Link Roundup November 2017

Louis C.K. Is Accused by 5 Women of Sexual Misconduct

The stories told by the women raise sharp questions about the anecdotes that Louis C.K. tells in his own comedy. He rose to fame in part by appearing to be candid about his flaws and sexual hang-ups, discussing and miming masturbation extensively in his act — an exaggerated riff that some of the women feel may have served as a cover for real misconduct. He has all but invited comparison between his private life and his onscreen work, too: In “I Love You, Daddy,” which is scheduled to be released next week, a character pretends to masturbate at length in front of other people, and other characters appear to dismiss rumors of sexual predation.

Louis C.K.’s Powerful Army of Celebrity Enablers

On top of all this is the cavalier way C.K. approached the sexual misconduct allegations against him—brushing off questions in interviews with non-denial denials, and even going so far as incorporating them into his art. Rape and masturbation jokes have long been a staple of C.K.’s stand-up oeuvre, but in recent years, in the wake of the aforementioned Gawker exposé, the comedian appeared to be taunting his victims—and the public.

This desolate English path has killed over 100 people

The Broomway takes its name from the 400 or so brooms that were formerly placed at intervals of between 30 and 60 yards on either side of the track, thereby indicating the safe passage on the hard sand that lay between them. Until 1932, the Broomway was the only means of getting to and from Foulness save by boat, for the island was isolated from the mainland by uncrossable creeks and stretches of mud known as the Black Grounds. The island is currently controlled by the Ministry of Defence, which purchased it during the First World War for “research purposes” and continues to conduct artillery-firing tests out over the sands.

Beekeepers Feel the Sting of California’s Great Hive Heist

“This is the biggest bee theft investigation that we’ve had,” Terrence says. Most of the time, he says, beehive thieves turn out to be “someone within the bee community.”

THE SAD SPECTACLE OF CITIES GROVELING TO AMAZON

Part of trying to lure Amazon, of course, involves bribery: cities are trying to put together a favorable package of financial inducements that will make them appear sufficiently “business-friendly.” As Slate’s Henry Grabar explained, “virtually every city and state will roll out a carpet of tax breaks, plum real estate, and other local incentives. (All for a company dedicated to undermining the local businesses that will pay taxes to support the services Amazon uses.)” It’s a common pattern among municipalities trying to convince large companies to move there. And as Grabar points out, even when a company accepts an offer, they also have a powerful means of extorting the city in the future, by constantly threatening to take their business elsewhere. The whole system “rewards corporations for being flighty, faithless partners to cities and punishes small and local businesses that cannot make credible threats to secure their own incentive packages.”

HEY, KIDS! (HARASSMENT IN) COMICS!

Whew! It’s been a tough month with all those sexual assault allegations in Hollywood, politics, and journalism, hasn’t it? Let’s turn to some escapist fun and see what’s coming up in the world of comics!

Christian Right tips to fight transgender rights: separate the T from the LGB

The Values Voter Summit has historically served as a meeting place for anti-LGBT groups and individuals, and this year is no exception. On Saturday, at a panel entitled “Transgender Ideology in Public Schools: Parents Fight Back,” speakers took turns offering strategies to defeat trans-friendly measures passed by various school boards.

Dairy Farmers Pour Out 43 Million Gallons of Milk Due to Surplus

The farmers dumped the milk in fields and manure lagoons or used it as animal feed, in the first eight months of 2016, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The massive amount of milk—enough to fill 66 Olympic swimming pools—is the most wasted in at least the last 16 years, according to the newspaper.

Trump keeps saying Graham-Cassidy failed because a senator’s in the hospital

This appears to be a reference to Sen. Thad Cochran who, though not hospitalized, is at home recuperating from some kind of urological issue. However, Trump appears to have cause and effect reversed here. According to Cochran’s staff, he is resting in Mississippi because there are no crucial senate votes rather than the senate not holding votes because Cochran is in Mississippi.

The Fungus That Turns Ants Into Zombies Is More Diabolical Than We Realized

We’ve known about zombie ants for quite some time, but scientists have struggled to understand how the parasitic fungus, O. unilateralis (pronounced yu-ni-lat-er-al-iss), performs its puppeteering duties. This fungus is often referred to as a “brain parasite,” but new research published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that the brains of these zombie ants are left intact by the parasite, and that O. unilateralis is able to control the actions of its host by infiltrating and surrounding muscle fibers throughout the ant’s body. In effect, it’s converting an infected ant into an externalized version of itself. Zombie ants thus become part insect, part fungus. Awful, right?

ANYONE CAN HACK MACOS HIGH SIERRA JUST BY TYPING "ROOT"

On Tuesday, security researchers disclosed a bug that allows anyone a blindingly easy method of breaking that operating system's security protections. When anyone hits a prompt in High Sierra asking for a username and password before logging into a machine with multiple users, installing an application or changing settings, they can simply type "root" as a username, leave the password field blank, click "unlock" twice, and immediately gain full access.

Ignored By Big Telecom, Detroit's Marginalized Communities Are Building Their Own Internet

Nucera is part of a growing cohort of Detroiters who have started a grassroots movement to close that gap, by building the internet themselves. It’s a coalition of community members and multiple Detroit nonprofits. They’re starting with three underserved neighborhoods, installing high speed internet that beams shared gigabit connections from an antenna on top of the tallest building on the street, and into the homes of people who have long gone without. They call it the Equitable Internet Initiative.

Race and Class in the Child Welfare System

According to federal statistics, black children in the child welfare system are placed in foster care at twice the rate for white children. A national study of child protective services by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported that "minority children, and in particular African American children, are more likely to be in foster care placement than receive in-home services, even when they have the same problems and characteristics as white children" [emphasis added].

Researchers “Translate” Bat Talk. Turns Out, They Argue—A Lot

Yovel and his team want to investigate whether bats are born knowing this “language” or if they learn it over time while living in their colonies. They also want to know if the bats use similar communication outside the roost. To understand that, they will attach microphones to some bats and release them into the wild.