July 28, 2017
“‘Who leaked that to you?’ he asked. I said I couldn’t give him that information. He responded by threatening to fire the entire White House communications staff.” In case you missed it yesterday: Outtakes and spit-takes from the night Anthony Scaramucci called reporter Ryan Lizza, demanded the names of sources, and confessed his many feelings about Reince Priebus and Steve Bannon. / The New Yorker
Headline of the week: “Wild rabbits surf on sheep to flee New Zealand flood.” / Associated Press
Despite months of protests, Venezuela’s government moves to dismantle its democratic political institutions. / The Washington Post
The GOP/Trump repeal of the Affordable Care Act fails after McCain delivers the deciding blow. / CNN
Your Friday morning meditation: Footage of quiet streets in London from 1975, via things magazine. / thingsmagazine.net
1. Results from a new study by Emily Ekins about Trump voters. / voterstudygroup.org
2. Wolfgang Streek on the problems that arise when “urban elites can easily imagine themselves moving from one global city to another; moving from New York to Ames, Iowa is another matter.” / inference-review.com
3. Plug warning! An op-ed by yours truly in the Los Angeles Times this morning, partly to defend teenage Boy Scouts against brown-shirt accusations (based on my reporting from the last Jamboree, in 2013), but mostly a wish that Trump had been a scout like so many other presidents. / Los Angeles Times, oxfordamerican.org
“Machines are not effective at persuading, at developing advertising campaigns, at branding products or corporations, or at greeting you at the door in a charming manner.” In a robot economy, humans will earn their keep as marketers. “Amazon Inc. warehouses use robots to pull goods down off the shelves, but someone has to persuade consumers to buy the stuff.” / Bloomberg
It would appear that Trump banned transgender troops merely to preserve funding for his border wall. / Politico
Recent work by Amsterdam graphic designer Hansje van Halem. / BOOOOOOOM
If you’re in first place, the blue shell will take you out. Mario Kart’s designers see wisdom in its unfairness. / Ars Technica
“What the CEO meant to say was, ‘ensure that the number of paperclips at each printer almost never reaches zero, while minimizing the total cost.’ But what the Intern told the computer was, ‘ensure that the number of paperclips at each printer never reaches zero.’” The tale of the Paperclip Maximizer, an enjoyable thought experiment about AI, turns out to be a story about capitalism. / Hackernoon
Most kidneys rejected by one transplant center eventually are used by another, suggesting uneven standards. / MedPageToday
For a single-payer proving ground, look to liberal Maryland, where hospitals must bill the same for services. / The Intercept
Amidst drought, Rome could halt water for up to eight hours a day. Vatican fountains are already turned off. / The Guardian
Bangladesh has unlawfully detained or flat-out disappeared more than 320 people in the last eight years. / The New York Times
“The men toiled in 100-plus-degree heat with no hazmat suits and no face masks to keep contaminated material off their skin and out of their lungs.” Troops arriving at the atoll found a paradise, but it ruined many of them. Fifty years later, many “atomic veterans” still don’t receive benefits befitting their service. / WRAL
Some weekend armchair travel, to figure out where Indian bands get their horns. / YouTube
In other health care news: The swimmer who got chomped recently by a great white shark in San Diego tells her story. / Surfline
As the White House proves again to be the hottest reality TV show running, and replacements cause havoc on Broadway, too—and Venezuela appears likely to crack, Pakistan gets hotter, and Kyrie channels Kobe’s cool-mindedness—we wish you a good weekend, whatever the temperature’s like where you’re at, with the eternal fire of Lizzy Mercier Descloux. / The Economist, metafilter.com, BBC, tribune.com.pk, The New Yorker, Wikipedia