Always enjoyed his analysis. Long thread.

Here’s his thoughts on our new OC. SIAP

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I'm so excited.

Car thieves’ heroin-fueled joy ride comes to screeching halt with the help of two armed homeowners: sheriff​

Two Illinois suspects accused of stealing a car before leading police on a chase were apprehended when two separate armed homeowners confronted the men and held them at gunpoint until deputies arrived, a local sheriff’s office says.

The Macon County Sheriff’s Office said that on Jan. 23, law enforcement arrested suspects James Snow, 34, and Tyler Crum, 33, after a wild police chase that ended successfully with the help of two different armed homeowners. Crum was released shortly following his arrest due to a new and controversial Illinois law that ended cash bail, meaning judges do not require suspects charged with crimes to post bail in order to leave jail while they await trial. The law does not apply to suspects who are likely to pose a threat to the public.

The sheriff’s office said that just before 5:30 pm last Tuesday, deputies responded to Casey’s General Store in Argenta over the report of a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot. Deputies found the car was previously reported stolen to the Decatur Police Department, and confronted the two suspects in the car.

Crum, who was driving the vehicle according to his post-arrest comments to authorities, fled the officers, hitting the police vehicle with the stolen car while trying to make a speedy exit, according to the sheriff’s office. Deputies attempted to pursue the suspects, but lost sight of them.

Other law enforcement agencies joined the search for the duo, including the Maroa Police Department, which located the stolen car wrecked in a farmer’s field. Crum and Snow were not in the car by the time police found it, with the Oreana Police Department, Illinois State Police and the Illinois Conservation Police joining the search for the men.

That’s when the two armed homeowners stepped in, the sheriff’s office explained. The men had taken off in an attempt to find refuge in a local home.

"Deputies received a report that the males were outside a nearby residence seeking refuge but were met by the homeowner armed with a firearm. One of the males was apprehended & taken into custody by law enforcement at this location," the sheriff’s office press release, which was provided to Fox News Digital, states.

The second suspect fled the first home and met a similar fate. Another homeowner in the area also held him at gunpoint, earning praise from the sheriff’s office "for properly utilizing firearm training and assisting Law Enforcement."

"The other male had fled to another nearby residence before being met by that homeowner. The second suspect was intercepted by the homeowner armed with a firearm. The vigilant homeowner effectively held the offender at gunpoint, promptly calling 911. This male was also apprehended & taken into custody by law enforcement at the second location. We commend the homeowner for properly utilizing firearm training and assisting Law Enforcement," the sheriff’s office said.

A police report provided to Fox News Digital shows that Crum admitted to authorities that prior to the police chase and arrests, he and Snow had done heroin in an Arby’s bathroom in Decatur, which is about 15 miles from Argenta.

Crum told police that after the pair took heroin, they stole a black Chevy Malibu that was idling in the parking lot. They intended to drive to Crum's hometown of Heyworth, according to the police report, but got lost along the way and pulled over into the general store’s parking lot where the Macon Sheriff’s deputies first spotted them.

Crum said Snow, who was in the car’s passenger seat during the incident, told him to "just go dude" when they first saw law enforcement vehicles, resulting in them slamming into a sheriff’s car before taking off and crashing into the farm field.

Snow also told police he was the passenger of the vehicle during the string of crimes, and that he had no memory of the car crashing in the field or going to homes in the area seeking refuge, according to the police report.

Crum was charged with aggravated battery to peace officer, aggravated fleeing & eluding, possession of a stolen motor vehicle, and resisting/obstructing peace officer. He was released under Illinois’ controversial Pretrial Fairness Act, which is part of the SAFE-T Act, that eliminated cash bail. He was given a notice to appear for the charges.

Snow was charged with aggravated fleeing & eluding, possession of a stolen motor vehicle, and resisting/obstructing a peace officer. He remains in police custody due to an outstanding parole violation warrant.

Per Malachi's Twitter, he said Iowa is among the schools he hears from the most. Arkansas, Baylor, Indiana, Kentucky and Notre Dame are the others.

He plays with the same AAU organization as Cooper Koch did, the Indiana Elite. Koch was in Iowa City when Moreno took his official visit this fall.

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https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bryn-s...-avoids-prison-time-ventura-county-caifornia/

A California woman who fatally stabbed her boyfriend more than 100 times during what prosecutors called a "cannabis-induced" psychosis has been spared prison time, a judge ruled on Tuesday. The decision drew sobs of relief from the woman and a rebuke from the victim's father.

