Hijack This Thread

[p0rtia]

[Whatever4]

I’m not into figure skating, but this men’s free skate performance is astonishing. Highest score in the sport’s history, insanely difficult, and powerful. Love it.

[Shizzle Popped]

Holy crap that was impressive.

[qbawl]

I’m not into figure skating, but this men’s free skate performance is astonishing. Highest score in the sport’s history, insanely difficult, and powerful. Love it.

This kid can Skate!
If you've ever wondered who could do the other's job better a hunky hockey player or a petite young female figure skater. Put your money on the figure skater every time. (there are some great examples on you tube)
Almost every hockey player I know admits to having tried a figure skating maneuver (those that claim they never have probably are too macho to admit it). I certainly did. For me it did not go well and is why I refused to smile for my HS graduation picture (Do not attempt any kind of jump with Bermuda shorts and your hands buried deep in the pockets of a raincoat).

[raison de arizona]

Wow that was incredible, thanks for posting.

[Rolodex]

Thanks so much for posting this! I probably never would have run across it. This kid looks like he's 12. And I love the music from Succession - great choice. He just floats through the air...it looks effortless, even in the slo mo. Did someone check to make sure he's not 3D AI?

[Lani]

That was wonderful! Big Thank you!

[much ado]

Amazing. I'll bet he'll be the first to land a quintuple.

[Foggy]

[bill_g]

That was insane. Wow!

[Whatever4]

Thanks so much for posting this! I probably never would have run across it. This kid looks like he's 12. And I love the music from Succession - great choice. He just floats through the air...it looks effortless, even in the slo mo. Did someone check to make sure he's not 3D AI?

I’d believe advanced AI, or antigravity, or alien. I follow a male ballerina on TikTok who deconstructed how Mikhail Baryshnikov looked like he was floating (balloning). Ilia Malinin fits that.

[RTH10260]

Northern lights predicted in US and UK on Monday night in wake of solar storms
Spectacular aurora borealis caused by geomagnetic storms on sun’s surface may be visible in North America as far south as the midwest

Tory Shepherd
Mon 25 Mar 2024 09.08 CET

Solar eruptions are sending a stream of particles towards Earth, creating spectacular auroras in both hemispheres.

The aurora borealis – in the northern hemisphere – will be potentially visible on Monday night in the US as far south as the midwest. The northern lights, more commonly seen within the Arctic Circle, could also be visible in Scotland.

In the southern hemisphere, the aurora australis could be visible in southern Australia, from Victoria to Western Australia.

The shimmering spectacle comes on the same night as a penumbral lunar eclipse, which will be visible around the world.

Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology’s space weather forecasting centre issued an aurora alert on Monday morning, saying a severe solar storm was in progress and the southern lights could be visible.



https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... lar-storms

[northland10]

No seeing Northern Lights here. We will have nothing but clouds and rain for the next day.

[MsDaisy 2]

I got a call this morning from my daughter-in-law Kim to say that she got a call that her mother has had a massive stroke. She’s alive but completely non-responsive. Her family has been told there is no reason to do anything at this point except comfort care, she’s not coming back. So sad! All we can do is send love and hope it’s over quickly. Poor baby.

[Maybenaut]

I got a call this morning from my daughter-in-law Kim to say that she got a call that her mother has had a massive stroke. She’s alive but completely non-responsive. Her family has been told there is no reason to do anything at this point except comfort care, she’s not coming back. So sad! All we can do is send love and hope it’s over quickly. Poor baby.

[Volkonski]

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

[AndyinPA]

[Volkonski]

Merrimack and Schiller stations, last coal plants in New England, to shut down coal operations

https://newhampshirebulletin.com/2024/0 ... -lawsuits/

Merrimack Station in Bow, the last operating coal-fired power plant in New England, is set to close its coal operations by June 2028, the plant’s parent company announced Wednesday.

The decision is part of a settlement agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency, after the Conservation Law Foundation and the Sierra Club brought lawsuits under the Clean Water Act against the parent company, Granite Shore Power.

According to the agreement, the company will also close coal operations at its Portsmouth facility, Schiller Station, after Dec. 31, 2025.

The company will transition the plants into clean energy facilities, which will be billed as “renewable energy parks,” the company said in a statement Wednesday. Schiller Station will feature a battery storage system that is intended to help the coming offshore wind farms in New Hampshire and Maine, according to Granite Shore Power.

“The transformation of these power plants into new, clean energy facilities will mark the end of coal-fired generation in New England and facilitate exciting new economic growth at each location,” the statement read.

The decision follows years of demonstrations by climate change activists, some of whom have been arrested for protesting at the Bow facility and urging it be shut down.

In their lawsuit, CLF and the Sierra Club had claimed that the company was not following a 2016 permit with the EPA that limited how much heated water it could discharge into the Merrimack River. In December, Judge Joseph LaPlante of the U.S. District Court of New Hampshire ruled in favor of the power plants. Wednesday’s settlement agreement emerged as the lawsuit was heading to an appeal before the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.

