Category Archives: News to use

Useful news for all to advance knowledge of the world and how it works

GOP senator’s ad on reopening Texas schools uses video of “class” in Estonia, where COVID is scarce | Salon.com

Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican up for re-election this year, posted an ad over the weekend touting his dedication to safely reopening schools in the Lone Star state, which appears to use stock footage of a classroom halfway around the world in Estonia.

The 30-second spot, called “Cares,” is meant to foreground the lengths which Cornyn has gone to in order to re-open schools safely.

 

Source: GOP senator’s ad on reopening Texas schools uses video of “class” in Estonia, where COVID is scarce | Salon.com

Pelosi Statement After Conversation with Postmaster General | Speaker Nancy Pelosi

“The Postmaster General’s alleged pause is wholly insufficient and does not reverse damage already wreaked.  The Postmaster General frankly admitted that he had no intention of replacing the sorting machines, blue mailboxes and other key mail infrastructure that have been removed and that plans for adequate overtime, which is critical for the timely delivery of mail, are not in the works.  All of these changes directly jeopardize the election and disproportionately threaten to disenfranchise voters in communities of color.  At the same time, we are highly concerned that the slowdown of the delivery of medicines to veterans is not being sufficiently addressed.

Source: Pelosi Statement After Conversation with Postmaster General | Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Trump tacitly endorses baseless QAnon conspiracy theory linked to violence

Traitor, loser, bunker boy Trump

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President says followers of movement, which claims Trump is fighting ‘deep state’ paedophiles, ‘love our country’

Donald Trump has tacitly endorsed QAnon, a baseless rightwing conspiracy theory identified as a potential domestic terrorism threat by the FBI, claiming its followers “love our country” and “like me very much”.

Followers of the QAnon movement believe without evidence that Trump is fighting a Satanic “deep state” of global elites involved in paedophilia, human trafficking and the harvesting of a supposedly life-extending chemical from the blood of abused children.

Yet asked about the theory at Wednesday’s White House press briefing, the US president failed to condemn it. “I don’t know much about the movement other than I understand they like me very much, which I appreciate,” he said. “I have heard that it is gaining in popularity.”

Continue reading…

235 Million Instagram, TikTok And YouTube User Profiles Exposed In Massive Data Leak

Got an Instagram, TikTok or YouTube account? 235 million users potentially affected by massive profile data leak. (I have reported in the last month, 3 or 4 Instagram accounts of people whose names – with slight variations – and photos were used to follow and communicate with users. I have changed my password twice in last several weeks as well because of the intrusion.)

Source: 235 Million Instagram, TikTok And YouTube User Profiles Exposed In Massive Data Leak

Lightning-sparked fires explode in Bay Area as residents flee – Los Angeles Times

A series of fast-moving fires in the San Francisco Bay Area and elsewhere in Northern California — many caused by intense lightning storms — exploded overnight, burning homes and causing thousands to flee. The newest fires stretched from wine country to the Santa Cruz Mountains, moving with ferocious speed amid an intense heat wave that also has brought rolling blackouts. Smoke from the fires has caused terrible air quality across the region.

Source: Lightning-sparked fires explode in Bay Area as residents flee – Los Angeles Times

High school QB, homecoming king contracts (exhibits) COVID-19 twice, doctors find hole in heart | WFLA

After 14 days, he was cleared. But weeks passed and Cady said her son wasn’t his normal self.

A doctor visit revealed he had lost 20 pounds. Hours later his feet started swelling. That’s when his mother rushed him to the hospital.

“They explained to me that this was a sign of heart failure,” she said.

Ikaika tested positive for coronavirus again. Even more alarming, doctors discovered a hole in his heart and two heart valves on the verge of failure. According to doctors, the hole was already there and COVID made it worse.

They performed surgery immediately.

“One they were able to repair, the second they had to replace with a mechanical valve,” Cady said.

Ikaika must now take blood thinners for the rest of his life. He still has a long road to recovery, but Cady says her son is a testament to his name.

Ikaika means “strong” in Hawaiian.

Source: High school QB, homecoming king contracts COVID-19 twice, doctors find hole in heart | WFLA

PPP Loans Granted To Dozens Of NY Companies With History Of Fraud And Other Violations – Gothamist (Who is not managing this swamp? That would be a Trump chump appointee)

Among the most high-profile cases is that of Zwanger & Pesiri Radiology Group, LLP, a Long Island radiology company that was approved for a loan between $2 million and $5 million.

But four years ago, following a whistleblower’s complaint, the company’s CEO, Steven Mendelsohn, paid $8.1 million to settle allegations of Medicare and Medicaid fraud with the New York Attorney General’s office.

Mendelsohn was accused of performing unnecessary medical procedures on patients and billing the federal government as part of a fraud scheme that netted him more than a million dollars. Specifically, the government claimed that if a woman came in with a prescription for a transvaginal ultrasound, he would also perform a pelvic exam and bill for it.

 

Source: PPP Loans Granted To Dozens Of NY Companies With History Of Fraud And Other Violations – Gothamist