Cowboy Who?

An update on KTRU broadcasts. This summer, Rice reopened campus in phases, leading up to the start of classes in late August. There were many health protocols, including a health and safety quiz relating to the material in the Student Media reopening plans. One major point in the reopening guidelines is that Rice is not […]

It's too early to suggest the Wallabies have turned the corner after last year's disappointing Rugby World Cup campaign, but Dave Rennie's team showed encouraging signs in their epic draw against the All Blacks in Wellington.

Residents of the town, which is about 70 miles north of Dallas, say the 22-year-old officer, Shaun Lucas, had been overly aggressive with his traffic enforcement and berated longtime Black locals.

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Hovertext:
The so-called Surprise Test Paradox can be resolved by delivering it one second after midnight on the last day of the week.

Today's News:

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, and others say they weren't surprised by the alleged plot to kidnap her after months of loathsome protests and bitter partisan battles.

(Image credit: Paul Sancya/AP)

SPOOKY SCARY SKELETONS CALL YOU FORTH TO SUBMIT TO THE COIN-OPERATED PRESS HALLOZINE!!!

Grab your broomstick, sharpen your fangs, carve your pumpkins, and channel all of your spookiest energy to submit your creepy creations to our Halloween themed zine!

We want to see your love poem to a vampire, your werewolf comic, your witches’ brew recipes, your ghostbusting articles, your spoopy bat portrait, and all the other terrifying work you can come up with!

ALL SUBMISSIONS WILL RECEIVE A TRICK OR A TREAT…

Be sure to send us the following details along with your submission:

The name/credit you would like printed in the zine.

Your pronouns.

The city and/or country that you live in.

Any contact details that you would like printed in the zine.

A short one-sentence bio.

A profile photo or image for your bio.

Title of your work, and a short description of how it fits with the theme.

If you wish to remain anonymous, that is absolutely fine – just be sure to let us know when you submit your piece.

The deadline is midnight BST on 17th October.

Please send submissions to coinoperatedpress@gmail.com

For further information please visit our FAQ at https://coinoperatedpress.com/call-for-submissions/

New Cyanide and Happiness Comic

Co-hosts Brandon Rottinghaus and Jeronimo Cortina delve into the latest news in national and local politics.

Mysterious Pyramid Power
Ebon, ed
1976

The power of the pyramid is ready to help you manage your life. Pyramid power can do so much: preserve food, sharpen razor blades, and improve health. Really.

Most of the book is a combination of archeology and Egyptology and some notes or diary of a guy sticking stuff under a pyramid to see what happens. Evidently he was able to sharpen his razor and dehydrate organic material. There was also some talk about “orgone energy”. I had no idea what that was but I had a lot of hits from my google search. I actually enjoyed reading the Wikipedia article on Orgone.

This book is a paperback and is holding up pretty well, given its age. I could not read the title given the weird font and color contrast.

I am waiting for someone to suggest pyramid power as a cure for COVID-19. Sadly, I actually think that could happen. Can 2020 just be over, please?

Mary

The post Mysterious Pyramids appeared first on Awful Library Books.

New Cyanide and Happiness Comic

Yelp wants to help its users make better decisions about the places they’re looking up and is rolling out a new feature today that will alert people if a business has been associated with “egregious, racially-charged actions.” These labels will be added to pages that see a rise in reviews based on what people have seen in the news or social media rather than first-hand experiences. Yelp will also include a link to an article explaining more about the incident that caused the business to catch attention for racist conduct. The labels don’t just tell you about places accused of racism — they’ll also alert you to those who were victims of it.

Yelp said its user operations team has already been placing these alerts based on an increase in the number of reviews citing news or social media, so these new labels aren’t an entirely new concept. The difference is that the company will now flag places that have been accused of using racist language or symbols and other such actions.

When it first notices a person associated with a business has been a target or accused of racism, Yelp will add a Public Attention Alert to that company’s page “to warn consumers that the business may be receiving an influx of reviews as a result of increased attention.” If a business has been accused of “overtly racist actions, where we can link to a news article,” Yelp will use its “Business Accused of Racist Behavior” label instead.

Yelp is relying on news and social media reports in this process partly to warn people about the possible influx of fake reviews affecting a business’ ratings in these situations. “It’s always been Yelp’s policy that all reviews must be based on actual first-hand consumer experiences with the business,” the company said in its news release. “This policy is critical to mitigating fake reviews and maintaining the integrity of content on our platform. We don’t allow people to leave reviews based on media reports because it can artificially inflate or deflate a business’s star rating.”

