Post by mhbruin on Jan 7, 2022 9:32:50 GMT -8
US Vaccine Data - We Have Now Administered 517 Million Shots (Population 333 Million)
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California Precipitation (Updated Tuesdays)
Reservoirs are still low, but they take time to refill and it may take the spring snow melt.
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When Employer Mandates Are Enforced, Typically Around 1% Leave Their Jobs, Rather Than Comply
At this point 86% of the adult population has had a jab.
In spite of what polls may say, I think the ultimate portion of the population that won't get a shot is 5% to 10%.
OTOH, a lot of Americans have been very slow to get one.
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I Will Bring a Mountain to London! Some Genius Decided a Pile of Dirt Would Attract Shoppers.
The 25m-high artificial hill at one end of Oxford Street dubbed the Marble Arch Mound opened in July. It was supposed to help lure shoppers freed from lockdown away from internet stores and back to Britain’s best-known shopping thoroughfare. But once the first visitors were allowed on it, it was revealed to be a mess. Rain swept turf off the slopes, leaving bare scaffolding on view. What grass remained turned brown. To Britons familiar with children’s television, it was reminiscent of a shabby, low-rent Teletubbyland.
During construction the cost ballooned from £3.3m ($4.7m) to £6m. After it opened, plans to charge for entry were scrapped. The deputy leader of Westminster Council, which commissioned the mound from mvrdv, a Dutch design company, resigned. Opposition councillors said the mound was “an international embarrassment” and called for it to be dismantled immediately. It is due to come down as planned on January 9th.
It has managed to draw in passers-by, perhaps in search of a chuckle. By December 13th 215,000 had visited, not far off Westminster Council’s goal of 280,000 (which was based on plans to charge up to £8 for entry). On a sunny day the view is decent, taking in Hyde Park, the Shard and the London Eye (an unfortunate reminder that other, better views are available). On a recent morning a dozen people milled about on its rickety viewing platform. “We wouldn’t have paid, mind you,” says a couple from Bristol. The structure feels “temporary”, says another sightseer. You enter via a ramp alongside some scrappy planting, and leave through the interior, a maze of scaffolding that creaks with every step.
An $8 Million Dollar Hill
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That's Still Around $42,000 Above What It's Really Worth
Bitcoin prices have fallen to their lowest level in months following remarks from the US Federal Reserve.
The crypto-currency dropped in value from $47,000 (£34,700) earlier this week to less than $42,000 (£31,000) per digital coin.
It follows minutes from a meeting of the Federal Reserve, which suggested it may raise interest rates.
Political events in Kazakhstan have also raised concerns about the network's capacity.
Because of its global and decentralised nature, attributing a rise or fall in the price of Bitcoin to a single cause is difficult. But many commentators have pointed to the release of the Federal Reserve's December meeting notes as one factor.
The minutes suggest that America's central bank might raise interest rates sooner than some had anticipated, and sell off some of its assets.
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Today's Safety Tip: Don't Always Believe Your Navigation System
A truck in China “believes in navigation,” unexpectedly walked into the cliff and couldn’t move, broke through the guardrail, and hung directly on the cliff for three days.
Or Trust Computer Language Translation
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Jamaica Mistake?
A federal judge colorfully rejected a US Capitol riot defendant's request for a 10-day getaway in Jamaica on Thursday, the one-year anniversary of the attack on the Capitol.
Anthony Williams -- who has pleaded not guilty to charges related to the January 6 riot -- had asked to travel to meet his girlfriend's family.
According to Williams' request, "(h)e would stay in a home owned by his girlfriend's father, and intends to spend time working with a local non-profit, St. Anthony's Kitchen, in Negril, Jamaica."
But, as Chief Judge Beryl Howell put it, Williams wanted "to leave the Michigan winter to spend ten days in the warmer climes of Jamaica."
Howell wrote in her denial Thursday, "Defendant surrendered his entitlement to unfettered international travel when, also 'more than a year' ago, on December 30, 2020, he allegedly announced his intent to 'Storm the Swamp'...and one week later, on January 6, 2021, followed through by joining a mob at the Capitol that, in his words, 'took [that] f***ing building.'"
