Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Dial H For Hero
Dial H For Hero's Journal
Dial H For Hero's Journal
July 31, 2020
The sixth full-scale testing prototype of SpaceX's Starship has successfully completed a key static fire test of its Raptor engines, according to SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk . The so-called "SN5" Starship prototype is now ready to move on to a 150m (nearly 500 feet) short-duration flight test, which would mark the furthest yet that one of these testing spacecraft has made it through SpaceX's planned development program.
SpaceX has been building and testing Starship prototypes (which are designated by the "SN" followed by their number in sequence) since last year, after the company first built a sub-scale demonstrator that was made up of basically just the base of a Starship with a single Raptor engine mounted to demonstrate low-altitude flight and landing capabilities.
Since then, SpaceX has been building full-scale demonstration prototypes to perform more test flights, initially seeking to go immediately into high-altitude testing. These were known as Mk1 and Mk2, and Mk1 was destroyed during pressure tank testing, while Mk2 was scrapped with the company turning its focus to Mk3 (renamed SN1, starting the new naming convention for the series). The prototypes that have been developed since have been built and tested rapidly, with SN3 and SN4 both suffering catastrophic failures during the testing process.
SpaceX has successfully test-fired the SN5 prototype, however, as of today, and will now move on to the first low-altitude "hop" flight of full-scale prototype test vehicle.
(excerpt)
Starship SN5 completes engine test - short, low-altitude flight test to follow 'soon' says Elon Musk
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/starship-sn5-completes-engine-test-203146457.htmlThe sixth full-scale testing prototype of SpaceX's Starship has successfully completed a key static fire test of its Raptor engines, according to SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk . The so-called "SN5" Starship prototype is now ready to move on to a 150m (nearly 500 feet) short-duration flight test, which would mark the furthest yet that one of these testing spacecraft has made it through SpaceX's planned development program.
SpaceX has been building and testing Starship prototypes (which are designated by the "SN" followed by their number in sequence) since last year, after the company first built a sub-scale demonstrator that was made up of basically just the base of a Starship with a single Raptor engine mounted to demonstrate low-altitude flight and landing capabilities.
Since then, SpaceX has been building full-scale demonstration prototypes to perform more test flights, initially seeking to go immediately into high-altitude testing. These were known as Mk1 and Mk2, and Mk1 was destroyed during pressure tank testing, while Mk2 was scrapped with the company turning its focus to Mk3 (renamed SN1, starting the new naming convention for the series). The prototypes that have been developed since have been built and tested rapidly, with SN3 and SN4 both suffering catastrophic failures during the testing process.
SpaceX has successfully test-fired the SN5 prototype, however, as of today, and will now move on to the first low-altitude "hop" flight of full-scale prototype test vehicle.
(excerpt)
July 31, 2020
(CNN)No charges will be filed against former Ferguson, Missouri, police Officer Darren Wilson after a reinvestigation into the 2014 shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell said Thursday.
The investigation didn't exonerate Wilson, Bell said.
Wilson's shooting of Brown, a Black man, in August 2014 sparked a federal civil rights inquiry, protests, and a national debate. Protests erupted around the country after a grand jury declined to indict Wilson.
"Although this case represents one of the most significant moments in St. Louis' history, the question for this office was a simple one," Bell said. "Could we prove beyond a reasonable doubt that when Darren Wilson shot Michael Brown, he committed murder or manslaughter under Missouri law?"
"After an independent and in-depth review of the evidence, we cannot prove that he did," Bell said.
(excerpt)
Missouri police officer who killed Michael Brown faces no charges
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/30/us/ferguson-missouri-michael-brown-darren-wilson-no-charges/index.html(CNN)No charges will be filed against former Ferguson, Missouri, police Officer Darren Wilson after a reinvestigation into the 2014 shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell said Thursday.
The investigation didn't exonerate Wilson, Bell said.
Wilson's shooting of Brown, a Black man, in August 2014 sparked a federal civil rights inquiry, protests, and a national debate. Protests erupted around the country after a grand jury declined to indict Wilson.
