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Post by mhbruin on Apr 9, 2023 8:10:41 GMT -8
Where did the IT guy go? He probably ransomeware.
If Only We Could Trust Chinese Data.
A research team in China has published analysis of samples taken more than three years ago from the market linked to the outbreak of Covid-19.
The Huanan seafood and wildlife market has been a focal point in the search for the origin of the coronavirus.
But this is the first peer-reviewed study of biological evidence gathered from the market back in 2020.
By linking the virus with animals sold in the market, it could open new lines of inquiry into how the outbreak began.
The research reveals swabs that tested positive for the virus also contained genetic material from wild animals.
Some scientists say this is further evidence that the disease was initially transmitted from an infected animal to a human.
But others have urged caution in interpreting the findings and it remains unclear why it took three years for the genetic content of the samples to be made public.
Another theory has centred on the suggestion that the virus accidentally leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan.
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 9, 2023 8:12:40 GMT -8
And Yet, Fundamentalist Christiams Support IsraelHostility by fundamentalist Jews towards Jerusalem’s Christian community is not new, and it is not just Armenian Christians who suffer from it. Priests of all denominations describe being spat at for years. Since 2005, Christian celebrations around Holy Week, particularly Holy Fire Saturday, have brought military barricades and harsh treatment from soldiers and settlers alike, with the number of worshippers allowed inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre drastically limited, from as many as 11,000 historically during the Holy Fire ceremony to now 1,800 since last year, with authorities citing safety concerns. But since Israel’s new government – the most right wing and religious in its history – came to power, incidents against Christians in Jerusalem have reportedly become more violent and common. At the beginning of the year, 30 Christian graves at the Protestant Mount Zion Cemetery were desecrated. In the Armenian Quarter, vandals spray-painted “Death to Arabs, Christians and Armenians,” on the walls. At the Church of the Flagellation, someone attacked a statue of Jesus with a hammer. Last month, an Israeli came to the Church of Gethsemane during Sunday religious services and tried to attack the priest with an iron bar. Being spat and shouted at by Israelis has become, for some Christians, “a daily occurrence”. Most of the time, victims of these incidents say little is done by police to catch or punish attackers. Israel Isn't Iran or Afghanistan, But It is Headed Toward TheocracyUnder Netanyahu, violence against Christians is being normalised
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 9, 2023 8:16:44 GMT -8
The Comstock Load of BSA 19th century “anti-vice” law is at the center of a new court ruling that threatens access to the leading abortion drug in the U.S. Dormant for a half-century, the Comstock Act has been revived by anti-abortion groups and conservative states seeking to block the mailing of mifepristone, the pill used in more than half of U.S. abortions. On Friday, a federal judge in Texas sided with Christian conservatives in ruling that the Comstock Act prohibits sending the long-used drug through the mail. What is the Comstock Act?Originally passed in 1873 and named for an anti-vice crusader, the Comstock Act was intended to prohibit the mailing of contraceptives, “lewd” writings and any “instrument, substance, drug, medicine, or thing” that could be used in an abortion. The law’s scope has been repeatedly narrowed by federal courts and Congress, which eliminated the reference to contraceptives in the 1970s. And the federal government hasn’t enforced the law since the 1930s, according to legal experts. Kacsmaryk, though, agreed with plaintiffs that the law — as literally interpreted — prohibits mailing mifepristone. The FDA’s decision allowing the “dispensing of chemical abortion drugs through mail violates unambiguous federal criminal law,” he concluded. Why is the Comstock Act in play now?The law was essentially dormant in the 50 years after Roe v. Wade established a federal right to abortion. And until the FDA loosened its requirements on mifepristone in 2021, there was no real way to enable abortion through the mail. But Rachel Rebouché of Temple University’s law school says anti-abortion groups — emboldened by the Supreme Court decision overturning of Roe — have seized on Comstock to try and shut off the flow of abortion drugs. “The fact that pills can be mailed is an existential crisis for the anti-abortion movement — it’s hard to police, it’s hard to track, it’s difficult to enforce,” said Rebouché. “If courts are willing to breathe new life into Comstock, it has the potential to shut down the uptake of medication abortion across the country.” Comstock has also been cited by Republican state officials seeking to stop national pharmacy chains from shipping abortion pills to their states. What does a 19th-century 'anti-vice' law have to do with the abortion pill ruling?
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 9, 2023 8:18:12 GMT -8
The Big Winners are the Consultants and TV Stations, and Maybe Coal Joe
Some of the most powerful forces in Republican politics are on course for an explosive — and expensive — collision in West Virginia’s Senate primary.
