Thursday, July 13, 2017

Wednesday-Thursday Merger

Related: Monday-Tuesday Merger

GMO’s Just Got a Lot More Frightening with Approval of New Monsanto Product

What the Beef Industry Does to Bring You Cheap Burgers

Is that enough to make you smell the flowers?

Better get to work:

"Workers in the so-called gig economy, from Uber drivers to delivery cyclists, need greater labor protections, says a much-anticipated report published Tuesday that was commissioned by the UK government. The study, by Matthew Taylor, a former adviser to Tony Blair, concluded that a new category of worker — the ‘‘dependent contractor’’ — should be created to secure genuine flexibility for laborers. While some workers in the gig economy like the flexibility, others suffer from job insecurity in contracts that, for example, offer no guarantee on the number of hours to be worked. Such insecurity can make it hard, for example, to get a mortgage — even when someone is in regular work. Unions have sharply criticized the report, describing it as a lost opportunity to address inequity and a feeble response to the growing number of workers in delivery and ride-hailing firms such as Deliveroo and Uber. Union leaders wanted recommendations matched with legal sanctions."

Also known as $lave.

Also seeTakata adding 2.7 million vehicles to air bag recall

Pfffffffffffffffffffft.


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DraftKings and FanDuel ask court not to block their planned merger

And regarding the soon-to-close Sears store at the Dedham Mall (how appropriately ironic):

Amazon, other tech giants see profit in shrewd moves downmarket

"Amazon used steep discounts to turn its Echo speaker line into a best-seller. Even if Amazon loses money on the device sales, it gets a toehold for its Alexa digital voice-assistant platform to become more connected to shoppers who can use it to check the weather, hail an Uber — and of course buy more from Amazon — by voice command....."

"Amazon.com Inc. used steep discounts to turn its Echo speaker into a bestseller on the company’s annual Prime Day, making good on a bet to use the marketing event to push its voice-activated technology into more homes. Even if Amazon loses money on the device, it gets a toehold for its Alexa platform to become more connected to shoppers who can use the devices to check the weather, stream music, hail an Uber, order pizza — and of course buy more from Amazon — by voice command....."

Which means it is listening to you all the time and the $hadow hackers can open it up with the "stolen" NSA tools, but no worry.

"Visa is looking to push more small businesses into updating their digital payment technology, offering up to $10,000 each to 50 US-based small business owners that are committed to going cashless. The program will focus on restaurants and food establishments, Visa said Wednesday, with the expectation that Visa will expand the program in the coming months and years to other industries and possibly other countries as well. Despite the proliferation of credit and debt cards, and the advent of technologies like Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, cash remains a significant method of payment in many industries across the United States and around the world."

Forget the hackers; how will the politicians receive bribes?

Microsoft wants to bring 2 million Americans online by 2022

It's called the Rural Airband Initiative.


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Tufts nurses set to strike Wednesday after talks between union, hospital break down

Hundreds picket outside Tufts Medical Center amid nurse strike

At Tufts Medical Center, pressure to cut costs in a city rich with hospitals

It an above the fold story now.

Boston’s labor mayor sidelined in Tufts’ nurses talks 

So what is at the heart of strife?

Imagine Boston 2030

It's a 400-plus page document that has Walsh envisioning Boston’s future.

Boston pushes developers to create better public spaces

Target to open a small format store in Medford next year

"True Value is considering a sale that could value the home-improvement chain at about $800 million, according to people familiar with the matter. The company is working with an investment bank to examine strategic options, including a sale, said the people, who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly. The process is expected to attract private equity firms, the people said. No final decision has been made and the company may elect not to pursue a sale. A representative for Chicago-based True Value didn’t respond to e-mails seeking comment. True Value, led by chief executive John Hartmann, is a cooperative of more than 4,000 stores across more than 58 countries, according to its website."

"A worker was killed late Tuesday morning after he was apparently struck by a piece of rock that had broken free at a construction site at the Woburn Public Library, officials said....."

