Lurker > McSame_as_Bush

I don't think the Senate should have a dress code, but I do think Fetterman looks kind of ridiculous.

Mostly I just don't really care.

A TEAM OF researchers have crunched the numbers to explain why you dont see people hawking ugly cartoon apes on the internet as much anymore: NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, once vaunted as a revolution in crypto and digital art, are largely worthless.

Dead NFTs: The Evolving Landscape of the NFT Market is a new report from dappGambl, a community of experts in finance and blockchain technology. Upon analysis of 73,257 NFT collections, the authors found that 69,795 have a market cap of zero Ether (ETH), the second most-popular cryptocurrency behind Bitcoin. In practical terms, that means 95 percent of NFTs wouldnt fetch a penny today a spectacular crash for assets that reached a trading volume of $17 billion amid a frenzied bull market in 2021. The study estimates that some 23 million investors own these tokens of no practical use or value.

Whats more, supply vastly outstripped demand for NFTs. Just 21 percent of the collections included in the study can claim full ownership, meaning around four out of every five collections remains unsold. With buyers becoming more discerning, the report notes, projects that lack clear use cases, compelling narratives, or genuine artistic value are finding it increasingly difficult to attract attention and sales.

And, while headlines during the heyday of NFT speculation focused on individual pieces that sold for the equivalent of millions of dollars in crypto, almost none are so exorbitantly priced today. Less than one percent are listed at more than $6,000, and the bulk of the most expensive collections are priced between $5 and $100. Almost a fifth of the top collections have a floor price of zero. Even among the more expensive NFTs, the report notes, such prices may be set without any bearing on tangible, real demand, reflecting wishful thinking from sellers and potentially distorting investors view of an NFTs meager inherent value.

The dappGambl researchers conclude that while we may never see an NFT boom like the one in 2021-2022, the assets may evolve in a way to survive the wipeout. For example, they could be given a specific function, becoming a pass for special event access or a virtual item to be purchased and traded in video games.

This, however, would not address perhaps the greatest drawback of NFTs, which became a major controversy as they peaked in popularity: their environmental impact. Non-fungible tokens are minted on the blockchain, a process that requires energy, and bought and sold in marketplaces that run on cryptocurrencies mined with computer rigs that have a significant carbon footprint. But minting tokens alone carries a cost. The Dead NFTs report observes that the nearly 200,000 NFT collections with no apparent owners or market share identified by the study caused carbon emissions equivalent to the annual output from 2,048 houses, or 3,531 cars.

Of course, enthusiasts didnt worry too much about that when NFTs were a hot commodity. And if they ever make a modest comeback, climate concerns will likely be brushed aside again. Cant let something like that get in the way of the next hype cycle.

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/nfts-worthless-researchers-find-1234828767/

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/2/8/8/AASbx8AAE3Gw.jpg

Supposedly even cheaper in store if you can find it.

Pro-Donald Trump lawyer Lin Wood is a witness for the state in the Georgia election subversion case, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis revealed Wednesday.

The reference to Wood was buried in a new court filing by the DAs office that raised potential conflicts of interest for six defense attorneys because they previously represented witnesses or other defendants in related proceedings.

Wood was previously subpoenaed by prosecutors in the Georgia probe but his status as a witness for the state was not previously known.

Lin Wood is a witness for the State in the present case, the court filing says.

As a witness, Wood could be subject to cross-examination by his former attorney and co-counsel who is now representing former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark in the Georgia RICO probe creating a potential conflict of interest.

Wood, a prominent right-wing attorney and election denier, filed a series of meritless lawsuits after then-President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, which were filled with debunked theories about massive voter fraud that went nowhere in the courts.

He was never formally part of the Trump campaigns legal team, though he promoted the same baseless claims that Trump embraced and could shed light on efforts to upend the election results in Georgia.

Wood did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/20/politics/lin-wood-georgia-election-subversion-case/index.html

CyborgSage00x0 posted...

Man, this is a lot of bad takes in one post, wow.

Wut. Nintendo makes money hand over fist, always has. Out of the gate, too, unlike MS and Sony, which normally take years for them to turn profits on their newest consoles. Nintendo is an extremely rich and lucrative company.

Anyways, this won't happen, and good, as it would be disastrous for video games as we know it. Mergers and acquistions are rarely good for video games as a whole anyways.

