The New Coffee Room

seconding and thirding (etc) all of the above comments.

Wow!!!!

Sen. Thom Tillis, a two-term North Carolina Republican who was expected to contest one of 2026’s toughest Senate races, tried to walk a fine line between President Donald Trump and his purple-state electorate.

It backfired spectacularly over the weekend, with Tillis announcing Sunday that he would not seek re-election less than a day after Trump publicly attacked him for voting “no” to advance his “big, beautiful bill.”

“In Washington over the last few years, it’s become increasingly evident that leaders who are willing to embrace bipartisanship, compromise, and demonstrate independent thinking are becoming an endangered species,“ Tillis said in a statement announcing his decision.

and

His decision-making included two questions: Would GOP leaders have his back? And would Trump give him space to be independent if he ran?

It became clear to Tillis, the person said, that he wouldn’t be getting either of those things after Senate leaders made only minor changes to the megabill despite Tillis’ warnings and after Trump started publicly attacking him this weekend.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/29/thom-tillis-retires-00432045

Kind of stupid to have the Democrat force the reading of the bill word by word. 16 hours. LOL

Not sure what they were trying to accomplish.

That is crazy. Let's just say that I got more wrong than right. :eek

Impressive.

I remember reading about that guy from Free Solo who would practice his grip strength by hanging from the frame that goes around a door for 30 minutes or so.

Im sure that it will take some time to know how much damage was done. I am not sure I would believe anything coming from the Iran officials right now.

The United States obtained intercepted communication between senior Iranian officials discussing this month’s U.S. military strikes on Iran’s nuclear program and remarking that the attack was less devastating than they had expected, said four people familiar with the classified intelligence circulating within the U.S. government.

The communication, intended to be private, included Iranian government officials speculating as to why the strikes directed by President Donald Trump were not as destructive and extensive as they had anticipated, these people said. Like some others, they spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/06/29/trump-iran-nuclear-damage-intercepted-call/

U.S. President Donald Trump says he's ending all trade discussions with Canada to hit back at Ottawa for slapping a tax on web giants — and he wants it removed before negotiations can begin again.

Canada and the U.S. have been locked in talks to get Trump to lift his punishing tariffs on Canadian goods, levies that have already led to major economic dislocations, job losses and a drop in southbound exports. Trump and Prime Minister Mark Carney agreed at the G7 last week to reach some agreement on the trade dispute within 30 days.

Speaking in the Oval Office on Friday afternoon, Trump said the U.S. has "such power over Canada," and that he's upset the country is following a taxation strategy similar to Europe's.

"It's not going to work out well for Canada. They were foolish to do it," he said of imposing the DST, which was passed into law last year with a delayed application.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trump-terminating-trade-discussions-canada-1.7572964

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a884_new_5426.pdf

I think this was original about birthright citizenship, but this decision does not say anything about it - only that a federal court cannot form an injunction against the whole nation

Because universal injunctions likely exceed the equitable authority that Congress has granted to federal courts, the Court grants the Government’s applications for a partial stay of the injunctions entered below regarding the implementation and enforcement of President Trump’s Executive Order No. 14160, but only to the extent that the injunctions are broader than necessary to provide complete relief to each plaintiff with standing to sue.

@jon-nyc That is base on longitude lines?

@jon-nyc 555

@89th I have no clue what that meme is about. LOL

Interesting life. I was not familiar with him.

https://www.seriouseats.com/best-espresso-grinders-7377134

We Tested 7 Espresso Grinders—4 Ensured Excellent Results Every Time

Brewing espresso is all about control. When you start an espresso machine, around 600 pounds of pressurized water starts to push against the coffee in the filter basket. The only way to control how fast that water moves through the coffee (and how good your espresso will taste) is to find the right grind size. And the correct grind setting will only be a few microns different than an incorrect one—invisible to the naked eye. Instead, grind size is measured by timing your shots, and an espresso that pulls in 24 seconds might be so-so, while a 28-second shot could be top-notch. That four-second difference might seem difficult to nail, but that’s the level of control a great espresso grinder has.

