In Other News

[Uncle Sparky]

I've been listening to The 5th Dimension since the '60s.

[BeBMan]

Could be they found the Force or something:

From sticking a magnet on a fridge door to throwing a ball into a basketball hoop, the forces of physics are at play in every moment of our lives.


All of the forces we experience every day can be reduced to just four categories: gravity, electromagnetism, the strong force and the weak force.

Now, physicists say they have found possible signs of a fifth fundamental force of nature.

The findings come from research carried out at a laboratory near Chicago.

The four fundamental forces govern how all the objects and particles in the Universe interact with each other.

For example, gravity makes objects fall to the ground, and heavy objects behave as if they are glued to the floor.

The UK's Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) said the result "provides strong evidence for the existence of an undiscovered sub-atomic particle or new force".

But the results from the Muon g-2 experiment don't add up to a conclusive discovery yet.

(snipsnap)

https://www.bbc.com/news/56643677

Take that, Midi-chlorians!

[Egbert]

There's been a Castro running Cuba for as long as I can remember (literally since 1959; I was 6).
Weird.

The Castro brothers and our Queen are the two (er three) leaders who have been in office since before I was born.

The first Prime Minister of our queen was Winston Churchill. When she passes it will feel like the end of an era for the dominions. And reignite squabbles about republicanism.
(I am a very staunch monarchist)

[-Jrabbit]

There's been a Castro running Cuba for as long as I can remember (literally since 1959; I was 6).
Weird.

[SlowwHand]

Raul Castro resigned.

https://apnews.com/article/fidel-castro-miguel-diaz-canel-raul-castro-cuba-be9643a492b1803b67e29c8de467f7e9

[Broken_Erika]

They don't need transplants they just need to pray harder to Jesus.

[-Jrabbit]

These 2 self-promoting yahoos are living proof that any idiot can be elected a US representative:

Bill H.R.941, the TRANSPLANT Act, overwhelmingly passed the House in a 415-2 vote on Thursday night. This bill would reauthorize the National Marrow Donor Program, which matches bone marrow donors and cord blood units with patients who have leukemia and other diseases. The bill would help thousands of people diagnosed with leukemia and other diseases by reauthorizing the National Marrow Donor Program and the National Cord Blood Inventory for another five years.

The only two House members to vote against it were Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Lauren Boebert of Colorado.

[SlowwHand]

[Broken_Erika]

Mystery tree beast turns out to be croissant

When animal welfare officers received a report of an unusual animal lurking in a tree in the Polish city of Krakow, they were not sure what to expect.

"People aren't opening their windows because they're afraid it will go into their house," the woman reportedly said.

But a visit to the area showed the creature in question was not a bird, or even a reptile - but a croissant.

The Krakow Animal Welfare Society said the incident was genuine.

Writing on Facebook, the organisation said its officers had asked the desperate caller whether the unidentified animal, which had been in the tree for two days, could be a bird of prey.

The woman responded that it looked more like a "lagun" - Polish for lagoon - before remembering the correct word "legwan", or iguana.

Although the inspectors knew that it was unlikely that a reptile would survive the cool spring temperatures in the southern Polish city, they wondered if the animal could have been an unwanted pet abandoned by its owners.

Arriving on the scene, however, the inspectors found the headless and limbless object in a lilac tree - a pastry, probably thrown out of a window to feed birds.

The organisation remained light-hearted about the encounter and said the public should continue to err on the side of caution and report any concerns about animal welfare.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56757956

[Uncle Sparky]

USA! USA!

Spoiler:

[Broken_Erika]

'World's biggest rabbit' stolen from owner's garden


An award-winning four-foot long rabbit is thought to have been stolen from its enclosure.

Darius, a continental giant rabbit, went missing from his home in Stoulton, Worcestershire, on Saturday night.

His owner Annette Edwards has offered a £1,000 reward for his return and said it was a "very sad day".

At 129cm (4ft 2in) long, Darius is a record holder after being named the world's longest rabbit in 2010.