I agree with most of this, but I think acquisitions of talented smallish studios can be a good thing. It's hard to imagine Nintendo without Retro.

After that, maybe he should buy Apple.

Lol wtf

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/6/6/AASbx8AAE2u-.jpg

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/6/7/AASbx8AAE2u_.jpg

Yeah, I clicked on more info. I wanted to see what it said! It was broken.

I'm sure he would lol

Block_that_Kick posted...

My god

https://twitter.com/nypost/status/1703138927064862818

Love knows no bounds

She should keep that behavior to her OnlyKlans account.

I could never really get into that game.

A family values Republican, Noem has three children with her husband, Bryon. Theyve been married for over 30 years. Lewandowski married his wife, Alison, in 2005, and they have four children.

...

The Daily Mail claimed it has a long list of receipts including stays at luxury resorts where their intimacy was observed and noted. They allegedly took private planes on donors dimes, and would disappear frequently. Rumors of their alleged affair surfaced briefly in 2021, via far-right conservative website American Greatness, but Noem issued a strong rebuke of the story. She said it was total garbage and a disgusting lie, and she was proud of the God-fearing family that she raised with her husband. Lawyers for Lewandowski dismissed the allegations as rumors.

Boebert, a Colorado Republican, is facing criticism after being escorted out of the performance on Sunday. Although Boebert initially denied reports that she was also vaping during the show at the Buell Theatre in Denver, CCTV footage appeared to show her doing so, prompting her to make a public apology. The video also appeared to show Boebert and a male companion fondling each other, as well as her dancing and taking photos of the performance. She was later escorted from the theatre by ushers and was seen giving staff the finger as she left the venue.

A Washington Post report earlier this week first revealed that Gibson, a 40-year-old nurse practitioner and mother of two, used a platform called ********** to stream sex acts with her husband and solicited "tips" from viewers for performing certain acts that would go to a "good cause."

Gibson posted more than a dozen videos in September 2022, after she had officially entered the race in suburban Richmond for the House of Delegates in the 57th district.

https://tinyurl.com/yck69z83

https://www.newsweek.com/meghan-mccain-puts-lauren-boebert-blast-lewd-sex-act-public-1827574

https://apnews.com/article/susanna-gibson-virginia-house-of-delegates-sex-acts-9e0fa844a3ba176f79109f7393073454

If I could pick any height to be...yeah something around there.

I'm fine being 5'10" though.

mullettron posted...

Could you please include the last name when making a statement like this? My name is also Corey and I don't appreciate this.

No. Read the title.

TimeCrisis posted...

Whats that

Halloween Peeps

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/7/1/AASbx8AAE2LH.jpg

Wtf

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/6/8/AASbx8AAE2LE.jpg

https://twitter.com/MrSantosNY/status/1702776098189201764?t=HEIa4CX6JHuOGWIiv82p5Q&s=19

https://www.metacritic.com/game/starfield/critic-reviews/?platform=xbox-series-x&sort-by=Recently%20Added

Looks like Bethesda's plan to selectively provide review codes to initially inflate the score was mildly successful.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/0/4/AASbx8AAE1_I.jpg

Forgive me Lina.

Weird, usually Corey just gropes women.

RISEofCHRISTIAN posted...

no TOTK DLC?

Not happening.

"We are saving all the good stuff for Switch 2, but need to have something until then."

Hooray for meaningless metrics

https://twitter.com/NvrBackDown24/status/1702067034861842551?s=20

Questionmarktarius posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/400-current-events/80562500
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/400-current-events/80563592

Ah. I searched her name, "sex" "stream" and "Virginia"

Cemith posted...

What did you say?

He called her a whore.

Gibson faces Republican David Owen, a retired home builder, on Nov. 7, when all 140 seats in Virginias House and Senate will be on the ballot.

''Me and my team found out about this story today like everyone else,'' Owen said in a written statement Monday afternoon, soon after The Post published an article about Gibson. ''Im sure this is a difficult time for Susanna and her family, and Im remaining focused on my campaign.''

The Republican operative who alerted The Post to the videos denied any connection to the Owen campaign or other groups active in Virginia elections this year. The operative provided the information on the condition of anonymity to avoid being drawn into the controversy.

Corey D. Silverstein, a prominent adult entertainment industry lawyer, said there is nothing illegal about streaming sex acts online as long as the participants and viewers are consenting adults even if they are paid to perform specific acts.

