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Post by mhbruin on Apr 14, 2024 8:28:34 GMT -8
I got a job in a Workout Center , but they said I wasn't fit for the job Where Have All the MAGAs Gone? Long Time Passing.As you may have heard, mainstream news organizations are facing a financial crisis. Many liberal publications have taken an even more severe beating. But the most dramatic declines over the past few years belong to conservative and right-wing sites. The flow of traffic to Donald Trump’s most loyal digital-media boosters isn’t just slowing, as in the rest of the industry; it’s utterly collapsing. This past February, readership of the 10 largest conservative websites was down 40 percent compared with the same month in 2020, according to The Righting, a newsletter that uses monthly data from Comscore—essentially the Nielsen ratings of the internet—to track right-wing media. (February is the most recent month with available Comscore data.) Some of the bigger names in the field have been pummeled the hardest: The Daily Caller lost 57 percent of its audience; Drudge Report, the granddaddy of conservative aggregation, was down 81 percent; and The Federalist, founded just over a decade ago, lost a staggering 91 percent. (The site’s CEO and co-founder, Sean Davis, called that figure “laughably inaccurate” in an email but offered no further explanation.) FoxNews.com, by far the most popular conservative-news site, has fared better, losing “only” 22 percent of traffic, which translates to 23 million fewer monthly site visitors compared with four years ago. Some amount of the decline over that period was probably inevitable, given that 2020 was one of the most intense and newsiest years in decades, propping up publications across the political spectrum. But that doesn’t explain why the falloff has been especially steep on the right side of the media aisle. Right-Wing Media Are in Trouble |
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 14, 2024 8:30:52 GMT -8
Maybe He Will Pick Himself as a Running Mate. Or How About Elon Musk?
The dual burdens of funding an expensive presidential campaign combined with funneling enormous amounts of cash to pay his legal teams attempting to keep him out of jail is creating bumps in the road for Donald Trump's choice of a running mate.
Add to considerations over what the number two person on the ballot with the former president brings to the table with regard to voters is Trump's desperate need for campaign cash because he is trailing his opponent, President Joe Biden, by a substantial margin.
According to a report from New York Times' Michael Bender, the former president is asking advisers who best can bring their own collection of donors and patrons with them for what could be the most expensive presidential campaign ever.
According to campaign insiders, "Mr. Trump has asked several people about the fund-raising prowess of possible running mates," with Bender writing, "It is also unclear among Mr. Trump’s advisers whether he ultimately intends to give considerable weight to a contender’s fund-raising ability, or whether his recent focus is a consequence of his overall concerns about cash. That fixation has permeated both his presidential bid and his costly legal defense in his four criminal cases — and further blurred the line between the two."
One potential candidate who has shown the ability to raise substantial amounts of money is former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC) who was the last person standing between Trump and the nomination after a bitter battle.
However, as the report points out, "To some people, he is said to have shown indifference when asked about Ms. Haley’s joining his ticket. To others, he has savaged her with brutal and personal criticisms."
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 14, 2024 8:32:57 GMT -8
Psst! Done Tell Anybody, But Iran Wanted Their Weapons Shot Down.
Iran launched a retaliatory attack against Israel on Saturday that risks sparking a regional conflict involving U.S. military forces. The operation, which Israeli officials said included more than 300 missiles and drones, marked the first time that Iran has launched a direct military attack on the Jewish state.
Of some 30 cruise missiles launched toward Israel, 25 were intercepted by Israeli fighter jets and none managed to enter the country, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson, said early Sunday. A "few" of the nearly 120 ballistic missiles fired toward Israel fell inside the country, he said, causing slight damage to infrastructure on the Nevatim Air Force Base but leaving it fully operational.
The assault severely injured a 10-year-old girl, but otherwise caused no casualties, Hagari said. About 31 people were treated for anxiety or injuries they sustained while heading to a protected area when sirens sounded, Israel’s first responder service said.
Follow live coverage on the aftermath of Iran's attack
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement late Saturday that the U.S. military shot down “dozens” of missiles and drones en route to Israel from Iran, Iraq, Syria and Yemen, calling Iran's assault "unprecedented."
Why Else Would You Launch Your Drones Hours Ahead of the Missiles, Signaling the Start of the Attack?
Axios is reporting President Biden told Netanyahu in a phone call on Saturday evening that the U.S. will neither support nor participate in any counterattack against Iran.
With both Israel and the U.S. having intercepted 99% of the drones and missiles and with only one casualty, the precision of the defense against Iran’s retaliation for Israel’s strike on the Iranian consulate was almost miraculous.
"You got a win. Take the win," Biden told Netanyahu, according to the official.
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 14, 2024 8:35:37 GMT -8
Monday, Previous Guy Goes on Trial. Tuesday, SCOTUS Hearing.
As of this month, more than 100 rioters have been convicted and sentenced...for obstructing or impeding an official proceeding — in this case the joint session of Congress that convened on Jan. 6 to formally certify Joe Biden’s 2020 victory.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments about whether prosecutors improperly stretched the law by charging people with that violation in the first place.
