A Sense of Doubt blog post #2153 - There is No Theme - WEEKLY HODGE PODGE 2101.09
And so we’re back.
I usually have a theme. But things are so crazy right now, how can a theme even address all the different things happening that our threats to our safety as humans, as Americans, as participants in a democracy that aims to stamp out racism and hate. This week’s theme is no theme.
I took a hiatus from the WEEKLY HODGE PODGE since 2012.19 (That’s December nineteenth 2020 for those who don’t read star dates) and have been in Low Power Mode since before then, even, as I tried to put less effort into the blog and more into other things and some future blog posts, too. Mixed results. I did do some writing of fiction. I did soak up some much overdue R&R. I did share a lot of blog posts that were not labor intensive or chock full of rhetoric generated by me. I did not get ahead on new blog posts, such as my planned “Trumpism is a virus,” “Fox News is Not News,” and “There was Election Fraud – it’s all true – in 2016.” And even more back-burner posts like trying to decide if JK Rowling really is a TERF or my series of comic book reviews and analysis, such as my re-read of Planetary.
Even so, I had time off, which I needed, I did some writing and relaxing (never enough), and I actually played some games (never enough). And I did use this HODGE PODGE as a dumping ground for things I read since the nineteenth. I posted the image early as soon as I came across it because it seemed apropos for the first HODGE PODGE of 2021: what will the new year bring?
And we didn’t have long to wait until the historically significant events of 2020 continued with not only a group of federal senators and representations committing sedition by objecting to the will of the people of the United States, perpetuating the lies and unproven claims of fraud about JUST the presidential part of the 2020 election, but then Trump supporters riled up to a frenzy of hate, anger, and violence stormed the capital building of the U.S. government in Washington D.C. many of whom were intending to execute Vice President Pence and others who they perceive as “traitors,” believing the president’s lies that their freedoms were being stolen and that “you will have no country left.” They even set up a gallows.
And so even though we are seeing record numbers of cases and deaths for an out of control pandemic that the federal government has failed to contain or even properly address, and even though the systemic racism entrenched in our country persists in creating all sorts of havoc in social inequity and the death of innocent people whose only crime is being not white, now we have privileged white people stage an insurrection and a failed coup of our government and are not well opposed by police. In fact, they are in some cases just let inside and allowed to walk away. Some supposed “law enforcement” posed for selfies with these rioters, terrorists, and criminals. Meanwhile, the thing that masquerades as a human being and holds the office of president while literally doing nothing required of his job while fighting to keep it so he can continue to be unfit for it, this unhinged sociopath refuses to call in the National Guard as the representatives of the two houses and the Vice President are locked together in a room to be protected by the mob he incited, he called to the capital, and he enthusiastically watches attack the seat of government while waving his flags and screaming for his continued presidency even though he was outvoted in the 2020 election fairly and without any fraud or “steal” of the presidency.
And we thought 2020 was a dumpster fire of a year.
In 2021, we could face all out civil war.
And so, here’s a HODGE PODGE that was accumulated before the insurrection of 2021 (let’s hope the first and only) of all the nonsense and lunacy happening leading up to the first attack on our country’s capital since the war of 1812.
There may be ridiculous BS shared here, but there are also glimmers of hope, like how the pandemic gave us so much more time with our dogs and pets (and children) and (just for fun) Jennifer Garner recreating her famous pool scene from Alias.
Some of the content is just via links, but then, I was in low power mode. Explore if you will.
And as always, thanks for reading.
Whole Foods CEO John Mackey: The 'Best Solution' is To Not Need Health Care and For Americans To Change How They Eat and Live (cnbc.com)
https://ew.com/tv/jennifer-garner-recreates-alias-pool-scene/
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| An entrance to the expanded concourse at Penn Station in Manhattan.Desiree Rios for The New York Times |
- New York is set to open its grand expansion of Penn Station, the Moynihan Train Hall, on Friday. The new station looks nothing like its dingy, subterranean cousin: It has an acre of glass that lets the sun pour down and permanent installations by celebrated artists.