On one side, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the Senate Leadership Fund, the McConnell-aligned super PAC, are pushing for Gov. Jim Justice, a former Democrat who switched parties in 2017, to jump into the race.
On the other, the big-spending anti-tax group Club for Growth just announced its support for Rep. Alex Mooney, a member of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, who has pledged to spend $10 million.
The jockeying by Washington power brokers signals the primary could be one of the most expensive in West Virginia history as Republicans target Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin in a key battleground for control of the Senate. The Club for Growth is known to spend freely in GOP nominating contests, while McConnell and allies, stung by a crop of weak candidates in critical races last fall, have been proactive in shaping the 2024 map.
“I certainly wish I owned a TV station in the state of West Virginia for the 2024 cycle,” Conrad Lucas, former chair of the West Virginia GOP, told NBC News, alluding to the advertising blitz likely to blanket the state. “It’s very interesting to see this much attention happening this early. Typically, when there’s outside investment, it’s not this early.”
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 9, 2023 8:20:01 GMT -8
We Haven't Heard About Ab-Butt for a While. When We Do, It Can't Be Good. It Isn't.
On Friday, a Texas jury unanimously convicted Daniel Perry, a man who shot and killed a Black Lives Matter protester in the summer of 2020. While Texas prides itself as a "stand your ground" state—hence all the recent mass murders—Perry's act of murder appeared to be brazenly premeditated. In social media posts Perry sneered that he might "kill a few people on my way to work. They are rioting outside my apartment complex" and that he "might go to Dallas to shoot looters." He argued with a friend over whether that would be legal; that friend warned him that "we went through the same training" and "Shooting after creating an event where you have to shoot" is "not a good shoot."
Two weeks later Perry ran a red light and "accelerated" into a Black Lives Matter protest in Austin, Texas. As protesters approached Perry rolled down his window and emptied his handgun at 28 year old Air Force veteran Garrett Foster, who was legally carrying an AK-47 rifle. Perry would tell police afterwards that Foster was raising his weapon; none of the witnesses at the scene agreed. The Texas jury determined that Perry had intentionally murdered Foster.
Within 24 hours, Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott took to social media himself to vow that he would pardon Daniel Perry as "swiftly" as he is able to. "Texas has one of the strongest 'Stand Your Ground' laws of self-defense that cannot be nullified by a jury or a progressive District Attorney," tweeted Abbott. Abbott announced that he had already requested the Board of Pardons and Paroles to review Perry's conviction and "instructed the Board to expedite its review."
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 9, 2023 8:23:43 GMT -8
Fake News: This Didn't Happen This Week
CLAIM: A video shows President Joe Biden essentially confirming that his team coordinated the indictment of former President Donald Trump to “stop Trump from taking power again.”
THE FACTS: The video dates to November 2022 and shows Biden answering a question about how to reassure world leaders that Trump would not return to power. Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury, in a process that did not involve the Biden administration and that wouldn't prevent Trump from running for or winning the presidency in 2024. “Biden all but confirmed that his team is coordinating these Trump indictments to ‘stop Trump from taking power again,'" reads one Twitter post with the clip that has racked up more than 17,000 retweets. But White House transcripts and original video of the Nov. 9, 2022, event show Biden was answering a reporter’s question about how he would respond to world leaders concerned about Trump and his political movement returning to power. “Well, we just have to demonstrate that he will not take power by — if we — if he does run,” Biden replied. “I’m making sure he, under legitimate efforts of our Constitution, does not become the next President again.” The investigation into hush money payments made on behalf of Trump during his presidential campaign was conducted by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which does not take orders from the White House.
CLAIM: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is charging a New York City parking garage attendant for attempted murder after he shot an alleged armed robber.
THE FACTS: Police initially arrested the worker on charges of attempted murder, assault and gun possession over the Saturday incident, but Bragg’s office dropped the charges the following day. The man’s lawyer said a video of the altercation clearing his client of wrongdoing was sent to the DA’s office.
CLAIM: Brewing company Anheuser-Busch fired its entire marketing department in response to its partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney and the rollout of LGBTQ Pride-themed Bud Light cans that feature pronouns.
THE FACTS: Anheuser-Busch, the maker of Bud Light, has not fired its marketing team, the company confirmed in a statement. That claim initially spread as satire but some social media users shared it as real. Meanwhile, the pride-themed cans were part of a limited rollout marking Pride Month in 2022 in Canada, not the brand’s partnership with Mulvaney.
