Zorro
Zorro's JournalTom Brady suffered his first home shutout in the NFL, and he didn't take it well
It began as a night of considerable promise for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The defending Super Bowl champions had an opportunity to clinch the NFC South title and secure their first regular season victory over the New Orleans Saints in quarterback Tom Brady’s two seasons with the franchise.
It didn’t exactly work out as hoped. Not even close. When tailback Leonard Fournette and wide receivers Chris Godwin and Mike Evans exited the game with injuries, Brady was left with far too little help on offense. His growing exasperation showed as he and the Buccaneers lost to the Saints, 9-0, on Sunday night in Tampa.
“I don’t think we were much good [at] anything tonight,” Brady said. “I wish it was just one thing. It was a lot of things. So we’ve got to do better in every facet of offensive football to score points. We’re not going to win scoring no points.”
Brady was shut out in a home game for his team for the first time in his NFL career. All told, it was the third time he’d been shut out in a game. The other two instances came while he was with the New England Patriots, most recently in 2006.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/12/19/buccaneers-saints-sunday-night-football/
China Could Be Exploiting Internet Security Process to Steal Data, Cyber Experts Warn
To access the data of unsuspecting users, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could take advantage of a universal authentication process that is believed to be secure but may not actually be, cybersecurity experts warned, although encryption is still the preferred method of protecting digital data and Protection of computers - in some cases, the same digital certificates used for internet authentication allow the Chinese regime to infiltrate and wreak havoc on various computer networks, they said.
Digital certificates that verify the identity of a digital entity on the Internet. A digital certificate can be compared to a passport or driver's license, according to Andrew Jenkinson, CEO of cybersecurity company Cybersec Innovation Partners (CIP) and author of the book Stuxnet to Sunburst: 20 Years of Digital Exploitation and Cyber Warfare.
"Without it, the person or device you are using may not meet industry standards, and the encryption of critical data could be bypassed so that what should be encrypted remains in plain text," Jenkinson told The Epoch Times Used to Encrypt internal and external communications that prevent a hacker, for example, from intercepting and stealing data. But "fake certificates" or invalid certificates can tamper with any data.
Sense of security, "said Jenkinson. Cybersecurity firm Global Cyber Risk LLC said digital certificates are generally issued by trusted CAs and then the same level of trust is passed on to intermediaries However, there are opportunities for a communist entity, malicious actor, or other untrustworthy entity to issue certificates to other "hideous people" who appear trustworthy but are not, he said
https://techncruncher.blogspot.com/2021/10/china-could-be-exploiting-internet.html
Inside the Disastrous Conspiracy Roadshow That Likely Killed a COVID-Denying Ex-CIA Agent
Robert David Steele indulged in champagne and luxury hotels for his roadshow promoting Trump’s election lies.... until the money ran out and he developed a nasty cough.Ex-CIA officer, QAnon acolyte, 9/11 truther, anti-vaxxer, COVID denier, antisemite, and “Big Lie” proponent Robert David Steele stiffed the production crew working his national “Arise USA!” roadshow out of some $50,000 when he suddenly claimed he was out of money after blowing enormous sums on luxury coaches and lavish spreads of Champagne, smoked salmon, and brie that he demanded daily, according to Steele’s former tour manager.
But collecting is going to be tough: Steele died in August from the very virus he claims was a hoax—which the tour manager, Jon Stensland, believes the “lying, deceitful conman” caught while out spreading his fringe beliefs.
“Robert Steele and his minions knew they were fucking over working-class people when they pulled the plug and refused to discuss any sort of buyout or severance on the employment agreement Steele signed,” said Stensland, an experienced road warrior who has worked with such artists as Poison, Stryper, and Ratt.
“For a group of people who claim to be good, family-oriented Christians, they certainly had no problem screwing over the crew that worked day in and out to make their events happen.”
https://www.thedailybeast.com/inside-the-disastrous-arise-usa-election-fraud-roadshow-that-likely-killed-covid-denier-robert-david-steele
Two Florida men guilty of running $35M COVID-19 fraud scheme
The Hollywood and Coral Springs residents face up to 20 years in prison.AKRON, Ohio — Two South Florida men have pleaded guilty in Ohio to leading a nationwide scheme to fraudulently obtain more than $35 million in COVID-19 relief loans.