This story about Fiona Apple’s elementary school classmate will make you cry unless you’re dead inside. (Virginian Pilot)
Dave Barry’s Year in Review 2020
We’re trying to think of something nice to say about 2020. Okay, here goes: Nobody got killed by the murder hornets. As far as we know. That’s pretty much it.
New Year’s Eve always felt like a letdown for these women. They’re thankful 2020 is different.
There’s no pressure to wear uncomfortable outfits or buy expensive drinks
What I’m taking from 2020: Centering my female friendships is a feminist act
My conceptions of adulthood transformed radically
THE PANDEMIC
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The cruise ship suicides began after the passengers had left. This is ... well. It is. (Bloomberg)
Say her name: Dr. Susan Moore
People with coronavirus are still getting on planes. No one knows how many.
- A very small number of Covid patients who have never experienced mental health problems are developing severe psychotic symptoms, including hallucinations, paranoia and violent impulses, weeks after contracting the virus.
I have the pandemic to thank for this precious time with my old hound, Teddy
By Fred Hiatt Email |
Most of us are almost as tired of reading about the “silver linings” of the pandemic as we are of the pandemic itself. But Diana Nyad, whom you may know as the intrepid long-distance swimmer, struck a chord with many readers with her tale of being happily confined with her faithful dog in his twilight year.
“One of the joys (yes, joys!) of the pandemic 2020 has been this unexpected, sublime time with my old hound dog, Teddy,” Nyad wrote.
Her essay set a lot of our readers to thinking about dog years, human years and what really matters in the years we share. Many of them shared their reactions in the comments section, and we collected some of them — along with photos of their canine companions — on the @PostOpinions Instagram account.
“I’m facing having to say goodbye to Infinity, my 11 year old Great Dane soon,” Kristin Ames wrote. “She’s my heart dog, the one I loved more than any other in my 43 years on earth. I used to feel guilty about that, but she’s my favorite, and none of my other dogs will ever have to know.”
Patricia Neiss shared a photo of her German shepherd, Romeo, who died recently. “It was the most complete experience of unconditional love I have ever known,” she wrote. “In coming to terms with his death I concluded that I was merely his steward while on this earth together. I assured him I would follow him and we would be together … just not quite yet.”
And another commenter, username tl0101, said the pandemic has similarly given her time with her 11-year-old Dachshund. “I always loved her but this pandemic has made me realize that she gives so much more to me than I give to her,” she wrote. “Thanks for writing it all down so beautifully.”
Yes, thanks to Nyad, thanks to everyone who shared their stories — and thanks to you for reading. Please have a safe and happy new year holiday.
 I have the pandemic to thank for this precious time with my old hound, TeddyI’m crazy about my hound dog, and we’ve suddenly been given this singular time to go through every moment of his old age together. |
Covid-19 ‘not necessarily the big one,’ WHO warns
Biden to address nation on pandemic as Fauci says coronavirus surge ‘has just gotten out of control’
THE WEEKLY PANDEMIC REPORT
If you prefer your data in a visual format, here's the current map from COVID Exit Strategy, using data from the CDC and the COVID Tracking Project.
I want to add this link to the weekly report. It's important to remember:
A Sense of Doubt blog post #1983 - Is Coronavirus more contagious and more deadly than the flu? YES.
ALSO... I am seeing a big discrepancy between the Johns Hopkins data in death totals and WORLDOMETER data, which aggregates data from many more sources. Could this be the slow down due to the change in how the CDC obtains the data, having it filter first through Health and Human Services department.
United States
Coronavirus Cases:
Deaths:
Recovered:
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ELECTION - AREN'T WE DONE WITH THIS PART YET?
Trump's Jan. 2 perfect call with GA Sec State Brad Raffensperger. It's bad! (Washington post audio / transcript)
Annoying Daily Beast Republican guy says it's a crime against democracy, because duh. — Matt Lewis at Daily Beast
It's a crime against laws too.
