Qatar is trying to condition the outdoor air to offset daytime temperatures that often top 130ºF.
Category Archives: Link
The Myth of the Wealthy Welder
Dissecting a conservative myth that contends middle-America tradespeople can be as or more successful than college-educated city dwellers in the modern economy. In reality trades are rarely lucrative, and the underfunding of public education means that trade schools leave students deeply indebted even as they face a lack of opportunity.
This Is the Beginning of the End of the Beef Industry
Beef is the most wasteful food on the planet. It’s bad for the environment, bad for our health, difficult to keep free of contaminants, and, of course, bad for the cows. Sixty percent of the beef we consume is ground beef — nothing gourmet about it. In a few years time, the ground beef market could be made extinct by plant-based alternatives.
Big Money Starts to Dump Stocks That Pose Climate Risks
Because it is good for the world, but just as (if not more) importantly, because it makes financial sense to do so. They are starting to see the writing on the wall — the rise of renewables and decline of coal is leading to market uncertainty, while possible government regulation could pose huge risks to the profitability of fossil fuel companies.
Protesters Killed A Plan For A Koreatown Homeless Shelter. But That’s Just The Beginning Of The Story
A nuanced take on a storied neighborhood grappling with the modern homelessness epidemic.
With More Storms and Rising Seas, Which U.S. Cities Should Be Saved First?
Yeah, this will go well…
How Game of Thrones Lost Its Way as a Political Drama
I’ve spent the entire last week being upset about this epic television show’s finale, indeed the entire final season. I’ve read dozens of articles, tweetstorms, memes, and hot takes, discussed it with many people. There is a lot I could say, but I’ll just post this one article that sums up some of my key frustrations, and leave it at that.
It turns out the true Game of Thrones were the friends we made along the way
— Alberto 💙 (@GuardianYoshi) May 13, 2019
How not to say the wrong thing
This advice bears oft repeating: comfort IN, dump OUT
EU Parliament votes to end daylight saving time
Finally, some sanity!
Slippery When Wet
Elle revisits the “Kayak Killer,” Angelika Graswald. In addition to everything else weird about this story, I’m struck by how much misunderstandings about kayaking contributed to a presumption of guilt. Investigators fixated on a missing drain plug and that she rescued his paddle while ignoring that he was intoxicated, wearing inadequate clothing, sans PFD, in dark, windy conditions, and he hit 40º water.
The Hard Lessons of Dianne Feinstein’s Encounter with the Young Green New Deal Activists
“Politics as usual” does not matter when the fate of the world is on the line. You either believe it or you don’t. If you do, you recognize the need for radical action:
[I]n the case of the environment, the opponent is not the Chamber of Commerce. The opponent is physics, and physics doesn’t negotiate. It’s not moved by appeals to centrist moderation, or explanations about the filibuster. And it has set a firm time limit. Scientists have told us what we must do and by when, and so legislators must do all they can to match those targets.
No offense to Feinstein, but she is 85 years old – she won’t have to live through the consequences. But her grandchildren will. Or, put another way:
People from all over the world are sending emails to Melbourne’s trees
Melbourne gave 70,000 trees email addresses so people could report on their condition. But instead people are writing love letters, existential queries and sometimes just bad puns.
“The World Is A Very Dangerous Place” by Donald J. Trump
Spot-on parody from McSweeney’s, as always. It really does sound like Trump, only more ridiculous than even he could possibly be.
Wait…what? Oh. I guess this is a real statement, reprinted verbatim.
Excuse me while I go jump off a cliff into a pit of despair.
Democrats are now forbidden by law from controlling more than one half of one branch of government
This will end well for everyone!
Sea level rise is eroding home value, and owners might not even know it
Frankly, I’m surprised it has taken this long.
100 Goats, Chewing Everything, Invade Boise Neighborhood
Tammy Duckworth’s new baby kicks off debate about infants on Senate floor
“Come to think of it, a world with 10 babies on the Senate floor doesn’t sound so bad at all.”
Tesla Is in an Open Feud With NTSB Over Crash Probe
This is not the first time that Tesla has been overbearing, defensive, and quick to blame the (dead) victim in incidents involving their Autopilot system. But they are being called on it, and this is not a good look for a company that claims to be developing the safest cars in the industry.
Computer science faces an ethics crisis. The Cambridge Analytica scandal proves it.
Performers And Staffers At “Sleep No More” Say Audience Members Have Sexually Assaulted Them
I saw the original production of Sleep No More in Boston twice, as well as the New York production. The show is immersive and charged and incredible, one of the most amazing theater experiences I have ever witnessed. I was pulled aside into private spaces by actors, given objects, told by actors to go places and to do things. In one scene, an actor handed me his clothing as he undressed. I never once, not for a second, would have considered touching the actors. There is immersive theater, and then there is assault. The line, actually, is pretty clear.
I guess it is not shocking how some audience members behave, because so many human beings are terrible. But it is absolutely shocking and abhorrent the way the show management treated these incidents, and the ways in which they allowed their actors and technical staff to be abused by patrons night after night. Even worse are their feeble but repeated denials of responsibility.