August 23rd, 2019

In the fifth episode of the last season of Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black,” the character Maritza, who has been languishing in an immigrant detention center, finds out about a toll-free hotline she can call to get a free lawyer. As she’s rejoicing, another character, Gloria, cuts her off. Gloria warns Maritza: “You have to be careful, though. Apparently if they figure out that you’re using the hotline, Big Brother shuts it down.” That’s exactly what happened, advocates say. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shut down a real hotline for detained immigrants run by the California group Freedom for Immigrants less than two weeks after it was prominently featured on the show.

In contrast to the perception of China and India's willingness to overexploit land, water and resources for economic gain, the countries are responsible for the largest greening of the planet in the past two decades. The two most populous countries have implemented ambitious tree planting programs and scaled up their implementation and technology around agriculture.
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The recent finding by NASA and published in the journal Nature Sustainability, compared satellite data from the mid-1990s to today using high-resolution imagery. Initially, the researchers were unsure what caused the significant uptick in greening around the planet. It was unclear whether a warming planet, increased carbon dioxide (CO2) or a wetter climate could have caused more plants to grow.
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Both China and India went through phases of large scale deforestation in the 1970s and 80s, clearing old growth forests for urban development, farming and agriculture. However, it is clear that when presented with a problem, humans are incredibly adept at finding a solution...

It's not a very smart article, and the author isn't that bright either. Regardless, the world will come back greener and stronger despite all these doomsday celebs and weirdos claiming we're nearly dead. CO2 is plant food.

Government troops, meanwhile, started an operation Friday to cleanse Khan Shaykhun of remaining terrorists and dismantle mines and explosives in the region.
Large parts of Idlib Province, occupied by foreign-backed terrorists since 2014, and parts of Hama constitute the last major militant stronghold in Syria...

It looks like Elon Musk's Starship prototype, dubbed "Starhopper," might make its highest hop yet as soon as Monday. This time the hope is that Starhopper will reach an altitude of around 650 feet (198 meters) before returning to the ground. If this next hop is successful, Musk has said, he'll follow it with a public presentation "hopefully mid September," updating us on the design and vision for Starship...

This week, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio rolled out new eligibility rules that will allow the city’s some 725,000 illegal alien residents to apply for subsidized, affordable housing — which has historically been reserved for American taxpayers.

The rules will no longer mandate that those applying to live in affordable housing show their credit rating, a legitimate Social Security number, and documents proving them to be a taxpayer. Instead, applicants will only have to prove that they paid rent on time every month for a year, a plan that is likely to allow thousands of illegal aliens to obtain affordable housing units over American citizens...

U.S. officials have confirmed that Israel was responsible for the bombing of an Iranian weapons depot in Iraq last month, an attack that would mark a significant escalation in Israel’s years-long campaign against Iranian military entrenchment across the region. The confirmation comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is strongly hinting that his country is behind recent airstrikes in Iraq. Two American officials said Israel carried out an attack on an Iranian weapons depot that killed two Iranian military commanders. The U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter with the media.

The effect is not the same as the teleportation often seen in science fiction – where matter is moved through space – but instead is the transfer information about the quantum state of a particle. It could have huge and unimagined effects on the way we organise and transmit information, including the possibility of a vastly more complicated quantum internet...

David Koch, the billionaire former executive Vice President of Koch Industries who, along with his brother, was one of the most prolific and controversial GOP donors in politics, has died, his family confirmed Friday morning. He was 79. Koch's death was officially announced by his older brother, Charles Koch... Charles said David Koch's death came 27 years after he was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. At the time, doctors told him he likely only had a few years left to live. “David liked to say that a combination of brilliant doctors, state-of-the-art medications and his own stubbornness kept the cancer at bay," Charles said in the statement. "We can all be grateful that it did, because he was able to touch so many more lives as a result."

The special prosecutor could bring fresh charges against Smollett and charges against anyone else who is believed to have committed a crime during the incident and investigation, the Tribune reported, citing Toomin’s ruling in June.

The actor’s criminal defense attorney, Mark Geragos, could not be reached for comment...

The seized items included gun sights, stocks, muzzles and other parts worth a total of more than $378,000. The parts were intercepted in recent weeks, according to law enforcement sources familiar with the matter, and were packed in their own cargo containers on three separate ships that were also carrying household items, apparel, toys, industrial machinery and other imports.
Customs and Border Protection officers seized the shipments and consulted ATF agents, who confirmed that the firearm parts violated an embargo against Chinese weapons...

The suspect, 26-year-old Timothy H. Miller, was arrested and faces charges of kidnapping, resisting arrest with violence and child neglect, according to a probable cause affidavit. The boy told police officers that he got off his school bus in Boynton Beach, Florida, on Wednesday and started walking when a man driving a white pickup truck stopped and offered him a ride. The man, later identified as Miller, told the child that he "gives kids rides all the time and not to worry because he won't do anything weird," according to the affidavit. The boy said Miller "seemed nice and had a friendly smile" so he got in the truck, but started to get uncomfortable when Miller asked him if he had any drugs and looked at him "strangely," the affidavit states.

A report of a pipe bomb shut down the upper level of the George Washington Bridge in both directions for about two hours on Thursday evening before police determined it was not a threat, authorities said. The suspected pipe bomb was reported to be on the New Jersey side of the bridge soon after 9 p.m., cops said. Traffic in the area snarled before police determined the pipe found at the scene was not explosive, authorities said. The pipe had caps on the ends of it, and police are working to find out how it ended up on the bridge, law-enforcement sources said.

Grocery store employees in Washington got a shocking surprise when they opened up shipments of bananas over the weekend: dozens of pounds of cocaine. Three Safeway grocery stores -- in Bellingham, Woodinville and Federal Way -- received the boxes of bananas that yielded the drugs, according to the King County Sheriff's Office. The store in Woodinville was first to call police on Sunday at about noon and say they'd found the suspicious, brown-papered bricks -- labeled with the letters "CK" -- among the boxes of bananas... Deputies tested the substance, which proved to be cocaine.