Trump's fight to overthrow the election now depends on the guy who invented the CueCat, widely regarded as one of the worst gadgets ever made. (But that was several days ago; now it depends on just "crime.") (The Verge)
Curing the Donald Trump spell in the GOP, yeah good luck. — Marcy at Emptywheel
And increasingly, Trump will be deplatformed. While a significant swath of political journalists will continue air his grievances (it’s more fun than covering the kind of substantive policy debates that will return to DC), starting in three weeks Twitter no longer has a commitment to label, rather than delete, his tweets that violate Twitter policy. Rupert Murdoch has (at least temporarily) lost patience with Trump. Trump appears to be banking on sustainably being more important to the MAGAt base than Fox News; he believes he can take his followers with him to OANN or a Newsmax channel. And he’ll succeed, at least at first, to a point. But deplatforming of other right wing icons has shown that a significant portion of followers won’t make the effort to move off mainstream platforms (say, from Twitter to Parler). Without the same ability to juice the central conflicts of the day, Trump won’t have the same ability to remain one pole in a deliberately stoked polarization.
Google Suspends Parler From App Store; Apple Gives 24-Hour Warning (buzzfeednews.com)
"We have received numerous complaints regarding objectionable content in your Parler service, accusations that the Parler app was used to plan, coordinate, and facilitate the illegal activities in Washington D.C. on January 6, 2021 that led (among other things) to loss of life, numerous injuries, and the destruction of property," Apple wrote to Parler. "The app also appears to continue to be used to plan and facilitate yet further illegal and dangerous activities."Google issued a similar ultimatum, although it suspended Parler from its app store until it implements a moderation plan that addresses "this ongoing and urgent public safety threat."
Trump Is Inciting Violence Over His Election Defeat
Trump 2024? Only one president has returned to power after losing reelection.
For D.C. protests, Proud Boys settle in at city’s oldest hotel and its bar
After a year of pandemic and protest, and a big election, America is as divided as ever
As former secretaries of defense, we hold a common view of the solemn obligations of the U.S. armed forces and the Defense Department. Each of us swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. We did not swear it to an individual or a party.
We have officially been in the insane lawsuit phase of the 2020 presidential election for ... a while now. But don't you worry, the fever dreams and crackpot legal theories just keep coming!
Arizona had a ridiculously successful hand count audit. Unlike other states, which saw some losses and gains, the Arizona audit gave absolutely identical results as the initial tally. To the vote.
But, of course, votes are meaningless to Republicans these days. And in Arizona Republican Party v. Fontes, the state GOP asked for MORE RECOUNTS!!!1! Why? BECAUSE THEY SAID SO, OKAY?!
Settle in, lean back, and grab the relaxing beverage or chemical of your choice. This is a fun one!
So ... listen. The Arizona GOP is truly batshit. I realize we live in 2020, where basically the entire Republican Party has gone off the deep end and the crazy bar has been set prettttty damn high, but even for Trumpland, these fuckers are nuts. This is best exemplified by Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward, who, when she's not worrying about chemtrails, spends her time looking for martyrs to die in the name of Donald Trump.
Why yes, Arizona WAS one of the states that had a cosplay Electoral College vote, HOW DID YOU KNOW?!
Predictably, the Arizona GOP has filed a whole bunch of crazy-ass lawsuits about the 2020 election. The Arizona Supreme Court has already unanimously rejected its attempt to overturn the results of the election. But Republicans aren't about to let silly things like "facts" get in their way!
Let's let Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Doug Wilenchik describe the latest case, in which the party sued to change the election manual ... after the election:
"In this lawsuit, the plaintiff Arizona Republican Party asked for a court order directing the defendant Maricopa County officials to redo the hand count audit using different batches of ballots. The plaintiff baldly asserted that this relief was necessary to maintain "confidence in the integrity of our elections," without alleging any facts to show that the machines might have miscounted the votes. The plaintiff could not explain why the suit had not been filed before the election, or what purpose another audit would serve."
Judge Wilenchik gives us a nice summary of all the reasons the case was dismissed and no relief was granted:
"The plaintiff's claim for mandamus relief failed because the duty of County election officials was to comply with the Election Procedures Manual, and they did so. The declaratory judgment claim failed because its extreme tardiness prejudiced both the defendant county officials and the public interest. Both those claims, and the mid-case request for an injunction, were prohibited post-election challenges to election procedures."
Oh, and also
The plaintiff could not show irreparable injury from the certification of the election results, or a favorable balance of hardships, because the plaintiff could not explain how, exactly, it would benefit from a do-over of the hand count audit.
