BusinessYahoo Finance7 ways men live without working in America
You've heard people bemoaning this "labor participation rate," which is simply the number of working-age men (usually counted as ages 16 to 64) not working or not looking for work, as a percentage of the overall labor force. It's true that the pandemic, which of course produced a number of factors that made working more difficult never mind dangerous, pushed the labor participation rate to a record low. In fact, the participation rate for men peaked at 87.4% in October 1949 and has been dropping steadily ever since.
HealthLA TimesBig gap between Pfizer, Moderna vaccines seen for preventing COVID hospitalizations
Amid persistent concerns that the protection offered by COVID-19 vaccines may be waning, a report released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that America's workhorse shot is significantly less effective at preventing severe cases of disease over the long term than many experts had realized. Data collected from 18 states between March and August suggest the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine reduces the risk of being hospitalized with COVID-19 by 91% in the first four months after receiving the second dose. Beyond 120 days, however, that vaccine efficacy drops to 77%.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderDonald Trump gave his adult children 6 months of Secret Service protection after he left office, at the taxpayers' expense, says report
Donald Trump gave his adult children and three officials six months extra Secret Service protection. It included payments to Trump's own companies, as agents stayed at Trump properties to protect his children. Donald Trump cost taxpayers $1.7 million by providing his adult children and three officials with six months of Secret Service protection after he left office, according to a Washington Post analysis of new spending documents.
U.S.Associated PressIllegal marijuana farms take West's water in 'blatant theft'
Jack Dwyer pursued a dream of getting back to the land by moving in 1972 to an idyllic, tree-studded parcel in Oregon with a creek running through it. From dusty towns to forests in the U.S. West, illegal marijuana growers are taking water in uncontrolled amounts when there often isn't enough to go around for even licensed users. Conflicts about water have long existed, but illegal marijuana farms — which proliferate despite legalization in many Western states — are adding strain during a severe drought.
PoliticsHuffPostEven Steve Bannon Looks Skeptical About Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's Latest Claim
In her first year as a member of the House, Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene has said a lot of outrageous things. Greene, who has said she believes in the QAnon conspiracy theory but not in the effectiveness of vaccines, was being interviewed on Bannon's “Real America's Voice” podcast when she told the former Trump White House strategist: “I have been the most effective member of Congress this session.” Greene, however, has been unable to do much congressional work since February, when she was stripped of her committee assignments because of her support for racist and antisemitic conspiracy theories, and for advocating the execution prominent Democrats.
- HealthMartha Stewart Living
A Waterpik or Flossing: Which Is Better for Your Dental Hygiene?
Find out if one technique reigns supreme, according to one doctor of dental surgery.
ScienceReutersStudy rewrites understanding of modern Japan's genetic ancestry
An analysis of ancient DNA is transforming the understanding of the genetic ancestry of Japan's modern-day population, identifying a crucial contribution from people who arrived about 1,700 years ago and helped revolutionize Japanese culture. Research published on Friday showed that the people of Japan bear genetic signatures from three ancient populations rather than just two as previously thought - a more complex ancestry for the archipelago nation of roughly 125 million. The researchers analyzed genetic information from 17 ancient Japanese people - DNA extracted from the bones of 12 specifically for this study and five done previously - and compared it to genomic data for modern Japanese people.
U.S.TODAYNew bodycam video shows emotional Gabby Petito after reported fight with fiancé in Utah
New police body camera footage captured a visibly distraught Gabrielle “Gabby” Petito and her fiancé after an alleged physical altercation between them on a cross-country road trip in Utah. It showed an officer talking to Brian Laundrie and an emotional Petito after authorities pulled over their white van near a grocery store in the city, about 140 miles southeast of Provo. Petito could be seen wiping away tears as she told the responding officer she was struggling with her mental health.
HealthMiami Herald‘In so much pain’: Political activist Laura Loomer, who wished for COVID, now has it
Outspoken anti vaxxer and alt-right agitator Laura Loomer is feeling the effects of COVID-19. The 28-year-old Barry University alum announced she had contracted the virus on conservative social media platform Gettr Wednesday. “Yesterday I was feeling ill,” wrote Loomer, a onetime Republican nominee to represent Florida's 21st congressional district in the 2020 United States House of Representatives elections.
