The Supreme Court Looks Ready to Overturn Roe v. Wade - Lawyers and Justices on both sides—with the possible exception of John Roberts—appeared to be past pretending that the Mississippi case is about anything less. - link
Trump’s COVID Coverup - During the 2020 campaign, the former President tested positive days before debating Joe Biden and kept it secret. - link
Victimhood and Vulnerability in the Ghislaine Maxwell Trial - The former socialite and associate of Jeffrey Epstein’s has been compared by one of her attorneys to the Biblical Eve, a woman asked to pay for the sins of the man, as if a woman can’t also make a perfectly legitimate criminal. - link
Learning to Love the Bear That Attacked You - In a new memoir, the anthropologist Nastassja Martin writes about her strange bond with the animal that maimed her. - link
The Tragic Choices Behind Britain’s Refugee Crisis - The drowning of twenty-seven people in the English Channel was not an inevitable disaster. - link
From Vox
The good and the not as good in Biden’s winter Covid-19 plan -
The Biden White House is trying to get out ahead of the omicron variant threat, detailing a new plan to accelerate vaccinations, increase testing, and make treatments widely available. | Oliver Contreras/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The pandemic refuses to quit. What can the White House do about it?
The Biden administration is trying to get ahead of the threat, detailing a new plan to accelerate vaccinations, increase testing, make treatments widely available, and deploy teams of public health experts to any hot spots that emerge in the coming months.
Taken together, the plan reads like the consensus you would probably find if you asked a few hundred public health experts what we should be doing; in fact, some experts are annoyed some of these things weren’t already being done. Even so, a few provisions — such as promising insurance reimbursement for tests rather than providing them for free — raise eyebrows.
But overall, experts seem to think the plan hits the important points. The real question is how much of an impact any program from the federal government can have at this point. Some state governments are resistant to even the most basic measures, such as masks in schools; 16 percent of adults said in October they will definitely not get the Covid-19 vaccine, the highest share recorded by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) in its vaccine surveys. People have dug in.
The administration knows it can’t stop Covid-19, omicron variant or otherwise. But this is its attempt to lower the barriers for people to coexist with Covid-19: by making it easier to get a vaccine, to get tested, and to get meds if you are sick.
Biden’s winter Covid-19 plan, briefly explained
The plan announced Thursday by the Biden administration covers the full spectrum of the federal response. It starts with booster shots.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has already revised its recommendations, urging all adults over 18 to get an additional dose of a Covid-19 vaccine six months after their second Moderna or Pfizer/BioNTech shot (or two months after their first shot if they received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine). Many experts are cautiously optimistic that boosters received now will also be protective against omicron if the variant starts to spread widely in the US, though how much protection the current vaccines provide remains to be seen.
The Biden administration is partnering with the AARP for an education campaign to get seniors boosted and plans outreach from Medicare as well. While there is still some debate about the value of boosters for young and healthy adults, almost every expert agrees that older Americans and people who have a compromised immune system should receive another shot. AARP also pledged to coordinate ride-hailing programs to get people to their booster appointments, and the White House is calling on employers to give workers paid time off to get their shots.
However, 30 percent of Americans remain unvaccinated — including a lot of kids between 5 and 12, who are currently eligible for the vaccines. (Shots for kids younger than 5 are expected to be approved sometime early next year.) Community health centers are going to hold family vaccination days and FEMA is going to set up mobile vaccination clinics. Medicaid will also reimburse doctors for talking with families about getting children vaccinated.
This will be an uphill battle: According to the KFF October survey, 30 percent of parents say they will “definitely not” get their child vaccinated and another 33 percent plan to wait and see. And many adults who are currently unvaccinated insist they will never get a shot.
Testing remains essential to tracking and stemming the virus’s spread, letting people know if they need to isolate or seek medical attention. The Biden administration plans to issue new regulations to permit patients to seek reimbursement from their health insurer if they purchase an over-the-counter test; they also plan to distribute more tests for free through community health centers and other providers including pharmacies.
Another component of the plan is “strike” teams that can be deployed to support hospitals strained because of staffing shortages, to provide monoclonal antibody treatments in areas with high spread, and disease investigators to assist with tracking the virus.
There are also stricter rules for international travelers, requiring a negative Covid-19 test within a day before boarding a plane. And as part of the plan, the federal government will take responsibility for doling out the new antiviral medications if and when they are authorized by the FDA.
It’s a pretty comprehensive plan, though experts still see some shortcomings.
