Notices by Bruce MacDonald (rationaldoge@hachyderm.io), page 4

'Experiments have shown that human touch can be remarkably soothing. …

'Nick Buttrick, a psychologist at University of Wisconsin-Madison, wanted to know whether firearms provided similar comfort to gun owners, serving as a sort of psychological security blanket.

'“The real question I wanted to answer was, What do people get out of having a gun?” he said. “Why would somebody want to take this really dangerous thing and bring it into their lives?”'
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/23/health/gun-violence-psychology.html

Oor Orange Line in the news. #Minneapolis #transit

'The Orange Line serves a mix of stations on Interstate 35W and nearby the freeway. The surrounding land use is a mix of some residential areas, some commercial businesses and even park-and-rides. Overall, this mix means the Orange Line operates in what former Metro Transit planner Aaron Isaacs called a “strange transit corridor.”'
https://streets.mn/2023/06/16/using-the-orange-line/

'U.S. Justice Department officials, including Attorney General Merrick Garland, will hold a news conference Friday on "a civil rights matter," expected to be the results of a sweeping investigation into whether the Minneapolis Police Department engages in a "pattern or practice" of illegal conduct.

'City officials in Minneapolis have been bracing for the Justice Department's findings since 2020.' #Minneapolis
https://www.startribune.com/justice-department-expected-to-present-results-of-investigation-into-minneapolis-police-friday/600282909/

Mind you, it's possible to habituate yourself to look 👀 before opening your car door into traffic. I've trained myself to do this as part of a sweeping mindfulness campaign.

The ol' "Dutch Reach" can help, too, and it reduces the amount of head-swiveling necessary for those of us with stiff necks!
https://www.theaa.com/driving-advice/safety/dutch-reach

"Volvo says the so-called dooring accidents–when a car door opens inadvertently in the path of a cyclist–make up as much as a fifth of all reported bike accidents in some cities. The automaker also quotes research from Cycling UK that says 60 people on average are killed or seriously injured by car doors each year in the UK alone.

"As one of several features … the door opening alert should help reduce this type of accidents."
https://insideevs.com/news/667694/volvo-talks-ex30-safety-ahead-june-7-debut/

@inthehands
BITS & PIECES
put together
to present a semblance
of a whole
https://walkerart.org/collections/artworks/bits-and-pieces-put-together-to-present-a-semblance-of-a-whole

Somehow got the air conditioner installed without dropping it out the window. Like the dog walking on hind legs: not well, but you're surprised to see it done at all.

[recalling the Democrats’ trifecta a decade ago]

'“There were many things they decided not to do because they figured ‘well, we should win our reelections and then we’ll come back and do all those things next time.’” But there was no next time until this year because Democrats lost their House majority in the 2014 elections. [House speaker Melissa] Hortman said leaders from that time told this year’s trifectarians that the only regret they had “were the things that they had left on the table.”'

"State Democratic leaders said in interviews that as soon as they learned last November that they would have their first trifecta in a decade — meaning control of both chambers and the governorship — they decided they would not hold back to calculate the politics of every move." #Minnesota #hinterlandia #mnpol
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/06/04/democratic-party-minnesota-legislature-progressives/

"A 12-page document reviewed by The Times instructs Allina’s staff on how to cancel appointments for patients with at least $4,500 of unpaid debt. The policy walks through how to lock their electronic health records so that staff cannot schedule future appointments."

Allina Health System in Minnesota Cuts Off Patients With Medical Debt
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/01/business/allina-health-hospital-debt.html

"It is not exactly clear why traffic deaths have risen so much in recent years. But auto safety experts have pointed to several factors, including the larger size and weight of cars and trucks and greater distraction because drivers and pedestrians are increasingly using smartphones and other electronic devices. In some places, roads have been designed and lighted to keep traffic moving quickly rather than to protect pedestrians and cyclists."
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/31/business/automatic-braking-cars.html

"The 80-ton support, known as the tabouret, or stool, was built in the town of Briey by carpenters employing centuries-old woodworking craftsmanship as well as modern-day methods such as 3-D modeling and laser measurement. In recent weeks, element by giant element, it was hoisted by cranes onto the cathedral’s gusty rooftop, a bravura ballet performed 180 feet in the air."
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2023-05-30/paris-notre-dame-spire-reconstruction-devastating-fire

Home ownership is gurr-REAT.

Seriously, though, here's an informative article about lead pipes and what to do about them here in the Mill City and elsewhere in #Minnesota.

"It has been the responsibility of property owners to maintain or replace service lines, which connect a house to the utility's water main. The cost of a replacement often comes to $8,000, according to Annika Bankston, director of water treatment and distribution for the city of Minneapolis."
https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-is-spending-240-million-to-get-the-lead-out-of-your-plumbing/600278501/

"Given the product’s growth rate, once she’s able to onboard all the fans who’ve expressed interest, she estimates she’s on track to earn about $5 million a month. The product made more than $100,000 the first week, she said. and there’s a waiting list of thousands to gain access."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/05/13/caryn-ai-technology-gpt-4/

@inthehands When I was a kid in elementary school in America's Dairyland, we enjoyed a half-pint of whole milk each and every day, separate from what was offered with school lunch. It was delivered in those heavy-duty wire-frame creamery crates that you see in antique stores today.

That, and the later friendship of farm girls, formed my favorable impression of the ag industry.

The long game!

'The USDA says schools “must not directly or indirectly restrict the sale or marketing of fluid milk at any time or in any place on school premises or at any school-sponsored event,” and school nutrition manuals admonish that “program operators are not to promote or offer water or any other beverage as an alternative selection to fluid milk in their reimbursable meal throughout the food service area.”'

"She decided to do something bigger, asking her school if she could hold a “day of action” promoting the benefits of nondairy milk. The administration said yes, she said — but only if she also had pro-dairy information as well.

"That would defeat the purpose of her event, Williamson said."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/05/12/dairy-milk-lawsuit-school-lunch/

'Much of Ms. Brooks’s work revolves around helping her clients deal with seemingly endless clutter; they feel like they’re constantly cleaning, but the clutter is always there. People with A.D.H.D. especially struggle with this because, she said, “it’s almost like decision fatigue all the time. ‘I can’t decide what to do with it, so I’m just not going to do anything with it.’”'
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/10/well/mind/depression-cleaning-clutter.html

“Kids are capable of understanding at a simple level that when we treat people differently because of who they are, or how they identify, or what they look like, that that’s not fair,” [said Jillian Heise, an elementary school librarian in Wisconsin]. That conversation, she continued, “helps their self-perception and perception of the world develop with empathy.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/06/books/scholastic-book-racism-maggie-tokuda-hall.html

"The BBC has allowed Buckingham Palace to veto what footage it can use in its coronation coverage, raising questions about the national broadcaster’s impartiality in relation to the monarchy.

"In recent days the BBC has submitted material to the palace for approval in royal-themed programming, only for Buckingham Palace to declare certain pieces could not be used, according to individuals with knowledge of the situation." #journalism #broadcasting
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/may/05/revealed-royal-family-has-power-to-censor-bbc-coronation-coverage