Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, current leader Neon Vincent, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, Interceptor7, Magnifico, annetteboardman and Besame. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) Man Oh Man, wader, palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse (RIP), ek hornbeck, ScottyUrb, Doctor RJ, BentLiberal, Oke (RIP) and jlms qkw.
OND is a regular community feature on Daily Kos, consisting of news stories from around the world, sometimes coupled with a daily theme, original research or commentary. Editors of OND impart their own presentation styles and content choices, typically publishing each day near 12:00 AM Eastern Time.
Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments.
Good evening news junkies, I’m subbing for Chitown Kev, who filled in for maggiejean who subbed for… it’s complicated. Anyway, I’ve about had a belly full of Dolt 45 and his band of idiots shitting the bed, the floor, the walls and everywhere else so I couldn’t bring myself to dumpster-dive for today’s atrocities. They’re amply chronicled on the front page and thoroughly discussed in the stories so I thought I’d wander around in the newsosphere and see what else is available.
I don’t want to poach from Saturday’s edition, but science stories always make me feel good:
Marsquake! NASA's InSight Lander Feels Its 1st Red Planet Tremor
Scientists just felt the Red Planet move under their feet — robotically from millions of miles away, on the stark surface of Mars.
On April 6, NASA's InSight lander sensed its first confirmed marsquake, a phenomenon scientists suspected, but couldn't confirm, occurred on the neighboring planet. Measuring the Martian equivalent of earthquakes, seismic waves traveling through the interior of the planet, was among the lander's key science goals.
"We've been waiting months for our first marsquake," Philippe Lognonné, the principal investigator for the seismometer instrument, said in a statement released by the French space agency, which runs the instrument with the national research center. "It's so exciting to finally have proof that Mars is still seismically active."
Greta Thunberg conquers Britain:
Labour endorses Extinction Rebellion activists after week of protest
Labour has backed the Extinction Rebellion protesters who have carried out a week of civil disobedience and occupations to highlight the ecological emergency, likening them to the Chartists, suffragettes and anti-apartheid activists.
Speaking in response to an urgent question in the Commons on Tuesday, the shadow energy minister, Barry Gardiner – who also holds the international trade role – said that alongside the school strikes, the protests organised by Extinction Rebellion were reminiscent of previous memorable struggles.
“All of those victories were won by citizens uniting against injustice, making their voice heard. And Extinction Rebellion and the school climate strikers are doing just that,” Gardiner said.
Related, do not mess with this kid:
Greta Thunberg condemns UK's climate stance in speech to MPs
The UK government’s active support for fossil fuels and airport expansion is “beyond absurd”, Greta Thunberg has told MPs.
The 16-year-old Swedish student, who sparked a global youth-based movement when she began a “climate strike” outside Sweden’s parliament last year, gave a typically blunt speech. She told MPs: “This ongoing irresponsible behaviour will no doubt be remembered in history as one of the greatest failures of humankind.”
Thunberg, who had earlier met the heads of several of the UK’s political parties, also said today’s generation of leaders around the world had not acted fast enough to halt climate change. “You lied to us. You gave us false hope. You told us that the future was something to look forward to,” she said. “You don’t listen to the science because you are only interested in solutions that will enable you to carry on like before.”
Business news is infuriating as usual:
More than 6,100 stores are closing in 2019 as the retail apocalypse drags on — here's the full list
The staggering rate of store closures that has rocked the retail industry over the last couple of years is expected to continue in 2019, with roughly the same level of closures expected this year.
Retailers closed a record-breaking 102 million square feet of store space in 2017, then smashed that record in 2018 by closing another 155 million square feet of space, according to estimates by the commercial real estate firm CoStar Group.
"This year we are predicting more of the same in the retail space," said Drew Myers, a CoStar senior consultant.
Related, eat the rich.
Stocks surge to fresh record highs
Strong quarterly financial results helped propel stocks to close at record highs on Tuesday, as ongoing trade tensions and slowing global growth failed to upend the longest bull market in recent history.
The S&P 500 rose 0.88%, to 2,933, bringing it past its latest closing high, in September. The Nasdaq Composite was up 1.31%, to 8,120, also above its August record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.55%, to 26,657.
We need to primary some people:
California's Politicians Rush To Gut Internet Privacy Law With Pro-Tech Giant Amendments
The right for Californians to control the private data that tech companies hold on them may be undermined today at a critical committee hearing in Sacramento. The Register reports:
The Privacy And Consumer Protection Committee will hold a special hearing on Tuesday afternoon to discuss and vote on nine proposed amendments to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) -- which was passed last year in the U.S. state but has yet to come into force. Right now, the legislation is undergoing tweaks at the committee stage. Privacy advocates are warning that most of the proposals before the privacy committee are influenced by the very industry that the law was supposed to constrain: big tech companies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon.
