EV owners could soon pay a $130 annual federal fee to help fund roads, since electric vehicle drivers don't pay federal gasoline taxes. read more
Anthropic has introduced Claude to Google Meet with a new product called Claude Meetings. The AI joins video calls, listens to discussions, and helps teams turn conversations into tasks during a meeting. read more
The Federal Aviation Administration said Friday that it was halting all departing flights "due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety." read more
Dozing off in your armchair in the middle of the afternoon is one of life's simple pleasures. But depending on how often you find yourself doing it, those daytime naps could be a warning sign of worsening cognitive health, research suggests. read more
The US Securities and Exchange Commission said on Tuesday it brought 348 enforcement actions in fiscal 2026, the fewest cases since 1991, according to a Reuters review of agency statistics. site. read more
@#6 ... Portions of national radar are also off-line now. Rogue AI agents? ...
What national radar?
Here's what I found ...
National Weather Service Radar Outage Rumors Debunked by Officials
theuschronicle.com
... The National Weather Service debunks viral rumors of a nationwide radar outage, confirming that all NWS radar systems are fully operational. ...
Yer up ...
@#1 ... His involvement in Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young made him a foundational figure in the Los Angeles folk rock scene of the 1960s and '70s. ...
imo, Buffalo Springfield was one of the original "supergroups."
Buffalo Springfield
en.wikipedia.org
... Buffalo Springfield was a Canadian-American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1966 by Canadians Neil Young, Bruce Palmer, and Dewey Martin and Americans Stephen Stills and Richie Furay. The group, widely known for the song "For What It's Worth",[1] released three albums and several singles from 1966 to 1968.
Their music combined elements of folk music and country music with influences from the British Invasion and psychedelic rock. Like the contemporary band the Byrds, they were key to the early development of folk rock.
The band took their name from a steamroller parked outside their house. ...
... and ...
Bruce Palmer
en.wikipedia.org
... Bruce Palmer (September 9, 1946 " October 1, 2004) was a Canadian musician best known as the bassist in the folk rock band Buffalo Springfield, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.[1]
Early years
Palmer was born in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, later moving with his family to Toronto, Ontario,[2] where in the early 1960s he began pursuing a musical career. He started out playing with Robbie Lane and the Disciples, then graduated to a local, otherwise all-black group fronted by Billy Clarkson.
Next came British invasion-inspired Jack London & The Sparrows (which, after Palmer left, evolved into Steppenwolf).
In early 1965, he left to join The Mynah Birds where he first met Neil Young who was playing lead guitar in the band.
The Mynah Birds, fronted by future funk legend Rick James, had a bright future and were signed to the prestigious Motown Records to do some demo recordings before it was discovered that James was actually in Toronto to avoid serving in Vietnam with the United States Navy, from which he had gone AWOL.
A planned single, "It's My Time" b/w "Go On and Cry", was withdrawn just prior to its scheduled release by Motown. Both sides of this single were included in the 2006 box set The Complete Motown Singles, Vol. 6: 1966, released in a limited edition of 6000 by Universal label Hip-O-Select, marking the first time any of the 1966 Motown recordings by the Mynah Birds had seen the light of day.
The group was forced to disband, and Young and Palmer drove Young's hearse to Los Angeles in the hope of meeting Stephen Stills, a journeyman folk musician with whom Young had played briefly in Canada two years earlier.
Within two days of arriving in Los Angeles, Young and Palmer were driving on Sunset Boulevard and Stills was coming in the opposite direction.
When Stills saw the Ontario licence plates, he turned around and pursued the hearse, pulled up beside them and realized who they were.
Shortly after, the whole crew pulled into a carpark and introduced themselves.
Thus they became the band Buffalo Springfield.[3] ...
Mullin doesn't rule out cyberattack in unprecedented nationwide passenger plane grounding
www.politico.com
... The Homeland Security secretary also said the administration was looking into a new AI air traffic control system, which was rolled out at airports this week.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Friday that he had "no reason to believe" that an unprecedented nationwide grounding of the nation's air traffic was due to a threat, but he did not rule out a cyberattack.
Earlier in the afternoon, the Federal Aviation Administration issued the nationwide ground stop, its second such order in recent years, citing communication issues.
Mullin, in an interview with reporters outside the White House, said, "There is no indication, and we have no reason to believe as of right now that this was a threat to the United States." However, when later asked if the disruption could have been a cyberattack or an AI intrusion, he said, "That's not known." ...
It's unclear how long the grounding will last. Mullin said, "It's going to take some time, and so this isn't going to just be be resolved and and turned around within the hour. This is this is going to take take some time." He added, "There should be no fear to the public at all."
Mullin was also asked about the FAA's new AI-driven air traffic tool, known as SMART, which was rolled out nationwide this week. He responded: "We're looking at that."
Plague of equipment problems
In a post on X, however, the developers of the AI system, Boston-based Air Space Intelligence, said: "The current ground stop is not based on or a result of the SMART system, any product of ASI or our integration with FAA" and air traffic control. ...
Trump Ignores National Polls, Claims His Approval Rating Among Republicans is 99% (October 29, 2026)
www.mediaite.com
... President Donald Trump completely ignored the national polls when claiming on Truth Social Thursday that his approval rating among the GOP is at 99%.
"We are drawing the BIGGEST CROWDS at Trump Rallies in the history of Midterm Elections, by a factor of five times. There has never been anything like it!" Trump wrote.
