Collected Links (06/10/2022)

•  At least 20 million people watched the prime time coverage of yesterday's Congressional hearing on the events around January 6, 2022. That is roughly equivalent to a Monday Night Football broadcast, and does not include watchers on PBS, which may have been several million. Presidential debates, by comparison, get numbers around 68 million -- three times as much. Fox News, of course, did not broadcast the debate live, with sound. During the first part of the debate Tucker Carlson was on, who said, among other things:

It’s deranged, and we’re not playing along,. . . . This is the only hour on an American news channel that will not be carrying their propaganda live. They are lying, and we are not going to help them do it. What we will do instead is to try to tell you the truth.

(Quoted in the NYT article linked; see also Fox News itself, or this similar article at Huffington Post.) The hearings were also covered or reported on by news networks outside the United States, and even on Fox News, eventually, so, I guess Tucker thinks there is a worldwide conspiracy against him.

• Also as reported in the NYT, a report from CDC data and analyzed by the Williams Institute at UCLA law school, the number of youth identifying as transgender has sharply increased. To quote the article:

The number of young people who identify as transgender has nearly doubled in recent years, according to a new report that captures a stark generational shift and emerging societal embrace of a diversity of gender identities.

The analysis, relying on government health surveys conducted from 2017 to 2020, estimated that 1.4 percent of 13- to 17-year-olds and 1.3 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds were transgender, compared with about 0.5 percent of all adults.
   . . .

But the numbers, which vary widely from state to state, also raise questions about the role of peer influence or the political climate of the community.

The article has superlative graphs of the variance by age and among states.

Collected Links (05/31/2022)

• NYT Wirecutter "52 Things We Love" HP Officejet Pro 9015e printer, ChefsChoice Trizor XV knife sharpener, Milwaukee Fastback utility knife, Nektech 60W USB-C GaN charger, Nidra Deep Rest eyemask, Novaform Comfortgrand mattress, Channellock wirecutters, Cuisinart Chef's Convection toaster oven.
• Fox News: "Biden's refusal to send rockets to Ukraine shows 'complete lack of strategy' from White House: Victoria Coates" -- classic Fox News: irresponsible title of an irresponsible article -- irresponsibility here that extends to outright dishonesty. First, the U.S. is sending rockets to Ukraine -- indeed, the U.S. under the Biden administration is by far the leading supplier of arms to Ukraine. The announcement the Fax News story related to involves an announcement of an additional $700 million military aid to Ukraine, including advanced medium range rockets. So, the headline and article are dishonest. Second, in fact the U.S. is not sending one type of advanced long range rocket that would potentially expand the conflict by allowing Ukraine to begin an offensive against Russia as the missiles can be targeted missiles at sites in the Russian interior. Strategically, we cannot allow that, nor can we contravene our NATO allies on this, and they surely would not allow this. So, there's significant strategic concerns here, not a "complete absence of it. Third, the "complete lack of strategy" quote -- itself hyperbole even if there was some strategic disagreement (which there isn't) -- was not actually made on the missile decision per see but to the announcement of it. Coates says that our saying what we're going to do is a "complete lack of strategy." So, Fox News overtly distorted it for a headline and article. Fourth, using representing a cherry picked quote from "talking head" is not news although it is represented on the broadcast as news. Note, in this regard, Fox News has separate news and commentary divisions. This is from the news side. Fifth, the line between news and commentary at Fox, as demonstrated in part by this article, is becoming non-existent. Fox, apparently, is abandoning attempts to even superficially present news straight. This is why the most ethical of their anchors (in my view) -- Shep, Chris -- have quit. And Sixth this is not just casual dishonesty: this story was "pushed" to me by Fox News. UPDATE: It turns out the U.S. is in fact sending the very weapons in question. Not seeing a correction from Fox. Instead I see "Russia Stages Nuclear Drills After U.S. Announces Rockets to Ukraine" -- which flatly contradicts in its own deceptive way the thesis of Fox News's first salacious and untrue article, discussed above -- and "Biden's Latest $700M Ukraine Weapons Package: Here's Everything in It".
• Knee Drives for Exercise -- to stretch and exercise my weak points (well some of the many)
  