"Although this case represents one of the most significant moments in St. Louis' history, the question for this office was a simple one," Bell said. "Could we prove beyond a reasonable doubt that when Darren Wilson shot Michael Brown, he committed murder or manslaughter under Missouri law?"
"After an independent and in-depth review of the evidence, we cannot prove that he did," Bell said.
(excerpt)
July 31, 2020
PARIS (AP) — With no American visitors to show around the D-Day beaches or the Loire Valley’s chateaux, and no work on the immediate horizon, Paris tour guide Linda Zenou frets about how she’ll pay off a loan and continue to care for her ailing mother in the achingly lean months ahead. “My situation is going to become completely inextricable,” she said. “We have nothing to live on.”
For growing numbers of businesses and individuals who depend on the global tourism industry, the question is not so much when the coronavirus pandemic will end but how and if they'll survive until business picks up. In trying to fend off the virus, countries that put up entry barriers to tourists have done so at a mounting cost to themselves and others.
“It’s now survival of the fittest,” said Johann Krige, CEO of the Kanonkop wine estate in South Africa, where the drying up of wine-tasting tourists threatens dozens of wine farms around the historic town of Stellenbosch, near Cape Town. “A lot of them are going to go under because they just don’t have sufficient cash flow,” Krige said.
Around the world, travel amid the pandemic is becoming a story of tentative steps forward in some places, but punishing steps back elsewhere, of “yes” to letting back visitors from places faring somewhat better against COVID-19 but not from others where outbreaks are flaring. The result is an ever-evolving global mishmash of restrictions and quarantines, all of which are providing zero long-term visibility for businesses trying to make payrolls and for everyone in the industry from trinket sellers to luxury hotels.
(excerpt)
Sleepy lions, empty bars, lost jobs: A world without tourism
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/asia-pacific-tourism-makes-patchy-070247326.htmlPARIS (AP) — With no American visitors to show around the D-Day beaches or the Loire Valley’s chateaux, and no work on the immediate horizon, Paris tour guide Linda Zenou frets about how she’ll pay off a loan and continue to care for her ailing mother in the achingly lean months ahead. “My situation is going to become completely inextricable,” she said. “We have nothing to live on.”
For growing numbers of businesses and individuals who depend on the global tourism industry, the question is not so much when the coronavirus pandemic will end but how and if they'll survive until business picks up. In trying to fend off the virus, countries that put up entry barriers to tourists have done so at a mounting cost to themselves and others.
“It’s now survival of the fittest,” said Johann Krige, CEO of the Kanonkop wine estate in South Africa, where the drying up of wine-tasting tourists threatens dozens of wine farms around the historic town of Stellenbosch, near Cape Town. “A lot of them are going to go under because they just don’t have sufficient cash flow,” Krige said.
Around the world, travel amid the pandemic is becoming a story of tentative steps forward in some places, but punishing steps back elsewhere, of “yes” to letting back visitors from places faring somewhat better against COVID-19 but not from others where outbreaks are flaring. The result is an ever-evolving global mishmash of restrictions and quarantines, all of which are providing zero long-term visibility for businesses trying to make payrolls and for everyone in the industry from trinket sellers to luxury hotels.
(excerpt)
July 28, 2020
Hundreds of teenagers crowded a mini golf center in Memphis this weekend, leaving flower pots smashed, the concession area in shambles and employees wondering how a putt-putt park could devolve into a ruckus involving the police, a stampede and a viral video of the chaos. The crowd at the center, the Golf and Games Family Park, gradually grew larger over the course of Saturday, until the number of people became “pretty unsustainable,” Aaron Bos, a general manager, said.
At one point, 300 to 400 teenagers had gathered at the mini golf park, according to Lt. Karen Rudolph, a spokeswoman for the Memphis Police Department. She noted that the crowd was in violation of the city’s coronavirus restrictions. It was not immediately clear why so many teenagers came to the park, and the teenagers who were present could not immediately be identified. Mr. Bos said he had heard it was coordinated on social media.
The situation deteriorated quickly after Mr. Bos spotted teenagers “jumping over the rails and hopping in cars” at the go-kart attraction, he said. Then fights started breaking out, he said. He decided to close the park, which only escalated the situation. Frustrated teenagers demanded refunds, Mr. Bos said, despite his offer that any credits purchased could be used at a later date.
