Atlantic Monthly Contributors's Blog, page 834

Experienced Drivers Are Good at Avoiding Distractions, Except for Their Cell Phones

George Fairbairn/Shutterstock

Common sense suggests that any activity that pulls your eyes away the road will impair your ability to see what's coming from the driver's seat. If you're looking up a phone number in your smart phone, you can't look at the car in front of you. If you're peering down into the fast food bag wedged between your legs, you're probably not simultaneously scoping out your rear-view mirror.

So it probably won't surprise you to learn that even people who are experienced drivers are more likely to crash while dialing a cell phone. Here, though, are some awfully specific risk ratios: An experienced driver doing this is about two-and-a-half times more likely to get in a crash or have a near-miss than if they weren't fumbling with a phone at all. And the crash risk for novice drivers goes up more than eight-fold. Just reaching for a phone makes a novice driver seven times more likely to have a crash or close call.

These figures come from a new study just published by the New England Journal of Medicine. The results are particularly fascinating for how the researchers came up with them: The study recruited 42 freshly minted drivers in southwestern Virginia, and 109 more seasoned drivers in the Washington, D.C., area, who had, on average, 20 years of experience driving. The researchers outfitted their cars with a host of devices: GPS systems, sensors, cameras pointing toward the driver and outward at the road. All of this technology then continuously recorded what happened next, over a full year for the novices and 18 months for the other drivers.

Experienced drivers were only handicapped by one activity: dialing a phone.

"What’s remarkable about it is it allows you to objectively identify risks for a cash," says Bruce Simons-Morton, one of the co-authors and an investigator with the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. "That's because virtually every crash or near miss is associated with an elevated gravitational force." 

This occurs when a car suddenly stops or swerves. And these moments can be detected by an accelerometer placed in the car. Over the course of the study, these people got into 685 crashes or near misses (167 of them among the youngsters).

Thanks to all the technology, scientists have objective data about risky events (a car suddenly swerved), the driver's culpability (the forward-facing camera records what the driver sees), and the activity that may have led to it (the in-cab camera can capture burritos mid-bite or teenagers diving for an iPhone).

The young drivers, who were recruited within three weeks of earning their driver's license, turn out to be tripped up by all kinds of "secondary" activities in the driver's seat. They're three times more likely to get in a crash when they're eating, and four times more likely when they're looking at roadside objects. They're eight times more likely to get into trouble when reaching for an object other than a cell phone.

Experienced drivers, on the other hand, were only handicapped by one activity: dialing a phone. Talking on it or reaching for it didn't hamper them. Talking by itself also didn't drive up the risk for the younger drivers, as many people suspect. This may be because talking requires some cognitive demand, Simons-Morton says, but it doesn't take our eyes off the road. And all of the activities that increased risk in this study did just that.

The findings suggest, among other things, that those of us who've been driving for a while are pretty good at multitasking.

A Yelp for Colorado's Newly Legal Marijuana Industry
       

Would Kim Jong-un Really Feed His Uncle to Starving Dogs?

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un delivers a speech during his New Year address in this undated photo, released by Kyodo on January 1, 2014. (REUTERS/KYODO )

A disturbing new rumor has emerged about the fate Jang Song Taek, the recently deceased uncle of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. So disturbing that it probably isn't even true — and it's certainly impossible to confirm — but also too outrageous to ignore.

A pro-government Chinese paper, Wei Wei Po, has reported that Kim Jong-un's uncle Jang Song Taek was sentenced to "quan jue," or death by dogs. Specifically, he and five other "co-conspirators" were tossed naked into a cage filled with 120 ravenous dogs who had been starved for three days prior to the event. The dogs then ate them up "completely" while Kim patiently watched for over an hour. Singapore's Strait Times  laid out Wei Wei Po's claim and helped them spread like wildfire around the globe.

The allegation was met with horror, yes, but mostly with skepticism. No other outlets have been able to corroborate the report, and the Strait Times explained in their coverage that China may have ulterior motives in (further) smearing the DPRK's regime: 

In purging a top official known for his close ties with Beijing in such a brutal manner, Pyongyang did not hide its antagonism towards China. The official litany of Jang's treason implicated China three times. Jang was accused of underselling coal and other natural resources for which China was virtually the sole customer. He was also charged with "selling off the land of Rason economic and trade zone to a foreign country for a period of five decades under the pretext of paying debts." Finally, he was accused of selling precious metals, thus disrupting the country's financial stability. In fact, China purchased some of North Korea's gold reserves several months ago.