Howell also noted that Williams allegedly said the day was "the proudest day of (his) life."
"This Court will not commemorate the one-year anniversary of this attack on the Capitol by granting defendant's request for non-essential foreign travel when he is awaiting judgment for his actions on that day," Howell concluded.
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Confused About Jobs? Here Are Some of Today's Headlines
"Economy gained just 199,000 jobs in December, far below expectations"
"Unemployment rate falls below 4% for first time since the pandemic hit"
"U.S. Employers Add 199,000 Jobs As Unemployment Falls To 3.9%"
"Employers add dismal 199,000 jobs in December, unemployment rate hits 3.9%" - ABC News
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Penny Wise, Pound Foolish
The U.S. Department of Labor is suing the auto repair shop that made headlines last year by paying a former employee his final paycheck in pennies.
The suit, filed Dec. 30 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, alleges that A OK Walker Autoworks and its owner Miles Walker, discriminated against Andreas Flaten because he had called the Department of Labor to report not receiving his last paycheck.
"Within hours of learning that Mr. Flaten had complained to [the Wage and Hour Division] about not receiving his last paycheck, defendants decided to pay Mr. Flaten in pennies," the suit alleged.
In March of last year, Flaten found 91,500 pennies in his driveway, according to the suit. "Defendants left a copy of Mr. Flaten’s paycheck with an expletive written on the outside."
The Department of Labor also found that A OK Walker Autoworks in Peachtree City had failed to pay employees for overtime work since at least April of 2019.
The suit also alleged that A OK Walker Autoworks failed "to make, keep and preserve adequate and accurate records of the persons employed and of the wages, hours and other conditions and practices of employment maintained by them," which is required by the Department of Labor.
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Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow
South Korean presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung isn’t bald. But he is enjoying the support of many bald voters over his push for government payments for hair loss treatments.
Since his proposal was disclosed earlier this week, hair loss has emerged as a hot-button topic ahead of March’s presidential vote in South Korea, where previous elections have focused on North Korea’s nuclear program, relations with the U.S., scandals and economic problems.
Online communities for bald people are flooded with messages supporting his proposal. There is also strong criticism that it’s just a populism-driven campaign pledge by Lee, the governing party candidate, to win votes.
Messages on social media include, “Jae-myung bro. I love you. I’ll implant you in the Blue House” and “Your Excellency, Mr. President! You’re giving new hope to bald people for the fist time in Korea.”
Lee told reporters Wednesday that he thinks hair regrowth treatments should be covered by the national health insurance program.
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The Other Joe Has His Finest Hour. Fighting Joe Emerges.
Biden tells the truth in the best speech of his presidency
True, the president praised “some courageous men and women in the Republican Party … standing against” Trump’s lies. He always has been ready to work with those who hold “a shared belief in democracy.” Then he dropped the hammer on the rest of the GOP.
“Too many others are transforming that party into something else,” he said. “They seem no longer to want to be the party of Lincoln, Eisenhower, Reagan, the Bushes.”
“At this moment, we must decide: What kind of nation are we going to be? Are we going to be a nation that accepts political violence as a norm? Are we going to be a nation where we allow partisan election officials to overturn the legally expressed will of the people? Are we going to be a nation that lives not by the light of the truth but in the shadow of lies?
BTW, Prostitutes Are Not Called "Hookers" Because of Fighting Joe Hooker's Frequent Visits to Them.
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We Are Waiting, Merrick
Garland hints at bigger things in Jan. 6 probes, as Dems call for scrutiny of Trump
Early in his remarks, Garland reinforced the idea that the investigations are far from complete and that these efforts, by necessity, were starting small.
“We resolve more-straightforward cases first because they provide the evidentiary foundation for more-complex cases,” Garland said.
Soon after came the money quote.
“The actions we have taken thus far will not be our last,” he said. “The Justice Department remains committed to holding all January 6 perpetrators at any level accountable under law, whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy.”
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My Opinion: The QOP Doesn't Embrace the Big Lie Because They Are Afraid of Trump
They do it as a pretext to rig elections and hold on to power.