[RTH10260]

South Carolina Discovers Mystery State Bank Account With $1.8 Billion — But Lawmakers Don't Know What To Do With It!
Is it good or bad news for South Carolina?

By Madz DizonMADZ DIZON
Mar 27, 2024 09:58 PM EDT

Officials are puzzled as to the origin of this substantial sum and its intended purpose.

South Carolina Found $1.8 Billion State Bank Account

Republican Gov. Henry McMaster reassured the public on Tuesday that there was no loss of funds. The bank account appears to be linked to long-standing accounting issues for the state, which stem from a transition to a new computer system in the late 2010s.

The South Carolina Senate has set up a panel to investigate the funds. At the forefront of the initiative is Republican state Sen. Larry Grooms, who compared the scenario to entering a bank where the president informs you that there is a substantial amount of money in the vault, but the ownership of the funds is uncertain.

"It's like going into your bank and the bank president tells you we have a lot of money in our vault but we just don't know who it belongs to," said Grooms.

Experts in accounting are currently working to unravel the complex situation, but it seems that whenever there were discrepancies in the state's financial records, funds were transferred from one account to another in order to maintain balance, as reported by lawmakers.

Treasurer Curtis Loftis, a Republican, has been evasive about addressing questions about the cash. He has only mentioned his success in generating approximately $200 million in interest for the state. He claims that the comptroller general, Brian Gaines, is to blame for the lack of information regarding where the money is intended to be allocated.

Earlier this month, Loftis made the argument that Gaines is trying to avoid taking responsibility for cleaning up its mess by blaming the Treasurer.

Both Loftis and Gaines have been called to testify before Grooms' panel. Grooms observed that Gaines has diligently answered all the questions lawmakers raised during the investigation, whereas Loftis has not been as responsive.



https://www.hngn.com/articles/258905/20 ... ith-it.htm

[MN-Skeptic]

I'm not sure where to put this, so I'll put it here.

First, Jon Steward did a piece on the Daily Show. Per the Daily Show tweet: "Jon Stewart unpacks Trump's $454 million fraud penalty and the bogus idea being floated by "money experts" like Kevin O'Leary that it's a "victimless" crime."

The YouTube video of that -



So today the New York Post had the most idiotic article possible:

Jon Stewart benefited by 829% ‘overvalue’ of his NYC home even as he labels Trump’s civil case ‘not victimless’

But it didn’t take long for internet sleuths to look into Stewart’s own property history, which shows his New York City penthouse sold for 829% more than its assessed value, records confirmed by The Post reveal.

In 2014, Stewart sold his 6,280-square-foot Tribeca duplex to financier Parag Pande for $17.5 million. The property’s asking price at that time is not available in listing records.

But according to 2013-2014 assessor records obtained by The Post, the property had the estimated market-value at only $1.882 million.

The actual assessor valuation was even lower, at $847,174.

Records also show that Stewart paid significantly lower property taxes, which were calculated based on that assessor valuation price — precisely what he called Trump out for doing in his Monday monologue.

Pande, who purchased the penthouse from Stewart, then resold the property at a nearly 26% loss, according to the Real Deal — at just over $13 million — in 2021.

Timothy Pool, a political commentator known for more right-leaning views, alleged on X that Stewart was being a hypocrite.

“Did @jonstewart commit fraud when he sold his penthouse for $17.5M? NY listed its market value at $1.8M an AV at around 800k… Who did he defraud?? I am SHOCKED,” he wrote.

More at the link above, but - Good Grief! They equate Trump's bogus exaggeration with a true arm's length sale.

Jon Stewart's response?

Jon Stewart
@jonstewart

OMG!! I've been caught doing something not remotely similar to Trump! I guess all I need to do now is start a fraud college, steal classified docs, bankrupt casinos, pay hush money, grab pussies, discriminate in housing, cheat at golf and foment insurrection and you'll revere me!

[AndyinPA]

[Rolodex]

Trying to keep with with this crazy stuff about Puff Daddy/Sean Combs/Diddy/whatever.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/worl ... 19844.html

[MN-Skeptic]

I'm not sure where to put this, so I'll put it here. I think many of us remember the Texas woman who was sentenced to five years for illegally voting. She's been out of prison while this has been going through the courts, thank goodness. Latest update -

Kyle Griffin
@kylegriffin1

BREAKING:

A Texas appeals court just threw out the five-year prison sentence for Crystal Mason, the Texas woman sentenced for trying to cast a provisional ballot in the 2016 election that was rejected.

Linked article - Crystal Mason: Texas woman sentenced to five years over voting error acquitted

[chancery]

That's wonderful news about Crystal Mason.

Meanwhile, the hunt for those pesky illegal voters is proceeding apace. From the Washington Post:

GOP official who claimed 2020 election was stolen voted illegally 9 times, judge rules

A Georgia Republican official who pushed false claims that the 2020 election was “stolen” was found to have voted illegally nine times, a judge ruled this week.

Brian Pritchard, first vice chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine, as well as investigative costs, and be publicly reprimanded.

Gift Link: https://wapo.st/3PDFzZe