Anonymous Democrats on the Special Counsel Report: 'It's a Nightmare' and 'Beyond Devestating'

A grade eight student from Ontario‚ Canada has helped to settle a long-standing historical debate by proving that a so-called “death ray” designed by the Ancient Greek polymath Archimedes could really have worked. The weapon - which supposedly harnessed the sun’s rays in order to incinerate enemy ships - is reported to have been deployed against the Roman Navy with deadly consequences‚ yet researchers have yet to discern whether the ancient contraption really existed.To help resolve the dispute‚ 12-year-old Brenden Sener built a scaled-down version of it‚ and ultimately concluded that the concept works and could plausibly have been used in battle. The original death ray is said to have been used against the invading Romans during the Siege of Syracuse‚ which lasted from 213 to 212 BCE. As warships advanced on the Hellenistic city - which is located on the island of Sicily - local defenders turned to Archimedes’ inventions to help keep the enemy at bay.Among the wonderful machines rumored to have been used is the famous Claw of Archimedes‚ which supposedly lifted Roman ships out of the water before dropping them from a great height. According to sources from the Greek historian Lucian‚ Archimedes also placed mirrors along the bay of Syracuse in order to focus the sun’s rays onto the enemy’s ships‚ causing them to burst into flames.While some scholars - including the famous French philosopher René Descartes - have dismissed the whole idea as fiction‚ others have attempted to recreate the weapon with reasonable success. In 2005‚ for instance‚ a team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found that Archimedes’ design could set a ship alight in just 11 minutes.With no enemies to vaporize‚ Sener settled for a tabletop version of the ancient death ray‚ using a series of concave mirrors and LED desk lamps. He found that when using the reflectors to focus a 50-watt heat source onto a piece of cardboard‚ the temperature of the target could be raised by 2°C (3.6°F) with each additional mirror‚ up to a total of three mirrors.Adding a fourth mirror then caused a massive temperature jump of 8°C (14.4°F).When he repeated the experiment using a 100-watt lamp‚ he found that “the change in temperature with each mirror was 4°C [7.2°F] up to 3 mirrors and an additional 10°C [18°F] with the 4th mirror.”“Based on my experimental findings‚ I agree with the MIT group and believe that with a strong enough heat source and larger‚ multiple mirrors all focused at a perfect angle‚ combustion could be possible‚” writes the young study author.Ultimately‚ he concludes that “the historical descriptions of the use of the Death Ray in ancient Syracuse is plausible‚ however no archeological evidence of the Archimedes Death Ray has been found besides what is recorded in the books of Ancient Philosophers.”For his efforts‚ Sener has been awarded the Matthews Hall Annual Science Fair Gold Medal‚ the Physical Sciences Thames Valley Science and Engineering Fair Gold Medal‚ and the London Public Library Award for Inspiring Children’s Interests in Science and Technology.

You have never been to Null Island. In fact‚ we don’t suppose many people actually have. However‚ speaking in terms of digital geospatial data points‚ it's a place that's been documented time and time again. Ok‚ enough with the riddles. Null Island is the jokey name given to the location at zero degrees latitude and zero degrees longitude. In other words‚ the intersection where Earth's prime meridian meets the equator. This works out to be a point in the Gulf of Guinea‚ a portion of the eastern tropical Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Africa.Since its geographical coordinates are 0°N 0°E‚ it is frequently recorded as the geographic point of a location that's been incorrectly inputted into a digital map. As explained by the US Library of Congress blog‚ the bug can occur for several reasons. Often‚ it’s simply a typo from the slip of a finger. While entering a place’s location into a digital dataset‚ misspelled street names or confusing building numbers can invalidate the address and result in its coordinates being automatically logged as null‚ which the computer records as 0°N 0°E.In the event of most errors or incomplete entries‚ the dodgy data point will be assigned to the coordinates 0°N 0°E.                                                       Null Island has become a simple way of identifying problematic or erroneous geocodes on maps. If you’re looking to clean up errors in a geographical database‚ a good place to start is by searching the coordinates 0°N 0°E where you’re likely to find many bug-laden entries.Data analysts noticed this quirk and started to jokingly call it “Null Island‚” utilizing it as a means to track down geocode errors. It’s not clear when the nickname arose‚ but the location of Null Island first appeared on Natural Earth‚ a public domain map maintained by volunteer geographers‚ before 2011.In their words: “It is a fictional‚ 1-meter-square island located off Africa where the equator and prime meridian cross. Being centered at 0‚0 (zero latitude‚ zero longitude) it is useful for flagging geocode failures which are routed to 0‚0 by most mapping services.”Of course‚ Null Island isn’t an actual landmass. However‚ if you literally sail out to the Gulf of Guinea towards the intersection between the world’s prime meridian and the equator‚ you will come across a large buoy. Known as Station 13010 - Soul‚ the weather-monitoring buoy is part of the Prediction and Research Moored Array in the Atlantic (PIRATA) system that keeps tabs on the tropical Atlantic Ocean. Together with 16 other buoys‚ the floating weather station measures things like wind speed‚ air temperature‚ and humidity to help inform weather forecasts and climate models.In the real world‚ Null Island is just a lone buoy floating in the Atlantic. However‚ in the virtual world‚ it's a hypothetical pin-point where misplaced data points lurk. 

