AKALib
Stories by AKALib
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Age verification on Bluesky for residents of Texas
Residents of the sorry state of Texas might be seeing a message similar to this when accessing Bluesky, directing them to an age verification system. Also, it seem like the verification link itself is broken. When it works, it asks for some personal info. This is because Texas passed an age verification law, which Bluesky…
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White to move and mate in two #842 – Asteroid Day
Today, June 30, is Asteroid Day. On this UN designated day, events are held globally to educate the public and to raise awareness about asteroids, and about the science of defending our planet from future asteroid impacts. June 30 marks the date of Earth’s largest asteroid impact in recorded history, the Siberia Tunguska event, in…
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SCOTUS Decisions today – Birthright Citizenship survives
Today marked the last day of the U.S. Supreme Court’s current term. Three major rulings were made as summarized at https://www.reuters.com/world/us/live-us-supreme-court-decide-birthright-citizenship-final-day-landmark-rulings-2026-06-30 1. Birthright citizenship: The court has ruled against Trump’s order, 6-3, limiting birthright citizenship. Thomas, Alito and Gorsuch dissenting. Kavanaugh was not fully on board. 2. Campaign spending limit: The court has struck down…
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Send your name to space aboard the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope
Here is a fun opportunity to send and immortalize our names in space aboard the NASA Nancy Grace Roman Space telescope, scheduled for launch on Aug. 30, 2026. Add your name to the list by July 12 at https://my.nasa.gov/specialevents/s/send-your-name-with-nancy-roman The list will be stored on an SD card and attached to the square at the…
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Mike Johnson runs the GOP Protection Program
Mike Johnson said the quiet part aloud when he said yesterday “I run the protection program. We’ll take care of you.” The “you” he was referring to was “the president’s family, the cabinet, his donors, friends, half of you in this room.” To some extent, this is not news. This is what he and his…
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The New Yorker Review of Haberman and Swan’s “Regime Change”
David Remnick, at the New Yorker, has a glowing review of Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan’s new book “Regime Change.” https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/07/06/chronicle-of-a-disaster-foretold Excerpts “Regime Change,” a vivid, rigorous, and unavoidably depressing chronicle of the first year of Trump’s second term in the White House. “Regime Change” is exceptional. It transcends its genre. Although some of the…
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White to move and mate in two #839 – The NASA Pegasus Barge
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope completed its journey on Sunday from Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Maryland to KSFC in Florida aboard the Pegasus barge. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will be launched no earlier than Sunday, Aug. 30, on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, 8 months ahead of schedule. From its…
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FIFA World Cup – Let’s Go Norway 🇳🇴
Among all teams competing at the World Cup this month, none is more colorful, none has more style, none has a more enthusiastic fan base than the Norwegians. Images of the fan base before, during and after the games are becoming legendary, just like the Vikings. And they have talent too. It’s no easy feat…
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The Green Lincoln Reflecting Pool – Updates
Here are some recent developments in the saga of the Lincoln Reflecting Pool which is infested with green algae/cyanobacteria, thanks to the ineptness of this White House and its relentless quest to line its pockets by looting the U.S. treasury. A dead baby duck was found in the filthy green waters of the Lincoln Reflecting…
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The State of the MOU – Vance blasts Israel, Israel strikes Lebanon, Iran calls off talks, Vance cancels trip to Switzerland
The US-Iran MOU is off to a rocky start, as Vance (the fall guy?) spent the day defending the MOU with Iran and blasting Israel for not being fully on board. What a turnaround on Israel. But remember, Vance speaks for his boss. Israel was never on board with the deal. So … Israeli air…
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Reactions to the US-Iran MOU
The US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) aka the Peace Deal was released today by a White House official. A leaked version of the MOU had been much discussed by various media outlets, which the White House had labeled as fake news, blah blah. It is what everyone understood it was – a major capitulation with…
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The Battle of the Green Reflecting Pool
The battle of the green Lincoln Reflecting Pool rages on in Washington D.C. It’s an all out assault by the White House on the Algae colonies, that are enjoying the extra warm waters, thanks to the ineptness of the White House. Yesterday, they carpet-bombed them with nano bubbles (of Oxygen and perhaps Ozone as well),…
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White to move and mate in two #836 – Happy Birthday John F. Nash Jr.