''There is absolutely no law that they are violating none,'' he said. ''In this case, you have two adults who are engaging in consensual sex, and theyve decided they want to broadcast that, and theyre doing so in exchange for tipping. Theres absolutely nothing illegal about it.''

''I think its fantastic you have someone running who has an open sex life. Its actually very refreshing,'' added Silverstein, who is based in Michigan but practices around the country and the world.

Gibson and Owen are both well financed and running with support from their parties senior leaders. They are vying for an open seat in the 57th House District highly competitive territory that covers parts of Henrico and Goochland counties.

Theirs is one of just a handful of contests in each chamber expected to determine control of the legislature and whether Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) can enact a conservative political agenda that includes banning abortion after 15 weeks, with some exceptions. The outcome on Election Day also could boost or dim Youngkins prospects as a potential last-minute candidate for the GOP presidential nomination.

Saddled with a divided Capitol for the first half of his four-year term, Youngkin has been unable to enact the abortion ban, corporate tax cuts or other priorities. Virginia is the only Southern state that has not tightened abortion restrictions since June 2022, when the Supreme Court ruled that states could make their own decisions about the procedure.

Both chambers are up for grabs as Republicans defend their narrow majority in the House (49-46) and Democrats try to retain theirs in the Senate (22-18).

The states newly drawn political maps triggered a wave of retirements and created a host of open seats, including the one Gibson and Owen are seeking in a toss-up district. After Youngkin won it by three points in 2021, the district tilted ever-so-narrowly blue 50 percent to 49 percent in last years congressional midterms, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project.

Gibson has outraised Owen $377,000 to $340,000, but Gibson spent nearly $300,000 of her haul battling a fellow Democrat in the June 20 primary. She defeated Bob Shippee by double digits for the nomination but had just $77,000 on hand in the fundraising period that concluded June 30. Owen, who faced no primary opponent, had about $166,000 in cash at the end of that period.

Gibsons two largest donors are the environmental group Clean Virginia Fund ($45,000) and the abortion rights outfit Emilys List ($20,000). Her campaign website lists priorities that include preserving abortion rights, banning assault weapons, lowering the cost of living and protecting the environment.

Gibson appeared alongside other Henrico-area legislative candidates Saturday afternoon at a rally headlined by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.).

Gibson said alerting the media to the videos is dirty politics aimed at silencing ''women when they speak up.''

''They are trying to silence me because they want to silence you, and I wont let that happen,'' her statement said. ''My opponent and his allies know that the people of this district are on our side on the issues, so theyre stooping to the worst gutter politics. Theres too much at stake in this election and Ill never stop fighting for our community.''

Gibsons campaign website displays pictures of her smiling in a white lab coat and scrubs, a stethoscope over her shoulders. Other photos show her interacting with her husband and children over a meal and a board game.

The site says she has worked in the medical field for nearly 15 years in the greater Richmond area, including in geriatrics, home-based primary care, emergency medicine, internal medicine and obesity medicine. It also identifies Gibson as a graduate of the University of Virginia and Columbia University, a Virginia native and a resident of western Henrico for more than a decade.

https://archive.vn/yVPTN

I don't care, but I also don't have a lot of sympathy for her. This wasn't some leaked sex tape or even something behind a paywall. If this was projected to be a close election, I suspect she'll probably now lose.

https://www.susannagibson.com/

Sorry if there's already a topic. Did a few searches and didn't see anything.

I had to asterisk out the names of the sites, because saying the name of well-known porn sites on Gamefaqs might cause irreversible harm to people who see it, but they're in the article.

A Democrat running for a crucial seat in Virginias House of Delegates performed sex acts with her husband for a live online audience and encouraged viewers to pay them with ''tips'' for specific requests, according to online videos viewed by The Washington Post.

Susanna Gibson, a nurse practitioner and mother of two young children running in a highly competitive suburban Richmond district, streamed sex acts on **********, a platform that says it takes its name from ''the act of masturbating while chatting online.''

******** videos are streamed live on that site and are often archived on other publicly available sites. More than a dozen videos of the couple captured from the ******** stream were archived on one of those sites ********* in September 2022, after she entered the race. The most recent were two videos archived on Sept. 30, 2022. It is unclear when the live stream occurred.