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 9, 2023 8:29:33 GMT -8
The QOP Keeps Embracing a Past That is Ending
And yet, for all of this organizing, conservatives just can’t seem to get young people to the polls. Year after year, election after election, Republicans have been hemorrhaging voters in the 18–29 demographic—and while most pollsters, activists, and strategists on the right can agree on the urgency of the issue, no one, it seems, can settle on a solution.
Thomas Sheedy, the 23-year-old founder of the secular Atheists for Liberty, told me that the party’s failure to reach across all age groups has a lot to do with religion. “This is a movement still pretending to be more Christian than it really is,” he said, “because they have to appeal to baby boomers and a donor class of religious conservatives.” Judging by the numbers, Sheedy might have a point: More than a third of Generation Z––currently in their late teens and early twenties––in America identify as religiously unaffiliated, according to the American Survey Center. And only 9% identify with the white evangelical Protestantism currently driving the Republican Party—which is 2%, 7%, and 9% lower than millennials, Generation X, and baby boomers respectively.
But the last decade has seen Republicans grow increasingly driven by evangelical politics, often in direct opposition to the views held by a growing majority of young Americans. Hardline abortion bans, anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, and various morality laws—including online pornography restrictions and book bans—have overtaken the austerity politics and hawkish foreign policy that steered past iterations of the party. (Meanwhile, Republican politicians consistently show a complete disregard for combating—or even acknowledging—the impacts of human-made climate change, yet another major disconnect between young people and the party.)
Then There Are Gun Violence, Global Warming, Women's Rights, Gay Rights.
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 9, 2023 8:30:18 GMT -8
Who Won the Week?
U.S. District Judge Thomas Parker, for blocking the Tennessee GOP's idiotic law banning drag shows because it's vague, unnecessary, and violates the First Amendment
The security of democracy in Europe, as Finland officially joins NATO as its 31st member
Wisconsin voters, who flipped control of the state Supreme Court by electing Judge Janet Protasiewicz, and choosing Sara Geenen over the conservative incumbent for a seat on the state Court of Appeals
Chicago voters, for choosing public schools advocate Brandon Johnson to be their new mayor over the charter school guy
Michigan Democrats, for repealing the state’s 1931 abortion ban
The long arm of the law, as Donald J. Trump is charged in New York on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree
Gov. Phil Murphy (D), for his executive order establishing New Jersey as a safe haven for gender-affirming health care by protecting doctors and patients against repercussions from other states
The Tennesseans who took to the streets and state Capitol to protest the MAGA majority's lack of action on gun violence and expulsion of two of the "Tennessee Three" from the state House
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 9, 2023 8:32:19 GMT -8
Who Advised Clarence?
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said Friday he was “advised” that there was no need to report lavish trips he took for years with a Texas billionaire GOP donor while serving on the high court, and that he would do so in the future.
In a rare statement released by the Supreme Court, Thomas said he was “advised” by his colleagues in the judiciary “that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends” was not something that needed to be reported under the court’s guidelines at the time.
If You're a Supreme Court Judge, Why Ask Another Judge for Legal Advice? And Why Is a Hitler Admirer Your Good Buddy?
Harlan Crow, the Republican billionaire and megadonor to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, allegedly has a collection of Adolf Hitler artifacts and Nazi memorabilia on display at his home, according to news reports.
Crow’s million-dollar estate in Dallas, Texas, houses Adolf Hitler artifacts, including two paintings by Hitler and a signed copy of his book “Mein Kampf,” along with a stockpile of other Nazi mementos such as a swastika medallion, statues of dictators of the 20th century in the backyard and more, according to the Washingtonian.
Inspired by his hatred for communism and fascism, the Washingtonian reports, Crow’s collection faced major backlash in 2015 after he hosted a fundraiser at his estate on the eve of Yom Kippur, a Jewish holiday. An anonymous source who attended the fundraiser told the Washingtonian that the house felt like a museum, describing it as “strange” given the assortment of family photos in one room, World War II artifacts in another and a backyard full of dictators.
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 9, 2023 8:34:32 GMT -8
I Don't Think You Want to Piss Off Mossad, Nut-N-Yahoo
As the Biden administration races to investigate a leak of classified U.S. documents, much of Washington is remaining silent about a particularly sensitive disclosure within the trove of files: an alleged revolt by Israel’s top spy service against the judicial overhaul proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The leaked document labeled top secret says that in February, senior leaders of the Mossad spy service “advocated for Mossad officials and Israeli citizens to protest the new Israeli Government’s proposed judicial reforms, including several explicit calls to action that decried the Israeli Government, according to signals intelligence.”
