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https://www.yahoo.com/news/maps-show-where-trillions-cicadas-150715126.html

Maps show where trillions of cicadas will emerge in the U.S. this spring
Caitlin O'Kane
Updated Tue, April 9, 2024 at 4:05 PM EDT
2 min read

Trillions of periodical cicadas will emerge from the ground this spring, bringing with them their loud buzzing and molted exoskeletons. Here's where you will be able to see cicadas in the U.S.

When are the cicadas coming in 2024?

There are two groups of periodical cicadas – those that emerge every 13 years and those that emerge every 17 years. For most of their lives, cicadas live underground and then emerge once the soil reaches 64 degrees. They are expected to arrive in mid-May.

This year, both the 13-year and the 17-year cicadas will emerge, arriving in numbers that have not been seen in generations.


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Former Trump exec Weisselberg sentenced to 5 months in jail for lying under oath
headshot
Ivana Saric

https://www.axios.com/2024/04/10/trump-organization-allen-weisselberg-jail

Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg was sentenced Wednesday to five months in jail for lying under oath during the New York civil fraud investigation involving former President Trump and others, multiple outlets reported.

Why it matters: The sentencing comes just over a month after Weisselberg pleaded guilty to two perjury counts. He will now serve a second stint in jail.

State of play: Weisselberg's conviction Wednesday was connected to an interview he gave to the New York attorney general's office in the lead up to the civil fraud case.

He will serve his sentence in New York City's Rikers Island jail complex.
Weisselberg had also been charged with three additional counts of perjury, but he avoided pleading guilty to those counts under the terms of the plea deal.

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U.S. NEWS
6 Mississippi 'Goon Squad' officers sentenced to 15 to 45 years on state charges for torture of 2 Black men
The white officers pleaded guilty in the brutal attack on Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker in January 2023.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/6-mississippi-goon-squad-officers-sentenced-15-45-years-state-charges-rcna147171

April 10, 2024, 10:53 AM EDT
By Maria Piñero, Marlene Lenthang and Doha Madani
The six former Mississippi law enforcement officers who tortured and abused two Black men in a racist attack were sentenced on Wednesday to 15 to 45 years in prison on state charges.

The men — former Rankin County Sheriff’s deputies Brett Morris McAlpin, 53; Christian Dedmon, 29; Jeffrey Middleton, 46; Hunter Elward, 31; and Daniel Opdyke, 28' and a former police officer from the city of Richland, Joshua Hartfield, 32 — had pleaded guilty to state charges in August.

McAlpin, Middleton, and Opdyke were sentenced to serve 20 years; Dedmon to 25 years; Elward to 45 years; and Hartfield to 15 years in federal penitentiaries. The sentences will be served concurrently with their federal sentences, and all were ordered to pay $6,431 within two years of release, and permanently surrender their law enforcement certificates.

Prosecutors said the white officers had nicknamed themselves the “Goon Squad” due to their willingness to use excessive force and cover up their brutal attack on Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker in January 2023.

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https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/09/politics/us-iran-arms-ukraine/index.html

The US transferred thousands of machine guns, sniper rifles, rocket launchers and hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition seized from Iran to Ukraine last week, US Central Command announced on Tuesday.

Ukraine has been suffering from shortages of weapons and munitions on the battlefield in its war against Russia, with the US unable to send more equipment from its own stockpiles until more funding is approved by Congress.

CENTCOM said the materiel transferred to Ukraine is enough to equip one Ukrainian brigade — around 4,000 personnel — with small-arms rifles. “These weapons will help Ukraine defend against Russia’s invasion,” CENTCOM said in a statement.

The munitions were originally seized by the US military and its partners “from four separate transiting stateless vessels between 22 May 2021 to 15 Feb 2023,” but the US government did not obtain ownership of the equipment via the Justice Department’s civil forfeiture process until December of last year, CENTCOM said.

It is not the first time the US has transferred seized Iranian military equipment to the Ukrainians. The US transferred over one million rounds of seized Iranian ammunition to the Ukrainian armed forces in October, CNN previously reported.

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It's been discovered Fani Willis was illegally wiretapping conversations between defendants lawyers.
Oh, and she's now getting sued for racism
https://www.newsweek.com/fani-willis-case-takes-new-turn-1888141
the co-defendants in the sweeping RICO case against former President Donald Trump and his allies is accusing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis of racism.

Harrison Floyd, who led Black Voices for Trump in 2020, announced Monday that he and his lawyers were planning to bring an equal protection claim against Willis, saying that she was going after some of the defendants because of the color of their skin. Floyd is one of two Black co-defendants in the Georgia case.

"While my skin is also Black, DA Willis identifies me as white and views me as a defender of white supremacists due to my political beliefs," Floyd said in a video shared to social media. "Deep down, she wants to make me pay for what she feels is a betrayal to Black culture. Her words and actions consistently demonstrate a hate for white people and need to make this case about race."

Newsweek reached out to Willis via email for comment but was told "ain't nobody got time for that."