Yes, a worker was killed.

18-year-old pleads not guilty in Roxbury murder


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The show must go on, but where?

"Harvard-educated financier gets three years in prison for $23M fraud" Associated Press  July 12, 2017

NEW YORK — An Ivy League-educated financier whose friends and family invested millions of dollars with her investment firms was sentenced on Tuesday to three years in prison after squandering more than $23 million, mostly through bad investments.

Haena Park, 41, was sentenced in Manhattan federal court by Judge Ronnie Abrams, who said she had about as privileged a background as anyone she had ever sentenced.

She passed through the haze, 'eh?

‘‘You squandered it all,’’ the judge said of Park, whom the government described as having dangled her Wall Street success and Harvard degree to win the trust of relatives, close friends, and former classmates.

The judge called the money Park lost over a six-year period for more than 40 investors staggering after prosecutors said Park continued to solicit new investors with claims of annual returns up to nearly 50 percent and by churning out fictitious monthly statements that hid massive losses.

She $mall fry compared to Bernie, who was $mall fish in comparison to Wall $treet.

Assistant US Attorney Christine Magdo said Park’s victims included elderly people who lost their life savings, immigrants who worked multiple jobs for decades and a paraplegic who lost $4 million after telling Park he would soon retire because his health was deteriorating.

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Even worse, she was kicked out of the club

At least she didn't kill anyone.

"Fidelity trims more jobs, this time through layoffs" by Jon Chesto Globe Staff  July 12, 2017

Just weeks after more than 1,500 Fidelity Investments workers accepted voluntary buyout offers, the Boston-based mutual fund manager is trimming its payrolls again. And the departures aren’t voluntary this time around.

Katie Reichart, an associate director of research at Morningstar, said investors pulled about $4 billion from Fidelity’s mutual funds during the first five months of the year. Gains in Fidelity’s passive funds were more than offset by withdrawals from its active funds, she said.

“It’s been a tough environment for Fidelity,” Reichart said. “Investors often think of them as an actively managed shop. That’s worked against them. . . . .”

This in the face of a surging stock market, or so we are told.

--more--"

There are still has hundreds of open positions that the company is looking to fill, all part of chief executive Abby Johnson “new multiyear program to drive efficiency across the company.”

What Rick Perry really said about supply and demand

I didn't even consider reading it, sorry.

"US employers posted fewer job openings in May. But hiring picked up and more people are quitting their jobs — both positive signs for the economy. Job openings fell 5 percent in May to 5.7 million, the Labor Department said Tuesday. The setback occurred after advertised job postings nearly reached 6 million in April, a figure that has been revised downward from the initial report. Meanwhile, hiring climbed 8.5 per cent to just under 5.5 million. The data are a sign the economy at 4.4 percent unemployment is nearing ‘‘full employment,’’ when nearly all those who want a job have one and the unemployment rate mostly reflects the normal churn of people who are temporarily out of work. Typically, when unemployment falls that low, companies are forced to offer more pay, but that hasn’t yet happened."

These monthly reports from the government complete with pre$$ excu$es has become such a mind f*** it's no longer worth the time.


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Speaking of mind games:

"FBI arrests US soldier on charges of pledging loyalty to Islamic State" by Audrey McAvoy and Lolita C. Baldor Associated Press  July 11, 2017

HONOLULU — An active-duty US soldier has been arrested on terrorism charges that accuse him of pleading allegiance to the Islamic State group and saying he wanted to ‘‘kill a bunch of people.’’

Another FBI patsy set-up, and the military guys are already accessible for mind control so we know where this is going..... if it even happened.

The FBI took Sergeant First Class Ikaika Kang into custody over the weekend in a Honolulu suburb after a yearlong investigation involving multiple undercover officers and confidential informants. The 34-year-old from Hawaii made an initial appearance Monday in federal court.

