Author: mangakiko

How Aussie Lego lovers are celebrating toy brand’s 90th birthday

Post author By mangakiko
Post date July 31, 2022
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The world’s favorite toy is turning 90!

It’s a toy that’s become synonymous with play all around the world, now the LEGO Group is celebrating 90 years as a company.

Over the decades, Lego has gone from strength-to-strength, becoming a multi-billion dollar empire.

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The world's favorite toy is turning 90! — The world’s favorite toy is turning 90! (A Current Affair)

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LEGO Australia's Angie Tutt. — LEGO Australia’s Angie Tutt. (A Current Affair)

A Current Affair has joined LEGO to take a look back at the company’s history, dating back to 1932.

Starting from humble beginnings in a Denmark workshop, a carpenter started carving and selling wooden toys.

But Ole Kirk Kristiansen’s real success wouldn’t come for another 17 years when the famous brick we all know and love were born, in 1949.

“I bet back then they wouldn’t have thought how big the Lego company would be after introducing that brick. And I guess the rest you could say, is history right?” LEGO Australia’s Angie Tutt told A Current Affair.

“I think the success really lies down to the magic of this brick, a very simple brick,” she said.

There’s an incredible 70 billion pieces of Lego sold every year.

There are also more LEGO mini figures on earth than there are humans, with 8.3 billion LEGO people in circulation.

“If you look at everything we’ve launched across time, it’s around 18-thousand products we have bought to market in our history so quite a lot going on,” she said.

Miller Keys is the only LEGO Master Builder in all of Australia, the 24-year-old says he has built many sets since he was a child.

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“It’s like art, like painting but you don’t need to know how to paint. You just need to know how to click two bricks together and then you can build anything – that’s what makes it cool,” he told A Current Affair.

Keys works at Melbourne’s Legoland Discovery Center at Chadstone Shopping Centre.

“When I was four and playing around with LEGO, if I would have known it would become my full-time job it would have absolutely blown my mind,” he said.

Inside the Legoland Discovery Center is a whole world of LEGO, including a recreation of Melbourne, made up of 1.5 million bricks.

Keys says it took builders 5000 hours to assemble it all.

These days, the toy juggernaut is more than just bricks.

There are 830 Lego stores globally, dozens of blockbuster movies and TV shows about Lego and in more recent years, intricate sets designed specifically for adults.

“What everybody doesn’t really do enough these days is play. So that’s what makes Lego really awesome as well – it can bring adults back to their childhood as well,” Keys said.

Over the decades, Lego has gone from strength-to-strength, becoming a multi-billion dollar empire. (A Current Affair)

READMORE: Aussies face tough decisions as cost of living bites

So what’s next for LEGO?

While they couldn’t reveal to us exactly what was to come, Tutt says next year we can expect a few surprises.

“In 2023 you need to look out for new partnerships we’ve got coming, definitely some new products and new ideas and we really want to get back out into Australian communities and get bricks in hands,” she said.

To celebrate its 90 years, LEGO is releasing some classic LEGO sets and encouraging fans to play for 90 minutes on August 10.

Sports

Supercars Race 22 red-flagged after startline shunt

Post author By mangakiko
Post date July 31, 2022
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Picture: Fox Sports

Race 22 of the Repco Supercars Championship at The Bend has been red-flagged after Thomas Randle stalled and was shunted by Andre Heimgartner.

Tickford Racing’s Randle had qualified second but could not get the #55 Castrol Mustang away from its grid box when the lights went out on the gantry.

Heimgartner (#8 R&J Batteries ZB Commodore), who started from Row 6, was unable to avoid the stricken Ford and ploughed into the back of it.

Nick Percat (#2 Mobil 1 NTI ZB Commodore) also sustained damage when Randle’s car cannoned into the side of his as he sped through the scene on drivers’ left.

Heimgartner and Randle both walked walk away from the wrecks, although the former looked particularly sore/winded, while Percat came to a halt at Turn 1.

The session is set to eventually go to a full restart, with Cameron Waters on pole position in one of the surviving Tickford Mustangs.

Up to 22 laps will be run, although time-certainty of 13:33 local time/14:03 AEST (plus one lap) may prevent the contest from reaching that distance.

