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Post by mhbruin on Jan 19, 2024 9:23:10 GMT -8
In democracy your vote counts. In feudalism your count votes. It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's a Neutron Star! It's a Black Hole! No It's ..... Black hole, neutron star or something new? We discovered an object that defies explanationIt was when looking deep in the star cluster NGC 1851 that we spotted what appears to be a pair of stars offering a new view into the extremes of matter in the universe. The system is composed of a millisecond pulsar, a type of rapidly spinning neutron star that sweeps beams of radio light across the cosmos as it spins, and a massive, hidden object of unknown nature. The massive object is dark, meaning it is invisible at all frequencies of light – from the radio to the optical, x-ray and gamma-ray bands. In other circumstances this would make it impossible to study, but it is here that the millisecond pulsar comes to our aid. Millisecond pulsars are akin to cosmic atomic clocks. Their spins are incredibly stable and can be precisely measured by detecting the regular radio pulse they create. Although intrinsically stable, the observed spin changes when the pulsar is in motion or when its signal is affected by a strong gravitational field. By observing these changes we can measure the properties of bodies in orbits with pulsars. |
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 19, 2024 9:26:42 GMT -8
Yabba Habba Who? One of the most striking elements to emerge from Donald Trump's defamation trial has been the frequent clashes between his lawyer, Alina Habba, and the seasoned judge who has at times questioned her understanding of the law. At 39 years old, Ms Habba has risen from a little-known litigator to representing the former president of the United States in some of his most personally perilous cases. A New Jersey native, she was born to two Chaldean Catholics who fled persecution in Iraq in the early 1980s. After graduating from university, she took a job in the fashion industry, working at Marc Jacobs - one of America's premier brands. She returned to college after several years in the industry, earning her law degree from Widener University, a small school in Pennsylvania, in 2010. Ms Habba briefly served as a clerk for then-New Jersey Superior Court Judge Eugene Codey Jr, before entering private practice, where she worked for several years before starting her own firm in 2020. Then enter Donald Trump. Who is Trump's trial lawyer Alina Habba?I Think He Picked Her For Her Looks |
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 19, 2024 9:29:19 GMT -8
Scott Peterson: LA Innocence Project takes on the famous murder caseThe Los Angeles Innocence Project has taken up the case of Scott Peterson, who was convicted in 2004 of murdering his 27-year-old pregnant wife. The non-profit helps the wrongfully convicted and is seeking new evidence from the original trial. It said in court filings it is "investigating his claim of actual innocence". Lawyers for Peterson filed a petition last April alleging juror misconduct at the murder trial and said that "new evidence" would support their client's innocence, court filings on Wednesday show. Peterson's attorneys had argued at trial his wife was killed by a burglar. Legal documents obtained on Thursday from San Mateo County Court in California called for a fresh review of evidence and tips and a new trial, according to a local ABC News affiliate. The "new evidence" appears to be centred around a burglary at the house immediately across the street from the Peterson home around the time she went missing. The Innocence Project has requested to see video interviews conducted by police where one of the men involved in the burglary reportedly said Laci saw him breaking into the house.
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 19, 2024 9:32:43 GMT -8
Early Returns
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 19, 2024 9:34:21 GMT -8
“It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future.”
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 19, 2024 9:38:50 GMT -8
A Queen is Never Late.
Two Madonna fans are expressing themselves in a federal class action lawsuit filed against the pop icon on Wednesday.
Concertgoers Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden allege that the singer took the stage two hours past the advertised start time for three concerts at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on her Celebration Tour last month, according to a copy of a complaint shared by Billboard.
They add that, as a result of Madonna taking the stage after 10:30 p.m. instead of the 8:30 p.m. advertised start ― concertgoers left the venue after 1 a.m. where they faced “limited public transportation, limited ride-sharing, and/or increased public and private transportation costs at that late hour.”
“In addition, many ticketholders who attended concerts on a weeknight had to get up early to go to work and/or take care of their family responsibilities the next day,” attorneys for the two concertgoers wrote.
The complaint points to a “long history” of Madonna arriving and starting her concerts late, claiming the singer has been “several hours late” to other concerts on the Celebration Tour, her 2016 Rebel Heart Tour, and her 2019-2020 Madame X Tour.
In addition to Madonna, the lawsuit also names Live Nation and Barclays Center as defendants who “engaged in unconscionable, unfair, and/or deceptive trade practices.”
Madonna has been sued before. In a similar lawsuit against the singer and Live Nation in 2019, one fan alleged a breach of contract after a show at the Fillmore Miami Beach venue changed its 8:30 p.m. scheduled start time to a 10:30 p.m. start.
