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Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Dental Medicine have developed a gum made from bean power that can trap the influenza virus and apparently viruses that cause herpes in a lab.

That’s good news.

Gizmodo:

In various experiments, a protein found in the gum substantially neutered two flu strains and the herpes simplex viruses 1 and 2 (HSV-1 and HSV-2). The gum could prove to be a potent and easy-to-use tool for preventing the spread of these infections, the researchers say.

The Penn researchers have been working on antiviral gum for some time now. Several years ago, they developed gum from plant-based material that could effectively trap SARS-CoV-2—the cause of covid-19—in people’s saliva. Their latest creation relies on a similar approach but uses a different plant that’s native to sub-Saharan Africa and commonly eaten in tropical areas: Lablab purpureus, also known as the lablab bean. Past research has shown that the lablab bean naturally carries a protein that can bind to a wide variety of viruses. This protein is called Flt3 Receptor Interacting Lectin, or FRIL for short.

What else do you wish we could chew away?

Open thread away.

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A bill to sharply reduce the energy credits given to homeowners with rooftop solar panels is pitting union electrical workers and the state’s big utilities against people who benefit from the solar credits — and one of the first skirmishes took place in the City of Industry on Wednesday.

Waving signs and blowing whistles, dozens of rooftop solar owners protested outside the office of Assemblymember Lisa Calderon (D-Whittier), who proposed Assembly Bill 942 to slash the credits for people who installed the systems before April 15, 2023.

Jim Matthews, one of the rooftop solar owners at the protest, said he doubts he would have purchased the panels if he would have known the state would be reversing the incentives.

“Stuff like this tears my heart,” said Matthews, who lives in Hawthorne. “I think it’s scandalous.”

Calderon worked for Southern California Edison and its parent company, Edison International, for 25 years before she was elected in 2020. Her last position included managing the parent company’s political action committee.

Edison and the state’s two other big for-profit utilities have long tried to reduce the energy credits that incentivized Californians to invest in the solar panels. The rooftop systems have reduced the utilities’ sales of electricity.

“Calderon: For the People or for Edison?” said one sign waved by protesters outside Calderon’s office in the City of Industry. “Stop SCE’s Revolving Door in Sacramento,” said another.

Calderon told the Times she introduced the bill because she had learned that 97% of the people in her district were paying higher electric bills because of the solar credits going to the remaining 3% when they sent the unused electricity from their solar panels to the grid.

“From an equity standpoint, that’s not fair,” she said. “I would love for everyone to have solar, but we need to do it in a fair and equitable way.”

Calderon said Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric and San Diego Gas & Electric have all sent her letters supporting the bill.

AB 942 would limit the energy credits provided to those who purchased the systems to 10 years — half the 20-year period the state had told rooftop owners they would receive. It would also end the incentives if the house was sold.

Uniting in the effort to oppose the bill are dozens of environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and the Environmental Working Group, which point out that the state has long said the solar contracts would last for 20 years.

Also attending the protest were representatives from the California Solar & Storage Assn., a trade group that represents companies selling the rooftop solar systems. The protest was organized by the Solar Rights Alliance, a statewide association of solar users.

Jeff Monford, a spokesperson for Edison, said the company sent Calderon a letter Wednesday backing the bill. He said the bill has “nothing to do with utility profits. It will result in savings for our customers.”

The company estimates that those customers who don’t have solar would save $500 million by 2030 if AB 942 passed, or about 3% of the average household electric bill.

The unions of electrical workers who install and repair equipment built by Edison and other electric companies are lobbying to get the bill passed.

In an email, a spokesperson for the California State Assn. of Electrical Workers said the group “strongly supports” the bill, which it said would “alleviate the financial burden on non-solar ratepayers.”

At a meeting in Sacramento in late March, leaders of the group, which represents 83,000 electrical workers in the state, said a top goal was to reform the rooftop solar incentives.

