For those of you in the US, have a great long Memorial Day weekend. More than likely with my schedule there won't be any updates until Tuesday, and probably not until Wednesday.
"Telemetry from Flight Six shows that the first 150-meter leg of the flight went off without a hitch. But toward the end of that leg, something happened: Ingenuity began adjusting its velocity and tilting back and forth in an oscillating pattern. This behavior persisted throughout the rest of the flight. Prior to landing safely, onboard sensors indicated the rotorcraft encountered roll and pitch excursions of more than 20 degrees, large control inputs, and spikes in power consumption." Oppsie.
"The cause of the excitement was the sighting, last week, of a wild giant river otter – an animal feared extinct in the country due to habitat loss and hunting – on the Bermejo River in Impenetrable national park, in north-east Argentina’s Chaco province. The last sighting of a giant otter in the wild in Argentina was in the 1980s. On the Bermejo, none have been seen for more than a century."
"The average temperature on Earth is now consistently 1 degree Celsius hotter than it was in the late 1800s, and that temperature will keep rising toward the critical 1.5-degree Celsius benchmark over the next five years, according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization."
"(French) Oil and gas giant Total will be rebranded as TotalEnergies as it shifts some of its focus towards renewable energy sources… Shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favour of the move and approved the firm's environmental goals."
Hey, ho, way to go, Ohio. "The city council in Lebanon, Ohio, voted unanimously Tuesday night to pass an ordinance that outlawed abortion in the town… The ordinance declares Lebanon a "sanctuary city for the unborn," with abortion punishable with six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, according to the city council. It takes effect immediately." Well, Lebanon, I hope you have the budget for the lawsuits. I don't think ya do.
"President Biden said on Wednesday that he has asked the U.S. intelligence community to push to get closer to a 'definitive conclusion' on how the pandemic started… In a statement, Biden said the intelligence community has 'coalesced around two likely scenarios' — that the coronavirus either came from human contact with an infected animal, or from a laboratory accident in Wuhan, China."
"Facebook said it's no longer removing from its platforms claims that coronavirus was man-made… That announcement comes shortly after President Joe Biden announced he had directed the US intelligence community to redouble its efforts into the origin of Covid-19." Understand that the "lab leak" theory as proposed by scientists is not that it was made, but was gathered in the wild, brought to the lab for study, and then somehow escaped.
Also in Ohio news… "Lawmakers are working on legislation to call off the lottery immediately. They’re also trying to head off any plans for 'vaccine passports.' And last month, they introduced a sweeping anti-vaccination bill that would essentially demolish public health and vaccination requirements in the state—and not just requirements for COVID-19 vaccines—requirements for any vaccine." Ya know, those reeducation camps the conservatives were all worried about during the Obama administration are starting to look like a real good idea about now. (Grokked from John)
"Data obtained exclusively by CNN shows that interest in getting vaccinated against Covid-19 increased right after Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, announced two weeks ago that vaccinated people could take off their masks."
"If an employer wants its workers back in the office, can it mandate a vaccine to come back? And if a reluctant worker refuses to get immunized, can an employer show them the door?… There is no federal law specifically addressing that issue. The matter remains up to private businesses, state or other local laws, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." The answer is in most cases, because of conservative law making, they can.
"A Pennsylvania judge has ordered former Penn State President Graham Spanier to report to jail on July 9 for charges related to the child abuse scandal that embroiled the university a decade ago… A Daulphin County Court judge ordered Spanier to serve two months in a Centre County correctional facility followed by two months of house arrest for charges of endangering the welfare of children."
"Amy Cooper, the White woman who went viral last year for calling 911 to claim that a Black birdwatcher in Central Park was threatening her, has filed a lawsuit against her former employer. She temporarily surrendered her dog and was fired from her job shortly after the incident." Okay, Karen.
"The U.S. jobs market edged closer to its pre-pandemic self last week as initial jobless claims totaled just 406,000 for the week ended May 22, the Labor Department reported Thursday… While that level is still well above the pre-Covid norm, it is the closest to the previous trend since the crisis began in March 2020 and a decline from the previous week’s 444,000." I'm starting to think CNBC doesn't have actual statisticians check their reporting.
"U.S. consumer prices surged in April, with a measure of underlying inflation blowing past the Federal Reserve's 2% target and posting its largest annual gain since 1992, reflecting pent-up demand as the economy reopens."
A visual representation of the wealth divid in America. A scrolling version showing in a volumetric way the difference between the average person and the wealth of Jeff Bezos.