According to Yelp, up till this point in 2020, it’s already seen a 133 percent increase in “media-fueled incidences” compared to the same time last year. “Increasingly, consumers across the U.S. are voting with their dollars by supporting businesses that align with their values,” the company said. “As always, we continue to evaluate how we can best use our platform to build a better, more equitable and inclusive environment.”

1. Lying

2. Waiting

3. Pondering

4. Recollection of Recent Mistakes

5. “Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit Of…)”

6. Annoyance

7. Realization that This Could Last Awhile

8. Brainstorming

9. Scrawling

10. Disgust

11. Wait, Is It Lying or Laying?

12. Itching

13. Anticipation of Tomorrow’s Mistakes

14. Pillow Adjustment

15. Inventory of Personal Faults

16. Tossing

17. Anger

18. Evaluation of Prior Caffeine Intake

19. Meme Remembrance

20. Controlled Breathing, 90 seconds

21. Turning

22. Creak Identification

23. Depression

24. Debate With Nemesis (Win)

25. Hydration

26. Bargaining

27. Wondering What Acquaintances You Never, Ever Think of During the Day Are Up To

28. Masturbation

29. Denial

30. Meme Ideation

31. Debate With Nemesis (Loss)

32. Urination

33. Awareness of Skull Inside Face

34. Conception of Next Major Creative Work

35. Imagined Stardom

36. Interview With Reporter

37. Award Acceptance

38. Reporter Turns Out to Be Mom

39. Wait, Is This a Dream?

40. Depression

41. Clock Avoidance

42. Discovery of Repeated Phantom Wail In White Noise Machine

43. Acceptance

44. Sex With Nemesis (Tie)

45. Sleep Aid, Fuck It

46. Expired Medicine Check

47. WebMD Search

48. Self-Pity

49. Rumination of Worldwide Strife

50. Mild Hallucinations

51. One Shitty Little Alpha Wave

52. Alarm

Parts of the US that lack good broadband infrastructure are being handed a lifeline by T-Mobile after being cast adrift by AT&T. T-Mobile is offering home LTE broadband to 450 areas that it says that AT&T is “deserting,” and opening the service to non-T-Mobile customers as well. It says that it is providing a salve for the households that are “sick and tired of their internet access provider jerking them around.”

At the start of October, AT&T opted to stop selling new DSL services, although existing subscribers could continue to enjoy connectivity. This does, however, mean that people moving to rural areas that only has copper-cable capacity will be starved of the ability to sign up to the slow, but reliable, standard. According to a third-party analyst quoted by USA Today, AT&T had around a million DSL customers. 

T-Mobile’s deal costs $50 a month, with no hardware fees, no install costs and no two-year minimum commitment. Since installation essentially involves plugging in a router, there’s also no need for a callout, which the company says is a benefit these days. This isn’t the first time that the offer has been made to non-T-Mobile customers, after a test to serve under-connected regions in Western Michigan. 

The move to push slow wireline customers over to LTE internet is one that’ll increase as more companies lean onto their 5G networks. Verizon, for instance, has now rolled out LTE Home to 189 markets across 48 states for $40 a month, if they’re already a customer. 

"This effort to have a mass uprising nationally is something that we should be very concerned about because, again, it's not just a Michigan problem, this is an American problem," Dana Neseel said.

(Image credit: Paul Sancya/AP)

At this point, Biden leads nationally and in enough key swing states to reach 270 electoral votes. Still, Trump remains within striking distance in several important places.

(Image credit: NPR)

A week or so ago, the head of the US Patent and Trademark Office, Andrei Iancu, who has been an extreme patent maximalist over the years, insisted that there was simply no evidence that patents hold back COVID treatments. This is a debate we've been having over the past few months. We've seen some aggressive actions by patent holders, and the usual crew of patent system supporters claiming, without evidence that no one would create a vaccine without much longer patent terms.

Iancu was questioned about how patents might hold back life-saving innovation and he brushed it off like this was a crazy question:

Iancu said while it is necessary to ensure that critical treatments are widely available to the public, intellectual property rights "must always be respected," especially during crises like COVID-19.

Without adequate protections, Iancu warned that companies would lack incentive to invest substantial time and money in developing treatments for the next global health crisis.

Again, that makes no sense. The "incentive" to invest is in the demand for the product itself. Governments around the world are going to pay for any vaccine because it's necessary and the boost to any economy is going to be well worth making the developers of a vaccine very, very wealthy.

Iancu also shot down the idea that patents might be used to limit access to a vaccine:

Dorian Daley, who asked the agency director to address concerns that intellectual property relating to COVID-19 might "create a barrier to access that would be problematic."

