Events

Yesterday approximately 2,700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate exploded in the Port of Beirut, Lebanon, leaving hundreds feared dead and thousands injured. If you've ever worried what a "tactical" nuclear weapon can do to a city, here are photos of ground zero from (apparently) just a few days ago and this morning: Here's the Nukemap, showing pretty much exactly what happened: For scale, here's the same detonation at the Sears Tower: The search for survivors continues, with 300,000 people evacuated and Port...

Yesterday, Axios and HBO ran a 45-minute interview between Axios' Jonathn Swan and the President of the United States filmed last Tuesday. I haven't seen it, and I'm not sure I can stomach the whole thing after watching some excerpts. Fortunately, other people watched it for me. Greg Sargent cites it as an example of "how to interview a serial liar and narcissist who is unfit to be president:" Again and again, Swan practically pleaded with Trump to demonstrate a shred of basic humanity about the...

I'm waiting for a build to finish so I can sign off work for the day, so I've queued up a few things to read later: The Atlantic's cover this month will be "How the Pandemic Defeated America" by Ed Yong. In a filing today, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr suggested his office is investigating the president for all kinds of bank fraud. Pass the popcorn. Charles Blow accuses the president of forecasting his own election fraud. Recreational weed sales in Illinois topped a record $61m last month...

That's what Josh Marshall calls the president's ongoing disinformation campaign: Often we think about his chatter as though it’s annoying and distracting but as long as he finally respects the results and doesn’t take steps to prevent people from voting that it will all have been words. No harm, no foul. But of course that isn’t remotely the case. Think about it this way. How much time are you thinking about who will win the election in the ordinary sense: i.e., who will get the most electoral college...

I am trying to put that number into perspective. Assuming 112.5 passengers per flight (4.378 billion passengers carried in 2018 divided by 38.9 million flights[1]), that's the equivalent of 1,395 air-transport crashes this year. It's approximately the number of deaths from nuclear weapons, ever[2]. More Americans have died from Covid-19 in the US than died in World War I and the Vietnam War, combined[3]. It is more than the total number of people who died in New York State in 2017 from all causes[4]....

Given Gerrymandering, the Senate's design favoring rural states, and a host of other factors, most Republicans in Congress will keep their jobs in January. Even though the best likely outcome of November's election is just two more years of gridlock before Democrats re-take the Senate, the vast majority simply don't care: It seems relevant, for instance, that while President Trump and a few Republican incumbents seem to be in genuine trouble, the vast majority of Republicans in Congress are certain to...

This colorized and upscaled video is fascinating:

No, not about The Daily Parker (though I'm hoping to keep extending the record I set yesterday). I mean Lake Michigan: The Lake Michigan-Huron system ended July at 177.5 m MSL, averaging just below that for the month, and setting a monthly-average record for seven consecutive months. The normal (technically, the "chart datum") water level is 176.0 m, and the previous record for July was 5 cm lower. The US Army Corps of Engineers predicts the lake will drop 5-10 cm by September 1st, which could still...

This is my 55th post this month, and the fifth month in a row in which I've posted over 50 times. That brings my 12-month total to 581, the third record in a row and the fifth record this year. I guess Covid-19 has been good for something. Here's what I'm reading today: Authorities in Tampa have charged 17-year-old Graham Clark with masterminding last month's massive Twitter hack. The Atlantic's David Graham says the president is trying to destroy the election's legitimacy. George Will points to the...

Today is Harry Potter's and Neville Longbottom's 40th birthday. And they never learned how to spell. Also, apparently, Harry's wife Ginny is, at 39, the sports editor for the Daily Prophet. TIL.