A normal president confronted with a news story suggesting he ordered underlings to illegally transport asylum seekers to so-called sanctuary cities in order to retaliate against political enemies would deny knowledge of such a heinous plot. If need be, he’d make light of it, portray it as if it were idle chatter or a joke. That’s what President Trump’s devoted prevaricators (White Houses staffers) did following The Post account.
Month: April 2019
👓 ‘I Want What My Male Colleague Has, and That Will Cost a Few Million Dollars’ | New York Times
Women at the Salk Institute say they faced a culture of marginalization and hostility. The numbers from other elite scientific institutions suggest they’re not alone.
From a statistical mechanics perspective, there isn’t much of a chance that women are all grouped at the bottom of the pack without their being systematically being drug down to that position.
The thing that goes unsung in a lot of these gender inequality articles is the assured dramatic loss to science as a result. If women were given equal footing, funding, and support what great discoveries would they have otherwise have found by this point? Assuredly the world would be far better off from those unknown discoveries.
It was quoted in the title of the article, but the full quote is even more damning.
“I know a lot of men who sincerely promote gender-equality opportunities for women, but all their efforts are devoted toward younger women,” Emerson says — because it’s less costly. “But I want what my male colleague has, and that will cost a few million dollars.”
📺 Face the Nation 04-21-2019 | CBS News
This week on "Face the Nation," Bob Schieffer talks to House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings and Sen. Mike Lee. We'll also sit down with Robert Caro and a panel of authors. And we have more of Margaret Brennan's interview with Democratic presidential candidate Cory Booker.
I love Bob Schieffer, and am glad that Margaret Brennan got some time off, but how does the show take a “break” on the biggest political weekend of the year?! Admittedly it’s Easter and their viewership may be down, but they took a huge flier this weekend. Ugh. Their time off was only made slightly better by the Caro interview, but I’d have rather seen a longer interview from him from 60 Minutes or a longer show.
📺 ‘This Week’ 4-21-19: Kellyanne Conway and Rep. Adam Schiff | ABC
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway and House Intel Committee Chairman Adam Schiff are on "This Week" Sunday, April 21.
I really just can’t stand to watch Kellyanne Conway lie and mischaracterize so blatantly. How she does this with a straight face is just so beyond me.
👓 Lenovo Thinkpad E490 first impressions | Roy Tanck
A couple of weeks ago, I got my new Thinkpad E490. It replaces two desktop PCs and my old laptop, so I needed a serious work horse. The most obvious choice within Lenovo’s line-up would be a T480, but I found those to be rather expensive. It’s follow-up model has just been announced, but the new T490 has fewer configuration options.
👓 How to Automatically Link Twitter Usernames in WordPress | WPBeginner
A simple snippet that automatically link twitter usernames in WordPress by automatically replacing all @username tags with twitter profile links.
📺 “Restaurant: Impossible” Ambush: Son Sneak Attack | Food Network
With Robert Irvine, Tom Bury, Taniya Nayak. The owners of "Lake Arrowhead Sports Grill" in Blue Jay, California, receive a surprise visit from Robert, which was arranged by their son, who's concerned that after five years the business is failing, along with his parents' marriage and his mother's health.
For a minute I thought this was the return of the show, but it’s an older episode from 2015.
📺 “Restaurant: Impossible” Dying Diner | Food Network
Robert Irvine steps back in time at a struggling retro joint in Escondido, Calif., called Rosie's Cafe. The owner of the ugly, disorganized restaurant is a young woman who has the passion but lacks experience. Robert has two days and $10,000 to make major changes before the restaurant has to close its doors for good.
It makes me oddly happy that they’ve brought this show back!
Directed by Eric Stoltz. With Téa Leoni, Tim Daly, Keith Carradine, Patina Miller. As Elizabeth prepares to declare her candidacy for president, she must deal with fallout from a news article alleging she had an affair with President Dalton during her CIA days; Mike B. and Jay adjust in their roles as campaign staffers.
