turbinetree
turbinetree's JournalGiant Stratolaunch aircraft lifts off from California
By JOHN ANTCZAK 22 minutes ago
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A giant six-engine aircraft with the world’s longest wingspan landed its first flight after some two hours in the air Saturday.
The behemoth, twin-fuselage Stratolaunch jet lifted off from Mojave Air and Space Port and climbed into the desert sky 70 miles (112 kilometers) north of Los Angeles.
Founded by the late billionaire Paul G. Allen, Stratolaunch is vying to be a contender in the market for air-launching small satellites.
The aircraft is designed to carry as many as three satellite-laden rockets at a time under the center of its enormous wing, which stretches 385 feet (117 meters) — a longer wingspan than any other aircraft.
https://apnews.com/1ea378f268b548a7895b2c7c76eca5a0
To Protect National Security, Send A Subpoena To Mar-a-Lago
Lax Security at the ‘Winter White House’ Threatens the Nation
By Joe Conason, The NationalMemo.com
We were sitting on the patio at Mar-a-Lago recently, enjoying drinks and dinner with a few friends, when Donald Trump suddenly showed up.
He scowled at me for a few seconds and then did a double take. Perhaps he was rattled to encounter on his own property a journalist whose skeptical coverage dated back to the era when Roy Cohn was still fixing politicians for him. (Back then, I wrote a weekly column in the hallowed pages of the Village Voice with Wayne Barrett, the nonpareil investigative reporter and Trump nemesis who is gone but by no means forgotten.)
Trump walked away but returned to our table a few minutes later with a cordial greeting for me as well as our host, who is a club member. Before we left, he came back again, this time with Melania Trump on his arm, to make a gracious introduction.
https://www.dcreport.org/2019/04/12/to-protect-national-security-send-a-subpoena-to-mar-a-lago/
Trump tax 'cut' actually increased taxes for 10 million American families, report finds
A Center for American Progress estimate found that 10,260,263 families saw their taxes go up, thanks to the 2017 law.
Josh Israel
Apr 12, 2019, 12:48 pm
Donald Trump ran in 2016 promising that every American would receive a tax cut. But he has already raised taxes on an estimated 10 million families, according to a new analysis.
The Center for American Progress released its calculations on Friday, based on data from the non-partisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. It found that 10,260,263 American families saw a tax hike last year, thanks to the president’s 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act. (ThinkProgress in an editorially independent news site housed at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.)
“Everybody is getting a tax cut, especially the middle class,” Trump told CNN in May 2016.
As he signed the bill into law in December 2017, he claimed the bill would immediately benefit all Americans. “They’re going to start seeing the results in February. This bill means more take-home pay. It will be an incredible Christmas gift for hard-working Americans,” he bragged. “I said I wanted to have it done before Christmas. We got it done.”
https://thinkprogress.org/10-million-american-families-saw-tax-increases-under-trump-tax-cut-aa97d7aee410/
Count me in as one of the over 10 million.
I get to pay $2,000.00 dollars to the feds, and over $400.00 to the blue state I live in, while, Amazon, Delta, Exxon/Mobile and others paid zero taxes, and while these same assholes get to keep there fucking tax rates in the coming years, guess what, the Paul Ryan and other libertarian assholes that voted for this POS legislation and that traitor in the white house that signed the legislation, my tax rate will be going up again, and then to top it all off the country has a "guy" that defrauded New York out of over 400 million and his sister just retired from the courts in the state and thinks that she is out of the woods, and we the 10 million get hosed out of 1.5 trillion in more debt ..............................this just pisses me off to know end...................................
Brexhaustion: Long, grinding Brexit is stressing people out
By DANICA KIRKA
today
LONDON (AP) — Elly Wright can’t sleep through the night.
The Dutch native, who has lived in Britain for 51 years, keeps thinking about the black boots of Nazi soldiers marching by her basement window as they brought Jews to a nearby camp in her homeland. The flashbacks have been triggered by Britain’s heated debate over leaving the European Union, which has brought division, strife and fear of foreigners. The 77-year-old painter says it has shattered her sense of belonging.
?
Britain) is my home,” Wright said quietly. “That is being taken away from me.”
Wright isn’t alone in her angst. The acrimony over Brexit, which has reached fever pitch as deadlines come and go while politicians squabble, is affecting the mental wellbeing of people from Belfast to Brighton.
Job uncertainty. Visa worries. Confrontational conversations between family members or friends with opposing views on Brexit. The fatigue and stress caused by three years of conflict has spawned new terms: Brexhaustion or Strexit.
https://apnews.com/aa806762f47f4037b367468ba249d4f6
Traditional Hawaiian creation chant used to name black hole
today
HILO, Hawaii (AP) — A language professor has given a Hawaiian name — Powehi — to the black hole depicted in an image produced in a landmark experiment.
University of Hawaii-Hilo Hawaiian Professor Larry Kimura named the cosmic object, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Thursday.
The world’s first image of a black hole revealed Wednesday was created using data from eight radio telescopes around the world.
