Lazy linking

Here are a few links that might be of interest

Lady Gaga Never Spoke Out Against Rumors Claiming She’s a Man ‘Because I Didn’t Feel Like a Victim With That Lie’: ‘I’m Used to Lies Being Printed About Me’

Lady Gaga explains why she would not fight against these rumors, since she thought her fighting against them might harm someone else.

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A graph exploration method for identifying influential spreaders in complex networks

The problem of identifying the influential spreaders – the important nodes – in a real world network is of high importance due to its theoretical interest as well as its practical applications, such as the acceleration of information diffusion, the control of the spread of a disease and the improvement of the resilience of networks to external attacks. In this paper, we propose a graph exploration sampling method that accurately identifies the influential spreaders in a complex network, without any prior knowledge of the original graph, apart from the collected samples/subgraphs. The method explores the graph, following a deterministic selection rule and outputs a graph sample – the set of edges that have been crossed. The proposed method is based on a version of Rank Degree graph sampling algorithm. We conduct extensive experiments in eight real world networks by simulating the susceptible-infected-recovered (SIR) and susceptible-infected-susceptible (SIS) epidemic models which serve as ground truth identifiers of nodes spreading efficiency. Experimentally, we show that by exploring only the 20% of the network and using the degree centrality as well as the k-core measure, we are able to identify the influential spreaders with at least the same accuracy as in the full information case, namely, the case where we have access to the original graph and in that graph, we compute the centrality measures. Finally and more importantly, we present strong evidence that the degree centrality – the degree of nodes in the collected samples – is almost as accurate as the k-core values obtained from the original graph.

An interesting paper from 2017.

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Five Russian GRU Officers and One Civilian Charged for Conspiring to Hack Ukrainian Government

Defendants Are Alleged to Have Committed Cyber Attacks in Advance of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine; Also Targeted 26 North Atlantic Treaty Organization Countries

It is the official release of the charge against Tenet and the Russian paymasters that was release a couple of weeks ago. For a good overview of the case, I recommend this article from the Columbia Journalism Review: The Tenet Media Incident

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A rare link in Danish: OPLEVET ETNISK DISKRIMINATION I DANMARK (pdf)

Denne rapport udgør den hidtil mest omfattende undersøgelse af racisme i Danmark
med udgangspunkt i oplevet diskrimination og fordomme. Mens enkeltpersoners egne
oplevelser ikke kan give et præcist billede af det faktiske omfang af diskrimination
og fordomme, så kan oplevelser i kombination med den omfangsrige forskning, der
henvises til i rapporten, tydeliggøre, at der er problemer, der skal løses.

Undersøgelsen tager udgangspunkt i voksne minoritetsetniske personer med
opvækst i Danmark – dvs. personer der enten er født i Danmark eller kommet hertil
som børn (herefter betegnet som minoritetsetniske personer). Overordnet viser
besvarelserne i undersøgelsen, at over 8 ud af 10 minoritetsetniske personer angiver,
at de har oplevet diskrimination eller fordomme inden for det seneste år. Over 6 ud af
10 minoritetsetniske personer angiver, at de har oplevelser, man som udgangspunkt
kan karakterisere som ulovlig diskrimination. For mange er der ikke tale om en enkelt
hændelse, men gentagne negative oplevelser på tværs af bl.a. arbejdsmarkedet, i det
offentlige rum og i kontakten med myndigheder.

This is a report about experienced/perceived ethnic discrimination in Denmark, made by the Danish Institute for Human Rights in 2023

Lazy linking

A few interesting reads on the internet

Pro-Trump defamation attorney Lin Wood must pay former law partners $4.5 million after defaming them as ‘criminal’ extortionists on social media

This sounds like it started out with normal stuff happening when a company split, but clearly Lin Wood have learned from Trump and started defaming his former partners

How Black female science fiction and fantasy writers are upending the narrative

Science fiction has always been a way to envision the future. Sometimes for the optimal; sometimes as the future might be if humans do not zig toward the good and just. As the legendary science fiction author Isaac Asimov once wrote, “the saddest aspect of life right now is that science fiction gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.”

Black women have always gathered knowledge faster than society writ large gathers wisdom. Thus, a Black woman science fiction — or fantasy — writer might be the most prescient writers of these genres. The field has long been run by mostly white men: the J.R.R. Tolkiens, Philip K. Dicks and George R. R. Martins of the field. But the popularity and foresight of a handful of Black female writers proves that the reading public is ready to imagine a better tomorrow, today.

