"Amazon has closed its $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM, the companies said Thursday… The pact was first announced in May and has been winding its way through the regulatory process. Per Amazon, 'The storied, nearly century-old studio — with more than 4,000 film titles, 17,000 TV episodes, 180 Academy Awards, and 100 Emmy Awards — will complement Prime Video and Amazon Studios’ work in delivering a diverse offering of entertainment choices to customers.'" (Grokked from Bo Bolander)
"A supersharp image of a bright star — released by NASA — shows that the optics seem to be working perfectly on the James Webb Space Telescope… The $10 billion infrared telescope launched in December after decades of development and construction, and it thrilled astronomers when it successfully unfolded itself out in space."
"The American space agency has rolled out its new giant Moon rocket for the first time… The vehicle, known as the Space Launch System (SLS), was taken to Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to conduct a dummy countdown… If that goes well, the rocket will be declared ready for a mission in which it will send an uncrewed test capsule around the Moon."
"Now, it's the Orbeez Challenge… Police in Fernandina Beach, Fla., shared on Facebook that the new trend is influencing people to shoot the soft gel Orbeez balls at citizens with a gel-ball gun or an airsoft gun."
"Frequent napping or regularly napping for extended periods during the day may be a sign of early dementia in older adults, a new study revealed… Elderly adults who napped at least once a day or more than an hour a day were 40% more likely to develop Alzheimer's than those who did not nap daily or napped less than an hour a day, according to the study published Thursday in Alzheimer's and Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association." Well, fuck.
"About one in seven people 60 and older have a brain condition that may be an early sign of Alzheimer's disease… The condition, called mild cognitive impairment, occupies a gray zone between normal aging of the brain and dementia. And most people know almost nothing about it." Well, double fuck.
"Independent testing has found hundreds of popular personal care items in the US to be contaminated with benzene, a highly carcinogenic chemical, prompting several big brands to voluntarily recall dozens of products in recent months… The lab, Valisure, last year detected benzene in hand sanitizers, sunscreens, deodorant, dry shampoos, conditioners, antiperspirants, deodorants, body sprays and anti-fungal treatments. The contamination has been most frequently detected in aerosol or spray products, some at levels the Food and Drug Administration characterized as 'life-threatening'." Oopsie.
"New research is predicting that future allergy seasons will be longer and more intense thanks to climate change… Spring officially begins on Sunday, and while the trees remain bare, some have been releasing pollen well ahead of schedule - and as a result, the allergy season is starting early."
"The billions of dollars invested in covid vaccines and covid-19 research so far are expected to yield medical and scientific dividends for decades, helping doctors battle influenza, cancer, cystic fibrosis, and far more diseases… Building on the success of mRNA vaccines for covid, scientists hope to create mRNA-based vaccines against a host of pathogens, including influenza, Zika, rabies, HIV, and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, which hospitalizes 3 million children under age 5 each year worldwide."
"Over the next few weeks, the U.S. should expect an increase in cases from the BA.2 variant, Dr. Anthony Fauci told ABC News, but it may not lead to as severe a surge in hospitalizations or deaths."
"Cases and deaths from Covid-19 have fallen in the US, but warning signs and rises in other countries are prompting experts to take future and existing variants of the virus seriously – and they are warning that America has not yet reached the endemic phase… It’s important to prepare now for the next surge or variant, whether that’s BA.2 or a different one, experts say."
"I've been reporting on COVID-19 since the coronavirus pandemic started, and I thought I knew what an infection would be like for a young, otherwise healthy person like me. I knew there was a risk for long COVID-19, even with mild cases, but in my mind, there were two types of COVID-19: run-of-the-mill cases that didn't last much longer than their isolation periods required, and long COVID-19, which was relatively rare… Instead, like so many Americans, I found myself caught somewhere in between." The problem of averages and generalizing in medicine to have "hard" answers instead of "things are squishy." So many patients labeled "covid recovered" who still have symptoms whom we're supposed to pretend are not infectious when we don't know. Also, in general, for flu and COVID when you feel like crap, that's not the actual virus causing that, it's your body's immune responses to the damage the virus caused and trying to clear it. Also, there is the fact this disease can permanently affect your health. It can scar your lungs, it can cause ischemic changes in your brain, and (while it hasn't been fully shown) can change change how your body functions (reduced kidney clearances, liver function, heart function, long term coagulation issues). As I said way back at the beginning of this, COVID19 is a disease that will change us if it's allowed to spread uncontrolled.
"St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said Friday he thinks the central bank should raise interest rates the equivalent of 12 times this year to convince the public it is serious about fighting inflation… As the lone dissenter at this week’s Federal Reserve meeting, Bullard said in a statement that he would like to see the central bank’s benchmark interest rate boosted above 3% from the near-0% level where it had stood."
"Hundreds of faculty members at Howard University in Washington, D.C., say they are threatening to go on strike next week over complaints of unfair working conditions… During a demonstration held on campus Wednesday, several university faculty members, students and alumni leaders rallied in support of the school's faculty as they argue what is low pay for non-tenured, full-time teaching faculty and adjunct professors."