"Where is the evidence of that?" Iancu countered, though he noted that the U.S. has "tools at its disposal" — such as the "march-in" rights under the Bayh-Dole Act, which allows the government to invoke rarely used powers to override patents — in the event that additional access is needed.

Of course, historically, the pharma industry flips out any time anyone mentions march-in rights, which is why the government basically never ever uses them.

But just to highlight how ridiculous Iancu's statements were, just days later, Pfizer, Regeneron, and BioNTech -- all working on COVID treatments (including the antibody cocktail that President Trump took from Regeneron) -- were all sued for patent infringement for their COVID treatments.

Allele Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals filed two lawsuits against the three drugmakers on Monday. The San Diego firm alleges that Pfizer and BioNTech, with its investigational COVID-19 vaccine BNT162, and Regeneron’s REGN-COV2, were developed using Allele’s mNeonGreen fluorescent protein without the company’s permission.

So, it certainly appears that patents are getting in the way of some COVID-19 treatments.

And then to make an even stronger point, pharma company Moderna -- which had been facing a ton of questions about how its patents might delay COVID-19 treatment -- has announced that it will voluntarily agree not to enforce the patents during the pandemic.

Moderna Inc. said it wouldn’t enforce its patents related to Covid-19 vaccines during the pandemic, in an effort to not deter other companies and researchers from making similar shots.

“While the pandemic continues, Moderna will not enforce our Covid-19 related patents against those making vaccines intended to combat the pandemic,” the company said in a statement on Thursday.

This is a welcome surprise, but it still underlines two key points: yes, absolutely patents can and will get in the way of important life-saving innovations, and the idea that these companies "need" patents to develop these drugs is clearly bogus. Indeed, as KEI points out in a blog post about Moderna's statement, it's good to see the company admit that even after the pandemic is over, its patents may get in the way of important life-saving innovation, and pledges to make sure that it will be more open to licensing its patents after the pandemic:

It is notable that Moderna has addressed both the pandemic and the post pandemic period, stating “to eliminate any perceived IP barriers to vaccine development during the pandemic period, upon request we are also willing to license our intellectual property for COVID-19 vaccines to others for the post pandemic period.”

The key point: even if Iancu pretends otherwise, people actually in the space know that patents can and will get in the way of life-saving innovation, rather than acting as an important incentive.

It's long past the time we recognized how damaging patents are for innovation in many different industries, including pharma, and having a Patent Office boss who simply denies reality is fundamentally unhelpful and anti-innovation.

VICE-PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
KINGSBURY HALL
SALT LAKE CITY, UT
OCTOBER 7, 2020

9:04 PM: Susan Page of USA Today opens the debate like a college freshman attempting to convince her parents that she’s not actually throwing a party, and that even though there will be a bunch of people in an enclosed space that absolutely do not need to be there, everyone will definitely be socially distanced. Plus, this guy Mike is afraid of girls anyway. Page says she’s there to enforce the rules, and the Commission On Presidential Debates has equipped her with “the tools” to do so. She lays a hand on the holster on her hip. “Let’s begin.”

9:06 PM: For the first question, Page focuses on the ongoing pandemic and asks Senator Kamala Harris what a Biden administration would do in January and February that a Trump administration wouldn’t. Harris replies that the American people have witnessed the greatest failure of any administration in our country’s history, with 200,000 dead, over 7 million people who have contracted the disease, and a Vice Presidential set design that looks like the self-checkout aisle at a Kroger. Harris addresses the camera, “The administration knew this disease was lethal,” she says. “They knew what was happening and they didn’t tell you.” Inking red blood begins to fill Pence’s eye.

9:10 PM: Page turns the questions to Pence: “The US death rate is 2.5 times that of Canada’s. Vice President, you headed the administration’s coronavirus task force, why is our death toll so much higher?” Pence nods, “Thanks so much for letting me be here. I’m not usually allowed to speak. As we all know, Vice President Joe Biden plagiarized. I want you to know I hold you all in my heart, all Americans, whether you want to be there or not.” Page attempts to move on, “Thank you.” Pence continues talking about whatever he imagines a heart to be. “Thank you,” Page tries again. “Susan,” Pence interjects, “you’re welcome.”

9:12 PM: Harris is given a minute to respond to Pence and says, “Whatever the vice president is claiming the administration has done, it clearly hasn’t worked.” Pence replies, “There’s not a day that has gone by that I haven’t thought about every American family who has lost a loved one, they are in my thoughts and prayers, where my bad policies and utter inaction can never touch them. I pray every day. Right now, for instance, I’m praying that women lose the right to speak.”