If you’re a North American who has acquired eclipse glasses early for the April 8 event‚ or just someone who has old ones lying around‚ now might be a good time to get them out. The giant grouping of sunspots collectively known as AR3576 is approaching the middle of the side of the Sun facing us. It’s so large that Perseverance was able to see it from Mars‚ and it has grown bigger since‚ so if you’ve got safe material for looking at the Sun‚ you should see it without magnification. That could be particularly memorable if AR3576 also spits out X-class flares‚ whose impact goes into the history books.Big sunspots do not always produce large solar flares‚ but there is a connection. Consequently‚ it’s quite plausible we will soon witness X-flares associated with AR3576. If we don’t‚ we can still expect to encounter them before this solar cycle is over – after all we had one in December. So what are they?What are solar flares?As we know‚ the Sun is a constant source of light‚ which is a form of electromagnetic radiation‚ and it also radiates at other wavelengths. Every now and then‚ however‚ a small (or sometimes not so small) part of the Sun releases more electromagnetic radiation than usual. The extra brightness is not so great that we notice the Sun as a whole getting brighter‚ but if we have telescopes trained on the area‚ we can see the brightening patch.Flares are a consequence of irregularities in the Sun’s magnetic field. Initially‚ the field will block some of the heat rising from the center of the Sun‚ causing a sunspot. However‚ when the field gets tangled or reorganizes‚ the energy released can accelerate charged particles through the Sun’s atmosphere‚ producing a swift extra burst of energy.It's not hard to spot AR3576 on this recent image of the Sun – not one sunspot‚ but an immense cluster.Image credit: SDO/NASAThe larger the sunspot‚ the greater the flare potential‚ but the relationship between them is far from perfect. Both rise and fall with the 11-year solar cycle‚ the peak of which we have either just seen‚ or will see soon. A big spot does not guarantee big flares‚ but it certainly raises the chances.How are solar flares categorized?Flares are categorized into five classes based on the peak flux in watts per square meter (W/m2)‚ counting only the energy released at between 1 and 8 Angstroms (known as soft X-rays). For decades‚ successive Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) have had the job of measuring the energy released by flares so they can be classified.The smallest flares‚ A-class‚ peak at less than 10-7 W/m2‚ which is almost too small to notice at our distance. B and C classes (respectively 10-7-10-6 and 10-6–10-5 W/m2) are of interest to solar astronomers‚ but have little effect on most people. M-class flares  (10-5–10-4 W/m2) can be associated with aurora and sometimes radio blackouts and other inconvenient phenomena.The largest flares‚ those with more than 10-4 W/m2‚ are called X-class. There is no theoretical limit on how large the X-class can be. Within the other classes‚ flares are subdivided 1-10‚ but the largest flare encountered by GOES was so powerful it saturated its detectors‚ leaving astronomers to estimate its size at X40-X45.An X-flare’s number indicates how many times as energetic it is as an X1 flare‚ so an X9 is nine times as powerful as an X1‚ around 9 x 10-4 W/m2.The largest solar flare ever measured saturated instruments capable of measuring up to X28‚ leaving us to estimate how much higher it was.Image credit: SOHO/EIT (ESA &; NASA)Are solar flares a threat?Definitely‚ but also not directly.The first thing to note is that the problem is seldom the flares themselves. The threat arises from coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that fling charged particles into space. When large CMEs encounter the Earth’s magnetosphere they can cause geomagnetic storms‚ producing everything from pretty lights near the poles to generating induced currents that can disrupt power grids‚ plunging regions into darkness.Most flares don’t produce CMEs‚ but the larger a flare is‚ the more powerful a CME it can trigger.As you probably noticed‚ the world suffered no serious consequences from recent X-flares‚ but the fact that not every X-flare is damaging doesn’t mean none are.   