Meanwhile, Red Bull Ampol Racing has fitted a new front bar to Shane van Gisbergen’s #97 ZB Commodore after he incurred damage in a separate incident further up.

He and James Courtney (#5 Snowy River Caravans Mustang) made contact on the run to Turn 1 which caused the New Zealander to swipe the rear of Waters’ #6 Monster Energy Mustang.

Update 13:16 AEST

The field has headed back onto the race track.

Update 13:20 AEST

Five-minute signal.

Update 13:23 AEST

Time-certainty now 13:30 local time plus one lap.

Update 13:29 AEST

Race has restarted.

Australia

Underground bikie bunker found as $5m in drugs seized across NSW and Queensland

Post author By mangakiko
Post date July 31, 2022
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Almost $5 million worth of drugs have been seized and more than 60 people have been arrested during a police operation to crack down on a major crime syndicate in queensland and New South Wales.

Police from NSW and south-east Queensland targeted criminal networks in the Northern rivers and Gold Coast border region.

Over the two-week period of “Operation Viking” authorities attended properties in Grafton, Tweed Heads and Ewingsdale, Bilambil Heights, and Carrara.

Some of the items seized during operation viking in NSW and Queensland — Seven firearms were seized over the two week period. (NSW Police)

Officers located more than 40 firearms, more than $150,000 cash, luxury cars and jewelry, and a variety of prohibited drugs including methylamphetamine, cocaine, GHB, and cannabis.

Police believe the number of drugs seized has a combined estimated street value of $4.5 million.

Of note during the raids, police found two hydroponic cannabis grow labs in Carrara and 2.5 kilograms of cannabis.

They also found and seized chemicals and equipment used to make drugs at Seelands, near Grafton.

NSW Police Acting Assistant Commissioner Jason Weinstein added an underground bunker used for Mongols bikie gang meetings was also discovered in the Grafton area

“It was a residential property and they had created a bunker and inside that bunker was Mongols memorabilia, there was a bar, a motorbike,” he said.

Police uncover Mongols bikie hide out in northern NSW (NSW Police)

“It was a location where the Mongols in that particular chapter believed they were free from police activity where they could congregate, talk about business and socialize.”

I have added about 40 per cent of bike groups are operating in the NSW northern region.

“The problem is quite large,” he said.

Weinstein said 13 people in NSW were arrested during the operation.

Meanwhile, Queensland Police Assistant Commissioner Katherine Innes said 54 people were arrested.

“It wasn’t solely to arrest offenders it was to gain a significant intelligence briefing about what the crime landscape is in the northern borders and Queensland and what connection they have to transnational crime entities,” Weinstein said.

Weinstein said the operation has put a dent in illegal activities between NSW and Queensland.

“The northern border zone has the state’s largest OMCG population with a significant crossover between NSW and QLD,” he said.

“We know criminal organizations were establishing themselves across the North Coast because of its lucrative drug market and a perceived idea the area is relatively free of scrutiny from law enforcement.

Guns seized during NSW and Queensland raids (NSW Police)

“I’m confident that following these two weeks that perception has changed.”

Innes said the operation should “serve as a warning” to anyone looking to carry out illegal criminal activity along the border.

PACT Act: VA secretary says Republican-backed amendments to burn pits legislation would lead to ‘rationing of care for vets’

CNN
—

Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough on Sunday pushed back against Senate Republicans blocking passage of the administration-backed PACT Act, warning that if the chamber passes GOP senators’ proposed amendment to the legislation aimed at providing care for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits, “we may have to ration care for veterans.”

McDonough told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” that a proposed amendment from Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Pat Toomey would put “a year-on-year cap” on what the VA can spend to care for veterans suffering from exposure to burn pits and sunsets the fund after 10 years, telling Tapper, “I can’t, in good conscience, do that, because the outcome of that will be rationing of care for vets, which is something I just can’t sign on.”

“This has been the No. 1 priority for President Biden,” McDonough said, touting executive action steps the Biden administration has already taken to remove the burden of proof for veterans seeking care for toxic exposure. “I guess what I’d say is, these folks have waited long enough. Let’s just get it done, and also let’s not be for a proposal that places artificial caps on year by year, and then functionally, at the end of those 10 years, makes this fund go away. Let’s not sign up to that, because at the end of the day, the risk of that is going to be rationing of care to veterans.”