However, most standard burr grinders can’t get fine enough for espresso, and the ones that do aren't precise enough to offer multiple settings in that range (as we found out in our coffee grinder testing). Espresso grinders, on the other hand, have burrs that are distinctly calibrated for precision and consistency at super-fine settings, letting the user tweak their grind and fine-tune their shots. To find the best espresso grinder, we tested seven models at a variety of price points. (Note: We didn't include any heavy-duty commercial grinders.) We found four favorites that will suit espresso novices and nerds alike.

https://academic.oup.com/icb/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/icb/icaf081/8158706?redirectedFrom=fulltext

Tiny rodents living in a major American city are unique examples of evolution playing out in real time.

Like geologic time itself, the process of evolution itself is generally a very slow process with teeny tiny changes passed down over several generations. All of these small changes eventually result in new adaptations and potentially new species over thousands or millions of years. However, in the face of dramatic shifts in the world around them from climate change to human encroachment, species sometimes must rapidly adapt or die.

They found small–but significant–changes in the rodents’ (chipmunks and voles) skulls over the past 100 years. For the chipmunks, their skulls became larger over time, while the row of teeth along the sides of the mouths shrank. The bony bumps in the voles’ skulls that hold the inner ear became smaller over time. However, why the skulls were changing was not immediately clear.

and

“Over the last century, chipmunks in Chicago have been getting bigger, but their teeth are getting smaller,” said Feijó. “We believe this is probably associated with the kind of food they’re eating. They’re probably eating more human-related food, which makes them bigger, but not necessarily healthier.

Meanwhile, their teeth are smaller—we think it’s because they’re eating less hard food, like the nuts and seeds they would normally eat.”

By contrast, the voles had smaller auditory bullae–bone structures associated with hearing.

“We think this may relate to the city being loud—having these bones be smaller might help dampen excess environmental noise,” said Smith.

https://www.dbresearch.com/PROD/RI-PROD/PDFVIEWER.calias?pdfViewerPdfUrl=PROD0000000000592089

The report goes into more detail

Luxembourg has been listed as the world’s most liveable city in the annual Mapping the World’s Prices – 2025 report ranking the cheapest and most expensive cities by the Deutsche Bank Research Institute assessing global cost and quality-of-life indicators.

The newly-released report, now in its ninth edition, tracks cost-of-living from rental prices to many goods and services including phones, coffee, beer, taxis, cinema tickets, denim and more in 69 cities relevant to financial markets, ranging from Abu Dhabi to Zurich.

“We have a surprise #1 in the quality-of-life stakes,” the report teases. “A clue would be that this country is 90 spots lower in the FIFA football rankings.”
With its mix of high incomes, free public transport and overall quality of life – the capital of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has surpassed wealthier cities like Zurich and Geneva.

“The breakdown of the quality-of-life index shows Luxembourg scoring strongly in purchasing power (6th), commute times (5th), and pollution levels (4th),” RTL Today reports. “Utilities are not listed among the most expensive globally, suggesting that monthly costs for essentials like energy and water remain comparatively moderate.”

Although, according to the report, mortgage payments in Luxembourg are relatively low as a percentage of household income, placing it alongside more affordable cities like Brussels and Chicago, “that may come as a surprise to many residents," the publication explains. "Earlier this month, the June edition of the Politmonitor confirmed that housing remains the top concern among Luxembourg voters."

Following Luxembourg, the five top cities for best quality of life are Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Vienna and Helsinki. Because their cost of living is now the highest in the world, Zurich and Geneva have slipped out of the top five.

With Geneva, Zurich, San Francisco and Boston, Luxembourg also ranks the highest for salaries after taxes, at $6,156, marking a 39% increase over the past five years and is the best performer in terms of quality of life next to Copenhagen and Amsterdam.

