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☆ Congress is poised to ensure that no vice president could unilaterally decide an election 2 years after Trump pressured Pence to reverse his loss
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

After months of debate, lawmakers are poised to pass major changes to the Electoral Count Act. They wanted the vice president to either delay the January 6 joint session of Congress and/or unilaterally find that the certified results of states in disputes were not legitimate. I think Vice President Pence … did exactly the right thing and previous vice presidents have done the same. Trump himself has suggested that by clarifying the Electoral Count Act, senators are implicitly suggesting that Pence could have had this power. In order for pro-Trump lawmakers to throw the election to the vice president, they still needed to file objections to the results.

☆ Mountain lion P-22 was 'compassionately euthanized' after showing signs of physical trauma. Here's how he went from a trouble-making cat to a symbol of Los Angeles.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Mountain lion P-22 was euthanized on Saturday after suffering from injuries and illnesses. There was "no hope for a positive outcome" in letting P-22 live, wildlife officials announced. The tests also showed the mountain lion suffered from multiple ailments, including kidney disease, a significant loss of weight, arthritis, and a parasitic skin infection all over his body. P-22, who has been key to mountain lion research in the area, was likely born in the Santa Monica Mountains. A trail camera picture of mountain lion P-22, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., 2012.

☆ Senator reveals detailed steps to secure his homes as threats against US lawmakers surge
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Serving in Congress may require living in a fortress as threats of violence against members surge. A letter from Sen. Mike Crapo's lawyers reveals the US Capitol Police recommended multiple security upgrades for his homes. Threats are causing members to consider additional security for themselves and their families, the lawyers wrote. Crapo's lawyers wrote to the FEC because they want to know how to best pay for all of these updates on two homes. Crapo's lawyers wrote, however, that the threat environment since then "has actually worsened."

☆ Bill Barr says Trump will 'burn the whole house down' and destroy the GOP if he doesn't win the 2024 nomination
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Former Attorney General Bill Barr discussed Donald Trump's 2024 campaign in an op-ed. He said Trump's "narcissism" means he would be unable to accept losing the GOP nomination race. Barr is a former Trump loyalist, who has recently turned against his ex-boss. In an op-ed in The New York Post published on Tuesday, Barr addressed Trump's announcement last week that he was seeking the Republican Party candidacy for the White House in 2024. Barr in the op-ed said it was time for new leadership in the Republican Party.

☆ Kamala Harris’ visit to the Philippines sends China a message of US intent
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Kathleen Magramo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

According to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, the Philippines occupies nine features in the Spratly chain while China occupies seven. In 2016, a tribunal in The Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines in a maritime dispute, concluding China has no legal basis to claim historic rights to the bulk of the South China Sea. “Philippine President Marcos appears open to the idea of pursuing pragmatic cooperation in the South China Sea, while not surrendering its long-standing position when it comes to the territorial issues in the South China Sea,” Banlaoi said. During her trip to the Philippines, Harris is expected to make a number of other announcements including tighter US cooperation with Manila on clean energy, cybersecurity, communication and agriculture. The deals show US intent in the Pacific region, but one South China Sea expert said Harris’ trip to the military base risks aggravating Beijing to the potential detriment of the Philippines.

☆ Robert Clary, ‘Hogan’s Heroes’ star who survived the Holocaust, dead at 96
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Reuters —Paris-born actor and singer Robert Clary, who survived 31 months in Nazi concentration camps but later co-starred in “Hogan’s Heroes,” the US sitcom set in a German World War II prisoner of war (POW) camp, has died at the age of 96. “Hogan’s Heroes” starred Bob Crane as American Colonel Robert Hogan, with Richard Dawson, Larry Hovis and Ivan Dixon playing other POWs. “Hogan’s Heroes” was popular with TV viewers during its run on the CBS network and for decades afterward in syndication even though some critics considered it in bad taste. In 1980, alarm over people trying to deny the Holocaust prompted Clary to end his self-imposed silence about his experiences. He also wrote an autobiography, “From the Holocaust to Hogan’s Heroes.”“We must learn from history,” Clary told the Reno Gazette-Journal in 2002, “which we don’t.”