While still listed on *********, those videos were no longer available for viewing as of Saturday, after a Republican operative alerted The Washington Post about them. But the videos remained live on another non-password-protected site, which The Post viewed. At least two other publicly available sites displayed explicit still photos from the videos, The Post confirmed.

Gibson, 40, can be seen in the videos soliciting ''tips'' for performing specific acts in apparent violation of **********s terms and conditions, which say: ''Requesting or demanding specific acts for tips may result in a ban from the Platform for all parties involved.''

In at least two videos, she tells viewers she is ''raising money for a good cause.''

In multiple videos, Gibson interrupts sex acts to type into a bedside computer. Speaking directly into the screen, she urges viewers to provide tips, which are paid through ''tokens'' purchased through the site. In at least two videos, she agrees to perform certain acts only in a ''private room,'' an arrangement that requires the viewer to pay more.

''I need, like, more tokens before I let him do that,'' she responds to a request that they perform a certain act. ''One token, no. More. Raising money for a good cause.''

Almost immediately, as tips apparently arrive, she says ''thank you'' five times and tells her husband she will agree to that act.

Gibson takes the lead in addressing viewers on videos viewed by The Post, but in one case her husband, an attorney, chimes in with, ''Cmon, guys,'' to echo her entreaties for tips.

In a written statement, Gibson called the exposure of the videos ''an illegal invasion of my privacy designed to humiliate me and my family.''

''It wont intimidate me and it wont silence me,'' she said. ''My political opponents and their Republican allies have proven theyre willing to commit a sex crime to attack me and my family because theres no line they wont cross to silence women when they speak up.''

Daniel P. Watkins, a lawyer for Gibson, said disseminating the videos constitutes a violation of the states revenge porn law, which makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to ''maliciously'' distribute nude or sexual images of another person with ''intent to coerce, harass, or intimidate.''

''We are working closely with state and federal law enforcement,'' Watkins said.

The Post typically does not identify victims of alleged sex crimes to protect their privacy. In this case, Gibson originally live-streamed these sexual acts on a site that was not password-protected. The couple had more than 5,700 followers there. Many of the videos remained available to the public on other unrestricted sites as of Saturday. Watkins said Gibson was not aware of, and had not authorized, the posting of ********** material on other sites.

Asked why Gibson had a reasonable expectation of privacy on **********, Watkins pointed to a 2021 Virginia Court of Appeals ruling that found it was unlawful for a man to secretly record his girlfriend during a consensual sexual encounter even if he did not show the video to others.

In that case, Ronnie Lee Johnson v. Commonwealth of Virginia, the court found that consent to being seen is not the same as consent to being recorded, writing that there was a ''stark distinction between an image existing only in someones memory [and] a permanent file that may be shared or re-viewed indefinitely.''

Nothing on Switch 2 and nothing on MP4.

What's the over/under on times her new boyfriend has been arrested for alcohol-related crimes?

Intro2Logic posted...

I think this take underestimates the degree to which presidents can delegate subject areas and the handling thereof. Biden, for instance, was charged with handling the 2009 recovery act under Obama:
https://www.npr.org/2020/04/06/828303824/a-look-back-at-how-joe-biden-managed-the-2009-stimulus-package
Harris has been placed in charge of the border and immigration issues, which I assume she is handling deftly and without problem
https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/15/politics/kamala-harris-border-migration/index.html

VP is not just some intern; they do have a voice within the administration.

Obviously the GOP accusations are mostly nonsense, but it's best not to counter with nonsense of one's own.

The vice president doesn't unilaterally make major foreign policy decisions.

Meaning he was doing what his boss wanted him to do. He didn't have the authority or the ability to construct his own foreign policy outside of that of the Obama administration.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/7/3/AASbx8AAE1d1.jpg

All they have is conspiracy theories.

ClayGuida posted...

Why not have Joe Rogan perform the surgery?

Or just take ivermectin, which is well-known for its ability to repair tendon tears.

https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1701633250677190783?s=20

Our boy's coming home

edit: wrong board but whatever

The structure of our government makes this unfeasible.

If you mean more in a hypothetical sense, say...where all of a sudden we all have the same laws as Alabama, there would be chaos and violence over numerous issues and war seems likely.

andel posted...

colorado is much better than people gave them credit for preseason. realistically i don't think they are a top 25 team and oregon/usc will probably be tough games for them but they have a great shot to win 6/7 and if they do that it will be a world class job from deon. colorado has been worst p5 team for the last 5+ years and for him to turn them into a pretty good team day 1 is super impressive

I wasn't one of those who thought Deion would fail miserably...but he did bring with him a potential first round quarterback and a potential Heisman candidate at two of the most important non-QB positions. That goes a long way.