“It is unjust, unreasonable and unsustainable for Californians to continue shoveling billions of dollars every year to an industry when it is no longer justified nor fair to non-solar customers, particularly when the burden falls hardest on low-income customers,” Scott Wetch, a lobbyist for the electrical workers, wrote in a letter to the chair of the Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee.

Calderon and the electrical workers point to an analysis by the state Public Utilities Commission’s public advocates office that said the credits given to rooftop owners for the electricity they send to the grid is raising the electric bills of customers who don’t own the panels by $8.5 billion a year.

The rooftop solar industry and environmental groups disagree with that analysis, saying it was flawed.

In a recent letter to the Assembly committee, the environmental groups pointed to an analysis that economist Richard McCann performed for the rooftop solar industry that found that electric rates had risen as the utilities spent more on infrastructure. That equipment includes the transmission lines needed to connect industrial-scale solar farms to the grid.

Even though homeowners’ solar panels helped keep demand for electricity flat for 20 years, the three utilities’ spending on transmission and distribution infrastructure had risen by 300%, McCann found.

“To address rising rates, California must focus on what’s really wrong with our energy system: uncontrolled utility spending and record utility profits,” the environmental groups wrote.

In December 2022, the commission voted to cut incentives for anyone installing the panels after April 15, 2023, by 75% but left the incentives in place for legacy customers.

AB 942 would not apply to rooftop solar customers who live in territory served by the state’s municipal utilities, including the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

A hearing on the bill is scheduled for April 30.

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The Trump administration’s new chief federal prosecutor in Los Angeles says his office intends to pursue immigration charges against a man awaiting release from state prison after serving time for a 2021 crash on the 405 Freeway that killed a young couple.

Bill Essayli, sworn in as U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California earlier this month, focused attention on the case amid reports that the driver, who pleaded guilty to two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, could be freed after serving around three years of a 10-year sentence.

“If the State of California will not seek the full measure of justice against this individual, [the Justice Department] will,” Essayli said in a post on X.

Essayli noted that pending charges — initially filed by his predecessor under the Biden administration — could land Oscar Eduardo Ortega-Anguiano in federal prison for up to 20 years if he is convicted of illegally reentering the country after being deported twice previously.

Ortega-Anguiano, now 43, was under the influence of drugs and alcohol and doing nearly 95 mph in November 2021 when, according to court records, his Volkswagen smashed into 19-year-olds Anya Varfolomeev and Nikolay Osokin, who were both killed when their Honda burst into flames.

Fox News said it had reviewed a notice about Ortega-Anguiano sent by the state to Varfolomeev’s father, which reportedly said he could be released to Garden Grove.

State prison records show Ortega-Anguiano is eligible for parole in July and currently housed at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville.

A spokesperson for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said Ortega-Anguiano “received 334 days of pre-sentence credits for time served locally while awaiting sentencing and is eligible for credit-earning opportunities while incarcerated.”

State prisoners often end up serving less time because of credit for rehabilitative programs and good behavior, but the suggestion that Ortega-Anguiano could walk free riled Trump administration officials.

Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi posted on X: “This is absolutely unconscionable. What about Justice for these teens? What about the rights of their parents?”

Border czar Tom Homan vowed to send federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to enforce an agreement known as a detainer, under which local officials hold individuals facing deportation.

“I will work with [Homeland Security] Secretary Noem on this case, and I guarantee you, if they don’t honor the detainer, we’ll have ICE agents outside that facility to take custody of this individual and deport him,” Homan said Wednesday on Fox’s “America’s Newsroom.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office subsequently released a statement pledging to honor the detainer on Ortega-Anguiano, saying that state prison officials “will again coordinate with ICE — as they have w/ 10,000+ inmates — to transfer him before release.”

A spokesperson for ICE said a detainer was placed on June 9, 2022, while Ortega-Anguiano was housed at North Kern State Prison. According to ICE, his previous criminal convictions include burglary in 2005; vehicle theft in 2007; and battery on spouse with kidnapping in 2014.

