handlers acted decisively: Student debt exists to destroy public education.
• Tip: just don't. If you have a strong stomach, do a search (with "safe search" off) for "Fireworks Injuries." Here are some safety tips for July 4th fireworks.
• The abusive kid's "boot camp" industry needs to be shut down completely: "Suck it up": no charges after 17-year-girl dies in agony of untreated infection at Utah's Diamond Ranch Academy.
• Pretty, and not that hard: How to Braid: 3- 4- 5- 6- 7- 8- and 9-Strand Bread Loaves.
• He's a wonder. These videos are beautiful to watch, calm, patient, methodical, soothing: One man Japanese timber-framing: Mr. Chickadee.
• I'm still fighting the battle: Beginner's Sourdough Bread | The Perfect Loaf.
• The modern culture of normalized narcissism: New Jersey man cuts down 32 of his neighbor's trees to get better view, thinking the fine would be $32,000. Turns out he's on the hook for nearly $2 million.
• Good fun, and some inspiring recipes: 50 Pies, 50 States: An Immigrant's Love Letter to the United States.
• I wanted this, just because it looks so cool: 1920 "Auto Red Bug" Buckboard. It sold for $8,100, in Elmhurst, Illinois.
  
• Still troublesome and leaky, but beautiful and inspiring: Taking the Geodesic Dome further: Trillium Domes.
• Hint, they're lying: Why Is Every Man On Dating Apps Suddenly "In Therapy"?
• I was thinking about a Tesla, until Elon's actual personality started to be revealed; Tesla has an entire "Customer Service Team" that cancels service appointments for their bogus range estimates.
• The videos of Simone Giertz are great fun, and she's just lovable. Here's the artists behind the music: The Westerlies. And here's her store: Yetch.
• A very ambitions "hike" that I'm way too old for: Exploring the Sangre de Cristo Range Traverse.
• Cool, and probably useful for caterers that have visually-focused clients: VEGETABLE SHEET CUTTER | is this the next spiralizer?
• We used to have laws against child labor exploitation: 16-year-old worker dies in Mississippi poultry plant accident.
• It's complicated, but decency and respect requires recognition: Defining LGBTQIA+

Politics:

• If you've never seen this, it's illuminating. The "scale" is almost inconceivable: Wealth, shown to scale.
• Nuclear weapons: Why reducing the risk of nuclear war should be a key concern of our generation.
• South Carolina Republicans Basically Want to Make It Illegal to Utter the Word Abortion.
• It's all about hatred of Liberals.
• Education, Energy, IRS, and Commerce: DeSantis will eliminate four federal agencies if elected.
• Furious judge slams Montana for defying court orders in trans rights case.
• Colorado governor issues executive order to protect abortion access.
• Teaching violence by those in power: A Missouri school district reinstated spanking.
• Megachurches growing as smaller churches close.

Law & Disorder:

• Kiss your privacy and your freedom goodbye: Mom pleads guilty to abortion after FaceBook / Meta gives her messages to cops.
• One of those Sheriffs who thinks HE IS THE LAW: Sacramento Sheriff is sharing license-plate data with anti-abortion states.
• There is a modern-day phenomenon of "Constitutional Sheriffs" who believe they are above the law, and entitled to supersede all laws and other agencies within their jurisdiction.
  
• HALF of US Sheriffs believe that their authority is above State and Federal Government.
  
• It's not just in America: "Bugger it": Australian cop tases and kills 95-year-old woman with dementia in her care home.
• Multiple David Sosas Ask Supreme Court To Overturn Decision Saying It’s Fine To Arrest ANY David Sosa When Cops Are Seeking A SPECIFIC David Sosa. But it's unlikely that they will overturn Baker v. ZMcCollan, which ruled that getting arrested and held at length, just because you have the same name as a suspect, "does not violate your constitutional rights."
  
• Hint: the USA is not #1: Freedom Index by Country 2023.
• Raking in the money: Judge: Kansas Highway Patrol ‘waged war on motorists,’ violated constitutional rights.
• It takes time, but sometimes, we get justice: New York to pay $13.7m to people beaten by police during protests.
• He's not the first: Forensic scientist fabricated evidence that sent men to jail.

