By Alexandra Bellusci What a loss…
[NYPost] Chuck Mangione has died at 84.
The jazz musician passed away at home in his sleep July 22, his family confirmed.
His loved ones also released a statement about his death.
“The family of Chuck Mangione is deeply saddened to share that Chuck peacefully passed away in his sleep at his home in Rochester, New York, on July 22, 2025,” they said Thursday, per the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
Read the rest at the link:
My first grown-up kind of date was to one of his concerts, at the symphony hall downtown.
[NBCLosAngeles] Wrestling superstar Hulk Hogan has died, his manager confirmed. He was 71.
Manager Chris Volo told NBC Los Angeles that Hogan died at his home in Clearwater, Florida, surrounded by family.
Clearwater Fire and Rescue responded to his home at 9:51 a.m. Thursday for a reported cardiac arrest, according to a media release from the city. Hogan was pronounced dead at the scene, the statement said.
Hogan, whose given name is Terry Bollea, attained pro wrestling stardom in the 1980s and 1990s and was perhaps the biggest star in WWE’s five-decade history. He was the main draw for the first-ever WrestleMania, headlining the 1985 event in New York, and was a fixture for years at Wrestlemania, facing everyone from Andre The Giant and Randy Savage to The Rock and even company chairman Vince McMahon.
He won six WWE championships and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005 by Sylvester Stallone.
Within the first thirty minutes of the film is a wild, hilarious fight between Rocky and wrestler Thunderlips (Hulk Hogan). We see our hero defend himself against this giant who throws him around like a ragdoll in a charity match for ten minutes ("Why are they carrying him?" Paulie asks as Thunderlips enters the arena. "He's walking," Micky replies").
#12
#1 When it's our time it's our time. Case in point the sole survivor of an Indian plane crash immediately juxtaposed with the death of an Indian billionaire playing polo in England. You just never know.
Posted by: Difar Dave ||
07/25/2025 14:19 Comments ||
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[Breitbart] President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to empower state and local governments to remove homeless individuals from the nation’s streets.
The order, Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets, directs Attorney General Pam Bondi “to reverse judicial precedents and end consent decrees” that have hindered “local governments’ ability to commit individuals on the streets who are a risk to themselves or others,” per a White House fact sheet.
According to the document, the order issues a number of other directives, including redirecting funding to make sure vagrants “causing public disorder” or who are seriously mentally ill are moved into treatment facilities:
The problem is that while there is short term treatment available, almost exclusively in the psych wing of some hospitals, there are no longer any public long term treatment facilities for the mentally ill (the very few private facilities cost on the order of a year at Harvard). They were all closed by President Reagan's time. So to accomplish this money will need to come from somewhere to pay for building or reopening and staffing loony bins all over the country. The alternative is what we have been doing, which is housing the violently mentally ill in prisons after they are convicted of murder.
The Order requires the Attorney General to work with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and the Secretary of Transportation to prioritize grants for states and municipalities that enforce prohibitions on open illicit drug use, urban camping and loitering, and urban squatting, and track the location of sex offenders.
The Order redirects funding to ensure that individuals camping on streets and causing public disorder and that are suffering from serious mental illness or addiction are moved into treatment centers, assisted outpatient treatment, or other facilities.
The Order ensures discretionary grants for substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery do not fund drug injection sites or illicit drug use.
The Order stops sex offenders who receive homelessness assistance from being housed with children, and allows programs to exclusively house women and children.
The White House notes that homelessness on a given night reached its peak under President Joe Biden when 272,224 people lived on the streets of America on one particular date.
The White House contends that the vast majority of this population is drug-addicted or suffering from a mental illness.
“Federal and state governments have spent tens of billions of dollars on failed programs that address homelessness but not its root causes, leaving other citizens vulnerable to public safety threats,” a statement from the fact sheet notes.
“Shifting these individuals into long-term institutional settings for humane treatment is the most proven way to restore public order,” it adds.
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[FoxNews] A massive vehicle explosion caught on camera rocked a parking lot in a major Washington, D.C., suburb Thursday.
The fiery explosion was confirmed on Facebook by Arlington Fire & EMS in Virginia, saying that it resulted from a "BLEVE (boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion) from the fuel tank rupturing."
The car exploded in the Crystal City neighborhood of Arlington, located roughly five miles south of D.C., according to photos posted by the Fire Department. The explosion charred at least three other vehicles in its vicinity.
"Firefighters arrived on scene and quickly extinguishing [sic] the fire," the Fire Department wrote. "There were no injuries to firefighters or the public. Fire Marshals have deemed the incident non-suspicious and are investigating the cause.
"Please leave car fires to the professionals as things like this can occur. Get out, stay clear, and call for help!"