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Groveling Ted Strikes Again
Cruz Begs Tucker to Forgive Him. Tucker Makes Cruz Beg Harder.
In a moment that will draw parallels to Cruz humiliating himself before Trump in 2016, the Texas senator appeared on Tucker’s show to grovel for forgiveness.
A day after Tucker Carlson publicly scolded him for the unforgivable sin of calling the Jan. 6 insurrection a “violent terrorist attack,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) hightailed it to the Fox News star’s show on Thursday night to grovel for forgiveness.
Yet, while Cruz repeatedly claimed he’d made a “mistake” due to “sloppy and frankly dumb” phrasing, Carlson wouldn’t let the Texas senator off the hook—prompting the one-time presidential contender to plead harder for Carlson’s approval.
CNN’s “New Day” anchors went to town on Sen. Ted Cruz after the Texas Republican obsequiously apologized to Fox News’ Tucker Carlson for calling the Jan. 6 insurrection a “violent terrorist attack.”
Cruz “rushed to the misinformation mother ship faster than he fled to Cancun during a deadly deep freeze in his state to bend the knee before Tucker Carlson, even though the Fox host isn’t a serious or even a believable person,” said CNN’s Brianna Keilar, who further branded Carlson a “bullshit artist.”
“I thought he handled it better in ‘Game of Thrones’ when he was Theon Greyjoy to Ramsay Bolton there. Honestly, that was like Reek,” cracked co-anchor John Berman, referencing the humiliating pet name Bolton gave to Greyjoy following his castration in the hit HBO series.
“Oh, I was so uncomfortable. I was so uncomfortable watching that,” Berman said of Cruz’s groveling with Carlson.
“Tucker Carlson will be picking his teeth this morning with Ted Cruz’s spine is sort of what I think,” Keilar added.
"Reek Cruz"
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I Don't Get Tired of These Stories
Far-right podcast host Douglas Kuzma—who was an outspoken critic of the COVID-19 vaccine—has died while battling the coronavirus, which he contracted after attending a QAnon-friendly gathering in Texas that right-wingers baselessly claimed was the victim of an anthrax attack.
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News Flash: Alex Jones is a Liar
For years, conspiracy theorist and disinformation peddler Alex Jones has told his supporters that the only thing keeping his media empire afloat is their financial backing.
“As much begging as I do, we can barely pay the bills,” Jones told a caller on Thursday during a segment on his radio show promoting the Infowars store. “I’m not going to stop growth and let them push us backwards. I need your help, Frank. I need your help!”
Despite his pleas for money, Infowars’ store ― where Jones sells an amalgamation of dietary supplements and survival gear ― made $165 million in sales from September 2015 to the end of 2018, according to court filings related to a lawsuit Jones recently lost over his lies about the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre.
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I Predicted This
Extremist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) was back tweeting on Thursday, just days after her personal account was banned and she demanded a GOP boycott of the platform.
The conspiracy theorist used her congressional account for the first time since Dec. 24 to accuse Democrats and the media of overhyping the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
Twitter permanently suspended Greene’s personal account on Sunday following repeated violations of its COVID-19 standards.
It did not nix her congressional account.
Greene, in an interview earlier this week with Fox News personality Tucker Carlson, responded to her personal ban by calling on Republican colleagues to leave Twitter because it “has declared way on our party.”
Critics suggested Greene’s return to the platform was another display of her hypocrisy.
Not That My Predictions Was a Great Achievement. A Clam Could Have Predicted It.
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The Previous Guy Doesn't Seem to Know His Own Name
Trump complained in a statement that Biden “used my name today to try to further divide America.”
But Colbert was standing by with a fact-check.
“No, he didn’t,” Colbert said. “He didn’t use your name once, you nimrod.”
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525,600 Minutes in 2 Minutes
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You Might Want to Report Your Venmo Income in Your Taxes
As of Jan. 1, mobile payment apps like Venmo, PayPal, Zelle and Cash App are required to report commercial transactions totaling more than $600 per year to the Internal Revenue Service.
The change to the tax code was signed into law as part of the American Rescue Plan Act, the Covid-19 response bill passed in March.
