Author: HP McLovincraft

Seeker of rabbit holes. Pessimist. Libertine. Contrarian. Your huckleberry. Possibly true tales of sanity-blasting horror also known as abject reality. Prepare yourself. Veteran of a thousand psychic wars. I have seen the fnords. Deplatformed on Tumblr and Twitter.

Taking the Piss: New York Briefly Bans Diners From Using Restaurant Bathrooms

New York City’s outdoor dining patrons who needed to relieve themselves were left out in the cold briefly by a state policy that forbade them from using a restaurant’s indoor bathroom.

On Thursday, the city, through the Office of the Counsel to the Mayor, issued a guidance FAQ to help restaurants understand Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s executive order shutting down indoor dining in the city this past Monday, as well as guidance from the State Liquor Authority (SLA) interpreting that order.

Among those FAQs was a question asking, “If my SLA-licensed establishment is offering outdoor dining, may I allow customers to use the bathroom inside?” The answer was an emphatic no. “No. Customers may not enter the inside of the establishment for any reason,” reads the document.

The same document also made clear that restaurant staff were not allowed to share meals together. Employees were barred from eating or drinking at bars, in dining rooms, or other areas of their workplace that are used by the public. (Better that they eat their shift meal in a crowded kitchen, I guess.)

This FAQ document and the underlying state guidance sparked fierce criticism from restaurant advocates.

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Emails Show Navy’s ‘UFO’ Patents Went Through Significant Internal Review, Resulted In A Demo

The War Zone continues to dig into the bizarre U.S. Navy patents authored by enigmatic inventor Dr. Salvatore Pais and the seemingly unusual circumstances of their approval by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). As part of our investigation, we recently obtained a tranche of internal emails from Naval Air Systems Command, or NAVAIR, which appear to have been sent between Pais and personnel in different NAVAIR offices. While the Navy’s exotic energy production patents remain as mysterious as ever, these emails add to the backstory surrounding the inventions of Salvatore Pais and suggest that the patents went through a more rigorous internal evaluation process than was previously known. The emails also seem to indicate that the research program that emanated from the patents did in fact result in an experimental demonstration of some sort.

Last year, the publication of several unusual patents assigned to the U.S. Navy raised eyebrows due to the seemingly radical and unconventional claims found within them. These patents included bizarre technologies such as a “high temperature superconductor,” a “high frequency gravitational wave generator,” a force field-like “electromagnetic field generator,” a “plasma compression fusion device,” and a hybrid aerospace/underwater craft featuring an “inertial mass reduction device.” They truly sound like the stuff of science fiction and seem to describe the theoretical building blocks of a craft with UFO-like performance.

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More than 150 Minnesota businesses vow to defy governor’s shutdown order

A coalition of small-business owners in Minnesota say they plan to reopen early, before an order from the state’s governor to stay closed expires. 

Gov. Tim Walz (D) signed an executive order last month closing bars and restaurants in an effort to curb the number of coronavirus cases in the state. The order is set to expire Friday, but a group of approximately 160 businesses has banded together, urging one another to reopen early, some as soon as Wednesday. 

“The financial part of it sucks,” Lisa Monet Zarza, who owns a bar in Lakeville, told the Star Tribune. “But it’s more than just that. We donate catering, support youth sports, the police and the Rotary. It’s hurting the fabric of the community.”

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