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Post by mhbruin on Mar 21, 2023 7:41:12 GMT -8
I like what mechanics wear, overall.
I Guess a 241-Year Prison Sentence Doesn't Mean 241 Years
When Bobby Bostic was released from prison in November, 27 years into a 241-year sentence, lots of things seemed strange.
From wireless earphones ("Why are dudes talking to themselves?"), to people talking to their speaker ("I'm like, what is Alexis?"), to self-service drink machines ("You wave your hand and the water comes out?"), the world is much changed, compared to December 1995.
But strangest of all were the people.
"It's how friendly they are, compared to prison," the 44-year-old says. "You go into a grocery store, and it's 'Sir, can I help you?' In prison, you got nothing but mean mugs [faces] and harassment…"
He is still adjusting to hearing "Hey, how you doing?" instead of "Don't walk too close to me."
"Out here, it's just good things. People smiling. Little kids waving at you. It's like, this is what life is. This is normal. This is how things are supposed to be."
Presumably, then, it's hard to adapt after 27 years of ingrained, institutional aggression…
"No, because deep down inside, you always wanted that humanity. You wanted that human connection…that's life. That's beauty. That's the joy of being a human."
Short presentational grey line After almost 10,000 nights in a cell, November 8, 2022, was Bostic's last. But he was too busy dreaming of freedom to sleep.
Instead, he spent the long, dark night packing his cell. He left his possessions for other prisoners, but kept one thing. His typewriter held too many memories - too many stories - to leave behind.
At sunlight, with his cell packed, he looked at the board setting out which prisoners were moving cells. Next to his name was one word: released.
"It wasn't real until I seen the words," he says. "When I did, it was like music to my soul."
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 21, 2023 7:43:22 GMT -8
In Today's News From Ecuador
Journalists across Ecuador have been targeted by explosive devices sent through the post.
One presenter, Lenin Artieda, was injured when he opened the envelope in the middle of the newsroom.
He said the explosive device looked like a USB drive. He plugged it into his computer and it detonated.
The Ecuadorean attorney-general's department confirmed it had opened a terrorism investigation into the letters on Monday.
It did not name the specific news outlets targeted. However, at least five different organisations across Ecuador were sent the letters.
The government has condemned the attacks, describing freedom of expression as "a right that must be respected".
"Any attempt to intimidate journalism and freedom of expression is a loathsome action that should be punished with all the rigour of justice," it said in a statement.
The interior minister, Juan Zapata, said the devices were all sent from the same town. Three were sent to media outlets in Guayaquil and two to the capital, Quito.
While Mr Artieda was injured by the device, others sent through the post failed to explode or were never opened.
Police carried out a controlled detonation of one of the devices sent to TC Television, prosecutors confirmed.
Ecuador's head of forensic science said they contained "military-type" explosives.
Ecuador has experienced an increase in violence, which its President, Guillermo Lasso, said is a result of competition between drug trafficking gangs for territory and control.
No Place Seems Immune From Drug Violence
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 21, 2023 7:45:02 GMT -8
I Guess I'll Cancel My Trip to Regina
The tourism organisation for Regina, Canada, has apologised after critics claimed its new advertising campaign "sexualised" the city.
A series of new slogans leaned into the city's double-entendre name - with taglines such as "show us your Regina" and "the city that rhymes with fun".
Some residents said it was immature and belittling to women.
Experience Regina apologised on Sunday, saying the rebrand crossed a line and created "negative impact".
"I want to start by apologising, on behalf of myself and our team, for the negative impact we created with elements of our recent brand launch," said Tim Reid, of Experience Regina, in a statement.
Experience Regina said it was trying to take ownership of a name that has become a crude joke for some.
Amid a growing backlash, the agency released a further statement on Monday saying it will involve more diverse stakeholders in the decision-making process in future.
Local businesses that added the new slogans to merchandise have also apologised and removed the products.
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 21, 2023 7:46:52 GMT -8
Are They Going to Ban Teaching About Commas, Colons, and Exclamation Points, Too?
Florida may ban elementary school students from learning about periods in class
Oh. Nevermind,
Legislation moving in the Florida House would ban discussion of menstrual cycles and other human sexuality topics in elementary grades.
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 21, 2023 7:47:46 GMT -8
Isn't Disneyland the Happiest Place on Earth?
It calls itself the “land of the midnight sun” because of its nightless days during the summer and perhaps the extra light has affected the mood in Finland, which has once again taken the crown for the “happiest country in the world.”
