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Post by mhbruin on Aug 7, 2023 8:46:23 GMT -8
I used to be a banker, but then I lost interest.
If You Can't Trust the Pope, Who Can You Trust?
Pope Francis has encouraged young people around the world to hold on to their hopes and dreams for a better future during the closing Mass of Catholic Church's World Youth Day in Lisbon.
"Do not be afraid," the pontiff said on Sunday, repeating the call several times. Pope Francis told the young people that they are urgently needed in a world beset by so many problems.
Around 1.5 million faithful attended the outdoor Mass in the Portuguese capital's Tejo Park.
You Can't Trust the Pope. Young Peope Should Be VERY Afraid.
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Post by mhbruin on Aug 7, 2023 8:49:39 GMT -8
Lawrence Livermore Doesn't Do Fusion Cuisine, But ...
U.S. scientists have achieved net energy gain in a fusion reaction for the second time since December, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory said on Sunday.
Scientists at the California-based lab repeated the fusion ignition breakthrough in an experiment in the National Ignition Facility (NIF) on July 30 that produced a higher energy yield than in December, a Lawrence Livermore spokesperson said.
Final results are still being analyzed, the spokesperson added.
Lawrence Livermore achieved a net energy gain in a fusion experiment using lasers on Dec. 5, 2022. The scientists focused a laser on a target of fuel to fuse two light atoms into a denser one, releasing the energy.
That experiment briefly achieved what's known as fusion ignition by generating 3.15 megajoules of energy output after the laser delivered 2.05 megajoules to the target, the Energy Department said.
In other words, it produced more energy from fusion than the laser energy used to drive it, the department said.
The Energy Department called it "a major scientific breakthrough decades in the making that will pave the way for advancements in national defense and the future of clean power."
Scientists have known for about a century that fusion powers the sun and have pursued developing fusion on Earth for decades. Such a breakthrough could one day help curb climate change if companies can scale up the technology to a commercial level in the coming decades.
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Post by mhbruin on Aug 7, 2023 8:52:26 GMT -8
Jumping Jack Smith Seems to have a Backup Plan in Case Loose Cannon Goes Off the Rails
U.S. District Court judge Aileen Cannon demanded an explanation from special counsel Jack Smith for his continuing investigation into Donald Trump's mishandling of classified documents.
The Florida-based federal judge struck two sealed motions filed by prosecutors in a ruling issued Monday morning and appeared to disclose that Smith was investigating the classified documents case in a grand jury proceeding in another district, and Cannon asked for an explanation to be filed by Aug. 22.
"Among other topics as raised in the Motion, the response shall address the legal propriety of using an out-of-district grand jury proceeding to continue to investigate and/or to seek post-indictment hearings on matters pertinent to the instant indicted matter in this district," Cannon wrote.
Cannon granted Trump and his co-defendants permission to file their own briefs on the grand jury issue by Aug. 17, but they're not required to do so.
Maybe Not All the Criminal Behavior Was in One District
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Post by mhbruin on Aug 7, 2023 8:54:06 GMT -8
The Biggest Loser Keeps on Losing.
A federal judge dismissed Donald Trump's defamation counterclaim against journalist E. Jean Carroll and will allow her lawyers to give prosecutors a copy of a video deposition he gave last year in a rape lawsuit.
U.S. District Court judge Lewis Kaplan issued a pair of separate orders Monday dismissing the former president's defamation complaint, and he will allow Carroll's attorneys to share a video and transcript of Trump's deposition to be used as evidence in a Manhattan fraud case, reported CNBC.
The judge found that Carroll's rape allegations were "substantially true," after a federal jury in May found that Trump had sexually abused her decades ago in a department store dressing room and awarded her $5 million.
Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg Jr. charged Trump earlier this year with falsifying business records to conceal a 2016 hush money payment made to porn actress Stormy Daniels.
READ MORE: New Judge Cannon order opens door for DOJ to ask for her Trump case removal: legal experts
Prosecutors issued a subpoena in May seeking the video and transcript showing Trump justifying sexual misconduct by "stars," and he classified himself as one.
