Post by mhbruin on Feb 3, 2022 10:28:58 GMT -8
US Vaccine Data - We Have Now Administered 541 Million Shots (Population 333 Million)
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California Precipitation (Updated Tuesday Feb 2)
There has been no significant rain since the first week in January. There are no big storms in the 10-day forecast. After a great start, this could still turn out to be a bad season.
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Today's Worst Person in the World Nominees
One Less "Worst Person" Today
Islamic State leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi has been killed in a U.S. military raid in Syria, President Joe Biden announced on Thursday.
U.S. special forces landed in helicopters and assaulted a house in a rebel-held corner of northwest Syria, clashing for two hours with gunmen, witnesses said. The commandos were aided by helicopter gunships, armed Reaper drones and attack jets.
As troops approached the building to capture him, al-Qurayshi detonated a bomb that killed himself and several other people, including his wife and children, Biden said in remarks from the White House.
The decision to deploy a Special Forces team to target Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi showed he was considered an important figure by Washington.
Islamic State (IS) group and al-Qaeda figures over the years have often been targeted by drone strikes.
Sending teams on the ground is far riskier and has been reserved for what are seen as "high-value" targets or those where the conditions are challenging - most notably the raid that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011.
Such raids are sometimes used when the US wants to capture an individual alive or there is some other intelligence they are seeking to collect from a site.
The risks were apparent in this latest mission with a helicopter having to be destroyed, although no US personnel are reported to have been injured.
A special forces mission also led to the death of the founder and previous leader of IS Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. He died in October 2019 when he blew himself up when he was cornered by US forces in Syria. Al-Qurayshi, who took over as leader of IS, is reported to have also blown himself up during the latest raid.
The US also said al-Qurayshi "was one of ISIS's most senior ideologues" and "helped drive and justify the abduction, slaughter, and trafficking of the Yazidi religious minority in north-west Iraq and also led some of the group's global terrorist operations".
Who Builds a Yacht Too Big to Launch?
Rotterdam has confirmed it will dismantle a historic bridge to allow a superyacht built for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to fit through.
The record-breaking luxury yacht is being built by Dutch firm Oceanco and was linked to Mr Bezos last year.
The vessel is reported to be 417ft (127m) long and too tall to fit through the Koningshaven Bridge.
A spokesman for the mayor confirmed the plan to reporters, with Mr Bezos set to foot the bill through Oceanco.
Reports emerged in Dutch media on Tuesday that the middle section of the Dutch city's bridge, known locally as De Hef, would be temporarily removed to allow the 130ft (40m) high boat to sail through.
The move is controversial because the steel bridge has a long history, and is now a national monument. It previously went through a major renovation which saw it out of action from 2014 to 2017, when officials said it would not be dismantled again.
The AFP news agency quoted the mayor's office as saying the jobs created by the construction of the vessel prompted the plan, and pledged the bridge would be rebuilt in its current form.
120,000 Nominees
GoFundMe has paused donations to truck drivers protesting against vaccine mandates in Canada.
Donations to the page "Freedom Convoy 2022" had reached C$10m ($7.9m; £5.8m), by Wednesday afternoon with about C$1m released so far to organisers.
A number of officials have suggested legal action against the platform to prevent the release of more funds.
Nearly a week-long, the protest began over a mandate requiring Covid jabs to cross the US-Canada border.
Of the money raised from more than 120,000 donors, GoFundMe said it has been monitoring the fundraiser to ensure the cash is going to the intended recipients.
Earlier on Wednesday, Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly suggested that many of the donations had come from the United States.
Who's Dumb Enough to Take on Rachel Maddow?
Nobody ever mistook Donald Trump Jr for a Mensa member. His all too frequent appearances on Fox News showcase his ignorance, such as his visit with Sean Hannity to support Vladimir Putin and champion Russia's position on Ukraine. Even worse, Junior recently posted a video proudly displaying his queasy demeanor that suggests a serious substance abuse problem.
Undeterred, the Trump spawn thought that he could take advantage of the announcement that MSNBC host, Rachel Maddow, is taking a brief hiatus to work on some other projects, including a film (with Ben Stiller and Lorne Michaels) based on her book and podcast, "Bag Man."
So Donnie tweeted that it "Seems the TRUTH finally broke her!" Let's just set aside the fact that there is no rational meaning to that remark. What "TRUTH" is he referring to? Because she presents so much of it every day. And what does he mean by "broke"? Could it be just that she was overwhelmed by the abundancy of provable lies promulgated by Trump and his Propaganda Ministry (aka Fox News)?