“This tragedy was completely preventable. This criminal illegal alien should have never been in our country,” Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement. “We hope California law enforcement will work us to ensure this criminal alien is not released into American communities.”

Court records show a federal arraignment for Ortega-Anguiano on the immigration charge was not held as scheduled on March 10 because he was not transferred as requested from state prison. He has yet to enter a plea in the federal case.

The statement from Newsom’s office pointed out that a Republican district attorney was in charge in Orange County when Ortega-Anguiano entered the plea agreement that led to his current prison sentence. A harsher penalty under second-degree murder charges could have been sought, Newsom’s statement suggested.

Orange County D.A. Todd Spitzer countered with his own statement, which said Ortega-Anguiano “pled to the Court and was sentenced by a judge under California law, over the objection of Orange County prosecutors, who unsuccessfully argued for the maximum sentence.”

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President Donald Trump spent Easter Sunday hitting the links at his Virginia golf course, writing angry social media posts, and hanging out with his co-president, the recently born again Christian billionaire Elon Musk.

But on Monday he was bragging about how he single-handedly brought religion back to America.

“It brings the country together. It’s so important that we can do that,” Trump told reporters at the newly corporate-sponsored White House Easter Egg Roll. “Religion, I said bring religion back. Religion keeps you together. It’s such a great thing.”

The famously philandering Trump, who reportedly discovered “his faith” while watching Christian television, seems to be a work in progress. This Easter he apparently decided to skip church in favor of golfing at his Sterling, Virginia, course and attacking his perceived enemies.

“Melania and I would like to wish everyone a very Happy Easter!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social site Sunday morning. “Whether you are heading out to Church or, watching Service from home, may this day be full of Peace and Joy for all who celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. HE IS RISEN!!” 

A short while later, Trump “truthed” out a much longer rant, attacking “Radical Left Lunatics,” lambasting federal judges who do not agree with his administration’s slew of unconstitutional and illegal activities, and spewing conspiracy theories involving former President Joe Biden and an autopen.

Instead of spending what is arguably the most important Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Christ, Trump and his henchman Musk spent time waving to other wealthy patrons of the president’s 800-acre private golf club.

“What would Jesus do?” is a common refrain among faithful Christians. It’s safe to say that golfing with Musk, who Trump proudly introduced as “the world’s richest man,” would likely rank very low on the Lamb of God’s list of priorities.

But as evidenced by the chart below, golf remains one of Trump’s biggest priorities.

(Image via Datawrapper)

Republished with permission from Daily Kos.

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In the disturbing footage, Idaho woman Teresa Borrenpohl is seen at a town hall hosted by the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee in February being dragged from her seat by private security guards who did not identify themselves, and Sheriff Robert Norris tugged hard on the woman’s arm. Now he’s under scrutiny since he receives $150,000 a year in disability payments from Los Angeles County. In 2014, Norris retired as a lieutenant in the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, having sustained shoulder and other physical injuries. DOGE should look into that.

Borrenpohl has moved to file a $5 million lawsuit against the sheriff, the men who dragged her from the town hall, and others she blames for her injuries, both constitutional and physical, Rolling Stone reports.

NBC News reports:

Borrenpohl filed a notice of tort claim on Monday with the Kootenai County Clerk, asserting that a group of men — which she says includes Kootenai County Sheriff Robert Norris — and a private security company hired for the event violated her constitutional rights.

“Town halls are intended to foster conversation and discourse across the aisle, which is why I am deeply alarmed that private security dragged me out of the public meeting for simply exercising my fundamental right of free speech,” Borrenpohl said in a statement.

…

The court filing comes several days after prosecutors said six men were charged with crimes in connection with the town hall.

The Coeur d’Alene City Attorney’s Office announced in a statement on April 17 that it had filed charges against six men involved in the event.

Paul Trouette, Russell Dunne, Chistofer Berge and Jesse Jones were all charged with battery, false imprisonment, security agent uniform violation and security agent duties violation, according to the attorney’s office.