So if you weren't already skeptical of the story, the paper may have a motive for making it up. Even in early December, before Jang's execution had been confirmed, there were rumblings of an upcoming fallout between the nations. Time's Emily Rauhala wrote on December 9 that Jang's removal could mean bad news for Sino-North Korean ties:

Jang was the principal North Korean backer for a joint economic zone near the Chinese city of Dandong. The site, officially called the Hwanggumpyong Island Special Economic Zone, is supposed to bring North Koreans to work in Chinese factories and even play host to some banks.

There's also way the story spread. The original report is more than a week old, but did not receive much attention until yesterday, when journalists on Twitter attempted to unpack the implications of the single-source allegation, and the meaning of the delayed reaction to such a provocative accusation. Even allowing for the slowness of translation, that's a stretch.

@margafret and this report is from december 24th. i doubt it would've gone unnoticed for 9 days if it were true.

— Slade Sohmer (@SladeHV) January 3, 2014

Some on Twitter dismissed it outright: 

North Korea is a bizarre place. We get that. But Kim Jong Un DID NOT kill his uncle via starving dogs. Who comes up with this crap?

— Benjamin R. Young (@DubstepInDPRK) January 3, 2014

Notably, the point of contention is not whether or not Jang was killed, but how. North Korea took responsibility for the killing, saying Jang deserved what he got for doing treasonous things like "attempting to overthrow the state by all sorts of intrigues and despicable methods with a wild ambition to grab supreme power.” Probably, he was just trying to take on a larger role in the country's mineral export business.

Unfortunately, it's unlikely that we will have clarity over the issue. But like so many or the stories that come out of North Korea, the crazier they are, the more Westerners want to believe. We know so little about the country (by their own design), that almost anything we hear about them seems plausible. The "Hermit Kingdom" is notorious for making their own outrageous claims about of their own powers,  and China's own press transparency is questionable at best. But we do know that awful, unspeakable things happen in North Korean prison camps, so maybe the regime might be be capable of a punishment this sick?

No matter the truth, reports like this one point out, again, the scope of North Korean dysfunction. That we are even considering the possibility that Kim killed his uncle by throwing him in a pit of starving dogs (instead of traditional execution by firing squad) attests to both that nation's madness and our own obsessions with it.

       

Five Best Friday Columns

Associated Press

Jeff Shesol at The New Yorker on Obama's new year. "At his pre-holiday press conference, White House correspondents provided a grim recap of the past year: Edward Snowden and the NSA leaks, the fumbling of healthcare.gov, falling approval ratings, a legislative agenda that could be described in the same terms that John Cleese, of Monty Python, once applied to a parrot," Shesol writes. "Whether or not 2013 was actually, as a reporter suggested in a question, Obama’s 'worst year' in office, you know it was pretty bad if its highlight — the golden moment when everything seemed to fall into place for the White House — was the government shutdown." The President needs a reset. But "can one actually reboot a Presidency?" Shesol asks. "For Obama, it’s possible that 2014 will bring, as Politico predicts, a newly 'forceful, unapologetic and occasionally provocative application of White House power.' As well it should," he writes. MSNBC producer Jamil Smith tweets this line: "If there is a reset button out there, President Obama might like to get his hands on it."

Jonathan Chait at Daily Intelligencer on mainstream Republicans. "If John Boehner’s support for immigration reform is a kind of Prague Spring for the mainstream of the elected Republican Party, the equivalent among conservative intelligentsia can be found in the latest issue of National Affairs, which launches a double-barreled assault on conservative dogma," Chait argues. Two essays on the Republican domestic agenda and unemployment represent "an important moment in the conservative reform movement, displaying a heretofore rare confidence of the party’s movement to frontally attack their own party’s shibboleths." In other words, establishment Republicans may be ready to stand up to the Tea Party. "The common thread of both pieces is a call for a Republican Party that designs its platform as a response to observed real-world conditions, rather than waging an eternal war against the size of government regardless of any real-world effect," Chait writes. The Atlantic's Molly Ball recommends the post. 

Greg Sargent at The Washington Post on Edward Snowden. After The New York Times published an editorial yesterday calling for some kind of clemency for NSA leaker Edward Snowden, the debate over his actions has "intensified." Sargent writes, "Of course Snowden is the reason why the debate unfolded as it has." He continues, "It’s hard to see how such a detailed and well argued case against the program would have been conceivable without the sort of knowledge of NSA activities that Snowden’s revelations brought us. Yes, Obama called for a review of surveillance and greater accountability and transparency into national security programs back in May, and if he embraces real reform, he’ll deserve credit for that. But it wasn’t until after the Snowden revelations that the administration released the legal rationale specifically for NSA bulk collection." The Nation's George Zornick tweets, "Strong post from @ThePlumLineGS."

