Official BBO Hijacked Thread Thread

[Cyberyeti]

An emotional rescue

 

Link is to a website that can't be accessed from the EU due to GDPR

[y66]

Link is to a website that can't be accessed from the EU due to GDPR

Is there a way to test a URL for GDPR compliance?

 

Here's a different URL: https://www.unionleader.com/nh/outdoors/footprints-in-the-snow-lead-to-an-emotional-rescue/article_482a2e0f-e725-5df6-9e7c-5958bdb272e5.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share

[Winstonm]

From Charles Pierce at Esquire:

 

Nothing like a wall unless its a lever now a lever is as old as a wheel it might actually be older than a wheel but it's definitely older than a wall and in Medieval times they used levers to throw ***** over walls which is why it has to be 30 feet high or the drug dealers will build catapults which aren't as old as the wheel but might be older than a wall to throw drugs over the wall but if we use steel slats instead of concrete we can see them and shoot flaming arrows at them which is very impressive especially at night which is when the drug dealers come out.

[y66]

From Michael K. Williams who portrayed Omar Little in The Wire:

 

I went into “The Wire” like any newly budding actor: I was narcissistic. It was just about my career and how much screen time I had and blah, blah, blah.

 

Season 2 came in, the story line shifted to the docks where there were white actors that told that story. That shook me a little bit. I didn’t expect that. I came out on the other side of that with gratitude to be a part of this. I saw how David Simon [the creator] masterfully came back in to Season 3 and it became bigger than just a hood story.

 

It was never about that. It was a social story told on an American tapestry. Just happened to be in the hood.

 

It wouldn’t just be people saying, “Oh, that’s some good hood [expletive] on TV.” It was the way that the community was responding to the story. It was truth telling. That’s when I realized that I’m a part of something way bigger than me or my career, and it made me really grateful to be just a small part in that wheel.

 

I saw a lot of homophobia in my community. Omar definitely helped soften the blow of homophobia in my community and it opened up a dialogue, definitely. There’s been more of a tolerance for alternative lifestyles in the community than prior to “The Wire.” Kima Greggs [sonja Sohn], Felicia Pearson. It wasn’t just Omar, man.

 

[The essence of my character is in] the speech that he gave just before he pulled the trigger on Stringer Bell [idris Elba]. String tries to offer him money for his life. Omar says, “You still don’t get it. It ain’t about your money, bro.” It’s about loyalty. His boy gave him up. You know what I’m saying? Money can’t buy loyalty, man.

 

Omar had a code of ethics. You may not agree with his morals or his ideals, however, you could set your watch by him that he was not gonna break codes for anything or anybody, or no amount of money. It’s code.

 

Man’s gotta have a code, right? — As told to Aisha Harris at NYT.

Yo

[johnu]

Cashing in early to get lucrative job in private industry.

 

Tom Marino to resign from Congress

 

Republican congressman Tom Marino to resign from Congress after less than 2 weeks into the new term. Seems very odd that he would have spent all summer and fall campaigning for election in 2018 to decide to quit less than 2 weeks into the new Congress. His district seemed to be safely red as he got 66% of the vote in 2018.

[Winstonm]

The gap between rich and poor is fracturing society, poisoning politics and fueling public anger, according to a new report from anti-poverty nonprofit Oxfam, which found that last year just 26 people owned the same amount of wealth as the poorest 3.8 billion people. This figure is down from 43 the year before.

 

At what point do the pitchforks and torches appear? 13:rest-of-us?

[Winstonm]

I would like to thank Individual-1 and the vice-president on donating 2 minutes from their busy day trying to sell Wall-mart shares to mules in order to celebrate MLK day. Such quality individuals.

[Winstonm]

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has used an excellent nickname for the current occupant of the White House: The Grand Wizard of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

[Winstonm]

Bernstein and Woodward wrote that Haldeman “was one of five high-ranking presidential associates authorized to approve payments from a secret Nixon campaign cash fund, according to federal investigators and accounts of sworn testimony before the Watergate grand jury.”