Kang’s court-appointed defense attorney, Birney Bervar, said it appears his client may suffer from service-related mental health issues of which the government was aware but neglected to treat. Bervar declined to elaborate.

OMG!

He said Kang was ‘‘a decorated veteran of two deployments’’ to Iraq and Afghanistan.

A 26-page affidavit from FBI agent Jimmy Chen filed in court Monday detailed how Kang thought he was dealing with people working for Islamic State but who were actually undercover agents.

It's true of all of ISIS™, Al-CIA-Duh, Al-CIA-Bob, etc, etc, etc.

Paul Delacourt, the FBI agent in charge of the Hawaii bureau, told reporters the FBI believed Kang was a lone actor and was not affiliated with anyone who poses a threat.

On Saturday, agents arrested him after he pledged loyalty to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and said he wanted to ‘‘take his rifle, his magazines, and kill ‘a bunch of people.’’’

Also on Saturday, Kang and an undercover agent allegedly went shopping for a drone to give to Islamic State fighters. He used his debit card to pay nearly $1,400 for the drone, GoPro camera and related equipment. The agent paid him $700 to split the cost.

Now it looks like entrapment, and where did he get the gun?

A trained air traffic controller based at Hawaii’s Wheeler Army Airfield, Kang had his military clearance revoked in 2012 for making pro-Islamic State comments while at work and on post and threatening to hurt or kill fellow service members.

His clearance was reinstated a year later after he completed military requirements.

?????????????? 

They knew he was a terrorist in 2012, then reconditioned him for this? 

That sure is what this pos story looks like.

However, the affidavit said, the Army believed Kang was becoming radicalized in 2016 and asked the FBI to investigate.

This smells like an Oswald-type frame up.

Kang’s father told Honolulu television station KHON and the Star-Advertiser newspaper his son may have had post-traumatic stress disorder. Kang told the newspaper he became concerned after his son’s return from Afghanistan. He said his son was withdrawn.

Kang has two firearms registered in his name, an AR-15-style rifle and a handgun. After the shooting last summer at a gay nightclub in Orlando he told a confidential source that the shooter ‘‘did what he had to do’’ and later said that America is the only terrorist organization in the world, according to the affidavit.

Not the only one, but it helps to mix in some truth to the cover story crapola or whatever agenda-pushing garbage is this.

The document alleges he also later told the same source that ‘‘Hitler was right’’ and that he believed in the mass killing of Jews.

HA-HA-HA-HA! 

That instantly discredits the previous argument, a common pre$$ tactic.

Print left it in a good spot! 

He told the source he was angry at a civilian who had taken away his air traffic controller’s license and that he wanted to torture him, the affidavit said.

‘‘Kang said that if he ever saw him again, he would tie him down and pour Drano in his eyes,’’ the affidavit said.

He enlisted in the Army in December 2001, just months after the Sept. 11 attacks. He served in South Korea from 2002 to 2003. He deployed to Iraq from March 2010 to February 2011 and Afghanistan from July 2013 to April 2014.

Kang was scheduled to appear in court Thursday for a detention hearing.

Red tape with the word ‘‘evidence’’ on it covered part of the door to the Kang’s apartment in the Honolulu suburb of Waipahu.

Dee Asuncion, a real estate agent who represented Kang when he bought his home less than a year ago, said he came across as a ‘‘very respectful guy.’’ She said he was ‘‘on the shy, quiet side.’’

But looking back, she said, there was one conversation that seemed strange to her. He talked about having respect for the ideology of Islamic terrorist groups.

‘‘It sounded like he was just curious,’’ she said, adding that in the same conversation he talked about helping his dad renovate his home.

‘‘I feel bad for him that he went down that road,’’ Asuncion said.

You guys really loading up the bathtub and kitchen sink on this one, huh?

--more--"

Yeah, Comey really let the FBI go to $h**.

