Trump administration gave Courage Award to a woman who criticized Trump, then rescinded the honor, then lied about it, a watchdog agency finds

The State Department revoked a prestigious award from a Finnish journalist because of social media posts critical of President Donald Trump, according to a report from the State Department Office of Inspector General. Although the watchdog found that the State Department had acted within its “broad discretion” to rescind the award from Jessikka Aro, it also…

The phrase “debate begins” in the headlines of multiple stories on coronavirus does not mean sneaky journalists copy-pasted a press release

If you encounter the same story on different news sites, that does not mean you caught sneaky America-hating fake news “journalists” in the act. A meme I recently encountered shows three slightly different coronavirus headlines, all of which use the phrase “debate begins.” Text shared along with the meme suggests the repetition means the story…

Twitter, Fix Your Cropping Algorithm

When given the chance to crop four different arrangements of photos of two different men, each time the Twitter algorithm chose to center on the white man and crop the black man out of the picture. Source: https://twitter.com/sina_rawayama/status/1307506452786016257 Update, 22 Sep: See also https://twitter.com/TLopesVictorM/status/1307846503885672449     Similar:Forgotten closet box: powder blue summer suit with a…

Fact check: Biden ad misleadingly suggests Trump called Covid-19 a ‘hoax’

CNN fact-checks a misleading Biden ad, which edited a Trump speech to make it look like he called coronavirus a Democratic hoax. To be clear, Trump’s informal and freewheeling style of speaking at rallies often leaves his exact meaning hard to pin down. But I agree with CNN that this ad misrepresents Trump’s intentions. Here’s…

The Anatomy of a Shakespeare Play: King Lear (Free video lecture from Pict, 2pm Friday)

Similar:Toiletries for a steampunk villain who needs to look dapper. Straight razor and shaving br… Nice lighting shows clearly that I h…DesignThe Geekling Worked a Shatner/Nimoy Tribute into GodspellMy geekling daughter, who in Willy Wonka…AmusingIntroduction to The Skin of Our Teeth (optimistic, absurdist metatheater; Thornton Wilder,…https://youtu.be/1okt8MIVTtsAcademiaPater Noster Passenger ElevatorsSome 50 years ago, my father took…

Scientists should be goggled and in the lab, where they belong. Shut up and make me a vaccine, beaker-nerd!

Am I doing the tribal rage thing right? Laura Helmuth of Scientific American says the decision to break tradition was both unanimous and quick: “We took this decision very seriously. You don’t give up 175 years of tradition for nothing.” —‘Scientific American’ Breaks 175 Years Of Tradition, Endorses A Presidential Nominee –NPR Similar:The Air Force's…

Something to Ponder — Let Me Fix That Meme For You

Similar:Overflow seating for the 50th anniversary of the canonization of #elizabethannseton @seton…PersonalFlannery O'Connor: "I am in a state of shock"There’s often a moment in a lit class wh…BooksThe Key To Better Work? E-mail Less, Flow MoreWhat the researchers found was that the …BusinessWhat Does the Demise of Cursive Mean?Are you aware that our children aren’t…

Boy, this sort of thing sure makes some racist people very angry.

We stand together against racism. #ItTakesAllOfUs pic.twitter.com/xfeUACPu8Z — Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) September 14, 2020   Similar:Perspective | How NPR’s Steve Inskeep cracked the code for interviewing Trump The role of mainstream journalists i…Current_EventsLife Support (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 3, Episode 13) Bashir keeps the gravely injur…Rewatching ST:DS9 An accident aboard …CultureDax (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season…

Stunning picture of my daughter

Similar:New Voices For The Voiceless: Synthetic Speech Gets An UpgradeWonderful, inspiring article that uses t…CultureMisplaced Auto-playing ABC Video Clip (with No Pause Button) Diminishes the Value of the S…The video clip on this page does not mat…AestheticsIOC spokesman: Journalists free to Instagram at Sochi Olympics  Journalists will be allowed to u…BusinessHappy Flag Day! All flags…

Remember Me (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Four, Episode 5) Dr. Crusher vs The Universe

Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break. When people start disappearing from the Enterprise without a trace, only Dr. Crusher remembers them. Some cringeworthy lines (e.g. “If there’s nothing wrong with me, maybe there’s something wrong with the universe”) still earn a facepalm, but I really enjoyed Gates McFadden as she Shatners her way through increasingly…

Drumming Kid Is Epic. That Is All.

Similar:Date a girl who reads.I earned a +8 or +9 spousal bonus when I…AmusingBlood & Laurels : Emily Short's Versu launches iPad GameEmily Short (Galatea, First Draft of the…Current_EventsJournalism Isn't Dying. It's Returning to Its Roots.An important reminder that “objective” j…CultureNew infographic to help our graduating English majors make sense of their capstone project…AcademiaStopping By…

IN-ZOOM (A world-premiere 10-minute play)

A very current short play by Bill Irwin. Very creative use of Zoom as a performance space.  I didn’t expect it also to cover so much else. Very touching. Similar:Happily masked in center row C. (The daughter is dance captain.)DramaYour second attempt at modeling #medievalyork fortifications in #blender3d will be better …Your second attempt at…

Suddenly Human (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Four, Episode 4) Picard Bonds with Human Teen Raised by Aliens

Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break The Federation faces war with the Talarians over a culture-shocked teenager who sees Picard as a father figure. The Enterprise detects faint life signs on a damaged Talarian ship. Of course they can’t just beam the injured directly to sickbay; they must first send an away team to wave…