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Post by mhbruin on Dec 7, 2022 10:55:08 GMT -8
A few puns make me numb, but math puns make me number
Ukraine Rolls Out Their Secret Weapon
A mysterious weapon struck a target deep in Russia’s heartland.
On Monday morning, a deafening roar that sounded like a landing jet plane woke up a town spreadeagled in the flat steppes of the Volga River region.
According to surveillance camera footage, a lightning-like flash followed by a thunderous explosion shook Engels, named after the philosopher and home to more than 300,000 people.
It hit one of Russia’s largest and most important military airfields that hosts strategic Tupolev Tu-160 and Tu-95 bombers.
The planes are capable of carrying nuclear warheads, and Moscow has repeatedly used them to rain non-nuclear missiles on Ukraine.
Russia accused Ukraine.
Kyiv has not claimed responsibility, but if it is confirmed to be behind them, as is widely believed, they would mark the deepest assaults in Russia since its war began in February.
Since October 10, seven waves of attacks have killed civilians and destroyed or damaged houses, power stations and other infrastructure needed to keep millions of Ukrainians safe from winter.
Located some 650km (404 miles) from the easternmost part of the Kharkiv region controlled by Kyiv, the Engels airfield was seen as a safe hideout Ukraine could not possibly reach.
“This is a historic moment, unexpected not only for our foes, whose plans have been thwarted but also for allies” in the West, Lieutenant General Ihor Romanenko, Ukraine’s former deputy chief of general staff, told Al Jazeera.
The new weapon can reach most of western Russia, including Moscow, the lower Volga River region, as well as annexed Crimea, where Russia’s Black Sea fleet is stationed.
“The weapon is powerful and precise enough to deliver serious damage, including striking anything related to oil, chemicals and energy, as well as large bridges – for example, across the Volga,” Nikolay Mitrokhin, a historian with Germany’s Bremen University, told Al Jazeera.
Four Russian cities with a population of more than a million stand on the Volga, Europe’s longest river.
Russia is shocked—shocked—to find that people might actually shoot back
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Post by mhbruin on Dec 7, 2022 10:57:14 GMT -8
I Don't Think NetnYahoo Is Enjoying the World Cup
The FIFA World Cup in Qatar is still underway, but there is already one early winner: Palestine. It is scoring in the hearts and minds of fans from across the world.
Looking at the abundant number of Palestinian flags, seeing the Palestinian armbands and bracelets, and hearing the “free Palestine” chants at the stadiums, fan zones, in the streets and on social media, one may think that Palestine is among the 32 countries whose teams have participated in this World Cup. Indeed, some Latin American media outlets have branded it the “33rd country” at the tournament.
But the Palestinian national team is not playing, so why is Palestine so ubiquitously present?
It is because the World Cup is much more than a sporting event. It is a huge gathering of people from around the world coming together to share their passion for football and celebrate diversity and human solidarity.
This year’s edition of the World Cup is the first one ever to be held in an Arab country. Hence, it has been more accessible – geographically, logistically and culturally – to people from the region than any previous World Cup. It has also given people from the region space to gather in large numbers without the usual fear of repression.
As a result, Palestine has automatically taken centre stage, uniting Arabs in a joyful and celebratory atmosphere and reaffirming their commitment to the Palestinian cause.
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Post by mhbruin on Dec 7, 2022 11:01:25 GMT -8
Sal Tlay Ka Siti
Parts of the Great Salt Lake hardly resembled a lake at all this fall.
Water levels in October fell to the lowest levels on record, exposing much of the lakebed and creating conditions for storms of dust — laden with toxic metals — that now threaten the 2 million people living nearby.
Researchers are racing to understand this new hazard, which adds a new layer of air pollution concern for the Salt Lake City area and threatens to dismantle the progress made to improve air quality in a region where oil refineries, a power plant and a gravel mine are part of the city skyline and the surrounding mountains trap pollution. In neighborhoods on the city’s historically redlined west side, lake dust is raising concern in areas that have experienced decades of environmental disparities and the most vulnerable people some days struggle for a breath of clean air.