What I especially love about this article is that I became aware of it because John Scalzi shared it on Threads. He is always trying to promote diversity and promote other people.

Armed and Underground: Inside the Turbulent, Secret World of an American Militia

Last February, some 20 men and their wives gathered for dinner at an upscale restaurant in Spokane, Washington, for their annual Valentine’s Day celebration. The men weren’t just friends; they did community service work together. They had been featured on local television, in khakis and baseball caps, delivering 1,200 pounds of food to an area veterans’ center; they were gearing up for their next food drive, which they called Operation Hunger Smash. A few days after the holiday, the men went camping in the snow-speckled mountains outside Spokane, where they grilled rib-eyes and bacon-wrapped asparagus over a bonfire.

They also engaged in more menacing activities. They assembled regularly — sometimes wearing night-vision goggles in the dark — to practice storming buildings together with semiautomatic rifles. Their drills included using sniper rifles to shoot targets from distances of half a mile. And they belonged to a shadowy organization whose members were debating, with ever more intensity, whether they should engage in mass-scale political violence.

They were among the thousands of members of American Patriots Three Percent, a militia that has long been one of the largest in the United States and has mostly managed to avoid scrutiny. Its ranks included cops and convicted criminals, active-duty U.S. soldiers and small-business owners, truck drivers and health care professionals. Like other militias, AP3 has a vague but militant right-wing ideology, a pronounced sense of grievance and a commitment to armed action. It has already sought to shape American life through vigilante operations: AP3 members have “rounded up” immigrants at the Texas border, assaulted Black Lives Matter protesters and attempted to crack down on people casting absentee ballots.

It is a long read, but well worth reading. It is a important view into people who are actively trying to destroy democracy by violent means.

Did Hemingway say “write drunk, edit sober”? Nope—he preferred to write sober.

Writers love to cite Ernest Hemingway’s famous advice, “write drunk, edit sober.” But not only did he not actually say that—he practically said the opposite.

It is one of those annoying quotes that goes around, and it is nice to get it debunked

Lazy linking

A few interesting links.

There is no “Putin wing” of the GOP: Why almost no Republican backs Ukraine over Russia by Amanda Marcotte

Republicans may say they oppose Putin, but they keep siding with the Russian dictator over Democrats and democracy

Amanda Marcotte explains very well why the Putin Wing of the Republican Party is almost the whole party, and that the only time that most Republicans will speak out against Russia and Putin is when they are forced to by public opinion, or, more likely, when they can use it against President Biden in one way or another.

Preparing for Defeat by Francis Fukuyama

I’m writing this from Skopje, North Macedonia, where I’ve been for the last week teaching one of our Leadership Academy for Development courses. Following the Ukraine war is no different here in terms of available information, except that I’m in an adjacent time zone, and the fact that there is more support for Putin in the Balkans than in other parts of Europe. A lot of the latter is due to Serbia, and Serbia’s hosting of Sputnik.

As a general rule, don’t expect me to link to stuff by Fukuyama, but this was an interesting list of predictions by him – even if some of predictions would be better characterized as wishful thinking.

Spectacularly Colorful Fish Is First New Species Ever Described By A Scientist From The Maldives by GrrlScientist

An international team of scientists discovered a new species of mesophotic coral reef-dwelling fish in the Indian Ocean

It’s always interesting when new species are discovered, and it is great that science is getting decolonized.

Lazy linking – the non-binary and trans edition

In several countries we are seeing a harsh pushback on the rights of trans- and non-binary people. This pushback has created a weird coalition between certain groups of feminists (often referred to a TERFs, which might not be entirely appropriate, as the might not be radical feminists) and right-winged groups and politicians. In the UK it seems like the TERFs are leading the battle, while in the US it is mostly the GOP.

As a counterweight to all the propaganda and lies from these groups, I want to link to some podcasts and articles which are supporting the rights of trans- and non-binary people.

First of, I want to link to The Owen Jones Podcast episode 58 in which he talks with Jim Sterling, who has come out recently as non-binary. Jim Stirling articulates well how the lack of visibility affected them growing up, and allowed Jim to become an adult who did not realize that there was a possibility beyond the binary view of gender. I found it moving to hear how becoming non-binary has made Jim enjoy living, which was a drastic difference from before, where life was just something Jim went through.