"Sales of previously owned homes fell 7.2% month to month in February to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 6.02 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors… That significantly missed analysts’ expectations of 6.13 million units. Sales were 2.4% lower compared with the same month a year ago. Rising mortgage rates likely played a role in the underwhelming numbers."
"Home prices rose 15% to a median price of $357,300 in February from a year ago as inventory stayed near record lows, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors."
"P&O Ferries staff are staging protests after the firm sacked 800 employees without giving them any notice… The RMT and Nautilus unions are calling for action across the ports of Dover, Liverpool, Hull and Larne… Nearly a quarter of P&O Ferries' staff were told via a video message on Thursday that it was their 'final day of employment… P&O Ferries is one of the UK's leading ferry companies, carrying more than 10 million passengers a year before the pandemic and about 15% of all freight cargo in and out of the UK."
"A 13-year-old was driving a pickup truck that crashed into a van carrying members of a New Mexico university's golf teams, killing nine people in West Texas on Tuesday night, officials said Thursday… An early investigation revealed that the truck had a spare wheel in place of its left front tire, according to National Transportation Safety Board Vice Chairman Bruce Landsberg. That spare tire seemed to have failed, causing the truck to swerve in front of the van."
"The United States has agreed to pay the families impacted by the 2018 Parkland mass school shooting millions of dollars, years after attorneys first filed claims against the government alleging an FBI agent's negligence prior to the shooting… In their lawsuit, the families accused the FBI of negligence. They say the bureau received tips about Cruz, including his amassing of weapons and his desire to shoot up a school, but agents failed to intervene and prevent the violence."
"Former President Juan Orlando Hernández should be extradited to the United States to face drug trafficking and weapons charges, a Honduran judge ruled Wednesday… The country's Supreme Court of Justice said late Wednesday via Twitter that the judge had decided to grant the U.S. extradition request."
"Ukrainian forces have freed Melitopol mayor Ivan Fyodorov from Russian captivity, authorities said."
"A fake and heavily manipulated video depicting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy circulated on social media and was placed on a Ukrainian news website by hackers Wednesday before it was debunked and removed… The video, which shows a rendering of the Ukrainian president appearing to tell his soldiers to lay down their arms and surrender the fight against Russia, is a so-called deepfake that ran about a minute long." Welcome to the new machine.
"Facing stiff resistance in Ukraine and crippling economic sanctions at home, Russian President Vladimir Putin is using language that recalls the rhetoric from Josef Stalin’s show trials of the 1930s… Putin's ominous speech on Wednesday likened opponents to 'gnats' who try to weaken the country at the behest of the West — crude remarks that set the stage for sweeping repressions against those who dare to speak out against the war in Ukraine."
"Something not really usual was spotted in the last few hours on flight tracking websites, with more than a dozen of flights of the Russian Air Force and the Rossiya Special Flight Detachment tracking while leaving Moscow and the nearby airports in various directions, mainly towards the East. Such surge of flights in a short time, as expected in this time of international crisis following the ongoing invasion, is rounding up many theories about what is really happening in Russia."
"But there are people arguing that American businesses like Koch Industries should continue to do business in Russia, even as it targets civilians in Ukraine. An investigation by Popular Information has uncovered a network of pundits and groups publicly arguing against the imposition of economic sanctions on Russia. What often goes unmentioned is that many of these individuals and organizations receive funding from Charles Koch." Hey libertarians, how do you like him now? (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"But Republicans, only one of whom supported Trump’s first impeachment, are brushing off any suggestion that their frustration with Biden’s pace of Ukraine aid is at odds with their earlier defense of Trump’s posture toward Kyiv. They’re also blaming Democrats for harming Ukraine, now at war with Russia, by launching the impeachment inquiry in the first place."
"The Kremlin on Friday called comments by U.S. President Joe Biden about his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin 'personal insults' and said Biden's remarks appeared to have been fuelled by irritation, fatigue and forgetfulness." You stay safe, my Russian friends.
"The federal government on Tuesday released a study on the growing terrorism threat from men who call themselves 'anti-feminists' or 'involuntary celibates' and draw motivation for violence from their inability to develop relationships with women. Since 2014, attacks inspired by the 'incel movement' and spanning the U.S. and Canada have left dozens dead."
"Weeks after the 2020 election, at least one Trump White House aide was named as secretly producing a report that alleged Donald Trump lost to Joe Biden because of Dominion Voting Systems – research that formed the basis of the former president’s wider efforts to overturn the election… The Dominion report, subtitled 'OVERVIEW 12/2/20 – History, Executives, Vote Manipulation Ability and Design, Foreign Ties', was initially prepared so that it could be sent to legislatures in states where the Trump White House was trying to have Biden’s win reversed… But top Trump officials would also use the research that stemmed from the White House aide-produced report to weigh other options to return Trump to the presidency, including having the former president sign off on executive orders to authorize sweeping emergency powers." (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)
"While it may have gotten her some attention to curry favor with the Trump-supporting base — the former president's Save America political action committee even pushed it out — it raises an old question: Can candidates simply lie in their paid ads?… The short answer is yes… 'Unfortunately, you're allowed to lie,' said Tom Wheeler, former chair of the Federal Communications Commission under President Barack Obama."
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