U.S.Associated PressTexas teen posts images of slain family, then kills self
A South Texas teen who said he killed his family and posted graphic images of their bodies on social media killed himself after officers found him at his home, authorities said Thursday. The Aransas Pass police and San Patricio County sheriff's office say they started investigating after being alerted to the images on social media. They say the teen, identified as 15-year-old William Quince Colburn III, had also threatened to continue the violence at a school.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderDonald Trump wrote to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger asking him to 'decertify' the 2020 election
Donald Trump wrote to Georgia Secretary of State asking him to "decertify" the results of the election. In the letter, Trump repeated unproven claims of widespread election fraud. Donald Trump sent a letter to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger asking him to start "decertifying" the 2020 election, on Friday.
ScienceUSA TODAYScientists created the world's whitest paint. It could eliminate the need for air conditioning.
The whitest paint in the world has been created in a lab at Purdue University, a paint so white that it could eventually reduce or even eliminate the need for air conditioning, scientists say. The paint has now made it into the Guinness World Records book as the whitest ever made. “When we started this project about seven years ago, we had saving energy and fighting climate change in mind,” said Xiulin Ruan, a professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue, in a statement.
BusinessEngadgetMan who unlocked 1.9 million AT&T phones sentenced to 12 years in prison
A US district court has sentenced a man who unlocked 1.9 million AT&T phones to 12 years in prison. Muhammad Fahd continued the seven-year scheme to defraud the company even after learning of an investigation against him, according to the Department of Justice. At Fahd's sentencing hearing, Judge Robert S. Lasnik said he committed a “terrible cybercrime over an extended period,” with AT&T said to have lost $201.5 million as a result.
PoliticsHuffPostEric Trump Asks Question About His Dad, Gets The Same Stinging Response
Eric Trump received a resounding “no” in response to a question posed via a web address he shared Thursday on Twitter. Former President Donald Trump's son posted the URL doyoumissmeyet.com. It linked to a page featuring an image of his father in front of the American flag.
U.S.The StateAt bond hearing, Alex Murdaugh’s privilege was on full display
For decades, the Murdaugh family operated in that rarefied world of wealth and privilege that few of us will ever experience. So on Thursday, when Alex Murdaugh, shackled and wearing a jail jumpsuit, came before a Hampton County judge charged with insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and falsifying a police report, observers couldn't help but comment on his downfall, his fall from grace or whatever other cliche seemed to fit the moment. Certainly his attire was a drastic change from the black tuxedo he's seen wearing in a frequently shared Facebook photo or the suits and ties he wore as an attorney, but even in his short court appearance it was clear that, despite the jumpsu...
PoliticsReutersBiden approval drops to lowest of presidency: Reuters/Ipsos poll
Public approval of U.S. President Joe Biden has dropped to the lowest level of his presidency, with Americans appearing to be increasingly critical of his response to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll. The national poll, conducted Sept. 15-16, found that 44% of U.S. adults approved of Biden's performance in office, while 50% disapproved and the rest were not sure. While most Americans support the kind of vaccine and mask requirements that Biden has ordered recently to slow the spread of the Delta variant, some Republicans have criticized what they consider to be an overreaction by the White House.
U.S.NBC NewsNYC restaurant hostess attacked after asking diners for proof of vaccination
Three people were arrested for allegedly assaulting a New York City restaurant hostess on Thursday after she asked a group of diners visiting from Texas to show proof they had been vaccinated before seating them. Cellphone footage obtained by NBC New York shows a brawl involving several people outside Carmine's Italian restaurant on the Upper West Side. “It's a shocking and tragic situation when one of our valued employees is assaulted for doing their job - as required by city policies...”
U.S.The Daily BeastAnti-Mask Florida Official Dies of COVID—and Takes GOP Software Secrets With Him
Just a day after testing positive for COVID-19, a Florida Republican official who battled against mask mandates, attacked the vaccine, and railed at CDC officials has died in Tampa. Gregg Prentice, who was 61, led the Hillsborough County Election Integrity Committee—and his sudden death has sent the local GOP scrambling as it no longer has access to essential campaign finance software without his help. In a Sept. 14 letter to the Federal Election Commission, the Hillsborough County Republican Executive Committee reported it might not be able to file its monthly financial reports as required—because only Prentice knew how to do it.