They Don't Seem to Care About the Millions of Afghanis Starving to Death
2021’s fundamental development in the nonstate actor space was the Taliban’s dramatic defeat of the Afghan government. Long gaining battlefield momentum as Afghan security forces remained ridden with problems and Afghan politicians remained caught up in parochial struggles, the Taliban took Kabul and the rest of the country amidst the departure of U.S. and international forces.
Around the world, jihadis touted the Taliban’s defeat of the U.S. superpower and its Afghanistan project. Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an anti-Pakistan group operating in both Pakistan and Afghanistan with close connections to the Haqqani network (one of the Taliban’s power poles) extolled the Taliban’s success. So did Somalia’s al-Shabab, whose websites closely followed and hailed the Taliban’s battlefield progress and victory for weeks. Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad sent congratulatory notes. Even Yemen’s Houthis declared that the Taliban, with its history of brutality toward Shia, showed that foreign “occupations” are bound to fail.
Expect an Appearance on Dancing With the Stars Next.
Two judges on "The Masked Singer" walked off after Rudy Giuliani unmasked himself at the end of a show taping, a source close to the show told CNN Wednesday.
Robin Thicke and Ken Jeong walked off stage following the revelation of Giuliani as a contestant on the popular Fox reality show in which contenders perform in full costume until they are eliminated.
The former attorney to ex-President Donald Trump and former New York mayor was taping an episode that is expected to air next month, the source said, without providing additional detail.
When She Offered "H", I Thought Maybe She Was Offering Heroin Instead of Something Really Dangerous
APennsylvania restaurant is under investigation after local law enforcement received numerous complaints that the owner's daughter was using its Facebook page to push bogus Covid-19 cures.
The reports that Christine Mason was allegedly misusing the page belonging to the Taste of Sicily restaurant was referred to the Pennsylvania attorney general's office, Palmyra Police Chief Andrew Winters confirmed Wednesday.
In a video posted on Jan. 26, Mason could be seen telling viewers to “read between the lines” and that she has “life-saving information” for people contending with what she called the "C-word."
"If you guys know anybody who is sick and who needs 'I' or 'H' ... we now have a resource," Mason said. "This place is shipping it for free."
Based on the remarks of people who interacted with Mason on social media, these appeared to be references to the horse de-wormer ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, neither of which have gotten government approval for treating Covid-19.
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COVID Cases Continue Steep Decline
Deaths have yet to peak.
Vaccinations have been slowing, but it is not as bad as the data above indicates.
Why Are Deaths So High?
American’s are dying at a higher rate than other wealthy nations because this is a “pandemic of the unvaccinated.”
Vaccinations rates are lower in America because the Republican Party and right-wing media have been actively pushing a false narrative that suggests the vaccines are either a “threat” or are “ineffective.”
Republican politicians and right-wing media have also been encouraging the use of “alternative” treatments, including colloidal silver, hydroxychloroquine, zinc, ivermectin, large doses of vitamins, and drinking urine. None of these are effective at improving COVID-19 outcomes.
Republicans and right-wing media have also launched continuous assaults on Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and state and county health directors. These actions have directly undercut support for figures who, before the pandemic, enjoyed near-universal support.
In multiple states, Republican governors have issued executive orders—or Republican legislatures have passed bills—designed to undercut medical authorities, limit the ability of local governments to promote safe practices, and direct anger over the pandemic toward those who are working hardest to end it.
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Nothing Makes Me Worry More than a Political Scientist Saying "Probably", But I Hope He is Right
Why Voter Suppression Probably Won’t Work
— In the aftermath of the high-turnout 2020 election, many Republican-controlled state governments have passed legislation that Democrats believe will harm their party’s voter turnout.
— However, voting rules did not appear to have much impact on turnout and had no measurable impact on vote margins at the state level in the 2020 presidential election.
— Both voter turnout and voting decisions in 2020 were driven by the strong preferences held by the large majority of voters between the major party candidates.
The Full Article
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The Other Reason For Optimism: Money, Money, Money Money
This is some damned impressive momentum: “Stacey Abrams has raised more than $9.2 million since entering the race for governor in December, setting a blistering fundraising pace that eclipsed Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.”
That’s $9.2 million in just two months. In a midterm election year. Over the holidays.
Abrams is reporting about $7.2 million cash on hand and has received contributions from more than 100,000 donors. She’s going to need every bit of that and more to defeat the GOP in this state. They’re still stinging over the fact that Joe Biden, Jon Ossoff, and Raphael Warnock won the state in 2020, and they will do everything in their power to stop her.
