We're expecting the alligators to return any minute now.
"Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. has begun to cut power to about 179,000 customers in 17 counties in Northern California." Here we go again.
"For the first time, scientists have detected a newly born heavy element in space, forged in the aftermath of a collision between a pair of dead stars known as neutron stars."
"The second of three forms of the polio virus has been eradicated, experts have announced… There are three types of the wild polio virus, which, while scientifically different, cause the same symptoms, including paralysis or even death." Vaccines work.
"'Some people who vape definitely get lung damage, and that was not known before on a microscopic level and we have proved that in this study beyond a reasonable doubt,' Mukhopadhyay said." So much for the "rogue pods" theory.
"A skeleton recently found on California's second-highest mountain could be the remains of a Japanese-American man who disappeared from an internment camp during the waning days of World War II." The ghosts of our past.
"Google claims it has designed a machine that needs only 200 seconds to solve a problem that would take the world's fastest supercomputer 10,000 years to figure out." Or maybe not. But the real question is how soon we can expect games to be released for it (I have a pet theory that computer advancements in capabilities is really tied to the games we can play on them).
"Inspired by Marx's aphorism that 'Religion is the opium of the people,' the USSR commissioned a wealth of anti-religious artwork, much of it very clever and striking." (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)
"Twitter Inc posted worse-than-expected third quarter revenue and profit on Thursday, which the company attributed to advertising problems including product bugs and unusually low demand over the summer, sending its shares down about 15%." Cut the Nazis and trolls, Jack.
"Much of the criticism of Facebook centers on whether the company is trustworthy, given problems with privacy, hate speech, disinformation, and other threats that have grown along with the scope of its products and user base."
"U.S. District Court Judge Edmund Sargus has rejected the request from Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts, the anti-nuclear power plant bailout group, to have more time to collect signatures. The group was trying to put the controversial law, HB6, up for a vote on next year's ballot." Bend over, Ohio.
"The U.S. is enjoying a record-long economic boom, but workers' slice of the pie has barely increased. After decades of relative silence, newly emboldened workers are increasingly vocal in demanding higher pay and better working conditions." You know all those pundits who said that Trump tapped into the people who didn't feel like they had a voice, well, yeah, let me tell you that's bullshit. Here are the people who don't have a voice. And the murmurs from that crowd are getting louder.
But the counter forces are strong and well financed. "An anti-union group is setting up shop in Ohio, saying they’re focused on reaching out to around 340,000 public employees following last year’s Janus v. AFSCME decision from the U.S. Supreme Court."
"Democratic state lawmakers want to add the patient protections found in the Affordable Care Act into Ohio law to ensure coverage for pre-existing conditions and other 'essential health benefits' no matter what happens to the federal law in court." And with this I think you can see the difference between Democrats and Republicans. It'll also be interesting to see the conservatives take considering they also have been pledging to protect people against discrimination and higher costs because of pre-existing conditions. Yeah, I don't hope they'll actually support this. They'll trot out of the "high-risk" pools which didn't work and were hella costly to the tax payer.
"Two weeks after Governor Mike DeWine unveiled his so-called STRONG Ohio gun control package, groups on both sides of the issue are ramping up the rhetoric." There is no compromise to be had on gun control, but this wasn't meant to pass anyway. This is a way for Gov. DeWine to say, "hey, I tried."
"The House Committee on Ethics announced Wednesday it is opening an investigation into allegations that Democratic Rep. Katie Hill of California engaged in an improper relationship with a congressional staffer in possible violation of House rules." This is not an excuse, but power is a strong aphrodisiac. And people in power justify their behavior any way they can. Also I'll just say that conservatives publishing the photos was a dick move.
"Faced with years of war, Lebanese have coped with strife by using satire, humor and lots of dancing. This thawra or revolution, as anti-government protesters in Lebanon call it, is no different. It's accompanied by clever handwritten signs, profanity-laced chants and even 'Baby Shark' singalongs." What a "happy" revolution looks like. It remains to be seen if it will continue like this if the Lebanese don't see changes. And note, this is mostly an economic rebellion.
"Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he will carry on with his progressive agenda despite the rebuke voters delivered in a national election this week that robbed his Liberal Party of its parliamentary majority." He's going to operate from a minority position which is a bold move.
"Colorado's governor mocked President Donald Trump for saying he is building the US-Mexico wall in the state, suggesting that he needs 'basic geography' lessons like a kindergartner… Trump said in a speech in Pittsburgh on Wednesday that 'We're building a wall in Colorado.'" Our stable genius president, everybody.
How's our "victory" in Syria going? "Russian military police deployed on the streets of Syria's northeast border town of Kobane on Thursday under a deal with Turkey to drive out Kurdish fighters." So much winning.
"Back in 2016, when a lot of otherwise decent people pulled the lever to elect Donald Trump president, they claimed to have done it solely for the judges. By the same token, a good number of then–'Never Trumpers' have reverted to Team Trump, again, because of the judges." It's all about installing an actual "Deep State" of conservative justices so that the concepts of "conservatism" and those they protect might last just a little longer. Even if they have to stack the courts with morons who are rated "not qualified" by the non-partisan ABA. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"US Republicans have stormed a high-security impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump, forcing a witness to delay her testimony by five hours… The Republicans chanted 'let us in' as they forced their way into the hearing, breaching US House security rules." Note that Republican members of the committee are in the room and are participating in the hearings, this was a stunt made for TV and an attempt to intimidate possible witnesses and to distract and change the news from the bombshell testimony from Bill Taylor.
"Ambassador William Taylor’s testimony to House investigators on Tuesday didn’t answer every question about the Ukraine scandal, but it answered the big one: Will President Donald Trump be impeached?… Impeachment is now effectively inevitable." Note "impeachment" is the House voting on articles of impeachment. Removal is another matter and requires 66 votes in the Senate.
"Yet an associate familiar with Sondland’s thinking argues the U.S. ambassador to the E.U. and Taylor are more closely aligned than it appears about what occurred and pushed back against Democrats, who suggested Tuesday that Sondland may need to return to Capitol Hill and clarify his remarks." But only if we ignore the 6 hour lag in the time of the texts and the very likely possibility Sondland talked with the president before replying "no quid pro quo, let's take this offline." This is damage control on Sondland's part as he risks potential perjury claims on his earlier testimony.
"It was Perry who led the U.S. delegation to Ukraine when newly elected President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was inaugurated back in May. And it was Perry who urged Trump to make that now-infamous July phone call to Zelenskiy — a phone call that's at the heart of the inquiry." How did he get involved in the impeachment inquiry? Maybe because he isn't so clean himself.
"Perry said he never heard President Donald Trump nor any administration official mention Biden during their conversations with Ukraine. Reports concerning Biden’s son, Hunter, role in sitting on the board of a Ukrainian gas company first appeared in May." That sounds like a denial, but it's a very specific denial. It doesn't cover Giuliani or his two associates, and it doesn't cover written communications or implied conversations.
"This week, the House Rules Committee was reportedly scheduled to consider a resolution disapproving Donald Trump’s receipt of 'emoluments' in the form of payments by foreign governments to his resorts, hotels, and other businesses. Consideration of the bill was canceled when Trump, on Saturday, rescinded last week’s announcement that next year’s G-7 meeting would be held at his Doral resort in Miami." The article is framed as "Democrats reverse course" instead of "lacking the blatant and flagrant violation of the foreign emoluments clause, the bill was withdrawn."
"A coalition of top Democratic strategists and donors are intensifying conversations about setting up an outside group to bolster Joe Biden's presidential candidacy, people familiar with the matter tell CNN, aiming to create a super PAC designed to fight back against a barrage of well-funded attacks from President Donald Trump's campaign."
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