Happy Friday! I was glad to hear your personnel is getting through. Maybe there are enough beings down and around to actually get some stuff done?
TGIF! It’s a holiday weekend! And, its a busy one for me. Finally, I’ll be reunited with my things (very much missing my cooking gear and jewelry organizer). I’m so looking forward to Sunday night!
Enjoy the long weekend everyone,
Thank you for reading today's post. Have an InterStellar Day! ~PrP
The Best Type Of Nuts For Snacking, Depending On Your Health Goals
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-best-type-of-nuts-for-snacking-depending-on-your-health-goals-ano2_l_66d0a597e4b08063c0bfb0b3
This thing that was making the Hngassi sick comes from the fact that they only dined on humans from the USA. Their research has discovered it is from the food that the humans eat. We have confirmed their findings. The farms the humans receive their food from will cause any human consuming food from them to get some form of cancer from 13 to 21 years after the consumption. None will escape if not given the antidote by us. Some children will get it sooner or when they get cancer it will always mean death. The companies know that the food from their farms are toxic because the fertilizer, municipal sewage, that they have been using is a poison that last almost forever once it is used.
Companies who had no viable way to get rid of the chemical waste paid politicians to convince farmers to use it as fertilizer. You can retrieve more data from this – “Something’s Poisoning America’s Farms. Scientists Fear ‘Forever’ Chemicals.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/31/climate/pfas-fertilizer-sludge-farm.html
Did You Know
The “tar” in the famous Le Brea Tar Pits is actually prehistoric asphalt that slowly seeps from the ground.
I saw the Ear in action. That guy must have nerves of steel or he doesn’t care if he dies. My commander was fired for not allowing him to fly an F-16 sent to us. The pilot who did fly it was shot down by one of our own, accidentally. How lucky was that?
I saw a movie that reflects his attitude. The only philosophy he has is “don’t die,” and he goes through a lot of bullets trying to keep it that way. Oh, and I heard tat he will be flying a F-16 now that the commander who fucked up an $80 million dollar aircraft has been fired. There are a lot of military who don’t like the way the Ear got it done. Rumor is that he just called Zelenskyy and told him to get him out of his face.
Why is it that so many ordinary men who think they are special dis like the Ear? What our commander refused to accept is that men like the Ear are irreplaceable because they are one of a kind, whereas men like Gen Valery Zaluzhny misapprehend their place in the world, because they are replaceable. I think he knows that now.
Bitches like you get their panties wet thinking about a bloodthirsty savage like the Ear. He will replace al-Assad soon I am told and it won’t be pretty. The reason, something personal I’m told. It certainly wasn’t because he gassed millions of his own people.
That rumor is tired. Assad brought Isis into Syria to cover up the murder of his people. The covert operation that the US had with him is…. Well you decide.
https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/Portals/10/JEMEAA/Journals/Volume-02_Issue-1/Sorenson%20interview.pdf
An energetic dithyramb on the power of a powerful nation to fuck up a simple solution. If the Ear had been in charge then, he would have just had al-Assad shot along with his greedy family and cohorts.
This is not information that should be shared. He downed a russian helicopter because two people aboard had sinned like this. Watch your backs. For now he is too busy being POTUS, but that won’t hold forever. He maybe unsettled with the Jews, but he will certainly go after the heads of Hamas because they murdered that American Jew in cold blood on his watch.
That’s part of his modus operandi, just ask Iran. He took out their president the same way.
He was asked by the British for his help in dealing with Iranian interference in the UK by both the director general of MI5, and the head of Counter Terrorism Policing.
Iran has sought to commit terrorist attacks the UK. Iran is supplemented in its mission by a minority of political Shias from other countries. In London this includes representatives of Iraqi Shia movements such as the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF). One part of the PMF, Kata’ib Hezbollah, is designated as a foreign terrorist organisation by the USA and is accused of killing a British soldier in Iraq in 2020. So Biden oked the Ear’s sending a message to Iran to stop. He did that by killing Iran’s president in his own country. The act shocked even the Iranians and they hid the act less some in Iran give more alliegence to the Ear. It is rumored that he has insurgents everywhere there ready to act upon his orders.
