|
|
Post by mhbruin on Apr 18, 2023 9:11:16 GMT -8
Don't trust atoms, they make up everything.
Clearly Some Men are Hare-Brained, and One Man is Dead
A Chinese man has died after being shot by a hunter who apparently mistook him for a hare, police say.
Four men have been arrested over the death of Wang Moujin, who drowned in a ditch after being shot in the head with an air gun.
The incident took place last Friday evening when the four went hunting in Shaxi Town, Jiangxi province.
Incidents involving firearms are rare in China.
Police from Xinzhou district said one of the men had opened fire after seeing movement in the grass beside the ditch, where Mr Wang was reported to have been fishing.
Authorities were then called to the scene and arrested the four men, some of whom are thought to be in their 30s. Investigations are ongoing.
An autopsy determined that Mr Wang had died by drowning.
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Apr 18, 2023 9:12:57 GMT -8
Hitting Russia Where It Hurts. One Less Vodka Option
Absolut Vodka will stop exporting its products to Russia after a backlash in its home country, Sweden.
The company initially halted the exports in March 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine.
But its parent company, Pernod Ricard, confirmed that some exports had resumed - which sparked fury.
Pernod Ricard has now announced they have stopped Absolut Vodka exports again, in order to protect their staff and partners from criticism.
It said it was exercising its "duty of care towards our employees and partners, we cannot expose them to massive criticism in all forms".
Last week, many top bars and restaurants in Sweden pulled the drink from their shelves, and politicians condemned its export, following media reports it was being sold to Russia.
The Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said he was "very surprised" to hear the company had resumed exports.
And three Swedish artists launched a viral campaign, depicting a picture of a smouldering bomb crater in the shape of the Absolut bottle.
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Apr 18, 2023 9:16:30 GMT -8
Egypt Will Supply Ammo to Ukraine After US Say "Tut Tut."
Egypt was planning to manufacture rockets for Russia but then suspended that effort and decided to supply ammunition to Ukraine after talks with United States officials, The Washington Post has reported, citing leaked intelligence documents.
The Post had reported last week that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi secretly planned to produce 40,000 rockets for Russia. But in a new report on Thursday – based on leaked Pentagon files that had been circulating online – the newspaper said Cairo suspended that push in early March.
The Washington Post said Egypt also approved the sale of artillery ammunition to the US “for transfer to Ukraine”, calling the shift an “apparent diplomatic win” for President Joe Biden’s administration.
Egypt, which enjoys warm ties with Russia despite being a close US ally, has previously denied plans to produce rockets for Russian forces, stressing that it is pursuing a policy of “noninvolvement” in Russia’s war in Ukraine.
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Apr 18, 2023 9:19:45 GMT -8
When I Read the Headline I Thought the Story Was About Teenagers and a Teacher in Spain
2 teens accused of fatally beating their Spanish teacher over a bad grade plead guilty
Two Iowa teenagers charged in the beating death of a high school teacher pleaded guilty to first-degree murder on Tuesday.
Willard Miller and Jeremy Goodale both changed their pleas to guilty Tuesday and admitted helping kill Nohema Graber, 66, their Spanish teacher at Fairfield High School. Investigators said the attack was possibly regarding a dispute over grades in Graber’s class.
Prosecutors say the evidence shows both Miller and Goodale struck Graber with a bat. Miller admitted helping plan and carry out the killing but has denied ever hitting Graber.
The teacher’s body was found in a Fairfield park in November 2021 hidden under a tarp, wheelbarrow and railroad ties. The town of Fairfield is home to some 9,400 people and is around 100 miles southeast of Des Moines.
Prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence between 30 years and life in prison with the possibility of parole as part of an agreement with Miller. Prosecutors said they would recommend a sentence between 25 years and life with the possibility of parole for Goodale.
Goodale previously agreed to testify against Miller at his trial, which was expected to begin later this week.
Nope, It's Good-Old All American Violence
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Apr 18, 2023 9:21:48 GMT -8
We Really Could Default on Our Debt This Time.
the head of the Freedom Caucus, Texas Rep. Chip Roy, has been talking himself up to The Wall Street Journal, previewing how he is planning to continue to make McCarthy’s life hell. A WSJ reporter shadowed Roy last week, documenting how he is “preparing for battle” over the debt ceiling.
