the "Headline That Caught My Attention or the WTF" thread

[wader]

what could possibly go wrong?

‘Jurassic Park experiment’: 750 million genetically engineered mosquitoes to be released in Florida

US authorities have approved a plan to release more than 750 million genetically modified mosquitoes across the Florida Keys, despite objections from local residents.British-based firm Oxitec are behind the project, that will test whether the altered mosquitoes can work as an alternative to...

www.yahoo.com

 

[Roccus7]

Trump wants Supreme Court to let him block critics on Twitter
pressherald.com/2020/08/20/trump-wants-supreme-court-to-let-him-block-critics-on-twitter/

By MARK SHERMANAssociated PressAugust 20, 2020
President Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to allow him to block critics from his personal Twitter account.

The administration said in a high-court filing Thursday that Trump’s @realdonaldtrump account with more than 85 million followers is his personal property and blocking people from it is akin to elected officials who refuse to allow their opponents’ yard signs on their front lawns.

“President Trump’s ability to use the features of his personal Twitter account, including the blocking function, are independent of his presidential office,” acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall wrote in urging the justices to review the case.

The federal appeals court in New York ruled last year that Trump uses the account to make daily pronouncements and observations that are overwhelmingly official in nature. It held that Trump violated the First Amendment whenever he blocked a critic to silence a viewpoint.

A decision about whether even to hear the case is not likely before the November election.

The case grew out of a challenge brought by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, which sued on behalf of seven individuals blocked by Trump after criticizing his policies.

Jameel Jaffer, the Knight Institute’s executive director, said the justices should decline to take up Trump’s appeal.

“This case stands for a principle that is fundamental to our democracy and basically synonymous with the First Amendment: government officials can’t exclude people from public forums simply because they disagree with their political views,” Jaffer said in a statement.

The administration argued in its appeal that the Supreme Court, not lower courts, “should decide where to draw the line between the President’s personal decisions and official conduct.”

The pace of the case was slowed by the coronavirus pandemic as well as Trump’s decision to ask the full 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review the ruling by a three-judge panel. The court refused to do so by a 7-2 vote in March. Two Trump appointees, Judges Michael H. Park and Richard J. Sullivan, were the only members of the court to side with the president.

The Supreme Court extended its deadline to file an appeal from 90 days to 150 days when it shut the building to the public and abandoned in-person meetings in favor of telephone conferences because of the virus outbreak.

 

[chunkster]

Gilgo Beach murders: Authorities identify woman who vanished two decades ago

A woman whose partial remains were found on Long Island, New York,
nearly a decade ago was identified Thursday as . . . . .


Gilgo Beach murders: Authorities identify woman who vanished two decades ago

 

[Aquarius]

Gilgo Beach murders: Authorities identify woman who vanished two decades ago

A woman whose partial remains were found on Long Island, New York,
nearly a decade ago was identified Thursday as . . . . .


Gilgo Beach murders: Authorities identify woman who vanished two decades ago

Old news. That story came out in May.

 

[wader]

Driver Outruns Cops With One Of The Most Powerful Muscle Cars, Then Runs Out Of Gas

If only the gas tank was bigger, this Hellcat could have pulled off one of the most successful getaways.

www.yahoo.com

 

[Roccus7]

Ecuador says Chinese fishing vessels near the Galapagos have turned off tracking systems to prevent being monitored

Ecuador’s naval forces said about half of the 325 vessels from a predominantly Chinese fishing fleet operating near the Galapagos Islands have turned off their satellite systems and cut communications to prevent their activities from being tracked. Some vessels have also changed their names to...

www.yahoo.com

Not just Chinese boats doing this, it's rampant fish piracy worldwide. Smithsonian Magazine has an article about this...

 

[wader]

The 27 Club: Music's most tragic list highlights the emotional pressure of the spotlight

Although autopsy reports and historical records about the fast lives Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse carried out in their final years can tell us how they met their tragic ends, a better way to understand their deaths is to consider why.

www.yahoo.com

 

[Roccus7]

Never been a fan of Danbury because of traffic. It's on the "Keep Your Butt Off I-95 Alternate Route" heading down to NYC and another traffic tie up. However, I do applaud the local government on this very apropos "Eat This Sucker" initiative...

