radx said:

You're going to like this one:

Attorney Justin Moore said Jones “was dealing with a minor car issue after accidentally triggering his alarm and being unable to disable the security system” when police arrived. According to Moore, Jones was then “commanded to step out of his vehicle.”

When he exited his vehicle he tried to “explain the issue” and he was then “shot once in the stomach” by the unidentified Mesquite police officer, Moore said.

"Several officers then attacked Mr. Jones and attempted to perform an anal cavity search on the streets. Mr. Jones reacted to the unlawful sodomy and was consequently shot a second time in the back,” according to Moore.

Shot, sodomized, shot again, detained, isolated from legal counsel.

Mesquite Police Department. Off to the gulag with everyone involved in this shit.

radx said:

A different type, but yeah, they can be found under just about every pot these days. Every somewhat covered crevice seems to harbour some, really.

I had only seen singular examples in damp corners until maybe 3 or 4 years ago when they started popping up in ever increasing numbers. Nowadays, go outside and lift any pot, you'll find 5+ of them scrambling. When I pulled up the edge of an old sheet of rolled roofing the other day, there were dozens of them.

radx said:

Texas City Tells People No Hurricane Harvey Aid Unless They Promise Not to Boycott Israel

Say what now?!

Verification not to Boycott Israel. By executing this Agreement below, the Applicant verifies that the Applicant: (1) does not boycott Israel; and (2) will not boycott Israel during the term of this Agreement.

radx said:

The data of the study came out of Germany, where the effects of a change in temperature are much more moderate than in many other areas. Basically, this decline is attributed mostly due to farming, the saturation of everything with pesticides, and, generally speaking, the destruction of the ecosphere. Even worse, this is in a country with comparably extensive regulation on all these matters, unlike, say, India.

As you say, this really is no bueno.

Driving past fields of rapeseed in the late '90s meant a windshield full of bugs. We used to head into the fields wearing yellow shirts just to see who can get the densest armor of bugs. Now, I can walk past the very same fields outside the town I grew up in with less than 5 bugs on a yellow shirt.

Or how about another anecdote: when I grew up, barbecue in my (grand-)parents yard meant paying attention to all the wasps, so that you don't swallow one by accident. I haven't seen a single one over several barbecues this year. Bees and bumblebees are still around, though less plentiful, but wasps are a complete no-show. Haven't seen a hornet in two years.

radx said:

Texas City Tells People No Hurricane Harvey Aid Unless They Promise Not to Boycott Israel

Say what now?!

Verification not to Boycott Israel. By executing this Agreement below, the Applicant verifies that the Applicant: (1) does not boycott Israel; and (2) will not boycott Israel during the term of this Agreement.

radx said:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/18/warning-of-ecological-armageddon-after-dramatic-plunge-in-insect-numbers

Well... fuck.

radx said:

https://twitter.com/HerthaBSC_EN/status/919199084354949120

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2017/10/14/german-soccer-team-takes-a-knee-before-bundesliga-game-for-a-tolerant-berlin/

radx said:

Hospital food someone received in Japan after giving birth. Same in Croatia, via comment.

radx said:

One for your collection: Recordings Capture Brutal FBI Tactics to Recruit a Potential Informant

radx said:

Good piece in the Nation on the current state of Russiagate.

Appetizer:

These imperatives have incentivized a compromised set of journalistic and evidentiary standards. In Russiagate, unverified claims are reported with little to no skepticism. Comporting developments are cherry-picked and overhyped, while countervailing ones are minimized or ignored. Front-page headlines advertise explosive and incriminating developments, only to often be undermined by the article’s content, or retracted entirely. Qualified language—likely, suspected, apparent—appears next to “Russians” to account for the absence of concrete links. As a result, Russiagate has enlarged into a storm of innuendo that engulfs issues far beyond its original scope.

In other words: a big, fat nothingburger. But it allows many interested parties to derail the conversation away from issues like inequality.

radx said:

Good piece in the Nation on the current state of Russiagate.

Appetizer:

These imperatives have incentivized a compromised set of journalistic and evidentiary standards. In Russiagate, unverified claims are reported with little to no skepticism. Comporting developments are cherry-picked and overhyped, while countervailing ones are minimized or ignored. Front-page headlines advertise explosive and incriminating developments, only to often be undermined by the article’s content, or retracted entirely. Qualified language—likely, suspected, apparent—appears next to “Russians” to account for the absence of concrete links. As a result, Russiagate has enlarged into a storm of innuendo that engulfs issues far beyond its original scope.

In other words: a big, fat nothingburger. But it allows many interested parties to derail the conversation away from issues like inequality.

radx said:

What about the Oroville one, does that work?

<iframe src="https://streamable.com/s/8iun2/fayfyi" frameborder="0" width="485" height="388" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>

radx said:

Walter Becker died today, so...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JkS8WB94ME