HEADLINES: 2025

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Seaweed clogs resort beaches: #100​

From seaweed to technological breakthrough:

IBM just took a 'significant' step toward useful quantum computing​

Laura Bratton / Tue, June 10, 2025 at 6:00 AM EDT
IBM (IBM) on Tuesday said it is building the world's first large-scale quantum computer capable of operating without errors. The computer, called Starling, is set to launch by 2029.
The quantum computer will reside in IBM’s new quantum data center in upstate New York and is expected to perform 20,000 more operations than today’s quantum computers, the company said in its announcement Tuesday.

Unlike traditional computers that use bits or series of 1s and 0s, quantum machines use qubits. Qubits are a function of quantum mechanics and, rather than being expressed as a 1 or 0, can exist as both at the same time, allowing for far more processing capabilities.

Once developed, useful quantum computers such as Starling would solve problems that would take “classical” computers billions of years.

IBM just took a 'significant' step toward useful quantum computing

IBM said it is building the world’s first large-scale quantum computer capable of operating without errors.

news.yahoo.com

"knowledge is power" Francis Bacon / Meditationes Sacrae (1597)

If Bacon's formula is correct, and knowledge is power, then
is infinite knowledge infinite power?

Is this a Rubicon? If a corporation has virtually infinite power, or at least so transcendent an advantage as to render nearest competitors inert, what of the rest of us?
If the "Plan-A" for "the rest of us" is the benevolent good graces of corporations, and such corporation fulfills its obligation to shareholders, succeeding in the marketplace against its competitors, then what's our "Plan-B"?

 

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Philosophical promiscuity, for example President Trump pardoning his January 6 insurrectionist co-conspirators under the guise of treating them "fairly"
has lead to ideological unpredictability, which results in political instability. BUT !!

That's not merely a matter of U.S. domestic political irrelevance.

Trump treachery reaches far beyond merely stealing classified documents for sale to foreign enemies for Trump's personal gain.

Opinion: Why Musk’s Dad Makes His New Rasputin Pal Even More Dangerous​

Anna Nemtsova / Tue, June 10, 2025 at 9:35 AM GMT- 5
Elon Musk’s father Errol didn’t say much as he sat among a group of far-right ideologues in Moscow on Monday.
He didn’t need to.
The presence of the world’s richest man’s father turned what had been simply been seen as the murky, criminal, and crazy into a mainstream celebration of war on “liberal civilization.”
It was the seal of approval for Putin’s alt-right Rasputin, Alexander Dugin and a sign of just how seriously to take his movement and its demand for an all-out war on liberalism—one which has already claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, many of them Russian.

Opinion: Why Musk’s Dad Makes His New Rasputin Pal Even More Dangerous

Elon Musk’s father Errol didn’t say much as he sat among a group of far-right ideologues in Moscow on Monday. He didn’t need to. The presence of the world’s richest man’s father turned what had been simply been seen as the murky, criminal, and crazy into a mainstream celebration of war on...

www.yahoo.com

It is a familiar axiom in the bloodthirsty Middle East: "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Trump's current position regarding Russia's invasion / occupation of Ukraine is, let 'em fight.
What gain does Trump envision for himself, cooperating with Putin, Kim Jong Un, etc.?

“We fell in love.” President Trump commenting on his relationship w/ NK/KJU

"America First"?

 

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https://apnews.com/

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Happy Father's Day

 

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We haven't heard anything from Lindell (the pillow guy) since last year

Jury finds MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell liable for defamation, orders him to pay $2.3M in damages​

Eric Coomer sued after Mike Lindell called him a traitor over debunked 2020 election rigging claims​

Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow and one of the most prominent conspiracy theorists about the 2020 presidential election, defamed a former Dominion Voting Systems executive when he called him “treasonous,” a federal jury in Denver concluded Monday.

The jury ruled that Lindell and his media company, Frankspeech, must pay $2.3 million in damages for his attacks on Eric Coomer, the former director of security for Denver-based Dominion. The jury found that three of the 10 cited attacks leveled by Lindell or published on his platform amounted to defamation.

Coomer sued Lindell in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado in April 2022. He alleged the MyPillow CEO, a prominent backer of President Donald Trump and the president’s false claims that he won the 2020 election, defamed him when he called him a traitor, and claimed to have proof — in effect, directly accusing Coomer of committing a crime.

Coomer said Lindell’s attacks led to .....

Jury finds MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell liable for defamation, orders him to pay $2.3M in damages

The jury ruled that Mike Lindell and his media company, Frankspeech, must pay $2.3 million in damages for his attacks on Eric Coomer.

www.denverpost.com

 

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Big Oil faces up to its sunset era​

The sector remains split on the timeline for peak oil and how to respond


An oilfield in China, where there has been rapid take-up of electric vehicles

The world’s largest oil companies have endured a lost decade in the stock market, struggling to convince investors they can grow in a world where demand for their main product is expected to peak in the coming years.

