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John Demma: Self governance? E pluribus unum? They’re on us

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:11 GMT

“In free governments,” Ben Franklin said, “the rulers are the servants and the people their superiors and sovereigns.”Ben’s wisdom byte poses a reckoning for our grand experiment in self-governance:Are We The People (the “bosses”), capable of reconciling our social, economic and political differences? (In service to sustaining our experiment while safeguarding it from haters, conflict exploiters, toxin spreaders and takeover by ruler-servants?)By Ben’s measure, We The People are the ultimate keepers or losers of our self-governance and shared sovereignty. Why? Because power, Ben says, originates with We The People, and flows (with our continuous consent) from us to our subordinate ruler-servants.Blaming our grand experiment’s troubles on ruler-servants damns us as incapable of settling our differences.It places us at risk of losing our sovereignty at the speed of growing unreconciled differences.We The People are tracking toward subservience by ruler-servants (and wannabes) whose hi...

Colorado trucking company in I-25 crash that killed 5 family members tried to buy insurance hours after wreck

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:11 GMT

The Arvada trucking company involved in a fatal crash last year on Interstate 25 that killed five members of the same family tried to purchase insurance less than two hours after the collision, according to court documents.A June 5 complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for Colorado by a Wisconsin insurance company, alleges the truck involved in the crash was not insured at the time of the June 13, 2022, wreck in Weld County.The crash — which killed Halie Everts, her fiancé Aaron Godinez, their 3-month-old daughter Tessleigh Godinez, and Aaron’s parents Emiliano Godines and Christina Godines — occurred at 1:27 p.m.At 2:49 p.m., Lucky 22, the now-defunct trucking company, made the request to add the involved truck to its policy, Artisan and Truckers Casualty Co. alleged in the complaint.9News first reported the company’s insurance request.The insurance claim comes amid serious questions about the trucking company’s safety history before the fatal crash....

Is Delta-8 Great For Everybody? — Analyzing Delta-8’s Average Safety Profile 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:11 GMT

Interest in hemp-derived delta-8 THC is almost on par with CBD oil. Indeed, if you’ve recently visited a CBD shop, hemp dispensary, or CBD website, you’ve probably noticed delta-8 items. It seems like American consumers can’t get enough of the psychoactive cannabinoid in e-juices, gummies, and tinctures.Although delta-8 has become increasingly prevalent in the US market, that doesn’t mean it’s an ideal supplement for everyone. Since delta-8 THC is such a new substance, there are a lot of questions surrounding its safety profile. Although many people report good results using high-quality delta-8 products, there are some concerns people should know about before diving into delta-8 extracts.Can Every Healthy Adult Safely Take Delta-8 Products?According to most university-backed surveys, delta-8 THC produces a slightly less intense experience than delta-9 THC. Even though delta-8 is psychoactive and will bind with the brain’s CB1 receptors, it appears to have less intensity compared wi...

Silicon Valley billionaires’ land grab for utopian development draws fury, fears

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:11 GMT

Kathy Threlfall received two offers from a group of ultra-wealthy Silicon Valley investors to buy her Solano County farm and a two-story farmhouse built by her great-grandparents that’s “a little cocky-wobble” with age. The would-be buyers, a who’s-who of Silicon Valley billionaires, are snapping up farmland and suing neighbors to construct their vision of utopia north of Antioch and east of Vallejo.Threlfall, 75, is retired from cattle ranching, but still takes comfort in the rolling hills and farms surrounding her 240-acre property about three miles northwest of the Sacramento River. The landscape, green in winter and spring and golden now, fills her with a sense of home, community and “belonging somewhere.”Now, the uber-rich folk from out of town, operating under a secretive company, Flannery Associates, and its just revealed parent, California Forever, are bringing change, stress and turmoil, Threlfall said.She said no deal to the investors sh...

Santa Clara County: Use of tear gas, pepper spray on mentally ill inmates raises concerns

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:11 GMT

A new report condoning the use of tear gas and pepper spray in Santa Clara County jails is raising concerns among criminal justice reform advocates who argue the county’s correctional officers shouldn’t be using chemical agents on mentally ill inmates.“This population of folks should not be in a county jail,” Silicon Valley DeBug community organizer Jose Valle said. “We should not be incarcerating mental illness. For the amount of money that’s being invested in military chemical weapons such as tear gas or tasers or anything of the like, that money could be reinvested into actual non-carceral treatment for these folks.”The report was commissioned earlier this year by the Board of Supervisors who asked the county’s office of correction and law enforcement monitoring to assess the use of tear gas and pepper spray in the jail and determine whether other alternatives could be used to gain inmate compliance and if current policies could be improv...