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Don't Look Up!
The International Space Station (ISS) will continue working until 2030, before plunging into the Pacific Ocean in early 2031, according to Nasa.
In a report this week the US space agency said the ISS will crash into a part of the ocean known as Point Nemo.
This is the point furthest from land on planet Earth, also known as the spacecraft cemetery.
Many old satellites and other space debris have crashed there, including the Russian space station Mir in 2001.
Here's Hoping Their Aim is Good
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16 Shots and a Cover Up = 3 Years
From "16 shots and a cover-up!" to 16 shots and an early release from prison.
The former became a familiar rallying cry for protesters on the streets of Chicago after the 2014 murder of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. The latter is the newest reality for former Chicago Police officer Jason Van Dyke, who was released from prison Thursday after serving just a little more than three years of a nearly seven-year prison sentence for killing the Black teenager.
Van Dyke's early release is tied to good behavior in prison. While it's less than half of his original sentence, it was largely expected.
"October 20, 2014, will always be the worst day of my life," Van Dyke read from a written statement during his 2019 sentencing hearing, referencing the day he shot McDonald 16 times. "It was due to my actions that the McDonald family has suffered pain," he continued.
At the time, Prosecutor Joe McMahon had asked for Van Dyke to serve 18-20 years.
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You Should See the One That Got Away!
A Florida man and his grandson couldn't believe their eyes when they reeled in more than just some scrap metal and bottle caps during a magnet fishing weekend trip.
Duane Smith and his 11-year-old grandson, Allen Cadwalader, were out on a magnet fishing trip on January 30 in Homestead, a suburb of Miami, Florida, when within five minutes of their arrival, Cadwalader reeled in two sniper rifle receivers and bolt carrier groups wrapped in shrink wrap, Smith told CNN.
This was their first time magnet fishing, Smith said, and he chose a bridge with a canal near where he normally goes hiking.
Magnet fishing uses a strong magnet attached to a thick rope in an attempt to fish out metal objects that have sunk to the bottom of canals, lakes, ponds and rivers.
The weapons were covered in debris, so once they got home, Smith and Cadwalader cleaned them off for 30 minutes to an hour to find that the serial numbers had been ground off.
The weapons were turned over to Miami-Dade Police and will be sent to the forensics lab to be processed, if possible, depending on the actual condition of the weapons, Detective Alvaro Zabaleta with Miami-Dade Police told CNN. Processing has to be completed in order to determine if the weapons were used in a
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We Already Figured This Out
17 feet of snow sparked hope for quelling California's drought. Then precipitation 'flatlined' in January
After months of extreme drought in the West triggered unprecedented water cuts and primed the landscape for massive wildfires, the final stretch of 2021 gave a tiny glimpse of hope for drought-weary Californians.
California -- facing back-to-back dry years and record-breaking heat waves that pushed the drought into historic territory -- got a taste of the rain it was looking for in October, when the first big storm of the season pushed onshore. Then in late December, more than 17 feet of snow fell in the Sierra Nevada, which researchers said was enough to break decades-old records.
Climatologists were cautiously elated as they watched snow pile as high as some roofs. But they still were going to need much more to make headway on the drought, said Andrew Schwartz, the lead scientist and station manager at the University of California, Berkeley's Central Sierra Snow Laboratory.
"We are really concerned about the upcoming months not having as many storms," Schwartz told CNN at the time.
That's exactly what happened in January, which is expected to go down as the driest on record for many parts of the state. Climatologists are now worried about the severity of the drought in the months to come. On Thursday, 66% of California was in severe drought, the US Drought Monitor reported.
Precipitation "flatlined" last month, according to Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA and the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Statewide snowpack, which had been at 160% of normal in December, is down to around 90% due to the lack of new accumulation and some midwinter melting, he said
February Isn't Looking Good Either
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It's Not Detroit
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You May Have Missed the News From Quito
Wave after wave of mud, some up to ten feet high, flowed into the capital city of Ecuador after intense and heavy rainfall weakened a slope of Ruco Pinchincha volcano. The neighborhoods of La Gasca and La Comuna received the worst of the catastrophe. Neighbors in the debris-filled communities dug with their own for hours, attempting to locate survivors. According to authorities at least 24 people were crushed to death, and 48 were injured, with ten people missing though these early numbers are likely to change.
