MAGA thief stealing Harris-Walz signs is tracked down and busted thanks to Apple AirTag (video)
Carla Sinclair / 11:09 am PT Tue Oct 22, 2024
Image: Ray Geiger / shutterstock.com
After Donald Trump's grotesque lies about dog-eating immigrants in Ohio, another Springfield has sprung up in the news this week. This time it's Springfield, Missouri, where a MAGA disciple stole a trunkful of Harris-Walz signs off people's front lawns.
But fortunately, the Trump fanatic was tracked down, thanks to an Apple AirTag that someone had attached to their sign before it was stolen. And when the Harris supporter opened up the thief's car trunk, "It was kind of like finding a dead body," they joked to a reporter, shocked by how many stolen Harris-Walz signs were stuffed inside.
Naturally, the thief became defensive, while his angry MAGA mommy scooped up the pilfered signs and tossed them on the ground. "Here you go, liberals!" the mom said, as if she was the one being put out by having to give the signs back. And when the Harris supporter said that stealing signs is a big deal, she shot back, "No it's not. It's so stupid. Just go vote." (See video below, posted by KOLR 10 & Fox49).
Welp, the MAGA disciple is about to learn just how "stupid" it is to steal signs, being that residents are now filing police reports, and "Missouri law considers stealing signs a misdemeanor that can carry a $2500 fine, jail time, or both."
Via Mediaite
Previously: Jailbird MAGA sheriff sobs as he's caged for 15 years — luxury car collection seized
Study shows speed cameras unbiased, Chicago cops racist
Jason Weisberger / 11:01 am PT Tue Oct 22, 2024
Image: V.Dr/shutterstock.com
Yet another study shows that police officers are biased and Black people are unfairly targeted.
Again and again, it is well understood that we need to reform law enforcement. No one should be subject to the constant fear of being stopped simply because of the color of their skin, yet study after study reminds us this is the system we have.
Our research, published in June 2024, used data on the racial composition of drivers on every street in Chicago. We then compared who is driving on roads with who is being ticketed by the city's speed cameras and who is being stopped by the Chicago police.
Our findings show that when speed cameras are doing the ticketing, the proportion of tickets issued to Black and white drivers aligns closely with their respective share of roadway users. With human enforcement, in contrast, police officers stop Black drivers at a rate that far outstrips their presence on the road.
For instance, on roads where half of drivers are Black, Black drivers receive approximately 54% of automated camera citations. However, they make up about 70% of police stops.
On roadways where half of the drivers are white, white drivers account for around half of automated citations – and less than 20% of police stops.
Previously:
• Facebook hate group investigation reveals 400 police officers, including NYPD cops, to be members
Watch Claude AI take control of a computer and build its own website from scratch
Ellsworth Toohey / 10:39 am PT Tue Oct 22, 2024
Claude AI takes over your computer and builds a website. (YouTube)
Anthropic just showed off a new trick — its AI assistant Claude can now take over your computer's mouse and keyboard, clicking and typing its way through tasks while you sit and watch. All you have to do is tell it what you want done.
In a video, Developer Relations lead Alex Albert walks through a process where Claude performs multiple website development steps autonomously. The AI navigates Chrome, interacts with web interfaces, and even engages in a unique AI-to-AI interaction.
When Alex asks Claude to create a 90s-themed homepage, the AI springs into action: it opens Chrome, searches for Claude.ai, and types in a prompt asking its AI counterpart to generate the retro website. It's like a ghost is sitting in front of the computer. Within moments, "Claude.ai returns some code, and that gets nicely rendered in an artifact on the right-hand side."
What's particularly cool is watching Claude think on its feet. When trying to start up a local server, the AI hits a snag with Python installation but quickly figures out a workaround. "Claude realizes this by looking at the terminal output and then tries again with Python 3, which we do have installed on our machine," Alex says.
As someone who struggles to build even the most rudimentary website, I'm intrigued. Just don't give Claude your bank password.
Previously:
• 2-5 years to sci-fi level AI? Former OpenAI employee sounds alarm
• Dropbox is sharing users' files with OpenAI, here's how to opt out
Playacting at McDonald's, Trump bestowed award others work to earn
Jason Weisberger / 10:35 am PT Tue Oct 22, 2024
Trump
After staging a campaign event at a closed McDonald's, Donald Trump now holds a "french fry certification pin."
This is a historically stupid attempt to make believe Trump gives a shit about anyone who works in any service industry. It demonstrates his lack of competence as a human and reminds you he is not a dude you'd leave alone near a fry-o-later. It is so ridiculous; this video of the franchise owner bestowing a certificate of french frying upon Trump stacks offense on offense like a ridiculous crap sundae.