Regardless, winning begets winning. Some current and former CU students on Reddit said that they would see starters on the football team out partying and drinking the night before games because they didn't give a shit.

Kick Nebraska out of the Big 10.

When other apps/websites say 80% chance of rain, or 20% chance of rain, etc... it seems to always be right around 50% (unless it is basically a guarantee to rain). So it will never miss badly. Go out on a fucking limb for once.

Nebraska is trash. Colorado by ten.

Michael Flynn, Lin Wood, and other Trump attorneys too.

bump

WingsOfGood posted...

so what did you pm them? and what answer did you get? McSame_as_Bush

Made a case for 261.

Hi there,

Yes, I did but we won't be overturning the decision. I appreciate your feedback.

Asked why he closed the private politics board

Hi there,

While my post mentioned abusive language we did also clarify later on that we are not looking to have any more political boards. I understand a few still exist, and those also need to be addressed.

Block_that_Kick posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/9/4/AADYzzAAE0Oe.jpg

Sorry about your daughter, but we're gonna need you to work an extra 20 hours this week

Mistakes by air traffic controllers caused some of the close calls. Others were pilots fault. Some incidents involved errors by both.

When back-to-back planes nearly smashed into the Frontier jet whose nose was edging onto the San Francisco runway in July, one of the underlying problems was the shortage of air traffic controllers.

The F.A.A.s internal reports into the incident found that the Frontier pilot made a mistake. But the controller monitoring the runway didnt do enough to mitigate the pilots error. Staffing during the incident ''was not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic,'' the F.A.A. wrote. The controller who was supposed to be supervising colleagues was busy marshaling planes.

Officials at the F.A.A. already knew that San Franciscos air traffic control tower was understaffed. As of May, it had 20 fully certified controllers, according to data that The Times obtained from the agency via a public records request. That was 33 percent below the target set by a group of officials from the F.A.A. and the controllers union.

The situation in San Francisco was common. Ninety-nine percent of the nations air traffic control facilities 310 out of 313 had fewer fully certified controllers than the groups target levels, according to a Times analysis of the F.A.A. data and the agencys most recent ''Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan.''

The roots of the current staffing shortage date to the early 1980s, when the Reagan administration replaced thousands of controllers who were on strike. Since then, there have been waves of departures as controllers become eligible for retirement. The F.A.A. has struggled to keep pace.



The F.A.A. has required many controllers to work six days a week. Halfway through 2023, some controllers had already clocked more than 400 hours of overtime, according to schedules reviewed by The Times.

On top of that, many controllers work a schedule where the starting time for their shifts rotates over the course of a week. On the first day, a controller might work an afternoon shift. From there, the shifts start progressively earlier, culminating with a 24-hour period in which the controller works both an early morning shift and, as few as eight hours later, overnight duty. Many controllers call the schedule ''the rattler'' because like the snake, it has a nasty bite.

The F.A.A. and the controllers union approved the schedule, which is designed in part to spread busy shifts across employees.

But many controllers said that, coupled with mandatory overtime, it has pushed them to the physical and psychological brink. Some said they hadnt sought medical or mental health care because they were afraid of jeopardizing the medical clearances they needed to remain in their jobs. Instead, they self-medicated with banned sleeping pills and alcohol. The result, they said in interviews and internal safety complaints, was potentially hazardous mistakes.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Department of Transportations inspector general have found that ''the rattler'' increased the risk of controller errors. Since then, the F.A.A. has modified the schedule to address some concerns, but controllers said it remained grueling.

On a Sunday in late July, an Allegiant Air flight was cruising at 23,000 feet from Fort Lauderdale to Lexington, Ky. An air traffic controller in Miami who was overseeing the airspace instructed the pilot to turn east directly into the path of a private Gulfstream jet. A collision alert sounded, and both planes took evasive action. The Allegiant plane climbed so sharply that a flight attendant fell and suffered a wrist injury. The plane returned to Fort Lauderdale, where an emergency medical crew took the flight attendant to the hospital.

