Author: KnowledgeHippo
The dissident’s only regret after his 200-mile escape across the Yellow Sea was not taking night vision goggles.Nearing the end of his jet ski trip from China last summer, Kwon Pyong peered into the darkness off the coast of South Korea. As he neared the shore, the seagulls seemed to hover as if floating. He ran ahead, then ran aground: The birds sat in the mud.”I had everything – sunscreen, spare batteries, a knife to cut the buoy lines,” he recalled in an interview. He was prepared to mark his location with a laser pen if he got stuck and…
The University of Pennsylvania issued interim rules Thursday that significantly limit campus protests and, for the first time, expressly ban encampments. The action came less than a month after police cleared a pro-Palestinian encampment at the university and arrested 33 people.Dozens of encampments protesting Israel’s war on Gaza have erupted at universities across the country this spring, leading to more than 3,000 arrests since mid-April and heightened tensions between students and universities.”To ensure the safety of the Penn community and to protect the health and property of individuals, camping and overnight demonstrations are not permitted on any campus, regardless of…
Apple, Microsoft and Google are heralding a new era of what they describe as artificially intelligent smartphones and computers. The devices, they say, will automate tasks like editing photos and wishing a friend a happy birthday.But for this to work, these companies need something from you: more data.In this new example, your Windows PC will take a screenshot of everything you do every few seconds. An iPhone will combine information across many apps you use. And an Android phone can listen to a call in real time to alert you to a scam.Are you willing to share this information?This change…
Heather Massey brought Ladybird to the vet when the 9-year-old mutt she started having seizures. A scan from an MRI machine revealed bad news: brain cancer.With the bleak prognosis, Ms. Massey decided against further treatment at the animal hospital near her home in Athens, Ga., and Ladybird died four months later. The MRI and related care had cost nearly $2,000, which Ms. Massey put on a specialty credit card she had learned about at a previous vet visit.This was in 2018. He is still paying off the debt, with over 30% interest.“Could I do that? Not really,” said Ms Massey,…
The castles of the German and Austrian Alps are known for their fairytale quality. The iconic turreted silhouette in the background of the Disney logo was, in fact, modeled after Neuschwanstein, King Ludwig II’s Bavarian palace near the border of the two countries. Schloss Fuschl, set on an emerald green glacial lake 20 minutes outside of Salzburg, is no exception. Built in 1461, the sprawling stone mansion served for four centuries as a luxurious hunting lodge for the prince-archbishops of Salzburg, who ruled the region under the Holy Roman Empire, as well as their royal guests. After World War II,…
A tourist from New Mexico was killed in Zambia when an elephant attacked her, according to the police commissioner investigating the incident. She is the second tourist to be fatally attacked by an elephant in the South African country this year.The woman who was killed, Juliana G. Letourneau, 64, of Albuquerque, had just visited Victoria Falls, a 350-foot waterfall that straddles the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, and was returning to her hotel on Wednesday when her travel group encountered a herd of elephants on the road.She and others got out of their vehicle to observe the animals, Auxensio Daka,…
Waves of boos, angry chants and the steady rhythm of feet hitting metal seats overturned the graduation ceremony at the University of California, Berkeley.”Viva, viva Palestine!” the students sang. “Hey, heh, ho, ho, apartheid Israel must go!”It was the soundtrack to this year’s anti-war protest, voiced on the morning of May 11 by hundreds of hat-wearing graduates, loud enough to nearly drown out the ceremony’s official speakers — and force the event to a halt.A minute passed.Two cents.Five.It looked like Berkeley’s 2024 commencement was going to be canceled in the middle.Then, suddenly, surprisingly, the ceremony continued.Once it was over and…
With billions of dollars in trade between China and the European Union at stake, Germany’s second-highest cabinet official on Saturday called on the two sides to engage in talks to try to resolve an escalating tariff dispute.Robert Habeck, who is Germany’s vice chancellor and minister of economic affairs and climate, said he expected talks between China and European officials to begin soon. He expressed hope that the tariffs could be avoided.But he added that tariffs could be justified if the Commission’s concerns about China’s subsidies to its electric car industry are not resolved.This month, the European Commission, the European Union’s…
When PBMs overcharge, it can drive up costs for patients, not just employers and government programs like Medicare.The nation’s most popular Medicare drug plan, SilverScript Choice, covered nearly 3 million Medicare beneficiaries last year. Caremark is his PBM and overcharges.Caremark uses Medicare money to pay pharmacies, including its own, about $2,000 a month for a generic blood cancer drug, imatinib, according to a billing tool on the SilverScript program’s website. Because this payment is so high, the out-of-pocket cost for Medicare patients is also high—$664 most months.That’s more than 10 times what imatinib sells for — often less than $50…
In the pre-dawn darkness, a procession of druid priests in white robes carry banners past the monoliths of Stonehenge, the ancient British archaeological site. There is an aroma of burning sage. a bagpipe calls in the distance. As dawn approaches, feverish drums rise. If you hadn’t already felt the power in the stones in this summer solstice celebration, there’s no mistaking the natural vibration as the sun rises in alignment with the stone circle.Most of the time, visiting Stonehenge — which is owned by the British Crown and managed by English Heritage, a non-profit organization that oversees more than 400…