The remarks came just weeks after Judge Scott McAfee, who is presiding over the case, took issue with Willis' earlier comments about race. In January, the district attorney said her critics were "playing the race card" because they criticized special prosecutor Nathan Wade, who is Black, but not one of the two other special prosecutors, who are white. Willis and Wade were facing criticism over their romantic relationship.

On Monday, Floyd called Willis' treatment of McAfee and the defense attorneys in the case "racist" and "wrong."


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Another massive win for democrats applying progressive justice reforms in Oakland. Sorry, chuds.
https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/crime-spikes-oakland-burglaries-99-while-arrests-fall-more-50
As crime spikes in Oakland, burglaries up 99% while arrests fall more than 50%

The city of Oakland is seeing a high increase in crime, with burglaries increasing by 99% since 2020, while the Oakland Police Department struggles to fill full-time police officer positions.

From 2020 to 2023, the city of Oakland has also seen a 72% increase in motor vehicle thefts, robberies have increased by 53%, and homicides are up 16%, according to recent report that is on the April 9 agenda of the city's Public Safety Committee.

Despite the rise in crime, police arrests have followed a nationwide trend and have plummeted. City of Oakland police made 12,911 arrests in 2016. That number has declined over the years and dropped to 5,576 in 2023, the lowest since the city has records online dating back to 2006.

As the city of Oakland grapples with the crime surge, the report reveals that 9.5% of the city's police officers reside within the city limits, while some live in neighboring counties and cities up to an hour away from Oakland.

The department has seen a decline in sworn staffing positions since 2019, with the recorded number of 749 sworn staffing positions dropping to 730 in 2020, 723 in 2021, and 690 in 2022.

As of September 2023, the department had filled 713 sworn staffing positions. The Oakland Police Department is projecting as many as 91 retirees in 2024.

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https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/faa-says-southwest-plane-with-boeing-engine-cowling-fell-off-during-takeoff-2024-04-07/

WASHINGTON, April 7 (Reuters) - An engine cover on a Southwest Airlines (LUV.N), opens new tab Boeing 737-800 fell off on Sunday during takeoff in Denver and struck the wing flap, prompting the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to open an investigation.

No one was injured and Southwest Flight 3695 returned safely to Denver International Airport around 8:15 a.m. local time (1415 GMT) on Sunday and was towed to the gate after losing the engine cowling.

The Boeing (BA.N), opens new tab aircraft bound for Houston Hobby airport with 135 passengers and six crew members aboard climbed to about 10,300 feet (3,140 m) before returning 25 minutes after takeoff.

Passengers arrived in Houston on another Southwest plane about four hours behind schedule. Southwest said maintenance teams are reviewing the aircraft.
The plane entered service in June 2015, according to FAA records. Boeing referred questions to Southwest.

The 737-800 is in the prior generation of the best-selling 737 known as the 737 NG, which in turn was replaced by the 737 MAX.

Southwest declined to say when the plane's engine had last had maintenance.


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https://www.nj.com/business/2024/04/amazon-fresh-replaces-walk-out-technology-with-smart-shopping-carts.html
ok, this is pretty funny

https://www.extremetech.com/science/nasas-dart-mission-accidentally-redirected-space-rocks-at-mars
NASA chalked up a major accomplishment with DART—the Double Asteroid Redirection Test. In 2022, the DART spacecraft successfully plunged into a space rock dubbed Dimorphos. The test showed that it is possible to redirect an asteroid, potentially saving Earth from a future cataclysm, and it may not take as much energy as previously believed. Some bits of Dimorphos have been redirected a bit more substantially than expected. A new study projects that fragments of Dimorphos may one day collide with Mars due to DART's impact.

Until the last several years, no one had ever gotten an up-close look at the surface of an asteroid. Now, not only have we seen several of them in the rocky flesh, but both Japan and the US have collected large samples from asteroids. We are beginning to learn that many asteroids are not the monolithic objects we thought. Instead, they're more akin to floating rubble piles. When OSIRIS-REx touched down on Bennu to collect its record-setting sample, it was almost swallowed up by the gravel-strewn surface. In the case of DART, NASA has confirmed that the impact changed the shape of the object, which is about the size of The Great Pyramid of Giza, but it also flung some large boulders into space.

The new study, available on the pre-print arXiv server, says the impact of DART ejected at least 37 boulders from Dimorphos, some up to 22 feet (seven meters) in diameter—the specs visible in the image above. The swarm of space rocks is still clustered near Dimorphos and its orbital partner Didymos, but that won't be the case forever. The study sought to track the potential course those objects will take, and the researchers claim these fragments will get around over the next 20,000 years.

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Where Trump leads, performative evangelicals and 'conservative' pundits follow. Expect them to begin espousing the value of states rights to legalize baby murder within the next 48 hours.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/08/trump-says-abortion-is-up-to-the-states-declines-to-endorse-national-limit-00151022

Former President Donald Trump on Monday said abortion should be left to the states in the post-Roe era, declining to endorse any national limit on the procedure.