For the sixth year in a row, the Nordic nation has topped the table of the World Happiness Report beating Denmark in second, and third placed Iceland.
The United States was 16th on the list, while the least happy places were judged to be Afghanistan, where millions have been driven into poverty and hunger after foreign aid dwindled in the wake of the Taliban seizing power in 2021, and Lebanon, which has been crippled by an economic crisis.
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 21, 2023 7:51:38 GMT -8
Preventative Medicine. While Russia Continues to Strike Civilian Targets.On Monday evening, a series of explosions took place near the city of Dzhankoi in occupied Crimea. According to the Ukrainian military, these explosions represent an attack on a supply of Russian Kalibr cruise missiles that were being transported by rail. If this is accurate, then Dzhankoi was certainly a good place to strike. Not only is the city at crossroads of major highways, as seen on this map, it’s also a railway hub, with a large switching yard and train sheds for directing materials in all directions. Even if the rail bridge at Kersh is still largely out of operation, shortly after they get across that bridge Russia certainly moves much of the material coming in from truck to rail. And when they do, everything they’re directing to Kherson or Zaporizhzhia Oblast comes through Dzhankoi. Russia certainly felt safe in doing this, because at 150 kilometers from the nearest Ukrainian-held position, Dzhankoi was theoretically “safe.” Except this is just one of several locations that have recently been hit. Other explosions have struck the area around Mariupol, and even a Russian base on the other side of the Sea of Azov. That’s led to speculation about Ukraine getting longer-range missiles from the U.S., or developing long-range missiles of its own. But the answer to the explosions at Dzhankoi and elsewhere is likely the same: drones. Open that video full screen. Pause at about the four-second mark: You can actually see what appears to be a drone diving toward a target just above one of the buildings. Not only is Dzhankoi a rail hub, it has reportedly become one of Russia’s largest military bases in occupied Crimea. Some of the forces there were relocated from Kherson Oblast after Russia was forced to leave the area west of the Dnipro River. Some of the strikes appear to have been directed at the military airbase in this location. Hours later, more strikes are being reported both at Dzhankoi and at other locations in Crimea. It seems like Ukraine is engaged in a more extensive operation, perhaps designed to take down Russian missiles before they can be launched in another wave against civilian targets. Weirdly enough, there is also gunfire on the ground at Dzhankoi and a power outage in the city. No idea what’s behind all that.
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 21, 2023 7:57:44 GMT -8
How's That Russian Oil and Gas Threat Against Europe Working? Not So Well.
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 21, 2023 7:59:20 GMT -8
Opps!
Twenty years ago, the United States invaded Iraq with faulty intelligence, inadequate planning, and the impossibly ambitious aim of constructing a new Iraqi nation to American specifications. The result was over a trillion dollars lost, thousands of U.S. service members killed and wounded, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis dead, a major setback in the war against al-Qaeda, irreparable damage to America’s global reputation, and tears in the fabric of American politics and society. These enduring legacies of the war have served as a cautionary tale for future military interventions in the region.
Open debate is crucial for avoiding strategic tunnel vision. The Bush administration – and much of Congress – failed to place the problem of Iraq in the broader context of America’s interests and role in the world. This strategic tunnel vision helped justify terribly high human and financial costs, while blinding those who favored the invasion to the ways it would damage other vital U.S. interests, such as the need to destroy al-Qaeda, the preservation of a rules-based international order, and diplomatic relations with allies and adversaries. One of the main reasons U.S. leaders developed strategic tunnel vision was that they sidelined serious critics. For example, former Assistant Secretary of State for Middle East Affairs and current director of the CIA William J. Burns wrote a now legendary memo outlining the risks of war, only to be ignored. Secretary of State Colin Powell also reportedly didn’t feel comfortable telling Bush he opposed the war. In the United Kingdom, the Blair government made the same mistake, ignoring or sidelining internal critics who questioned the march toward war. A more open debate about the policy options that included these critics would have provided crucial geopolitical context, underscoring the longer term risks and potential consequences of the war.
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 21, 2023 8:00:37 GMT -8
Tiny Previos Guy Gets a Tiny Response
Trump lied to his supporters (yet again) and declared his arrest was imminent on Tuesday, March 21. He did this with the hope of building up a large, intimidating group of deranged MAGA that might give a certain DA some pause over arresting him later in the week. In fact, for the past two years, Trump has promised civil unrest if anyone dares to indict him.
Trump took to his failing social media outlet, Truth Social, and in two dozen times with ALL CAPs ranting, (like a normal, healthy person does), called upon his minions to come out in force ala January 6th to protect their king.