 

The fund had been used for sabotage and espionage against the president’s opponents, including payments to the men who burglarized the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters at the Watergate office complex, Bernstein and Woodward wrote. If Haldeman was guilty, then it was only a small step to connect the Watergate crimes to Nixon himself.

 

 

Although the main point of the story was true, Nixon’s aides jumped on the mistake: Bernstein and Woodward wrote that former Nixon campaign treasurer Hugh Sloan Jr. had testified before a grand jury about Haldeman’s control of the fund. Sloan had indeed told Bernstein and Woodward about Haldeman’s role, but he had not told the grand jury.

 

Who is today's Hugh Sloan Jr.?

[Winstonm]

How far we have fallen. During Watergate there were plumbers; now, just a Bid Dick Toilet Salesman.

[johnu]

Hecklers Attack Howard Schultz At Event After He Teases Presidential Bid

 

I have no idea where he expects to get any support. In Washington state, home of Starbucks, he is reviled by sports fans for making the Seattle Supersonics NBA franchise disappear forever. Among Washington sports fans, he would probably get about .01% of the vote.

[johnu]

A GOP lawmaker wants to repeal child labor laws in his state. He employs hundreds of minors.

 

Another WTF moment from the GOP (with some assistance from Democrats). The title of the article is self explanatory.

[Winstonm]

From NFL commissioner Roger Goodell:

 

“We understand the frustration of the fans,” Goodell told media after making remarks about the upcoming Atlanta Super Bowl. “I’ve talked to coach [sean] Payton, the team the players. We understand the frustration that they feel right now. We certainly want to address that.

 

“Whenever officiating is part of any kind of discussion postgame, it’s never a good outcome for us. We know that. Our clubs know that. Our officials know that. But we also know our officials are human. We also know that they’re officiating a game that moves very quickly and have to make snap decisions under difficult circumstances. And they’re not going to get it right all the time

.

 

Maybe the problem is that culturally we have allowed a game to become too important an industry.

[Winstonm]

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell doesn’t think Election Day should be a federal holiday because that would give Democrats too much power.

 

While removing power from Russia. B-)

[johnu]

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell doesn’t think Election Day should be a federal holiday because that would give Democrats too much power.

I am against a national holiday for elections because there are already solutions that are 1000% better.

 

Consider, even if election day was a holiday, and there are always people who have to work on holidays, there are things like this:

 

Iconic Dodge City moves its only polling place outside town

 

More Republican crimes against non-Republican voters. There was only 1 polling booth for 13,000 voters in the entire city.

 

That single polling site services more than 13,000 voters in the Dodge City area, compared to an average of 1,200 voters per polling site at other locations, said Micah Kubic, executive director of the ACLU in Kansas.

For this November’s election, local officials have moved it outside the city limits to a facility more than a mile from the nearest bus stop, citing road construction that blocked the previous site.

 

Where there is way, Republican election criminals will try to steal the right to vote by anybody who doesn't agree with them.

 

In my state, everybody can vote by mail. You get your ballot several weeks before the election as well as a voter pamphlet that describes any initiatives or referendums, as well as any candidates running for office. You can fill out your ballot whenever you have spare time and can drop off a prepaid envelope with your ballot at the nearest post office box. Each ballot has a detachable receipt tab so you can track your ballot online.

 

Instead of elections on Tuesdays, we could move elections to Saturdays or Sundays. Since most working people don't work on weekends, the problem with taking time off from work is mostly eliminated. Why stick to a tradition that clearly isn't the best option?

 

From wikipedia

In 1845, the United States was largely an agrarian society. Farmers often needed a full day to travel by horse-drawn vehicles to the county seat/parish seat to vote. Tuesday was established as election day because it did not interfere with the Biblical Sabbath or with market day, which was on Wednesday in many towns.

If the US could develop a 100% hack proof electronic voting with verification, we would only have to worry about people who don't have access to electronic voting, and they could vote with mail-in/absentee ballots.

