Neighbor's A/C has kicked on for the first time this year.
Bad: It's only 70F outside.
Good: They're using the AC, which must mean it's working, so maybe they will not die from lack of AC during the next heatwave.
(Last year, had many elderly neighbors sitting around in their garage in their underwear during heatwaves, likely due to non-working A/C or possibly also unwillingness to spend $$$ on energy AC).
@ai6yr I had heat exhaustion a couple of years ago which was a wake-up call. Bought a portable air conditioner to keep at least one room cool but didn't have to use it much last year. Glad that it's there & happy that I'm being more careful about staying hydrated.
As the book title says The Heat Will Kill You First
@ai6yr Been looking for news about the heat in Mexico but it seems to have been a one day story instead of the first chapter of Kim Stanley Robinson's The Ministry for the Future (or perhaps it is & the news hasn't recognized it yet).
Big-time sports is part of the gambling industry now. This will end predictably, with scandals that make people assume everyone in the -- whatever -- game is corrupt.
I'm wondering if there's a precedent for one country deliberately bombing another country's embassy (killing a senior government official) in a third country?
@dangillmor It is illuminating how that violation of the rules of international diplomacy by Israel has yet to ring the alarm bell in USAmerican media, or at least the media I have seen.
A state rep got caught committing securities fraud. A grand jury indicted him on felony charges. Years passed. The defendant was elected attorney general. Years more passed.
Now he has agreed to accept punishment. He must pay nearly $300,000 in restitution, take legal ethics classes and perform 100 hours of community service.
And he remains attorney general.
Given these impossible facts—what state are we in?
Also a reminder that Big Journalism has never, ever attempted to pull it all together. Rather, our news media report only (some) individual cases of blatantly obvious corruption, which goes wide and deep.
It's like sporadically covering brush fires but never reporting that the entire forest is ablaze.
@dangillmor I learned from years of going to brown bag lunches with big name journos at Harvard's Shorenstein Center that they often not only can't see the forest for the trees but also can't see the trees for the leaves.
As former Public Editor Margaret Sullivan is quoted in the piece, the Times desperately needs -- no, the public needs -- a public editor again. The paper killed the position years ago, and essentially all accountability with it.
@dangillmor The NYTimes had a public editor for only 14 years. WashPost had one for 43 years before eliminating the position in 2013. NYTimes said the position was too important for a "single intermediary" and WashPost said the Internet made it redundant.
Take the time to watch this short video of an American Nazi rally at NYC Madison Square Garden in 1939. It is chilling. You need to understand that modern fascism is on the rise here.
I got the grade of "A" I was expecting from my publisher for the manuscript I just turned in.
"Hi, wow! What a story! Here is my edit of BILL OF RIGHTS. It’s really good, and I found it very helpful to me as an adult, so I’m sure kids will appreciate it as they have to study it in the classroom. Teachers and librarians everywhere will thank you."
Edits are small word tinkers.
🎉
I like when teachers and librarians thank me. I also like when the editor who gives me money is happy.