And he makes it very clear that there are many, many grounds for dismissing this stupid case:
Setting aside for the moment the illogic of an attempt to disprove a theory for which no evidence exists, the plaintiff's defense of the case's timing failed on its own terms. The filing delay created a situation in which an order requiring another audit with different rules would only have amplified public distrust.
Mandamus Did Not Apply Because the Election Officials Followed the Law
The Request for Declaratory Relief Was Way Too Late
A Post-Election Judicial Inquiry into Election Procedures Was Not Justified
The Proposed Amendment Adding a Claim for Injunctive Relief Was Futile
"What exactly the Arizona Republican Party and its attorney knew or had reason to know about the status of hand count audit, at the time of filing the complaint, will be an issue on the application for attorneys' fees. The Republican Party appears to have had constructive knowledge, at least, of facts that contradicted the allegations in the complaint. The attorney (who also verified the complaint) said he "did not receive a copy" of the audit report until after the suit had been filed, [...] but what he knew about the audit when he filed the complaint is unclear."
Not only is this an amazing legal smackdown (that's the judicial way of saying "YOU ASSHOLES ARE FULL OF SHIT"), but it also signals Judge Wilenchik is sick of this hippopotamus dung and ready to punish these fuckers for filing this lawsuit in such bad faith.
It's a thing in most of Europe for a winning party to recover fees, but it's not a thing in the US except for in certain kinds of cases (like civil rights claims) and certain situations (like this). Arizona Revised Statute § 12-349(A)(1) & (2) requires that the opposing party pony up if a lawyer or party brings a case "without substantial justification" or "solely or primarily for delay or harassment."
The opinion also signals elsewhere that it is definitely considering sanctioning the motherfuckers:
"That application will require the Court to decide whether the Republican Party and its attorneys brought the case in bad faith to delay certification of the election or to cast false shadows on the election's legitimacy."
In a fee application, filed earlier this month, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs argues:
Here, [the Arizona Republican Party] and its counsel easily check off both boxes. They brought a meritless claim, prosecuted it in truly amateurish fashion by failing to seek necessary relief and half-heartedly seeking to enjoin Maricopa County's canvass, and thought so strongly of their claim that they didn't appeal when it was dismissed with prejudice. Their motives were transparent: delay final election results and sow doubt about the integrity of Arizona's elections system.Remember laches? They're ba-ack!
That's simply not what litigation is for, and this abuse of the judicial system should not go without sanction.
This case is a textbook example of unreasonable delay that calls for the application of laches. The plaintiff could have gone forward with the case months ago. Instead it waited until after the election, after the statutory deadline for commencing the hand count audit, and (as it turned out) after the completion of the audit. The delay prejudiced both the defendants and the public. That defect, unlike the failure to sue the proper party, could not have been fixed.
After all of this election fuckery, law schools are going to have to update their textbooks.
But hey, as the court reminds us,
These longstanding rules have stood the test of time. They remain vital today, guarding the electoral process against the gamesmanship of those who might otherwise hedge against a loss at the polls by holding legal issues in reserve or use the law as a tool to thwart the will of the voters.
That's totally hypothetical, though, and definitely not exactly what Donald Trump and his team of crackpots have been doing this entire time.
Oh wait, jk:
Here the plaintiff failed to state a viable post-election claim. The plaintiff here demanded a hand count audit "in strict accordance" with the statute, Verified Complaint at 1, at a time when an alleged failure strictly to comply did not give rise to a cause of action. The plaintiff offered only suspicion of wrongdoing, in a situation that required it to plead specific, facially credible facts backed by "the most credible, positive, and unequivocal evidence" of fraud or malfeasance. The plaintiff here did not even allege facts that cast doubt on the reliability of the hand count audit, let alone the outcome of the election or the honesty of the officials who administered it. The law therefore required immediate dismissal of the case.
Is it weird that I just really want to be friends with Judge Wilenchik and his clerks now?
Well done.
Here's the order!
If you're smart, you'll follow Jamie on Twitter!
Aaron Hoffman, a sheriff's deputy in Prince William County, Virginia, has been fired from his job following the discovery of a series of extremely disturbing posts on his Parler profile regarding his desire to overthrow the government and kill a whole lot of people.
