Argentina hit by massive transport strike

Yearly inflation stood at 209 percent in September.

By AFP
October 30, 2024

Canceled flights are highlighted in red during a massive transit strike in Argentina, aimed at protesting President Javier Milei's economic policies, at the at the Jorge Newbery Metropolitan Airport in Buenos Aires on October 30, 2024 -

 Copyright AFP MARCOS BRINDICCI

Planes, trains, trucks and taxis ground to a halt in Argentina on Wednesday in a major one-day strike over President Javier Milei’s austerity policies.

The unions called the protest over Milei’s plans to privatize national flag carrier Aerolineas Argentinas and to denounce spiraling poverty levels since he took office late last year.

Over a million passengers were affected by the industrial action, which saw over 1,800 trains canceled, according to Trenes Argentinos, the state-owned rail operator in Buenos Aires.

Aerolineas Argentinas said that 263 flights had been affected, impacting around 27,700 passengers.

Metro drivers in Buenos Aires and ferry operators also took part in the strike, which saw activists block roads in parts of the country and some public sector workers also walk off the job.

The main bus drivers’ union, which did not participate, said it would go on strike on Thursday.

“A significant section of the population is having a hard time,” Pablo Moyano, a leader of the CGT, Argentina’s main labor federation, told Radio 10.

He said the strike also aimed to defend the “sovereignty” of Argentina’s transport sector and prevent state companies from being sold to foreign investors “for a few bucks.”

Milei, who wielded a chainsaw on the campaign trail last year as a symbol of his plan to slash public spending, has cut energy and transport subsidies and thousands of public sector jobs.

His policies have produced Argentina’s first budget surplus in 15 years but have also been blamed for plunging the country into a deep recession and driving the proportion of Argentines living in poverty up 11 points in six months to 52.9 percent.

And while inflation has slowed in recent months, it remains stubbornly high.

Yearly inflation stood at 209 percent in September.

Report says crowd-sourced fact checks on X fail to address flood of US election misinformation


FILE - Workers install lighting on an “X” sign atop the company headquarters, formerly known as Twitter, in downtown San Francisco, July 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)

BY BARBARA ORTUTAY
October 30, 2024

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — X’s crowd-sourced fact-checking program, called Community Notes, isn’t addressing the flood of U.S. election misinformation on Elon Musk’s social media platform, according to a report published Wednesday by a group that tracks online speech.

The nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate analyzed the Community Notes feature and found that accurate notes correcting false and misleading claims about the U.S. elections were not displayed on 209 out of a sample of 283 posts deemed misleading — or 74%.

Misleading posts that did not display Community Notes even when they were available included false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen and that voting systems are unreliable, CCDH said.

In the cases where Community Notes were displayed, the original misleading posts received 13 times more views than their accompanying notes, the group added.

Community Notes lets X users write fact checks on posts after the users are accepted as contributors to the program. The checks are then rated by other users based on their accuracy, sources, how easily they are to understand, and whether they use neutral language. The program was launched in 2021 by the previous leadership of the site — then known as Twitter — and was called Birdwatch. Musk renamed it Community Notes after he took over the site in 2022.

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Last year, X sued CCDH, blaming the group for the loss of “tens of millions of dollars” in advertising revenue after it documented an increase in hate speech on the site. The lawsuit was dismissed by a federal judge in March.

Keith Coleman, a vice president of product at X who oversees Community Notes, said in a statement that the program “maintains a high bar to make notes effective and maintain trust across perspectives, and thousands of election and politics related notes have cleared that bar in 2024. In the last month alone, hundreds of such notes have been shown on thousands of posts and have been seen tens of millions of times. It is because of their quality that notes are so effective.”

San Francisco-based X also pointed to external academic research that has shown Community Notes to be trustworthy and effective.

Imran Ahmed, the CEO of CCDH, however, said the group’s research “suggests that X’s Community Notes are little more than a Band Aid on a torrent of hate and disinformation that undermines our democracy and further polarizes our communities.”

