January 10, 2022
Suspected cause of death: medical neglect
In light of recent reporting on conditions in the Rikers Island jail complex in New York City, Orion J Taylor decided to collect and visualize some articles they've encountered about deaths in detention centers across the US. The stories represent only a fraction of these, just one per county. (Each map region has a link to a article.) [more inside]
"I'm just a bill, on Sacramento Hill"- "There Ought to be a Law"
Are you a Californian with an idea for legislation? The California Democrats want to hear your ideas The legislative calendar for the 2022 season is rapidly filling up, and members of the Assembly would like to hear suggestions from their constituents. For California residents, the deadline is Friday January 14th.
If you're a student in New York, there's asimilar competition going on (Middle School only).
Students in Pennyslvania also have an opportunity.
something vulnerable, something raw and sickening and terrifying
Electricity, ee-lec-tricity
Kathy Loves Physics & History has created 50 5-10 minute episodes on the history of electricity.
She was an Ivy League student with an inspiring story. UPenn Disagreed.
Story about a UPenn student who wins a Rhodes Scholarship -- (archive link). She claimed she was a first-generation, low-income student who had suffered severe abuse at the hands of her mother that landed her in the hospital and then bouncing between foster homes. Penn received an anonymous email claiming that she had falsified her background (they claim that she may have been abused but exaggerated the extent of it and exaggerated her first-generation low-income bona fides) and then launched an investigation and recommended that Rhodes rescind the award. Student claims that this was retaliation for standing up for a classmate who had died. Ends up withdrawing from the program and files a lawsuit against Penn.
Definitely a crazy story and a wild ride. Curious to hear what others think of UPenn's response and the student's claims about her background.
Cakes, they are glorious
Artist Wayne Thiebaud has died at 101. The art world lost painter Wayne Thiebaud on Christmas day. Known for his glorious portraits of food, especially desserts, the artist also painted landscapes and figures, chasing light and texture and shape obsessively. He painted daily up to his death. [more inside]
i have no idea what you're talking about
In 2019's Dismissive Incomprehension: A Use of Purported Ignorance to Undermine Others, Matthew J Cull explores the common rhetorical tactic of pretending that someone has not made sense but has uttered "gibberish," in order to discredit their argument. How does the tactic work...and what can be done to counteract it?
Free Thread Returns
We had a free thread last week, and it was nice, and so by gum we're doing it again. Come on in and chat about whatever, share wee links, tell everybody something weird or interesting you just learned or that you've studied professionally for 20 years, whatever you feel like. [more inside]
37% of orders were mistaken, but 99% of customers were happy.
The Restaurant of Mistaken Orders (Japan): All of our servers are people living with dementia. They may, or may not, get your order right. However, rest assured that even if your order is mistaken, everything on our menu is delicious and one of a kind. This, we guarantee. Street Roots gives the history of how Japanese journalist Shiro Oguni got the idea for the pop-up restaurant when he visited a dementia care facility. The home, run by dementia care specialist Yukio Wada, treated residents with dignity and gave them opportunities to contribute to the daily routine via cooking. This charming 2 minute video shows the restaurant, happy customers, and waitstaff in action.
A bad earthquake at once destroys the oldest associations
Karawan - your pixelated, hex based world is disintegrating, hexes falling away, chunks of land drifting off into the void. Recruit villagers and mages and forage for resources but keep moving forwards. [more inside]
The Inky Depths #3: Pink See-Through Fantasia (Headless Chicken Monster)
Damp greetings! Dip your toes back into the murk and discover the Pink See-Through Fantasia, a gorgeous sea cucumber with a visible digestive system! Splash this way! [more inside]
Stopping the Next Insurrection Starts Down-Ballot
The time, place, and plan for perhaps the greatest crime in American history have been identified. We have three years to stop it. ... The size of the threat, combined with the difficulty of addressing it, can feel paralyzing. But just because we can’t do everything, doesn’t mean nothing can be done. There is one achievable chokepoint that would make it nearly impossible for Trump or his heirs to steal the next election: winning key governors’ races. Author and cohost of Pod Save America, Dan Pfeiffer, suggests one key way to save US democracy. [more inside]
Pick a country, pick a decade, listen
Brunhild and Fredegund
Shelley Puhak writes in Smithsonian magazine about the long-reigning, ambitious Frankish queens Brunhild and Fredegund.
LOCO: the 88-million-word language of conspiracy corpus
LOCO: The 88-million-word language of conspiracy corpus The spread of online conspiracy theories represents a serious threat to society. To understand the content of conspiracies, here we present (...) an 88-million-token corpus composed of topic-matched conspiracy (N = 23,937) and mainstream (N = 72,806) documents harvested from 150 websites. [more inside]
There Was a Time Once When the World Was Beautiful
The year is 2022. Our overpopulated planet is experiencing catastrophic climate change, megacorporations have excessive power over the government, and clean living is a luxury only the 1 percent can afford. from In 1973, ‘Soylent Green’ envisioned the world in 2022. It got a lot right. [more inside]
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