Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist, appears to be angling for a Cabinet role. He has advocated dismantling core functions of federal health agencies. read more
All rail traffic in Canada and all shipments crossing the U.S. border have stopped. read more
Not enough migrants. Fewer buses from Texas have been arriving in blue cities since the start of the year because of a steep drop in the number of migrants apprehended at the border.
OpEd: As we recently noted, telecom giants like AT&T and Comcast are having some very good luck using a corrupt, MAGA-heavy court to not only kill popular net neutrality rules -- but to effectively lobotomize the FCC's ability to protect broadband consumers at all. read more
Twenty-four brain samples collected in early 2024 measured on average about 0.5% plastic by weight read more
New Technique Removes More Than 98% of Nanoplastics From Water
www.sciencealert.com
... No one yet knows what threat plastic pollution poses to human health, but the recent realization that we are drinking invisible fragments of plastic along with our water is making many understandably uneasy.
To stop microplastics and nanoplastics from penetrating deep into our bodies and brains, researchers at the University of Missouri have come up with a potentially sustainable and safe way to rid water of microscopic pollutants.
Using natural liquid ingredients that have low toxicity, the team has shown they can remove around 98 percent of nanoscopic polystyrene beads from fresh and salt water. ...
Yeah, the article seems to focus on water, and not food.
But, there it is...
@#4 ... They've forced arbitration, ...
Canada forces arbitration in freight train labor dispute to avert economic crisis
www.nbcnews.com
I am not surprised at this.
But I have another question...
... same sort of mistake Biden made. ...
How is that a mistake?
(serious question)
Back in ancient times when I was 18 years old, this was a favorite song of mine...
Hollies: He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother (1969)
www.youtube.com
Lyrics excerpt...
...
The road is long
With many a winding turn
That leads us to who knows where?
Who knows where?
But I'm strong
Strong enough to carry him
He ain't heavy, he's my brother
So on we go
His welfare is my concern
No burden is he to bear
We'll get there
For I know
He would not encumber me
He ain't heavy, he's my brother
If I'm laden at all
I'm laden with sadness
That everyone's heart
Isn't filled with the gladness
Of love for one another
It's a long, long road
From which there is no return
While we're on the way to there
Why not share?
And the load
Doesn't weigh me down at all
He ain't heavy, he's my brother
...
Yeah, that song made an impression upon me back in the day.
Average Gas Prices in the U.S. Through History
www.titlemax.com
When I visited my Parents in rural upstate New York, I'd often go out for a walk with my Dad. On that walk we'd go past an old gas station. The price on the totally mechanical pumps was $0.29 gallon. Yeah, that station had been closed for a while.
But more to the point...
Gas Prices Through History [Updated]
www.titlemax.com
@#10 ... "So your source is "Trust me, bro?"
Brilliant. ...
Yeah.
Those videos are amazing.
Mr Lindell seemed to not have a clue about the conversation he was in or the filming of the conversation.
Yeah, I'll agree 100% with the title of this thread.
OK, this all leads me to ask, why was Mr Lindell given access to the White House?
Why the MyPillow guy was at the White House, explained as best we can (2016)
www.vox.com
... The MyPillow guy has some thoughts about invoking martial law.
On Friday, Mike Lindell, the CEO of bedding company MyPillow (you've probably seen the commercials) and an avid Donald Trump backer, went to the White House to talk to the president about some conspiracy theories. He reportedly presented Trump and his team with six pages of notes with unfounded claims that China and other countries stole the election from him along with a litany of other strange theories.
Washington Post photographer Jabin Botsford captured some images of Lindell and his papers, which appeared to suggest the president was considering invoking the Insurrection Act, a law that lets the president deploy military and National Guard troops to the streets and the use of "martial law if necessary."
Lindell told the New York Times after the meeting that the notes were given to him by a lawyer he wouldn't identify. He told Times reporter Maggie Haberman that it's someone he's been working with to prove Trump really won the election and that some of the information was tied to reports Trump couldn't see otherwise because he's been banned from Twitter.
But it seems the White House wasn't picking up what Lindell was putting down: He got only a few minutes with the president and was otherwise given the runaround. He told the Daily Beast that Trump asked for him to be taken to a different room to show his findings to "the lawyers " but that after a couple of hours of waiting "the lawyers" were uninterested in his claims. He didn't even get to say goodbye to Trump. "Maybe [Trump] got busy, I don't know," he told the Daily Beast. ...
@#25
And...
