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Iran ammonium-nitrate stash in London and around the world ignored for 2015 Iran deal
Today's Headlines
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Page 6: Politix
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-Short Attention Span Theater-
Uniformed Minnesota officer mows woman's lawn after checking on her welfare
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/10/2019 04:42 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I liked this part, made me chuckle: The Facebook post accompanying the photo began with the author writing, “I cannot say how proud stuff like this makes us.”

It concluded by saying, “But not sure why Officer McCoy, who took the picture, couldn’t grab the trimmer.”

Still, kudos to the officers for doing this!
Posted by: Seeking Cure For Ignorance || 06/10/2019 12:29 Comments || Top||

#2  Definitely not a Somali
Posted by: KBK || 06/10/2019 20:02 Comments || Top||


Motorcyclist killed by lightning strike to the head...in Florida
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/10/2019 04:34 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Two guys died in a motorcycle accident pretending that the Tip O'Neill Tunnel was part of a superbike course. My cop roommate saw the pictures and they were ugly.
Posted by: Raj || 06/10/2019 10:07 Comments || Top||

#2  Ride hard, die fast.
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/10/2019 10:49 Comments || Top||

#3  Climate change.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 06/10/2019 11:07 Comments || Top||

#4  Being Florida, surprised the motorcyclist didn't win.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 06/10/2019 12:03 Comments || Top||

#5  And he had a helmet on, too!
Posted by: Bobby || 06/10/2019 14:47 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Bulletproof backpack vests, gun lunch boxes and Make America Safe Again T-shirts: Inside the powerful 'Back to School Shopping' installation in New York that sheds light on mass shootings
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/10/2019 16:42 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Fear

More people die in 'ooops' in hospitals than are killed by guns every year.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/10/2019 21:30 Comments || Top||


Mysterious large mass discovered on Moon bewilders scientists: 'Whatever it is, wherever it came from'
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/10/2019 15:35 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Posted by: DarthVader || 06/10/2019 17:49 Comments || Top||

#2  Stacy Abrahms visited the moon?
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 06/10/2019 17:54 Comments || Top||

#3  Eighteen months ago the first evidence of intelligent life off the Earth was discovered. It was buried 40 feet below the lunar surface near the crater Tycho. Except for a single very powerful radio emission aimed at Jupiter the four-million year old black monolith has remained completely inert. It's origin and purpose are still a total mystery...
Posted by: Thrise Shomble3667 || 06/10/2019 18:09 Comments || Top||

#4  I'm pretty sure we seen dis movie!
Posted by: SteveS || 06/10/2019 18:28 Comments || Top||

#5  Somewhere, the ghosts of Clarke and Kubrik are smiling...
Posted by: Elmomomble Crusosing2364 || 06/10/2019 19:44 Comments || Top||

#6  Lunar climate change.
Posted by: jpal || 06/10/2019 19:59 Comments || Top||

#7  Iron Sky
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/10/2019 22:00 Comments || Top||

#8  Dahak's vehicle bay.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 06/10/2019 23:05 Comments || Top||


Great Lakes Reveal a Fatal Flaw in Climate Change ‘Science'
[Issues&Insights] Lake Erie and Lake Superior ‐ two of the five that make up the Great Lakes ‐ broke records for water levels this May. Lakes Michigan and Huron could follow suit.

Naturally, climate change is getting the blame. "We are undoubtedly observing the effects of a warming climate in the Great Lakes," says Richard Rood, a University of Michigan climate scientist.

But just a few years ago, climate scientists were insisting that a warming climate would cause water levels to decline.

In 2008, Science Daily reported on a study that attributed the decline in Great Lakes water levels to global warming. The researchers who conducted the study said that the drop "raised concern because the declines are consistent with many climate change predictions."

In 2009, Columbia University’s Earth Institute informed us that "most climate models suggest that we may see declines in lake levels over the next 100 years; one suggests that we may see declines of up to 8.2 feet."

In 2011, the Union of Concern Scientists said that "scientists expect water levels in the Great Lakes to drop in both summer and winter, with the greatest declines occurring in Lakes Huron and Michigan."

In 2013, the Natural Resources Defense Council said that "it’s no secret that, partially due to climate change, the water levels in the Great Lakes are getting very low."

That same year, Think Progress reported that "Several different climate models for the Great Lakes region all predict that lake levels will decline over the next century."

Since the Great Lakes account for 21% of the world’s surface fresh water, these stories were all wrapped in doom-and-gloom scenarios about the impact on drinking water, shipping, recreation, and so on.

The very next year, however, water levels started rising.
So what are scientists saying now? Simple. They’re now claiming that the fall and rise of Great Lakes’ water levels are due to climate change.