The S&P Global Oil index, which tracks 120 leading international oil producers, is no higher now than it was in 2015. With the exception of a sharp dip during the Covid pandemic, it has flatlined while investors have flooded into Big Tech.

Oil majors are no strangers to boom-and-bust cycles. But now the challenge may be structural. The rapid adoption of electric vehicles, especially in China, has surprised the industry. Many oil majors now concede that their production will probably peak within the next decade.

“There’s no doubt that in the grand scheme of things, this is a sunset industry,” says Paul Gooden, head of natural resources at asset manager Ninety One. “We can debate how far the sunset is away, but companies need to recognise that — and increasingly they are recognising that.

”László Varró, Shell’s head of scenario planning, echoes the sentiment. “There is very little doubt that .....

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Police sound alarm on dangerous 'jugging' robbery trend sweeping across America​

Law enforcement warns the crime can be over in seconds as criminals work in teams to target unsuspecting victims​

By Peter D'Abrosca , Steve Harrigan Fox News / June 20, 2025 5:15pm EDT
"Jugging rhymes with mugging, it's spread from Texas to South Carolina," Fox News Senior Correspondent Steve Harrigan said on "America Reports" on Friday. "Some police there weren't even sure what the word meant until the crime started happening in their own districts. Law enforcement warns that it could be over in a flash."
... "jugging," a type of robbery in which criminals surveil banks and ATMs, watching for victims who withdraw large sums of money. When those victims finish their transactions, the "juggers" will usually follow them to a secondary location, where they will rob the victims, often inside their vehicles.

Police sound alarm on dangerous 'jugging' robbery trend sweeping across America

Police warn about "jugging," a crime where thieves monitor banks and ATMs, then rob victims who withdraw large sums of money, with cases spreading from Texas to South Carolina.

www.foxnews.com

What will they think of next ...

 

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As for the lunatic fringe .....



*Vandal/conspiracy theorists TARGETING RADARS*
*Criminal knocks Oklahoma weather radar offline*

OKLAHOMA CITY – A vandal knocked News9's weather radar offline for a time Sunday night. The suspect arrived at 9:34 p.m.
Griffin Media, which owns the radar, wrote that the man disabled a "key power connector, smashed the power meter and broke into the generator's transfer switch control panel before destroying it.”

They're urging anyone with information to contact OKC Crime Stoppers. He's accused of sabotaging "critical weather-prediction equipment."

This comes as a growing number of conspiracy theorists and misinformed and/or uneducated members of the public adopt outlandish ideas that radars "control" the weather.

The National Weather Service, meanwhile, has received credible threats of violence from a specific group called “Veterans on Patrol.”

According to The Washington Post, a Telegram group with 6,000 members is currently developing plans to "take as many NEXRAD sites offline as possible." They claim they already have "boots on the ground" in Washington State and Oklahoma.

It's unclear if the man in Oklahoma who targeted News9's weather radar is associated with the group or acted alone.

The group, founded in 2015, believes that Doppler radars are “weather weapons” used to control the weather.

They also believe that Hurricane Helene, which caused .....

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CBS Cancels Stephen Colbert’s show days after Trump settlement criticism​

The late-night host had scoffed at a decision by CBS’s parent company to pay the U.S. president $16 million over a disputed interview.
Comedian and political commentator Stephen Colbert announced Thursday night on air that CBS will cancel his “The Late Show” starting in May 2026.
Though CBS said in a statement that canceling the show was “purely a financial decision” not related to its performance or content, the announcement follows Colbert’s criticism of a settlement between President Donald Trump and Paramount Global, CBS’s parent company.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/18/cbs-cancels-stephen-colbert-00462089

At this hour Trump has reportedly not yet signed into law the $claw-back of funding for public broadcasting.
That's a major issue. BUT !!

The Trump administration pressuring CBS-TV over broadcast series including 60 Minutes and The Late Show is stunningly alarming.
Our democratic republic thrives when both parties can present their positions for public consideration, enabling an informed electorate to plot future course of our nation.

The Trump administration does not want that discourse, and now The Late Show's satirical presence on late night broadcast television may be casualty.

B.O.R. ARTICLE #1: Ratified December 15, 1791
Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ...
United States Constitution: First Amendment

 

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Four people have died from flesh-eating bacteria in Florida. Who is at risk?

The culprit, Vibrio vulnificus, thrives in warm seawater and can get into the body through open wounds in the skin.

www.nbcnews.com

 

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After plowing his car into a crowd outside an LA nightclub, the driver was beaten and shot by bystanders, police say​

Story by Hanna Park, Rebekah Riess, John Miller, CNN

A lively night outside a bustling East Hollywood nightclub took a devastating turn early Saturday when a car barreled through a crowded sidewalk, injuring at least 30 people, including seven critically.

The crash occurred outside The Vermont Hollywood, where 29-year-old Fernando Ramirez had been kicked out for being disruptive before police say he drove his car into the crowd.

The suspect was beaten and shot by bystanders after the crash and is now in custody, facing potential charges including attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon, police said.

Video footage after the crash showed ....

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