brooklynite
brooklynite's Journal4 dead after severe storms rip through Houston; nearly 1M without power
Source: Houston Chronicle
Houston Mayor John Whitmire confirmed in a press conference Thursday night that four people have died in the severe storms that slammed Houston earlier in the evening.
Whitmire added that non-essential personnel should stay home Friday and estimated that it can take up to 48 hours for a resumption of power across the area. Houston ISD canceled all classes Friday, as well.
The National Weather Service in Houston said "Severe thunderstorms moving west of the Houston metro area have a history of producing damaging winds. Remain alert for a possible tornado. Take shelter if you are in the path of this storm!"
...snip...
The NOAA's Weather Prediction Center has issued a rare "high risk" of flash flooding north of Houston, including areas like Huntsville, Livingston and Trinity. A flood watch is in effect Thursday afternoon and night along and north of I-10, including in Houston and Harris County.
The time frame of concern begins around 2-4 p.m. across northern Houston, the National Weather Service in Galveston said. The weather predictors say it's unclear when the heavy storms will begin to progress southward. "Despite the uncertainty, the boundary will eventually push southward towards the coast by the evening or overnight hours, taking its rain and thunderstorm activity with it," the NWS wrote in its forecaster's discussion.
Read more: https://www.chron.com/weather/article/houston-weather-storms-flooding-19461571.php
Those office romances never work out....
Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA), who filed this week for divorce from his wife, is reportedly in a relationship with Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX), the Daily Mail reports.
https://politicalwire.com/2024/05/16/two-gop-lawmakers-engaged-in-extramarital-affair/
Group glues 'Free Palestine' posters on NYC subway, causing $10K in damage: police
WNYW New YorkPolice said at least eight people boarded the moving "F" train at the 7th Avenue Station in Brooklyn and took down MTA subway advertisements on approximately four train cars.
Then, the group of people used superglue on the screws to prevent them from being removed. Police said this caused over $10,000 worth of damage to MTA property.
The group then fled the scene.
When I worked at MTA, I was responsible for their foreign policy, which involved giving briefings to foreign delegations who came to visit. Never did anything with Israel or Gaza.
Mary Trump live (4:30) on the Trump trial
Greg Steube has achieved a rare feat: Successfully forcing a bill to the House floor
Source: Politico
Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) has a rare feat in modern congressional terms: Forcing floor consideration of legislation — on this occasion, a bill he crafted that would provide tax relief for losses due to federally declared disasters.
He invoked a rarely successful procedural tool, the so-called discharge petition, to compel a floor vote on his legislation aimed at helping victims of hurricanes, wildfires and the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment. The Florida Republican hit 218 signatories — a majority of the House — of supporters on Wednesday, according to the chamber clerk.
Discharge petitions rarely succeed. The last one to hit the necessary number of signatures to force floor consideration concerned the Export-Import Bank, back in 2015. Steube called for the Senate to act swiftly once it passes the House.
Democratic Whip Katherine Clark called on Democrats to sign onto the discharge petition in a meeting Wednesday, a person familiar told POLITICO. More Democrats have signed onto the petition than Republicans.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/05/16/congress/a-successful-discharge-petition-00158356
White House says Hur tapes are privileged as Congress moves to hold Garland in contempt
Source: Washington Post
President Biden has asserted executive privilege over the audio and video recordings from the special counsel investigation into his handling of classified materials and will refuse congressional requests to hand them over, the White House and the Justice Department said in separate letters to House Republican leaders Thursday.
The letters were sent hours before the GOP-led House Oversight and Judiciary committees were scheduled to advance a contempt resolution against Attorney General Merrick Garland for defying a subpoena that demanded the recordings, which include hours of Special Counsel Robert K. Hur interviewing Biden.
The Justice Department also sent House Republicans a letter Garland wrote to Biden on Wednesday requesting that he assert executive privilege because releasing the tapes would “damage future law enforcement efforts," particularly as investigators request voluntary cooperation in their probes from White House officials.
The White House letter to the House Republicans echoes those concerns and accuses Republicans of wanted to “distort” the recordings for political gain.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/05/16/biden-hur-privilege-merrick-garland-contempt-impeachment/
King County reports largest number of homeless people ever
Seattle TimesThat is the largest number ever reported in Seattle and King County using the biennial snapshot, which is required by the federal government.
“We understand the magnitude of this issue is significant,” said Callie Craighead, spokesperson for Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell.
The number marks a 23% increase in homelessness from 2022, the last time the comprehensive count was conducted. Unsheltered homelessness, in particular, has dramatically increased, from 7,685 people in 2022 to 9,810 this year — a 27.7% increase.
How things went wrong for the New York-Dublin "portal"
The Portal, a large, round art installation designed to livestream video between the Flatiron district in Manhattan and a similar sculpture in the center of Dublin, would “redefine the boundaries of artistic expression and connectivity,” its promoters said when they unveiled it last week.
How it redefined those boundaries became a problem after videos on social media showed an OnlyFans model lifting her shirt in New York and people in Dublin displaying swastikas and images of the World Trade Center burning on Sept. 11, 2001.
The video feed between the two cities was shut down on Tuesday — temporarily, officials in New York and Dublin said. How soon the link might go on again remained an open question on Wednesday.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/16/nyregion/new-york-dublin-portal-closed.html
Dutch Right-Wing Parties Reach Preliminary Deal to Form a Government
Source: New York Times
The breakthrough came hours before a midnight deadline and was the result of nearly six months of negotiations. After the negotiators expressed optimism about the chances of forming a government, the members of the parties that will make up the coalition said they would support the preliminary agreement.
“This won’t go wrong,” Caroline van der Plas, the leader of the Farmer Citizen Movement, a populist pro-farmer party, told reporters on Wednesday. In response, Mr. Wilders posted two prayer hands and a sun emoji on the social media platform X.
The agreement would still largely depend on Mr. Wilders’s party, Party for Freedom, which won elections decisively last fall, sending shock waves through the Dutch political system.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/15/world/europe/netherlands-government-geert-wilders.html
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Name: Chris BastianGender: Male
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
Home country: USA
Member since: 2002
Number of posts: 95,087