Lost and confused Trump can't find the woman sitting next to him
Jason Weisberger / 9:34 am PT Tue Oct 22, 2024
Evan El-Amin / Shutterstock.com
Today, while campaigning for president in Doral, Florida, befuddled convicted felon Donald Trump lost Mayor Christi Fraga, who was sitting right next to him.
Displaying what was commonly referred to in my youth as "a senior moment, " adjudicated rapist and the oldest person ever to be a major party candidate for President of the United States, Donald Trump, totally got lost and didn't remember who was sitting next to him. This is perhaps even more concerning and certainly less entertaining than his rambling about solar power, wind, sharks, and hydrogen. Trump isn't up to the job of campaigning, let alone being President.
At a roundtable campaign event with Latino leaders on Tuesday, Trump sought to "thank all of the representatives from the Doral area, because the mayor and everybody." He first called on Mayor Christi Fraga.
"Where's Christi?" Trump said, glancing around the room. "Is she around? Let's see. Christi? Christi?"
"I'm right here," Fraga nudged him.
"Oh, Christi!" Trump exclaimed. "Christi. Oh, my Christi. Boy, oh, boy. Hi, Christi. Hi, sweetie."
Previously:
• As expected, Trump dumps Mark Robinson
Lara Trump mistakes Charlamagne tha God as a cult member — until he laughs in her face (video)
Carla Sinclair / 9:23 am PT Tue Oct 22, 2024
Image: lev radin / shutterstock.com
While Donald Trump cosplayed as a McDonald's worker, Lara Trump appeared on radio's The Breakfast Club and tried to pass her father-in-law off as an upstanding citizen who "was very beneficial to the Black community." But her absurd comments were met with laughs of disbelief from radio host Charlamagne tha God.
"A lot of people feel that Trump is racist, and what do you say to that?" co-host DJ Envy asked Lara on yesterday's show, reminding listeners of Donald's racist "death penalty" campaign against the wrongfully convicted (and later exonerated) Central Park Five in 1989.
"I will say that you have to look at somebody and what they actually have done, and Donald Trump really was very beneficial to the Black community when he was in the White House," Lara said, as if she were talking to a member of the blind MAGA mob.
"I've never seen this man say a racist thing…" she added, before cutting herself off when she saw Charlamagne laughing at her.
""Why is that funny Charlamagne?" she snapped.
"I'm just laughing," he said. "It's hysterical!…People act like there's no such thing as Google, or we don't have TV, radio…" (See video below, posted by Mike Sington.)
On one hand, Charlamagne is right — people do "act like there's no such thing as Google." But on the other hand, it's because they can. These "people" — as in the leaders of the MAGA cult — act like this because in MAGAland it's true, there is no such thing as Google when it comes to facts. Trump disciples have given Him permission to say and do whatever he wants, no questions asked.
Previously: Televised stunt reveals MAGA's cult-like defense of fake depraved Trump recordings
CPAC performer faces 25 years for alleged child sex crimes
Ellsworth Toohey / 9:10 am PT Tue Oct 22, 2024
Schager / Shutterstock.com
It's always the ones you most expect: According to Michigan State Police, Church leader and Christian recording artist Zachary Radcliff, 29, was arraigned on the following charges:
Two counts of MCL 750.145C2 (Felony) – This is related to child sexually abusive activity or material.
Six counts of MCL 750.145D2F (Felony) – Child sexually abusive activity.
One count of MCL 750.520B (Felony) – Criminal sexual conduct in the first degree.
One count of MCL 752.797A (Felony) – Using a computer to commit a crime.
Radcliff, who is a leader at Oakwood Church in Augusta Township, Michigan, attended Liberty University, founded by Jerry Falwell.
In 2019, Radcliff performed his song, "I'll Stand" at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Here's the video — watch it before it gets taken down by professional damage control experts.
If convicted, Radcliff faces 25 years in prison.
As a bonus, here's a video of Trump Junior using his synthetic baritone to praise Radcliff as an "amazing guy," and imploring him to "don't ever quit, don't ever stop."
Junior, will you please make a new video promising you'll stand for Zachary? He needs your help now more than ever.
Previously:
• MAGA woman arrested after threatening judge in Trump case: 'We are coming to kill you'
• Gentleman accused of hiding manbun under MAGA cap, also arrested for spraying crowd with bear repellent
Andrew Garfield helps Elmo understand grief
Jennifer Sandlin / 8:14 am PT Tue Oct 22, 2024
Andrew Garfield and Elmo, via YouTube
Aww, this exchange between Andrew Garfield and Elmo, in which Andrew explains to Elmo how much he misses his mom (who died in 2019), is one of the sweetest things I've seen lately. Elmo listens intently as Andrew describes his grief, and explains that missing someone is perfectly ok.
Today provides more information:
He went on to tell Elmo that "sadness is kind of a gift. It's kind of a lovely thing to feel, in a way, because it means you really loved somebody when you miss them."