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June 18, 2023

Science:

• Is it over? Not quite yet, but it's better -- finally: US Coronavirus Statistics.
• Hint: Nope. Is Stockholm Syndrome even real?
• I mean, how complicated could it be? Friendly Neighboorhood Biologist talks about the science of gender.
• Oh. That's really complicated: 13 genders: the five chromosomes & eight genes of human biological sex.
• Where will you be? Overview | 2024 Total Eclipse.
• Socialize the cost of being the richest 0.0008%: Private jets make up nearly 20% of US flights but only pay for 2% of FAA funding.
• 'Tis the season to get your blood sucked by diseased vermin: Killing ticks in residential washers and dryers.
• Shelter for festivals, Burning Man, emergencies, and backyard fun: The Hexayurt Project.
• Oh my dear, were you home schooled? US Town Rejects Solar Panels Because They 'Suck up All the Energy From the Sun'.
• The skyrocketing costs of Global Climate Disruption: State Farm no longer accepts homeowner insurance applications in California. 

Culture and Modern Life:

• The Schrodinger paradigm applies to so many things:
• Schrodinger's Democrats.
• Schrodinger's Douchebag.
• Schrodinger's Immigrant.
• It used to be "Duck & Cover." Now it's "Run & Hide." Winnie the Pooh teaches kids what to do during an active shooter.
• $50 Billion in Wage Theft by employers dwarfs all other theft.
• Protecting schoolkids from the words of a brilliant young black woman: Amanda Gorman is 'gutted' by school district's decision to restrict her 'The Hill We Climb' poem.
• The first rule of harassing women: persecute women who come forward. Woman reporter publishes article about harassment, gets attacked.
• Multiple women accuse Eric Spofford of sexual misconduct.
• And here you thought Tide Pods were bad: Kids die from the "Blackout Challenge."
• Giant hammers, anyone?  Specialty series percussion equipment. 
• Be very careful who you criticize: And another one bites the dust.
• Those lists were kept in a perfectly safe bathroom at Mara Lago: American assets "are dying by the dozens" -- CIA article.

The road to Republican Fascism:

• Growing fast: Here's a list of Republican 2024 presidential candidates.
• Make Americans Starve Again: Republicans Declare Banning Universal Free School Meals a 2024 Priority.
• ACLU sues Idaho for "unprecedented" gender-affirming care ban.
• What's coming: Christian reconstructionism.
• Like, for example, "Non-Christians must be denied citizenship." Here are 25 quotes by Christian Dominionist leader Gary North.
• And who started it: Lee Atwater's Infamous 1981 Interview on the Southern Strategy. Or, the text, if you'd rather: Text of Lee Atwater’s Southern Strategy.
• It always comes back to Reagan.
• In a state famous for heat stroke worker deaths: Texas workers' water break rules will be eliminated.
• Rape, Incest Victims Must Show Proof to Get Exception to Florida's New Abortion Ban.

Law & Disorder:

• Aderrien Murry: 11-year-old Mississippi boy who was shot by responding police officer after calling 911 is released from the hospital. 
• Heart transplant recipient dies after his lifesaving medication is withheld in Florida jail.

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May 25, 2023
 
The rapid rise of Republican Fascism, masquerading as Christianity:

Florida:

• Florida State enforcers walk into libraries and confiscate thousands of books.
• Know your risk level wherever you travel.
• The Casey DeSantis Problem: ‘His Greatest Asset and His Greatest Liability.’
• DeSantis engineers huge "Anti-Woke” Giveaway To Big Wall Street Donors.
• Ron DeSantis signs bill to shut down Disney World's monorail.

Montana:

• Montana sued over law "banning downloading TikTok within it's borders."
  
• Montana governor signs climate change analysis-ban into law.
• New Montana law makes it illegal for people in drag to read to children; first law of its kind in U.S.
• Montana governor signs law saying "sex" can only be defined as male or female.
  
• Montana just passed a law mandating the lowest minimum wage in the US: New laws for 2023.

And Everywhere else:

• An anti-obscenity law from 1873 was discarded for decades. Now the anti-abortion movement wants it back.
• Alabama's Senator Tuberville on white nationalists: "I call them Americans"
• Gun-loving Texas, where most households own a firearm, has become an epicenter of mass shootings.
• Texas AG to investigate Austin children’s hospital over transgender care for minors.
• Proud Boys are planning Pride Month violence. 
• The rapid decline of America's economy for everyone but the rich, after Ronald Reagan.
• In his Second Term, T**** Wants To Control Every Facet of Life in America.”
• The four mental pillars of T**** supporters.
  
• Buying pardons from T**** and Guliani.