Luxembourg’s purchasing power has risen significantly since 2000, climbing 14 places globally, and its average inflation rate of 3.4% since 1971 is among the lowest worldwide.

Other financial hubs such as Tokyo in 26th place, Paris 44th, Hong Kong 48th, London and New York tied at 50th, all scored lower on quality of life, hampered by expensive housing, long commutes and high levels of pollution.
Some Ranking Surprises

Another ‘surprise’ in the study is this: U.S. cities that “rarely cracked the global top 10 for prices or pay are now jostling with Geneva and Zurich for the top in many of the charts.”

New York is the priciest place to live in the city’s center, with rent for a three-bedroom apartment costing an average $8,500 a month in 2025. The other American cities that appear among the 11 top ranking for high rents and groceries are Boston, San Francisco, Chicago and Los Angeles.

A strong dollar, Wall Street strength and a tech sector that has gone global and remains American-led are among the reasons mentioned in the report that also advises that the trend may be reaching its peak “at least in pricing terms.”

A third ‘surprise’ in the report is how cheap fast-growing India remains versus its international peers, and predicts that “it will largely be the third-largest economy in the world by the end of the decade.”

The Mapping the World Prices report also includes lighter touches as it spotlights the cost of some daily indulgences as indicators – for example, the price of a cappucino being most expensive in Zurich, while the most expensive glass of wine is in Singapore.

The least expensive location to buy a new iPhone? Seoul, Korea. The best place for a cheap date? Bangalore, India.

Luxembourg, however, doesn’t shine regarding one of the indicators: It’s the third-most expensive place in the world for a five-kilometer taxi ride, behind only Zurich and Paris.

Looking at longer-term shifts in relative prices levels across countries’ economies, the report notes that in 2000 the U.S. was second to Japan in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP). Since then, Japan has dropped 23 places, paying the price for excesses that peaked in the 1990s.

Meanwhile, New Zealand rose 20 places, Luxembourg 14 places, Australia 14, Saudi Arabia 12, Czech Republic 11 and the UAE 11, moving up notably in the ranking.

The U.S. declined 16 places between 2000 and 2010 to bounce back to #3 behind Switzerland and Israel by the start of 2025.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce8zv8j563po

Iranian authorities have carried out a wave of arrests and multiple executions of people suspected of links to Israeli intelligence agencies, in the wake of the recent war between the two countries.

It comes after what officials describe as an unprecedented infiltration of Iranian security services by Israeli agents.

Authorities suspect information fed to Israel played a part in a series of high-profile assassinations during the conflict. This included the targeted killings of senior commanders from the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and nuclear scientists, which Iran attributes to operatives of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency working inside the country.

Shaken by the scale and precision of these killings, authorities have been targeting anyone suspected of working with foreign intelligence, saying it is for the sake of national security.

But many fear this is also a way to silence dissent and tighten control over the population.

President Donald Trump's administration is planning to deport migrant Kilmar Abrego for a second time, but does not plan to send him back to El Salvador, where he was wrongly deported in March, a lawyer for the administration told a judge on Thursday.

The deportation will not happen until after Abrego is tried in federal court on migrant smuggling charges, a White House spokesperson said.

https://www.straitstimes.com/world/trump-administration-will-put-abrego-on-trial-before-deporting-him-again

@Doctor-Phibes said in BBC News now wants $8.99 a month for subscription.:

I may end up paying, particularly if they start charging for BBC sounds, which makes my drive to work bearable.

I am guessing that you are not talking about this website? 555

Many years ago, I came across this and bookmarked. Quite interesting with a lot of unusual and different sound effects.

https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk

for example
Aircraft: Trident - Exterior. Taxi up & past.
Bottles - Barman setting out bar, background traffic
Birds: Pigeons - Pigeons: Flying, Chasing in coop.
etc

Yes, happy birthday to you. Hope to see you back here soon!