He defied the Venezuelan government and ordered the DOJ to seize a luxury jet used by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
The Dassault Falcon 900EX was seized in the Dominican Republic and transferred to the custody of federal officials in Florida.
When President Maduro complained, he said “sue me.” The guy’s got balls the size of watermelons.
The ear is fed up with the gutless Israeli population for demanding that their government give up and make a deal with Hamas. He has ordered the SEAL Team and other covert organizations to go after all the leaders of Hamas until everyone of them is dead. But since he wants Harris to get the POTUS job, he will encourage a ceasefire deal.
Make no mistake the Hamas leaders are dead men walking. He doesn’t want them to die immediately. He wants them to worry about dying. I used to hate the guy, but he is a true patriot. I can’t abide the cruelty of Hamas or the cowardice of the Jews who want to capitulate to Hamas’s demands to get back a hundred hostages a third of which they know are dead.
So, I’m one of those in the Biden administration that has shifted to the Ear’s side.
Unlike the rest of the world leaders who seem to be threaten by Biden’s hit man, Sinwar sleeps well.
What Part of Speech Is the Word “Is”?
It’s one of the most commonly used words in the English language — so ubiquitous and so short that it slips by almost unnoticed. But “is” is important, and it does some heavy lifting.
by Bennett Kleinma
Most people have probably said the word “is” more times than their own name (it’s in this edition 30 times). It’s such a common term, in fact, that you might not have stopped to think about what “is” really … is. Thankfully, the answer is rather simple. In English, there are eight basic parts of speech: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, articles, prepositions, and conjunctions. “Is” falls squarely into the verb category, as it’s a conjugation of the verb “to be.”
“To be” is one of those irregular verbs that you just have to memorize. In the present tense, the conjugation is: “I am,” “you are,” “we are,” “they are,” and “he/she/it is.” “Is” is the third-person singular form.
“Is” commonly acts as a linking verb — a type of verb that doesn’t describe an action, but still builds a bridge between the subject and the predicate. Take these examples: “Mona is my cousin,” “Your dress is beautiful,” and “She is 25 years old.” In these instances, “is” links the subject (“Mona,” “dress,” “she”) to another noun (“my cousin”), adjective (“beautiful”), or longer clause (“25 years old”).
When “is” serves as an auxiliary verb, it’s a helper verb that lends support to the main verb of a sentence. For instance: “It is going to rain on Saturday” and “Mom is buying a cake for the party.” In both of these cases, “is” is not the main verb, but rather a verb that lends support to the main verbs “going” and “buying.” The purpose of using the auxiliary verb is to add meaning, clarify tense, or shape mood.
Can You Decipher These Idioms From Foreign Languages?
Watch out for “is” and tipping your sentences into passive voice. We’ll cover this more in a future edition, but for now, if “is” is the main verb in your sentence, try to rework it to use a more active verb. (Example: “The guitar is being played by Jaime” vs. “Jaime played the guitar.”) Sentences that rely on “is” and passive voice can be unnecessarily confusing. This simple act of self-editing can bring your sentences into an unmistakably clear and active voice.
23+ Ingenious Life Hacks To Boost Your Quality Of Life!
https://lifehack.getconsumerchoice.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=display&utm_id=21124640538&utm_content=161109343900&utm_term=&creativeId=710755250780&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIxIyNv7SkiAMV6TtECB0PsSI9EAEYASAAEgJAMPD_BwE&gad_source=5
Don’t waste your time reading that shit.
When you think that you have heard the worst a man will do to a female:
Frenchman accused of letting dozens of men rape his drugged wife
Philippe Siuberski
French police investigated after finding thousands of rape photos on the suspect’s computer (FRED TANNEAU)
French police investigated after finding thousands of rape photos on the suspect’s computer (FRED TANNEAU)
A French pensioner went on trial Monday for allowing scores of strangers to rape his wife after he drugged her, in a case that has horrified the country.
Fifty men, recruited online, are also being tried in the southern city of Avignon alongside the main suspect, a 71-year-old former employee at France’s state-owned power utility company EDF.