☆ Lindsay Lohan's 'Falling for Christmas' isn't what you hoped it'd be -- it's so much more
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Sandra Gonzalez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Aliana Lohan, Lindsay Lohan and Chase Ramsey in "Falling For Christmas." You don’t need a crystal ball for the rest, nor should anyone have the delightful cheesiness and bacon redemption that takes place next ruined for them. It’s a joyful reminder that you don’t need to lose your memory to remember how precious fresh starts are. Lohan’s magic power has always been bringing to life films that have the simple goal of being unchallenging delights. If for that and that alone, “Falling for Christmas” is a gift.

☆ Arson suspect arrested after 7 fires set across Mississippi's capital city
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

— Authorities have arrested a suspect in connection with seven fires set across Mississippi’s capital city early Tuesday. At least two of the buildings set ablaze in Jackson were churches; one was burned to the ground. Another fire broke out on fences surrounding the baseball practice field at Jackson State University, a historically Black public university. We have about a third of our department on sites.”A fireman observes the remains of a burned Epiphany Lutheran Church in Jackson, Mississippi, on Nov. 8, 2022. Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba addressed the fires at a Tuesday city council meeting.

☆ Bono reflects on his 40-year marriage to Ali Hewson
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Lisa Respers France | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Bono’s new memoir, “Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story,” isn’t just about his time and travels with U2. “Ali gave me the chance and covered for me at home. So I’m not writing a rock’n’roll memoir, [or] an activist’s memoir, I’m not just writing a sojourner’s memoir, I’m trying to write a love letter to my wife.”Bono and wife Ali Hewson wed in 1982. Bono calls the woman he shares four children with “incredible.”“She’s not just a mystery to me, by the way. “Ali calls it ‘the work of love’.

☆ You may experience a 'mysterious disappearance’ on Halloween — and insurance probably won't pay for it
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Renters and homeowners insurance claims related to a "mysterious disappearance" increased by 5% on Halloween and 3% on Mischief Night, which is the night before Halloween, according to Travelers Insurance claims data from 2011 to 2021. Some have clauses that explicitly deny payment in cases of such a "mysterious disappearance." Why 'named perils' matter in insurance coverageHowever, you're not necessarily in the clear just because your policy doesn't explicitly omit a "mysterious disappearance." When it comes to personal property, insurance generally only covers renters and homeowners for a "named peril," Griffin said. So-called all-risk policies or open perils policies, by contrast, cover any event the policy doesn't specifically exclude.

☆ Western leaders rushed to recognise Bolsonaro's defeat in Brazil to head off any Trump-like attempt to stay in power, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

World leaders swiftly backed Brazil's president-elect on his election victory over Jair Bolsonaro. Analysts say the move was likely meant to counter any attempt by Bolsonaro to undermine the vote. Analysts said the rush to congratulate da Silva was likely part of a coordinated campaign to head off attempts by Bolsonaro to question the election. For months, Bolsonaro has pushed baseless claims that the election, which many observers expected him to lose, was tainted by fraud. Bolsonaro's allies so far seem to have accepted the result, in which da Silva was declared the winner with 50.9% of the vote, The New York Times reported.

SpaceX Chief Engineer Elon Musk takes part in a joint news conference with T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert (not pictured) at the SpaceX Starbase, in Brownsville, Texas, U.S., August 25, 2022. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is now in charge of Twitter , CNBC has learned. Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal and finance chief Ned Segal have left the company's San Francisco headquarters and will not be returning, sources said. A Delaware Chancery Court judge eventually ruled that Musk had until Oct. 28 to cement the Twitter deal or head to trial. Musk arrived at the Twitter headquarters earlier this week carrying a sink, and documented the event on Twitter, saying "Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in!"

☆ Accounting Errors to Cost Executives Their Bonuses Under SEC Rule
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Paul Kiernan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The clawback rule’s implementation has been delayed for years amid resistance from corporate executives. WASHINGTON—Regulators will make public companies take back executives’ incentive pay if they find significant errors in financial statements, aiming to improve corporate accountability at a time of rising shareholder discontent over pay practices. The Securities and Exchange Commission voted 3-2 Wednesday to complete the so-called clawback rule, with all Democrats approving and Republicans dissenting. Required by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act to discourage fraud and accounting mischief, the rule’s implementation has been delayed for years.

☆ I’ve been following a woman around the internet. Turns out she was created by artificial intelligence.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( Evan Ratliff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +31 min

Even in their first efforts, the GAN images were quickly on par with those made by any other, less intelligent software. You can find the results on the Generated Photos site, where you can filter by ethnicity, age, sex, eye color, and other attributes. Generated Photos' GANs tend to match conventional beauty standards, a product of the models that have been fed to the software. I'm not sure anyone would be surprised to find fake images accompanying testimonials on an Estonian bitcoin exchange or an online CBD seller. Are they real people deploying fake images, or fake people deploying fake images?