The Serious Inquiries Only podcast has made two episodes (episode one, episode two) debunking the vile and dangerous book of lies The End of Gender: Debunking the Myths about Sex and Identity in Our Society by Debra Soh. Dr. Lindsey Osterman read through the book, and spent the episodes explaining how Debra Soh not only misrepresents the science, but also the current state of treatment of transgender youth, and the stance of people supporting them.

An interesting July 2020 study, Defending the Sex/Gender Binary: The Role of Gender Identification and Need for Closure by Morgenroth et al, is well worth reading since it gives us a glimpse of understanding the pushback against a non-binary view of sexes.

In the Western world, gender/sex is traditionally viewed as binary, with people falling into one of two categories: male or female. This view of gender/sex has started to change, triggering some resistance. This research investigates psychological mechanisms underlying that resistance. Study 1 (N=489, UK) explored the role of individual gender identification in defence of, and attempts to reinforce, the gender/sex binary. Study 2 (N=415, Sweden) further considered the role of individual differences in need for closure. Both gender identification and need for closure were associated with binary views of gender/sex, prejudice against non-binary people, and opposition to the use of gender-neutral pronouns. Policies that aim to abolish gender/sex categories, but not to policies that advocate for a third gender/sex category, were seen as particularly unfair among people high in gender identification. These findings are an important step in understanding the psychology of resistance to change around binary systems of gender/sex.

If you know a genderfluid, transgender or non-binary youth, and want to support them, the Trevor Project provides A Guide to Being an Ally to Transgender and Nonbinary Youth

Lazy linking

One of the clear signs that US society doesn’t work probably, is the fact that people have to do fundraisers to cover medical costs and increasingly, to cover basic costs of living. One of the big platforms for these fundraisers, is GoFundMe. Now, the CEO of GoFundMe is speaking out, pointing out that this is wrong

GoFundMe CEO: Hello Congress, Americans need help and we can’t do your job for you

Coronavirus surge of fundraisers on GoFundMe shows why Congress must pass emergency aid for monthly bills, restaurants, small businesses and food.

The opinion piece in USA Today doesn’t tell us anything that most of us didn’t already know, but it is good that a CEO of a company, which is benefiting greatly from the current situation, is speaking out.

The Burger Flipper Who Became a World Expert on the Minimum Wage

As a 16-year-old kid flipping burgers at a Seattle McDonald’s in 1989, Arindrajit Dube was earning the state minimum wage of $3.85 an hour. “I remember feeling privileged that I was going to go on to college, while there were many older workers working at that wage,” he recalls.

He still thinks about the minimum wage, only now it’s from his perch at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where he’s possibly the world’s leading authority on its economic effects. Dube’s research is guaranteed to get a bigger audience as Democrats in Congress attempt to make good on President Biden’s pledge to raise the federal wage floor to $15 an hour by 2025.

Intuitively, it makes sense that increasing the minimum wage, would force companies to increase prices, drive down sales, reduce company profit, and will even force companies into closing. Fortunately, as with many things, intuition is wrong in this.

This is for a few reasons:

  • Wages only form a portion of the costs, and the costs can be spread over many items. E.g. in the classic example of a burger joint, the employer sells many burgers per hour, meaning that the price increase per burger will be minimal.
  • Increasing minimum wages will allow people to work fewer hours, and not e.g. two jobs as we see all too often now, thus opening the job market up for more people.
  • It will give minimum wage employees more money to spend, thus increasing the demand on goods.

Yes, there might be companies surviving on the very margins, which can’t increase their sales, which will close, but my guess is that many of those companies already have closed during this pandemic.

Further reading: Home Articles Making the Case for a Higher M… SHARE: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call Making the Case for a Higher Minimum Wage by Arindrajit Dube

Big Tech as an Unnatural Monopoly

Interesting piece by Tim Brennan in the Milken Institute Review, where he takes a look on Big Tech as monopolies, why they defy the current anti-trust laws, and what can actually be done about Big Tech.

Further reading: Rethinking Antitrust by Lawrence J. White (also in the Milken Institute Review)

This COVID-vaccine designer is tackling vaccine hesitancy — in churches and on Twitter

Immunologist Kizzmekia Corbett helped to design the Moderna vaccine. Now she volunteers her time talking about vaccine science with people of colour.

