tingilinde

for kids facing library bans

The Brooklyn Public Library is offering free eCards to teens nationwide,

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“Access to information is the great promise upon which public libraries were founded,” said Linda E. Johnson, President and CEO, Brooklyn Public Library. “We cannot sit idly by while books rejected by a few are removed from the library shelves for all. Books UnBanned will act as an antidote to censorship, offering teens and young adults across the country unlimited access to our extensive collection of ebooks and audiobooks, including those which may be banned in their home libraries.”

The card will be good for one year and is designed to complement access to resources for teens in their local communities. The Brooklyn Public Library eCard provides access to 350,00 e-books; 200,000 audiobooks and over 100 databases. Teens will also be connected to their peers in Brooklyn, including members of BPL’s Intellectual Freedom Teen Council, to help one another with information and resources to fight censorship, book recommendations and the defense of freedom to read.

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operation z

A fairly close look at Operation Z and where it may be going

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This report is based on a wide range of sources. On the military front, the report draws upon sustained though periodic engagements with Ukrainian combatants in the conflict and independent reporters observing the fighting on the ground, continual analysis of open source information from the war, and intermittent interviews with senior Ukrainian officials and officers during fieldwork in March and April. The diplomatic and economic analysis draws upon interviews with Ukrainian and Western intelligence officials, energy experts including former employees in Russia’s strategic industries, and diplomats and national security representatives from several NATO and non-NATO member states that have maintained links with Russia. The report also draws upon inspections by the authors of Russian military equipment recovered from the battlefield during fieldwork in April, and an extensive set of documents from inside the Russian government. Owing to the sensitivity of the methods by which these documents were obtained their sourcing is largely withheld, though the authors took steps to establish their veracity.

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a tip of the hat to Mark

shanghai and china's zero covid policy

Very interesting.

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The breach of Shanghai’s magic shield came from one hotel. In February, Huating Hotel announced renovations and sent home all its staff. In March, it was requisitioned as the quarantine hotel for overseas visitors (some from Hong Kong). The newly employed quarantine managers didn’t realise that the old air-conditioning system was allowing the virus to circulate. Asymptomatic carriers (hotel staff, cleaning ladies, couriers, PCR testers) took the virus to almost every corner of the city. By the time scientists issued a red alert, it was too late to execute the ‘dynamic zero policy’. Since then it has been chaos. The leadership had different views on the best way to proceed. It seems the majority of medics were inclined to a soft approach: the death rate from Omicron is low and most people recover in a few days, so taking lateral flow tests and staying at home would have been enough. Some officials agreed, arguing that, as China’s main financial and trading hub, Shanghai is too important to shut down. Unfortunately, no one else seems to agree. When positive cases spilled over into neighbouring provinces, local governments reacted angrily, posting rewards for turning in visitors from Shanghai (200 RMB to 2000 RMB per capita). Then – it’s said – they complained to Beijing about the irresponsible behaviour of the Shanghainese. Beijing sent an inspection team, which didn’t like what it saw. Netizens joked that Shanghai tried to lie down still but its brother provinces kept helping it up: the result is endless sit-ups.

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the wall street putsch

The coup attempt against FDR.

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FDR thought government in a civilized society had an obligation to abolish poverty, reduce unemployment, and redistribute wealth. Roosevelt’s bold New Deal experiments inflamed the upper class, provoking a backlash from the nation’s most powerful bankers, industrialists and Wall Street brokers, who thought the policy was not only radical but revolutionary. Worried about losing their personal fortunes to runaway government spending, this fertile field of loathing led to the “traitor to his class” epithet for FDR. “What that fellow Roosevelt needs is a 38-caliber revolver right at the back of his head,” a respectable citizen said at a Washington dinner party.

In a climate of conspiracies and intrigues, and against the backdrop of charismatic dictators in the world such as Hitler and Mussolini, the sparks of anti-Rooseveltism ignited into full-fledged hatred. Many American intellectuals and business leaders saw nazism and fascism as viable models for the US. The rise of Hitler and the explosion of the Nazi revolution, which frightened many European nations, struck a chord with prominent American elites and antisemites such as Charles Lindbergh and Henry Ford. Hitler’s elite Brownshirts – a mass body of party storm troopers separate from the 100,000-man German army – was a stark symbol to the powerless American masses. Mussolini’s Blackshirts – the military arm of his organization made up of 200,000 soldiers – were a potent image of strength to a nation that felt emasculated.

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corruption

A few examples of DJT's corruption.

a tip of the hat to Xeni

 

 

covid risk assessment

Sorting out your risk in various activities. 

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Scientific American asked experts in epidemiology, medicine, risk assessment and aerosol transmission for advice on how to decide which risks we are willing to take. These decisions are based on assessments of personal risk, community risk and exposure risk—and the steps one can take to take to mitigate them. Personal risk refers to the danger of contracting COVID faced by an individual and the members of their household. Community risk is the current likelihood of encountering COVID among members of one’s community. And exposure risk accounts for the increased chances of catching COVID at a particular venue based on airflow characteristics of the space itself and other people’s behavior.

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borowitz on mtg

Once again he hits the nail on the head, but the GOP is so bizarre these days it doesn't seem impossible. 

 

 

when you really want your phone

And if you think you've had a bad day.

 

covid variants

An interesting resource to explore

 

earth day

An image  taken on the 23rd of March by ESA's Metrosat