It's the Only World Capital Starting With "Q"
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It Couldn't Happen to a Worse Guy or Company
Meta Platforms Inc.’s stock collapsed as much as 26% on Thursday morning, its biggest drop ever, after Facebook’s user base faltered last quarter, the first stagnation in the company’s history. It was just one bad metric of several in a dire earnings report that caused many investors to wonder if the stock’s best days are behind it.
Facebook lost daily users for the first time in its 18-year history — falling by about half a million users in the last three months of 2021, to 1.93 billion logging in each day. The loss was greatest in Africa and Latin America, suggesting that the company’s product is saturated globally — and that its long quest to add as many users as possible has peaked.
This quarter’s sales forecast also disappointed Wall Street and Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg, who saw his personal wealth potentially plummet about $24 billion, acknowledged that Meta is facing serious competition for user time and attention, particularly from viral video-sharing app TikTok.
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Could Crypto Get Any Worse After Bannon Bucks? You Betcha'!
While bitcoin continues to lose value, cryptocurrency investors, speculators and enthusiasts are now confronting another hurdle -- the official beginning of a potentially nightmarish tax season . And if you hold bitcoin or any other virtual currency, this could complicate your taxes.
The IRS will ask everyone filing a return this year about their cryptocurrency activity, and plenty of people have questions about the tax implications of buying, selling and trading. The IRS treats virtual currencies, like bitcoin and ether -- and even NFTs -- differently from other assets and investments. And there are specific rules you'll need to follow if you sold or traded those assets last year.
"The average investor needs to understand that cryptocurrency is not like any other type of currency out there. Cryptocurrency is treated as property for tax purposes," says Shaun Hunley, a tax consultant at Thomson Reuters. "So anytime you're going to use cryptocurrency or transact in cryptocurrency, you're going to have the potential for gain or loss on [your] tax return."
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Sports Bettors May Be Even Dumber Than Don Jr. If They Take This Seriously
The Cincinnati Bengals are the underdog in the Super Bowl against the Los Angeles Rams. The Bengals have a young quarterback, a young head coach and plenty of young players in pivotal roles. Some might think this makes them more prone to mistakes with the pressure of the big game looming.
I'm here to confirm the Bengals organization has already made a pivotal mistake, and we're still more than a week away from the big game.
Cincinnati had the choice of which jersey combination they wanted to wear in the Super Bowl. For some inexplicable reason, the Bengals have decided they want to wear their black jerseys. Someone hasn't done their research, or someone (probably Joe Burrow) thinks they are above the power of the white jersey in the Super Bowl.
Since 2005, we've seen 17 Super Bowls. In those 17 games, the team wearing their white jerseys has come out on top 14 times. The streak started when the New England Patriots, wearing white, defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX.
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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 | |
| Feb 3 | 719,986 | 250,593,665 | 212,336,183 | ||
| Feb 2 | 494,092 | 250,378,993 | 212,130,684 | 378,015 | 2,403 |
| Feb 1 | 510,477 | 250,184,240 | 211,954,555 | 415,552 | 2,369 |
| Jan 31 | 575,732 | 250,029,773 | 211,818,885 | 446,355 | 2,287 |
| Jan 30 | 603,030 | 249,892,470 | 211,695,131 | 497,296 | 2,234 |
| Jan 29 | 595,871 | 249,695,301 | 211,533,229 | 522,626 | 2,261 |
| Jan 28 | 626,946 | 249,473,925 | 211,343,818 | 543,016 | 2,265 |
| Jan 27 | 643,725 | 249,267,851 (I don't know why) | 211,162,083 | 577,748 | 2,300 |
| Jan 26 | 962,958 | 251,518,114 | 210,850,212 | 596,859 | 2,288 |
| Jan 25 | 1,011,603 | 251,289,667 | 210,682,471 | 627,294 | 2,246 |
| Jan 24 | 1,201,186 | 250,964,433 | 210,459,963 | 692,359 | 2,166 |
| Jan 23 | 1,101,405 | 250,763,600 | 210,358,008 | 663,908 | 1,936 |
| Jan 22 | 1,002,322 | 250,568,431 | 210,229,586 | 686,715 | 1,939 |
| Jan 21 | 1,035,111 | 250,262,153 | 210,021,766 | 716,829 | 1,974 |
| Jan 20 | 1,094,988 | 250,028,635 | 209,842,610 | 726,870 | 1,843 |
| Jan 19 | 1,135,453 | 249,702,939 | 209,509,297 | 744,615 | 1,749 |