Kizzmekia Corbett’s twitter feed can be found here.

It is a low bar that President Biden has to clear, but I find it so nice that the US now has a president who is willing to thank people for their hard work

 

Lazy linking – tech edition

I thought I’d share a few links about tech related stuff that I have found interesting in recent times.

Extreme Programming Creator Kent Beck: Tech Has a Compassion Deficit

Before, Beck saw technologists as “us” and management as “them,” he said. Now, he is “them,” and his view has changed.

“I do my one-on-one coaching, but I’m also in the room helping make strategic decisions with very little information, and I’ve gained a lot of respect and empathy for those decision-makers,” he said. “As a punk-ass programmer, I’d grumble about ‘management.’ Well, they have a job to do, and it’s a really difficult job.”

So, the capital-M management is alright with him. But that doesn’t mean Beck’s view of tech leadership is entirely rosy. Many of his anxieties about the tech industry center on power players and their evolving stances on issues like remote compensation, racial justice and content moderation.

“Not a lot makes me hopeful,” he said. “You caught me in isolation [due to COVID-19 precautions]. So this is not my day for bright sunshine.”

Kent Beck was the creator of eXtreme Programming (XP), which is probably the most programmer friendly agile methodology, and which has come up with many of the techniques and tools which is widely used in systems development today. I found this interview interesting because it shows how Kent Beck has evolved and shifted his focus to a much broader perspective than in earlier days.

For doubters of agile, there is also a great question/answer:

You signed the Agile Manifesto almost 20 years ago. How do you feel about agile now?

It’s a devastated wasteland. The life has been sucked out of it. It’s a few religious rituals carried out by people who don’t understand the purpose that those rituals were intended to serve in the first place.

I think he is a bit too pessimistic, but I also understand where he is coming from. From those of us, who have used agile for many years, it is some times scary to realize how little has improved over the years, and how little understanding there is of the ideas behind agile. When I try to explain to people that one of the main strengths of agile is rapid feedback, they all too often fail to understand that this is not just about implementing automatic testing (though that is a given), but also on making measurements and giving outsides the chance of providing feedback – either directly or through their behavior.

Agile and Architecture: Friend, not Foe

Continuing in the realm of agile, here is an article that is really partly a sales pitch for a book. Still worth reading nevertheless.

As an architect, I am frequently asked about the role that architecture can play in environments that practice agile development methods. The core assumption behind this question is usually that agile teams don’t need architecture or at least don’t need architects.

I once took a course by Kevlin Henney called Architecture with Agility, which went into how software architecture and agility could co-exist. One of the major points in the course, is that good architecture is a function over time. Things that were good decisions at one stage, can turn into being bad decisions later, when things change. As a natural consequences of this, you want to defer decisions as long as possible.

Gregor Hohpe seems to be making the same point, but he also makes the excellent point that software architecture allows you to defer certain decisions, until you have the knowledge to make it.

I have ordered his book, and am looking forward to reading it.

Blockchain, the amazing solution for almost nothing

We all have biases, and my bias regarding blockchain is that it is an over-hyped technology which has been born out of a completely useless idea (crypto currency). There are many reasons why I feel this way, but I don’t think I have seen any article describe my feelings about the technology as well as this article by Jesse Frederik.

I’ve been hearing a lot about blockchain in the last few years. I mean, who hasn’t? It’s everywhere.

I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who thought: but what is it then, for God’s sake, this whole blockchain thing? And what’s so terribly revolutionary about it? What problem does it solve?

That’s why I wrote this article. I can tell you upfront, it’s a bizarre journey to nowhere. I’ve never seen so much incomprehensible jargon to describe so little. I’ve never seen so much bloated bombast fall so flat on closer inspection. And I’ve never seen so many people searching so hard for a problem to go with their solution.

I am sure that many blockchain fans can point to examples in the article where it is unfair, but it doesn’t change the overall message. Blockchain is, at its current state, completely over-hyped and largely useless. The article kindly doesn’t mention goes into this, but the performance issues of blockchain technology makes it useless at its current state, and it seems like the only solution to the performance problems is to basically redefine the basic premises of how permissions should work (see e.g. Performance and Scalability of BlockchainNetworks and Smart Contracts (pdf).

Lazy linking – there is a lot going on

As everyone else, I am somewhat overwhelmed at the moment, and find it hard to find the time to write blogposts – instead I am fairly active on twitter, where I can be found under the handle Kriswager.

