Another ludicrous canceling of a name from the past: Shaming the dead is an asinine culture warriors’ pastime. Now it’s the great diarist Samuel Pepys’s turn. - "It is notable that the ire of activists never seems to be directed at Karl Marx, whose repeated use of the most objectionable racial slurs in his personal correspondence is curiously overlooked. Meanwhile, protesters in Portland, Oregon, in a 2020 demonstration that organizers called an 'Indigenous Day of Rage,' tore down statues of former presidents Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt."
Showing posts with label Olympics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Olympics. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 10, 2026
Friday, August 16, 2024
Reading archive 2024-08-16
Tech problems have hit D.C.’s 911 center eight times this year: While the issues did not prevent people from being able to call 911, they did open the door for mistakes. - "Agency Director Heather McGaffin sent a staffwide email this week offering an $800 bonus to any employee who simply shows up to all of their scheduled August shifts, noting absences were straining workers stuck covering extra shifts.
"The agency says the new incentive is part of a suite of efforts they have made to improve staffing — including offering a $2,500 hiring bonus and speeding up the recruitment process." [ed. note: I don't want to hear about anyone who cannot find a job]
‘Baby K’ gets 25 years for attempted murder on Prince George’s school bus: Kaeden Holland, known as “Baby K,” was sentenced Friday afternoon in Prince George’s County Circuit Court. - "If he is convicted in the District in the murder case, he faces a maximum sentence of secure detention within the juvenile system until age 21. Because juvenile cases are confidential, it is unclear whether authorities in D.C. will seek to transfer his case to adult court." [ed. note: jfc]
Tuesday, August 13, 2024
Reading archive 2024-08-13 pt 2
An engineer’s defense of the pedestrian push button
The United States Must Improve Its Shipbuilding Capacity
Fighting DMO, Pt. 8: China’s Anti-Ship Firepower and Mass Firing Schemes
Opinion How to transform city streets — without losing your parking spot
Opinion Environmentalists are suing us out of addressing climate change
Wednesday, August 7, 2024
Tuesday, August 6, 2024
Reading archive 2024-08-06
I Put Up a Fence in Maine. Why Did It Cause Such a Fuss?
‘Ultra-cheap energy for every household’: could a different kind of tariff change everything? Rising block tariffs and national energy guarantee systems are almost unknown in Europe – but are flourishing elsewhere - "The idea is simple: the first block of energy, which is calculated to meet essential needs from heating to cooking and lighting, is either given at a reduced rate or free. The cost a unit then rises in additional blocks, meaning wealthier homes with excessive or non-essential consumption pay more."
The future of paper could come from gene-edited trees: Scientists are working to develop a tree that could ease the production of paper, resulting in less energy use and less pollution. - "The result: They cut the lignin content in some of those varieties almost in half. They also were able to boost the concentration of cellulose — the key ingredient in paper production — compared with lignin, making the trees better for pulping. The team published their findings last year in the prestigious journal Science."
Taiwan is readying citizens for a Chinese invasion. It’s not going well.: The government extended mandatory military service and revamped reservist training in an effort to make Beijing think twice. But it’s already falling short. - "While President Biden has repeatedly said he would send the U.S. military to defend Taiwan, Trump has made no such promises. Asked what he would do in an interview last month, Trump said that Taiwan was “9,500 miles away” and should pay for American defense."
Opinion How the broken immigration system is pushing skilled workers to enter illegally
Opinion The NABJ interview with Trump provides a model for media coverage No other sit-down this cycle has laid bare as much about the candidate. - "The mainstream media now faces a test of sorts. After the June 27 debate, the media spent three weeks flooding the zone with coverage of Biden’s frailty, in effect demanding every Democrat to defend Biden or distance themselves from him, and consulting a host of experts on aging. Failure to deploy similarly exacting treatment of Trump would confirm Democrats’ complaints that there is a bizarre double standard in coverage that allows Trump to escape appropriate scrutiny. It’s long past time to stop using euphemisms and soft-pedaling his bigotry. (As I have noted, the vast majority of outlets also have steered clear of assessing Trump’s mental and emotional state, despite repeated episodes in which his slurred speech, verbal glitches, incoherent ranting, mixing up people and bizarre references are obvious to anyone watching.)"
