July 11, 2021

Historic Miami-Dade courthouse closed due to 'safety concerns' following condo collapse.

CNN : Historic Miami-Dade courthouse closed due to 'safety concerns' following condo collapse.
http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_topstories/~3/6Q4O4fHiM3Q/index.html

BySeptember 2019.
(CNN)The historic Miami-Dade County Courthouse has been closed after an engineer reported "safety concerns" following the collapse of a condo in nearby Surfside, Florida, officials said Friday.

Courthouse staff has been directed to work from home after the engineer's report -- prompted by the Champlain Towers South condo collapse -- "identified safety concerns with various floors," Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said in a joint statement with other officials.
The report "recommended floors 16 and above be closed to staff while repairs are swiftly completed," the statement said.

July 10, 2021

Man asks.his.dog; wanna go for a run?

https://youtube.com/shorts/iplVhe339hg?feature=share

July 10, 2021

What will become of the land the Surfside condo is on?

What will become of the land the Surfside condo is on?

Even as the search for victims of the Surfside condominium collapse continues, a question has surfaced: What will become of the land?

Although beachfront property is a hot commodity in South Florida, survivors, families who lost loved ones and neighbors are struggling to imagine another apartment building or hotel in a space that has suffered so much loss. Instead, many condominium owners have expressed hope that the government will purchase the property and build a memorial park.

The possibility of selling the land for a memorial — similar to the museum and fountains in the footprint of the twin towers that honor the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 — has come up in official conversations in recent days. But when it was broached Wednesday at a hearing to discuss the various lawsuits filed on behalf of victims, a concern lingered: Would such a sale offer victims the largest possible payout for their lost homes?


Attorney Robert McKee said his client Steve Rosenthal, one of the residents suing the condo association, and other possible clients wondered if discussions about the possible park could start with the county, state or federal government, though he said it was “probably not the best commercial use.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/07/09/what-will-happen-to-surfside-condo-land/
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael A. Hanzman called it an “interesting thought” but added that Michael Goldberg, the attorney appointed by the court to handle the lawsuits on behalf of the condo association, is tasked with getting the most money for victims, including through asset sales and $48 million in insurance money. The land was valued at $100 million to $130 million, according to one estimate offered to Hanzman.

July 10, 2021

9th floor Cat missing in surfside collapse found wandering in rubble

July 9, 2021

LA mayor.Garcetti going to Work for Biden admin as ambassador to India

Los Angeles Times: Garcetti's ready to depart. Here's how L.A. picks its next mayor.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-07-09/garcetti-poised-to-exit-la-pick-new-mayor

July 9, 2021

"New Nevada" movement to create new state devoid of Las.Vegas.with its "urban prople"

https://www.rawstory.com/new-nevada-state-republicans/


‘New Nevada’: Republicans seek to form another state by ousting Las Vegas to stop ‘urban people’
Bob Brigham
July 08, 2021
‘New Nevada’: Republicans seek to form another state by ousting Las Vegas to stop ‘urban people’

Fear over the political choices made by "urban people" is driving efforts to slip Nevada into two states to dilute the power of voters in Las Vegas.



"Launched in January, 2019, the New Nevada State Movement has spent the last two years working to bring together those who would like to see Clark County severed from the rest of the state, but with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March of last year, the group's momentum was slowed. That did not stop the New Nevada State Movement from moving forward, however, and now that the pandemic has eased and restrictions are no longer so stringent, the group is ready to get back into high gear, with its very first in-person meeting set for tomorrow, Thursday, July 8," the Pahrump Valley Times reports.

The meeting is taking place at the Nye County Republican Central Committee Headquarters. Donald Trump won the county by 40% points.

