Interesting News - 5/17/2021

We are introducing a new feature here at Liberty At All Costs.  "Interesting News"

We can add exclamation points if that helps create enthusiasm.

Rather than trying to write a lengthy epistle based on some news item, we are simply going to link to the news item.  The link should be attended by nothing more than a pithy paragraph.  For now, the week will begin on Monday with the final product being pushed out on the following Sunday.

These are news items that I might ordinarily share via various social media feeds.  The inclusion of an item does not mean outright endorsement.  Merely that there is some bit of news or a unique perspective that is worthy of consideration.

Let us begin with the inaugural Interesting News, the flotsam and/or jetsam of my reading.

----------

Meeting in the middle on religious and LGBTQ rights - Ironically, the state of Utah is the source of some groundbreaking legislation that accommodates both the rights of LGBTQ folks to live and work while also respecting the religious beliefs of the faithful.  In 2008, Utah supported Prop 208 in California that banned same-sex marriages.  In 2015, the Utah legislature worked in cooperation with LGBTQ advocates to craft a law that met most of the objectives of both groups.  Both sides are loath to call it a compromise.  Jonathan Rauch calls it a quintessential example of the sort of collaboration that the Constitution was designed to foster.

I suppose if you misspell "sorcerer", it's a sorcerror?

— LK Lohan (@LKLohan) May 11, 2021

The Order Of The Stick #1234 - OOTS is a long-running comic featuring semi-self-aware fantasy role-playing game-type characters.  Periodically...perhaps frequently...OOTS will correspond with reality a little too closely.  I wish more people would appreciate this approach to a thorny issue.

Sinfest 11 May 2021, 14 May 2021, 15 May 2021, and 16 May 2021 - Sinfest is over 20 years old.  It started off as one type of strip and has gradually shifted over the years.  I walked away from it for a while as it thematically became a bit of a one-note strip.  While I didn't mind the "one-note" so much, I did mind that being the only thing going on.  The artist, Tatsuya Ishida, has expanded his scope of topics.  The strip from 12 May 2021 happened to occur close to a time when I encountered this Chemical Brothers video.  An intriguing combination.

What do you call it when the media purposefully skews reporting about political campaigns?  Perhaps it is time to call them something other than the "media"; propagandia?

Stolen from somewhere - click to embiggen

What is the difference between aerosol and droplet transmission of a virus? The science - it is not settled.  Even though the medical community thought that 5 microns size was the magic number, the truth was that the 5-micron value only told part of the story.  Science is a process.  It is fallible.  But, when the scientific process is followed, it is self-correcting.

Donald Fagen recently released a new album titled "Cát Bụi Cuộc ĐỜI" which is apparently (thanks Google translate) Vietnamese for "Sand and Dust of Life".  I'm still waiting for it to come up in my Spotify rotation, so I cannot comment on the music.  I just happened across the album while setting up my queue of music.  I couldn't find news about the album anywhere on teh Interwebbers.  This is about as stealth of an album drop as I've seen in a long, long time. [update - made it halfway through the album.  It's nothing like his other work.  Unremarkable music.]