The first Saturday of August and the world is still turning and its people are still breathing…..time for me to sit and think about what to include in the dump of the weekend.
The Summer Olympics are running full tilt….but on the lighter side…..today is the last of competition for the World Yo-Yo championships….just in case you are in Cleveland.
Locally….since I am an old fart I guess the best place to start is the weather….the temps have remained in the triple digits and the evening lows range from 85 to 93….just before daybreak this morning it dipped to 95…A/C is my best friend these days.
Enough about my little slice of heaven…..
As most everyone knows the world is watching the Olympics so I thought that would be a good place to start….
The US women won the bronze medal in rugby….
Is there compensation for medals by countries?
Oh yeah….
For some Olympic medalists, after the podium come the perks. CNBC notes that the International Olympic Committee doesn’t hand out prize money itself to those who take home gold, but Forbes looked into the more than 200 countries participating in the Paris Games and found more than a handful who give six-figure bonuses to their gold medalists, and even for some silver and bronze wins. Hong Kong dangles an especially lucrative carrot, offering gold medalists $768,000; silver medalists earn nearly $385,000, while bronzers get just over $190,000. Even fourth-place finishers there can expect to receive $100,000. More on what other countries dole out:
- Pensions: Both Serbia and Malaysia offer pensions to its medalists, with the latter’s ranging from $400 to $1,100 per month.
- Rent: Lithuania forks over that monthly payment for athletes once they retire.
- Poland’s perks: This nation offers $82,000 for a gold medal, vacation vouchers, an investment-grade diamond, apartments, and a painting by a renowned Polish artist.
- Smells like team spirit: In Italy, team members who place get the same large payout as individual competitors—each athlete on the team gets $196,000 for a gold medal, $98,000 for silver, and $65,000 for bronze.
- Other perks: CNBC notes some of the more unusual gifts that athletes receive, including free food and teh tarik (a popular hot beverage) for life from a local chain to Malaysian athletes; free bags of rice (a perk seen by Japanese table tennis player Kasumi Ishikawa); and “five cows, a meatball restaurant, and a new house” given to gold-medal-winning badminton players Apriyani Rahayu and Greysia Polii of Indonesia.
- Left out: Norway, Iceland, Sweden, and Great Britain don’t offer such incentives, though the latter’s governing sports body does give out bonuses to medal winners.
Check out some of the bonuses and perks that other nations give out here.
Now you know why there is so much joy and despair in the games…..for the US….seriously those multi-millionaires with endorsements and such still get the ‘bonus’?
My daughter and I have this game where we find deaths that are labeled suicide or natural causes that smell of a cover-up or just plain lazy….this is an old one that she found and sent me the other day…..I love it….it is from the UK….
The MI6 spy found dead in a bag three years ago probably locked himself in the holdall and died as a result of a tragic accident, Scotland Yard has said.
Outlining the results of a three-year investigation on Wednesday, the Metropolitan police said Gareth Williams most likely died alone in his flat.
But Detective Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt said the police could not “fundamentally and beyond doubt” rule out the possibility that a third party was involved in his death.
Williams’s naked body was found in the padlocked bag, with the keys discovered under his body, in the otherwise empty bath in his flat in Pimlico, central London, in August 2010.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/13/mi6-spy-dead-bag-locked-himself-gareth-williams
Surely there is more to this story and if anyone knows it please enlighten me….
This is a good one…..
Remember that sub the some rich people paid to go down to the Titanic and the sub imploded?
The Coast Guard will hold a long-awaited public hearing in September about the deadly Titanic submersible disaster as it continues its investigation into the implosion of the vessel. The experimental Titan submersible imploded en route to the Titanic, killing all five people on board, in June 2023. The US Coast Guard quickly convened a high-level investigation into what happened, but that investigation is taking longer than originally anticipated, reports the AP.