Respite from the news:

• Ahead of 100th Anniversary, Route 66 Will Get Much-Needed Upgrades.
• SNL does "Scottish Air Traffic Control."
• The top five singing dogs: Studio woofers.
• The death cap mushroom can be lethal. Now there's new hope for an antidote. 
• 2 people were hurt in a bee attack. What to do if it happens to you.
• Experimental cancer treatments can be tantalizing. Here's how to assess them.

Law & Disorder:

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May 12, 2023

Science:

• Vikings!
• A massive effort to sequence the DNA of Vikings across Europe has been published. The study revealed family histories of Vikings who set forth—and died—far from home.
• What Was Viking Hygiene Like? Vikings on the Thames (from The Times, UK).
• Stupid sexy Vikings...
• Researchers discover a potential cause of Parkinson’s disease.
• She ripped up her manicured lawn, and challenged the norms of gardening. 
• Monocytes and the neurological health of Long-Covid Patients.

Culture and Modern Life:

• The best investigative journalism out there today: Episodes Archive - Reveal
• Starbucks will close its last stores in Ithaca amid ongoing labor dispute. 
• Diving into the anti-sunscreen movement.

• Texas man killed fake parking attendant then resumed date.

Politics:

• We need to talk about Marianne Williamson.
• Elementary school teacher in Texas under fire for teaching students their Constitutional rights.
• If you paid U.S. taxes, here's where your money went. 
• T****'s ‘MAGA movement’ widely unpopular, new poll finds.
• Missouri is about to force trans adults & teens to detransition. The ACLU is suing.
• Bill would ban the teaching of scientific theories in Montana schools.
• Disney sues DeSantis: Lawsuit claims political effort hurt business for Florida resort.
• DeSantis loses his cool with a reporter after being challenged over claims he witnessed torture while working at Guantanamo Bay.
• NC House leaders back bill allowing healthcare workers to turn away patients for 'moral' reasons.
• Nebraska Democratic lawmaker under investigation because she has a trans child.
• Alabama Gov. forces state education director to resign over "woke" teacher training book.
• Jonathan Mitchell devised a Texas abortion ban that relies on civil lawsuits.
• Oklahoma governor wages war on PBS station after claiming it is indoctrinating children with LGBTQ content.

Law & Disorder -- and politicians weaponizing the police:

• Video: Father's unlicensed ear piercing on son triggers bizarre police showdown in Arkansas. 
• DeSantis's Election Police target voters of color: "voting is dangerous." War on democracy.
• Massachusetts deputy chief indicted for raping a student while serving as a School Resource Officer.  Not a Drag Queen...
• The Police are like a Box of Chocolates.
• Remember when Republicans said they wouldn't prosecute mothers? They lied.

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April 25, 2023

Science and Tech"

• Very good advice, in this era of weekly toxic train derailments: If any part of the air around you has a color of any kind, run.
• Humans started wearing clothes as early  as 170,000 years ago: Origin of Clothing Lice Indicates Early Clothing Use by Anatomically Modern Humans in Africa.
• We all face the possibility of becoming climate refugees, overnight: Much of the US will be an 'extreme heat belt' by the 2050's.
• Fires, floods, and drought:  How melting ice due to climate change is having surprising global effects.
• This is shocking news and it may cause a wholesale reevaluation of prescribing practices: Scientists find no evidence for Low Serotonin-Caused Depression, or chemical imbalance depression.
• Can eating burnt foods cause cancer?
• Intranasal Capsaicin Rapidly Relieves the Pain of Migraine.
• BZ, a chemical warfare nerve agent, causes frightening hallucinations lasting for days to weeks.
• Well-Preserved "Glassified" Brain Cells Found in Vesuvius Victim.
• The eleven-year (1915-1926) worldwide epedemic of Encephalitis lethargica.
• Making a comeback: rewilding archaeic species in Europe gets a £4m funding boost.
• Critical elements of leading Alzheimer’s study possibly fraudulent.
• New Understanding of Earth’s Architecture: Updated Maps of Tectonic Plates.
• Ozempic is the new weightloss wonder drug.
• CDC COVID Data Tracker: Daily and Total Trends.
• The hard truth about what it’s like to die from covid.
• Joe Duggan asked the world's top climate scientists how they felt about climate change. They responded. Is this how you feel?
• ‘A silver lining’: how Covid ushered in a vaccines golden era.
• Newly Discovered mineral; 'crystal-like matter' hidden in a chunk of fossilized lightning.