"Climate change is driving rapid shifts between high and low water levels on the Great Lakes," is the new "consensus."

So what are scientists saying now? Simple. They’re now claiming that the fall and rise of Great Lakes’ water levels are due to climate change.
Climate change science? Pah and snort.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/10/2019 09:28 || Comments || Link || [13 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Proof that "Climate Change" is little more than a religion to these people.

Deux Climate Vult
Posted by: DarthVader || 06/10/2019 9:40 Comments || Top||

#2  Water levels too low? Climate change! Water levels too high? Climate change!
Posted by: Raj || 06/10/2019 10:02 Comments || Top||

#3  Those so called "climate change scientists" have a very poor understanding of the CO2 cycle.
Posted by: Seeking Cure For Ignorance || 06/10/2019 12:33 Comments || Top||

#4  Real science is useful because it is a tool to make accurate predictions about the future. However the climate change tools have claimed their pet notion leads to all outcomes. It is as useless as they are.
Posted by: The peanut gallery || 06/10/2019 14:49 Comments || Top||

#5  Back when I was a kid they had a movies called, "The rise and fall of the great lakes". They showed it in schools. It did not talk to global warming, or what ever, it just followed the evolution of the lakes. Good movie and the lakes have changed in depth of over 100 feet, let alone when it was a glacier. But I'm sure the glacier is man induce from something we did wrong...
Posted by: 49 Pan || 06/10/2019 14:59 Comments || Top||

#6  But I'm sure the glacier is Old White man induced from something we did wrong...
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/10/2019 15:41 Comments || Top||

#7  Regression to the mean is mean
And just a tad confusing,
So soon I'll be a raving loon,
Hysterical and boozing.
Posted by: Glitle Slurong9613 || 06/10/2019 18:38 Comments || Top||

#8  If the lake waters drop rise then we should raise taxes, regulate energy companies out of business, open the borders, stop having children....
Posted by: Airandee || 06/10/2019 19:59 Comments || Top||

#9  "Climate change, what can't it do?"
Posted by: KBK || 06/10/2019 20:03 Comments || Top||

#10  It's SO powerful, it snows anywhere AlGore goes....for some reason. It's as if someone is trying to tell him something.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 06/10/2019 20:05 Comments || Top||

#11  ...when he passes, things will become interesting in Hell.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/10/2019 21:32 Comments || Top||


German circus goes cruelty-free and replaces animals with holograms
[NYPOST] Ah, the circus. It’s a time-honored tradition, but the practice of training animals to do silly things for the amusement of youngsters is definitely old-fashioned and there are many reasons why it’s not a popular as it once was.
Most notably a rise in ticket prices well beyond affordability, and an all-out assault by PETA.
The treatment of circus animals is one of the biggest criticisms of modern circus companies and many people don’t feel that animals should be forced to perform for our entertainment.
I took my wife and daughter to see the Moscow Circus, many years ago, in a saner age. It was a cultural exchange group made up of regional circuses in the Soviet Union, and it played the Kennedy Center. They had one guy who had trained cats (as in house cats) to do handstands. But, really, the kitties shouldn't have been forced to perform for our entertainment. What the hell is a four-year-old girl's smile worth, anyway?
Germany’s Circus Roncalli has heard those criticisms and taken them to heart. You can still go to a Roncalli performance and see animals like elephants and horses, only now the animals won’t actually be real, they’ll be high-definition holograms.
My attendance will be pretend, too.
The company phased out using live animals in its shows back in 2017, but the addition of holograms is a relatively new development.
Stupid, but new.
Roncalli partnered with a company called Bluebox to install a holographic display system built by Optoma. A total of 11 Optoma devices make up the system and the results are truly something to behold.
But I won't behold them, and my daughter's daughter will never see a house cat do a hand stand.

Posted by: Fred || 06/10/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The circus animals were all rescued by PETA and strangulated.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 06/10/2019 8:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Audience-free in 4,3,2,1
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 06/10/2019 11:03 Comments || Top||

#3  If they're holograms why not just in your living room?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/10/2019 21:34 Comments || Top||


YouTube blocked teachers who were uploading Hitler archival footage
[NYPOST] YouTube’s crackdown on white supremacy and hate speech has ensnared history teachers who are trying to upload archival footage of Nazi dictator Adolph Hitler.

The Google-owned platform announced a series of policy changes that will likely see hundreds of thousands of videos removed from the platform, including those that glorify the Nazis, but several historians reported that their educational videos were also swept up in the ban.

Scott Allsop, who owns the MrAllsopHistory revision website and teaches at an international school in Romania, saw his YouTube channel featuring hundreds of clips on a wide range of historical topics taken down for running afoul of the hate speech rules.