Bryn Spejcher, 32, was sentenced Tuesday to two years of probation, according to Ventura County Superior Court records. Last month, Spejcher was convicted in the 2018 fatal stabbing of Chad O'Melia, a man whom she had been dating for several weeks.

Bryn SpejcherVENTURA COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY
Testimony showed she stabbed O'Melia more than 100 times and also stabbed herself, the Ventura County Star reported.

After the sentence was handed down by Ventura County Superior Court Judge David Worley on Tuesday, Spejcher and her family cried tears of relief, the Ventura County Star reported, while the victim's father said the sentencing set a dangerous precedent.

"He just gave everyone in the state of California who smokes marijuana a license to kill someone," Sean O'Melia said, according to the outlet.

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Kirk just wants us all to see! It’s so beautiful!

Guess who's back.
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In five dual meets against Big Ten competition, Iowa was 40-10 in matches contested. Of those 40 wins Iowa scored bonus points 21 times with 12 tech falls, 7 major decisions, and 2 falls.



It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

I do not agree about turning the media off completely but this guy taken at face value gives all us something to reflect about

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From Siruis XM today.
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link

Full article behind the link. It's long because it endeavors to explain how browser security works, so this effort can be understood in full context.


The European Commission is an EU legislative body with regulatory authority over digital technology. The EC’s eIDAS Article 45, a proposed regulation, would deliberately weaken areas of internet security that the industry has carefully evolved and hardened for over 25 years. The Article would effectively grant the 27 EU governments vastly expanded surveillance powers over internet use.

The rule would require all internet browsers to trust an additional root certificate from an agency (or a regulated entity) from each of the national governments of each one of the EU member states. For the non-technical readers, I will explain what a root certificate is, how internet trust has evolved, and what Article 45 does to this. And then I will highlight some of the commentary from the tech community on this matter.

...

Digital certificates are a form of ID – the internet version of a drivers’ license. When a browser connects to a site, the site presents a certificate to the browser. The certificate contains a cryptographic key. The browser and the website work together with a series of cryptographic calculations to set up secure communication.

Together, the browser and the website provide the three security guarantees:

• privacy: by encrypting the conversation.
• cryptographic digital signatures: to ensure that the content is not modified in flight.
• verification of the publisher: through the chain of trust provided by PKI, that I will explain in more detail below.

...

In the online world, governments have, for the most part, not involved themselves in identity verification. Certificates are issued by private sector firms known as certificate authorities (CAs). While certificates used to be quite expensive, fees have come down considerably to the point where some are free. The best known CAs are Verisign, DigiCert and GoDaddy. Ryan Hurst shows the seven major CAs (ISRG, DigiCert, Sectigo, Google, GoDaddy, Microsoft, and IdenTrust) issue 99% of all certificates.

...

Fraudulent certificate issuance can happen. A rogue CA can issue one, but they won’t get far. The bad certificate will be detected. The bad CA will fail compliance programs and be removed from trust stores. Without acceptance, the CA will go out of business. Certificate Transparency, a more recent standard, enables more rapid detection of fraudulent certificates.

Why would a CA go rogue? What advantage can the bad guy gain from an unauthorized certificate? With the certificate alone, not much, even when signed by a trusted CA. But if the bad guy can team up with an ISP, or otherwise access the network that the browser uses, the certificate gives the bad actor the ability to break all of PKI’s security guarantees.

The hacker could mount a man-in-the-middle attack (MITM) on the conversation. The attacker could insert himself in between the browser and the real website. In this scenario, the user would be talking directly to the attacker, and the attacker would relay the contents back and forth with the real website. The attacker would present the fraudulent certificate to the browser. Because it was signed by a trusted CA, the browser would accept it. The attacker could view and even modify what either party sent before the other side received it.

Now we come to the EU’s sinister eIDAS, Article 45. This proposed regulation requires all browsers to trust a basket of certificates from CAs designated by the EU. Twenty-seven to be exact: one for each member nation. These certificates are to be called Qualified Website Authentication Certificates. The acronym “QWAC” has an unfortunate homophone to quackery – or perhaps the EC is trolling us.

The QWACs would be issued either by either government agencies, or what Michael Rectenwald calls governmentalities: “corporations and companies and other adjuncts of the state who are otherwise called ‘private,’ but really are operating as state apparatuses, in that they’re enforcing state narratives and dictates.”

This scheme would bring EU member governments one step closer to the point where they could man-in-the-middle attack against their own citizens. They would also need to access the networks. Governments are in a position to do that. If the ISP is run as a state-owned enterprise, then they would already have it. If ISPs are private firms, then local authorities could use police powers to gain access.