Tech:

• Wearable tech can detect COVID-19 before onset of symptoms.
• A Computer Generated Swatting Service Is Causing Havoc Across America.
• You can purchase prescription lenses online for a fraction of the price (without renewing your prescription).
• Ink tank printers are way cheaper than laser printers and last just as long.

Culture & Modern Life:

• Among the eight Uniformed services of the United States, I was surprised to learn that they include the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps.
• The Dark Side of the "CSI effect": "Eagle," the cadaver-sniffing wonderdog, and the handler that planted evidence.
• Never give up. Just keep not giving up at a somewhat slower pace: Three guys in their 60's and 70's pursued their dream on the PCT. 
• This one just tickled me: We Will Rock You - The Squirrels.
• It's shockingly easy to say "Zombie Zone Ahead": How to hack an electric road sign.
• The statistics for SUV and big Pickup Truck drivers who roll over their own kids, in their own driveways, is heartbreaking: SUV Blind Zones: the tragic cost of satisfying drivers' egos.
• How To Spot a Really Good Art Forgery.
• Rachel Pollack dies — the science fiction and comics writer reimagined tarot.
• Judge issues civil arrest warrant for Ammon Bundy, who has ignored St. Luke's lawsuit for nearly 1 year.
• Supreme Court hears a case about whether the intention behind threats matters. 

Food:

• Fussy, but amazingly tasty: The dark art of growing Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb.
• I was lucky enough to meet Basque sheepherders in the Colorado Rockies as a kid. They were cool guys, calm, polite, isolated -- and very good cooks: Basque Sheepherder's Recipes.
• And you thought tuna noodle casserole was a throwback: Mesopotamian Wildfowl Pie – Silk Road Gourmet.

The tightening noose of Christofascism: 

• Pregnant Women Can't Get Divorced in Missouri.
• What it's like to be a whistleblower in a Fascist state -- like Florida: Rebekah Jones on Twitter: "My family is not safe. My son has been taken on the gov's orders, and I've had to send my husband and daughter out of state for their safety. THIS is the reality of living in DeSantis' Florida. There is no freedom here. Only retaliatory rule by a fascist who wishes to be king."
  
• The language used by contemporary Christian warriors.
• Matt Gaetz wants to segregate students from their peers who take mental health medication.
• Llano County Texas will close their library after Federal judge orders banned books returned to circulation.
• The Texas Senate Just Voted To Destroy Its Public Universities.
• Iowa Senate Pulls All-Nighter to Roll Back Child Labor Protections.

Politics:

• Clarence Thomas has been claiming thousands of dollars annually from a defunct real estate firm.
•  Appeals court upholds 'obstruction' charge used against hundreds of Jan. 6 rioters.
• Florida bill allows concealed weapons carry without a permit.
• Ron DeSantis' $100m for Florida "Private Army" Raises Questions.
• Politicians are right about the ‘decline of the west’ – but so wrong about the causes.
• Musk's Twitter is no longer policing Russian and Chinese state-backed media.
• Judge sanctions Fox News' lawyers for lying about evidence in Dominion case.
• My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell ordered to follow through with $5 million payment to expert who debunked his false election claims.
• The EARN IT Bill Is Back, Seeking To Scan Our Messages and Photos.
• Republican Who Voted to Kick Out Tennessee 3 Are Accused of Sexually Harassing a Teen Intern.

Law & Disorder

• Oh, that unforgivable  "passive voice" journalists use while writing about the police.
  
• Mentally ill man froze to death in Alabama jail. "Jailers Murder Inmate."
  
• Fired Louisville officer whose shot killed Breonna Taylor hired as deputy. "The Cop Who Killed Breonna Taylor Just Got Hired As A Deputy."
  
• N.Y. woman kidnapped on her birthday is found dead and the suspect is injured after a police shootout. "Police kill woman while shooting at her kidnapper."
  
• Montana Sheriffs Helped David Barsotti Get Away With Murder.
• Daniel Perry made racist comments and threats before before killing Austin protester. Texas GOP Governor Abbot wants to pardon him anyway.
• Florida Prosecutor's 'Racism Policy' Leaked.
• 20 police officers across California face possible decertification.
• Police arrest Montana capitol protesters supporting a silenced trans lawmaker.
• Governor Ron DeSantis Pushes For Executions With An 8-4 Jury Vote.
• Oklahoma Sherrif recorded talking about killing journalists and lynching black people.
• Police detain man for carrying table salt.