Inspired by Harris, many Black sorority and fraternity members are helping downballot races

Linda Chapman of Waterbury, left, a member of the Zeta Phi Beta, talks with U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-Conn. at a Souls to the Polls voting rally at Grace Baptist Church Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, in Waterbury, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Alderman Sean Mosley, a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, speaks at a Souls to the Polls voting rally at Grace Baptist Church on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, in Waterbury, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Carolyn Highsmith, a member of Theta Epsilon Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority in New Haven, listens to speakers at a Souls to the Polls voting rally at Grace Baptist Church Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, in Waterbury, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)


Linda Chapman of Waterbury, left, a member of the Zeta Phi Beta, talks with U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-Conn. at a Souls to the Polls voting rally at Grace Baptist Church, Oct. 26, 2024, in Waterbury, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

BY SUSAN HAIGH
Updated 10:07 PM MDT, October 30, 2024Share


HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes isn’t a member of the historically Black sororities and fraternities known as the “Divine Nine.”

But throughout her hotly contested reelection campaign this year, Hayes, the first Black woman to represent Connecticut in Congress, has sometimes felt like she’s a fellow soror, the term used by Black Greek organizations for sorority sisters. On their own, members have shown up to call voters, organize fundraisers, knock on doors, cheer Hayes on at campaign events and even offer pro bono legal help.

“I had people from Massachusetts come in to volunteer,” said Hayes, a Democrat who is seeking a fourth term. “I’ve had people who had previously been considering going to a battleground state like Pennsylvania and are saying, ‘No, we’re going to stay right here and help out in this race in Connecticut.’”

Downballot candidates like Hayes — particularly Black women — have benefited from a surge in support this year from volunteers who happen to be members of Black Greek organizations, many energized by Kamala Harris’ presidential run. The vice president is a longtime member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, which was founded at her alma matter, Howard University, in 1908. Harris pledged AKA as a senior at Howard in 1986.

Collectively known as the National Pan-Hellenic Council, the nine historically Black sororities and fraternities are nonpartisan and barred from endorsing candidates because of their not-for-profit status. The organizations focus on voter registration drives, civic engagement and nonelectoral initiatives and are careful not to show favor to a particular candidate. But many of the groups’ members, as individuals, have been “extremely active” in federal and state races around the country this year, said Jaime R. Harrison, chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

“I think that’s a part of the Kamala Harris effect,” Harrison said during a recent visit to Connecticut.

There were women affiliated with all the D9 sororities on a recent get-out-the-vote bus tour through New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland to support Black women on the ballot.

Along with other volunteers, they knocked on hundreds of doors, made thousands of calls and sent out hundreds of postcards, urging people to vote. The trip was organized by the Higher Heights for America PAC, a nearly 13-year-old organization that works to elect progressive Black women.

Members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. showed off their crimson and cream colors while stumping in Maryland for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks, a fellow Delta who is in a closely watched race against former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan.

Volunteers who are D9 sorority members also campaigned for Democratic U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware, an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha who is running for the U.S. Senate. If both candidates were elected, it would mark the first time two Black women have served in the Senate simultaneously.

Latosha Johnson, a social worker from Hartford, recently participated in a get-out-the-vote phone banking session for Hayes along with other Black women who, like her, are members of Delta Sigma Theta. She said there’s a realization among many Black and brown voters that the stakes in the election are particularly high. And if Harris wins, she’ll need allies in Congress, Johnson said.

“If we don’t get her a Congress that’s going to be able to move things,” Johnson said, “that becomes hard.”

Hayes is in a rematch against former Republican George Logan, a former state senator who identifies as Afro-Latino but has not seen an outpouring of support from D9 members, according to his campaign.

Both Harris and former President Donald Trump are courting Black voters in the final days of the presidential race. Harris’ campaign has expressed concern about a lack of voting enthusiasm among Black men.

While Republicans have made some inroads with Black voters, two-thirds still identify as Democrats. About 2 in 10 identify as independents. About 1 in 10 identify as Republicans, according to a recent poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research

Voter registration and nonpartisan get-out-the-vote efforts by the sororities and fraternities, coupled with the mobilization of individual members, could potentially have an impact on some of these races, said Darren Davis, a professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame.

“In local elections, in statewide elections, where the Black vote is more powerful and concentrated as opposed to in national elections, D9 organizations have this tremendous untapped ability to reach and to mobilize disaffected voters,” Davis said.

The D9 fraternal groups were founded on U.S. college campuses in the early 1900s when Black students faced racial prejudice and exclusion that prevented them from joining existing white sororities and fraternities. In a tradition that continues today, the organizations focused on mutual upliftment, educational and personal achievement, civic engagement and a lifelong commitment to community service.

Many of the fraternities and sororities served as training grounds for future civil rights leaders, including the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks.