| Jan 18 | 1,158,537 | 249,393,487 | 209,312,770 | 755,095 | 1,669 |
| Jan 17 | No Data | 736,350 | 1,746 | ||
| Jan 16 | No Data | 771,131 | 1,851 | ||
| Jan 15 | 1,268,202 | 248,707,432 | 208,995,438 | 788,628 | 1,858 |
| Jan 14 | 1,286,773 | 248,338,448 | 208,791,862 | 798,335 | 1,784 |
| Jan 13 | 1,291,013 | 247,987,225 | 208,564,894 | 794,587 | 1,730 |
| Jan 12 | 1,234,672 | 247,695,845 | 208,182,657 | 782,765 | 1,729 |
| Jan 11 | 1,213,113 | 247,321,023 | 207,954,605 | 761,535 | 1,656 |
| Jan 10 | 1,307,445 | 247,051,363 | 207,796,335 | 750,996 | 1,633 |
| Jan 9 | 1,331,635 | 246,812,939 | 207,662,071 | 674,406 | 1,552 |
| Jan 8 | 1,286,783 | 246,447,823 | 207,452,448 | 680,330 | 1,544 |
| Jan 7 | 1,226,151 | 246,050,320 | 207,229,983 | 668,497 | 1,513 |
| 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 |
| 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 | 75.5% | 64.0% | 41.8% |
| % of Population 5+ | 80.2% | 68.0% | |
| % of Population 12+ | 85.2% | 72.6% | 45.0% |
| % of Population 18+ | 87.1% | 74.2% | 56.3% |
| % of Population 65+ | 95.0% | 88.4% | 64.6% |
California Precipitation (Updated Tuesday Feb 2)
There has been no significant rain since the first week in January. There are no big storms in the 10-day forecast. After a great start, this could still turn out to be a bad season.
| Percent of Average for this Date | Last Week | 2 Weeks ago | 3 Weeks ago | 4 Weeks ago | 5 Weeks ago | |
| Northern Sierra Precipitation | 113% | 124% | 134% | 149% | 158% | 170% |
| San Joaquin Precipitation | 99% | 110% | 121% | 138% | 156% | 170% |
| Tulare Basin Precipitation | 91% | 101% | 112% | 127% | 145% | 151% |
| Snow Water Content - North | 89% | 117% | 128% | 135% | 134% | |
| Snow Water Content - Central | 89% | 114% | 129% | 148% | 148% | |
| Snow Water Content - South | 92% | 121% | 135% | 160% | 158% |
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Today's Worst Person in the World Nominees
One Less "Worst Person" Today
Islamic State leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi has been killed in a U.S. military raid in Syria, President Joe Biden announced on Thursday.
U.S. special forces landed in helicopters and assaulted a house in a rebel-held corner of northwest Syria, clashing for two hours with gunmen, witnesses said. The commandos were aided by helicopter gunships, armed Reaper drones and attack jets.
As troops approached the building to capture him, al-Qurayshi detonated a bomb that killed himself and several other people, including his wife and children, Biden said in remarks from the White House.
The decision to deploy a Special Forces team to target Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi showed he was considered an important figure by Washington.
Islamic State (IS) group and al-Qaeda figures over the years have often been targeted by drone strikes.
Sending teams on the ground is far riskier and has been reserved for what are seen as "high-value" targets or those where the conditions are challenging - most notably the raid that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011.
Such raids are sometimes used when the US wants to capture an individual alive or there is some other intelligence they are seeking to collect from a site.
The risks were apparent in this latest mission with a helicopter having to be destroyed, although no US personnel are reported to have been injured.
A special forces mission also led to the death of the founder and previous leader of IS Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. He died in October 2019 when he blew himself up when he was cornered by US forces in Syria. Al-Qurayshi, who took over as leader of IS, is reported to have also blown himself up during the latest raid.
The US also said al-Qurayshi "was one of ISIS's most senior ideologues" and "helped drive and justify the abduction, slaughter, and trafficking of the Yazidi religious minority in north-west Iraq and also led some of the group's global terrorist operations".
Who Builds a Yacht Too Big to Launch?
Rotterdam has confirmed it will dismantle a historic bridge to allow a superyacht built for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to fit through.
The record-breaking luxury yacht is being built by Dutch firm Oceanco and was linked to Mr Bezos last year.
The vessel is reported to be 417ft (127m) long and too tall to fit through the Koningshaven Bridge.
A spokesman for the mayor confirmed the plan to reporters, with Mr Bezos set to foot the bill through Oceanco.
Reports emerged in Dutch media on Tuesday that the middle section of the Dutch city's bridge, known locally as De Hef, would be temporarily removed to allow the 130ft (40m) high boat to sail through.