On Saturday, McDonough visited people demonstrating at the Capitol in support of the legislation, delivering pizzas to the group, who pledged they would stay overnight. President Joe Biden, who remains in isolation at the White House after testing positive again for Covid-19 on Saturday, told the group via a FaceTime call, “I’ll tell you what, as long as I have a breath in me, I ‘m going to fight to get this done – as long as I have a breath in me.”

Earlier on “State of the Union,” Toomey had defended his decision to lead a group of Republican senators in delaying passage of the bill.

The Pennsylvania Republican accused Democrats of attempting to “sneak in something completely unrelated that they know could never pass on their own” while reiterating that he and his fellow Republicans are “not opposed” to the core provisions of the bill.

“[Democrats] know they’ll unleash their allies in the media and maybe a pseudo-celebrity to make up false accusations to try to get us to just swallow what shouldn’t be there,” Toomey said in an apparent reference to comedian Jon Stewart, a longtime advocate for victims of toxic burn pit exposure who has been vocal since the procedural vote failed.

Toomey’s opposition to the bill centers on the accounting categorization of certain spending in the bill, which he said would “allow our Democratic colleagues to go on an unrelated $400 billion spending spree.” He said he wants a vote on his amendment to change the spending categorization before he agrees to allow the bill to come to a vote.

“We are spending way too much money to use – to hide behind a veterans bill, the opportunity to go on an unrelated $400 billion spending spree is wrong,” Toomey said. “And we shouldn’t allow it.”

When pressed on the text of the legislation that indicates the allocated money has to be spent on health care for veterans who were injured from toxic burn pit exposure, Toomey dismissed that interpretation of the bill.

“This is why they do this sort of thing,” said Toomey, who is not running for reelection this year. “Because it gets very deep in the weeds and very confusing for people very quickly. It’s not really about veteran spending. It’s about what category of government bookkeeping they put the veteran spending in.”

Tags demographic groups, government and public administration, government organizations - us, law, military, military veterans, Pat Toomey, political figures - us, politics, population and demographics, society, US Congress, us department of veterans affairs, us federal departments and agencies, us senate

Technology

How Do You Feel About Wave 2 Of The Mario Kart 8 Booster Course Pack?

Post author By mangakiko
Post date July 31, 2022
No Comments on How Do You Feel About Wave 2 Of The Mario Kart 8 Booster Course Pack?

The second wave of the new Booster Course tracks for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe will be here next week, and we’re feeling hyped to try out some new races (and a little disappointed that some of them look more like Mario Kart Tour tracks than Mario Kart 8 tracks).

In the spirit of hype, we’re trying to gauge how people are feeling about this new wave, and the DLC in general. Is it everything you’d hoped for? A cool bonus to the Nintendo Switch Online subscription? A bit disappointing? Or are you just totally bummed that Nintendo is pumping time and money into an old Mario Kart game instead of something else — like a new Mario Kart game?

Use these polls to tell us how you really feel!

That’s all the questions we could think of… but tell us your overall thoughts on this latest wave of new tracks in the comments below!

Tags chicken, DLC, Feature, Mario Kart, Switch

Entertainment

Auctions: Nervous buyers drop out of $2.41m auction race in Sydney property market

Post author By mangakiko
Post date July 31, 2022
No Comments on Auctions: Nervous buyers drop out of $2.41m auction race in Sydney property market

Two potential buyers dropped out of the race for a Dulwich Hill house that still sold for $2.41 million at auction on Saturday, amid buyer caution ahead of yet another expected cash rate increase this week.

Five local families turned out to compete for the charming four-bedroom period home, complete with a white picket fence, but bidding for 65 Windsor Road was slow to start. Some interested parties ditched their plans to bid and watched from the sidelines.

The home was one of 537 Sydney homes scheduled for auction on Saturday. By evening, Domain Group had recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 55.7 per cent from 348 reported results, while 110 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.

Auctioneer Clarence White, of Menck White Auctioneers, had to urge interested parties to take action before securing an opening offer of $2 million. He then called the property three times before a second bid of $2.05 million was made.