Last week, Killnet targeted the websites of several U.S. states, successfully knocking Colorado.gov offline for more than a day and briefly interrupting Kentucky.gov. Killnet frequently posts lists of targeted websites on its Telegram channel, encouraging fellow Russia supporters with entry-level hacker skills to join it in trying to disrupt them. The U.S. Department of Transportation and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. It listed the city of Chicago’s general air travel website, flychicago.com, which was inaccessible Monday, but not that of its major airports, like O’Hare International or Midway International. Similarly, it targeted Hawaii’s state website for air travel, which was also inaccessible, but not Honolulu International.

☆ Mountain Girl’s heartbreaking memoir: An icon of the Sixties opens up about Jerry Garcia, Ken Kesey, and what the age of free love was really like
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-09 | by ( David Kushner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +40 min

Now 76 and living in Oregon, Mountain Girl has gave us an exclusive look at her memoir. Altamont, the free concert that Mountain Girl and Jerry Garcia helped organized, was meant to revive the spirit of the Sixties. Today, 60 years since she took that ride with Neal Cassady, Mountain Girl is still forging her own path. Before I leave Kesey's farm, Mountain Girl and I walk outside to the old brown barn where Furthur now rests. But for Mountain Girl, it lives forever, an emblem of everything her generation believed in, and all that they achieved.

☆ Disturbing video shows man with an ax ‘menacing’ customers at New York McDonald’s
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-18 | by ( Francesca Gariano | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

A man in New York City was arrested Friday and accused of “menacing” customers at a McDonald’s, including using a small ax, police said. The man in the video appears to then remove his backpack and pull out what appears to be a small ax. He then approaches several patrons but does not appear to inflict any injury using the ax. At the end of the video, after he punches a patron and approaches several others with the ax, the man appears to leave with his bicycle. “The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority,” McDonald’s restaurant owner-operator Paul Hendel told "TODAY" in a statement.

☆ A sentence that never ends: How probation kept a Pennsylvania man locked up through the pandemic — even after his release date
▼ + stars: | 2022-02-04 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +39 min

He was still a teenager when, a year after his school went under, he graduated to a new form of state supervision. Inmates walk the hallways during a media tour of the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 7, 2015. And such violations have bloated the probation system, with roughly 250,000 people now subject to restrictions on their freedom. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner listens during a press conference announcing Danielle Outlaw as the new Police Commissioner on December 30, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania State Senator Katie Muth was elected in the 2018 "blue wave," defeating the incumbent Republican.

☆ Why is Friday the 13th unlucky? The cultural origins of an enduring superstition
▼ + stars: | 2021-08-13 | by ( Christobel Hastings | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

There’s even a name to describe the irrational dread of the date: paraskevidekatriaphobia — a specialized form of triskaidekaphobia, a fear of the number 13. What we do know, though, is that both Friday and the number 13 have been regarded as unlucky in certain cultures throughout history. Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" popularized the erroneous theory this is the original of the Friday the 13th superstition. If we dig deeper, though, we also find evidence that both Fridays and the number 13 have long been regarded as a harbinger of good fortune. “Every time I’ve won an award I’ve been seated in either the 13th seat, the 13th row, the 13th section or row M, which is the 13th letter.

Persons: Judas Iscariot, Jesus, Roberto Serra, ” Charles Panati, Loki, Hodr, Balder, Panati, Jesus Christ, Knights Templar, Dan Brown's, Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, Solomon, Steve Roud, “, Thomas W, Jason Voorhees, Alamy, Dan Brown’s, you’d, ”, Frigg, Norse, Frigga, ” Panati, Taylor Swift, Larry Busacca, I’ve, it’s Organizations: CNN, Iguana Press, Knights, Hulton, Fertility, MTV Locations: Greece, Italy, Valhalla, Scandinavia, Europe, Britain, Ireland, “

☆ Why cities can't get rid of rats
▼ + stars: | 2021-06-03 | by ( Uma Sharma | Shira Polan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

In many ways, rats are better suited for living in cities than people. Meet your average city rats: Rattus rattus and Rattus norvegicus. But a 2014 study gave a ballpark estimate of 2 million rats. And in some ways, rats are better suited for living in cities than people. In 2017, for example, New York City launched a $32 million war plan against its rats.

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