9:15 PM: Page turns to Pence, “Vice President Pence, you were at a superspreader event in the Rose Garden. How can you expect Americans to follow safety guidelines when you at the White House don’t even follow them?” A drop of blood drips down Pence’s face though he does not seem to notice. He monotones slowly, “The American people have demonstrated that when given the facts, they’re able to put the health and well-being of their families and others first. And that’s why we’ve made every effort to make sure they never have those facts, so that Americans are blessed with the opportunity to simply die, knowing that President Trump and myself have them in our hearts, as per the contract we signed at a crossroads that one very dark night.”

9:19 PM: “Our second topic is on the role of the vice president,” Page says. “One of you will make history as the vice president to the oldest president we’ve ever had. So, let’s just be clear here, these guys are going to die. Vice President Pence, have you spoken to Trump about this?” Pence chuckles, “Well, I’d like to go back to—” Page attempts to redirect, “I think you should move on.” Pence continues, “I’d like to go back to before civil rights, for instance. Now then, Senator, stop playing politics with people’s lives. There are no women admitted in the politics gaming room, that is strictly for men — WHITE men, Senator.” Page reaches into her holster, “It’s just a banana, I was bluffing, I have no idea what to do now. Senator Harris, same question.” Harris smiles, “Joe and I have the same values, we both value hard-work, we both care about the American people, and we both want to be president.”

9:30 PM: “Let’s move to the economy.” Page addresses Harris, ”I heard on Fox News that raising taxes puts the economy at risk, and I thought I should repeat that to you now?” Harris answers, “Joe Biden believes you measure the health and strength of the American economy on the health and strength of the American family. Trump believes you measure it by how rich people are doing. That’s why he passed a tax bill that helped the 1%. On day one, Joe Biden will repeal that.” Page asks Pence, “Should Americans be braced for an economic recovery that is going to take more than a year or two?” Pence responds, “Everyone that the president and I know is richer now than they were four years ago, and the American people know that we need to roll back regulations on everything except women’s bodies. Biden wants to tax and spend. They want to invest in the Green New Deal, imagine that? The waters not running red with the blood that springs from my eyes? Locusts not descending on our crops? A sky that does not rain fire? Unimaginable consequences of these reckless actions.” Page nods, “Very interesting. Senator Harris, your response?” Harris begins, “Joe Biden,” Pence, channeling his master, interrupts, “he’s going to repeal the Trump tax cuts.” Harris smiles her tightest lipped smile, “Mr. Vice President, I’m speaking.” Pence oozes through the plastic barricade, “You should tell the truth!” droplets spattering everywhere. Harris’s smile widens, she locks eyes with Pence and repeats, “I’m speaking.” The skin around Pence’s neck begins to smoke. “He will not raise taxes on anyone who makes less than $400K a year. He will not end fracking.” Pence’s head begins to shake unnaturally, “FRACKING.” Harris replies, “We love fracking!” Pence’s whole body is now vibrating, “fracking is my best friend.” Harris adds, “I invited fracking to my wedding!” Page interrupts, “Obviously, we ALL fully understand what fracking is and love it dearly, as was intended by the founding fathers, but we need to move on.” Harris nods like an 8th-grade teacher listening to a student claim they didn’t do their homework because their grandmother died for the 5th time. “He interrupted me and I’d like to finish,” she says. “If you have a preexisting condition, they’re coming for you.” The still smoking, oozing figure of Mike Pence scoffs, “Obamacare was a disaster, and the American people remember it well because, thanks to it, many more of them are alive today than should be."

10:02 PM: Susan Page turns the focus to the Supreme Court and the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett. The slightly-damaged-from-a-fire-Madame-Tussauds-wax-figurine of Mike Pence smiles in what appears to be an attempt at warmth. “She has so many children,” he gushes. “It pleases the master.”

10:08 PM: Page asks the vice president how the Trump administration will protect people with preexisting conditions if the ACA is struck down. “Well, thank you, Susan," Pence says, “but, obviously, I’m not going to answer that or any questions you ask me — I want to lie about abortion instead.” He continues, "Now then, I think it’s time to ask the questions, don’t you, of course you do, silly woman. So, Senator Harris, the people deserve to know your and Biden’s stance on court-packing.” Harris responds, “Let’s talk about court-packing, let’s talk about Abraham Lincoln, let’s talk about how not one person Trump has appointed to a federal court is Black, how’s that for court-packing, let’s talk about how quart-packaging can be confusing if you’re measuring pints, let’s talk about courting pachyderms, let’s talk about court-side seats for the Pakistan national cricket team, let’s get into it, let’s talk about all of it.” Pence replies, “I just want the record to reflect that she never answered the question I asked to avoid answering any questions.”