The pace picked up from there, with four of the five registered bidders pushing the price up in mostly $50,000 increments to the $2.35 million reserve, after which the bidding slowed to $10,000 jumps.

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The four-bedroom period home at 65 Windsor Road, Dulwich Hill, Sydney. (Domain)

The 417-square-meter property sold to an upsizing local family. The result was $60,000 above the reserve price, and more than 13 times the $177,000 that records show it last traded for almost 30 years ago.

House prices in Dulwich Hill climbed 7.8 per cent over the year to June, reaching a median of $1.91 million, Domain data shows.

Seller Robert Drake was pleased with the result. He had already purchased a property in East Kurrajong to retire to with his wife from him and had some concern about selling in a cooler market, but he noted the pair had realistic expectations.

“We bought first and then sold, which becomes a bit nerve-wracking in a falling market, but it worked out alright,” he said. “It’s really nice to hand over our home to another family with kids.”

Sales agent William Pereira, of Adrian William, had been expecting seven buyers, but two dropped out at the last minute, deciding to watch the auction from the sidelines.

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Four of the five registered bidders competed for the home, but needed some encouragement to start the bidding. (Peter Rae/SMH)

Pereira said news about rising interest rates and cooling prices had made buyers a bit more cautious in their approach, but noted there was still good buyer demand.

White expected it would be his strongest auction of the day, with only one to two bidders expected at the three other auctions he was calling on Saturday.

“It’s really nice to have strong bidding… that’s a rarity at the moment,” he said.

While rising interest rates were putting downward pressure on prices, as they were affecting buyers’ borrowing power, he felt the pullback in buyer confidence was having a larger effect.

“Buyers move in flocks, so the fact that everybody knows the market is going down, and the fact that they’re anticipating it is going to go down further, is making everybody far less confident… it’s driven by fear.”

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In Wahroonga, a six-bedroom house with a tennis court sold for $13.03 million, setting a new suburb record and trading for more than $2 million above the reserve price.

Eight buyers registered to bid on 27 Braeside Street, which had a price guide of $10 million.

The bidding opened at $9 million, and climbed in six-figure increments, with three of the parties making offers. An expat family returning from Hong Kong won.

Records show the 2484-square-meter block last traded for $4,045,000 in 2017, when it was purchased by anesthetist David Woods and Alexandra Woods. The pair rebuilt on the block in 2020.

Selling agents Tim Fraser of Di Jones and Adam McKay of Ray White Upper North Shore said the result was well above their expectations.

READMORE: Top ten suburbs where property has gotten cheaper

McKay said many properties at that price level sold before auction, due to fear that there would not be enough competition.

“We knew we had the interest there, so wanted to have the auction. To get eight registered bidders on a property with a guide of $10 million shows… there’s a lot of depth in the market for buyers at that price level,” McKay said.

Fraser added that buyers of high-end homes had not been as affected by rising interest rates as other purchasers, and many had built up a lot of equity in their existing homes throughout the property boom.

Down south, a four-bedroom house at Taren Point sold for $1.85 million, well above the $1.35 million the home last traded for less than two years ago before an extensive renovation.

Of the six buyers who registered to bid on 34 Curtis Avenue, three made offers, with bidding kicking off at $1.6 million and initially increasing in $25,000 jumps.

Bidding stalled at $1.83 million, the highest bidder then increased their offer to the $1.85 million reserve price, following negotiations on the auction floor.

The 645-square-meter block sold through Trent Tarbey, of McGrath Sans Souci, to an upsizing family from Dolls Point. The sellers were also upsizing, to a home just down the road.

In Alexandria, a two-bedroom townhouse at 14/18-20 Newton Street sold for $1.14 million through Brad Gillespie of The Agency Eastern Suburbs.

First home buyers, upsizers and investors competed for the keys. Bidding opened at $900,000, and quickly passed the $950,000 price guide, with four of the seven registered buyers making offers. A northern beaches investor outbid locals to buy the 139-square-meter block.

The result was $90,000 above the reserve price, and well above the $640,000 the property last sold for in 2013.

