[BREAKING] News Thread

[Moonface]

I'm not particularly worried about it itself, but I do hope it doesn't become a Covid 2.0 and throws the world into an encore pandemic with everything being closed and stuff for even longer.

[Moonface]

Major Volcanic Eruption in Tonga; Tsunami Warnings Issued

I briefly saw something about this this morning before work but didn't think anything of it because I figured it made news just for erupting but wasn't major, since I can't remember the last time a notably major eruption happened. The article I linked says it's been noted as one of the more notable eruptions in the last decade.

I really hope the worst is just some minor wave surges at the coast and nothing more. I dislike hearing about tsunami warnings ever since the really big one that I think hit Japan back in the 2000's (probably not recalling correctly at all).

[Mr EliteL]

Can't imagine what it was like for the poor people who were near enough to hear the eruption as there were some experiences noted in the article. Just minding your own buisness, about to have dinner and then you hear that, bloody heck. Hope people were able to get away and those by coastlines evacuate in time before tsunamis hit.

[ShiraNoMai]

Yeah you're thinking of Indonesia's Tsunami of 2004. That was so insane, it "displaced the North Pole by 25 mm (0.98 in). It also slightly changed the shape of the Earth, specifically by decreasing Earth's oblateness by about one part in 10 billion, consequentially increasing Earth's rotation a little and thus shortening the length of the day by 2.68 microseconds."

Hoping this is just an oceanic event at worst. Tsunamis are scary on those coastal areas.

[Maniakkid25]

So, this story is a trip and a half!

Yeah, this story actually happened last week, but I just found out about it, and it needs to be shared! So, a Florida sheriff's deputy was terminated after he had been arrested on charges of "charges of robbery with a firearm, extortion with a weapon and false imprisonment with a weapon."

Oh yeah, this gets juicy!

So, the story goes that he lured his victim to a location with the help of a 19-year-old girl who was offering sex to him. Then, while the victim was naked in preparation, the deputy revealed himself dramatically from behind a curtain, brandished two pistols, and threatened to kill him. Under duress, the victim was forced to sign a $30,000 contract, and said that he arranged a notary and the victim's wife to sign it as well to make it official (conveniently forgetting that contracts are not legally enforcable if they are made under duress)!

But wait, there's more! Apparently, the victim and deputy were previously friends, and the deputy was driven to such extremes because he received bad advice on cryptocurrency, and lost about 2 grand! This story is so much to unpack! This is why I love Florida!

And just so this doesn't become a "Florida Man" thread, allow me to explain why these stories always seem to cone out of Florida. Florida, among other things, is actually famous in legal circles for its very thorough "Sunshine Laws". These laws increase transparancy in government agencies by requiring public agencies to allow the public to know what is happening on request. In Florida terms, this means any jackhole can walk into a police station, give a name and sign a form, and walk out with an arrest statement of whoever they want. Because of this, we are able to know MUCH more information about what happens when a person gets arrested and why. This is why we know about the man who gave his alias as "Dickface Johnson"; we have the police report that says it right there.

[ShiraNoMai]

Christ. When it comes to people and their money, they get real fuckin' weird. Unsurprising it was a cop of all people. Glad that there's at least one police force out there willing to actually permanently suspend and jail their own when heinous acts happen.

[Moonface]

I'm happy to see the police actually condemn the officer who did this and called for his immediate termination. I feel like most stories end with the incident being downplayed by the police force the offender is working under.

I also guess that volcano never amounted to any serious tsunami's or anything since I've heard or seen nothing about it since I posted about it originally. If so, that's nice to see.

[ShiraNoMai]

I think I saw that one person was reported dead in the UK after trying to save her dogs when walking the beach? I hope the dogs made it ?

[Moonface]

We lack a wrestling thread so I'll throw it here for people like @Mr EliteL who I think would be interested in this. WWE wrestler Triple H has announced his in-ring retirement after suffering from heart failure last year:

• Got sick coming off a 12-day trip around SummerSlam. Thought he had COVID-19, which he had before without symptoms, but he didn't have it again. He is fully vaccinated.
  
• He had viral pneumonia. Lungs were inflamed. Got worse day by day at home. Coughed up blood. Got checked by doctors and had fluid in his lungs and around his heart.
  