Garfield said that when he misses his mom, he remembers "all of the cuddles I used to get from her, all of the hugs I used to get from her." He laughed as Elmo gave him a little squeeze and then continued, "It makes me feel close to her when I miss her in a strange way."
He added, "I can celebrate her and I can miss her at the same time."
At the end of the clip Elmo faces the camera and speaks to the audience, saying, "You know what? We're going to celebrate all the important and special people that you miss, too." And Garfield responds, "That's right, each and every day. All together."
Get your tissues ready when you watch, below!
Meta's latest stab at augmented reality is "Orion"
Jim McFadden / 8:12 am PT Tue Oct 22, 2024
Photo: Meta
Reality has been so lousy recently that companies keep trying to augment it to make it better. War, disease and misinformation but with ads and turn-by-turn directions poured directly into your eye holes? What's not to love?
Nothing, according to the social media/online habit brokers at Meta.
Recently, the company brought a choice circle of tech reporters to their HQ in Menlo Park, California for a taste of their latest experiment with augmented reality. They're calling it Orion. Shaped like a pair of Ray-Bans that got swole at the gym, these AR glasses were, according to The Verge, supposed to be on sale by now. However, Meta pumped the brakes on their release: Orion was deemed too complicated for consumer use. Given that Meta makes Facebook's privacy function hard to wrangle, that's saying a lot.
Orion boasts a 70-degree field of view, which is wider than any pair of AR glasses I've tried to date. In my experience, a narrower field of view causes AR to feel small and less immersive, like you're looking through a peephole. With Orion, I had to get pretty close to virtual objects before their edges started to disappear.
At 98 grams, the glasses weigh significantly more than a normal pair but also far less than mixed reality headsets like the Meta Quest or Apple's Vision Pro. The frames are made of magnesium, which is lighter than aluminum and used for evenly distributing heat.
Seven cameras embedded in the frames are used to anchor virtual objects in real space, assist with eye and hand tracking, and allow Meta's AI assistant to understand what you're looking at. You can leave a virtual window open, turn your head and walk away, and as long as the glasses stay on, it'll still be there when you come back.
This all sounds promising. However, as The Verge's Alex Heath points out, much of what he experienced while testing Orion was carefully curated by the Meta AR team and the Meta-Kahuna, Mark Zuckerberg. However, as we mentioned earlier, Orion is a little bit finicky. Currently, the face computer doesn't require a smartphone to operate. It relies on a wireless module sized to stuff into a pocket or purse and a wristband that tells the AR glasses what to do by registering the movement of your muscles. It's pretty sweet… until you get too far away from the wireless module, and the whole work shuts down. Carrying a smartphone, wearing a pair of glasses, a wristband (maybe in addition to a smartwatch), and carrying a wireless hub? That's a lot of gear. It's no mystery why Meta declined to release the hardware in its current form–especially when you consider that what Meta wants the most is for their glasses to one day supplant the place smartphones currently have in our lives.
If you're looking forward to a future that includes augmented reality, think of Orion as a step in the right direction. If you loath the notion of AR, rejoice: it'll be a spell before we have to worry about it permeating our culture.
Snoop Dogg presents the weather
Jennifer Sandlin / 8:09 am PT Tue Oct 22, 2024
noop Dogg. Photo: Glenn Francis of www.PacificProDigital.com (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Snoop Dogg is a national treasure and must be protected at all costs! Everything he touches turns gold, and you can now add "weather person" to his long list of skills and talents.
Snoop visited the TODAY show recently, where Al Roker let him have a shot at doing the weather. Roker explained to Snoop that he'd prepared a bespoke weather map, featuring "special Snoop cities." Billboard provides more details:
And this wasn't your average weather report, as Snoop covered cities across America that had names that could be synonymous with smoking — which the Doggfather is of course a connoisseur of.
Snoop then proceeds to present the weather like a pro. Here are some of the highlights:
"It's 57 degrees in Mary Jane Falls, Nevada?!"
"But my favorite is when it's nice, hot, and misty outside, 84 degrees in Blunt, South Dakota. Sliding on down to this area right here above the average highs 70 degrees in Roach, Missouri."
"We stay lucky in Kentucky, it's gonna be 60 as we blaze in Blaze, Kentucky, you dig?"
There seems to be nothing Snoop can't do! Enjoy!
"Bear" is a delightful short film that turns ADHD into a literal bear
Thom Dunn / 8:08 am PT Tue Oct 22, 2024
One of the most frustrating things about living with ADHD is that it can be surprisingly difficult to explain. It's for common for people to flippantly self-diagnose themselves with ADHD just because they get distracted by, well, living in a world where everyone is overwhelmed by constant communications and distractions. But having ADHD is more than just a chronic case of checking your phone while you're half-paying attention to the television, or getting bored while reading (I actually read quite a lot, thank you).