“We have 2.5 million residents along the edges of the lake,” said Kevin Perry, a University of Utah atmospheric scientist researching the Great Salt Lake dust. “These dust plumes come off and make the air unhealthy regardless of what’s in it.”
But even those in wealthy enclaves away from the most visible sources of pollution won’t be spared from the dust. New research suggests arsenic-rich concentrations of dust from any source are the highest in wealthy Salt Lake area communities and that fast-growing suburbs could face the brunt of the dust storms’ impact.
Scientists want to understand how much risk the dust’s toxic metals pose to humans, what level of exposure is unsafe and what the implications for Utahans could be over time. No matter what they find, it’s a threat that will only continue to grow as lake levels drop.
From Book of Mormon
Sal Tlay Ka Siti The most perfect place on Earth The flies don't bite your eyeballs And human life has worth
Sal Tlay Ka Siti A land of hope and joy And if I want to get there I just have to follow that white boy
I'm on my way Soon life won't be so shitty Now salvation has a name Sal Tlay Ka Siti
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Post by mhbruin on Dec 7, 2022 11:04:27 GMT -8
What's Old DNA Worth?
Scientists discovered the oldest known DNA and used it to reveal what life was like 2 million years ago in the northern tip of Greenland. Today, it’s a barren Arctic desert, but back then it was a lush landscape of trees and vegetation with an array of animals, even the now extinct mastodon.
“The study opens the door into a past that has basically been lost,” said lead author Kurt Kjær, a geologist and glacier expert at the University of Copenhagen.
With animal fossils hard to come by, the researchers extracted environmental DNA, also known as eDNA, from soil samples. This is the genetic material that organisms shed into their surroundings — for example, through hair, waste, spit or decomposing carcasses.
Studying really old DNA can be a challenge because the genetic material breaks down over time, leaving scientists with only tiny fragments.
But with the latest technology, researchers were able to get genetic information out of the small, damaged bits of DNA, explained senior author Eske Willerslev, a geneticist at the University of Cambridge. In their study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, they compared the DNA to that of different species, looking for matches.
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Post by mhbruin on Dec 7, 2022 11:06:48 GMT -8
What Happens When Dana Carvey Become Winston Churchill?
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Post by mhbruin on Dec 7, 2022 11:11:56 GMT -8
Remember that Will Rogers said, "I am a member of no organized party. I am a Democrat"
The Demos Elected Nancy Pelosi Without all This Drama
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Post by mhbruin on Dec 7, 2022 11:16:02 GMT -8
The QOP and Previous Guy Are Like My Great Unrequited Love.
They can't win with him, and they can't win without him.
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Post by mhbruin on Dec 7, 2022 11:18:47 GMT -8
The First Time Since Roosevelt That Every Incumbent Democrat was Re-Elected
Sen. Raphael Warnock is projected to win reelection in a runoff on Tuesday night, putting an exclamation mark on Senate Democrats’ midterms performance and handing them a 51-seat majority.
Warnock defeated Republican Herschel Walker, a University of Georgia football icon. Walker won the GOP nomination with the backing of Donald Trump, only to see his general election campaign falter after multiple women accused him of domestic abuse or paying for their abortions and he repeatedly committed gaffes that brought his competence into question.
The victory for Warnock, a preacher at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta and a rising progressive star, means Democrats successfully defended all four incumbent senators targeted by Republicans at the beginning of the 2022 midterm cycle, following victories for Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) in November.
It Was a Rainy Night In Georgia, but Herschel Lie-Walker Was the One Drenched by the Downpour, Losing By Almost 3%.