This article first appeared on The Sydney Morning Herald

Categories
Sports

Aussies maintain focus for ‘dangerous’ Barbados side

Post author By mangakiko

Post date July 31, 2022

No Comments on Aussies maintain focus for ‘dangerous’ Barbados side

Australia will take nothing for granted as they confront familiar foes in their first ever match against Barbados in Sunday’s Commonwealth Games double-header at Edgbaston.

Barbados have played just one sanctioned international match, besting full member Pakistan on Friday, but boast seven players with West Indies experience, including two of the game’s most damaging T20 prospects in skipper Hayley Matthews and Deandra Dottin.

Five of the six bowlers used against Pakistan were part of the Windies’ 50-over World Cup side that made the semi-finals earlier this year.

Meg Lanning’s team can secure their spot in the Games semi-finals with victory on Sunday evening (3am Monday AEST), but Barbados have pledged to play with freedom against the world’s top-ranked team.

“We can go out there with no pressure on us,” Matthews declared after Barbados’ win over Pakistan.

“No one’s looking for us to win the match and it gives us a really good opportunity to head out there and play some natural cricket.

Australia’s top-order will be looking for improvement after stumbling to 5-49 against India on Friday, before a rescue job from No.6 Ashleigh Gardner and No.7 Grace Harris salvaged a crucial three-wicket win.

Speaking to cricket.com.au on Saturday, Australia selector Shawn Flegler hinted there would be little change to the XI – unless necessitated by illness or injury – during a whirlwind tournament that includes three group games in six days before finals.

“In these tournaments, once you start playing, unless there’s injuries or a real match-up that you’re trying to work towards, it’s pretty hard to change,” Flegler said.

“It was a tough call, leaving Nic (Carey) out (in favor of Harris), to be honest (but) that’s probably the swinging spot there, do we go another pace option or we go a batting option?

“We went the batting option this time … but if the situation or the conditions change significantly, then we know we’ve got Nic, we’ve still got Annabel Sutherland, we’ve got Amanda-Jade Wellington, we’ve got Ellyse Perry if one of our batters gets injured or gets sick.”

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With wet weather threatening to disrupt matches in Birmingham over the coming days, Flegler is particularly satisfied to already have two points on the board from the win over India.

There are no reserve days for group matches or the semi-finals, providing added incentive to finish on top of Group A and avoid a repeat of the stress that surrounded Australia’s last semi-final appearance at a major T20 tournament in 2020.

“There’s some very dangerous players (in the Barbados side) – they’ve got Dottin, Matthews – in T20 cricket it just takes one player to have a great day and momentum changes,” he said.

“And that’s what happened with us (against India).

“You can’t take anything for granted. And it’s a short tournament, we can’t afford to drop games.”

2022 Commonwealth Games

Australia’s squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Grace Harris, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Tahlia McGrath, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Amanda- Jade Wellington

See all the Commonwealth Games cricket squads here

Group A: Australia, India, Pakistan, Barbados

Group B: England, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka

July 29: Australia beat India by three wickets

July 31: Australia v Barbados (6pm local, 3am Aug 1 AEST)

August 3: Australia v Pakistan (11am local, 8pm AEST)

Semi-finals: August 6, 11am local (8pm AEST) and 6pm local (3am Aug 7 AEST)

Bronze medal match: August 7, 10am local (7pm AEST)

gold medal match: August 7, 5pm local (2am Aug 8 AEST)

All matches played at Edgbaston Stadium

Categories
Australia

The young man with the panther tattoo, missing for 20 years

Post author By mangakiko

Post date July 31, 2022

No Comments on The young man with the panther tattoo, missing for 20 years

Missing person Li Bing Di.

“His mum, she doesn’t sleep well. We hope he is somewhere.”

Di immigrated from China to Australia with his family as an eight-year-old boy, before settling in Melbourne’s southeast where he attended Dandenong High School before working alongside family as a plasterer.

In December 2000, a fire gutted the Hampton Park home he shared with his mother and stepfather. Investigators said when the family learned the fire was likely caused by a stray cigarette, Di felt responsible.

In the months that followed, he moved to his father’s Dandenong South home but became increasingly depressed and withdrawn before vanishing in February 2001.