By itself, the direct intervention into Israeli politics by Mossad, an external spy service forbidden from wading into domestic matters, would be a significant revelation. That the information surfaced as a result, apparently, of U.S. espionage on its closest Middle East ally could further inflame what has been a time of historic political unrest in Israel.
“If accurate, this is dramatic change in procedure by Mossad’s leadership and puts Israel in unprecedented territory,” said Natan Sachs, an Israel scholar at the Brookings Institution. “It’s a sign of just how far the Netanyahu coalition has pushed Israeli society and how high the stakes are.”
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 9, 2023 8:35:41 GMT -8
You've Got Mail
A man received 580 letters in one day demanding payment for sales tax bills after thousands of Chinese companies fraudulently used his home address to register for tax, BBC News reported.
Dylan Davies, from Cardiff in Wales, started getting the letters from UK tax authority HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) telling him to pay sales taxes, known as VAT, in November.
Davies continued to get tax bills for 11,000 companies that had used his address over the following months despite informing HMRC and the police. The total amount came to about £500,000 ($620,000).
"You'd think there'd be a systems with the technology today that would have picked it up immediately," Davies told BBC News.
He became concerned that debt collectors would turn up at his home and take property from him after he started getting letters from some.
Davies said the tax authority only took action when BBC Wales consumer programme X-Ray reported his story.
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 9, 2023 8:38:17 GMT -8
Please Sir, I Would Like Something to Eat.
North Dakota’s Senate has passed a bill to give its members more free food — after killing a proposal to boost free lunches for hungry school kids.
On Thursday, the GOP-led chamber voted 26-21 to let state employees collect up to $45 a day to pay for meals while traveling within North Dakota, up from $35 currently. The bill, which would cost $1 million in taxpayer money over the next two years, now heads to the desk of Gov. Doug Burgum (R) to be signed into law.
But less than two weeks ago, the Senate rejected a separate bill that would have allocated $6 million over the next two years to provide free school lunches to all K-12 students living at or below 200% of the federal poverty level. This would expand on a federal program that already provides meals to students living below 130% of the poverty level.
The bill failed by a single vote.
Notably, 13 Republicans voted against the school meal proposal while also backing the reimbursement for state employees. No Democrats did the same.
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 9, 2023 8:39:59 GMT -8
No Surprise. DeathSentence and His Buddies Lied.
An analysis that was the basis of a highly criticized recommendation from Florida's surgeon general cautioning young men against getting the COVID-19 vaccine omitted information that showed catching the virus could increase the risk of a cardiac-related death much more than getting the mRNA shot, according to drafts of the analysis obtained by the Tampa Bay Times.
The nonbinding recommendation made by Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo last fall ran counter to the advice provided by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ladapo, a Harvard-trained medical doctor who was appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2021 to head the Florida Department of Health, has drawn intense scrutiny over his shared resistance with the Republican governor to COVID-19 mandates for vaccines and masks and other health policies endorsed by the federal government.
The early drafts of the analysis obtained by the Times through a records request showed that catching COVID-19 could increase the chances of a cardiac-related death much more than getting the vaccine, but that information was missing from the final version put out by the Florida Department of Health last October.
Ladapo said that the risk of men ages 18 to 39 having cardiac complications outweighed the benefits of getting the mRNA vaccine.
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 9, 2023 8:41:36 GMT -8
It's All a Shell Game
Russian forces are using artillery to "offset" their "degraded" abilities in offensives against Ukrainian fighters, according to a new assessment.
Moscow's "high demand" for shells shows its forces are "still heavily relying on artillery to offset key shortcomings" in the Kremlin's military, the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on Saturday.
Russia is using artillery to compensate for a lack of airpower, ground assault capabilities, and poor targeting abilities, the ISW said. An intense wave of artillery attacks "flatten settlements" before Russian forces capture the area with ground attacks, the think tank added. This then reduces the need for precision airstrikes, infantry attacks, or aircraft risking being downed by Ukraine's air defenses, according to the ISW assessment.
However, Russia's scarce supplies of artillery ammunition will "undermine" this tactic.
So-called "shell hunger," or a lack of ammunition, has long afflicted Russia's troops fighting in Ukraine. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Russian mercenary Wagner Group, previously posted footage of fighters in Ukraine he claimed had been killed because of "shell hunger." In February, he accused the Russian Defense Ministry and military commanders of "treason" for not furnishing the Wagner fighters with ammunition, which the defense ministry denied.
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