Previously, these mobile payment apps only had to tell the tax authorities when a person had over 200 commercial transactions per year that exceeded $20,000 in total value, the IRS said.
Starting Jan. 1, the IRS said, if a person accrues more than $600 annually in commercial payments on an app like Venmo, then Venmo “must file and furnish a Form 1099-K” for them — reporting on all the commercial income they collected through the app.
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Does Your Child Sound Like a Dog or a Seal? It Might Be the Croup
Covid-19's omicron variant appears to be affecting children under age 5 in a new way: a harsh, barking cough known as croup.
While croup generally is not harmful, it can be frightening for parents already on edge about their babies and toddlers, too young for the Covid-19 vaccine, becoming infected with the virus.
Doctors say this is most likely occurring because it appears omicron tends to settle higher up in the respiratory tract, rather than deeper in the lungs.
"Little kids' airways are so narrow that it takes far less inflammation to clog them," said Dr. Buddy Creech, a pediatric infectious disease expert and director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Research Program at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.
When a child with tiny, inflamed airways breathes, it makes a distinctive noise, and can result in a cough that sounds like a dog or a seal.
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The Boston Marathon Bomber Got a Stimulus Check?
Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev should be forced to use a $1,400 COVID-19 stimulus payment he received to help cover the millions of dollars he was ordered to pay his victims, prosecutors say.
Tsarnaev, 28, was convicted in 2015 of 30 charges for his role in the 2013 bombing at the Boston Marathon finish line that killed three people and wounded more than 260. He was ultimately sentenced to life in prison – and ordered to pay more than $101 million in criminal restitution. Tsarnaev, being held at the federal "supermax" prison in Florence, Colorado, has paid about $2,200 so far, U.S. Attorney Nathaniel Mendell says in his filing.
Tsarnaev received the stimulus payment last June and has a total of less than $4,000 in his inmate account. Prosecutors want all of it funneled to the bombing victims, saying he has been giving money to relatives and others but has not been paying down the restitution.
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CDC doesn't do a good job of reporting around holidays.
Doses Administered 7-Day Average | Number of People Receiving 1 or More Doses | Number of People 2 or More Doses | New Cases 7-Day Average | Deaths 7-Day Average | |
| Jan 7 | 1,226,151 | 246,050,320 | 207,229,983 | ||
| Jan 6 | 1,164,127 | 245,653,518 | 207,016,514 | 614,552 | 1,350 |
| Jan 5 | 1,117,999 | 245,278,020 | 206,797,799 | 586,391 | 1,245 |
| Jan 4 | 1,093,005 | 244,947,293 | 206,581,659 | 554,328 | 1,238 |
| Jan 3 | No Data | 491,652 | 1,165 | ||
| Jan 2 | No Data | 438,082 | 1,174 | ||
| Jan 1 | No Data | 411,871 | 1,151 | ||
| Dec 31 | No Data | 391,098 | 1,135 | ||
| Dec 30 | 1,234,917 | 243,527,564 | 205,811,394 | 360,276 | 1,144 |
| Dec 29 | 1,042,911 | 243,182,423 | 205,638,307 | 316,277 | 1,100 |
| Dec 28 | 1,091,279 | 242,813,374 | 205,420,745 | 277,241 | 1,085 |
| Dec 27 | 1,034,442 | 242,433,620 | 205,196,973 | 240,408 | 1,096 |
| Dec 26 | No Data | 206,577 | 1,041 | ||
| Dec 25 | No Data | 196,511 | 1,053 | ||
| Dec 24 | No Data | 195,713 | 1,108 | ||
| Dec 23 | 1,189,954 | 241,520,561 | 204,740,321 | 192,453 | 1,199 |
| Dec 22 | 1,283,244 | 241,583,543 | 204,818,717 | 176,097 | 1,213 |
| Dec 21 | 1,542,936 | 241,132,288 | 204,578,725 | 161,261 | 1,223 |
| Dec 20 | 1,554,261 | 241,881,712 | 204,098,982 | 149,331 | 1,188 |