[kenberg]

This is from the "Politicians say the darnedest things" department. I am speaking of the Va Governor From WaPo:

"I am not the person in that photo that caused this stir," Northam told media packed into the Executive Mansion, referring to the image of a person dressed in blackface and another in a Ku Klux Klan robe on his yearbook page.

"Last night I finally had a chance to sit down and look at the photo in detail," said Northam, adding that he does not own the yearbook and that it was the first time he had ever seen the photo. "It is not me."

 

Seriously? After a detailed look he can say "It's not me"? I would not need to take a detailed look at a photo of someone in a Klan costume or someone in blackface in order to confidently say "It's not me".

Once again I am left wondering about reporters. Nobody thought to ask "And just why, Governor, did you need to study the picture in detail before you could assert that it is not you?"

It's pretty likely that when I was 8 or so I went out at Halloween dressed like an Indian. Or rather like a 1940s movie version of an Indian. But, even then, not in a Klan costume. And I was 8, not 25.

 

Just for amusement I looked up my 1956 high school yearbook. It has a page where the seniors will something to the others. In my case it said "Ken Berg leaves his be-bop glasses and blue suede shoes to Harvey S." Somebody made that up, I never said such a thing. I do not need to study anything in detail to assert this.

 

Added: Maybe some people have never made a mistake but I am not one of them. If someone claims they have a picture from 1964 of 25 year old me watching a stripper in a bar, I am not prepared to call him a liar. We can acknowledge that at times we might not have been at our most admirable. I think we should go easy on long ago mistakes, depending on the mistakes of course.

 

[Winstonm]

This is from the "Politicians say the darnedest things" department. I am speaking of the Va Governor From WaPo:

 

 

Seriously? After a detailed look he can say "It's not me"? I would not need to take a detailed look at a photo of someone in a Klan costume or someone in blackface in order to confidently say "It's not me".

Once again I am left wondering about reporters. Nobody thought to ask "And just why, Governor, did you need to study the picture in detail before you could assert that it is not you?"

It's pretty likely that when I was 8 or so I went out at Halloween dressed like an Indian. Or rather like a 1940s movie version of an Indian. But, even then, not in a Klan costume. And I was 8, not 25.

 

Just for amusement I looked up my 1956 high school yearbook. It has a page where the seniors will something to the others. In my case it said "Ken Berg leaves his be-bop glasses and blue suede shoes to Harvey S." Somebody made that up, I never said such a thing. I do not need to study anything in detail to assert this.

 

Added: Maybe some people have never made a mistake but I am not one of them. If someone claims they have a picture from 1964 of 25 year old me watching a stripper in a bar, I am not prepared to call him a liar. We can acknowledge that at times we might not have been at our most admirable. I think we should go easy on long ago mistakes, depending on the mistakes of course.

 

From my viewpoint, much of the problem with the press comes from "access reporting" - where the importance is in being able to interview or access person "X" - then softball questions are asked with no hard follow-ups, insuring further access. This falls in line with the idea of stenography reporting - which Ken describes above where obvious follow-ups are not asked - and the ridiculous faux "fairness" seen on many television news shows where "he says-she says" coverage is left unchallenged. Many times it is like watching pro wrestlers talk.

 

There is precious little genuine investigative reporting being done these days - much of it is online, which makes it really difficult to determine genuine trustworthy news.

 

Most televised news is more concerned with personal star power and rating rather than news, so access reporting is prevalent.

[johnu]

Howard Schultz Prefers You Use Another Term Besides ‘Billionaire’

 

Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz may be a billionaire, but he doesn’t really like the term.

The moniker “billionaire” now has become the catchphrase. I would rephrase that and say that “people of means” have been able to leverage their wealth and their interest in ways that are unfair, and I think that speaks to the inequality but it also speaks to the special interests that are paid for people of wealth and corporations who are looking for influence.

How awful that people are tar and feathering people of means by calling them billionaires :rolleyes:

 

I have to admit that I would love to be insulted by being called a billionaire (if it was true) :lol:

[Winstonm]

Dear Ayn Rand acolytes: real life is not fiction.

