7nbsp

@#8 ... hundreds of thousands of dollars ...

I heard reporting that the rental of the island goes for $100,000 a day, and it was rented for two days.

The reporting also indicated that the fireworks show cost $70,000.

@#6 ... "El Nino"...

Yup.

All the local meteorologists on the morning and evening news shows have been talking about and explaining how the "Super El Nino" has been creating such a strong wind shear in the Atlantic that hurricane formation has been stifled so far.

Indeed, we just broke a record for the quietest hurricane season in the Atlantic.

And the relationship between El Nino and Atlantic hurricanes ...

More from the article ...

... On Tuesday, two survivors of child sex abuse accused the Justice Department of failing to notify dozens of victims found in Jeffrey Epstein's massive collection of child sex images.

In a proposed class action, survivors explained that Epstein apparently started collecting child sex images in the 1990s, many of which the DOJ recovered after his arrest. In 2025, the FBI started reviewing "tens of thousands of videos" containing illegal child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and issued a memo confirming that "a large volume of images" seized depicted likely minors.

Some of these victims may have had contact with Epstein, as the disgraced financier kept a "modelbook" of nude photos of young girls roped into his ring. However, the FBI also identified hundreds of CSAM images in cache, which include approximately 15"20 images of known CSAM dating back to the 1990s. And so far, the DOJ has largely ignored those victims, who likely never met Epstein and have no way of knowing if he possessed, transported, or traded their images, survivors alleged.

"Few if any CSAM survivors have been notified that Epstein had their unlawful sexualized images," survivors alleged. ...

... Many Hurricanes in a season, yall scream it's due to climate change. Then there's no hurricanes and I guess that's also due to climate change, right? ...

Likely.

Back in May, there was this ...

Related ...

... FBI director Kash Patel defended his agency's decision to roll back restrictions on agent applicants who have previously engaged in bestiality, ...

I saw this part of his testimony.

Allow me to fix what I quoted ...

FBI director Kash Patel tried to defend his agency's decision to roll back restrictions on agent applicants who have previously engaged in bestiality,

Related ...

@#4 ... "a terrible legacy for this administration, myself and every other GOP member who has enabled the Trump agenda" ...

Pres Trump's nomination, and the subsequent Republican Senate confirmation, of Sec RFK Jr has turned the Dept of Health and Human Services into the Dept of Health and Human Sacrifices.

@#13

Oops, forgot the link ...

@#8 ... The other 99.02% seemed to have figured it out. ...

Not really.

Entry-level workers have the problem with Amazon not paying them a living wage, while Amazon profits are increasing ...

... Amazon annual/quarterly gross profit history and growth rate from 2012 to 2026. Gross profit can be defined as the profit a company makes after deducting the variable costs directly associated with making and selling its products or providing its services.

Amazon gross profit for the quarter ending June 30, 2026 was $104.828B, a 20.64% increase year-over-year.

Amazon gross profit for the twelve months ending June 30, 2026 was $393.810B, a 18.48% increase year-over-year.

Amazon annual gross profit for 2025 was $360.51B, a 15.67% increase from 2024.

Amazon annual gross profit for 2024 was $311.671B, a 15.41% increase from 2023.

Amazon annual gross profit for 2023 was $270.046B, a 19.94% increase from 2022.

...

Are Amazon's wages for its employees increasing at even 1/3 the rate of the profit increase?

@#28

The sad part about it is that he would likely start the razing before he gets any manner of OK, or before the Courts can stop him.

Just as he did with the East Wing of the White House.

Just as seems to be his long-time modus operandi in such matters ... "demolished-first-ask-questions-later."

@#7 ... Why would a US carrier be transporting tanks? ...

Yeah, this seems to be just a reposting of a made-up meme posted back in the spring (see the link in #4).

... blamed the Trump administration's vaccine-skeptical approach for recent measles deaths in Pennsylvania ...

Well, just look at who Pres trump nominated for Sec of HHS.

... Tucker Carlson: Trump Ordered Epstein Files Cover Up' ...

Really?

That sounds so unlike something Pres trump would do.

/s

... The matter is now in the hands of the Justice Department ...

Will an investigation ensue?

More from the article ...