| Dec 19 | 1,558,720 | 241,571,084 | 203,926,479 | 132,659 | 1,169 |
| Dec 18 | 1,562,366 | 241,205,528 | 203,727,446 | 127,445 | 1,182 |
| Dec 17 | 2,065,555 | 240,775,382 | 203,479,206 | 125,775 | 1,182 |
| Dec 16 | 2,043,207 | 240,321,022 | 203,159,327 | 122,296 | 1,179 |
| Dec 15 | 1,795,384 | 239,975,167 | 202,748,005 | 119,546 | 1,187 |
| Dec 14 | 1,904,464 | 239,553,956 | 202,504,037 | 117,950 | 1,143 |
| Dec 13 | 1,951,329 | 239,274,656 | 202,246,698 | 117,890 | 1,147 |
| Dec 12 | 1,984,721 | 239,008,166 | 201,975,235 | 116,742 | 1,131 |
| Dec 11 | 2,020,853 | 238,679,707 | 201,688,550 | 116,893 | 1,131 |
| Dec 10 | 1,721,570 | 238,143,066 | 201,279,582 | 118,575 | 1,146 |
| Dec 9 | 1,583,662 | 237,468,725 | 200,717,387 | 118,052 | 1,089 |
| Dec 8 | 1,611,831 | 237,087,380 | 200,400,533 | 118,515 | 1,092 |
| Dec 7 | 1,781,389 | 236,363,835 | 199,687,439 | 117,488 | 1,097 |
| Feb 16, 2021 | 1,716,311 | 39,670,551 | 15,015,434 | 78,292 |
| At Least One Dose | Fully Vaccinated | % of Vaccinated W/ Boosters | |
| % of Total Population | 74.1% | 62.4% | 35.6% |
| % of Population 5+ | 78.8% | 66.4% | |
| % of Population 12+ | 84.2% | 71.4% | 38.7% |
| % of Population 18+ | 86.2% | 73.1% | 51.5% |
| % of Population 65+ | 95.0% | 87.8% | 59.9% |
California Precipitation (Updated Tuesdays)
| Percent of Average for this Date | Last Week | |
| Northern Sierra Precipitation | 158% | 170% |
| San Joaquin Precipitation | 156% | 170% |
| Tulare Basin Precipitation | 145% | 151% |
| Snow Water Content - North | 135% | 134% |
| Snow Water Content - Central | 148% | 148% |
| Snow Water Content - South | 160% | 158% |
Reservoirs are still low, but they take time to refill and it may take the spring snow melt.
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When Employer Mandates Are Enforced, Typically Around 1% Leave Their Jobs, Rather Than Comply
At this point 86% of the adult population has had a jab.
In spite of what polls may say, I think the ultimate portion of the population that won't get a shot is 5% to 10%.
OTOH, a lot of Americans have been very slow to get one.
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I Will Bring a Mountain to London! Some Genius Decided a Pile of Dirt Would Attract Shoppers.
The 25m-high artificial hill at one end of Oxford Street dubbed the Marble Arch Mound opened in July. It was supposed to help lure shoppers freed from lockdown away from internet stores and back to Britain’s best-known shopping thoroughfare. But once the first visitors were allowed on it, it was revealed to be a mess. Rain swept turf off the slopes, leaving bare scaffolding on view. What grass remained turned brown. To Britons familiar with children’s television, it was reminiscent of a shabby, low-rent Teletubbyland.
During construction the cost ballooned from £3.3m ($4.7m) to £6m. After it opened, plans to charge for entry were scrapped. The deputy leader of Westminster Council, which commissioned the mound from mvrdv, a Dutch design company, resigned. Opposition councillors said the mound was “an international embarrassment” and called for it to be dismantled immediately. It is due to come down as planned on January 9th.
It has managed to draw in passers-by, perhaps in search of a chuckle. By December 13th 215,000 had visited, not far off Westminster Council’s goal of 280,000 (which was based on plans to charge up to £8 for entry). On a sunny day the view is decent, taking in Hyde Park, the Shard and the London Eye (an unfortunate reminder that other, better views are available). On a recent morning a dozen people milled about on its rickety viewing platform. “We wouldn’t have paid, mind you,” says a couple from Bristol. The structure feels “temporary”, says another sightseer. You enter via a ramp alongside some scrappy planting, and leave through the interior, a maze of scaffolding that creaks with every step.