 

Anarcho-capitalists (“ancaps”) believe in dismantling the state and allowing unchecked capitalism to govern the world in its place. Even within the small anarchist world, ancaps are fringe. Anarchists typically describe their movement as inherently anti-capitalist. Their philosophy describes anarchy as the rejection of hierarchical structures, which they say capitalism enforces. Anarcho-capitalists, meanwhile, see money as a liberating force. They promote a variety of libertarian causes like using cryptocurrency, legalizing all drugs, and privatizing all public institutions like courts and roads. The movement reveres the novelist Ayn Rand, whose work outlines a philosophy of radical selfishness and individualism. Her best-known character, an idealized capitalist named John Galt, appears to have inspired Galton’s name.

[Winstonm]

Wow!

 

That’s what Barrett accomplished. With hundreds of mice and years of research, he and his colleagues were able to show and measure, in the real world, “the full process of evolution by natural selection,” says Hopi Hoekstra of Harvard University, who led the study. “It’s all in one.”

[y66]

From Sam Sifton who edits NYT's cooking newletter:

 

We’re coming up on Valentine’s Day and of course we have recipes for that night, and for some heartwarming cocktails to go along with it, at least if you’re not heading out to a restaurant for too-sweet Champagne and too many chocolates after the oysters and filet mignon. I’ll pass, cook my Valentines some pasta with scallops, burst cherry tomatoes and lots of herbs, spoon out ice cream for dessert and recite Shakespeare:

 

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,

But bears it out even to the edge of doom.

If this be error and upon me prov’d,

I never writ, nor no man ever lov’d.

 

I’ll say that, and go walk the dog. Or not! It may come to delivery pizza and frozen fruit bars from the deli. The course of family life never did run smooth.

[y66]

From We have a new global tally of the insect apocalypse. It’s alarming. by Brian Resnick at Vox:

 

The pace of modern insect extinctions surpasses that of vertebrates by a large margin,” write the authors of an alarming new review in Biological Conservation of the scientific literature on insect populations published in the past 40 years. The state of insect biodiversity, they write, is “dreadful.” And their biomass — the estimated weight of all insects on Earth combined — is dropping by an estimated 2.5 percent every year.

 

In all, the researchers conclude that as much as 40 percent of all insect species may be endangered over the next several decades. (Caveat: Most of the data was obtained from studies conducted in Europe and North America.) And around 41 percent of all insect species on record have seen population declines in the past decade.

 

“We estimate the current proportion of insect species in decline ... to be twice as high as that of vertebrates, and the pace of local species extinction ... eight times higher,” the authors write. “It is evident that we are witnessing the largest [insect] extinction event on Earth since the late Permian and Cretaceous periods.”

[y66]

How Do I Love Thee? A Mathematician and a Psychologist Count the Ways at WSJ:

 

Nearly 30 years ago, a mathematician and a psychologist teamed up to explore one of life’s enduring mysteries: What makes some marriages happy and some miserable?

 

The psychologist, John Gottman, wanted to craft a tool to help him better counsel troubled couples. The mathematician, James Murray, specialized in modeling biological processes.

 

It was a match made in heaven.

 

The pair decided to create a mathematical model to quantify how couples interact and influence each other during an argument. The results helped Dr. Gottman visualize the dynamics of a marriage and measure the impact of therapy.

 

The approach also proved to be shockingly accurate at predicting which couples would divorce.

 

“We got actual numbers we could compute,” Dr. Gottman said. “We could see how the partners influence each other.”

 

Their subjects initially included 130 couples who had applied for marriage licenses in King County, where, at the time, the professors taught at the University of Washington in Seattle. Some of the couples were newlyweds, others were about to be married, and each pair was videotaped for three 15-minute conversations.

 

In one exchange, the couples were instructed to talk about their day. In another they were told to talk about something positive. And in the third, they were asked to talk about something contentious. The topic didn’t matter—it could be about money, sex, food, in-laws or anything else—as long as they disagreed.

