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Post by mhbruin on Jan 21, 2023 9:36:11 GMT -8
Puns about poop are not my favorites, but they're a solid number 2.
Charity Begins at Home the Pharmacy
A farmer in a small US town kept an astounding secret from his family and friends. Then the truth emerged at his funeral - and the news has inspired the community.
The adage that charity begins at home has been enacted in the most uplifting way by the actions of one man.
Hody Childress spent his whole life in Geraldine, Alabama, working as a farmer and an employee of the Lockheed Martin Space facility nearby.
His family described him as a humble, God-loving man, who would often send handwritten get-well cards and share vegetables from his garden with neighbours.
But even his family didn't know one big secret. Every month, for nearly a decade, Mr Childress donated $100 (£80) to the local pharmacy for anyone who couldn't afford to pay for a prescription.
Over the years, he gave nearly $12,000 to the community, but his generosity came with one condition: don't tell anyone.
Brooke Walker said she'd been the pharmacist at Geraldine's, the town drug store, for nearly two years when Mr Childress, who was a regular customer, asked her a question.
"He pulled me to the side and said, 'Do you ever have anybody that can't pay for their medication?' and I said, 'Well, yeah, unfortunately, that happens a good bit."
She said Mr Childress handed her a folded bill and said: "Next time that happens, will you use this? Don't tell where it came from, and don't tell me who needed it, just say it's a blessing from the Lord."
Ms Walker later called Mr Childress to tell him how much his generosity meant to the customer it had helped. He thanked her and she said she ended the call feeling blown away by his generosity. She thought it would be a one-time kindness.
But the next month, he came in and did the same thing.
"It continued every single month for almost 10 years," she said. "I never saw it lasting this long and he always said, 'Keep this between us.'"
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 21, 2023 9:43:09 GMT -8
The Rent Is Probably Still Too Damned High
Renters are on track to get some relief in 2023 as a growing number of indicators suggest the red-hot rental market has started to cool, a shift that could also help bring down decades-high inflation that has been pushing interest rates higher.
Surging rental costs have been one of the biggest drivers of inflation over the past two years after year-over-year rent increases peaked at 17% last January, according to data from Realtor.com. But economists and industry analysts are expecting a significant slowdown this year driven by a wave of new apartment construction and more renters staying put amid economic uncertainty.
That shift is good news not only for renters, but for the economy as a whole. A slowdown in rent increases could help ease inflation with shelter costs making up a third of the consumer price index, which is one of the metrics the Federal Reserve uses to gauge whether to continue hiking interest rates. Those higher interest rates have made it more expensive for consumers to borrow money for big-ticket purchases, like a car or home, and for businesses needing to take out a loan to expand.
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 21, 2023 9:44:15 GMT -8
Click It or Ticket
Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was fined by police Friday, for failing to wear a seatbelt whilst filming a clip for social media in a moving vehicle.
Sunak became only the second prime minister in history to be hit with a police fine while in the U.K.’s top job after his predecessor Boris Johnson, who was given a fixed penalty notice after it emerged that he had flouted England’s Covid restriction rules during the “partygate” scandal.
It is also the second fixed penalty notice Sunak has received in less a year. He also paid £50 ($62) when he was serving as finance minister for attending a gathering to celebrate Johnson's birthday in breach of lockdown rules.
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 21, 2023 9:48:58 GMT -8
Guilty! He's Guilty!Nearly three in five voters (59%) believe Donald Trump broke the law at some point while he was in office, and a 56% majority support the Justice Department filing criminal charges against Trump for the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. The poll, conducted by the progressive consortium Navigator Research, found that registeredhttps://images.dailykos.com/images/1154517/large/January19ReleaseFINAL3.jpg?1674277362 voters support charging Trump on four different grounds: obstructing an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the government, making knowingly and willfully false statements to the federal government, and inciting or assisting an insurrection.  Respondents also backed the House select committee's investigation into Jan. 6 by a two-to-one margin, with 61% in support and 30% opposed. Independents supported the House probe by a 23-point margin, 53% - 30%, and a slim plurality of non-MAGA Republicans also supported it, 44% - 42%.  The survey also made an explicit effort to delineate between MAGA and non-MAGA Republicans, asking respondents what they believed was the best path forward for the Republican Party—taking a new direction, sticking with both Trump and the path he laid out, or sticking with Trump's vision but finding a new leader for the party. A 43% plurality of Republicans wanted to stick with both Trump and his vision; 36% wanted to continue on Trump's path but with a new leader of the party; and 21% of Republicans wanted the party to head in a new direction. Among MAGA Republicans, 63% favored sticking with Trump, while a 40% plurality of non-MAGA Republicans wanted to continue down Trump's path but with a new leader. 