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Post by mhbruin on Dec 7, 2022 11:22:34 GMT -8
I Don't Think Lie-Walker Got the Christian Vote
Christian Walker, Herschel Walker’s son, delivered a bone-crunching hit on his father’s football-to-politics career Tuesday after the elder Walker lost his Georgia Senate runoff to incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock.
The young Walker, who emerged as one of his father’s fiercest critics during the race, castigated both his dad and Republicans on Twitter.
Walker, the former NFL star backed by Donald Trump, was plagued by scandals during the campaign. He lied about his credentials, spoke incoherently at times and had his anti-abortion platform compromised by accusations that he pressured women into having abortions. Domestic abuse allegations leveled by Christian Walker’s mother also resurfaced.
The young Walker called him out for all of it.
“Don’t beat women, hold guns to people’s heads, fund abortions then pretend you’re pro-life, stalk cheerleaders, leave your multiple minor children alone to chase more fame, lie, lie, lie, say stupid crap, and make a fool of your family,” he wrote. “And then maybe you can win a Senate seat.”
Christian Walker, a conservative, blasted Republicans for choosing his father to vie for high office.
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Post by mhbruin on Dec 7, 2022 11:24:58 GMT -8
Bad News tor Ye-Dolph. The Nazis Lost This One
Thousands of police officers have carried out a series of raids across much of Germany on Wednesday morning against suspected far-right extremists who allegedly sought to overthrow the state by force, according to the Attorney General at the Federal Court of Justice in Germany.
Federal prosecutors said some 3,000 officers conducted searches at 130 sites in 11 of Germany's 16 states against adherents of the so-called Reich Citizens movement.
Prosecutors said 25 German citizens were detained on suspicion of "membership in a terrorist organization" and that the group, which was not identified in their statement announcing the raids, is alleged to have believed in a "conglomerate of conspiracy theories consisting of narratives from the so-called Reich Citizens as well as Q-Anon ideology," according to a statement by prosecutors.
Many had military training and some of those arrested include former soldiers.
The arrests were made at various locations in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Hesse, Lower Saxony, Saxony and Thuringia. At least two arrests were made outside of Germany's borders -- one in the Kitzbühel region of Austria and the other in Perugia in Italy.
Searches were also conducted in a number of other federal states including Brandenburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland.
"The accused belong to a terrorist organization founded by the end of November 2021 at the latest, which has set itself the goal of overcoming the existing state order in Germany and replacing it with its own form of government, which has already been developed in outline," federal prosecutors said in a statement following the raids. "The members of the association are aware that this project can only be realized through the use of military means and violence against state representatives. This also includes committing homicides. The accused are united by a deep rejection of the state institutions and the free democratic basic order of the Federal Republic of Germany."
The rise of violent hard-right groups in Germany, including white supremacist and neo-Nazi factions, was detected years before law enforcement in the U.S. was willing to acknowledge the problem existed in America. In the final years of the Merkel government -- and prior to the pandemic -- some German intelligence officials were actively pushing Berlin to be more outspoken and aggressive in calling out the issue for fear that silence was allowing it to fester as the mainstream German population continued to believe it was a problem buried in the past.
With the rise of Q-Anon, the violent far-right and the re-energized militia movement in the U.S., other fringe groups in Europe and America started feeding off each other’s energy and online growth. The movements now, in many ways, mirror each other and cross-pollenate.
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Post by mhbruin on Dec 7, 2022 11:26:33 GMT -8
Xi Blinks
China dropped many of its quarantine and testing requirements and curtailed the power of local officials to shut down entire city blocks, as the government accelerates plans to dismantle zero-Covid controls in the wake of nationwide protests.