Police counted a total of 92 rapes committed by 72 men, 51 of whom were identified.
The men, aged between 26 and 74, are accused of raping the 72-year-old woman who, her lawyers say, was so heavily sedated she was not aware of the abuse that went on for a decade.
Presiding judge Roger Arata announced that all hearings would be public, granting the woman her wish for “complete publicity until the end” of the court case, according to one of her lawyers, Stephane Babonneau.
The trial will nonetheless be “a horrible ordeal” for her, said another of her lawyers, Antoine Camus.
“For the first time, she will have to live through the rapes that she endured over 10 years,” he told AFP, adding that his client had “no recollection” of the abuse that she discovered only in 2020.
The woman, who arrived at the court supported by her three children, did not want a trial behind closed doors because “that’s what her attackers would have wanted”, Camus said.
– Some came back six times –
Police began to investigate the defendant, Dominique P., in September 2020 when he was caught by a security guard secretly filming under the skirts of three women in a shopping centre.
Police said they found hundreds of pictures and videos of his wife on his computer, visibly unconscious and mostly in the foetal position.
The images are alleged to show dozens of rapes in the couple’s home in Mazan, a village of 6,000 people around 33 kilometres (21 miles) from Avignon in Provence.
Investigators also found chats on a site called coco.fr, since shut down by police, in which he recruited strangers to come to their home and have intercourse with his wife.
Dominique P. admitted to investigators that he gave his wife powerful tranquilisers, especially Temesta, an anxiety-reducing drug.
The abuse started in 2011, when the couple was living near Paris, and continued after they moved to Mazan two years later.
The husband took part in the rapes, filmed them and encouraged the other men using degrading language, according to prosecutors.
No money changed hands.
The accused rapists include a forklift driver, a fire brigade officer, a company boss and a journalist.
Some were single, others married or divorced, and some were family men. Most participated just once, but some took part up to six times.
– Murder probe –
Many have said they thought they were simply helping a libertine couple live out its fantasies, but Dominique P. told investigators that all were aware that his wife had been drugged without her knowledge.
An expert said her state “was closer to a coma than to sleep”.
Her husband told prosecutors that only three men left the house quickly after arriving, while all others proceeded to have intercourse with his wife.
Dominique P., who said he was raped by a male nurse when he was nine, is ready to face “his family and his wife”, his lawyer Beatrice Zavarro told AFP.
This trial may not be his last.
He has also been charged with a 1991 murder and rape, which he denies, and an attempted rape in 1999, to which he admitted after DNA testing.
Experts said the man does not appear to be mentally ill, but in documents seen by AFP, they said he had a need to feel “all-powerful” over the female body.
The trial is to last until December 20.
Woman held captive in barn for four years and raped by man she met online
James Jackson
The disused barn where the victim was imprisoned for over four years
The disused barn where the victim was imprisoned for more than four years
A woman was held captive, tortured and raped in an old barn for four years by a male suspect who has been described as “Poland’s Josef Fritzl”.
The victim, who has been identified only as Malgorzata and is now 30, met Mateusz J, a labourer, on a dating website in 2019 and went to visit him in his small village near Glogow, western Poland.
She was then allegedly imprisoned in a disused barn for over four years, being regularly beaten, raped and later impregnated just four metres away from the suspect’s neighbours, myGlogow, a local news site, reported.
Her 35-year-old captor, who was described by locals as a “loner” and “freak”, was arrested this week and now faces up to 25 years in prison on charges of mental, physical and sexual abuse.
Prosecutors said the victim had no access to electricity, running water, a toilet or hygiene products in the stone room with a bricked-up window, where animals used to be housed.
The victim, identified only as Malgorzata, alerted doctors to her situation when she was taken to hospital with a dislocated shoulder
The victim, identified only as Malgorzata, alerted doctors to her situation when she was taken to hospital with a dislocated shoulder
The victim revealed that, when she did not meet his sexual expectations, she was beaten, starved and tormented.
During the ordeal, she was reportedly impregnated by Mateusz J and taken to a hospital in the nearby city of Nowa Sol to give birth and then forced to give the child up for adoption.