About 50 teenagers “shoved past the manager and mobbed the concession area,” Mr. Bos said, noting that he did not see any of them wearing masks. The indoor area at the park was limited to 50 percent capacity, or around 100 people; the crowding was mostly outdoors before a group moved inside, he said. A group of girls asked Mr. Bos for money back using an obscenity, he said. One girl hurled a plexiglass divider and a metal post over the counter at employees, in an altercation caught on a video that has been circulating widely on social media.
(excerpt)
Hundreds of Teenagers Sow Chaos at Memphis Mini Golf Park
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/27/us/teens-memphis-crowded-mini-golf.htmlHundreds of teenagers crowded a mini golf center in Memphis this weekend, leaving flower pots smashed, the concession area in shambles and employees wondering how a putt-putt park could devolve into a ruckus involving the police, a stampede and a viral video of the chaos. The crowd at the center, the Golf and Games Family Park, gradually grew larger over the course of Saturday, until the number of people became “pretty unsustainable,” Aaron Bos, a general manager, said.
At one point, 300 to 400 teenagers had gathered at the mini golf park, according to Lt. Karen Rudolph, a spokeswoman for the Memphis Police Department. She noted that the crowd was in violation of the city’s coronavirus restrictions. It was not immediately clear why so many teenagers came to the park, and the teenagers who were present could not immediately be identified. Mr. Bos said he had heard it was coordinated on social media.
The situation deteriorated quickly after Mr. Bos spotted teenagers “jumping over the rails and hopping in cars” at the go-kart attraction, he said. Then fights started breaking out, he said. He decided to close the park, which only escalated the situation. Frustrated teenagers demanded refunds, Mr. Bos said, despite his offer that any credits purchased could be used at a later date.
About 50 teenagers “shoved past the manager and mobbed the concession area,” Mr. Bos said, noting that he did not see any of them wearing masks. The indoor area at the park was limited to 50 percent capacity, or around 100 people; the crowding was mostly outdoors before a group moved inside, he said. A group of girls asked Mr. Bos for money back using an obscenity, he said. One girl hurled a plexiglass divider and a metal post over the counter at employees, in an altercation caught on a video that has been circulating widely on social media.
(excerpt)
July 25, 2020
Elon Musk was scolded on social media by his partner, the musician Grimes, after he sent a tweet that appeared to disparage the use of gender neutral pronouns.
In a tweet on Friday, the Tesla CEO added a red rose emoji to his Twitter name used as a symbol for the Democratic Socialists of America and wrote the message "pronouns suck." Underneath the message, Grimes wrote in a tweet that has since been deleted: "I love you but please turn off ur phone or give me a dall. I cannot support hate. Please stop this. I know this isn't your heart (sic)."
A screen shot of her message has been reported by a number of media outlets.
In May, the couple announced the birth of their first child together, whom they named X Æ A-XII Musk. Grimes, real name Claire Boucher, has said that they will opt for a gender-neutral parenting style, telling fans on YouTube in February: "I don't want to gender them in case that's not how they feel in their life."
Grimes Deletes Tweet Telling Elon Musk to 'Please Stop' After Tesla CEO Says 'Pronouns Suck'
https://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-grimes-pronouns-gender-neutral-1520459Elon Musk was scolded on social media by his partner, the musician Grimes, after he sent a tweet that appeared to disparage the use of gender neutral pronouns.
In a tweet on Friday, the Tesla CEO added a red rose emoji to his Twitter name used as a symbol for the Democratic Socialists of America and wrote the message "pronouns suck." Underneath the message, Grimes wrote in a tweet that has since been deleted: "I love you but please turn off ur phone or give me a dall. I cannot support hate. Please stop this. I know this isn't your heart (sic)."
A screen shot of her message has been reported by a number of media outlets.
In May, the couple announced the birth of their first child together, whom they named X Æ A-XII Musk. Grimes, real name Claire Boucher, has said that they will opt for a gender-neutral parenting style, telling fans on YouTube in February: "I don't want to gender them in case that's not how they feel in their life."
