Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Gourd Pumpkin


20 comments:

  1. We are in the midst of a snowstorm. 8-12" predicted but the storm went to freezing rain in the middle (it wasn't supposed to this far north!), so we'll see what morning brings.

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  2. I haven't carved a pumpkin for several years, but usually sought out ones with more than average character. That one has character in spades! It could be a bit of a challenge to carve. The basic shape is very regular, though.

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  3. Appealing to Black Voters in South Carolina, Elizabeth Warren Fires Up White Liberals [Click]

    Turns Out, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Is Huge in Iowa [Click] “And she might just be Bernie Sanders’ most important surrogate.” Wonder if she might be here in Fresno this Friday. That would be a hoot for sure.

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    1. Oh, I hope so! What a fun rally that would be!!

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    1. It seems to me that whenever this Supreme Court wants to throw a wrench into something significant, they first give something lesser (to them) away. I haven't documented it, it's just something I've noticed more than once. So, yeah, give them a win on the gun control, while you're planning to squash DACA.

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  5. From the WTF files:

    Trump Calls Bolton At Home to Cancel Navy Operation
    From talkingpointsmemo.com

    There’s a jarring passage in the testimony of Christopher Anderson, which was released yesterday by the House Intelligence Committee. Anderson is a Foreign Service Officer who was serving as a special advisor to Kurt Volker while he was the US Special Envoy on Ukraine.
    In January of this year, the US Navy was sending a naval vessel into the Black Sea and specifically through the Kerch Strait. Without going too deep into the geography, this is a narrow passageway through which Russia can limit maritime access to parts of Ukraine because Russia now controls Crimea. Here the Navy was asserting its right to unfettered transit to support Ukraine. It’s referred to as a “freedom of navigation operation.”
    President Trump saw a CNN report about the mission, thought it was a challenge to Russia and called John Bolton at home one night ordering him to cancel the mission. [Rest of column behind paywall]

    The last I heard John Bolton wasn’t the Secretary of the Navy.

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  6. Google's secret cache of medical data includes names and full details of millions – whistleblower [Click] “Whistleblower speaks to Guardian about growing alarm over secret transfer of medical history data, which can be accessed by Google staff.” How in Hell is this not a brobdingnagian violation of the HIPPA law? And Google’s partner in crime is a very large chain of Catholic hospitals. Pardon me for saying so, but my experience working for two Christian hospitals (different sects) was that humility and compassion were in very short supply among their managers, right up to (and perhaps particularly at) the top. The potential fines and loss of business could well be enough to bankrupt the hospital chain, and Google ought to take a body blow as well.

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    1. My first question was why Google would want this data. Turns out it's to train AIs. But deidentified data would work just as well for that and would be HIPPA compliant. Google and Ascension claim to be HIPPA compliant. There seems to be a dispute about the facts that the Feds need to check out.

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    2. Well, I figure they basically want to monetize the information. Targeting ads better, is my first thought.

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    3. Wil's job is to write or tweak software that is used by doctor's offices and hospitals. His work it primarily related to billing. When they are doing a specific job for a specific doctor, he may see names and dates of appointments. But he NEVER sees their personal information as regards diagnosis, payments, etc. It's very carefully controlled.

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    4. Oh, yes. Hospitals are required to have documented yearly training with tests; I suspect every health care facility that wants government money for their work does the same. The penalties are rough.

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  7. SPD duo aim to lead Germany out of 'neoliberal wilderness' [Click] Walter-Borjans, 67, whom German media have likened to the US Democrat Bernie Sanders, and Saskia Esken. “…the so-called “grand coalition” with Merkel’s CDU remains highly unpopular, especially with younger Social Democrats.

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  8. A tectonic demographic shift is under way. Can the country hold together? [Click] A very long read from The Atlantic I was a little put off at the beginning, but then it [IMO] improved.

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  9. 'Enormous Victory': US Judge Rules Suspicionless Searches of Travelers' Electronic Devices Unconstitutional [Click] "The court reaffirms that the border is not a lawless place and that we don't lose our privacy rights when we travel."

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    1. Living so near the border, and crossing it betimes, I am very pleased to hear this!!

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  10. Bernie Sanders: Fighting antisemitism is at the heart of the left’s struggle against oppression [Click] I’m not sure the title is quite right, but this essay strikes me as quintessentially presidential.

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    1. Thanks for the "presidential" Bernie link, Alan!

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    2. It's my pleasure, listener. BTW, any feedback from sweetie or grands about the View Master?

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