Hayes, a detective with the Dandenong Criminal Investigation Unit, said an extensive police investigation had failed to locate the 21-year-old, with police even reaching out to their Sydney and New Zealand counterparts after potential sightings were reported.

No bank activity or movements using his passport have ever been found or any confirmed sightings.

Detective Sergeant Dean Hayes in the park near where Li Bing Di was last seen.Credit:Simon Schluter

“He blamed himself for the fire and there was a lot of stress on the family at that time,” Hayes said.

Solving the case really lies in the hands of the public now. Somebody out there must know something. Someone must have spoken to him since.”

As part of National Missing Persons Week, launching today, the faces of eight long-term missing persons – including Di – will feature on buses and other public billboards in an attempt to help find answers.

The campaign called Without Them, aims to help people identify with the missing and consider their own response to having a loved one disappear.

Faces of the 2022 National Missing Persons Week campaign.Credit:AFP

There are currently more than 2,500 long-term missing persons in Australia with 53,000 reports made across the country in 2021 alone.

This year, about $2.5 million worth of donated space, including billboards and buses, will be emblazoned with the photographs of the eight missing persons put forward by each state and territory.

Acting Assistant Commissioner Jason Kennedy, from the Australian Federal Police, said the annual week of action aimed to raise awareness of the issues surrounding such cases including the endless unanswered questions left behind.

“I encourage all Australians to take a look at the profiles of our long-term missing, share the posts and keep the families of those missing in your thoughts,” Kennedy said.

Naomi Busbridge, whose brother Paul Baker went missing from the Northern Territory in August last year, said the fallout for families was heart-wrenching.

“There are so many questions and no answers. You wonder why, you wonder where, and you wonder if you will ever see them again,” Busbridge said.

“You wonder if this will ever end or whether it will be like a giant void… forever.”

For more information visit www.missingpersons.gov.au.

Our Breaking News Alert will notify you of significant breaking news when it happens. Get it here.

Categories
US

‘I’ll never vote again’ for former President Trump: Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers

Post author By mangakiko

Post date July 31, 2022

No Comments on ‘I’ll never vote again’ for former President Trump: Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers

Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers may lose his Republican primary for an open state senate seat this week, after he testified to the Jan. 6 committee about the pressure campaign from former President Donald Trump and his associates to undo the presidential election results in the state.

Bowers has drawn the ire of the Arizona GOP, who censored him earlier this month, and of former President Trump. But he’s unapologetic about his congressional testimony of him and his decision of him not to overturn the Arizona’s results.

“If we want to base a party and an authority and move people to solve problems, you can’t base it on a lie. Ultimately, that falls apart,” he told “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl in an exclusive interview at his home in Mesa, Arizona.

Bowers faces Trump-endorsed candidate David Fansworth in an Aug. 2 primary that makes Bowers the first Republican to face voters after testifying before the Jan. 6 committee.

“I’ve had people walk up and say, you know, just cold turkey, ‘I’m ashamed of you,'” he told Karl.

Bowers says he’s also been called a “traitor” and has been told that “the price of treason is hanging.”

In his June testimony, Bowers detailed several conversations with former President Trump and his then-personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, asking him to replace Arizona’s electors with ones who would say Trump won the 2020 election.

Biden won Arizona in 2020 by almost 11,000 votes.

“Did you ever consider going along with it?” Karl asked Bowers.

“I said, this is new to me. The idea of throwing out the election of the president is like, okay, so what part of Jupiter do I get to land on and colonize?” Bowers said.

Arizona’s House Speaker Rusty Bowers arrives for a House select committee hearing investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol in Washington, June 21, 2022. Walking behind Bowers is Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

Patrick Semansky/AP

Giuliani “never” provided any evidence to back up claims that thousands of dead people voted in Arizona, Bowers said.

“You asked [Giuliani] for evidence of fraud?” asked Karl.

“Over and over, and he said, ‘yes, yes.’ And he never gave us anything. No names, no data, nothing.”

Bowers, who is term-limited in the state house, previously said it would take a “miracle” for him to win his bid for state senate. He told Karl “the demographics of my race are heavily Trump.”

In an unusual move for a state legislature race, former President Trump has campaigned against Bowers in Arizona.

