All the articles from the last 24 hours in one long post
Donald Trump tells his biggest whopper yet: "I'm the one who gives women safety" (video)
Carla Sinclair / 11:46 am PT Fri Aug 30, 2024
Image: Donald Trump booking portrait, courtesy Fulton County Jail
Donald Trump's whoppers are getting more outrageous by the minute, and one of his latest lies sounds more like an SNL comedy sketch than a podcast interview.
In all seriousness, Trump, of all people, tried to tell former Faux News reporter Monica Crowley that he is the great protector of women.
Uh, thanks but no thanks. I think I'd be better off on my own, Sir.
Police helicopters locate Gary, a beloved gorilla statue stolen from a retirement community
Allan Rose Hill / 11:42 am PT Fri Aug 30, 2024
image: Victoria Police
Gary the Gorilla is a beloved statue who lives at a retirement village in Melbourne, Australia. Residents there have been distraught since some hooligan ape-napped Gary back in June. Fortunately, Gary has been located safe and sound. Police in helicopters spotted the gorilla in the culprit's backyard.
"LOL I stole a gorilla, so what?" read a text message on 33-year-old Matthew Newbould's phone, according to the police report.
Newbould was also driving on a suspended license at the time and the judge wasn't in a lenient mood.
Newbold told the court it was a "very silly" mistake but according to The Guardian, magistrate Michael Wighton responded "that the combination of the theft and unlicensed driving made the offending more serious."
The judge is allowing Newbold to stay out on bail while also ordering him to a community corrections order assessment to help determine his sentence.
U.S. philosophy student imprisoned after pushing railway worker onto Glasgow tracks
Ellsworth Toohey / 11:38 am PT Fri Aug 30, 2024
Cheyenne Naeb/University of Oregon
A 26-year-old American PhD student, Cheyenne Baptiste Naeb, was sentenced to 20 months in prison today at Glasgow Sheriff Court. The sentencing follows Naeb's guilty plea to charges of seriously assaulting a railway worker and endangering her life during an incident at Queen Street Station last year.
On the morning of February 1, 2023, during the busy commuter rush, Naeb missed a train and reacted with a violent outburst, according to a release by the Judiciary of Scotland. He aggressively lunged at a 28-year-old railway worker, pushing her so forcefully that she fell off the platform and landed between the train tracks. The incident occurred in full view of a train driver who was preparing to depart the station.
Miraculously, the worker managed to grab Naeb's sleeve as she fell, which slightly broke her fall. Despite this, Naeb pulled his arm free and walked away, showing no concern for the woman who had just fallen onto the tracks. The worker, despite injuring her hip, was able to climb back onto the platform. She was later taken to Wishaw General Hospital, where it was confirmed that she had suffered no fractures, though she did sustain bruising, swelling, and superficial cuts.
During sentencing, Sheriff John N. McCormick addressed Naeb, highlighting the severity of the assault. He described the incident as a "gross overreaction" to missing a train, noting that Naeb's actions could have had catastrophic consequences.
Sheriff McCormick acknowledged Naeb's age, lack of prior convictions, and personal circumstances. However, he emphasized that the gravity of the offense left no alternative but a custodial sentence. While the initial sentence was set at 27 months, it was reduced to 20 months due to Naeb's early guilty plea.
On his University of Oregon page, Naeb listed his research interests as: "German Idealism/Marxism/ Symbolic Logics/Philosophy of Science/ Philosophy of Alain Badiou/ Philosophy of Wilfrid Sellars"
Perhaps Naeb forgot Badiou's famous quote, "Evil is the moment when I lack the strength to be true to the Good that compels me."
Laser-cut by giants? How did this massive rock in the Saudi Arabian desert get split so cleanly?
Mark Frauenfelder / 10:53 am PT Fri Aug 30, 2024
By Disdero - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link
In the Saudi Arabian desert, there's a 20-foot by 30-foot sandstone rock that's split cleanly down the middle. A parallel gap of only a couple of inches separates the two pieces. Each piece of the rock rests on its own natural stone pedestal, making it look like a piece of art or a Stonehenge style temple. Scientists aren't sure how the 4,000-year-old Al Naslaa Rock Formation ended up with such an artificial-looking gap, but Live Science offers three possibilities:
Plate Tectonics: The gap in the rock may be a result of movements in the Earth's crust. The Al Naslaa formation is located in a region that occasionally experiences tectonic shifts. A sudden movement of the Earth's crust could have shifted and fractured the rock. However, the smoothness of the fracture remains puzzling, as a typical tectonic shift would not usually create such a polished split. It's possible that wind and water erosion over thousands of years smoothed out the fissure.