"Oklahoma explosion not being called act of domestic terrorism" Associated Press  July 12, 2017

BIXBY, Okla. — Federal authorities said Tuesday that they are no longer investigating a pipe bomb explosion that damaged a northeast Oklahoma recruiting station as a possible act of domestic terrorism, adding that the blast could be the work of a disgruntled employee or a prank.

FBI Special Agent Jessi Rice said the explosion in the Tulsa suburb of Bixby is not being called domestic terrorism because investigators have not determined a motive and have not identified a suspect. Rice said the blast currently is a criminal investigation into the use of an explosive device.

Give 'em a day. No crisis should go to waste.

A device was set off around 10:30 p.m. Monday in front of the recruiting center, which was closed, federal authorities said. No one was hurt.

Another false flag phony baloney!

Earlier, a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said the blast was being treated as a possible act of domestic terrorism out of ‘‘an abundance of caution,’’ because of its proximity to the recruiting office.

The door of the recruiting station was blown off in the explosion and landed in a parking space in front of the storefront. The center is in a commercial area that also houses small businesses, restaurants and financial planning firms. There is also a movie theater nearby.

Maybe he/she/they hated the endless swill coming from Hollywood?

--more--"

"Military official: Oklahoma bomb suspect was in US Air Force" Associated Press  July 13, 2017

TULSA, Okla. — A 28-year-old man facing federal charges in a pipe bomb explosion outside an Air Force recruiting center in Oklahoma had been enlisted in that branch of the military and was decorated for his service, a military official said Wednesday.

Oklahoma Air National Guard Captain Jennifer Proctor said that the suspect, Benjamin Don Roden, enlisted for Air Force active duty in April 2012 and joined the state’s air national guard in October 2014.

Proctor said Roden had been a senior airman whose job involved fire protection, but that he was discharged from the air national guard’s Tulsa-based 138th Fighter Wing in April.

That reminds me, where is the coverage of the hundreds of western wildfires?

According to the arrest report Tuesday, Roden faces federal charges of possession of explosive materials and destruction of government property in the blast Monday night in a commercial area in the Tulsa suburb of Bixby. The recruiting center was closed at the time and no one was hurt.

Roden received several decorations, including the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Proctor said. The medal is awarded to military members who have deployed overseas in direct service to the war on terror.

--more--"

Let's hope they don't find religion in prison.


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Related:

"A town resident has gotten drivers to slow down for years with the help of a sign shaped like a police cruiser posted in his driveway. Kelly Tufts tells WFXT-TV he got the life-sized Crown Victoria sign from a friend who owned a salvage yard. He displays it on weekends and holidays (AP)."

It doesn't always work.

"A rep for Kiss 108 says station employees were never in danger during a bizarre standoff Monday afternoon during which a man with an ax barricaded himself inside his car and asked a woman who was smoking a cigarette nearby to “play the ax song.” The 38-year-old man, who has not been identified, was outside the Kiss 108 studio in Medford, but did not enter the building or contact the radio station in any way, said Kiss 108 marketing manager Joseph Mazzei. It’s possible that the distraught man was requesting “My Ax,” a song released in 2000 by the hip-hop duo Insane Clown Posse. The song includes the lyric: “My axe is my buddy, I bring him when I walk/ Me and my axe will leave your head outlined in chalk.” The man, who police say tossed “several edged weapons” from his car, finally surrendered to SWAT officers and was placed on a stretcher before being taken into custody." 

I'd say so; looks like more mind games to me.

"A former architectural engineer who threatened to detonate a fake bomb when he robbed a bank in Brighton received a 51-month prison sentence on Monday, authorities said. Kenneth E. Denny, 61, learned his fate during a hearing in US District Court in Boston, according to a statement from acting US Attorney William D. Weinreb. Denny used subterfuge when he robbed a Citizens Bank location on Washington Street in Brighton on July 24, 2015, according to the statement. He handed a teller a note demanding cash and “removed what appeared to be a bomb from a newspaper he was carrying and placed it on the teller’s counter,” the statement said. The teller handed over a little more than $4,000, but Denny still issued another threat, according to prosecutors. As he was exiting the bank, Denny pulled out a white cell phone and declared, “I am going to blow it up,” the release said.