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 21, 2023 9:52:48 GMT -8
Has There Ever Been a More Qualified Committee Member?
If He Adds the Committee Membership to His Resume, That One Item Will be True.
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 21, 2023 9:54:16 GMT -8
Is Hochul High?
We might question why Kathy Hochul is so committed to the seemingly-doomed nomination of Hector LaSalle to the state Court of Appeals. Fresh off an embarrassing re-election campaign—in which she barely defeated her hard-right Republican opponent—she’s decided to use her limited political capital to nominate a conservative jurist to the state’s highest court, locking in a prosecution-friendly, center-right majority.
Needless to say, it hasn’t gone well.
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 21, 2023 9:56:43 GMT -8
And Iran, Iran So Far Away
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 21, 2023 9:58:53 GMT -8
A Democratic Governor in Mississippi? When Mississippi Freezes Over.
If Mississippi isn't Hell, it's the Next Worst Thing.
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 21, 2023 10:01:22 GMT -8
The QOP Doesn't Believe in Best and Brightest. They Prefer Worst and Dumbest.
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 21, 2023 10:06:04 GMT -8
Can You Die From Eating at Denny's?
A 2,600-pound Denny’s restaurant sign fell onto a car in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, during high winds Thursday afternoon. One person inside the vehicle was killed in the crush, while two others were injured.
Lillian Curtis, 72, was taken to the University of Louisville Hospital following the incident but later died, according to local ABC affiliate WHAS11 and Fox affiliate WDRB.
Her husband, Lloyd Curtis, remains hospitalized. Daughter Mary Graham was treated for chest and other injuries.
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 21, 2023 10:09:42 GMT -8
To Tank, Or Not to Tank. That is the Question.
Despite German efforts to pressure the U.S. into providing Abrams tanks to Ukraine, the Pentagon’s top leaders are against sending them, say three U.S. officials.
The German government signaled it may send its own Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine if the U.S. also agrees to send Ukraine the M1 Abrams, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz insisting Germany will only act in concert with allies.
The three U.S. officials said Berlin has tried to put the U.S. on the spot about sending Abrams tanks, and there has been frustration within the Biden administration with Germany over the back and forth. The officials insist the German pressure is not going to work.
But both Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley have recommended against sending M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, the three U.S. officials said.
Milley and Austin have cited how long it takes to train personnel to operate the tanks, how difficult the tanks are to maintain, and argue that they are not the right vehicle for the fight in Ukraine right now, according to the officials.
One U.S. official said Austin has argued the training to operate and maintain the tanks would take months, and even though the Ukrainians have proven adept at learning many new platforms, he continues to resist sending the Abrams.
Two U.S. officials also noted that Ukraine already has hundreds of tanks at its disposal and over the past year has captured hundreds of Russian tanks on the battlefield and added those to its inventory. (Who wants a crappy Russian tank?)
Ukrainian military leaders have said they need 300 tanks to break through Russian defenses.
“In order for us to defeat the Russian Federation, we absolutely need tanks,” said Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine. “The fact is that the question of which weapon is needed is determined by the military. It is the military that insists that tanks and heavy artillery are crucial today.”
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 21, 2023 10:14:27 GMT -8
Seeking Asylum
Abdul Wasi Safi kept documents detailing his time as an Afghan soldier who worked with the U.S. military close to him as he made the monthslong, treacherous journey from Brazil to the U.S.-Mexico border.
He fled Afghanistan fearing retribution from the Taliban following the August 2021 American withdrawal, and hoped the paperwork would secure his asylum in the U.S. Despite thick jungles, raging rivers and beatings, he kept those documents safe.
But after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border near Eagle Pass, Texas, in September, Wasi Safi was arrested on a federal immigration charge. He remains jailed at a detention center in Eden, Texas, and fears his asylum claim may be denied.