10:20 PM: While Harris states that justice was not served following the murder of Breonna Taylor, a fly lands on Mike Pence’s head. It vomits multiple times, more than a fly normally does upon landing. This is like if it landed and then had its olfactory system overwhelmed with the smell of rot — not the delicious kind of rot that flies are typically drawn to. The fly grips Pence’s head. Pence, having no feeling left in any part of his body, does not notice. The fly heads to the mic where Susan Page had been. She is gone. Everyone is gone. The audience is now entirely flies. “Look, I have a short lifespan,” the fly says, “even shorter than the average citizen in Trump’s America, and I just need to make a couple of things clear. I KNOW you think we’re drawn to shit and, OK, you know what, yeah, sure, we definitely are, but NOT THIS KIND OF SHIT.” He waves a tiny wing at Pence. “These guys are some kind of, I don’t know, man. It’s not normal rotten stuff, is what I’m saying. There is something fucked up going on with these pieces of shit. Listen, I don’t even care about Biden, he was not my guy. But this Trump dude? I don’t know if that thing’s human. And Pence here? He’s not even a normal ROTTING human. That’s all I’m saying. Thanks for your time. Release the Snyder Cut!” He buzzes off.

10:26 PM: Page ends the debate by asking Pence what he would do if Biden is declared the winner and Trump refuses to accept a peaceful transfer. Pence laughs, “I think we’re going to win this election because while Biden and Harris have a litany of things they’re doing, we’re working on rigging the whole thing in our favor. Hilary Clinton was evil and now it’s our right to simply take what we want.” Page nods, and asks Harris, "How do you respond to that normal statement?” The senator nods, “We’re just going to stick with telling people to vote, thanks.” Page thanks the candidates, and then addresses the audience: “My sympathies to everyone who witnessed this debate. Surely you could have found a better way of avoiding doing laundry than by watching this. Make better choices, America. Good night.”

When NASA lands on this lumpy rock later this month it's set to land in a perfect place to find the building blocks of the solar system, say researchers.

"I'll be honest, I never could have imagined anything like this," Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says. Over the summer, conspirators allegedly began training for a potential attack.

(Image credit: Michigan Governor's Office via AP)

"Our current political leaders have demonstrated that they are dangerously incompetent," the New England Journal Of Medicine's editors say in a scathing editorial.

(Image credit: Michael Dwyer/AP)

President Trump returns to the White House from Walter Reed medical center on Monday. | Win McNamee/Getty Images

The president’s unhinged performance squandered any goodwill he may have garnered.

One day after President Donald Trump posted a video on his Twitter account that raised more questions about his health than it answered, he called into Maria Bartiromo’s Fox Business show for his first live interview since he announced his positive test for the coronavirus nearly a week ago.

Trump sounded hoarse, but ultimately the interview will likely raise more questions about his mental than physical health. That’s because over the course of an hour, Trump made comments that were nonsensical — even by his standards — about a variety of topics, including the coronavirus and how he possibly got it, and his desire that his political rivals be prosecuted for unspecified crimes just weeks out from the election.

The interview began with Trump announcing, “I’m not going to waste my time on a virtual debate” and that he will pull out of next week’s scheduled second debate with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, which is to be held remotely because of Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis.

Trump clearly wanted people to believe that his reasons for doing so are about his objections to the format, but the rest of his public therapy session with Bartiromo suggested his team might also have concerns about the debate turning out to be even more of a debacle than the widely panned performance at the first debate last week.

“Remember this: When you catch it you get better, and then you’re immune”

As you’d expect, Bartiromo began by asking Trump a string of questions about his health and how he’s feeling after his hospitalization and at least two coronavirus-related health crises. Trump responded with wild boasts — “I‘m back because I’m a perfect physical specimen, and I’m extremely young” he claimed — and dangerous lies.

Echoing the line he’s recently been pushing about how Americans shouldn’t let the coronavirus dominate their lives, Trump told Bartiromo, “Remember this: When you catch it you get better, and then you’re immune.”

But not everyone gets better. The coronavirus has killed 210,000 Americans and counting and has ruined the health of thousands of others who survived. Furthermore, there are documented cases of people being infected more than once, so it is not true that someone who gets Covid-19 ends up being “immune.”