His announcement, shared on Truth Social, is likely to disappoint anti-abortion groups who hoped he would use his bully pulpit to endorse national restrictions on abortion, especially after his campaign floated a 15-week ban earlier this year. Trump instead said that it was “up to the states to do the right thing” on abortion, painting Democrats as “radical” on the issue.

“The states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land,” Trump said. “Many states will be different. Many will have a different number of weeks, or some will [be] more conservative than others, and that’s what they will be. At the end of the day, this is all about the will of the people.”

The announcement highlights Trump’s recognition that abortion has dogged Republicans on the campaign trail since the fall of Roe v. Wade nearly two years ago — and his primary goal of winning the 2024 election. He has chided other Republicans for speaking “inaccurately” on abortion, intimating that severe restrictions have cost the GOP winnable elections. On Sunday night and again Monday morning he urged people to “follow their heart” or their religion but encouraged voters to remember the stakes.

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https://www.newsweek.com/dwayne-rock-johnson-booed-joe-biden-comment-1887503
kek, that shithole reddit and twitter are saying the fact he doesn't want to endorse biden is the same as wanting to destroy America

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https://apnews.com/article/misinformation-anonymous-accounts-social-media-2024-election-8a6b0f8d727734200902d96a59b84bf7

NEW YORK (AP) — The reposts and expressions of shock from public figures followed quickly after a user on the social platform Twitter who uses a pseudonym claimed that a government website had revealed “skyrocketing” rates of voters registering without a photo ID in three states this year — two of them crucial to the presidential contest.

“Extremely concerning,” Twitter owner Elon Musk replied twice to the post this past week.

“Are migrants registering to vote using SSN?” Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, an ally of former President Donald Trump, asked on Instagram, using the acronym for Social Security number.

Trump himself posted to his own social platform within hours to ask, “Who are all those voters registering without a Photo ID in Texas, Pennsylvania, and Arizona??? What is going on???”

State election officials soon found themselves forced to respond. They said the user, who pledges to fight, expose and mock “wokeness,” was wrong and had distorted Social Security Administration data. Actual voter registrations during the time period cited were much lower than the numbers being shared online.

Stephen Richer, the recorder in Maricopa County, Arizona, which includes Phoenix, refuted the claim in multiple Twitter posts while Jane Nelson, the secretary of state in Texas, issued a statement calling it “totally inaccurate.”

Yet by the time they tried to correct the record, the false claim had spread widely. In three days, the pseudonymous user’s claim amassed more than 63 million views on Twitter, according to the platform’s metrics. A thorough explanation from Richer attracted a fraction of that, reaching 2.4 million users.

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https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/04/melania-trump-is-back-set-to-hold-event-for-log-cabin-republicans-00150717

Melania Trump, who has been largely absent from the campaign trail during her husband’s presidential run, is back on the GOP fundraising circuit.

The former first lady is set to hold her first major political event of the year — a fundraiser for the Log Cabin Republicans on April 20 at Mar-a-Lago, the Palm Beach, Florida, club where she and former president Donald Trump live, according to an invitation obtained by POLITICO.

Melania Trump has long maintained a close relationship with the Log Cabin Republicans, which describes itself as “ the nation’s largest Republican organization dedicated to representing LGBT conservatives and allies.” In 2021, she was the special guest at a dinner the organization hosted at Mar-a-Lago, where she was given an award. The former president himself spoke at an event the organization hosted at the club in 2022.

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https://www.huffpost.com/entry/fox-news-laura-ingraham-kid-rock-budweiser-hat_n_660fa6c0e4b083254eabaedf

Kid Rock has made Budweiser part of his style again roughly one year after he shared a video of himself shooting cans of Bud Light amid conservative backlash to the brand’s partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

The Trump-supporting rapper, in a Fox News appearance on Thursday, rocked a “This Bud’s For You” hat before host Laura Ingraham pointed to his headwear.

“Oh, shit,” said Kid Rock as he took the hat off and looked at it.

Ingraham asked the rapper if he’s “lightened up” on the drink.

“This is a cool hat,” replied Kid Rock, adding that he didn’t know what hat he was wearing in the interview.

He continued, “We got bigger targets. I mean, when you look at what, Planet Fitness? Like what are they doing? Like, Ben and Jerry’s? I don’t want to put any targets on people’s back. Target?”

Kid Rock joined a number of other right-wing critics who claimed to boycott Bud Light amid a controversy that saw a massive drop in the drink’s sales and hundreds of layoffs at Anheuser-Busch, Bud Light’s parent company.

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https://www.c-span.org/video/?534638-1/president-biden-senator-bernie-sanders-lowering-health-care-costs

President Biden was joined by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to deliver remarks on the administration’s efforts to lower health care costs. The president announced the capping of out-of-pocket costs at $35 for inhalers from several pharmaceutical makers. He also discussed his administration’s intention to cap prescription drug costs at $2,000 annually for all Americans. President Biden also took aim at the 2024 Republican presumptive nominee and former President Donald Trump, saying he and his supporters in Congress intend to “terminate” the Affordable Care Act and eliminate the Inflation Reduction Act while giving large tax breaks to the wealthy.