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Post by mhbruin on May 4, 2023 7:36:27 GMT -8
Just burned 2,000 calories. That's the last time I leave brownies in the oven while I nap.
Has Everybody in Texas Gone Completely Insane?
Or Has Everyone in America Gone Completely Insane?
A fight at an electric vehicle charging station in suburban Denver escalated into a fatal shooting that killed a Tesla driver and put another man in custody, authorities said.
The second man later called 911 to report he was involved in the Wednesday shooting and was detained, said Jenny Fulton, a spokesperson for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
Two shots were fired, Fulton said, and the 33-year-old man who died had been hospitalized with a single gunshot wound. His name wasn’t released. It wasn’t immediately clear if both shots were fired by the man who turned himself in, or if he was also an EV driver.
TucKKKer Was on the Violence Bandwagon
The Times reported Tuesday that one of the texts that most likely contributed to Carlson’s firing from Fox News was one he sent to a producer, describing a video of a street fight in which “a group of Trump guys surrounded an Antifa kid” and beat him. “Jumping a guy like that is dishonorable obviously,” Carlson continued. “It’s not how white men fight.”
He then confessed: “Yet suddenly I found myself rooting for the mob against the man, hoping they’d hit him harder, kill him. I really wanted them to hurt the kid. I could taste it. Then somewhere deep in my brain, an alarm went off: This isn’t good for me.”
To start, Carlson attempts to racialize the idea of dishonor in combat, exempting white men from it, which is ridiculous. Human beings behave both honorably and dishonorably, regardless of race.
But more important to me was his description of his immediate descent into sympathizing with the savagery, and how that kind of descent is a mental progression that has, in so many instances, fostered or tolerated all types of violence in this country and around the world.
Maybe It's Something in the Water
Three Colorado teenagers arrested in connection with a rock-throwing spree that killed a driver have been formally charged with murder.
They also now face a dozen other counts for allegedly throwing large landscaping rocks toward seven vehicles on suburban Denver roads on April 19.
Joseph Koenig, Nicholas "Mitch" Karol-Chik and Zachary Kwak, all 18-year-old high school seniors, were arrested last month on first-degree murder, with extreme indifference, in connection with the rock-throwing spree.
The final rock-throwing incident killed 20-year-old driver Alexa Bartell. Three other people were injured, according to prosecutors.
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Post by mhbruin on May 4, 2023 7:47:36 GMT -8
I've Had RSV. It's Not Pleasant and It Lasts a Long Time. Get the Jab.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) - an illness that kills thousands of Americans each year.
The vaccine still needs approval from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before it can be rolled out to the public.
Officials say the vaccine, named Arexvy by the manufacturer GSK, is a major breakthrough that will save many lives.
It could be available to people over 60 within months, officials say.
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Post by mhbruin on May 4, 2023 7:50:49 GMT -8
Goldilocks Looking for the Right Number of Babies. Not Too Many. Not Too Few. Just Right!Half a century ago, India and China stood at a similar point. Their fertility rates – at 5.6 and 5.5 children per woman – were neck and neck and way more than what is regarded as replacement level fertility of 2.1, at which the population stabilises. They also faced similar social and developmental challenges as they sought to build their nations after suffering the devastation of long colonial and imperial humiliations and war. However, their journeys towards population control took vastly different routes, shaped by vastly different policies and approaches. Today, as India’s population passes China’s amid a mix of hope and apprehensions about its implications, it’s important to recall those journeys so societies and policymakers draw the right lessons from them. Why China got population control wrong; India got it right
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Post by mhbruin on May 4, 2023 7:52:42 GMT -8
The Kratom Bomb
Last week, U.S. Marshals seized an estimated $3 million worth of kratom that was being sold as a supplement by an Oklahoma-based company.
It’s not the first time that authorities have seized kratom, which is considered a “drug of concern” by the Food and Drug Administration. The incident, however, highlights the ongoing demand for the drug, even as the FDA continues to warn about its potential dangers.
Kratom is a plant that grows naturally in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, and has a long history of use in Southeast Asia. In the U.S. it’s not approved for any purpose, but millions of Americans take it for myriad reasons, saying it boosts energy, treats pain and anxiety, provides a high and even relieves symptoms of withdrawal from opioids.
The FDA, however, maintains that the drug is unsafe.
“There are no FDA-approved uses for kratom, nor have there ever been, and the agency has received concerning reports about the safety of kratom,” Lauren-Jei McCarthy, an FDA press officer, told NBC News in an emailed statement.
In 2016, the Drug Enforcement Administration moved to classify kratom as a Schedule 1 drug, meaning it has no medical uses and has a high potential for abuse, but reversed course after public outcry. Kratom is still unregulated at the federal level, but five states have bans on the substance, according to the American Kratom Association, a group that advocates for kratom access in the U.S.