The speed of Beijing’s retreat from its pandemic regime suggests the country’s leaders are now more concerned about the damage those controls have caused to China’s economy than the risk of worsening Covid infections that surged to a record high in November. Trade data released before the Covid easing measures were announced on Wednesday showed Chinese exports fell at the steepest pace in more than two years in November, adding to weakening factory activity and a sluggish recovery in the property sector.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping and other senior officials have repeatedly emphasized the need to maintain the zero-Covid policy and criticized the West’s approach of living with the virus as showing a disregard for lives. But the official tune began to change last month, after signs of economic and supply-chain disruptions again emerged and protests erupted in dozens of major cities. Covid-related disruptions at the world’s biggest iPhone assembly plant led Apple Inc. to question whether it can still rely on China as its biggest manufacturing base.
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Post by mhbruin on Dec 7, 2022 11:28:35 GMT -8
The Killer Robots Will Have to Wait a Little Longer to Take Over
San Francisco has reversed its decision to authorise police to use robots equipped with lethal weapons.
The proposal, which was passed last week by the city's legislators, the board of supervisors, would have allowed police to access robots that can kill.
It had faced fierce criticism from civil liberties groups.
After voting unanimously to pause the proposal on Tuesday, the board sent the issue to committee for further review.
The measure would have allowed the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) to kill suspects with robots in extreme situations.
Is It True That One of the Robots said, "I'll Be Back!"
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Post by mhbruin on Dec 7, 2022 11:30:33 GMT -8
Kushner and Previous Guy Were Always a Match Made in Hell
Democrats on a pair of congressional committees have launched an aggressive new effort to obtain information about whether Jared Kushner’s actions on U.S. policy in the Persian Gulf region as a senior White House adviser were influenced by the bailout of a property owned by his family business.
Citing previously undisclosed emails and other documents related to former president Donald Trump’s son-in-law, the committees on Monday night sent letters to the State and Defense departments requesting material that they say could shed new light on whether “Kushner’s financial conflict of interest may have led him to improperly influence U.S. tax, trade and national security policies for his own financial gain.”
The letters, obtained by The Washington Post, focus on efforts by Kushner and his father, Charles Kushner, to bail out a troubled 41-story Fifth Avenue office building in New York City. The Kushner company in 2018 made a deal with a Canadian company, Brookfield Asset Management, which invested $1.2 billion for a 99-year lease. As a result, the Kushner family company avoided defaulting on a loan that was due the following year.
Democrats have long raised questions about the deal because the Qatar Investment Authority, a sovereign wealth fund, had a stake in one of Brookfield’s investment arms.
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Post by mhbruin on Dec 7, 2022 11:32:22 GMT -8
You Can Finally Do Something About Your Next-Door Neighbors Lion Roaring at All Hour of the Night
Abill to restrict the private ownership of big cats like lions and tigers in the US has passed by unanimous consent in the Senate.
The Big Cat Public Safety Act would stop people from keeping the animals as pets and from them being exposed to public petting and photo opportunities.
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Post by mhbruin on Dec 7, 2022 11:35:40 GMT -8
Nibbling Around the Edges. Will Someone Indict Him Already?
Donald J. Trump’s family real estate business was convicted on Tuesday of tax fraud and other financial crimes, a remarkable rebuke of the former president’s company and what prosecutors described as its “culture of fraud and deception.”
The conviction on all 17 counts, after more than a day of jury deliberations in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, resulted from a long-running scheme in which the Trump Organization doled out off-the-books luxury perks to some executives: They received fancy apartments, leased Mercedes-Benzes, even private school tuition for relatives, none of which they paid taxes on.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which led the case against two Trump Organization entities, had previously extracted a guilty plea from the architect of the scheme, Allen H. Weisselberg, the company’s long-serving chief financial officer. Mr. Weisselberg, one of the former president’s most loyal lieutenants, testified as the prosecution’s star witness, but never implicated Mr. Trump.
The verdict represents a highly public reckoning for the Trump Organization, forever branding it as a felonious enterprise. A company that served as a launching pad for the former president’s tabloid celebrity, his star turn on “The Apprentice” and ultimately his political career, might now be best known for its conviction, rather than the hotels and golf clubs that Mr. Trump spent a generation building.
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