The New York attorney general has also sued Trump and the Trump Organization for fraud in a $250 million civil case.
Does He Ever Win in Court?
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Post by mhbruin on Aug 7, 2023 8:57:50 GMT -8
These Irish Eyes Aren't SmilingThe Irish Light: Woman abused by paper which falsely said vaccine killed her sonA grieving mother and her lawyer have been targeted by an extreme campaign of abuse after suing a conspiracy theory newspaper which falsely claimed her son died from a Covid vaccine. The Irish Light repeatedly abused Edel Campbell online and its supporters have threatened her lawyer with "execution". Conspiracy theorists worldwide have used dozens of tragic deaths to spread vaccine misinformation. This case is thought to be the first where a relative has sued. The Irish Light included Ms Campbell's son, Diego Gilsenan, and 41 others in an article last year which suggested the "untested and dangerous" Covid vaccine was to blame for the deaths. In fact, the BBC has been told Diego had taken his own life in August 2021, aged 18, and had not been vaccinated.
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Post by mhbruin on Aug 7, 2023 9:03:26 GMT -8
Past Tense. Present Tense.Rancor flares on the Wisconsin Supreme Court as its new liberal majority moves to blunt the chief justice's power “I want to reiterate that it is deeply inappropriate for the Chief Justice to continue to refuse to engage with her colleagues, but instead to publicly litigate these issues. It is not my intention, nor the intention of a majority of my colleagues, to continue to litigate internal issues, through the media," [liberal Justice Rebecca] Dallet said. Friday's move continues a bitter era on the court that began more than a decade ago. In February 2010, conservative Justice David Prosser, who retired in 2016, called then-Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson a "total bitch" and threatened to "destroy" her during a private conversation about a request to remove then-Justice Michael Gableman from a criminal case. The new liberal majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court is off to a tense start
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Post by mhbruin on Aug 7, 2023 9:10:40 GMT -8
Look! Over in Korea! It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's Superconductor!Room-temperature superconducting, if possible, opens the door to staggering technological breakthroughs. It could make transmitting electricity much more efficient; result in faster-charging and higher-capacity electrical batteries; enable practical carbon-free nuclear fusion energy; and make quantum computing — computers capable of solving problems too complex for even the fastest existing computers — feasible at a much larger scale. Why a “room-temperature superconductor” would be a huge dealNot This Super Conductor Not This Super Conductor, Eiterh
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Post by mhbruin on Aug 7, 2023 9:14:08 GMT -8
The Revenge PlanJack Smith Has an Indictment. Trump Has a Massive Plan for RevengeThe thrice-indicted former president and his allies have long been drawing plans to undo Smith's investigations, as well as to punish everyone involved Rosters full of MAGAfied lawyers are being assembled. Plans are being laid for an entire new office of the Justice Department dedicated to “election integrity.” An assembly line is being prepared of revenge-focused “special counsels” and “special prosecutors.” Gameplans for making Smith’s life hell, starting in Jan. 2025, have already been discussed with Trump himself. And a fresh wave of pardons is under consideration for Trump associates, election deniers, and — the former president boasts — for Jan. 6 rioters. The preparations have been underway since at least last year, with Trump being briefed on the designs by an array of attorneys, political and policy advisers, former administration officials, and other allies. The aim is to build a government-in-waiting with the hard-right infrastructure needed to turn the Justice Department into an instrument of Trump’s agenda, according to five sources familiar with these matters and another two people briefed on them…. Sources familiar with the situation tell Rolling Stone that Trump and his close ideological allies — working at an assortment of MAGA-prone think tanks, advocacy organizations, and legal groups — are formulating plans for a wide slate of “special prosecutors.” In this vision, such prosecutors would go after the usual targets: Smith, Smith’s team, President Joe Biden, Biden’s family, Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI director Christopher Wray. But they’d also go after smaller targets, from members of the Biden 2020 campaign to more obscure government offices.