One of the big issues have been the BLM movement and the push-back on police violence. During this, the police has amply demonstrated that they don’t care about basic human rights, freedom of assembly, freedom of press, and a number of other fundamental principles of a society.

I could post hundreds of links on this subject, but here is one that I have come across recently.

Beverly Hills facing criticism after arrests of 28 peaceful protesters

Beverly Hills is facing criticism after officers arrested 28 people during a peaceful protest against police violence overnight, two weeks after imposing an unusual ordinance banning demonstrations in residential areas that “disrupted the tranquility.”

The latest protest, which began about 7:30 p.m. Friday and drew about 75 people, was the third demonstration in Beverly Hills organized by the Black Future Project, but the first that resulted in arrests, said organizer Austin Tharpe, 29.

The whole concept of an ordinance banning demonstrations in certain type of areas is fundamentally at odds with democratic concepts like the right to assembly.

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On great product of the BLM movement and the talk about racism, is how people are stepping forward with stories about discrimination in workplaces, many of which are considered progressive.

Black Influencers Shortchanged By Big Brands Are Starting To Talk

In the wake of George Floyd’s death, as a new wave of Black Lives Matters activism ripples around the Black community and the world, Black people are choosing to speak up about the way we are treated in society and workplace.

People are lifting the lid on structural and institutional racism in their companies, on microaggressions in the office, and on the substantial career blocks and pay gaps they have faced in comparison with their white counterparts.

And what’s true of traditional careers is also true for Black influencers.

It is easy to dismiss the problems of influencers, since it can some times be hard to figure out what they are doing for the money that they get, but it should be a fundamental principle – no matter the job – that you should get equal pay for equal work (with clout as a factor in this case).

How to Know You’re Not Insane (And how a Cards Against Humanity Staff Writer was fired.)

This story is scary. A lone Black employee starts speaking out against racism at Cards Against Humanity, and they manage to get him committed to a mental ward (though pressure on his family). When he managed to get out again (not as easy as it sounds), he came back and got fired shortly after.

Cards Against Humanity has a progressive reputation much like e.g. Southpark, and the company is certainly progressive, when it e.g. comes to stand against Trump’s border wall. Unfortunately, as the article shows, they are progressive only when it comes to actions outside the company, not within the company.

I have always found Cards Against Humanity fake-edgy and faux-progressive, so I am not really that surprised by these news – other than the fact that it is possible to get people committed under such circumstances. That is a system ripe for misuse, as was the case here.

Popular YouTube channel FBE turns out to be racist

FBE is behind the popular kids/teens/college kids/adults/elders react channels, where a, often quite diverse, group of people react to something. FBE stands for Fine Brothers Entertainment, and the organization came out in support of BLM, which made several people remark on the fact that the founders, and owners, the Fine Brothers, had made racist sketches in the past, wearing blackface.

This is not the first time FBE has come under fire for being racist and sexist – most noteworthy was an anonymous article by a former FBE employee from last year.

A lot of people involved with FBE steps forward and share their stories about the problems at the place, leading to a number of popular reactors (people participating in the react videos) announcing that they are leaving. Others publish the fact that they were already in the process of leaving.

The link in the header takes you to a timeline of what have happened with loads of links.

Black Employees, Don’t Sign Away Your Right to Speak Out

[A]s we hold companies accountable when they share “we believe Black Lives Matter” statements, we must demand that black people feel empowered to share their stories of feeling sidelined, ignored and racially discriminated against. I stand with the labor activists, like the unions representing Condé Nast employees, who are calling for the ban of NDAs in such cases. I stand with my black peers like Tiffany Wines, who recently broke her NDA to publicly recount her painful experiences while working for Complex magazine.

After you leave a toxic work environment, not caving in to a “hush your mouth” document makes it better for the next black person. You can leave the door cracked with a detailed note. The bright and eager food editors have a right to know the names of allies, and the best office location to say a little prayer when times are rocky.

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Not related to work, but rather to life outside work, Corina Newsome writes in the Audubon Magazine and tells fellow birders about life as a black birder in It’s Time to Build a Truly Inclusive Outdoors

It’s early April and American Woodcocks have begun twilight mating displays, making whistling, twirling falls from the sky. You’ve seen them before with friends, but to abide by social distancing rules you decide on a solo trip. Then you recall the sound of gravel behind you as a police car followed you to a trail head the other day. You quickly but calmly grabbed your binoculars and pointed them to a nearby tree. Not because you saw a bird, but to prove your innocence—to de-escalate what you feared could unfold. It’s cold outside and will be colder tonight when the woodcocks dance. You should layer up with your hoodie, but you know how that makes you look. Especially at night. Especially alone. You decide it’s better not to go.