“The fight’s just begun—the speaker’s fight was a preview,” Roy told a group of Kerr County Republicans last week. “I’m not there to get second place. I’m there to win,” He reiterated that to the Kerr County Chamber of Commerce in another speech. “If you think it was hot then, the debt-ceiling fight is going to get a lot hotter.”
Just to make his point clear, he later told the WSJ: “You’re going to lose right-flank support if you don’t have upfront, first-year cuts.” He laid down his line in the sand. “The debt ceiling is not going to be clean, and it’s not going to be one simple thing attached to it.”
McCarthy’s proposal on the debt ceiling includes lots of cuts, a handful of repeals of President Joe Biden’s initiatives, and making all the working people who receive Medicaid and food stamp assistance prove that they are working. He reportedly doesn’t want to include some of the things the maniacs have been yelling about the loudest, like repealing the new IRS funding.
That’s not going to go over well with the Freedom Caucus crowd, only four of whom McCarthy can afford to lose. He needs 218 votes and he’s not going to be getting them from any Democrats. There are already two Republicans who have told reporters that they won’t help McCarthy raise the debt ceiling, period.
The Only Way This Gets Through the House is If McCarthy Works With Democrates, and That Will Likley Cost Him the Gavel.
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Apr 18, 2023 9:24:24 GMT -8
Fox Noise Isn't Content to Lie on Their Own Network
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Apr 18, 2023 9:29:28 GMT -8
It'a OK To Talk About Killing Journalists, But Recording the Discussion is a Crime.
A southeastern Oklahoma sheriff’s office says the recording in which the sheriff and others are reportedly heard discussing killing two journalists was illegal and predicted felony charges will be filed.
A statement on the sheriff’s office Facebook page, the first public statement since the comments by Sheriff Kevin Clardy and others were reported by the McCurtain Gazette-News, does not address the recorded comments about killing journalists and hanging Black people, but calls the situation “complex” and one “we regret having to address.”
The statement calls the past 72 hours “amongst the most difficult and disruptive in recent memory” and says the recording was altered and involves many victims.
“There is and has been an ongoing investigation into multiple, significant violation(s) of the Oklahoma Security of Communications Act ... which states that it is illegal to secretly record a conversation in which you are not involved and do not have the consent of at least one of the involved parties,” according to the statement.
Joey Senat, a journalism professor at Oklahoma State University, said under Oklahoma law, the recording would be legal if it were obtained in a place where the officials being recorded did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy.
Bruce Willingham, the longtime publisher of the McCurtain Gazette-News, said the recording was made March 6 when he left a voice-activated recorder inside the room after a county commissioner’s meeting because he suspected the group was continuing to conduct county business after the meeting had ended in violation of the state’s Open Meeting Act.
Willingham said he twice spoke with his attorneys to be sure he was doing nothing illegal.
They Really Want to Kill the Messenger
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Apr 18, 2023 9:32:10 GMT -8
Psst! QOP! We Found Who's Been Grooming Young Boys. BTW, It's One of You.
A far-right influencer who helped organize the Jan. 6, 2021, “Stop the Steal” rally issued an apology after several people came forward to accuse him of sending sexual messages to teen boys.
Alexander issued a statement on his Telegram channel on Friday apologizing for “any inappropriate messages sent over the years,” but did not elaborate on specific accusations against him.
According to The Daily Beast, which reviewed screenshots, the messages were explicit.
“You don’t even send me videos anymore,” Alexander, who was 34 at the time, allegedly wrote to an underage boy in May 2019, according to the publication. “No good jack off material. Don’t even wanna be my side piece.”
Alexander’s statement claimed certain screenshots were doctored, but did not specify which ones.
“When I’ve flirted or others have flirted with me, I’ve flexed my credentials or dropped corny pick up lines,” Alexander posted on his Telegram channel. “Other times, I’ve been careless and should’ve qualified those coming up to me’s [sic] identities during flirtatious banter at the start.”
Alexander has been a prominent figure on the far-right for the last two decades and helped organize Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House that would eventually lead to violence at the U.S. Capitol.