Glasgow-based comedienne and filmmaker Kate Hammer has found a great way to articulate the complications of ADHD life in her short film, Bear—in which her condition manifests as a, well, literal bear. It's big and fuzzy and cuddly and adorable and occasionally comes in handy but also causes lots and lots of problems. Especially when she has to keep a constant eye on it, distracting her from other, more pressing matters. This is made even more frustrating by the fact that, well, other people can definitely tell that there's a Bear in the room with them. It may be annoying, or entertaining, or both, but they definitely know it's there. Except no one will actually talk about the Bear, because that's not polite, and also there are HR rules about that or something. If no one talks about the Bear, then you can't really ask them for help in dealing with the Bear, can you? And if you try to explain the Bear situation, things also get weird. So what are you supposed to do about the Bear?
Bear is a short, fun film. It's silly on the surface, and certainly made me laugh out loud more than once. It also made me bawl, because it cut so close to home for me. It's well worth ten minutes of your time, whether you have ADHD, or know someone who does. Or even if you're just curious, or enjoy funny bear costumes.
Here's the official blurb:
Jude, a neurodivergent creative, tries her best to fit into a typical world, but has to manage the sentient, giant teddy bear that follows her everywhere she goes. Bear's attempts at helping often leave everything even more of a mess, causing Jude to be the janitor of her own life. An already tense job interview is made even worse by the fact they don't even want to mention the bear in the room. From hyperfocusing, to losing all sense of focus and everything in between, Jude shows the highs and lows of living with an uncontrollable Bear at all times.
Smurf RPG looks positively smurfy
Gail Sherman / 8:04 am PT Tue Oct 22, 2024
Image: Maestro Media
Look. I know the Smurfs are ridiculous. They use the word "smurf" for every part of speech. There is only one Smurfette. Every smurf is only one thing that is part of their name, except Papa Smurf, who is the smurfiest Smurf who ever smurfed. That said, I loved them as a kid and still love them today. I am super excited about the Smurfs Role Playing Game, which is live on Kickstarter.
The Quick Start Guide is free to download and contains the basic rules and a sample adventure, Papa Smurf Goes Missing. The word "smurf" does not appear as much as one would think in a game about Smurfs. I am happy to report that at least four (!) playable female characters are in the Smurfs RPG. The OG Smurfette is joined by Smurflily, Smurfblossom, and Smurfstorm, all three of whom seem to blow up the Smurf naming conventions completely.
The character sheet is an absolute delight.
You can check out a full live playthrough from this year's Gen Con, the annual tabletop gaming convention.
So far, 27 people have backed the Smurfs RPG at the $349 Smurfwillow's All-In Collector Set pledge level, so don't judge me for my (relatively) reasonable pledge. I also apologize in advance to the friends who will be forced to play this with me.
Bonus: Anyone who has read this far will appreciate a remastered version of the classic Purple Smurfs episode
Previously: Smurf town in Spain votes to stay blue
Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO among men arrested in sex trafficking investigation
Rob Beschizza / 7:31 am PT Tue Oct 22, 2024
A typical Abercrombie ad of the 2010s
Mike Jeffries, the former CEO of Abercombie & Fitch famed for his controversial leadership and cosmetic surgery choices, was arrested Tuesday in a sex trafficking investigation by the FBI and federal prosecutors, reports ABC News. He was accused last year in a BBC exposé and subsequently sued by alleged victims who claim to have been sexually exploited at parties hosted by Jeffries.
Also arrested were Matt Smith, his partner, and a third man, Jim Jacobson, accused of being a "recruiter" for the parties.
His lawsuit accused Jeffries, Smith, Jacobson and Abercrombie itself of luring attractive young men under the guise of making them an Abercrombie model and then forcing them to take drugs and perform sex acts.
"The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York has launched a criminal investigation of the alleged events and occurrences discussed in Plaintiff's Complaint," prosecutors said in a court filing.
"We will respond in detail to the allegations after the Indictment is unsealed, and when appropriate, but plan to do so in the courthouse – not the media," Brian Bieber, an attorney for Michael Jeffries, told ABC News Tuesday.
Jeffries was cut loose after years of ethnic and religious discrimination and fatphobic "look" policies in marketing and hiring finally blew back on the company's image and bottom line.
"We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don't belong [in our clothes], and they can't belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely," he said.
I had the thought, "finally a royalty-free photo of this guy" but it struck me that posting his mugshot would be a war crime.
