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Post by mhbruin on Nov 4, 2022 8:27:49 GMT -8
Life and Beer are Very Similar - Chill for Best Results
Go Crawl Back Under Your Rock
The French parliament was brought to a halt after a far-right MP shouted "they should go back to Africa" as a black colleague talked about immigration.
Grégoire de Fournas, a member of National Rally (RN), said later his remark had not been aimed at Carlos Martens Bilongo himself but at migrants trying to reach Europe by sea.
Mr Bilongo said he had been born in France and the remark was "shameful".
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said there was "no room for racism".
The National Assembly's bureau meet on Friday and will decide what action to take, after hearing from Mr de Fournas himself.
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Post by mhbruin on Nov 4, 2022 8:30:44 GMT -8
Does Anyone Want to Buy the Virtual Brooklyn Bridge?
Nearly $2bn (£1.75bn) has been spent on virtual land in the past 12 months, as people and companies race to get a foothold in the metaverse, research shows.
But we are years away from the metaverse emerging as a single immersive space online where people can live, work and play in virtual reality. So is the land grab one big gamble?
With her giant dark red mohican and permanent cigarette, artist Angie Taylor's avatar does not look like a typical land mogul. But she is one of a growing breed of people staking a claim to new virtual worlds.
"I bought my first metaverse parcel in July 2020 and paid about £1,500. I bought it for exhibiting my own work, but also for running metaverse events that would promote my art and also other people's art," she says.
Angie, from Brighton, built two galleries full of strange and beautiful digital artwork, which is being sold in cryptocurrency, on her land in the Voxels world.
Angie's plots are about the size of a small family house (if you compare them to the size of her avatar). The tallest stretches up over three floors and has a roof terrace with a white-and-black-striped road crossing, and a pink taxi permanently driving back and forth just for fun.
But you get a real sense of the scale of this world from the air.
"Hold down the F key and you can fly up to take a look at my neighbourhood," Angie explains. Above her gallery you can see thousands of identical boxes of land stretching to the horizon.
Voxels is one of dozens of virtual worlds that describe themselves as metaverses. It is confusing, because people often talk about "the metaverse" as if there was only one. But until one platform starts to dominate, or these disparate worlds join together, companies are selling land and experiences in their own versions.
What is the Value of Something When There is Unlimited Supply
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Post by mhbruin on Nov 4, 2022 8:33:31 GMT -8
Can Somebody Named "Irving" Hate Jews?
US basketball superstar Kyrie Irving has issued an apology for posting a link to an anti-Jewish film, just hours after his team, the Brooklyn Nets, suspended the player for at least five games without pay for his “failure to disavow” anti-Semitism.
The 30-year-old player had declined to apologise when talking to reporters at the National Basketball Association (NBA) team’s training facility earlier on Thursday, prompting the Nets to deem him “currently unfit to be associated with” the team.
Irving, widely regarded as one of the best players in the league, has been under scrutiny since a social media post last week in which he offered a link to Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America, a 2018 film widely lambasted for containing a range of anti-Jewish tropes.
The Nets, in a statement on Thursday, expressed dismay that “when given an opportunity in a media session, that Kyrie refused to unequivocally say he has no anti-Semitic beliefs, nor acknowledge specific hateful material in the film”.
The statement added Irving’s “failure” was “deeply disturbing” and against the values of the organisation.
The Nets’ announcement came after NBA commissioner Adam Silver expressed his disappointment that Irving had failed to apologise or denounce “the vile and harmful content” in the film.
Following those developments, Irving finally offered an apology on Instagram late on Thursday.
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Post by mhbruin on Nov 4, 2022 8:36:38 GMT -8
What Do You Get When You Are Already Crazy and Then Get Into QANON?
A Colorado woman convicted of plotting to kidnap her son from foster care after associating with supporters of the Qanon conspiracy theory was sentenced Thursday to 60 days in jail and two years of supervised probation, after being reprimanded by the judge for a lack of remorse.
Given a chance to speak and take responsibility, Cynthia Abcug, 53, instead said she was glad her son was doing well and asked District Judge Patricia Herron to give her probation so she could continue getting therapy, working and studying for a law degree.
That drew a strong rebuke from Herron, who said Abcug still sees herself as a victim and could pose a danger again because of that mindset.