• Bionic Reading Font -- I, personlly, find this much easier to read quickly and with comprehension -- I think this is a great idea.
• "Trump’s Fiscal Legacy: A Comprehensive Overview of Spending, Taxes, and Deficits" -- bottom line: during the Trump presidency we added $3.9 trillion to the U.S. deficit.
• At Quartz: "A Harvard Economist Summarizes His Class on Monopolies in 54 Tweets"

"False Flags and Roof Terrorists: Your Guide to All the Internet Horseshit"

"Roof Guy"

An article at Gawker a few days ago, "False Flags and Roof Terrorists: Your Guide to All the Internet Horseshit," if fun of short reading of all an example of the crap nonsense people were spouting on the web and social media after the Boston Bombings when few if any of us really knew what was going on. We get a primer of "false flag attacks," "the roof guy," "crisis actors," and the "fact" that the show Family Guy supposedly predicted the attack. Of course, the readers at Reddit and 4chan were also actively trying (and failing) to solve the crime. (As Matt Buchanan said in an article at The New Yorker on the trend, "This moment is, for better or for worse, the shape of things to come.")

It is a brave new world where everybody has ready access to information on how to maim and kill hundreds or thousands and then we can all play FBI together, speculating on who did it.

Today's Crazy Values In Ceramics

As reported at NBC News (via Miss Celania), a bowl purchased at a garage sale for $3 turned out to be a 1000 year old relic from China. Naturally, following a suitable period sitting on the family fireplace mantel followed by a suitable period for verification, it was off to auction and was sold for $2.2 million.

This stuff never happens to me.

Note: this embedded video is from NBC News, whose embedding sucks, and I am too tight on time to fool with it. You'd think a big media company like that would have a clue, but nooooo ...

Is the Asteroid About to Miss Earth an Effect of Global Warming?

Asteroid 2012 DA14 -- which is pretty big -- will be zipping within 17,000 miles of Earth on Friday -- it could even hit some satellites, though the chances of that are slim. A CNN reporter wants to know, though, if it's caused by global warming.  I'm just agog, I tells ya. Agog.

"This one's just going up and above planet Earth." Ok, I officially feel hopeless about all humanity. 

Bill Nye, meanwhile, wants us to understand that it only missed us by 15 minutes. Well, better luck next time, asteroid.

Oh, and Space.com wants us to understand that "space miners" value it at $195 billion. "Space miners"? What is that? Is that like Mole People? There are no "space miners" except in science fiction.  Jezusss.

Tweetping

Tweetping uses -- surprise, surprise, pings from tweets -- and the javascript building program node.js to track Twitter traffic in real time around the world. This is fascinating. [Ed: you may just be easily amused.]  Via MetaFilter.

The (New) Daily Mail Oncological Ontology Project

The (New) Daily Mail Oncological Ontology Project is "[a]n ongoing quest to track the Daily Mail's classification of inanimate objects into two types: those that cause cancer, and those that cure it. Inspired by and a direct continuation of the Daily Mail Oncological Ontology Project ...." It is hilarious. This is a genius level idea.

While I'm on it, The New Yorker has a lengthy article on Dr. Mehmet Oz of The Dr. Oz Show. Oz is a highly qualified, highly successful cardio-thoracic surgeon who loves the limelight and has sort of promoted alternative therapies unsupported by evidence, as he acknowledges. "Sort of" because he seems to suggest they work, or might work, and does not seem to bothered by evidence to the contrary. He's being "open minded." His wife, Lisa, who is the daughter of a very prominent heart surgeon, is, in fact, a "Reiki master." That means she attempts to heal through a "spiritual practice" of laying on hands. It's not even ancient voodoo: it was invented by a Japanese Buddhist monk in the 1920's. (And I don't doubt that many people find it comforting, and that this can be therapeutic in itself -- but it's not treatment.)