Alpha Phi Alpha member Brandon McGee is a former Democratic state representative who now leads Connecticut’s Social Equity Council on cannabis. As the father of two daughters, he is excited about helping Harris and Hayes win.


“I want my babies to see me working for a female who looks like their mother. And even beyond looking like their mother, a female,” he said. “And I want my babies to know, ‘You can do the same thing.’”

SUSAN HAIGH
Haigh covers the Connecticut General Assembly, state government, politics, public policy matters and more for The Associated Press. She has worked for The AP since 2002.

US Abortion-rights groups outspend opponents by more than 6 to 1 in ballot measure campaigns


FILE - Abortion rights advocates hold a rally in support of the “Yes On 4" campaign in downtown Orlando, Fla., April 13, 2024. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel via AP, File)

BY GEOFF MULVIHILL
October 30, 2024

The groups promoting ballot measures to add amendments to the constitutions in nine states that would enshrine a right to abortion have raised more than $160 million.

That’s nearly six times what their opponents have brought in, The Associated Press found in an analysis of campaign finance data compiled by the watchdog group Open Secrets and state governments.

The campaign spending reports are a snapshot in time, especially this late in the campaigns, when contributions are rolling in for many.

The cash advantage is showing up in ad spending, where data from the media tracking firm AdImpact shows campaigns have spent more than three times as much as opponents in ads on TV, streaming services, radio and websites.

Abortion-rights supporters have prevailed on all seven ballot measures that have gone before voters since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, which ended a nationwide right to abortion and opened the door for the bans and restrictions that are now being enforced in most Republican-controlled states

Most of the money is going to Florida

Florida is the behemoth in this year’s abortion ballot-measure campaigns.

Proponents of the measure have raised more than $75 million and opponents $10 million. Combined, that’s nearly half the national total.

The state Republican Party is using additional funds, including from corporations across the country, to urge voters to reject the measure. Including that, supporters still lead in ad-buying: $60 million to $27 million.

The total spent as of Tuesday is about the same amount spent on the state’s U.S. Senate race.

The amendment would overturn a ban on most abortions after the first six weeks of pregnancy — when women often don’t know they’re pregnant — that was signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and took effect in May. DeSantis’ administration has taken steps to thwart the campaign for the amendment.

Florida’s ballot measure rules give opponents a boost: Passage requires approval from 60% of voters instead of a simple majority.

An influx of funding arrives in South Dakota

South Dakota is an outlier, with a significant funding advantage for anti-abortion groups.

According to an Associated Press analysis of state campaign disclosures, they’ve raised about $2 million compared with abortion-rights supporters’ $1 million.

There was a big change last week when the abortion-rights group Dakotans for Health reported that it had received $540,000 from Think Big America, a fund launched by Illinois Gov. Jay Pritzker, a Democrat. The fund’s director, Mike Ollen, said that’s helping ads get seen more widely in what could be a close race.

Before that, national abortion-rights groups, including the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, had mostly ignored South Dakota because, they said, the ballot measure doesn’t go far enough. It would allow regulations of abortions after the first 12 weeks of pregnancy if they relate to the health of the woman.

“We find ourselves being caught between being way too extreme on the right end of the spectrum and not extreme enough on the left end of the spectrum,” said Rick Weiland, co-founder of Dakotans for Health. “We think we’re right in the middle.”

The anti-abortion campaign in South Dakota, like those elsewhere, is focused largely on portraying the amendment as too extreme. The Think Big money provided a new chance to do that.

“South Dakotans don’t want extreme Chicago, San Francisco, and New York views tainting our great state,” Life Defense Fund spokesperson Caroline Woods said in a statement.

One anti-abortion group reported a $25,000 contribution last week from South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem’s political action committee.


Funding is close to even in a state with competing ballot measures

Nebraska has competing ballot measures.

One would allow abortion until viability, considered to be somewhere after 20 weeks. The other would bar abortion in most cases after the first 12 weeks — echoing current state law, but also allowing for a stricter one.

The side pushing to keep restrictions is leading the fundraising race, with at least $9.8 million. One prominent family has supplied more than half of that. Republican U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts has contributed more than $1 million, and his mother, Marlene Ricketts, has chipped in $4 million.

The campaign for more access has raised at least $6.4 million.

In some states, the opposition has been quiet

In most places, abortion-rights supporters have a big fundraising lead.

In Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Montana and Nevada, the opponents had each reported raising less than $2 million before Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the groups promoting the questions in those states have all collected at least $5 million.