"My Approval Rating in the Republican Party is now at 99%. Thank you, such an honor!!! Big Rally in South Carolina for the wonderful Darline Graham, today. She is fantastic. Lindsey [Graham] is watching, and very proud of her!!! President DJT"
Trump repeated the 99% figure during a gaggle on his way to South Carolina to campaign for Darline Graham (R-SC), who took her brother's Senate seat after his shocking death in July.
Trump may have been citing CNN statistics guru Harry Enten, who reported that 99% of MAGA Republicans voted for him in 2024.
"To support his claim that he remains popular, Trump pointed to an analysis by CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten showing the president's support among MAGA Republicans remains near 100 percent," The Independent reported. "Enten reported that Trump received 99 percent of the MAGA Republican vote in the 2024 election and had a 98 percent approval rating among MAGA Republicans in September."
The percentage of Republicans who identify as MAGA has been slipping in some surveys. A UMass poll found it fell from 77% to 68% in August. ...
Trump's Approval Rating Keeps Falling After Midterm Losses
www.newsweek.com
... President Donald Trump's approval rating has fallen to an all-time low in The Economist/YouGov polling following Republican midterm losses, confirming a broader downward slide across major surveys.
The drop highlights deepening public frustration over inflation and the conflict with Iran as voters digest the November election results.
Trump faces weakened political capital heading into the final two years of his term against an incoming Democratic-controlled Congress. ...
@#8
Maybe because of ...
Global oil market to return to surplus in Q4 2026, larger supply build expected in 2027: IEA
economictimes.indiatimes.com
... The global oil market is expected to return to a surplus in the fourth quarter of 2026, with a larger surplus anticipated in 2027 as production recovers faster than demand, according to the International Energy Agency's (IEA) November Oil Market Report.
The report highlighted that global oil supplies have surpassed demand for the first time since the outbreak of the war in Iran, signalling a gradual rebalancing of international oil markets.
"Our November supply and demand balances suggest that the global oil market will return to a surplus in 4Q26, with a more substantial build in 2027," the IEA stated.
According to the report, global oil demand is projected to decline by 2.7 million barrels per day (mb/d) in 2026 to 102.3 mb/d before rebounding by 2 mb/d in 2027. ...
An update ...
Live updates: FAA grounds all departing flights due to air traffic control communications outage
www.reuters.com
...
The US Federal Aviation Administration issued a nationwide ground stop for all departing flights on Friday, citing 'extraordinary circumstance and reasons for safety.
- - - Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said all flights were accounted for and there was no reason for the public to be afraid
- - - Mullin added there was no indication the disruption was a deliberate attack, describing it as a telecommunications outage
- - - Flights already in the air may land, but aircraft on the ground cannot take off and international flights will be handled on a case-by-case basis
- - - The order followed an earlier halt to traffic in Chicago because of communications problems
- - - Friday's action marked the second nationwide ground stop of all departures since the September 11, 2001, attacks
...
Aviation analytics firm Cirium said that after 4 p.m. ET, about 11,000 flights carrying more than 1.5 million passengers were still scheduled to depart from US airports on Friday.
As of 5:50 p.m. ET, the firm reported:
- - - 600 flights had been diverted on Friday
- - - 496 of the 600 flights (82.7%) returned to their origin airport, while the remaining 104 diverted to a different airport
- - - The airports that received the most diverted flights overall were Chicago O'Hare (ORD), with 28; Denver (DEN), with 26; Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), with 19; and Washington National (DCA), Charlotte (CLT) and Los Angeles (LAX), with 16 each
- - - Among flights that diverted to an airport other than their origin, Cincinnati (CVG) received the most, with six, followed by San Jose (SJC), with five
...
More info ...
FAA orders nationwide ground stop, citing 'extraordinary circumstances'
www.scrippsnews.com
... The Federal Aviation Administration issued a nationwide ground stop on all air traffic at U.S. airports Friday due to "extraordinary circumstances."
The stop was placed "DUE TO EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES AND FOR REASONS OF SAFETY." The stop requires that all air traffic set to depart U.S. airports remain grounded. Any flights already airborne would be allowed to proceed to their destinations.
Officials said the stop would remain in place until further notice.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Friday afternoon the FAA "issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers. FAA technicians are investigating the issue."
The @FAAnews issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers. FAA technicians are investigating the issue. We will provide immediate updates as we have them.
" Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) November 13, 2026
The FAA said incoming flights from international origins would be handled on a "case by case basis." ...
@#2 ... Didn't ------- say the war was going to end on election day and gas prices would drop like a rock? ...
Now Pres Trump seems to be saying that the status quo is OK, and he is moving on to other things...
Trump says "we don't need a deal with Iran," tells Vance to focus on alleged Democratic corruption
www.cbsnews.com
... President Trump told Vice President JD Vance on Thursday to shift his focus away from the Iran war and instead devote himself to fighting what the president claims is corruption and crime in Democratic-controlled cities and states.
Vance, who served as the lead negotiator for a short-lived truce in the eight-month war, has been blunt in blaming the conflict -- and the economic reverberations it has caused -- for Republicans' sweeping losses in last week's midterm elections in the United States.
But Mr. Trump brusquely told Vance, in a social media post, to shift his energies away from the Iran war to what he argues is a more pressing -- and perhaps more politically salient -- issue after Republicans were trounced at the polls.
"We don't need a deal with Iran," Mr. Trump said in the post. "Those days have long since passed. We've got their money, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we've got their Strait!"
Mr. Trump earlier this week said he believed the war "militarily is effectively over," and appeared to double down on that message by pointedly directing Vance "to focus his complete and total attention" on his anti-fraud campaign. ...
FAA lifts hours-long ground stop that stemmed from communications problems
www.scrippsnews.com