"It’s absolutely vital that YouTube work to undo the damage caused by their indiscriminate implementation as soon as possible," Allsop told The Guardian. "Access to important material is being denied wholesale as many other channels are left branded as promoting hate when they do nothing of the sort."

Allsop received a note from Google, which is led by Sundar Pichai, saying his channel was removed for sharing "content that promotes hatred or violence against members of a protected group."

Posted by: Fred || 06/10/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Patriot bees, who would have thought it.
[Breitbart] A Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agent rescued a Guatemalan woman and her child after a swarm of bees attacked them. The agent transported the mother and child to a local hospital where doctors admitted them to the intensive care unit.

An agent patrolling the border near Brownsville, Texas, encountered a swarm of bees that entered his vehicle. The agent quickly drove away and cleared his vehicle He then returned to the scene to attempt to locate the source of the bees, according to information obtained from Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol officials.

When the agent returned he observed a jacket and a bundle covered by thousands of bees. Further investigation revealed the bundle was a person curled up in a fetal position, the agent reported. The agent yelled at the person to stand up and run to his vehicle.

The agent reported that when the person stood up he observed a small child who had been covered by a woman. The woman ran to the Border Patrol vehicle and jumped inside. The agent then evaluated the pair and called for an ambulance to transport them to a local hospital.

The woman claimed the child to be her eight-year-old son, officials stated. While waiting for an ambulance, the boy began to vomit. The agent decided he could not wait for the ambulance and drove the mother and child to the hospital.

The staff of the hospital admitted the pair to the intensive care unit for treatment and observation. Both are expected to survive the ordeal, officials reported.

Once released from the hospital, Border Patrol agents will transport them to the station for processing under Rio Grande Valley Sector guidelines.

A bee colony provides a stinging rebuke to any interloper that nears their hive.
They do not provide a pathway to their honey!
Much can be learned here.

Full disclosure, we have several gentle Carniolan hives on the back deck. And trespassers are rare.
Posted by: Woodrow || 06/10/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Cool, but I was kinda hoping for video of some Golfos (or whoever) going nuts a la Aliens.
Posted by: Blackbeard Phavins9751 || 06/10/2019 3:45 Comments || Top||

#2  Bees, eh? I bet the DARPA Autonomous Micro Vehicle group is having a good laugh.
Posted by: SteveS || 06/10/2019 9:29 Comments || Top||


PG&E Cuts Off Power to Parts of California
[HotAir] There have been a series of blackouts in northern California recently, but these don’t have anything to do with storms or equipment failure. Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) has been intentionally, proactively shutting off the juice in areas where red flag warnings for potential wildfires have been posted. This has led to numerous complaints (mostly justified or at least understandable) from people losing service, particularly those who rely on electricity for home medical equipment. But the actions by PG&E are equally understandable. (ABC News]
Don't sue us again!
Pacific Gas & Electric cut power Saturday to about 1,600 customers in Northern California to reduce risk of wildfires amid windy, dry and warming weather conditions that raised the year’s first red flag warnings.

The utility said it began cutting power at 6 a.m. to portions of Napa, Solano and Yolo counties, an area northeast of the San Francisco Bay region. The company also announced in advance that it may have to cut power to 30,000 customers in Butte, Yuba, Nevada, El Dorado and Placer counties.

Conditions ripe for fire ‐ winds, low humidity, dry vegetation and heat ‐ were expected to last into Sunday. The National Weather Service said a station north of Sonoma reported gusts to 50 mph (80 kph) Saturday.

The public statement from PG&E focuses entirely on safety and making sure there aren’t any more massive fires being triggered by sparks from electrical equipment. That’s a smart move since it makes them look like they’re taking every reasonable step possible to help prevent such tragedies.
More at the link.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 06/10/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Fact is, they do not have enough power still so just another reason for "brownouts"

Just like a third world country.
Our saving grace will be that the people with smart homes in silicon valley will be locked into their homes until the power and internet cuts on.
Posted by: newc || 06/10/2019 2:31 Comments || Top||


#3  They'd probably misuse it anyway. Think of it as 'Earth Month'.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 06/10/2019 5:26 Comments || Top||

#4  For the greater GOOD!
Repeat after me,
For the greater GOOD!
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 06/10/2019 8:17 Comments || Top||

#5  From a Greenie standpoint, this is good. Cheap, reliable power is evil. Did you know electricity was invented by a dead white man?
Posted by: SteveS || 06/10/2019 9:23 Comments || Top||

#6  They should have buried those power lines years ago. It might have been expensive but nothing like the settlements they've had to make as a result of some of these fires.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 06/10/2019 10:32 Comments || Top||

#7  ..especially when the Greenies keep you from cutting the timber and removing the debris around the lines.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/10/2019 11:14 Comments || Top||

#8  Nothing greener than everyone of those 1600 homes getting themselves a literal ton of backup batteries and a diesel generator.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 06/10/2019 11:40 Comments || Top||

#9  Some of the mountainous terrain they cover would be almost impossible to install underground without blasting, tunneling and killing off the eco-nuts, Abu.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 06/10/2019 14:57 Comments || Top||

#10  I suppose Sacramento will cut power at the same time in solidarity with all Californians.

