onthedarkside

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is planning to stop tracking the spread of Covid in communities across the U.S., the agency said Friday. Moving forward, the CDC is expected to rely more heavily on Covid-related hospitalizations, according to two people familiar with the plans — much like it does to track the spread of the flu. The agency has been using a color-coded system since February 2022 to indicate high, medium or low transmission of Covid, county by county. https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/cdc-stop-tracking-covid-levels-communities-rcna82059

A provocative statue of a curvy mermaid is making waves in the southern Italian town of Monopoli. The voluptuous artwork sits in a new square in the Puglia town called Piazza Rita Levi-Montalcini - named after a Nobel prize-winning Italian scientist. It was created by students from the Luigi Rosso art school in Monopoli after a commission from the local municipality and is located near to a children's playground. https://news.sky.com/story/provocative-mermaid-statue-makes-waves-in-southern-italian-town-12868793

A 2018 Senate investigation that found there was “no evidence” to substantiate any of the claims of sexual assault against the US supreme court justice Brett Kavanaugh contained serious omissions, according to new information obtained by the Guardian. The 28-page report was released by the Republican senator Chuck Grassley, the then chairman of the Senate judiciary committee. It prominently included an unfounded and unverified claim that one of Kavanaugh’s accusers – a fellow Yale graduate named Deborah Ramirez – was “likely” mistaken when she alleged that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a dormitory party because another Yale student was allegedly known for such acts. READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/28/brett-kavanaugh-investigation-omissions-senate-sexual-assault-claims

DENVER — Colorado’s governor signed four gun control bills Friday, following the lead of other states struggling to confront a nationwide surge in violent crime and mass shootings, despite a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that expanded Second Amendment rights. Before the ink was even dry on Gov. Jared Polis’ signature, gun rights groups sued to reverse two of the measures: raising the buying age for any gun from 18 to 21, and establishing a three-day waiting period between the purchase and receipt of a gun. The courts are already weighing lawsuits over such restrictions in other states. READ MORE https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/colorado-governor-signs-gun-control-bills-massacre-rcna82014

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his GOP allies have moved to shield the Republican leader from the state’s notoriously robust public records laws as he prepares to launch a campaign for the White House. One bill advancing through the Republican-controlled state legislature would conceal information about DeSantis’ travel and who he has met with at the governor’s mansion. Another would allow state political committees – like the one where DeSantis has stashed $85 million for his future political ambitions – to report their fundraising activity less frequently. READ MORE (for more details) https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/28/politics/desantis-open-records-laws/index.html

By resigning of his own accord, Richard Sharp has saved Rishi Sunak from a tough decision. But some argue he has damaged the BBC's reputation by not going months ago when details of his dealings with Boris Johnson first came to light. His carefully choreographed TV statement was recorded before the report was even published, and he avoided the need to do an interview. Mr Sharp has, therefore, not been held to account about the damage his behaviour and this whole row has had on the BBC's reputation. READ MORE https://news.sky.com/story/richard-sharp-caved-to-the-inevitable-by-resigning-but-damage-to-the-bbc-has-already-been-done-12868225

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Series of off topic posts deflecting the thread into a topic about Biden have been removed. This is the second moderator notice on this. Further Biden posts could end up earning you a suspension. Replies to above posts also removed.

Topic being: "Who can beat Biden?" Lets try to stay somewhere around there. Going into details about guns is best for another thread.

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A post making a bunch of specific claims with no citations has been removed. A meme also removed

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After castigating OG Twitter for its cooperation with government content requests, it turns out that Elon Musk’s version of the platform hasn’t been doing much better since he took over half a year ago. Not only has Musk Twitter™️ been responding to a variety of government requests—but it’s been doing so at a much accelerated rate than the previous management did, according to a new report. Prior to Musk’s takeover, Twitter fully complied with approximately half of the requests that governments sent its way but, after Elon took the reins, the rate of cooperation shot up to over 80 percent, Rest of the World has reported. READ MORE https://gizmodo.com/elon-musk-twitter-content-moderation-twitter-files-1850384315

A federal appeals court has upheld several provisions of a restrictive election law in Florida that was passed by the GOP-controlled legislature in 2021. A divided panel of the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals reversed most of a ruling by a trial judge last year that said the provisions in question violated the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act by intentionally targeting Black voters. US District Judge Mark Walker’s ruling, the appeals court said Thursday, was legally and factually flawed. The 11th Circuit also reversed a holding by Walker that would have required Florida to seek federal approval for any future election rule changes that are similar to the provisions he had struck down. READ MORE https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/27/politics/florida-voting-law-restrictions-republicans/index.html

UPDATE: Pence appears before Jan. 6 grand jury Former Vice President Mike Pence testified Thursday before a federal grand jury investigating former President Donald Trump’s effort to subvert the 2020 election, according to two people familiar with the matter. Pence’s closed-door appearance marks an extraordinary flashpoint in special counsel Jack Smith’s probe. Smith’s team is investigating Trump’s last-ditch bid to pressure Pence into single-handedly derailing the transfer of power from Trump to Joe Biden on Jan. 6, 2021. Pence’s appearance was accompanied by a frenzy of security activity at the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., where U.S. Marshals and other security personnel conducted sweeps of the building before Pence was whisked inside without being spotted by cameras at the courthouse’s main entrances. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/04/27/pence-appears-before-jan-6-grand-jury-00094310

Jerry Springer, the bespectacled syndicated talk-show host and former Cincinnati mayor who reigned over daytime television for nearly three decades, has died. He was 79. Springer died Thursday at his home in the suburbs of Chicago after “a brief illness,” his family confirmed to the Los Angeles Times. Multiple outlets, including TMZ, have reported that Springer was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a few months ago. “Jerry’s ability to connect with people was at the heart of his success in everything he tried whether that was politics, broadcasting or just joking with people on the street who wanted a photo or a word,” said Jene Galvin, a lifelong friend and spokesman for the family, in a statement. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2023-04-27/jerry-springer-dead-talk-show

A couple of troll posts attempting to hijack the topic have been removed

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Islamophobic, anti-Muslim sentiment, attempt at humour, removed

two unsubstantiated claim posts reported and removed. Replies to same also removed

Some screenshots from the above referenced court filings: Source here https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.255930/gov.uscourts.mad.255930.19.0_3.pdf & https://twitter.com/EliotHiggins/status/1651492807943569409

New evidence filed in Massachusetts District Court suggests Jack Teixeira, the Massachusetts Air National Guard member suspected of leaking a trove of classified military intelligence, had a history of making violent comments, sought information about how to commit a shooting and had what prosecutors called a “virtual arsenal of weapons” stored at his places of residence, including an AK-style weapon. In the court filing, prosecutors also accuse Teixeira of obstructing the investigation into the leaks by attempting to destroy evidence. The filing is intended to support the prosecutors’ request that Teixeira remain in custody without a bond, which a judge is expected to decide on Thursday. READ MORE https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/04/27/jack-teixeira-discord-leak-documents-guns/ Archive no paywall link