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Post by mhbruin on Jul 18, 2023 8:58:04 GMT -8
The first time I got a universal remote control, I thought to myself "This changes everything".
Mine!
It seems that former President Donald Trump wasn't just stashing nuclear secrets at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that Israeli officials have been trying without success to get the former president to return government-owned antiquities that were sent to the White House in 2019 on the condition that they be returned shortly afterward.
Not only were the artifacts not returned, but they were taken down to the former president's resort after he left the White House in 2021.
According to Haaretz, the artifacts included "ancient ceramic candles which are part of Israel's national treasures collection" and were shipped to the White House to be used at a Hanukkah candle-lighting event that was attended by Trump personally.
The onset of the novel coronavirus pandemic snarled up efforts to have the artifacts shipped back, and Israeli officials only learned months ago that they were taken down to Mar-a-Lago.
No Report On Whether They Are Kept in a Bathroom
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 18, 2023 8:59:54 GMT -8
LA's Finest in Action
A Black filmmaker and actor called police claiming a burglar broke into this Hollywood apartment. But when the police arrived, he says he was treated as a suspect, The Los Angeles Times reported.
Damien Smith was in the midst of making a documentary that focuses on police brutality, and he says he was a victim of the same treatment when police arrived at his home that night and ended up tasing him.
Now he's suing the Los Angeles Police Department.
“I’m still in shock and awe of how this transpired,” Smith said. “I’m in such fear of calling the police. … Look what happened to me.”
Police waited more than a year to open an investigation into the case and have not released any statements, the Times reported. The entire account of Smith's story comes from himself and a neighbor who witnessed the incident.
Smith said he confronted a burglar as he was trying to leave the apartment when Smith arrived. Smith said he grabbed a knife and the burglar's hand, and eventually subdued him and held him until police arrived. When officers got to the scene, Smith was standing over the burglar, still holding the knife, which he dropped when officers told him to put it down.
As officers trained their guns on Smith, neighbors frantically tried to explain that he was the resident, not the suspect.
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 18, 2023 9:02:33 GMT -8
It Looks More Sinister Every Time They Make Something New Up
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) shocked Fox News host Maria Bartiromo on Tuesday by claiming that the Biden family wrongly took up to $100 million from foreign sources.
"And so people wonder, you know, is Joe Biden basically compromised as vis-a-vis the Chinese Communist Party, which runs China, of course," Biggs said. "And these things begin to look real. And we're talking, Maria, we're talking literally, it's not $10 million. It's well over $20, $30 million in some estimates, as high as $100 million flowing through these accounts."
"Holy moly!" Bartiromo exclaimed.
"This looks more and more sinister every time we look at it," Biggs added, without sharing any evidence.
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 18, 2023 9:04:34 GMT -8
Mammal v Dinosaur -- Volcano Wins!A badger-like mammal was sinking its teeth into the ribs of a dinosaur three times its size when they were buried in volcanic ash 125 million years ago, capturing the pair in a deadly embrace. The fight scene, preserved in a fossil discovered in China, suggests that small mammals preyed on the dinosaurs that ruled Earth during the Cretaceous period more than previously thought, scientists said on Tuesday. Jordan Mallon, a palaeontologist at the Canadian Museum of Nature, told AFP that when he first saw the fossil "my eyes popped out of my head". Mallon, a co-author of a new study led by Chinese researchers, said they believe the fossil is the first ever discovered that shows a mammal and dinosaur fighting each other. Mammals were generally considered far too small to prey on the dinosaurs that dominated the world during the tens of millions of years they shared on Earth. But the fossil shows a badger-sized Repenomamus robustus sitting on top of Psittacosaurus lujiatunensis, a plant-eating dinosaur that stood 120 centimetres (47 inches) tall and had a beak like a parrot. The mammal -- one of the largest of its time but still a third the weight of the dinosaur -- is sinking his sharp teeth into the dinosaur's ribs and gripping onto its leg. 
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 18, 2023 9:06:52 GMT -8
He's Gonna' Need More Lawyers
Donald Trump has said he expects to be arrested by a federal inquiry into the US Capitol riot and efforts to challenge the 2020 election results.
The ex-president said in a social media post he had been informed by special counsel Jack Smith on Sunday night that he was a target of their investigation.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump claimed that he had been sent a letter "stating that I am a TARGET of the January 6th Grand Jury investigation, and giving me a very short 4 days to report to the Grand Jury, which almost always means an Arrest and Indictment."
He's Gonna' Need Better Lawyers Than These
Trump filed a plea with the Georgia Supreme Court desperately seeking to stop his pending indictment in that state. He argued that the Special Grand Jury that presumably recommend his indictment acted improperly and the prosecutor should be compelled to recuse because she was biased against him. The Georgia Supreme Court ruled unanimously against him.
The GA Supreme Court dismisses for two reasons.