Joint Formation: Another theory posits that the gap could have resulted from a natural joint, which is when a rock breaks apart due to factors like regional tectonics or the rock cooling, without being directly displaced. Joints often form straight lines, and subsequent erosion might have smoothed the gap.
Freeze-Thaw Cycle: A third theory suggests that water freezing within small cracks in the rock could have caused the rock to split. Over time, repeated freezing and thawing could have expanded these cracks until they eventually joined together to form the straight gap seen today. This process would potentially have occurred during a cooler period thousands or millions of years ago.
The most likely explanation is provided by Acera Del Mundo: "Given that the formation looks as if it had been cut by a well-aimed laser, some believe that an alien descended on the Tayma Oasis and shattered the rock with advanced technology that was not available to humans at the time of its formation."
The Missouri Department of Conservation received a report of an injured bald eagle at Wilson's Creek National Battlefield in Missouri. After capturing the bird and bringing it to a local zoo for an exam, x-rays found the eagle had a very full stomach. It was not injured or sick, just "too fat to fly."
The eagle was released near the location where it had been found. This is not our national bird's finest hour.
I once rescued a hawk that had flown into my office window and got it to a wildlife rescue. After it was rehabilitated, I was able to release it. I expected a heartwarming release of this majestic bird back into the wild, but they had accidentally fed it that morning, so I got a fat bird flying twenty feet to a tree and sitting there for three hours.
Although it is rare for wild birds to find themselves in this position, other videos like this one exist. This golden eagle was lucky enough to be captured by a gentleman who immediately recognized its condition as fat, not injured, although the capture process is not very dignified.
Note for readers, fact checkers and Trained Journalists: Mr. Vance's laugh did not mechanically loop three times in the original speech; the repetition was added, presumably, to emphasise his natural charm and public speaking gifts. You can see it in context 13:30 in on this video.
After elderly couple from nudist park disappear, police arrest man hiding under his house
Carla Sinclair / 9:59 am PT Fri Aug 30, 2024
Image: Dan Menard and Stephanie Menard; provided by Redlands Police Department via KTLA
After an elderly couple disappeared from their California nudist community outside Los Angeles last week, a gentleman found hiding under his house has been arrested for murder.
The alleged victims, 79-year-old Dan Menard and 73-year-old Stephanie Menard, were last seen on Saturday, but friends noticed they were missing when they didn't show up for church on Sunday. Police now assume the couple is dead, but have not disclosed evidence or possible motives.
"We believe the bodies are on the site of his home," said officer Carl Baker from the Redlands Police Department, referring to the suspect, 62-year-old Michael Sparks, whose house is next to the Menards' home.
"Currently, we are trying to locate the victims," the officer added. "We are confident that they are deceased and that they are still here on the property."
Police put the couple and suspect's community, Olive Del Ranch RV Park, on lockdown while they apprehended Sparks.
From CNN:
Police tore into the suspect's home earlier Thursday using a battering ram and searched for him using video equipment.
He was found under the home about 9:30 p.m., said Carl Baker, a public information officer for the Redlands Police Department.
Daniel and Stephanie Menard were last seen on Saturday and reported missing on Sunday, police say. Their car was found near their house. …
The Menards' dog, a white Shih Tzu named Cuddles, was also missing and has not been found, Baker said.
The Olive Dell Ranch website says it is "Southern California's favorite nudist resort for families and couples… It's the ideal spot to enjoy the nudist/naturist lifestyle whether visiting for the day or an overnight stay."
Museum invites public to visit naturism art exhibit completely naked (except for shoes)
Allan Rose Hill / 9:56 am PT Fri Aug 30, 2024
image: Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus (c. 1484–1486)
Marseille's Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations (Mucem) is featuring an exhibition focused entirely on the naturist lifestyle. The exhibit, titled Naturist Paradises, features hundreds of photographs, paintings, sculptures.
