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Author Topic: Media Today  (Read 35839 times)

Offline Rick Plant

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Re: Media Today
« Reply #288 on: August 02, 2022, 03:15:24 PM »
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Re: Media Today
« Reply #288 on: August 02, 2022, 03:15:24 PM »


Offline Rick Plant

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Re: Media Today
« Reply #289 on: August 02, 2022, 05:07:35 PM »
Veterans have been camping out on the Capitol steps after GOP blocks burn pit bill

Veterans groups and Jon Stewart have protested for days, putting Senate Republicans on the defensive for holding up a bill to provide health care for veterans exposed to burn pits.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/veterans-started-camping-capitol-steps-gop-blocks-burn-pit-bill-rcna40981

Offline Rick Plant

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Re: Media Today
« Reply #290 on: August 03, 2022, 09:42:35 PM »
Vin Scully, iconic former Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster, dies at age 94



LOS ANGELES -- Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully, whose dulcet tones provided the soundtrack of summer while entertaining and informing Dodgers fans in Brooklyn and Los Angeles for 67 years, died Tuesday night, the team said. He was 94.

"We have lost an icon," Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten said in a statement. "Vin Scully was one of the greatest voices in all of sports. He was a giant of a man, not only as a broadcaster, but as a humanitarian. He loved people. He loved life. He loved baseball and the Dodgers. And he loved his family. His voice will always be heard and etched in all of our minds forever. I know he was looking forward to joining the love of his life, Sandi. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family during this very difficult time. Vin will be truly missed."

Scully died at his home in the Hidden Hills section of Los Angeles, according to the team, which spoke to family members. No cause of death was provided.

As the longest-tenured broadcaster with a single team in pro sports history, Scully saw it all and called it all. He began in the 1950s era of Pee Wee Reese and Jackie Robinson, on to the 1960s with Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax, into the 1970s with Steve Garvey and Don Sutton, and through the 1980s with Orel Hershiser and Fernando Valenzuela. In the 1990s, it was Mike Piazza and Hideo Nomo, followed by Clayton Kershaw, Manny Ramirez and Yasiel Puig in the 21st century.

"He was the best there ever was. Just when you think about the Dodgers, there's a lot of history here and a lot of people that have come through. It's just a storied franchise all the way around. But it almost starts with Vin, honestly," Kershaw said after the Dodgers' game Tuesday night in San Francisco. "Just such a special man. I'm grateful and thankful I got to know him as well as I did."

The Dodgers changed players, managers, executives, owners -- and even coasts -- but Scully and his soothing, insightful style remained a constant for the fans.

He opened broadcasts with the familiar greeting, "Hi, everybody, and a very pleasant good evening to you wherever you may be."

Ever gracious both in person and on the air, Scully considered himself merely a conduit between the game and the fans.

After the Dodgers' win in San Francisco at Oracle Park -- where in October 2016 Scully broadcast the final game of his career -- a tribute to him was shown on the videoboard.

Fans of both the Dodgers and Giants stopped and applauded Scully before exiting.

"There's not a better storyteller, and I think everyone considers him family," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "He was in our living rooms for many generations. He lived a fantastic life, a legacy that will live on forever."

Although he was paid by the Dodgers, Scully was unafraid to criticize a bad play or a manager's decision, or praise an opponent while spinning stories against a backdrop of routine plays and noteworthy achievements. He always said he wanted to see things with his eyes, not his heart.

"He had a voice & a way of storytelling that made you think he was only talking to you," former Lakers great Magic Johnson, a part owner of the Dodgers, said on Twitter. "Vin was the nicest & sweetest man outside of the booth & was beloved by all of our Dodgers family.

Jaime Jarrin, the Spanish voice of the Dodgers and a Hall of Fame broadcaster as well, mourned the loss of his counterpart, writing on Twitter: "We've lost the greatest chronicler of baseball and any sport. I've lost the architect of my professional life, a beloved friend: Vin Scully. I'm experiencing how difficult it is to put my thoughts together now and all I can say is rest in peace, we'll see each other again soon."



Vincent Edward Scully was born Nov. 29, 1927, in the Bronx. He was the son of a silk salesman who died of pneumonia when Scully was 7. His mother moved the family to Brooklyn, where the red-haired, blue-eyed Scully grew up playing stickball in the streets.