Powehi means “the adorned fathomless dark creation” or “embellished dark source of unending creation” and comes from the Kumulipo, an 18th century Hawaiian creation chant. Po is a profound dark source of unending creation, while wehi, honored with embellishments, is one of the chant’s descriptions of po, the newspaper reported.
https://apnews.com/35fadaad34ae4a15819bc9dca304ae37
Finns to vote on how best to save their welfare state
By JARI TANNER and VANESSA GERA today
HELSINKI (AP) — Finns will be voting Sunday in a parliamentary election shaped by debates on how best to preserve their generous welfare model despite having one of the world’s most rapidly aging populations.
And in this Nordic nation, which has one-third of its territory above the Arctic Circle, anxieties over climate change are emerging more than ever.
In many respects, the choices facing Finland’s 4.5 million eligible voters reflect trends seen across Europe: a populist anti-immigrant, euroskeptic party is rising in opinion polls, while traditional political parties have lost ground. In Finland, the nationalist Finns Party is polling in second place.
But in an exception to that trend, Finland’s center-left Social Democratic Party tops a recent poll with 19% support. It would still need to find coalition partners if it ended up trying to form the next government.
https://apnews.com/3caf7d57524f4effb5f890e67aac0a2d
Police: Pair made laxative cookies for striking workers
today
UHRICHSVILLE, Ohio (AP) — Police say a couple made laxative-laced cookies for striking school employees because they were tired of the noise from the picket line near their home.
Authorities in eastern Ohio say none of the striking workers ate the sugar cookies, but the couple was charged with contaminating the treats.
Police say the pair complained on Facebook about drivers honking in support of the striking bus drivers, cooks and custodians.
Investigators say they also made a video showing the laxative pills being mixed into the cookie batter.
https://apnews.com/57eb8816c4e24f288dfe9825c5fab21a
Absolutely amazing........................LOCK these TWO UP...........................
Man angry about virginity pleads guilty to threatening women
an hour ago
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A man has pleaded guilty to a felony terroristic threat charge after authorities said he threating to target women in a mass shooting because he couldn’t get a girlfriend.
Utah prosecutor Chad Grunander tells the Deseret News that 27-year-old Christopher W. Cleary of Denver was in court on Thursday.
Police said Cleary wrote on Facebook he was planning to become a mass shooter because he was still a virgin and wanted to kill as many women as possible.
He was arrested during a trip to Provo, Utah, on January 19, the same day women’s marches were held around the country. Colorado authorities have said he was on probation after stalking and threatening women there.
His attorney Dustin Parmley did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
https://apnews.com/bf92902fa8b84d61ba629f54ea3b72e1
https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900065395/utah-provo-denver-man-admits-threatening-kill-as-many-girls-as-i-see-womens-marches.html?user=app
He is just fucked up..............................
The Latest: New 'Star Wars' called 'The Rise of Skywalker'
49 minutes ago
CHICAGO (AP) — The Latest on the unveiling of details about the final installment of the third “Star Wars” trilogy at the Star Wars Celebration being held this weekend in Chicago (all times local):
12:10 p.m.
No one is ever really gone, says Luke Skywalker in the first teaser for “Star Wars: Episode IX,” which fans got a first look at Friday at Star Wars Celebration in Chicago.
The short spot also revealed the title to the final chapter in the Skywalker saga will be “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.”
The voice of Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker provided the narration for the teaser, with a voice telling Daisy Ridley’s Rey that the knowledge of a thousand generations has been passed on. He added that this is her fight now.
Audiences also got to see a glimpse of the return of Billy Dee Williams’ Lando Calrissian and Carrie Fisher’s Leia Organa.
The trailer ends with the ominous laughter of an old but familiar villain: Emperor Palpatine from the original and prequel trilogies.
https://apnews.com/f9bd207a871546918025093639ba3411
Include me as Stars Wars fan...........................................
Air National Guard members' pensions delayed for months due to backlog
“We don’t want to hear excuses. People retire. You account for it. You plan for it and you make sure retirees are getting their payment on time," said Rep. Tim Ryan.
April 11, 2019, 12:19 PM EDT
By Phil McCausland
Several retired members of the Air National Guard and the Air Force Reserve say they have struggled to receive their military pensions, a problem that military officials attribute to a beleaguered workforce and technology that one former general called "shamefully outdated." Some retirees say they have waited months to receive the financial support and health benefits owed to them after 20 years of service.
NBC News spoke with half a dozen former Air National Guard and Reserve members who in the last two years have waited weeks or months past the date of when they expected to receive their pension. Some eventually received their money, but endured months of no income while waiting.
In interviews, retired service members say they are forced to endlessly navigate automated phone systems for hours and received generic email responses when they request specific details about the state of their pensions.
“I worked so hard. I showed up. I did the best job I could for my patients in Air Force hospitals, and this was a benefit that I never thought I would have to beg and plead and fight to get,” said Retired Lt. Col. Jackie Brich, who received her benefits and back pay more than six months after they were due.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/air-national-guard-members-pensions-delayed-months-due-backlog-n993221
Maybe zippy the orange hair traitor can figure this out since he has only "acting" cabinet secretaries.......................
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