[PennySerenade]

Texas Girl Born in Jail Heading to Harvard After Graduating at the Top of Her Class



A Texas girl who was born in jail is making a name for herself after graduating from high school at the top of her class, with plans to attend Harvard University.

Eighteen years after she was born in the Galveston County Jail, Aurora Sky Castner graduated third in her class at Conroe High School on Thursday night, The Courier reported.

Castner’s mother was in jail when she gave birth to her. She has not played a role in her daughter's life since the day Castner's father picked her up as a newborn from the prison, raising her as a single father, the outlet said.

According to the Courier, Castner opened her application essay to Harvard with the sentence, "I was born in prison."

She was later accepted into the Ivy League through early action, and the teen plans to study law when she attends the school in the fall.



Growing up, Castner moved around a lot with her dad, but always stayed in Montgomery County, the Courier reported.

When she was in elementary school, members of the staff saw potential in her, but felt she could use some guidance from CISD’s Project Mentor program, which partners community volunteers with students.

In came her mentor, Mona Hamby, who told the Courier, “I was given a paper about her. Her hero was Rosa Parks, her favorite food was tacos from Dairy Queen and she loved to read. I thought this sounds like a bright little girl. I still have that paper today.”

After Castner told Hamby about her parenting ordeal, the woman told The Courier she felt as though the now-teenager "needed more" than just a guide for school activities, but personal moments as well.

So Hamby helped Castner with things like picking out glasses and getting her first salon haircut, according to the outlet, while dentists, orthodontists and other community leaders helped Castner with her teeth and to enjoy important childhood experiences, such as summer camp.

“It was a very different environment than I grew up in and that’s not a bad thing,” Castner said. “Everything that Mona taught me was very valuable in the same way that everything that I went through before Mona was very valuable.”

British woman's pet cat celebrates 32nd birthday

A pet celebrating her 32nd birthday Thursday in Britain might be the oldest living cat in the world.

Lila Brissett, 71, of Norwich, England, said her cat, Rosie, was born June 1, 1991, and is celebrating her 32nd birthday Thursday with a salmon cake prepared by a local cat cafe owner.

"She has honked half of the salmon cake already -- I expect she will wake up at lunchtime and eat the rest," Brissett told the Norwich Evening News. "There won't be any left by lunchtime, don't you worry."

Brissett adopted Rosie when she was only a kitten and said the feline has only been to the vet twice -- once to be spayed in 1991, and a second time about five years ago to be treated for a cyst.

Brissett said she has been in touch with Guinness World Records about having Rosie certified as the oldest cat living. The current record holder, a fellow England resident named Flossie, was 26 years and 316 days old when she was certified in November 2022.

Pay for Pizza From This Chain After You Die
Hell Pizza to offer 'AfterLife Pay' deal to 666 customers each in New Zealand, Australia



A pizza chain is offering to bill customers for their pie only after they die—a deal that really is as good as it sounds. The "AfterLife Pay" offer isn't a way to boost sales, Ben Cumming, CEO of the New Zealand-based Hell Pizza chain, tells the Washington Post. Rather, it's a tongue-in-cheek way for the chain to draw attention to "buy now, pay later" offers that Cunningham believes are harmful to consumers. The CEO says offers to pay for purchases months or years later are attractive initially, but late payments can bring large penalties, putting people in a position to build up debt.

"We're seeing a growing number of people using the schemes to buy essential items like food, and we think it's taking it a step too far," Cumming says, per Newshub. "We're basically just making a bit of a stand against it in a fun way," he adds, per the Post. According to its website, Hell Pizza will select 666 customers each in New Zealand and Australia who "will be invited to sign a real amendment to their wills, allowing the cost of their pizza to be collected upon death." As Cumming tells the Post, they'll get "what in essence is a free pizza to start with, and then really not have to worry about the payment of it until much, much, much later when they pass away."