The high court’s ruling, likely to land in late June, has the potential to undo the convictions and sentences of those who have already gone to trial or pleaded guilty, and upend the charges still pending for many more. Three Jan. 6 defendants have already had their sentences reduced ahead of a decision by the Supreme Court.
The court’s decision could have political implications for this year’s election, since Donald Trump — the likely Republican nominee — has made accusations of prosecutorial overreach a core part of his appeal to voters. The case could also directly impact Trump’s own trial for allegedly trying to remain in power after his 2020 defeat; two of the four charges he faces are based on the obstruction statute, and he could move to have those charges dismissed if the Supreme Court rules for the rioters.
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 14, 2024 8:38:34 GMT -8
There's No Shortage of Illegal Drugs, But ....National Drug Shortages 
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 14, 2024 8:41:37 GMT -8
When is An Exception Not An Exception? When You Are in Alabama.
A heart defect and large fetal tumor weren’t enough for doctors to feel comfortable granting abortion care.
Kelly Shannon was grieving a pregnancy she would need to terminate because of multiple fetal anomalies when she got the call that Alabama doctors wouldn’t approve an abortion procedure despite exceptions in the law. That meant she would have to leave the state.
Shannon, 36, was about 16 weeks along in January 2023 when genetic testing—and confirmation from an amniocentesis—showed her fetus likely had Trisomy 21, better known as Down syndrome. It didn’t take long for the doctor to determine the fetus likely wouldn’t survive to term. There was fluid buildup in the head and body, evidence of a heart defect, and a tumor on the abdomen that was roughly one-third the size of its entire body.
“There was so much decision-making and processing, and you’re still feeling the baby kick the whole time,” Shannon said. “And every time she would kick, I was just sitting there like, ‘I’m so sorry. I wish I got to be your mom, but I don’t get to be your mom.’”
Three years before the U.S. Supreme Court issued the Dobbs decision in June 2022 and returned the ability to regulate abortion to the states, Alabama had already passed an abortion ban. Gov. Kay Ivey said at the time she signed the bill that even though it was likely unenforceable since abortion was still legal nationally, it was a signal to the courts to overturn Roe v. Wade. A group of physicians challenged the Alabama law in court and received a preliminary injunction that had barred its enforcement for years. But when Dobbs took effect, the injunction was lifted. Doctors are now subject to felony charges with punishment of up to life in prison.
Alabama is one of few states with an abortion ban at any stage of pregnancy that also contains an exception for lethal fetal anomalies. In the law, it’s defined as a condition from which the fetus would die after birth or shortly thereafter, or be stillborn. There are also exceptions for performing an abortion to save a pregnant patient’s life or preserve their health. However, according to the latest WeCount report of abortions performed since Dobbs, Alabama has recorded zero abortion procedures. Activists have argued that exceptions in abortion bans are meaningless because there is too much fear and uncertainty about what circumstances will qualify for an exception.
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 14, 2024 8:44:09 GMT -8
Who Won the Week?
The European Court of Human Rights, for ruling that its member nations have an obligation to protect their citizens from the ill effects of climate change
Appeals court judges Lizbeth González and Cynthia Kern, for rejecting Trump's last-ditch efforts to delay his hush money/election interference trial that starts Monday
President Biden: announces more student loan relief; closes gun show loophole; wines & dines Japanese prime minister; locks in $130 million campaign ad time for August-November
The South Carolina women and UConn men, winners of their NCAA Championships…and bonus points to the women for scoring bonkers-high TV ratings
Return engagements, as Trump's corrupt money guy Allen Weisselberg goes back to prison for another five months, this time for perjury
New York AG Letitia James, for nailing Trump stooges Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman to the tune of $1.25 million for their 2020 disinformation-spewing robocall scheme targeting Black voters
Brit Russ Cook, 27, who became the first person to run the length of Africa (9,940 miles), from Cape Agulhas to Tunisia…completing the feat in 352 days and raising $750k for charity
State-level Democratic candidates, who raised a record amount of money from grassroots donors for their campaigns during the first quarter
Eclipse watchers from Texas to Maine who got to see it from inside the path of totality
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 14, 2024 8:47:03 GMT -8
Just When You Think the Disgusting OJ Saga is Over ...
The executor of O.J. Simpson's estate says he will work to prevent a payout of a $33.5 million judgment awarded by a California civil jury nearly three decades ago in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the families of Simpson's ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.
Simpson's will was filed Friday in a Clark County court in Nevada, naming his longtime lawyer, Malcolm LaVergne, as the executor. The document shows Simpson's property was placed into a trust that was created this year.
LaVergne told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the entirety of Simpson's estate has not been tallied. Under Nevada law, an estate must go through the courts if its assets exceed $20,000.
Simpson died Wednesday without having paid the lion's share of the civil judgment that was awarded in 1997 after jurors found him liable. With his assets set to go through the court probate process, the Goldman and Brown families could be in line to get paid a piece of whatever Simpson left behind.
LaVergne, who had represented Simpson since 2009, said he specifically didn't want the Goldman family seeing any money from Simpson's estate.