July 9, 2021

Opening a can of TUNA while cat and dog sleep

July 9, 2021

wealthy couple want Catholic school donation back.. likens social and racial justice to a "stench"

Anthony and Barbara Scarpo pledged to donate $1.35 million to the Academy of the Holy Names in Tampa in 2017

They had already paid $240,000 towards the pledge by 2018 and have raised more than $9 million for the school

For their efforts, the school named the auditorium The Scarpo Family Theater

The Scarpos are now demanding their pledge be rescinded and the tuition money they had already spent on their younger daughter be donated to charity

In a lawsuit filed in county court last week, they claim the school has distanced itself from a traditional Catholic education and embraced 'woke' policies

The couple lamented the school's handling of racial and LGBTQ issues



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In a letter Anthony wrote to the school at his older daughter's graduation, he said: 'The continued indoctrination of your twisted version of social and racial justice, equity, inclusion, sexuality and today's politically-correct narrative has permeated like a stench through the halls of the Academy and been allowed to seep into the minds of our children, causing stress, anger, guilt and confusion.'

'You were always eager to solicit our hard-earned money and take what you could,' he wrote, 'but held firm as you dragged dozens if not hundreds of conservative families and teachers through your re-imagined, highly progressive world, even as parents and students asked you, pleaded with you to stop, slow down.'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9770651/Wealthy-Florida-couple-demands-Catholic-school-returns-240k-donation.html

July 9, 2021

Columbia Univ masters film program grads. Median debt $181K, media salary $30K

‘Financially Hobbled for Life’: The Elite Master’s Degrees That Don’t Pay Off
Columbia and other top universities push master’s programs that fail to generate enough income for graduates to keep up with six-figure federal loans

Recent film program graduates of Columbia University who took out federal student loans had a median debt of $181,000.

Yet two years after earning their master’s degrees, half of the borrowers were making less than $30,000 a year.




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“There’s always those 2 a.m. panic attacks where you’re thinking, ‘How the hell am I ever going to pay this off?’ ” said 29-year-old Zack Morrison, of New Jersey, who earned a Master of Fine Arts in film from Columbia in 2018 and praised the quality of the program. His graduate school loan balance now stands at nearly $300,000, including accrued interest. He has been earning between $30,000 and $50,000 a year from work as a Hollywood assistant and such side gigs as commercial video production and photography.

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Matt Black graduated from Columbia in 2015 with an MFA in film and $233,000 in federal loans. He signed up for an income-based repayment plan that in leaner years requires no remittance from him. With interest, his balance stands at $331,000.

Mr. Black, a 36-year-old writer and producer in Los Angeles, said he grew up in a lower middle-class family in Oklahoma. He earns $60,000 in a good year and less than half that in dry stretches. The faculty at Columbia was stellar, he said, but he blamed the school for his “calamitous financial situation.”

https://www.wsj.com/articles/financially-hobbled-for-life-the-elite-masters-degrees-that-dont-pay-off-11625752773?mod=latest_headlines

July 9, 2021

New petition calls for equal number of packaged hot dogs and buns

https://www.change.org/p/hot-dog-lovers-heinz-hot-dog-pact

10 Wieners. 10 Buns. It’s time.

Hot dog wieners come in packs of 10. Hot dog buns come in packs of 8. WHY?! As the condiment that has been bringing foods together for over 150 years, we’ve decided enough is enough. That’s why we started the Heinz Hot Dog Pact. We’re calling on Big Bun and Big Wiener companies to find the answer to this hot dog packaging mismatch, once and for all. We need your signatures more than ever. Let’s change hot dog history together.

https://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/eats/ny-heinz-petition-equal-number-hot-dogs-buns-20210709-mk57vwzpenftjdtje3cxmmnyeq-story.html#nt=pf-triple%2520chain~lower-chain-2~recommender~automated~eats-recommender~MK57VWZPENFTJDTJE3CXMMNYEQ~1~8~1~3~art%2520yes

The most northern American arm of the popular condiment manufacturer is getting involved in this decades-long struggle about the mismatched snack food and its proper accompaniment.

In a new video, the Toronto-headquartered company stresses how hot dogs often come in packs of 10, while hot-dog buns regularly come in groups of eight. In addition to the video, the company posted an online petition urging “Big Bun” and “Big Wiener” to get together and put 10 hot dogs in a package and 10 buns in a package.

Although it doesn’t make any of the meats, proteins (or even plant-based offerings) to put on the buns, Heinz does have a dog in this race. Its iconic ketchup is a condiment many people use on hot dogs and many think should never come anywhere near a hot dog.