“IT’S TIME!!!” he wrote. “WE JUST CAN’T ALLOW THIS ANYMORE. THEY’RE KILLING OUR NATION AS WE SIT BACK & WATCH. WE MUST SAVE AMERICA!PROTEST, PROTEST, PROTEST!!!”
And in another: THE FAR & AWAY LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE & FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK. PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!
Nothing about peaceful protesting, and nothing about respecting law enforcement, mind you. Just come out with your spears, flag poles and bear spray—just like last time. It’ll be wild; and this time, unlike last time, he will totally stand by you.
And then this happened:
The New York Young Republican Club planned a big protest at 6pm tonight. Less than two dozen people showed up.
Then Came the Punch Line
“We purposefully kept it small,” the club’s president, Gavin Wax, told HuffPost.
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 21, 2023 8:03:54 GMT -8
What Does Rudy Know About Civilization?
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 21, 2023 8:05:31 GMT -8
You Don't Have to Go On TikTok To See a Tick Tock
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 21, 2023 8:07:15 GMT -8
Breaking Noise: Fox Noise Doesn't Respect or Value Women
A Fox News producer filed two lawsuits against the company on Monday accusing the news giant’s lawyers of pressuring her into giving misleading testimony as part of the ongoing $1.6 billion defamation suit by Dominion Voting Systems.
The New York Times reported that Abby Grossberg, a producer who worked for Fox News hosts Maria Bartiromo and Tucker Carlson, filed the suits in New York and Delaware. In the complaints, Grossberg alleges Fox News attorneys pressured her to avoid mentioning prominent male executives and on-air talent to protect them in the Dominion lawsuit. She also claimed the lawyers planned to see her and Bartiromo take the blame for any conspiracy theories that aired on Fox News about Dominion, saying it was part of a widespread culture of misogyny at the network.
“That’s what the culture is there,” Grossberg told the Times after the suits were filed. “They don’t respect or value women.”
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 21, 2023 8:11:59 GMT -8
If You're Not Going to Defend Your Client on TV, Why Go on TV?
The Fulton County district attorney is probing Trump’s efforts to reverse his election defeat in that swing state.
Brown played an excerpt of Trump’s phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which he famously said: “All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have, because we won the state.”
“Are you worried the facts in this case are not favorable to your client, given what we just heard there and other calls?” Brown asked Drew Findling, a lawyer representing Trump in a case that may lead to charges of racketeering and other offenses. Trump also has said he expects to be charged in Manhattan over the Stormy Daniels hush-money allegations.
“So, what I’m worried about is that people just listen to eight or nine seconds and don’t really look at evidence,” Findling replied. “So, we look at 62 minutes. We look at all the evidence. And looking at all the evidence, we understand and we know that our client did not break any laws whatsoever.”
Brown snapped back that she reviewed the whole tape and noted that Trump spouted “several conspiracy theories that have been disproven to support his aim that he wanted Raffensperger to overturn the election.”
“How is that OK?” Brown pressed.
“So, what I’m going to say, Pamela, is I’m not going to try the case with you or anybody else on TV or in the media,” the lawyer replied. “I mean, that’s something you deal with in court.”
Findling said he only wanted to discuss a motion his legal team filed declaring the Fulton County grand jury that investigated the case “unconstitutional.” He then went off on a tangent about jails being overcrowded with suspects awaiting trial.
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 21, 2023 8:14:31 GMT -8
How Many Hush Money Settlements Have You Paid Out?
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 21, 2023 8:16:46 GMT -8
The QOP House Has Become the Theater of the Absurd
House Republicans rallied to the defense of former President Donald Trump before his possible indictment, demanding that the Manhattan district attorney who is investigating him turn over documents and come for an interview.
The Republican chairmen of three House committees sent a letter Monday to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, seeking information about his actions in the Trump case, which they characterized as an “unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority.” They requested testimony as well as documents and copies of any communications with the Justice Department.
No authorities wanted to take the case but then "what changed? President Trump announces he’s running for president and shazam,” Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said shortly after sending the letter.
The letter to Bragg — effectively demanding transparency in the middle of a criminal investigation — suggested that Republicans intend to use their House majority to defend Trump as he mounts a second run for president.
Both Bragg and the Justice Department seemed unlikely to respond to the request, given the long-standing practice of prosecutors not divulging information about active cases.
Bragg's office said in a statement it would not be intimidated by what it characterized as attempts to undermine the justice process.
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