As a child, Scully would grab a pillow, put it under the family's four-legged radio and lay his head directly under the speaker to hear whatever college football game was on the air. With a snack of saltine crackers and a glass of milk nearby, the boy was transfixed by the crowd's roar that raised goosebumps. He thought he'd like to call the action himself

Scully, who played outfield for two years on the Fordham University baseball team and briefly served in the United States Navy, began his career by working baseball, football and basketball games for the university's radio station.

At age 22, he was hired by a CBS radio affiliate in Washington, D.C.

He soon joined Hall of Famer Red Barber and Connie Desmond in the Brooklyn Dodgers' radio and television booths. In 1953, at age 25, Scully became the youngest person to broadcast a World Series game, an achievement that still stands.

He moved west with the Dodgers in 1958. Scully called three perfect games -- Don Larsen in the 1956 World Series, Koufax in 1965 and Dennis Martinez in 1991 -- and 20 no-hitters.

He also was on the air when Drysdale set his scoreless innings streak of 58⅔ innings in 1968 and again when Hershiser broke the record with 59 consecutive scoreless innings 20 years later.

When Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run to break Babe Ruth's record in 1974, it was against the Dodgers and, of course, Scully called it.

"A Black man is getting a standing ovation in the Deep South for breaking a record of an all-time baseball idol," Scully told listeners. "What a marvelous moment for baseball."

Scully credited the birth of the transistor radio as "the greatest single break" of his career. Fans had trouble recognizing the lesser players during the Dodgers' first four years in the vast Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

"They were 70 or so odd rows away from the action," he said in 2016. "They brought the radio to find out about all the other players and to see what they were trying to see down on the field."

That habit carried over when the team moved to Dodger Stadium in 1962. Fans held radios to their ears, and those not present listened from home or the car, allowing Scully to connect generations of families with his words.

He often said it was best to describe a big play quickly and then be quiet so fans could listen to the pandemonium. After Koufax's perfect game in 1965, Scully went silent for 38 seconds before talking again. He was similarly silent for a time after Kirk Gibson's pinch-hit home run to win Game 1 of the 1988 World Series.

He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame that year and also had the stadium's press box named for him in 2001. The street leading to Dodger Stadium's main gate was named in his honor in 2016.

That same year he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.

"God has been so good to me to allow me to do what I'm doing," Scully, a devout Catholic who attended mass on Sundays before heading to the ballpark, said before retiring. "A childhood dream that came to pass and then giving me 67 years to enjoy every minute of it. That's a pretty large Thanksgiving day for me."

In addition to being the voice of the Dodgers, Scully called play-by-play for NFL games and PGA Tour events as well as calling 25 World Series and 12 All-Star Games. He was NBC's lead baseball announcer from 1983 to 1989.

Scully also received the Commissioner's Historic Achievement Award, which recognizes accomplishments and contributions of historical significance, in 2014. He became just the second non-player to receive the award, joining Rachel Robinson.

While being one of the most widely heard broadcasters in the nation, Scully was an intensely private man. Once the baseball season ended, he would disappear. He rarely did personal appearances or sports talk shows. He preferred spending time with his family.

In 1972, his first wife, Joan, died of an accidental overdose of medicine. He was left with three young children. Two years later, he met the woman who would become his second wife, Sandra, a secretary for the NFL's Los Angeles Rams. She had two young children from a previous marriage, and they combined their families into what Scully once called "my own Brady Bunch."

He said he realized time was the most precious thing in the world and that he wanted to use his time to spend with his loved ones. In the early 1960s, Scully quit smoking with the help of his family. In the shirt pocket where he kept a pack of cigarettes, Scully stuck a family photo. Whenever he felt like he needed a smoke, he pulled out the photo to remind him why he quit. Eight months later, Scully never smoked again.

After retiring in 2016, Scully made just a handful of appearances at Dodger Stadium and his sweet voice was heard narrating an occasional video played during games. Mostly, he was content to stay close to home.

"I just want to be remembered as a good man, an honest man, and one who lived up to his own beliefs," he said in 2016.

In 2020, Scully auctioned off years of his personal memorabilia, which raised over $2 million. A portion of it was donated to UCLA for ALS research.

He was preceded in death by his second wife, Sandra. She died of complications of ALS at age 76 in 2021. The couple, who were married 47 years, had daughter Catherine together.

