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Huge Australian King Penguin Chick Pesto Grows Into Social Media Star (Maria)
The author writes, “A huge king penguin chick named Pesto, who weighs as much as both his parents combined, has become a social media celebrity and a star attraction at an Australian aquarium. Weighing 22 kilograms (49 pounds) at 9 months old, Pesto is the heaviest penguin chick the Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium has ever had, its education supervisor Jacinta Early said on Friday. By contrast, his doting parents, Hudson and Tango weigh 11 kilograms (24 pounds) each. Pesto’s global fame has grown with his size. More than 1.9 billion people around the world had viewed him through social media, an aquarium statement said.”
JD Vance Once Said Conspiracy Theories Were Idiotic. As Trump’s VP Pick He Is Embracing Them (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “JD Vance not long ago described conspiracy theories as the feverish imaginings produced by ‘fringe lunatics writing about all manner of idiocy.’ That was before he became a rising star in Republican politics. The Ohio senator and GOP’s vice presidential nominee has in recent years declared that the federal government deliberately allowed fentanyl into the United States to kill conservative and rural voters. He has praised Alex Jones, a well-known conspiracy theorist who claimed the deaths of 20 young children in the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax. And he’s echoed — contrary to all evidence — former President Donald Trump’s assertion that the 2020 election was unfairly won by Democrats and that those charged in the subsequent Capitol insurrection are ‘political prisoners.’ More recently, he gave credence to the debunked idea that Haitian immigrants were abducting and devouring pets in Ohio.”
If Courts Fail To Intervene, Missouri Governor Must Halt the Execution of Marcellus Williams (Dana)
From the Missouri Independent: “Missouri plans to execute Marcellus Williams on Sept. 24. … Williams has always professed his innocence in the 1998 murder of Felicia Gayle Picus. The prosecution’s case against him was based solely on notoriously unreliable, incentivized informant testimony and circumstantial evidence. No physical evidence nor eyewitnesses implicated him. The current St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney, Wesley Bell, tried to have the conviction overturned, but did not convince Judge Bruce Hinton following a hearing that there was sufficient evidence to overturn the conviction.”
He Had 5 Followers on YouTube. It Landed Him in Jail, Where He Died. (Russ)
From The New York Times: “Among the hundreds of Russians jailed for criticizing the war in Ukraine, the death of Pavel Kushnir in detention has transformed him into an antiwar symbol.”
Constellation Energy to Restart Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant, Sell the Power to Microsoft for AI (DonkeyHotey)
The author writes, “Constellation Energy plans to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear plant and will sell the power to Microsoft, demonstrating the immense energy needs of the tech sector as they build out data centers to support artificial intelligence. Constellation expects the Unit 1 reactor at Three Mile Island near Middletown, Pennsylvania, to come back online in 2028, subject to approval by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the company announced Friday.”
‘Sustainable’ Logging Operations Are Clear-Cutting Canada’s Climate-Fighting Forests (Laura)
From Reuters: “Nonprofit environment watchdogs put their stamps of approval on countless wood products that get touted as responsibly produced. But Reuters found that the timber firms these groups certify are harvesting large swaths of Canada’s older forests, which are critical to containing global warming.”
The Crypto Bros Who Dream of Crowdfunding a New Country (Reader Jim)
The author writes, “Do you look at the possibility of political turbulence ahead of November’s US presidential election and think: democracy could be in trouble? So does a group of tech entrepreneurs backed by big Silicon Valley money. And they love it. Imagine if you could choose your citizenship the same way you choose your gym membership. That’s a vision of the not-too-distant future put forward by Balaji Srinivasan. Balaji — who, like Madonna, is mostly just known by his first name — is a rockstar in the world of crypto. A serial tech entrepreneur and venture capitalist who believes that pretty much everything governments currently do, tech can do better.”