The close call made headlines. An internal F.A.A. document about the incident said that staffing at the Miami air traffic center ''was not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic.'' There was no supervisor on duty covering the airspace in which the incident occurred.

The Miami facility, which handles more than two million aircraft a year, faces chronic staff shortages. As of May, it had 201 certified controllers, far below the recommended level of at least 298.

''If there is a shortage of controllers for a shift, we slow traffic to match the level of staff and to maintain safety,'' said Mr. Lehner, the F.A.A. spokesman.

Pilots, air traffic controllers and federal investigators have warned repeatedly that Americas air safety system is fraying.



''I saw the nose of the jet with his lights illuminated at a close range. It looked like a cover photo from Flying Magazine,'' a commercial airline pilot wrote in March, after coming within 200 feet of crashing into another aircraft in the skies around Jacksonville, Fla. ''This conflict was too close to risk any single life we had on board, much less the 198 souls traveling collectively on us.''

In another report this year, a pilot narrated nearly colliding with two separate passenger planes after landing in Tampa on a foggy morning.

''I noticed a dark silhouette of an aircraft that appeared to be moving directly at us. It was extremely difficult to see, but I yelled STOP to the captain, The aircraft is going to hit us,'' the pilot wrote. ''The other aircraft never slowed down, and if we would have noticed it a second later we would have collided. There was a second aircraft following the first, and it did not slow down either, and it passed our wingtips within ft.''

The captain called the air traffic control facility. ''They stated that the two aircraft that almost hit us were not supposed to be there,'' the pilot wrote.

Collisions on the ground can be deadly if the aircraft are moving at high speeds, as they often are on runways.

The F.A.A. said it was trying to address the controller shortage. In its most recent budget request, it sought $117 million to train controllers and hire 1,800 new ones in the 2024 fiscal year, which begins in October. (The F.A.A. also requested more funding for technology and safety measures.)

The extra funding would not be a panacea. The F.A.A. expects to lose more than 1,400 controllers next year because of retirements and other departures. And new controllers must undergo years of training.

In the meantime, near misses continue to occur regularly.

Just after 5 p.m. on Aug. 7, a controller at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport cleared American Flight 1388 for takeoff to New York. The controller instructed it to turn right after departing the airport, but the American pilot incorrectly repeated the directions back to the controller, according to F.A.A. safety reports. The controller didnt catch the mistake.

After the plane took off, it banked left instead of right, directly into the path of a Southwest flight en route to Austin.

A different air traffic controller realized the planes were on a collision course. He radioed in urgent tones to the American pilot that the other flight was just to its left ''a Boeing 737 sitting right there.''

The two planes came within a third of a mile horizontally and 300 feet vertically of each other before pulling apart.

A midair catastrophe had been averted by seconds

Obviously not every close call means that they were on the brink of disaster, or theres no way we would have been this lucky, but an accident does seem inevitable.

In the abstract, air traffic controllers get paid reasonably well relative to the education requirements (~$120,000), but given the persistent staffing shortages, the 60 hour work weeks, and how absolutely critical the job is, its clearly not enough.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/08/21/business/airline-safety-close-calls.html

And like most of America's problems, it has its roots in Ronald Reagan.

On the afternoon of July 2, a Southwest Airlines pilot had to abort a landing at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. A Delta Air Lines 737 was preparing to take off on the same runway. The sudden maneuver avoided a possible collision by seconds.

Nine days later, in San Francisco, an American Airlines jet was accelerating down the runway at more than 160 miles per hour when it narrowly missed a Frontier Airlines plane whose nose had almost jutted into its path. Moments later, the same thing happened as a German airliner was taking off. In both cases, the planes came so close to hitting the Frontier aircraft that the Federal Aviation Administration, in internal records reviewed by The New York Times, described the encounters as ''skin to skin.''

And two and a half weeks after that, an American flight to Dallas was traveling at more than 500 m.p.h. when a collision warning blared in the cockpit. An air traffic controller had mistakenly directed a United Airlines plane to fly dangerously close. The American pilot had to abruptly yank the Airbus A321 up 700 feet.

The incidents highlighted in preliminary F.A.A. safety reports but not publicly disclosed were among a flurry of at least 46 close calls involving commercial airlines last month alone.

They were part of an alarming pattern of safety lapses and near misses in the skies and on the runways of the United States, a Times investigation found. While there have been no major U.S. plane crashes in more than a decade, potentially dangerous incidents are occurring far more frequently than almost anyone realizes a sign of what many insiders describe as a safety net under mounting stress.