If anyone ever is in doubt about the systematic, widespread racism in the US, articles like this clearly demonstrates how every aspect of the life of Black people in the US is affected. It is well past time it is addressed.

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Unsurprisingly to everyone, the Trump administration keeps on proving to be horrible.

Federal officials allowed distribution of COVID-19 antibody tests after they knew many were flawed

Federal officials failed to immediately stop the distribution of many COVID-19 antibody tests they knew were flawed, leading to inaccurate data about the spread of the virus. Congress is now investigating why the FDA did not review the tests it allowed to be distributed widely throughout the U.S

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This won’t surprise anyone remotely aware of what Antifa is, but it will certainly come as a surprise to both the US president and to many people living in conservative areas, fearing the great perils coming from Antifa.

White nationalist group posing as antifa called for violence on Twitter

A Twitter account claiming to belong to a national “antifa” organization and pushing violent rhetoric related to ongoing protests has been linked to the white nationalist group Identity Evropa, according to a Twitter spokesperson.

It is a common tactic of the far-right to make fake profiles claiming to belonging to organizations that they are against. Some times these profiles are persons, but quite often they are supposed to be the actual organizations themselves. The tactic is more successful with leaderless organizations, like Anonymous and the Occupy Movement, and non-organizations like Antifa.

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A couple of science related things.

Ethical and privacy considerations for research using online fandom data

As online fandom continues to grow, so do the public data created by fan creations and interactions. With researchers and journalists regularly engaging with those data (and not always asking permission), many fans are concerned that their content might end up in front of the wrong audience, which could lead to privacy violations or even harassment from within or outside of fandom. To better understand fan perspectives on the collection and analysis of public data as a methodology, we conducted both an interview study and a survey to solicit responses that would help provide a broader understanding of fandom’s privacy norms as they relate to the ethical use of data. We use these findings to revisit and recommend best practices for working with public data within fandom.

This article by Brianna Dym and Casey Fiesler seems much needed, and honestly isn’t just a necessary read for scientists doing research, but also, as they mention, the journalists writing about fandoms.

It’s Time to Abandon the “Classical Twin Method” in Behavioral Research

Twin studies supply the “scientific evidence” most often cited in support of the claim that human behavioral differences are strongly influenced by heredity. Yet genetic interpretations of twin studies of behavior, including areas such as IQ, personality, criminality (antisocial behavioral), schizophrenia, and depression are based on the acceptance of highly questionable or even false assumptions. I am compelled to keep writing about this because these studies have not gone away, despite the critics’ airtight arguments that indicate that they should have gone away a long time ago.

Twin studies are one of the common arguments used by evolutionary psychologists, and like everything else evo-psychologists use, they are deeply flawed at best, worthless in general.

New research reveals what made Danes stay home, and what didn’t

In a new study, researchers have shown how recommendations to maintain social distancing affect our behaviour. An experiment conducted among Danish residents at the peak of the pandemic reveals that reminders to stay home only affect people in poor health. The ensuing lessons about human behaviour can be crucial for campaigns in the second phase of the corona virus crisis.

It is worth remembering that Denmark is one of the success stories, but it seems like it wasn’t because of public appeals, but rather due to public restrictions. Most people were forced to work from home, which is considered a key factor in how Denmark got the spread under control.

Lazy linking – the Trump circus

Impeachment

The open hearings in the impeachment inquiry have started, and despite the orders from Trump of people not participating, some key people have already been in and have given some pretty damning evidence.

So far we have heard career diplomats like William Taylor, George Kent, and Marie Yovanovitch speak about what they experienced, and it has been pretty damning.

For a full transcript of the testimony by Taylor and Kent see: Read George Kent and William Taylor’s Full Opening Statements at the First Public Hearing in Trump’s Impeachment Inquiry

As for Marie Yovanovitch, this is an article worth reading.