Actually, it'll be their inheritors who will have to worry, though Cumming stresses there won't be any fees or interest as with other "pay later" offers. More than 10,000 people have applied to the program since its launch a week ago, the CEO tells the Post. One 32-year-old applicant tells the outlet that she hopes to have family members in stitches during what would normally be the difficult process of settling a loved one's will. "I would just love to see my family have a laugh when eventually mine is read out, and the estate has to pay for a pizza from several decades prior," says Sydney resident Terina Josling.

https://www.newser.com/story/336001/pizza-chain-will-bill-customers-only-after-death.html

[Misstee]

Neanderthals Dabbled In Chemistry, Ancient Glue Reveals

Ben Taub







Neanderthals may have invented a complex method for transforming birch bark into glue, indicating that our extinct cousins probably dabbled in chemistry long before the Bunsen burner came along. Analyzing samples of the ancient adhesive, researchers found that it was most likely synthesized in underground chambers that restricted oxygen flow, thus shedding light on the cognitive capacities of this prehistoric human species.

Known as birch tar, the sticky gloop is the oldest synthetic substance ever discovered, with the earliest samples being attributed to Neanderthals. However, scientists are divided over how the glue was made: some believe it was created in purpose-built subterranean structures, while others think Neanderthals may have accidentally produced the tar while burning birch bark.

To determine how the tar was made, researchers analyzed two samples from a Neanderthal site in Germany called Königsaue. These ancient examples were then compared to dozens of reference samples that the study authors created using five different Stone Age techniques.

In doing so, they found that birch tar produced underground contained high levels of a natural polymer called suberin, whereas tar made by burning bark above ground did not. Noting that both of the Königsaue samples were rich in suberin, the researchers are pretty convinced that Neanderthals made their glue beneath the soil.

“If suberin is only included in birch tar made with underground techniques in low oxygen environments, its presence in the Königsaue tar is unambiguously pointing towards the use of one of these techniques at Königsaue,” they write.

To make this finding stick, the authors analyzed the chemical structure of the ancient glue using methods such as infrared spectroscopy and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. In doing so, they found that “the overall chemical signature of both Königsaue tar artefacts is most similar to tars made belowground.”

Based on this outcome, the researchers conclude that Neanderthals “distilled tar in an intentionally created underground environment that restricted oxygen flow and remained invisible during the process.”

Discussing the significance of this finding, they explain that “if these two pieces were made with an aboveground method like the condensation method, it would be difficult to argue that Neanderthal birch tar reflects complex technology.”

“If, however, the Königsaue pieces were made with a method including invisible underground processes and intentionally created low-oxygen environments, such a finding would imply that Neanderthals invented or developed a technical process for transforming their material world.”

“This, in turn, would provide valuable insight into their cognitive and cultural capabilities,” they write.

The study is published in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences.

Sherpas pass up Everest summit in order to rescue missing climber

Reuters


Ngima Tashi Sherpa carries a Malaysian climber while rescuing him from the "death zone" above camp four at Everest.

A Malaysian climber narrowly survived after a Nepali sherpa guide hauled him down from below the summit of Mount Everest in a “very rare” high altitude rescue, a government official said on Wednesday.

Gelje Sherpa, 30, was guiding a Chinese client to the 8,849 meter (29,032 feet) Everest summit on May 18 when he saw the Malaysian climber clinging to a rope and shivering from extreme cold in the area called the “death zone,” where temperatures can dip to minus 30 degrees Celsius (-22F) or lower.

He summited Mount Everest for the 27th time last week. This week, he broke his own world record
Gelje hauled the climber 600 meters (1,900 feet) down from the Balcony area to the South Col, over a period of about six hours, where Nima Tahi Sherpa, another guide, joined the rescue.

“We wrapped the climber in a sleeping mat, dragged him on the snow or carried him in turns on our backs to camp III,” Gelje said.

