Censorship & Socialism
SpaceX Starship Rocket Prototype Achieves First Safe Landing
SpaceX conducts a test launch of its SN15 starship prototype from the company’s starship facility in Boca Chica, Texas, U.S. May 5, 2021. (Gene Blevins/Reuters)
SpaceX achieved the first successful touchdown of its prototype Starship rocket during the latest test flight of the next-generation launch vehicle in south Texas on Wednesday, after four previous landing attempts ended in explosions.
The feat marked a key milestone for the private rocket company of billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk in its development of a reusable heavy-lift launch vehicle to eventually carry astronauts and large cargo payloads to the moon and Mars.
The Starship SN15 blasted off from the SpaceX launch site in Boca Chica, Texas, along the Gulf Coast and reached its planned maximum altitude of 6 miles, then hovered momentarily before flying nose-down under aerodynamic control back toward Earth.
Maneuvering itself back into vertical position under rocket thrust as it approached the ground, the 16-story, three-engine vehicle descended to a gentle touchdown on its landing gear.
GOP Rep. Jordan says ‘votes are there’ to remove Cheney from GOP leadership pos
Ohio GOP Rep. Jim Jordan says House Republicans have enough votes to oust Rep. Liz Cheney from Republican leadership.
“For sure, the votes are there, and I think it will happen most likely next Wednesday,” Jordan said on Fox News on Wednesday.
Cheney has created problem within the House Republican Conference, largely over her ongoing disagreement with former President Trump over 2020 election fraud, which members says has become a distraction to their larger political and legislative agenda that includes retaking the chamber majority in 2022.
House Minority Whip Steve Scalise has already publicly backed a replacement for Cheney as Republican House Conference chairwoman — New York GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik.
What’s the Origin of COVID? Did People or Nature Open Pandora’s Box at Wuhan?
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted lives the world over for more than a year. Its death toll will soon reach three million people. Yet the origin of pandemic remains uncertain: the political agendas of governments and scientists have generated thick clouds of obfuscation, which the mainstream press seems helpless to dispel.
In what follows I will sort through the available scientific facts, which hold many clues as to what happened, and provide readers with the evidence to make their own judgments. I will then try to assess the complex issue of blame, which starts with, but extends far beyond, the government of China.
By the end of this article, you may have learned a lot about the molecular biology of viruses. I will try to keep this process as painless as possible. But the science cannot be avoided because for now, and probably for a long time hence, it offers the only sure thread through the maze.
The virus that caused the pandemic is known officially as SARS-CoV-2, but can be called SARS2 for short. As many people know, there are two main theories about its origin. One is that it jumped naturally from wildlife to people. The other is that the virus was under study in a lab, from which it escaped. It matters a great deal which is the case if we hope to prevent a second such occurrence.
I’ll describe the two theories, explain why each is plausible, and then ask which provides the better explanation of the available facts. It’s important to note that so far there is no direct evidence for either theory. Each depends on a set of reasonable conjectures but so far lacks proof. So I have only clues, not conclusions, to offer. But those clues point in a specific direction. And having inferred that direction, I’m going to delineate some of the strands in this tangled skein of disaster.
Challenger lambasts Liz Cheney, says GOP must work with Trump
The remarks by Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., a one-time moderate who’s evolved into an ardent Donald Trump champion, came as Cheney seems likely to be tossed from her leadership post next week.
WASHINGTON — Rep. Elise Stefanik stated her case Thursday for replacing Rep. Liz Cheney as the No. 3 House Republican leader, implicitly lambasting Cheney’s battles with former President Donald Trump by saying, “We are one team and that means working with the president.”
The remarks by Stefanik, R-N.Y., a one-time moderate who’s evolved into an ardent Trump champion, came as Cheney seems likely to be tossed from her leadership post next week. Cheney, R-Wyo., has repeatedly rejected Trump’s false insistence that he lost the 2020 election because of widespread fraud, and has blamed him for inflaming followers who assaulted the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Speaking on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast, Stefanik said she is committed to “sending a clear message that we are one team and that means working with the president and working with all of our excellent Republican members of Congress.” Stefanik repeatedly used “president” in referring to Trump.
