Zorro
Zorro's JournalMississippi Threatens to Sue Brett Favre Over $828,000
The former Green Bay Packers quarterback was among more than 10 people who received letters from the state auditor demanding repayment of tens of millions of dollars connected to an extensive welfare fraud scheme.Mississippi, the state that reveres the Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre as a homegrown hero, threatened this week to sue him if he does not repay $828,000 that he owes within 30 days, according to the state auditor.
Mr. Favre was among more than 10 people who were sent letters from the state auditor, Shad White, demanding repayment of tens of millions of dollars connected to an extensive fraud scheme involving misspent welfare aid.
In May 2020, a scathing audit found that the State of Mississippi had allowed millions of dollars in anti-poverty funds to be used in ways that did little or nothing to help the poor, with two nonprofit groups instead using the money on lobbyists, football tickets, religious concerts and fitness programs for state lawmakers.
The scheme led to criminal charges against six people, including the former executive director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services, who was accused of conspiring with administrators at the nonprofit Mississippi Community Education Center and the center’s accountant to defraud taxpayers and create phony invoices. Mr. Favre has not been charged.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/13/us/brett-favre-welfare-funds-mississippi.html
Looking like Ol' Brett is gonna have to pimp a few more Copperfit braces...
Left to rot: Collapsed condo born of botched construction and evidence of money laundering
When Champlain Towers South ascended from the beachfront 40 years ago in the quaint Miami suburb of Surfside, the new condominium gleamed with promise.
It was the first swanky high-rise condo in the tiny town, and it solidified the neighborhood as a gathering place for the rich and famous like Frank Sinatra, who hung out down the road from where the high-rise stood. For its residents – from millionaire cocaine smugglers to family vacationers – it was all about landing their little slice of paradise.
But even before developers sold off the 136 condominiums to their first owners, the construction had been botched and the building had been set on a course to rot from the foundation up, a USA TODAY investigation shows.
USA TODAY set out to compile a complete accounting of the forces at work on the building that collapsed on June 24, killing 98 people. Reporters pored over thousands of pages of documents, including deeds, inspection records and homeowner association minutes. They interviewed dozens of people, including money laundering and engineering experts and residents who called the building home from its birth in 1981 to its deadly end in 2021.
The reporting reveals for the first time that early condo sales exhibit tell-tale signs of a money laundering scheme. Experts say cutting corners on construction often accompanied money laundering. At Champlain South, engineers have noted an incorrectly designed pool deck and improperly constructed support columns. Money laundering also might have meant that some early buyers weren’t living in the condo building or concerned with its long-term maintenance.
https://www.heraldtribune.com/in-depth/news/investigations/2021/10/14/money-laundering-evident-collapsed-surfside-condo-building/5798385001/
Texas, Harbinger of Doom
When Jim Crow was originally established, it spread from state to state like a contagion, each subsequent state taking lessons from the ones before it.
Mississippi was one of the states at the vanguard of the first Jim Crow; Texas may well be at the vanguard of the next. And the oppressive crusade is broader than race. It includes gender and identity.
As The 19th reported last month:
“Texas has introduced the most bills targeting transgender youth in the country, triple the number of any other state. Though none of Texas’ over 40 proposed anti-trans bills have been passed, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has made restricting trans youth’s sports participation a priority for the state’s third special legislative session.”
Last week, there was public testimony in the Texas House of Representatives on a bill that would force student-athletes to compete as the sex they were assigned at birth rather than the one that aligned with their gender identity. A similar bill has already passed the Texas Senate. If the House passes it — which is likely — it will be sent to the Senate for approval and then to Abbott’s desk to be signed into law.
...
We can look forward to some of those states mimicking Texas on voter restrictions, as well. In this way, Texas is a harbinger of doom, it is the leading edge of regression, and it provides a picture of where the Republican-controlled portion of the United States may be heading: down the tubes in a Stetson hat.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/13/opinion/texas-abortion-voting-transphobia.html
The Mouse that need not roar: How Disney World at 50 shapes Florida, wields influence
The company's lobbyists sit silently while others struggle to persuade policymakersFifty years after Disney World opened its doors, it's not such a "small world after all."
Indeed, the Central Florida entertainment empire that Walt built now must deal with big world problems, such as gridlocked highways, a housing shortage and stressed natural resources.
The mystery is why government planners did not follow The Walt Disney Company's lead in land-use planning for counties that straddle the 38-miles along Interstate 4 that Disney used to build “the happiest place on earth,” including the world's No. 1 tourist destination, Walt Disney World.
In the last half-century, Orange and Osceola counties have grown from 370,000 people to 1.8 million. That makes Disney the big mouse in the room, so to speak, when politicians meet to discuss issues affecting workers or decide who pays to accommodate population growth.
