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[Foggy]

I'm reading about the Constitutional Convention in 1787, and early drafts had one member of the House of Representatives for every 40,000 people.

Which would make 8,250 members today.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

Moppie and Poppie! All right!

[keith]

For months after the pandemic hit in 2020, my phone was quiet. There just were no telemarketers making phone calls. It was so strange, so nice.

But today? Good grief. I've had six calls today which I haven't answered because they all appear to be telemarketers.

Me too.

Except they are not telemarketers - they are computerized active phone number finders.

We got called on the hour for four hours, then every 15 minutes for two hours, then every 5 minutes for a half hour.

In every case, they were not interested in talking, only if someone answered the number. That is information they can then sell to scammers, telemarketers, and political action committees.

I just let it go to the answering machine now, if it is someone who wants to talk to me, they will leave a message and I will hear them if I am home and pick up.

[RTH10260]

Culture shock syndrome...

‘Travelers who were lost forever’: why tourists experience ‘India syndrome’
‘Many travelers arrive with some deep-rooted idea of what India is.’


Harley Rustad
Thu 13 Jan 2022 12.00 GMT

In 1985, Régis Airault arrived in India to work as the resident doctor of psychology at the French consulate in Mumbai.

At the time, travelers from France, upon arriving in India, could visit the consulate to place their passport and return plane ticket into safe-keeping. Airault had the opportunity to speak to those travelers, often in their 20s or early 30s, soon after they landed in India. All were excited about their forthcoming travels.

But soon, Airault began noticing a curious condition in some of the French travelers, particularly among those who had spent longer periods of time in the country: a spectrum of behavioral and psychological changes that later became known as “India syndrome”. The condition has cousins around the world: religious tourists to Jerusalem are struck with a spontaneous psychosis upon visiting the city, certain that they are hearing God or in the presence of saints; visitors to Florence are physically overcome, even hallucinate, upon viewing the beauty of the city’s art.

In India, Airault would be dispatched to examine travelers who had lost their bearings, had become disoriented and confused, or had found themselves in manic and psychotic states. The contrast was shocking. “I would see them perfect when they arrive and after one month, I would see them totally unstable,” he recalls. Initially, what Airault observed was blamed solely on drug use, but many of the travelers were also exhibiting symptoms such as depression and isolation, stemming from a feeling of disorientation in an unfamiliar land or culture.

In rare cases, others were later diagnosed with acute psychosis, delirium and delusion. At its most powerful, India syndrome could be all-consuming, leading to a complete detachment from reality or an overwhelming disconnection from familiarity. Airault came to call that group “the travelers who were lost forever”.

Over the decade that followed, the French psychiatrist traveled back and forth between France and India researching and compiling notes and observations into a thesis, which he adapted into a book, published in 2000, called Fous de l’Inde – Crazy About India – which revolves around a central question: does India itself bring forth these transformations, or do people go there determined to be transformed?



https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyl ... ley-rustad

[Volkonski]

GOP senator plans to introduce ‘Fauci Act’ after clash at hearing

https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/go ... socialflow

Republican Sen. Roger Marshall (Kan.) plans to introduce the “Fauci Act” after he clashed with infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci at a Senate hearing this week.

Marshall will be introducing the Financial Accountability for Uniquely Compensated Individuals (FAUCI) Act after he said Fauci’s records were not readily accessible to the public, a spokesperson for the senator told The Hill.

The Fauci Act would require the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) website to provide the financial records of administration officials like Fauci and a list of those in the government whose financial records are not public.

The move comes after Fauci was caught on a hot mic calling Marshall a “moron” for not knowing the Chief White House medical adviser’s financial records were public.

“I don’t understand why you’re asking me that question,” Fauci said at the hearing after being questioned by Marshall about the records. “My financial disclosure is public knowledge and has been so for the last 37 years or so.”

[Volkonski]

Judge Determines Martin Shkreli Deserves to Be Banned for Life from Participating in Pharmaceutical Industry ‘in Any Capacity’

https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/ju ... -capacity/

A federal judge issued a scathing order against so-called “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli “banning him for life from participating in the pharmaceutical industry in any capacity.” Shkreli also must pay a $64.6 million disgorgement to states that filed an antitrust suit against him.

“Banning an individual from an entire industry and limiting his future capacity to make a living in that field is a serious remedy and must be done with care and only if equity demands,” U.S. District Judge Denise Cote noted in a 135-page ruling. “Shkreli’s egregious, deliberate, repetitive, long-running, and ultimately dangerous illegal conduct warrants imposition of an injunction of this scope.”

In January 2020, New York State Attorney General Letitia James (D) filed a lawsuit—which was later joined by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and attorneys general from other states—accusing Shkreli of exerting monopoly control to jack up the price of the life-saving drug, Daraprim.

Judge Cote’s ruling describes how Shkreli cornered the market on the drug through a company then known as Turing Pharmaceuticals, which was later rebranded as Vyera, the entity sued by regulators.

“From day one, Shkreli focused his new venture on acquiring sole-source drugs that were the gold standard treatment option for life-threatening diseases with a small patient population and inferior alternative treatments, with the intent to raise their prices, block generic competition, and reap extraordinary profits,” the ruling states.