"The "Naturist Paradises" exhibition takes you on a journey of discovery of the very first naturist communities, first in Germany and Switzerland, then in France," Mucem explains. "It takes a look at the history of the pioneering naturist communities that set up in France and Switzerland in the 1920s, and also looks at how naturism is lived and practised today."
To immerse the public in that practice, visitors are invited to completely disrobe when viewing the art during one night each month.
"Anyone wanting to visit fully dressed during those hours might be considered a little odd," a Mucem representative told The Guardian.
Shoes are required though.
"It's to avoid getting splinters," said Eric Stenfaut of the Fédération Française de Naturisme, a naturist organization.
A retired couple, Graham and Katherine Bateson ended up spending their life savings—£45,000—because they got into a long legal fight with their late neighbor, Wendy Leedham, over a fence.
Back in 1987, when the Batesons bought their house in Snettisham, Norfolk, they were told the driveway was shared. But in 2019, Leedham suddenly decided to put up a fence that blocked their access. Mrs. Bateson told The Express, "We bought it as a shared drive, that's how it was explained to us and sold to us."
For three years, they tried to get the fence removed through legal action. But even after all that effort, when they finally had a mediation hearing in 2021, the decision was made to let the fence stay, with a new boundary drawn to match it. However, Leedham passed away before the hearing, and now her house is up for sale.
Out of frustration, Mr. Bateson decided to take down the fence himself last year. That didn't go too well—he got arrested for criminal damage and ended up spending 12 hours in a cell before the charges were dropped. Now, the Batesons are worried that if someone new buys Leedham's house, they might put up another fence. "We're still living in fear they will put another fence up when there shouldn't have been one in the first place," said Mrs. Bateson.
Florida man wrapped like luggage attempts to check himself at airport (video)
Allan Rose Hill / 9:06 am PT Fri Aug 30, 2024
screenshot: Only in Dade/Instagram
A curious situation unfolded at Miami International Airport this week when a fellow attempted to check himself as luggage. The man was wrapped like luggage and can be seen hopping around the terminal in the video below.
His friend helped him get on the luggage scale at the counter but shortly after, security intervened and unwrapped him. Unsurprisingly, they were doing it all for the clicks.
"Who doesn't just love unnecessary airport delays that are caused by pranks and might get you missing your connection?" writes MSVN. Fair enough, but watching the clip from home is a hoot.
(Thanks to our Florida bureau chief, Charles Pescovitz!)
Delusional Trump so puffed up, he imagines that he "made Abraham Lincoln look like nothing" (video)
Carla Sinclair / 9:03 am PT Fri Aug 30, 2024
Image: a katz / shutterstock.com
Delusional cult leader Donald Trump not only thinks he's a "great speaker," but he also told his disciples yesterday that he "made Abraham Lincoln look like nothing."
Lost in fantasy during a long-winded speech in Michigan, the insecure rambler first compared himself to his surging opponent, Kamala Harris. "I saw her make a speech, it was so bad," he said, furious that the vice president's speeches have revved up Democrats while his sharks-and-battery talks have gotten him nowhere.
"I make a speech for two hours, everybody loves it! I've got thousands of people, by the way, outside, trying to get in." (The only people standing outside of his rally were angry folks who had received fake tickets online.)
"I must be a great speaker, right? I must!" he pleaded. "We've got thousands of people. No, we got thousands and thousands!" the desperate conman continued. And then, swept away by his overactive imagination, he blurted out, "If I were a Democrat, they'd say, 'He's the greatest that ever lived. He made Abraham Lincoln look like nothing." (See video below, posted by Republicans against Trump.)
NYT seems to think "The Final Solution" was a bold housing policy
Jason Weisberger / 8:57 am PT Fri Aug 30, 2024
No Nazis
The New York Times cast the Trump Vance plan for mass deportations as their housing policy.
The New York Times seems to set out to lower itself daily. Tossing in a line that declares mass deportation as Trump's housing policy is pretty slick! What's next? Starter loans on tents at re-education camp?
Passengers lock screaming toddler in airplane toilet to "educate" her
Mark Frauenfelder / 8:45 am PT Fri Aug 30, 2024
BaLL LunLa/shutterstock.com
Two women aboard a flight from Guiyang to Shanghai on August 24 locked a crying toddler in the airplane's toilet, claiming they wanted to "educate her" after passengers got fed up with the noise.