Matthew O'Brien at The Atlantic on long-term unemployment. "On December 28, 1.3 million people lost their long-term unemployment benefits. Over the next year, 4.9 million people will get fewer benefits than they otherwise would have. And there are still nearly 3 unemployed people for every job opening," O'Brien writes. "Republicans are refusing to extend these extended benefits any longer. They think we have to get benefits 'back to normal' even if the economy isn't — that taking benefits away will give the jobless a needed swift kick in the you-know-what to go get a job." That's why North Carolina's Republican legislature already cut benefits last year. California, Georgia, and New York are now being hit the hardest by nationwide cuts. Jaime Fuller, an associate editor at The American Prospect, tweets this line: "Now Republicans are turning the rest of the country into North Carolina."

Michele Simon at Al Jazeera America on the restaurant lobby and minimum wage. "If you ask most Americans about the NRA, they will think of the National Rifle Association. But another powerful industry trade group bearing those initials, the National Restaurant Association, conducts its own campaign of duplicitous lobbying and outright deception at the expense of the public interest," Simon explains. "Restaurants employ more than 13 million workers, so it is no surprise that industry lobbyists are paid a lot of money to ensure this workforce remains disempowered," she argues. The minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 since 2007, before that it was at $5.15 for a decade. And the tipped minimum wage, which Simon notes applies disproportionately to women, has remained at $2.13 since 1991. "The NRA touts restaurants as an 'economic engine.' But guess who helps pick up the slack for low wages? Taxpayers, in the form of government programs like food stamps, which workers rely on to make ends meet," Simon writes. 

       

Now Let's Hear from White People Who Smoked Pot 40 Years Ago About Why Legalization Is Bad

Associated Press

We don't want to alarm you, but some kids who smoke weed grow up to be professional columnists who rail against drug use without understanding the deeper racial implications of their arguments. Scary, right?

A perhaps unexpected backlash to Colorado's marijuana legalization has arrived from some of those columnists, stern parent-types who are fretting about what weed will do to our kids. The New York Times' David Brooks starts his hand-wringing where no David Brooks column has started before, where no one would ever have expected a Brooks column to begin: "For a little while in my teenage years, my friends and I smoked marijuana. It was fun." The Washington Post's Ruth Marcus establishes her stoner cred up-front, too. "I have done my share of inhaling, though back in the age of bell-bottoms and polyester."

But then the time came for them to put away childish things, and so they did, and so, they extrapolate, should you — especially you voters in Colorado and Washington who for some reason decided to legalize the sale of the drug.

...legal weed contributes to us being a fatter, dumber, sleepier nation even less able to compete with the Chinese

— Tina Brown (@TinaBrownLM) January 3, 2014

Brooks and Marcus and, in response to Brooks, Tina Brown, make a similar case, one that reads like the sort of thing you'd see in a anti-alcohol pamphlet passed around in 1918. It is bad for you, it will cause you embarrassments, it is unhealthy, you should, in Brooks' articulation, instead seek "higher pleasures." Like running track. This is the argument he makes: his stoner friends started running track and that was better. OK.

When David Brooks and his friends and Ruth Marcus and her bell-bottoms were getting high in the 1970s, they were part of a counterculture that largely predated America's hyperactive anti-drug policies. (Though this widely-circulated story purporting to be from one of Brooks' co-smokers is satire.) They were just regular middle-class white kids getting high. That's not how it works anymore.

A report from the ACLU released over the summer articulates the disparities in arrests for marijuana possession. More than half of those arrested in 2010 were under the age of 25. But it's not teens that look like Brooks and Marcus and Brown that are more likely to be arrested. The graph at right shows the stark racial divide in such arrests. A black person is almost four times more likely to be arrested for possession than a white person, despite the fact that blacks and whites use marijuana at similar rates. Even if it were fairly applied, a law banning possession of small amounts of pot would be a waste of time and money that had no real effect on use or distribution. It is not fairly applied.