Piers Morgan Interviews Gun Nut -- Well, Universal Nut -- Alex Jones on His Petition to Deport Piers Morgan

Alex Jones is not just any off-the-shelf/out-of-the-woods flake but is a talk show host with a substantial audience. Should you not want to listen to his bombast as it could cause you to lose several I.Q. points, let me summarize. In the seven minute interview, above, he manages to tie gun control discussion in the U.S. to the Russians, Mao, Hitler, Stalin, Fidel Castro, and Hugo Chavez, "globalism," the "New World Order," "mega banks" controlling the media, everybody but the Swiss, rape in India, Santa Anna attacking the Alamo, and Prozac and "mass murder pills" that are apparently part of a plot to get people in the U.S. to drug themselves then kill themselves and each other (I did not know this). He informs us that Britain took the guns and is now the crime capital of Europe (there were 37 gun deaths there last year versus 11,000 in the U.S., according to Piers Morgan), and now Britain wants to ban knives. Britain is a "total police state" and "everybody is fleeing it," says Jones. He offers to box Piers Morgan (suggesting Morgan should wear "Jolly Rogers" shorts, evidently believing that to be the symbol of England -- Jones is going to wear the red, white, and blue). “The government buys 1.6 billion bullets, armored vehicles, tanks, helicopters, predator drones, armed now in US skies, being used to arrest people in North Dakota.” "1776 will happen again if you try to take our guns."

Jones seems upset that people are trying to medicate him. Jones needs medication.

It has been suggested that Jones is not a good advocate for gun rights. That is true. There is a nuttiness and extremism he reflects, though, that is widespread, and, while his common travelers are not anything close to a majority of people, they should not be ignored. There's a reason so many buy into the crazy -- I suspect it's a combination of fear and ignorance, though that's speculation -- and whatever it is, it needs to be examined and addressed.

The Concentration of Wealth and Power in China

Recently Bloomberg News has published several articles with interactive graphics discussing how some decedents of leading figures from the China's communist revolution have amassed incredible wealth, potentially through their family names and connections. It's a story that has been told in part elsewhere -- the New York Times, for example, published an article with its own interactive graphics on the wealthy relations of Wen Jiabao (温家宝) -- China's Premier of the State Council ("head of government" and leading the cabinet, compare Xi Jinping (习近平) who is the effective leader of China). I thought it might be interesting to combine some of the key graphics from some of the articles.

A couple of brief introductory notes: Bloomberg uses the phrase "eight immortals" to refer to the elders, but that's sarcastic -- the "eight immortals" were legendary apocryphal figures in Chinese history, sort of superheros who went around solving problems, and whose images, when solitary are sometimes confused with buddhas'. In addition, several of the elders and some of their descendants appear very unhappy with profiteering by their families or spouses. Below are just static images; the articles (linked above) are worth clicking through to; there's a lot I've left out, like, for instance, the entire interactive part.

The Best New York Times Graphics of 2012

I am going to be publishing some 2012 wrap-ups today and tomorrow -- there are too many to post them all in one night, and I've refused to start wrapping up 2012 before the end of the year. 

A great place to start is The New York Times's wrap up of its best interactive graphics of 2012. Every single one of these is an incredible piece of work and eclipses the most of the work I seeing elsewhere. They're so informative, so well designed, so beautiful that they deserve a separate post ... I'll be revisiting a few of these in subsequent posts related to some of their substance (I've published on a few in the past).

