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The Los Angeles Times recently reported:https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-10/as-flames-raged-in-palisades-a-key-reservoir-nearby-was-offlineState to probe why Pacific Palisades reservoir was offline, empty when firestorm explodedJanuary 10, 2025The Santa Ynez complex, at 117 million gallons, is among several sources of water in the area…“It’s completely unacceptable that this reservoir was empty for almost a year for minor repairs,” Gus Corona, business manager of IBEW Local 18, said in an interview with The Times.I’d be curious to know why it takes “almost a year” to carry out “minor repairs.”

Researchers have identified a gut bacterium that may be associated with reduced dietary sugar intake. The findings, which are based on analyses of humans and mice, could aid the development of therapies to manage obesity and metabolic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes. Animals are biologically hardwired to crave sugars, but unmanaged sugar preference can lead to high sugar intake, resulting in high blood glucose and increased risk of metabolic diseases. Previous research suggests that our cravings for different foods originate from signals sent to the brain from the gut, a key organ in transmitting dietary preferences. However, the regulation...

Immunotherapy has made an incredible impact on treating cancers, but for liver cancer, the therapy has been much less effective. To understand why, scientists took a closer look at how the immune system and liver interact. They discovered that certain bile acids in the liver could affect the activity of cancer-fighting immune cells, called T cells. The researchers saw that one specific bile acid—ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA)—had a positive effect on T cell activity in the liver. In fact, boosting the levels of this bile acid through dietary supplementation was enough to control tumor growth in mice with liver cancer. The...

In a groundbreaking experiment, UNSW researchers successfully applied the Schrödinger’s cat concept using an antimony atom to enhance quantum computations. This method significantly improves the reliability of quantum data processing and error correction, potentially accelerating the advent of practical quantum computing.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) will raise American flags at the California Capitol on Monday for a limited time during President-elect Trump’s inauguration, according to his office. The decision aligns him with many of his Republican counterparts in other states, Newsom spokesperson Izzy Gardon confirmed to The Associated Press. Flags have been at half-staff across the U.S. to commemorate the Dec. 29 death of former President Carter. The Republican governors who have made similar flag-raising declarations for Inauguration Day are Alabama’s Kay Ivey, Florida’s Ron DeSantis, Idaho’s Brad Little, Iowa’s Kim Reynolds, Nebraska’s Jim Pillen, North Dakota’s Kelly Armstrong, Tennessee’s...

Illegal Aliens and Resident Aliens are voting in Maine and also costing Maine a small fortune in health care expenses, all encouraged and brought to Maine by Democrats.

Donald Trump’s Treasury Secretary pick, hedge fund mogul Scott Bessent, called out irresponsible and inflationary government spending and offered solutions to America’s financial crises in his opening statement. At his Senate confirmation hearing, Bessent criticized the out-of-control spending that members of both parties in Congress and the Biden-Harris administration have fueled. Bessent further emphasized the importance of having the U.S. dollar as world reserve currency and proposed tax cuts and tariffs as key solutions to the economic and financial crises America is currently facing. After predicting “a new economic golden age that will create more jobs, wealth and prosperity for...

Don't say you weren't warned. Yesterday, everyone in the world attempted to claim credit for a hostage-exchange deal between Israel and Hamas, even though the agreement technically didn't get final approval. Israel had agreed to the terms on the table, Hamas had supposedly given a 'green light,' but I wrote yesterday that Hamas usually attempts to pull their last-minute manipulations at this very stage:As I wrote earlier, don't count on this deal holding up until the hostages get released. And even if it holds up through Phase I, don't be surprised when Hamas reneges and demands a renegotiation at that...

Jeff Beck: The Guitar Collection | Christie'sJeff Beck - highlights of a legendary guitar collection | 5:00Christie's | 200K subscribers | 16,462 views | January 16, 2025

FR CANTEEN MISSION STATEMENT Showing support and boosting the morale of our military and our allied military and the family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. FReeper Canteen Just Hangin' Cafe Come on in, we're open Need a place just to hang out? This is it. We serve coffee, tea, conversation and music. Gather around the Canteen cooler and strike up a conversation. Our AWESOME military, our AWESOME allies, and their families are welcomed and honored here. No worries in the FReeper Canteen Just Hangin' Cafe. Grab a chair, put your feet up, grab a drink,...