1. Procedurally, the request is premature, the lower courts go first.
2. On the merits. Quote: "even if the petition were procedurally appropriate, Petitioner has not shown that he would be entitled to the relief he seeks." That seems pretty clear.
Going to the merits, precedents cited by Trump apply only to regular grand juries and even if a special grand jury acts improperly that is not a basis to quash its findings because a special grand jury finding is merely a recommendation that must go through a regular grand jury to indict. There cannot be any infringement on a potential defendant’s rights just because a special grand jury merely recommends that a regular grand jury do something.
As for Trump's claims that Willis must be disqualified as biased, the court states Trump has not presented "either the facts or the law necessary to mandate Willis’s disqualification." Again, that seems pretty clear.
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 18, 2023 9:11:03 GMT -8
RemarkableAn Australian sailor who had been adrift at sea with his dog for three months has been rescued by a Mexican tuna boat in international waters, the fishing vessel’s owner said. Timothy Lyndsay Shaddock, 54, was on board his incapacitated catamaran Aloha Toa in the Pacific about 1,900km (1,200 miles) from land when the crew of the boat from the Grupomar fleet spotted them, the company said in a statement on Monday. The company said Shaddock and his dog Bella were in a “precarious” state when found, lacking provisions and shelter. The tuna boat’s crew gave them medical attention, food and hydration, it said. Grupomar did not provide specific details on what day Shaddock was rescued or when he had started his voyage. Shaddock told Australia’s Nine News television that he and his dog had survived on raw fish and rainwater after a storm damaged his vessel and wiped out its electronics. “I’ve been through a very difficult ordeal at sea and I’m just needing rest and good food because I’ve been alone at sea a long time,” a thin and bearded Shaddock said in a video broadcast by Nine on Sunday night Australian time. “Otherwise, I’m in very good health,” Shaddock added. The Sydney resident and his dog had sailed from the Mexican city of La Paz for French Polynesia in April, but the voyage ended within weeks, Sydney’s Daily Telegraph newspaper reported. 
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 18, 2023 9:13:17 GMT -8
You Can Get Scammed, Just Using Google.
Scammers recently changed the phone numbers that appear in Google search results for several major airlines, redirecting some customers to call a number where the person who answered would try to steal their money.
Shmuli Evers, a Brooklyn-based software designer, noticed it Sunday when his Delta flight departing John F. Kennedy International Airport was canceled. The in-person line for customer service was long, so he searched Google for the airline’s phone number to reschedule his flight, he said in a thread that went viral on Twitter. Other Twitter users chimed in with similar experiences.
Instead of reaching a Delta employee, Evers said he spoke to a man with a thick accent who hung up and called him back from a different number. That man then asked for payment to book a rescheduled flight. Evers recognized it as a scam and scrapped his trip.
He then went on to document six other airlines, including American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Air France, that had incorrect numbers served up by Google.
Those airlines did not respond to emails requesting comment. Search results for each of the airlines, including Delta, have since been corrected. It’s not clear how the numbers were changed or who changed them.
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 18, 2023 9:14:52 GMT -8
I'm on the Outs With In-N-Out
In-N-Out Burger is prohibiting employees in five Western U.S. states from wearing masks unless they receive a medical note from a doctor.
The rules, which go into effect Aug. 14, apply to employees in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Texas and Utah.
The quick-serve chain is also mandating that employees in two other states, Oregon and California — the state with the most In-N-Out locations — only wear company-approved N95 masks if they choose to wear one.
The guidelines are designed to “emphasize the importance of customer service and the ability to show our Associates’ smiles and other facial features,” according to employee memos posted online.
Failure to comply with the new guidelines could lead to termination, the memo said.
Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, In-N-Out became a flashpoint when San Francisco officials ordered that city's lone outlet for the chain to be closed in October 2021 after it failed to comply with a requirement that all restaurants check the vaccine cards of indoor diners. In-N-Out later preemptively closed all five of its locations in nearby Contra Costa County rather than comply with Covid rules there.
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 18, 2023 9:17:30 GMT -8
Previous Guy Wants a Police State
Their plans to centralize more power in the Oval Office stretch far beyond the former president’s recent remarks that he would order a criminal investigation into his political rival, President Biden, signaling his intent to end the post-Watergate norm of Justice Department independence from White House political control.
Mr. Trump and his associates have a broader goal: to alter the balance of power by increasing the president’s authority over every part of the federal government that now operates, by either law or tradition, with any measure of independence from political interference by the White House, according to a review of his campaign policy proposals and interviews with people close to him.
Mr. Trump intends to bring independent agencies — like the Federal Communications Commission, which makes and enforces rules for television and internet companies, and the Federal Trade Commission, which enforces various antitrust and other consumer protection rules against businesses — under direct presidential control.
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 18, 2023 9:20:04 GMT -8
More Problems with the Chinese Economic Miracle
Gruelling work hours and a dismal job market are forcing young Chinese to make unusual choices.