One point which has not been emphasized in the public conversation is that a browser in any of the 27 EU member nations would be required to accept every single QWAC, one from each EU member. This means that a browser in, for example, Spain, would have to trust a QWAC from entities in Croatia, Finland, and Austria. The Spanish user visiting an Austrian website would have to transit over Austrian portions of the internet. The issues raised above would all apply across countries within the EU.

The Register, in a piece titled Bad eIDAS: Europe ready to intercept, spy on your encrypted HTTPS connections explains one way this might work:

[T]hat government can ask its friendly CA for a copy of [the QWAC] certificate so that the government can impersonate the website – or ask for some other certificate browsers will trust and accept for the site. Thus, using a man-in-the-middle attack, that government can intercept and decrypt the encrypted HTTPS traffic between the website and its users, allowing the regime to monitor exactly what people are doing with that site at any time.

Having penetrated the shield of encryption, monitoring could include saving users’ passwords, and then using them at another time to access citizens’ email accounts. In addition to monitoring, governments could modify content inline. For example, they could remove the narratives they want to censor. They could attach annoying nanny state fact checks and content warnings to dissenting opinions.

As things currently stand, CAs must maintain the trust of the browser community. Browsers currently warn the user if a site presents an expired or otherwise untrusted certificate. Under Article 45, warnings or the ejection of trust abusers would be forbidden. Not only are browsers mandated to trust the QWACs, but Article 45 prohibits browsers from showing a warning that a certificate signed by a QWAC.

Last Chance for eIDAS (a website displaying the Mozilla logo) advocates against Article 45:

Any EU member state has the ability to designate cryptographic keys for distribution in web browsers and browsers are forbidden from revoking trust in these keys without government permission.
…There is no independent check or balance on the decisions made by member states with respect to the keys they authorize and the use they put them to. This is particularly troubling given that adherence to the rule of law has not been uniform across all member states, with documented instances of coercion by secret police for political purposes.

In an open letter signed by several hundred security researchers and computer scientists:

Article 45 also bans security checks on EU web certificates unless expressly permitted by regulation when establishing encrypted web traffic connections. Instead of specifying a set of minimum security measures which must be enforced as a baseline, it effectively specifies an upper bound on the security measures which cannot be improved upon without the permission of ETSI. This runs counter to well established global norms where new cybersecurity technologies are developed and deployed in response to fast moving developments in technology.

Most of us rely on our vendors to curate the list of trusted CAs. However, as a user, you may add or remove certificates as you please on your own devices. Microsoft Windows has a tool to do this. On Linux, the root certificates are files located in a single directory. A CA may be untrusted simply by deleting the file. Will this also be forbidden? Steve Gibson, noted security pundit, columnist, and host of the long-running Security Now podcast asks:

But the EU is stating that browsers will be required to honor these new, unproven and untested certificate authorities and thus any certificates they issue, without exception and without recourse. Does that mean that my instance of Firefox will be legally bound to refuse my attempt to remove those certificates?

Gibson notes that some corporations implement similar surveillance of their employees within their own private network. Whatever your opinion about those working conditions, some industries have legitimate audit and compliance reasons to track and record what their employees are doing with company resources. But, as Gibson continues,

The trouble is that the EU and its member nations are very different from the employees of a private organization. Any time an employee doesn’t want to be spied upon, they can use their own smartphone to circumvent their employer’s network. And of course an employer’s private network is just that, a private network. The EU wants to do this for the entire public Internet from which there would be no escape.

May 3rd release date.

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Serious question, it’s going to come off as just a poorly veiled jab and given my history that’s fair. But I’m seriously wondering how unusual I am as it pertains to my favorite team…..

Im not even sure I can make this sound the way I feel it…..🤷‍♂️

I’m a lifelong Iowa fan. I don’t really have any other team I’m terribly passionate about. I used to be a bit of a hater, meaning The Dukes and NDs of the world losing was important. But honestly none of that matters so much anymore…it’s a useless, shitty way to live anyway…

Long winded point withstanding, I have long said, I just want a coach who plays great D, understands how to identify great talent and win consistently…I really don’t care who it is.

But I am to the point, if we make a bad hire, I’m not sure I care if we F it up…the general negativity of these boards and fans in general anymore, have me to the point, I don’t think I care like I used to….

And it’s not our board, it’s all of them. I want to win, but it feels like a small consolation to watch these fanatics have to deal with the fallout….

I mean we make fun of Nebraska fans, but hell, anyone chasing off winning coaches in just another Nebraska fan….

So although I’d be pissed at first, is it goofy to find solace in those fans getting what they asked for?

I never thought I’d get to the day where other fans honestly ruin the games, but here I am.