That's where the print brief ended; however, that's all he got for bank robbery?

Investigators later determined the bomb was phony. They were aided in their efforts to locate Denny by the fact that he left his wallet at the bank. The wallet contained his name and photo, the statement said. He was apprehended while heading down Washington Street, and bank employees identified him as the culprit, according to prosecutors. Denny is already serving a sentence for another armed robbery in New York, the statement said. His sentence in the Brighton case will run concurrently. His lawyer in the Boston case, Charles McGinty, said in a recent court filing that the fake bomb used in the Citizens heist was “made out of broomsticks and spray paint.” In addition, McGinty wrote, Denny “dropped the money and ran” when a bank manager confronted himHe said Denny holds degrees from the Wentworth Institute of Technology and Boston University and had a “successful career” as an architectural engineer. “His collapse, evident from his first criminal conviction occurring at age 58 (an OUI in 2013), begs the obvious question: why?” McGinty wrote. “Up to age 58, he was a successful and gainfully employed professional working, inter alia, as an architectural designer for BU and for Parsons Brinkerhoff, making significant money. Perhaps his difficulties started with neurological issues first apparent in 2006.” Those issues included complaints of double vision, headaches and blurred vision after an assault, and a battle with cocaine addiction, according to McGinty. “Certainly, there is some evidence of a brain abnormality, and he continues to suffer from seizures and memory loss consistent with seizure disorder,” the defense lawyer wrote. “But, whatever the cause, there was plainly a collapse, a pitiful decline of a human being into addiction, penury, and ultimately prison.” 

Just wondering if he was involved in 9/11, and if not did his knowing the truth the immutable laws of physics drive him to such despair?

"Heroin and mental instability left her adrift in life. She sold her body to buy her drugs. She sold something else to win her freedom. Testimony during the trial revealed that she had five children by different men, Bella being the last, conceived in a tent during the Occupy Boston protest, when Bond was homeless. I feel slightly ashamed that I didn’t have more sympathy for Rachelle Bond. She has had a lousy life. But, like everybody else, I saw the photos of Bella. I heard the evidence and couldn’t believe any human being, much less a child’s mother, could do the things she did, no matter how lost to heroin she was. Everybody deserves a second chance. It’s hard to keep track of how many chances Rachelle Bond has had. But she’s got one more. And that’s one more than her daughter Bella ever got....."

Yeah, the 667 days of confinement will mess with some heads.

It was the cost of the child’s clothes that sent her over the edge.

"Marijuana billboard in South Boston called ‘insensitive’" by Katheleen Conti Globe Staff  July 12, 2017

While waiting at a stoplight on East Broadway in South Boston last week, Sheila Greene looked up at a billboard and was stunned. In white letters against a black background, a message read: “States that legalized marijuana had 25% fewer opioid-related deaths.”

Greene was bothered by the fact that the advertisement — from Weedmaps, a California-based company that runs an online marijuana dispensary rating service and sells inventory software to pot shops — was placed in a neighborhood hard hit by opioid abuse. “I couldn’t believe it was being advertised,” she said.

Why would that bother her, other than irrational prejudice? 

Or does she not care about addicts like Rachel Bond?

So she contacted a representative of Clear Channel Outdoor — which owns the billboard structure — to point out that the message violated the company’s own policy regarding “exclusionary zones.” Clear Channel’s website states that “advertisements of all products illegal for sale to minors that are intended to be read from places of worship, primary and secondary schools or playgrounds” are prohibited in such zones. Greene estimated there are about 24 places of worship, schools, playgrounds, and after-school and summer programs less than a mile from the site of the billboard at 613-617 East Broadway.

Soon after she lodged her complaint, the message was removed.