A helicopter using a long line then lifted him from the 7,162-meter (23,500 feet) high Camp III down to base camp.

“It is almost impossible to rescue climbers at that altitude,” Department of Tourism official Bigyan Koirala told Reuters. “It is a very rare operation.”

Gelje said he convinced his Chinese client to give up his summit attempt and descend the mountain, saying it was important for him to rescue the climber.

“Saving one life is more important than praying at the monastery,” said Gelje, a devout Buddhist.

Tashi Lakhpa Sherpa of the Seven Summit Treks company, which provided logistics to the Malaysian climber, declined to name him, citing his client’s privacy. The climber was put on a flight to Malaysia last week.

Nepal issued a record 478 permits for Everest during this year’s March to May climbing season.

At least 12 climbers have died – the highest number for eight years, and another five are still missing on Everest’s slopes.

[lush]

Court Rules Company Was Wrong to Fire Electrician for Drinking on the Job
04272023*

A Spanish court ruled that an electrical company was wrong to fire one of its electricians for allegedly drinking more than three liters of beer on the job because it couldn’t prove he was drunk.

Drinking alcohol during work hours is usually frowned upon and can constitute grounds for dismissal, but according to a high court in Murcia, Spain, that is only true when the employer can prove without a shadow of a doubt that the accused was inebriated to the point where he could no longer fulfill his duty safely. The court recently ordered an electrical company to either reinstate the sacked worker or pay them 47,000 euros ($52,000) for failing to show that their drinking on the job left them inebriated, intoxicated or drunk”, or unable to do their job. The controversial ruling also mentioned that the company failed to consider the hot Murcian summer, which apparently justified beer consumption.


Photo: tito pixel/Unsplash

In September of 2021, the Spanish electrical company fired an electrician that had been with the company for 27 years after a private detective presented evidence that he had been constantly consuming alcohol on the job over several weeks. The private eye had been hired by the company to observe the sacked employee and his colleagues throughout the day, and he apparently observed them drinking copious amounts of beer all through the day.

In the electrician’s dismissal letter, the company mentions that on one occasion, he and one of his colleagues had been observed stopping for a drink at a bar at 8.27 am. At lunchtime that same day, the two were seen buying some food, four cans of San Miguel beer, and a liter bottle of Estrella de Levante beer. In the afternoon, the electrician was seen drinking another can of beer, and another at around 6:30 pm, before driving a company van back to base.

Two weeks later, the private detective reportedly saw the electrician and his colleagues drinking a total of seven liters of beer between morning and the end of their lunch break, as well as three cans of beer later in the day, before once again driving the company van. On another occasion, the man was seen drinking a can of beer, followed by 3 glasses of wine and a shot of pomace brandy.


Photo: Tiingey Injury Law Firm

The above evidence seems more than enough to justify the company’s decision to dismiss the electrician, but the Murcian high court disagreed, ordering the electrical company to either compensate the man or hire him back.

“At no time did the private detective make mentions of signs of inebriation or clumsiness when it came to walking,” the court explained. “There is no proof – documentary, expert or witness – that unequivocally demonstrates that the man was under the effects of alcohol and was inebriated, intoxicated or drunk. Neither has it been proved, even circumstantially, that his physical and mental faculties were reduced or diminished during his tasks as an electrician, nor that he was impeded when he drove the company van at the end of the working day.”

But the court didn’t stop there. Its ruling also mentioned that the company failed to take into consideration that the man indulged in alcoholic drinks with his colleagues, and because they were eating and “needed refreshments”. There was also no way to determine how much each person had drunk and if any of them had become inebriated.

“Another factor to be borne in mind is that this relates to the month of July in Murcia and Cartagena, where the climatic conditions and the geographical habits should be considered,” the court ruling read.

