For the second time, President Trump won’t attend the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. As Washington’s elite journalists gather to celebrate their work this weekend, the president will hold a rally in Michigan. What better way to dismiss the “fake news” press corps that he sees as hostile than by setting up counter-programming of his own? Trump’s absence is part of a bigger pattern. Not only has the president been extremely hostile to the press, questioning their legitimacy and vilifying them as enemies of the state, but he has cut off access to almost everyone outside the Fox News- Breitbart orbit. Most notable of all has been his decision to hold just one solo press conference since taking office. Before the WHCA was known for its annual dinner, it was established as a professional organization meant to protect journalists’ access to the president of the United States. Calvin Coolidge, though not known for having good press relations, was the first president to … [Read more...] about A Century of Feuding Between Presidents and the Press
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EQUITY RELEASE: Give your application the best chance with this essential guide
Borrowers may use the Equity Release funds for any purpose they like [FILE PIC] (Image: Westend61/Getty Images) Get pensions news and advice plus latest money alerts for FREE now SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info Don’t limit yourself to applying to one lender, shop around for quotes and use a broker. The Financial Conduct Authority actively encourages this. Credit ‘scoring’ does not happen in Equity Release, only credit ‘checking.’ The market currently has over 230 plans of available from 9 lenders, so it’s vital to seek independent financial advice. Most crucially, your chosen adviser must be a member of the Equity Release Council and you can check this by visiting the Council’s website; … [Read more...] about EQUITY RELEASE: Give your application the best chance with this essential guide
I Am the Grass
BECAUSE I love my wife and daughter, and because I want them to believe I am a good man, I have never talked to them about my year as a grunt with the 25th Infantry in Vietnam. I cannot tell my thirteen-year-old that once, drunk on Ba Muoi Ba beer, I took a girl her age into a thatched-roof hooch in Tay Ninh City and did her on a bamboo mat. I cannot tell my wife, who paints watercolors of songbirds, that on a search-and-destroy mission I emptied my M-60 machine gun into two beautiful white egrets that were wading in the muddy water of a paddy. I cannot tell them how I sang "Happy Trails" as I shoved two wounded Viet Cong out the door of a medevac chopper hovering twenty feet above the tarmac of a battalion aid station. I cannot tell them how I lay in a ditch and used my M-60 to gun down a skinny, black-haired farmer I thought was a VC, nearly blowing his head off. I cannot tell them how I completed the decapitation with a machete, and then stuck his head on a pole on top of a mountain … [Read more...] about I Am the Grass
Nicola Sturgeon’s nightmare vision for EU member Scotland makes NI Protocol look like child’s play
Getting Brexit done was a major headache. But taking Scotland out of the UK and into the EU would be the mother of all migraines. Nicola Sturgeon’s dream of an independent Scotland rejoining the EU would make the problems with the Northern Ireland Protocol look simple in comparison. Brussels would insist Scotland treats England as a "third country", which means fresh English sausages, live mussels and unfrozen lasagne would be banned north of the border. English dogs, cats and ferrets would have to be vaccinated three weeks before being allowed into Ms Sturgeon ’s brave new world. Sassenach racing pigeons would be frisked by unsmiling border guards because of EU animal health rules. And English racehorses would face new bureaucratic hurdles to clear before they could compete in independent Scotland. Fortnum & Mason and Marks & Spencer hampers could be a thing of the past for Scottish households, as they are already in Northern Ireland, as businesses decide … [Read more...] about Nicola Sturgeon’s nightmare vision for EU member Scotland makes NI Protocol look like child’s play
EU interpreters’ anger over work from home rules translates into strike
European Union interpreters have gone on strike over work from home rules because poor audio quality and technical difficulties have made remotely translating MEPs speaking at hearings impossible. The interpreters are angry that the European Parliament has adopted new rules on “hybrid conferences” after the Covid pandemic, the Politico Europe website reported. They had warned that they would go on strike unless there was a review of rules allowing speakers to address hearings online. There was further fury when the parliament outsourced interpretation to an external provider on Monday – the day the strike had been meant to start. The International Association of Conference Interpreters told the parliament to “stop outsourcing” and demanded better working conditions for remote interpreters. The EU institutions have 800 interpreters on permanent contracts and 3,200 freelancers who provide live translation of events. The European Commission provides interpretation for up to 50 … [Read more...] about EU interpreters’ anger over work from home rules translates into strike
New world record for data speed is 100,000 times faster than 5G