Julie is part of a growing cohort that call themselves "full-time children" who are driven back to the comfort of home either because they are craving a break from their exhausting work lives, or they simply cannot find a job.
Young Chinese, who had always been told that the hard work they put in studying and chasing degrees would pay off, are now feeling defeated and trapped.
More than one in five of those between the ages of 16 and 24 are jobless in China, and the youth unemployment rate has been reaching new highs. According to official figures released on Monday, that figure now stands at 21.3% - the highest since authorities began publishing data in 2018. The figure does not account for the rural labour market.
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 18, 2023 9:24:16 GMT -8
The New Fugitive Slave Act
Mississippi authorities need access to information about residents who obtain abortions or gender-affirming care in other states, Attorney General Lynn Fitch told the Biden administration in a June 16 letter. Attorneys general from 18 other states attorneys general signed onto the letter.
Fitch’s letter calls on U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to drop a proposed rule change that would prevent states from obtaining private health information “for a criminal, civil, or administrative investigation into or proceeding against any person in connection with seeking, obtaining, providing, or facilitating reproductive health care … outside of the state where the investigation or proceeding is authorized” and “is lawful in the state where it is provided.”
Fitch’s letter accuses the Biden administration of pushing “a false narrative that States are seeking to treat pregnant women as criminals or punish medical personnel who provide lifesaving care.”
“Based on this lie, the Administration has sought to wrest control over abortion back from the people in defiance of the Constitution and Dobbs,” the letter says. “… The proposed rule defies the governing statute, would unlawfully interfere with States’ authority to enforce their laws, and does not serve any legitimate need.”
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 18, 2023 9:26:23 GMT -8
This is a Pro-Life Policy?
Officers working for Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security initiative have been ordered to push small children and nursing babies back into the Rio Grande, and have been told not to give water to asylum seekers even in extreme heat, according to an email from a Department of Public Safety trooper who described the actions as “inhumane.”
The July 3 account, reviewed by Hearst Newspapers, discloses several previously unreported incidents the trooper witnessed in Eagle Pass, where the state of Texas has strung miles of razor wire and deployed a wall of buoys in the Rio Grande.
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 18, 2023 9:30:42 GMT -8
Hot Off The PressesWhat is the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth? The highest temperature on record belongs to California’s Death Valley which, in 1913, reached a temperature of 134 degrees Fahrenheit, or 56.7 degrees Celsius, Al Jazeera reports. By region, the hottest temperatures ever recorded are: Africa: 131 F (Tunisia, 1931) Asia: 129 F (Iran 2017) Europe: 119.8 F (Italy 2021) Antarctica 69.3 F (Seymour Island 2020) According to AccuWeather, the ten hottest cities in the U.S. are: Phoenix, AZ Las Vegas, NV Tucson, AZ Riverside, CA San Antonio, TX Miami, FL Houston, TX Fresno, CA Dallas, TX Orlando, FL What is the highest temperature ever recorded in your country?
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 18, 2023 9:31:39 GMT -8
Please Come Vacation in Our War Zone
Russian tour operators are pleading with vacationers to Crimea not to make decisions “based on emotions,” as Ukraine’s strike on the Crimea bridge on Monday played havoc on travel between the occupied Ukrainian peninsula and Russia.
Hundreds of cars were waiting Tuesday to cross the bridge both to and from Crimea, and Russian-backed officials were encouraging drivers to travel along the land route through occupied southern Ukraine.
“We have cancellations for the end of July and August,” Elena Bazhenova, head of the Laspi Crimean tour company said, according to the Russian Union of Tourist Industry. “We are explaining to tourists that cancellations for these dates are only possible with penalties.”
“We [are trying to] convince tourists not to make decisions based on emotions,” Bazhenova said. “We expect the situation to normalize in the coming days.”
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 18, 2023 9:33:19 GMT -8
RSV Is Nasty. Some Good News For Babies
The Food and Drug Administration approved Monday a drug aimed at protecting infants and toddlers from respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.
The monoclonal antibody from Sanofi and AstraZeneca, called Beyfortus, is the first of its kind likely to be widely available to everyone up to 24 months of age beyond a small population of immunocompromised children.
“RSV can cause serious disease in infants and some children and results in a large number of emergency department and physician office visits each year,” said Dr. John Farley, director of the Office of Infectious Diseases in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. Monday’s “approval addresses the great need for product to help reduce the impact of RSV disease on children, families and the health care system.”
The new drug prevents RSV lower respiratory tract disease in infants and children entering or during their first RSV season and is the second monoclonal antibody on the market. The other option – palivizumab – is only recommended for high-risk infants who were born severely premature at 29 weeks or earlier.
FDA officials approved the drug based on three studies showing Beyfortus reduced the risk of RSV infection between 70% and 75% among infants and children 2 and younger. Although the drug is not a vaccine, it is meant to prevent severe illness like a vaccine.
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