Wonder what they got for the [Wu Tang] album?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/music/news/fe ... uxbndlbing

Feds sell one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album forfeited by ‘Pharma Bro’ Martin Shkreli

A one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album that had been owned by jailed pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli has been sold by the federal government as part of civil forfeiture agreement he reached when he was convicted in 2017.

Details of the sale — including the identity of the buyer and the purchase price — were not disclosed. Shkreli had reportedly paid $2 million for the album, “Once Upon a Time in Sholin,” which the seminal rap group released in 2015. It is the only existing copy of the recording.

The proceeds of the sale will go to satisfy the $7.4 million forfeiture agreement Shkreli reached when he was convicted, according to the U.S. Attorney for New York’s Eastern District.

“With today’s sale of this one-of-a-kind album, his payment of the forfeiture is now complete,” said acting U.S. Attorney Jacquelyn Kasulis.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

Methinks Shkreli is a sociopath.

[Volkonski]

Brandi Buchman
@Brandi_Buchman
·
51m
So, I saw some folks on here tweeting recently about a concrete barrier up around a portion of the White House. The tweeting folks were hyperventilating about it being a conspiracy of some sort to build a wall around the White House/hide Biden.
It's for fountain construction.

[Uninformed]

“US fugitive who faked death found alive in Glasgow”:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland- ... t-59988720

“An American fugitive believed to have faked his own death is facing extradition after being arrested in hospital in Glasgow.
Nicholas Rossi, 34, was wanted by Interpol and faces a charge of rape in Utah in the United States.
He was admitted to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in December with Covid-19 - where he used the alias Arthur Knight.
Police Scotland said he was detained under an international arrest warrant”

[Greatgrey]

Methinks Shkreli is a sociopath.

[Plutodog]

“US fugitive who faked death found alive in Glasgow”:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland- ... t-59988720

“An American fugitive believed to have faked his own death is facing extradition after being arrested in hospital in Glasgow.
Nicholas Rossi, 34, was wanted by Interpol and faces a charge of rape in Utah in the United States.
He was admitted to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in December with Covid-19 - where he used the alias Arthur Knight.
Police Scotland said he was detained under an international arrest warrant”

Extradite!

[RTH10260]

Baby Shark makes history with 10 billion YouTube views

Neill Fronde
Published on Sunday, January 16, 2022 19:48By Neill Fronde

Quick, what’s the most popular song of all time? According to YouTube statistics, you might not be familiar with it if you don’t have a child or haven’t been around a child for the last 6 years. The maddeningly inescapable children’s song Baby Shark (that you’ll now be humming to yourself for the rest of the day, sorry) made history this week after becoming the first video in the history of YouTube to surpass 10 billion views.

In addition to being the most viewed video on YouTube, it also spent 20 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, was certified RIAA diamond (that’s what happens when you go Platinum 11 times), and BRIT certified 2 times Platinum.

The children’s song, created by the Pinkfong Company, tells the timeless tale of a baby shark and its family (mommy, daddy, grandma, and grandpa) going on a hunt and then fleeing an unspoken danger (don’t worry, they find safety in the end). The iconic video features an adorable Asian boy and girl acting out the story with dance moves children of nearly any age can copy, superimposed in animated underwater scenes.

The video was released in June of 2016 and has garnered millions of views each day until, on January 13, it officially passed the 10 billion view mark – that’s more views than there are humans on the planet. Pinkfong’s YouTube channel has a total of more than 50 billion views, with more than 5,000 stories and songs in 20 different languages.


https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/baby-sh ... tube-views

[bill_g]

Ugh. And I just gave them 1B + 1 views.

And like most kid songs, it has a hook (doo doo doo doo doo doo).

[Foggy]

Do you know I almost clicked on that? At the last minute I suddenly realized, what the hell am I doing? I still remember what happened with Mahna Mahna.

[bill_g]

Don't forget Gangnam Style.

[RTH10260]

Boss - did you call?

[Foggy]

[Volkonski]

Ugochi Iloka KHOU
@UgochiKHOU
·
1h
HAPPENING NOW: Houston Mayor
@SylvesterTurner
giving a proclamation and key to the city to this year's MLK parade Day grand marshal Vanessa Wyche, director of the NASA Johnson Space Center. She started the job role as the center's first African-American female director.
@KHOU

[MsDaisy]

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[Tiredretiredlawyer]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/Ke ... uxbndlbing

Keira D'Amato, 37-year-old mom of 2, sets American record with 2:19:12 at Houston Marathon


Keira D'Amato's running journey included years away from the road, the birth of two children and an injury letdown at last year's U.S. Track and Field Olympic qualifiers.

None of that held her back from becoming the fastest American woman to run a marathon.

On Sunday in Houston, Texas, the 37-year-old crossed the finish line in 2:19:12, breaking the previous mark set by Deena Kastor at the London Marathon in 2006 (2:19:36).

From NFL plays to college sports scores, all the top sports news you need to know every day.

Breaking the record was on D'Amato's radar after a strong showing at the Chicago Marathon (fourth place) and winning the USATF national championships in the half marathon on Dec. 6 in South Carolina.

[raison de arizona]

Justin Case.

[Shizzle Popped]

FJWpABZUcAICs8W.jpeg (59.01 KiB) Viewed 703 times

From the comments

[bill_g]

Meanwhile in Oregon, we're blowing soap bubbles. Really really big ones.

[AndyinPA]

[RTH10260]

is that a "mine's bigger than yours" competition