“Rusty Bowers, he’s a RINO [‘Republican in name only’] coward who participated against the Republican party in the totally partisan unselect committee of political thugs and hacks the other day, and disgraced himself, and he disgraced the state of Arizona,” he told a crowd in Prescott Valley, Arizona, on July 22.

In response, Bowers told Karl, “I have thought at times, someone born how he was, raised how he was — he has no idea what a hard life is, and what people have to go through in the real world. He has no idea what courage is, and the last place on Earth that I would want to do evil would be the state of Arizona.”

A fifth-generation Arizonan, Bowers has held state public office for 17 years. Bowers has, like other Republicans who have broken with the former President, faced harassment and threats.

“How do you explain the hold that he has, though, on, on Republicans, including a lot of Republican leaders right here in Arizona?” Karl asked Bowers.

“Well, those leaders in Arizona are an interesting group in and of themselves. They rule by thuggery and intimidation,” Bower said. “So, you know, they, they found a niche, they found a way and it’s fear. And people can use fear, demagogues like to use fears as a weapon. And they weaponize everything. That’s not leadership to me to use thuggery. “

After his testimony, Bowers faced criticism for telling a reporter that he would vote for Pres. Trump in 2024. He told Karl that’s absolutely not the case.

An image of former President Donald Trump is displayed during the third hearing of the US House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the US Capitol, June 16, 2022.

Drew Angerer/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

“So, just to clarify, you’re not supporting Trump again?” Karl asked.

“I’m not,” said Bowers. “My vote will never tarnish his name on a ballot.”

“You’re never gonna vote for Donald Trump again?” Karl reiterated.

“I’ll never vote for him,” Bowers replied. “But I won’t have to, because I think America’s tired. And there’s absolutely forceful, qualified, morally, defensible, and upright people. And that’s what I want. That’s what I want in my party. And that’s what I want to see.”

When asked if former President Trump could ever be trusted in a position of authority again, Bowers said, “I would certainly hope not. I certainly don’t trust that authority that he would exercise.”

Bowers echoed the words of Jan. 6 House committee vice chair, Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, who was one of 10 House Republicans to vote to impeach Trump after the Capitol riot.

“Liz also said that ‘the reality that we face today as Republicans is we have to choose to be loyal to Donald Trump, or to be loyal to the Constitution.’ And you can’t be both,” Karl said.

“I don’t see a question at all there. No question. The Constitution was designed to last and be the light of freedom to the whole world. That’s not a legacy that I would want to play with,” said Bowers.

Bowers also told Karl he hasn’t been contacted by the Justice Department, which is conducting its own investigation into the Capitol attack, but would cooperate if asked to do so.

“I have nothing to hide and I want to tell the truth,” he said.

Categories
Technology

My Nintendo North America Adds Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Wallpapers & Printable Box Art Cover Rewards

Post author By mangakiko

Post date July 31, 2022

No Comments on My Nintendo North America Adds Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Wallpapers & Printable Box Art Cover Rewards

My Nintendo North America has added new Xenoblade Chronicles 3-themed rewards, comprising three new wallpapers costing 50 Platinum Points each and a set of three printable box art covers for 30 Platinum Points. However, the redeemability period for these items concludes on February 1, 2023.

It is also worth noting that the wallpapers arrive in desktop and mobile formats, with the five available resolutions:

Scenery:

Portrait:

1080×1920

1200×1920

1242×2688

1536×2048

Each product’s store page is listed below.

Preview images of these rewards are viewable via our gallery below:

We’ll keep updating you all on any vital Xenoblade Chronicles 3 news.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 tells the story of protagonists Noah and Mio contending with a conflict between the nations of Keves and Agnus. 6 characters will be the crux of the experience, and the broad concept of “life” will be the title’s central theme.

The narrative for the game will tie in elements and plotlines from the future of the prior two mainline games, Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Flutes seem to play an integral role in this title’s premise.

The summoning of this powerful new form depends on a new Interlink system. If specific conditions are met, characters can combine into this mech, and choosing well when to transform should be key to the more difficult battles. Another system revealed is a class change option, allowing players to customize their parties’ builds further than in previous games.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is now available for Nintendo Switch.

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