[johngriffen]

I sometimes get REALLY DEPRESSED reviewing the news these days.
It's always about a global pandemic threatening life as we know it,
protests around the world, stupid politicians, natural disasters,
or some other really bad story.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

Welcome to The mobi weekly news magazine
IN OTHER NEWS
FRIDAY JUNE 2
What is it?
Here is your chance to become an "ACE REPORTER" for our weekly news magazine.
It is your job to fine weird, funny or "good feel" stories from around the world and share them with our readers in our weekly magazine

How do you play?
Just post a story that you have come across that made you smile, laugh, feel good...
BUT NOTHING DEPRESSING

EXAMPLE POST

​Naked sunbather chases wild boar through park after it steals his laptop bag

A naked sunbather was seen chasing wild boar through a park after it stole his laptop bag.
Amusing photographs from Germany show the man running after the animal to try and claim the plastic bag back.
But the cheeky boar and its two piglets appear to be too quick for the sunbather, who can't keep up with their speedy little trotters.
As the incident unfolds, groups of friends and family sat on the grass watch on and laugh.
Heads are seen turning in surprise and amusement in the hilarious photographs.
The incident happened at Teufelssee Lake - a bathing spot in the Grunwell Forest in Berlin, Germany.

Rules:
Each Edition of IN OTHER NEWS will be open for 7 days...
You can post as many stories as you like, but you will only get paid for One Story in any 24 hour period
So in other words, you can only earn WRZ$ once a day.
Each news day will start when I post announcing it
OR at:
9:00 AM CHICAGO TIME (UTC -6)
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on those days I space out and forget to post or can't due to Real Life
Stories may be accompanied with images - but No big images, please! 800x800 pixels wide maximum
Videos are allowed, but please keep them short, and post a short summary for those that don't like to click on videos
No Duplicate stories - Where a post has been edited resulting in duplicates, then the last one in time gets disallowed.
And please limit this to reasonably family friendly stories

Reward:
Each news story posted that I feel is acceptable (must be a real story, too few words or simply a headline are not considered acceptable) will earn you 50 WRZ$
If you post multiple stories on any given day, you will only earn 50 WRZ$ for the first story of the Day
All payments will be made at THE END of the weekly news cycle.
Special Bonus - Each week I will award "The Pulitzer Prize" for the best story of the week
The weekly winner of the "The Pulitzer Prize" will receive a 100 WRZ$ bonus
It's just my personal opinion, so my judgement is final

So help bring GOOD news to the members of mobi, and join our reporting team...

IN OTHER NEWS

[ozswede]

Birdsville's Big Red Bash music festival aims for Nutbush dance record as tribute to Tina Turner

Thousands of revellers at one of the world's most remote music festivals on the edge of the Simpson Desert are set to kick up dust in memory of legendary American singer Tina Turner.

Since 2016, the foot of a 40-metre-high sand dune in the Munga-Thirri Simpson Desert, in far western Queensland, has been the dancefloor for annual world record Nutbush City Limits attempts.

As tributes flow for the "Queen of Rock and Roll", who died last week aged 83, those attending the Birdsville Big Red Bash in July have taken on the challenge to break last year's record of 4,084 boot-scooters dancing to the Nutbush at the same time.



Festival founder Greg Donovan said they would be doing something special this year, and planned to have the biggest Australian tribute to Tina Turner.

"It's early days, and we'll work on something to really put up a great tribute to Tina Turner, but I think the main tribute is trying to get 5,000-plus people this year to break the record again," Mr Donovan said.

"I think that in itself will be a fitting tribute, but we'll look at a few special things to do to also acknowledge Tina's passing as part of that event this year."


Many festival-goers dress up in iconic Tina Turner looks during the world record attempt.


Mr Donovan said Turner was aware of the Big Red Bash's Nutbush dancing tradition.

"She did see it and acknowledge that, which is fantastic, I mean 4,000 people dancing to your song is something quite special," he said.


Icehouse, John Williamson and the Hoodoo Gurus will headline the sold-out 2023 Birdsville Big Red Bash from July 4-6.

