I usually make dip with a packet of soup mix powder, but I was out so I did the following and it turned out well -- and since it was mostly with Coscto items, I thought I'd post here.

All measurements were eyeballed, so change as you desire:

• 10oz frozen chopped spinach (cut spinach is too stringy, but if you want to use a food processor, you could use either, or substitute fresh spinach, kale, Yu Choy, Dau Miu, or anything else -- or skip completely)
• 1 cup mayonnaise (from the giant jug taking up all that refrigerator space)
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1-2 tsp "Better Than Bullion" "Seasoned Vegetable Base" ("Organic Reduced Sodium") soup starter -- this is in the spice aisle and any variety will do
• 1 tsp Kirkland "Organic No-Salt Seasoning" -- also in the spice aisle
• a chunk of a pepper, minced (Italian long hot) -- can sub red bell pepper, another hot pepper, or omit
• 2-3 fresh garlic cloves, minced (or skip if you don't love garlic)

Optional stuff you might like: chives/scallions/red onion, goat cheese, artichoke hearts, chopped mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, or go traditional and fry up a good sized onion until it is brown and caramelized to make more of a traditional 'french onion' dip.

Directions:

1. In a small mixing bowl, microwave frozen spinach until warm, then lightly squeeze out excess water. It should be damp (to absorb the no-salt spice mix), but not so wet that the dip becomes soupy. If using a fresh veg, cook as desired.

2. Add No-Salt Seasoning and Better Than Bullion to vegetable and mix together. Taste to ensure a bold flavor (the flavor will be softened by the dip base, but also bloom a bit as the dehydrated bits absorb moisture).

3. Add garlic and fresh bell/chili/long-hot pepper, and any optional items you desire. Mix. If you are using a food processor, this is a good time to pulse everything together ... but you can also wait until the end if you need more bulk to mix properly.

4. Add the sour cream and mayonnaise. Stir together. Add optional ingredients as desired. Refrigerate for an hour. Note: You can it serve immediately, but it is weird to have warm dip for potato chips.

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/12136649

politico archive: https://ghostarchive.org/archive/PS7WH

see also: https://thehill.com/homenews/ap/ap-politics/ap-supreme-court-moving-quickly-will-decide-if-trump-can-be-prosecuted-in-election-interference-case/ | thehill archive: https://ghostarchive.org/archive/W6bFe

Excerpts (politico):

In Wednesday’s order, the Supreme Court granted Trump’s emergency request to maintain that pause while the justices hear Trump’s immunity appeal.

But the court’s decision to keep the pretrial proceedings frozen is a blow to special counsel Jack Smith’s effort to bring Trump to trial this year. Smith has charged Trump with four felonies stemming from his bid to subvert the 2020 presidential election.

If they deny the immunity bid by the end of their term in June, it may still be possible for the trial judge overseeing the case, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, to schedule a trial to begin in late summer or fall.

The timing of the justices’ eventual ruling could be critical since Chutkan has vowed to give Trump roughly three additional months to prepare for trial if the case is returned to her courtroom.

That hypothetical schedule would guarantee that much of Trump’s general election calendar is consumed by his mandatory presence in the courtroom, perhaps overlapping with the Republican National Convention or even Election Day itself.

Chutkan had originally intended to begin the election-subversion trial on March 4, but she nixed that start date due to the delays caused by Trump’s immunity claim. The trial, if it happens, is expected to last several months.

Excerpts (thehill):

That timetable is much faster than usual, but assuming the justices deny Trump’s immunity bid, it’s not clear whether a trial can be scheduled and concluded before the November election. Early voting in some states will begin in September.

In the end, the timing of a possible trial could come down to how quickly the justices rule. They have shown they can act fast, issuing a decision in the Watergate tapes case in 1974 just 16 days after hearing arguments. The decision in Bush v. Gore came the day after arguments in December 2000.

By taking up the legally untested question now, the justices have created a scenario of uncertainty that special counsel Jack Smith had sought to avoid when he first asked the high court in December to immediately intervene. In his latest court filing, Smith had suggested arguments a full month earlier than the late April timeframe.

Though their Supreme Court filing did not explicitly mention the upcoming November election or Trump’s status as the Republican primary front-runner, prosecutors described the case as having “unique national importance” and said that “delay in the resolution of these charges threatens to frustrate the public interest in a speedy and fair verdict.”

In 2023, a critical milestone was passed: over half of seniors are now enrolled in privatized Medicare Advantage plans. The marketing for these plans nearly always fails to mention how hard it is to return to traditional Medicare once you are in Medicare Advantage, and that the MA plans have closed provider networks and require prior authorization for medical procedures. Instead, the marketing emphasizes the fringe benefits offered by Medicare Advantage plans like gym memberships.

“There is no real organized lobby for traditional Medicare, or organized advertising efforts,” he said. “During open enrollment, 80% of Medicare-related ads have to do with Medicare Advantage. We regularly encounter very well-educated and savvy folks who are tripped up by advertising and lured in by the bells and whistles. The deck is stacked against the consumer.”

https://ghostarchive.org/archive/P4x7W

Archive link | Excerpts:

A binder containing highly classified information related to Russian election interference went missing at the end of Donald Trump’s presidency, raising alarms among intelligence officials that some of the most closely guarded national security secrets from the US and its allies could be exposed, sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

Its disappearance, which has not been previously reported, was so concerning that intelligence officials briefed Senate Intelligence Committee leaders last year about the missing materials and the government’s efforts to retrieve them, the sources said.

The former president had ordered it brought there so he could declassify a host of documents related to the FBI’s Russia investigation. Under the care of then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, the binder was scoured by Republican aides working to redact the most sensitive information so it could be declassified and released publicly.