"Preppers be crazy"

-State shuts off power for at least 7 days-

"Preppers, how do we save our food?!"

Which raises a good question: how do those who cannot spend thousands on a generator and 7 days gasoline storage container and fuel keep the perishables from spoiling and grandma going down with the heat?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 06/10/2019 15:33 Comments || Top||

#11  Maybe those of y'all in hurricane land can give suggestions for long stretches of no electricity.

Electric oven? Doesn't work. Water boil alert? Get the copper kettle and some firewood? Here's where that solar charger for you PED in your boogie bag comes in. Those cooling towels are awesome; someone gets real hot take those shoes and socks off and put cooling towels in the armpits.

Whats the over/under on timeline before everyone outside of Caracas an urban region has their power cut 'for their own safetly'?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 06/10/2019 15:51 Comments || Top||

#12  Maybe those of y'all in hurricane land can give suggestions for long stretches of no electricity.

There's always the BBQ. Damaged wood framed houses provide plenty of firewood when the propane runs out.

The Cardboard Box Oven is good. It can also be used for dehydration preservation of meat and fish.

DISH and Hughes antennas torn down by the storm, lined with foil provide a good spot solar heat source for cooking, or just lighting your wood fire.

For kids, fishing and treasure hunts fill the internet lull.
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/10/2019 20:10 Comments || Top||

#13  There was a time when one could fashion a fry pan or dutch oven from hubcaps. I suppose the parabolic dishes would do as well.

A solar distiller for drinking water is also handy.
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/10/2019 20:36 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Mexico To Send National Guard To Southern Border
[Hot Air] Mexico is going to send its National Guard to their border with Guatemala. Mexico Ambassador to the U.S Martha Bárcena Coqui told CBS’ Face the Nation their own National Guard will deploy Monday to stop illegal immigration.

Bárceni Coqui declined to release the number of military police headed to the Guatemalan border, although Reuters reported on Friday there could be 6000 officers headed to the area.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador aka AMLO is hedging his bets massively on why they’re going.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/10/2019 02:13 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This is perhaps, where we are today:

A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy. While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when once they lose their virtue then will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader.

—Samuel Adams, letter to James Warren, February 12, 1779
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/10/2019 6:57 Comments || Top||

#2  Mexico said they would SEND the National Guard, not that the National Guard would DO anything once there
Posted by: Yosemite Sam || 06/10/2019 9:55 Comments || Top||


Forced to Bathe With a Bucket of Water, Juan Guaido Soldiers On
[BLOOMBERG] On Thursday, Juan Guaido woke up and doused himself with a bucket of water.

It was his shower. Like millions of Venezuelans, the man who dozens of countries recognize as the legitimate leader of his broken country can’t rely on the taps to run. "It’s one of the things I hate most," the 35-year-old politician said in an interview. "It’s a symbol of poverty, and during much of my life I had to do it."

And yet, he was for the most part characteristically upbeat, exuding that can-do spirit that his followers love and his detractors find naive, as he talked about how Venezuela would have to tolerate much more suffering in order to topple Nicolas Maduro
Venezuela's attempt at producing a Muammar Qadaffy...
’s autocratic regime. Despite the pain, he said, the U.S. shouldn’t ease up on the sanctions that are deepening the worst economic crisis in the country’s history.

"It’s going to get worse" before things turn, he warned.

Ultimately, he insisted, the opposition movement, rekindled after he became leader of the National Assembly in January, would succeed. New elections could be held in six or nine months because the pressure simply won’t let up on Maduro’s closest collaborators to break ranks, he said.

Posted by: Fred || 06/10/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Bloomberg shilling for a neocon tool. How predictable.
Posted by: Herb McCoy || 06/10/2019 5:42 Comments || Top||

#2  No. This is predictable.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 06/10/2019 5:48 Comments || Top||

#3  This situation or Herb mentioning neocons?
Posted by: Raj || 06/10/2019 7:36 Comments || Top||

#4  Your #3 is going to leave a nasty mark Raj.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/10/2019 7:41 Comments || Top||

#5  Would you like to make some actual arguments, or just play like children?

Neoconservatism advocates the violent invasion of countries which haven't attacked us and pose no threat to the USA. Discuss. Back up your assertions with evidence and citations.
Posted by: Herb McCoy || 06/10/2019 8:13 Comments || Top||

#6  #5 Would you like to make some actual arguments, or just play like children?