“What other partners could they employ other than AARP to reach others who are not of retirement age?” Tara Smith, a public health professor at Kent State University, told me. “I like that partnership and the things they are doing there — but we need that for other age groups too. I like their family vaccination clinics, but why wasn’t this started in January?”
Should the tests just be free?
One part of the plan, though, drew particular scrutiny: It calls for patients to seek reimbursement from their health insurer if they purchase an over-the-counter test. Some people are getting billed for Covid-19 tests currently, which might discourage them from taking a test at all; and expanded insurance coverage could help ameliorate that problem. But there will likely still be an obstacle between purchasing the test yourself and getting your money back.
It has been well documented in US health care that even small financial obligations can have a sizable effect on people’s actions. The so-called “shoebox effect” — when people who are asked to submit reimbursements on their own never end up doing so because it’s a hassle — could also kick in.
“Insurance reimbursement for at-home tests will increase access and mean more people will use the tests, but it’s not a panacea,” Larry Levitt, executive vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation, told me. “Having to pay upfront will discourage some people, and the hassles of having to file for reimbursement from your insurer will mean that many receipts will just end up sitting in shoeboxes.”
Why isn’t the federal government just buying hundreds of millions of tests and giving them away? It’s a matter of funding. Even 500 million rapid at-home tests would barely be enough for one for every person in the US. Abbott’s rapid testing kits currently retail for $24 for two tests at CVS.
It could all add up quickly and, while we can debate whether the government should buy and give away the tests anyway, that much money would likely require creative accounting by federal agencies or else new funding approved by Congress. From the government’s perspective, having patients submit bills directly to the insurer is certainly easier. But it’s more difficult for the patient.
The US government also does not typically pay, for all its citizens, the kind of routine medical services that Covid-19 tests will likely become, though most other wealthy countries do so in one way or another. A more conventional American market is expected to emerge, with insurers covering Covid-19 tests as they do other routine tests.
“This is our fragmented health care system at work,” Levitt said.
The Biden plan looks like a path from an epidemic to a new normal
The plan provides a playbook of sorts for how we start to live with Covid-19. Because eradication is out of the question, experts are thinking about how to reduce risk and harm as much as possible, while also allowing life to return to normal as much as possible.
“Because Covid-19 is becoming an endemic infection, teaching people how to risk-calculate with an everyday threat is very important,” Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security, told me. “To that end, home testing, antivirals, monoclonal antibodies, and boosting of the high-risk are really important.”
Nobody wants to go back into lockdown, and in the US, there isn’t the political will or public buy-in to do it anyway. The Biden administration is trying to create a plan while facing a big dilemma: Millions of people are still vulnerable to the virus — and that number could grow depending on how effective omicron is at overcoming prior immunity, which we don’t know — but many of them don’t have any interest in getting vaccinated or even getting tested.
“Many people are just done. They won’t get boosters, at least right now,” Smith said. “They won’t wear masks short of a serious mandate. They certainly won’t be buying tests.”
So they came up with this all-of-the-above approach. Boosters and tests for people who want them. For those who end up getting sick, we have more treatment options than before, with the new antivirals expected to come on the market any day, and the Biden winter plan includes measures for getting the medications out into the country.
A new normal isn’t a world without any Covid-19, but a world in which we can live with it. Nature itself will have something to say about that, as omicron reminds us. But this is what the Biden administration says it is doing to prepare.
When Spotify Wrapped came out in 2017, it hit my group chats like breaking news. A friend frantically sent me a screenshot showing they were in the top 1 percent of Frank Ocean listeners with a message, “CAN U BELIEVE THIS,” followed by a deluge of texts from other friends, highlighting their streaming accolades. Not long after, people all over the internet were sharing their listening results. Instagram stories were filled with streaming statistics that either poked fun at lowbrow taste or flexed artistic inclinations. (I admit, I too shared my own.)
Spotify originally released their first iteration of Wrapped in 2015 as “Year in Music,” a feature for users to look back through their last 365 days via the songs and artists they listened to most. The tool included statistics like the listener’s most played songs and how many hours of music they listened to in total. While popular, Year in Music didn’t quite go viral, not until it was upgraded two years later to the customizable, jazzy graphic release it is now.
Now, Spotify Wrapped has become an annual tradition, marking the change of seasons the same way beloved cultural staples like Starbucks holiday cups or Mariah Carey mark the holidays. But as Spotify’s feature rose in popularity, so did a growing discourse about algorithms, the use of which has become standard procedure on social media, and which Wrapped relies on.