The ballot questions have different circumstances.

Missouri’s amendment would open the door to blocking the state’s current ban on abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with some exceptions. Proponents of the measure have raised more than $30 million to opponents’ $1.5 million.

In Arizona, passing the abortion amendment would roll back a ban after the first 15 weeks of pregnancy and instead allow it until fetal viability, and later in some cases. The state’s Supreme Court ruled this year that an 1864 ban on abortion at all stages of pregnancy could be enforced, but the Legislature promptly repealed it.

Colorado is one of the few states that already has no gestational limits on when during pregnancy abortion can be obtained. Montana allows abortion until viability.

Opponents of Nevada’s measure have not reported any spending. To take effect, the amendment needs to pass this year and again in 2026.

Fundraising has been low on both sides in Maryland, though Pritzker’s fund says it’s sending money there, and New York, where a ballot measure doesn’t mention abortion specifically but would bar discrimination based on “pregnancy outcomes and reproductive healthcare and autonomy.”
Big contributions from national groups are one-sided

Liberal groups, including those that aren’t required to report who their donors are, are far more active in the campaigns than their anti-abortion counterparts.

The Fairness Project, which promotes progressive ballot measures, has pledged $30 million for this year’s abortion amendments. So far, $10 million in its contributions have shown up in campaign finance reports.

Several other abortion-rights groups have contributed $5 million or more. No single entity on the anti-abortion side has reported giving that much.

Groups that funded the majority of last year’s campaign against an Ohio abortion-rights amendment that voters approved are absent from this year’s list of big contributors.

The Concord Fund, part of a network of political groups centered around conservative legal activist Leonard Leo, didn’t show up in campaign finance reports until Wednesday, when a Missouri filing showed the group gave $1 million the day before to a group opposing the ballot measure there. Leo was a driving force in securing nominations of Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe.

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America has not been active on abortion ballot measures this year, but it is pumping money into the presidential race in support of Republican Donald Trump.


“This is the most consequential fight for life before us,” SBA spokesperson Kelsey Pritchard said in a statement, noting that the group is aiming to spend $92 million in eight states in the presidential race.

Longtime music director at Michigan church fired for same-sex marriage

LGBTQ+ RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS

Members of St. Francis Catholic Church in Traverse City, Mich., carry signs Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, to protest the firing of the parish music director. (Jan-Michael Stump/Traverse City Record-Eagle via AP)


Members of St. Francis Catholic Church in Traverse City, Mich., carry signs Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, to protest the firing of the parish music director. (Jan-Michael Stump/Traverse City Record-Eagle via AP)
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Members of St. Francis Catholic Church in Traverse City, Mich., carry signs Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, to protest the firing of the parish music director. (Jan-Michael Stump/Traverse City Record-Eagle via AP)

 October 30, 2024

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — The longtime music director at a northern Michigan church said he was fired just a few months before retirement after officials learned that he was in a same-sex marriage, a dismissal that has angered members and led to sidewalk protests by the choir.

“He’s extremely talented, he’s perfect on the piano, he has perfect pitch and because of him, I look forward to going to church every week,” said Bob Holden, a chorister at St. Francis Church in Traverse City.

“I’m divorced. Do I get thrown out next?” Holden told the Traverse City Record-Eagle.

Fred Szczepanski said he was fired on Oct. 18 by the Rev. Michael Lingaur for marrying his longtime partner in a same-sex ceremony in Nevada in 2020. The church confronted him after receiving a letter from an unnamed person.

Szczepanski had been music director for 34 years and planned to retire in January. His recorded voice greets people who call the parish office.

The Catholic Church teaches that marriage is a lifelong union between a man and a woman. It opposes gay marriage, though Pope Francis says priests can offer blessings to same-sex couples.

“We take employee privacy very seriously and are not able to disclose details about individual personnel matters,” the Diocese of Gaylord, which oversees St. Francis, said in a written statement.

On Sunday, protesters carried signs outside the church: “Love Not Hate,” “God Includes, Not Excludes,” and “Fired Not Retired.”


Choir members on Oct. 20 wore black, left their seats empty and refused to sing, the Record-Eagle reported.


“People are hurt, people are sad. In a time where there is so much controversy in the world, the church needs to be a place of peace, and instead it’s turmoil after turmoil,” church member Toni Stanfield said.