The link between Hoffman and his Parler alter ego, WeThePeopleWarrior, was detailed on Twitter by activist Molly Conger on Christmas, leading to Hoffman's almost immediate dismissal. This was probably in the best interest of everyone involved, given that the WeThePeopleWarrior profile had been going on quite a bit about how he is done with protesting and just wants everyone to get it together to overthrow their state governments now.
The profile also threatened to kill many people, including nurses, the "mentally ill" (translation: people who expect him to wear a mask, because of course), Chief Justice John Roberts and President Obama. The poster said he wanted to kill nurses who give people vaccines, Roberts because he thinks he's in league with George Soros, and Obama just because.
The Obama comment, by the way, was made in response to a guy claiming to be Obama's cousin, who was boasting about totally dissing him by not inviting him to Christmas or Thanksgiving ever. Pretty sure that's not true. I looked the guy up — it seems highly unlikely that he is Obama's cousin and even if he were, I don't think Obama would too hurt by not getting to hang out with him on the holidays.
Activists first noticed Hoffman's page in connection with comments on Parler posts by Proud Boy Jeremy Bertino, AKA "Noblebeard" (yes, that would be the same one who was whinging last week about how Proud Boys was for BOYS ONLY), which said he was a cop who would disobey orders in order to stand with the Proud Boys, should they overthrow the government.
Hoffman was identified as the user behind the account after a search for his custom avatar was linked to his country-music-singing alter-ego, Grant Tucker.
This was then connected to "Grant Tucker's" Facebook profile, which featured pictures of the country music singer known as Grant Tucker, along with that same person in a Prince William County Sheriff's department uniform with a name tag reading "Hoffman."
Hoffman, for his part, claims he was hacked. He says he set up a profile on Parler as a verified user, meaning he had to send them a picture of his photo ID, but that the profile was "hacked" by someone who made all of those disturbing comments.
The deputy, Aaron Hoffman, said in an interview with The Washington Post that he did not post those comments, saying the account he had recently opened on Parler, a social media website that has become a favorite among conservatives, was hacked.
"I did not make those posts," Hoffman said. "I'm trying to figure out who did." [...]
He disavowed the hateful messages attributed to him and said he plans to consult with attorneys about his firing and the social media account.
"I do understand the community's concern," Hoffman said. "I've been a public servant for over 15 years, and I take that very seriously. I am in no way a threat to the public. This disturbs me as well."
Let's consider for a moment what it would take for this to even occur. Someone had a grudge against Aaron Hoffman, a random sheriff's Deputy in Prince William County, and also knew him well enough to know of his secret Parler profile that he had just opened on November 9. This hacking would have had to occur less than two weeks ago, because it was two weeks ago that Hoffman commissioned the avatar he uses in his profile under the name Grant Tucker, his country musician alter ego. That person subsequently used the profile to post and respond to other posts in a manner wholly consistent with other users on the site (particularly ones with names like WeThePeopleWarrior) and also somehow had access to pictures of Hoffman's arsenal and sheriff's vest, but also never dropped any direct hints about being Aaron Hoffman. But apparently this evil person knew it was only a matter of time before someone would connect the dots from the avatar to Grant Tucker to a picture of "Grant Tucker" in his uniform on his Facebook page, read the name on the badge, and identify the wearer as Aaron Hoffman, at which point Hoffman would be forced to quit his job with the Prince William County Sheriff's department.
That could definitely have happened.
The scary thing here is that it's pretty safe to say Hoffman probably isn't too much of an anomaly, if we are all shocked to learn he was not hacked and the posts were genuinely from him. There have been many reports (and videos!) of cops being super friendly with the Proud Boys and other extremist groups. This is also far from the first time cops have been fired after getting caught fantasizing about killing people. The FBI was aware of plans by white supremacists and militia to infiltrate law enforcement ten years ago.
Aaron Hoffman was a cop for 15 years. It's difficult to believe he spent 15 years surrounded by people whose job it is to solve crimes, but who were somehow never tipped off to the fact that he was a violent extremist who wanted to overthrow the government and kill lots of people. (You know, ALLEGEDLY.) Someone likely knew about it, and kept it to themselves. And that's just as much of a problem as it appears Hoffman is.
