April 6, 2017
Honk
My country has a cooler one than yours.
8 Year Old Girl Raised by Monkeys
8 year old girl living comfortably with monkeys "The child was so acclimated to her simian lifestyle at the Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary that when the cops tried to rescue the real-life “Mowgli girl,” both the apes and the child screeched at them, the Times of India reported."
There's nothing wrong with having a tree as a friend
Of our relation to all creation we can never know anything whatsoever. All is immensity and chaos. (SLYT)
Oh Garry! Well, You Came and You Gave Without Taking
Barry Manilow is gay and has been in a relationship with his manager, Garry, for forty years. Citing his belief that he would "disappoint fans", Manilow has stayed in the closet until coming out publicly two days ago. [more inside]
Dog, sometimes I suspect you of holding with the Arminian schismatics.
A message from Reformed theologian John Calvin to my dog Murphy, who I suspect is not a member of the elect, by Mallory Ortberg. [more inside]
“...actor is a non-gendered word that I use.”
Billions star Asia Kate Dillon doesn’t fit traditional awards categories. [The Toronto Star] “Fans of the series Billions [wiki] have spent much of the second season enamored of the relatively unknown Asia Kate Dillon, who portrays a gender non-binary character named Taylor Mason. Dillon’s breakout performance has arguably surpassed those of the show’s established stars, Paul Giamatti, Damian Lewis and Maggie Siff. In fact, it so impressed Showtime that the U.S. network planned to submit Dillon’s performance to this year’s Emmy Awards. There was only one issue. Much like the Mason character, Dillon identifies as gender non-binary and uses the pronoun “they.” The Emmy Awards, meanwhile, only have two categories for best supporting performance: actor and actress. The network asked Dillon which category Dillon would rather be submitted to.”
The Widening Gyre
President Trump boasts of a historically successful first 13 weeks of his Presidency. Falsely claiming that Rep. Cummings called him a "one of the great Presidents", he has had some significant successes in the past few weeks. Although the Obamacare repeal and replacement died an embarrassing death, and efforts to reanimate its corpse appear to have failed for now, and his Muslim-country travel ban seems destined to die in the courts (again), nevertheless, the Fiduciary Rule is stalled, his SCOTUS nominee is now moving toward confirmation and he has signed an Executive Order permitting government contractors to once again discriminate against LGBT workers.
The Syrian chemical attack has given Trump an opportunity to focus on foreign issues, at which he has fewer impediments to unilateral action, but the consequences of that range from measured to potentially quite dire.
Naked in the face of contamination
Sensorial Engagements with a Toxic World is a series of short essays on the lived experience of pollution around the globe. [more inside]
Og to til javanissen!
“In the winter,” you begin, “above the ice-locked fjørds, lies a creek, ash-white with the ghosts of glaciers–”
“You know what?” He interrupts. It was a beautiful story, but perhaps you can tell it later. “How about we do a little programming together? Just a basic exercise so I can get a sense of how you think.”
Hexing the technical interview
“You know what?” He interrupts. It was a beautiful story, but perhaps you can tell it later. “How about we do a little programming together? Just a basic exercise so I can get a sense of how you think.”
Hexing the technical interview
High Schoolers Attempt Suicide Because of Stress: One Suburb Reacts
"Small rocks from the beaches of eastern Massachusetts began appearing at Lexington High School last fall. They were painted in pastels and inscribed with pithy advice: Be happy.… Mistakes are O.K.… Don’t worry, it will be over soon. They had appeared almost by magic, boosting spirits and spreading calm at a public high school known for its sleep-deprived student body.
Crying jags over test scores are common here. Students say getting B’s can be deeply dispiriting, dashing college dreams and profoundly disappointing parents." [more inside]
Dueling cannons across the Channel
Allied big guns named "Winnie" and "Pooh" dueled Nazi cannons named "Adolf" and "Todt"across the English Channel. The Allied and Nazi cross-channel guns at Dover and Calais were among the last behemoth cannons of their kind in a new era of mobile warfare and soon-to-be guided missile technology.