The world record attempt, adjudicated by the Australian Book of Records, started as a way of bringing people together, and has raised over $500,000 for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.


The Birdsville Big Red Bash in 2014 (top), compared to 2022.

"When we saw that Nutbush City Limits had a world record for the maximum number of people dancing, it was really obvious that that's something that's going to get people going, everybody knows the Nutbush dance," Mr Donovan said.

"I mean, most people can dance it, some better than others.

"I'm sure she would have been proud that the Nutbush raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Royal Flying Doctors, and that this legacy will live on."

[Fatima99]

Moon the baby donkey missing for weeks is returned to Hampshire owners



A countryside abduction has come to a tail-wagging end after a baby donkey that was stolen from a farm has been reunited with her mother and her “ecstatic” owners after a police investigation.

On 15 May, the 12-week-old donkey, named Moon, was taken from Miller’s Ark Animals in Hook, Hampshire some time before 5pm. Missing for more than two weeks, Moon was recovered and returned to the farm on Wednesday evening.

The farm posted a video on its Facebook page showing owner Elizabeth Miller hugging and kissing Moon, who is wagging her tail.

“We are beyond thrilled and mum and foal are finally back together,” the Facebook post said.

“Moon appears to be in good health, thank heavens, and we will make sure that Moon and her mum, Astra, get lots of love and care as they rediscover each other.”

Officers were sent to an address in White House Lane in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire on Wednesday evening.

At about 8.15pm, the stolen donkey was found and returned to her mother, Astra, and staff at Miller’s Ark Animals.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight constabulary said appeals for information had attracted “countless calls and online reports from members of the public”.

A GoFundMe page was launched on behalf of Miller’s Ark Animals to install security and surveillance cameras at the farm at the time Moon was stolen. It has since raised more than £6,000 from public donations.

Commenting on Moon’s safe return, Pamela Jessopp, who works at Miller’s Ark Animals, said: “We are beyond excited – ecstatic.

“You always hold out hope, but as the timeframe and the time window got larger, you do wonder if she would be found or not.”

Jessopp added: “It is so much down to members of the public, our supporters that have got the word out there and spread it on social media. It’s been a heartfelt story that has caught people’s emotions.

“We are very grateful to Hampshire and Isle of Wight constabulary, Surrey police and Thames Valley police for their support and investigation and for the speedy action last night.”

In a statement, Hampshire police sergeant Stuart Ross said: “This was a fantastic piece of joint working from Countrywatch and Thames Valley police’s rural taskforce team.

“Our appeals to find Moon attracted countless calls and online reports from members of the public with possible sightings and potential lines of inquiry, and we want to thank everyone who shared these appeals and got in touch with us.

“We have worked tirelessly to locate Moon, scouring CCTV footage to see if we could find her, so we are absolutely delighted about this positive outcome.

“Hampshire and Isle of Wight constabulary’s Countrywatch team will continue with an investigation into the circumstances of the theft of this donkey.”

[prokroustis]

MOLUCCAN BOATS FROM INDONESIA IDENTIFIED IN AUSTRALIAN ROCK ART



Archaeologists from Flinders University have identified Moluccan vessels from Indonesia in rock art paintings found at Awunbarna, Arnhem Land, Australia.
According to the researchers, these findings are the first-ever archaeological proof of visitors from Southeast Asia originating outside of Makassar on Sulawesi arriving in mainland Australia.

Two watercrafts depicted in the rock art feature motifs that appear on the Moluccan types of Southeast Asian vessels. They are distinct from other seafaring cultures from the region, enabling the researchers to confirm their identity.

As well as their distinctive shape and configuration, both boats appear to display triangular flags, pennants, and prow adornments. By comparing these two depictions with historically recorded watercraft from islands in Southeast Asia, the researchers suggest that they probably came from eastern Maluku Tenggara in Indonesia.

