As discussed previously, this is my weekly Twitter roundup. Note that tweets of articles generally include header images from the articles, which are not included here unless they happen to be available under a free license. Most are not. But I now add most of my commentary here, where I’m not restricted by the message length.

diagrams showing the division of the day and of the week

I also don’t generally attach pictures to posts with quotations.

9:03 – Mon 12 October 2020

A 5-cent sensor could detect the coronavirus in 10 minutes at home from Fast Company

The sensor can see not only if you have an active COVID-19 infection, but also if you are carrying immunity from a past infection.

If this works as advertised—not always a given, when dealing with Fast Company articles about products—it could easily change a lot about wiping out the virus.

12:03 – Mon 12 October 2020

I never said the land was mine to do with as I choose. The one who has a right to dispose of it is the one who has created it. I claim a right to live on my land and accord you the privilege to return to yours.

Hinmaton-Yalaktit

9:05 – Tue 13 October 2020

Police violence takes a toll on mental health from Futurity

…a matter of public health requiring policy solutions aimed at addressing these root causes, the researchers say.

This should be obvious, but I appreciate having studies I can point to about why we need to fix or replace policing.

12:02 – Tue 13 October 2020

The attorney general is entrusted with prosecuting individual citizens and making decisions that affect the life and liberty of all Americans.

Noel Francisco

9:02 – Wed 14 October 2020

Trump Appointee to VOA Reporters: Criticizing Trump Is a Conflict of Interest from The Intercept

…expressed concerns that Pack’s guidance ran afoul of the agency’s “firewall” — a legal requirement that VOA remain free from government interference…

Just to be clear, Voice of America’s entire point is to provide objective journalism to show the world that the truth is more powerful than propaganda. It shouldn’t be surprising that neo-fascists who don’t believe that government should exist would be opposed to such a thing, but this damages the country’s credibility more than would be obvious.

12:01 – Wed 14 October 2020

It is a beautiful truth that all men contain something of the artist in them. And perhaps it is the case that the greatest artists live and die, the world and themselves alike ignorant what they possess.

Walt Whitman

9:01 – Thu 15 October 2020

AT&T’s Decision To Kill DSL Could Leave Millions Without Broadband from VICE Motherboard

…AT&T has a long history of refusing to upgrade less affluent neighborhoods to fiber.

Honestly, at this point, I think it’s time to say that all telecommunications should be treated as infrastructure, more similar to roads than anything else. Of course, the current administration isn’t exactly on-board for that sort of development and is more likely to sabotage the communications infrastructure.

Thu 15 October 2020

Another glitch prevented the quote from going out. An inauspicious end to National Hispanic Heritage Month that I’m not pleased about, especially given how few quotes are actually available. You know things are bad when I’m looking at things that recent political appointees said (Noel Francisco), since whatever they said in their duties should be in the public domain…

9:04 – Fri 16 October 2020

Restricting abortion is bad for the economy from Quartz

…girls who can’t have an abortion are more likely to end up in a low-skilled job and contribute less to the economy in general.

If anybody needed a neo-liberal, market-based argument to present to your legislator, we need laws that protect abortion because the return on investment is significantly higher. Hey, if it works for coronavirus…

Fri 16 October 2020

I needed the afternoon off to work on something.

Bonus

Because it accidentally became a tradition early on in the life of the blog, here’s a sixth article that didn’t fit into the week, but too weird to not mention.

Undocumented immigration either cuts or has no effect on crime from Futurity

…at the metropolitan level, in places where there are more immigrants, there also seems to be more economic and cultural vitality.

Again, we all know that this is the case, but it’s great to have a study to emphatically gesture at.

Credits: Header image is Circular diagrams showing the division of the day and of the week from a manuscript drafted during the Carolingian Dynasty.