May 25, 2021

Kansas Republican Accused Of Kicking Teen In Testicles Says It Was God's Plan

State Rep. Mark Samsel allegedly assaulted a 16-year-old student while substitute teaching at a public school in his hometown last month.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A high school student reported that a Kansas House member working as a substitute teacher manhandled him and kicked him in the testicles during class, and the lawmaker told authorities that God told him to do it, according to a sheriff’s deputy’s written statement.

The deputy’s affidavit, released to reporters Tuesday, said the boy showed him a golf ball-sized “road rash” and a 3-to-4 inch scratch on his back that he said appeared after Republican state Rep. Mark Samsel, of Wellsville, pushed him up against a classroom wall on April 28.

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The Wellsville school district has banned Samsel from its property and events for a year. There’s no indication that Samsel might face disciplinary action from the House, which can censure or expel a member, and its top Republican leaders have said the courts “must be allowed to work.”

The sheriff’s deputy said in the document that he asked the lawmaker why he had put his hands on the boy, and Samsel pointed to the ceiling. When the deputy asked Samsel whether God told him to do so, Samsel answered, “Twice.” “He stated he knew it was wrong and he shouldn’t do it, he stated he did not want to do it,” the affidavit said. “He stated, ‘The whole world is telling me not to do it, God said, Yes.’ Mark believes this was God’s plan.”

Read More:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mark-samsel-kansas-testicle-kicking-teacher_n_60ad460ae4b0a24c4f820954

May 20, 2021

An 11-year-old girl fought off a knife-wielding man who tried to kidnap her at FL school bus stop

(CNN) An 11-year-old girl waiting for her school bus in Pensacola, Florida, was able to fight off an alleged kidnapping attempt on Tuesday morning and get to safety, authorities said.

A 30-year-old suspect was arrested later that day after a search involving at least 50 deputies and other personnel, Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons told reporters. Surveillance video released by the sheriff's office shows the girl kneeling on the grass at the bus stop when a white Dodge Journey SUV stops on the side of the road. The video shows a man getting out of the car and running toward the girl. Simmons said the man was holding a knife.

The video shows the girl trying to run away before the man grabs her and starts carrying her toward the vehicle. There is a struggle and the girl breaks free from the suspect's grip when they both fall to the ground. The girl can be seen running away as the man hurries back to his car and drives off.

"I cannot help but think that this could have ended very differently. Had this 11-year-old victim not thought to fight and to fight and to just never give up, then this could have ended terrible," Simmons said.


https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/19/us/florida-kidnapping-attempt-video-trnd/index.html

April 13, 2021

Indicted Gaetz Associate Is Said to Be Cooperating With Justice Dept.

(NY Times) Joel Greenberg, a former elected official in Florida, has been talking to federal investigators since last year about the conduct of Representative Matt Gaetz and others. A former local official in Florida indicted in the Justice Department investigation that is also focused on Representative Matt Gaetz has been providing investigators with information since last year about an array of topics, including Mr. Gaetz’s activities, according to two people briefed on the matter.

Joel Greenberg, a onetime county tax collector, disclosed to investigators that he and Mr. Gaetz had encounters with women who were given cash or gifts in exchange for sex, the people said. The Justice Department is investigating the involvement of the men with multiple women who were recruited online for sex and received cash payments and whether the men had sex with a 17-year-old in violation of sex trafficking statutes, people familiar with the inquiry have said.

Mr. Greenberg, who is said to have met the women through websites that connect people who go on dates in exchange for gifts, fine dining, travel and allowances and introduced them to Mr. Gaetz, could provide investigators with firsthand accounts of their activities.

Mr. Greenberg began speaking with investigators once he realized that the government had overwhelming evidence against him and that his only path to leniency lay in cooperation, the people said. He has met several times with investigators to try to establish his trustworthiness, though the range of criminal charges against him — including fraud — could undermine his credibility as a witness.
Read More:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/13/us/politics/joel-greenberg-matt-gaetz.html

April 13, 2021

Watch a glorious 'Earthrise' from the perspective of the moon

(MSN) What's an Earthrise? It's much like a sunrise, only instead of watching the sun stretch above the horizon, this time we're watching earth itself rise, from the perspective of the moon. It's mind-blowing to watch. And a good exercise in reminding yourself that Earth isn't at the centre of this universe, or any universe for that matter.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/watch-a-glorious-earthrise-from-the-perspective-of-the-moon/ar-BB1fAQEo

March 26, 2021

Starting Monday April 5 anyone over the age of 18 can get vaccinated in Florida!

I can not tell you how relieved I feel. While my 92 year old dad was vaccinated first (and hubby and I just recently got our first doses) my kids are millennials and zoomers and way down at the bottom of the eligibility list. While they have been working remotely and taking classes online and living like hermits, not all of their peers have been as safe, so finally they can get their shots and their mama will sleep better at night. Only ten days to go.....

March 22, 2021

Got the Pfizer vaccine today at Fema location of Miami-Dade College North and things went smoothly.

