Patrick McGeehan: New York Expects Fewer Foreign Tourists, Saying Trump Is to Blame (NY Times)
For the first time in seven years, New York City officials expect the number of foreign visitors to decrease, a drop they attribute to the protectionist policies and rhetoric of President Trump - saying that those moves are scaring off many of the visitors who have helped fuel the city's robust growth since the last recession.
Paul Krugman: There Will Be No Obamacare Replacement (NY Times Blog)
… you can't tamper with the basic structure without throwing tens of millions of people out of coverage. You can't even scale back the spending very much - Obamacare is somewhat underfunded as is. Will [Republicans] decide to go ahead anyway, and risk opening the eyes of working-class voters to the way they've been scammed? I have no idea. But if Republicans do end up paying a big political price for their willful policy ignorance, it couldn't happen to more deserving people.
Alice Ollstein: "American Carnage Redux: Trump's Dark And Misleading Picture of America" (TPM)
Trump spent a significant portion of the speech lamenting the state of the economy he inherited. "We have the worst financial recovery in 65 years," he said. "Our trade deficit in goods with the world last year was nearly $800 billion dollars." That latter statistic is misleading, as the nation runs a surplus in trade in services, making the overall traded deficit much lower. Trump did not note that the jobs market is currently the strongest it has been in a decade, unemployment is under five percent, and he took office amid a record increase in middle-class incomes.
A ballcock (also balltap or float valve) is a mechanism or machine for filling water tanks, such as those found in flush toilets, while avoiding overflow and (in the event of low water pressure) backflow. The modern ballcock was invented by José Antonio de Alzate y Ramírez, a Mexican priest and scientist, who described the device in 1790 in the Gaceta de Literatura Méxicana. It consists of a valve connected to a hollow sealed float by means of a lever, mounted near the top of the tank. The float is often ball-shaped, hence the name ballcock. The valve is connected to the incoming water supply, and is opened and closed by the lever which has the float mounted on the end. When the water level rises, the float rises with it; once it rises to a pre-set level, the mechanism forces the lever to close the valve and shut off the water flow. This is an example of negative feedback and of proportional control.
Source
zorch was first and correct with:
the bathroom. It's in the toilet.
Randall wrote:
the bathroom in the toilet
Mark. said:
Ballcocks are in flush toilets. Toilets are in bathrooms.
Alan J replied:
Bathroom.
Stephen F responded:
Restroom
Adam answered:
The Bathroom. In the toilet flushing mechanism, to be specific.
mj said:
I can think of two
We have them in the bathroom and powder room (bathroom sans shower/tub).
They're the guts of most flush toilets.
David in Moon Valley wrote:
well, from my plumbing days in years way past, there was one in the toilet in the bathroom...that's the only one i know, off the toppa my head...might there be others?
Deborah replied:
Oh, I think I know this: The bathroom. A ballcock is part of the toilet.
Stayed up too late, catering to the elder dog, who wanted to go out as soon as he came in, and vice versa. Now I know why having babies is for the young.
Another sunny day, really pleasant for the end of winter. Hard to be cranky when it's so pretty.
Michelle answered:
bathroom
Dale of rain this weekend Norcali responded:
You can find ballcocks in toilets in older terlets. Thank god they've been replaced in my units by Float-cups. Let us hear it for the Military-Industrial-Complex…standing ovation…down the tubes we go…remember global warming.
Billy in Cypress said:
A ballcock can be found in the tank of a toilet (in a bathroom) and regulates the flow of water to refill the tank after flushing. I guess the one in the golden throne of Comrade puppet President Donald J Trump - Ill Douche (CpPDJT-ID) must be gold, although most are made of brass and/or plastic.
DJ Useo wrote:
It would be found in the bathroom, or aisle 26 of Walk-Mart.
Ballcock, the funniest appliance name next to the "Testi-Dick".
Joe S answered:
In the bathroom, in the toilet. I know this from past work experience, I'm a man of many talents.
Jim from CA, retired to ID, took the day off.
Kevin K. in Washington, DC took the day off.
MAM took the day off.
Marian took the day off.
BttbBob has returned to semi-retired status.