“I couldn’t tell the doctors the truth. I was afraid, and he threatened me that if I complained it would get even worse,” the victim said.
The case echoes that of Fritzl, one of Austria’s most notorious criminals, who kept his daughter captive for 24 years in a dungeon beneath his home, fathering seven children with her.
Malgorzata was allegedly taken to hospital several more times over the course of the four years after the suspect broke her arm, then her leg, and last year when she was admitted to surgery with a damaged anus.
On Tuesday, she was in hospital once again with a dislocated shoulder and was able to alert doctors, who called the police.
Mateusz J, who was arrested on Aug 30, denies the charges.
In America three women are killed by their current or ex partner every day.
Parents who murder their children and partner are most often men.
This crime is virtually always premeditated.
This Is How Much Laundry Detergent You Should Actually Use — And Yes, It’s Shocking
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/laundry-detergent-amount-clean-clothes-2_n_66cf6a04e4b054d208573425
While you idiots and cowards are busy sucking this guy’s dick and running scared of what he might do next. The drunk on power manic is heading the US and its allies towards a nuclear war. Rumors are he is planning on using Ukraine to seriously embarrass Putin by bombing shit in and around Moscow.
Biden is senile and Harris is spreading her legs for him when not on her knees. This is not a sexist statement since most of the men in Biden’s administration are on their knees to him too.
We need to get behind the coalition put together by LLoyd Austin. He wants to take back the power Biden has given to the Ear. But he needs someone other than himself to show they have a pair.
Hamas will not be destroyed easily, if at all. The Ear described being in a tunnel that had a depth of 250 feet — about the height of a 25-story building. The army took months to destroy it.
The ear told Netanyahu, “assume the hostages are dead. That’s how you have to operate.” The only other option is to give in and tell bad actors like Hamas, or other members of sick Islamic cults that this works.
Or, option 2; make a trade and violate international law and eliminate them days after the swap. I support option one. Eliminate as many as possible. Kill them by the hundreds of thousands, men, women and children. Wall them off from Egypt. Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, etc want that but can’t say it.
Drill every 50 yards and put in devices that will explode if triggered. No disclosure to where they are. Close off those tunnels and pump cyanide gas into them. Wipe the savages off the face of the earth.
No structures are built within 3 miles of the border. They would need to build a 3 mile tunnel. Can’t do that if you keep triggering mines in the ground. Or flooding the tunnels with lethal gases.
What kind of people are okay with having their sons go into another country rape, murder and kidnap while sending them videos of the events? Who are these consciousless beasts?
Oh, and the children, we are conditioned to feel sorry for, are the same little savages who spit upon, threw rocks at, and generally degraded the hostages as they were paraded through the streets of Gaza. Yes, the same Gaza streets the Jews are blowing the fuck up along with the disgusting little savages.
Those who are so quick to feel sorry for the baby scum are the same people who would scream for the death penalty for anyone who went into their home and raped and murdered their kin. Hypocrites each and every one.
Egypt,Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan know there are tunnels and do nothing about them. They allow weapons to be transported through the tunnels. But They won’t allow any Palestinians refugees into their country, they know violence always comes with them.
and automated drones with lasers that shoot anything that moves. in that area and all over gaza.
No one wants to say it, certainly this author didn’t but, Hamas’ omission (even the execution of the “hostages”) is an overt violation of international law. Not that it matters, but for those in the West wanting to hold Israel’s feet to the fire of international law, why aren’t they holding Hamas to the same standard?
What Hamas did back in October is enough to warrant their total elimination. Hamas’s leadership needs to be brought before a court to answer for the crimes that was done under their name to the civilians in Israel that day. It wasn’t simple hostage taking. The things done that can’t be written here would have a person spending life sentences or near life sentences in a US prison. Then there is the recent killings of hostages. This alone needs to be answered in a court.
This is mind boggling. Hamas seems to not be thinking of the future. Israel can’t give in and then just rest easy. At times I think Hamas is set on a wider conflict. On both sides, this is all lose-lose.
For Israel it may be better to have everyone hate you, than to give in and never be safe.
I guess I wouldn’t make a good leader. After doing what Hamas did I would be going scorched earth on them. Day and night bombing the rubble into dust.
