Monday, December 12, 2022

Wake-Up Call: Splashdown In The Pacific


NASA’s Orion spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico on Sunday, bringing a successful end to a 25-day test flight that sent the uncrewed vehicle around the moon and back to Earth. The flight, named Artemis I, helps pave the way for NASA’s program to return humans to the surface of the moon later in the decade for the first time since 1972. After spending more than three weeks in deep space, Orion began its descent through Earth’s atmosphere at 12:20 p.m. Eastern, reaching scorching temperatures of about 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,760 degrees Celsius). The spacecraft performed an unusual skip entry technique, bouncing off the atmosphere to slow its speed before resuming its descent. The maneuver is intended to lower G forces that future astronauts will have to endure.



➤MUSK PLANS TO RELAUNCH TWITTER PREMIUM SERVICE, AGAIN: Elon Musk said Friday that Twitter plans to relaunch its premium service that will offer different colored check marks to accounts next week, in a fresh move to revamp the service after a previous attempt backfired. Twitter previously suspended the premium service, which under Musk granted blue-check labels to anyone paying $8 a month, because of a wave of imposter accounts.  In the latest version, companies will get a gold check, governments will get a gray check, and individuals who pay for the service, whether or not they’re celebrities, will get a blue check.

➤SBF EXPECTED TO TESTIFY: After over a week of “will he, won’t he,” it looks like Sam Bankman-Fried will indeed (virtually) attend the House Financial Services Committee’s hearing on the collapse of his crypto empire on Tuesday. Don’t hold your breath for any major revelations — the FTX founder has warned “there is a limit” to what he can say. That’s probably wise, given US prosecutors are laying the groundwork for a potential fraud case against him. 

💲CONGRESS WORKING TO AVOID GOV'T SHUTDOWN: The clock is ticking for Congress to pass a government funding package that will avert shutdown by Friday. Democrats intend to release a bill Monday that they think could pass both chambers, but the two parties remain about $26 billion apart, with just days to go. 

➤MAN ZIP-TIED, SET ON FIRE BY CAR THIEVES AFTER STOPPING TO HELP STRANDED WOMAN:  A California man who stopped to help a seemingly stranded woman on the side of a road in Northern California last week was allegedly zip-tied and set on fire by her and two men who then stole his car. According to Fox 40, two men stepped out of the woman’s black SUV after she flagged the victim down just before 11 p.m. and held him at gunpoint before they restrained him and threw gasoline on him on a road about 40 miles north of Sacramento. The victim put out the fire by rolling on the ground and called 911 for help. He was treated at the hospital for burns but there's no word on his condition. The victims's car was found a few miles away along with a replica gun, no arrests have been made in the case.

➤FLORIDA WOMAN ARRESTED AFTER COPS FIND BUG INFESTATION, FECES, TRASH, 300 LOOSE RODENTS AND CHILD IN HOME: A Florida woman is under arrest after police say they found a child and multiple animals living in dirty conditions that included fecal matter, bugs and trash. Police say they responded to an animal cruelty call at the home of 38-year-old Shannon Marie Morgan, when authorities from the Citrus County Sheriff's Office arrived on the scene, they were overwhelmed with the smell of ammonia inside the home and found several cages and glass aquariums housing snakes and rodents along with rats and cats that were loose, running around the home.
Morgan has been arrested on 12 counts of animal cruelty and one count of child neglect with a total bond of $26,000.


➤TEXAS MAN WHO WROTE 'MURDER THE MEDIA' ON CAPITOL DOOR GETS 4-YEAR-SENTANCE: Nicholas DeCarlo, the man from Fort Worth who claimed to work for Murder the Media News was sentenced to four years in federal prison for his actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.  DeCarlo was sentenced on Friday and must serve three years of supervised release following his sentence and pay a $2,500 fine and $2,000 in restitution to the agency that manages the Capitol grounds.
 
➤GERMANY TO TIGHTEN GUN LAWS AFTER SUSPECTED COUP PLOT-MINISTER: Germany plans to tighten its gun laws in the wake of a suspected plot by a far-right group to violently overthrow the government and install a minor royal as national leader, its interior minister said in an interview published on Sunday.  German police last week arrested 25 people suspected of involvement in the plot, which has shocked many in one of Europe's most stable democracies.

🏈NFL SCORES:

  • Buffalo Bills 20 New York Jets 12
  • Cincinnati Bengals 23  Cleveland Browns 10
  • Dallas Cowboys 27 Houston Texans 23
  • Detroit Lions 24 Minnesota Vikings 23
  • Jacksonville Jaguars 36 Tennessee Titans 22
  • Philadelphia Eagles 48  New York Giants 22
  • Baltimore Ravens 16 Pittsburgh Steelers 14
  • Kansas City Chiefs 34 Denver Broncos 28
  • San Francisco 49ers 35 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 7
  • Carolina Panthers 30 vs Seattle Seahawks 24
  • Los Angeles Charges 23 Miami Dolphins 17

🏈USC QB CALEB WILLIAMS WINS HEISMAN TROPHY: Quarterback Caleb Williams became the first USC player to win the Heisman Trophy since 2005 on Saturday night. Williams was one of four finalists, all quarterbacks, in New York for college football’s most prestigious award. He beat TCU’s Max Duggan, Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud and Georgia’s Stetson Bennett.

🏀LONGTIME NBA HEAD COACH PAUL SILAS DIES AT 79: Paul Silas, a member of three NBA championship teams as a player and LeBron James' first coach in the league, died on Sunday at the age of 79. The family revealed the death through the Houston Rockets where Pual's son, Stephen Silas, is a second-generation head coach. No official cause was immediately announced.

⚾NEW YORK METS AND PITCHER KODAI SENGA AGREE ON 5-YEAR $75 MILLION CONTRACT: Right-hander Kodai Senga and the New York Mets agreed on a five-year, $75 million contract Saturday night. The-29-year old starred over 11 seasons with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball and is armed with a fastball that has reached triple digits and a split-fingered fastball nicknamed "the Ghost Fork" for how it disappears before reaching the plate.

🏈NAVY'S KEN NIUMATALOLO OUT AFTER 15 SEASONS AS COACH: Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo won't return for his 16th season in 2023, the school announced Sunday. Niumatalolo is the winningest coach in program history, going 109-83 in 15 seasons after succeeding Paul Johnson in 2008. He led the Midshipmen to three double-digit-win seasons (2009, 2015, 2019), beat Army 11 times and led the program to a record six bowl victories.


🏈JUSTIN TUCKER BECOMES RAVENS CAREER SCORING LEADER: Baltimore Ravens kicker, Justin Tucker, added another title to his already distinguished career. Tucker is now the Ravens' all-time leading scorer. His 42-yard field goal in the first quarter on Sunday gave him 1,466 points in his 11-year career. He moved past Matt Stover, the first kicker in the organization's history, who totaled 1,464 points from 1996 to 2008.


⛄MISERABLE WEATHER MOVES EASTWARD: A powerful Pacific storm knocked out power to thousands across California and is threatening heavy mountain snow and flooding rain near the coast before it moves across the country. The storm could churn tornadoes in the US South and drop snow in the East by the end of the week. Snow piled up in Washington state, Oregon and California on Saturday, and an additional 2 feet (60 centimeters) could fall in the higher peaks of the Sierra Nevada range through Monday, the National Weather Service said. Southern California could get drenched Sunday with as much as 2 inches of heavy rain along the coast and valleys and 6 inches in the foothills.



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