BLACK LIVES MATTER
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https://www.theroot.com/woman-accuses-black-boy-of-stealing-her-phone-hotel-ma-1845953369
Gentrification forces out longtime Black residents of Glencoe, Illinois. An area church leads a difficult conversation. (NPR)
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- The police in Oakland, Calif., are investigating who vandalized a weeks-old ceramic statue of Breonna Taylor.
Two Black Men Who Spent Nearly 18 Years in a Michigan Prison for a Crime They Didn't Commit File $160 Million Lawsuit
RANDOM AND NONESUCHERY
NEWS
Argentina voted to legalize elective abortion. Here are 14 scenes of celebration and protest.
It’s now the largest Latin American country to allow abortion
By The Lily News
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https://slate.com/technology/2020/12/underseas-internet-cables-climate-change-biden.html
https://www.motherjones.com/food/2020/12/the-coffee-shop-manager-who-quit-with-her-entire-staff/
Microplastics Revealed in the Placentas of Unborn Babies (theguardian.com)
Is the Milky Way a boneyard of long-dead civilizations?
That's the position of a new study published to the arXiv database.
— Read the restThe authors looked at a range of factors presumed to influence the development of intelligent life, such as the prevalence of sun-like stars harboring Earth-like planets; the frequency of deadly, radiation-blasting supernovas; the probability of and time necessary for intelligent life to evolve if conditions are right; and the possible tendency of advanced civilizations to destroy themselves.
There was no communication from the object or about the object on the usually busy radio channel used for the training area. As such, the pilots did report the encounter with the FAA, but because there wasn't really any detail to add, an official report was not filed. They were able to grab the video seen [here].The FAA issued the following statement: "The FAA has not received any recent reports from pilots who believe they may have seen someone in a jetpack in the skies around Los Angeles. The FAA has taken the sighting reports it has received seriously, and has worked closely with the FBI to investigate them. However, the FAA has been unable to validate the reports."
The Drive also said that officials are going to contact the flight school directly to investigate this incident further and they they replayed radar tapes from around the time of previous sightings, but did not see anything abnormal. "No witnesses on the ground have provided any evidence of someone with a jet pack taking off or landing, either," the report adds.
On Disney+ over the next two years, Disney will truly test the limits of the fatigue theory with Marvel and Star Wars original shows, and might discover that even the most hardcore fans have a threshold. The sheer mountain of original content Disney unveiled at its 2020 Investor Day this month was almost comical: 52 new shows or movies coming in the next three years across Disney Studios, Disney Animation, Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, National Geographic, ESPN, and FX. In the first year of Disney+, only a single live-action original series, "The Mandalorian," was enough to propel the platform to 86.8 million subscribers. In 2021, Disney will hit the gas, with six Marvel shows hitting Disney+: "WandaVision" in January; "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" in March; "Loki" in May; animated series "What If...?" in summer; and a "Ms. Marvel" series and "She-Hulk" series (no specific date given, but Disney said 2021). Can even diehard Marvel fans find the time to watch all of those? And those are just the television shows. In theaters over the next two years, Disney will release "Black Widow," "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings," "Eternals," "Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," "Thor: Love and Thunder," "Black Panther 2," and "Captain Marvel 2." The Star Wars faucet won't start blasting until 2022 and 2023, when Disney+ will get the Star Wars spinoff shows "Andor," "Ahsoka," "Obi-Wan Kenobi," "Star Wars: Visions," "The Bad Batch," "Rangers of the New Republic," and "Lando."
When critics talk about Disney's franchise fatigue risk, they're mostly talking about Marvel and Star Wars, but if you look elsewhere in the Disney+ lineup there are additional examples of the argument. Disney's live-action releases coming over the next two years include a "Cheaper by the Dozen" remake movie, another "Lion King" live action movie, and live-action remakes of "The Little Mermaid," "Pinocchio," and "Peter Pan," plus a sequel to "Enchanted," a Cruella De Vil live-action origin movie, and "Sister Act 3." Disney is also planning a "Night at the Museum" animated series, a "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" animated series, and a "Chip N' Dale" animated movie. The criticism that almost everything Disney is doing is a prequel, sequel, remake, or spin-off is not unwarranted.