An algorithm takes a set of inputs and generates an output, the same way a recipe turns ingredients into a cake. For Spotify to rely on algorithms means it uses data from its consumers to generate music discovery delivered through playlists. Open Spotify’s home page and you can find any number of curated playlists that source user data collected from the app, from “Top Songs in the USA,” which aggregates collective data, to “Discover Weekly,” which draws from personalized data. To create these playlists, Spotify tracks the music you listen to, organizes it into certain categories, measures tracks against other listeners, and uses that information to choose what music to show you.
Screenshot from @madisonbeer on Instagram
Singer Madison Beer, who has 28.9 million Instagram followers, shares her 2021 Spotify Wrapped to her story.
Spotify’s algorithmic delivery was what initially set it apart from other music streaming platforms, often cited as an important factor in the app’s success in spite of how it relies on tracking data. One user of the app, Kiana McBride, 22, told me, “My Discover Weekly is often fire. Spotify has such good data analytics, it can tell what music I’m likely to enjoy.”
While tracking music data doesn’t seem too murky at first glance, the use of artificial intelligence has been proven to discriminate. Reports have shown how artificial intelligence can be encoded with bias and perpetuate racism. When coupled with video technology or security software, algorithms have also played an integral role in bolstering surveillance capitalism. There have even been reports indicating how the platform’s feature is inaccurate and nefariously marketed. Still, Spotify Wrapped goes viral. Our collective enamoration with this recap reveals the extent to which algorithms have become integrated into the way we conceive of ourselves in digital consumer culture: as brands to be refined.
According to P. David Marshall, a new media and communications professor at Deakin University and a leading scholar on online identity, the concept of “dual strategic personas” deeply informs how people approach what they share on social media. “Dual strategic persona [uses] the word in both ways,” he told me. “Dual as in two, and duel, meaning you’re actually beginning to play in a space that understands the algorithmic transformations.”
Consumers increasingly understand that how they use an app influences the type of content they see, creating a digital double consciousness, where “we realize we’re a digital construction,” but we also realize that “a digital construction is connected to who we are — who we think we are,” said Marshall. In essence, our online selves are still an extension of ourselves; it’s not not a version of personhood. At the same time, it’s a version that is inherently manufactured and performative.
And as is the nature of performance, those on stage are called to act incessantly. We strategically construct a certain perception of ourselves through snippets that, with the help of Spotify Wrapped and other algorithms, become increasingly refined. For instance, sharing a Wrapped roundup on social media can position a person in a particular niche: indie; punk; rock. If the music genres are even more obscure, then that person can move themselves into hyper-specific niches: folktronica; cloud rap; Japanese city pop.
One user of the app, Alfonso Velasquez, 22, told me he loves viewing other people’s Spotify findings because in comparison, “it makes him feel more indie.” He’s speaking to an instinct to curate a brand out of himself — an instinct derived from dominant influencer culture.
“Influencers are in that dual persona structure, working between a corporate version of themselves and a highly individualized version of themselves,” said Marshall. Because of this, they’re “changing our wider transnational culture as to what is normal.”
Another user, Isabel Edreva, 21, told me they view other people’s Spotify findings to “take recs.”
“If someone I really respect has a top song I’ve never heard of,” she explained, “I’m like, ‘Okay, I should listen to it.’”
Many people do not register taking recommendations from Spotify Wrapped as being influenced. But that is the crux of influencer culture.
“We begin to do variations of those things that influencers do,” said Marshall. “They become our way of trying to understand online life, and the way that we begin, as ordinary people, to reconstruct our notion of a differentiated persona.” When internet celebrities such as singer Madison Beer, Musical.ly star and singer Loren Gray, or TikTok-viral musician Laufey post their streaming results, the practice catches on even quicker. Spotify Wrapped is just one example of how the habits of influencers, from what they post down to how they post it, becomes a particular guidebook for everyone on the internet, regardless of who you’re following on social media.
Spotify makes participating in this culture even easier. With a single tap, the content — already made in various coordinating colors — can be shared. The eye-catching graphics are pre-generated. Users can reveal a little about themselves with low stakes and minimal participation, thoughtlessly mimicking how influencers mine their likes and interests to become a brand.
Screenshot from @loren on Instagram
Influencer Loren Gray, who has 22.2 million Instagram followers, shares her 2021 Spotify Wrapped to her story.
