Abraham Lincoln was incubating smallpox when he delivered the Gettysburg Address, which his aides later played down. Woodrow Wilson had a stroke that was covered up for four months and greatly incapacitated him at the end of his second term. Grover Cleveland’s cancer surgery was hidden for nearly a quarter …...Read More
When the Patient Is Your Commander in Chief, the Answer Is Usually ‘Yes, Sir’
Justices Thomas and Alito Question Same-Sex Marriage Precedent
WASHINGTON — Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr., who dissented from the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision establishing a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, appeared to urge the court on Monday to reconsider the ruling, which they said had invented a right with no basis in the text of …...Read More
White House Is Not Tracing Contacts for ‘Super-Spreader’ Rose Garden Event
On Friday, the Republican National Committee sent the New Jersey Department of Health a list of 206 guests for contact tracing purposes, but the list did not include phone numbers — only names and email addresses — nor did it list any of the Bedminster staff members who worked the …...Read More
Judges Tell Trump His Officials Are Serving Illegally. He Does Nothing.
In March, a judge for the United States District Court in Washington declared unlawful the appointment of Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II to lead the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. Mr. Cuccinelli, an immigration hard-liner, was unlikely to win Senate confirmation after he headed a conservative SuperPAC that backed candidates …...Read More
CDC Says Coronavirus Might Be Adrift in Indoor Air
Two weeks after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention took down a statement about airborne transmission of the coronavirus, the agency on Monday replaced it with language citing new evidence that the virus can spread beyond six feet indoors. “These transmissions occurred within enclosed spaces that had inadequate ventilation,” …...Read More
Trump’s ‘Don’t Be Afraid of Covid’ Tweet Is Denounced by Democrats
President Trump’s exhortation “Don’t be afraid of Covid” was denounced by Democrats and others who criticized him for taking a dismissive tone about a disease that has killed more than 200,000 Americans, sickened more than 7.4 million and upended daily life across the country. “Don’t be afraid of Covid,” Mr. …...Read More
Scientist-made TRANSPARENT wood more thermally efficient than glass
Scientists have designed ‘transparent wood’ that could replace conventional glass in windows. The innovation was developed using wood from the balsa tree, which is native to South and Central America, and claims to be five times more thermally efficient than glass. The team treated balsa wood in an oxidizing bath …...Read More
Led Zeppelin Wins Long ‘Stairway to Heaven’ Copyright Case
The long road of a copyright suit over Led Zeppelin’s 1971 megahit “Stairway to Heaven” came to an end on Monday, when the United States Supreme Court announced that it had declined to hear the case. The high court’s decision means that a ruling for Led Zeppelin in March by …...Read More
Supreme Court Starts Term With Case on the Politics of Judging
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court, awaiting the result of a partisan confirmation battle, opened its new term on Monday with a fitting argument on the impact of politics on judicial appointments. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. opened the session, which took place by telephone in light of the coronavirus …...Read More
Rat is freed from a manhole by firefighters - but not before it chomps one of the men saving it
A volunteer fire brigade rescued a rat stuck in a hole in a manhole cover in Germany yesterday. The volunteer fire brigade arrived around 4.45pm in Steubenstrasse in Bad Kreuznach, Rhineland-Palatinate. The rodent bit into one of the rescuer's gloves when they reached out to help it, which hurt the …...Read More