Why, Yes, General Petraeus Does Look Natty in this Photo (Which Must Be Why the Washington Post Buried this Significant News Story in the Style Section)

On December 3 legendary reporter Bob Woodward disclosed that Rupert Murdoch (who, of course, owns a huge media empire and has come under suspicion for his organizations' illegal use of wiretaps, among other things) and Roger Ailes (president of Fox News and chair of Fox Television Stations), via their subordinate K.T. McFarland, asked David Petraeus (former US 4 star general and then head of operations in Afghanistan) to run for US President. Murdoch would finance the campaign, and Ailes would serve as the media adviser or chief of staff of the campaign. Petraeus refused. (N.B. I'd like to say "to his credit Petraeus refused," but he didn't refuse due to Murdoch's and Ailes's obvious conflicts of interest -- instead he said were he to ever run he'd take them up on their offers.)

A tape of the full recording is here; a transcript of the tape is here.

Some Recent Concerns About "The Media"

Look, there are lots of newspapers, magazines, television stations, and radio stations in the U.S., not to mention the world, and lots of major websites as well.  There is no monolithic "Media" acting in concert. Most major media outlets are motivated first and foremost by trying to sell their media, either to consumers or advertisers or both. Credibility at some level is usually their stock in trade, and, though they pander to target certain audiences and their preferences (and are loathe to publish anything that will offend their core audience), they are hesitant to go to far out lest they offend too many or damage their credibility.

But some recent actions by some "mainstream" media outlets have to make us concerned.

"TV Tricks of the Trade -- Quotes and Cutaways"

Via Bits & Pieces.

Devil Fire

This photo by Chris Tangey and published at The Australian shows a dust devil sucking up a brushfire. The Australian will not allow me to look/link the photo on their site without registering and starting a "free trial period," so no link for you. Seen at boing boing. 

Esquire Magazine's 7 Greatest Stories

About four years ago or so Esquire magazine published a list of what it termed its seven greatest stories. They're all good. Here's the list (links to the full or the print versions):

• The School The story of the Chechen terrorist seizure of a city school in Beslan, Russia, which resulted, after three days of horror, in the deaths of at least 385 people, including 186 children, and many hundreds wounded.  This is the story from inside the school. The Beslan massacre was the second worst terrorist attack in modern history; it ended on September 3, 2004, almost eight years ago to the day of this post.
• The Falling Man An iconic photograph exists of a man falling from the World Trade Center after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks -- he was perhaps one of several hundred who jumped or fell.  This article tells about attempts to identify the man, the duties of journalists, the reactions of the public, and the responses of the families of victims. Like the Beslan masacre, timely: it's just a five days short of 11 years ago
• What Do You Think of Ted Williams Now? Ted Williams as bloviating egoist, a man who hates to lose, who worked his way from poverty to star to apparent hater of fans but secret lover of adoration, who's a hothead, a fisherman, the last major leaguer to hit over .400, a man with 521 lifetime homeruns, and a man who YELLS EVERY OTHER DAMN PHRASE. 
• Frank Sinatra Has a Cold Frank Sinatra is not interested in being interviewed. Frank Sinatra is very busy.  "Frank Sinatra is Il Padrone. Or better still, he is what in traditional Sicily have long been called uomini rispettati -- men of respect." Frank Sinatra is a hothead -- no, he's not so much like Ted Williams -- Frank Sinatra is mercurial. Frank Sinatra was a singer the way Ted Williams was a hitter. 
• M "M" is Army company M; this article tells the story of the wrap-up of its training at Fort Dix and assignment to Vietnam in 1965-66, where several soldiers were killed, several Viet Cong were killed, and apparently a lot of Vietnamese houses were burnt down.
• The Last American Hero Is Junior Johnson. Yes! An over-the-top take from 1965 on Junior Johnson -- a stock car racer who learned to drive running moonshine whiskey for his Dad (Junior was subsequently pardoned by Ronald Reagan for a moonshining conviction) and was actually known by the nickname "The Last American Hero." Indirectly, this is a profile of the "new South" in 1965, while it was still the nascent "new South" -- today, of course, the "new South" is slowly, sadly becoming the "old south" again.
• Superman Comes to the Supermarket Ostensibly a profile of John F. Kennedy at the 1960 Democratic Presidential nominating convention -- written and published just before he was elected, and with the evident though not explicit goal to help in that end -- this is really a vehicle for Norman Mailer to ruminate on politics and the United States. An enjoyable read, but not informative if you really want to know the ins and outs.