Perhaps it’s this seamless participation with instant brand- building rewards that makes the suspiciousness of having your data tracked on the platform pale in comparison. “It’s just songs,” a user of the app, Sophronia Barone, 21, told me. “I guess it’s no big deal.”
Is it just songs, though? When analyzing the back end of the app, a team of five researchers behind the 2019 study “Spotify Teardown: Inside the Black Box of Streaming Music” made clear that algorithms do not exist in a vacuum. They wrote, “Scholars have demonstrated how algorithmic content delivery has implications for the production of gender, race, and other categorizations. Users are invited — or obliged — to have their listening habits turned into “taste profiles,” which are measured using a set of parameters.”
Spotify has not made public what these categories are, but the academics ascertained that gender is certainly one of them. They noted that Paul Lamere, the director of the music intelligence and data platform, Echo Nest (which was acquired by Spotify in 2014), provided data based on listening habits by gender in a 2014 blog post. The researchers found that self-reporting your gender is a mandatory part of the platform’s sign-up process and, further, is listed as one of the types of information that Spotify collects and shares under their privacy policy, “indicat[ing] that gender is perceived as vital to the functioning of Spotify, at least for marketing purposes.”
They also discovered the company knows your IP address, meaning location, nationality, and by proxy, social class. Another study by the Bank of England found that Spotify data can even reveal user moods. It’s not unreasonable, then, to assume that Spotify can deduce a good chunk of your socioeconomic demographic, narrowing down ethnicity, age, and perhaps even sexuality if you listen to specific podcasts, like Spotify’s popular Queerology. (And after a priest’s sexuality was recently outed by a Catholic publication via his phone’s location data, it’s clear that this information has real- life consequences.) Spotify then capitalizes off that information by selling it to companies, to which demographic profiles are akin to gold.
Spotify, of course, isn’t the only company to find success at marketing algorithms back to consumers: Everything from DigiScents, which promises to perfume your home based on your web browsing history, to TikTok, the most popular social media app of the moment, is all about algorithmic-based viewing and encourages us to buy a ridiculous amount of stuff. Meet AI culture, the new age of digitized capitalism, where the consumer is endlessly stuck in their own feedback loop. If you open an app, you inherently give companies free labor in the form of web traffic, AdSense, and taste profiles, only for those apps to sell your profile and user identity — what is essentially you — to others and then eventually, back to yourself. These companies push us toward algorithmic-based viewing, and not only do we lap up what their data reveals about us, but we also eagerly share it for others to see.
We do so in the name of self-branding. Because in the end, we get one more quantifiable piece to add to our ultra-specific, online persona. For a fleeting moment, we can all be influencers, too. “I like that Spotify is sharing their stats with you,” said McBride. It’s “like you’re an MLB star for listening to music.”
How to know if omicron is as scary as it seems -
A health worker sanitizes a resident’s hands at a Covid-19 mobile testing site in Cape Town, South Africa, on December 2. South Africa announced the discovery of a new variant, named omicron, on November 25 as cases began to spike and the strain spread across the globe. | Dwayne Senior/Bloomberg via Getty Images
These 5 leading indicators will help experts figure out how much of a threat omicron really is.
For now, the whole world is waiting for scientists to figure out how much of a threat the omicron coronavirus variant actually is.
That will take several weeks at least, according to experts. Science will need to answer big questions about how transmissible the new variant is, how well it overcomes the immunity conferred by inoculation or prior infection, whether it causes more severe illness than other variations of the virus, and so on.
But as that work goes on, there are several indicators to monitor in the next few weeks — none dispositive on their own, but which, taken together, should start to give us a better idea of what we are facing.
Cases in South Africa
We don’t actually know that the omicron variant originated in South Africa or Botswana, the countries that alerted the world to it. They were just the first to detect it, thanks to their world-leading genetic sequencing capabilities.
Nevertheless, because it is really good at sequencing, South Africa is an early omicron “hot zone” that should have one of the most complete pictures of how the variant is affecting the virus’s spread. Experts are already watching the country closely to see how much cases rise in the coming days.
So far, the answer has been: quite a lot. At the beginning of November, South Africa was seeing about 349 new Covid-19 cases every day on average. As of December 1, it is averaging almost 3,800 new cases daily.
Our World In Data
Experts say other factors could be contributing to that steep increase, like South Africa’s low vaccination rate (29 percent of its people have had at least one dose), as well as possible superspreader events.
The question will be how much omicron alone is driving the surge and how much cases there ultimately swell. The more they spike, the more reason for concern.