“I do not denounce this,” Alexander said from his rooftop perch the day of the Capitol attack. Alexander would later be questioned by the House committee investigating the events of Jan. 6, 2021, and videos showed him working directly with extremist groups including the Proud Boys.
Nevemind. It's All OK. He Apologized.
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Apr 18, 2023 9:40:47 GMT -8
Psst! DeathSentence! Tourism is Florida’s biggest industry, contributing $111.7 billion to the state’s economy in 2016.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) new salvo in his ongoing feud with Disney — in retaliation to the entertainment company’s public criticism of the governor’s “Don’t Say Gay” law — sounds less than magical, said critics on Twitter.
DeSantis suggested on Monday that a state prison could be built on land next to Walt Disney World that is now controlled by the state.
“Come to think of it, what should we do with this land?” the potential 2024 GOP presidential candidate told a news conference. “Maybe create a state park. Maybe try to do more amusement parks. Someone even said, like, maybe you need another state prison. Who knows? I just think that the possibilities are endless.”
Meanwile
Disney publicized its first LGBTQ event at Disneyland shortly after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a press conference that he could build a state prison next to Orlando's Walt Disney World Resort.
Disney tweeted on Monday afternoon that "Disneyland After Dark: Pride Nite" would be coming to Disneyland in Anaheim, California, during Pride Month.
The two-night event, which will be held on June 13 and 15 inside the amusement park, will celebrate the LGBTQ communities and allies, Disneyland said in a blog.
Maybe DeathSentence Should Cut Short His Book Tour to Pay Attention to This
The Sunshine State, home to more than 22 million people, has an affordability problem when it comes to housing—not just for buying a home or finding a place to rent. Protecting your home can also be expensive.
John Rollins, a former chief financial officer and chief risk officer for several Florida property insurers, as well as a former Chief Risk Officer at Citizens Property Insurance spoke with WFLA.com about the state’s ongoing property insurance issues. He served on the Citizens board from 2011 to 2013, appointed by former Gov. Rick Scott.
Rollins currently serves as a Director of Ventures at EIG Holdings, Inc., a Texas-based diversified claims, technology and restoration company serving several Florida insurers.
Speaking with WFLA.com, Rollins said in the past four years, policy rates have gone up 50% for Floridians, and the rate increases aren’t stopping. He said the industry, as well as various state officials, are expecting reinsurance costs to go up between 40% to 50% or more in June.
He said while complicated, the issues facing Florida homeowners boil down to how insurance policies are billed, and what’s impacting the increasing rates. As previously reported, a finding a solution to the property insurance crisis is challenging, and it’s unclear exactly what can be done to fix it in the short term.
Despite two special sessions of the Florida Legislature to find fixes for the coverage crisis, the state’s property insurance market is still presenting a struggle for homeowners, particularly after recent hurricanes battered counties in September and November.
Florida is close to unique in its disaster status, due to hurricanes. Historical data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows that out of all states in the U.S., Florida is hit by the most hurricanes.
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Apr 18, 2023 9:47:13 GMT -8
I Am Sure the QOP Will Tell You to "Beware the Jab Jab bird, and shun the frumious Bandersnatch!” But the FDA Approves Another Jab.
People 65 and older and those who are immunocompromised are now eligible for another COVID-19 booster shot.
In an amendment issued Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration changed the authorization for boosters from Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech to allow them to be given a second time to people whose protection against COVID likely fades quickly.
For healthy, younger people, new boosters are not yet needed, the agency said, promising to make a recommendation for them early this summer.
The new ruling allows:
people over 65 to get another booster at least four months after their previous one
people with some immunocompromising conditions to get boosters as often as every two months, at their doctor's recommendation
COVID-19 vaccines have been very effective at preventing severe disease and death, but protection against mild disease fades after a few months, studies show.
For healthy, younger people, an infection is not likely to be serious. But for people whose protection is already limited by age or immune status, every infection could be dangerous, which is why the FDA wants them to have access to more frequent shots.
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Apr 18, 2023 9:52:10 GMT -8
China Continues to Do Things to Piss Off America.
U.S. law enforcement officials have arrested two New York residents for allegedly operating a Chinese "secret police station" in Manhattan's Chinatown neighborhood, the top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn said in a statement on Monday.