Dutch explorers in the Moluccas reported as early as the mid-seventeenth century that inhabitants from the islands regularly sailed to the north coast of Australia.

The rock art provides compelling new evidence of undocumented interactions between Indigenous people from Awunbarna in Arnhem Land and visitors from the Moluccas.

Dr Mick de Ruyter, from Flinders University, said: “These motifs support existing ideas that sporadic or accidental voyages from Indonesia to the Australian coastline took place before or alongside regular trepang fishing visits.”

Dr Daryl Wesley, said: “The drawings we have identified don’t appear to represent any known European or colonial watercraft types. Similar “canoes” are represented in rock art elsewhere on Australia’s northern shore, but none appear with similar details to those at Awunbarna. The nearest candidate is the most elaborate Indigenous Australian vernacular watercraft, the canoes of the Torres Strait Islands.”

“This identification of Moluccan craft has significant implications for the reasons mariners from these islands may have been on the northern Australian coastline, and subsequently for the intercultural encounters on the Arnhem Land coast,” added Dr Wesley.

[HogwartsExpress]

Robert F Kennedy Jr says he has ‘conversations with dead people’

Robert F Kennedy Jr, the conspiracy theorist and vaccine skeptic challenging Joe Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination, told an interviewer he had “conversations with dead people” every day.

Marianne Williamson speaks at the Wing Ding Dinner in Clear Lake, Iowa. - Williamson announced on January 10, 2020, she is officially suspending her 2020 presidential campaign. "I ran for president to help forge another direction for our country. I wanted to discuss things I felt needed to be discussed that otherwise were not. I feel that we have done that," she wrote to supporters on her website. (Photo by ALEX EDELMAN / AFP) (Photo by ALEX EDELMAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Marianne Williamson: ‘You don’t even know what misogyny is until you’ve been a woman running for president’
Read more
Kennedy’s uncle, John F Kennedy, the 35th US president, was assassinated in Dallas in 1963. His father, Robert F Kennedy, the US attorney general and New York senator, was killed in Los Angeles five years later.

In an interview with the Free Press, Kennedy was asked how he thought his father and uncle would tackle challenges facing America today.

“I do meditations every day,” Kennedy said. “That’s kind of the nature of my meditations. I have a lot of conversations with dead people.”

“In a follow-up text,” the Free Press said, Kennedy clarified: “They are one-way prayers for strength and wisdom. I get no strategic advice from the dead.”

The Free Press said its interviewer was greeted at Kennedy’s Los Angeles home by a guard “with an earpiece and a nondisclosure agreement”. After the interviewer refused to sign the document, Kennedy “came out, shrugged, and led me inside”.

Describing Kennedy’s gilded but tragic family story, the Free Press noted that he thinks his father was probably killed by the CIA, and his uncle definitely.

The site also detailed Kennedy’s transformation from environmental campaigner to vaccine skeptic and conspiracy theorist, a process accelerated by the Covid pandemic.

Kennedy’s sister, the human rights campaigner Kerry Kennedy, has said: “I love Bobby. I think he’s just completely wrong on [Covid vaccines] and very dangerous.”

Last year, Kennedy went so far as to compare the US under lockdown to Germany under the Nazis, telling a rally in Washington: “Even in Hitler’s Germany, you could cross the Alps to Switzerland. You could hide in an attic like Anne Frank did.”

Those remarks earned a rebuke from the Auschwitz Memorial, which accused Kennedy of “exploiting the tragedy of people who suffered, were humiliated, tortured and murdered … including children like Anne Frank”.

Kennedy apologised. His wife, Cheryl Hines, publicly disowned his remarks but now supports his White House run.

Kennedy, 69, is one of two quixotic Democratic challengers to Biden, 80, who is widely expected to be nominated to seek a second White House term.

The other, the self-help author Marianne Williamson, 70, has been hit by claims of bullying and reports of campaign resignations.

