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Post by mhbruin on Mar 15, 2024 8:09:32 GMT -8
A man in Louisiana was overheard saying, “When the end of the world comes, I hope to be in Louisiana.” When asked why, he replied, “Because everything happens in Louisiana 20 years later than in the rest of the civilized world.”
What Does the Appearance Previous Guy Being a Sociopath and a Moron Mean for the Case?
The judge overseeing the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants has declined to outright disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, but ruled that either she or prosecutor Nathan Wade must step aside from the case.
In a 23-page ruling, Judge Scott McAfee wrote that while "dismissal of the indictment is not the appropriate remedy," he concluded that "the established record now highlights a significant appearance of impropriety that infects the current structure of the prosecution team."
McAfee ordered that the conflict described by the defendants presents "an appearance that must be removed through the State's selection of one of two options."
"The District Attorney may choose to step aside, along with the whole of her office, and refer the prosecution to the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council for reassignment," McAfee wrote.
"Alternatively, SADA Wade can withdraw, allowing the District Attorney, the Defendants, and the public to move forward without his presence or remuneration distracting from and potentially compromising the merits of this case."
In justifying his decision, McAfee found that defendants "failed to meet their burden of proving that the District Attorney acquired an actual conflict of interest" -- the standard by which McAfee apparently measured his ruling.
Willis Showed Terrible Judgement in Having the Affair
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 15, 2024 8:11:44 GMT -8
Russia’s war machine is trying to turn Ukrainian teenagers into soldiersRussian forces deported Bohdan Yermokhin from the occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol in the spring of 2022, flew him to Moscow on a government plane and placed him into a foster family. He was sent to a patriotic camp near the capital where flag-waving staff praised Russian President Vladimir Putin and tried to teach him nationalistic songs. The Ukrainian teenager was given a Russian passport and sent to a Russian school. And then, in the fall of 2023, not long before his 18th birthday, he received a summons from a Russian military recruitment office. Yermokhin, who’s now back in Ukraine and recovering from his ordeal in Kyiv, told CNN he believed this was the last step in Russia’s attempt to bully him into submission – a bid to sign him up as a soldier to fight against his own people. “(I was told that) Ukraine was losing, that children were used for organ donations there, and that I would be sent to war right away. I told them that if I was sent to the war, at least I would fight for my own country, not for them,” he said. Ukraine’s human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said his office was convinced that Russia’s efforts to turn Ukrainian teenagers deported to Russia – or living in occupied areas of the east – into soldiers were part of a wider drive by Putin to erase the Ukrainian identity. It is also an opportunity for Moscow to replenish its forces on the front lines. “It’s not theoretical,” he said. “We now have examples of forcible mobilization of Ukrainian people. All Ukrainian teenagers held in Russia, when they turn 18, they are put on a (recruitment) list of Russian military,” told CNN.
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 15, 2024 8:14:24 GMT -8
This Cruise Ship Plans Unique Shore Excursions
A ship organized by a celebrity chef and bearing nearly 200 tons of food for Palestinians in Gaza was just off the enclave’s coast Friday, witnesses said.
The vessel traveled from Cyprus to test a new maritime corridor for ramping up aid to the beleaguered Gaza Strip. But many of the logistical details were still shrouded in uncertainty Friday, including whether Israel would reject the cargo and how the meals would be safely distributed in a region on the brink of famine.
The boat was dispatched by the U.S. nonprofit World Central Kitchen, founded by chef José Andrés, and the Spanish search-and-rescue group Open Arms. Linda Roth, a spokeswoman for World Central Kitchen, said she expects the vessel to be offloaded Friday.
I Don't Think Anyone in Gaza Cares if the Food is Halel
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 15, 2024 8:16:41 GMT -8
Kamela Harris Does Something Important
Vice President Kamala Harris made a historic visit to an abortion clinic in the Twin Cities Thursday, demanding "we have to be a nation that trusts women" and declaring that access to reproductive medical care has spiraled into a "health crisis."
The visit to the Planned Parenthood facility − the first ever by a president or vice president to a clinic that provides abortion services − marked the most dramatic push by President Joe Biden's reelection campaign to make access to abortion a defining issue in the 2024 election.
Harris, the nation's first female vice president, has become the White House's leading voice on restoring abortion rights after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, ending a 50-year constitutional right to an abortion and prompting several Republican-led states to pass laws limiting abortion access.
"In this environment, these attacks against an individual's right to make decisions about their own body are outrageous and, in many instances, just plain old immoral. How dare these elected leaders believe they are in a better position to tell women what they need, to tell women what is in their best interest?" Harris said.
Nelson Rockefeller, who served under Gerald Ford, lamented, “I go to funerals. I go to earthquakes.”
