What's in the news?

[gaggedLouise]

My inner nerd had many geekgasms over this news article, because I am a certifiable space addict.

NASA fires Voyager's thrusters for the first time in 37 years - and they work

Technology built back in 1980 and in mutha-ferking space for the past 4 decades still works, meanwhile the coffeepot they bought at work two weeks ago has already broken down.  Clearly, shenanigans must be called on this.

Just saw that one too and I agree, space engineering (and software) rocks! :)

[marauder13]

You know they have reprogrammed that space craft at least once since launch, and could do so again if there was a need. If I recall correctly, the computer system on board is driven by a 4 bit CPU, or maybe an 8-bit. Either way, the simplicity of the hardware is what makes it so damned durable.

Disclaimer : This part time bandit & full time nerd holds an Applied Science( Computing ) degree awarded late last century.

[Lustful Bride]

My inner nerd had many geekgasms over this news article, because I am a certifiable space addict.

NASA fires Voyager's thrusters for the first time in 37 years - and they work

Technology built back in 1980 and in mutha-ferking space for the past 4 decades still works, meanwhile the coffeepot they bought at work two weeks ago has already broken down.  Clearly, shenanigans must be called on this.

+1 oh my god this is so depressingly true.

[Oniya]

Well, Voyager was made to withstand the dangers of interplanetary space, including microasteroids and tidal forces.  The coffee maker is only up against Steve from Accounting.

[TheGlyphstone]

[Blythe]

http://www.koco.com/article/teacher-at-edmond-school-arrested-after-hours-long-standoff/13999224

I'm surprised his employment status is only 'under review.' :/

[TheGlyphstone]

http://www.koco.com/article/teacher-at-edmond-school-arrested-after-hours-long-standoff/13999224

I'm surprised his employment status is only 'under review.' :/

Teacher's unions, yo.

[Trieste]

It's probably more due to the fact that the incident is still under investigation, and didn't happen at the school. They'll want to verify the details before firing him.

[Lustful Bride]

Curfew announced and Security forces deployed in Honduras after the people protest the votes.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/honduras-announces-curfew-restrictions-amid-vote-protests/ar-BBG1YVz?ocid=HPCOMMDHP15

Pope Francis ends Asia trip.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/pope-ends-sensitive-trip-to-asia-after-seeking-rohingya-forgiveness/ar-BBG21jN?ocid=HPCOMMDHP15

If anyone is curious, some more information on the Rohingya Genocide occuring in Myanmar.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/%e2%80%98no-such-thing-as-rohingya%e2%80%99-myanmar-erases-a-history/ar-BBG2eF8?ocid=HPCOMMDHP15

-As IS gets pushed back further, more Mass Graves are found.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/two-mass-graves-found-in-yazidi-district-of-iraq/ar-BBG2xeu?ocid=HPCOMMDHP15

[gaggedLouise]

Funniest headline on an otherwise rather disturbing weekend in the news: "Pontiac Silverdome Stadium in Detroit Fails to Implode" (BBC and CNN)

Apparently some real estate investor wanted to make a controlled demolition of the arena, to make way for new developments, but it just didn't go off as expected. Now they will have to try again to blow it up sometime soon. Hilarious headline, and the word "silverdome" really adds to it with its feel of glitz and old-style luxury. :)

[Lustful Bride]

Cult Leader charged with the murder of a toddler....there may be more yet to be discovered.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/we-think-there-are-many-many-more-florida-cult-leader-charged-with-murder-of-toddler/ar-BBGbBar?li=BBnbfcL&ocid=HPCOMMDHP15

[Blythe]

http://kfor.com/2017/11/28/womans-murder-raises-concerns-questions-among-oklahoma-citys-transgender-community/

RIP, Ms. Stevenson.

Another trans person of color killed. 

I used to live in Oklahoma City many years ago. I would not doubt this was a hate crime (though they are still only investigating it--not yet proven); the atmosphere against LGBT people is fierce there, and there's a lot of violence that never even makes the news. But when it does, like this, it's bad.

[DominantPoet]

https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/brock-turner-appeals-sexual-assault-conviction-for-raping-unconscious-woman/

This one both depressed me and made me loudly go WTF? when I first saw it the other day -.-

https://www.law.com/therecorder/sites/therecorder/2017/12/01/judge-aaron-persky-facing-recall-loses-bid-to-stop-signature-gathering/?slreturn=20171104172717

On the upside, the asshat judge who presided over that trial is constantly being shut down in his attempts to stop recall signature collections and, god willing, will get ousted by voters next year.

[Caeli]

https://www.law.com/therecorder/sites/therecorder/2017/12/01/judge-aaron-persky-facing-recall-loses-bid-to-stop-signature-gathering/?slreturn=20171104172717

On the upside, the asshat judge who presided over that trial is constantly being shut down in his attempts to stop recall signature collections and, god willing, will get ousted by voters next year.

I've been following this story closely.  Thanks for sharing the link.

[Trieste]

https://www.law.com/therecorder/sites/therecorder/2017/12/01/judge-aaron-persky-facing-recall-loses-bid-to-stop-signature-gathering/?slreturn=20171104172717

On the upside, the asshat judge who presided over that trial is constantly being shut down in his attempts to stop recall signature collections and, god willing, will get ousted by voters next year.