In most cases, the amendments seek to add carefully worded exemptions to the law that would benefit business at the cost of consumer rights. But most upsetting to privacy folk is the withdrawal of an amendment by Assembly member Buffy Wicks (D-15th District) that incorporated changes that would enhance consumer data privacy rights. Wicks' proposal would have given consumers more of a say of what is done with their personal data and more power to sue companies that break the rules. But the Assembly member pulled the measure the day before the hearing because it was not going to get the necessary votes. If a measure is voted down it cannot be reintroduced in that legislative session.
Big Trac is voracious:
US Farmers Are Being Bled By the Tractor Monopoly
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg:
As tractors become as complex as Teslas, agricultural equipment manufacturers and their authorized dealerships are using technology as an excuse to force farmers to use the authorized service center -- and only the authorized service center -- for repairs. That's costing farmers -- and independent repair shops -- dearly. John Nauerth III, a farmer in remote Jackson, under pressure to plant, waited a costly "two or three hours" for an authorized dealer to show up at his farm to plug in a computer and diagnose the problem. Worse, the dealer didn't have the repair part -- and independent repair shops, excluded from the repair monopoly, didn't either. "Right now, you're at the mercy of the dealers," Nauerth said. "Good thing is we figured out a way to get it running with a two-by-six piece of plywood."
It's not cheap. In Nebraska, an independent mechanic can replace a John Deere Co tractor transmission. But if the farmer wants to drive it out of the mechanic's garage, a Deere technician must be hired for $230, plus $130 per hour, to show up to plug a computer into the tractor to authorize the part, according to Motherboard. Making matters more difficult, equipment manufacturers and dealers have been consolidating for years, reducing the number of techs and increasing the distance they must travel. Gary Wertish, president of the Minnesota Farmers Union, which supports Minnesota's Fair Repair bill, cited this problem as especially costly. "It can be 50 miles to the nearest dealership," he explained in a phone interview. "If independent repair businesses could do the work, that'd solve a lot of problems, especially in the spring and fall."
The report highlights the Minnesota Fair Repair bill that will be debated in the state's House of Representatives in the coming weeks.
The Fair Repair legislation is one of many currently in consideration across twenty U.S. states. It "requires that manufacturers of equipment with embedded electronics -- everything from a tractor to an iPhone -- must make available repair manuals, parts and tools to independent repair businesses that it makes available to dealerships and other authorized repair businesses," reports Bloomberg. "It must also provide the means to reset software locks disabled during diagnosis and repair."
Surf’s up:
Skyscraper's Rooftop Pool Spills Everywhere as Earthquake Rocks Manila
The Philippines was rocked with a 6.3 earthquake this week that sent buildings swaying and people running for safety.
An anonymous reader shares a report: But one of the most bizarre videos of the earthquake so far has to be this footage of water pouring out of a residential skyscraper in Manila's Binondo district. According to local reports, that water is from a penthouse swimming pool. The building, called the Anchor Skysuites, is relatively new and didn't officially open until 2015. It's one of the tallest buildings in the area and is credited as the tallest building in any Chinatown around the world outside of China. The video, credited to Michael Rivo, was just one of many videos capturing the terrifying experience.
For side pocket:
Tesla Investigates After Parked Model S Appears To Explode In China
"CNN reports on CCTV footage from China showing a parked Model S bursting violently into flames," writes Slashdot reader dryriver. From the report:
Tesla is investigating after one of its vehicles appeared to explode in China. A short video of surveillance footage posted on Chinese social media site Weibo (WB) showed white smoke emerging from what looks like a white Tesla car parked at a lot in Shanghai. After a few seconds, the electric vehicle bursts into flames and the clip ends soon afterward. The video, which was filmed just after 8:15 pm local time on April 21, appears to show a Tesla Model S sedan. It was posted on Chinese social media a couple of hours later and has since been shared widely. The clip attracted a mix of derision and outrage on Weibo. "Us car owners demand an explanation," wrote user Miao Hongyang. "Jeopardizing our safety in a moment's instant and the fact it ignited so quickly is something we will not tolerate." Another Weibo user registered under the name Your Dad, added: "One thing I've learned from this incident: from now on, don't ever park next to a Tesla.'"
Lastly, local news is News Of The Weird tonight:
Santa Rosa man reunited with prosthetic leg after losing it during Cloverdale skydive
It was an unusual discovery: A prosthetic leg in a Nike tennis shoe was found early Monday in a Cloverdale lumberyard.
It turns out the leg fell from the sky, lost during a skydive Sunday afternoon at the nearby Cloverdale Municipal Airport, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office said.
It belonged to Santa Rosa native Dion Callaway. The 39-year-old man, who has performed nearly 500 jumps since 2003, lost the prosthetic leg at the beginning of his 10,000-foot dive. When he landed, Dion and others from NorCal Skydiving launched a daylong search of nearby vineyards and properties where it might have fallen.
“I’ve jumped with the prosthetic before, but a rush of air got inside this time and it just flew off,” Callaway said Monday after being reunited with his leg. “I tried to watch where it was falling, but I was so overwhelmed in that moment I could not keep track.”
Oh, and California fire season started today.