I would’ve gone nuclear, literally.
Good thing you’re not in charge lol. Israel and Gaza share a border and where they’re positioned any nuke on Gaza would Irradiate half their country LOL
Depends on the wind.
Thus “where they are positioned.” Look at sea charts along that coast line. The wind always goes into Israel there because of the Mediterranean Sea. Remember with nukes you aren’t talking Weather you’re talking ionosphere air currents.
Good thing the world’s left have elevated the Hamas to the deity blameless level, otherwise you would not know they are vicious animals.
Killing the hostages has always been the Hamas plan if it appears they’ll be rescued by the IDF. If the Israelis accepted a cease-fire agreement and leave Gaza in return for released hostages, Hamas will just regroup, re-arm and re-attack, which will result in even more Israeli deaths and more hostages taken in the future. Sometimes difficult decisions have to be made in a no-win situation like this.
Hamas has NO reason to agree to a deal, as they have good friends with the UN, ICC, press, and some US college kids. Even the Israeli people seem to be in the street blaming their govt. that Hamas has not returned the hostages. Hamas has lost 40,000+ Palestinians already in this war, and they are prepared to lose another 50,000 to stay in power.
Sinwar said he’d sacrifice 100,000 “martyrs” for his cause…………..Pure EVIL
I understand how the family members feel but i also understand the other side of it if they give in to the demands of Hamas in a year or two the same thing will happen so i agree that they must stop Hamas now.
According to Naval History and Heritage Command, approximately 14,000 American civilians were captured and interned by Japan during WWII. Did we “negotiate” a cease-fire with Japan for their release? No, we destroyed their military and dropped two nuclear bombs on them, forcing an unconditional surrender.
Precisely! God bless the families of the hostages, and they want their loved ones back, even if it’s a bad deal that will place Israel at continued risk. We don’t expect the families to think about the future of Israel and the greater good. They simply want their loved ones back. We’d all feel this way. It’s a heartbreaking situation, and we must not judge the families as we aren’t in their shoes. All this being said, Israel should not yield nor capitulate to Hamas.
Where are all of the progressive squad members condemning this blatant violation of the Geneva convention? And don’t try to use the death of Gazza civilian as a justification. Hamas is Committing yet more war crimes by hiding the military among civilians. Anyone who thinks Hamas wants long-term peace is delusional. What Hamas wants is a temporary pause so that they can rebuild and re-arm themselves.
Your assessment of the Ear’s attitude seems on point. The ear probably feels the Hamas leaders should be taken out by any means, no matter where they are or who they are with. This shows what most of us knew all along, you cannot bargain with terrorists and anyone harboring or aiding them is complicit.
Hamas barely has a military. What they have is surviving relatives of victims of Israeli and American backed imprisonment and genocidal bombing. At best there will be a new name and a more charismatic leader appearing eventually because of this genocide. US intelligence agrees. The US Industrial/Military profit mongers just say it’s good for future business
Barely has a military? They may not be a conventional military but that’s because they are a terrorist group. They definitely don’t seem to be short on rockets, bullets or mortars. And they have no problem hiding among civilians.
How did September get its name?
The name for the ninth month of the year comes from the Latin word for “seven.” How did this mismatch happen?
Author
Bennett Kleinman
A s we flip the calendar from summer to fall, big changes start happening. One month you’re dressing up in a spooky costume, the next you’re carving up a turkey, and the next you’re singing carols in the snow. (And if you pay attention to retail stores’ decorations, you might never know what month you’re in.) But while September, October, November, and December are celebrated quite differently, they were all named in a similar manner by the ancient Romans.
The original Roman calendar had 10 months, beginning with March. The first four months of the year — March, April, May, and June — were named after gods and Latin verbs. The remaining months were named based on their order in the year. Quintilis and Sextilis — the original names of July and August — translate to “fifth month” and “sixth month.” Similarly, the names for September, October, November, and December corresponded to the (now-inaccurate) numbers of the months: septem (seven), octo (eight), novem (nine), and decem (10).