She seemingly responded to the lawsuit during a show in Las Vegas that year, telling fans, “There’s something that you all need to understand and that is, that a queen is never late.”
Madonna Is Not a Queen
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 19, 2024 9:40:59 GMT -8
A Previous Guy Impersonator Impersonating Other Previous Guy Impersonators.
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 19, 2024 9:43:21 GMT -8
Jeffery Dahmer Was a Great Guy, Except for all the Murder and Cannibalism
Charles Barkley laughed at Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Wednesday after she claimed that America has “never been a racist country.”
The NBA icon, on the latest episode of his CNN show “King Charles” with Gayle King, chuckled at a clip of the former United Nations ambassador making her claim during an appearance on “Fox & Friends” Tuesday.
“We asked people out on the street about that tonight. We didn’t find anyone that could agree with that statement,” King said of Haley’s comments.
“Not anybody with common sense,” Barkley said.
“Haley’s 100% correct,” he said. “If you forget about slavery, Jim Crow, segregation, antisemitism, Asian hate that’s been going on in this country ― America has been smooth sailing.”
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 19, 2024 9:50:56 GMT -8
How to Looks Like a MillionUniversity of Florida officials went back and forth with documentary filmmaker Jo Franklin over details for a planned gala in Franklin’s honor at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington, D.C. Franklin had pledged $2 million to her alma mater, and her guest list for the party included the entire staff of the PBS NewsHour. A day before the gala, school officials learned her seven-figure check had bounced. They boarded their flight to Washington, hoping to straighten everything out. The next day, they found out Franklin hadn’t arrived at the Four Seasons, and the credit card number she gave the hotel wasn’t working. A person who identified as Franklin’s assistant emailed to say Franklin had broken her foot and couldn’t make it to Washington. University workers began phoning guests to say the gala was canceled. The school’s esteemed graduate, once a journalist and documentary filmmaker specializing in the Middle East, emerged as troubled and gifted fabulist. The $2 million gift was an illusion, one in a yearslong string of fantasies concocted by Franklin, who tumbled from a life of apparent success to homelessness. For years, she persuaded many around her that she was living the high life. Her family knew better. “She is very ill and we need to have her put into a medical treatment facility of some type before she harms other people and herself,” her younger brother, George Franklin, wrote to family members days after they learned of the 2014 gala fiasco. Jo Franklin was 68 years old at the time and estranged from her daughter and siblings. In the years that followed, Franklin sometimes spent nights in a South Florida hotel parking garage. She was arrested a few times, once for allegedly stealing $11.98 worth of wine. She Talked Like a Millionaire, Slept in a Parking Garage and Fooled Nearly EverybodyFranklin Didn't Have the Franklins
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 19, 2024 9:53:12 GMT -8
Consumers Are Confident
Rising incomes and falling inflation sparked a 13% increase in consumer sentiment in January, coming on the back of a similar surge in December, the University of Michigan said on Friday.
The back-to-back hikes in the university’s index show “that the sharp increase in December was no fluke,” survey director Joanne Hsu said.
“Consumer views were supported by confidence that inflation has turned a corner and strengthening income expectations,” Hsu added. “Over the last two months, sentiment has climbed a cumulative 29%, the largest two-month increase since 1991 as a recession ended.”
The overall index rose 13.1% to 78.8 from 69.7 a month ago. The index assessing perceptions of current economic conditions increased 13.6% to 83.3 from 73.3, while the future expectations measure was up by 12.6% to 75.9 from 67.4 in December.
“Like December, there was a broad consensus of improved sentiment across age, income, education, and geography,” Hsu said. “Democrats and Republicans alike showed their most favorable readings since summer of 2021. Sentiment has now risen nearly 60% above the all-time low measured in June of 2022 and is likely to provide some positive momentum for the economy.”
Importantly, inflation expectations for a year ahead as measured by the University of Michigan slipped to 2.9% – the lowest reading since late 2020 and a sign that consumers believe the Federal Reserve is winning its war against inflation.
Consumers Are Consuming
Consumers kept on spending in December, providing more signs that the economy is continuing to grow and less optimism that the Federal Reserve will be able to cut interest rates this spring.
U.S. retail sales were $709.9 billion in December, up 0.6% compared with November’s sales, and were 5.6% higher than the same time in the prior year, according to the Census Bureau’s monthly retail sales report.
The results were better than expected, with analysts forecasting a more modest increase of 0.4%, compared with November’s increase of 0.3% compared to the prior month. It follows November’s better-than-expected report.
“With a still solid labor market, lower gasoline prices, and interest rates edging lower, December retail sales reflect an economy that, although slowing, continues to be underpinned by consumer spending,” said Quincy Krosby, LPL Financial chief global strategist.
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