An $8 Million Dollar Hill
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That's Still Around $42,000 Above What It's Really Worth
Bitcoin prices have fallen to their lowest level in months following remarks from the US Federal Reserve.
The crypto-currency dropped in value from $47,000 (£34,700) earlier this week to less than $42,000 (£31,000) per digital coin.
It follows minutes from a meeting of the Federal Reserve, which suggested it may raise interest rates.
Political events in Kazakhstan have also raised concerns about the network's capacity.
Because of its global and decentralised nature, attributing a rise or fall in the price of Bitcoin to a single cause is difficult. But many commentators have pointed to the release of the Federal Reserve's December meeting notes as one factor.
The minutes suggest that America's central bank might raise interest rates sooner than some had anticipated, and sell off some of its assets.
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Today's Safety Tip: Don't Always Believe Your Navigation System
A truck in China “believes in navigation,” unexpectedly walked into the cliff and couldn’t move, broke through the guardrail, and hung directly on the cliff for three days.
Or Trust Computer Language Translation
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Jamaica Mistake?
A federal judge colorfully rejected a US Capitol riot defendant's request for a 10-day getaway in Jamaica on Thursday, the one-year anniversary of the attack on the Capitol.
Anthony Williams -- who has pleaded not guilty to charges related to the January 6 riot -- had asked to travel to meet his girlfriend's family.
According to Williams' request, "(h)e would stay in a home owned by his girlfriend's father, and intends to spend time working with a local non-profit, St. Anthony's Kitchen, in Negril, Jamaica."
But, as Chief Judge Beryl Howell put it, Williams wanted "to leave the Michigan winter to spend ten days in the warmer climes of Jamaica."
Howell wrote in her denial Thursday, "Defendant surrendered his entitlement to unfettered international travel when, also 'more than a year' ago, on December 30, 2020, he allegedly announced his intent to 'Storm the Swamp'...and one week later, on January 6, 2021, followed through by joining a mob at the Capitol that, in his words, 'took [that] f***ing building.'"
Howell also noted that Williams allegedly said the day was "the proudest day of (his) life."
"This Court will not commemorate the one-year anniversary of this attack on the Capitol by granting defendant's request for non-essential foreign travel when he is awaiting judgment for his actions on that day," Howell concluded.
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Confused About Jobs? Here Are Some of Today's Headlines
"Economy gained just 199,000 jobs in December, far below expectations"
"Unemployment rate falls below 4% for first time since the pandemic hit"
"U.S. Employers Add 199,000 Jobs As Unemployment Falls To 3.9%"
"Employers add dismal 199,000 jobs in December, unemployment rate hits 3.9%" - ABC News
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Penny Wise, Pound Foolish
The U.S. Department of Labor is suing the auto repair shop that made headlines last year by paying a former employee his final paycheck in pennies.
The suit, filed Dec. 30 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, alleges that A OK Walker Autoworks and its owner Miles Walker, discriminated against Andreas Flaten because he had called the Department of Labor to report not receiving his last paycheck.
"Within hours of learning that Mr. Flaten had complained to [the Wage and Hour Division] about not receiving his last paycheck, defendants decided to pay Mr. Flaten in pennies," the suit alleged.
In March of last year, Flaten found 91,500 pennies in his driveway, according to the suit. "Defendants left a copy of Mr. Flaten’s paycheck with an expletive written on the outside."
The Department of Labor also found that A OK Walker Autoworks in Peachtree City had failed to pay employees for overtime work since at least April of 2019.
The suit also alleged that A OK Walker Autoworks failed "to make, keep and preserve adequate and accurate records of the persons employed and of the wages, hours and other conditions and practices of employment maintained by them," which is required by the Department of Labor.
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Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow
South Korean presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung isn’t bald. But he is enjoying the support of many bald voters over his push for government payments for hair loss treatments.
Since his proposal was disclosed earlier this week, hair loss has emerged as a hot-button topic ahead of March’s presidential vote in South Korea, where previous elections have focused on North Korea’s nuclear program, relations with the U.S., scandals and economic problems.