Bomb hoaxes bring India's aviation industry to a halt
Rob Beschizza / 5:09 am PT Tue Oct 22, 2024
Photo: Aerospace Trek / Shutterstock
The problem is simple: what if the boy crying wolf turns out to be an actual wolf exhausting the system's capacity to respond? More than 90 bomb threats, all hoaxes, have grounded and or disrupted flights from and within India for a week. The airline industry is at a loss to solve the problem of anonymous calls, social media, and mandatory responses.
On Saturday alone, 30 hoax threats were reported, and at least 20 more threats were made to different airlines on Sunday.
Indian aviation authorities and criminal investigators have yet to uncover the source and motive of the surge in bomb threats, which are largely being sent via email or posted through anonymous accounts on social media platforms such as X. Major Indian airlines such as Air India, Vistara, SpiceJet and IndiGo have primarily been targeted but American Airlines, Jet Blue and Air New Zealand have also had threats that led to flights being diverted. … The impact on India's airline industry has been enormous. Regulations enforce airlines to act on every threat, meaning dozens of planes have had to reroute and make emergency landings in third countries such as Turkey or Germany, or turn back to India. On Sunday, Afghanistan refused permission for a Vistara flight bound for Frankfurt to make an emergency landing after it received a bomb threat, forcing the plane to turn back to India.
Jets in the UK and Singapore escorted Indian flights last week; now the why is more clear.
The Royal Air Force scrambled RAF Quick Reaction Alert Typhoon fighter aircraft on Thursday, with a "sonic boom" heard over Norfolk as the jets reached supersonic speeds.A pilot on flight AIC129 from Mumbai reported a bomb threat as the plane approached Heathrow.An Air India spokesperson told the Standard: "Air India flight AI129, from Mumbai to London, received a bomb threat on social media [on Thursday]. "The aircraft landed safely at Heathrow Airport and all passengers and crew have disembarked.
Authorities reportedly arrested a minor, but the calls and threats didn't stop. It looks like they have a troll/bot problem to deal with, and maybe some level of organization.
An aviation security official who spoke to Indian media described a pattern in how the threats were being issued. "A threat is given using social media or through a phone call, and then suddenly similar threats start to appear within a short span of time," they said.
Vermont man charged with drunk driving in Canada thought he was in U.S.
Rob Beschizza / 4:51 am PT Tue Oct 22, 2024
The Canadian Flag [pexels]
A Vermont man was so bladdered when arrested by Ontario Provincial Police that he did not realize he had made his way into another country. CNC News reports that the 52-year-old man was charged with impaired driving in Cobden, Ontario after the truck he was driving was found with flat tires "stuck in a drive-thru" at about 5 a.m. Thursday last week.
The 52-year-old from Milton, Vt., was charged with driving while impaired and driving with a blood-alcohol level beyond the legal limit. He was held for a bail hearing.
OPP said the Canada Border Services Agency is also investigating. They did not say where or how the man is believed to have crossed the Canada-U.S. border without being stopped.
You're thinking he took a wrong turn in Champlain, got "waved through" and all this happened a mile or two north of the border. Think again! Cobden is two hours from the St. Lawrence river and an hour west of Ottawa. Many questions arise.
Fake and fradulent online reviews now explicitly banned
Rob Beschizza / 4:31 am PT Tue Oct 22, 2024
Illustration: Beschizza
The Federal Trade Commission's rule prohibiting fake, paid-for or AI-generated reviews went into effect yesterday. The rule also bans business from making threats against people posting real reviews—a surprisingly common occurence.
"Fake reviews not only waste people's time and money, but also pollute the marketplace and divert business away from honest competitors," said FTC Chair Lina Khan. The rule will "protect Americans from getting cheated, put businesses that unlawfully game the system on notice, and promote markets that are fair, honest, and competitive."
ABC News summarizes the ban:
Specifically, the rule bans reviews and testimonials attributed to people who don't exist or are generated by artificial intelligence, people who don't have experience with the business or product/services, or misrepresent their experience.
It also bans businesses from creating or selling reviews or testimonials. Businesses that knowingly buy fake reviews, procure them from company insiders or disseminate fake reviews will be penalized. It also prohibits businesses from using "unfounded or groundless legal threats, physical threats, intimidation, or certain false public accusations."
The fake reviews are all still right there, of course, raising the question of actual enforcement. If you run into an obviously fake review or get once of those little notes with a gadget, offering you something in return for a positive review, snitch at
https://reportfraud.ftc.gov
and see what happens.
I wonder if the rule will be applied to the review switcheroo trick that sellers use to transfer old reviews to substitute products.
Alien: Romulus is coming out on VHS
Rob Beschizza / 4:04 am PT Tue Oct 22, 2024
Alien: Romulus
I haven't seen Alien: Romulus yet, but it was clearly a successful antidote to things viewers disliked about the seemingly-abandoned Prometheus trilogy, which ground to a halt after the oddly mispitched Alien: Covenant in 2017. Romulus made a lot of money on a modest budget by returning to the vibe of the original movies rather than the lore-loaded space opera of recent outings. And now I know how I'm going to catch it: on VHS.