The debris from that population explosion clogs I-4 with urban sprawl, but the Reedy Creek Improvement District is exempt from most state regulations and is where the counties have no say. Reedy Creek, created by Disney and lawmakers, has its own police and fire departments, taxing power and building code.
https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/politics/2021/10/14/walt-disney-world-remains-florida-biggest-political-power-50-years-later/5919720001/
The foolish GOP grandstanding against vaccine mandates
President Biden’s decision to mandate vaccines for businesses with more than 100 employees is having the desired impact. Big companies are complying, and more Americans are getting vaccinated every day, protecting themselves, their families and the world around them. New daily cases, hospitalizations and deaths are declining. But in a misguided bit of political grandstanding, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, has banned vaccine mandates in the state.
Ideally, vaccines should not require mandates at all. They are highly effective, free and widely available. But millions of Americans are still hesitant. In a small number of cases, they can and should get religious or health exemptions. A larger share of people have been exposed to destructive disinformation and misinformation about vaccines, accelerated by social media. The latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates are that 79.1 percent of eligible Americans are vaccinated with at least one shot or definitely plan to get it, 8 percent say they probably will or are unsure, and 13 percent say definitely not. That latter figure is down from 19 percent in early June.
Closing the gap — getting vaccines to those who are willing and as many of the wavering as possible — is key to ending the pandemic. With a contagious variant still circulating, a high percentage of people must gain immunity, either through infection or through vaccines, to slow and halt virus transmission. We aren’t yet at the tipping point. This is the reasoning behind the president’s decision to mandate shots for the federal government and all who contract with it by Dec. 8, and to issue a Labor Department rule mandating vaccination in larger businesses. The rule is expected to be promulgated soon. Mr. Biden has left the door open for people to choose regular testing as an alternative. No campaign of mandates is going to be foolproof or easy; many businesses are worried about losing employees in a tight labor market. But that disruption is far less costly than would be another pandemic wave of covid.
Mr. Abbott now throws a wrench into the complex situation with an executive order prohibiting vaccine mandates by any entity in Texas. Many businesses may decide to comply with the higher-level federal order in any case. But the governor’s ill-considered action will stir confusion and uncertainty. It may encourage holdouts, leaving more people in Texas vulnerable to a disease that has already killed more than 68,000 residents.
Republicans lately have been rallying against Mr. Biden’s vaccine mandate as an infringement on personal liberty. This is foolish logic. The mandate is intended to save lives, and thus jobs, economies and families. Do the Republicans intend to next rebel against mandatory automobile seat belts? Do they think a mandatory stop at a stop sign limits their freedom? Do they dislike mandatory fire alarms? After so much loss and death last year and this, it is time to accept that vaccine and mask mandates protect us all. Let’s get on with ending the pandemic.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/10/13/foolish-gop-grandstanding-against-vaccine-mandates/
White House Warns Supply Chain Shortages Could Lead Americans To Discover True Meaning Of Christmas
WASHINGTON—As reports of worldwide shipping issues continued to mount, the White House warned Wednesday that supply chain shortages could lead Americans to discover the true meaning of Christmas.
“Unless these unprecedented scarcities are reversed soon, hundreds of thousands of Americans could be forced to learn that there is more to life than material objects,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki, cautioning that delays in shipping of clothing, toys, and other common gifts had the potential to make this Christmas the most communal and brotherly of any on record.
“While we’re working with shipping stakeholders around the world to fix the problems, we also need Americans to prepare themselves to learn the real reason for the season. Of course we understand that no one is happy about this situation, but millions of people will have to contend with the reality that their Christmas tree may be shrunken and their presents few, but there’s love abounding for all hearts that are true. Certainly, no one wants to find out that what’s really important is love and having people to share it with.”
At press time, concerns about holiday-season shortages had increased after reports from around the country that thousands of Americans were already attempting to stockpile that magic Christmas feeling.
https://www.theonion.com/white-house-warns-supply-chain-shortages-could-lead-ame-1847855509
Venezuelan Army General Who Saved Hugo Chavez From Coup Dies in Jail
Source: Wall Street Journal
Raúl Baduel’s loyalty doomed a 2002 coup against the socialist leader but he later became a political prisoner
Raúl Baduel, an army general who became a hero of Venezuela’s leftist government when he helped its strongman survive a coup but later turned into one of its most prominent political prisoners, died in jail late Tuesday, his family and the government said. He was 66.
The death of Gen. Baduel, a confidant of the socialist leader Hugo Chávez before becoming a dissident, was announced in a Twitter post by Venezuela’s attorney general, who said Gen. Baduel had suffered a cardiac failure triggered by Covid-19. He died awaiting trial for treason in what is commonly called “The Tomb,” an underground Caracas detention center run by the country’s military intelligence.
Gen. Baduel’s family denied that he had contracted the virus and blamed the government for his death. “My soul is broken,” said his daughter, Andreina Baduel, who had spent the past decade advocating her father’s freedom. “The regime killed my beloved and brave papa.”