"It's my hope that the Goldmans get zero, nothing," he told the Review-Journal. "Them specifically. And I will do everything in my capacity as the executor or personal representative to try and ensure that they get nothing."
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 14, 2024 8:48:48 GMT -8
You Think You Have Mismanaged Your Budget??
Boston has a bit of a budget problem. The rise in remote work has caused a slow and steady decline in commercial real-estate prices, and, as a result, property-tax revenue is falling, leaving the city facing a $1 billion tax deficit over the next five years. The same issue, coupled with a persistent decline in tourism, is weighing on San Francisco's finances. Across the country, from Denver and Seattle to Washington, DC, and New York, cities are deciphering whether to slash their budgets. Even some states, including California, Maryland, and Arizona, are facing financial woes.
Each place is dealing with its own set of circumstances, but at the root of all these woes is the struggle to figure out what the new normal is, budget-wise, and how to deliver the services and investments citizens depend on without breaking the bank.
"I wouldn't say that we are in a budget crisis at the state and local government level at the moment," Justin Marlowe, a research professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and the director of its Center for Municipal Finance, told me. "Where we are, I think, is at the very beginning of the probably three-to-five-year what we might call structural adjustment that's going to need to happen to state and local budgets in a post-pandemic, post-AI world."
States and cities struggling financially is a perennial problem. Unlike the federal government, local governments can't run large deficits for long stretches, and many places have balanced-budget amendments. States do have rainy-day funds — according to the Pew Charitable Trusts, a public-policy nonprofit, the funds hit all-time highs in 38 states at the end of fiscal 2023. (Most states' fiscal years run from July 1 to June 30.) But even that cash will only get them so far, in the near term and in the long run.
The recent financial troubles are a bit of a turnaround from the past four years. When the pandemic hit, there was widespread concern that states and cities would run out of money. Instead, they started to see an increase in revenue. Stimulus from the federal government to individuals via unemployment insurance and stimulus checks kept households afloat, and many people started spending, which boosted sales-tax revenue. People's paychecks increased, along with their income taxes. The federal government also provided financial support to states and cities. Now those sources of cash are starting to dry up.
"With expiring federal funds, the fiscal outlook looks really troublesome for many states and localities," said Lucy Dadayan, a principal research associate with the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center at the Urban Institute.
In some cases, states and cities used the extra federal money to start new programs and make investments they'd long wanted to make; now they need to figure out permanent funding sources. In other cases, funds helped temporarily paper over long-standing budgetary issues, or places took advantage of their surpluses to cut taxes.
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 14, 2024 8:49:48 GMT -8
The Plastic Scam
Jan Dell is a former chemical engineer who has spent years telling an inconvenient truth about plastics. "So many people, they see the recyclable label, and they put it in the recycle bin," she said. "But the vast majority of plastics are not recycled."
About 48 million tons of plastic waste is generated in the U.S. each year; only 5 to 6 percent of it is actually recycled, according to the Department of Energy. The rest ends up in landfills or is burned.
Dell founded a non-profit, The Last Beach Cleanup, to fight plastic pollution. Inside her garage in Southern California is all sorts of plastic with those little arrows on it that make us think they can be recycled. But, she said, "You're being lied to."
Those so-called chasing arrows started showing up on plastic products in 1988, part of a push to convince the public that plastic waste wasn't a problem because it can be recycled.
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 14, 2024 8:50:58 GMT -8
What If There Were a Terrible War and Nobody Knew About It?
A year of war between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has driven more than 8.5 million people from their homes, creating the world's largest displacement crisis and uprooting families multiple times as people struggle to escape to neighbouring countries with economic and security problems of their own.
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 14, 2024 8:56:32 GMT -8
Shed a Tear for the Poor Bitcoin Miners.
For enthusiasts of Bitcoin, a once-every-four-years software update called the “halving” has long been held as one of the keys to propping up its value.
This time around, it’s also set to trigger multibillion-dollar declines in revenue for the very companies that ensure the digital currency’s smooth functioning, right on the heels of a surge in their biggest costs.
Around April 20, the halving will cut the amount of Bitcoin that “miners” can earn each day for validating transactions to 450 from 900 now. Based on Bitcoin’s current price, it could spell revenue losses of around $10 billion a year for the industry as a whole. Marathon Digital Holdings Inc., CleanSpark Inc. and other miners, which compete for a fixed Bitcoin reward by solving mathematical puzzles using superfast computers, have invested in new equipment and sought to buy smaller rivals in an attempt to cushion the drop-off in revenue.
Perhaps the Most Unproductive Use of Energy in Human History
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 14, 2024 8:58:16 GMT -8
Preious Guy Violates Gag Order. Will Another Judge Wimp Out? Folks, this Truth Social post by Donald Trump is a clear violation of the judge's gag order. The gag order prohibits Trump from: "Making or directing others to make public statements about known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses concerning there potential participation in the investigation or in this criminal proceeding." Michael Cohen is a known witness, the prosecution has designated him as a witness on the list of witnesses for the trial for which jury selection begins on Monday. Having been already convicted for the conduct for which Trump is now also accused Cohen is obviously a key witness, if not the most important witness.
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