When Trump comes to town, he brings excitement, leaves unpaid bills (August 2024)
dailymontanan.com
... "It's usually a pretty all-hands-on-deck situation," says Billings Police Department Public Information Officer Lt. Matt Lennick. "We work closely with the Secret Service and usually have to bring in extra staff, because at the same time we still have to monitor our calls for service and respond to calls within the city. It's pretty extensive for our department and costly because of the amount of overtime and things like that."[emphasis theirs]
That cost can quickly add up, and for many municipalities it's often impossible to predict ahead of time what that cost will be. As Billings Police Chief St. John told the Billings Gazette in 2018 in preparation for Trump's rally in Billings, "We won't have any idea of the cost (of Trump's visit) until we get the final bill."
And it's something that can't be stuck in a budget plan.
"I've never seen the situation where we knew ahead of time in a budget year that we were going to have a visit because they (candidates) don't put out their schedules that far in advance. My understanding is we normally recoup whatever cost we can on the backside," Lennick said.
Attempting to recoup those costs is what the Billings Police Department, years later, is still trying to do.
The taxpayer burden
Trump's campaign has been notorious for flaking on bills for security. According to a 2019 report from the Center for Public Integrity, Trump owed more than $840,000 to various city governments, and likely more, as Trump's campaign does not acknowledge a single one of these city governments as debt in his federal campaign financial disclosures. ...
@#23 ... Why is he even showing up anywhere? ...
He craves the adulation. That's why he always seems to be so concerned about crowd sizes.
... Just book auditoriums and project yourself on screens. ...
Oh, there's a problem with that.
Indoor facilities apparently expect to be paid for the usage of their facilities.
And fmr Pres Trump seems to have a problem with paying the bills he owes.
USA TODAY exclusive: Hundreds allege Donald Trump doesn't pay his bills (2018)
www.usatoday.com
... Donald Trump often portrays himself as a savior of the working class who will "protect your job." But a USA TODAY NETWORK analysis found he has been involved in more than 3,500 lawsuits over the past three decades " and a large number of those involve ordinary Americans, like the Friels, who say Trump or his companies have refused to pay them.
At least 60 lawsuits, along with hundreds of liens, judgments, and other government filings reviewed by the USA TODAY NETWORK, document people who have accused Trump and his businesses of failing to pay them for their work. Among them: a dishwasher in Florida. A glass company in New Jersey. A carpet company. A plumber. Painters. Forty-eight waiters. Dozens of bartenders and other hourly workers at his resorts and clubs, coast to coast. Real estate brokers who sold his properties. And, ironically, several law firms that once represented him in these suits and others.
Trump's companies have also been cited for 24 violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act since 2005 for failing to pay overtime or minimum wage, according to U.S. Department of Labor data. That includes 21 citations against the defunct Trump Plaza in Atlantic City and three against the also out-of-business Trump Mortgage LLC in Ne ...
Is Putin's Popular Support Real
istories.media
... This text is translated by DeepL, an AI based translator. ...
Should we believe the polls that show that more than 80% of Russians support Putin? Maybe people are just afraid to tell the sociologists the truth?
The debate about Putin's real popularity has always been going on, but has intensified since the war started. Putin's rating jumped " did people really support him?
Sociologists conducting polls have to constantly justify themselves. Denis Volkov, director of the Levada Center, listed and then refuted the main arguments of critics as to why Russian polls cannot be trusted: after the war began, people " especially Putin's opponents " began to refuse to participate in polls and to answer questions about the war much more often, and if they did answer, they usually did not answer what they "really" thought.
According to Volkov, in reality, the "unreachability" of respondents has changed little since the war (in 2022 it was slightly higher than in 2019-2020, but lower than in 2021), and the number of interviews interrupted on questions about Ukraine is quite low (from two to seven), as in polls on other topics, which, with a sample of more than a thousand people, is insignificant. As for the honesty of answers, the increase in support for Putin after the start of the war is combined with changes in answers to other questions " about economic behavior and sentiment, Volkov assures.
Alexei Levinson, head of the socio-cultural research department at the Levada Center, responded to another reproach -- that sociologists simply cannot show results with lower ratings: "As long as the authorities are satisfied with the high ratings they receive honestly, they will tolerate us. When it stops being so, I don't think we'll last long."
While the debate is going on, public opinion polls continue to record that Putin enjoys the broadest support of the population. For example, according to the Levada Center, this year Putin's activities were "generally approved" by 85"87% (the poll is conducted every month). ...
A glimpse into the future of the United States under a possible President Trump starting in 2025?
Wally - Your Own Way (1974)
www.youtube.com
Lyrics excerpt...
(wow, the tune seems to be so obscure that lyrics are not available...)
Oh well. Maybe just listen to it...
:)