Sammy Hagar or Diamond Dave?

It does not look like Anthony Ferrari will be going this year. Rathjen did beat Voinovich when Voinovich was recovering from his knee. Victor has sense improved quite a bit from his feet, and was already good on top. Any chance Voinovich gets the nod at Big Tens?

In a notable move reshaping the global economic landscape, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a member of the BRICS alliance, has recently undertaken a significant shift in its international trade transactions. Departing from the traditional reliance on the US dollar, the UAE has opted to pay its dues to China using its newly introduced Digital Dirham, a digital version of its national currency.

This strategic move not only marks a departure from the established norm of denominating global transactions in the US dollar but also underscores the evolving dynamics within the BRICS coalition.

UAE Digital Dirham cross-border payment is a first​

Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of the Presidential Court, and Chairman of the Board of the Central Bank of the UAE, made history on Monday by initiating the first cross-border payment of Dh50 million using the UAE Central Bank’s digital currency, ‘Digital Dirham’.

Sheikh Mansour made the historic transaction directly to China through the ‘mBridge’ platform while attending the ‘Golden Jubilee’ celebration of the Central Bank’s establishment and the graduation of 1,056 Emiratis from the first batch of the ‘Ethraa Emiratisation’ program at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.

Project mBridge was launched in 2021 by the central monetary authorities of China, Hong Kong, Thailand, and the UAE in collaboration with the Bank for International Settlement (BIS). It is the only international collaborative partnership that includes China. The project finished its first pilot in Sept 2022.

One member of the United States Congress also noted mBridge’s advancements – Representative Maxine Waters, a member of the House Financial Services Committee, expressed concern that the initiative could be used as a cover for evading economic sanctions.

In addition, Sheikh Mansour underscored the Central Banks’ responsibility to promote economic growth to support development initiatives in the country. According to him, this should be achieved by ensuring financial and monetary stability, as well as enhancing the efficiency and adaptability of the financial system.

The end goal of these developments is to strengthen the UAE’s position as a global financial center. He further emphasized the leadership’s strategic dedication to this objective.

UAE commits to empowering its citizens to financial freedom​

Additionally, Sheikh Mansour emphasized the commitment of the leadership to empowering Emirati citizens and cultivating their expertise in various domains of expertise and professional practice.

He added that this commitment is designed to supply the financial sector with exceptionally skilled domestic personnel in accordance with the most stringent global criteria and to contribute to the nation’s broader cultural and developmental renaissance.

Sheikh Mansour extended his sincere congratulations to the esteemed graduates of the first cohort of the Ethraa program, the staff of the Central Bank, and the Emirates Institute of Finance and wished them the utmost success in their endeavors to serve their nation and contribute to its ongoing advancement.

On this occasion, the subsidiaries of the Central Bank erected the ‘Innovative Projects’ Pavilion, where the Vice President was briefed on the exhibits.

Additionally, he observed the establishment of Al Etihad Payments, a venture that manages the local payment card system, through the execution of the initial effective financial transaction using a payment card featuring unique attributes.

Additionally, the services offered by the Aani immediate payment platform, which was introduced by Al Etihad Payments in October 2023, and the supervisory technology project ‘Suptech’ were explained to Sheikh Mansour.

The collapse of the United States Dollar​

The BRICS countries, the UAE and China, have billion-dollar trade deals, and using Digital Dirhams as payment jeopardizes the US dollar. If the two BRICS countries continue to pay in Digital Dirhams, the US dollar will be affected most severely.

The UAE, a new BRICS member, is looking for innovative ways to propel the Digital Dirham ahead of the US currency. Furthermore, China encourages developing countries to prioritize their indigenous currencies in trade settlements above the US dollar.

The Digital Dirham is the United Arab Emirates’ central bank digital currency (CBDC), launched as part of the Central Bank Digital Currency Strategy. It involves wholesale and retail CBDC issuance, aiming to enhance domestic and cross-border payments, promote financial inclusion, and transition towards a cashless economy.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/mar...S&cvid=6f27f27af01f44079ae51e15e97b8b87&ei=42

The mysterious circumstances of a dead baby girl discovered nearly 30 years ago east of Lisbon began to unravel Saturday when state investigators announced they finally have identified the baby’s parents, but appealed to the public for help in unsorting the baffling case.



The newborn was found by a farmer Nov. 10, 1996, in a barn at 14 Highway 30, about a mile east of Lisbon. At the time, The Gazette reported that the full-term Caucasian baby's body, wrapped in a plastic shopping bag and placed inside a garbage bag, was discovered about 10 a.m. by Clair Wilson, who lived on the farm at the time with his son, Tim; Tim's wife, Debbie; and their son, Luke, then 15.


