The unimportant news thread

[ShineyMcShineShine]

Clever ad! 

Here's one for you all:  Italian burglar gets side-tracked mid-burgle by a book.  *Caught read-handed.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg4kpv3p4zo

*And I take all of the blame for that bad pun!

PD

p.s.  And check out what he was reading and the author's comments!

Hmm, reminds me of this story about another "Italian" burglar:

The story was this: Late on the night of March 20, 1927, as Mr. and Mrs. Albert Snyder slept side by side in twin beds in their house on 222nd Street in a quiet, middle-class neighborhood of Queens Village, Mrs. Snyder heard noises in the upstairs hallway. Going to investigate, she found a large man--a "giant," she told police--just outside her bedroom door. He was speaking in a foreign accent to another man, whom she could not see. Before Mrs. Snyder could react, the giant seized her and beat her so roughly that she was left unconscious for six hours. Then he and his confederate went to Mr. Snyder's bed, strangled the poor man with picture wire, and stove in his head with a sash weight. It was the sash weight that fired the public's imagination and gave the case its name. The two villains then turned out drawers all over the house and fled with Mrs. Snyder's jewels, but they left a clue to their identity in the form of an Italian-language newspaper on a table downstairs.

The New York Times the next day was fascinated but confused. In a big page-one headline it reported:
ART EDITOR IS SLAIN IN BED; WIFE TIED, HOME SEARCHED; MOTIVE MYSTIFIES POLICE
The story noted that a Dr. Vincent Juster from St. Mary Immaculate Hospital had examined Mrs. Snyder and couldn't find any bump on her that would explain her six hours of unconsciousness. Indeed, he couldn't find any injuries on her at all. Perhaps, he suggested tentatively, it was the trauma of the event rather than actual injury that accounted for her prolonged collapse.
Police detectives by this time, however, were more suspicious than confused. For one thing, the Snyder house showed no sign of forced entry, and in any case it was an oddly modest target for murderous jewel thieves. The detectives found it curious, too, that Albert Snyder had slept through a violent scuffle just outside his door. The Snyders' nine-year-old daughter, Lorraine, in a room across the hall, had also heard nothing. It also seemed strange that burglars would break into a house and evidently pause to read an anarchist newspaper before placing it neatly on a table and proceeding upstairs. Oddest of all, Mrs. Snyder's bed--the one from which she had arisen to investigate the noise in the hallway--was tidily made, as if it had not been slept in. She was unable to account for this, citing her concussion. As the detectives puzzled over these anomalies, one of them idly lifted a corner of mattress on Mrs. Snyder's bed and there revealed the jewels that she had reported stolen.
All eyes turned to Ruth. She met the detectives' gazes uncertainly, then broke down and confessed the crime--but blamed it all on a brute named Judd Gray, her secret lover. Ruth Snyder was placed under arrest, a search was begun for Judd Gray, and the newspaper-reading public of America was about to become uncommonly excited.

One Summer: America, 1927 by Bryson, Bill

[Todd]

Whilst getting ready to watch a YouTube video, a mandatory ad played before the content, per usual.  It was for NFL Sunday Ticket.  That makes sense.  Then I heard something I don't recall having heard before: terms and embargoes apply.  I decided to pop open the YouTube channel to verify that I didn't hear something, and sure enough, there's a written notice conveying the same message:

"YouTube TV base plan includes locally & nationally televised games and NFL Sunday Ticket includes out-of-market Sunday games. Excludes digital-only games. Terms, restrictions, embargoes apply. No refunds."

That'll teach them Iranians.

[steve ridgway]

Whilst getting ready to watch a YouTube video, a mandatory ad played before the content, per usual.  It was for NFL Sunday Ticket.  That makes sense.  Then I heard something I don't recall having heard before: terms and embargoes apply.  I decided to pop open the YouTube channel to verify that I didn't hear something, and sure enough, there's a written notice conveying the same message:

"YouTube TV base plan includes locally & nationally televised games and NFL Sunday Ticket includes out-of-market Sunday games. Excludes digital-only games. Terms, restrictions, embargoes apply. No refunds."

That'll teach them Iranians.

Don't know why they'd bother - they play proper rugby in Iran .

[JBS]

Don't know why they'd bother - they play proper rugby in Iran .