I didn't want to sign up for an account with law.com just to read an article, so I went looking for another analysis. Here's an additional resource about Persky's recall (and his efforts to stop it) on another site:
http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/12/01/appeals-court-rejects-judge-perskys-bid-to-stop-recall-election/

Basically, he was denied a restraining order which would have stopped petition-gatherers. However, his appeal is still in the works, and is a jurisdictional appeal. It's a legal tactic that is intended to both stall the recall effort and also to run up the bill (hoping that the campaign will run out of funding). With this in mind, if you support the recall of Persky, you might consider chunking a fiver over here. (NB: From my research, this site appears to be the legitimate one but news sources are reporting that the signature gathering efforts are being done by volunteers and paid signature gatherers, so if it matters to you that they describe themselves as an all-volunteer org and such, you're encouraged to look more into it yourself.)

[Sara Nilsson]

Im gonna be honest, I dont get it. Do I get it right if I say a judge is trying to block people from a petition that would put his job on the line in an election?

[Trieste]

Im gonna be honest, I dont get it. Do I get it right if I say a judge is trying to block people from a petition that would put his job on the line in an election?

Basically, yes.

ELI5 (explain like I'm 5) version [or at least as simple as I can make it]:
There are people who feel that he didn't do a very good job as a judge, so they would like to put him back on the ballot. Kind of like a performance review.

These people need to prove that they have the support of others in the area to put the guy back on the ballot. That keeps someone who's just vaguely dissatisfied with a ruling from turning around and trying to get the judge kicked out. So that's why there are signatures required. The people who want to kick the judge back on the ballot need to get other people to agree with them enough to sign a petition.

The judge has complained to the court that these people did not file the recall petition correctly. He's saying that he's a state-level employee, while the recall was filed with the county. So he is basically saying that the entity that authorized the recall didn't have the authority to do so.

The judge requested that the courts ban the petition-gatherers from collecting petitions until the judge's case can be decided (on whether or not the recall is valid). The problem with this is that there's still a deadline that the petition-gatherers need to collect signatures by. So banning them from collecting signatures until the case was decided would basically force the recall effort to miss their deadline and keep this judge's name off the ballot for another year.

And the reason that the judge would want to do that is because it gives him another year for people to forget being angry about the Brock Turner ruling. It takes a lot of effort to maintain momentum over the course of months, let alone years. So it's in the judge's interests to delay being on the ballot as long as possible, provided he doesn't make another ruling that pisses people off all over again.

Does that make more sense?

[Sara Nilsson]

Thank you :) Now it makes sense. The whole electing judges is still so alien to me. So it was all.. confusing.. and on top of that I am not too bright :) But that cleared it up, thank you dear.

[Trieste]

Electing judges is a weird concept to me, too, even though it's not exactly new. I always had the vague impression as a kid that they sprang fully-robed from the brow of Justice or something.

I'm glad to be of service!

[Sara Nilsson]

http://irishpost.co.uk/irish-villagers-complain-viagra-plant-fumes-men-dogs-walking-around-hard-ons/

Pharmaceutical firm Pfizer have produced the erectile dysfunction drug in Ringaskiddy, Co. Cork for the last two decades.

Villagers claim that Ringaskiddy’s proximity to the plant and its “love fumes” has been giving local men – and even their canine friends – enormous sexual powers.

No it isn't an irish version of the onion. Of course pfeizer has stated that there is no such thing as viagra in the air.

[Zero]

Judges are in a strange place where you would like them to rule with the will of the people, but that isn't actually what their job entails. In an ideal world, a judge will rule the same as a jury. But we don't live in an ideal world.

It is not a judge's place generally to rule on whether a law is good or bad (that should be a job for the legislature). A judge should be applying the law to cases.

Now technically a jury cannot be tried for not applying the law. This leads to 'the rightous will of the jury', which of course cuts both ways.

There are those who might argue that judges, and specifically the Supreme Court in the united states should not exist in an effective government.

[WhatLiesAbove]

Just saw in the news that Russia has officially been banned from participating in the Olympic Games. Their flag will not be flown, their anthem won't be sung, and any athletes from Russia that wish to...and are granted permission...participate must wear neutral colors.

This comes after proven allegations that Russia participated in state-sponsored doping.

[Oniya]

Just saw in the news that Russia has officially been banned from participating in the Olympic Games. Their flag will not be flown, their anthem won't be sung, and any athletes from Russia that wish to...and are granted permission...participate must wear neutral colors.

This comes after proven allegations that Russia participated in state-sponsored doping.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/05/sports/olympics/ioc-russia-winter-olympics.html

More than that - the IOC is sorting through the Sochi medals, and rescinding some of them.  There will be a special ceremony at the 2018 games to award the retroactive winners.

[Missy]

Gotta say you feel bad for Russian athletes who weren't a part of that decision.

Irregardles, nice to see them taking a handle on the problem

[TheGlyphstone]

Is 'Whistleblower biopic' a genre of documentary now? There seem to be a lot of them.