Says the Macro Troll....
Posted by: Frank G || 06/10/2019 8:39 Comments || Top||

#7  Bloomberg shilling for a neocon tool

As I was scrolling down to read the comments, I came up with a new game: Herb / Not Herb

Let me go out on a limb and predict: The US military will *NOT* invade Venezuela.

There may be loud threats of the "Don't make me come over there!" nature, but that's just diplomacy. You will see some jockeying for post-collapse influence among the usual suspects like China and Russia. But there is nothing there we want, nothing we need and nothing we can fix.
Posted by: SteveS || 06/10/2019 9:18 Comments || Top||

#8  Back up your assertions with evidence and citations.

Many contributors here are proven men and women of action that choose when and when not to engage, Herb. Not untested academic fantasy dissertationists like yourself.
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/10/2019 10:59 Comments || Top||

#9  I think Herb does this on purpose. Nobody can be that, err... dismissive of facts and patterns.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 06/10/2019 11:11 Comments || Top||

#10  Nothing we want? How about that Venezuela is sitting on a mountain of oil? That might be something neocons want to control, yathink? Do they have any tracking record of stationing troops in rich oil regions, with or without consent of host governments?

Come on, you people have been so long in an echo chamber you've forgotten how to think. Much like the Left, I am sad to say.
Posted by: Herb McCoy || 06/10/2019 12:57 Comments || Top||

#11  How about that Venezuela is sitting on a mountain of oil?

Thick tarry goo that can only be refined in a couple of places around the world. Yes, the US is one, so in a sense we already control it. But in terms of making money, much easier to frack up something lighter & sweeter, which we are already doing here at home.

We all have our pet peeves and theories. But there is a certain danger in trying to analyse a current situation through a fixed world view of events past.
Posted by: SteveS || 06/10/2019 13:31 Comments || Top||

#12  Guaidó is not a "neocon" but I'd definitely prefer a democratically elected neocon over a socialist kleptocratic usurpator.
Posted by: European Conservative || 06/10/2019 14:16 Comments || Top||

#13  kleptocraticusurpator.....? Is that one of those 'German only' words ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/10/2019 14:20 Comments || Top||

#14  This is the short version for "thug" :-)
Posted by: European Conservative || 06/10/2019 14:56 Comments || Top||

#15  How about that Venezuela is sitting on a mountain of oil?

Thick tarry goo that can only be refined in a couple of places around the world.


The world is swimming in oil, Mr. McCoy. Iraq is now making money hand over fist, replacing the now sanctioned Iranian barrels. Every month or two there are new announcements of discoveries in unexpected countries — even Israel has become a significant producer, courted by the countries of Europe — and even Egypt, which only a few years ago held blackmail power over it because the oil flowed the other way. But America, which you want to covet what Venezuela cannot pump out of the ground without the aid of American engineers, is now one of the biggest suppliers in the world. Us desiring Venezuela’s oil would be like us feeling an overwhelming need to replace Slovak folk dance troupes with hiphop so that we get the last pennies of their CD sales.

Nobody wants Venezuela's oil, not even the Chinese Communists who own all the output for the next few decades.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/10/2019 15:08 Comments || Top||

#16  How about that Venezuela is sitting on a mountain of oil? That might be something neocons want to control, yathink?

Name me a political group anywhere in the world which would not want to control a resource.

Except those who think 'mountain of oil' is a dorky turn of phrase, even though that particular oil is most likely to be formed and keep its shape.

So I ask you, as someone who wants as little to do as possible with Venezuela, please stop arguing that position as you are - it comes across as a fat dude wearing a mankini yelling at a faucet.

Perhaps you can clear this up for me, as you advertise as a true believer, because other libertarians have tried to untie this gordian knot - how come other countries can have a foreign policy, but it is immoral for the United States to have foreign policy?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 06/10/2019 15:25 Comments || Top||


Economy
United Technologies, Raytheon to combine in all-stock 'merger of equals'
[Fox Business] United Technologies Opens a New Window. and defense contractor Raytheon Opens a New Window. agreed to merge in an all-stock deal described as a “merger of equals,” the companies announced on Sunday, creating a company with $74 billion in annual sales.

The new company will be named Raytheon Technologies Corporation. Currently, United Technologies has a market value of $114 billion while Raytheon’s is about $52 billion.
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/10/2019 04:37 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


FCC allows phone companies to auto-block robocalls
[NYPOST] The FCC voted Thursday to allow phone companies to block robocalls automatically for their customers.

The vote would allow phone service providers like Verizon to switch on technology that blocks robocalls, which have went kaboom! in number to about 5 billion a month nationwide.