Kennedy told the Free Press he was running in part to reclaim a party he said had become “a war party … the party of the neocons. It’s become the party of Wall Street and the party of censorship, which, I think [is] antithetical to liberal values”.

Saying “I’ve always liked Joe Biden”, he said the president was “a function of a system that a growing majority of Americans don’t trust”.

Of his populist positioning, Kennedy said: “There are people who are angry, and they deserve to be angry, and either Trump is going to sign them up, Donald Trump, for a ride into the darkness, or we can try to capture that energy and turn it into something positive for our country, something that is reflective of the highest ideals of the American experience.”

Quoting a great Democratic president, Franklin D Roosevelt, Kennedy added: “We’re supposed to be the party that tells people that the only thing to fear is fear itself.”

In a recent CNN poll of Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters, Kennedy received 20% support.

sourcr: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... conspiracy

Louisiana dog earns world record with 5-inch tongue



A Louisiana dog's 5-inch tongue has been officially certified as the longest in the world by Guinness World Records.

Zoey, a Labrador/German shepherd mix, was awarded the record for longest tongue on a living dog after a veterinarian measured from the tip of her snout to the tip of her tongue.

Zoey's owners, Metairie residents Sadie and Drew Williams, said they got the canine when she was only 6 weeks old, and they almost immediately noticed her unusually long tongue.

"We thought surely she'd grow into it but she obviously didn't. She still has an enormous tongue compared to her body," Sadie Williams told Guinness World Records.

The couple said Zoey is popular with neighbors.

"Every now and then while we're out taking her on a walk, people will come up to her and want to pet her," Drew Williams said. "We'll warn them ahead of time 'Hey, she's friendly but she might slobber on you,' and every now and then she will, and they'll have a big slobber mark on their black pants."

[PennySerenade]

Blue Jays pitcher Anthony Bass booed loudly by fans during first game since controversial Instagram post



Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher Anthony Bass was booed at the Rogers Centre after he was called onto the field Wednesday night.

It was Bass’ first appearance since he shared a controversial anti-LGBTQ2S+ video on his Instagram story earlier this week.

Some of the 42,205 fans in the stands jeered at Bass during the home game against the Milwaukee Brewers, who won 4-2 against the Blue Jays.

In one video shared on Twitter, some fans can be heard shouting, “Go back to Tampa! Go back to Florida!”

On Monday morning, Bass shared a video on his Instagram story from @dudewithgoodnews, a user who posts daily devotionals to his feed, which encouraged those of Christian faith to boycott Target.



After receiving a wave of backlash for sharing the video, Bass apologized for his actions, and told reporters, “The ballpark is for everybody.”

Bass said he recognized his post was “hurtful to the Pride community,” saying that includes some of his friends and close family members.

“I just spoke with my teammates and shared with them my actions yesterday and apologized with them, and as of right now, I’m using Blue Jays’ resources to better educate myself and make better decisions moving forward,” he said during a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

John Schneider, the Blue Jays manager, said Bass’ actions do not reflect the team’s views.

“An apology for one person goes so far and we’re gonna continue to do everything that we have done in the past to help support the Pride community,” Schneider told reporters on Tuesday, adding Bass’ apology was “remorseful.”

Next weekend, on June 9 and 10, the Blue Jays will be hosting their fourth annual Pride Weekend at Rogers Centre.

“Pride Toronto has a very good relationship with the Jays,” Pride Toronto’s executive director Sherwin Modeste told The Canadian Press.

“I personally have worked very closely with the Jays Care Foundation and I know what they stand for because we have been part of this journey together. I don’t believe that one individual is going to change what the Jays are going to do and what the Jays have been doing for the community.”