(further Wiki)
(from the always interesting War is Boring)
“Now you know,” she said to me
Farewell, Mr. Warmth
a little bit of 😍 goes a long way in the virtual world
Brian Anderson (brson) of the Rust programming language talks about the minimally-nice open source software maintainer.
#allemannenhandinhand
Catastrophically loud
How loud would it be if all cats in the world meowed simultaneously? Reddit investigates.
Angelica Kitchen is Closing
These National Parks Wouldn't Exist Without Women
From Joshua Tree to Great Sand Dunes, these 6 special places are protected today thanks to their female champions. From the article, "Women were the driving force behind the creation of many of our most popular national parks, yet few today are household names. Time to give credit where credit is due. From Joshua Tree to Great Sand Dunes, these national parks simply wouldn’t exist as we know them today without the tireless efforts of dedicated women. Learn about the unsung heroes who made it happen."
I suspect this list is incomplete, but its a good start.
Commentators assume podcasting basically began with Serial.
A new article in The New Republic tries and fails, badly, to analyze contemporary podcasting. [more inside]
Shredded
Video of stuff being shredded ... accompanied by live performance sounds of shredding. Perhaps satisfying to anyone who's ever said "either that pink upholstered armchair goes, or I do" ... or for those of us who may be suffering from way too much peace, quiet and serenity. via the creator, cpi on mastodon
All you’re doing is making your salt smaller than it was before
Salt grinders are bullshit, and other lessons from growing up in the spice trade: A brief AV Club piece from Caitlin PenzeyMoog on her childhood memories of mixing spices and learning philosophy in the back store-room of Milwaukee's Spice House.
Research from the esteemed Arthur Vandelay Urological Research Institute
"John McCool is neither a researcher nor a urologist. When received an unsolicited invitation to submit a paper to an open-access urology journal, however, he just couldn’t resist. He is the owner of a freelance scientific editing company, and has long been concerned about so-called predatory journals, which often publish sub-par papers as long as authors pay. And he loves the TV show “Seinfeld.”"
Like many others before him, McCool decided to punk the journal by submitting a fake paper." [more inside]
On (wicked?) step-mothers
"I only ever found two fairy tales with good stepmothers, and they were both from Iceland. One stars a woman named Himinbjorg, who helps her stepson through his mourning by helping him fulfill the prophecy his mother delivered to him in a dream: that he will free a princess from a spell that had turned her into an ogre. By the time he returns from his mission victorious, the royal court is ready to burn Himinbjorg at the stake, because everyone is convinced that she is responsible for his disappearance. Perhaps I wanted credit for mothering more than I wanted to mother. Himinbjorg, on the other hand, is willing to look like a witch just to help her stepson break the spell he needs to break."
Over there
100 years ago today the United States entered World War I Majorities in the House and Senate supported president Wilson's call to declare war on Germany. [more inside]
Should you get the guacamole on your burrito?
Making a decent profit in the restaurant industry is a high hurdle. As a consumer, when eating out you’re paying for a lot more than just the food; it’s the excellent waitstaff, unique ambiance, convenient location, in addition to the delicious dish that makes for a memorable experience. In order to cover all of these costs and still make a slim profit (generally 3–5%), restaurants need to mark up ingredients on average 300%.
We live in the blue ruin
A short story by Felicia C. Sullivan The Preliminaries
You are permitted twenty things from the old life before the move. Fingers count. Single eyelashes count. A breath does not. Breathing is a given. Antiseptic is forbidden. Bones, you can have those. Don’t bother with your voice — it’ll be removed in stages. Besides, no one speaks inside The Blue.
Mask On, #MaskOff
Future Inspires Musicians to Take Part in Incredible #MaskOffChallenge — The flute is finally getting the respect it deserves. Thanks to Future's "Mask Off," [NSFW] taken from this year's very good self-titled album, a single sampled flute has inspired a new social media challenge. The growing #MaskOffChallenge hashtag puts black musicians in the spotlight with flute, recorder, violin, and piano covers of the Metro Boomin and Southside-produced cut. More at Buzzfeed.
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