When January and February were officially added to create the Julian calendar around 150 BCE, every month on the Roman calendar shifted back two spots. Even though September is now the ninth month of the year, it remains the “seventh month” in a lexicographical sense. This quirk also applies to October, November, and December.
IDIOMS
Why do we call them “wisdom teeth”?
Some fanciful terms for the human body have existed for centuries, and are now more commonly used than their scientific alternatives. Let’s look at the origins behind wisdom teeth.
Author
Bennett Kleinman
I magine telling a non-native English speaker that after having your wisdom teeth removed, you slipped and hit your noodle on the door and then banged your funny bone on the way down. It sounds more like a children’s rhyme than a real-life accident, doesn’t it? But many of these fanciful terms for the human body have existed for centuries, and are now more commonly used than their scientific alternatives. Let’s look at the origins behind one of the most popular quirky anatomical nicknames: wisdom teeth.
Wisdom teeth are our third and final set of molars that generally appear between the ages of 17 and 25. They look just like the other molars, but they got a special nickname because of their timing. They usually break through the gums around the time that adolescents transition into adulthood. During these formative years, we grow more intelligent and we grow one more set of teeth, hence the nickname.
The etymological origins of “wisdom teeth” in English date back to the 1660s, when the molars were known as “teeth of wisdom.” But you can also go back thousands of years earlier and find that the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates referred to these teeth as sophronisteres — a translation of the phrase “prudent teeth.” In ancient Rome, the teeth were referred to in Latin as dentes sapientiae, which means “wisdom teeth.”
Referring to them as “wisdom teeth” is far from an exclusively English phenomenon, as many other languages also drew inspiration from those early Greek and Latin terms. In Spanish, the molars are known as muelas del juicio (“teeth of judgment”), and in Arabic they’re called ders-al-a’qel (“teeth of the mind”).
Boeing is bringing its spacecraft home from the space station. It will not explode and Boeing wants the world to know that the two astronauts should have been allowed to return in it.
Looks like the Ear doesn’t always get what he wants. He tried to drop gas prices to a sub $3 level before the election in most states. The powers that be are holding on to keep it high until after Thanksgiving. It seems that Musk is behind the collusion to keep gas prices before the election.
Did You Know
The Nintendo company was founded in 1889 to produce playing cards. Despite significantly larger holdings in the video game industry, it still produces playing cards to this day.
Did You Know
Despite the popular belief that dogs only see in black and white, it’s untrue. While dogs may not see the same range of color that humans do, they do perceive colors on par with a human suffering from red-green color blindness.
In the Pacific, a ‘Dumping Ground’ for Priests Accused or Convicted of Abuse
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/06/world/asia/pacific-islands-catholic-priests-abuse.html
Sucking out the life-force of the 7 aboard the Bayesian was brilliant. The humans have no explanation for why they had no broken bones or other physical injuries, and no water in their lungs.
You can see through the skin of humans by applying a mixture of water and tartrazine to their skin.. Tartrazine is a bright yellow-orange food coloring used in a humane food called Doritos. It is also used in other earth foods, drugs, and cosmetics.
Applying this mixture (see AAR of I]7\y)to their skin will enable you to see the tissues and organs within their bodies. Tartrazine’s molecules absorb blue and ultraviolet light which makes it easier for light to pass through the human skin.
Be sure to follow exactly the recommendation of I]7\y or you could enable the human to become invisible. We are currently working on a few other substances that could out perform tartrazine. This information must be kept from humans as they would use it to gain a military advantage over their enemies. It would completely revolutionize their existing optical research in biology. Our bio photonic’s research must be kept exclusive of human knowledge.
So why are we having so much trouble landing on Venus and getting information about the planet?
Didn’t the Russians make it on their 13th try?
Sitting All Day Can Cause Dead Butt Syndrome
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/04/well/move/dead-butt-syndrome-gluteal-amnesia.html
Thank you. I am having some issues in this area so I plan to read the article.
A spacecraft has returned to Earth from the International Space Station without the two astronauts it was meant to bring home.
Commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and pilot Sunita “Suni” Williams have been left stranded on the ISS because of problems with Boeing’s Starliner – in which they arrived for an eight-day mission in June.