 

The contentious exchange proved to be the most predictive.

 

The couple’s interactions were scored by two independent observers who rated every emotion in the exchange.

 

Altogether, 16 different emotions were coded. At one end of the spectrum, contempt, the most corrosive emotion, according to Dr. Gottman, was scored -4. At the other end, shared humor, one of the best ways to defuse tension, he said, was scored +4.

 

“They both have to be laughing together,” Dr. Gottman said. “A lot of contempt happens with one person laughing and the other person looking stunned. That’s a minus 4.”

 

The scores for the various emotions expressed during each exchange were summed, and the researchers plotted the scores for each subsequent exchange as a time series on a graph.

 

Once the emotions were scored and plotted, the researchers found that the positive and negative progression of the exchanges eventually settled down and didn’t change very much.

 

That steady state, they concluded, described how a couple resolves conflicts.

 

“It’s like a Dow Jones curve,” Dr. Murray said. “The ones that went continuously down, it was clear they found it very, very difficult to appreciate what the other one was thinking. That’s what made it clear the marriage wasn’t going to last.”

 

For low-risk couples, the ratio of positive to negative responses was approximately 5 to 1. For high-risk couples, the ratio was about 1 to 1, and based on their observations, the researchers were able to predict divorce with 94% accuracy.

 

The researchers followed the couples for a decade, and in that time, all of the pairs they predicted would divorce did, most within four years. A few other couples they predicted would remain married, though unhappily, also divorced, lowering their overall accuracy.

 

Marriages, they found, fell into five categories: validating, volatile, conflict–avoiding, hostile and hostile–detached (a significantly more negative pairing). Only three—validating, volatile and conflict–avoiding—are stable, they write in their book, but a volatile marriage, though passionate, risks dissolving into endless bickering.

 

Notably, they also found that as the years passed, each couple’s style of communication changed very little from that initial videotaped contentious exchange.

 

“We found about 80% stability in couples’ interaction over time,” Dr. Gottman said, a result that was based on bringing the couples back to the lab for additional scored discussions, usually at three-year intervals.

 

Dr. Gottman and Dr. Murray have since published their work in the book “The Mathematics of Marriage: Dynamic Nonlinear Models.”

 

But if they were to boil down their work to one simple strategy for couples, it might be this: Face each other when talking. And acknowledge your role in the dispute.

 

“If they listen to each other,” said Dr. Murray, who’s been married for 60 years, “they might have a different future.”

[Winstonm]

Here is why I don't automatically support all of our troops:

 

Feb 14 (Reuters) - A white man who killed a black man with a sword in the hopes of starting a race war was sentenced to life in prison without parole Wednesday in New York, multiple media accounts said.

 

James Jackson, 30, a former U.S. Army specialist, apologized for the slaying, before the State Supreme Court Justice Laura A. Ward sentenced him to the maximum allowed under the law, the New York Times reported.

 

Last month, Jackson plead guilty to first-degree murder in furtherance of an act of terrorism, in the March 2017 death of Timothy Caughman, 66.

 

Why this type of individual was allowed to serve is beyond me. I don't support that decision.

[Winstonm]

An Alabama newspaper has called “for the Ku Klux Klan to night ride again” and hang Democrats with hemp ropes. In a shocking editorial, the Democrat-Reporter in Linden states that the KKK “would be welcome to raid the gated communities” in Washington, D.C., referring to the residences of Democrats and “Democrats in the Republican Party.” The editorial, written by Publisher Goodloe Sutton, expressed anger at both parties for “plotting to raise taxes in Alabama.” When contacted by the Montgomery Advertiser, Goodloe doubled down on his call for action, saying: “If we could get the Klan to go up there and clean out D.C., we’d all been better off... We’ll get the hemp ropes out, loop them over a tall limb and hang all of them.” He denied calling for the lynching of Americans, saying: “These are socialist-communists we’re talking about.” Lawmakers from the state have urged Sutton to resign.

 

Free speech has limits - even for rabid fools.