According to The Daily Mail, the toddler's nonstop crying was driving people nuts—some even stuffed tissues in their ears or moved to the back of the plane to escape the sound.
The little girl was flying with her grandparents, and after they couldn't calm her down with a mobile phone, the grandma actually agreed to let the women take the child. One of them later posted a video on Chinese social media showing her carrying the toddler into the restroom.
Even though the child kept crying and screaming at first, she eventually quieted down after the women told her she wouldn't be let out until she stopped. After that, the toddler stayed silent for the rest of the two-hour flight.
When they landed in Shanghai, the local police got involved and gave the grandmother a serious talking-to.
Iconic ska record label archives destroyed in climate disaster
Thom Dunn / 8:30 am PT Fri Aug 30, 2024
Image: Matt Flood / Asbestos Records (Used with permission)
Asbestos Records is the longest-running independent record label based in Connecticut. That alone might sound like a strange accolade. But more importantly, it also has a lot of deep history in the ska music scene, frequently re-releasing new vinyl pressings of acclaimed but long out-of-print albums by bands such as the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, the Hippos, the Suicide Machines, the Pietasters, and even not-quite-ska-but-emotionally-similar artists such Atom & His Package and They Might Be Giants. Even more recently, Asbestos released the debut folk album by John Hinckley, the man who infamously tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan.
Unfortunately, the label's offices were flooded during the record breaking rainfall that besieged Connecticut in mid-August 2024—ravaging not only roads but vinyl records and other merchandise as well.
Image: Matt Flood / Asbestos Records
I've been friends with Asbestos' founder Matt Flood (yes, flood) for some 25 years now. He's recently launched a GoFundMe campaign to help themselves recover from the disaster, saying:
This weekend a once in a lifetime storm hit the upper valley area of CT, our area got nailed with a CT record of 15-17" of rain in just a few hours, flooding out the town, collapsing buildings, roads, and sadly a few people lost their lives.
Although we were spared the complete destruction that hit lower lying areas of our town, a massive amount of water got into the office via exhaust pipe in the chimney leaving our office & warehouse space swamped out.
We're asking for help to gut & rebuild the office & replace destroyed records & equipment so we can keep doing what we do and making sure our bands have records for upcoming tours.
If you have some extra money to spare for ska music, Asbestos could use your help. You could also pick up pick up pick up some records—or at least, whatever's left in stock.
Kamala Harris's excellent answer to a very stupid question
Jason Weisberger / 8:19 am PT Fri Aug 30, 2024
Image: lev radin / shutterstock.com
During her much anticipated CNN interview, Vice President Harris did a fantastic job fielding Dana Bash's questions, but one question was pretty lame.
Someone needs to ask CNN and other MSM news outlets why they give time to Donald Trump's race-baiting, misogynistic, and quite frankly stupid statements that aren't worth the American people's time. The Trump Vance ticket keeps complaining that no one is talking about "the issues," while what they are doing is just trying to stoke anger and hatred, belittle their opponents, and not address "the issues."
When Team Trump gets near the issues, it only causes them problems. Trump is flip-flopping all over the place on reproductive rights, while JD Vance is making an ass of himself. Walz and Harris are very clear on their stands, and there really isn't a lot of room for the Republicans to weasel.
It is relatively easy to pick which one you agree with. Not really any games to be played.
JD Vance, being interviewed by CNN, showed us exactly who he is: a terrible person.
JD Vance feels no remorse for sharing a video "as a joke" of 2007 MS Teen USA Caitlan Upland struggling to answer a question, regardless of Upland publicly discussing the video having driven her to suicidal ideation. When asked if he thought anything was wrong with his sharing this, Vance thought only of himself.
Not that this was the limit of Vance's disgustingness. When asked about the misogynistic lies his running mate is spreading on social media, Vance described the attacks as "some jokes." Trump and Vance are awful jerks and no one wants to go a party they throw, let alone live in a country they remake in Project 2025's image.
A man in Sheffield, England, has been banned from touching unattended vehicles after attempting to break into one. The peculiar sentence came after Ricky Roberts, 36, was arrested on July 24 by South Yorkshire Police after trying to get into a Ford Transit van on Brompton Road. They caught him in the act, according to Examiner Live; he fled on a pedal bike but was collared after what must have been an exciting 20-minute chase through the historic East End of Sheffield.