Neither Brooks or Marcus mentions race. To cut to the chase, their arguments are just cultural warfare cloaked in concern for the kids. It's the stupid, interminable war between hippies and squares with two squares saying that they infiltrated the hippie mindset and here's what they learned. Brooks and Marcus' Carrie-Nation-style crankiness about marijuana would be fine if we weren't in the middle of an incredibly dumb war between law enforcement and criminal culture over providing a recreational drug to people. (Marcus, weirdly, argues that "throwing people in jail for smoking pot is dumb and wasteful," and then argues that Colorado and Washington's laws should "make you nervous." What's happening here, Ruth?) These arguments would have been fine in 1979 when Brooks graduated from high school; now they just ignore the fact that black kids go to jail because marijuana gives the cops an excuse to arrest them.

This is why David Brooks stopped smoking weed: "I smoked one day during lunch and then had to give a presentation in English class. I stumbled through it, incapable of putting together simple phrases, feeling like a total loser. It is still one of those embarrassing memories that pop up unbidden at 4 in the morning." I won't make the obvious joke here about stumbling through a presentation, but will say that high school offers plenty of other reasons to be embarrassed. Like being arrested for possession and failing to graduate as a result. That is embarrassing.

An idea! Let's try and foster a "moral ecology" — Brooks phrase — in which marijuana isn't used as an excuse to hassle black kids. Then Brooks can suggest they go out for track instead.

       

Bill de Blasio Shovels His Own Snow, Thank You Very Much

Bill de Blasio, via Twitter

New York City's brand-new mayor Bill de Blasio got his first big administrative test, in the form of a ton of snow all over his city. But he's tackling the problem head-on — starting with his own sidewalk. 

The 109th Mayor shovels his sidewalk. Never saw this on E. 79th folks. pic.twitter.com/AtTNuhe5LZ

— Josh Robin (@joshrobin) January 3, 2014

Yes, Mayor de Blasio shovels his own sidewalk at his Park Slope home, all while updating reporters on the city's snow cleanup efforts. Not a bad photo op for your third day in office.

And according to an earlier tweet from his wife Chirlane McCray, it looks like his son Dante (whose friends desperately tried to get him to pull some strings for a school closing) was set to help out, too. Despite Business Insider's worries that the mayor might throw out his back with his shoveling technique, de Blasio clearly knows what he's doing, telling constituents "don't lift with your back, lift with your knees," live on NY1.

He also certainly knows what message his shoveling sends: de Blasio campaigned as a more hands-on "mayor of the people," on a mission to end inequality. And what's more equal than pushing your own shovel?

It's definitely a change of pace from former mayor Michael Bloomberg, the Upper East Side billionaire often accused of prioritizing only New Yorkers who looked and earned like him. To wit, this is the sort of photo that emerges if you search for a picture of the former mayor shoveling: 

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, left, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, third left, and Whitney Museum Director Adam Weinberg, right, shovel dirt around artist Elizabeth Streb during ground breaking ceremonies for a new Whitney Museum, in New York, Tuesday, May 24, 2011 (PHOTO: AP)

 

 

There's also the matter of Bloomberg's own mixed reputation in the aftermath of New York snow storms. In 2010, a Christmas blizzard paralyzed the city with between 18 and 24 inches of snow. As the outer boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx waited for days to see their first Sanitation Department snow plows, Bloomberg dismissed concerns about the city's recovery: "The world has not come to an end. The city is going fine, Broadway shows were full last night. There are lots of tourists here enjoying themselves." He added, "Many people are taking the day off. Most stores are open." For New Yorkers without the luxury of days off — including many of the workers in those open stores — the comments seemed extremely out of touch. 

The 109th Mayor shovels his sidewalk. Never saw this on E. 79th folks. pic.twitter.com/AtTNuhe5LZ

— Josh Robin (@joshrobin) January 3, 2014

But the new mayor's response isn't entirely a departure from Bloomberg's own blizzard plan, as The New York Times reported. De Blasio's snow cleanup team includes some key holdovers from the Bloomberg administration, including the commissioners for fire and sanitation. It's still the same snow and still the same plows, the new guy just plays the part better.

       

Miley Cyrus Did Not Trash Talk Beyoncé, Would Never Dare Trash Talk Beyoncé

AP

Today in celebrity gossip: Miley Cyrus did not say those mean things about Beyoncé, Justin Bieber takes Selena Gomez on a Segway date, and Kate Winslet both clowns and schools her haters.