Hospitalizations in Israel
Case numbers will give us some idea whether omicron is driving new surges. Another key question is whether it causes more severe illness than the delta variant, with more people developing serious symptoms, ending up in the hospital, and possibly dying.
That would portend a much grimmer picture of the future than if the variant were to prove to be less dangerous than delta. And while there has been early speculation on this, we do not have nearly enough information to say confidently which way it will go.
One metric to watch, according to experts: What happens to hospitalization numbers in Israel? It’s another country that is very good at tracking Covid data. It’s also a rich country with comparable vaccination levels to the US and an aggressive booster strategy. It could be a microcosm of what the United States can expect from omicron.
“Israel is pretty responsive in terms of taking action, also well vaccinated and boosted,” Bill Hanage, a Harvard University epidemiologist, told me. “A proxy for a place that mostly does things right and an early indicator of what can be expected in similar places.”
Omicron has been detected in Israel, but it’s still early. Hospitalizations are a lagging indicator: It takes time for a person to contract the virus and then develop serious enough symptoms that they go to the hospital.
Our World In Data
The share of omicron among US Covid-19 cases
Omicron could take over the pandemic, like delta — or fizzle like beta and gamma, variants you’ve probably already forgotten about. One way to tell if it’s becoming dominant is that the share of cases — in the US and elsewhere — caused by omicron will start rising.
To provide some context, when the delta variant took over, it grew from a tiny fraction of all cases (about 1 percent in May) to the vast majority (99 percent by August) in three months. For now, 99.9 percent of samples being sequenced here are the delta variant, as the chart below from the CDC illustrates.
“Delta is still the dominant variant in the US,” Jen Kates, director of HIV and global health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation, told me, “and that should be the prime concern for anyone.”
But if omicron is the next dominant variant, that should start to change soon. We know omicron is in the United States already; what we don’t know is whether it can outcompete delta. This metric is where that answer will ultimately show up.
Intrinsic transmissibility
The first three indicators are straightforward and easy for everyone to grasp: Are cases rising? Are hospitalizations increasing? Is omicron making up a bigger share of infections? Simple stuff.
But there are two more worth monitoring that are much more technical, but crucial to understanding omicron’s transmission.
In brief, that means: Assuming nobody had immunity against any form of Covid-19, how quickly would the omicron variant spread through the population? For each infected person, how many more people would they infect? This is the R0 metric you might recall from the spring of 2020.
As scientists identify more omicron cases and gather more data on the people who are getting infected with it, they will be better able to estimate what that R0 actually is. As Bedford explained, some rough math based on the early data from South Africa suggests omicron’s R0 may fall anywhere from roughly 3 (meaning one infected person would infect three more people on average) to 6 or more.
That’s a huge range. In practical terms, that means omicron could be anywhere from less infectious than the original version of Covid-19 to more contagious than delta, already by far the most transmissible variant to come along.
Again, based on wildly divergent spike protein, I’m guessing that immune escape will be substantial and so I still suspect that it’s quite possible that Omicron will show lower intrinsic transmissibility than Delta. My updated diagram. 16/18 pic.twitter.com/T4vuiEN75I
But, to complicate the issue further, we live in a world where some people have immunity to Covid-19, at varying levels. People have been vaccinated, or they’ve been infected with other versions of the virus and recovered. Omicron’s ability to evade this immunity will also factor significantly into its ability to transmit in the real world.
Figuring that out will depend on more sequencing to identify omicron cases and more information on which patients are contracting the variant. Then scientists can plug the statistics into their models and more accurately project how often vaccinated people or people infected by the previous variants are coming down with omicron. There also might be a difference between how well the variant can elude natural immunity versus immunity via vaccination. With delta, one CDC study found unvaccinated people were more prone to reinfection than vaccinated people.
Combining intrinsic transmissibility and immune escapability should give us a better idea of how quickly omicron is likely to spread. But it’s still worth knowing to what degree transmission is being driven by unvaccinated people who are being infected for the first time, versus those who were vaccinated or have recovered from Covid-19.
If the omicron variant has high intrinsic transmissibility but low immune escapability, then the primary threat is to unvaccinated people. That would indicate the vaccines are holding up well against it, but the virus could tear through unprotected populations.
But another possibility is that omicron has relatively low intrinsic transmissibility, but higher immune escapability. Unvaccinated people are still fully vulnerable to the virus in that scenario. But that would also mean vaccinated people could be at higher risk than they currently are, and omicron-specific boosters might even be necessary.