Roberts, of Richmond Hall Road, Sheffield, was handed a two-year Criminal Behaviour Order which bans him from touching or entering any unattended motor vehicle, motorcycle, or pedal cycle without the permission of the owner. He has also been instructed to take part in a drug rehabilitation course.
Imaginative and comically insinuating punishments (Your honor, does that mean I can still touch them when they are attended?) might be the next big thing in England; the prisons are full.
Private security in U.S. increasingly heavily-armed and belligerent
Rob Beschizza / 6:34 am PT Fri Aug 30, 2024
Photo: MDV Edwards / Shutterstock
In Harpers, Jasper Craven reports on "The Thin Purple Line"—the quickly-growing, heavily-armed and increasingly belligerent private security forces at work in America: "Americans' fear of crime is particularly disconnected from reality"
Yet while guards lack the training and public oversight of cops, they are increasingly coming to resemble them. A few years ago, the industry went so far as to co-opt the "thin blue line" of the police, choosing the color purple to represent security guards. The "thin purple line" has unofficially upgraded the guard to the echelon of first responder. This despite the fact that guarding, even with its intense and isolated pockets of danger, is a job that's about as dangerous as that of an elementary school teacher. …
It has been estimated that, over the past decade, hundreds of security guards have been arrested for manslaughter or murder. In 2019, California saw two incidents in which Allied-employed guards allegedly knelt on the necks of restrained citizens and killed them. The year before, Allied-employed guards harassed and threatened to fight an unarmed black man at Denver's Union Station. One guard then led the man into a station bathroom, where he was beaten unconscious and suffered permanent brain damage.
The punks are gone, the promised dystopia was always cybernormal. Even the uniforms are bad.
Adorable keychain game controllers
Rob Beschizza / 5:54 am PT Fri Aug 30, 2024
CRKD's Atom game controller
The CRKD Atom is an adorable keychain game controller, similar to the 8bitdo model we've covered a few times, but a few bucks cheaper and offered in a calamity of colors. [via The Verge]
A one-of-a-kind Keychain Controller compatible with Nintendo® Switch
™
, PC/Mac, Mobile/Tablet, and Smart TV gaming. It's the ultimate on-the-go companion for both casual gamers and collectors. Whether you're a devoted gamer or an avid collector, ATOM is the perfect duo, allowing you to game anytime, any where, any place in true retro-modern fashion. More than just a gaming tool, the ATOM doubles as a distinctive accessory. Attach it to your keys, backpack, or any gear, and add a unique flair to your everyday essentials. With its standout design and versatility, the ATOM is the mini collectible controller you didn't know you needed but won't want to live without.
Lego, which sells billions of plastic bricks annually, has tested over 600 different materials to develop a new material that would completely replace its oil-based brick by 2030, but with limited success. Now, Lego is aiming to gradually bring down the oil content in its bricks by paying up to 70% more for certified renewable resin, the raw plastic used to manufacture the bricks, in an attempt to encourage manufacturers to boost production."
If it seems odd to have succeeded so conclusively so soon after reporting failure, it's because there was a largely unspoken criterion to sustainability—that sustainable plastics must be as cheap as the oil-derived ones—that Lego is giving up on.
This means a significant increase in the cost of producing a Lego brick," CEO Niels Christiansen told Reuters. He said the company is on track to ensure that more than half of the resin it needs in 2026 is certified according to the mass balance method, an auditable way to trace sustainable materials through the supply chain, up from 30% in the first half of 2024.
The church has seen a decrease of 17% to 19% in weekend services attendance, a church spokesperson told CNN. The turnover at the church could have far-reaching effects. Gateway Church draws an estimated 100,000 people to its weekend services and has more than 560 employees at nine locations in Texas, and two others in Missouri and Wyoming, according to the church. It is considered one of America's largest megachurches, which are congregations with an average weekly worship attendance of 2,000 people or more. There are nearly 1,800 megachurches in the United States, according to the Hartford Institute for Religion Research.
Another way of putting it is that 81% to 83% of them aren't that bothered.