Why are humans such good distance runners? Science offers an answer.: At Paris Olympics, abundant sweat glands, little body hair, arched soles and spring-like Achilles tendons prime endurance runners to excel. - "We have physical features that are unusual or unknown in the rest of the animal kingdom, including abundant sweat glands, relatively little body hair, arched soles and springlike Achilles tendons. We have an abundance of slow-twitch fibers that are efficient for endurance pursuits. (Fast-twitch muscles are better for sprinting.)"
Reading archive 2024-08-2 through 2024-08-04
Youth, 14, fatally shot outside recreation center in Northeast Washington: Police say an 18-year-old was also shot and critically injured, steps from the Lamond Recreation Center. - "In 2023, the Office of the Attorney General in D.C. declined to pursue charges in at least four cases against [the deceased], which included unauthorized use of a vehicle and armed robbery, according to three officials. Earlier this year, the attorney general’s office charged him with two robberies and unauthorized use of a vehicle, according to one of the officials.
...
"Bailey-Carroll said she did not know anything about her son’s police record. She said she did not believe her son had been targeted in the shooting. 'I don’t think anyone was after him,' she said.
"He has 11 siblings, she said, ranging from ages 4 to 21. She said David wrote and played music and wanted to be a rap artist."
Thursday, August 1, 2024
Reading archive 2024-07-31
‘I thought it was safe’: Why lawsuits are mounting over this chemical linked to cancer: A slew of environmental groups, meanwhile, have sued the Environmental Protection Agency in federal court, arguing that a March update of national emissions standards doesn’t do enough to protect residents from cancer-causing pollutants, including ethylene oxide. - "The EPA risk model is based on estimates reported by the facilities, said senior author Peter DeCarlo, an associate professor in the university’s Department of Environmental Health and Engineering. 'I think they’re very frequently, and most of the time, very big underestimates.'"
A surprising byproduct of wildfires: Contaminated drinking water
Climate leaders say Harris has ‘lit an electric spark’ with young voters: More than 350 environmentalists endorse her candidacy, saying it could help energize climate-minded voters, less than 100 days before the 2024 election. [ed. note: this is so stupid, Biden has done more on climate than anyone ever]
Have babies for Russia: Putin presses women to embrace patriotism over feminism
Artists say Putin’s push for patriotism is killing Russian culture
How the Murdoch family ended up in a legal fight over the future of Fox: A move by the 93-year-old patriarch to preserve his global company’s conservative bent and consolidate power under one son triggered a battle among siblings. - "'It does strike me that there’s a way for there to be a conservative news channel that doesn’t slide into the fever swamps that have already cost Fox $787.5 million in claims,' he said."
‘Weird’ is the most effective insult Democrats have tried. Here’s why.: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and others are finding new potency in calling the Republicans as they see them: not normal. - "“They called us weird so I’ll call them weirder,” said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), according to an X post — but “weird” is an insult that doesn’t work both ways. Gay kids, trans kids, cat ladies and horse boys have already spent an entire lifetime being told they were weird, and they have learned to wear it as a badge of honor if they need to. But when your whole political movement is based on a return to some “Pleasantville” vision of American normalcy, 'weird' actually hurts. It’s not great to wonder whether, in the eyes of your fellow citizens, you’re just kind of ... lame."
The emails that brought down Enron still shape our daily lives
Opinion Trump and Republicans are threatening to curb democracy in D.C.: A potential GOP takeover might be constitutional, but it is rankly undemocratic. - "Congressional Republicans might relish the prospect of ruling D.C. because legislating for the city is a good way to score points with their own constituents back home — while facing none from the disenfranchised people their actions actually affect."
Monday, July 29, 2024
Reading archive 2024-07-29
Sanctions crushed Syria’s elite. So they built a zombie economy fueled by drugs.
They have jobs, but no homes. Inside America’s unseen homelessness crisis.: Homelessness, already at a record high last year, appears to be worsening among people with jobs. - "Many who spoke with The Washington Post said they’re trapped in an impossible position — making too much money to qualify for food stamps and other types of government assistance, but not enough to secure housing."
