Rainy and grey at the top of the hill.
Month: February 2017
Trump and Staff Rethink Tactics After Stumbles | The New York Times
One thing has become apparent to both the president’s allies as well as his opponents: When it comes to governing, speed does not always guarantee success.
Hear The Epic of Gilgamesh Read in its Original Ancient Language, Akkadian
Open Culture (Twitter)Hear The Epic of Gilgamesh Read in its Original Ancient Language, Akkadian http://bit.ly/2dF0SFZpic.twitter.com/sdgjcJX5ZK
Dave Harris is sure to appreciate this.
🎧 The Personality Myth | Invisibilia (NPR)
We like to think of our own personalities - and those of our spouses, children and friends - as predictable and constant over time. But what if they aren't? In this episode, Alix Spiegel visits a prison to explore whether there is such a thing as a stable personality. And Lulu Miller asks whether scientists can point to a single thing about a person that doesn't change over time. The answer might surprise you.
Not explicitly said, but this episode points out the heavy nurture side of the nature/nurture question in relation to the stability of one’s personality over time. In some sense, you are who those around you expect you to be. This also makes me think I ought to go back to working for a larger company with more people around me.
Yet another great episode, though to me not as intriguing as some of their other prior efforts. Still overall, a stellar podcast series.
Sean Spicer Press Conference (Melissa McCarthy) – SNL
White House press secretary Sean Spicer (Melissa McCarthy) and secretary of education nominee Betsy DeVos (Kate McKinnon) take questions from the press (Bobby Moynihan, Kristen Stewart, Cecily Strong, Vanessa Bayer, Alex Moffat, Mikey Day).
OMG!
Oval Office Cold Open – SNL
President Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin) calls Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (Beck Bennett), Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto (Alex Moffat) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel (Kate McKinnon).
Covering Trump the Reuters Way | Reuters
In a message to staff today, Reuters Editor-in-Chief Steve Adler wrote about covering President Trump the Reuters way.
🔖 Why Boltzmann Brains Are Bad by Sean M. Carroll
Some modern cosmological models predict the appearance of Boltzmann Brains: observers who randomly fluctuate out of a thermal bath rather than naturally evolving from a low-entropy Big Bang. A theory in which most observers are of the Boltzmann Brain type is generally thought to be unacceptable, although opinions differ. I argue that such theories are indeed unacceptable: the real problem is with fluctuations into observers who are locally identical to ordinary observers, and their existence cannot be swept under the rug by a choice of probability distributions over observers. The issue is not that the existence of such observers is ruled out by data, but that the theories that predict them are cognitively unstable: they cannot simultaneously be true and justifiably believed.
Why Nobody Cares the President Is Lying | The New York Times
In the conservative media, we conditioned people not to trust facts or mainstream news outlets.
State Dept. Dissent Cable on Trump’s Ban Draws 1,000 Signatures | The New York Times
The cable, asserting that the president’s order on immigration will not make the nation safer, has wended through dozens of embassies and is still spreading.
This Senator Is Hell-Bent on Getting Out the Truth About Trump and Russia | Mother Jones
Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden says the Obama administration should have released more information before the election.
How Sean Spicer Wins by Losing | POLITICO Magazine
He's only broadcast from the White House briefing room three times, but on each occasion presidential press secretary Sean Spicer has been asked to do the impossible.
Lost Bob Marley Tapes Are Restored After 40 Years in a Basement | The New York Times
The recordings, of concerts between 1974 and 1978, were found badly damaged in a London hotel and painstakingly restored.
Betsy DeVos’s confirmation is suddenly on thin ice. Her defeat would be almost unprecedented. | The Washington Post
The last time a president who had a Senate majority saw his Cabinet nominee defeated: 1925.
Sadly I’ve just heard that she was confirmed… blech.
Continue reading Betsy DeVos’s confirmation is suddenly on thin ice. Her defeat would be almost unprecedented. | The Washington Post
Continue reading Betsy DeVos’s confirmation is suddenly on thin ice. Her defeat would be almost unprecedented. | The Washington Post