Trump tweets, just now: "I met with the DOJ concerning the declassification of various UNREDACTED documents."

"They agreed to release them but stated that so doing may have a perceived negative impact on the Russia probe. Also, key Allies’ called to ask not to release. Therefore, the Inspector General....."

Still waiting for the rest of that sentence.

ADDED: Still waiting, but I wanted to ask what does "may have a perceived negative impact" mean? Did he mean that the people he talked to perceived a negative impact? Because that's not what the word literally mean.

Literally — as I read those words — it means that the people at the DOJ did not themselves perceive a possible negative impact, but thought that other people — the press? the public? — might  perceive a negative impact. In that view, the people at the DOJ were not worried about a negative impact on the Russia probe but were worried that Trump will be thought of as negatively affecting the probe.

UPDATE: The second tweet, with the rest of the sentence:

....has been asked to review these documents on an expedited basis. I believe he will move quickly on this (and hopefully other things which he is looking at). In the end I can always declassify if it proves necessary. Speed is very important to me - and everyone!

SO: He changed his mind! Speed is very important, so he's delaying.

Read More

Are they going to say "time's up" suddenly in 7 minutes when the deadline hits?

ADDED, 2 minutes after the hour: No word yet.

Meade is watching MSNBC right next to me, and the people on that channel are freaking out, while nothing is happening.

ME: "Why do you watch MSNBC?"

MEADE: "Because they're the most extreme."

Read More

The UK Isotim Travel Map

There are lots of interactive isochrone maps, which can show you how far you can travel within a set amount of time. But there aren't many interactive isotim maps, maps which show you how far you can travel for different amounts of money.

In the UK you can now use faremap to see how far you can travel on public transit for the change you currently have in your pocket. Enter a destination into

Read More

Twenty Years of India Lights

From 1993 to 2013 the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) took nightly pictures of India from space. The University of Michigan, in collaboration with the World Bank, has examined all 20 years of these satellite images to analyze how light output has changed across India during this time.

India Night Lights is a project from the University of Michigan and the World Bank to

Read More

What Causes California Wildfires?

What do you get if you combine huge forests, global warming and lots of people? The answer is devastating wildfires. At least that appears to be what is happening in California.

According to The Guardian the extensive California forests are full of dead trees, nearly 129 million of them. Because of global warming the past five years have been the hottest recorded in California and the state has

Read More

The Football Fans Optimal Road Trip

Randy Olson has worked out the optimal road trip for football fans. If you undertake his optimal football fan road trip you can visit 48 different stadiums, watch 90 different teams, and witness 6 of the biggest rivalries in college football. All within this year's 51-day season schedule.

To create the Optimal Football Fan Road Trip Randy set himself a number of rules. The trip only includes

Read More

School Road Safety

Zendrive has released an interactive map which allows you to check how safe the roads are around your local schools. Zendrive's School Safety Snapshot provides a safety rating for all schools in the USA based on driver behavior around each school.

To grade each score Zendrive measured the number and type of unsafe driving events, as detected by the Zendrive platform, around the school. The

Read More

SM Rookies Yiyang confirmed to have left SM

"Thank you for staying with me. I'm looking for a new start. I'll work hard."

Pann: Female trainee that SM lost today

1. [+197, -17] How does she lack more than Yeri...

2. [+142, -3] Wow, so pretty. She looks like a mix between Yeonwoo and Tzuyu.

3. [+91, -4] SM must have a lot of treasures since they lose so many of them... A lot of Rookies are talented and pretty but they're all leaving SM, it makes me sad. Hyerin used to be on variety shows with NCT kids but she left SM and appeared on Idol School... Does SM have too many treasures?

4. [+41, -0] Agreed with the comments. Just how many visuals and talented trainees do they have that they're losing trainees like this? Are they letting them go since they don't have plans to launch a girl group soon?

5. [+38, -0] The current situation of SM Rookies reminds me of YG's female trainees before Blackpink debuted. SNSD and f(x) are unclear so Red Velvet is doing all the promotions but they're losing to other 3rd generation girl groups. I think they'll debut a hoobae group after Red Velvet settles down. I feel bad for Red Velvet the most.

6. [+29, -1] She looks like Yeonwoo, so pretty.

7. [+24, -0] She looks like a female Kangta.

8. [+21, -1] She looks like Tzuyu with SM vibes.

Read More

Getting to Know Basle

Most Americans in Basle live in Altstadt Grossbasel. Germans living in Basle prefer the neighborhoods of Riehen and Bettingen, which are right next to the German border. The Riehen and Bettingen neighborhoods are also popular with old people. Most young adults (20–39) live in Rosental, Gundeldingen, Matthäus and Altstadt Kleinbasel. These are also some of the least popular neighborhoods for

Read More

Mapping Migration Flow

Migration in Latvia is a wonderfully designed interactive map which visualizes the country's internal migration flow. The map was developed by Latvia's Central Statistics Bureau.

The overall choropleth view of Latvia visualizes the number of people who have left each town and region in Latvia since the year 2000. You can also toggle this choropleth view to show the number of people who have

Read More