If sent back to Afghanistan, he could be killed by the Taliban, which since its takeover has killed more than 100 Afghan officials and security force members, according to a United Nations report.
Not This Kind of Asylum
James Louis Petigru (May 10, 1789 – March 9, 1863) was an American lawyer, politician, and jurist in South Carolina.
After South Carolina seceded in 1860, Petigru famously remarked, “South Carolina is too small for a republic and too large for an insane asylum.”
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 21, 2023 10:18:15 GMT -8
Old George Santos Told a Lie. E-I-E-I-O... Here An Investigation, There An Investigation, Everywhere An Investigation
Newly elected Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., is facing a host of questions: He's accused of faking his résumé and the circumstances of his mother's death along with having questionable campaign finances reporting and allegations of pilfering from a fundraising campaign for a dying dog, among other things.
Santos' district includes a portion of northern Nassau County, N.Y., on Long Island, as well as part of Queens, New York City's eastern borough. Nassau District Attorney Anne Donnelly, a Republican, announced that her office would investigate Santos after he publicly acknowledged having embellished his résumé.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James' office said in late December that it was "looking into a number of issues" involving Santos. However, the announcement stopped short of confirming a formal investigation.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, headquartered in Brooklyn, includes Santos' congressional district. An investigation by U.S. Attorney Breon Peace, the top prosecutor for the Eastern District, is focused in part on Santos' financial dealings, according to reports by The New York Times, CNN and other news organizations.
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 21, 2023 10:20:18 GMT -8
Losing Your Medical License and Going to Jail for THIS?
58-year-old Dr. Michael Kirk Moore Jr., through the Plastic Surgery Institute of Utah, worked a conspiracy where they “dumped nearly 2,000 doses of COVID vaccine down a drain” and gave out fake vaccination cards. Moore accomplished this feat with two other Plastic Surgery Institute of Utah employees: office manager Kari Dee Burgoyne and receptionist Sandra Flores. It only cost the individuals $50 as opposed to $0.00 dollars that the vaccine costs Americans. Another member of this con squad was Moore’s neighbor, Kristen Andersen.
The con was against the government, say prosecutors, as the four dirtbags reportedly used their medical positions to sign up to be a part of the government’s COVID-19 vaccination program as providers, receiving at least $28,000 worth of COVID-19 vaccines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Then they vetted customers who wanted fake vaccinations, and they collected direct cash payments of $50 for each person or got these people to donate “to a specified charitable organization.” Prosecutors say they were able to pull in well over $90,000 providing this fraudulent service. (That “charitable organization” was connected to Moore and Andersen, by the by.)
You may be wondering to yourself, wouldn’t many of these anti-vaxxers have children they wanted to pretend they gave shots to? Yes. Yes they would, and did. But these scumbags had a solution for that: a saline solution. They would give the children fake shots of saline so the kids would believe they were vaccinated against COVID-19. Good parenting, FYI.
Throughout the scheme, the group reported the names of all the vaccine seekers to the Utah Statewide Immunization Information System, indicating that the practice had administered 1,937 doses of COVID-19 vaccines, which included 391 pediatric doses. The value of all the doses totaled roughly $28,000. With the money from the $50 vaccination cards totaling nearly $97,000, the scheme was valued at nearly $125,000, federal prosecutors calculated.
This crew of anti-vaxxers are due in court on Jan. 26.
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 21, 2023 10:37:18 GMT -8
How Bizarre Is This? Hannah Montana?
Newly-seated Republican congressman George Santos from New York has claimed a lot of things that turned out to be false — his employment at Goldman-Sachs, his education at NYU and Baruch College, and his supposedly Jewish heritage, to name just a few. But the latest wrinkle revealed about Santos might be the last straw.
On a Wikipedia page for Anthony Devolder, an alias Santos used repeatedly, Politico reports that Devolder claims to have appeared on the popular Disney Channel series “Hannah Montana,” which ran from 2006 to 2011. The Wikipedia page, which has since been removed, was last updated in 2011. It lists his birth date, which matches Santos’, and says he appeared on “Hanna Montana” (which was misspelled) and “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody.” Miley Cyrus starred in “Hannah Montana,” in which her character led a double life as a typical teenager and a pop star.
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