International News Sources

In the Sources tab of this blog I have a fairly detailed list of the sources/websites I visit frequently with a description of each. One of them is Rayogram -- well, actually, a page at Rayogram -- which has pdfs the front pages of major U.S. newspapers as well as links to their websites. I often like the design of newspapers' print front pages over their web pages, and so Rayogram's service is great. Anyway ...

I also have a lengthy list of international news sources in English. These are indispensible since they give a sense of how others see the world outside of the US. So ... here's the list, with links (alpha by country):

• Buenos Aires Herald (Argentina); 
• Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia); 
• Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (Canada); 
• The Tornoto Star (Canada); 
• China Daily (China); 
• The People's Daily (China); 
• Euronews (European Union); 
• AFP (French international news service); 
• Le Monde Diplomatique (French monthly); 
• Deutsche Welle (Germany); 
• Der Spiegel (German weekly); 
• Daily Yomiuri (Japan); 
• Japan Times (Japan); 
• Hindustan Times (India); 
• The Times of India (India); 
• Jakarta Post (Indonesia); 
• Jerusalem Post (Israel); 
• Haaretz (Israel); 
• Corriere Della Sera (Italy); 
• Adnkronos (Italy); 
• The News (Mexico); 
• Al Jazeera (Qatar); 
• Moscow Times (Russia); 
• Pravda (Russia); 
• Al Arabiya (Saudi Arabia); 
• IOL (South Africa); 
• Mail & Guardian (South Africa); 
• Costa News (Spain); 
• El Pais (Spain); 
• The Korea Herald (South Korea); 
• The Korea Times (South Korea); 
• BBC (United Kingdom); 
• The Daily Telegraph (United Kingdom); 
• Economist (United Kingdom); 
• The Financial Times (United Kingdom); 
• The Guardian (United Kingdom); 
• The Independent (United Kingdom); 
• The London Times (United Kingdom).

While I've listed what I view as the top international English language news sources (either by influence, reliability, or readership), there are many other solid news sources out there, many of which do not have good English counterparts -- and I'm sure there are plenty of sources, too, I haven't found. For an exhaustive general reference, both for state-by-state U.S. papers and international news sources, see World-Newspapers.com.

32,000 Year Old Seeds Grow Flowers

Via MetaFilter, two articles in Discover about seeds protected by permafrost for 32,000 years, then, after discovery, were planted, germinated, and yielded flowers.

As an aside, note that Discover's original write-up of this -- which was better written and more detailed than the second write up -- was in February 2012. The second write-up covered the same story in August 22 2012 and, other than a vague link, did not refer to the prior article. Is Discover scrambling for material? The original research paper was published in November 2011.

[Oh, I should also mention that under the "life begins conception" theory, the flowers are 32,000 years old  -- um, that's more than 5 times the fundie age of the Earth of ~6,000 years. But I digress.]

Christwire -- Conservative Values for the Unsaved World!

Christwire is a fine fine website. It's called for a boycott of Bill Murray (as reported in NBC-LA), provided help in outing gay spouses (as reported in Huffington Post and The Frisky), and suggested an invasion of Egypt led by Sarah Palin (as reported on MSNBC), among other fine insights. One of its main writers, Stephenson Billings, is, in fact, a prolific presence on the internet whose blog alone is worth frequent visits for its "specialness."  But, alas, know one knows who he or she actually is?  Stephenson Billings is a pseudonym. Don't you hate that? Christwire itself is satire. Via boingboing, New York Magazine, and excellent coverage in The Atlantic. And, BTW, one thing that emerges from this is how sleezy the Huffington Post can be: it modified its story to make it seem like it knew Christwire was a parody, according to The Atlantic and the New York Times, when it was really hoodwinked.