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Post by mhbruin on Aug 7, 2023 9:17:26 GMT -8
There is a MASSIVE Election TomorrowThe election that could determine the future of democracy in OhioBeyond reproductive rights, the August election has far-reaching implications for democracy in Ohio. Republicans hold a supermajority in the Ohio legislature after they manipulated district lines to their advantage last year, brazenly ignoring several rebukes from the state supreme court. Activists are already working to draft a constitutional amendment that would strip lawmakers of their redistricting authority entirely. But making it harder to change the constitution would essentially allow Republicans to keep their distorted advantage.
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Post by mhbruin on Aug 7, 2023 9:20:41 GMT -8
"This Is Your Captain Speaking. You Will Have to Bear a Brief Delay in Our Departure"
Iraq’s prime minister has ordered an investigation into how a bear escaped from its crate in the cargo hold of an Iraqi aircraft as it was due to depart from Dubai airport, leaving passengers disgruntled over the delay and causing a stir on social media.
Iraqi Airways said it wasn’t to blame for the bear’s escape and that the aircraft’s crew worked with authorities in the United Arab Emirates, which dispatched specialists to sedate the animal and remove it from the plane.
A video clip circulating on social media showed the plane’s captain apologizing to passengers for Friday’s takeoff delay because of the bear’s escape from its crate in the cargo hold.
Keeping predatory animals as pets in Iraq — especially in Baghdad — has become popular among the wealthy.
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Post by mhbruin on Aug 7, 2023 9:27:45 GMT -8
First Bears. Now Dogs. Next We Need a Bear in a Golf Cart
Fire officials in Michigan said a 4-year-old girl was uninjured but “visibly shaken” after she was hit by a golf cart that moved forward when their arson dog laid down on the vehicle’s accelerator pedal.
Westland Fire Department’s Labrador retriever, Bella, accidentally “caused the cart to lunge forward” during the Blues, Brews, and BBQ summer party on Friday, according to a Facebook post from the fire service.
Firefighters tried in vain to steer the cart away.
It struck the girl and “the passenger side front tire ran over her left leg,” said officials, per multiple media outlets.
The girl had “no obvious injuries and her mother refused further treatment or transport to an emergency room,” said the department.
She was “back to eating her popcorn” and “jumping in the fire department bounce house” within minutes, it added.
Bella was “fine” too, the department said in response to a question in the comments section of the post.
Not Actual Video of THIS Incident
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Post by mhbruin on Aug 7, 2023 9:29:35 GMT -8
It's Nice to Imagine Winning the Lottery, Isn't It?
"Imagine you have to drive half a mile to buy your lottery ticket, so you have a 1 mile round-trip. It’s about 4 times as likely that you die in a car accident on the trip to buy your ticket than you are to win,” he said.
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Post by mhbruin on Aug 7, 2023 9:31:18 GMT -8
Will the Apartment Boom Bomb?Apartment buildings, long considered a real-estate haven, are emerging as the next major trouble spot in the beleaguered commercial-property world. Investors bid up the prices of multifamily buildings for years, attracted by steadily rising rents and the prospect of outsize returns. Many took on too much debt, expecting they could raise rents fast enough to pay it down. Unlike office buildings and malls, which have been hit hard by remote work and e-commerce, rental apartments have low vacancy rates. The apartment sector’s main problem isn’t a lack of demand—rents have soared since 2020—it is interest rates. The sudden surge in debt costs last year now threatens to wipe out many multifamily owners across the country. Apartment-building values fell 14% for the year ended in June after rising 25% the previous year, according to data company CoStar. That drop is roughly the same as the fall in office values. Mortgage delinquencies in the multifamily category are low but increasing. Borrowing costs have doubled, rent growth is slowing and building expenses are rising. Data provider Trepp earlier this year identified one type of rental-apartment debt as accounting for a large share of the commercial mortgages at risk of default. Apartment landlords face a “hydrogen-bomb scenario,” said Peter Sotoloff, a veteran real-estate finance executive and founding member of Blackstone’s property debt business. Outstanding multifamily mortgages more than doubled over the past decade to about $2 trillion, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. That is nearly twice the amount of office debt, according to Trepp. The data provider adds that $980.7 billion in multifamily debt is set to come due between 2023 and 2027. “Everyone is focused on office,” Sotoloff said. The risk of apartment defaults, he added, ‘is a really big issue that is not getting the attention it deserves.” A Real-Estate Haven Turns Perilous With $1 Trillion Coming Due
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Post by mhbruin on Aug 7, 2023 9:32:45 GMT -8
Only $30 Billion? So Sad!
