A long time ago I signed up for Hulu.  My kids watch some of the programs, but  I was mostly interested in the Criterion Collection movies.  Well I went to watch a movie recently and saw all the movies I had wanted to watch on Hulu were gone.  In fact, they had moved to another site (FilmStruck) which had since gone under.  Now you can go to the Criterion Channel for $11 a month which has most of the movies I originally wanted to watch. Ok, not such a bad deal.

A quick search turned up Kanopy, a site that lets you stream Criterion movies for free.  The only catch is you need a library card.  But I haven’t had a library card since I was a kid.

Now part of the motivation for this was to watch movies during the big Corona virus shutdown.  So I wasn’t keen on going to the library.  Turns out you can apply for an eCard at the Austin Public Library  if you are a Homebound Adult.  That is me!

We will see if this is enough to get me into Kanopy.

A good read from Salon.

Public health expert: The pandemic is here — but compassion and common sense will get us through

A good write up, practically an autopsy, on the Bernie Sanders Democratic candidacy.  It is more of a discussion of the US mainstream media and how it ends up actually missing the big stories and supporting the status quo.

Political journalists are eager to kick Bernie Sanders on his way out the door

Bernie’s not imagining it: He makes political reporters personally uncomfortable, and they hate him for it

As I mentioned a few times, this exact same thing happened to me many years ago, here in Texas.  Complained but only got vague answers back.  I really think that if you are going to send people to jail for voting improperly (even by accident) then removing people from voting like this, with no notice, needs to be taken more seriously People need to go to jail.  This is a rampant systematic crime in many parts of the US and nobody seems interested in addressing it.

Black mayor of Kansas City not allowed to vote because his name was missing from “the system”

From WBUR:

Newly Found Letters Show How Texas Longhorns Delayed Integration

I’ve often wondered what will happen as climate change progresses.  Costal properties, usually owned by the wealthiest, are being slowly destroyed.  Holding back the ocean, like King Canute, isn’t really an option.  But when vast investments by the wealthiest of us are at risk, I suspect people will try. Who gets stuck with the bill is the more interesting question.

We shouldn’t have to pay for Jack Dorsey’s $40m estate when it crumbles into the sea

By using public money to protect California homes from climate change, the state is transferring wealth from working-class people of color to white property owners

From 2017.  Will this war of facts and science become, uh, problematic?  Tune in tomorrow …..

Trump Administration Reportedly Instructs CDC On Its Own Version Of 7 Dirty Words

The latest wave of Artificial Intelligence debates continues, but it is really just the same old debate.  Edsger Dykstra summed it up many years ago:. The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than the question of whether a submarine can swim.

From The American Scholar.

No Ghost in the Machine

Artificial intelligence isn’t as intelligent as you think

From that fine news organization, The Daily Mail:

Mother reveals her husband and two sons from LA community less than 10 miles from Kim Kardashian’s home are among 15 friends who have tested positive for coronavirus following trip to exclusive Italian ski resort

From Bloomberg:

No Conveyor Belt Sushi: Japan Adapts to New Normal of the Virus