Fri - Do You Think Your Prom Was Bad?

--------------
Today's Worst Joke in the World

6:30 is the best time on the clock, hands down.
--------------

The Jan 6th Hearing

10 Key Moments

• Then Attorney General William Barr told Trump his claims the election was stolen were ‘bullshit.’
• Ivanka Trump told the committee she was ‘affected’ by Barr’s comments.
• Trump’s campaign staff told the former president he had lost the election.
• Jared Kushner dismissed White House counsel Pat Cipollone’s threats to resign as ‘whining.’
• Trump cheered supporters wanting to hang Mike Pence.
• The committee released never-before-seen brutal video of violence at the U.S. Capitol.
• Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn shed tears while watching videos of the riots.
  
• Proud Boy said membership ‘tripled probably’ following Trump comment in presidential debate.
• Officer Edwards described ‘the carnage’ and ‘absolute war zone’ outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
• Capitol rioters said they were invited by Trump.

The Committee Doesn't Need a Big Audience.  They Need the Right Audience

The audience for the committee's six planned hearings over the coming weeks is not fellow lawmakers, and, despite the primetime scheduling Thursday, it isn't really the general public. There will be no impeachment of the former president, and few White House officials or Democratic strategists are sanguine about the possibility of significant movement in public opinion.

Instead, the committee's work is most clearly aimed at the top brass at the Justice Department, who will decide whether to bring charges against Trump and members of his inner circle.

What Was Previous Guy Socialing?

“Ivanka Trump was not involved in looking at, or studying Election results. She had long since checked out and was, in my opinion, only trying to be respectful to Bill Bar and his position as Attorney General (he sucked!),” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“A one sided, totally partisan, POLITICAL WITCH HUNT!” Trump wrote in another Truth Social message.

Although he posted once during the hearing, calling the “Unselect Committee” a group of “political HACKS,” he saved most of his anger for Friday morning.

“The so-called ‘Rush on the Capitol’ was not caused by me, it was caused by a Rigged and Stolen Election!” Trump wrote in one of eight hearing-related messages.

“I NEVER said, or even thought of saying, ‘Hang Mike Pence.’ This is either a made up story by somebody looking to become a star, or FAKE NEWS!” (Not denying what he actually said, “Maybe our supporters have the right idea. Mike Pence deserves it.”.)

The Official QOP Response to the Hearing



The Message to the Committee From Their Moral Superiors



Former Fox Guy to Testify

Chris Stirewalt, a former Fox News politics editor who was fired from the network last year, will testify Monday before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Stirewalt told the “Morning in America” program on NewsNation, where he now works as political editor, that he was invited to give evidence and will do so next week.

Stirewalt became the subject of abuse from former President Donald Trump’s supporters after the network was the first to declare Joe Biden the winner of Arizona in the 2020 presidential election.

The journalist was fired by Fox News in January 2021 as part of what the network called a restructuring.

“When I defended the call for Biden in the Arizona election, I became a target of murderous rage from consumers who were furious at not having their views confirmed,” Stirewalt wrote in an op-ed published by the Los Angeles Times later that month.

“The rebellion on the populist right against the results of the 2020 election was partly a cynical, knowing effort by political operators and their hype men in the media to steal an election or at least get rich trying,” he continued.

He has been a vocal critic of the network’s latest programming choices, including Tucker Carlson’s “Patriot Purge” show. Stirewalt compared Carlson’s documentary to the “garbage” shared by Alex Jones on his Infowars website.
--------------
Today's Worst Person in the World Nominees

Worst Idea in the World

Putting Armed Veterans Into Schools Is Madness

Politicians need to stop turning to the military to solve every problem.

I drop my kids off at school most mornings, but I also have a job. I do not have the time to run inside and clear all of their classrooms with a firearm—although I am sure my kids and their friends would think it hilarious to watch me doing so with my trusty 28-gauge shotgun, saving them from any hostile quail found lurking under their desks.

The only veterans who have the time to do this, then, are those veterans who are mentally or physically disabled from their service, or veterans who have otherwise failed to transition back to “civilian life” and find gainful employment. Many, I would respectfully argue, are the very last people you want walking around schools with firearms.

The 0.08% Solutoin

Days after a gunman murdered 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas, National Rifle Association CEO Wayne La Pierre highlighted his organization’s efforts to bolster security at schools. He described schoolchildren as “our most treasured and precious resource” who deserve safety and protection.

“That’s why the NRA launched our School Shield program, to help promote and fund the necessary security that every school child needs and deserves,” LaPierre said at the NRA convention in Houston on May 27.