“I don’t hear a single word from you on the impact you had on the foster family by putting that plan in place,” said Herron, noting that the lack of accountability could be because of legal appeals she is pursuing.
Herron added that she did not find Abcug’s testimony at the August trial credible. In her testimony, Abcug denied she was involved in planning a raid on the foster home where her then 7-year-old son lived in the fall of 2019. She had lost custody of him earlier that year after being accused of medical child abuse — allegedly lying about him having seizures and other health problems in order to trick doctors into providing unnecessary care.
A jury convicted her of misdemeanor child abuse because of those allegations as well as conspiracy to commit second-degree kidnapping.
Prosecutors said the boy, now 10, hasn’t experienced any serious health problems since being taken away from Abcug.
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Post by mhbruin on Nov 4, 2022 8:39:36 GMT -8
Two Weeks Ago Twitter Was a Viable Company. Then the Twit Arrived.
Things are wild over at Twitter following Elon Musk’s takeover of the social media platform. The company is laying off up to half of its workforce, which would amount to around 3,700 people. As layoffs started, former Twitter employees wasted no time, filing a class action lawsuit in a San Francisco federal court. Meanwhile, Musk continues to troll and whine all over the platform he is rapidly tanking.
Musk sent all Twitter employees an email on Thursday, alerting them that layoff notifications would come Friday. People won’t even need to open the emails to know their fate, because if they’re being fired, the email will go to their personal accounts, while if their job is safe for now, the email will go to their company accounts. But some people didn’t have to wait until Friday to find out, as their remote access was cut off Thursday night.
This is very bad for Twitter as huge amounts of institutional knowledge and capacity are eliminated immediately before a plan goes into effect allowing users to buy blue checkmarks without any verification process other than their willingness to pay. That symbol will become a marker of people willing to fork over their money to Musk, but it will also be a big opportunity for scammers to make themselves look legit. Oh, and this scammer-enabling feature is set to roll out the day before Election Day.
The layoffs are also illegal. The federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, as well as a California WARN Act, require that workers get 60 days notice before mass layoffs. That obviously did not happen here. Four workers—one terminated on November 1 and three terminated on November 3—initiated the class action suit, represented by well-known workers’ rights attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan. Presumably that class will grow as layoff notices go out.
The workers are seeking financial judgments, including wages owed, but also want the court to block Twitter from getting laid-off employees to sign away their right to join the class action. The latter is a significant concern since, under Musk, Tesla did exactly that, getting workers to sign documents releasing the company from its WARN Act requirements in exchange for much smaller severance payments. A federal judge later called that “misleading,” requiring Tesla to inform workers they could join a class action suit.
“Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, has made clear that he believes complying with federal labor laws is ‘trivial,’” Liss-Riordan said in a statement to CNN, quoting Musk on the earlier lawsuit against Tesla. “We have filed this federal complaint to ensure that Twitter be held accountable to our laws and to prevent Twitter employees from unknowingly signing away their rights.”
Friday, Musk went onto his new toy to whine that “Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we did everything we could to appease the activists.” He added, “Extremely messed up! They’re trying to destroy free speech in America.”
Labor Laws are For Little People
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Post by mhbruin on Nov 4, 2022 8:42:29 GMT -8
20,000 Russian Deaths With Hardly a Whisper
According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, 840 Russians died in combat on November 3. They took with them 16 tanks, 28 armored vehicles, and 17 artillery pieces. It’s an absolutely astounding tally for a single day’s combat. Only a day earlier, they recorded 730 deaths, 20 tanks, 27 vehicles, and 22 big guns. The day before that, it was another 800 deaths and 16 tanks, and the day before that …
These kind of huge numbers have been turning up daily for more than a month, ramping up from less than 200 reported deaths a day back in mid-September, to over 500, then over 600, then an almost solid stream of days between 700 and 950 reported deaths. Equipment losses have followed suit, with almost every category of loss increasing over that period.
These losses have been so great, that many seemed to assume that there was a “secret war” going on somewhere. Surely numbers like this meant that Ukraine was actually pushing deep into Kherson, or plunging through Russian lines near Svatove, There’s been an assumption that, when the source of all these numbers was eventually revealed, some whole new area of conflict would come to light along with it.