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 15, 2024 8:18:43 GMT -8
Maybe Mexico Will Pay For It
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott boasted shortly after he began soliciting private donations for his controversial migrant busing program that there would likely “be no cost to the state” given the outpouring of support from concerned citizens across the country.
But after nearly two years of fundraising to offset the program’s costs, Abbott’s operation has collected less than half of 1% of the roughly $150 million spent on busing migrants to sanctuary cities, according to a review of state records. And CNN found that the largest donation – $900,000 – never made it into the state’s coffers, either because it was a mistake or a prank.
Records show that at most, around $550,000 has been raised to date.
The data provided by the state reflected donations submitted online or by mail through check, credit card or bank transfer, not funds actually received by the state — meaning the data could contain donations that were rejected by banks and credit companies during processing. Reporters tried to reach the woman behind the supposed $900,000 donation, but they could not locate the person with the name provided, and the phone number submitted to state officials was disconnected.
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 15, 2024 8:22:08 GMT -8
I Hear Bill Gates and Warren Buffet Will Help Make You RichBill Ackman is fighting a losing battle against Bill Ackman. Impostors posing as the billionaire hedge-fund manager on Facebook keep luring hapless investors into stock-market scams—and the real Ackman has been powerless to stop them. Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management has found more than 90 different ads impersonating him. Many of the ads remained visible for weeks after the company flagged them to Facebook, spokesman Fran McGill said. One ad promised annual returns of 125%, another a 25% return in a week and told victims to “hold these three stocks and you’ll be a millionaire.” As soon as each was removed, others popped up. “It’s like a game of whack-a-mole,” McGill said. “It’s been a huge problem and all social-media companies need to do more to prevent people from being scammed like this.”  Ackman isn’t the only billionaire to meet his match on social media. Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management has spotted thousands of ads that impersonate her. Fake versions of Peter Lynch of Fidelity Investments, Ray Dalio of Bridgewater Associates and hedge-fund manager Steve Cohen, owner of the New York Mets, peddled variations on the same scam in recent months. The ads lure victims into joining WhatsApp groups to get stock tips from supposed associates of the big-name investors. In reality, they are just a new take on the classic pump-and-dump scheme. Small-time investors have collectively lost millions of dollars. Just Send Your Bank Account Information to Michael@Crooks.RU and We'll Do the Rest
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 15, 2024 8:23:55 GMT -8
Just Watch CSPAN and Your Life Will Seem Longer
To keep himself healthy into his eighth decade, David Sandler recently decided to go beyond his regular workouts and try something experimental: taking rapamycin, an unproven but increasingly popular drug to promote longevity.
The medication has gained a large following thanks to longevity researchers and celebrity doctors who, citing animal studies, contend that rapamycin could be a game changer in the quest to fend off age-related diseases. The drug is going mainstream as an anti-aging treatment, even though rapamycin’s regulatory approval is for treating transplant patients. There is no evidence that it can extend human life.
Sandler initially dismissed the idea of rapamycin as a longevity drug, but as he read up online, he decided there might be something to it.
“If I was younger, I would hold off,” said Sandler, a 77-year-old retired accountant who lives in Bergen County, N.J. “But at this age, I’m making myself part of the experiment,” he said.
Researchers have found that rapamycin can modify a kind of cellular communications system that gives cells certain directions — to grow when the body has plenty of food and to slow down when nutrients are scarce. The drug can dial down the signal to grow, causing cells to clear out accumulated junk and allowing them to run more efficiently.
Despite the buzz surrounding the drug, it is unlikely that the Food and Drug Administration will ever approve it for longevity. The agency doesn’t consider aging to be a disease, and rapamycin’s generic status means there’s little financial incentive to run expensive clinical trials to test it on age-related afflictions. So doctors and entrepreneurs are increasingly marketing rapamcyin beyond the scope of its regulatory label, believing a potentially life-extending drug is effectively hiding in plain sight.
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 15, 2024 8:26:05 GMT -8
The Chinese-Mexican Hat Dance
China's exports to Mexico are booming.
In January, containers from China to Mexico surged nearly 60% from a year ago, freight platform Xeneta wrote in a blog post on Thursday, based on data from Container Trades Statistics.
"This is probably the strongest growing trade in the world right now," wrote Peter Sand, the chief analyst at Xeneta.
The strong growth in trade between the two countries followed a 35% on-year jump in container volumes from China to Mexico. In 2022, China's exports to Mexico grew just 3.5% on-year.
The surge in China's imports into Mexico is noteworthy because global trade has slowed since the fourth quarter of 2022. This suggests there's more going on than Mexican demand for Chinese goods.