Unsurprisingly‚ we have more to fear from an X50 flare than an X5. Direction‚ however‚ is at least as important as size. Half of X-flares are on the far side of the Sun and we’re only aware of them if a spacecraft happens to be suitably positioned to notice. Even flares that are on the side we can see won’t affect us much if pointed away from the Earth. The flares we need to worry about are those that are both powerful and score direct hits on the Earth’s magnetosphere.The standard against which flares are measured is the Carrington Event. Although the damage was limited to a few shocked telegraph operators and some fires‚ it occurred in a world where telegraph lines were the only long stretches of wire in which induced currents could grow to dangerous levels. Today‚ a similar event could knock out satellites‚ cause trains to crash‚ or blow electrical transformers‚ rendering our communications networks and sources of energy useless‚ potentially taking weeks or months to restore.Moreover‚ the Carrington Event may be far from the limit. Tree rings reveal evidence of so-called Miyake events which‚ as far as we can tell‚ are flares that make the Carrington Event look small. We don’t know what a Miyake Event would do to a technological civilization like our own‚ but it’s unlikely we’d enjoy it.

It is a week of breakthroughs and exciting announcements about nuclear fusion. Following the exciting updates from the American’s Inertial Fusion‚ scientists in the United Kingdom have announced the highest energy output ever achieved with nuclear fusion.A test in the Joint European Torus (JET) was able to create high-fusion power for five seconds‚ releasing 69.26 megajoules of energy from just 0.21 milligrams of fuel. This is equivalent to the energy you can get out of 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of coal. The fuel in question is a mixture of two types of heavy hydrogen called deuterium and tritium‚ which will be employed in the nuclear fusion power stations of the future.Despite the record‚ JET is not designed to reach the energy expected for those stations. It is a pathfinder for full-scale prototypes like ITER and DEMO.  ITER will come on next year and should generate 10 times as much energy as put in. Its successor‚ DEMO‚ will generate electricity and 25 times the energy put in. Still‚ the JET results show the potential of this technology.  “Our successful demonstration of operational scenarios for future fusion machines like ITER and DEMO‚ validated by the new energy record‚ instil greater confidence in the development of fusion energy. Beyond setting a new record‚ we achieved things we’ve never done before and deepened our understanding of fusion physics‚” Professor Ambrogio Fasoli‚ Programme Manager (CEO) at EUROfusion‚ said in a statement.   “We can reliably create fusion plasmas using the same fuel mixture to be used by commercial fusion energy powerplants‚ showcasing the advanced expertise developed over time‚” added Dr Fernanda Rimini‚ JET Senior Exploitation Manager.JET‚ ITER‚ and DEMO are a nuclear fusion design known as a tokamak. The fusing plasma is contained in a donut-shaped chamber by powerful magnets. Fusion is the process that powers the Sun and all the stars‚ but on Earth‚ we don’t naturally have the pressures and temperatures present at the core of these objects. So we need to get creative‚ and usually‚ this means heating plasma to over 100 million degrees.  At such temperatures‚ the plasma releases a lot of energy (that is the goal) but there can be bursts that damage the confinement walls. The fusion of deuterium and tritium creates helium and this byproduct needs to be discarded without destroying the exhaust system. JET has demonstrated that both these challenges can be solved.“Not only did we demonstrate how to soften the intense heat flowing from the plasma to the exhaust‚ we also showed in JET how we can get the plasma edge into a stable state thus preventing bursts of energy reaching the wall. Both techniques are intended to protect the integrity of the walls of future machines. This is the first time that we’ve ever been able to test those scenarios in a deuterium-tritium environment‚” Dr Emmanuel Joffrin‚ EUROfusion Tokamak Exploitation Task Force Leader from CEA‚ added.To create those high temperatures‚ it is necessary to input a lot of energy. In nuclear fusion‚ the goal is to reach a Q factor higher than one‚ with one being you get out as much energy as you put in. The only experiment that has reached that so far was the Inertial Fusion system in the US‚ which got a Q of 1.5. The best that JET has done is 0.69 but the energy output of JET was 20 times higher than what the Inertial Fusion has achieved.Commercial fusion power stations are still a couple of decades away but these recent breakthroughs show that there are multiple paths to that goal and only by further experimentation can we continue to refine and improve.