Liu Jianwang, 61, and Chen Jinping, 59, face charges of conspiring to act as an agent of China's government without informing U.S. authorities and obstruction of justice, prosecutors said. They are expected to appear in federal court in Brooklyn federal court later on Monday.
The charges come as the Department of Justice ramps up probes into what they call attempts at "transnational repression" by U.S. adversaries such as China and Iran to intimidate political opponents living in the United States.
"This prosecution reveals the Chinese government's flagrant violation of our nation's sovereignty by establishing a secret police station in the middle of New York City," Breon Peace, the top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, said in a statement.
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Apr 18, 2023 9:55:44 GMT -8
Will Rising Tuition Take a Toll on US Universities?The campus of International Christian University was an oasis of quiet in the final week of the winter term, with a handful of undergraduates studying beneath the newly sprouting plum trees that bloom a few weeks before Japan’s familiar cherry blossoms. The colors of nature are abundant in this nation in the spring. But after decades of a falling birthrate, it has far too few of another important resource: college students like these. The number of 18-year-olds here has dropped by nearly half in just three decades, from more than 2 million in 1990 to 1.1 million now. It’s projected to further decline to 880,000 by 2040, according to the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. That’s taken a dramatic toll on colleges and universities, with severe consequences for society and economic growth — a situation now also being faced by the United States, where the number of 18-year-olds has begun to drop in some states and soon will fall nationwide. What’s happening in Japan can offer “clues and implications” for U.S. policymakers and employers and for American universities and colleges already beginning to contend with their own steep drops in enrollment, said Yushi Inaba, a senior associate professor of management at International Christian University, or ICU, who has studied the phenomenon. Japan's plummeting university enrollment forecasts what could be ahead for the U.S.
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Apr 18, 2023 9:58:45 GMT -8
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Apr 18, 2023 10:00:24 GMT -8
With the Fed, No Good News Goes UnpunishedUS workers are starting to see pay gains run faster than inflation, amplifying their purchasing power and giving the Federal Reserve reason to raise interest rates again next month. Median weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers were 6.1% higher in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period a year earlier, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said in a report Tuesday. Inflation during that time ran at 5.8%, the BLS said.  The data signify that Americans may be finally starting to stretch their dollars further, as wage gains have generally lagged inflation over the past two years. Price pressures have been cooling somewhat, but companies are still raising pay to attract and retain a scarce supply of workers. While that may bode well for consumer spending, it’s potentially worrisome for the Fed as they try to curb demand across the economy to tame price pressures. That may incline policymakers to lean toward another hike at their May meeting.
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Apr 18, 2023 10:05:27 GMT -8
Why Don't People Understand They Can't Just Shoot Strangers?
A20-year-old woman was shot and killed Saturday after she and three others accidentally turned into the wrong driveway while looking for a friend’s house in rural upstate New York, authorities said.
The woman, identified as Kaylin Gillis, was a passenger in a vehicle when a man fired two shots from his front porch, one of which hit the vehicle, Washington County Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy said in a news conference Monday. Gillis was struck by the gunfire and later died, the sheriff said.
The man, 65-year-old Kevin Monahan, has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with her death, Murphy said Monday. It is unclear whether Monahan has retained an attorney yet.
“It’s a very rural area with dirt roads. It’s easy to get lost. They drove up this driveway for a very short time, realized their mistake and were leaving, when Mr. Monahan came out and fired two shots,” Murphy said, adding that the area has poor cell phone service.
The shooting happened just days after a Black teenager in Kansas City was shot twice by a White homeowner after going to the wrong address to pick up his siblings. No words were exchanged before Andrew Lester opened fire on 16-year-old Ralph Yarl as the teen stood at Lester’s front door, according to a probable cause document obtained by CNN. Lester, who told police he thought the teen was trying to break in, faces two felony charges in the case, which has reignited the debate over so-called “stand your ground” laws.
In the New York shooting, both Monahan and Gillis are White. After the shots were fired, Gillis and the rest of the group drove away from the house in the town of Hebron looking for cell phone service, and then called 911.
They were found around 5 miles away from the home in the nearby town of Salem. First responders began administering CPR but Gillis was ultimately pronounced dead at the scene, Murphy said.
|
|