"In the last year, major social media companies have raced to announce dozens of features aimed at attracting creators, an estimated 50 million people like Feeney and Shaw who range from internet personalities posting beauty tutorials on YouTube and TikTok to independent journalists selling newsletter subscriptions on Substack to video gamers live-streaming on Twitch."
"A database compiled by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University found that between 2006 and February 2020, there had been 13 mass workplace shootings carried out by a current or former employee — roughly one a year on average… 'The reason they seem more frequent right now is because we haven't had them really for the last year because of COVID,' Schildkraut says. Such restrictions have also served to limit opportunities for potential shooters 'because it reduces the available targets for a person.' she says."
"Germany on Friday apologized for its role in slaughter of Herero and Nama tribespeople in Namibia more than a century ago and officially described the massacre as genocide for the first time, as it agreed to fund projects worth over a billion euros."
"In a key speech on his visit to Rwanda, French President Emmanuel Macron said he recognizes that France bears a heavy responsibility for the 1994 genocide in the central African country… Macron solemnly detailed how France had failed the 800,000 victims of the genocide but he stopped short of an apology."
"Stewart was arrested after he posted the photo on the encrypted messaging service EncroChat, via his handle 'Toffeeforce.' Unbeknownst to him, the service had been cracked by police in Europe. From that, his palm and fingerprints were analyzed and police had their man."
"Now, merely a day or so after the company mistakenly put a bounty on an L.A. homeless man and falsely accused him of starting wildfires, Motherboard reports that ex-employees and leaked internal documents show Citizen’s next cool thing: imminent plans to contract with major security firms to send private goon squads to your neighborhood, where they will ostensibly check on whether you’re OK or not." What could possibly go wrong?
"The Russian hackers thought to be behind the catastrophic SolarWinds attack last year have launched another major cyberattack, Microsoft warned three weeks before President Joe Biden is to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin… Microsoft said in a blog post Thursday that the hacking group, known as Nobelium, had targeted over 150 organizations worldwide in the last week, including government agencies, think tanks, consultants and nongovernmental organizations."
"Senate Republicans unveiled a $928 billion infrastructure counteroffer to President Joe Biden." What $928 billion? Because Biden has said it needs to be at least $1 trillion.
"It’s been less than two weeks since South Carolina Republicans rejected Lin Wood’s Q-Anon-inspired run for state party chair. In Arizona, the GOP is still consumed with infighting over a farcical review of November election results… Now comes Nevada, where open warfare has broken out in recent days between state and local party officials over a pro-Trump insurgency involving far-right activists with ties to the Proud Boys."
"The former speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, sounded a pointed warning to the GOP in a speech about its future, arguing that voters will have little patience for a party built on fealty to former President Trump. He told conservatives gathered at the Reagan Library, in Simi Valley California, Thursday night that they were at a crossroads… And leaving no doubt about who he was talking about, though he did not name Mr. Trump, Ryan continued, 'They will not be impressed by the sight of yes-men and flatterers flocking to Mar-a-Lago.'" Trump as "he who shall not be named" is not a good look.
"In a filing, Joseph Bondy, an attorney for Lev Parnas, accidentally revealed statements he had made under seal by blackening lines in the court document while leaving it possible for them to be copied and pasted to another file, CNN first reported." Thank the gods for stupid criminals and their lawyers… although in this case I'm not convinced it was completely "on accident." Remember, Parnas has offered to turn state witness, and the "redacted" parts don't concern him completely, but instead give a wider view of the case against Giuliani. (Grokked from John)
"But in recent weeks, those hopes have been extinguished, and what was already a tense relationship between Capitol Police and some lawmakers has only gotten worse. Officers bristle at the efforts of some Republicans to whitewash and move past the January 6 insurrection, and many worry the moment will go down as a missed opportunity to fix the substantial shortcomings the attack revealed."
"Senate Republicans were poised on Friday to kill an attempt by Democrats to establish a bipartisan commission to investigate the 6 January attack on the Capitol in which a pro-Trump mob ransacked the building in an attempt to disrupt the formalization of Joe Biden’s winning of the presidency… The bill was intended to set up a 9/11-style commission that would examine its causes and impact and exactly who was involved."
"Those who wonder why Republicans today are resisting the creation of a new independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 invasion of the U.S. Capitol might review the tape of that moment in 2004 for a potential insight. That's because the new commission plan has been advertised as being modeled on the 9/11 Commission, and Republicans have long memories."
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