The move is controversial because the steel bridge has a long history, and is now a national monument. It previously went through a major renovation which saw it out of action from 2014 to 2017, when officials said it would not be dismantled again.
The AFP news agency quoted the mayor's office as saying the jobs created by the construction of the vessel prompted the plan, and pledged the bridge would be rebuilt in its current form.
120,000 Nominees
GoFundMe has paused donations to truck drivers protesting against vaccine mandates in Canada.
Donations to the page "Freedom Convoy 2022" had reached C$10m ($7.9m; £5.8m), by Wednesday afternoon with about C$1m released so far to organisers.
A number of officials have suggested legal action against the platform to prevent the release of more funds.
Nearly a week-long, the protest began over a mandate requiring Covid jabs to cross the US-Canada border.
Of the money raised from more than 120,000 donors, GoFundMe said it has been monitoring the fundraiser to ensure the cash is going to the intended recipients.
Earlier on Wednesday, Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly suggested that many of the donations had come from the United States.
Who's Dumb Enough to Take on Rachel Maddow?
Nobody ever mistook Donald Trump Jr for a Mensa member. His all too frequent appearances on Fox News showcase his ignorance, such as his visit with Sean Hannity to support Vladimir Putin and champion Russia's position on Ukraine. Even worse, Junior recently posted a video proudly displaying his queasy demeanor that suggests a serious substance abuse problem.
Undeterred, the Trump spawn thought that he could take advantage of the announcement that MSNBC host, Rachel Maddow, is taking a brief hiatus to work on some other projects, including a film (with Ben Stiller and Lorne Michaels) based on her book and podcast, "Bag Man."
So Donnie tweeted that it "Seems the TRUTH finally broke her!" Let's just set aside the fact that there is no rational meaning to that remark. What "TRUTH" is he referring to? Because she presents so much of it every day. And what does he mean by "broke"? Could it be just that she was overwhelmed by the abundancy of provable lies promulgated by Trump and his Propaganda Ministry (aka Fox News)?
They Don't Seem to Care About the Millions of Afghanis Starving to Death
2021’s fundamental development in the nonstate actor space was the Taliban’s dramatic defeat of the Afghan government. Long gaining battlefield momentum as Afghan security forces remained ridden with problems and Afghan politicians remained caught up in parochial struggles, the Taliban took Kabul and the rest of the country amidst the departure of U.S. and international forces.
Around the world, jihadis touted the Taliban’s defeat of the U.S. superpower and its Afghanistan project. Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an anti-Pakistan group operating in both Pakistan and Afghanistan with close connections to the Haqqani network (one of the Taliban’s power poles) extolled the Taliban’s success. So did Somalia’s al-Shabab, whose websites closely followed and hailed the Taliban’s battlefield progress and victory for weeks. Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad sent congratulatory notes. Even Yemen’s Houthis declared that the Taliban, with its history of brutality toward Shia, showed that foreign “occupations” are bound to fail.
Expect an Appearance on Dancing With the Stars Next.
Two judges on "The Masked Singer" walked off after Rudy Giuliani unmasked himself at the end of a show taping, a source close to the show told CNN Wednesday.
Robin Thicke and Ken Jeong walked off stage following the revelation of Giuliani as a contestant on the popular Fox reality show in which contenders perform in full costume until they are eliminated.
The former attorney to ex-President Donald Trump and former New York mayor was taping an episode that is expected to air next month, the source said, without providing additional detail.
When She Offered "H", I Thought Maybe She Was Offering Heroin Instead of Something Really Dangerous
APennsylvania restaurant is under investigation after local law enforcement received numerous complaints that the owner's daughter was using its Facebook page to push bogus Covid-19 cures.
The reports that Christine Mason was allegedly misusing the page belonging to the Taste of Sicily restaurant was referred to the Pennsylvania attorney general's office, Palmyra Police Chief Andrew Winters confirmed Wednesday.
In a video posted on Jan. 26, Mason could be seen telling viewers to “read between the lines” and that she has “life-saving information” for people contending with what she called the "C-word."
"If you guys know anybody who is sick and who needs 'I' or 'H' ... we now have a resource," Mason said. "This place is shipping it for free."
Based on the remarks of people who interacted with Mason on social media, these appeared to be references to the horse de-wormer ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, neither of which have gotten government approval for treating Covid-19.
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COVID Cases Continue Steep Decline
Deaths have yet to peak.
Vaccinations have been slowing, but it is not as bad as the data above indicates.
Why Are Deaths So High?