Belated Happy Birthday to John F. Nash Jr. (June 13, 1928 – May 23, 2015), renowned for his breakthrough work in mathematics and game theory, as well as for his struggle with mental illness. Nash shared the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1994 and was awarded the Abel Prize in 2015. His life was…
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Let’s Celebrate Obama Appreciation Day
Today, June 14, is celebrated as Obama Appreciation Day. In 2020, Twitter users unofficially celebrated former president Obama by using the hashtag “All Birthdays Matter” in response to the controversial “All Lives Matter” associated with conservative views. Phrases began trending, such as “Obama Day June 14th,” “Obama Appreciation Day,” “Obama Day USA” and “Happy Birthday…
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Knicks win the NBA Championship. A Blue Tsunami?
The New York Knicks are the new NBA Champions, beating the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 in San Antonio. The final score. The Knicks were down 16 at one point during the 2nd quarter. Never give up, not even after 53 years! Jalen Brunson, who scored 45 points tonight, is the NBA Finals MVP.…
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Live: Instead of pie-fights, let’s watch the trump name being removed from the Kennedy Center building 😄
It looks like the trump name, that sullied the front of the Kennedy Center building, will be removed today. Here are a couple of livestreams to enjoy the occasion. It might take a while before they start taking the letters off, since they are still installing the scaffolding. ABC7: MS-NOW MeidasTouch: Trump’s handpicked Kennedy Center…
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U.S. Strikes Iranian Drinking Water Facility. Isn’t that a war crime?
From the New York Times: “Strikes early Wednesday destroyed what appears to be a drinking-water facility on Iran’s southern coast, near the Strait of Hormuz, according to an analysis by The New York Times. Iranian state media reported that the U.S. had hit water storage buildings and a local official said that water was cut…
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Sen. Warren calls on SEC to delay SpaceX IPO, flagging concerns about valuation and governance
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., called for the SEC to delay SpaceX’s upcoming initial public offering, citing concerns about the rocket maker’s valuation and corporate governance in a letter shared with CNBC. “Given the unprecedented threats to investor protection and market integrity posed by the biggest IPO in history, you must delay any eventual acceleration of…
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Inflation soars to highest level since 2023. trump says he loves it.
US consumer prices continued to soar in May, pushed higher by surging energy costs more than three months into a war with Iran, according to government data released Wednesday. Consumer Price Index CPI is now at a 3-year high; prices have risen 4.2% since May 2025. The index for energy rose 3.9% in May, after…
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White to move and mate in two #833 – A Rescue Mission for the NASA Swift Observatory
Within a few weeks, NASA will launch the LINK robotic servicing spacecraft built by Katalyst Space, aboard a Northrop Grumman Pegasus spacecraft, to “rescue” the NASA Swift Observatory. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/swift/swift-boost-mission/swift-boost-media-resources/ LINK will capture and boost NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory which is rapidly losing altitude and will, without a boost, reenter the atmosphere this summer. Swift,…
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Scott Pelley Interview with the NYT – “CBS is on Fire”
Scott Pelley sat down for a long revealing interview with the NY Times and laid bare many of the details about CBS, the new management and his personal views on Journalism. It is fascinating and disturbing to read or to watch. Here are a few selected excerpts from the interview. On Black Thursday “The night…
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trump’s pathetic meltdown in interview with Kristen Welker
trump sat down with NBC’s Kristen Welker on Meet The Press, hoping to get his gaslighting points across to an increasingly numbed national audience about how well the Iran war (or non-war) is going, how much he is loved and admired and how he won the 2020 election. But in the end, he melted down…
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White to move and mate in two #830 – Google (Mosquito) Debug
Did you know that Google was in the mosquito eradication business from its cleverly named subsidiary Debug? Male mosquitoes, infected with the naturally-occurring bacteria Wolbachia are released in the wild. When the infected males mate with wild female mosquitoes, the offspring do not survive. Over time, the mosquito population declines. Note that only female mosquitoes…
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The Houston Chronicle heartily endorses James Talarico for Senate
The Houston Chronicle, the largest daily newspaper in Houston and the “newspaper of record” of the Houston area endorsed James Talarico for Senate over republican Ken Paxton, on Thursday, with the title – “Texans deserve better than Ken Paxton’s moral rot. The choice is obvious. Both Republicans and Democrats should prefer a servant leader over…
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Conan O’Brien’s brilliant commencement speech at Harvard
Conan O’Brien’s commencement speech at Harvard this week hit the perfect note on humor, sarcasm and inspiration. Conan, a Harvard graduate, delivered a 25-minute speech “suffused with the comedian’s self-deprecating humor, sprinkled with shots at the Trump Administration, and rounded out by a message of humility and openness.” Conan the Truth-teller: “The current administration feels…