• Latest news and updates from the West Midlands

West Mercia Police said it is believed Darius was stolen from his enclosure, which is in his owners' garden, overnight on Saturday.

Ms Edwards said Darius is "too old to breed now" and pleaded for his safe return.

He was named as the longest living rabbit by Guinness World Records in April 2010, when he was measured for an article in the Daily Mail.

Ms Edwards said he claimed the title from his mother Alice, and he was her fourth award-winning rabbit.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-56720118

[SlowwHand]

[Broken_Erika]

US army officer sues police over violent traffic stop

A black US army lieutenant has filed a lawsuit against two policemen who pointed their guns and pepper-sprayed him during a traffic stop.

Army Second Lieutenant Caron Nazario is wearing his uniform during the bodycam footage, taken in December in Virginia.

"I'm honestly afraid to get out," he tells the two police officers. "Yeah you should be," an officer says.

Police say he was stopped for failing to display licence plates but temporary plates are visible in the video.

During the incident, the soldier, who was handcuffed while his car was searched, asked why force was being used against him and was told by a police officer: "Because you're not co-operating." He was later released without charge.

The suit, filed at the US District Court of Norfolk, Virginia, against the two Windsor Police Department officers, Joe Gutierrez and Daniel Crocker, alleges violations to his constitutional rights, and includes assault, illegal search and illegal detention.

There was no immediate response from the Windsor Police Department.

The lawsuit comes at a time of increased scrutiny over alleged police brutality towards minorities and racial justice.

Ex-police officer Derek Chauvin is currently on trial for the murder of George Floyd. The footage of Mr Chauvin, who is white, with his knee on African-American Mr Floyd's neck during an arrest sparked global protests against racism.

What more do we know about the incident?

Lt Nazario, who is Black and Latino, was in uniform and driving with a temporary paper licence plate on his back window on 5 December, when he was told to pull over in the town of Windsor. He then stopped at a petrol station and kept his hands outside the window, while asking the policemen why he was being stopped.

• What US police officers think of George Floyd protests
• The personal cost of filming police brutality
• Bodycam video shows officers berating 5-year-old

Attorney Jonathan Arthur, who is representing Lt Nazario in the lawsuit, said that the army officer knew it was vital he kept his hands on show.

"To unbuckle his seatbelt, to do anything, any misstep - he was afraid that they were going to kill him," Mr Arthur told CBS.

The suit filed by Lt Nazario says that Mr Gutierrez acknowledged why the army officer had waited to pull over in a lighted area.

"I get it, the media spewing race relations between law enforcement and minorities. I get it," the policeman said, according to the suit.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56707979

[Slaughtermeyer]

Have a safe Passover

Actually, the ritual of the three matzos performed during the Passover seder is about as Christian as you can get because that ritual was invented by Jews of the first century who believed Jesus is the Messiah. The 3 matzos represent the Trinity and the middle matzo representing Jesus called the Aphikomen, a Greek word meaning "I Came" is broken, hidden and brought back with the third cup of wine representing his death, burial, and resurrection on the third day.

http://www.sarshalom.us/resources/thestory.php

[BeBMan]

'Satan Shoes' to be recalled as Nike agrees to settle lawsuit


Nike says the art collective which made "Satan Shoes" that purportedly contain a drop of human blood in the soles has agreed to issue a voluntary recall as part of a legal settlement.

The $1,018 (£740) trainers are modified Nike Air Max 97s. Only 666 pairs were made and all but one have been shipped.

The collective MSCHF will offer full refunds to customers in order to remove the shoes from circulation, Nike said.

The settlement resolves a trademark infringement lawsuit filed by Nike.

The controversial shoes were produced by the Brooklyn collective in collaboration with rapper Lil Nas X, who held the last pair so he could choose the recipient. MSCHF said it would keep the final pair of shoes.

No further details were made public about the settlement, which includes the Jesus Shoes produced by MSCHF in 2019 also using the Air Max 97 as a base.

(...)

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56684773