The companies would not need their customers’ permission to block the calls.

The FCC expects companies to provide the service for free, but the vote doesn’t require them to do so. Service providers could start charging customers for the phone-blocking service, as some currently do for caller ID and other features.

FCC chairman Ajit Pai said Thursday that it’s in the best interest of the phone companies to offer the service free of charge.

"These robocalls that are being placed on their own networks are a hassle and a cost for them to handle," he said.

"There is one thing in our country today that unites Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, socialists and libertarians, vegetarians and carnivores, Ohio State and Michigan fans: It is that they are sick and tired of being bombarded by unwanted robocalls," Pai added.

Some carriers already allow phone-call blocking on an opt-in basis, but Sunday’s vote is expected to extend the blocking by making a default option.

After the vote, Verizon said that it would "evolve" its free call-blocking tool for its customers, but added they should not expect "short term across-the-board blocking."

Posted by: Fred || 06/10/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The racketeers at AT&T have a nice app for doing this. Even though I've been a customer since 1982, they won't let me use it on my Samsung phone because it's unlocked. Crooks...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 06/10/2019 9:16 Comments || Top||

#2  And, who are the spammers buying their phone service from? Hmmmm?
Posted by: M. Murcek || 06/10/2019 9:18 Comments || Top||


Europe
Germany fights to salvage Iran nuclear deal as deadline looms
[DW] German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has arrived in Iran, looking for "constructive ways" to save the 2015 nuclear deal. DW takes a look at the timing of his visit, the various actors involved and their goals.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Monday met with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, and President Hassan Rouhani.

Maas is trying to salvage a 2015 deal between Iran and a group of world powers that curtailed Iran's nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions. The accord has been on the verge of collapse since the United States withdrew from it last year and reapplied economic sanctions on the country.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/10/2019 02:23 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Ve must haf zat dual use trade!"
Posted by: M. Murcek || 06/10/2019 6:28 Comments || Top||

#2  In the end, nicht-Deutsche abschlachten nicht- Deutsch (non-Germans killing off non-Germans), so what does it matter ?

There is a certain logic...
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/10/2019 6:45 Comments || Top||

#3  Maas is just a lightweight. He didn't even step in when Zarif attacked Israel.

The "deal" is dead as a dodo. The only thing that can save Iran is to overthrow the mullah regime.
Posted by: European Conservative || 06/10/2019 13:06 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Lawmakers mark D-Day anniversary with Normandy parachute jump
[FOX] Two military veterans who now serve in Congress joined together for a bipartisan parachute jump in Normandy on Sunday to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day.

"It was deeply moving," Florida Republican Rep. Michael Waltz, a Green Beret who served in Afghanistan, said in a statement to Fox News. "It was an unforgettable experience to make the same jump so many brave men made to defend Europe and the world during World War II."
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/10/2019 14:11 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  'Knees in the breeze'

It would be "deeply moving" for me if they had their knees under a desk in D.C. getting some of our nation's problems solved. Oh well, hope they don't insist on getting congressional jump pay.

Posted by: Besoeker || 06/10/2019 14:18 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Elderly woman among two wounded as protestors, police clash in Umerkot
[DAWN] PPP Chairperson Bilawal Baby Bhutto Zardari
...Pak dynastic politician, son of Benazir Bhutto and grandon of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. As far as is known, Bilawal has no particular talents other than being pretty and being able to memorize political slogans, but he had the good luck to be born into the right family and he hasn't been assassinated yet...
on Sunday took notice of the alleged "police brutality" in Umerkot against protestors from the Kolhi community.

According to a statement by the party, the PPP chairperson has demanded the provision of speedy justice to the affected members of the Hindu community through an impartial inquiry and has called for action to be taken against police officials involved in the alleged torture. "To protest is the right of every Pak," said Bilawal, according to the statement.

According to local reports, members of the Kolhi community living in the Fazal Chopan village had staged a sit-in at Allah Wala Chowk against the alleged atrocities of the influential Chopan family, who own the village.

The protest was led by Haryan, Popat and Rukhma Kohli, along with others who carried banners and placards and rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud against the village owners, including Shah Nawaz, Haji and Allah Dad Chopan. The protestors from the Hindu community alleged that the village owners had demanded that they "be presented maiden of tender yearss" and ordered the residents to vacate the village upon failing to do so.

The protesters further alleged that on their refusal to comply, they were beaten up.

According to the protesters, as the sit-in continued, a contingent of Umerkot police, led by Station House Officer (SHO) Syed Atif Shah, reached the site and tried to disperse the protesters, which led to a tussle between the two sides.