“This Is the Way Gangsters Operate”: A Hero Is Born as Yovanovitch Gives Voice to Widespread Rage at State

The diplomatic rank and file believe Mike Pompeo has allowed Trump to pollute the State Department with politics. Marie Yovanovitch made their case. “I think people are feeling huge pride in Masha,” says a former ambassador.

While the testimony of the three career diplomats have been very damning, things are going to be much worse for Trump. Coming up are witnesses like State Department official David Holmes , US Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland, Defense Department official Laura Cooper, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale, and National Security Council staffer Fiona Hill. And many more are probably to come, including John Bolton and Mick Mulvany, especially if the courts find that the House’s subpoena overrules the orders from Trump (something which would be obvious in any other timeline).

Roger Stone found guilty

It hasn’t gotten much notice, but Roger Stone has been found guilty on all counts, making him the 6th Trump Associate Convicted Under Mueller Probe.

Giuliani is in trouble

Or so it would seem

Giuliani ‘is potentially in a heap of trouble’ and could be indicted today: ex-prosecutor

On MSNBC’s “AM Joy,” former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade suggested that President Donald Trump’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani could be indicted today, based just on the facts that are already known about his involvement in the Ukraine plot.

The idea of Giuliani going to jail is bringing me great joy.

Trump pardons war criminals

Trump uses his presidential power to grant pardons – and unsurprisingly he pardons the worst sort of people.

Trump Clears Three Service Members in War Crimes Cases

Top military leaders have pushed back hard against clearing the three men. Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy have argued that such a move would undermine the military code of justice, and would serve as a bad example to other troops in the field, administration officials said.

It is not like US soldiers often get prosecuted for their actions in war zones, and even rarer they get found guilty. In these cases, there is clear evidence that they killed unarmed civilians – often the witnesses were their fellow soldiers – yet Trump decides that he knows better, and pardons them.

Lazy linking

A few things I have come across on the internet, which I thought might interest others.

Hail Satan?: The Satanists battling for religious freedom – A profile of the upcoming movie about the Santanic Temple and their fight for religious freedom and women’s rights.

Related to my blogpost on Trump, Greenland, and Denmark, here is a fun fact – The U.S. ambassador to Denmark starred in a movie mocked by MST3K

Something different from the stuff I usually post about – an archive of folk music from around the world. There is not a lot in it yet, but I suspect it will grow over time.

A somewhat scary article by Carl Zimmer in the NY Times: Zika Was Soaring Across Cuba. Few Outside the Country Knew.

The mosquito-borne virus spread through the island in 2017, but global health officials failed to sound the alarm.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, who grew up around ‘broken’ and defeated Nazis, has some blunt advice for the alt-right (and Trump)

Lazy linking

A few links to articles and blogposts that I think worth sharing

Laurie Penny has written a long-read article about not debating people: No, I Will Not Debate You

Civility will never defeat fascism, no matter what The Economist thinks.

Professor Julie Libarkin of Michigan State University has compiled a list of know harassers in academia

Rates of sexual abuse and harassment in academic science are second only to the military. It’s estimated that at least half of women faculty and staff face harassment and abuse and that 20 to 50 percent of women students in science, engineering, and medicine are abused by faculty. Those numbers are generally based on surveys, which are an important way of getting a handle on the problem and how it changes women’s career trajectories.

But when it comes to holding institutions accountable and making meaningful changes, naming perpetrators may be even more powerful.

Julie Libarkin has taken on the challenge of creating a database of harassers. She’s a professor at Michigan State University and she heads the Geocognition Research Laboratory. She’s compiled a list of some 700 cases of sexual misconduct in academia.

The human league: what separates us from other animals? by Adam Rutherford

You are an animal, but a very special one. Mostly bald, you’re an ape, descended from apes; your features and actions are carved or winnowed by natural selection. But what a special simian you are. Shakespeare crystallised this thought a good 250 years before Charles Darwin positioned us as a creature at the end of the slightest of twigs on a single, bewildering family tree that encompasses 4bn years, a lot of twists and turns, and 1 billion species.

Republicans hoped voters would forget they tried to kill Obamacare. They bet wrong. by Andy Slavitt

Andy Slavitt described his article thus on twitter:

Do you notice this phenomenon where your MOC behaves differently in odd numbered years and even numbered years? My @USATODAY column this week explains.

There’s overwhelming evidence that the criminal-justice system is racist. Here’s the proof. by Radley Balko

This is very relevant to my earlier post about the need for a reform in the US judicial system.