Went mid-day and got in line at 1:30 where we were handed check in cards through car window after we showed ID's (no appointments necessary). We stayed in our cars while the line slowly moved toward the vaccination tents. After an hour we were waved into parking spaces in front of tents where we vacated our cars and walked into the tents - the first one was just to verify ID, the second tent was to register and get a sticker, in the third tent we separated then sent to wait in folding chairs (very brief wait), then the fourth tent was where we were vaccinated by military personnel (each at our own table) then sent to the fifth and last tent to be watched in case there was a reaction. All in all, it went very smoothly - sat in our cars for an hour, took 15 minutes to go through the tents and receive shot, another 15 minutes of wait time after the vaccine then we were good to go. From start to finish it took about an hour and a half. I was pleasantly surprised how well it went. So relieved. The Spring Breakers are down here in South Florida and all over the place UN-MASKED and it is so scary for those of us who are just trying to follow the rules and keep ourselves alive.

March 10, 2021

Eli Lilly's combo therapy for COVID-19 cuts serious illness and death in large study

(Reuters) - Eli Lilly and Co said on Wednesday that its combination antibody therapy to fight COVID-19 reduced the risk of hospitalization and death by 87% in a study of more than 750 high-risk COVID-19 patients.

It is the second large, late-stage study to show that combination therapy of two antibodies, bamlanivimab and etesevimab, is effective at treating mild to moderate cases of COVID-19. The previous study, which published data in January, used a higher dose of the drugs and reduced risk of hospitalization by 70%.

“I expect this data to continue to drive more utilization” of the antibodies,” said Daniel Skovronsky, chief scientific officer at Eli Lilly. “We have few other diseases where we have drugs that can offer this magnitude of benefit.”

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Skovronsky said that Lilly is prepared to manufacture 1 million doses of the combination therapy in the coming months and is in active talks to supply governments around the world with the treatment.

(Read More) https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-lilly/eli-lillys-combo-therapy-for-covid-19-cuts-serious-illness-and-death-in-large-study-idUSKBN2B21C0

March 10, 2021

DeSantis tries again to strip the Florida Cabinet of its powers

Orlando Sentinel - TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet met Tuesday, wrapping up a year of infrequent gatherings due to the COVID-19 pandemic. If DeSantis gets his way, it would have even less to do.

For the second year in a row, DeSantis is pushing for a bill to eliminate Cabinet oversight over a slew of agency and state personnel rules and transfer many of those powers to himself or agencies he controls, arguing that America’s Founding Fathers envisioned a “unitary executive.”

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Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, the only Democrat on the Cabinet, blasted the bill as an attempt to marginalize her office.

“For the second year running, the governor is attempting a harmful power grab,” Fried said in an emailed statement.
“This bill creates an unnecessary imbalance of power, silences the voice of any non-majority party Cabinet member, and blocks the consensus that Florida’s Constitution requires and makes possible fairness and transparency in doing the people’s business.”



Read More:
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/politics/os-prem-ne-desantis-cabinet-bill-20210310-yqi7sstn7ffpxluqy3cc7hiboy-story.html

February 23, 2021

"Dare mighty things" : hidden message found on Nasa Mars Rover parachute

(TheGuardian) Internet sleuths claim to have decoded a hidden message displayed on the parachute that helped Nasa’s Perseverance Rover land safely on Mars last week. They claim that the phrase “Dare mighty things” – used as a motto by Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory – was encoded on the parachute using a pattern representing letters as binary computer code.

Reddit users and social media posters on Twitter noticed that the red-and-white pattern on the parachute looked deliberate, and arrived at the result by using the red to represent the figure one, and the white to represent zero.

Each of the concentric rings in the parachute’s pattern represents one of the words. The zeroes and ones need to be split up into chunks of 10 characters, and from that, adding 64 gives you the computer ASCII code representing a letter. For example, seven white stripes, a red stripe and then two more white stripes represents 0000000100, the binary for four. Adding 64 to that gives 68, the ASCII code for the letter D.

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The origins of the phrase are an 1899 speech by Theodore Roosevelt, in which he said: “Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”

Read More: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/feb/23/dare-mighty-things-hidden-message-found-on-nasa-mars-rover-parachute

February 16, 2021

Family, friends concerned after 21-year-old woman on Autism spectrum disappears

(Local10News) HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – A search is ongoing for a missing woman from Hollywood who has not been seen in days.

Noemi Bolivar was last seen on Thursday.

Loved ones are concerned she may be in danger and they’re hoping someone out there will recognize her and help bring her home.

Marycel Bolivar is beside herself, desperate for information on her daughter.

“This is totally out of character, she would never disappear on her own without saying something,” said Marycel. “She’s not that kind of runaway kid or anything. She’s a good girl.”

Noemi is on the autism spectrum.

Although she’s 21, her family says she has the social maturity of a 15 year old, but she is very high functioning and very bright.

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Noemi was last seen wearing a striped shirt, denim shorts and purple sneakers. She is approximately 5-foot-3 and 126 pounds.

Anyone who thinks they have seen Noemi or with any information on her whereabouts is urged to call Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS.

Read More:
https://www.local10.com/news/local/2021/02/15/family-friends-concerned-after-21-year-old-girl-on-autism-spectrum-disappears/