Walking the Line: Chinese migration surge tests President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping - "Republican lawmakers say the concerns are more than justified. They point to media reports of at least 100 incidents in recent years in which Chinese nationals were caught or suspected of trying to gain access or information about U.S. military installations.
...
"Likely part of Beijing’s concern, analysts and lawyers say, is the potential for politicized Chinese migrants to become part of dissident communities abroad.
"'The [Chinese] police told my parents, tell your son not to speak any more or do any protests,' said Zhou Zheng, a recent migrant living in Los Angeles who joined groups that protested Xi’s November visit to San Francisco. He’d made the decision to walk the line after he was detained during protests in China.
"While the number of Chinese migrants is relatively tiny in terms of the country’s population, its impact is significant for a government that has sought to advertise its political system abroad.
"'It’s never looks good when people are willing to trek through the Darien Gap to get out of your country,' said Meredith Oyen, associate professor at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, referring to the dangerous jungle crossing between Panama and Colombia."
How the "Working Class Republican" Scam Works: A brief description of how this is all gonna go.
Meet the queen of the ‘trad wives’ (and her eight children): Hannah Neeleman, known to her nine million followers as Ballerina Farm, milks cows, gives birth without pain relief and breastfeeds at beauty pageants. Is this an empowering new model of womanhood — or a hammer blow for feminism? - "That is the biggest paradox: in selling the life of a stay-at-home mother, Neeleman and the other trad wives have created high-earning jobs. They are being paid to act out a fantasy. 'So for me to have the label of a traditional woman,' she continues cautiously, 'I’m kinda like, I don’t know if I identify with that.'
...
"One day she mentioned to Daniel that she was getting the five-hour flight from Salt Lake City to New York, back to Juilliard. She didn’t realise his dad owned the airline. 'So Daniel was, like, 'I’m on that same flight!' ' she says. 'I remember checking in and them saying, 'You’re 5A and you’re 5B.' I just thought, no way, that’s crazy!' Daniel smiles: 'I made a call.' He had pulled strings at JetBlue. And so began their first date." [ed. note: this piece is vicious]
My day with the trad wife queen and what it taught me: An interview published last weekend with internet star Hannah Neeleman at her Utah home, Ballerina Farm, has sparked a global social media debate. Our writer, Megan Agnew, revisits her time with the mother of eight - "But it was also a life of contradictions. Children not allowed screens, but who are reality TV characters online for millions. A stay-at-home mother who has made a career out of being so. An analogue, old-fashioned farm, only working because it is underwritten by social media cash. A choice — modern in her ability to have one — to do something so very traditional.
..
"Women who work in a paid job feel terrified that by promoting the seeming peace and harmony of a traditional home life, Neeleman is threatening their ability to choose otherwise. They fear they are going to experience guilt or resistance if other women do choose otherwise.
"Women who look after their children full-time feel judged or patronised for doing so by the women who haven’t, their choices seeming threatened, too. And so, out of fear comes anger, like a bloke punching a wall when his wife leaves him."
Wednesday, June 26, 2024
Reading archive 2024-06-26
A 3-year-old voicemail goes viral, leads to emotional reunion: The motivational voicemail ended up on TikTok with 6 million views and a movement to find Tameka Rooks, the woman behind the message - "'The goal is to get you to come in and not be nervous,' Rooks said. 'It’s a lot of money [to take the exams]. So I’m just trying to push you. You might be my next doctor. I might need your help one day'"
'My Nigerian great-grandfather sold slaves': Nigerian journalist and novelist Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani writes that one of her ancestors sold slaves, but argues that he should not be judged by today's standards or values. - "Igbo slaves served as domestic servants and labourers. They were sometimes also sacrificed in religious ceremonies and buried alive with their masters to attend to them in the next world.
...
"Records from the UK's National Archives at Kew show how desperately the British struggled to end the internal trade in slaves for almost the entire duration of the colonial period.
"They promoted legitimate trade, especially in palm produce. They introduced English currency to replace the cumbersome brass rods and cowries that merchants needed slaves to carry. They prosecuted offenders with prison sentences."