American’s are dying at a higher rate than other wealthy nations because this is a “pandemic of the unvaccinated.”
Vaccinations rates are lower in America because the Republican Party and right-wing media have been actively pushing a false narrative that suggests the vaccines are either a “threat” or are “ineffective.”
Republican politicians and right-wing media have also been encouraging the use of “alternative” treatments, including colloidal silver, hydroxychloroquine, zinc, ivermectin, large doses of vitamins, and drinking urine. None of these are effective at improving COVID-19 outcomes.
Republicans and right-wing media have also launched continuous assaults on Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and state and county health directors. These actions have directly undercut support for figures who, before the pandemic, enjoyed near-universal support.
In multiple states, Republican governors have issued executive orders—or Republican legislatures have passed bills—designed to undercut medical authorities, limit the ability of local governments to promote safe practices, and direct anger over the pandemic toward those who are working hardest to end it.
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Nothing Makes Me Worry More than a Political Scientist Saying "Probably", But I Hope He is Right
Why Voter Suppression Probably Won’t Work
— In the aftermath of the high-turnout 2020 election, many Republican-controlled state governments have passed legislation that Democrats believe will harm their party’s voter turnout.
— However, voting rules did not appear to have much impact on turnout and had no measurable impact on vote margins at the state level in the 2020 presidential election.
— Both voter turnout and voting decisions in 2020 were driven by the strong preferences held by the large majority of voters between the major party candidates.
The Full Article
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The Other Reason For Optimism: Money, Money, Money Money
This is some damned impressive momentum: “Stacey Abrams has raised more than $9.2 million since entering the race for governor in December, setting a blistering fundraising pace that eclipsed Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.”
That’s $9.2 million in just two months. In a midterm election year. Over the holidays.
Abrams is reporting about $7.2 million cash on hand and has received contributions from more than 100,000 donors. She’s going to need every bit of that and more to defeat the GOP in this state. They’re still stinging over the fact that Joe Biden, Jon Ossoff, and Raphael Warnock won the state in 2020, and they will do everything in their power to stop her.
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Don't Look Up!
The International Space Station (ISS) will continue working until 2030, before plunging into the Pacific Ocean in early 2031, according to Nasa.
In a report this week the US space agency said the ISS will crash into a part of the ocean known as Point Nemo.
This is the point furthest from land on planet Earth, also known as the spacecraft cemetery.
Many old satellites and other space debris have crashed there, including the Russian space station Mir in 2001.
Here's Hoping Their Aim is Good
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16 Shots and a Cover Up = 3 Years
From "16 shots and a cover-up!" to 16 shots and an early release from prison.
The former became a familiar rallying cry for protesters on the streets of Chicago after the 2014 murder of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. The latter is the newest reality for former Chicago Police officer Jason Van Dyke, who was released from prison Thursday after serving just a little more than three years of a nearly seven-year prison sentence for killing the Black teenager.
Van Dyke's early release is tied to good behavior in prison. While it's less than half of his original sentence, it was largely expected.
"October 20, 2014, will always be the worst day of my life," Van Dyke read from a written statement during his 2019 sentencing hearing, referencing the day he shot McDonald 16 times. "It was due to my actions that the McDonald family has suffered pain," he continued.
At the time, Prosecutor Joe McMahon had asked for Van Dyke to serve 18-20 years.
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You Should See the One That Got Away!
A Florida man and his grandson couldn't believe their eyes when they reeled in more than just some scrap metal and bottle caps during a magnet fishing weekend trip.
Duane Smith and his 11-year-old grandson, Allen Cadwalader, were out on a magnet fishing trip on January 30 in Homestead, a suburb of Miami, Florida, when within five minutes of their arrival, Cadwalader reeled in two sniper rifle receivers and bolt carrier groups wrapped in shrink wrap, Smith told CNN.
This was their first time magnet fishing, Smith said, and he chose a bridge with a canal near where he normally goes hiking.
Magnet fishing uses a strong magnet attached to a thick rope in an attempt to fish out metal objects that have sunk to the bottom of canals, lakes, ponds and rivers.
The weapons were covered in debris, so once they got home, Smith and Cadwalader cleaned them off for 30 minutes to an hour to find that the serial numbers had been ground off.
The weapons were turned over to Miami-Dade Police and will be sent to the forensics lab to be processed, if possible, depending on the actual condition of the weapons, Detective Alvaro Zabaleta with Miami-Dade Police told CNN. Processing has to be completed in order to determine if the weapons were used in a
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We Already Figured This Out
17 feet of snow sparked hope for quelling California's drought. Then precipitation 'flatlined' in January
After months of extreme drought in the West triggered unprecedented water cuts and primed the landscape for massive wildfires, the final stretch of 2021 gave a tiny glimpse of hope for drought-weary Californians.