18-year-old charged with second-degree murder in Sterling shooting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:11 GMT

An 18-year-old man was arrested and charged with shooting and killing a man in Sterling, Virginia, on Friday night.The shooting happened in the 21000 block of Stanford Square happened shortly before 10:30 p.m. on Friday, according to the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office.Jaylin E. O’Brien was charged with second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, and two counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, deputies said.When deputies arrived, they found a man suffering from a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a news release.That man hasn’t been publicly identified by deputies.O’Brien was taken to the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center, where he is being held without bond.Deputies are asking anyone with information about the shooting to call 703-777-1021.Below is a map where the shooting took place: Source

Después de ocho grandes huracanes en seis años, algunas comunidades de la costa del Golfo están alcanzando un “punto de inflexión”

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:11 GMT

(CNN) — Cuando el huracán Idalia azotó Florida el miércoles por la mañana, se convirtió en el octavo huracán importante que azotó la costa del golfo en los últimos seis años. Y puede que no sea el último; la temporada de huracanes en el Atlántico aún no ha alcanzado su punto máximo y el golfo de México ha sido históricamente cálido: más energía para alimentar más tormentas mortales.Pero a medida que comienza el trabajo incansable de reconstrucción en lugares como el condado de Pasco, el más afectado, la llegada de Idalia renueva la pregunta de si es apropiado reconstruir en algunas áreas, dijeron los expertos a CNN, y dónde hacerlo.El cambio climático provocado por el hombre está causando estragos en la costa del golfo, que ya está experimentando uno de los aumentos del nivel del mar más rápidos del mundo. A medida que el océano se traga la costa, los impactos de las marejadas ciclónicas y las inundaciones son más peligrosos para las comunidades de estas zonas bajas.Para empeo...

Duke and coach Mike Elko sees big opportunity in opener vs. No. 9 Clemson, the ACC’s perennial power

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:11 GMT

Duke coach Mike Elko sees the opener with No. 9 Clemson as a chance. But not an easy one.The Blue Devils are coming off a surprising 9-4 season in Elko’s first year and are looking for more, starting with Monday night’s season opener at home to wrap up a marathon Week 1 in college football. Beating a top 10 opponent, the defending Atlantic Coast Conference champion and favorite to win another this year would a great start. “They’ve accomplished as much as any ACC program has since the ACC has come together like this,” Elko said. “To get them in the opener, I think is an opportunity for our program. But it’s also a huge challenge.” Elko understands the Tigers, 11-3 last season, have skilled, capable players on both sides of the ball. Will Shipley is an all-ACC tailback while Cade Klubnik, who rallied the Tigers to their seventh ACC crown in eight year, opens his first full season as starting quarterback.The defense features potential All-Americans like Jeremia...

Italy, Latvia clinch spots in Basketball World Cup quarterfinals

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:11 GMT

For the first time in 25 years, Italy is going to the quarterfinals of the Basketball World Cup. And Latvia is going for the first time ever.The final spots in the knockout round were decided Sunday, with Italy and Latvia grabbing their quarterfinal spots. Later Sunday, the Dominican Republic will play Serbia and defending World Cup champion Spain will play Canada to determine the last two places in the quarters.Awaiting Sunday’s qualifiers are Slovenia, Germany, Lithuania and the U.S. They all qualified on Friday.ITALY 73, PUERTO RICO 57At Manila, Stefano Tonut and Giampaolo Ricci each scored 15 points and Italy reached the World Cup quarterfinals with win over Puerto Rico on the final day of second-round play at FIBA’s biggest tournament.Italy (4-1) will play either the U.S. or Lithuania in Tuesday’s quarterfinals in Manila. The Italians are assured of their best World Cup finish since placing sixth in 1998. They were ninth in 2006, 10th in 2019 and didn’t qualify in 2...

Pegula outlasts Svitolina at the US Open and will face fellow American Keys in the fourth round

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:11 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys kept noticing their names near each other in tournament draws this summer.“We were like, ‘I think the world just wants us to play,’” Pegula said.At the U.S. Open, they finally will. Pegula beat Elina Svitolina 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 on Saturday, setting up a fourth-round matchup against the No. 17-seeded Keys. Pegula, the No. 3 seed, is still trying to advance beyond the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament. First, she’ll have to get by the 2017 runner-up in Flushing Meadows who also needed three sets to move on.Keys came back to eliminate No. 14 Liudmila Samsonova 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.Ons Jabeur, the No. 5 seed who lost in the finals last year, also reached the fourth round by outlasting No. 31 Marie Bouzkova 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in a match that took 2 hours, 56 minutes. Jabeur will face No. 23 Zheng Qinwen of China, who edged Lucia Bronzetti 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. Pegula and Keys could have met early in both Montreal and Cincinnati, but Keys had to w...