For decades, oil traders, executives and analysts warned that closing the Strait of Hormuz would be a global economic catastrophe. It's now been more than three months since the waterway was effectively blocked, creating the worst supply shock in modern history. But a slew of workarounds is keeping crude oil below $100 a barrel, defying many of the industry's grimmest forecasts for prices as high as $200.
Since election night in California, a single theory of election fraud has taken root like no other among online conspiracy theorists, bot accounts, conservative influencers and people close to President Trump. It proved to be a simple misreading of the voting data.
AT&T and Verizon lost an attempt to overturn fines for selling users' real-time location data without consent ... read more
Container shipping rates jumped over the past week amid higher fuel costs, congestion at some Asian ports and a pickup in demand heading into a peak season for booking ocean freight.
Measles cases in the United States have surpassed 2,000 for the second year in a row, according to data updated Friday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). read more
Another view ...
How a misreading of data fueled false claims about L.A. mayoral vote count
www.latimes.com
... Since election night in California, a single theory of election fraud has taken root like no other among online conspiracy theorists, bot accounts, conservative influencers and people close to President Trump. It proved to be a simple misreading of the voting data.
Late on election night, an update of vote counts in the Los Angeles mayor's race appeared on election results pages of various media outlets including the Los Angeles Times. It showed leading Democrats Mayor Karen Bass and Councilmember Nithya Raman receiving tens of thousands of new votes, and leading Republican former reality TV star Spencer Pratt receiving no new votes.
Some observers of the vote tally immediately took screenshots, with some shouting fraud. Others ran statistical analyses that showed it would be impossible for a candidate such as Pratt -- running second in the race--" to receive zero votes in such a large batch of ballots.
In fact, the update that showed zero Pratt votes was followed one minute later by another update that showed tens of thousands of votes for Pratt, and none for Bass or Raman.
There was no batch of votes that included zero votes for any candidate, as Los Angeles County's own data show plainly. ...
Preservation Hall Jazz Band - Tiger Rag (1977)
www.youtube.com
So much energy and happiness in that rendition of the tune ...
@#3 ... That being said, stockpiles cannot keep dropping forever. The US is basically selling the SPR to Europe. ...
Agreed.
Even as Pres Trump seems to be doing his usual ~performative~ actions ...
For example ...
Trump administration in 'active dialogue' on strategic petroleum reserve in California
www.politico.com
The current strategic petroleum reserve is nowhere near full. And Pres Trump has been draining it.
So, is this new California thing more for immediate political gain for Pres Trump, or a longer strategic gain for the US?
OK, apologies for asking a question about Pres Trump and strategy. I should have known better tahn to ask such a question....
@#75 ... Thanks to the voters of NYC.
The DNC ran Cuomo to sink Mamdani. ...
Yeah.
NYC, NY is the largest community of Jews outside of Israel. By a long shot.
Jewish population by city
en.wikipedia.org
...
Tel Aviv 3,891,000
New York City 2,109,300
Jerusalem 992,800
Haifa 710,600
...
So the DNC tried to appeal to that community, and failed.
Mayor Mamdani, in talking with voters, instead of talking at voters, gained an advantage.
Toledo festival shooting: Multiple people injured, suspects sought
www.fox2detroit.com
... What we know:
Toledo police officers responded to a report of a person shot near the Old West End Festival at about 5:30 p.m. When they arrived, they found multiple shooting victims, the police department said in a statement.
Deputy Chief Joseph Heffernan said twelve people were shot, two critically.
Many victims have been taken to nearby hospitals, police said. Police did not provide further details on the injuries and how many people were shot. ...
Why Data Centers Are Loud, and How to Quiet Them Down (2023)
www.datacenterknowledge.com
... Data centers are frequently accused of contributing to environmental pollution because they rely in many cases on "dirty" energy sources.
But it's not just the use of fossil fuels that can make data centers polluters. Data centers can cause noise pollution, too.
If you want to minimize data center pollution in all respects, then, you should invest in data center noise mitigation strategies that will make your data center a better neighbor to anyone within earshot. This article explains how to go about reducing data center noise, as well as why it's important.
What makes data centers loud?
The reason why data centers have a tendency to be loud is simple: The equipment inside them makes a lot of noise when it operates. ...
OK, this is a noteworthy tune.
Why?
Well, it was released in 1985, just after Sony/Philips released their new CD format for albums with a significant dynamic range.
... Flim & the BB's was a contemporary jazz band that was among the first bands to record albums digitally. ...
The online videos do not seem to capture the dynamic range of the original CD I have.
But, for your edification ...
Flim & the BB's - Funhouse (1985)
www.youtube.com
Related reason?
Airports and airlines want travelers to ditch their plastic water bottles (2019)
www.cnbc.com
... Business and leisure travelers concerned about climate change and "flight shame" may do their part by purchasing carbon offsets and adjusting the number of trips they take on airplanes....
Airports and airlines are trying to save the planet, too, with a wide range of sustainable initiatives that include cutting down on single-use plastics and making reusable water bottles essential travel amenities.
In 2019, San Francisco International Airport launched an ambitious Zero Waste Concessions Program designed to significantly reduce the amount of single-use disposable plastic used at the airport.
Noting that in 2018 nearly 4 million slow-to-biodegrade plastic water bottles were sold at the airport, in August 2019 it became the first airport in the nation to ban the sale of single-use plastic water bottles.
The San Francisco airport now actively encourages each passenger to bring their own reusable water bottle with them to the airport and get free water from one of the hydration stations in the terminals. ...
@#2 ... data show plainly ...
'Tis seems to be better in the MAGA world to leap towards conclusions with little evidence, and drown social media with those ~conclusions~ with little or no evidence or even incorrectly stated evidence.