So far this year, close calls involving commercial airlines have been happening, on average, multiple times a week, according to a Times analysis of internal F.A.A. records, as well as thousands of pages of federal safety reports and interviews with more than 50 current and former pilots, air traffic controllers and federal officials.

The incidents often occur at or near airports and are the result of human error, the agencys internal records show. Mistakes by air traffic controllers stretched thin by a nationwide staffing shortage have been one major factor.



In addition to the F.A.A. records, The Times analyzed a database maintained by NASA that contains confidential safety reports filed by pilots, air traffic controllers and others in aviation. The analysis identified a similar phenomenon: In the most recent 12-month period for which data was available, there were about 300 accounts of near collisions involving commercial airlines.

The number of such near misses in the NASA database which is based on voluntary submissions that are not independently corroborated has more than doubled over the past decade, though it is unclear whether that reflects worsening safety conditions or simply increased reporting.



''Honestly, this stuff scares the crap out of me,'' a longtime airline captain, who previously was a carrier fighter pilot, reported to NASA in November. An air traffic controller had cleared the pilots flight to land on what looked like ''a collision course'' with another passenger plane. (NASA redacts entries identifying details, such as the airlines and pilots names.)

''This has really opened my eyes to how the next aviation accident may play out,'' another pilot wrote to NASA after a close call on a runway in January.

''Is it going to take people dying for something to move forward?'' a controller wrote the same month after barely preventing a midair collision.



One problem is that despite repeated recommendations from safety authorities, the vast majority of U.S. airports have not installed warning systems to help prevent collisions on runways.

But the most acute challenge, The Times found, is that the nations air traffic control facilities are chronically understaffed. While the lack of controllers is no secret the Biden administration is seeking funding to hire and train more the shortages are more severe and are leading to more dangerous situations than previously known.

As of May, only three of the 313 air traffic facilities nationwide had enough controllers to meet targets set by the F.A.A. and the union representing controllers, The Times found. Many controllers are required to work six-day weeks and a schedule so fatiguing that multiple federal agencies have warned that it can impede controllers abilities to do their jobs properly.



''The staffing shortage is beyond unsustainable. It has now moved into a phase of JUST PLAIN DANGEROUS,'' one controller wrote to the F.A.A. last year in a confidential safety report that The Times reviewed.

''Controllers are making mistakes left and right. Fatigue is extreme,'' the report continued. ''The margin for safety has eroded tenfold. Morale is rock bottom. I catch myself taking risks and shortcuts I normally would never take.''

The controller concluded, ''It is only a matter of time before something catastrophic happens.''

For planes that can move at hundreds of miles per hour, distances that seem substantial can vanish in seconds. The F.A.A. therefore requires planes to maintain large buffers between one another. (The size of the buffers varies depending on factors like flight conditions and the type of plane.)

The F.A.A. and NASA records that The Times reviewed, as well as interviews with controllers and pilots, indicate that those standards are routinely breached. Only some of those violations are regarded as significant but they are happening with regularity.

They included a series of incidents that became public early this year. At Kennedy International Airport in New York in January, an American Airlines flight crossed into the path of a Delta flight that was accelerating for takeoff. The Delta pilot slammed on the brakes, barely avoiding a crash.

Three weeks later, on a foggy morning in Austin, Texas, an air traffic controller cleared a FedEx plane to land on the same runway as a departing Southwest flight. The planes, both moving at more than 150 m.p.h., came within less than 100 feet of colliding.

Over the next few weeks, there were similar incidents in Sarasota, Fla.; Burbank, Calif.; and Boston, where a JetBlue Airways flight aborted its landing to avoid colliding with a charter plane that was taking off without clearance from air traffic control.

In an attempt to improve safety and restore public confidence, federal officials opened investigations into the incidents, urged the aviation community to exercise ''continued vigilance'' and convened a safety summit.

''The absence of a fatality or an accident doesnt mean the presence of safety,'' Jennifer Homendy, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said at the summit, in March. She added, ''These recent incidents must serve as a wake-up call for every single one of us before something more catastrophic occurs, before lives are lost.''

While the string of headline-grabbing incidents was unnerving, there were other significant ones that have not been publicly reported. Preliminary descriptions were included in what are known as the Administrators Daily Alert Bulletins, which are distributed to a select group of F.A.A. employees and which The Times reviewed.