"With a sizeable portion of these goods likely being trucked into the US, it gives rise to the possibility that China's increase in trade with Mexico is being used to circumvent tariffs placed on imports from China to the US as part of the ongoing trade war," wrote Xeneta's Sand.
Former President Donald Trump launched a trade war against China — the world's factory for the last four decades — around 2018, imposing elevated tariffs on a range of Chinese imports.
The Trump-era tariffs kickstarted changes in the dynamics of US-China trade, prompting companies to change up their supply chain strategies.
Last year, Mexico overtook China as America's top trade partner, according to data from the US Commerce Department.
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 15, 2024 8:27:15 GMT -8
This Job Comes with a Free All-Expense-Paid Trip to Beautiful Haiti
The Senate on Thursday voted to confirm Dennis Hankins as the U.S. ambassador to Haiti as the Caribbean country faces escalating violence and political uncertainty.
The near-unanimous vote comes about 10 months after President Joe Biden nominated the longtime diplomat to the post in May 2023. Hankins was confirmed in an 89-1 vote, with 10 senators not voting.
The White House had urged a "swift confirmation" for Hankins amid growing gang violence in Haiti.
"This is a critical time to make sure that we have an ambassador in place and we certainly urgently need him in place," White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters earlier on Thursday. "And again, we’re working with our partners on Capitol Hill to get him confirmed as soon as possible. We certainly hope that that vote proceeds swiftly and in the affirmative."
Hankins steps into the post just days after Haiti's prime minister, Ariel Henry, announced his resignation plans as violent gangs have swept through much of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Earlier this month, the plane Henry was on landed in Puerto Rico because of threats at a Haiti airport. The gang leader, Jimmy Cherizier, called "Barbecue," had threatened additional violence if Henry did not step down.
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 15, 2024 8:28:54 GMT -8
Can a Dishonest Researcher Study Honesty?
AHarvard University probe into prominent researcher Francesca Gino found that her work contained manipulated data and recommended that she be fired, according to a voluminous court filing that offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at research misconduct investigations.
It is a key document at the center of a continuing legal fight involving Gino, a behavioral scientist who in August sued the university and a trio of data bloggers for $25 million.
The case has captivated researchers and the public alike as Gino, known for her research into the reasons people lie and cheat, has defended herself against allegations that her work contains falsified data.
The investigative report had remained secret until this week, when the judge in the case granted Harvard’s request to file the document, with some personal details redacted, as an exhibit.
The investigative committee that produced the nearly 1,300-page document included three Harvard Business School professors tapped by HBS dean Srikant Datar to examine accusations about Gino’s work.
They concluded after a monthslong probe conducted in 2022 and 2023 that Gino “engaged in multiple instances of research misconduct” in the four papers they examined. They recommended that the university audit Gino’s other experimental work, request retractions of three of the papers (the fourth had already been retracted at the time they reviewed it), and place Gino on unpaid leave while taking steps to terminate her employment.
You Can't Make This Stuff Up
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 15, 2024 8:31:47 GMT -8
I Thought the QOP Like the Color of Money
When members of the U.S. House of Representatives are sworn into Congress, they are given a pin as a symbol of their membership. That pin, in the past, was green.
But according to Emma Dumain, a reporter for E&E News, the House Republican majority spent a reported $40,000 to replace it with a pin that had a different color — as they thought the word "green" sounded too liberal/progressive.
Dumain, in an article published on March 14, reports, "Behind the decision to throw out the pin issued to 435 lawmakers: politics. Republicans believed that the outgoing Democratic majority of the 117th Congress picked the bright green color in honor of the Green New Deal, a progressive policy conservatives revile."
Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-California) acknowledges that fellow House Republicans ditched the pin for strictly political reasons.
Dumain quotes the GOP lawmaker as saying, "I heard some guys and gals grumbling that it's an environmental tribute or something like that — which, hey, I like the color green, I have a lot of John Deere equipment in that color. But those of us in resource-based districts get really tired of how big environment groups are already kicking our heads in over how bad we are.… I think there's some fatigue about the environment being used as a weapon."
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 15, 2024 8:36:00 GMT -8
I Hear Thigh Master Needs a New Spokeswoman
Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) posed for yet another product testimonial on Thursday — and got an earful of mockery on social media.
The South Dakota governor already attracted national attention after she starred in an infomercial for a Texas dental practice that fixed her teeth after a biking accident — a spot which she is now being sued over.
But now she is also posing with the Rapid City orthotics company Fit My Feet, with similar gusto.
"Fit My Feet does amazing work to make custom insoles," the governor posted to X. "Just wait… I’m gonna be so fast!"
"The governor of South Dakota now working on commission - from free teeth to insoles," posted Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts. "Looking forward to learning about how she treats her yeast infections."