- "We, the American dining public, are responsible for covering much of the payroll for front-of-the-house workers. It’s been this way since the Pullman Company hired many formerly enslaved Black people and paid them substandard wages, requiring them to live largely off the tips they earned catering to White travelers."
Tuesday, February 22, 2022
Thursday, February 10, 2022
Monday, February 7, 2022
Monday, January 31, 2022
Reading archive 2022-01-31
Meet Janie and Maggie and Cody, a throuple surviving the pandemic together
The second best thing about getting doxed by white supremacists
Eager Beavers in DC (Literally)
Illegal Heritage Tree Removal Highlights Need for Stronger Tree Protections
He Spent 25 Years Infiltrating Nazis, the Klan, and Biker Gangs
Thursday, January 20, 2022
Monday, December 6, 2021
Reading archive 2021-12-06
Myth Busting for Extension Educators: Reviewing the Literature on Pruning Woody Plants
U.S. warns it has ‘tools’ to deal with Iran if nuclear talks fail
No U.S. government official will attend Beijing Winter Olympics, White House announces
The vicious 150-year rivalry between Utah’s two biggest newspapers
Tuesday, August 24, 2021
Reading archive 2021-08-24
Gus Kenworthy Trains for His Last Olympics — and Hollywood
Got The Climate Change Blues? Try Delawning
How journalism saved ‘Jeopardy!’ from an unworthy host after an utter failure of corporate vetting
CIA Director William Burns held secret meeting in Kabul with Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar
A group of moms on Facebook built an island of good-faith vaccine debate in a sea of misinformation: As social media giants struggle to crack down on false claims about covid, ordinary users are finding ways to reach vaccine skeptics — and win them over. [ed. note: facebook.com/groups/vaccinetalkforum and reddit.com/r/changemyview/]
Facebook News Consumers Less Likely to Be Vaccinated, Survey Finds
Conservative Bill Kristol endorses McAuliffe in race for Virginia governor
Monday, August 9, 2021
Reading archive 2021-08-09
Sturgis Motorcycle Rally revs up, drawing thousands and heightening delta superspreader fears
At Blizzard, groping, free-flowing booze and fear of retaliation tainted ‘magical’ workplace
Opinion: Trump’s coup attempt grows even more worrisome as new details emerge
Opinion: Shocking new Trump-DOJ revelations should shape the Jan. 6 investigation
A rape allegation at China’s Alibaba spurs furor over sexual assault, binge drinking
Florida church reeling after six members die within 10 days amid spike in cases
Visitors enter Montana mines filled with radon as a therapy for their ills
Humans have pushed the climate into ‘unprecedented’ territory, landmark U.N. report finds: U.N. chief calls findings ‘a code red for humanity’ with worse climate impacts to come unless greenhouse gas pollution falls dramatically - "Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen to levels not seen in 2 million years, the authors state. The oceans are turning acidic. Sea levels continue to rise. Arctic ice is disintegrating. Weather-related disasters are growing more extreme and affecting every region of the world."
Billionaire James Murdoch building “recreational retreat” in Nascall Bay: A Globe and Mail article has confirmed that the 445 acre property in Nascall Bay was purchased by billionaire media mogul James Murdoch [ed. note: the super rich have apocalypse bunkers in New Zealand]
Thursday, August 5, 2021
Reading archive 2021-08-05
Northwest D.C. ‘NIMBYs’ fight proposal over new schools
A critical ocean system may be heading for collapse due to climate change, study finds: ‘The consequences of a collapse would likely be far-reaching’ - "Studies suggest that toward the end of the last ice age, a massive glacial lake burst through a declining North American ice sheet. The flood of freshwater spilled into the Atlantic, halting the AMOC and plunging much of the Northern Hemisphere — especially Europe — into deep cold. Gas bubbles trapped in polar ice indicate the cold spell lasted 1,000 years. Analyses of plant fossils and ancient artifacts suggest that the climate shift transformed ecosystems and threw human societies into upheaval."