In a statement from April 2022, the FDA warned the public against using kratom, or Mitragyna speciosa, which is the scientific name for the plant, saying that the substance “affects the same opioid brain receptors as morphine” and that it appears to have “properties that expose users to the risks of addiction, abuse, and dependence.”
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Post by mhbruin on May 4, 2023 7:54:34 GMT -8
I Guess Business Don't Think a Global Recession Would Be Bad For Their Companies
A debt ceiling crisis could cripple Corporate America, but so far business isn't in the fight
For decades, American business leaders have been reliable standbys in the government’s debt ceiling debates: caravaning to meet with President Donald Trump, holding stakeouts in the White House’s driveway under President Bill Clinton or writing strongly worded letters to President Barack Obama.
With less than a month left until the June 1 deadline that the Treasury has warned could mean default, Corporate America is sitting this one out — at least publicly, and at least for now.
The executives who are talking to congressional leaders and the White House are doing so privately, not as part of a concerted effort, as they seek to avoid stepping into the fray of a highly charged debate in which, nearly a dozen executives said in interviews, the costs of doing so are calculated to be higher than the benefits.
It's unclear whether Corporate America could provide much help. After years in lockstep with Republicans, the last decade has been characterized by an erosion of the symbiotic relationship. A battery of phone calls from the nation's executives may do little to persuade Republican stalwarts to get on board with the Biden administration to lift the debt limit – or to persuade the White House to agree to spending cuts demanded by the GOP.
Individual CEOs see little advantage in spending their own political lobbying on the debt ceiling, because it doesn’t provide a direct benefit to their companies and it could backfire by drawing negative attention from politicians, potentially putting tax benefits and subsidies they rely on at risk in the fight over cutting government spending, according to business lobbyists.
“It takes a pretty generous CEO to say, 'I am going to invest my company’s resources into doing what’s right for the whole country despite the fact that it doesn’t advantage me in any way at all.' That’s just like the opposite of human nature,” said Sam Geduldig, a Republican lobbyist. “That’s not their job to get the debt ceiling raised. That’s not why they’re CEO of their companies.”
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Post by mhbruin on May 4, 2023 7:55:51 GMT -8
These Losers Want to Nominate Losers
The QOP in Florida Addresses the Burning Issue of the Day: Pronouns!
Florida Republicans on Wednesday approved bills to ban diversity programs in colleges and prevent students and teachers from being required to use pronouns that don't correspond to someone's sex, building on top priorities of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The two proposals were given final passage by the Republican supermajorities in the House and Senate. DeSantis is expected to sign the bills into law.
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Post by mhbruin on May 4, 2023 8:03:43 GMT -8
Losers Gonna Lose
A New York judge dismissed former President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against The New York Times on Wednesday, saying the newspaper’s reporting on his tax returns was protected by the First Amendment.
Trump sued the paper, three of its reporters and his niece Mary Trump in 2021 after a series of bombshell reports about his tax records. The former president demanded “no less” than $100 million at the time, accusing the journalists of taking part in an “insidious plot” to obtain the records from his niece.
The series later won a Pulitzer Prize.
The judge rejected the former president’s argument on Wednesday, saying the case failed “as a matter of constitutional law,” ordering Trump to pay legal fees and associated costs for the Times and its reporters.
“Courts have long recognized that reporters are entitled to engage in legal and ordinary news-gathering activities without fear of tort liability — as these actions are at the very core of protected First Amendment activity,” New York Supreme Court Justice Robert Reed wrote in his decision.
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Post by mhbruin on May 4, 2023 8:05:18 GMT -8
The Most Dangerous Building in America?
An employee at an Atlanta medical facility, the site of Wednesday’s mass shooting where at least one woman died and four others suffered injuries, told CNN that the terrifying event wasn’t the first time her building has seen an active shooter situation.
Tyrisia Woods described feeling “panic” and said she heard multiple gunshots and reports of “blood in the elevator” on her floor before locking down her office.
“I’ve been working in this building for almost five years and this is the fourth active shooter that I’ve encountered since I’ve worked there,” said Woods before nearly a second of silence.
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Post by mhbruin on May 4, 2023 8:07:43 GMT -8
The Thomas Crow Affair Continues
The Republican mega-donor Harlan Crow paid for the great-nephew of Clarence Thomas, who the conservative supreme court justice raised “as a son”, to attend a private boarding school in Georgia.
Related: Democrats call for new supreme court ethics rule amid Clarence Thomas scandal
“Harlan picked up the tab,” a former school administrator said.
Thomas did not declare the payments.