Alex Trouette was charged with security agent uniform violation and security agent duties violation, and Michael Keller was charged with battery, the statement said.

In the age of Trump, manhandling a woman is OK. A speaker at the town hall demeaned her, referring to her as “little girl.” I wonder how that little boy feels now.

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Michael Knowles, who the Trump campaign bragged had endorsed Donald, is infamous for opinions like,

“surrogacy and IVF are immoral,”
“transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely,”
“divorce should basically be outlawed,” and
“I support Christian nationalism.”

Buuuut, he owns a cigar company, and would pretty-please like an exemption from Trump’s tariffs.

Could the premium cigar smokers please have a break?

Video and transcript via Media Matters:

MICHAEL KNOWLES (HOST): One minor point I want to bring up. It’s a major point for me.

When it comes to these trade policies, I have an inside view on only one industry, and that is the cigar industry because I’m an owner of Mayflower Cigars. I’m the founder of this boutique cigar company. And even though it’s a very large cigar company, thanks to all of you who smoke Mayflower Cigars — but it’s still a relatively new, relatively boutique company.

And cigar tobacco generally comes from Latin America. Sometimes from Africa, sometimes from the South Pacific, sometimes from Connecticut and Pennsylvania as Mayflower is incorporating into maybe some new blends that we’ll talk about later. But the vast majority, virtually all the premium cigar tobacco comes from Latin America. And there are these massive tariffs right now, relatively massive compared to other Latin American countries, on Nicaragua, which has become the cigar capital of the world after the communists took over Cuba and messed up that cigar industry. And it’s where a lot of American investment has gone. It’s where a lot of American cigars come from. And I think the tariffs are 18 or 19% right now.

I think that while Trump is creating exemptions, I’m not just asking this because, you know, it helps Mayflower cigars. I’m looking at it more from a political angle. Premium cigar consumers, they’re basically all Trump supporters. Not — 80% are Trump supporters. The premium cigar industry, the actual manufacturers who are getting walloped, not only with these tariffs, but with decades of horrible burdensome regulation going back to Obama with s-chip, hiking up all these taxes, all these different shakedowns to bring cigars into the country. The cigar manufacturers are 90%, 95% probably Trump supporters.

This is a small industry, it’s an artisanal industry, handmade product, accessible luxury good. Seems to me, while we’re carving out all of these exemptions on the tariffs, if we’re not gonna onshore cigar making, because that’s not possible in the United States, not certainly not possible at scale, but it’s just not — you can’t. That’s just not how cigars work. If we’re not gonna get a lot of revenue, really, from the tariffs as a matter of our US budget, and if we want to maybe be a little nicer to our friends and a little tougher on some of our political opponents, it seems to me a great carve out for the Trump administration. Anyone listening right now in the admin, a great little carve out would be for all of the patriotic Americans who have been oppressed for too long, who work in the premium cigar industry, and for all of the premium cigar smokers. Just like the image that you have of the conservative man might be worth — we’re talking we’re talking real politics here, folks. Friends and enemies. OK? Come on. Come on.

FAFO!!!!

You voted for him, endorsed him, and it’s time to suffer for him, Michael.

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US State Department Spokesperson (really) and former Fox News contributor (of course) Tammy Bruce turned nasty after CNN’s Pamela Brown asked her to clarify Marco Rubio’s stance on the Ukraine-Russia Peace talks.

All statements made by Trump and his State Department favor Russia keeping Crimea and all the land they’ve invaded as part of any peace deal being forced on Ukraine. Pamela Brown said President Zelensky refuses to abide by that, and asked if Russia is getting a better deal?

Bruce responded by claiming the peace negotiations will not be done on television, and that Zelensky is lying about his feelings to the press.

BRUCE: Let’s make something quite clear here. This is not going to be discussed on TV, not between you or me. It’s not going to be a discussion over TV or television or dinner or anywhere else, that these are-President Zelensky, I respect a great deal. And he’s going to say what he needs to say. Their success is based on their actions and it does not come from a conversation like this on television.