Hold onto your testicles (if you happen to have any): the pacu fish have made it to Paris‚ and there is concern that they may be spreading. For those not in the know‚ the pacu fish are a group of originally South American freshwater fish species related to the more famously scary piranha. They also have weirdly human-like teeth which they have been reportedly using to bite swimmers' testicles. What do pacu fish eat?Despite their frankly outrageous-looking set of teeth‚ wild pacu fish such as the tambaqui‚ also known as the black pacu (Colossoma macropomum)‚ are apparently more inclined to snack on fruits and seeds that fall into the water‚ as well as invertebrates‚ zooplankton‚ and small fish according to the Audobon Nature Institute. They have extremely strong jaws to get through the nut shells‚ leading to the nickname "nutcracker fish". These teeth are used to bite nuts and seeds‚ so where has the testicle-biting rumor come from?Image credit: Erik Klietsch/Shutterstock.comWhere do pacu fish live?Pacu fish is a broad name for a group of fish that typically live in South America‚ belonging to the taxonomic fish family Serrasalmidae. However these fish are popular in home aquariums‚ with those looking to care for one often not fully realizing what they are getting themselves into.In 2023‚ an 11-year-old boy caught a pacu in Oklahoma in the pond behind his house‚ many many miles from their South American home. According to the Independent‚ pacu fish were first seen in European waters in August 2013‚ with swimmers warned not to skinny dip in the Øresund channel between Denmark and Sweden because of the danger of the fish biting testicles. Reports from the Paris police also revealed that the pacus had been seen in the river Seine in France. “The pacu is not normally dangerous to people but it has quite a serious bite. There have been incidents in other countries‚ such as Papua New Guinea where some men have had their testicles bitten off. They bite because they’re hungry‚ and testicles sit nicely in their mouth‚" fish expert Henrik Carl reportedly told Swedish outlet The Local. Don’t worry though – the professor later clarified that he was joking. The pacus are not after your crown jewels. How big do pacu fish get?The black pacu is probably the most popular for at-home fish tanks‚ but it can grow rapidly‚ reaching almost 1 meter in length (3 feet) and weighing over 29 kilograms (65 pounds)‚ writes How Stuff Works.In 2016‚ three red-bellied pacu (Piaractus brachypomus) turned up in the waterways across Michigan after likely being illegally dumped by pet-owner who no longer wanted them‚ possibly because of their size.How long do pacu fish live?Depending on the species‚ they can live between five and 15 years or even longer. Some suggest that in captivity they can live for between 20 and 25 years.

Imagine a world where highways are not just ribbons of asphalt cutting through the landscape but also unexpected crossroads for the wild inhabitants of our planet. For these creatures‚ a highway is a bewildering maze of fast-moving metal giants‚ a place where their instinctual understanding of the world falls short. It’s precisely in these moments... The post Police receive call about scared sloth stranded on highway and jump into action to help appeared first on Animal Channel.