This Bakery Break-In Was About as Weird as It Can Get
Man cleaned up mess from his break-in at Vancouver shop, took selfies, stole 6 cupcakes



"Canadians are known worldwide for sometimes being too nice" is how one media outlet is framing a cupcake caper out of British Columbia, in which both the perp and the bakery owner he inconvenienced are making headlines for their classic Canadian courtesy. The CBC reports on the incident, which took place last Friday at Sweet Something in Vancouver and was captured on security cameras. In the footage that owner Emma Irvine posted on TikTok, a man can be seen kicking through the bakery's glass front door just after 3am and then stepping inside. Irvine says in the video that he took a rest in a chair for about 10 or 15 minutes before deciding to head to the bathroom.

When he emerges again on camera, the man has a mop and mop bucket in hand and starts cleaning up the mess of shattered glass he created when he broke into the bakery. "Honestly, gotta love a criminal who is at least respectful," Irvine says in the clip. "A respectful king, we love to see it." (She does add he didn't do a great cleanup job, however.) After posing for some selfies for the bakery's cellphone, showing off his large orange sunglasses, the guy finally decided to take his leave more than an hour later, and also to take six chocolate champagne cupcakes to go, Irvine notes.

"I hope they're good, bro—next time, just ask. We'll be happy to give you the six cupcakes," Irvine says in the video. Then, per the Washington Post, on Monday, as Irvine was walking her dog and trying to wrap her head around the break-in, a colleague called her with a message: The cupcake thief had called the bakery. Irvine returned his call, during which he apologized for his actions and offered to pay the $850 or so in damages to door and to throw in his orange sunglasses as a gift.

The Vancouver Police Department says it's investigating, though Irvine says she doesn't want to press charges. "I had a lot of empathy and sympathy for this guy," Irvine says. "You can tell that he's a young kid who made a mistake, and we all make mistakes." Not only is she now laughing off the incident, but she also baked a tribute to the sweets thief over the weekend: sugar cookies baked in the shape of giant orange sunglasses, placed atop her signature cupcakes. She called the dessert "Crime of Passion."

China Is Digging A 10,000-Meter Hole Into The Earth To Reach The Cretaceous System

JAMES FELTON



Scientists in China have begun digging a 10,000-meter (32,808 feet) hole into the Earth, the deepest ever attempted in the country.

Digging down through 10 layers of rock, the team hopes to reach rocks from the Cretaceous Period, the layer known as the Cretaceous System, which dates back up to 145 million years. The project, which broke ground on Tuesday, could be used to identify mineral resources as well as help assess environmental risks like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, according to Bloomberg.

The hole, while impressively deep, will not be the deepest human-made hole on Earth. That title goes to the Kola Superdeep Borehole, on the Kola Peninsula in northwestern Russia. The project, which spanned from May 24, 1970, to just after the collapse of the Soviet Union, saw the deepest branch of the hole reach 11,034 meters (36,201 feet) below sea level.

The team found that the rocks deep below the Earth were a lot wetter than they were expecting. Before the borehole found it, scientists had thought the water would not permeate the rock so deeply. They had also been expecting to find a layer of basalt beneath the continent's granite, as this is what was found in the oceanic crust. Instead, they found that beneath the igneous granite was metamorphic granite. Since the continental crust was granite all the way down, this was evidence for plate tectonics, a theory that had only recently begun to be accepted when they began digging the borehole.

Digging into the Earth doesn't always go so smoothly. An American team in the 1960s reached 183 meters (600 feet) beneath the seafloor, going through 13 meters (43 feet) of basalt in the uppermost layer of oceanic crust before the project was canceled due to mismanagement and financial troubles. With these problems aside, the task is still a huge undertaking.

“The construction difficulty of the drilling project can be compared to a big truck driving on two thin steel cables,” Sun Jinsheng, an academic at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, told Chinese state news agency Xinhua of the latest Chinese efforts.

While exciting, mantle fans await disappointment. The Earth's crust, on land, is variable. On average it is about 30 kilometers (19 miles) thick, though under mountain ranges it can reach as much as 100 kilometers (62 miles). We are far from reaching the Earth's mantle and tasting the forbidden goo.