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March 31, 2023

Science and Tech:

• Scientists warned a decade ago Americans were dying younger. It's much worse now.
• Note the special committee the NFL formed, to lie about concussions: Concussions in American football.
• Could 'a been worse. A LOT worse: July 2012 solar storm.
• Heart Attack symptoms might be quite different than you expect.
• Leaked 'Vulkan Files' reveal Russia's cyberwarfare operations.
• TIL: Plants uptake prions from contaminated soil and transmit it to animals. And also, Grass plants bind, retain, uptake and transport infectious prions.
• If you can't sleep, just relax. Waking rest is still rejuvenating. Based on the "power nap" segment in MythBusters (2013 season).
• This dude has ultrasonic dog repellent on his bike.
• Bed Bugs- What You've Been Told is Totally False. TLDR: use diatomaceous earth. Wash stuff and dry it at high heat.
• Pet prosthetics: We have the technology.
• Biologist spots Yellowstone National Park’s first grizzly bear of 2023.
• Approaching Bright Comet in August 2024.
• Ancient Roman Concrete Has 'Self-Healing' Capabilities.
• TikTok has your data even if you've never used it.

Modern culture and life:

• The song all Americans need to know by heart: Lift Every Voice.
• Tolerance is not a moral position. It's a social contract. Eloquently said!
• Historically, taverns kept a special hot poker in the fireplace, just for this purpose: The History Of Beer Poking.
• Don't dump on someone in pain: Recognizing "Toxic Positivity": Your negative feelings are valid.
• Bans don't work: Drag Queens are awesome!
• Doctor Who almost got canceled during the pandemic.
• Teen who lost half her brain when very young shows the power of neuroplasticity.
• Blanket NDAs are illegal. Feel free to blab.
• Mass evictions are coming.
• Fake job listings to placate overworked employees: All starting to make sense.
• It's all coming apart at Faux News: Rats deserting a sinking ship.
• BBC won't broadcast Attenborough episode on destruction of wildlife over fear of right-wing backlash.
• USA schools are now a dystopian mess.
• The seeds of Faux News propoganda.

Politics:

• George Santos Signals Next Potential Grift: Running For Reelection.
• Don’t most rich republicans have undocumented workers at home? Like gardeners and nannies?
• More evidence on Reagan's handlers prolonging the Iran Hostage Crisis to influence the 1980 election. The bombshell after Watergate.
• Kevin McCarthy directs GOP committee heads to run interference for T****.
• Which senators receive the most NRA money? Where does your senator rank?

Encroaching Christofascism:

• Anti-trans Legislative Digest: Drag Bans, Bounty Hunters, And More.
• Idaho bill prohibits travel to another state to get an abortion: Interstate Medical Travel Restricted by Idaho.
• Arkansas joins the Nation Of Gilead: Criminalizing libraries.
• Desantis Administration goes after Hyatt Regency for hosting "A Drag Queen Christmas".
• Workers at a gender clinic kept spreadsheet of patients they thought were "not really" trans, and leaked it to conservative politicians.
• Florida Republican's Bill Would Ban Young Girls From Discussing Their Periods In School.
• Kentucky anti-trans de-transition bill passes.
• Texas "Drag Bounty Hunter" bill enables anyone to sue hosts and performers -- up to ten years later.
  
• Missouri House defunds libraries.
• Idaho bill enables private militias.
  
• High school theater: the next battleground in the culture war?
• MT Republicans ban drag.
• Texas man sues his ex-wife's friends for helping her obtain an abortion.
• Trans Children Were the Beginning. The GOP Is Coming for Adults Now.

Law & Disorder:

• Just what we need, another policing panic: New 'sextortion' documentary includes disputed and overhyped claims.
• Mississippi Sheriff has "no reason to suspect foul play" after young man found decapitated.
• NC police officer resigns after jaywalker assault.
• Virginia deputies among those charged in Irvo Otieno's death at mental hospital.
• Police stopped a Black couple in Tennessee – and took their children.
• 71 Year Old Deaf Passenger Has Arm Broken By Police During Austin Airport Layover.
• LA Sheriff’s Department Has Gang Members at ‘Highest Levels'.
• Michigan department's first female cop alleges relentless harassment.
• Autopsy reveals anti-'Cop City' activist's hands were raised when killed.
• You mean, like, "Innocent?" Officers kill man "with no active warrants" at wrong house.
• 11 East Cleveland PD cops have been indicted on criminal charges for their atrocious conduct while on duty. These managed to successfully capture themselves on their own bodycams committing an array of crimes that included ramming into victims with their patrol cars.