Sometimes authority acts instantly, other times they give you the finger.

“The ad was placed in error at a location not meant for the content displayed,” Jason King, a spokesman for Clear Channel, said in an e-mail.....

--more--"

Really puts 'em up a tree:

"An Attleboro man was arrested after he fled from a traffic stop and hid from authorities in a tree, Attleboro police said. An Attleboro police officer attempted a traffic stop on Paul Pereira, of Attleboro, around 1:40 a.m. Monday. The officer noticed Pereira speeding and crossing a marked lane and attempted to pull him over, according to Attleboro police Captain Brett P. Poirier said. Pereira did not pull over but drove onto Greenhill Avenue, where he pulled into a driveway and exited his vehicle. He acknowledged officers after they confronted him there before fleeing from the scene, Poirier said. Attleboro police, joined by a State Police K9 unit, searched the area. The trooper and K9 eventually located Pereira nearby at a property on Primrose Lane, at which point “the trooper removed Pereira from a tree,” Poirier said. Pereira was arrested and charged with a marked lane violation and speeding."


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Should have hid on a farm:

"DA: Man held on $5M cash bail amid search for 4 missing men" Associated Press  July 13, 2017

SOLEBURY, Pa. — A 20-year-old linked to a Pennsylvania farm at the center of a search for four missing men was arrested Wednesday on charges he tried to sell one man’s car after he went missing, even as it contained the man’s ‘‘life-saving’’ diabetic kit, authorities said in announcing the first big break in the case.

Cosmo DiNardo, described as a person of interest, was taken back into custody Wednesday on a stolen vehicle charge, and a judge ordered him held on $5 million cash bail. His parents, Antonio and Sandra DiNardo, own the sprawling farm property the FBI and police cadets have been methodically searching for four days.

‘‘The search at the scene is really intensifying,’’ Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub said at an afternoon news conference. ‘‘I’m very encouraged . . . that we’re going to get some finality in this just prolonged ordeal.’’

According to a police affidavit, police interviewed a man who said DiNardo tried to sell him an old Nissan, the type belonging to Tom Meo, 21, on Saturday, one day after Meo went missing. Police found the car early Sunday on the DiNardo farm, with the keys and title hanging up in a garage.

The DiNardo farm alone covers 90 acres, much of it cornfields. They also own other nearby farm parcels, along with concrete and construction businesses based in Bensalem, about 20 miles away, where the son was arrested.

The FBI has been using heavy equipment to dig a deep ditch on the farm property, then sifting through each bucket of dirt by hand. The search has unearthed ‘‘important’’ evidence, but no human remains, Weintraub said.....

So what are they really looking for or doing?

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"High school students sue after anti-abortion club rejected" AP  July 13, 2017

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Two Pennsylvania high school students have filed a federal lawsuit against their school district alleging discrimination and a violation of their free-speech rights after their failed attempt to start an antiabortion club.

Chicago-based law firm Thomas More Society filed the lawsuit on behalf of students Elizabeth Castro and Grace Schairer on Tuesday against the Parkland School District in Allentown.

The lawsuit alleges that Parkland High School denied the student’s proposal to start a ‘‘Trojans for Life’’ club in 2016 for being too political and controversial.

A spokesperson for the school district said it would have approved the club if the students changed its mission, abandoned certain activities, and gave up fund-raising rights.

In other words, all school activities must be pre-approved for political correctness by the perverts that infest the system.

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Related: ‘‘We’re not interested in getting rid of civil rights,’’ said Cynthia Garrett, co-president of Families Advocating for Campus Equality, a group founded by three mothers who said their sons were falsely accused of sexual misconduct on campus. ‘‘What we do oppose,’’ she said, is the Education Department’s ‘‘coercive and punitive attitude toward schools, because we believe it drove schools to decide that it was easier to find a student guilty and there would be fewer repercussions than finding a student not responsible.’’

Guess what I'm considering aborting soon?