~~~~~
Patriot Act NSA Spying Unconstitutional Section 215 National Security Letters Must End
My name is Marc Perkel and I have decided to announce that I will not comply with the so called "Patriot Act" laws requiring me to disclose information about my customers. If I receive a national security letter I will immediately photograph it, post it online everywhere I can, and then make a video of me burning it. I will then await my arrest. If you want to put me in jail then come get me mother fucker.
CBS opens the night with a RERUN'Big Bang Theory', followed by a FRESH'The Great Indoors', then a RERUN'Mom', followed by a RERUN'Life In Pieces', then a FRESH'Training Day'.
Scheduled on a FRESHStephen Colbert are Hugh Jackman, Condola Rashad, and the Flaming Lips.
Scheduled on a FRESHJames Corden, OBE, are Jessica Lange, Scott Foley, and Earl St. Clair.
NBC begins the night with a FRESH'The Voice', followed by a FRESH'Chicago Med', then a FRESH'The Blacklist: Redemption'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Fallon are Octavia Spencer, John Lithgow, and Luke Bryan.
Scheduled on a FRESHSeth Meyers are Jennifer Lopez, Sam Richardson, Tim Robinson, and Vinnie Colaiuta.
Scheduled on a FRESHCarson 'The Scab' Daly are James Gunn, Tiger Army, and Halston Sage.
ABC fills the night with FRESH'When We Rise'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Kimmel are George W. Bush and Adam Pally.
The CW offers a FRESH'Supernatural', followed by a FRESH'Riverdale'.
Faux has a FRESH'MasterChef Junior', followed by a FRESH'My Kitchen Rules'.
MY recycles an old 'Bones', followed by another old 'Bones'.
A&E has 'The First 48', another 'The First 48', followed by a FRESH'60 Days In', then a FRESH'Nightwatch'.
AMC offers the movie 'Forrest Gump', followed by the movie 'The Rock'.
BBC -
[6:00AM] DOCTOR WHO - SEASON 6 - EPISODE 5-The Rebel Flesh-Part 1.
[7:00AM] DOCTOR WHO - SEASON 6 - EPISODE 6-The Almost People-Part 2.
[8:00AM] DOCTOR WHO - SEASON 6 - EPISODE 7-A Good Man Goes to War
[9:00AM] DOCTOR WHO - SEASON 6 - EPISODE 8-Let's Kill Hitler
[10:00AM] DOCTOR WHO - SEASON 6 - EPISODE 9-Night Terrors
[11:00AM] DOCTOR WHO - SEASON 6 - EPISODE 10
[12:00PM] PLANET EARTH: FROZEN PLANET - SEASON 1 - EPISODE 1-The Ends of the Earth
[1:00PM] PLANET EARTH: FROZEN PLANET - SEASON 1 - EPISODE 2-Spring
[2:00PM] PLANET EARTH: FROZEN PLANET - SEASON 1 - EPISODE 3-Summer
[3:00PM] PLANET EARTH: FROZEN PLANET - SEASON 1 - EPISODE 4-Autumn
[4:00PM] PLANET EARTH: FROZEN PLANET - SEASON 1 - EPISODE 5-Winter
[5:00PM] PLANET EARTH: FROZEN PLANET - SEASON 1 - EPISODE 6-The Last Frontier
[6:00PM] PLANET EARTH: FROZEN PLANET - SEASON 1 - EPISODE 7-On Thin Ice
[7:00PM] PLANET EARTH: FROZEN PLANET - SEASON 1 - EPISODE 8-An Epic Journey
[8:00PM] PLANET EARTH: FROZEN PLANET - SEASON 1 - EPISODE 1-The Ends of the Earth
[9:00PM] PLANET EARTH II - SEASON 2 - EPISODE 2-Mountains
[10:00PM] PLANET EARTH: FROZEN PLANET - SEASON 1 - EPISODE 2-Spring
[11:00PM] PLANET EARTH: FROZEN PLANET - SEASON 1 - EPISODE 3-Summer
[12:00AM] PLANET EARTH II - SEASON 2 - EPISODE 2-Mountains
[1:00AM] PLANET EARTH: FROZEN PLANET - SEASON 1 - EPISODE 4-Autumn
[2:00AM] PLANET EARTH: FROZEN PLANET - SEASON 1 - EPISODE 5-Winter
[3:00AM] PLANET EARTH: FROZEN PLANET - SEASON 1 - EPISODE 6-The Last Frontier
[4:00AM] PLANET EARTH: FROZEN PLANET - SEASON 1 - EPISODE 7-On Thin Ice
[5:00AM] PLANET EARTH: FROZEN PLANET - SEASON 1 - EPISODE 8-An Epic Journey (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 'Top Chef', another 'Top Chef', followed by a FRESH'Top Chef', another 'Top Chef', then a FRESH'Watch What Happens Live'.