The pair will be rescued in one of Elon Musk’s SpaceX vehicles in February 2025.
Starliner landed without a crew in a New Mexico desert late on Friday, capping a three-month test mission beset by technical issues.
Nasa scientists deemed its manoeuvering thrusters too damaged to risk carrying crew.
However, according to images from a NASA live stream, Starliner returned to Earth seemingly without a hitch.
The spacecraft re-entered Earth’s atmosphere late Friday night at orbital speeds of roughly 17,000 miles per hour.
About 45 minutes later, it deployed a series of parachutes to slow its descent and inflated airbags moments before touching down at the White Sands Space Harbor, an arid desert in New Mexico.
The mission was intended to be a final test flight before NASA certifies Starliner for routine journeys into space.
So what is the real reason the two astronauts weren’t brought back?
Email scams are becoming tougher than ever to detect. Thanks to artificial intelligence, even scammers who lack strong command of the English language or graphic design skills now can create emails and websites that look 100% legitimate, with none of the telltale typos, mangled syntax or clunky graphics that previously tipped off potential victims that something was amiss. Among the latest email scams going around now—from our Bottom Line scam expert Steven J.J. Weisman, Esq.…
Spoofing scam
A man receives an email request from his adult daughter asking if he could buy some gift cards and send her the numbers. The email says she’s tied up with something but needs the gift cards ASAP…and promises that she will pay her father back within the week. The father is suspicious—he’s heard of gift card scams—but the email address on the message is his daughter’s.
Scam: Just because it’s his daughter’s email address doesn’t guarantee that it’s his daughter’s email message—scammers have ways of sending emails that appear to come from other people’s addresses. In fact, by “spoofing” the email address, scammers can do this without even hacking victims’ accounts. Spoofing is essentially forging an email address so that the email appears to come from it. Spoofed emails are believed to have been at the heart of a recent scam that cost a Luxembourg-based chemical company $60 million—one of the company’s employees was tricked into thinking he had been instructed to send out massive payments.
Self-defense: Don’t ever assume an email is from the person associated with the listed email address. Reach out to the sender via a separate text or phone call to confirm that it’s real—particularly if the email includes a request for money or gift cards…or a request to click a link or visit a website. Be especially suspicious if the email says not to bother reaching out in these ways.
Fake invoice PayPal email scam
A man receives what appears to be an invoice from PayPal—it came from a PayPal email address—only it’s for a purchase that he didn’t make. The invoice contains a phone number to call if the recipient has questions about the bill, so the man calls and a PayPal rep leads him through a series of steps on his computer to figure out what’s going on.
Scam: The phone number on the invoice connected this man with a scammer, not with PayPal customer service. Following that scammer’s instructions allowed the scammer access to the man’s computer and digital accounts. Fake PayPal invoices are a common scam, but this version is especially tricky because the invoice comes from an actual PayPal email address—scammers can accomplish this by opening PayPal Business accounts.
Similar: In a comparable Geek Squad scam, victims receive emailed invoices that appear to come from Best Buy’s subsidiary, Geek Squad. The victims reach a scammer when they call the provided phone number to protest that they never requested Geek Squad services.
Self-defense: Be wary of any email or invoice that seems to come from PayPal—it’s one of scammers’ favorite companies to impersonate along with Geek Squad and Netflix. Don’t click links or call phone numbers provided in these emails—or those in any email that seems to come from a major company. Instead, visit that company’s legitimate website, locate a customer service phone number or chat link on that site, then use this to ask whether the email or invoice is legitimate. One clue that the victims have dialed a scammer—they almost immediately get through to a real person, without navigating a phone tree or sitting on hold.
Airline customer service scam
An airline passenger posts a message on social media complaining about a problem he is having with an airline—perhaps he has been unable to secure a refund he’s due, for example. Posting complaints like these to social media can be an effective way to spur action—corporations, including airlines, often have customer service reps monitoring social media for such posts. And this passenger does indeed receive a reply—an airline customer service rep emails to say she saw the posting and wants to help.