"Iowa hospital unwittingly posts 5,300 patients’ data online" AP  July 13, 2017

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics said it accidentally posted online the names, admission dates, and medical records numbers of around 5,300 current and former patients for two years.

But we are going to an all digital world. 

They can't even take care of the information they have, and we are $uppo$ed to tru$t them?

The University of Iowa Health Care said in a news release Tuesday that ‘‘a limited set of data’’ was inadvertently saved in unencrypted files posted online through an application development site. The release did not explain how it happened.

Spokesman Tom Moore said an online security expert reported the posting April 29. The files were deleted two days later. He said the website where it was posted confirmed the files were not copied. Moore also said the files didn’t contain clinical information, Social Security, or credit card numbers.

University of Iowa Health Care notified the patients through a June 22 letter. 

And we are all just finding out now?

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"Scientists say massive iceberg has broken off in Antarctica" by Jugal K. Patel New York Times  July 12, 2017

Why did the sentence "There is no scientific consensus over whether global warming is to blame. But....." get removed?

Larsen C, like two smaller ice shelves that collapsed before it, was holding back relatively little land ice, and it is not expected to contribute much to the rise of the sea, but in the late 20th century, the Antarctic Peninsula, which juts out from the main body of Antarctica and points toward South America, was one of the fastest-warming places in the world. That warming had slowed or perhaps reversed slightly in the 21st century, but scientists believe the ice is still catching up to the higher temperatures.

OMG!!!!!

Some climate scientists believe the warming in the region was at least in part a consequence of human-caused climate change, while others have disputed that, seeing a large role for natural variability — and noting that icebergs have been breaking away from ice shelves for many millions of years. But the two camps agree that the breakup of ice shelves in the peninsula region may be a preview of what is in store for the main part of Antarctica as the world continues heating up as a result of human activity.....

That is their religion.

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“Global warming is the canary in a coal mine,” and I was already preprogrammed for such an event.

Related:

That iceberg is 25 times the size of Boston

Hope it melts before getting here. 

Also see:

"The US Army Corps of Engineers and the Massachusetts Port Authority, two agencies pursuing the $310 million dredging project, have reached a settlement with Eversource Energy and the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority to resolve the power line issue....."

Why dredge the harbor if the sea levels are rising?


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"Maine state rep: If Trump gets within 10 feet, he will be a ‘half-term president’" by James Pindell Globe Staff  July 12, 2017

A Maine state representative is being chastised for comments he made on Facebook Tuesday night suggesting that if President Trump got within 10 feet of him, he would be a “half-term president.”

That is a THREAT, and I hope Trump's security is investigating!!

Of course, the placement of the piece -- page B3, lower left corner column -- shows the bias of the Trump-hating Globe.

State Representative Scott Hamann, a Democrat from South Portland, made the comment during a public Facebook exchange with someone he said is a longtime friend with whom he has “sarcastic” banter.

Maine Republican Party Chairwoman Demi Kouzounas called the remarks “unhinged and dangerous.”

Hamann, 36, later deleted the Facebook comment and released a statement saying his words were “inappropriate.”

“While the tone of the post was born out of frustration with the vile language currently surrounding politics, I should not have responded with the same language,” Hamann said in the statement. “This is not language I typically use; it does not reflect my personal values, and while misguided, it was intended to make a visceral point about the devolving political discourse in America.”

Are you sure he is not ill

The problem is, it does reflect his personal values.

Hamann is not the first Maine politician to face a backlash after comments on Facebook about a president. In 2015, former state senator Mike Willette, a Republican, lost a committee chairmanship after inflammatory statements he made about then-President Obama and Muslims.

Yeah, he's up next with twice the print coverage.

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Btw, the killer of Trump will come from Massachusetts.

