Wednesday Overnight Open Thread (6/28/23)

Quote I

“Although I love a good PR story, this isn’t one of them. Circa Resort & Casino is cooperating with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department in this investigation. We greatly appreciate their efforts to date and cannot comment further due to an ongoing investigation.”
Derek Stevens, CEO of Circa, said in a statement.

Quote II

“No one else in the establishment did anything. And so, once he saw his mother get severely hit, he took action,” community activist Ja’Mal Green.

Quote III

“There are many, many men who are interested in and better at sports than the best women,” Yenor said in a statement to Campus Reform. “This is why we have women's sports. Men being able to compete in women's sports will allow men to win in women's sports." Boise State professor Scott Yenor

US Coast Guard appears to have recovered debris with human remains from the Titan vessel.

Missing Titanic sub: Coast Guard says 'presumed human remains' found in debris field of Titan submersible

One week after the Titanic-bound Titan submersible imploded, the Coast Guard says “presumed human remains” were recovered “within the wreckage” of the vessel.

“The evidence will provide investigators from several international jurisdictions with critical insights into the cause of this tragedy,” Marine Board of Investigation Chairman Jason Neubaue said in a statement. “There is still a substantial amount of work to be done to understand the factors that led to the catastrophic loss of the TITAN and help ensure a similar tragedy does not occur again.”

If my former tax-exemptions are reading, this maybe cheaper than cremation and the Waste Management dumpster plan of mine.

You Can Bury Your Dead at Sea (Because It’s Free, Eco-Friendly, and Totally Legal)
There's no law that says you can't drop corpses into the ocean.

The American death industry is a racket. Everything is overpriced. The average coffin will cost between $2,000–$5,000, and according to some sources, the cost of a cremation averages between $4,000 and $7,000 per body—and that’s not including the memorial service. But you don’t have to settle for an overpriced burial or immolation. Instead, you can have your loved one buried at sea.

I’m serious. Over 2,500 people chose this funerary option in 2020 alone (mostly in Florida—go figure.) There are companies that offer full service sea burials of both intact bodies and cremains, but their prices seem fairly steep, and it’s nothing you can’t do yourself if you have access to a boat and a DIY spirit, because the process is totally legal to carry out yourself. All you need is a free permit and the wherewithal to get yourself and your dearly departed cargo three miles off the coast.

One of those occurrences where you shake your head and ask yourself: "Self, how did our country get this far advanced?

US Patent and Trademark Office notifies filers of years-long data leak

The federal government agency responsible for granting patents and trademarks has confirmed it inadvertently exposed about 61,000 filers’ private addresses in a years-long data spill.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) said in a notice sent to affected trademark applicants that their private domicile address — often their home address — inadvertently appeared in public records between February 2020 and March 2023.

U.S. law requires applicants to include their private address when submitting a trademark application in efforts to crack down on fraudulent trademark filings.

All good things must come to an end. National Geographic magazine to slim down substantially.

Pivots to Video: National Geographic Cuts Staff Writers
The company, which has 280 million Instagram followers, plans to focus more on social media and short-form content.

National Geographic is laying off all of its staff writers, according to reports from senior writers Douglas Main and Craig Welch posted on Twitter today (June 28). Staff were informed “a while ago,” according to Main, who worked at the publication for “a wonderful five years,” reporting on animals and wildlife.

“It’s been an honor and a joy,” Main said. “Very proud of the work that my colleagues and I have done here.”

I first heard of Pickleball five years ago. I guess doctors like it and health insurers do not.

Pickleball is expected to cost more than $350 million in medical injuries in the US this year

Senior players are contributing to a rise in outpatient surgeries, according to UBS analysts

Change is a constant. From a prosperous neighborhood and business to the challenge of a lifetime.

The Butchers Are in Trouble G. Esposito is gone, and now Staubitz is struggling.

“We were a bunch of idiots from the city,” says John McFadden Jr., pointing to a time-faded photograph mounted on the back wall at Staubitz Market, the city’s oldest butcher shop. It opened in 1917. The photograph was taken in 1987. Six men in a rubber raft, paddles in hand and wearing bright-orange wet suits, careen geekily through Class V rapids on the Lehigh River. McFadden Jr. points to a grimacing man in a blue beanie: “See, there’s Dad.” His father, John McFadden Sr., who took over the butcher shop in 1967, died last October. “It was freezing cold, and we thought the wet suits would keep us warm and dry,” recalls his son. At some point after the photo was taken, the elder McFadden toppled into the white water, caroming backward downriver while his son frantically yelled for him to turn around so as to better see any hazards approaching — boulders, downed branches, holes. “It was terrible,” McFadden Jr. says. Then he points to an adjacent photo, same setup, slightly calmer water. “But we went the next year too.”

There are other photos in the shop. Behind the counter, various large pictures of the butchers — from 1920, 1980, 1990, and 2007 — testify to the longevity of the institution. A wooden booth in the back corner is as old as the store itself. Once, a cashier sat inside, ringing up a steady stream of customers. Now, it’s mostly used by one of the shop’s six employees as a place to eat lunch in solitude. Although its history is long, the butcher shop’s future might be short. A few weeks ago, McFadden Jr. started a GoFundMe campaign titled, simply, “Save Staubitz Market.” He wrote, “I’m the son of John McFadden Sr., the former owner of Staubitz Market. Working side-by-side with my father since I was 11 years old, we have served the community and its families for almost 3 decades. Sadly, my father passed suddenly and unexpectedly leaving the state of the business in shambles.”

An interesting read..........

Drug smugglers are supposed to be unseen and quiet. Genius Award Winner.

The pilot of a private plane released packages of drugs over the Ardèche region, France, while being chased by a Rafale fighter jet on June 24, 2024.

The sequence of events began when the passenger plane coming from Germany into France was detected over the restricted airspace near the Fessenheim nuclear power plant in Alsace. Despite repeated warnings from the air operations command, the pilot chose not to respond and continued the flight.

Talk about spirit and spunk. Tonight's Feel Good Story of The Day.

A Brazilian ballerina who found her freedom and expression through dance has become a television and social media sensation, inspiring millions with her “never give up” attitude.

Vitória Bueno Boche, 19, was born in Santa Rita do Sapucaí in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, with no arms, a congenital defect diagnosed at birth.

Navigating the world using her shoulders and feet for dexterity is all she’s ever known. However, when her physiotherapist noticed how much the young girl enj

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posted by Misanthropic Humanitarian at 09:59 PM

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