📺 “The Americans” What’s the Matter with Kansas? | Amazon Prime
Directed by Gwyneth Horder-Payton. With Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, Brandon J. Dirden, Costa Ronin. Philip and Elizabeth have qualms about a new assignment, while a specter from Philip's past creates unforeseen dangers. At the FBI, Stan makes a shocking play that could throw his career into turmoil.
🎧 Twitch and Shout | On the Media | WNYC Studios
Twitch is a video streaming platform where millions of people broadcast their lives in real-time. Like unedited, raw, reality TV.
Twitch.tv is a video streaming platform where millions of people broadcast their lives and video game action in real-time. It's like unedited, real, reality TV. This week, On the Media digs into why so many people want to share so much on Twitch, and what it tells us about the future of entertainment. First, a look at a couple of the biggest streamers of the platform, Ninja and Dr. Disrespect, who command devoted audiences and giant paychecks. Then, Bob dives into the inaugural season of the Overwatch League, the most expensive and highly produced pro gaming venture to date. Finally, Brooke speaks with Radiolab's Jad Abumrad about the life of a homeless streamer who's life was saved by Twitch.
1. Julia Alexander [@loudmouthjulia] and Allegra Frank [@LegsFrank], two writers with Polygon, on the pitfalls and para-social allure of Twitch. Listen.
2. Cecilia D'Anastasio [@cecianasta] a reporter with Kotaku, Saebyeolbe [@saebyeolbe] and Pine [@tf2pine], two pro gamers, and Farzam Kamel, a venture capitalist with Sterling VC, on the inaugural season of the Overwatch League. Listen.
3. Jad Abumrad [@JadAbumrad] of Radiolab and VP Gloves, a homeless Twitch streamer, on the murky ethics of Twitch's IRL (in real life) section. Listen.
This hour was originally broadcast on August 18th, 2018.
Even a year ago, this would have been pretty behind the times…
🎧 Longing for Wakanda | On the Media | WNYC Studios
How the utopian kingdom at the center of Black Panther falls into a long history of black liberation struggles.
On Sunday night, Marvel’s Black Panther film won the Oscar for three of its six Academy Award nominations: Ludwig Göransson for Best Original Score, Ruth E. Carter for Best Costume Design and Hannah Beachler and Jay R. Hart for Best Production design — just a few of the artists who helped bring Wakanda, the Black Panther’s mythical homeland, to life.
A persistent site for utopian longing, Wakanda has once more captured the public imagination: endowed with unlimited access to the most precious natural resource in the world, unsullied by the ravages of colonialism, Wakanda has reignited conversations about what black liberation can and should look like. According to Johns Hopkins University history professor Nathan Connolly, this latest chapter is part of a much longer tradition of imagining and reimagining black utopias. Connolly speaks with Brooke about how Wakanda arises from a 500-year history — from Maroon communities to Haiti to the actual Black Panther movement — a journey that takes us from "dreams to art to life, and back again."
This segment originally aired on February 23rd, 2018.
🎧 The Myth That Fuels the Anti-Vaxx Agenda | On the Media | WNYC Studios
Our 2012 conversation with Seth Mnookin, author of The Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science and Fear.
This Tuesday, lawmakers in Washington heard from an 18-year-old who, against all odds, got his shots. Ethan Lindenberger, who fought with his own mother to get vaccinated, told senators, "for my mother, her love, affection, and care as a parent was used to push an agenda to create a false distress."
That "anti-vaxx" agenda, the dangerous legacy of a thoroughly debunked 1998 study in the British medical journal Lancet, was dealt yet another devastating — though not mortal — blow this week, courtesy of epidemiologists from Denmark’s Staten Serum Institute. Their new study, which included more than 650,000 children, found that the MMR vaccine did not raise the risk of developing autism.
And yet, even in the face of study after study, and even as websites like Pinterest have moved to stamp out the spread of anti-vaxx materials on their websites, the debunked vaccine-autism link and its impact on public health live on. In this 2012 interview, Brooke spoke with Seth Mnookin, author of The Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science and Fear, about why these myths persist.
No responsible journalist should be reporting on studies with N being so small. If they do, then they should be banned from any future science journalism.