On Wednesday, Ms. Baduel and other members of the large Baduel family gathered outside the capital’s Bello Monte morgue to demand that Gen. Baduel body not be cremated—as the government has done with most deceased Covid-19 victims—in order to carry out a thorough investigation into the cause of his death.
Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/venezuelan-army-general-who-saved-hugo-chavez-from-coup-dies-in-jail-11634156236
Naked woman walks through Denver Airport asking passengers, 'Where are you from?'
A woman paraded naked around Denver International Airport, interacting with passengers and drawing the attention of police, according to a report.
The woman appeared to be carrying some kind of water bottle as she wandered around completely in the nude, footage from a video shared with CBS shows. Police officers quickly intervened and attempted to get the woman to cover up, to which she is seen laughing and then skips away.
“How are you doing? Where are you from?” she asked bystanders who were recording her.
The video is from Sept. 19 and occurred around 5 a.m. near Gate A-37, according to Denver police.
https://news.yahoo.com/naked-woman-walks-denver-airport-200300221.html
I don't get it. This wasn't in Florida.
Marine who criticized handling of Afghanistan withdrawal will plead guilty, seek favorable discharge
A Marine officer whose viral videos criticizing senior officials for how they withdrew from Afghanistan created a political uproar will plead guilty to several charges and seek a discharge that allows him to keep some military benefits, one of his lawyers said Tuesday.
Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller is scheduled for court-martial at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina on Thursday, and faces charges that include disrespect toward superior commissioned officers, willfully disobeying a superior commissioned officer, and dereliction in the performance of duties. He burst into public view in August when, in the immediate aftermath of a suicide bombing that killed 13 U.S. troops and about 170 Afghans, he posted a video while in uniform questioning why no senior leader had admitted making mistakes in how the withdrawal was carried out.
One of Scheller's attorneys, Tim Parlatore, said in a phone interview that he could not yet get into the specifics of a pretrial agreement because some of the details are “still up in the air.” But he said the case began with Scheller demanding accountability from others, and it would “make him a hypocrite” if the Marine did not accept responsibility for his own actions.
The Marine hopes to avoid jail time and secure either an honorable discharge or a general discharge under honorable conditions.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/marine-scheller-to-plead-guilty/2021/10/12/ccf1be18-2b74-11ec-92bd-d2ffe8570c7d_story.html
Sounds as if he's now realized the consequences of his actions. No retirement benefits for this disgrace to the Corps.
The Mysterious Case of the COVID-19 Lab-Leak Theory
Did the virus spring from nature or from human error?Since the coronavirus first appeared, at the end of 2019, four and a half million people have died, countless more have suffered, whole economies have been upended, schools have been shuttered. Why? Did the virus jump from an animal to its first human host, its patient zero? Or, as some suspect, was the catastrophe the result of a laboratory accident in Wuhan, a city of eleven million people in central China?
Kristian Andersen, an infectious-disease expert at Scripps Research, in San Diego, began tracking the virus in January, 2020. He found the degree of contagion not just scary but unusual. Chinese scientists had already established that it belonged to a genus of coronaviruses commonly found in bats in southern China. It shared eighty per cent of its genome with the first sars, and was more distantly related to mers, another bat coronavirus. This new virus, however, was spreading far more quickly, reaching at least twenty-six countries by the end of the month. “It seemed to be locked and loaded for causing the pandemic,” Andersen told me. Most viruses circulating in the wild, though some can be deadly, are not very good at transmission. They are still animal viruses. “This, almost from Day One,” Andersen said, “appeared like a human virus.”
Andersen, who is originally from Denmark, is wiry and clean cut, with a cleft chin and clipped enunciation. He was working at the post office in Aarhus when he decided he might study molecular biology, and went on to become the first person in his family to attend university. His career took off with investigations into the emergence of West Nile virus, Ebola, and Zika. After the pandemic began, he was among the scientists whom Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, consulted regarding the origins of the virus. On January 31, 2020, according to an e-mail obtained by BuzzFeed News, Andersen wrote to Fauci and others that the sars-CoV-2 genome seemed “inconsistent with expectations from evolutionary theory.”
Andersen noted that “a really small part” of sars-CoV-2’s genome had “unusual features.” Its spike—the crucial bit of surface protein that a coronavirus uses to invade a cell—appeared able to bind tightly to a human-cell receptor known as ace2. This, Andersen told me, “means that it’s more effective at infecting human cells.” The other significant trait, a rare insertion in the genome of twelve nucleotides, called a furin cleavage site, might also increase the virus’s transmissibility, and lower the species barrier, allowing the virus to jump more easily to humans. “One has to look really closely at all the sequences to see that some of the features (potentially) look engineered,” he wrote. There was much more data to analyze, he continued, “so those opinions could still change.”
https://www.newyorker.com/science/elements/the-mysterious-case-of-the-covid-19-lab-leak-theory
This is a long but very interesting article on the science of virus analysis and provides a detailed description of the background of the nature vs. lab-generated controversy.
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