Stonepounder
Stonepounder's JournalUndersea earthquake, Bali volcano may disrupt holiday plans
Source: Perth Now (AU)
Undersea earthquake, Bali volcano may disrupt holiday plans
Geoffrey Thomas, PerthNow
September 20, 2017 10:52pm
AN undersea earthquake has struck north of Bali, amid volcanic activity which is set to cause flight chaos in the holiday hotspot.
The 5.7-magnitude quake was recorded 125km north-east of Surabaya, on Java this morning, the US Geological Survey has confirmed.
The quake has reportedly sparked fears of a tsunami and follows a week of heightened volcanic activity in the area. Seismic activity is increasing from within Mount Agung with 400 tremors recorded yesterday.
Consumer Protection has advised travellers heading to Bali for the school holidays their flights may be delayed or cancelled due to volcanic activity on the island.
Read more: http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/undersea-earthquake-bali-volcano-may-disrupt-holiday-plans/news-story/ec6c0f5b518439f44652a451d3f6e982
This is being reported by a number of Australian and UK sources. Nothing on US news yet.
The Fix Analysis How well does Jimmy Kimmel understand the GOP health-care bill?
http://wapo.st/2xQA2bFLate-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel inserted himself into the health-care debate in May by telling a harrowing story of the birth of his son, Billy, who was born with a congenital heart defect and required a lot of expensive, attentive medical care to stay alive.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) latched onto the moment to promote his own version of Obamacare repeal: “Does it pass the Jimmy Kimmel test?” he asked. He went on Kimmel's show. They talked about their shared values of providing people health care even if they can't afford it.
Now Cassidy's bill has a shot — however slim — at becoming law in the next week and a half. And Kimmel thinks it sucks and he got burned by Cassidy. “This guy, Bill Cassidy, just lied right to my face,” Kimmel said on his show Tuesday.
“I'm sorry he does not understand,” Cassidy retorted on CNN on Wednesday, arguing that in many states, he thinks insurance will become more affordable than Obamacare under his plan. It turns out Kimmel understands the bill's impact better than its authors do. Here are five of Kimmel's claims matched up to with what we know about the bill.
The article goes on to pretty much rip the Cassidy-Graham bill and picks it apart point by point. Well worth the read.
In War of Elton John Lyrics, Kim Jong Un Calls Trump Honky Cat (Borowitz)
http://bit.ly/2xuVceyPYONGYANG (The Borowitz Report)—In what some security experts fear could be a high-stakes war of Elton John lyrics, minutes after Donald Trump called Kim Jong Un “Rocket Man,” the North Korean dictator responded by calling Trump “Honky Cat.”
As he issued the Elton John-based attack, Kim warned that he had an extensive collection of the singer-songwriter’s albums and was prepared to weaponize every lyric in them.
The White House immediately struck back, warning Kim that “any further provocation involving an Elton John lyric, especially ‘Tiny Dancer,’ will be seen as an act of war.”
But any hope that Kim would be silenced was short-lived. Responding to the White House, Kim stated, “I see the bitch is back,” before signing off, “Goodbye, Yellow-Wigged Toad.”
UK Officials Say Trumps Speculation On London Tube Attack Is Unhelpful
Source: Huffington Post
ONDON ― U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May and London Mayor Sadiq Khan were quick to slam President Donald Trump’s response to Friday’s terror attack at a London tube station.
In a Friday morning Twitter rant, Trump speculated heavily about the perpetrators of a bomb attack that left at least 22 people injured. He referenced the so-called Islamic State, despite there being very little confirmed information about the bombing. He also used the incident as an excuse to push his U.S. travel ban on citizens from six Muslim-majority countries.
“I never think it’s helpful for anybody to speculate on what is an ongoing investigation,” May said on Friday.
<snip>
His comments come in contrast to his silence for two days following the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, last month. He justified his inability to condemn hatred by claiming he didn’t want to speak because he “didn’t know all the facts.”
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/uk-criticize-trump-london_us_59bbdab9e4b02da0e1414e6e?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
The Huffington Post banner when you just go to the site is:
U.K. to Trump: STFU
White House Rejects Supremacist Label (Borowitz)
http://bit.ly/2h2kjPsWhite House Rejects Supremacist Label: “No One Has Done More Than Trump to Prove White People Are Not Superior”
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Upbraiding the ESPN anchor Jemele Hill for calling Donald Trump a “white supremacist,” the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said on Wednesday that “no one has done more than President Trump to prove that white people are not superior.”
