Linkee-poo Thursday Oct 22

"It is being described as one of the biggest attacks on art and antiquities in post-war German history, but it has taken more than two weeks to emerge… At least 70 artefacts were sprayed with an oily liquid on Berlin's M

useum Island, a Unesco world heritage site that is home to five famous museums." "A painting by an esteemed New Jersey artist that hadn't been seen since 1960 has been reunited with other paintings in its collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, all thanks to a museum visitor with keen eyes… The Met on Wednesday announced the discovery of a Jacob Lawrence painting that belongs to a 30-panel epic called "Struggle: From the History of the American People." The art that depicts a 1786 uprising of struggling farmers in western Massachusetts led by Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Shays was bought at a local art auction by current owners six decades ago, according to the museum."

"Ten badly decayed coffins apparently laid in pairs in a trench decades ago have been found in Oaklawn Cemetery, officials said Wednesday… A research team searching for unmarked burials from Tulsa’s 1921 Race Massacre said the discovery is consistent with reports that 18 Black men killed on May 31-June 1, 1921, were buried in Oaklawn."

"DHL is one of a growing number of companies using AI. Besides the pallet scanning system, AI helps route deliveries, control robots that ferry packages around warehouses, and control an experimental robot arm that picks and sorts parcels. DHL is also among a small minority of companies using AI—just 11 percent—that say they’ve reaped a significant return on investment from using the technology, according to a new report." Business AI is the new "magic." Also AI isn't so much A or I.

"Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, has agreed to plead guilty to three federal criminal charges for its role in creating the nation's opioid crisis and will pay more than $8 billion and close down the company." It's not enough.

"How badly is COVID-19 hurting Americans on the cusp of retirement? Maybe worse than we thought… In an interview, economist Teresa Ghilarducci, a professor at The New School in New York City and one of the nation’s leading experts on retirement, told me that half—that’s right, half—of Americans aged 55 and up will retire in poverty or near poverty." So when the 401k economic bomb hits, they're going to blame COVID-19. While the economic devastation cause by COVID will make the situation worse, this really isn't too much different than before COVID.

"New filings for jobless claims in the U.S. totaled 787,000 last week, the lowest total since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic… The total reflected a decline of 55,000 from the downwardly revised 842,000 in the previous week. The last time the weekly claims total was lower was the 282,000 on March 14, just before an avalanche of layoffs that followed shutdown efforts to combat the virus."

How goes Brexit? "Brexit trade talks are resuming in London on Thursday after negotiations hit a deadlock last week… The decision to return to the negotiating table boosted confidence among investors that a post-Brexit trade deal will eventually be reached. Sterling saw its biggest one-day appreciation on Wednesday since March following bullish comments by Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator."

"The talks are back on… The (UK) government says it is now 'ready to welcome the EU team to London to resume negotiations' after studying the address given on Wednesday morning by the EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, to the European Parliament." I wouldn't expect much.

"Thailand’s government on Thursday canceled a state of emergency it had declared last week for Bangkok in a gesture offered by the embattled prime minister to cool student-led protests seeking democracy reforms."

"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she believes she's found President Donald Trump's Achilles' heel in negotiations over a new coronavirus relief package: his desire to send out stimulus checks to people." Newsweek enters their bid for the Captain Obvious Award 2020. What's not being said here, is let's say the miracle occurs and the stimulus bill is passed and signed today. Checks won't go out before the election. And I doubt Trump is really worried about his legacy. Here's the real message, Trump wants to be seen "fighting for" sending you money.

"In the film, released on Friday, the former New York mayor and current personal attorney to Donald Trump is seen reaching into his trousers and apparently touching his genitals while reclining on a bed in the presence of the actor playing Borat’s daughter, who is posing as a TV journalist… Although unfortunate, the circumstances of the setup appear consensual, with Giuliani led to believe he was being courted. Bakalova, 24, is highly plausible in the sting, despite also having to pretend, for the benefit of viewers, to be a feral child posing as a far-right journalist." With friends like these.

"Ghislaine Maxwell's answers to questions about the sex-trafficking operation she allegedly ran with the late Jeffrey Epstein were made public Thursday, as a federal court released Maxwell's 2016 deposition. The transcript is more than 400 pages long, but it has been redacted to protect the privacy of some people it mentions."

"China threatened on Thursday to retaliate against the latest $1.8 billion U.S. arms sale to Taiwan, as the island welcomed the weapons package but said it was not looking to get into an arms race with Beijing." Of course they did.

"Senior officials throughout various departments and agencies of the Trump administration tell CNN they are alarmed at White House pressure to grant what would essentially be a no-bid contract to lease the Department of Defense's mid-band spectrum -- premium real estate for the booming and lucrative 5G market -- to Rivada Networks, a company in which prominent Republicans and supporters of President Donald Trump have investments." Trump also apparently is an inventory in Rivada. How's that swamp draining going?

"Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously on Thursday to advance the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court over a boycott from the committee’s Democrats." Because of course they did.

"A post on Instagram by Betches Sup — the politics and news hub of the feminist website — states six claims to back up its sentiment that we are 'living under minority rule.'… We went through them to see if they hold up."

"Top intelligence officials announced Wednesday evening that Iran and Russia have taken actions to try to compromise the U.S. election and have obtained some voter registration data… Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe told reporters at a last-minute announcement that Iran had sent spoof emails "designed to intimidate voters, incite social unrest, and damage President Trump." He suggested that there had been reporting on these emails 'within the last 24 hours.'" Sure, it was Iran. Sure. That totally makes sense. That doesn't mean Iran and Russia haven't hacked voter data. But I see this more of the campaign to spread confusion and doubt about the election results.

"Rudy Giuliani’s efforts to tarnish Joe Biden’s presidential campaign continued in Delaware when he visited a police station Monday to share files from what he said was Hunter Biden’s laptop… (the) Delaware Attorney General Kathy… Jennings’ office gave the device to the FBI, which reportedly is investigating the veracity of claims about the origin of the laptop and how its contents were shared with Giuliani’s team, Marshall said." Everything about this is fishy.

"Fox News host Sean Hannity had a film crew camped outside of Joe Biden's home for the second night in a row on Wednesday as he called on the Democratic presidential nominee to answer questions from the network." Or another way of looking at this is Hannity sees what little influence he had slipping away as Trump's fortunes tank. This is truly a pathetic attempt at spectacle.

"A tsunami of litigation over election rules is already underway, and analysts expect more in November, as disputes over the legitimacy of mail-in ballots continue to rise. A global pandemic that has killed more than 220,000 people has prompted a record number of Americans to vote by mail, creating at least two nightmare scenarios: Thousands of ballots could be rejected for various technical reasons, such as allegedly mismatched signatures, and an anxious country may have to wait weeks for the election results."

"President Donald Trump’s sprawling political operation has raised well over $1 billion since he took the White House in 2017 — and set a lot of it on fire… Meanwhile, a web of limited liability companies hid more than $356 million in spending from disclosure, records show." Follow the money… right into Trump's pocket.