But as the days drag on, and those numbers remain high, the idea that there’s something going on unseen starts to seem a little silly. Ukrainian operational security has been tight, but no one’s OpSec is so good that they can disguise battles that have racked up 20,000 dead, on just the Russian side, over the course of five weeks. If the Ukrainian MOD is correct, more Russians have died than the whole pre-war population of Borova, Lyman, or Svatove. So, where did this happen?
The best answer seems to be that this massive number of deaths happened right out in front of everyone. Along the 150km eastern front that’s roughly centered on Bakhmut.
On Thursday, Ukraine reportedly launched a series of p[robing attacks along the northern line in Kherson, and conducted attacks at three reported locations in Kharkiv. But here’s just one day’s record of Russian actions on the eastern flank of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On Thursday, Russia attacked: Bakhmut, Bakhmutske, Bilohorivka, Krasnohorivka, Mayorsk, Nevelske, Novomykolaivka, Opytne, Pavlivka, Pervomaiske, Prechystivka, Soledar, Spirne, Verkhnokamyanske, Vodyane, Vuhledar, and Yakovlivka.
These are not the locations that Russia shelled. There are far more of those. These are on-the-ground, actual assaults, with the intention of taking ground from Ukrainian defenders. This was also not one large, sweeping assault. Those are all individual actions. A few of them turned into slight gains. Some of them (ahem, Soledar) were reportedly crushing defeats. None of them were made without losses. In addition to all the towns attacked above, Russia apparently organized a large, offensive in an attempt to push west of Pisky. Which also failed.
This was also not a particularly active day. The eastern front has been like this, day in and day out, while everyone (myself included) has been more interested in the big movements in Kharkiv, Kherson, northern Donetsk, and now Luhansk.
When you think of those 20,000 Russians lost, think of them here. During the American Civil War, there were some battles where losses were high enough that survivors said it was possible to walk across portions of the battlefield without ever sitting a foot on the ground. That’s what’s going on near Bakhmut.
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Post by mhbruin on Nov 4, 2022 8:46:04 GMT -8
Here's Hoping the Kids are Alright
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Post by mhbruin on Nov 4, 2022 8:49:47 GMT -8
To Know, Know, Know Oz, Is to Hate, Hate, Hate Oz
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Post by mhbruin on Nov 4, 2022 8:52:36 GMT -8
Lady MAGA Promises to Abandon Ukraine
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Post by mhbruin on Nov 4, 2022 8:54:36 GMT -8
Can He Also Order An Ankle Monitor?
A Manhattan judge said Thursday he will appoint an independent monitor “to ensure there is no further fraud” at former President Donald Trump’s company, restricting its ability to freely make deals, sell assets and change its corporate structure.
Judge Arthur Engoron ordered an outside watchdog as he presides over a lawsuit in which New York’s attorney general alleges Trump and the Trump Organization misled banks and others about the value of prized assets, including golf courses and hotels bearing his name.
Attorney General Letitia James says the company is continuing to engage in fraud and has taken steps to dodge potential penalties from her lawsuit, such as incorporating a new, similarly named entity — Trump Organization LLC — in September, just before the lawsuit was filed.
Engoron wrote in an 11-page order that Trump and the Trump Organization “demonstrated propensity to engage in persistent fraud” and that appointing an outside monitor “is the most prudent and narrowly tailored mechanism to ensure there is no further fraud or illegality" pending the resolution of the lawsuit.
James, a Democrat, is seeking $250 million and a permanent ban on Trump, a Republican, doing business in the state.
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Post by mhbruin on Nov 4, 2022 8:57:08 GMT -8
A Boy Named Sue
Donald Trump is suing New York attorney general Letitia James in retaliation for what he claims was a “relentless, pernicious, public, and unapologetic crusade” against him with her recent lawsuit against him and three of his children. Filed on Wednesday with the Florida state circuit court, Trump’s lawsuit claimed that James’s lawsuit would cause “great harm” to his company, his brand and his reputation.
“It could virtually destroy the highly profitable Florida properties,” it stated.
James has accused Trump’s company of exaggerating its asset value to blindside investors and lenders. Her lawsuit would bar Trump and his three children from engaging in any executive position in a business in New York, a provision that analysts say has the potential to bring down Trump’s business empire.
Trump countered that no banks missed a payment, and that the James lawsuit would not be happening if he weren’t “leading in the polls by substantial margins against both Democrats and Republicans”.
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