Crow said he never discussed business before the court or politics with the justice and his far-right activist wife, Ginni Thomas, to whom Crow has donated.
The Guardian has shown Crow has had business before the court during his friendship with Thomas.
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Post by mhbruin on May 4, 2023 8:09:56 GMT -8
It May Just be a Finger in the Dyke, But It Is a Good Step.
New York has become the first state in the US to ban natural gas and other fossil fuels in most new buildings.
The ban, included in budget legislation, passed on Tuesday in the Democrat-controlled legislature.
Officials hope it will encourage the use of more climate-friendly appliances, like induction stoves.
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Post by mhbruin on May 4, 2023 8:14:46 GMT -8
I've Been Saying This for MonthsTwo simple words: more immigrants America needs more workers. The United States is already running low on critical positions such as nurses, home-health aides, farmworkers, and truckers. And there are fewer young people on the way to make up the difference: The National Bureau of Economic Research found that birth rates in the US have declined by nearly 20% since 2007, while the fertility rate has been below the replacement level for decades. That means that unless people start having a lot more kids, the US population could eventually start to shrink — just like China's population has. The problem, though, isn't just a smaller population, but an aging one. With fewer people to pay into Social Security to support the growing number of retirees and fewer workers in critical industries, including healthcare and agriculture, a declining population would have devastating consequences for the American economy. America is refusing to do the one simple thing that would solve the Great People Shortage
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Post by mhbruin on May 4, 2023 8:17:32 GMT -8
Yes America Has Gone Completely Insane
Prices for a Hästens king-size bed start at $25,000 for the blue and white check Maranga and go up from there. The most expensive is the $670,000 Grand Vividus which weighs 1,600 pounds and has an engraved plaque made by the same people who make Olympics gold medals.
That's a $670,000 Mattress
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Post by mhbruin on May 4, 2023 8:19:19 GMT -8
When Writers Write Picket Signs“I would write something funny + clever but I’m on strike!” read one. Another said: “Our shows are household names but we can’t afford houses.” “Don’t you wanna know how Yellowjackets ends?” asked one placard. “Pay your writers or we’ll spoil Succession,” added another. 
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Post by mhbruin on May 4, 2023 8:22:04 GMT -8
Losers Gonna Hire Losers For Lawyers
Tacopina attempted a gotcha line of questioning meant to suggest that Carroll harbored alarming resentments towards the nation's menfolk, all based on a line in Carroll's book that Tacopina either couldn't recognize as obviously satirical, or that he was hoping the jury wouldn't recognize as such.
[Tacopina]. Okay. At one point I think in your book you propose we should dispose of all the men?
[Carroll]. Into Montana.
Q. Into Montana?
A. Yeah, and retrain them.
Q. So retrain. So all the men here in this courtroom, in this country, all get shuffled off to Montana and get retrained.
A. You understand that that was said as a satire.
Q. Ah, Okay.
THE COURT: It comes from Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” 700 years ago, right?
THE WITNESS: Yes.
THE COURT: Let’s move on.
MR. TACOPINA: Thank you, your Honor.
This one-sentence interjection is cited as a reason that Tacopina now wants a mistrial. The judge intervened to acknowledge the existence of satire, complete with an irritating reference to books and booklearning, and that made Tacopina look like a complete fool for being the only one in the room who didn't understand that "round up all men in America and send them to Montana for retraining" was intended as a joke. A spoof. A wee little skit, for funsies.
The judge making Tacopina look like an absolute tool and was terribly cruel, suggests Tacopina, and the trial cannot possibly move forward after the judge made passing reference to satire being around and recognizable for at least the last "700 years."
No, really. Tacopina filed a request for mistrial that attempted to make a whole big deal of this: “It was not for the Court to provide evidence from the Bench to corroborate Plaintiff’s position in a way that suggested to the Jury favoritism of any one party."
Tacopina May Not Be Able to Lose This Case for Previous Guy
Attorney Joe Tacopina may be edging closer to getting disqualified from representing Donald Trump in the case about the former president’s alleged role in a scheme to pay hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
The basis for removing Tacopina from Trump’s defense team is an apparent conflict of interest. It stems from the fact that Daniels consulted with Tacopina in 2018 about representing her in a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the non-disclosure agreement she had signed days before the 2016 presidential election not to talk about an “intimate relationship” she had with Trump in 2006-2007. The Wall Street Journal had already broken the story about the hush money payment in January 2018.
On Tuesday, MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin reported that the judge presiding over Trump's criminal case had ordered Tacopina to turn over his communications with Daniels and disclose what information from Daniels he has shared with Trump.
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Post by mhbruin on May 4, 2023 8:24:22 GMT -8
More American Insanity
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