Online communities for bald people are flooded with messages supporting his proposal. There is also strong criticism that it’s just a populism-driven campaign pledge by Lee, the governing party candidate, to win votes.
Messages on social media include, “Jae-myung bro. I love you. I’ll implant you in the Blue House” and “Your Excellency, Mr. President! You’re giving new hope to bald people for the fist time in Korea.”
Lee told reporters Wednesday that he thinks hair regrowth treatments should be covered by the national health insurance program.
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The Other Joe Has His Finest Hour. Fighting Joe Emerges.
Biden tells the truth in the best speech of his presidency
True, the president praised “some courageous men and women in the Republican Party … standing against” Trump’s lies. He always has been ready to work with those who hold “a shared belief in democracy.” Then he dropped the hammer on the rest of the GOP.
“Too many others are transforming that party into something else,” he said. “They seem no longer to want to be the party of Lincoln, Eisenhower, Reagan, the Bushes.”
“At this moment, we must decide: What kind of nation are we going to be? Are we going to be a nation that accepts political violence as a norm? Are we going to be a nation where we allow partisan election officials to overturn the legally expressed will of the people? Are we going to be a nation that lives not by the light of the truth but in the shadow of lies?
BTW, Prostitutes Are Not Called "Hookers" Because of Fighting Joe Hooker's Frequent Visits to Them.
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We Are Waiting, Merrick
Garland hints at bigger things in Jan. 6 probes, as Dems call for scrutiny of Trump
Early in his remarks, Garland reinforced the idea that the investigations are far from complete and that these efforts, by necessity, were starting small.
“We resolve more-straightforward cases first because they provide the evidentiary foundation for more-complex cases,” Garland said.
Soon after came the money quote.
“The actions we have taken thus far will not be our last,” he said. “The Justice Department remains committed to holding all January 6 perpetrators at any level accountable under law, whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy.”
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My Opinion: The QOP Doesn't Embrace the Big Lie Because They Are Afraid of Trump
They do it as a pretext to rig elections and hold on to power.
--------------
Groveling Ted Strikes Again
Cruz Begs Tucker to Forgive Him. Tucker Makes Cruz Beg Harder.
In a moment that will draw parallels to Cruz humiliating himself before Trump in 2016, the Texas senator appeared on Tucker’s show to grovel for forgiveness.
A day after Tucker Carlson publicly scolded him for the unforgivable sin of calling the Jan. 6 insurrection a “violent terrorist attack,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) hightailed it to the Fox News star’s show on Thursday night to grovel for forgiveness.
Yet, while Cruz repeatedly claimed he’d made a “mistake” due to “sloppy and frankly dumb” phrasing, Carlson wouldn’t let the Texas senator off the hook—prompting the one-time presidential contender to plead harder for Carlson’s approval.
CNN’s “New Day” anchors went to town on Sen. Ted Cruz after the Texas Republican obsequiously apologized to Fox News’ Tucker Carlson for calling the Jan. 6 insurrection a “violent terrorist attack.”
Cruz “rushed to the misinformation mother ship faster than he fled to Cancun during a deadly deep freeze in his state to bend the knee before Tucker Carlson, even though the Fox host isn’t a serious or even a believable person,” said CNN’s Brianna Keilar, who further branded Carlson a “bullshit artist.”
“I thought he handled it better in ‘Game of Thrones’ when he was Theon Greyjoy to Ramsay Bolton there. Honestly, that was like Reek,” cracked co-anchor John Berman, referencing the humiliating pet name Bolton gave to Greyjoy following his castration in the hit HBO series.
“Oh, I was so uncomfortable. I was so uncomfortable watching that,” Berman said of Cruz’s groveling with Carlson.
“Tucker Carlson will be picking his teeth this morning with Ted Cruz’s spine is sort of what I think,” Keilar added.
"Reek Cruz"
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I Don't Get Tired of These Stories
Far-right podcast host Douglas Kuzma—who was an outspoken critic of the COVID-19 vaccine—has died while battling the coronavirus, which he contracted after attending a QAnon-friendly gathering in Texas that right-wingers baselessly claimed was the victim of an anthrax attack.