“High immune escape, lower intrinsic transmissibility is not necessarily a good thing,” Bedford pointed out. “Higher immune escape places previously infected and vaccinated individuals more at risk.”
It will take time to answer those questions. But only once they are answered will we really know how much omicron will alter the course of the pandemic.
From The Hindu: Sports
Mendis, Embuldeniya spin Sri Lanka to Test series sweep against West Indies - Chasing 297, West Indies lost their last eight wickets for 40 runs
World Tour Finals: Already qualified for semifinals, Sindhu loses final group match, Srikanth bows out - This was Sindhu’s third loss to the 2016 world junior champion Chochuwong in seven meetings.
COVID-19 hits Junior Hockey World Cup, one person tests positive - Despite being held behind closed doors, all matches involving India have seen crowd turning up to watch them. Around 3,000 spectators attended the home team’s quarterfinal win against Belgium on December 1.
Ind vs NZ second Test | Mayank makes statement with hundred despite Pujara-Kohli failure - Rain has stopped but the umpires said the 30-yard circle and the bowlers’ run-ups were the main issues.
Ind vs NZ 2nd Test | Injuries rule out players on both teams - Ishant, Jadeja, Rahane out of 2nd Test, New Zealand to play without Kane Williamson
From The Hindu: National News
Kodiyeri Balakrishnan back as CPI(M) State secretary - CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has returned to helm the party in Kerala. After remaining on ‘medical leave’ for a year, he returned
Govt brings ED, CBI chiefs’ tenure extension Bills to LS - Oppposition cries foul
Kerala High Court sets aside single-judge verdict on Covishield dose gap - A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Friday set aside a single judges’ verdict allowing those willing to take a second paid dose of Covishield
Five arrested for death of CPI(M) leader - CM asks police to bring all those involved in the crime before the law
Punjab police recover grenades, bomb from border district - An FIR number has been registered under Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Explosive Substances Act at Sadar Gurdaspur police station.
From BBC: Europe
Austria ruling party picks Nehammer for chancellor - Karl Nehammer is chosen as party leader and next chancellor in a bid to end days of turmoil.
Why Turkey’s currency crash does not worry Erdogan - Turkey’s national currency has plummeted 45% against the dollar this year
Covid: Germany puts major restrictions on unvaccinated - Chancellor Angela Merkel describes the far-reaching measures as an act of “national solidarity”.
Germany: Angela Merkel’s military farewell features punk singer’s hit - A ceremony has been held for the German chancellor, who is due to step down after 16 years in office.
Brexit: UK and EU chief negotiators to meet for NI talks - Issues under discussion will include how to guarantee the supply of medicines from GB to NI.
From Ars Technica
Ars Technica’s ultimate board game gift guide, 2021 edition - Our massive guide is back—let us help you pick a game. - link
Rocket Report: SLS may face delay due to engine issue, Astra goes orbital - “Replacing an engine, we’re probably talking about multiple weeks.” - link
So metal: Newly discovered exoplanet is likely over 80 percent iron - It looks a lot like a hot version of the innermost planet in our Solar System. - link
Secret of tempera’s pleasing properties is how egg yolk interacts with pigment - A network forms between egg yolk proteins, water molecules, and pigment’s clay particles. - link
Survivors try to stay positive after deadly pandemic in Station Eleven trailer - “This is the best thing that could have possibly happened.” Yeah, not so much. - link
From Jokes Subreddit
When I was growing up # was pound, not hashtag -
Good thing it changed, since “pound metoo” would’ve been sending the wrong message
A mailman walking down the street saw Little Johnny playing in a pile of shit. -
He had it between his fingers and smeared over his body.
The mailman asked him what he was doing and Johnny looked up and said “Making a mailman.”
This pissed the mailman off. He went up the street, saw a fireman, and told him what the boy was doing and what a smartass the kid was. The fireman said that he would have a talk with the boy.
The fireman walked up to Little Johnny and asked him what was he doing playing in pile of shit.
Johnny looked up and said “Making a fireman.”
This pissed the fireman off so he left to tell a cop. The cop said that he would have a talk with the boy.
The cop asked Little Johnny “What are you doing, playing with a pile of shit?”
Little Johnny looked up and said nothing.
The cop said “I know what you said to the mailman and the fireman so why didn’t you tell me that you are making a cop?”
Little Johnny looked up and said “Because I aint got enough shit.”
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