Connecticut town naming sewage plant after John Oliver
pressherald.com/2020/08/23/connecticut-town-naming-sewage-plant-after-john-oliver/

Associated PressAugust 23, 2020

DANBURY, Conn. – A Connecticut town’s officials are showing comedian John Oliver what they think about his expletive-filled rant about their city – they’re naming the local sewage treatment plant after him.

Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton announced the tongue-in-cheek move in a video posted on his Facebook page on Saturday that shows him at the plant.

“We are going to rename it the John Oliver Memorial Sewer Plant,” the Republican mayor says. “Why? Because it’s full of crap just like you, John.”

The new name comes after a recent episode of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” in which he explored the racial disparities in the jury selection process, citing problems in a few Connecticut towns.

In the segment, Oliver noted Danbury’s “charming railway museum” and its “historic Hearthstone Castle.”

“I know exactly three things about Danbury,” he said. “USA Today ranked it the second-best city to live in in 2015, it was once the center of the American hat industry and if you’re from there, you have a standing invite to come get a thrashing from John Oliver – children included – (expletive) you.”

It wasn’t exactly clear what prompted Oliver to go off on Danbury. A message seeking comment was left for his agent Sunday.

Oliver also made fun of Boughton and other American mayors in 2017 over videos they made seeking to attract Amazon’s second world headquarters. In his video, Boughton asks Alexa where the best place for the facility would be, and Alexa says Danbury.

In Boughton’s new video, he also mentions that Amazon has decided to open a distribution facility in Danbury, although it’s not the second world headquarters.

 

[wader]

Viva la France................

French government defends ‘freedom’ of topless sunbathing

On top of the virus and the sinking economy, France’s government has a new problem to worry about: defending women’s liberty of topless sunbathing. After police asked bare-breasted bathers to cover up on a Mediterranean beach last week, uproar ensued – and bubbled up all the way to the French...

www.yahoo.com

“It was unfounded when two women were reproached for their clothing on the beach,” Gerald Darmanin tweeted Monday. “Freedom is a precious asset.”

 

[wader]

GOOD!!

Let him rot there............................

John Lennon’s Killer Mark David Chapman Denied Parole for 11th Time

Chapman was sentenced to 20 years to life in Wende Correctional Facility in 1981

www.yahoo.com

“I was too far in,” Chapman told a parole board in 2018. “I do remember having the thought of, ‘Hey, you have got the album now. Look at this, he signed it, just go home.’ But there was no way I was just going to go home.”

Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, has steadfastly argued against Chapman’s release, saying she fears for her safety and that of Lennon’s sons, Julian and Sean. She’s also raised concerns over angry Beatles fans seeking retribution for Chapman’s crime if he were to be released. This was the same reasoning behind Chapman’s parole denial in 2018, in which the board wrote that “someone may attempt or succeed in harming you out of anger and or revenge, or for the same reason that you did John Lennon, to assume notoriety.”

 

[wader]

Lightning strike blows off man’s shoes, giving him ‘new respect for Crocs’ in Canada

“So I’ve now learned a few things, like don’t go outside in a lightning storm.”

www.yahoo.com

“I reached in to turn on the ignition, and just as I had done that, bam!” Misener said, CTV News reported. “There was no warning, the thunder and the lightning hit at the very same time.”

“The undercarriage of the truck and the whole road basically became this bright orange color,” Misener said, according to the North Shore News. “It was like someone had put orange lights underneath my truck.”


That’s when Misener realized the lightning strike early Aug. 17 had blown off his Crocs and knocked him about 10 feet away, CTV News reported.

Paramedics called to his home told Misener that his blood pressure and heart rate were elevated, but he had no serious injuries, the North Shore News reported. He credits his rubber-soled camouflage Crocs.

“Do I know if they saved my life? I don’t know for sure, but … I sure feel fortunate I had them on,” he said, according to CBC News. “I know they aren’t high on people’s fashion lists, but I have a new respect for Crocs, I’ll tell you that.”

 

[Avenger]

Riiiiigggghhhhtt. Lightning just traveled through a mile of thin air, but the insulating qualities of Crocs saved him. Sure.

This is the same kind of nonsense as the idea that rubber tires protect you while in a car.

What a (pardon the expression) crock.

 

[wader]

Riiiiigggghhhhtt. Lightning just traveled through a mile of thin air, but the insulating qualities of Crocs saved him. Sure.