The body was left inside a barn used for machinery storage. Preliminary autopsy results showed the girl was alive when she was born. Later, the state medical examiner reported the cause of her death was “probable exposure” and the manner of death to be “undetermined.”





Investigators were never able to determine the baby’s name, and she was called “Baby Jane Lincoln” as a nod to the historic name of the highway that passed by the farm. The newborn was buried near Tipton after a reverend volunteered to perform the rites and the sheriff took up a collection for a headstone.


About 30 people attended, and many told a reporter they had come to show appreciation for their own kids.


The Rev. Frank Heubner, who was pastor of Cedar Street Baptist Church in Tipton, performed the service on the blustery day. “I wanted to reassure those at the cemetery of God's love, to let them know there is a God in heaven who loves us," Heubner said at the time. He told the mourners that "even if we understood all the circumstances surrounding Baby Jane's death … it would not be enough to satisfy our hearts.”


Saturday, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation said in a news release that, thanks to advances in DNA, they now had identified the parents of the baby as Luke Dean Wilson and Samantha Light Hope, both 43.


The DCI did not say if investigators had talked with the parents about the case, say where they are located, or specify whether they had any connection to the family or farm where the body was found. Rather, the DCI said that “no further information will be released at this time.”


“The circumstances surrounding the death of Baby Jane remain under investigation and the public is encouraged to contact the Cedar County Sheriff’s Office should they possess any information that may assist in the investigation,” the DCI said in its news release.

More need to drop out:

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is ending his long-shot 2024 presidential campaign less than three months after he launched it.
“While I have decided to suspend my campaign for President, my commitment to making this a better nation for every American remains,” Suarez said in a post shared on X, formerly known as Twitter.


Keeping up with politics is easy with The 5-Minute Fix Newsletter, in your inbox weekdays.

Suarez, the only Hispanic candidate in the GOP nominating contest, launched his campaign in mid-June, later than most of his now-former rivals. Last week, he failed to qualify for the first Republican debate after falling short of the necessary polling requirements.
In a lengthy post on X, Suarez said it was “a privilege to come so close to appearing on stage with the other candidates at last week’s first debate.”

“I had looked forward to sharing the story of Miami, America’s most successful city, especially at a time when so many cities are plagued with poverty, unemployment, high taxes, violent crime, and homelessness,” he said. “I know what we have achieved during my tenure leading the City of Miami can be replicated in every community in our great country.”


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Suarez said his brief run for the presidency “has been one of the greatest honors of my life.” During his time on the campaign trail, he cast himself as a traditional conservative and said his campaign was designed to help create a brand of GOP politics that could triumph in general elections.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez announces GOP presidential bid
Suarez, 45, is a lawyer and former Miami city commissioner. He was elected mayor of Miami in 2017 and won reelection to his second term in 2021. He touts himself as the city’s first “Miami-born” mayor and the second Cuban American one — the first was his father, Xavier Suarez.

In his statement, he said he would “continue to amplify the voices of the Hispanic community.”

“The Left has taken Hispanics for granted for far too long, and it is no surprise that so many are finding a home in America’s conservative movement,” he said.


He also urged the Republican Party to work harder to attract not only Hispanic voters, but also younger Americans, urban voters and suburban women.
“I look forward to keeping in touch with the other Republican presidential candidates and doing what I can to make sure our party puts forward a strong nominee who can inspire and unify the country, renew Americans’ trust in our institutions and in each other, and win,” he said.

While Suarez vowed to continue working with the GOP to ensure that the party’s candidate wins in 2024, he made no reference to the Republican front-runner in the race, former president Donald Trump. Suarez has previously said he did not vote for Trump for reelection in 2020.
The mayor has been critical of another GOP presidential candidate, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is polling a distant second in the race. Suarez accused DeSantis of waging a “personal vendetta” against the Walt Disney Co. that has cost the state jobs. In January, he acknowledged that he and DeSantis had not spoken to one another in several years, although he brushed it off as nothing out of the ordinary.

Cool story about 49ers such as George Kittle and Chase Young receiving a little puppy therapy two days before Sunday's win over the Lions. It seems like a good stress reliever, and great for the dogs, too. Great to raise awareness.
As a side note, when my son was at Minnesota they would frequently hold sessions like this in the student union. He participated several times, including during finals week his freshman year. It was also a great way for students who are a little homesick for the family pet to get some quality time with a dog/cat.
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39402784/san-francisco-49ers-puppy-therapy-nfc-championship-game