On Thursday's PBS NewsHour‚ the taxpayer-funded newscast labored to dismiss the special counsel's report on Biden's misuse of classified documents as nothing like Donald Trump's misuse‚ and turned to a Yale Law professor named Oona Hathaway to explain why no one should care about this‚ or Biden's failing mental capacity. They ran a clip of Biden proclaiming himself innocent. No Republicans were quoted in this report. Here's one way to know PBS rigged it: Oona Hathaway donated $1‚500 to Biden for President in 2020. This‚ actually‚ is a bit of pattern. She donated $1‚500 to Barack Obama in 2008 and $500 to Hillary Clinton in 2016. In 2010‚ she also has donated $1‚000 to Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Ct.) and $250 to Rep. Rosa DeLaura (D-Ct.) PBS didn't disclose that record.  Anchorman Geoff Bennett led Hathaway through the case. "So this investigation found that President Biden had willfully retained classified material after finishing his term as vice president and that he had shared sensitive information with a ghostwriter who helped him with his 2017 memoir. The president isn't facing charges in what would typically be considered a felony. Does this outcome comport with the facts and evidence in the case?" Hathaway naturally said yes‚ that "there are a number of reasons they don't think a jury would be inclined to believe that in fact he behaved willfully." Bennett just noted Biden read from the classified documents to his ghostwriter but hey‚ why would a juror find "he behaved willfully"? Bennett then nudged the professor to explain how Trump's case is much worse: "And the separate investigation into Donald Trump's mishandling of classified documents‚ that resulted in 40 criminal counts against him. Remind us of the significant differences here‚ why Donald Trump is being prosecuted and President Biden isn't." Hathaway’s defense of Biden omitted a major detail of Hur’s report‚ one Bennett himself had just raised: The 2017 recording of Biden acknowledging he had boxes of classified documents‚ contradicting the administration’s claim that all documents had been returned as soon as Biden became aware they were in his possession. This was the kicker‚ where Bennett quoted from Biden's angry lawyer about Hur's "highly prejudicial language" (yeah‚ the media never uses that) and whether Hur crossed a line into "excess" in his findings:  Geoff Bennett: And‚ on that point‚ Oona‚ the special counsel‚ Robert Hur‚ in this case‚ said that he chose not to bring charges in part because — this is from his report — "Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury‚ as he did during our interview with him‚ as a sympathetic‚ well-meaning‚ elderly man with a poor memory." Now‚ in response to this‚ the White House counsel and the president's personal attorney‚ Bob Bauer‚ wrote a letter where they took issue with that. And they said that: "The report uses highly prejudicial language to describe a commonplace occurrence among witnesses‚ which is a lack of recall after — of years-old events." This report reads like more than a recitation of facts. Does it cross the line into excess? She agreed:  Oona Hathaway: Well‚ it's interesting. I mean‚ the report‚ when you read it‚ it's clearly written for a public audience. It's not written like a normal legal document. It's not written in legalese‚ really. And certainly the beginning summary is written with a kind of audience in mind. It's written with a public audience in mind and certainly with reporters in mind. And it does characterize some of these events in ways that are kind of striking. That was one of the lines in particular that sort of jumps out. I mean‚ one way to read that and one way to say that differently would be to say‚ look‚ this is many years later‚ he doesn't remember the exact contents of the documents. And they go on later to explain that one of the reasons for that may be that‚ in fact‚ he may not even have known what documents exactly were removed from his office because he didn't actually pack many of these boxes himself. In fact‚ very — he didn't really pack any of these boxes himself. And he didn't direct that many of these documents be removed. And so the extent to which he actually knew some of these classified documents were in his office is hard to determine. And so when they were asking him some of these questions‚ he wasn't recalling all the details. And that makes it hard to prove‚ I mean‚ because you have to show that there was intent‚ that he knew he had classified documents‚ that he had removed them‚ he intentionally retained them‚ and he knew that in doing so that he was acting unlawfully. And that's what you have to prove to convince a jury to convict. And I think‚ rightfully‚ the special prosecutor here decided that they just didn't have the information that they would need to be able to convince a jury of that. PS: Here is the list of Hathaway's donations‚ which include $1‚600 in donations to Democrats other than those above. (Below this screen capture is $100 to David Samuel Friedman in 2002. In total‚ it's $6‚350 in cash‚ all to Democrats: 