On June 29, another massive vehicle blaze made headlines in Arlington when a delivery truck went up in flames.
"This was a gas-powered vehicle that caught fire due to a malfunctioning engine. There was no explosion, and no packages were involved," the Fire Department confirmed at the time.
The Arlington fire and police departments did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Continued on Page 47
#3
Gas and oil tanks can have a BLEVE if the conditions are right. Rail cars used to be vulnerable to that as well, but I believe design changes have solved that problem.
[NYPOST] Police in Cyprus found two bodies inside a burned-out car Thursday after a massive wildfire scorched 38.6 square miles of forested hillsides, destroyed numerous homes and forced the evacuation of a dozen villages on the southern side of the island nation's Troodos mountain range.
Police initially reported late Wednesday that Civil Defense personnel found the charred body of a single individual inside the vehicle on a main road connecting fire-hit hillside villages.
But a second body was discovered early Thursday morning and police said identification efforts are ongoing.
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Posted by: Fred ||
07/25/2025 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[50 views]
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More, with photos, about this story from yesterday
[NYPOST] All 48 passengers and crew onboard a passenger plane that crashed in Russia's Far East have died, the head of the country's Amur region said in a statement Thursday.
Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry said earlier that it had found the burning fuselage of the Soviet-designed twin turbo prop plane on a hillside south of its planned destination in the town of Tynda, more than 4,350 miles east of Moscow.
The plane, which was operated by the Siberia-based Angara Airlines, had initially departed from Khabarovsk before making its way to Blagoveshchensk on the Russian-Chinese border and onwards to Tynda.
It wasn't immediately clear what caused the crash. Russia's Interfax news agency said there were adverse weather conditions at the time of the crash, citing unnamed sources in the emergency services. Several Russian news outlets also reported that the aircraft was almost 50 years old, citing data taken from the plane's tail number.
Images of the reported crash site circulated by Russian state media show debris scattered among dense forest, surrounded by plumes of smoke.
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Posted by: Fred ||
07/25/2025 00:00 ||
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Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
07/25/2025 10:58 Comments ||
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#2
We need to establish a new sub-department in DoJ to prosecute law makers and governors who sign off on unconstitutional legislation under TITLE18, U.S.C., SECTION 242 . You do that a couple of times and this stuff will be shut down early.
#6
The freakin goat rodeo I went thru to get a box of 9mm to use to qualify for my Federal CCP was ridiculous. Waited 30 minutes while they looked up my rear.
Posted by: Jack Salami ||
07/25/2025 21:52 Comments ||
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[DOLgov] In the week ending July 19, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 217,000, a decrease of 4,000
from the previous week's unrevised level of 221,000. The 4-week moving average was 224,500, a decrease of 5,000 from
the previous week's unrevised average of 229,500.
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Rate has been below 250k since the recovery from Covid. If we were headed toward a near term recession the rate would be over 300k by now.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
07/25/2025 00:00 ||
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#1
I don’t remember whether the DC buyout folks could also milk the unemployment system. If not, they will hit down the road and there will be cries of doom at that point.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/25/2025 6:56 Comments ||
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#2
Many of the laid off Federal employees will be eligible for unemployment benefits. The program is somewhat complex.
In general, if the termination was for administrative rather than disciplinary reasons, the person is eligible for benefits. However, there are complications.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
07/25/2025 7:42 Comments ||
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#3
Most are also eligible for "Sep Pay" (separation pay), based on year's of service. Sep Pay can be pretty substantial.
[NYPOST] Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos has been weighing a possible acquisition of CNBC, The Post has learned.
The 61-year-old e-commerce magnate has signaled interest to business associates in buying the cable network — home to ''Squawk Box'' and ''Mad Money with Jim Cramer'' — after it is spun off by NBCUniversal parent Comcast later this year, according to a person familiar with Bezos' thinking.
CNBC would ''align well with his interests,'' said another source close to Bezos, who noted that the network could serve as a credible ''neutral voice'' in his media portfolio — a major plus following Bezos's headaches as owner of the left-leaning Washington Post.
[FoxBiz] Keep depreciating DC real estate and Fed workers from the Gov't teat Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the plan to relocate workers was intended to bring the agency's staff closer to its 'core constituents'
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Thursday it will relocate much of its staff in the Washington, D.C., area to five regional hubs and vacate several buildings in the nation's capital, including its flagship research center.
No more than 2,000 USDA employees will remain in the Washington area at the conclusion of the reorganization effort, the agency said in a news release. The remaining 2,600 people will be relocated to hubs in Raleigh, North Carolina; Kansas City, Missouri; Indianapolis; Fort Collins, Colorado; and Salt Lake City.