An ultimate movie collector's dream, the fully functioning VHS tape was created in celebration of the 45th anniversary of the legendary Alien franchise, the box features artwork by renowned artist Matt Ferguson.
Note that they had to make clear it would be a fully functioning VHS tape. This is funny because I'm not sure if fully functioning was ever part of the specification. Alien: Romulus will be out on VHS (and other formats) on Dec 3; for a VHS player, grab $10 and tour your local thrift stores. Curious youths should be warned that one might need an old TV to go with it, too: check the outputs!
See Matt's other movie art at his website.
Carpet Gallery is a free "endless walker" exploration game
Rob Beschizza / 3:50 am PT Tue Oct 22, 2024
Screenshot: Carpet Gallery
Carpet Gallery is a free online exploration game by ivy sly with music by fibr/faec. Though incredibly simple—a toy—I was struck by the evocative minimalism of its screens and the startling vastness of its map. Filed under "Games that might be incipient religions."
An endless walker with procedural scenery and objects.
As one commenter suggests, "like Solaris, but with fun stuff"
I see that it's made with Godot, too, which I didn't realize was so good for this pixel-perfect low-res 2D type of thing.
Intuit CEO had more important things to do than utter remarks they then demanded The Verge not publish
Rob Beschizza / 3:31 am PT Tue Oct 22, 2024
A dark pattern lurking in TurboTax's deceptive claims of
Intuit sells TurboTax, an app that does your taxes for you, and lobbies to keep it complicated and difficult to give the government money without its help. After it deceptively marketed its tax-filing services as free of charge, the Federal Trade Commission took it to court and forced it to stop lying. Challenged on this in an interview with The Verge's Nilay Patel, CEO Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi was standoffish—a stance followed up by the company demanding that Patel not publish that part of the interview. Naturally, that ended up the most prominently posted part of the interview. It's not quite a trainwreck—just a rentier easily provoked into contemptuous honesty his company doesn't want on the record.
But I'm asking you, you're spending the dollars, would you lobby for it?
Lobby for the government changing the tax system?
The simplest version of the tax system would be to just have the government do it and send people their refunds or ask people for money.
I have more important things to do than to lobby the government to send a tax bill.
The Verge "declined" to remove that part of the interview, and the contentious discussion around it. You know the line…
Teen clings to capsized kayak for 12 hours in Hawaii ocean before off-duty lifeguard spots him
Carla Sinclair / 6:56 pm PT Mon Oct 21, 2024
Image: Lillyz6 / shutterstock.com
A 17-year-old kayaker went missing in the ocean for 12 hours off the Honolulu coast before an off-duty lifeguard — who was friends with the boy's father — spotted him.
The teen, Kahiau Kawai, had been paddling after a day of classes with his high school team last Wednesday when his kayak capsized. After that, he lost a paddle and got caught in strong currents, accidentally drifting away from his teammates.
"It was pretty rough out there, the waves were super strong and I just couldn't fight the current," he told CNN. "When the sun started setting and I was going further out as it got darker, that's when I started to worry." Kawaii screamed for help, but says he had drifted too far for anyone to hear him. And it wasn't until 6:30 pm that his teammates, ready to go home, realized he was missing.
Kawaii could see search lights looking for him as he managed to cling to his kayak in the dark. But, as he told CNN, the search and rescue teams "weren't going as far out as I was, and that scared me a little bit." Until, finally, at 4:00 the next morning, the off-duty lifeguard noticed him from a helicopter.
From CNN:
Keaulana, who has been a lifeguard with the Honolulu Ocean Safety Department for 16 years, was off duty that night. Then, his wife called to tell him it was their friend's son who was missing. For the next two hours, he paced impatiently, contemplating if he should join the search.
But finally, "I knew I couldn't waste any more time," Keaulana told CNN. …
The fire department immediately launched a search with multiple boats, aircraft and involving over 50 personnel, including the US Coast Guard. Authorities had learned the teenager's surf ski had capsized and he was not wearing a life jacket, according to the US Coast Guard.
"I was starting to lose hope. I don't know if he's still hanging on to his kayak, if he's given up, I'm thinking about the worst-case scenario. I was mad at myself, thinking I should have went earlier," Keaulana said. ..
At around 4 a.m. Thursday, after searching for over eight hours, a US Coast Guard airplane crew spotted the kayak and the teenager clinging onto it.
"Boom, he just appeared right in my sight," Keaulana told CNN. "He's treading water and hanging on to the midsection of the kayak, and I see his head above the water, and I'm like, wait, is he alive?" The lifeguard said that as soon as he heard the boy's voice, "I just broke down crying."