"South Dakota, this is embarrassing," posted the account Janet Johnson. "Your governor is a walking infomercial."
"This is the governor’s second infomercial in 3 days. What is going on?" wrote elections columnist Laura Bassett.
"I’m waiting for a Sham Wow commercial," posted the account "Chi Chi Plantagenet." "Does South Dakota need money? Are you guys okay?" wrote the account "Eyes on the Right." "Are you auditioning for QVC?" wrote the account "Alamo On The Rise."
One other account, John Wallach, had a theory about what was really going on here — she isn't satisfied with the governor's salary.
"$121,578 in SD is only $64,346 than the median salary $57,232 and that's just not enough of a salary ratio for her to feel important," he wrote.
After she posted a boost for the Texas dentist, Noem was hit by a lawsuit Wednesday from consumer protection nonprofit Travelers United.
"Unfortunately Noem did not mark this as an 'Ad' or 'Advertisement' when posting so she is participating in an unfair and deceptive practice," it read.
"Someone with a very busy job does not take time off of that job to make a free advertisement for medical services in another state.
"She likely either received free dental care in exchange for this advertisement, discounted dental care in exchange for this advertisement or she was paid and received free dental care for the advertisement."
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 15, 2024 8:37:23 GMT -8
We Are All in Hot WaterEvery day for the last 12 months, the world’s sea surface temperatures have broken records. Ocean scientists are growing increasingly concerned. “It’s not just an entire year of record-breaking ocean temperatures, but it’s the margin it’s breaking them by — it’s not even close to what the previous record was,” said Brian McNoldy, a senior research associate at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science. “That’s what’s raising the eyebrows of a lot of people.” Average sea surface temperatures today are roughly 1.25 degrees Fahrenheit higher than they were from 1982-2011, according to the University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer. It’s a huge anomaly that could have significant effects on weather and ecosystems. Human-caused climate change is likely playing a role, researchers said, but is probably not the only factor. Climate models predict a steady rise in sea surface temperatures, but not this quickly, and ocean surface temperatures also fluctuate and can be affected by natural climate variability, including patterns such as El Niño and La Niña. So scientists don’t yet know precisely why sea surface temperatures have climbed so high. “I pray we’re having a once-in-a-lifetime year of hot sea surface temperatures, but I do fear there may be something else going on that is causing a long-term change in sea surface temperatures we hadn’t predicted,” said John Abraham, a professor at the University of St. Thomas who studies ocean temperatures. “All bets are off now, this is something that is so unusual, it’s challenging our past expectations.” 
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 15, 2024 8:39:55 GMT -8
They Don't Hate Each Other As Much As We Hate ThemOver 100 House Republicans Will Skip GOP Retreat Because They Hate Each Other So Much: ReportThey apparently don’t want to spend any more time together than they’re contractually obligated to. When he abruptly announced his decision yesterday to quit Congress early, [Rep. Ken] Buck said, of the dysfunction on Capitol Hill: “It is the worst year of the nine years and three months that I’ve been in Congress and having talked to former members, it’s the worst year in 40, 50 years to be in Congress.… This place has just devolved into this bickering and nonsense and not really doing the job for the American people.” Specifically calling out his fellow Republicans, he said: “We’ve taken impeachment, and we’ve made it a social media issue as opposed to a constitutional concept—this place keeps going downhill, and I don’t need to spend more time here.”
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 15, 2024 8:42:16 GMT -8
You Don't Need to Go to Any Scary Movies This Week. Just Read this.
Voters don’t have a clue about how much worse Trump’s second term would be Many voters seem fooled that Trump 47 would be a bland replay of Trump 45, not the authoritarian nightmare he actually plans.
Gameli Fenuku, a 22-year-old Black college student in Richmond, Va., is exactly the demographic you’d think would never vote for Donald Trump in November — and indeed, he may not. But Fenuku told the New York Times he hasn’t ruled out supporting the presumptive GOP nominee, either. That’s because he remembers his teen years under Trump as a time when a lot of things were a lot better than he sees them now — especially the economy.
The Virginia college student is the face of a phenomenon that is shaping the 2024 rematch between Trump and President Joe Biden with less than eight months to go. The polls and interviews suggest a lot of voters are responding no to the ex-president’s borrowing of Ronald Reagan’s famous question, “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” This despite Trump’s army of detractors calling this “collective amnesia” about a twice-impeached president who nearly four years ago was wondering if Americans should be drinking bleach to tackle COVID-19.
Less than three-and-a-half years after the U.S. electorate made Trump the first 21st-century president to lose reelection — and by a solid, seven million vote margin — a poll taken by a liberal climate group found 52% of today’s voters now approve of Trump’s former presidency.
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