Researchers in Japan have achieved a world record for data transmission using standard hardware, achieving speeds 100,000 times faster than 5G internet speeds. The Network Research Institute at the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) demonstrated the first ever data transmission of 1.02 petabit (PB) per second, equivalent to just over 125,000 Gigabytes (GB) per second, using optic fibres compatible with conventional cable infrastructure. NICT constructed the transmission system using fibres with standard 0.125mm cladding diameter, which it described as “a major step towards the realisation of ultra-high-throughput optical links... compatible with existing cabling technologies for near-term adoption.” The system allowed 1.02 PB per second to be transmitted over 51.7km, NICT noted in a press release detailing the achievement. NICT previously achieved a world record of 1 petabit per second in December 2020 using non-standard … [Read more...] about New world record for data speed is 100,000 times faster than 5G
Nasa InSight Mars lander sends back ‘beautiful’ selfie from red planet’s surface
Nasa's brand new Mars lander has sent back the first stunning of the surface of the red planet, taken at the end of a terrifying journey. As well as showing the dusty red ground that is now the InSight lander's home, the photo marks a successful close to a journey that took seven months from Earth, and culminated with a nervy few hours as InSight blasted through the Martian atmosphere. The photograph, which shows the InSight spacecraft in the front and the Martian surface further on, is an incredible look at a world that has killed most of the landers that have tried to journey there. Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Show all 30 It also shows that all of the spacecraft's systems are working. The photo was taken after the solar panels successfully folded out from its sides so that its batteries can be charged, and was relayed through the Mars Odyssey orbiter that floats around the planet and sends messages back down to Earth. … [Read more...] about Nasa InSight Mars lander sends back ‘beautiful’ selfie from red planet’s surface
It’s been 53 years — now Nasa wants its Moon dust back
An auction of Moon dust, cockroaches that ate Moon dust, and other lunar paraphernalia closed without a sale on 23 June after Nasa lawyers made it clear that the materials still belong to the space agency . “Extraordinary specimen display from an Apollo 11 lunar dust experiment, in which German cockroaches (among other lower creatures) were fed lunar soil material in order to observe potential pathological effects,” read the description of the lot put on auction by the Boston-based Remarkable Rarities. The auction company had estimated the value of the lot at $400,000. But in a letter from a Nasa lawyer, the space agency argued the auctioneer could not sell property that still belonged to Nasa, according to reporting by the Associated Press. “All Apollo samples, as stipulated in this collection of items, belong to NASA and no person, university, or other entity has ever been given permission to keep them after analysis, destruction, or other use for any purpose, … [Read more...] about It’s been 53 years — now Nasa wants its Moon dust back
Nasa is about to release the ‘deepest image of the universe’ ever
Nasa is about to release the “deepest image” ever taken of the universe, it has said. It is one of the many images that are currently being processed from the James Webb Space Telescope, Nasa announced. “One of those images on July 12 is the deepest image of our universe that has ever been taken,” Nasa administrator Bill Nelson said. “This is farther than humanity has ever looked before, and we’re only beginning to understand what Webb can and will do.” Recommended Nasa Curiosity rover data suggests Mars may have been home to alien life Astronomers discover closest rocky ‘super Earth’ planets yet, per Nasa China's Tianwen-1 spacecraft captures striking photos of Mars The set of images will also include the telescope’s first ever “spectrum” taken of an exoplanet. Such images can reveal the makeup of those distant world’s atmospheres, and could help show which of them are habitable. “It’s going to explore objects in the Solar … [Read more...] about Nasa is about to release the ‘deepest image of the universe’ ever
Facebook and Instagram remove posts offering abortion pills to women who need them
Facebook and Instagram have begun removing posts that offer abortion pills to women who may not be able to access. The news follows the Supreme Court ’s decision that stripped away constitutional protections for the procedure. Roe v Wade guaranteed a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion , but Justice Samuel Alito and the other members of the court gave states power to legislate abortions at a state level. Previously, women had total autonomy to terminate a pregnancy during the first trimester, and allowed some state influence over abortions in the second and third trimesters. “We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” Justice Alito wrote in a draft of an opinion dated 10 February. “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives”. Recommended Ireland Baldwin reveals story of sexual assault and abortion amid Roe v Wade overturn Social media companies ‘should … [Read more...] about Facebook and Instagram remove posts offering abortion pills to women who need them