Scully's other children are Kelly, Erin, Todd and Kevin. A son, Michael, died in a helicopter crash in 1994.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/34338705/vin-scully-iconic-former-los-angeles-dodgers-broadcaster-dies-age-94

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Re: Media Today
« Reply #290 on: August 03, 2022, 09:42:35 PM »


Offline Rick Plant

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Re: Media Today
« Reply #291 on: August 04, 2022, 02:35:07 PM »
'Your attorneys messed up': Sandy Hook families' lawyer confronts Alex Jones with evidence he lied under oath
https://www.rawstory.com/alex-jones-trial-2657801766/

Offline Rick Plant

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Re: Media Today
« Reply #292 on: August 04, 2022, 10:48:01 PM »
Alex Jones must pay Sandy Hook family at least $4 million — number expected to rise tomorrow



InfoWars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was ordered by a Texas jury to pay $4 million in compensatory damages for defaming Sandy Hook parents Scarlett Lewis and Neil Heslin.

The jury in the case was tasked on Thursday with determining compensatory damages for the direct harm the family suffered and awarded a little more than $4 million.

On Friday, the jury will discuss the amount of punitive damages, which is designed to punish Jones to prevent further harm.

Jones, founder of the website InfoWars and host of a popular radio show, has been found liable in multiple defamation lawsuits brought by parents of the victims of the 2012 shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

The case in Austin, Texas, was the first of the defamation cases against Jones to reach the damages phase.

The 48-year-old Jones claimed for years on his show and website that the Sandy Hook shooting was "staged" by gun control activists but has since acknowledged it was "100 percent real."

The Texas case was brought by Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose six-year-old son Jesse Lewis was among the children slain by a 20-year-old gunman in the worst-ever school shooting in the United States.

During the final day of testimony on Wednesday, Mark Bankston, a lawyer for the parents, told Jones while he was on the witness stand that his attorneys had "messed up."

"They sent me an entire digital copy of your entire cellphone with every text message you've sent for the past two years, and when informed did not take any steps to identify it as privileged or protected in any way," Bankston said.

The evidence on his phone could have important implications for investigations into Donald Trump's unsuccessful coup attempt. Bankston was said he'll cooperate in getting the evidence to the Department of Justice and House Select Committee Investigating the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Trump appeared frequently on Jones' radio show during his 2016 White House campaign and the InfoWars founder was in Washington when supporters of the then-president stormed Congress in a bid to prevent certification of Democrat Joe Biden's election victory.

Jones has also testified to the committee behind closed doors.

Heslin and Lewis, the parents of Jesse, were seeking compensatory damages of at least $150 million from Jones.

InfoWars declared bankruptcy in April and another company owned by Jones, Free Speech Systems, filed for bankruptcy last week.

AFP

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Re: Media Today
« Reply #292 on: August 04, 2022, 10:48:01 PM »


Offline Rick Plant

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Re: Media Today
« Reply #293 on: August 05, 2022, 03:26:30 PM »
Scientists meet to discuss why the Earth is spinning faster than normal, shortening days

CINCINNATI (WKRC) — Scientists say that the Earth has been spinning faster than normal.

According to scientists, the Earth has been spinning faster on its axis and even saw the shortest day on record in over 50 years.

On June 29, 2022, the Earth completed its spin 1.59 milliseconds earlier than normal. Scientists measured the rotational speed when they began using atomic clocks. Since using atomic clocks, scientists discovered that there are fluctuations in the rotational speed.

The Earth is gradually slowing down, which is why there are leap seconds in the calendar. The last second leap was on December 31, 2016. Researchers are wondering if a negative leap second should be introduced, which would skip one second but may also create issues for IT systems.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has stated that it may run into issues since it uses International Atomic Time or Universal Time for timing. The company says that leap seconds are a “major source of pain for people who manage hardware infrastructures.”

During the 19th annual Asia Oceania Geosciences Society meeting, scientists presented why they believe the Earth's spin is getting faster.

One explanation is that the shorter days relate to the Chandler wobble, the name of small, irregular movements of Earth’s poles across the surface of the globe.

Planetary scientists are not concerned about the shortened days at the moment because they know of the many factors on the planetary spin, such as the moon’s pull and mountain erosion.

https://katu.com/news/offbeat/scientists-meet-to-discuss-why-the-earth-is-spinning-faster-than-normal-shortening-days-axis-rotational-speed-atomic-clocks-gradually-slowing-down-leap-seconds-poles-surface-of-the-globe

Offline Rick Plant

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Re: Media Today
« Reply #294 on: August 05, 2022, 06:35:46 PM »
Heatwaves threaten marine life as Mediterranean reaches record temperature

France has seen searing temperatures in successive heatwaves over the past few weeks, but it’s not only on land that temperatures are insufferably high. The Mediterranean Sea’s surface temperature reached a record high 30.7°C in late July, and marine heatwaves are becoming increasingly common because of climate change – with dramatic consequences for biodiversity.