Nintendo's cute Toad started TikTok trend dancing with fans at Universal — until he snapped (video)
Carla Sinclair / 6:15 pm PT Thu Aug 29, 2024
The Nintendo characters at Universal Studio Hollywood were doing their thing this summer, meeting and greeting park guests, when an excited l'il Toad made a mistake and broke into some dance moves. Yes, it was cute — so darn cute, in fact, that everyone with a TikTok account started to ask the adorable toadstool to dance with them. And he obliged, at first, causing #toad to trend.
But then Toad — perhaps a little spooked by an ever-growing eager but encroaching crowd — snapped.
In a series of videos posted below, you can see Toad in June and July go from crowd-pleasing dancing machine to a crowd-fearing fungi who had finally had enough. By mid-July, he not only refused to dance, he stiffly stared at his fans before making sudden jerky moves to scare them off. Which he succeeded in doing — even inciting shrieks and screams from the frightened guests.
After weeks of Toad's rebellion, his handlers outright banned requests asking Toad to dance, begging guests to "please" knock it off. You can meet and you can greet the little guy, but keep your dance moves to yourself!
Here's video of Toad showing off his dancing skills in June:
And in July, a quick montage of the dancing shroom offers just a few of the many #toad clips that were circulating:
But by July 29, the magic was over. Toad was done, as in sick, sick, sick of it. Even a cute spotted mushroom can turn off:
And then finally, this month, "Please! Do not ask Toad to dance!" begs an announcer. "He's not dancing, okay?" (See video below.) But, even just posing with his fans, he's still as cute as a button mushroom.
Failed "perfect crime": Husband plants drugs on wife, goes to prison instead
Ellsworth Toohey / 3:17 pm PT Thu Aug 29, 2024
Boing Boing/Flux
A 37-year-old Singaporean man has been sentenced to three years and 10 months in jail after attempting to frame his estranged wife by planting over 500 grams of cannabis in her car, a plan that could have led to her facing the death penalty.
As reported in Channel News Asia, Tan Xianglong, an IT manager living with his parents, was reportedly angry over his ongoing divorce proceedings and devised what he believed to be the "perfect crime," hoping that creating a criminal record for his wife would expedite their separation. He purchased 11 packets of cannabis for S$2,600 from a Telegram channel and, wearing gloves, placed the drugs in the rear passenger seat of his wife's vehicle.
The scheme began to unravel when Tan's wife received a notification from her in-car camera app, alerting her to Tan's suspicious behavior near her vehicle. She immediately contacted the police, who subsequently discovered the drugs during a search of the car.
Tan, who expressed concerns to an ex-girlfriend about retrieving the drugs before being caught, was arrested later that day.
Prosecutors highlighted the sophisticated and "nefarious purpose" behind Tan's actions. Under Singapore's Misuse of Drugs Act, he could have faced up to 10 years in prison or a fine of up to S$20,000.
Arizona woman dies at Wells Fargo while working at her desk — but nobody in the building notices for 4 days
Carla Sinclair / 2:52 pm PT Thu Aug 29, 2024
Ken Wolter/shutterstock
A 60-year-old woman who works at Wells Fargo in Arizona died on the job while sitting in her cubicle last week. But, sadly, nobody in the building noticed until four days later.
The employee, Denise Prudhomme, had entered the Tempe Wells Fargo corporate offices around 7:00am on Friday, August 16th. Days went by, but even with a foul odor in the air, nobody realized something was wrong. They simply chalked up the bad smell to the building's plumbing issues.
It wasn't until a colleague happened to take a walk around the building on August 20th that they spotted the unresponsive woman and realized she was dead.
Prudhomme's cubicle was reportedly on the third floor and away from the main aisle.
They said while most employees at the Wells Fargo office work remote, the building has 24/7 security and someone should have found Prudhomme sooner.
"That's the scary part. That's the uneasy part," the employee said. "It's negligence in some part."
Police say there's nothing suspicious about the death, but still haven't confirmed many details about the time or how she died. The worker said the lack of information from the bank has been especially frustrating.
"I'm just wondering why they didn't formally address employees about it?" the worker said. "I just feel like they aren't being transparent with us and somebody needs to acknowledge this."
How Wells Fargo could be so out-of-touch with its employees as to not notice when one of its own dies right at their company desk, on company grounds, should be mind-boggling. But being that it's Wells Fargo, an aloof bank known for its cold customer service and customer-aimed scandals, the grim story doesn't really surprise me.