Comedy Central has 'Futurama', another 'Futurama', and 3 hours of old 'Tosh.0'.
Scheduled on a FRESHThe Daily Show is Patrick Stewart.
Scheduled on a FRESH@Midnight are Kurt Braunohler, Paul F. Tompkins, and #PointsMe winner.
FX has the movie 'X-Men: Days Of Future Past', followed by a FRESH'Baskets', and another 'Baskets'.
History has 'Swamp People', followed by a FRESH'Swamp People: Blood & Guts', then a FRESH'Swamp People', followed by a FRESH'Gangland Undercover'.
IFC -
[6:00AM] SAFE
[8:00AM] MEET THE SPARTANS
[9:45AM] BIO-DOME
[12:00PM] OBSERVE AND REPORT
[2:00PM] MEET THE SPARTANS
[3:45PM] BIO-DOME
[6:00PM] THE 41-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN WHO KNOCKED UP SARAH MARSHALL AND FELT SUPERBAD ABOUT IT
[8:00PM] ELF
[10:00PM] PORTLANDIA
[10:30PM] ELF
[12:30AM] PORTLANDIA
[1:00AM] PORTLANDIA
[1:30AM] OBSERVE AND REPORT
[3:30AM] THE 41-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN WHO KNOCKED UP SARAH MARSHALL AND FELT SUPERBAD ABOUT IT
[5:30AM] DEALIN' WITH IDIOTS (ALL TIMES EST)
Sundance -
[6:00AM] The Andy Griffith Show
[6:30AM] The Andy Griffith Show
[7:00AM] The Andy Griffith Show
[7:30AM] The Andy Griffith Show
[8:00AM] The Andy Griffith Show
[8:30AM] The Andy Griffith Show
[9:00AM] The Andy Griffith Show
[9:30AM] The Andy Griffith Show
[10:00AM] The Andy Griffith Show
[10:30AM] The Andy Griffith Show
[11:00AM] The Andy Griffith Show
[11:30AM] The Andy Griffith Show
[12:00PM] The Andy Griffith Show
[12:30PM] Death Becomes Her
[3:00PM] Law & Order-Life Choice
[4:00PM] Law & Order-A Death in the Family
[5:00PM] Law & Order-Violence of Summer
[6:00PM] Law & Order-Torrents of Greed
[7:00PM] Law & Order-Torrents of Greed
[8:00PM] Law & Order-A Losing Season
[9:00PM] Law & Order-Bronx Cheer
[10:00PM] Law & Order-Ego
[11:00PM] Law & Order-All My Children
[12:00AM] Law & Order-Brother's Keeper
[1:00AM] Law & Order-Who Let the Dogs Out
[2:00AM] Wonder Boys
[4:30AM] Along Came Polly (ALL TIMES EST)
SyFy has the movie 'Resident Evil: Afterlife', followed by the movie 'GI Joe: The Rise Of Cobra', then the movie 'X-Men: The Last Stand'.
TBS:
Scheduled on a FRESHConan are Lisa Kudrow, Justin Bartha, and the Strumbrellas.
An interactive exhibit called 'Infinity Mirrors' by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama is on display at the Hirshorn Museum in Washington, DC on March 1, 2017. The exhibit is on display until 14 May.
Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo
The new cast of Dancing With The Stars was announced Wednesday morning on Good Morning America.
Competing for the Mirrorball Trophy this season is Latin dancer and entertainer Charo, as well as A-Team and Rocky III star Mr. T, figure skater Nancy Kerrigan, and SNL alum Chris Kattan.