This is the same kind of nonsense as the idea that rubber tires protect you while in a car.

What a (pardon the expression) crock.

did you read the article? That as the reasoning from the guy that got hit. Turns out the lightning hit his car not him.

 

[Avenger]

did you read the article? That as the reasoning from the guy that got hit. Turns out the lightning hit his car not him.

Yes, I read it. He was reaching in through the window to start the car.

He's just a lucky so-and-so. When that kind of wattage hits, you're just a random outcome. If I was him, I'd skip buying that lottery ticket tonight. He's used up all his luck.

 

[wader]

Tesla Model S on autopilot slammed into a police car because the driver was watching a movie on his phone, authorities say

Nobody was injured in the crash, and the doctor behind the wheel of the Tesla was charged with two crimes.

www.yahoo.com

The man was charged with two crimes: not moving over for police, and watching TV while driving.

 

[wader]

An American Airlines pilot was approaching Los Angeles International Airport at around 6:30 p.m. when he called in the sighting to air-traffic control, according to an audio log. The unidentified flying person was at the plane’s altitude, the pilot said, about 3,000 feet in the air.

“Tower, American 1997. We just passed a guy in a jetpack,” the pilot said.

Airline pilots report seeing 'a guy in a jetpack' flying 3,000 feet over Los Angeles

Federal authorities are investigating after two pilots on two different flights told air-traffic control they saw a man in a jetpack near LAX on Sunday.

www.yahoo.com

 

[Roccus7]

Several boats sink at 'Trump Boat Parade'

A picture is worth a thousand words, some video would be up there with ugly inlet passages. Maybe Texas needs a "Bubba's Law" regarding boat safety training...

 

[CELLFISH]

gives new meaning “ putting ya feet to da fire ? “.... cellie...

 

[Roccus7]

More John Oliver vs Danbury fun...

Connecticut city won’t waste John Oliver’s $55,000 donation, on 1 condition
pressherald.com/2020/09/06/city-wont-waste-john-olivers-donation-on-1-condition/

Associated PressSeptember 6, 2020

DANBURY, Conn. — A Connecticut city won’t waste an opportunity to get a sizeable donation from comedian John Oliver about a weekslong joke pertaining to the name of a sewage plant in the area.
Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton said on WTNH-TV that he would accept Oliver’s challenge to name the city’s sewage plant after him following Oliver’s offer to donate $55,000 to local charities.

But Boughton said there was one stipulation to the facility’s renaming. “We do have one very specific condition. You must come here to Danbury and be physically present when we cut the ribbon,” he said in a Facebook video posted Sunday.

The announcement was the latest volley in a war of words between the host of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” and Boughton after Oliver first bashed Danbury on an Aug. 16 during a segment on racial disparities in jury selection that was actually focused on other areas of Connecticut.

“If you’re going to forget a town in Connecticut, why not forget Danbury?” Oliver said. He finished his rant with a taunt: “If you’re from there, you have a standing invite to come get a thrashing from John Oliver – children included.”

Boughton followed up with an Aug. 22 Facebook post that showed the mayor in front of the city’s sewage plant. “We are going to rename it the John Oliver Memorial Sewer Plant,” the Republican mayor said. “Why? Because it’s full of crap just like you, John.”

Oliver raised the stakes on his Aug. 30 show by offering to donate $55,000 to Danbury-area charities if officials followed through on naming the plant after him.

The comedian played a video of Boughton saying the offer was a joke and said, “Wait, so you’re not doing it?” Oliver said he hadn’t known that he wanted his name on the sewage plant “but now that you floated it as an option, it is all that I want.”

A message seeking comment on Boughton’s demand that Oliver attend the ribbon-cutting was sent to Oliver’s manager.

It was unclear why Oliver first singled out Danbury, a city of about 80,000 in Fairfield County that was once a hatmaking center.

 

[wader]

A French man chased a fly around with an electric swatter and accidentally blew up his own house

The man, in his 80s, was slightly burned and his home is uninhabitable. The fate of the fly is unknown.

www.yahoo.com

• A man in France tried to eliminate an irritating fly and ended up blowing up his house.
• The man, in his 80s, used an electric bug swatter which reacted with a gas leak in his home.
• The explosion left him with minor burns and his home is uninhabitable, according to local reports.
• The fate of the fly is not known.