Air conditioner company wanted $1679 to replace its Android-based on/off switch. An old tablet did the job.
Rob Beschizza / 2:24 pm PT Thu Aug 29, 2024
The RS422, not $1679
Advantage Air makes smart air conditioning systems in Australia, a place with a very captive summer audience. The wall controller, which turns it on and off, is a lowest-conceivable tier Android contraption doomed to fail the second the warranty expires—and they see you coming a mile off, charging $1245 for a replacement and trying to tack on all sorts of extras. One customer, gstar, saw them coming and realized you can replace the setup with any old Android tablet and a little clever work.
E-Zone running perfectly on an ancient Samsung Galaxy Tab 4. I was elated. After I gave up on repairing the original, getting this tablet working took only a few hours and was a hell of a lot of fun. This tablet is 10+ years old and yet still is much snappier than the junk that came with the system, but if I want to upgrade to something more powerful, say to control my homeassistant etc… all I need to do is plug it into the usb. But for turning the AC on and off it is more than enough and I am currently waiting on a nice flush connector to arrive then will mount it on the wall.
$1679 for a $7 gadget and a $20 display, a plastic box to stuff them in, and the unnecessary sensor replacements they tried to sell him on. What an outrageous swindle. See the Hacker News thread for more useful info about these systems and how to hack them.
Barack Obama on the 10th anniversary of Tan SuitGate
Jason Weisberger / 1:20 pm PT Thu Aug 29, 2024
Image: Instagram
President Obama took to Instagram to remember Tan SuitGate and acknowledge Vice President Kamala Harris's excellent sartorial taste.
Fox News and a plethora of conservative blowhards went batshit over President Obama wearing a tan suit. Now, ten years later, Obama is jovially pointing out how great Kamala Harris looks in her tan suit. Sadly, conservative media has only gone more morally bankrupt.
Evangelicals silent as Trump embraces reproductive rights
Ellsworth Toohey / 12:46 pm PT Thu Aug 29, 2024
lev radin / Shutterstock.com
For years, the conversation has gone something like this:
Normal Person (NP): Trump cheats on his wives! Trump-Loving Evangelical Christian (TLEC): I support President Trump because he's promised a nationwide ban on abortion. NP: But he brags about sexually assaulting women! TLEC: Watch your language! Besides, the President is committed to ending abortion in our country, and that's why I stand by him. NP: But he mocks the disabled, forcibly penetrated a woman's vagina with his fingers, defrauded students at his phony "university," praises authoritarian leaders, refuses to pay people who worked for him, and was convicted of 34 felonies. TLEC: : President Trump was chosen by God to rid America of abortion. NP: But he tried to overthrow the United States government and install himself as an illegitimate president. TLEC: Soon, anyone who gets an abortion or helps someone get an abortion will be put to death. Praise Jesus!
But now, the conversation has taken a turn:
NP: Hey, did you hear? Trump just said "My Administration will be great for women and their reproductive rights." Have you stopped supporting him? EC: Who among us is perfect? If you're looking for someone truly terrible, focus on Kamala Harris. Have you heard how she laughs?
Trump-Loving Evangelical Christians have shown their hand.
"This is not a surprise, write Peter Wehner for The Atlantic. Betrayal is a core character trait of Trump's."
He's betrayed his wives, his mistresses, his friends, his business associates, people who have worked for him, and his country. There is no person and no cause he will not double-cross. The pro-life movement is only the latest thing to which he has been unfaithful, and it won't be the last.
The question to ask yourself is: Who in the pro-life movement—Al Mohler, Mike Huckabee, Franklin Graham, Eric Metaxas, Marjorie Dannenfelser, Ralph Reed, Tony Perkins, Robert Jeffress, and countless others—will speak out, publicly and forcefully and relentlessly, against Trump's about-face? Will they tell the full truth, which is that abortions increased during the Trump presidency, that the pro-life movement is weaker than at almost any time in its history, and that, when it comes to making the Republican Party the home of the pro-life cause, Trump is doing unprecedented damage?
Or will Trump-Loving Evangelical Christians continue to support a pro-choice convicted felon and adjudicated rapist simply because they see a reflection of themselves in him?