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March 7, 2023

Science & Tech:

• Secret crawlspace cryptomine discovered in routine inspection of MA high school.
• People in their right minds will appreciate this: In McGilchrist: One Head, Two Brains.
• Explorer Searches for Remains of Slave Ships.
• These Divers Search For Slave Shipwrecks and Discover Their Ancestors.
• But "some questions remain": U.S. Intelligence: foreign rivals didn't cause Havana Syndrome.

Modern Life:

• Modern corporate dystopia: VW: "We know the location of the kidnapped child, but we won't tell you unless you pay the subscription fee."
• Why CRT needs to be taught: Black married couples face heavier tax penalties.
• And another T**** supporter bites the dust: Newspapers drop Dilbert comic strip after a racist rant by creator Scott Adams.
• What happens when someone accidentally drives into a (real) CIA "Training Town" off the maps: Welcome to Nightvale.
• Fragile masculinity strikes again: The Southern Baptist Convention ousts 5 woman-led churches.
• Saving money, corporate style: Leaked audio reveals US rail workers were told to skip inspections.
• Just in case you were wondering what the heck is going on here: A brief history of J.K. Rowling’s transphobia.
• Too bad they don't believe in vaccines: Anti-LGBTQ+ university's revival meeting turns into measles superspreader event.

The Distinctive Scent of Fascism in the air:

• Police Are Getting Help From Social-Media Sites to Prosecute People for Abortion.
• South Carolina Bill Would Subject Those Obtaining Abortions to Death Penalty.
• Army of pro-T**** bots attack 2024 rivals and manipulate information.
  
• Especially in Montana:
• Montana Republicans Want to Ban People Vaccinated for COVID From Donating Blood.
• Montana "Ban Trans" bill SB458 prohibits gender changes to birth certificates, drivers license changes, death certificates.
• Montana House Passes Right To Bully Trans Kids.
• Montana wants to make adultery a felony. And also teaching any "scientific theory."
• Judge ends Montana's trans sports ban for violating state constitution.
• Paving the Pandemic Highway: The Montana Republican Party is broken.
• And then there's Florida:
• Banning political opponents is yet another facet of fascism.
• Flordia just passed law allowing kidnapping of trans children -- even if they are in a different state.
• Florida Bill Would Allow Courts to Take Custody of Kids With Trans Parents.

 Law & Disorder:

• DIsabled woman dies of stroke in back of cop car after being arrested for refusing to leave hospital.
• 99% of what police do could be done far cheaper and safer by someone else: Reallocate police funding!
• Official report condemns police gangs within Los Angeles Sheriff's Department.

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February 24, 2023

Science, Tech  & History:

• Of the 8 known grizzly / polar bear hybrids, all of them are descended from the same mother polar bear.
• Recent Hybridization between a Polar Bear and Grizzly Bears in the Canadian Arctic.
• Which Flowers Offer the Greatest Reward for Pollinators.
• Drug synergies and dangers.
• The earliest swords known in the world (3300 BCE) - Arslantepe Mound in Turkey, arsenic-copper alloy.
• Florida History: "The Cross Florida Barge Canal.”
• Written by a wise chemist: "Things I Won't Work With."
• Chlorine Trifluoride : The Compound That Can Set Fire to Glass
• Enormous Dinosaur Footprints Discovered in Texas Riverbed Dried by Drought.
• Scientists Have Discovered a New Set of Blood Groups.
• The Universe Is Not Locally Real, and the Physics Nobel Prize Winners Proved It. Sorta.
• Antioxidant content of 3100 foods, beverages, spices, herbs and supplements.
• Packing Aerogel With Uranium: A New Space Engine Design.
• (Hint: They cheat, and get away with it.) Psychopaths Appear to Possess a Mysterious Evolutionary Benefit.
• Could Alzheimer’s be caused by an infection?
• PFAS in School Uniforms.
• New vaccine targets life-threatening fungal infections.
• Potential for profits gives Rice lab’s plastic waste project promise.
• New energy source: Not so climate or cancer friendly.