But in reality, the NRA has devoted only a fraction of its budget to protecting schools. The total amount of NRA funds given to schools to improve security since the program began in 2014 is less than $2 million, or .08 percent of the $2.2 billion in revenue the NRA and its associated foundation have raised in the same timeframe, from 2014 to 2019, according to an NBC News review of charitable tax filings and information from the Second Amendment organization.

The NRA has not granted any money to schools to increase safety since 2019 due to the pandemic, according to NRA spokesperson Andrew Arulanandam. Since then, the NRA’s website for School Shield grant information has remained dormant, encouraging schools that need funding to submit email addresses for future grant program updates. According to an NRA adjunct instructor, the School Shield office was shut down in March 2020 and all three of its employees were “furloughed.” Grant and training activity has not resumed.

This Sounds Like The Final Solution.  I Guess He Didn't Consider Gas Chambers.

A Texas baptist church — labeled an "anti-LGBT hate group" by the Southern Poverty Law Center — has caused outrage after a pastor said gay people should be "lined up against the wall and shot in the back of the head."

Pastor Dillon Awes of Stedfast Baptist Church in Watauga, a suburb of Fort Worth, made the comment and other controversial remarks during a Sunday morning sermon titled "Why We Won’t Shut Up."

"I’m angry this morning because our entire country is celebrating the worse sin in the Bible," Awes said during the sermon referring to Pride Month, which commemorates the LGBTQ+ community every June.

"You know a lot of pastors have this stupid idea where it’s just like, 'oh you know God loves everyone. And God hates the sin but loves the sinner.' But people have taken this to such an extreme where they’re saying celebrate the sin, not just tolerate it, celebrate it," he continued. "Let me show what the Bible says about these people."

Awes read several passages from the Bible and condemned homosexuality as a sin. At one point, he told the congregation that gay people "are dangerous to society" and said that "all homosexuals are pedophiles."

"I’m not saying that every single homosexual that’s alive right now has committed that act with a child already because it could be they haven’t had the opportunity yet and they will at some point later in their life," he said. "This is why we need to put these people to death through the proper channels of the government. ... These people are not normal. They’re not your average everyday sinners. ... They have no hope of salvation."

At certain times during the sermon people from the crowd could be heard cheering in agreement. Awes told the room that he thinks the "solution for the homosexual in 2022" is the death penalty.

"These people should be put to death. Every single homosexual in our country should be charged with a crime. The abomination of homosexuality that they have, they should be convicted in a lawful trial. They should be sentenced with death. They should be lined up against the wall and shot in the back of the head," he said.

Wells Fargo Bank's New Slogan:  "Keeping the World of Banking Male and White"

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have started a criminal investigation into Wells Fargo to determine whether the nation’s third largest bank’s hiring practices broke the law, a source briefed on the investigation confirmed to ABC News.

The criminal investigation follows a report last month in The New York Times, in which current and former employees said they were told by superiors to interview women and people of color even though the hiring decision had already been made.

The allegation is similar to that of Brian Flores and other black football coaches who have accused the NFL of conducting sham interviews to satisfy diversity requirements with no intention of actually hiring someone of color. The NFL has defended its hiring practices.

The investigation into Wells Fargo is in its early stages and no charging decisions have been made, the source said, adding that the investigation is being led by a recently created civil rights unit within the office.

The QOP Will Continue to Screw Seniors To Protect The Rich

There's a Social Security benefits cliff looming, with retirees seeing their checks garnished as soon as 2035.

According to the latest federal Social Security report, the program has just enough funding to send out monthly checks to older Americans and those with disabilities for 13 years. Beyond that, a 20% reduction in benefits is needed for the program to be sustainable.

"In the coming decades it will be vital for Congress to take steps to put Social Security and Medicare on solid financial footing for the long term," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement on the Social Security report.

Sen. Bernie Sanders — alongside Sen. Elizabeth Warren and a bevy of other Democrats — are putting forward a plan to change that.

Their proposal: a bill that would increase the benefit by $2,400 a year and fully fund the program through 2096.

To pay for it, the Democrats are proposing a raise to the earnings cap for paying into Social Security. Right now, Americans are taxed only on their first $147,000 in income to pay for Social Security; earnings beyond that are not touched.

Sanders' Social Security Expansion Act "would lift this cap and subject all income above $250,000 to the Social Security payroll tax," according to a fact sheet released by the senator.

Raising the income threshold isn't a new concept, and it's one that Sen. Joe Manchin, a key centrist, has already expressed support for. Earlier this year, the Democrat from West Virginia said the payroll-tax cap should be taken up to $400,000 to put Social Security on a more sustainable fiscal path.

