I saw David Lynch made a wooden holder for his iPhone. It is made for filming and attaching to a tripod (see YouTube video below). I had a similar idea for my Google phone. When I am working in the yard and using my bluetooth headphones I tend to set the phone on a rock. I used to use this piece of webbing I had to hang it from a tree branch but it was too complicated. Inspired by Mr Lynch I made a similar phone holder, with a more pastoral use.
Havent seen this data lately. Even worse looking for the US than I would have thought. Where is the outrage? From Our World in Data.
In a somewhat bizarre turn, the Social Security Administration is not releasing its popular names for newborn American babies in 2020. This list has been published every year on Mothers Day for almost a quarter of a century. The official reason is the COVID-19 crisis. Rumor has it that the real reason is the plummeting popularity of the boys name “Donald”. In California the popularity of “Donald” has dropped from #560 in 2016 to #640 in 2017 to #720 in 2018. This is a blue state, but data available for other Red states indicates a declining popularity. If this is the real reason for stopping this Mothers Day tradition it is a new level of pettiness for this administration.
Coronavirus delays list of most popular baby names this year
I know the usual story of Joe McCarthy the 1950s senator and anti-communist crusader. Seems it was a little different than I realized. I had assumed it started at some reasonable, or at least legitimate, place and grew out of control. Maybe the witch-hunt analogy gave it a bit more legitimacy that it should have. A good one from the New Yorker.
Joseph McCarthy and the Force of Political Falsehoods
McCarthy never sent a single “subversive” to jail, but, decades later, the spirit of his conspiracy-mongering endures.
How hot is it? Was outside streaming some music from my phone and suddenly it died. Couldn’t turn it back on. Finally came back and I saw these messages.
Very seldom have I seen an issue that brings out such diverse and strong opinions as federal debt. This is especially odd because it is about numbers, which usually involve firm answers and results. But these numbers aren’t just ordinary numbers, they are dollars. Much of the fear, doubt and uncertainty is manufactured by vested interests on this topic. A very good read from The Baffler with some ideas everyone ought to at least consider. I will note that the people in the US government that scream the loudest about the debt quickly turn into the ones unapologetically running up that debt.
The Money Printers
Congress’s greatest con: “We can’t afford it”
We has only one choice for internet: Spectrum, formerly Time Warner. It has been very erratic, irregular service literally for years. My neighors have the same problems and we even believe we know the exact piece of equipment failing. Still no fixes. I found this Spectrum Outage Map on line. How is this allowed to happen? Vast numbers of people without internet in just about every major city in the US. And other providers don’t do this. And yet they were just allowed to merge with Charter. What is our FCC doing? People pay a lot for this service.
New Orleans may get to experience hurricanes Monday and Wednesday next week.
Tropical Storms Laura & Marco eye Louisiana landfalls
Fifteen years on and as an unprecedented two hurricanes spin in the Gulf of Mexico, a look back.
Steven A. Guccione 