Broadcasting rights for US sports teams often include a restriction on local broadcasts: if the game has not sold out, the local stations/channels can't broadcast it even though the rest of the country gets to see it.

Got to fill up those stadium seats!

This has led sometimes to local businesses (including the local TV station which wants to broadcast it) buying up all remaining seats so it can be locally broadcast.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Broadcasting rights for US sports teams often include a restriction on local broadcasts: if the game has not sold out, the local stations/channels can't broadcast it even though the rest of the country gets to see it.

Got to fill up those stadium seats!

This has led sometimes to local businesses (including the local TV station which wants to broadcast it) buying up all remaining seats so it can be locally broadcast.

Wow!  I had never heard that before!

PD

[Todd]

Broadcasting rights for US sports teams often include a restriction on local broadcasts: if the game has not sold out, the local stations/channels can't broadcast it even though the rest of the country gets to see it.

The embargoes in question are different.  Games will not air on YouTube if they air on local stations.  The term "blackout" was more commonly used previously.

[JBS]

Wow!  I had never heard that before!

PD

With the rise of satellite/streaming, I'm not sure how common that situation is nowadays.  My local team is the Dolphins, so I never watch them.

The embargoes in question are different.  Games will not air on YouTube if they air on local stations.  The term "blackout" was more commonly used previously.

So it's the reverse of the old situation?

[Todd]

So it's the reverse of the old situation?

IDK.  I don't watch football and don't care about it at all.  I was merely amused by the use of the word "embargo".

[DavidW]

US Politics is not allowed on the unimportant news thread. I've deleted the digression.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

A happy ending...at least for the hotel; I hope that the buyer is able to get their money back.

"Churchill photo stolen in Canada discovered in Italy"

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd0511gyme3o



PD

[Todd]

A tech billionaire has performed the first private spacewalk hundreds of miles above Earth.

A success.  And, no, a Boeing spacecraft was not used.  Go figure.

[NumberSix]

I really am hooked on Classical Music (including Opera) at the moment.

I flushed out my apple music streaming library and refilled it with some of the other genres I like best. I bounced around them trying to find some music that would appeal. Nothing fits. I clearly just want classical right now. 


Very unimportant news, especially on this forum of all places. But I did surprise myself.

[Todd]

Boeing strike: bosses bruised, blindsided and on brink of crisis

2024 is a scratch for Boeing.  Let us all pray that the aerospace juggernaut bounces back in 2025, and that still new CEO Kelly Ortberg not only keeps his job with its $1.5 million salary, but that he also receives his $20 million+ in incentives.  He's in for a rough grind, after all.

[Todd]

From The Oregonian: Intel to split factories into 'independent subsidiary,' delay plants in Europe, Asia

Seismic news locally, with global ripples as mercantilism gains steam.

[Todd]

Hershey is turning its candy into energy drinks and protein powders with C4




Invest in Novo Nordisk.

[Todd]

From CNN: Three Mile Island is reopening and selling its power to Microsoft

The timing of Gates' new PR TV series on Netflix was not in any way influenced by this development.

[LKB]

Apparently, inspiration is where it finds you.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwylx3ndyw3o

[NumberSix]

Apparently, inspiration is where it finds you.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwylx3ndyw3o

That story makes me smile! The last bit about the curious and friendly penguins reminds me of the film MY PENGUIN FRIEND.

[NumberSix]

From CNN: Three Mile Island is reopening and selling its power to Microsoft

The timing of Gates' new PR TV series on Netflix was not in any way influenced by this development.

I am of two minds about this because (1) I am for the idea of our getting back into nuclear power, but (2) The idea of essentially privatizing the plant makes me uncomfortable. Should something happen, it won't be Microsoft who suffers the consequences.

[Todd]

I am of two minds about this because (1) I am for the idea of our getting back into nuclear power, but (2) The idea of essentially privatizing the plant makes me uncomfortable. Should something happen, it won't be Microsoft who suffers the consequences.

To be fair, the US still, by far, generates more electricity from nuclear power than any other country, and that only counts civilian power generation.  I am unabashedly pro-nuclear power, and I am unconcerned with a purely privatized nuclear sector because it will always be heavily regulated for multiple reasons, including national security.  I am, however, dissatisfied with the sloppy propaganda being used by Mr Gates and his PR people.  He needs to do better.