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.

INTERSTELLAR VISITOR MAY BE ONE OF RAREST OBJECTS IN UNIVERSE

Scientists say that ‘Oumuamua, the giant space object that came from outside our solar system, could actually be an extremely rare chunk of hydrogen ice.

It’s an out-there idea — Wired reports that there are only a few places in the universe capable of creating a hydrogen iceberg. But the Yale scientists behind the theory say that if the interstellar visitor were a giant iceberg, many of its more bizarre properties would suddenly make sense.

Unidentified Frozen Object

One of the hardest things to explain about ‘Oumuamua’s path through our solar system is how it accelerated as it traveled. Comets accelerate, but there was no indication that ‘Oumuamua relied on that mechanism.

But if ‘Oumuamua were a hydrogen iceberg, the gradually-sublimating ice would propel it forward, according to research accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal.

“Even though the hydrogen iceberg thing is a little exotic, it explains every single mysterious thing about ‘Oumuamua,” recent Yale Ph.D. graduate Darryl Seligman told Wired.

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Court rules NSA phone snooping illegal — after 7-year delay

The National Security Agency program that swept up details on billions of Americans’ phone calls was illegal and possibly unconstitutional, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.

However, the unanimous three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said the role the so-called telephone metadata program played in a criminal terror-fundraising case against four Somali immigrants was so minor that it did not undermine their convictions.

The long-awaited decision is a victory for prosecutors, but some language in the court’s opinion could be viewed as a rebuke of sorts to officials who defended the snooping by pointing to the case involving Basaaly Moalin and three other men found guilty by a San Diego jury in 2013 on charges of fundraising for Al-Shabaab.

Judge Marsha Berzon’s opinion, which contains a half-dozen references to the role of former NSA contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden in disclosing the NSA metadata program, concludes that the “bulk collection” of such data violated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

The call-tracking effort began without court authorization under President George W. Bush following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. A similar program was approved by the secretive FISA Court beginning in 2006 and renewed numerous times, but the 9th Circuit panel said those rulings were legally flawed.

The appeals court stopped just short of saying that the snooping was definitely unconstitutional, but rejected the Justice Department’s arguments that collecting the metadata did not amount to a search under a 40-year-old legal precedent because customers voluntarily share such info with telephone providers.

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New Jersey Governor Okays Work Licenses for Illegal Migrants

New Jersey’s Democrat governor signed a bill on September 1 that allows illegal migrants to take well-paying licensed jobs from Americans and legal immigrants, even amid the dramatic recession that has pushed many Americans out of jobs.

NJ.com reported the recession win for illegal migrants and employers on September 1:

Previously, [people] were required to have a “lawful presence in the United States” to qualify for a license. This law (S2455) removes that barrier.
[Gov. Chris] Murphy’s office said the law — which takes effect immediately — will benefit about 500,000 undocumented residents in New Jersey.

The office also said the state will be the first on the East Coast to enact such a law. California, Nevada, and New Mexico are among the other states with similar statutes.

The law allows illegals — including DACA recipients — to get licenses for many blue-collar and white-collar jobs.

The license will allow illegals to work as electricians, plumbers, HVAC workers, lab technicians, nurses, doctors, architects, and many other careers.

The law passed with support from employers, many of whom are eager to cut their costs by staffing their companies with the state’s large population of illegals, which include many Latinos and a growing number of Indians.

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Business Owners Stunned To Learn Insurance Won’t Cover Demolition Costs Of Buildings Destroyed By BLM Rioters

For months, Black Lives Matter activists and their media supporters have said that business owners who saw their livelihoods destroyed during riots shouldn’t worry because insurance would cover their losses. It turns out that won’t be the case, at least for business owners in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota.

The Star Tribune reported that a construction crew hired by the city of St. Paul to tear down the Sports Dome retail complex, which was destroyed by rioters, charged $140,000 for the demolition. The city sent the bill to the owners, which was for nearly six times the amount insurance would pay for demolition. Jay Kim, who owns the property, told the Tribune his insurance policy only covers up to $25,000 in demolition costs.