“It’s grossly unfair that Ms. Hill sought to portray Donald Trump as an upholder of white supremacy, when everything he says or does directly undermines that whole concept,” Sanders said. “Anyone who thinks that Donald Trump is on some mission to make white people look good hasn’t been paying attention.”
Sanders urged the ESPN anchor to “do her homework” on Trump before making baseless allegations. “Read his tweets,” she said. “Listen to his speeches. If you still think Donald Trump is trying to prove that white people are superior, I tip my hat to you.”
Ending on a personal note, Sanders said that she was “a hundred-per-cent sure” that her boss is not a white supremacist. “Donald Trump cannot even spell the word ‘supremacist,’ ” she said.
The kindness of strangers.
This was posted on Facebook by a friend of mine. She lives on Sanibel Island and was forced to evacuate (with her husband, dogs, and parakeet) to Pensacola:
Talk about the kindness of strangers. David and I were having dinner tonight at Pot Roast and Pinot in Pensacola tonight and mentioned to the server we were evacuated from the hurricane. Apparently, the young couple the next table overheard our tale of the difficult drive up, worry of our home and Sanibel, prep to brace the traffic back. When we went to pay the tab, which was not light, to our surprise, (you know what's coming), the couple who had already left had paid the bill! We are amazed and heartened to have such kindness.
Researchers Identify Gene for Awfulness (Borowitz)
https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/researchers-identify-gene-for-awfulnessLEEDS (The Borowitz Report)—In a finding that has wide-ranging implications for society, British researchers at the University of Leeds announced on Saturday that they have identified the gene for awfulness. The study, which focussed on one adult male and three of his adult children, makes a persuasive argument that there is a “powerful dominant gene” that makes people heinous.
Additionally, certain subtraits of awfulness, such as an inability to tell the truth, appear to be genetically mediated, Dorrinson said. “If the father is unable to explain honestly why a meeting took place, for example, the son who carries the same gene will also tell crazy lies about that meeting,” he said.
Hopes that the gene for horribleness might eventually become diluted as its carriers mate with the general population were dashed when the scientists studied the mating history of the adult daughter in the sample group. “Unfortunately, those who carry the gene for awfulness are more likely to reproduce with other carriers of the same gene,” the scientist said.
Messaging at White House reaches Biblical Proportions
https://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=
&w=480
Coast Guardsmen Share Emotional Reunion With Kids They Saved During Harvel
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/coast-guardsmen-share-emotional-reunion-with-kids-they-saved-during-harvey_us_59adbf95e4b0354e440be1b6Coast Guardsmen Share Emotional Reunion With Kids They Saved During Harvey
During the height of the flooding in the Houston area caused by Hurricane Harvey, the Coast Guard and Texas Children’s Hospital coordinated “mission impossible,” a plan to rescue 33 children with kidney failure who were stranded throughout southeast Texas.
They needed immediate transport to the hospital for dialysis; without it, they might die.
Zaiden lives in Bryan, Texas, about 100 miles from the hospital where he receives treatment four times a week. Gardner, alongside three other Coast Guard personnel, planned and executed the boy’s rescue by Blackhawk helicopter last Tuesday, Aug. 29.
By Wednesday morning, all 33 children in need had made it safely to the hospital, thanks to the daring mission.
Full story at link, with pictures. Worth a look.
Obama Cruelly Taunted Trump in Letter Riddled with Multisyllabic Words (Borowitz)
http://bit.ly/2gDySoJWASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Barack Obama used the occasion of Donald Trump’s Inauguration to viciously taunt the incoming President by writing him a letter riddled with multisyllabic words, sources revealed on Sunday.
According to those familiar with the letter, Obama packed it with intentionally challenging words such as “reflections,” “adventure,” and “ladders,” in order to bewilder and infuriate Trump.
Sources said Trump attempted to read the first line of the letter but, realizing that he was the victim of Obama’s cruel prank, crumpled and discarded it in a rage.
Kellyanne Conway, the counselor to the President, said that the letter episode revealed a “very ugly side of Barack Obama. The media is obsessed with the feud between these two men, but Obama totally started it by using words like ‘international,’ ”.
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