Facing opposition from Trump and the House’s two top Republicans — Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Whip Steve Scalise — Cheney has remained defiant.
In an opinion essay in The Washington Post, Cheney implored her GOP colleagues on Wednesday to pry themselves from a Trump “cult of personality” and declared that the party and even American democracy were at stake. “History is watching,” she said.
Trump issued a statement giving his “COMPLETE and TOTAL Endorsement” to Stefanik, 36, who’s played an increasingly visible role within the GOP.
Stefanik responded quickly, highlighting his backing to colleagues who will decide her political future.
“Thank you President Trump for your 100% support for House GOP Conference Chair. We are unified and focused on FIRING PELOSI & WINNING in 2022!” she tweeted.
The careers of Cheney and Stefanik are seemingly racing in opposite directions, as if to contrast the fates awaiting Trump critics and backers in today’s GOP. . .
Worst Worker Shortage Ever
Hiring surged again in April, but a record number of U.S. small firms were unable to find workers to fill their available positions. That’s according to the latest monthly employment report from the National Federation of Independent Business, due out later today.
“Strong job growth continued for small businesses in April. Firms increased employment by 0.31 workers per firm on average over the past few months,” says NFIB Chief Economist William Dunkelberg.
That’s the good news. The bad news for small companies is that between the competition from larger firms, supplemental unemployment benefits that discourage work, remote schooling that keeps parents at home and the lingering impact of the virus itself, it’s become nearly impossible for many employers to attract enough workers. . .
Pollster Frank Luntz: ‘I would bet on’ Trump being 2024 GOP nominee
Veteran GOP pollster Frank Luntz says that former President Trump “could never win” the 2024 general election, but that he “would bet on” Trump to be the GOP nominee.
New Zealand Weightlifter Poised to Become First Transgender Olympian
A man named Laurel Hubbard could be the first transgender athlete to compete in the Olympics if named to the New Zealand team that will take part in this summer’s Games in Tokyo.
A weightlifter from New Zealand, Hubbard, 43, benefits from a rule change approved by the International Olympic Committee that makes him automatically qualified for the women’s superheavyweight division.
FBI? No. Regular American Citizen Infiltrates Antifa | Antifa Caught On Tape Laughing About Killing Cops | Video: 5 Minutes 28 Seconds
Group leader: “It’s May Day, baby, like come out and take, take somethin’ over with us, I don’t, I don’t (bleep)-ing know.”
Member: “Let’s kill people. (laughs)”
Group Leader: “Let’s kill some cops.”
Member: “Yeah.”
Bloomberg Forum Moves Back to Singapore Amid Concerns Over Press Treatment in China
BEIJING—The Bloomberg New Economy Forum will move to Singapore this year, in part because of the “very concerning” conditions journalists face in China, according to comments by Bloomberg founder Michael Bloomberg reported by the Financial Times.
The Nov. 16-19 event will be limited to 400 participants, with sustainability as well as COVID-19 and how countries can recover from its impact among topics for discussion, according to a media release on Thursday.
Bloomberg, the billionaire founder of Bloomberg News and the former mayor of New York City, also cited “logistics” as a reason to hold the event in Singapore, the Financial Times reported.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for elaboration on his comments.
Seriously? Masked kiss between vaccinated Kamala Harris and hubby sends eyebrows to skies
Vice President Kamala Harris shared a smooch with second husband Doug Emhoff while both were masked on Wednesday, before she hopped aboard Air Force Two and he departed to catch a separate flight, though both are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Harris was headed to Rhode Island, where she later dropped by a local store and purchased four books, including one discussing ‘white male rage,’ the Daily Mail reported. Emhoff, meanwhile, traveled to visit a microbrewery in Pennsylvania.
But the shared kiss drew outsized attention given that the second couple is vaccinated and, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, vaccinated people need not mask up while outdoors.