There's a big city in Ukraine that used to be spelled Kiev in English, but now is spelled Kyev. There's a big city in China that used to be spelled Peking in English, but now is spelled Beijing. There are several big cities in India that used to be spelled Bangalore, Bombay, and Calcutta in English, but now are spelled Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Kolkata, respectively.

Certainly, I understand that these new spellings reflect a more accurate pronunciation or improved cultural sensitivity, but also, I don't give a damn. Just, knock it off. Things everyone knows how to spell should continue being spelled that way, at least until I'm dead.

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And now, news and amusements, from my internet history for yesterday…

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People who love war hate cities

Jarrett Walker's blog interests me because he's a transit consultant and I'm a transit geek — buses, subways, el trains, etc. In this entry, though, he's not talking about bus maps and service times. He's explaining what makes cities delightful, and he's spot on.

Cities are places where people who are different from each other learn not to fear each other. They find that they can share a public space with people who don’t look like them, talk like them, or act the way they would act, and that it’s almost always fine. People who profit from fear hate that.

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• Once again, America is in denial about signs of a fresh COVID wave

• WHO says global rise in COVID cases is 'tip of the iceberg'

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Chinese plot to smear US Congress hopeful unveiled

Unsealed files have revealed a plot by five people working on behalf of Chinese secret police to stalk and harass a US military veteran running for Congress, and to spy on an artist.
It is the first time, they say, a federal election campaign has been undermined in this way in America.

I'm unsure why, but this coverage refuses to name the Congressional candidate who was allegedly stalked and harassed by Chinese agents.

From my own research it's apparently Xiong Yan, a Chinese immigrant and former Tiananmen Square protester now running for Congress in New York's Suffolk County (not Brooklyn, as the article claims).

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Republicans keep turning to the same Texas judges to block Biden's policies

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IRS audits households with less than $25,000 in income at a rate five times higher than anyone else.

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Breaking the color bar — how one man helped desegregate Britain's pubs (and fought for an anti-racist future)

Avtar Singh Jouhl ended up battling prejudice in pubs, factories, and at the highest political levels. But despite his great deeds—taking Malcolm X to a segregated pub is only one brushstroke on the giant canvas of his life—he didn’t even have a Wikipedia page until I created one.

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The people suing your landlord are now suing their landlord

The Legal Aid Society, an organization famous for suing other people’s bad landlords, is now suing its own. As amNY reported, when Legal Aid first returned to its six floors of Brooklyn offices in the summer of 2020, staffers found a nightmare mold infestation that had taken over their headquarters. Over the past two years, the nonprofit has been battling with its landlord, the real-estate firm Leser Group, to fix the problem, which one Department of Health inspector called the worst he had ever seen. (A terrifying description, given that New York is disgusting.)

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The men writing anti-abortion laws are woefully ignorant of women and biology

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Comptroller: Cuomo 'understated' nursing home deaths by at least 4,000

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Billowing black smoke seen for miles as massive Walmart distribution center burns in Indiana

I am deeply saddened that the article includes no photos.

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Amazon warehouse workers stage coordinated strikes demanding $3 raises

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• UN international court of justice orders Russia to halt invasion of Ukraine

Well, that'll mean about as much as me sending a telegram.

• "A line has been drawn":

Olga Smirnova quits Bolshoi Ballet over Ukraine war

• Koch Industries continues doing business in Russia

• Russian journalist interrogated for 14 hours after anti-war protest

• A Missouri radio station still broadcasts Kremlin programming, even as Russia invades Ukraine

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Hillary Clinton and Eric Adams bond over bubble baths

Eric Adams, the new Mayor of New York City, has not yet shown anything to challenge my impression that he's a milquetoast middle-of-the-road business-as-usual politician. That he's good buddies with Hillary Clinton, another milquetoast middle-of-the-road business-as-usual Democrat, surprises me not at all.

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Are free buses a tool for social justice? Boston wants to find out.

As an experiment, Boston is removing all fares from selected transit lines. And as a former (and likely future) poor person, believe me, transit fares are an impediment for many would-be transit riders, and removing fares will be a lure for many people who currently drive instead.

If you ask me, all public transit in cities should always be free. Transportation should be seen as a public good and a government service, same as parks and public health, courts and fire departments, etc.

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CitiBank's response to abortion bans: We'll pay for workers to travel

Which is a fine thing for an employer to do, hip hip hooray, but a pregnant woman shouldn't have to file paperwork with her employer's HR Department in order to get an abortion.

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50 years ago, James Brown took an unlikely stage: Rikers Island

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Architects, it would seem, have a distinct advantage when designing dollhouses.

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William Burroughs and orgone energy

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Cardiff Giant, the greatest hoax in American history

The giant was the creation of a New York tobacconist named George Hull. Hull, an atheist, decided to create the giant after an argument at a Methodist revival meeting about Genesis 6:4, which states that there were giants who once lived on Earth. Hull wanted to prove how easily he could fool people with a fake giant.

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The US tried permanent Daylight Saving Time in the '70s. People hated it.

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Idaho hospital locks down amid Ammon Bundy call for protest

Ammon Bundy has inexplicably gotten away with being a unwiped asshole for years now. The evidence suggests he'll continue being an unwiped asshole for as long as getting away with it is allowed. Quick solution: Treat him like anyone else who does the same things.

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The Monty Python full supporting programme

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One-word newscast, because it's the same news every time...

• climate

• cops

• cops

• cops

• cops

• cops

• cops

• Republicans

• Republicans

• Republicans

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Mystery links — Like life itself, there’s no knowing where you’re going:

—①—

—②—

—③—

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♫♬ Sing along with Doug ♫

"Spill the Wine" — Eric Burdon

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The End

• Just this once…

3/17/2022
Tip 'o the hat to All Hat No Cattle, Linden Arden, ye olde AVA, BoingBoing, Breakfast at Ralf's, Captain Hampockets, CaptCreate's Log, John the Basket, LiarTownUSA, Meme City, National Zero, Ran Prieur, Voenix Rising, and anyone else whose work I've stolen without saying thanks.
Extra special thanks to Becky Jo, Name Withheld, Dave S., and always Stephanie...
Cranky Old Man