Modern Life:

• Norfolk Southern.
• More Norfolk Southern stuff.
• Arieal photo of the East Palestine chemical fire.
• T**** Reverses Train-Braking Safety Rules for Oil Tankers.
• "Family Jewels" Operations by the CIA - Wikipedia.
• Symphonic ensemble size, 1775 to Today.
• How many people buy a house with cash?
• "Yo-yo" car dealer scams.
• Bank of America Memo: “We Hope” Worker Power Worsens.
• Using AI, every US president as a Pixar character. 
• "Pixar Presidents" - larger version.

Politics:

• Musk restricts Starlink for Ukraine, cites World War III.
• Putin Plans to Take Over Belarus by 2030.
• Youngkin opposes effort to shield menstrual data from law enforcement.
• Tennessee House passes bill that would ban public drag shows.
• The party of "Family Values."
• Idaho bill to criminalize providers of COVID vaccines introduced.
• T**** 2024: Use Firing Squads, Group Executions for Death Penalty.
• Not to be outdone, now Ron DeSantis Wants More Death Penalty Sentences in Florida.
• Because Ron DeSantis Is A Fascist. As in:
  
• Roberto Clemente book removed from Florida public schools.
• Florida Teacher Is Fired for Posting Viral Video of Empty Classroom Bookshelves.

Law & Disorder:

• Civilians Acting Up:
  
• Montana Man Convicted of Federal Hate Crimes: he wanted to kill all the lesbian and gay people in his town.
• Charlottesville Nazi "Tiki Torcher" Teddy Joseph Von Nukem Killed Himself Before Trial.
• Abusing Inmates:
  
• Paying for Your Time: Charging Inmates Fees Behind Bars May Violate the Excessive Fines Clause.
• At $249 per day, prison stays leave ex-inmates deep in debt.
• Inmate Fatally Beaten In Prison "Blind Spot."
• Lawsuit: Alabama man froze to death in police custody -- in the jail freezer.
• A Black Man Died in Memphis Jail After Beating From Cops.
• FBI announces investigation into Harris County jail system after 32 inmates die.
• Official Misconduct:
• US Border Agency Says "It’s OK to Ask Detained Tourists About Abortions."
• Customs officials have copied Americans’ phone data at massive scale.
• Police Brutality:
  
• Train hits Platteville police vehicle on tracks; woman seriously hurt.
• A cop slapped a handcuffed man dying of a drug overdose, called him a “bitch,” shoved a baton in his mouth. That cop got suspended 6 days. The cop who revealed the cruelty was expelled from the cop union, and she faces 20 years prison for whistleblowing.
• Detroit Police murdered her dog and dumped him in the neighbors trash to cover it up.
• Family of woman who died in KPD custody says information doesn’t add up.
• White Rankin Deputies Tortured A Handcuffed Black Men.
• Former KSP trooper accused of beating handcuffed mentally ill man had been rejected 7 times by police.
• Georgia police officer arrested in connection with death of 16-year-old girl who was missing for 6 months.

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January 12, 2023
A fresh start for the new year.

Playing catch up with the news:

Why are we not hearing more about the Artemis program? It's brilliant. We are going back to the moon, and the first mission was a flawless success.

Science:

• The Chocolate Mess:
• Which chocolates are safest? Consumer Reports test results: Lead and Cadmium Could Be in Your Dark Chocolate.
• Dark chocolate is high in cadmium and lead. How much is safe to eat?
• Hershey's faces a lawsuit over heavy metals in its dark chocolate bars.
• How much dark chocolate is safe to eat?
• Nearly 270 cases of salmonella are linked to chocolate Easter eggs.
• Appliance makers know how to make a cleaner natural gas stove burner.
• Like this one: Barton Deluxe Propane Gas Range Stove 2 Burner Cooktop.Moderna's cancer vaccine shows incredible promise.
• Why colds and flu viruses are more common in winter.
• Why incompetent people think they're amazing.
• Want to reduce your levels of PFOS / PFOA? Donate blood. Effect of Plasma and Blood Donations on Levels of Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl (Teflon).
• A slow bubbling genocide.
• A guy who died from drinking coconut water.
• New survey reveals land under Antarctica.
• Very sparkly and pretty: Lab-grown diamond prices slide as De Beers fights back.
• Arctic blast leaves thousands without power across Texas.
• Hint: It's bears. Bigfoot Has a Very Simple Explanation.
• The massive volcano that scientists can't find.
• The Edgewood Arsenal human experiment project, 1948-1975: 7,000 soldiers were exposed to various nerve agents to test their results.
• NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter: One full rotation of our moon.
• Scientists say they've found T. rex's early ancestor in northeast Montana.
• "Volunteer" squash plants can produce toxic fruit.
• Eating more peanuts, herbs, and spices can boost your gut microbiome.
•  "Sleep misperception", where it feels like you were awake all night but you actually slept for hours.
• This Is the Age of Extinction.
• If  your home internet feels sluggish, here's the problem, and the quick fix.