The USDA also said it will vacate several locations in the Washington area, including its flagship research center, the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Maryland, and one of its headquarters buildings on the National Mall.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a statement, "President Trump was elected to make real change in Washington, and we are doing just that by moving our key services outside the beltway and into great American cities across the country
The USDA's plan is the latest effort by the Trump administration to reorganize and downsize the federal workforce.
The agency is not making widespread cuts to its staff, although the relocation plan is part of the USDA's process of reducing its workforce, it said in the release.
It said much of its reduction was through voluntary retirements and the agency's Deferred Retirement Program. More than 15,000 workers, about 15% of its total workforce, voluntarily chose one of the two financial incentive offers to resign.
The Senate Agriculture Committee's chair, Arkansas Republican Sen. John Boozman; the ranking member, Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar; and the ranking member on the House Agriculture Committee, Minnesota Democrat Rep. Angie Craig, said in statements they were not consulted on the plan and called for hearings on the reorganization effort.
"The best way to serve our agriculture community is by working together, so it's disappointing USDA didn't share its plans in advance of this announcement," Boozman said.
Craig said the "planned reorganization announced by the agriculture secretary without notice or input from Congress or key stakeholders and constituencies demonstrates that this administration failed to learn the lessons from previous similar efforts and is willfully risking the effectiveness of the agencies and programs that support America’s family farmers."
Au contraire, this demonstrates conclusively that President Trumo learnt exactly what he needed to once he had time to ponder during his four years in exile.
The USDA also plans to reduce or close some regional offices, including consolidating the National Agricultural Statistics Service, which publishes agricultural market data, from twelve offices to five, according to a memo from the agency.
Additionally, the Forest Service will close its nine regional offices over the next year in a plan that "will take into consideration the ongoing fire season," the memo noted.
The Agricultural Research Service's staff have already struggled with its workload after the voluntary resignations, according to employee Ethan Roberts.
"Many will not take the [relocation] offer, and we will lose even more administrative employees that are critical to the everyday functioning of the USDA and ARS," he said.
Fewer staffers means fewer requests to answer. You’re welcome.
Courtesy of Bobby:
USDA to Slash Staff, Relocate Thousands to Boondocks With my apologies to those who live in the 'boondocks' [Epoch Times] The Trump administration has announced a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that will cut its Washington-area workforce by more than half and shift thousands of positions to regional hubs, part of President Donald Trump’s broader push to shrink the federal government and move agencies closer to the communities they serve.
"We will do right by the great American people who we serve and with respect to the thousands of hardworking USDA employees who so nobly serve their country," Rollins said of the process.
USDA’s workforce expanded by 8 percent over the past four years, with salaries rising 14.5 percent. Agency officials said the growth brought no measurable increase in services for farmers and ranchers. They said the department’s Washington-area presence is redundant and costly, burdened by overspending and years of deferred maintenance.
Under the USDA’s reorganization plan, the department will vacate major properties, including the South Building, Braddock Place, and the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, all of which face significant deferred maintenance costs. The South Building alone has a $1.3 billion backlog and is less than one-third occupied. Other facilities will be retained, but their use and functions will be reviewed.
[GEO.TV] A court in Quetta has remanded a woman to the Serious Crime Investigation Wing for two days in connection with the double murder case in Sanjidi involving her daughter, Bano Bibi.
The anti-terrorism court (ATC) ordered the remand after Gul Jan was presented before it by investigating officials, who had requested custody for further probe.
According to the investigation officer, Javed Buzdar, Gul Jan was arrested a day earlier after a video surfaced on social media in which she repeatedly confessed to the killing of her daughter.
In the video, Gul Jan is seen holding the Holy Koran and admitting to killing Bano Bibi in the name of honour, citing Baloch tribal customs.
She further claimed that no unlawful action was taken by her tribe's elders, stating they had no role in the decision.
The murder, which took place around six weeks ago, involved Bano Bibi and a man named Ehsanullah, both of whom were rubbed out in the Degari area near Quetta in what police described as an honour-related incident.
Authorities confirmed that two other suspects, Sardar Sherbaz and Bashir Ahmed, are already in jug under a 10-day remand with the Serious Crime Investigation Wing. Police continue to conduct raids to arrest additional suspects linked to the case.
The incident came to light after a video circulating on social media showed more than a dozen men gathered in a remote, mountainous desert area, with SUVs and pickup trucks parked nearby.
The woman is ordered to stand facing away from the group before a man pulls out a gun and shoots her in the back. He then turns the weapon on a man and shoots him dead.
As the video went viral, Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... government was prompted to register a case under terrorism charges. Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti described the incident as "heinous".