As the White House refuses to say when Trump’s last negative coronavirus test occurred — fueling speculation that he may have exposed Biden to it at last week’s presidential debate — Trump suggested he might’ve gotten infected by Gold Star families at an event that took place the day after a reckless event nominating Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, which has been linked with a number of cases.

“I met with Gold Star families. I didn’t want to cancel that,” he said. “I can’t say, ‘Back up’ ... they wanna hug me and they wanna kiss me, and they do.”

Blaming military families for his coronavirus diagnosis is on brand for Trump, but there’s no reason to believe it’s true. And instead of doing robust contact tracing to determine the origins of the White House case cluster, the Trump administration has instead tried to sweep the whole issue under the rug and move on with campaigning as quickly as possible.

Regardless of how he got it, Trump wants people to believe he’s the first person in the world to contract the coronavirus and feel better less than a week later. Despite his haggard voice and sickly appearance in the Twitter video he posted Wednesday, Trump told Bartiromo he feels “perfect.” He said he hadn’t been tested for coronavirus recently but added, “I’m essentially very clean.”

Trump’s authoritarian rhetoric about Democrats is completely over the top

On the topic of Wednesday’s vice presidential debate, Trump’s analysis was basically limited to smearing Sen. Kamala Harris as a “communist” and “monster.” Without a shred of irony, Trump repeatedly made dark insinuations about Biden’s health, claiming at one point that the former vice president “won’t make it two months as president.”

But arguably even more unhinged was Trump’s repeated calls for Attorney General Bill Barr to bring charges against Biden, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton for unspecified crimes, just weeks before the presidential election.

“Unless Bill Barr indicts these people for crimes — the greatest political crime in the history of our country — then we’ll get little satisfaction,” he said. “And that includes Obama and it includes Biden ... we have everything ... I say, Bill, we have plenty.”

Later, as Bartiromo tried to bring the interview to an end, Trump shouted, apropos of nothing, “Why isn’t Hillary Clinton being indicted?!”

To be clear, Trump is not making a credible accusation in saying that Biden, Obama, or Clinton actually committed crimes. But he appears to be trying to recreate October 2016, when he exploited the FBI’s renewed attention on the Clinton email investigation to damage her just enough to eek out his victory in the Electoral College.

The problem for Trump is that polls currently show him trailing Biden by about nine points nationally — a spread far wider than the lead Clinton enjoyed over Trump at a comparable point in the 2016 campaign. Instead of grappling with that reality, however, Trump told Bartiromo “I don’t believe the polls” and touted MAGA boat parades and truckers.

“They have a boat thing, they have 5,000 boats, they have thousands of trucks all over the country. I don’t believe the polls,” he said.

While it might be tempting to surmise that Trump’s compromised health has resulted in his odd behavior since his coronavirus diagnosis — including a number of bizarre photo ops and incoherent, angry binges of posting on Twitter — the truth is all of this is more or less on brand for Trump.

For instance, during his interview with Bartiromo, Trump repeatedly made a total mess out of easy questions about what he hopes to accomplish in a second term. But mangling softball questions of that sort has been a staple of his Fox News interviews going back months.

Ultimately, to the extent that Trump’s interview with Bartiromo indicates he’s feeling better physically, that’s a good thing. But amid questions about the side effects of his ongoing Covid-19 treatments, he will need to do more to convince voters he is mentally and emotionally prepared for the rigors of the presidency — and the campaign trail.

---

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6:45 am CT Thursday: Good morning. We’re tracking near-term weather issues related to Hurricane Delta, which is still expected to come ashore in southwestern Louisiana on Friday afternoon or evening. Then, we can anticipate a sunny, hot weekend before a cool front arrives early next week to usher back fall-like weather into the region. That’s a lot to cover, so let’s jump right in with an update on Delta.

Hurricane Delta

The storm has slowly organized over night and now has 100 mph winds. Overall, the Delta track forecast remains pretty locked in, with the storm moving to the northwest, and commencing a northward turn Thursday night. Along this track, which is is supported by virtually all of the reliable guidance and therefore of high confidence, the storm will very likely come ashore between Cameron, Louisiana, on the eastern side, and White Lake on the west. As you may remember, Hurricane Laura made landfall near Cameron in August as a devastating Category 4 hurricane. Delta will be weaker, and perhaps a dozen or two miles further east, but it will nonetheless bring repeat misery to a region still reeling from catastrophe only six weeks ago. This is truly horrible.

In terms of intensity, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center expect Delta to intensify today, and possibly reach Category 3 before moving over the cooler waters in the northern Gulf of Mexico and encountering higher wind shear. It is forecast to come ashore with 105 mph winds, as a Category 2 hurricane. Let’s briefly address the three main effects from Delta.