Culture & Modern Life:

• Oh, those joys of modern air travel:
  
• United "lost" my bag. Apple AirTag locates it with other emptied bags at an apartment complex dumpster.
• American Airlines retaliated against employees who reported toxic fume.
• Because passenger airflights aren’t covered by the ADA, wheelchairs can’t be brought onboard. They are regularly returned damaged to their users, who depend on staff for everything from boarding, to using the bathroom, to departing.
• Descendants of executed Dakota 38+2 ride to Mankato to honor ancestors.
• Dylan Thomas, 1952: A Child's Christmas in Wales.
• The Pacific Crest Trail Gear Guide: Class of 2022.
• Jean Béraud (January 12, 1849 - Oct. 04, 1935) - art post.
• An Arizona town's water is cut off due to drought, leaving folks scrambling to find another source.
• This 22-year-old is trying to save us from ChatGPT before it changes writing forever.
• As its only remaining elected officials depart, Haiti reaches a breaking point.
• Flat Earthers: "Australia is fake and all Australians are actors paid by NASA".
• Ohio Sheetz Employee Was Forced to Quit Her Job Because of Missing Teeth Caused By Domestic Violence
• Yo-yo car sales ensnare buyers in bad deals.
• Meet Old Lady on the Trail: 81-Year-Old Triple Crowner Mary E. Davison.
• You can use iMessage on Windows PCs using Intel Unison.
• A Faked Kidnapping and Cocaine: A Montana Mine’s Descent Into Chaos.
• The customer service rep can still hear you when they put you on hold.
• Does your employer use spy-ware to monitor your "productivity"? Look into the "Mouse Whisperer."
• Did you know they make a pan just for a full English Breakfast?
• NEW NITECORE NU25ul is out. 400lm and USB C charging.
• Most garden stores, especially big box stores, sell invasive plants.
• Almost all of the optical shops in the US are owned by the same company. Save money with independent stores.

Politics:

• Kari Lake's election trial bombshell goes bust.
• Elon Musk openly tells his 121 million followers to follow QAnon.
• GOP Texas attorney general's office demanded a list of trans people.
• Republican messaging and what it's for.
• Republican members of congress are wearing AR-15 lapel pins.
• Mitch McConnell is blocking all marijuana legislation in Congress.
• Repubs "outraged" Biden would suggest some of them want to cut Social Security.

Law & Disorder:

• Killings by US police reach record high in 2022.
• In Missouri, It's illegal to be homeless: $750 fine and 15 days in jail -- for "sleeping on state-owned land."
• Drinking coffee while Black: Actor Mark Curry harassed by staff at Colorado hotel.
• Police forcibly enter art gallery after statue mistaken for dead person.
• Facial recognition tool leads to wrongful arrest.
• African American reporter handcuffed by Phoenix PD.
• NYPD Cop on Video Repeatedly Punching Black Teen Girl in the Head.
• Oklahoma Could Force Trans People Under 26 Years Old To Detransition Medically.
• Trial set to begin for Black soldier suing police over violent stop.
• He needed an ambulance, instead Police tased him.
• Keenan Anderson: Black Lives Matter founder's cousin dies after police arrest.
• Starved to Death in an American Jail, the Man Who Couldn't Pay $100 Bail.
• "Official" statement was that he came out and confronted the cops.
• Exact scenario of Tyre Nichols killing.  
• COINTELPRO is alive and well.
• Colorado promotes drunken cop to detective.
• Colorado police bind woman on railroad tracks, let her get hit by a locomotive.
• Blind man was walking back from jury duty when Sheriffs mistook his walking stick for a weapon. When he insisted he would file a complaint the officers decided to arrest him in retaliation.
• Trans woman arrested, accused of being ‘man in dress’ by Texas police.
• A 55 year old woman suffering a stroke was arrested for "DUI". She's now under state care,and doesn't recognize her family.
• Wrongful death lawsuit filed against Geneva authorities.
• Cop shoots wheelchair suspect NINE TIMES, killing him. For shoplifting.
• Comedians sue over drug search program at Atlanta airport.

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