Voters or juries should decide. The post No Member of Congress Should Be Expelled Based on “Allegations” appeared first on Frontpage Mag.

Iran warned Sunday that military vessels approaching the Strait of Hormuz would be a violation of the fragile cease-fire and face a “strong and forceful response.” This comes after President Trump said US ships would enter the Strait to clear mines and blockade the Strait. In a statement released through state-run media outlets, the IRGC said that military vessels will be subject to a “firm response” if they try to pass through the strait, which Iran has blocked since the U.S.–Iran war started in late February. “Permission to transit, in accordance with specific regulations, is granted exclusively to non-military vessels,” the IRGC said. The statement did not say whether this applied to just the U.S. military or to other countries. Trump announced plans earlier Sunday to stop “any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave” the waterway until there’s a point where all oil is allowed to go in and out without obstruction from Iran. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy stated it has “full control” of the Strait and that the waterway remains open for non-military vessels. “Contrary to the false claims of certain enemy officials, the Strait of Hormuz is open for the passage of non-military vessels under smart control and management, in accordance with specific regulations,” the naval forces said in a statement, according to two semi-official Iranian news agencies. Usually, when a strait is open, you see ships going through it. One or two Chinese, Pakistani, or Russian vessels hardly qualify. The post IRGC Warns of Forceful Response to US Blockade appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM After a flood, a pipe break, or a contamination event, one of the most pressing questions is also one of the hardest to answer fast: is the water safe? Standard microbiological testing takes hours, sometimes a full day. In that gap, people make decisions without good information, and public health officials try to manage a situation they cannot fully assess. Researchers at Germany’s Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) have built something for exactly that gap. Their device tests water for waste contamination in under a minute, using a single drop of water and a smartphone. The test targets urobilin, a compound produced during hemoglobin breakdown and released through human and animal waste. Its presence in water signals possible contamination. The test strip reacts to the molecule by emitting light, which the phone’s camera reads in real time. How it works The hardware is minimal: a small LED module in a 3D-printed attachment that clips onto a smartphone. The phone powers the light source, and its camera captures the strip’s luminescence as it happens. No additional chemicals, no preparation steps. The team calls it a “drop-and-detect” approach. Swayam Prakash, who developed the test as a Marie Curie Fellow at BAM alongside chemical sensing expert Knut Rurack, said the system held up in real-world testing. “The rapid test was successfully validated using real water samples from rivers as well as at the inflow and outflow of a Berlin wastewater treatment plant. Even under complex environmental conditions with natural interfering substances, urobilin was reliably detected.” The test picks up very low concentrations of the compound, which matters for catching contamination before levels climb. Why it matters in the field Portability is the point. Traditional lab-based testing requires centralized facilities and trained staff. That limits how quickly results can happen, and in many regions the infrastructure doesn’t exist at all. This system is compact enough to carry into a disaster zone and simple enough to use without technical training. For relief teams, a one-minute answer changes what is possible during a flood response or infrastructure failure. Results can be stored and shared digitally, which could help coordinate monitoring across wider areas. The researchers believe the same platform could eventually detect other waterborne markers beyond urobilin. For now, the immediate application is clear: faster answers in the places where waiting is least affordable. Source study: ACS Sensors— Rapid onsite detection of fecal contamination in water using a portable fluorometric assay     Did this solution stand out? Share it with a friend or support our mission by becoming an Emissary.The post Smartphone test detects water contamination in under a minute first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Most people have two main places: home and work. The idea that you need a third sounds obvious the moment you hear it, which is maybe why sociologist Ray Oldenburg felt the need to write a whole book about it in 1989. That book, The Great Good Place, named the concept: “third places” are spaces where people gather outside home and work, with no particular agenda, just to be somewhere together. The village square, the barbershop, the front stoop. The coffee shop where the same people show up every Tuesday and eventually learn each other’s names. “Third places are the environments where belonging has room to take shape,” says Spud Marshall, author of Designing Creative Communities. The trouble is that these spaces have been designed out of the way most Americans live. How modern life pushed them out Lucy Rose, founder of the Cost of Loneliness Project, traces the decline to overlapping forces. “Zoning laws often divide residential areas from shops, cafés, and gathering spaces, which means people must drive long distances to reach everyday meeting spots,” she says. “Car-dependent communities keep people moving quickly from place to place rather than lingering in shared spaces. Remote work has also reduced the number of casual interactions that once happened during the workday. As a result, many people now move between two primary environments: home and screens.” Without a third place, the only way to connect with other people is to schedule it, perform it, or scroll toward a digital approximation of it. Third places work because they ask so little. “They allow people to arrive and simply be present,” Rose says. “You do not need an invitation or a plan for conversation. You only need to show up.” That low bar is the whole point. These spaces give people a chance “to exchange ideas, build relationships, and feel like they have a role in shaping the place where they live,” Marshall says. Ten places worth trying The best third place is usually the one that already fits your habits. Coffee shops Cafés invite lingering by design. “People come at similar times each day and begin recognizing one another. Familiarity builds quickly in spaces like this,” Rose says. Coffee shops draw a mix of freelancers, students, and remote workers who want somewhere to be outside the house without needing a particular reason, which is exactly the kind of low-key regularity that turns strangers into familiar faces. Parks and community gardens These lush spaces offer connection without requiring it. Rene Mondy, a licensed professional counselor and founder of the Solo Dining Directory, notes that walking paths and benches let you choose your level of engagement on any given day. If you want something more social, volunteer at a community garden. “Working side-by-side creates conversation without forcing it,” Rose says. “People tend to return through the growing season, which gives relationships time to develop naturally.” Maker’s spaces Think: pottery studios, woodshops, fabrication labs. These creative hubs attract people who would rather build something together than make small talk. “These spaces tend to attract builders, artists, tinkerers, and curious learners,” Marshall says. “Conversation tends to emerge naturally, and collaborations often follow.” Restaurants “They offer many of my counseling clients structure, such as seating, ordering, and sensory engagement through food and conversation,” says Mondy. Becoming a regular somewhere is an easy way to be known without having to introduce yourself each time. Farmer’s markets Farmer’s markets have a built-in weekly rhythm that makes casual encounters almost inevitable. “The routine of a Saturday market becomes a shared community rhythm where casual interactions happen easily,” Rose says. These events, Marshall adds, create “a low-pressure environment where families, neighbors, and local entrepreneurs all interact in the same space.” Public libraries A library could be the most accessible third place in most towns: free and open to everyone. “They serve students, parents with young kids, job seekers, retirees, and lifelong learners,” Marshall says. Many also offer book clubs, language classes, and local programming that give people a reason to return. Libraries are closing across the country due to funding cuts, so showing up has benefits in both directions. Museums Museums suit anyone who wants to be around people without the obligation to talk. “Museums and galleries naturally support reflection,” Mondy says. “Ultimately, third places give us permission to pause, which allows us to grow.” Dog parks Dog parks remove the awkwardness of introducing yourself to a stranger. “Dogs often make introductions easier than people do,” Rose says. “Owners return with predictable routines and begin seeing the same faces again and again.” Gyms and fitness studios Spaces built around classes or groups create the kind of repeated contact that gradually becomes familiarity. “Running clubs, pickleball groups, and yoga classes bring people together around a shared activity. Repeated participation builds familiarity and trust over time,” Rose says. Bookstores Bookshops, particularly independent ones, are worth seeking out partly for their own sake. Like libraries, they’re closing faster than they’re opening. “Bookstores encourage curiosity and quiet exploration,” Mondy says. “They allow people to browse and spend time without needing to interact unless they want to.” The variety matters because different things work for different people and different moods. A good third place doesn’t require you to be socially ready, only present. Most are closer to your daily life than you’d expect. The trick is stopping instead of passing through.     Did this solution stand out? Share it with a friend or support our mission by becoming an Emissary.The post The low-effort way to build real connection: finding your third place first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.