Wind

Here’s the latest forecast for maximum wind gusts from Delta. Note, this is not sustained winds, but the maximum winds that may briefly pulse up during Delta’s strongest squalls. These strongest winds will be along, and to the east of the storm’s landfall location.

The strongest winds will occur on Friday. Much of the Houston area is unlikely to see Tropical Storm-force wind gusts, but coastal areas will definitely become quite windy during the day and evening, with the possibility of some gusts reaching 60 mph, especially along Bolivar Peninsula.

Surge

And here’s the National Hurricane Center’s forecast for “peak storm surge,” which represents the combination of surge and high tide for coastal areas. Again, the worst effects will be to the right of the storm’s landfalling location. For Houston, coastal flooding of 1 to 3 feet will be possible generally north of San Luis Pass, including around Galveston Bay and across the Bolivar Peninsula.

Rain

In terms of rainfall, we still have some uncertainties, as there should be a pretty steep rainfall gradient—a line along which, to the west, there will be virtually no rain, and to the east where there will be 1 to 2 inches. We think this line probably will fall somewhere in Houston, but whether it’s along the Interstate 45 corridor, or further east, is difficult to say. Here’s the official forecast for rainfall, but we would rate this as fairly low confidence. In Houston, we should see some outer bands of Delta moving through today, with the heavier rain chances on Friday. We expect no flooding issues in the metro area.

Thursday

Today should see increasing clouds with the aforementioned chance of rain showers, especially on the southern and eastern sides of the region. Despite the mostly cloudy skies this afternoon, expect highs to reach into the upper 80s, with a warm night, and lows only dropping into the 70s. Hello, humidity!

Friday

This will be the day with the most impacts in terms of surf, winds, and rain. Skies will be cloudy, and highs may struggle to reach 80 degrees for most areas. Winds amp up during the day on Friday, with gusty conditions during the afternoon, evening, and overnight hours as Delta pushes through. With the kinds of winds we’re expecting we do not anticipate power outage issues in Houston, although there could possibly be a few problems right on the coast.

Saturday and Sunday

Showers should be ending by late Friday night or Saturday morning, and skies are expected to clear fairly quickly. The weekend will be sunny and warm, with highs in the upper 80s to lower 90 degrees. My sense is that this weekend and early next week are probably the last times Houston will see highs in the 90s in 2020, but that is a guess, not a promise.

Next week

A cool front appears to be on track to arrive on Tuesday to sap some of the region’s heat, with another stronger front probably arriving by or before the weekend.

Our next update will come no later than 2:30pm CT today.

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“There are two wolves inside you,” said the old man. “They are fighting to the death. One is anger, one is love.”

“Which one will win?” said the boy.

“Whichever one you feed,” said the old man.

“There are two wolves inside you,” said the old man. “They are fighting to the death.”

“That’s a pretty used-up meme format,” said the boy without looking up from his phone.

“You and that damn phone,” said the old man.

“There are two wolves inside you,” said the old man. “They are fighting to the death.”

The boy chose the “interact” option.

“There are two wolves inside you,” said the old man. “They are fighting to the death.”

The boy completed several additional quests, then returned to the old man and chose the “interact” option.

“There are two wolves inside you,” said the old man.

The boy threw his controller across the room, turned off his Xbox, and wrote an angry post on r/gaming.

There is one wolf inside you.

“Was it truly a victory if my opponent was undernourished?” asks the wolf.

“Do you consider it a victory?” replies the therapist.

“I guess? I mean, law of the jungle and all. Still, something about it seems wrong,” says the wolf.

“That’s all we have time for this week,” says the therapist.

The wolf, overcome with rage at the unceasing flow of time, throws its head back and howls at the single, unblinking eye of the moon.

“There are two wolves inside you,” said the Facebook post by the guy you maybe had high-school Chemistry with or something.

There are two wolves inside you. The first now has a restraining order against the second, as well as full custody of their three cubs.

“There are two wolves inside you,” said the old man. “They are fighting to the death. One is anger, one is love.”

“Which one will win?” said the boy.

“Whichever one you feed,” said the old man.

The boy thought about this.

“Whichever one you feed,” said the old man.

The boy looked at him quizzically. “Mister, are you all—”

“Whichever one you… whiCHE—” The old man’s eyelids began to twitch uncontrollably.

“Get down, Billy!” shouted the first officer, drawing his blaster. He fired a single shot and the android slumped over, a curl of ozone-scented smoke rising from the hole in its chest.