Instead, copies initially sent out were frantically retrieved at the direction of White House lawyers demanding additional redactions.

Just minutes before Joe Biden was inaugurated, Meadows rushed to the Justice Department to hand-deliver a redacted copy for a last review. Years later, the Justice Department has yet to release all of the documents, despite Trump’s declassification order. Additional copies with varying levels of redactions ended up at the National Archives.

But an unredacted version of the binder containing the classified raw intelligence went missing amid the chaotic final hours of the Trump White House. The circumstances surrounding its disappearance remain shrouded in mystery.

One theory has emerged about the binder’s whereabouts.

Cassidy Hutchinson, one of Meadows’ top aides, testified to Congress and wrote in her memoir that she believes Meadows took home an unredacted version of the binder. She said it had been kept in Meadows’ safe and that she saw him leave with it from the White House.

“I am almost positive it went home with Mr. Meadows,” Hutchinson told the January 6 committee in closed-door testimony, according to transcripts released last year.

A lawyer for Meadows, however, strongly denies that Meadows mishandled any classified information at the White House, saying any suggestion Meadows was responsible for classified information going missing was “flat wrong.”

Excerpt:

“President Magill’s actions in front of Congress were an embarrassment to the university, its student body, and its vast network of proud alumni,” the six congressmen wrote in a news release. “She has shown the university and the entire world that she is either incapable or unwilling to combat antisemitism on the university’s campus and take care of its student body. As such, I respectfully call on you to relieve President Magill of her duties as president to protect the lives of Jewish American students at the University of Pennsylvania.”

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/10115569

Norman Lear, the television writer and producer who introduced political and social commentary into situation comedy with “All in the Family” and other shows, proving that it was possible to be topical as well as funny while attracting millions of viewers, died on Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 101.

His death was confirmed by Lara Bergthold, a spokeswoman for the family.

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/10112418

Denny Laine, the original lead singer of the Moody Blues and Paul McCartney’s co-founder/guitarist in Wings, died December 5 after a short battle with Interstitial lung disease. He was 79.

“I was at his bedside holdings his hand as I played his favorite Christmas songs for him,” his wife Elizabeth Hines wrote in a statement. “My world will never be the same. Denny was an amazingly wonderful person, so loving and sweet to me. He made my days colorful, fun, and full of life – just like him.”

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/5301538

Archived version: https://archive.ph/BayAw
Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20231109053322/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-67361888

The main allegation is that Costco lets Meta collect communications related to health care from its website, violating HIPAA and effectively acting as a wiretap of the customer.

The first lawsuit was news earlier in October, and the new one from the 25th appears to be similar. Links to first suit:

• https://www.classaction.org/news/costco-uses-tracking-tech-to-disclose-online-pharmacy-customers-health-info-to-third-parties-class-action-alleges
• https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/costco-lawsuit-customer-health-information-meta-18420718.php

I got the "Spooky Chocolate Bundt" cake from my local Costco and absolutely hated it. To me, it wasn't chocolatey and the over-sweet icing tasted off. My better half thought it was delightful, so it'll get eaten but not by me. If you've tried it, please let us know which of us is right.

P.S. the only link I could find with an image was the linked yahoo piece.

excerpts:

... As the fire spread further into town, the problems multiplied: Hydrants ran dry as the community’s water system collapsed, according to firefighters. Powerful sirens, tested every month in preparation for such an emergency, never sounded. Lahaina’s 911 system went down.

Many of those who evacuated said they were corralled by road closures and downed power lines into traffic jams that left some people to burn alive in their cars and forced others to flee into the Pacific. Videos shared with The Times and posted on social media show cars on Front Street crawling in bumper-to-bumper traffic as smoke, embers and debris billow around them.

Government officials have blamed wind gusts that in some cases exceeded 80 miles per hour for fueling the ferocity of the blaze, combined with warming temperatures and drought that left the island’s vast grasslands and brush tinder dry.

The prospect of a destructive wildfire has been a growing concern across West Maui for years, as drought has worsened, invasive plants have created huge swaths of highly flammable grasslands, and worsening storms have spawned winds that can fuel fires. All those perils came sharply into focus in the days before Maui’s fire last week, when a hurricane building to the south, with significant winds forecast, created the very conditions that scientists had long warned could be a deadly combination.

Gov. Josh Green of Hawaii has said repeatedly since the fire that climate change is “the ultimate reason that so many people perished.” He has asked the attorney general to conduct a comprehensive review....

... “We couldn’t see people, but I heard people throwing up, screaming,” said Ydriss Nouara, a sales manager at a local hotel who was fleeing on a scooter with a neighbor. He said he watched as a pit bull threw itself into the water. He called 911, and the operator urged them to get into the water, too....

See full article for full details, but here's the Apple bit that caught my eye:

Back to that rain chance that your iPhone is teasing you with. It’s all a dirty lie. Aside from a less than 20 percent chance of a stray shower, there’s really not much to write home about in terms of rain chances. To put that chance into perspective, a number of meteorologists don’t even mention rain chances of less than 20 percent.

What’s causing the error? It’s honestly hard to say with any sort of certainty without working on Apple’s app development team. Weather apps that come preloaded onto smart phones have a notorious reputation for missing the mark when it comes to a forecast. A lot of times, the data that goes into these apps are raw and unfiltered. As anyone who works with data for a living can attest, raw and unfiltered data can be a land mine of trouble. Many of the most utilized weather apps, such as the stock iPhone app, are rife with real-world examples of why you should be getting your forecast from a trusted source. A human meteorologist remains the best source for accurate and reliable weather information.