This is not the first time Neptune's dark spots have behaved so strangely. When the Voyager 2 spacecraft flew past the planet in 1989, (still the only spacecraft to do so) it observed two storms. One was the original Dark Spot, a large vortex about the size of the Earth. It too had a companion, a smaller, fast moving storm nicknamed Scooter. The first observed Dark Spot also seemed to move south and then back to the north. "When we were tracking the great dark spot with Voyager, we saw it oscillating up and down in longitude," said Heidi Hammel, a member of the imaging team of the Voyager 2 space probe and currently the vice president for science at the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy. "We had enough time on Voyager, that we were able to track the feature for something like four to five months leading up to the flyby. That storm was huge, a big monster," as big as planet Earth.
The Government Wants to Scan Your Face When You Enter the US. It Hasn’t Gone Well So Far.
A ransomware attack during a pilot program put travelers’ faces on the dark web.
"Comic supplies sales skyrocketed right away as people took this time to clean up their collection," says Higgins. "New titles were selling better than we ever expected, graphic novel sales spiked, and back issues jumped dramatically in price and flew out the door just as fast. Sales during the summer and early fall months were just unbelievable." [...] A key metric for the health of the industry is how many comics stores are ordering. Those numbers are moving in the right direction. "March 2020 saw Diamond ship 5.9 million comics; September and October were both over 7 million copies each," writes analyst John Jackson Miller in an email to THR. "Those are both behind the equivalent months in 2019; October 2019, with the X-Men relaunch, was the fourth best month of the decade of the 2010s. But per release, the sales levels are improved, and as the number of releases continues to build back, you can see it fully catching up." As Higgins suggests, it's not just new titles that are seeing a bump; multiple publishers told THR that back orders for already released material still available directly from the publisher scaled up in the latter half of the year, as well.
Now, a new study has conducted an even deeper search for X-rays in the same galaxy, using Chandra observations from 2018... But the Chandra data didn't reveal any significant X-ray sources, either in the galactic core or in big clumps of stars farther afield. So the mystery of the missing supermassive black hole persists.
That mystery could be solved by Hubble's successor — NASA's big, powerful James Webb Space Telescope, which is scheduled to launch in October 2021. If James Webb doesn't spot a black hole in the galaxy's heart or in one of its bigger stellar clumps, "then the best explanation is that the black hole has recoiled well out of the center of the galaxy," NASA officials wrote.
Plenty's climate-controlled indoor farm has rows of plants growing vertically, hung from the ceiling. There are sun-mimicking LED lights shining on them, robots that move them around, and artificial intelligence (AI) managing all the variables of water, temperature, and light, and continually learning and optimizing how to grow bigger, faster, better crops. These futuristic features ensure every plant grows perfectly year-round. The conditions are so good that the farm produces 400 times more food per acre than an outdoor flat farm.
Another perk of vertical farming is locally produced food. The fruits and vegetables aren't grown 1,000 miles away or more from a city; instead, at a warehouse nearby. Meaning, many transportation miles are eliminated, which is useful for reducing millions of tons of yearly CO2 emissions and prices for consumers. Imported fruits and vegetables are more expensive, so society's most impoverished are at an extreme nutritional disadvantage. Vertical farms could solve this problem.
The lead author of "The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: A Measurement of the Cosmic Microwave Background Power Spectra at 98 and 150 GHz" is Steve Choi, NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellow at the Cornell Center for Astrophysics and Planetary Science, in the College of Arts and Sciences. In 2019, a research team measuring the movements of galaxies calculated that the universe is hundreds of millions of years younger than the Planck team predicted. That discrepancy suggested a new model for the universe might be needed and sparked concerns that one of the sets of measurements might be incorrect. "Now we've come up with an answer where Planck and ACT agree," said Simone Aiola, a researcher at the Flatiron Institute's Center for Computational Astrophysics and first author of one of two papers. "It speaks to the fact that these difficult measurements are reliable."
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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2101.09 - 10:10
- Days ago = 2017 days ago
- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
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