Callie's fur requires two combs

[conuly]

First the regular comb, to get out as much of the undercoat as possible without getting fur on me, then the curry comb to get the rest of her loose fur. (And then a lint brush for myself.)

You wouldn't think a short-haired cat would be this sheddy, but she is. Mama Cat isn't nearly this bad. It's just her. The kitchen floor is like the wild west, with furry tumbleweeds rolling across the tile.

*************

Yearbook Memories of a Historically Black University

A new database catalogues 1,300 picture books about people of color (Going back to 2002. I wonder if they'll tackle older books when they're done with the backlog.)

New Hybrid Robot Uses Living Muscles to Move (Living in the future....)

How Putting Organs on Chips Could Revolutionize Medicine

Medieval Geopolitics: The Medieval “Fiscal Revolution”

Shipwrecks: Who owns the treasure hidden under the sea?

Cure for common cold? 'Radical' treatment targets humans, not virus. And it works (so far)

Sultan of Yogyakarta: A feminist revolution in an ancient kingdom

As Taboos Break Down, Iranians Party On

On Berlin's 'Arab Street,' two worlds collide

How 1960s Film Pirates Sold Movies Before the FBI Came Knocking

The secrets of a diary written on castle floorboards

The Princess Pretenders

How celebrities and influencers are changing the stigma of having acne.

Red state rural America is acting on climate change – without calling it climate change

Supreme Court rules on narrow grounds for baker who refused to create same-sex couple's wedding cake

One-third of US military injuries in Iraq, Afghanistan weren't from battle

When New Delhi’s Informal Settlements Make Way For Something ‘Smarter’

'Everyone is going to feel this': Worsening truck driver shortage will make cost of goods rise

America has a massive truck driver shortage. Here’s why few want an $80,000 job.

City of Exiles

America Is Fumbling Its Most Important Relationship

When Guns Are Sold Illegally, A.T.F. Is Lenient on Punishment

How Donald Trump is weaponising the courts for political ends

Mueller accuses Manafort of witness tampering

Europe and nationalism: A country-by-country guide

In Louisiana jail, deaths mount as mental health pleas unheeded

Origins of an Epidemic: Purdue Pharma Knew Its Opioids Were Widely Abused

After over a decade at Guantanamo, these men were supposed to go free. Instead, they’re locked in a secretive center in the UAE.

'Deeply Disturbing' Conditions For Rohingya In Myanmar, And Those Yet To Return

Carbon emissions are sucking the nutrition out of our food

America’s Flooded Future

Comments

About court appointments in the US?

[dewline]

DT-45 is following the path laid out by Stephen Harper. Maybe others as well, but definitely his path for sure.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/stephen-harpers-courts-how-the-judiciary-has-been-remade/article25661306/

[wpadmirer]

I love the photos from Howard, and the story of the man who wrote about his life on the planks of the floor he was installing. That was fascinating.

I'm deliberately avoiding a lot of the other news. Sometimes my head and heart just can't take it.

[mommy]

In my experience, Midwestern communities are perfectly happy to switch to energy efficient appliances, renewable energy, air/soil/water quality support, and other environmentally friendly options as long as no one acknowledges the reason why these things are so important. You can work to alleviate climate change, but you can't ever acknowledge what you're doing.

[conuly]

the story of the man who wrote about his life on the planks of the floor he was installing. That was fascinating.

I know!

I'm deliberately avoiding a lot of the other news. Sometimes my head and heart just can't take it.

Ugh, I know.

[conuly]

Can I say that this is ridiculous?

Re: About court appointments in the US?

[conuly]

D:

[mommy]

It feels like a comedy of errors whenever I see a local farmer worry about the changing climate's effect on their crops while jumping through verbal hoops to avoid even thinking about global warming.

[greghousesgf]

I agree, that makes no sense at all.

[jesse_the_k]

Further on the "Black people in history" theme:

The Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slave-ownership has been established at [University College London] with the generous support of the Hutchins Center at Harvard. The Centre will build on two earlier projects based at UCL tracing the impact of slave-ownership on the formation of modern Britain: the ESRC-funded Legacies of British Slave-ownership project (2009-2012), and the ESRC and AHRC-funded Structure and significance of British Caribbean slave-ownership 1763-1833 (2013-2015).

[stardreamer]

Our Spot is technically a shorthair, but she appears to have a Persian's undercoat without the long guard hairs -- she looks and feels like a plush toy. And she sheds more than the other 6 put together. I get after her with the Furminator periodically, and It. Just. Doesn't. Stop. Our dust bunnies have dust bunnies!

The climate change thing reminds me of two things: (1) the way that several red states (notably KY) got Obamacare enacted without fuss by simply calling it something else; and (2) the way so many men will cheerfully self-report having committed rape and sexual assault as long as those words are not used, but the behaviors simply described.

A friend of mine, obsoleted from his former career and recently widowed, has just started a job as a long-haul truck driver. It's probably his best option at the moment.

[ioplokon]

Wow, it's almost like even truck driving became a shitty, low-paying, non-union job with no benefits and a horrible schedule, people stopped wanting to do it!

[zesty_pinto]

Myomers, baby! We're on the way to my Battletech fantasy.

[conuly]

Are you telling me that not everybody loves propping up the invisible hand of the free market by being an independent contractor who has to pee in a bottle?

[archersangel]

the secret diary on the floor boards was interesting.

[brigantine]

Red state rural America is acting on climate change – without calling it climate change

This pleases me. I mean, yeah, it may seem silly to us that so many folks for some reason have this hardcore thing against calling it human-influenced climate change, but as long as what needs to be done is getting done, they can call it what they like. If it makes people feel better they could call it "Plan 9 From Planet Bob" and have my blessing. I am somewhat results-oriented. ;)

Also, boldly done, Iranians! That's a lot of persistent courage going on, there. \o/

[archangelbeth]

Cat spores will eventually combine into a new cat! It's Evolution!

[ioplokon]

I for one am chomping at the bit for a job whose schedule basically encourages one to cultivate a cocaine(/other stimulants) habit!

[ioplokon]

I'm sorry for your friend's loss. Hauling is definitely the best available option in a lot of areas but it's such a difficult job. My heart goes out to him & I hope he's safe and has a good gig wherever he's driving.

[siderea]

Speaking of things people don't admit in plain words...

But any greenery growth spurt will come with a downside. CO2-charged sprouts contain more starches and sugars, and fewer minerals and proteins. [...] Agronomists, however, have recorded a steady decline in some of those minerals, ­proteins, and vitamins for half a century. For example, USDA data shows that kale from 1999 had 23 percent less iron than 1950s greens did. Historically, scientists have blamed industrialized farming for practices like overworking soil, which strips it of the good stuff. But now the blame is shifting to include CO2.

Is... is there some reason we're not just frankly saying that climate change is causing the obesity "epidemic" which extends to more species than just humans and so probably has nothing to do with human food-consumption behavior?

[conuly]

I think a lot of people just don't know this specific thing yet.

[conuly]

Yay kittens!

[conuly]

Yeah, I suppose, but I reserve the right to roll my eyes at them.

And let's see what happens in Iran in the long run.

[conuly]

YES.

[conuly]

Your fantasy, my terrifying nightmare.

[siderea]

No, I mean this article itself doesn't even mention obesity. Not the first article I've read about this, and none have mentioned obesity as the natural consequences of trying to get your vitamins "naturally" by eating CO2-enriched produce.

[zesty_pinto]

Embrace it, chummer.

[conuly]

Oh, then I got nuthin'

[archangelbeth]

Little furballs!