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News Flash: Alex Jones is a Liar
For years, conspiracy theorist and disinformation peddler Alex Jones has told his supporters that the only thing keeping his media empire afloat is their financial backing.
“As much begging as I do, we can barely pay the bills,” Jones told a caller on Thursday during a segment on his radio show promoting the Infowars store. “I’m not going to stop growth and let them push us backwards. I need your help, Frank. I need your help!”
Despite his pleas for money, Infowars’ store ― where Jones sells an amalgamation of dietary supplements and survival gear ― made $165 million in sales from September 2015 to the end of 2018, according to court filings related to a lawsuit Jones recently lost over his lies about the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre.
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I Predicted This
Extremist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) was back tweeting on Thursday, just days after her personal account was banned and she demanded a GOP boycott of the platform.
The conspiracy theorist used her congressional account for the first time since Dec. 24 to accuse Democrats and the media of overhyping the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
Twitter permanently suspended Greene’s personal account on Sunday following repeated violations of its COVID-19 standards.
It did not nix her congressional account.
Greene, in an interview earlier this week with Fox News personality Tucker Carlson, responded to her personal ban by calling on Republican colleagues to leave Twitter because it “has declared way on our party.”
Critics suggested Greene’s return to the platform was another display of her hypocrisy.
Not That My Predictions Was a Great Achievement. A Clam Could Have Predicted It.
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The Previous Guy Doesn't Seem to Know His Own Name
Trump complained in a statement that Biden “used my name today to try to further divide America.”
But Colbert was standing by with a fact-check.
“No, he didn’t,” Colbert said. “He didn’t use your name once, you nimrod.”
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525,600 Minutes in 2 Minutes
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You Might Want to Report Your Venmo Income in Your Taxes
As of Jan. 1, mobile payment apps like Venmo, PayPal, Zelle and Cash App are required to report commercial transactions totaling more than $600 per year to the Internal Revenue Service.
The change to the tax code was signed into law as part of the American Rescue Plan Act, the Covid-19 response bill passed in March.
Previously, these mobile payment apps only had to tell the tax authorities when a person had over 200 commercial transactions per year that exceeded $20,000 in total value, the IRS said.
Starting Jan. 1, the IRS said, if a person accrues more than $600 annually in commercial payments on an app like Venmo, then Venmo “must file and furnish a Form 1099-K” for them — reporting on all the commercial income they collected through the app.
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Does Your Child Sound Like a Dog or a Seal? It Might Be the Croup
Covid-19's omicron variant appears to be affecting children under age 5 in a new way: a harsh, barking cough known as croup.
While croup generally is not harmful, it can be frightening for parents already on edge about their babies and toddlers, too young for the Covid-19 vaccine, becoming infected with the virus.
Doctors say this is most likely occurring because it appears omicron tends to settle higher up in the respiratory tract, rather than deeper in the lungs.
"Little kids' airways are so narrow that it takes far less inflammation to clog them," said Dr. Buddy Creech, a pediatric infectious disease expert and director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Research Program at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.
When a child with tiny, inflamed airways breathes, it makes a distinctive noise, and can result in a cough that sounds like a dog or a seal.
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The Boston Marathon Bomber Got a Stimulus Check?
Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev should be forced to use a $1,400 COVID-19 stimulus payment he received to help cover the millions of dollars he was ordered to pay his victims, prosecutors say.
Tsarnaev, 28, was convicted in 2015 of 30 charges for his role in the 2013 bombing at the Boston Marathon finish line that killed three people and wounded more than 260. He was ultimately sentenced to life in prison – and ordered to pay more than $101 million in criminal restitution. Tsarnaev, being held at the federal "supermax" prison in Florence, Colorado, has paid about $2,200 so far, U.S. Attorney Nathaniel Mendell says in his filing.
Tsarnaev received the stimulus payment last June and has a total of less than $4,000 in his inmate account. Prosecutors want all of it funneled to the bombing victims, saying he has been giving money to relatives and others but has not been paying down the restitution.
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