Actress Heather Morris is also among the contestants. She was a backup dancer for Beyonce before joining the cast of Glee.
Gymnast Simone Biles, who was Inside Edition's Super Bowl correspondent, will also compete alongside professional bullrider Bonner Bolton, two-time World Series champ David Ross, "Real Housewife" Erika Jayne, singer Normani Kordei, NFL star Rashad Jennings, and current Bachelor Nick Viall.
The show, which is entering its 24th season, will premiere March 20 on ABC. It will also be the 400th episode of the competition show.
Tibetans gather during a special prayer ceremony on the third day of the Tibetan New Year celebrations in Kathmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, March 1, 2017.
Photo by Niranjan Shrestha
The UN's World Meteorological Organization published the highest temperatures on record in three Antarctic zones Wednesday, setting a benchmark for studying how climate change is affecting this crucial region.
Mapping Antarctica's extremes is essential for understanding weather patterns, and teasing out natural climate variability from human-induced climate change, the WMO said in a statement.
For the entire Antarctic region -- all land and ice below 60 degrees South latitude -- the highest temperature recorded was 19.8 degrees Celsius (67.6 degrees Fahrenheit), on January 30, 1982, at a research station on Signy Island.
For the continent itself, a maximum of 17.5 C (63.5 F) was recorded on March 24, 2015, near the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula.
Finally, the highest temperature for the Antarctic Plateau -- at or above 2,500 metres (8,202 feet) was minus 7 C (19.4 F), on December 28, 1980, at a weather station.
The two accountants involved in the embarrassing mix-up at Sunday's Oscars will not be invited back to the show, a spokesperson for the Academy told AFP on Wednesday.
Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz were the two members of PricewaterhouseCoopers -- the firm responsible for tallying and safeguarding Oscar votes and results -- who were in charge of handing out the winning envelopes to presenters at the ceremony.
However a mix-up resulted in Cullinan handing Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway a duplicate of the best actress envelope -- instead of the one that had "Moonlight" winning for best picture.
The screw-up marked the most embarrassing mistake in Oscars history, with the musical "La La Land" briefly declared the winner for best picture before organizers realized the flub.
PricewaterhouseCoopers took the blame after the gala evening ended in chaos and said Cullinan was mortified by his mistake.
A young girl is silhouetted against an illuminated sculpture titled 'HYBYCOZO' during a media preview of the i Light Marina Bay Festival in Singapore on March 1, 2017. The i Light Marina Bay Festival will take place from 03 to 26 March 2017, and features sustainable light art installations by local and international designers.
Photo by Wallace Woon
Three relatively unknown Spanish architects -- Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem and Ramon Vilalta -- on Wednesday won the prestigious Pritzker Prize for modern works that are deeply rooted in their local surroundings.
The choice was seen as a move away from the celebrity architects that have dominated the field in favour of a trio of professionals who have worked together for 30 years in their hometown of Olot in Catalonia.
Nestled deep in the countryside of Spain's northeast, Olot is surrounded by beech trees, marshes and volcanoes -- a dramatic natural landscape that has long inspired their work.
In a globalised world, the prize announcement said, people increasingly fear "we will lose our local values, our local art, and our local customs".
"Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem and Ramon Vilalta tell us that it may be possible to have both... our roots firmly in place and our arms outstretched to the rest of the world," it said.
The US Supreme Court on Wednesday came down on the side of Democrats who charged that certain US electoral districts in Virginia were drawn to dilute the influence of black voters elsewhere in the state.
The high court found that a lower court had erred in deciding that race was not a dominant factor in drawing Virginia's electoral map.
Democratic lawyers had argued that racial criteria were used to pack 11 districts with African American voters, thereby increasing the proportion of white majorities in other districts.
Specifically, in drawing the disputed districts, the Virginia legislature set as a target populations with 55 percent African American voters.
The ruling is particularly noteworthy as civil rights organizations fear a tightening of voting rights for minorities under President Donald Trump (R-Crooked).
Confiscated sharing bicycles of different brands are seen at a parking lot of Huangpu District Vehicle Management Company in Shanghai, China, March 1, 2017.
A large swath of Oklahoma will face the same threat of a severe earthquake as California in 2017, according the United States Geological Survey's forecast for this year.
