What Else Is News? Thursday Edition
Man Rams Recently Purchased Car Into Dealership
Michael Murray had a limited budget for his next car. The dealership told Murray that the car he was buying would need work and was being sold as-is. After the purchase, Murray decided the car was a “lemon” and wanted to return it. When the dealership said no, he decided to return it anyway - by ramming the car into the glass walls of the dealership.
The events took place at Tim Dahle Mazda Southtowne in Utah. No one was injured, but the dealership suffered about $10,000 in damage. Murray was arrested and faces charges of felony criminal mischief and reckless endangerment. In an interview after he was released from jail, Murray said he knew he probably shouldn’t have driven the car into the dealership, but he was mad about losing money on the purchase.
Largest Migrant Surge in U.S. History
The immigration surge under President Biden has been the largest in U.S. history, The New York Times reported Wednesday. Senior writer David Leonhardt referenced data from the Congressional Budget Office in his article.
"Annual net migration — the number of people coming to the country minus the number leaving — averaged 2.4 million people from 2021 to 2023, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Total net migration during the Biden administration is likely to exceed eight million people," Leonhardt wrote.
Also according to the Times, “more than half of net migration since 2021 has been among people who entered the country illegally.” President-elect Donald Trump has made stemming the tide of illegal immigration one of his top priorities when he takes office in January.
Judge Says The Onion Cannot Buy Infowars
It was meant to be the best spoof of all time. The satirical news organization The Onion had planned to buy Infowars, the media empire of far-right radio personality Alex Jones. After being hit with a $1.5 billion fine in 2022 for harassing families of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting, Jones was forced to auction off Infowars. The Onion offered $1.75 million and, if given ownership, planned to remove Jones and turn Infowars into a parody.
This week, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez said that the auction process was flawed, and therefore the deal could not happen. That means that Jones, for now, can stay at Infowars.
The Pope Gets a New (EV) Ride
The Vatican inched closer to its goal of zero emissions as the new Mercedes EV popemobile made its debut. The vehicle took a year to make. “Every detail is perfection," said Ola Källenius, CEO of Mercedez-Benz.
In addition to being all electric, the popemobile boasts amenities to make the ride comfortable for Pope Francis, 88. These include a heated swivel seat so the pope can stay warm and greet crowds around him.
Mercedez-Benz has provided vehicles for popes for many years, although this is the first electric version.
Polio Virus Found in Wastewater in Some European Countries
Is polio making a comeback in Europe? Recently, the polio virus has been detected in the wastewater in Germany, Poland and Spain.
The scientific magazine Study Finds explains, “It is possible that the virus was shed in the sewage by an infected asymptomatic person. But it is also possible that a person who was recently vaccinated with the oral vaccine (with the weakened virus) shed the virus in the wastewater, which subsequently evolved until re-acquiring the mutations that cause paralysis.
“Vaccine-derived poliovirus strains emerge from the weakened live poliovirus contained in oral polio vaccines. If this weakened virus circulates long enough among under-immunized or unimmunized groups or in people with weakened immune systems (such as transplant recipients or those undergoing chemotherapy), it can genetically shift back into a form capable of causing disease.”
No incidents of polio have been found in Germany, Poland or Spain, but experts are monitoring the situation. The finding has spurred health officials to encourage vaccination to prevent a reoccurrence of the disease that reached its peak in the 1950s but steadily declined with the license of the polio vaccine in 1955.
Drone Update: They’re Still Out There
The Pentagon quickly dismissed claims by a New Jersey senator that drones flying around New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean for a few weeks belonged to Iran. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., who sits on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committe, told Fox News he had heard from “high sources” that “Iran launched a mothership probably about a month ago that contains these drones. They’ve launched drones into everything that we can see or hear….I don’t say this lightly.”
Pentagon officials quickly refuted Van Drew’s statement. “There is no Iranian ship off the coast of the United States, and there’s no so-called mothership launching drones towards the United States,” said Sabrina Singh, a Pentagon spokesperson.
Meanwhile, residents in New Jersey and some surrounding areas say the lack of information as multiple drones fly through the night sky is unsettling. James Edwards of Succasunna, New Jersey, told the Associated Press he has seen drones flying over his neighborhood. “It raises concern mainly because there’s so much that’s unknown,” he said. Still, Edwards stressed, it’s important to stay calm and wait for definitive explanations. “There are lots of people spouting off about various conspiracies that they believe are in play here, but that only adds fuel to the fire unnecessarily,” he said.