Scam: This reply isn’t really from an airline employee—it’s from a scammer who monitors social media, then poses as a customer service employee. The scammer tries to trick passengers into providing their credit card numbers or get them to click links that download malware onto their computers. The scam is effective because the actual airlines provide such poor customer service that passengers leap at offers of assistance.
Variation: The scammer just sends out thousands of emails or texts that appear to come from one of the major airlines warning recipients that there’s a problem with their upcoming flight. The message might claim a flight was canceled, and the passenger must click a link to rebook on a different flight. These scammers know that if they send out enough emails, some recipients will have upcoming flights on this airline.
Self-defense: Never click links or call phone numbers in emails or texts that appear to come from airlines. Instead, use a search engine to find that airline’s actual website, then contact the legitimate customer service department via phone or chat to confirm whether the message you received is real.
Don’t toss airline boarding passes into airport trash cans after landing. The barcode on your boarding pass contains information about you—even your email address and phone number. Scammers have been known to purchase code readers, pluck boarding passes from airport trash, then contact the passengers posing as airline employees.
Social Security update scam
A Social Security recipient receives an email warning that the Social Security system is implementing increased online security measures…and because she set up her “My Social Security Account” prior to September 18, 2021, she must transition to a new “Login.gov” account.
Scam: This latest Social Security ploy is especially tricky because these emails really might be legitimate—the real Social Security Administration actually is requiring people who set up My Social Security Accounts before that date to transition to new accounts. But the fact that the Social Security Administration is sending out these emails inevitably means that scammers will send out fakes that encourage recipients to click links that lead to ID theft and/or malware.
Similar: In another Social Security scam, victims receive an email warning that they have not yet registered for Social Security’s recent cost-of-living increases and that they’ll miss out if they don’t do so soon. Reality: Cost-of-living increases are applied automatically—there’s never any need to register for them.
Self-defense: If you receive an email about updating your Social Security account, don’t click any links in the message. Instead type “Login.gov” into a web browser’s address bar, then click the “Create an account” tab. If you receive an email prodding you to register for Social Security cost-of-living increases, simply ignore it.
E-Z Pass unpaid toll scam
A car owner receives an email or text warning that he has a small unpaid balance on his E-Z Pass account—E-Z Pass is the transponder-based system that allows drivers in the eastern US to pay highway and bridge tolls without stopping at toll booths. The message includes a link to a website where the car owner can pay the balance due—and a warning that he’ll face significant fines if he fails to do so promptly.
Scam: The message isn’t from the real E-Z Pass system. If this man pays as directed, he’ll be handing his credit card information to a scammer. The scam is effective because so many drivers use E-Z Pass, but few of them keep careful tabs on their account balance and it seems easier to pay a very small bill than confirm it is legitimate.
Self-defense: Rather than click a provided link to pay an E-Z Pass balance, enter “E-Z Pass” and the name of your state into a search engine to locate the program’s actual website, then check whether you have an outstanding balance.
If you are considering Xfinity/Comcast for your Internet or TV service – DO NOT!. I changed to them 2 months ago and it was one of the worst decisions I have ever made. I went online to make several changes to my plan (some upgrade, some downgrade) and my monthly fee went through the roof. When I called Xfinity to change it back, they wouldn’t do it. My original salesperson oversold me and did not give me all my options (shame on me), but Xfinity is one of the most dishonest, money-grubbing companies I have ever delt with.
I]5, they can be detected by exposing them to bright light because they suffer from photic sneeze reflex.
I’m just taking a break from listening to the live speech Trump that he made on Sept 4. You should read the chat under the video. People are mocking him big time. Honestly, not one word he is saying is true, all he is doing is either bragging about things he thinks he did, but didn’t, or talking about how he stopped wars with phone calls, how we are now on the brink of WW3, and what criminals Harris and Biden are. All seriously unhinged stuff delivered in a sing song voice. People from other countries are in the chat, wondering if this is for real. Nothing….literally nothing Trump is waffling about is true. NOTHING! The only time there is a peep out of his crowd, is when he says something particularly nasty about Kamala or Biden, or Hilary etc. Then they give half hearted cheers. I doubt anyone has a clue what he is talking about.
Surely his Party must see this. I bet they want to strangle him .