According to the FIR, the case was registered under Sections 302 (murder), 149 (unlawful assembly), 148 (rioting while armed with a deadly weapon), 147 (rioting) of the Pakistain Penal Code and the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.
Thai-Cambodian Border Clashes: What You Need to Know
Fierce fighting erupted along the Thailand-Cambodia border on July 24, with deadly clashes reported in six disputed areas, including Prasat Ta Muen Thom.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. From Regnum:
The Thai military launched an airstrike on Cambodian troops in response to multiple rocket launchers fired at their positions during a border clash. This was reported on July 24 by the command of the Second Military Region of the Thai ground forces, responsible for the border with Cambodia.
"At 09:40 (05:40 Moscow time), Cambodia launched an airstrike on the border area in (Thailand's - Ed.) Sisaket province using BM-21 Grad multiple launch rocket systems. At 10:51 (06:51 Moscow time), six F-16 aircraft of the Thai armed forces were sent to launch an airstrike on Cambodian troops," the message on the X social network (formerly Twitter) reads.
According to the command, at 10:58 (06:58 Moscow time), Thai pilots announced the successful destruction of the positions of the 8th and 9th infantry battalions of the Cambodian ground forces on their territory.
Later, the Thai newspaper The Nation, citing local authorities, reported that two civilians were killed and two more were injured as a result of the Cambodian army attack.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, at 07:45 (03:45 Moscow time) a shootout between the military began on the disputed section of the border between Thailand and Cambodia. The clashes then escalated.
The source of tension on the border between Thailand and Cambodia is a dispute over the territories of the Phra Vihear and Ta Moan Thom temple complexes, which has been going on for more than a century.
In 2013, the International Court of Justice upheld Cambodia's sovereignty over the Phra Vihear temple complex and ordered Thailand to withdraw its troops from there. However, conflicts and skirmishes on the Cambodian-Thai border continued. In 2025, Thai authorities accused the Cambodian military of mining the disputed territory, which resulted in several of their servicemen being injured.
The territorial dispute between Thailand and Cambodia escalated after a border clash on May 28, when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a shootout that both sides blamed on the other in a mutually agreed-upon neutral zone in one of the disputed areas. However, until Thursday, July 24, both sides had refrained from military escalation.
More from regnum.ru 11 killed in Thailand due to Cambodian airstrikes
Eleven people were killed in Thailand as a result of missile strikes from Cambodia. The attacks were carried out by Grad multiple launch rocket systems, including at the locations of five hospitals, with one hitting a medical facility.
This was announced on July 24 by the Minister of Health of Thailand Somsak Thepsuthin at a briefing in Bangkok.
"A number of civilian targets were hit, including the locations of five local hospitals, including one shell that directly hit a hospital building in Surin province. All five hospitals have now been evacuated," the minister said.
He added that among the dead were children aged eight and 15.
"We view the killing of children by the Cambodian military and the attacks on hospitals as unforgivable crimes for which those who committed them must be held accountable," Thepsuthin said.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, on July 24 at 07:45 (03:45 Moscow time) a shootout between the military began on the disputed section of the border between Thailand and Cambodia. The clashes then escalated.
Later, the Thai military launched an airstrike on Cambodian troops in response to multiple rocket launchers fired at their positions during a border clash. According to the Thai ground command, at 10:58 (06:58 Moscow time), pilots reported successfully destroying the positions of the enemy's 8th and 9th infantry battalions on their territory.
Tensions remain on the border between Thailand and Cambodia due to a century-long dispute over the territories of the Phra Vihear and Ta Moan Thom temple complexes.
In 2013, the International Court of Justice recognized Cambodia's sovereignty over the Phra Vihear complex and ordered Thailand to withdraw its troops from the area. However, conflicts and skirmishes along the Cambodian-Thai border continued in the following years. In 2025, Thai authorities accused the Cambodian military of mining disputed areas, resulting in several casualties among Thai servicemen.
🚨BREAKING: Thai ground troops have entered Cambodian territory — a shocking escalation.
Thai Army released footage of a Special Task Force air operation, showing an FPV drone strike on a Cambodian military weapons depot in the Phu Makhuea area of Sisaket Province. pic.twitter.com/uPOEi5LZzq
NEW: BM-21 rockets launched from Cambodian territory struck a PTT gas station in Ban Phue, Kantharalak District of Thailand's Sisaket Province, injuring numerous students and civilians. pic.twitter.com/K23XdKZ3Fn
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Epoch Times] The Trump administration has announced a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that will cut its Washington-area workforce by more than half and shift thousands of positions to regional hubs, part of President Donald Trump’s broader push to shrink the federal government and move agencies closer to the communities they serve.