How Provincetown, Mass., stress-tested the coronavirus vaccine with summer partying and delta
Nearly 200 doctors clash with school district that refuses to mandate masks
Buoyed by rising nationalism, China’s keyboard warriors take aim at Olympic athletes
Peter Doocy and Jen Psaki’s daily clashes have become a White House briefing room ritual
A Texas GOP leader railed against vaccines and masks. Then he died of covid.
GamerGaters inundated her with death threats. Now some are apologizing — and she forgives them.
Wednesday, July 28, 2021
Reading archive 2021-07-28
Simone Biles said she got the ‘twisties.’ Gymnasts immediately understood.
Where was Caeleb Dressel? Question looms after U.S. 4x200 relay misses medal.
Republicans voice opposition to Jan. 6 investigation as police officers call for accountability - "The Capitol Police Board controls security at the Capitol. On Jan. 6, the board consisted of the House sergeant-at-arms, Paul D. Irving, who was hired under Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), and the Senate sergeant-at-arms, Michael Stenger, who was hired in 2018 when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was majority leader."
China hosts Taliban leaders as U.S. withdraws troops from Afghanistan
Our democracy is under attack. Washington journalists must stop covering it like politics as usual. - "As a model, they might have to swallow their big-media pride and look to places like Harrisburg, Pa., public radio station WITF which has admirably explained to its audience why it continually offers reminders about the actions of those public officials who tried to overturn the 2020 election results. Or to Cleveland Plain Dealer editor Chris Quinn’s letter to readers about how the paper and its website, Cleveland.com, refuse to cover every reckless, attention-getting lie of Republican Josh Mandel as he runs for the U.S. Senate next year."
Illegal cannabis growers are stealing water amid California’s drought, officials say - "In a recent sting in Antelope Valley in northern Los Angeles County, federal, state and local law enforcement officers disrupted hundreds of allegedly illegal marijuana cultivations in the area. They arrested 131 people and seized 65 vehicles, including two water trucks. Authorities recovered $28,000, 33,480 pounds of marijuana and dozens of firearms. Nineteen people were charged with water theft."
"You might not like it, but it’s smart politics.": 'Twas the savvy style that led the political press astray. By the time Trump showed up, they were too far gone to realize it. - "Recently someone else asked me for three or four changes in political journalism that might begin to right this ship. (Emphasis on begin to…) To wind this up, here is what I told him: Defense of democracy seen as basic to the job. Symmetrical accounts of asymmetrical realities seen as malpractice. 'Politics as strategic game' frame seen as low quality, downmarket, amateurish, silly— and overmatched. Bad actors with a history of misinforming the public seen as unsuitable sources and unwelcome guests."
Tuesday, July 27, 2021
Reading archive 2021-07-27
"Liberals against retirement
"For conservative Supreme Court justices, 80 is effectively retirement age.
"After Anthony Kennedy turned 80, he stepped down at the first convenient moment — in 2018, when a Republican was in the White House and the court wasn’t already welcoming a first-year justice. Warren Burger and Lewis Powell both retired at 79, during Ronald Reagan’s second term. Sandra Day O’Connor left the court at 75, during George W. Bush’s presidency.
"To put the pattern in its starkest terms, no modern conservative justice has forfeited the chance to be replaced by a Republican president after turning 80. That’s part of the reason that Democratic presidents have so rarely had the chance to flip a court seat: The conservative justices try not to let it happen.
"Several liberal justices have taken a different approach. John Paul Stevens could have retired at age 80 during Bill Clinton’s presidency but did not. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, having been diagnosed with cancer, could have retired at 81 during Barack Obama’s presidency but did not. And Stephen Breyer, now 82, could have announced his retirement this summer, with Joe Biden in the White House and the Democrats narrowly controlling the Senate, but Breyer has not.
"There is no one explanation for the pattern. It involves so few people that it may partly be a coincidence. Whatever the reasons, though, it has huge consequences for the country." [ed. note: from NYT The Morning]
- "As a result, the Soviets crushed countries that didn’t invest in female athletes. And if the West wanted to challenge the Eastern bloc in the medal race, they were going to have to find a way around those pesky amateurism rules, short of providing women with scholarships and other kinds of material support. For American women, the answer was simple: Use child athletes."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)