President Biden embarrassed himself last night during a press conference to defend his mental acuity by mixing up Mexico and Egypt‚ counties not even on the same continent. But during the Friday morning newscasts of ABC’s Good Morning America‚ CBS Mornings‚ and NBC’s Today‚ the liberal media circled the wagons as they tried to ignore‚ downplay‚ and make excuses for Biden’s disastrous performance. One correspondent even suggested mixing Mexico and Egypt was a common occurrence. ABC’s chief White House correspondent and Biden apple polisher Mary Bruce was working hard as she tried to lionize Biden's anger at Special Counsel Robert Hur. “I don't recall the last time I saw the President this angry. Biden furious and frustrated‚ ripping into the special counsel for questioning his memory and recall‚” she boasted. Brice tried to downplay Biden’s blunder by arguing that he got it right eventually: Now‚ moments after defending his memory‚ the President mistakenly referred to the president of Egypt as the president of Mexico. He did later get it right. But look‚ the President clearly knows while legally this may be over‚ politically‚ this report can still do him some damage and that obviously angers him and is something‚ George‚ he's trying to get ahead of. Over on CBS‚ senior White House correspondent Weijia Jiang tried to hide the mix-up while also touting Biden’s criticism of Israel; editing the clip to cut out Biden’s blunder: JIANG: The press conference was tense with reporters crammed together shouting questions. The president also offered his sharpest criticism yet of Israel when he was asked about its handling of the war against Hamas. BIDEN: The conduct of the response [long pause] in Gaza‚ in the Gaza Strip has been‚ um‚ over the top. [Cuts back to live]     Unfortunately‚ her effort to omit the mix-up from the show was blown up by CBS Mornings co-anchor Tony Dokoupil‚ who called it out directly. “And to be holding a press conference about your mental acuity and to mix up Egypt and Mexico. Mexico is not even in the conversation. No questions about Mexico. It’s not the topic of the press conference‚” he decried to senior White House correspondent Ed O’Keefe. O’Keefe responded by seriously suggesting that everyone has mixed up Mexico and Egypt. “And it was also about the southern border of Gaza‚ so he went to Mexico. Who among us hasn't screwed that up those two countries before? But we're not president‚” he rhetorically shrugged. Earlier in their discussion‚ O’Keefe lauded Biden for how “he leaned right into” the special counsel’s description of him. “[H]e leaned right into it last night and said I am a sympathetic elderly man who has a good memory! And that will be the thing he's got to convince and prove to voters over the next several months‚” he said. In a bit of a contrast on NBC‚ chief White House correspondent Peter Alexander highlighted Biden’s blunder (click “expand”): ALEXANDER: Adding that a jury would likely see the President “as a sympathetic‚ well-meaning‚ and elderly man with a poor memory.” PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: I'm well-meaning‚ and I'm an elderly man and know what the hell I'm doing. ALEXANDER: Moments later‚ the President confusing Mexico and Egypt when talking about the crisis in Gaza. BIDEN: The President of Mexico‚ el-Sisi did not want to open up the gate to allow humanitarian material to get in. But a few minutes later‚ Today co-anchor Savannah Guthrie lamented that the special counsel’s report was “a body blow to President Biden in a place where he already was vulnerable.” She went on to whine about how the American people don’t seem to care about former President Trump’s mental acuity: I just have a few seconds Hallie‚ but I just have to ask – Listen‚ neither one of these candidates are young men‚ let's be honest‚ okay‚ and both have had senior moments. Donald Trump recently confusing Nikki Haley and Nancy Pelosi on January 6th. There have been other gaffes about the next -- we're going to start World War II and so forth. Do voters treat them equally in terms of that issue? While they mostly focus on the section of the report that documented how Biden had forgotten when his son Beau passed away‚ none of them mentioned that the report also noted that he had forgotten when he was vice president for President Barack Obama. The transcripts are below. Click "expand" to read: ABC’s Good Morning America February 9‚ 2024 7:05:13 a.m. Eastern GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Mary‚ the President angry last night. MARY BRUCE: In fact‚ George‚ I don't recall the last time I saw the President this angry. Biden furious and frustrated‚ ripping into the special counsel for questioning his memory and recall. In this hastily arranged press event‚ the President doing a little damage control as his legal exoneration now threatens to become a political liability. [Cuts to video] Overnight President Biden defending his handling of classified information and his memory‚ firing back at Special Counsel Robert Hur after he declined to prosecute the President‚ but raised questions about Biden's mental acuity. (…) 7:08:23 a.m. Eastern [Cuts back to live] BRUCE: Now‚ moments after defending his memory‚ the President mistakenly referred to the president of Egypt as the president of Mexico. He did later get it right. But look‚ the President clearly knows while legally this may be over‚ politically‚ this report can still do him some damage and that obviously angers him and is something‚ George‚ he's trying to get ahead of. CBS Mornings February 9‚ 2024 7:05:27 a.m. Eastern (…) WEIJIA JIANG: The press conference was tense with reporters crammed together shouting questions. The president also offered his sharpest criticism yet of Israel when he was asked about its handling of the war against