Miley Cyrus has twerked, she has danced with molly, she has licked construction equipment, she has experienced shirtless hugs with Liam Hemsworth, she has told off Joe Jonas, she has worn unmentionables in mixed company, she runs things things don't run she, and, quite frankly, she has no ability to stop. Miley Cyrus has done a lot of things in the past year, but one thing she hasn't done is talk trash on Beyoncé. In one of those rare and special occasions when a celebrity seeks to quash a rumor before the rumor has even spread, thus serving to spread the rumor while also quashing said rumor, Cyrus has declared to the world that she did not say mean things about Beyoncé in an interview she gave to a publication nobody's heard of. According to the Daily Mail, one of the things that Miley Cyrus allegedly told Love Magazine was, "As Beyoncé grows in motherhood and all the crap it does to your body, it will create a vacuum for fresh young faces to rise up... I got the total package, you know, the curves, the rhythm, and the voice. I'm just the best." Miley Cyrus did not say this, or, as she eloquently defended herself on Twitter, "That quote people MADE UP about Beyonce just made me lol! Imagine if I said I got 'the looks and the curves I'm just better!' Bahahahhaha." Advantage Cyrus. That kind of dumb trash-talk just does not seem to fit with her particular brand of cultural trolling inasmuch as her shenanigans have been largely celebratory and reverent of her idols. Plus, you know, who on earth would be so mentally insane as to trash talk Beyoncé at this point in time? Not Miley Cyrus: "U can cause ALOT of drama but NOT between me & B." For its part Love Magazine also denies that Cyrus' alleged quotes about Beyoncé appear in its magazine: "@MileyCyrus never said anything to us about Beyoncé, the quotes were made up and we're trying to get to the bottom of where this came from." So, whoops, this is a conundrum! [Us Weekly]

When Selena Gomez canceled her Australian tour a few weeks back it was ostensibly because she'd grown exhausted with her popstar lifestyle and was looking to relax, recuperate, take some Selena time, and just chill in general. As we all know the best way to relax and truly find oneself is to ride Segways with Justin Bieber, so that is what she did! Yesterday some very lucky neighbors in Calabasas, Calif., snapped photos of the two racing their awkward half-scooters around the city streets and, as TMZ helpfully pointed out, Justin Bieber was ever the gentleman racing ahead of his ladyfriend at every opportunity. Daily Mail found a more dramatic angle, however, as it dug up some tweets by the citizen paparazzo who'd originally snapped a photo of the Segwayin' duo: "@justinbieber told us to f*** off, and his bodyguards blocked the road." Once again, congratulations to Selena Gomez for truly living the dream. [TMZ, Daily Mail]

Chris Pine recently gave a handsome interview to The Hollywood Reporter in which he briefly described his debut as a leading man alongside Lindsay Lohan in Just My Luck. "It was a real cyclone of insanity," he began to say, in a quote that many scandal sheets would like you to believe described Lindsay Lohan's personality. Unfortunately in context Pine was actually describing the level of fame and attention that surrounded Lohan in that post-Mean Girls chapter of her career. So no, Chris Pine did not choose to promote his new Jack Ryan film by slagging on a woman who needs no further slagging. But he does say things like, "The light of my flame was really bright after Star Trek," and has written a film called Mantivities. So, uh. Yeah. In my opinion those are the salacious quotes that scandal sheets should be running with but oh well. [Hollywood Reporter]

Attention haters: Kate Winslet has had it. Yes, Bear Winslet, the child she recently brought forth into this haunted carnival we call Earth, is her third child by as many fathers, but that is quite frankly nobody's business. As she told Glamour U.K., "I’m really sorry to the nation’s press that I fell in love and got pregnant; I do apologize if you deem that irresponsible." Clowned! And as for the people who scoffed about Winslet's husband's last name and openly questioned whether or not the baby would be taking it: "Of course we're not going to call it RocknRoll... I'm a fucking grown-up." Schooled! Oh man, haters just got told by one of the world's most esteemed actresses and are now for sure going to be crying themselves to sleep tonight in their hater-beds. Kate Winslet is the best. [

Bad news for enthusiasts of that very weird chemical reaction of the brain known as "love": Ricky Martin has broken up with his longtime fella! Yep, Martin and Carlos Gonzalez Abella, the co-father of his twin children, have decided to part ways. But look on the bright side: You can finally marry Ricky Martin! Yes, you. You've fantasized about it for years and now it's finally possible! Are you ready? Are you ready to put yourself out there and finally find out once and for all if your love with Ricky Martin is meant to be? To find out whether your soulmate is Ricky Martin? Well, now is your chance. To be honest Ricky Martin is probably a bit heartbroken at the moment, so try and wait at least a few days. But then you gotta get in there. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Don't let this opportunity pass you by, not again! Best of luck with regard to falling in love with Ricky Martin. Invite me to the wedding? [Us Weekly]

You've had a long day, a long week, and a long life. Perhaps you haven't taken enough time to really appreciate the finer things, to really celebrate them, and by extension, celebrate yourself. You know you need to make time. Perhaps you should cancel your Australian tour and just chill out on a Segway. Or maybe you should just take a good, long look at this image of Larry King hanging out with Harry Styles. Go ahead, treat yourself!