Kawaii was rushed to the hospital in stable but serious condition, suffering from hypothermia among other injuries. "I didn't know I could handle something like that, of that magnitude," he said. "And this situation showed me I can."
Go to CNN to see photos and video of the rescue.
Previously: Dog rescue: A helicopter 1,000 feet above snow happens to spot a stranded pup and gives him a lift
Elon's pet judge slapped down: Xitter's witch hunt for Media Matters donors put on hold
Ellsworth Toohey / 5:18 pm PT Mon Oct 21, 2024
Judge O'Connor. Illustration: Rob Beschizza
Elon Musk's handpicked judge, a proud Tesla shareholder, was humiliated when a federal appeals court yesterday overruled him, ruling that Xitter couldn't inspect donor information from the nonprofit watchdog group Media Matters.
As Reuters reports, "In a ruling on Sunday, the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a Texas federal judge's order compelling the disclosure of donor information will be paused while Media Matters appeals it."
The appeals court expressed skepticism about Xitter's need for such extensive donor information, stating, "We doubt that X Corp. needs the identity of Media Matters's every donor, big or small, to advance its theories." The court also raised concerns that disclosing this information "could enable others to harass or intimidate Media Matters or its donors."
This legal dispute stems from Xitter's defamation lawsuit against Media Matters, filed in November. Musk alleges that Media Matters "knowingly and maliciously" fabricated images showing major advertisers' content next to neo-Nazi posts, leading some companies to pause their advertising on the platform. As Sanho Tree commented on Xitter: "Space Caligula thinks Media Matters is the reason advertisers are fleeing this racist, fascist hellscape."
Media Matters has defended its actions as "an accurate report on the platform's extremism" and argues that truthful reporting cannot be grounds for business disparagement.
While Tesla-loving U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor ruled that Xitter could pursue its lawsuit, this latest decision by the appeals court shows that the judge representing Musk could face additional challenges in the future.
Sinkhole swallows entire car — along with passengers — on highway in Italy (video)
Carla Sinclair / 5:02 pm PT Mon Oct 21, 2024
Stock Photo ID: 2481422151 / shutterstock.com
A major sinkhole spread across both sides of a highway in southern Italy today, swallowing up a car along with its passengers in the process.
The hole opened up in the Calabria region after a storm of heavy rains and a mudslide, according to the UK's Channel 4 News. Fortunately, nobody in the car was injured.
But with one side of the hole looking like an underground waterfall while the other, dryer side of the hole is digesting the car, the spectacle makes for some stunning footage. (See video, posted by ABS-CBN.)
Previously: Large sinkhole swallows bus in China as passengers are boarding
Elderly brain hack: How a Cold War spy test boosts fitness and sharpness
Ellsworth Toohey / 4:32 pm PT Mon Oct 21, 2024
A novel training approach could help older adults stay mentally sharp and physically fit even when fatigued, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of Extremadura in Spain investigated the effects of Brain Endurance Training (BET) on cognitive and physical performance in sedentary older women. The research, led by Jesús Díaz-García and colleagues, compared BET to standard exercise training and a control group over an 8-week period.
One example of BET is the Stroop task, a cognitive test where participants must name the color of a word, while the word itself spells out a different color (e.g., the word "red" printed in blue ink).*
Key findings from the study include:
BET improved both cognitive and physical performance more than standard exercise training alone, especially when participants were in a fatigued state.
The BET group showed greater improvements in tasks like walking, chair stands, and arm curls compared to the exercise-only and control groups.
Cognitive performance, measured by reaction time and accuracy on attention tasks, was enhanced more in the BET group than other groups.
BET appeared to increase participants' resilience to mental fatigue, allowing them to maintain better performance even after completing demanding cognitive tasks.
The benefits of BET were still evident at a 4-week follow-up assessment.
As the researchers note, "These findings show that BET can improve cognitive and physical performance in older adults."
The study authors conclude that "BET can be recommended for use by older adults to improve performance and tackle the detrimental effects of mental fatigue on behavior, with the likely benefits being improved balance control and less incidence of falls and accidents."
*During the Cold War, U.S, intelligence agencies used the Stroop task to identify potential Russian spies by presenting them with a color-word test in Russian, where a native Russian speaker would slow down when encountering incongruent color-word combinations, revealing their ability to read Russian and potentially their true identity as a spy; whereas a non-Russian speaker would not experience the same delay because the words would be meaningless to them.
Previously:
• How to find out if someone who claims not to speak Russian really can speak Russian
As expected, Trump dumps Mark Robinson
Jason Weisberger / 3:46 pm PT Mon Oct 21, 2024
Image credit: Frennet Studio/shutterstock.com
A few weeks ago, adjudicated rapist and convicted felon Donald Trump declared North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson "Martin Luther King on steroids." Now, Trump can't remember him.