James Stote, 55, of Hollywood, Florida, and Phillip Augustin, 52, of Coral Springs, Florida, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Akron, Ohio, federal court to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to court records. They each face up to 20 years in prison.
“While many businesses in our communities relied upon relief funds to keep their doors open and employees paid, these defendants profited off a scheme that stole millions of taxpayer dollars intended for struggling businesses and spent it lavishly on themselves,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle M. Baeppler for the Northern District of Ohio said in a statement.
According to court documents, Stote and Augustin led a group that fraudulently obtained Paycheck Protection Program loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. Authoriteis say they initially obtained a fraudulent loan for Augustin’s company, Clear Vision Music Group LLC, using falsified documents. After that, they immediately began working to obtain larger PPP loans for themselves and their associates, the documents added.
https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida/2021/12/18/two-florida-men-guilty-of-running-35m-covid-19-fraud-scheme/
COVID resurgent in Florida, new cases double to 30,000 in a week
It’s not yet known if the omicron variant is driving the surge, but the variant is spreading in other countries.COVID-19 is once again soaring in Florida.
There were 29,568 new cases identified from Dec 10-16, according to the weekly report the state released late Friday. There were 13,530 cases reported in the previous seven-day period. That’s a jump of 118 percent in one week.
The daily average went from 1,933 cases per day last week to 4,224 cases per day this week.
Case positivity also increased to 5.4 percent this week, up from 2.4 percent the week before. It’s the first time since early October that positivity has breached 5 percent.
It’s not yet known whether the jump in cases is due to the omicron variant, but infections have spiked in countries around the world where the new variant was detected. The Florida Department of Health has not yet released any data specific to the omicron variant.
https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2021/12/17/covid-resurgent-in-florida-new-cases-double-to-30000-in-a-week/
COVID kills South Florida police more often than gunfire
Of the law enforcement officers lost in the past two years, three died by gunfire and 28 by coronavirus.MIAMI — Of the 33 law enforcement officers in South Florida who lost their lives in the line of duty over the past two years, three were killed by gunfire, one died in a car crash and another lost his life to a work-related injury.
The other 28 were felled by COVID-19.
The deadly virus did not discriminate. It attacked law enforcement agencies from Miami to West Palm Beach. It killed corrections officers and federal Customs and Border Patrol agents. It took the life of a U.S. Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms officer in West Palm Beach. Statewide, there were at least 53 deaths in the ranks — with Florida accounting for more than 10 percent of all COVID-19 law enforcement deaths across the country, according to statistics compiled by a website that tracks policing fatalities.
“It is the number one killer of police, hands down,” said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based national policy group Police Executive Research Forum. “More cops will die of COVID than will be shot, stabbed or die in traffic accidents. And it’s an equal opportunity killer.”
Most victims were in their 40s and 50s. The majority of the deaths were White and Hispanic males. The Miami-Dade Department of Corrections suffered the most, losing seven officers. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office lost five. Three Miami-Dade Corrections officers died over a six-day period just two months ago. Three Customs and Border Protection officers at Miami International Airport died of COVID-related illnesses within 15 days of each other.
https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida/2021/12/18/covid-kills-south-florida-police-more-often-than-gunfire/
The moment you realize they have your texts...
https://twitter.com/APoppaBear/status/1471223762741776390The hottest housing market of 2021
The U.S. housing market has been “bonkers” and is “still nuts” — words recently used by real estate guru Barbara Corcoran on Yahoo Finance Live. Since COVID-19 emerged, homes are being sold at a record clip and prices are skyrocketing across the nation. But the frenzy is especially magnified in one Sunbelt City.