Ran into @Harry_Styles last night. He's no flash in the pan. He'll be around for a long time. pic.twitter.com/8jNV29f32w

— Larry King (@kingsthings) January 2, 2014

       

Just How Bad Was the Great Blizzard of 2014?

AP

The first blizzard of the very young new year is (still) here: the East Coast is waking up to a freezing morning, New York City school kids are getting a rare snow day, and Topsfield, Mass., saw an incredible 23 inches of snow get dumped on it. See how everyone is coping on the morning after the winter storm. 

Boston Strong AP

The storm had a special place in its snowy heart for Massachusetts, dumping feet of the white stuff down on the state. According to snowfall totals compiled by the Weather Channel late last night, the storm dropped 23.5 inches in the town of Topsfield. (around 30 mins north of Boston.) The neighboring towns of Boxford and Georgetown saw some 21 inches and 17 inches of snow respectively. And Boston proper got walloped with close to 11 inches of snow. That's almost double the amount of snowfall reported at Central Park last night, so New York still can't claim to out-weather its neighbor to the North. 

Of course, to move all that snow you need plows and the indispensable human beings who operate them. In Boston, the city's snow plows were having a rough go of it last night, and struggled to keep up with the falling snow. In suburban Philadelphia, one worker was tragically crushed under pile of road salt that collapsed, New York's Daily News reported. In New York City, AP

There should be some unwritten rule that East Coast kids, because they have to put up with way more terrible weather than their California counterparts, are entitled to least one snow day per year. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. And it's especially not true for New York City's public school kids — since 1978, the city's public schools have only shut down eight times due to weather. (Today will be the ninth.) Today's closure will be the first since Hurricane Sandy crippled the city in 2012 (which was exponentially a lot less fun.) We would urge New York  City kids to grab a sled, but they probably don't have one since they don't know what snow days are. 

No Fly Zone

Trying to get in and out of cities in the storm's path was close to impossible over the last 24 hours. The storm has temporarily grounded all flights at JFK Airport in Queens, and over 500 flights slated for Friday at New York City's three major hubs have been canceled, The Wall Street Journal reports. There were also massive delays and cancellations out of Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago's airports, too, as the cancellations rippled out across the country. Fox News reports that at least 1,500 flights were canceled on Friday and 2,300 cancellations and 3,900 delays on Thursday afternoon.   To the East Coast and Midwest folks who were planning to have a nice vacation in Hawaii this weekend — you have our deepest sympathy.

... And It's Freezing Out

Many New Yorkers, (including some of staffers at The Wire) are working from home today, in an effort to avoid messy roads and snarled public transit. Lucky for them they haven't yet faced the cold outside, with record lows up and down the Eastern seaboard. Weather genie Eric Holthaus pointed out that this morning's air temperatures were plummeting all over the country. (On this map, the red does not mean hot.)

Near-record low temperatures forecasted for much of the eastern 2/3rds of the country on Tuesday morning: pic.twitter.com/4mDMpNpVsp

— Eric Holthaus (@EricHolthaus) January 3, 2014

All that said, thankfully Seamless is still working and there are plenty of restaurants still delivering. Tip well. Be safe. Stay warm. 

       

Look Inside the U.S. Capitol Dome Reveals a Desperately Needed Repair Job

Architect of the Capitol

Just as the last remnants of scaffolding covering the Washington Monument are coming down, workers are preparing to obscure another of the gems on the National Monument — the Dome atop the U.S. Capitol building.

The Capitol was last renovated in 1960 and is badly in need of new repairs, as weather and water damage have broken several of the ornaments along the exterior of the dome and stained many of the fixtures within the rotunda.

The restoration process, which will soon get underway, is expected to last two years — covering the exterior of the dome in scaffolding that will be lit at night and temporarily closing parts of the inner rotunda.

There are 394 steps from the ground floor of the Capitol Building to the top of the Dome. Pictured: An interior view of the Capitol Dome. At right is the sandstone wall of the original Dome, designed by Charles Bulfinch and completed in 1824.