Second Japanese high court rules lack of same-sex marriage protections unconstitutional

LGBTQ+ RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS


A Tokyo High Court ruled that a lack of protections for same-sex marriage in Japan was unconstitutional, becoming the second high court to do so. 

File Photo by Jiji Press/EPA-EFE

Oct. 30 (UPI) -- The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday ruled that the government's refusal to recognize same-sex marriage was against the country's constitution, marking the second court to do so.

The court said the Japanese government's failure to protect same-sex marriage had "no rational basis" and has become a form of "legal discrimination based on sexual orientation."

The court cited Article 14 of the Constitution, which declares that everyone is equal under the law, and a paragraph of Article 24 stating that laws on marriage "shall be enacted from the standpoint of individual dignity and the essential equality of the sexes."

Wednesday's ruling follows another by the Sapporo High Court in March, which backed a lower court's 2021 ruling that the lack of same-sex marriage protection violated Article 14.

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The Sapporo ruling also ruled the wording of the paragraph from article 24 could be interpreted to guarantee marriage for same-sex couples, countering the government's argument that the language excluded them.

"The degree of social acceptance for granting (same-sex couples) the same protection as heterosexuals has heightened considerably," Presiding Judge Sonoe Taniguchi said in her ruling, according to Kyodo News.


The plaintiffs took their case to the High Court after a Tokyo District Court in November rejected damages against the government while suggesting that the topic was one more suited to be resolved by the Japanese legislature.

The court, however, rejected the plaintiff's call for $6,500 in compensation from the government for not protecting same-sex marriage.

No court has approved financial compensation for plaintiffs in cases challenging the lack of same-sex marriage protection.

Taniguchi said in the ruling that the government could not be found liable to compensate plaintiffs as the Supreme Court has yet to rule on protections for same-sex marriage.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said during a press conference that introducing a same-sex marriage system "concerns the fundamentals of people's lives and is closely related to each parson's view of the family."

Autism diagnoses on the rise among U.S. children, adults

By Ernie Mundell, HealthDay News


Big surges in new autism diagnoses among young adults, as well a rise in diagnoses for girls and young women, have driven a near-tripling of U.S. autism cases in just over a decade, researchers report. Photo by Adobe Stock/HealthDay News

Big surges in new autism diagnoses among young adults, as well a rise in diagnoses for girls and young women, have driven a near-tripling of U.S. autism cases in just over a decade, researchers report.

Data on over 12 million patients enrolled in major U.S. healthcare systems found that between 2011 and 2022 the number of people diagnosed with autism climbed by 175%, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Network Open.

The rise in diagnoses was especially dramatic among young adults ages 26 to 34 -- this group experienced a 450% increase (equivalent to more than a 5.5 times rise) in autism diagnoses between 2011 and 2022, the report found.

And even though boys are still four times as likely to be diagnosed with autism compared to girls, the "gender gap" in diagnoses is closing, according to a team led by Luke Grosvenor, of Kaiser Permanente's Division of Research in Pleasanton, Calif.

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While new diagnoses among male children during the study period rose by 185%, they soared by 305% among girls, the data showed.

Among adults, women charted a 315% rise in autism diagnoses between 2011 and 2022, Grosvenor's group found, compared to a 215% rise among men.


Why these trends?

First of all, "increased advocacy and education" may be bringing autism spectrum disorders out of the shadows, encouraging more openness among Americans to get themselves or their children screened for the condition, the Kaiser team said.

Furthermore, there have been recent "changes to developmental screening practices" for children, as well as changes in "diagnosis definitions, policies and environmental factors" that could be playing a role in the rise in case numbers, according to the study team.

As for the surge in diagnoses among girls and women, Grosvenors' team pointed to research suggesting that "gender behavior norms" can lead females to "socially hide autistic traits (commonly referred to as 'camouflaging')."

It's possible that those social pressures and stigmas are now easing, allowing girls and women to more comfortably seek out a diagnosis.

Autism rates remain highest among the very young: According to this tally, about 30 out of every 1,000 children ages 5 to 8 have an autism diagnosis.

That's only slightly higher than the 27.6-per-1,000 (about 1 in 36) rate seen among children generally in 2020, as calculated by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Grosvenor's group stressed that the new data could still be an undercount of cases of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), especially among adults.

"Rates reported here may underestimate the true prevalence of ASD in adults, especially older female adults, as many would not have been screened in childhood and remain undiagnosed," the researchers noted.

The bottom line, according to the study authors: "The population of autistic adults in the U.S. will continue to grow, underscoring a need for expanded healthcare services."