Eric Swalwell Drops Out Of Governor's Race

a smarter kind of tax relief

In the late 1950s and early 60s, the Florida Panhandle was responsible for two-thirds of all loss-of-limb accident claims in the United States due largely to one town: Vernon, Florida. This was because Vernon was the site of a widespread insurance scam where residents would dismember themselves for a payout. The problem was so extensive, the town became known as “Nub City” for this very reason. The town itself was in severe economic decline. The steamboats that had once passed through the town had gradually disappeared and all the major railroads running through the county passed Vernon by. To make matters worse, the saw mill that had given many of the people of the town their jobs had closed down. IFC FilmsAn older resident of Vernon, Florida. How the scam began is unknown, but what is assumed is that at some point, one person living in Vernon lost a limb and received a large payout from their life insurance policy. Word of this large payout must have spread among the community, because more and more residents of the town began losing their limbs, and some even took out exorbitant life insurance policies directly before these horrible “accidents” befell them. With the dwindling opportunities of their small town, the prospect of receiving a large sum of money for mutilating one’s self became increasingly seductive to the people of Vernon. Some Nub Club members hacked and sawed their own limbs off, but most took the relatively easier method of shooting themselves with a shotgun. These people would make outlandish justifications for these injuries in their insurance claim. One claimed he shot his own hand while aiming for a hawk, while another said that he shot his foot when he mistook it for a squirrel. These claims generally received payouts of $5,000 to $10,000, but as the scam went on, the claims increased in value as the residents became more bold. John Joseph Healy, an insurance investigator for Continental National American insurance group, was sent to Vernon once the claims started exceeding $100,000. He said, “Vernon’s second-largest occupation was watching hound dogs mating in the town square, its largest was self-mutilation for monetary gain.” Wikimedia CommonsThe location of Vernon in Florida. “To sit in your car on a sweltering summer evening on the main street of Nub City,” he wrote in a report, “watching anywhere from eight to a dozen cripples walking along the street, gives the place a ghoulish, eerie atmosphere.” By the mid-1960s, 50 of the towns 700 residents were members of the “Nub Club.” Murray Armstrong, an insurance official for Liberty National who investigated the claims coming from the Florida Panhandle at the time, recalled, “There was a man who took out insurance with 28 or 38 companies.” However, it was near impossible to convict scammers of fraud, because jurors had a hard time believing that people would willingly amputate their own limbs and appendages. One farmer walked away with nearly $1,000,000 from a claim for a lost foot, even though evidence pointed to self-amputation. This practice finally ended in the late 1960s when premium rates became too high and some insurers stopped doing business in the Florida Panhandle. However, among the older residents of the town, many of whom are missing limbs, hands, or eyes, one can still see why Vernon is truly Nub City. In the 1980s, documentary filmmaker Errol Morris attempted to shoot a documentary about the town, but after he received death threats and was beaten up by the Marine veteran son of a Nub Club member, he turned his movie into a slice of life documentary about the eccentric residents of the town entitled in a film called Vernon, Florida. Next, read about the horrifying story of the Milwaukee Cannibal, Jeffrey Dahmer. Then, learn about five interesting death rituals around the world. The post Nub City, The Small Florida Town That Was Once Part Of A Grisly Insurance Scam appeared first on All That's Interesting.

Eric Swalwell Suspends Calif. Gubernatorial Campaign and Now EVERYBODY Has the Same Question

Breaking: Swalwell Suspends Campaign