As Europe battles wildfires and record drought on land, rising sea temperatures pose another kind of threat. On July 24, the temperature in the Mediterranean reached a peak of 30.7°C off the coast of Alistro in eastern Corsica, according to the Keraunos meteorological observatory. The next day, in the bay of Villefrance-sur-Mer – an idyllic beach town a few miles from Nice – a researcher at the local oceanographic laboratory recorded a temperature of 29.2°C.

“It’s unprecedented,” said the researcher, Jean-Pierre Gattuso. The Mediterranean’s temperature is usually between 21° and 24°C at this time of year.

“What we’re seeing is a marine heatwave,” Gattuso said. “Like the heatwaves we get on land, it’s characterized by unusual temperatures for the season and can go on for several days or even weeks.”

In this case, Gattuso said, record temperatures have been continuing since the end of June and are affecting the entire western Mediterranean, from the heel of the Italian boot to Spain.

This climatic anomaly is linked to the successive heatwaves that have ravaged southern and western Europe in recent weeks.

“The temperature in the atmosphere and the temperature in the ocean work in tandem,” said oceanographer Carole Saout-Grit at Paris’s CNRS research institute. “When we talk about global warming, we’ve got to remember that 90 percent of the heat that has accumulated since the pre-industrial era has been absorbed by the ocean.”

“When you’ve got excess heat in the atmosphere, the ocean will try to suck it out, so that can cause the water to overheat,” Saout-Grit continued. But for the sea to overheat, there must be no wind. And that is “precisely the situation in the Mediterranean at the moment – otherwise, a gust of wind would allow the water at the surface to mix with the cooler water at the bottom, and the overall temperature would drop”.

These marine heatwaves don’t just happen in the Mediterranean. “The Pacific Ocean, particularly the North Pacific … has already been affected by this phenomenon,” Gattuso noted. Marine heatwaves have also been observed in the South Atlantic and even the Arctic.

These sudden, atypical spikes in temperature – which come on top of the long-term trajectory of the oceans warming – have disastrous consequences for aquatic fauna and flora. “With a team of 70 scientists, we’ve studied the impact in the Mediterranean for the period 2015-19. We found out that 90 percent of the area had been affected and that around 50 species had suffered deaths on a large scale,” Gattuso said.

On the other side of the world, marine heatwaves are also contributing to the bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef, turning the coral white. According to an Australian government report published in May, 91 percent of the reef has suffered bleaching due to a prolonged heatwaves during the southern hemisphere’s summer season.

Around 50 percent of the world’s coral reefs are considered to be under threat from climate change.

AFP

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Re: Media Today
« Reply #294 on: August 05, 2022, 06:35:46 PM »


Offline Rick Plant

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Re: Media Today
« Reply #295 on: August 05, 2022, 10:52:46 PM »
Payrolls increased 528,000 in July, much better than expected in a sign of continued strength for jobs market

Hiring in July was far better than expected, defying multiple other signs that the economic recovery is losing steam, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

Nonfarm payrolls rose 528,000 for the month and the unemployment rate was 3.5%, easily topping the Dow Jones estimates of 258,000 and 3.6%, respectively. The unemployment rate is now back to its pre-pandemic level and tied for the lowest since 1969.

Wage growth also surged higher, as average hourly earnings jumped 0.5% for the month and 5.2% from the same time a year ago.

Professional and business services was next with 89,000. Health care added 70,000 and government payrolls grew 57,000. Goods-producing industries also posted solid gains, with construction up 32,000 and manufacturing adding 30,000.

Retail jobs increased by 22,000, despite repeated warnings from executives at Walmart, Target and elsewhere that consumer demand is shifting.

Back to pre-pandemic

Despite downbeat expectations, the July gains were the best since February and well ahead of the 388,000 average job rise over the past four months. The BLS release noted that total nonfarm payroll employment has increased by 22 million since the April 2020 low when most of the U.S. economy shut down to deal with the Covid pandemic.

Previous months’ totals were revised slightly, with May raised by 2,000 to 386,000 and June up 26,000 to 398,000.

“The report throws cold water on a significant cooling in labor demand, but it’s a good sign for the broader U.S. economy and worker,” Bank of America economist Michael Gapen said in a client note.

The BLS noted that private sector payrolls are now higher than the February 2020 level, just before the pandemic declaration.

The unemployment rate ticked down, the result both of strong job creation and a labor force participation rate that declined 0.1 percentage point to 62.1%, its lowest level of the year.

AFP