• After being tested with an EKG and electrocardiogram, his ejection fraction -- measurement of the percentage of blood leaving your heart each time it contracts (supposed to be at 55-60%) -- was down to 30%. By the time he got to hospital, it was 22% (heart failure) and then 12% before surgery. "I was nose-diving and at the 1-yard line of where you don't want to be."
  
• He had a 99% blockage in his left anterior descending artery (widowmaker). His heart created a secondary pathway, but it was clogged as well. If he had any clot or thickening, he was gone.
  
• His dad had a triple bypass at 62. His grandfather died at 70 from heart disease. Just found out his great grandfather suddenly died at 52. Genetic issue.
  
• Never had high blood pressure or high cholesterol. Did have an "athletic heart" (enlarged) but was never spoken to once about medication or treatment. Completely came out of nowhere.
  
• He thought it was over, wondered if he'd wake up from the procedures. Got really choked up thinking about his daughters. "That's tough to swallow. It makes you think differently about life. It doesn't make you any less driven for the things that you do, but it certainly makes you appreciate the things that you have more."
  
• He's retired from in-ring competition: "I'm done. I will never wrestle again."
  
• He has a defibrillator in his chest and is still recovering.
  
• He was comfortable with being retired before this happened. There were plans for him to be in the ring at WrestleMania 38, but obviously those changed immediately.
  
• He chose to be quiet on the subject for so long because it's surreal, and he honestly didn't know what might happen.
  
• He chose to take a large step back work-wise because he's still in recovery. However, he is "back. I'm at the office. I'm fully focused on recruiting and development of our talent and the future. Whether that's building more performance centers, finding the next stud that's out there . . . it's creating that future. That's the biggest focus for me. It's making sure that WWE is a success for generations to come."
  

I panicked when I saw him being mentioned on my Twitter timeline this morning but in a way of remembering times with him, because I instantly thought the guy had died due to the heart issues he had been having (I wasn't aware he had suffered from full blown heart failure until now). I read that his father and grandfather both suffered from the same issue so it's clearly genetic, and he also was apparently planning to have his last match at this years WrestleMania but obviously those plans all fell through when this whole health incident first started. Still, at least it was caught and hopefully means he won't pass from it, or at least if he does it'll be in a couple of decades from now when he's in his 70's and 80's which feels like a more comfortable age for someone to pass away. I assumed he had already retired in all but an official statement of the fact given he wasn't wrestling much anyway and hadn't really been doing much outside of NXT when he still controlled it. I expect he'll also be the head of next years Hall of Fame ceremony too in light of this event.

[Mr EliteL]

I knew Triple H had been hospital recently, didn't know what for exactly just saw an image of him as he had just finished a good procedure as if he's well again or something like that. Didn't know it had gotten that bad, neither had you really. It's better for him to not have a final match just in case, and wise to get out of it while he's still alive and avoid any more wrestling. It's a shame he couldn't go out with a final match, but I'd imagine fans will still celebrate his contribution to the business when he was an in-ring performer at the HoF when that comes.

[Moonface]

I wonder who he would've had a final match against. I tried looking to see if anything leaked about the plans but it appears not. I did look through WWE's current roster to see if anyone stood out as a possible choice but there's really no one worth being the last opponent for Triple H without just repeating a match that has already happened at a Mania in recent years.

[Moonface]

So I don't know if it'll go through and I personally hope it doesn't, but apparently talks are in the final stages for Elon Musk to buy Twitter.
Anyone else have thoughts on this?

[Dragon Lord]

Don't care. I just use Twitter to follow game publishers mostly. Though he says he's against any kind of censorship, which if true, I'd be okay with it. People not getting banned because they don't align with the political beliefs of the current people in charge of Twitter would only be a positive change (and no, I'm not referring to the banning of Trump from the platform).

[Moonface]

I only think someone should be banned from the platform if they're sharing anything harmful or hateful. Having a different view but not being a dick about it shouldn't get a ban, excluding anything just outright heinous like thinking pedophilia should be seen as a sexual orientation.

Anyway, Musk got it for like $45 billion. I was going to say hopefully it's like the Discord sale that happened and not much changed but I realized just how that never went through, but I still feel like something got sold recently and it didn't turn out as bad as people thought it might...

[Dragon Lord]

I don't imagine a whole lot is going to change. As I (think) I said, I really only use Twitter to keep up with gaming news, so I doubt anything will change for me personally.

But man, $45 Billion. I could do so much whaling in gacha games with that kind of money.