What's in the News? 2.0

[Markus]

Pentagon releases UFO Videos

[Mechelle]

Boris Johnson's partner, Carrie Symonds, has given birth to ahealthy baby boy. This was a surprise, as people did not realise she was so far along in pregnancy, unless the baby was premature.
He has only just returned to work following his recovery from Covid-19. I don't know if he plans to take paternity leave.

[Beorning]

Pentagon releases UFO Videos

Okay, so... any ideas as to what these things are?

[TheGlyphstone]

If we did, they wouldn't be unidentified...

[Sara Nilsson]

Okay, so... any ideas as to what these things are?

Distractions from Trumps horrible handling of things? ^^

[Oniya]

IFO's are still highly classified.   

[Beorning]

You're making fun, guys, but this is seriously weird! 

[Oniya]

In all seriousness, I remember coming across a copy of 'Project Blue Book' when I was in college.  And like any good sci-fi fan, I sat down and read the thing.

The information that the government releases is about the stuff that they've determined is not worth keeping secret.  They may not know what it is, but they're pretty sure that it's not a US or other country's actual aircraft.

[Orval Wintermute]

Captain Tom Moore has been made an honorary Colonel to mark his 100th birthday and the £30 million he's raised for NHS charities.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/apr/30/captain-tom-promoted-to-colonel-on-100th-birthday-in-flood-of-cards

[Sara Nilsson]

Okay, so... any ideas as to what these things are?

https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/18/politics/luis-elizondo-ufo-pentagon/index.html

Seem familiar. Yeah its the same video. But from 2017. This isn't new stuff.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Aerospace_Threat_Identification_Program

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eco2s3-0zsQ

And a 2 hour interview with the pilot.

So it really isn't anything to get worked up over. Sorry

[Markus]

Apparently he's still alive

[Sara Nilsson]

https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/05/01/849375925/white-house-denies-congressional-request-for-dr-anthony-faucis-testimony

White house wont let Dr Faucis to testify before Congress. But of course.

[stormwyrm]

https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/05/01/849375925/white-house-denies-congressional-request-for-dr-anthony-faucis-testimony

White house wont let Dr Faucis to testify before Congress. But of course.

At this rate it may require a Congressional Subpoena to get him to testify. That I believe Trump cannot force him to disobey. Dr. Fauci probably believes that he's the only adult in the room and he's doing more good than harm by sticking around. Just like so many other civil servants out there, like what many other former officials in the Justice and State Departments believed to their sorrow:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/04/how-to-destroy-a-government/606793/

[TheGlyphstone]

At this rate it may require a Congressional Subpoena to get him to testify. That I believe Trump cannot force him to disobey. Dr. Fauci probably believes that he's the only adult in the room and he's doing more good than harm by sticking around. Just like so many other civil servants out there, like what many other former officials in the Justice and State Departments believed to their sorrow:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/04/how-to-destroy-a-government/606793/

Except that we know from direct experience the White House just ignores subpoenas.

[Despairs]

Leaked Western intel dossier reveals how China deceived the world about Coronavirus. <--Link to article.

[Lustful Bride]

There is now a new threat to the Honeybee population, invasive Asian Giant hornets(Nicknamed: "Murder Hornets") that can easily kill off hives (and in large numbers can kill humans) have been found to be the cause of the deaths of several honeybee hives. They have been spotted in the US and Canada, and Entomologists are asking to be notified if you spot them or see signs of them harming hives so they can set up traps to capture them and track them to their own hives to handle the infestation.

We must save the bees.

Trigger Warning: Some really nasty up close shots of the hornets.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/murder-hornets-are-the-newest-lethal-threat-in-the-us/ar-BB13waF2?ocid=spartanntp

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/tracking-the-asian-giant-murder-hornet-a-deadly-pest-has-reached-north-america/ar-BB13va3Q?ocid=spartanntp

[Beorning]

It's May 3th and here in Poland we still don't know whether the presidential elections will be happening, when they will be happening (May 10th? 17th? 23rd?) and how are we will be supposed to vote? Assuming the vote will happen by post, how are we going to get our voting cards? The official story is that Polish Post is going to distribute them by putting them into mail boxes - but some experts say that, even according to the law the government plans to vote through on May 6th, the voting packages should be given out by the postmen personally to the recipients... This is total chaos!

Another article on the situation, if you're interested:

https://emerging-europe.com/news/polands-presidential-vote-an-unprecedented-election-for-unprecedented-times/

Personally, I am going to boycott these elections. Until now, I have never, ever refrained from voting - but this is a scam. I'm not going to give it any legitimacy.

What I'm wondering: if the current president wins a second term with 30% or less Poles having taken part in the elections... and with all the legal and organisational concerns... will the foreign governments accept him as a legit head of state? I'd hope not...

[Callie Del Noire]

Uh.. that is roughly the Eligible US citizen volume that bothers to register and vote. Something like half eligible voters bother to register. Depending on the candidates, along with some epically horrific voting laws and actions, roughly somewhere between a third to half of registered voters do any given election cycle

Been that way since Watergate.

[TheGlyphstone]

Uh.. that is roughly the Eligible US citizen volume that bothers to register and vote. Something like half eligible voters bother to register. Depending on the candidates, along with some epically horrific voting laws and actions, roughly somewhere between a third to half of registered voters do any given election cycle

Been that way since Watergate.

I thought we generally got around a 70% voter participation rate during elections.

[Callie Del Noire]

I thought we generally got around a 70% voter participation rate during elections.

Hardly.

If we get CLOSE to 50% of registered voters is a friggin miracle

[TheGlyphstone]

Hardly.

If we get CLOSE to 50% of registered voters is a friggin miracle

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_turnout_in_the_United_States_presidential_elections

I overestimated - it hover around 50-55% EVT (Eligible Voter Turnout), but according to this estimate, the only time we've seen less than 50% was the 1996 election. The decline from 60%+ range started in 1948. How do those figures differ from yours?

[Callie Del Noire]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_turnout_in_the_United_States_presidential_elections

I overestimated - it hover around 50-55% EVT (Eligible Voter Turnout), but according to this estimate, the only time we've seen less than 50% was the 1996 election. The decline from 60%+ range started in 1948. How do those figures differ from yours?

I tend to be cynical. What’s the -/+ on that?

Too many airman going ‘my vote doesn’t count’ while I was in the Navy. Two told me that in 2000 while Gore/Bush were fighting over tallies from their district.

I remember most of those figures from a Western Europe turnout vs US turnout article while I was in Sciliy or Spain

[ShadowFox89]

Generally, if your state isn't a key battleground state (Wisconsin, Florida, Texas, California, etc) and you're voting for the party that isn't hugely favorited in that state, it doesn't make much difference.

[TheGlyphstone]

Generally, if your state isn't a key battleground state (Wisconsin, Florida, Texas, California, etc) and you're voting for the party that isn't hugely favorited in that state, it doesn't make much difference.

Yeah, the % of votes that actually make a deciding factor is a lot different. The Electoral College was, and sort of still is, a good idea in theory. How did it become so problematic in practice?

[gaggedLouise]

Yeah, the % of votes that actually make a deciding factor is a lot different. The Electoral College was, and sort of still is, a good idea in theory. How did it become so problematic in practice?

When the US was founded there were no megacities and no great plains in the country - the idea that one single state with some big cities could have five or ten times the voting population of a smaller prairie state (but perhapos just three times as many electors) would have been foreign to Jefferson and Madison. Plus, national politics didn't have such a pervasive impact on daily life back then.