(Sarah Mimms)

In 1855, Philadelphia architect Thomas U. Walter began work on the modern Dome, a 14.1 million pound cast-iron marvel that reaches 288 feet into the air. But after decades of wear-and-tear, the Dome is in serious need of renovations which are set to take at least two years.

(Sarah Mimms)

The Dome, which was completed in 1865, leaks. Here, above, is one of dozens of drainage mechanisms set up throughout the interior of the Dome to prevent leakage into the Capitol Rotunda.

(Sarah Mimms)

Some of the water damage is visible on these columns in the upper levels of the rotunda.

(Sarah Mimms)

 

(Architect of the Capitol)

To repair the internal damage, workers will put up a "donut" canopy of netting to prevent anything from falling onto the rotunda floor during construction, while allowing visitors to see the Apotheosis of Washington fresco at the peak of the Dome.

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During the early and final weeks of the restoration, workers will also construct a temporary walkway for visitors, members of Congress and staff to navigate through the rotunda. During that time, none of the statues or paintings in the area will be accessible.

The "donut," pictured, was originally constructed for an earlier renovation project in 1999, when workers removed approximately 180,000 pounds of lead-based paint from the space between the inner and outer Domes.

(Sarah Mimms)

The mechanism from which the "donut" will hang is already in place at the top of the Dome, just below the Apotheosis of Washington. The canopy will be stable enough for workers to walk on, in order to retrieve fallen items as they work.

(Sarah Mimms)

Several windows in the upper reaches of the Dome are cracked. They are all, however, original to the building so rather than replacing them, workers will melt and add epoxy to fill in the cracks, much as a mechanic would repair a broken car windshield.

(Sarah Mimms)

The Architect of the Capitol's Head of Architecture, Kevin Hildebrand, demonstrates that one of the hatches — the rust-colored octagons visible from the interior of the rotunda — still opens. When the Dome was first constructed, workers would climb through the hatch to replace the light bulbs lining the interior of the rotunda. The handrail for those replacing the bulbs and outlets for those lights are still barely visible from the rotunda.

(Sarah Mimms)

Some of the "hatches" as visible from the interior of the rotunda. Notice the paint peeling on one of the octagonal pieces on the bottom left.

(Sarah Mimms)

Hildebrand points to a rusting bracket on the inside of the exterior wall of the Dome that has come almost completely free from the frame because of the sheer weight of the structure (remember, that's 14.1 million pounds of cast iron!). Visible are three nearly-square temporary support brackets that workers have installed to help bear the weight. Areas like this one will be prime targets for workers during the renovation.

(Sarah Mimms)

Even the Apotheosis of Washington at the peak of the rotunda sports a crack or two.

(Sarah Mimms)

The top of the rotunda as viewed from inside the dome. The netting above it is actually chain link fencing, designed to protect the Apotheosis of Washington below it from any falling debris. It was installed in 1960, during the last renovation effort.

(Sarah Mimms)

Another view of the interior of the Dome. No, that isn't the Death Star.

(Sarah Mimms)

The stairway leading up to the very peak of the Dome, where the lights signaling whether Congress is in session hang. Hildebrand says that AOC employees often jokingly compare the sign to a warning in The Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy and her friends enter the Haunted Forest: "I'd turn back if I was you!"

Hildebrand, however, admits that he has gone up the stairs a couple of times.

(Sarah Mimms)

The "Convene Light" at the top of the Capitol is actually four lights, which are illuminated by the Architect of the Capitol's office when either chamber of Congress is in session. The location of the light switch — which is not at the top of the Dome itself — is something of a state secret and Hildebrand would not reveal its location.

(Sarah Mimms)

Damage to the "Tholos" — the very upper reaches of the external dome upon which the Statute of Freedom sits.

(Sarah Mimms)

When standing at the top of the Capitol Dome, Pierre L'Enfant's vision for the city becomes clear. Here, a view of the Capitol Visitor's Center going down East Capitol Street to Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium.

(Sarah Mimms)

A view of the Washington Monument from the top of the Capitol Dome.

       

Lawsuit Claims Facebook Is Reading Your Private Messages

REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

Facebook could be reading your private messages to help advertisers figure out what you want to buy, so you know there are definitely going to be users (and lawyers) who aren't happy about that.