... When law enforcement and tech salespeople pitch ALPRs to city councils, they stick to a familiar script. They trumpet the technology, which is often provided by private companies like Flock Safety, Motorola Solutions, or Axon, as an essential tool for solving high-stakes crimes, such as car jacking, kidnapping, or murder.

But when you strip away the carefully curated talking points, the data continues to reveal a different (and frankly, ridiculous) story. An EFF analysis of ALPR search logs from Flock Safety systems shows that officers across the country are spying on drivers for completely nonsensical "reasons."

Police are routinely searching the Flock database without providing any legitimate justification, making a mockery of our civil liberties by logging reasons like "LOL" (short for "laugh out loud"), "LMAO" (short for "laughing my ass off"), "sexy," and "idk" (short for "I don't know") to access sensitive ALPR location data.

And in some cases, officers are just mashing keyboard buttons rather than articulating the nature of their searches.

Flock Safety claims it has improved its system by requiring officers to select from a dropdown list of crimes before running a search -- but that only makes it easier for officers to hide improper searches behind the veneer of uniformity.

The system does not require proof that the dropdown reason actually matches the true purpose of the search.

With no warrant requirements, limited guardrails, and deficient audit processes, ALPR databases have fostered a culture of unrestricted access to everyone's location information. This culture of abuse has allowed police to treat a mass surveillance network like their own personal search engine, permitting the tracking of the movements of everyday citizens for low-level complaints, personal whims, and sometimes, seemingly, for the lols. ...

@#3 ... Thousands of dollars. That won't even pay for a cake. ...

Inflation was the main reason for raising the interest rates. Chmn Marsh even mentioned the possibility of another increase before the end of the year.

More from the article ...

... The survey, opens new tab, commissioned by the Rockefeller Foundation and conducted in 34 countries from July 21 to August 5, reflected a grim view of economic developments and security challenges, with nearly 70% saying the world had gotten worse over the past year.

Only 38% of those surveyed felt their national economies would improve over the next five years, with optimism down sharply in two of the largest economies. Optimism fell 26 percentage points in India to 50% and 16 points in China to 56%.

Despite widespread pessimism, 57% of those surveyed said countries should cooperate to solve global challenges such as security even if it means compromising on some national interests. That's up from 55% in last year's survey.

The poll, released ahead of next week's United Nations General Assembly in New York, comes after nearly seven months of war in the Middle East that has upended global energy markets, lowered economic growth and fueled inflation. That followed a year of turmoil sparked by sweeping tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump on imports from nearly every country. ...

Canada received the highest level of comfort for taking a leading role in world affairs at 60%, followed by Japan (58%) and Australia (55%). The European Union and Britain were closely behind, with 55% and 54%, while the United Nations stood at 52%.

By contrast, just 39% were comfortable with the United States taking a leading role and 37% with China. Russia was viewed even more negatively, with just 26% comfortable. ...

More from the article ...

... "The president doesn't know who this person is. I think other members of the family don't know who this person is ... When you say am I investigating -- Am I investigating what?" Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters Tuesday during a White House press briefing in the Rose Garden.

Donald Trump Jr. and his wife were married at Palm Beach, Florida, before departing for a wedding party on a private island in the Bahamas in late May and the oligarch -- Umar Kremlev -- footed a large portion of the bill for the events later that weekend, according to records reviewed by nonprofit investigative outlet ProPublica, as well as three people familiar with the event who spoke with the outlet.

The payments included the cost of renting a private island and a fireworks display, ProPublica reported. Payments for the expenses reportedly came from an entity affiliated with the International Boxing Association, for which Kremlev serves as president.

The IBA was suspended by the International Olympic Committee in 2019 due to financial issues and organizational problems, including concerns about corruption.

ABC News has not independently confirmed the details of the ProPublica report.

The couple has since acknowledged that Kremlev gave them an "extraordinarily generous" wedding gift. It's not clear why he paid for parts of Trump Jr.'s wedding celebration.

"The president's son has said that he's a very close friend and that he accepted a gift the weekend of his wedding," Blanche said Tuesday. "And when you say this person is a friend of Putin, I don't even know if that's true or not." ...

@#6 ... The avarage Amazon worker with benefits makes $32.00 per hour. ...

Without benefits, the hourly starting pay was just raised to $20 an hour, with average pay around $24 an hour.