While Sanders' plan is one solution to patching the ailing — and popular — program, Republicans indicated that it wouldn't draw their votes. They tend to resist tax increases to fund more generous safety net benefits, favoring other fixes.

"Sen. Sanders makes a wonderful plea, which many, many people agree with — the need for helping our seniors and providing better benefits for them and so forth," Romney, a Republican from Utah, said during a Senate Budget Committee hearing. "But recognize this bill has no chance whatsoever of receiving a single Republican vote in either house."
--------------
Today's Best Person in the World Nominees

Do You Think Your Prom Was Bad?

According to Andrei Kurkov, renowned Ukrainian novelist, who first posted this image on Twitter, although their high school was destroyed by Russian bombs, the students were still determined to wear their prom dresses to school. Sixteen year old Valerie, pictured above in a photo [apparently] taken by her aunt, Anna Episheva, poses in front of the school ruins.


--------------
Invasions Have Consequences

Day 107

Fighting

The Ukrainian army has said its forces continue to frustrate Russian attempts to take the fiercely contested eastern city of Severodonetsk. The regional governor said Russians were “dying like flies”, but added that the Ukrainian forces were suffering from a “catastrophic” lack of artillery.

The commander of Ukraine’s Svoboda National Guard Battalion, Petro Kusyk, said Ukrainians were drawing the Russians into street fighting in Severodonetsk to neutralise their artillery advantage.

The Russian army is sending its men into Severodonetsk “like cannon fodder”, the secretary of Ukraine’s security council said.

Russian forces destroyed “one of the symbols of Severodonetsk”, a large sports complex called the Ice Palace, Luhansk’s governor said.

The Russian-occupied region of Kherson is the “Kremlin’s laboratory of horrors” in which Moscow-backed authorities are abusing the rights of civilians and local politicians, the US ambassador to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Michael Carpenter, said.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported “positive” news from the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, but did not provide details, and said Ukrainian forces are gradually advancing in the eastern Kharkiv region.

A court in a separatist-controlled breakaway region of eastern Ukraine issued death sentences to two British citizens and one Moroccan national, who were captured while fighting for the Ukrainian army against Russian forces, according to media reports.

The Ukrainian foreign ministry has said the death sentences handed down to British and Moroccan nationals fighting for Ukraine should be considered null and void.

Diplomacy

Russian President Vladimir Putin has compared himself to Peter the Great (Vladimir the Great?) , and spoke of Russia’s need to “take back [territory] and defend itself”.

Finland plans to amend border legislation to allow the building of barriers on its eastern frontier with Russia in a move to strengthen preparedness against hybrid threats amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega authorised Russian troops, planes and ships to deploy to Nicaragua for purposes of training, law enforcement or emergency response.

President Zelenskyy appealed to European Union leaders to support Ukraine’s membership in the bloc. Ukraine’s bid for EU candidate status is expected to be considered at the end of June.

Zelenskyy spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday to provide him with an update on the situation on the war’s front lines and to discuss additional defence support for Ukraine.

Economy

The breakaway eastern Ukrainian regions backed by Moscow have said they will soon start shipping grain to Russia, the TASS news agency reported.         
More than 400 million Canadian dollars ($314.8m) in Russian assets and transactions involving people sanctioned as a result of Moscow’s war on Ukraine, the Canadian police said.

Russia may be getting more revenue from its fossil fuels now than shortly before its invasion of Ukraine, as global price increases offset the effect of Western efforts to restrict its sales, US energy security envoy Amos Hochstein told lawmakers.

The UN food agency said “many vulnerable countries are paying more but receiving less food” amid growing food security amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The Kremlin said no agreement had been reached to sell grain from Ukraine to Turkey – grain which Ukraine says Russia has stolen – but that work on a deal was continuing. Moscow denies stealing the grain but the US says there are credible reports that Russia is “pilfering” it.

The Big Guns Are Here

The war has become a WW I-style artillery slugfest, with Russia starting with a massive advantage in guns and ammo.

Ukraine and its partners have worked feverishly to transition to NATO standard guns, since its Soviet-caliber ammunition is running out,

Ukraine General Staff updated on delivery of Western weapons systems.

I am happy to inform you that Polish self-propelled artillery units AHS Krab are ready to carry out combat missions at the front.

After M777 and FH70 howitzers, CAESAR self-propelled howitzers and M109A3, these units are the 5th type of 155 mm artillery that we managed to obtain.