The company was hit this week with a class action lawsuit alleging it is scanning private messages for links and passing the information along to advertisers, in violation of California's Electronic Communications Privacy Act. The suit, brought by Matthew Campbell and Michael Hurley on behalf of all Facebook users, claims that the sneaky practice is extremely lucrative: 

Representing to users that the content of Facebook messages is “private” creates an especially profitable opportunity for Facebook, because users who believe they are communicating on a service free from surveillance are likely to reveal facts about themselves that they would not reveal had they known the content was being monitored. Thus, Facebook has positioned itself to acquire pieces of the users’ profiles that are likely unavailable to other data aggregators. 

The suit alleges that Facebook uses private messages to "mine user data and profit from those data by sharing them with third parties – namely, advertisers, marketers, and other data aggregators." Campbell and Hurley relied on information from an independent security researcher that shows that Facebook clicked on links sent through private messages. According to the court filing: 

Contrary to its representations, “private” Facebook messages are systematically  intercepted by the Company in an effort to learn the contents of the users’ communications. In the course of the last year, independent security researchers discovered that Facebook reviews the contents of its users’ private Facebook messages for purposes unrelated to the facilitation of message transmission. When a user composes a Facebook message and includes a link to a third party website (a “URL”), the Company scans the content of the Facebook message, follows the enclosed link, and searches for information to profile the message-sender’s web activity. 

The suit further explains that Facebook will "like" the link – when possible – in this way passing the secret information along to the company whose page has been "liked": 

Upon information and belief, where a web page does contain a “Like button, the  web crawlers transmit this information back to Facebook. Upon information and belief, Facebook then uses these data to register the URL sent via private message as a “Like” for the web page. Upon information and belief, Facebook further provides these data to the web page at issue, in the form of analytical analysis of web traffic to that site by Facebook users. Upon information and belief, Facebook further uses these data to build and refine user profiles. Upon information and belief, Facebook’s interception occurs in transit, in transmission, and/or in transfer of users’ private messages.

PCWorld explains that Swiss information security firm High-Tech Bridge (HTB) did some research in August that outs Facebook for looking at messages between users. HTB sent trackable links through the private messaging services of 50 social media sites, and checked to see which of these clicked on the embedded URL. After 10 days of the experiment, they found that only 6 companies took the bait – but those six include Facebook, Twitter and Google +.

A Facebook spokesperson denied the claims made by Campbell and Hurley, saying "We believe the allegations are without merit and we will defend ourselves vigorously," and at least one security expert has come to the firm's defense. Graham Cluley writes on his blog that Facebook might be clicking on links to protect users, not to boost ad sales: 

I don’t see anything necessarily wrong in principle with online services automatically scanning messages between individuals, and examining the links that they are sharing. Indeed, if Facebook’s security team didn’t have such systems in place I would believe them to be disturbingly lax in their duty of care for users. After all, if you didn’t properly scan and check links there’s a very real risk that spam, scams, phishing attacks, and malicious URLs designed to infect recipients’ computers with malware could run rife.

This doesn't explain, however, why 44 other prominent social media sites like LinkedIn, Gmail, and AOL didn't click on private links. Or why Facebook has already been criticized for its privacy policy in the form of a separate class action suit finalized in September. 

       

Study Reports Emergency Room Visits Rise with Access to Health Insurance

Associated Press

A new study suggests that, rather than reducing the number of emergency room visits, possessing health insurance actually led to an increase in the number of visits people made. From The New York Times:

The study, published in the journal Science, compared thousands of low-income people in the Portland area who were randomly selected in a 2008 lottery to get Medicaid coverage with people who entered the lottery but remained uninsured. Those who gained coverage made 40 percent more visits to the emergency room than their uninsured counterparts during their first 18 months with insurance.

The pattern was so strong that it held true across most demographic groups, times of day and types of visits, including those for conditions that were treatable in primary care settings.

The study seems to dispute the claims of Affordable Care Act proponents who argued that owning a health insurance policy would actually lead to less emergency room or urgent care visits.  Back in September, the President remarked that insurance "is helping them because people are no longer going to the emergency room and they now have good health care, they’re now getting preventive care."

That wasn't the case in the Orgeon study, although as NPR notes, the study only observed a relatively short period of 18 months and the population studied was more white and urban than other areas of the country.

But while ER visits rose in patients with Medicaid, so did primary care visits, meaning that more health coverage was being consumed across the board, not just one particular part of it. Additionally, earlier studies by the same authors did not uncover "any statistically significant improvements in how well the new Medicaid recipients managed their high blood pressure, cholesterol, or diabetes."

Granted, this is only one study about ER usage. Others, such as one published in the New England Journal of Medicine concerning Massachusetts healthcare, found no change in emergency care usage after the implementation of its healthcare reforms.