A formal hearing that’s a key piece of the Marine Board of Investigation’s inquiry will begin on Sept. 16 in North Charleston, South Carolina, Coast Guard officials said on Monday. It will stretch out over nearly two weeks, ending on either Sept. 26 or Sept. 27. The marine board is expected to issue a report with evidence, conclusions, and recommendations when its investigation is finished, the Coast Guard said. Coast Guard officials said in a statement that the purpose of the hearing will be to “consider evidence related to the loss of the Titan submersible.”
The Titan was the subject of scrutiny in the undersea exploration community in part because of its unconventional design and its creator’s decision to forgo standard independent checks. “The hearing will examine all aspects of the loss of the Titan, including pre-accident historical events, regulatory compliance, crewmember duties and qualifications, mechanical and structural systems, emergency response, and the submersible industry,” the Coast Guard said in a statement.
The implosion killed Titan operator Stockton Rush; veteran Titanic explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet; two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood; and British adventurer Hamish Harding. OceanGate, a company co-founded by Rush that owned the submersible, suspended operations a year ago.
I believe I read or heard that there would be another dive on the Titanic soon….maybe the Coast Guard should step in…..whatcha think?
Have you heard about the group “White Dudes For Harris”?
Well it seems they pissed off Musk ….
White Dudes for Harris raised more than $4 million for the presidential campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday, then had its X account suspended. The group had celebrated its wildly successful livestream fundraiser on the platform, writing, “This is the start of something special and we couldn’t be more proud to be in this fight with you. More to come.” Then suddenly the account was suspended and “we had no idea why,” organizer Ross Morales Rocketto tells the Washington Post. The account @dudes4harris was blocked for hours following a user report alleging the account was violating rules “against evading suspension,” according to the outlet.
The account’s tweets reappeared Tuesday morning after the group submitted a complaint. But organizer Mike Nellis says the account itself “remains suspended” and is “permanently in read-only mode,” per Variety. Morales Rocketto views all this as “suspicious,” per the Post. It comes after X CEO Elon Musk endorsed former President Trump, claimed President Biden is “importing” immigrants to illegally vote for Harris, and shared an AI-generated video featuring a fake Harris calling herself the “ultimate diversity hire,” per the New Republic. Some even suggested the AI video violated X’s own policies against manipulated media.
The subsequent suspension of @dudes4harris “reflects broader concerns among Democrats that the platform, which Musk bought in 2022, could be used to influence the online discourse” ahead of the election, per the Post. “We scared @elonmusk and @DonaldJTrumpJr so much tonight they suspended our account and won’t let us back in,” wrote Nellis, suggesting they were “the first white dudes to ever get suspended by @elonmusk’s Twitter.” “These guys are running scared of the success we’ve had tonight, but we’re not going to quit,” Nellis continued. “More coming tomorrow (unless they shut down my account too!)” X and Musk have not commented.
Sounds like Musk is trying to use Twitter (I refuse to call it ‘X’) to influence the vote…..after all he is a huge donor to the Trump campaign (I knew there was a reason I dislike this ‘tool’)
More terrible news for an addict of coffee…..
What’s going on in the coffee industry? Roasters and cafe operators are faced with rising costs that, when passed onto consumers, threaten to bring to a shuddering halt almost 30 years of continuous, at times dizzying growth.
In the last few weeks Giuseppe Lavazza, head of the eponymous family-led Italian mega-roaster, has suggested that the price for his products in the UK might have to rise by 20%-25% over the coming year, in addition to the 15% hike that consumers have already experienced during the previous 12 months.
Coffee chains are pursuing store closure programmes to the point that the number of branded outlets actually fell last year, while Club Pret – the subscription service offering up to five free barista made drinks daily for a £30 monthly fee – is being withdrawn in favour of one that offers five half price drinks for £10.
The price of a medium latte has risen by over 30% since 2021 bringing the once-unthinkable £5 flat white ever closer. Indeed Lavazza’s flagship London store already charges £5.50.
This is talking about the UK but how long before it crosses the pond and effects coffee prices here?
That is about all the time I have today for a “Dump”……
I hope everyone enjoys their August Saturday I will be lavishing in A/C….and as always….B Well and Be Safe….
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”