U.S.Associated PressBlack Iowa police chief faces backlash after bringing change
The first Black police chief in Waterloo, Iowa, is facing intense opposition from some current and former officers as he works with city leaders to reform the department, including the removal of its longtime insignia that resembles a Ku Klux Klan dragon. Joel Fitzgerald says his 16-month tenure in Waterloo, a city of 67,000 with a history of racial divisions, is a “case study” for what Black police chiefs face as they seek to build community trust and hold officers to higher standards. In an interview with The Associated Press, he said the attacks were driven by misinformation and racism toward him and his boss, the city's first Black mayor.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderTrump floated the idea of repainting his private plane to look just like Air Force One 'as a way of taunting' Biden, book says
Trump floated repainting his private plane to look like Air Force One, a new book says. Trump described Air Force One as "his brand," saying, "I don't do the corporate jet thing." Former President Donald Trump floated the idea of repainting his private Boeing 757 plane to resemble Air Force One and fly it around the country "as a way of taunting" President Joe Biden, according to a new book.
U.S.Kansas City StarAfter school worker cuts biracial girl’s hair, Michigan parent sues for $1 million
Six months after a 7-year-old girl's hair was cut by a school worker without her parent's permission, her father has sued the Michigan school district. Jimmy Hoffmeyer seeks $1 million from Mount Pleasant Public Schools, alleging it violated his biracial daughter's constitutional rights. Two staffers at Ganiard Elementary School were also named in the lawsuit, in which the father makes racial discrimination and ethnic intimidation accusations.
BusinessAssociated PressAP FACT CHECK: Biden's shaky claims on jobs, gasoline
Boasting that government policies can make a difference in improving the economy, President Joe Biden went too far Thursday in taking credit for job growth since taking office. Jeffery Born, an energy-markets expert at Northeastern University, said current gasoline prices are partly a result of production and refining capacity that was knocked offline by Hurricane Ida and other factors – even a shortage of tanker drivers.
- U.S.NY Daily News
Woman accepts $100 from police chief so he could rape her teen relative: feds
A West Virginia woman admitted in federal court this week that she arranged for a police chief to rape a teenage girl in her family for as little as $50, authorities said. The Fayette County woman, who was arrested in March following a months-long investigation, pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of a minor. Co-defendant Larry Allen Clay, Jr., the now-former chief of the Gauley Bridge Police Department, has been charged with conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of a minor via coercion and sex trafficking of a minor via coercion.
U.S.Miami HeraldDiners gone wild: Watch an all-out brawl at this upscale Brickell restaurant
Truluck's steakhouse in Brickell is where you go for a nice meal out with a sleek decor, expertly prepared seafood and steaks and spot-on service. But on Friday night, the longtime venerated eatery, with a handful of locations throughout the country, was a scene of absolute chaos as a brawl broke out among diners. The out of control scene captured on a bystander's cellphone looks like something out of an R-rated action movie, not a restaurant where entrees run you $40 and up.
BusinessYahoo FinanceWhy some airlines' planes fly slower than others
On Friday a flight-enthusiast passenger noticed that a Spirit Airlines (SAVE) plane that had taken off a few spots ahead of his United plane (UAL) from the Houston airport was now well him, according to a flight tracker. The passenger, who is also a licensed flight dispatcher, guessed that the Spirit flight was likely flying slower to save money, like a frugal driver on the highway. Despite the occasional pilot informing passengers (proudly) of an intention to “make up time in the air,” people usually assume planes are going as fast as they safely can, like a speed limit, similar to a bus or a train.
“It’s time for a late-stage empire to sober up a bit and refocus on building a functioning nation-state here on the home front.”
“The response to evil abroad cannot be to throw up our hands. Failure is not inevitable.”
“The United States keeps insisting that it must do that which it cannot do.”
“When the U.S. blames others, it doesn’t recognize its mistakes, so it repeats them.”
“Nothing has been resolved, no lessons have been learned, no meaningful assessment of the war on terror has been passed.”