The protesters then reportedly pelted a police van with stones, breaking its windowpane. In response, the police baton-charged the crowd, injuring two people, including an elderly woman who received a blow on her forehead and fainted.

Five people were also picked up by police but were released after the police party came under attack, said the protestors.

The protestors demanded that the police register a case against the influential landlords who had harassed them as well as the coppers who had subjected the community members to a baton charge.

Faiz Muhammad Chopan, an owner of the village, refuted the allegations levelled by the Kolhi community, calling them "baseless". He invited a partial inquiry to "unveil the entire cooked and planned story".

He alleged that political opponents have used one of the village families for their gains, adding that 200 households of Kolhi community have been settled in the village for decades.

He further alleged that it was only a single family from his village which took part in the protest, whereas others had been "supplied" from Khipro city of the Sanghar district.

Posted by: Fred || 06/10/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Olde Tyme Religion
Archdiocese of New York gives up fight over Bishop Sheen’s remains
[NYPOST] The Archdiocese of New York has finally caved in its long-running legal tug-of-war over the remains of 1950s radio and TV preacher Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen.

The archdiocese, which last week lost yet another court round in the dispute with Sheen’s niece, said Sunday that it will cooperate in transferring the remains of the Emmy-winning archbishop from a crypt under the altar at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan to Peoria, Ill.

Sheen has been interred below St. Pat’s with other archbishops who served in New York since his death in 1979.

But his niece, Joan Cunningham, has been fighting to bury him back home in Peoria, where he was ordained in 1919. She says it would improve his shot at sainthood, based on Church guidelines.

The archdiocese had argued that a will Sheen signed five days before his death included his desire to be buried in New York.

A Manhattan court last year ruled against the church. On Friday, the New York Court of Appeals upheld that ruling.

"We have been informed that the New York Court of Appeals has denied further appeal of the New York Supreme Court decision upholding Joan Cunningham’s petition to disinter Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s mortal remains from under the altar at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, where they have rested for nearly 40 years," Joseph Zwilling, front man for the Archdiocese of New York, told the Catholic News Agency.

"While we did not initiate this matter, the Trustees of St. Patrick’s and the Archdiocese believed that it was not simply their duty, but a solemn obligation, to seek to uphold Archbishop Sheen’s last wishes, as directed in his Will, to be buried in New York ‐ a position held until recently by Joan Cunningham herself."

The Catholic Diocese of Peoria said its bishop, Daniel R. Jenky, was "grateful" the archdiocese has now agreed to move Sheen’s remains.

Posted by: Fred || 06/10/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." Dan 12:2

And some shall be lost to everlasting litigation.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 06/10/2019 5:46 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
It's Happening: People are Canceling Netflix and Disney‐and the Revenue Losses Are Growing by the Hour
[PJ] Streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Disney Plus never waste an opportunity to tell the American public living in red states how much they hate them. From Netflix showing movies that could meet the legal definition of sexual assault of children to making cartoons about babies in drag (while ignoring customer concerns) to Disney's CEO complaining about Alabama abortion laws, people are sick of their entertainment companies pushing a hard-left agenda.

Now these services are not only going after conservative values but are actively trying to harm conservative states, reports Fox News. "Earlier this week, Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos issued a statement on the growing movement in Hollywood to boycott Georgia over the new pro-life legislation which prohibits abortions if a baby's heartbeat is detected, which is roughly six weeks into the pregnancy."

Disney's CEO has also threatened to stop filming in states where abortion is illegal, which is a head-scratcher considering this guy runs a company that depends on little kids as customers. Why would he try to reduce the population of his fan base? Fox News also reported that all of these companies claiming they care about "women's rights" to kill their offspring have partnered with countries like Egypt, where abortions are also illegal, and China, where human rights abuses are well documented.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/10/2019 01:54 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Liberalism is a mental illness."
Posted by: Varmint Splat1454 || 06/10/2019 2:53 Comments || Top||

#2  While I would gladly sign this Red Petition, I think this is just wishful thinking. Even if every conservative in America cancelled their subscription, it would have little effect on their continuity in the global market. Their poison is effective.

Aping these platforms, almost every non-American web-series too by now has its own resident faggot couples, peaceful muslim wooing white women, the good-looking islamist, ghetto-boy high achiever, 'principled' black family facing racism and occasional anti-Trump rants sewn in. Not to mention the 'evils' that white men and Christians are always up to. You know these patterns by now. So it is virulent and has already spread. These are tropes being used to rapidly normalize religious and political ideologies alien to whole sections of populations by way of entertainment.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 06/10/2019 5:16 Comments || Top||

#3  Dron,

I agree with you that it'll have little effect on the global market - but on the other hand, right now there's, what - 6 or 7 states passing these laws, and a lot more paying close attention before passing their own. The media is studiously ignoring that part, because they don't dare report that a significant fraction of the country is starting to say, 'No more."