The Ukraine president is making it clear he will not surrender to Russia no matter how hard Trump pushes him to do so.

Brown followed up which caused Bruce to constantly talk over her.

BRUCE: But it’s a matter of what these individuals-just a minute-these individuals, what they know in their private conversations through diplomatic negotiations and conversations and meetings is not something that is fair to discuss on television, speculate about, or amuse about.

Their success is based on their actions and it does not come from a conversation like this on television.

BROWN: I’m just talking about Secretary Rubio’s comments. Secretary Rubio made the comments himself and J.D. Vance that they’re willing to walk away and you have Ukraine saying that it would not agree to a key part of the U.S. proposal.

Bruce then used Trump’s usual refrain when being asked about something he doesn’t like.

BRUCE: But for you, I know you want to have a sense of what ratings might be or pulling people in- No, it’s not that.

BROWN: We’re just trying to get answers for our viewers.

BRUCE: Of course it is.

—

BRUCE: And we will not have this debate, certainly it’s not going to be a negotiation between you and me.

BROWN: You are the State Department spokesperson. It is very fair for me to ask you basic questions about what has been said publicly. No, I also want to go up to what’s going on at the State Department.

BRUCE: And for you to accept my answers-

BROWN: Okay, but some of your, you didn’t answer some of my questions, which is why I followed up, which is my job.

BRUCE: Of course I did. I answered it.

It’s impossible for a credible news host to ask basic questions that any normal administration would try and answer based on what the leaders of the various departments are telling the press.

If you don’t agree with their MAGA-prepared talking point, then you are an enemy of the Trump administration, and the interview dissolves into that.

I repeat, this is the person speaking on behalf of the US State Department. Real professional, Tammy.

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Since my wife forbade me throwing my Carhart cap and the lovely hand-knit hat she made for me into the ring, the field is now wide open. I have my own local favorites, but Illinois is a big state with a deep Democratic bench, so let the irresponsible speculation begin!

Also too, some memories…

Editor’s note [Frances Langum]: Damn right Driftglass ain’t running.

Republished with permission from Driftglass.

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The HHS under the Trump administration and RFK Jr are gutting medical research, testing, vaccines, and other vital services, yet RFK Jr ranted about teenage sperm counts on Fox News.

As usual Kennedy uses any unverified information to make wild claims about the state of health.

RFK: 74 percent of our kids cannot qualify for military service.

We have fertility rates that are just spiraling.

A teenager today, an American teenager, has less testosterone than a 68-year-old man.

Sperm counts are down 50 percent.

WATTERS: Wait, wait, wait. An American teenager has less testosterone than a 60-year-old man?

RFK:That’s right. Because testosterone levels have dropped 50 percent from historic levels.

And you know, and that is a problem.

And it’s an existential problem.

The sicker you are, the more qualified you become to join the Trump administration.

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With the stock markets crashing on Monday, Trump reversed course and claimed he never would’ve fired Jerome Powell from the Fed after days of berating and blaming him for the markets collapse.

Wall Street has been plummeting since Trump rolled out his lamebrain tariff ideas. but he wasn’t finished throwing them further into chaos after his idiotic move of attacking the Fed chair.

On Tuesday, Trump began singing a different song.

REPORTER: You have no intention of firing Jerome Powell because, here, I think on the brink of passing, a few days ago it was said that you and people in the White House were studying this idea possibly before his term ends. Do you have any plans on doing that?

TRUMP: None whatsoever.

Never did.

The press runs away with things.

No, I have no intention of firing him.

I would like to see him be a little more active in terms of his idea to lower interest rates. This is a perfect time to lower interest rates.

If he doesn’t, is it the end? No, it’s not.

But it would be good timing. It could have taken place earlier.

But no, I have no intention to fire him.

Hahahaha.

Trump tried to bully a rate cut, hoping it would ease the markets from declining from his addled brain. He always berates people in hopes they will wilt in the face of his commands, but Powell refused, making Trump crawl.