California -- facing back-to-back dry years and record-breaking heat waves that pushed the drought into historic territory -- got a taste of the rain it was looking for in October, when the first big storm of the season pushed onshore. Then in late December, more than 17 feet of snow fell in the Sierra Nevada, which researchers said was enough to break decades-old records.
Climatologists were cautiously elated as they watched snow pile as high as some roofs. But they still were going to need much more to make headway on the drought, said Andrew Schwartz, the lead scientist and station manager at the University of California, Berkeley's Central Sierra Snow Laboratory.
"We are really concerned about the upcoming months not having as many storms," Schwartz told CNN at the time.
That's exactly what happened in January, which is expected to go down as the driest on record for many parts of the state. Climatologists are now worried about the severity of the drought in the months to come. On Thursday, 66% of California was in severe drought, the US Drought Monitor reported.
Precipitation "flatlined" last month, according to Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA and the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Statewide snowpack, which had been at 160% of normal in December, is down to around 90% due to the lack of new accumulation and some midwinter melting, he said
February Isn't Looking Good Either
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It's Not Detroit
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You May Have Missed the News From Quito
Wave after wave of mud, some up to ten feet high, flowed into the capital city of Ecuador after intense and heavy rainfall weakened a slope of Ruco Pinchincha volcano. The neighborhoods of La Gasca and La Comuna received the worst of the catastrophe. Neighbors in the debris-filled communities dug with their own for hours, attempting to locate survivors. According to authorities at least 24 people were crushed to death, and 48 were injured, with ten people missing though these early numbers are likely to change.
It's the Only World Capital Starting With "Q"
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It Couldn't Happen to a Worse Guy or Company
Meta Platforms Inc.’s stock collapsed as much as 26% on Thursday morning, its biggest drop ever, after Facebook’s user base faltered last quarter, the first stagnation in the company’s history. It was just one bad metric of several in a dire earnings report that caused many investors to wonder if the stock’s best days are behind it.
Facebook lost daily users for the first time in its 18-year history — falling by about half a million users in the last three months of 2021, to 1.93 billion logging in each day. The loss was greatest in Africa and Latin America, suggesting that the company’s product is saturated globally — and that its long quest to add as many users as possible has peaked.
This quarter’s sales forecast also disappointed Wall Street and Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg, who saw his personal wealth potentially plummet about $24 billion, acknowledged that Meta is facing serious competition for user time and attention, particularly from viral video-sharing app TikTok.
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Could Crypto Get Any Worse After Bannon Bucks? You Betcha'!
While bitcoin continues to lose value, cryptocurrency investors, speculators and enthusiasts are now confronting another hurdle -- the official beginning of a potentially nightmarish tax season . And if you hold bitcoin or any other virtual currency, this could complicate your taxes.
The IRS will ask everyone filing a return this year about their cryptocurrency activity, and plenty of people have questions about the tax implications of buying, selling and trading. The IRS treats virtual currencies, like bitcoin and ether -- and even NFTs -- differently from other assets and investments. And there are specific rules you'll need to follow if you sold or traded those assets last year.
"The average investor needs to understand that cryptocurrency is not like any other type of currency out there. Cryptocurrency is treated as property for tax purposes," says Shaun Hunley, a tax consultant at Thomson Reuters. "So anytime you're going to use cryptocurrency or transact in cryptocurrency, you're going to have the potential for gain or loss on [your] tax return."
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Sports Bettors May Be Even Dumber Than Don Jr. If They Take This Seriously
The Cincinnati Bengals are the underdog in the Super Bowl against the Los Angeles Rams. The Bengals have a young quarterback, a young head coach and plenty of young players in pivotal roles. Some might think this makes them more prone to mistakes with the pressure of the big game looming.
I'm here to confirm the Bengals organization has already made a pivotal mistake, and we're still more than a week away from the big game.
Cincinnati had the choice of which jersey combination they wanted to wear in the Super Bowl. For some inexplicable reason, the Bengals have decided they want to wear their black jerseys. Someone hasn't done their research, or someone (probably Joe Burrow) thinks they are above the power of the white jersey in the Super Bowl.
Since 2005, we've seen 17 Super Bowls. In those 17 games, the team wearing their white jerseys has come out on top 14 times. The streak started when the New England Patriots, wearing white, defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX.
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