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 06/10/2019 6:17 Comments || Top||

#4  Best way to deal with all these people is to raise a middle index finger to the Euro ruling caste and tell them we are returning to the original American standard of copyright. 14 years to the creator and and an additional 14 years upon application of the individual artist/author. Suddenly, what they debased into the hated 'royal patents' would cut their revenue sources and estimated return on investment for new projects back to what an 'entertainment' industry is really worth to a culture and society.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/10/2019 7:45 Comments || Top||

#5  This all started when Dims decided to murder babies born alive. Red states decided to go the other direction in response. I am not worried about how many of them there are and how few we may be. I will not be a part of a majority that will face God's wrath. I will be the remnant that survive God's wrath. Amen.
Posted by: Phaick Uneretle6310 || 06/10/2019 8:11 Comments || Top||

#6  The "American" standard of copyright was passed by Sonny Bono. We will never, ever release more material into the public domain because otherwise Mickey Mouse would become PD. The Disney corporation will never allow this, and they have the money to bribe enough politicians to keep the law in their favor.
Posted by: Herb McCoy || 06/10/2019 8:16 Comments || Top||

#7  We will never, ever release more material into the public domain because otherwise Mickey Mouse would become PD.

Which is also why we are doomed to see 1,353 reboots of Spiderman
Posted by: DarthVader || 06/10/2019 8:39 Comments || Top||

#8  Or you could bring censorship back. That'd totally end some gravy trains.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 06/10/2019 8:49 Comments || Top||

#9  At least if I don't pay for Netflix I'm not putting money in Bath House and Mike's pockets.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 06/10/2019 9:28 Comments || Top||

#10  How many are quitting to sign up for the new Disney service that will have all Star Wars, all Marvell, all Fox, and all Disney programming. Ti's gonna be a power-house for anyone with kids or adults that never grew up.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 06/10/2019 9:32 Comments || Top||

#11  adults that never grew up.

Hey, I resemble that!
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/10/2019 10:51 Comments || Top||

#12  ...otherwise Mickey Mouse would become PD

The mouse can become a trademark rather than a copyright, all the others nah. They keep the mouse and that is about it.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/10/2019 11:12 Comments || Top||

#13  You don't cancel this crap to hit them in the pocket. You cancel it to keep their hands out of your kids' pockets. Poly entendre that.

Spiderman repoots...funny, just had that conversation except Batman reboots. There is a serious, stunning lack of creativity from the supposed creativity caste. Shit couldn't even slap some squeeze cheese together for an Avatard 2. It is so bad, they cannot even put out a story without having to wear the skin of a previous enterprise. Honestogawd surprised there isn't a Babylon 6 coming out. Money down, it has been discussed.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 06/10/2019 12:30 Comments || Top||

#14  Aw the good old days. Solitaire,puzzles,sewing, reading, gardens, soap operas, working the stocks all day without computer. The retired life was good.
Its all a numbers game and it's all going away from the entertainment industry. Short attention span has taken over in a big way.
Posted by: Dale || 06/10/2019 19:05 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2019-06-10
  Iran ammonium-nitrate stash in London and around the world ignored for 2015 Iran deal
Sun 2019-06-09
  Tunisian-German couple in court over ‘ricin attack plot’
Sat 2019-06-08
  U.S., Mexico: Trump Announces Deal With Mexico, Suspends Tariff Threat
Fri 2019-06-07
  Houthis kill imam, 9 worshippers for following Saudi Eid al-Fitr moon sighting
Thu 2019-06-06
  ISIS claiming to exterminate a Pakistani Intel agent
Wed 2019-06-05
  Nanagarhar: Senior ISIS leader hailing from India killed in Afghanistan airstrike
Tue 2019-06-04
  Sri Lanka Muslim ministers resign en masse over Easter bombings
Mon 2019-06-03
  Houthi rebels launch a drone attack on a military parade for Saudi-led coalition forces in the port city of Aden
Sun 2019-06-02
  Al-Quds rally rejects ‘deal of the century’
Sat 2019-06-01
  Islamic Jihad chief says Gaza groups can fire 1,000 rockets a day at Israel
Fri 2019-05-31
  COAS endorses death sentence for retired brigadier, a civilian for 'espionage, leaking information'
Thu 2019-05-30
  IDF Destroying Hezbollah's Last, Largest Cross-Border Attack Tunnel
Wed 2019-05-29
  22 Released from 'Islamic State Kidnapping' in DR Congo
Tue 2019-05-28
  IS claims responsibility for a Bangladesh explosion
Mon 2019-05-27
  Gunmen raid Burkina Faso church, kill four


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