“Are you all right?” said the first officer.

“I… I think so,” said Billy.

In the silence that followed, the only sound was the quiet hum of the ship’s ventilation system. Though the porthole windows, Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, floated in the blackness of space like a single, unblinking eye.

“There are two wolves inside you,” said the low-effort shitpost in multicolored script font over a picture of Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels from Dumb and Dumber 2: Dumb and Dumberer.

“There are two humans inside you,” said the wolf to the cub. “They are fumbling through the trees in the dark, their hands outstretched before them.”

“Can I smell their fear?” asked the cub.

“You can,” said the wolf. “It awakens something within you.”

The cub began to growl softly, beads of saliva forming in the soft fur of its muzzle.

“Tonight, you are a cub no longer,” said the wolf. “Tonight, you join the pack.”

The wolf raised its head skyward, toward the single, unblinking eye of the moon, and howled. Soon the cub joined in, and their cries echoed through the primeval darkness of the forest.

There are five people with six wolves each inside them. Each of these wolves has seven people inside it. If half of the wolves are fed and subsequently defeat and kill the other half, and the people within the defeated wolves cease to exist, how many people will be left in total?

“I don’t know how to tell you this,” said the doctor, “but there are two wolves inside you. I’m not sure how this is possible, but they appear to be gestating normally. According to a veterinarian colleague I consulted, they are on track to reach full development within four to eight weeks.”

Lianne’s thoughts drifted back to that night, a mere three moon cycles (and yet so many countless lifetimes) ago, when she had first known the mystery of the Becoming. With Sebastian at her side, she had learned the ways of the hunt; together they had raced and sported under the full moon, baying at its opaline roundness. They had come upon a flock of sheep, and had torn through them in primal bloodlust before bounding back into the shadow-dark forest, their muzzles dripping with blood.

Later, on a mountaintop watched over by the single, unblinking eye of the moon, they had joined in passionate and all-consuming congress that drew from the desires of both man and beast while exceeding either in intensity. She remembered gripping the thick, coarse hair of his mane in her claws as she gave herself over to wave after wave of animalistic ecstasy.

Somehow she had known, that night, looking up at the moon, that it would be twins.

“What’s the copay on something like this?” asked Lianne.

“I have to check, but I think it might be outside your network,” said the doctor.

“There are two wolves inside you,” said the old man.

“You cannot withstand the storm,” said the devil.

“Try to avoid mixing metaphors,” said the English teacher.

“I am the storm,” said the wolf, before throwing its head back and howling at the single, unblinking eye of the moon.

Being an astronaut is great so long as you don’t mind sucking your dinner out of a pouch and munching on freeze dried ice cream given that fresh foodstuffs have traditionally lacked the necessary multi-year shelf stability. Thankfully, the days of rehydrated snacks will soon be over thanks to an ingenious refrigeration system from the University of Colorado, Boulder, dubbed Freezer Refrigerator Incubator Device for Galley and Experimentation (aka the FRIDGE).

The units were designed by BioServe Space Technologies at UCB and are only about the size of a standard microwave. “There are no rotating parts, no fans, which is really big for reliability,” Robby Aaron, an aerospace master’s student working on the project, said in an April press statement. “A normal fridge on Earth is also hot in the back. We can’t have that in space. Warm air doesn't rise in microgravity; it stays stationary and can cause things to overheat, so you must get rid of heat some other way. ISS has a water-cooling system we’ll be tapped into to directly dump the waste heat and keep the system cool.”

So far, NASA is employing eight of the units. The two currently winging their way to the ISS aboard the Cygnus NG-14 robotic resupply craft will be reserved for food — both perishable meals delivered from the planet and fresh produce produced by the station’s hydroponic garden — as well as medicine. The others, which are in use already aboard the station, are utilized in chilling temperature-sensitive test materials.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is still on track for its planned deployment next year after it passed environmental testing. Those evaluations assess whether the telescope can survive its launch.

"The successful completion of our observatory environmental tests represent a monumental milestone in the march to launch," Bill Ochs, Webb project manager for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, said in a statement. "Environmental testing demonstrates Webb’s ability to survive the rocket ride to space, which is the most violent portion of its trip to orbit approximately a million miles from Earth."

Acoustic and vibration tests were conducted on the long-delayed Hubble successor at Northrop Grumman’s facility in California. That aerospace company is building Webb for NASA.

The telescope has to go through more testing, including a full systems evaluation, before engineers pack it up “origami-style” to ship Webb to its launch site in French Guiana. So far though, Webb is on course to meet its current launch window of October 2021.