The prediction isn't exactly surprising - it closely matches last year's forecasts - but it signals a significant change in the distribution of earthquake risks around the United States.
Until recently, Oklahoma was a low-risk earthquake area. It experienced just 41 tremors in 2010.
But in the last few years, the state has found itself weathering hundreds of significant earthquakes per year, putting millions of residents at risk. Small parts of several other Midwestern states also face similar threats.
The rise in earthquakes can be attributed to the injection of large quantities of wastewater into wells deep below the ground. According to USGS, the majority of the underground wastewater comes from oil and gas operations - it's created when clean water mixes with dirt, metals, and other toxins below the Earth's surface during extraction operations.
Marie Collins, an Irish survivor of clerical sex abuse, resigned Wednesday from Pope Francis's child protection panel, accusing senior Vatican officials of "shameful" blocking of reforms approved by the pontiff.
Collins's departure and her depiction of high-level obstruction of change is an embarrassing blow to the pontiff's attempts to demonstrate that the Church is effectively combating a scourge that has profoundly damaged its image over recent decades.
The 70-year-old, who was raped by a hospital chaplain at 13, explained her decision in an article for the National Catholic Reporter (NCR).
Her resignation happened days after Francis came under fire for reducing sanctions imposed on some paedophile priests in line with his desire for the Church to be more merciful across a range of issues.
Collins's departure leaves the Pontifical Commission on the Protection of Minors with no abuse survivors working for it.
A Tyrannosaurus Rex statue stands among Supertrees at the Gardens by the Bay in Singapore on March 1, 2017. A total of eleven dinosaur statues have been placed in the vicinity of the Supertrees as part of the Children?s' Festival, which will take place from 10 March until 02 April 2017.
Photo by Wallace Woon
Microfossils up to almost 4.3 billion years old found in Canada of microbes are similar to the bacteria that thrive today around sea floor hydrothermal vents and may represent the oldest-known evidence of life on Earth, scientists said on Wednesday.
The fossils from the Hudson Bay shoreline in northern Quebec near the Nastapoka Islands lend credence to the hypothesis that hydrothermal vents spewing hot water may have been the cradle of life on Earth relatively soon after the planet formed, the researchers said.
They also said Earth's planetary neighbor Mars at that time is thought to have had oceans, long since gone, that may have boasted similar conditions conducive to the advent of life.
Tiny filaments and tubes made of a form of iron oxide, or rust, formed by the microbes were found encased in layers of quartz that experts have determined to be between 3.77 billion and 4.28 billion years old, according to the study published in the journal Nature.
The scientists said the primordial microbes' structure closely resembled modern bacteria that dwell near iron-rich hydrothermal vents. They believe that, like their modern counterparts, they were iron-eaters. The rock's composition was consistent with a deep-sea vent environment.
How much is an old, dried out piece of mold worth? Apparently more than $14,600 if it was created by the doctor who discovered penicillin.
The nearly 90-year-old swatch of mold has a rather extraordinary history: It came from the laboratory of Dr. Alexander Fleming whose revolutionary discovery brought the world its first antibiotic, credited with saving millions of lives worldwide.
The patchy bit of mold from his niece's collection was auctioned in London on Wednesday for 11,875 pounds ($14,617). The buyer was not identified.
The mold is preserved in a round glass case and features an inscription by Fleming on the back, describing it as "the mould that first made penicillin."
Fleming "sent these samples out to dignitaries and to people in the scientific world, almost as a kind of holy relic," said Matthew Haley, director of books and manuscripts at the auction house Bonham's.
Two white storks (Ciconia ciconia) stand on a nest in Linkenheim near Karlsruhe, Germany on March 1, 2017. The mating season of the white stork occurs from the beginning of March to the middle of May.
Photo by Ronald Wittek
You have reached the Home page of BartCop Entertainment.
Do you have something to say?
Anything that increased your blood pressure, or, even better, amused or entertained?
Do you have a great album no one's heard?
How about a favorite TV show, movie, book, play, cartoon, or legal amusement?
A popular artist that just plain pisses you off?
A box set the whole world should own?
Vile, filthy rumors about Republican hypocrites?
answered:
took the day off.
has returned to semi-retired status.