July 23, 2020
MOOREFIELD TOWNSHIP, Clark County, Ohio (WKEF/WRGT) -- A man shown on social media kneeling on the neck of a 2-year-old boy is in jail. Photos of a man kneeling on the child with the banner comment "BLM Now" had been circulating on social media before The Clark County Sheriff's Office began investigating. "Two divisions of the Clark County Sheriff's Office immediately began an investigation to determine the location of the incident and the identities of the individuals involved," a sheriff's office statement reads.
Deputies were able to make contact with the mother, the child shown in the photo and the man also in the photo. That man, identified as 20-year-old Isaiah Jackson, was arrested immediately for a Parole Authority holder from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
The child, whose identity is not being released, was taken to a hospital, where he was found to have not been injured because of the incident shown in the photo. The sheriff's office says the child's mother was unaware of the incident or the photo until the sheriff's office began investigating.
Investigators say they have prepared a case against Jackson and is awaiting the Clark County Prosecutor's Office to determine "the scope and breadth of the felony charges that will be supported."
Man shown kneeling on 2-year-old's neck jailed
https://dayton247now.com/news/local/man-shown-kneeling-on-2-year-olds-neck-jailedMOOREFIELD TOWNSHIP, Clark County, Ohio (WKEF/WRGT) -- A man shown on social media kneeling on the neck of a 2-year-old boy is in jail. Photos of a man kneeling on the child with the banner comment "BLM Now" had been circulating on social media before The Clark County Sheriff's Office began investigating. "Two divisions of the Clark County Sheriff's Office immediately began an investigation to determine the location of the incident and the identities of the individuals involved," a sheriff's office statement reads.
Deputies were able to make contact with the mother, the child shown in the photo and the man also in the photo. That man, identified as 20-year-old Isaiah Jackson, was arrested immediately for a Parole Authority holder from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
The child, whose identity is not being released, was taken to a hospital, where he was found to have not been injured because of the incident shown in the photo. The sheriff's office says the child's mother was unaware of the incident or the photo until the sheriff's office began investigating.
Investigators say they have prepared a case against Jackson and is awaiting the Clark County Prosecutor's Office to determine "the scope and breadth of the felony charges that will be supported."
July 23, 2020
DETROIT (WXYZ) — Detroit police said a possible motive into Sunday night's triple murder at a Coney Island may have involved the shooter's gym shoes.
The suspect, 25-year-old Mickey Dane Douglass, an ex-con who is still on parole for robbery, claims someone made a comment about his gym shoes that made him feel threatened.
On surveillance video that is circulating on social media, no one appears to be threatening the shooter before he pulls out a handgun and, with his left hand still in his pocket, shoots the first victim in the head at close range.
Within a matter of seconds, four men have been shot - three of them killed.
(excerpt)
Murdering three people because someone was crticial of his shoes?
Madness.
Ex-con to be arraigned in triple murder sparked by comments over his gym shoes
https://www.wxyz.com/news/region/detroit/ex-con-to-be-arraigned-in-triple-murder-sparked-by-comments-over-his-gym-shoesDETROIT (WXYZ) — Detroit police said a possible motive into Sunday night's triple murder at a Coney Island may have involved the shooter's gym shoes.
The suspect, 25-year-old Mickey Dane Douglass, an ex-con who is still on parole for robbery, claims someone made a comment about his gym shoes that made him feel threatened.
On surveillance video that is circulating on social media, no one appears to be threatening the shooter before he pulls out a handgun and, with his left hand still in his pocket, shoots the first victim in the head at close range.
Within a matter of seconds, four men have been shot - three of them killed.
(excerpt)
Murdering three people because someone was crticial of his shoes?
Madness.
July 23, 2020
CENTRAL FLORIDA — Typically, about one in 10 shoppers who buy firearms at The Armories is a first-time gun buyer. These days, it’s closer to half, said Robbie Motes, who owns the chain of Central Florida gun stores.
Motes has seen a major spike in sales — and new gun owners — since March, when the coronavirus pandemic erupted. It’s not a local phenomenon: Americans are purchasing guns at record high numbers, with 7.8 million background checks reported nationwide from March through June. “We had no idea this was going to happen,” Motes said. “Nobody has ever seen a pandemic like this.”