CryoForceOmelet posted...

Isn't that interesting how he gets paid but the people who do the work for him do not

They do it to improve their self-esteem.

CryoForceOmelet posted...

Every month, DToast deposits $0.00 (Zero dollars and zero cents) into the PayPal account of each workaholic GameFAQs moderator. This is tens of thousands of dollars less than X.com moderators. They cannot even receive Reddit Gold or NFTs. Nonetheless they are always read to spring into action at a new change and make sure posters get warned as the ToS intends. Could it be worth it?

He does get paid tho. By Fandom.

This is not me encouraging ppl to spam/harass/etc.

Just saying that if you have questions/concerns, he'll probably get back to you with an answer you probably won't like.

Donald Trump surrendered to authorities in Georgia last week and had his mug shot taken by the Fulton County sheriff. He wasted no time in turning that photo into a massive moneymaker. You name it, the Trump campaign slapped his mug shot on it: a $34 mug shot T-shirt, a Never Surrender coffee mug for $25, beverage coolers at $15 for a pair and much, much more.

While there has been no official report on how much the sale of these items has brought in, Politico reported last week that the campaign had raised north of $7 million since the mug shots release, powered by the sales of merchandise bearing Trumps scowling mugshot.

But as various legal experts have noted, Trumps sale of that mug shot, taken by the Fulton County sheriff, may violate U.S. copyright laws. This could mean that theoretically, the millions he is making off that photo may rightfully belong to the Fulton County sheriff an entity that just happens to be in desperate need of funds to address the horrific conditions in the Fulton County Jail.

As a general principle, the owner of a photos copyright is the person (or entity) who takes that photo, not its subject. In federal criminal cases, the U.S. government is not permitted to own the copyright to booking photos, so they are considered in the public domain. However, that is generally not the case with mug shots taken in state and local criminal proceedings.

Betsy Rosenblatt, a professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, recently explained to Spectrum News 1 Ohio that the copyright owner of Trumps mug shot is likely the Fulton County Sheriffs Office. Other legal experts support that interpretation, including a 2022 article in the University of Georgia School of Laws Journal of Intellectual Property Law that noted, In the context of photographs taken by law enforcement during the booking process, the author of the mugshot photograph is the law enforcement agency.

That would, again theoretically mean the Fulton County Sheriffs Office has exclusive rights under U.S. copyright law to reproduce, sell or otherwise distribute Trumps mug shot, except for certain uses like publishing the photo for news purposes. (I emailed the Fulton County Sheriffs Office on Wednesday to confirm it owns the copyright and to ask if the Trump campaign has permission to use the image to sell for a profit. I have not received a response.)

Its true the Fulton County Sheriffs Office did release the mug shot, but that doesnt necessarily mean anyone else has the right to reproduce and sell it for a profit, as the Trump campaign is doing.

In fact, the Trump campaign itself clearly understands the photos commercial value, as evidenced by its recent threat to come after anyone else who wants to use the image to make a profit. Chris LaCivita, one of Trumps top advisers, made that clear in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that said: "If you are a campaign, PAC , scammer and you try raising money off the mugshot of @realDonaldTrump and you have not received prior permission ...WE ARE COMING AFTER YOU you will NOT SCAM DONORS".

Trump could pursue such a claim, not based in copyright law, however, but because he has the right to control the use of his image for commercial purposes. But again, that is in no way a defense for Trump and his campaigns apparent violation of copyright law.

...

What happens now? As Rosenblatt noted, the sheriff office's decision "to enforce its copyright is entirely up to them.

To be clear, this seems very unlikely. But if it did, the damages to which it could be entitled under U.S. copyright law, while not criminal, could still be very costly for Team Trump. Specifically, all the money that the Trump campaign made from selling the mug shot.

Recently, Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat pleaded with county commissioners for funding he desperately needs to address conditions in the county jail, according to local station 11 Alive. LaBat told the commissioners, Its a human crisis, and I have been begging for the resources, adding, Im really, really tired of begging for money to do my job.

If LaBat brings a claim of copyright infringement against Trumps campaign and wins, he could see millions of dollars come his agencys way to address those issues. That would at least be a just result.

Do it.

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-mug-shot-georgia-t-shirt-cash-grab-rcna102825