August 8, 2018
Kiddo, the first cat to attempt crossing the Atlantic Ocean by air
"On October 15, 1910, Kiddo the cat became the first of his kind to attempt to cross the Atlantic Ocean by airship—and he wasn’t very happy about it." [more inside]
Don't be evil
"The last thing you want is to get blindsided by a future YOU helped create. The Ethical OS is here to help you see more clearly." [more inside]
One hundred years ago the tide finally turned
The Allies started the final offensive on the Western Front. On August 8, 1918 began what history would call the Hundred Days Offensive; it would end WWI's terrible Western Front before the year was out. In front of Amiens a Canadian, Australian, British, American, and French attack used tanks and air power to drive deeply into German lines, winning surprise, causing panic, and capturing many prisoners. Shortly afterward the German command realized the war was over. [more inside]
If you’re here to help others, be patient and welcoming.
Stack Overflow, and by extension Stack Exchange, has released its new Code of Conduct, guiding user behavior. It looks like it has potential to make the site better and more welcoming for the many who need programming help.
We have the technology. We can make make ourselves better, stronger ...
You may have seen those metal fitness ... things in your local park, found around the world from Brisbane to New York City, but how do you use them? San Antonio Parks has tutorial videos on YouTube and Fit Trail provides (smallish) illustrations for 20 stations, including some that don't require installed features. And if you're not sure which to use, Shape has the best and worst of fitness playground equipment. Don't have any of that gear? Benches and tire swings can be used. Find a sturdy beam and you're on your way to doing 25 pull ups. Or skip the gear and get started towards 100 push ups, 150 dips, 200 squats, 200 lunges and 200 sit-ups. Or mix it up and check out Darebee's workout routines and challenges.
"totally un-European"
Es Hoy
Abortion is banned in Argentina except for cases of rape or risk to a woman’s health. That could change today if the country’s Senate votes to legalize abortion up to 14 weeks. A bill passed the country's lower house of Congress nearly two months ago by a slim margin. "Senators will now decide whether to send the bill on to President Mauricio Macri — who, despite his personal misgivings, has said he would sign it into law." This would make Argentina the most populous country in Latin America to legalize abortion. Hundreds of thousands of pro-choice activists (wearing green) and anti-choice activists (wearing sky blue) are now protesting in the capitol, Buenos Aires. Many are young women. [more inside]
Live streamed stream
Right now: A live video feed of bears trying to catch fish (and occasionally fighting each other or snapping at gulls) at Brooks Falls, Katmai National Park, Alaska. [more inside]
Canary Girls of World War One
They made ammo and noxious chemicals turned them yellow. The Act also forced factories to employ women because of the shortage of able-bodied men, most of which were fighting the war. By the end of the war, the British government had more than four thousand munitions factories under its control, employing nearly a million female workers.
While women who worked the assembly lines were spared the horrors of the trenches, their jobs were no less dangerous. Munitions factories were often the enemy’s prime target with sites routinely flattened by bombing. There was also the risk of explosions.
Today in Prisoner Monetization
"She was surprisingly clever for a mammal"
Brooke Bolander proves she can write non-depressing things with The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat, a wonderful and inspiring fairy tale for young raptor chicks and also witches.
Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba lobsters ba ba ba
Laetitia Sadier, former frontwoman of outspokenly Marxist lounge-pop groop Stereolab, has distanced herself from a statement she made in February in support of the right-wing firebrand and self-help author Jordan Peterson. Sadier's statements, posted to Twitter in response to a Guardian article, was brought to light recently following Peterson being photographed with popular faux-folk combo Mumford & Sons. [more inside]
I Don’t Believe in Aliens Anymore
Watching the flicker of my own thoughts, I became convinced that, as the poet Elizabeth Bishop put it, “nothing stranger could ever happen” than to wake up and find oneself a human being.
Those '70s Accounts
For a couple of years now, a Twitter account dedicated to unappetizing stills from cookbooks dating from my childhood has ranked as one of my favorites—I refer of course to 70s Dinner Party. This may have been inevitable but that account has recently been one-upped by a new arrival, the hilarious and eternally puzzling account 70s Adult Titles ("mostly safe-for-work").[NSFW] (via Dangerous Minds)
Thief
“There are bigger allegations. Over several months, in speaking with 21 people who know Ross, Forbes uncovered a pattern: Many of those who worked directly with him claim that Ross wrongly siphoned or outright stole a few million here and a few million there, huge amounts for most but not necessarily for the commerce secretary. At least if you consider them individually. But all told, these allegations—which sparked lawsuits, reimbursements and an SEC fine—come to more than $120 million. If even half of the accusations are legitimate, the current United States secretary of commerce could rank among the biggest grifters in American history.” New Details About Wilbur Ross’ Business Point To Pattern Of Grifting (Forbes)
“Nobody talked to her about anything. She was just in the room.”
Indigenous Asylum Seekers Face Language Barriers and a Legacy of Oppression at the Border [more inside]
God, I loved that Muppet
“I Can’t Stop Laughing” in which living legend and EGOT winner Rita Moreno tells the story of her memorable performance of “Fever” accompanied by Animal and the Electric Mayhen on “The Muppet Show”.
War Without End
"It is beyond honest dispute that the wars [in Iraq and Afghanistan] did not achieve what their organizers promised, no matter the party in power or the generals in command. Astonishingly expensive, strategically incoherent, sold by a shifting slate of senior officers and politicians and editorial-page hawks, the wars have continued in varied forms and under different rationales each and every year since passenger jets struck the World Trade Center in 2001. They continue today without an end in sight, reauthorized in Pentagon budgets almost as if distant war is a presumed government action." This is the story of one of the survivors of America's seventeen years and counting in Afghanistan, Specialist Robert Soto of Bravo Company, First Battalion, 26th Infantry, and the year he spent at a remote outpost in the Korengal Valley. [more inside]
Refundable carbon tax now!
"I really wanted to like @NathanielRich's @NYTmag piece about 70's & 80's climate politics. It does put AGW front-and-center for once. But I'm crushed to say that Rich suppresses important facts, covering up how organized climate denial created our current predicament. [Thread]" (via) [more inside]
a series of movements that match the speed and rhythm of cake
Teased with a series of street art pieces and a warped press release from, ahem, Warp Records, Aphex Twin has announced a new forthcoming EP, Collapse, with the release of track 'T69 Collapse' (warning: may trigger epilepsy.)
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