Linkee-poo wonders if I should call you, but I know what you would do

Colin Powell, and Megan Rice, and so it goes.

"And 42 is now the number of years since the publication of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, the first in the series of wacky and beloved sci-fi books by Douglas Adams."

"NASA's Lucy spacecraft launched safely into space early on Saturday morning from Florida, but after the deployment of its two large solar arrays, one of them failed to latch properly… Combined, the two solar arrays have a collecting area of 51 square meters. Such large arrays are necessary because the spacecraft will spend much of its 12-year journey about five times the distance of the Earth from the Sun. Lucy's solar panels can only generate about 3 percent of the energy at a Jovian distance than they can at Earth's orbit around the Sun."

"The mayor became a target after Imperial Beach filed a lawsuit against ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP and more than 30 other fossil-fuel companies demanding they pay the huge costs of defending the city from rising seas caused by the climate crisis." The fossil fuel industry doesn't have any other tactics except heavy handedness.

"The first new Alzheimer’s treatment in more than 20 years was hailed as a breakthrough when regulators approved it more than four months ago, but its rollout has been slowed by questions about its price and how well it works."

"A private school in Miami is requiring students who get vaccinated to quarantine at home for 30 days after each dose… 'Because of the potential impact on other students and our school community, vaccinated students will need to stay at home for 30 days post-vaccination for each dose and booster they receive and may return to school after 30 days as long as the student is healthy and symptom-free,' a letter sent to parents of students at the Centner Academy said, the local news outlet WSVN reported." You can't infect others after inoculation because none of the vaccines include the virus. If you're child attends a school that makes a policy like this, I highly recommend changing schools.

"But Republicans have grown increasingly hostile to the notion of mandatory vaccines — despite vaccine mandates existing in the background in parts of the United States since the 19th century — and have parlayed the fight against COVID-19 into a political battle, with vaccine mandates as the latest frontier in the great American defense of freedom and liberty." This is the hill you want to literally die on?

"U.S. industrial production fell 1.3% in September, much more than expected as the lingering effects of Hurricane Ida continue to stymie activity… The Federal Reserve reported Monday that nearly half, or 0.6%, of the overall decline in total industrial production was attributable to the hurricane."

"(China's) economy grew by a weaker-than-expected 4.9% over a year ago in the three months ending in September, down from the previous quarter's 7.9%, government data showed Monday. Factory output, retail sales and investment in construction and other fixed assets all weakened."

"Joe Biden's struggle to make America normal again after the pandemic is proving to be far more protracted and complicated than first thought, which has enormous political implications for the President and his party."

"Now, President Biden has to decide whether Powell should keep his own job. It's a decision that has gotten more complicated as some progressives such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., wage a fight against his reappointment while a stock trading controversy dogs the Fed."

"Take the question of what happens to unemployment when the minimum wage is increased… In the United States in the 1990s, the conventional wisdom was that any increase in the minimum wage would push unemployment higher because it would increase wage costs for businesses… However, Card showed that's not necessarily the case."

"Russia will suspend its permanent mission to NATO in response to the alliance's expulsion of eight Russians, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday… Moscow's suspension of its mission could come into effect as early as November 1, Lavrov said… Russia is also suspending the activities of the NATO military liaison mission in Moscow, Lavrov said, with staff accreditation to be withdrawn on November 1."

"China has denied a report that it tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile in August, saying on Monday that the test was instead a 'routine spacecraft experiment.'… The Financial Times reported Sunday that 'China tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile in August that circled the globe before speeding towards its target, demonstrating an advanced space capability that caught US intelligence by surprise.' The report cited unnamed sources 'briefed on the intelligence.'"

"Hollywood crew members and major studios have averted a nationwide strike that would have shut down much of film and TV production. The tentative agreement must still be ratified by the union's members."

"One person was fatally shot and seven others were wounded Sunday at Grambling State University in the second deadly shooting at the Louisiana school within four days, officials said."

"A group of American missionaries kidnapped in Haiti over the weekend are being held by one of the country's most notorious gangs, according to a Haitian police official… Sixteen U.S. nationals and one Canadian were visiting an orphanage on Saturday as part of their work for Christian Aid Ministries, according to a statement from the nonprofit issued on Sunday. Among those being held are five children, the statement added."

"Former President Bill Clinton has been released from a California hospital where he was receiving treatment for a "non-COVID-related infection." Clinton, 75, had been at the hospital since Tuesday."

"The Supreme Court sided Monday with police in two cases in which plaintiffs claimed officers used excessive force, overturning separate lower court rulings that had allowed the officers to be sued for civil rights violations… In two unsigned opinions, the court stressed police are entitled to be shielded from liability unless it is 'clear to a reasonable officer' that their actions are unlawful. In both cases the court ruled that the officers were entitled to qualified immunity, the legal doctrine that protects police from liability for civil rights violations in many circumstances." Clearly the problem here is defining a "reasonable officer."

"A Florida sheriff's department has released a heavily redacted report on its response to the disappearance of a college student who was found dead. The young woman's family says it only reinforces their belief that deputies failed to react quickly enough when she vanished… The Orange County Sheriff's Office blacked out much of its four-page report into the Sept. 24 disappearance of Miya Marcano."

Remember when they said this wouldn't happen… "A woman has been found guilty of First-Degree Manslaughter at the Comanche County Courthouse… The doctor confirmed the fetus was at the gestational age of about 17 weeks and that methamphetamine use can have an effect on the pregnancy, though he say (SIC) it may not be the direct cause of death for the fetus." (Grokked from Laura J. Mixon)

"Three White men accused of chasing down and killing Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man out for a jog, are set to stand trial for murder in Georgia this week in a case thick with issues of racism, self-defense and cellphone video… Gregory McMichael, his son Travis McMichael and their neighbor William 'Roddie' Bryan Jr. are charged with malice and felony murder and have pleaded not guilty. They also face charges of aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment… Jury selection in their state trial begins Monday."

"Gaige Grosskreutz, who was shot by Kyle Rittenhouse during racial justice protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin last year, is suing the city, the county and several law enforcement officers, claiming they condoned the efforts of white nationalists to violently dispel demonstrators protesting a police shooting."

"The U.S. Department of Defense says it will provide money to the families affected by the botched drone strike on Aug. 29 that killed 10 civilians, including up to seven children, in Kabul, Afghanistan."

"Some of the defendants charged in the storming of the U.S. Capitol are turning away defense lawyers and electing to represent themselves, undeterred by their lack of legal training or repeated warnings from judges… That choice already has led to some curious legal maneuvers and awkward exchanges in court." Besides the famous saying, this is also the tactic Sovereign Citizens and terrorists use.