With 18 new Polish Krabs, Ukraine now has over 150 155mm guns, and 60 more Krabs will be arriving over the coming months, hot off the factory line. Meanwhile, new American M777s were photographed being loaded on transport planes headed to Ukraine, so the total number will soon be over 200.

We don’t know exactly how much artillery Russia has in Ukraine.  Reality is, Russia has a lot. And while Ukraine claims it has destroyed 1,393 tanks and 3,429 infantry armored vehicles, the numbers for artillery systems are much smaller—213 MLRS vehicles and 703 artillery guns. Prior to the invasion, Russia claimed it had 6,000 artillery guns in its army, and while we now know those numbers were grossly exaggerated (thanks to grift and incompetence), Russia likely has multiple thousands artillery and MLRS pieces in Ukraine.

(For their part, Ukraine claimed 1,960 artillery pieces before the invasion, plus 2,000 tanks and 2,870 armored vehicles).

Back to Ukraine’s general staff:

To this date, the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine has ensured the supply of 150 artillery platforms of 155 mm caliber to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The stockpiles of ammunition of this caliber are already 10% larger than the stockpiles of Soviet-type large-caliber shells that existed before 24 February 2022. Moreover, these new shells are more effective than their Soviet equivalents, and hence their consumption is lower.

This is incredible information—right now, Ukraine has 10% more 155 mm artillery shells than its entire stockpile the day Russia invaded. And given the increased accuracy of Western systems, they don’t need to use as much to accomplish any given mission. Their burn rate is slower. Donor countries include Australia, Canada, Czechia, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom.

Will They Sell An Unhappy Meal?

The new fast-food chain that will take over McDonald’s in Russia has unveiled its new logo before its relaunch.

The new logo design shows a red-orange circle and two orange lines against a green background, the image reportedly represents two sticks of yellow fried potatoes and a yellow-orange burger.

The green background is reported to represent the quality of products and services.



Critics on social media have commented on its similarity with the Bangladeshi flag. “This is the flag of our country,” one user said on Facebook while it also showed an emoticon with the flag.

McDonald’s new owner has not yet decided on a new brand name, a spokesperson for the company, the Sistema PBO, told the state-run TASS news agency.

Two of the eight names under consideration are “Tot Samyi”, which translates as “The Same” or “That One” and “Svobodnaya Kassa” (Available Cash Register), according to a report by The Moscow Times.
--------------
Today's Worst Arbitration Ruling in the World

A woman may be in for a $5.2m (£4.2m) payout after she allegedly contracted a sexually transmitted infection while having sex in a car.

The US woman, identified in court files as 'MO', said she caught the human papillomavirus (HPV) from having sex with her then-partner in his car.

This week, the Missouri Court of Appeals upheld a judgment that awarded MO a hefty settlement - to be paid by Geico, which insured the vehicle.

Geico is contesting the decision.

According to court documents, MO said she learned she was infected with HPV in 2018, and claimed her former partner knew he had virus but did not disclose his condition, leaving her with "past and future medical expenses" and "mental and physical pain and suffering".

In February 2021, the Jackson County woman told Geico, known in the US for its popular green gecko mascot, that she intended to seek damages of $1m following the sexual interaction in her then-partner's Hyundai Genesis, asserting that the insurance firm's policy covered her injuries.

The insurance company denied coverage and refused her settlement offer, court documents show.

MO and her former partner entered arbitration. The arbitrator sided with MO.

The arbitrator determined "there was sexual activity in [insured's] automobile" that "directly caused, or directly contributed to cause" the woman to be infected with HPV, despite the man's existing knowledge of his positive HPV diagnosis.
--------------
I Hope They Revoke His Library Card

A library that received an overdue book in the post from Canada 48 years after lending it out has agreed to waive the overdue fine of £6,170.85.

Tony Spence, of Port Moody, British Columbia, borrowed A Confederate General from Big Sur from Tooting Library, south London, in early 1974.

Luckily the library, which has no record of the loan, caps fees at £8.50.

"I decided to return it as I am a great believer in, and supporter of, libraries," the retired judge said.

"And also thought staff might get a chuckle," the 72-year-old added. "It seems they did."

Wandsworth Libraries said it was "surprised and delighted to have the book returned to us".

A spokesperson added: "We were then even more surprised to find the book had been borrowed in 1974 and was overdue by approximately 48 years and 107 days."
--------------
Someone Needs to Write the Script for "Attack of the Plastic-Eating Worms" About How Everything Crumbles

A species of insect larvae with a taste for plastic could help revolutionise recycling, researchers say.