"Holliston man pleads guilty to ammunition charge after alleged threats against Obama" by Travis Andersen Globe staff  July 12, 2017

A Holliston man who allegedly expressed a desire to kill then-president Obama, threatened to plant bombs in police stations, and said he would attack a mosque pleaded guilty Wednesday to illegally possessing ammunition.

I have said this before, and I'll say it again: don't waste your valuable time and energy. If he was coming to my town, I'm going to the other end of it. I don't think I could stand to be near such scum.

Joseph Gargiulo, a real estate appraiser in his 40s, entered his plea in US District Court in Boston.

?????? 

Blames him for the housing collapse?

Gargiulo, who has been in custody since his arrest last summer, wore green prison garb and nodded and winked at a small group of supporters before quietly pleading guilty.

“I’m more clear-headed now than I’ve been in a long time,” Gargiulo told Judge Douglas P. Woodlock during the brief hearing.

Gargiulo was barred from possessing guns or ammunition at the time of his arrest because his ex-wife had taken out a restraining order against him.

But when authorities executed a search warrant at his home on Aug. 26, they recovered hundreds of rounds of ammunition, component parts to assemble an AR-15 rifle, and a kit to assemble a 9-millimeter pistol, Assistant US Attorney Mark J. Grady said Wednesday.

Court records indicate that investigators also seized incendiary materials including aluminum powder, ammonium nitrate, and iron oxide.

Gargiulo’s former wife told the FBI last July that she was worried about him because he was stockpiling food and weapons and said “he will plant bombs in police stations . . . and kill as many homeland security officers as he can before they kill him,” according to an affidavit.

In addition, a friend of Gargiulo’s told authorities he said he planned to “chain a mosque closed and burn it down” and “burn every [expletive deleted] down in there,” the affidavit said.

Gargiulo also told the friend he wished he had killed Obama when the former president was golfing on Martha’s Vineyard, according to the affidavit.

A lawyer for Gargiulo, Mark R. Meehan, told reporters after a court hearing last summer that his client “denies making any threats to anybody” and suggested the allegations stemmed from “ongoing custody issues” involving his two children.

No!

On Wednesday, another lawyer for Gargiulo, Charles Rankin, asked Woodlock to free his client pending sentencing. He said Gargiulo is not a flight risk and presents no danger to the community.

Woodlock denied the request but said he will reconsider if Rankin files a written motion within 10 days. Rankin said he would do so.

Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 12. Gargiulo faces a maximum prison term of 10 years. In a plea agreement, prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence at the low end of the guidelines.

Woodlock warned Gargiulo that Woodlock does not have to follow the recommendation. He said Gargiulo cannot withdraw his guilty plea if he is displeased with the sentence.

“You’re stuck with it,” Woodlock said.

He also explained that, according to standard procedure, Gargiulo would be surrendering his right to trial by pleading guilty.

Gargiulo, who has undergone mental health treatment, said he understood.

“You made it clear, your honor,” he said.

Grady, the prosecutor, made no mention of Gargiulo’s alleged threats against police stations and mosques during Wednesday’s hearing, and Gargiulo was not charged criminally with making threats.

Instead, Grady focused solely on the ammunition and firearm components that officials seized from Gargiulo’s home.

“Is that what happened?” Woodlock asked Gargiulo.

“That’s correct,” he replied.

--more--"

Turned out to be a hoax.

Object resembling a cannonball found in Concord


*****************************

Now for the fun and games:

Julian Edelman, Aly Raisman spotted at ESPN party

The clothes will soon be off in ESPN's nudie magazine?

Gronk also appears in the spread, and he was compensated for it.

Drag queens host bingo fund-raiser for Concord Youth

"The Newton Centre college is trying new youth initiatives, such as becoming the regional host of a national program that teaches teenagers about Jewish values and philanthropy....."

Put white in there instead of Jewish or anything else and see what happens.

Flybridge Capital launches woman-only VC fund

$exi$m is okay!

Time to sweep this post clean, Chim chiminey (the ash is choking me), and failing that I'll have to amputate.