Hamas. PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: The conduct of the response [long pause] in Gaza‚ in the Gaza Strip has been‚ um‚ over the top. [Cuts back to live] (…) 7:08:30 a.m. Eastern GAYLE KING: Let's start with President Biden having to defend his mental capabilities. Described in the report as “sympathetic‚ elderly man who is well meaning.” That is not how you want your president to be perceived. What do you make of that? ED O’KEEFE: No‚ but he leaned right into it last night and said I am a sympathetic elderly man who has a good memory! And that will be the thing he's got to convince and prove to voters over the next several months. I mean‚ yesterday‚ in many ways‚ encapsulated what so many voters tell us they're so worried about. Two guys‚ one who has to spent a lot of time this year in a courtroom‚ another who is perceived as a nice guy but perhaps too old and unable to do the job. And at this point they've got to figure out “which one of these guy do I prefer?” NATE BURLESON: Ed. To Gayle's point‚ perception is reality though‚ when it comes to the voters. This year's an important year. And when he has these moments -- and we were talking about this off air‚ Tony – I mean‚ this is something that is glaring moving into this year. TONY DOKOUPIL: And to be holding a press conference about your mental acuity and to mix-up Egypt and Mexico. Mexico is not even in the conversation. No questions about Mexico. It’s not the topic of the press conference. KING: Exactly. DOKOUPIL: It’s not a good look. O’KEFFE: No. And it was also about the southern border of Gaza‚ so he went to Mexico. Who among us hasn't screwed that up those two countries before? But we're not president. (…) NBC’s Today February 9‚ 2024 7:04:58 a.m. Eastern (…) PETER ALEXANDER: Adding that a jury would likely see the President “as a sympathetic‚ well-meaning‚ and elderly man with a poor memory.” PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: I'm well meaning‚ and I'm an elderly man and know what the hell I'm doing. ALEXANDER: Moments later‚ the President confusing Mexico and Egypt when talking about the crisis in Gaza. BIDEN: The President of Mexico‚ el-Sisi did not want to open up the gate to allow humanitarian material to get in. (…) 7:06:59 a.m. Eastern SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Hallie‚ as you look at this and analyze this‚ I mean‚ it's a body blow to President Biden in a place where he already was vulnerable. How damaging do you think this could be? HALLIE JACKSON: Well‚ here's another phrase for it: “gut punch.” That's the way that one source described it to me. (…) 7:09:11 a.m. Eastern GUTHRIE: I just have a few seconds Hallie‚ but I just have to ask – Listen‚ neither one of these candidates are young men‚ let's be honest‚ okay‚ and both have had senior moments. Donald Trump recently confusing Nikki Haley and Nancy Pelosi on January 6th. There have been other gaffes about the next -- we're going to start World War II and so forth. Do voters treat them equally in terms of that issue? JACKSON: No‚ they don't. And we see that in the polls. Fewer than half of voters‚ Savannah‚ in our most recent poll have the same concerns about Donald Trump's age and mental fitness for the job than they do about President Biden for whatever reason that is. (…)

Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy asked the question that everyone is thinking after special counsel Robert Hur released his damning report about President Joe Biden's classified documents scandal.After Biden defended himself in a brief speech — that showed more signs of Biden's cognitive decline — Doocy confronted Biden with Hur's description that Biden is a "well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory." Those circumstances‚ Hur's report explained‚ are the chief reason why he declined to prosecute Biden despite clear evidence that Biden broke the law."I'm well-meaning and I'm an elderly man‚ and I know what the hell I'm doing‚" Biden reacted. "I've been president and I put this country back on its feet. I don't need his recommendation."Doocy followed up with the million-dollar question."How bad is your memory? And can you continue as president?" he asked.But instead of providing the American people with a legitimate answer‚ Biden chose to attack Doocy with sarcasm."My memory is so bad‚ I let you speak‚" the president quipped. — (@) Biden spent the remaining question-and-answer time attacking the press and Hur's report.Not only did he mock questions about his memory‚ but Biden dismissed concerns that voters have about his mental and physical health‚ refused to take responsibility for improperly storing highly classified documents (he blamed his staff)‚ asserted that he is the "most qualified" American to be president‚ denied sharing classified information with his ghostwriter‚ and claimed he did not break the law.Hur's report‚ however‚ revealed that Biden did share classified information with his ghostwriter‚ and the report certainly did not absolve him of breaking the law."Our investigation uncovered evidence that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen‚" the report states.Biden's public reaction to the report‚ his inability to grapple with the facts‚ and his decision to lash out at the media have some Democrats wondering why the White House thought the press conference was a good idea because‚ if one thing is for certain‚ it did not help him.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!