Australian scientists have found the Zophobas morio - commonly known as a superworm - can survive on a diet of polystyrene.

They believe the beetle larvae digest the plastic through a gut enzyme.

That could be significant for advancements in recycling, says one of the study's authors.

"Superworms are like mini recycling plants, shredding the polystyrene with their mouths and then feeding it to the bacteria in their gut," Dr Chris Rinke said.

The University of Queensland team fed three groups of superworms different diets over three weeks. The batch that ate polystyrene even put on weight.

The team found several enzymes in the superworm's gut have the ability to degrade polystyrene and styrene. Both are common in takeaway containers and other items such as insulation and car parts.

But the research is unlikely to lead to massive worm farms that double as recycling plants.

Instead, they hope to identify which enzyme is the most effective so it can be reproduced at scale for recycling.

Plastic would then be mechanically shredded, before being treated with the enzyme, said the research published in Microbial Genomics.
--------------
Hot Town, Summer in the City

From Texas to California, most of the US south-west is experiencing scorching heat this week, with temperatures soaring above 100F (38C) in dozens of locations, putting millions of people at risk of “dangerously hot conditions”.

This is part of an alarming trend. American summers are hotter than ever, according to new research, with most of the country experiencing increased summer averages over the last half century.

1. Almost every location measured has higher summer temperatures since 1970

Climate Central, a non-profit that analyzes and reports on climate science, shows 235 out of 246 US locations have seen an increase in their summer average temperature since 1970. More than half of the locations have warmed by 2F (1C) or more. And 37 locations had 30 or more summer days that were hotter than normal.

“This trend is a signal of all the extra heat that we’ve accumulated on the planet,” says Andrew Pershing, director of climate science at Climate Central, which released the research. “Globally, this blanket of extra carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is radiating heat back at us.”

2. Spikes are highest in the US west and south-west

The west and south-west region has experienced the greatest temperature shifts over the last five decades, with cities such as Boise, Idaho (+5.6F), and El Paso, Texas (+5.3F), all posting higher temperatures.

But the largest increase was in Reno, Nevada.

“In the past, you’d not expect to have such high record-breaking temperatures so early in the season,” said Juan Declet-Barreto, climate vulnerability researcher at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “Now, those things which had seemed anomalous are starting to become commonplace.”

The rising heat poses challenges to the human body. More than 11,000 people in the US died from heat-related illnesses between 1979 to 2018, and a recent study concluded that heat-related deaths may be “substantially larger than previously reported”.

“Heat is not just an inconvenience, it’s a severe health threat, especially to people with pre-existing conditions,” says Vijay Limaye, senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

3. Rising heat is affecting people in the US unevenly

People age 65 and above are more likely to die from heat-related cardiovascular disease than the general population. Native Americans had the highest rate of heat-related deaths, followed by non-Hispanic Black people. Most heat-related mortality is observed among people living in cities and metropolitan areas.

“This urban environment tends to amplify heat,” Pershing says. Across the country, industrial zones, treeless expanses of asphalt, are concentrated in low-income areas and neighborhoods of color. This is rooted in historic discrimination. “Communities that had been redlined are hotter than the ones that hadn’t been,” Pershing adds. A 2020 study found that in the US, previously redlined neighborhoods are approximately 5F (3C) hotter than non-redlined areas, while having half the tree canopy.

Another alarming trend identified in the report is the nighttime temperature warming. These overnight highs can disrupt the crucial time when our bodies recuperate from the daytime heat.

“We’re seeing these nighttime temperatures elevated in a way that seems to be driving an increase in sleep-related mental health problems,” said Limaye.

With inflation driving higher energy prices and utility costs, experts are concerned about people’s ability to afford air conditioning.

“Air conditioning is life-saving,” Limaye said, adding that federal programs to help with the costs of utilities are a partial solution in ensuring adequate access to affordable cooling. Local mitigation efforts are an important part of the picture. Last year, Miami-Dade county in Florida and Phoenix, Arizona, appointed chief heat officers who are working on adaptation strategies for growing heat hazards.

“The way we’ve built our cities and designed policies, those were under the assumption of a stable climate,” Limaye added. That is no longer the presumption.
--------------
COVID Is On the Rise, But This Never Worked to Keep Variants Out of the US

US President Joe Biden’s administration is lifting its requirement that international air travelers to the US take a COVID-19 test within a day before boarding their flights, easing one of the last remaining government mandates meant to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
--------------
--------------
--------------
--------------
--------------
--------------
--------------
--------------
--------------
--------------
--------------
--------------
--------------
--------------