More information

Find out more about autism spectrum disorders at Autism Speaks.

Copyright © 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

New Zealand city bids farewell to 'disturbing' hand sculpture


"Quasi," a sculpture by artist Ronnie van Hout, is being removed from atop City Gallery Wellington in New Zealand after overlooking the city for five years. Photo courtesy of the Wellington City Council


Oct. 30 (UPI) -- A controversial sculpture of a giant hand with a human face is being removed from atop a gallery in Wellington, New Zealand, after overlooking the city for five years.

Quasi, a sculpture by Ronnie van Hout, was originally commissioned by the Christchurch Art Gallery in 2016, and was moved to the top of City Gallery Wellington in 2019.
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The 16.4-foot-tall sculpture, based on van Hout's own hand and face, proved immediately controversial with some Wellington residents and was branded "disturbing" on social media.

Wellington Sculpture Trust Chair Jane Black said in a Wellington City Council news release that the sculpture will be missed.

"No other, before or since, arrived so dramatically into our street-scape. Quasi arrived on an azure-blue morning by helicopter and created a stir from day one, locally, nationally and internationally. He was a great cheerleader for Wellington's creativity, and as Time magazine said, our 'quirkiness,'" Black said. "He will be missed and leaves a Quasi-shaped hole on our civic skyline."

Quasi is scheduled to be removed Saturday and will travel to Australia, but a new venue for the sculpture has yet to be announced.

Maryland historical society seeks to identify mystery machine

The Dorchester County Historical Society is trying to identify a mystery machine that has been in storage since the 1990s and includes components believed to be about 100 years old. 

Photo courtesy of the Dorchester County Historical Society/Facebook


Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Historians in Maryland are seeking the public's help to identify a mysterious machine donated to a museum in the 1990s.

The Dorchester County Historical Society posted photos to social media showing a machine composed of a flat ceramic counter top and two spinning objects that resemble rolling pins.

The contraption was donated to the historical society's Neild Museum in the 1990s and has been in storage since.

"Can you identify this machine? It has a new motor but everything else is around 100 years old. What local industry would have used it?" the Facebook post said.

Zoe Phillips, executive director of the historical society, said one theory being pursued by historians is the possibility that the machine was intended to make beaten biscuits, which were once popular in Maryland and were known for their dense texture.

She said it may have been intended to simplify the dough-making process, which traditionally involved using an ax to beat the dough on a stump to remove air pockets.

"We potentially think it was a Maryland beaten biscuit maker," Phillips told WBOC-TV. "Created by a man who was trying to help his aunt with the business, and the belief is that this would've helped beat the air out of the dough as the biscuits were being created."

Other possibilities suggested in the comments of the Facebook post include a meat tenderizer and a leather-working tool.

SPACE/COSMOS

China's Shenzhou-19 crew arrives at Tiangong space station


The crew of China's Shenzhou-19 arrived at the Tiangong space station on Wednesday and posed for a "family photo" with the Shenzhou-18 crew. Photo courtesy Chinese Manned Space Agency  

NOTE THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE CREW IS NOT IN FRONT WITH HER FELLOW ASTRONAUTS WHO JUST ARRIVED

Oct. 30 (UPI) -- A new trio of Chinese astronauts reached the Tiangong space station on Wednesday, starting a handover from the current crew already on the orbiting laboratory.

According to the Chinese Manned Space Agency, the latest Chinese crew docked with the space station at 12:51 p.m. Beijing time. All six members of the two crews eventually took a "family photo" together.

"Subsequently, the two astronaut crews will perform on-orbit rotations at the space station," the CMSA said in a translated statement. "During this period, the six astronauts will work and live together on the space station for about five days to complete various scheduled tasks."

The two crews will work together on Tiangong for about five days before the Shenzhou-18 crew returns home leaving the new Shenzhou-19 crew to work on the space station alone.

The Shenzhou-18 crew is expected to land at the north China Dongfeng landing site on Nov. 4.

The Shenzhou-19 crew consists of commander Cai Xuzhu, 48, former Air Force pilot Song Lingdong, 34, and spaceflight engineer Wang Haoze,34. Cai was part of the Shenzhou-14 crew to the space station.

"My two new teammates were both born in the 1990s," Cai said during a news conference, according to Space.com. "Although there is an age difference between us, we share the same goal -- to serve our country and win honor for it while working and striving together."