Gun sales often spike during times of political or social upheaval, which makes 2020 the perfect storm: The presidency is on the November ballot, the pandemic has killed hundreds of thousands of people worldwide and sent U.S. jobless rates soaring, and the Minneapolis killing of George Floyd by police sparked mass protests across the country.
In Florida, nearly 184,000 background checks for gun sales and transfers took place in June, more than double the monthly total from last year and more than any other month in 2019 or 2020 so far, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. March, April, May and June all saw decade-high background check totals.
The number of background checks increased from about 88,000 in March 2019 to more than 169,000 in March 2020, the FDLE said. The numbers also jumped from about 72,000 in April 2019 to more than 120,000 this April. A study from the Brookings Institution found that an extra 3 million firearms were sold between March to June. A large amount of the sales happened following the nationwide protests.
(excerpt)
Gun sales spike amid pandemic, weeks of protests
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-ne-firearm-sales-covid-19-20200722-jv2uanqdwvgcppmjnjizbfh7oy-story.htmlCENTRAL FLORIDA — Typically, about one in 10 shoppers who buy firearms at The Armories is a first-time gun buyer. These days, it’s closer to half, said Robbie Motes, who owns the chain of Central Florida gun stores.
Motes has seen a major spike in sales — and new gun owners — since March, when the coronavirus pandemic erupted. It’s not a local phenomenon: Americans are purchasing guns at record high numbers, with 7.8 million background checks reported nationwide from March through June. “We had no idea this was going to happen,” Motes said. “Nobody has ever seen a pandemic like this.”
Gun sales often spike during times of political or social upheaval, which makes 2020 the perfect storm: The presidency is on the November ballot, the pandemic has killed hundreds of thousands of people worldwide and sent U.S. jobless rates soaring, and the Minneapolis killing of George Floyd by police sparked mass protests across the country.
In Florida, nearly 184,000 background checks for gun sales and transfers took place in June, more than double the monthly total from last year and more than any other month in 2019 or 2020 so far, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. March, April, May and June all saw decade-high background check totals.
The number of background checks increased from about 88,000 in March 2019 to more than 169,000 in March 2020, the FDLE said. The numbers also jumped from about 72,000 in April 2019 to more than 120,000 this April. A study from the Brookings Institution found that an extra 3 million firearms were sold between March to June. A large amount of the sales happened following the nationwide protests.
(excerpt)
July 21, 2020
Trump tells census to not count undocumented people for purposes of deciding House apportionment
Source: USA Today
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump signed a memorandum Tuesday claiming that undocumented migrants should not be counted in the census for purposes of deciding how many members of Congress are apportioned to each state – though the practical impact of the president's expected move is uncertain at best.
"Respect for the law and protection of the integrity of the democratic process warrant the exclusion of illegal aliens from the apportionment base, to the extent feasible and to the maximum extent of the President's discretion under the law," Trump said in the brief document.
The memo, which the White House presaged for months, will almost certainly draw legal challenges just as an earlier effort by Trump to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census prompted a court battle that went to the Supreme Court, an effort the president lost.
Trump backed down from adding the citizenship question last year.
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/07/21/trump-tell-census-not-count-undocumented-immigrants/5459873002/
July 21, 2020
AG, governor want case against gun-wielding couple dropped
Source: https://abcnews.go.com/US/ag-governor-case-gun-wie
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed briefings in support of a St. Louis couple charged for brandishing their guns at civil rights protesters outside their mansion last month, claiming self defense.
St. Louis' top prosecutor charged Mark and Patricia McCloskey on Monday with felony unlawful use of a weapon for allegedly displaying their guns in a threatening manner, but Schmitt said he's seeking to have those charges dropped.
"Enough is enough," Schmitt said in a video statement shortly after the charges were filed. "A political prosecution such as this one would have a chilling effect on Missourians exercising the right to self defense."
Schmitt said the couple, both white attorneys in their 60s, has the right to keep and bear arms under state laws and it's a right that he plans to protect, according to the statement.
Read more: ABC News
Profile Information
Member since: Mon Apr 20, 2020, 11:25 AMNumber of posts: 2,971