That is how it goes when a Trump lackey gets in trouble. Donald suddenly forgets ever having known them. Touting himself as the most fantastic judge of character who only works with the best people, Trump's lackeys usually turn out to be awful no-good nicks.
Here it is:
Republican AGs abhorrent predilection for pregnant teens
Jason Weisberger / 3:23 pm PT Mon Oct 21, 2024
Ku Klux Klan at a rally in Florida in 1970. (State Library and Archives of Florida/Public Domain)
The attorneys general of Missouri, Idaho, and Kansas have sued over their right to pregnant teens and the funding that comes with them.
This is as creepy as creepy gets. Three Republican Attorneys General have sued the FDA that mifepristone is robbing them of valuable funding issued in a per womb or perhaps per capita count of pregnant teens. Allowing teens not to be pregnant if they do not want to be pregnant would reduce funding intended to help pregnant teens who no longer need it, but let us not dwell on that. The Republicans also declare themselves the parents of pregnant teens to make decisions for them and intend to restrict the right to leave their backward states.
"Remote dispensing of abortion drugs by mail, common carrier, and interactive computer service is depressing expected birth rates for teenaged mothers in Plaintiff States," the attorneys allege in the complaint, which was filed before forced birth enthusiast Judge Matt Kacsmaryk in the Northern District of Texas's Amarillo Division. They claim that decreased births constitute "a sovereign injury to the state in itself," and causes downstream injuries like "losing a seat in Congress or qualifying for less federal funding if their populations are reduced." In other words, uteri are state slush funds, and girls owe the state reproduction once they are capable of it.
States exist to serve people, not the other way around. But in order for courts to hear a case, would-be plaintiffs need to show that they experienced an actual injury that the party they're suing caused, and that a court can fix. A personal dislike of somebody else taking medicine is not a legitimate grievance. So the states are trying to show that they are entitled to the population growth and accompanying funds that pregnant minors would produce, and the FDA is getting in the way of that. In my expert legal opinion, this is deeply gross and weird.
The ick factor only intensifies in some of the other arguments the Attorneys General make. The complaint also says that each of the states is "the legal parent or guardian of many minor girls of reproductive age"—a reference to girls in state custody, like foster care or juvenile detention. For those girls, they argue, the state is a stand-in for parents. And as parents, they claim, they have a right to consent to their children's medical care, which is apparently nullified if teen girls in foster care can "obtain abortion drugs online by mail all on their own." Under the state's theory, it can separate children from their actual parents, declare itself their father now, and deem a daughter's pregnancy her daddy's prerogative.
Previously:
• Margaret Atwood says the Supreme Court is making The Handmaid's Tale a reality in the U.S.
Tim Cook tells how Steve Jobs recruited him to a rotting Apple
Allan Rose Hill / 2:51 pm PT Mon Oct 21, 2024
image: Ringo Chiu/Shutterstock
In 1998 when Steve Jobs recruited current CEO Tim Cook to Apple, the company was on the verge of bankruptcy. In this Wall Street Journal video interview, Tim explains why he took a job there anyway.
Among other stories, he also reflects on his "first job as a paperboy and his first days working at IBM…his love for logistics, manufacturing and math as well as graduating from Auburn University. He shares insights into his job including sacrifices he has had to make, his morning routine and more."
I appreciate hearing how both Tim Cook and Steve Jobs embraced the mindset that Institute for the Future described decades ago as "strong ideas, loosely held."
Much more Apple news here.
Autopsy revealed that this man had three penises
Allan Rose Hill / 1:19 pm PT Mon Oct 21, 2024
image: LANGSY VLK/Shutterstock
Triphalia—a physical abnormality in which an individual has three distinct penises—is so rare that it's only been reported once in the medical literature. As of this month though, there is a second documented case of the strange syndrome.
Physicians from the University of Birmingham Medical School report on the case of a 78-year-old man who died and was autopsied. That's when the doctors discovered that the fellow had a "remarkable anatomical variation," two additional penis shafts. While those shafts were entirely internal, they were located below and behind the primary external penis.
"Each penile shaft displayed its own corpora cavernosa and glans penis," the physicians write in the journal Medical Case Reports. "The primary penis and largest and most superficial of the supernumerary penises shared a single urethra, which coursed through the secondary penis prior to its passage through the primary penis. A urethra-like structure was absent from the smallest supernumerary penis."
"….Although we can only speculate as to which functional implications this patient may have experienced, understanding such anatomical variations contributes to both knowledge of human anatomy and clinical management should the condition be encountered in living individuals."
(via Daily Grail)
Previously:
• 'Extraordinary' 4,000-year-old skull reveals medical milestone
• Medical museum embroiled in brouhaha over bequeathed body parts