Saudi Arabia’s national oil company posted a 38% drop in quarterly profit due to lower energy prices and production cuts, but boosted its dividend by more than half—highlighting the kingdom’s dependence on oil revenues.
Saudi Arabian Oil Co., known as Aramco, said Monday that its net profit fell to 112.81 billion Saudi riyals, roughly $30.08 billion, for the quarter ending June 30, from $48.44 billion in the same period last year when it benefited from soaring oil prices after Russia invaded Ukraine. The second-quarter profit came slightly above the $29.8 billion expected by 15 analysts in an Aramco-provided poll.
Oil prices were trading at lower levels earlier this year amid fears that a slowing global economy would crimp demand and due to a gusher of cheap Russian crude supplies. Aramco’s profit was also affected by weakening refining and chemicals margins, the company said.
Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, has risen firmly back above $80 a barrel after jumping 13% in July, its biggest monthly gain in a year and a half. It was down 0.4% at $85.94 early Monday.
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Post by mhbruin on Aug 7, 2023 9:37:17 GMT -8
What Didn't Happen This Week
CLAIM: Former President Donald Trump is facing the death penalty on federal charges filed against him in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, related to his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
THE FACTS: Trump’s possible sentence if convicted does not include the death penalty, the Justice Department and a legal expert confirmed. One of the four charges—conspiracy against rights—can be eligible for the death penalty, but only if the violation results in death or other aggravating factors. As the indictment does not hold Trump responsible for any deaths, the former president is not facing capital punishment.
As Trump pleaded not guilty on all four charges in federal court on Thursday, some on social media spread falsehoods about the maximum sentence he could receive if convicted. “There is little doubt that a DC jury will convict Trump of the felonies Biden’s DOJ has leveled against him,” reads one tweet. “The only question is whether Trump will be sentenced to death. Trump can run from prison ONLY if he’s alive.” But Trump is not facing the death penalty for any of the charges in his most recent indictment. Peter Carr, a spokesperson for Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith’s office, told The Associated Press that claims otherwise are “not accurate” because “the indictment does not contain the special findings required.”
CLAIM: The “Barbie” movie raised more money in one day than Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has in his entire political career.
THE FACTS: "Barbie” brought in about $48.2 million in North American theaters for its opening, plus another $22.3 million in early screenings the night before, according to data from Warner Bros. DeSantis has raised more than that during his decade of political campaigns for Congress, Florida governor, and now president. But social media posts are falsely claiming otherwise. “Barbie raised more at box office in one day than Ron DeSantis fundraised his entire life,” reads the post.
CLAIM: Bandages around former President Barack Obama’s hand are suspicious and suggest he was involved in the death of his personal chef last month.
THE FACTS: An Obama spokesperson said the Democrat was wearing golfer’s tape on his left hand, as photos have shown him doing many times over the years. Golfing experts confirmed the former president is wearing the tape properly and that golfers routinely use it to avoid blisters and split calluses. Yet images of Obama golfing on Martha’s Vineyard have sparked a fresh round of misleading speculation around the drowning of chef Tafari Campbell in the waters by the former president’s summer home on the Massachusetts island.
CLAIM: The Department of Justice has dropped all charges against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who is accused of cheating investors and looting customer deposits on the cryptocurrency trading platform.
THE FACTS: Federal prosecutors said last week that they are no longer pursuing one campaign finance charge against Bankman-Fried, but confirmed he still faces a criminal trial in October on other charges. He also faces charges that could result in a second trial next year. But some social media users are falsely claiming that the DOJ has given up on the case entirely, insinuating that it was because of his past political donations.
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