MAGA sources could not care less that Michelle Obama is snubbing Donald Trump’s inauguration, a source tells Page Six. “They are having a good laugh,” a source says of those involved in planning the inaugural festivities. “They didn’t expect her to come anyway.” One Republican source speculated, “It’s obvious that this was her way of protesting Trump. She hates him.” Michelle attended Trump’s inaugural in 2017, and said of the experience on “The Light Podcast,” “To sit on that stage and watch the opposite of what we represented on display — there was no diversity, there was no color on...

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Ex-attorney Rudy Giuliani’s trial against the Georgia election workers he’s been forced to turn over his assets to has been called off after the two sides reached a settlement that the parties say allows Giuliani to keep his personal belongings , after a trial over several of the former mayor’s assets was slated to begin Thursday but was postponed after Giuliani never showed up to court. Key Facts Giuliani said in a statement Thursday that he and the plaintiffs have reached a settlement that allows him to keep “all of my personal belongings,” after the former mayor had been in...

At first, it just felt like a TikTok trend: Gen Z and millennials wearing vintage fur or faux-fur coats to incarnate the so-called mob-wife aesthetic—an ostentatious mafioso style that takes cues from Carmela Soprano and The Godfather’s Connie Corleone. Then it felt like a celebrity stunt moment: Kendall Jenner and Hailey Bieber wearing shearling coats in Aspen, Ice Spice wearing repurposed fur to the 2024 Grammys, and Kim Kardashian stepping out in a matching fuzzy Prada set—all within a few months of each other. But suddenly it felt like a real thing

President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration guest list will include some of America's most influential billionaires, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos—signaling a sharp political shift among the tech industry's biggest players. Silicon Valley, traditionally a stronghold for left-leaning ideals, has largely embraced Trump following the November election. The incoming president amassed a record-breaking inaugural fund with substantial donations from tech executives. The heads of companies such as Google, OpenAI, Apple, Uber, and Microsoft have also forked over millions to fund inaugural events, including parades and swanky parties. Several high-profile tech titans visited Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in the...

A SpaceX Starship prototype failed in space minutes after launching from Texas on Thursday, forcing airline flights over the Gulf of Mexico to alter course to avoid falling debris and setting back Elon Musk's flagship rocket program. SpaceX mission control lost contact with the newly upgraded Starship, carrying its first test payload of mock satellites, eight minutes after liftoff from its South Texas rocket facilities at 5:38 p.m. EST (2238 GMT).

Donald J. Trump@realDonaldTrumpAs of today, the incoming Trump Administration has hired over 1,000 people for The United States Government. They are outstanding in every way, and you will see the fruits of their labor over the coming years. We will MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, and it will happen very quickly! In order to save time, money, and effort, it would be helpful if you would not send, or recommend to us, people who worked with, or are endorsed by, Americans for No Prosperity (headed by Charles Koch), “Dumb as a Rock” John Bolton, “Birdbrain” Nikki Haley, Mike Pence, disloyal Warmongers...

Dead patients are lying undiscovered for hours in A&E because NHS staff are too overstretched to notice, a harrowing report reveals today. A severe shortage of beds means the sick are also being left in 'animal-like' conditions in hospital car parks, cupboards and toilets. The Royal College of Nursing today lays bare the tragic collapse of the NHS in a 460-page dossier, titled 'On the frontline of the UK's corridor care crisis'. It features the testimonies of more than 5,000 nurses, who expose how patients are being cruelly 'stripped of their dignity' and routinely suffering avoidable deaths. They say it...

The governor is expected to soon be formally handed his recall papers, as talk radio host Randy Economy revealed over X last week, declaring, "Governor Gavin Newsom to Be Formally Served Recall Papers in Next Two Weeks Following Los Angeles Wildfire Catastrophe." this time could very well be different, if the fires are seen as the last straw for voters.

Walgreens' CEO has admitted that locking up items to avoid shoplifting has not worked - and it will close stores instead. Not only has the practice not curbed theft, it has dramatically hit sales. Over the past few years, major retailers like Walgreens, CVS, Walmart, and Target have increasingly resorted to locking up everyday items such as toothbrushes, deodorant, laundry detergent, coffee, and even milk. The practice has sparked customer frustration, with many complaining about the inconvenience of waiting for an employee to unlock basic necessities. During an earnings call on Friday, Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth made a startling admission....