Austin is this year’s Yahoo Finance 2021 hottest housing market. According to almost every real estate company that tracks home prices, no matter how you slice and dice the data, home prices in the capital city of Texas have soared, outpacing the nation.
It’s also probably not much of a surprise to industry watchers and at least one real estate company. Zillow predicted Austin would be the hottest city of 2021 way back in January. Now Zillow (Z) is predicting by the end of this year the Austin metropolitan area will become the least affordable major metro region for homebuyers outside of California; it has already surpassed Boston, Miami, and New York City.
“The Austin market has stood out and it’s because of the phenomenal shift in remote work, outperformance of tech industry and search for affordability,” said Danielle Hale, economist at Realtor.com, adding that even though prices have risen in the market it’s still half as expensive as other major cities.
Median sales price of single-family homes in the Austin metro area rose 33.5% to $498,400 in the third quarter of 2021 from the same period a year ago, far outpacing the national median home price increase of 16% for the same time period, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Among the 50 major cities that Realtor.com tracks, Austin led the pack in terms of annual median listing price growth by posting a 15.9% increase. Similarly, NerdWallet found that among the nation’s largest metro areas, Austin saw the highest increase in listing price — a 29% rise in the third quarter from the same period last year.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hottest-housing-market-of-2021-austin-texas-154203558.html
Two years after Trump tweeted a classified image of Iran, former officials are divided on fallout
On the morning of Aug. 30, 2019, then-President Donald Trump was receiving his daily intelligence briefing with a a select group of senior national security officials, including CIA Director Gina Haspel, national security adviser John Bolton and other top aides.
U.S. officials at the meeting were delighted. The previous day, Iran had attempted to launch a satellite into space, but the launch had failed spectacularly, with the rocket exploding on the pad.
Included in that morning’s briefing materials was a classified image, taken by satellite, of the botched rocket launch, showing extensive damage to the site.
The president was taken by the image. “Trump thought this was very neat, and asked if he could keep it,” said a former Trump administration official. “And after some hesitation, the intelligence briefer said, 'Yes.'"
Officials had been nervous about leaving the image with the president, according to the former official, who attended the meeting. “Gina [and other intelligence officials] may have said something like, ‘Well, don’t do anything with it, don’t show it to anybody.’ But I think he just blew them off. He said, ‘I just want to look at the picture.’”
About an hour later, Trump tweeted the picture.
https://news.yahoo.com/trump-tweeted-classified-satellite-image-of-iran-former-officials-fallout-100003879.html
These Planets Are Crumbling Into Dust in Front of Our Eyes
And while they spill their guts, we can learn a thing or two about what the insides of Earth look like.Ten years ago, astronomers sifting through images from NASA’s Kepler space telescope spotted signs of something unusual: evidence of a very faraway “exoplanet,” orbiting weirdly close to its star. How close is close in space? In this case, barely farther than twice the diameter of the star itself (about 1.2 million miles).
This planet, later named Kepler-1520b, appeared to be trailing a long, cloud-like tail of dust and gas—a sign that it was disintegrating in the intense heat resulting from its tight, 15-hour orbit. By contrast, Earth’s orbit around the sun, at a distance roughly 100 times the sun’s own diameter, takes a leisurely 365 days.
Two more discoveries of so-called “disintegrating exoplanets” followed over the next five years. Two are proving to be especially provocative to the astronomy community. A pair of University of Arizona scientists have taken it upon themselves to figure out just how big Kepler-1520b and a fellow disintegrating planet called K2-22b really are.
The goal is to see how closely they match Earth. Even though the disintegrating exoplanets are really, really far away from us—800 light-years in the case of K2-22b, 2,000 light-years for Kepler-1520b—they might be our best way of modeling our own planet’s interior.
If the disintegrating exoplanets are similar in size to Earth, they might also be similar in composition. And as the layers of rock peel away on those faraway planets over millennia, the revelation of the planets’ insides could give us a glimpse of what Earth’s own insides might look like, too.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/two-disintegrating-exoplanets-called-k2-22b-and-kepler-1520b-could-reveal-secrets-about-earths-geology
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