Generated on: 2024-09-17 19:01:34 UTC
Jane Goodall says she believes in the afterlife because of "experiences I've had"
Allan Rose Hill / 10:57 am PT Tue Sep 17, 2024
image: vitrolphoto/Shutterstock
"My next great adventure at 90 is dying," says legendary primatologist Jane Goodall in a recent Channel 4 interview. (Video below.) And the scientist is open to the possibility that the adventure continues after your body dies.
"There's either nothing or something, and if there's nothing there's nothing, and that's it," Goodall says. "If there's something I can't think of a greater adventure than finding out what it is.
I happen to think there is something because of experiences I've had, [and] because of experiences other people have had – very powerful ones."
As the Daily Grail points out, Goodall is "unafraid to hold beliefs that are at odds with 'orthodox science' – for instance, she has previously said that she is "sure" that there is an undiscovered large ape species – that is, Bigfoot/Sasquatch/Yeti."
Previously:
• Jane Goodall on Bigfoot: 'I'm not going to say it doesn't exist'
• Fantastic trailer for new Jane Goodall documentary
• Watching Jane Goodall watching chimps makes for a splendid time
JD Vance describes preposterous Elon Musk led commission
Jason Weisberger / 10:47 am PT Tue Sep 17, 2024
Boing Boing/MidJourney
JD Vance described the cabinet position from which Elon "Leon" Musk will direct a brain trust to save social security from "migrants" and fix the DOD.
In what appeared to be a momentary break from disparaging asylum seekers in the US, JD Vance found his way back to disparaging "migrants" as somehow responsible for the social security fraud that he also imagines. The answer to this is noted Pedo Guy Leon Musk. Following his disastrous re-imaging of "X," most Americans will likely not choose to have Leon fix social security.
Shawn Ryan: Let's talk about government reform.
JD Vance: Yeah.
Ryan: So, it looks like Elon's going to be on the cabinet.
Vance: That's right, yeah.
Ryan: And will be in the charge on the government efficiency department.
Vance: Yep.
Ryan: If that's what you call it.
Vance: Yep.
Ryan: How do you see? How, have you spoken to him about the plan? How he's going to do it?
Vance: Well, I've spoken. You mean with the president or with Elon?
Ryan: With Elon.
Vance: Ok, yeah, with Elon. So, I've spoken with Elon a little bit about it and um, you know, I think that the way that this is envisioned is you set up a, you know, you set up an organization with very smart people from the private sector and a few smart people from government and you go in and you say, 'How are we going to fix all of these inefficiencies?' And the thing that's complicated about this, man, is it's going to look much different in say the Department of Defense versus Social Security, right?
via MTN
Previously:
• Leon Musk complains there is not enough assassinating going on
Pagers explode all at once, killing 8 and injuring over 2,700 in Lebanon and Syria (video)
Carla Sinclair / 10:47 am PT Tue Sep 17, 2024
Hundreds of pagers exploded simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria today, killing eight people and injuring more than 2,700 — with 200 in critical condition.
The handheld pagers, which reportedly heated up before exploding, killed members of Hezbollah, as well as a girl, according to Huff Post.
"Officials pointed the finger at Israel in what appeared to be a sophisticated, remote attack," reports Huff Post.
Lebanon's Health Ministry warned anyone with a pager to stay away from it.
Video below (posted by Yashar Ali) shows one of the pagers exploding at what looks like a produce market.
At least eight people were killed and 2,750 others including Hezbollah fighters, medics and Iran's envoy to Beirut were wounded on Tuesday when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon, security sources and the Lebanese health minister said.
Lebanon's information minister Ziad Makary said the government condemned the detonation of the pagers as an "Israeli aggression". Hezbollah also blamed Israel for the pager blasts and said it would receive "its fair punishment".
The Israeli military declined to comment on Reuters enquiries about the detonations. …
Many of those hurt included Hezbollah fighters who are the sons of top officials from the armed group, two security sources told Reuters.
Lebanon's crisis operations center, which is run by the health ministry, asked all medical workers to head to their respective hospitals to help cope with the massive numbers of wounded coming in for urgent care. It said health care workers should not use pagers.
Previously: Hamas terrorists used synthetic amphetamine to "suppress fear and anxiety" during attack, says IDF and US
LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy is fun
Jason Weisberger / 9:58 am PT Tue Sep 17, 2024
credit: hafizi / Shutterstock.com
Lots of cuts at Star Wars lore, and the awesome sense of humor that comes with all LEGO animations make for a good time.
Finally, I can watch a Star Wars program and laugh at it without worrying about all sorts of deep cuts in lore or if haters on Xitter will tell me I can't like it. Rebuild the Galaxy mixes up everything and makes it a lot of fun, without you having to really care who that is and if they had that power last week.
Darth Nubs is a winner. He needs more screen time. If you've watched Young Jedi Adventures and paid attention to the High Republic era they are set within, those kids are in for a traumatic lousy time.
Previously:
• LEGO Star Wars introduces Darth Jar Jar
Woman in Nevada prison for 10-year sentence makes grand escape — by simply walking away
Carla Sinclair / 9:21 am PT Tue Sep 17, 2024
A 69-year-old woman serving 10 years in a Nevada prison has escaped — by simply walking out.
The inmate, Joan Wenger, was admitted to the facility, 20 miles from Las Vegas, on December 1 after killing a woman while driving drunk. But on Saturday, security guards discovered she was missing when they made the rounds at 3am.
Wenger "walked away from Jean Conservation Camp," according to a State of Nevada Department of Corrections press release. Welp, that was easy.
The SNDC describes Wenger as 5' 1" tall, 135 pounds, "with green eyes and gray hair," and asks anyone with information to "immediately call 911."
From The Independent:
Wenger was sentenced in 2021 for a drunken crash in February 2020 that killed a mom, according to the Record-Courier.
She was driving in someone else's Toyota Tacoma on Highway 395 with a half bottle of whiskey when she slammed into the back of a car and Laura Staugaard, 70, was thrown from the vehicle.
Staugaard died at the scene. …
Wenger ultimately agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a recommendation of 10-25 years in prison.
"I wish every day that horrific deadly decision to drink and drive had never happened," she said.
Previously: Prisoner escapes by telling jailer a cobra is in his cell
Netflix sued: Squid Game accused of copying Bollywood film, Luck
Mark Frauenfelder / 9:14 am PT Tue Sep 17, 2024
Squid Game/Netflix
An Indian filmmaker, Soham Shah, is suing Netflix because he claims Squid Game (2021) is a knock-off of his 2009 Hindi-language movie, Luck.
From The Independent:
Shah's film Luck follows a group of people "endowed with 'luck' who are recruited by an "underworld kingpin" to participate in a "series of challenges designed to test their 'Luck' factor, as gamblers around the world bet on them," according to its official synopsis on IMDB.
"The main plot, characters, themes, mood, setting and sequence of events of Squid Game are strikingly similar to that of Luck, defying any likelihood that such similarities could be coincidence," Shah said in the suit, according to Bloomberg.
Netflix responded in a statement, "This claim has no merit. Squid Game was created by and written by Hwang Dong-hyuk and we intend to defend this matter vigorously."
However, as soon as Squid Game debuted, several people pointed out the similarities:
And while we're at it, Squid Game seems a lot like the Japanese series, Alice in Borderland, which debuted in 2020, a year before Squid Game:
Previously:
• Survival horror fans rejoice: Squid Game season 2 hits screens Dec 26, 2024
• Get ready for the real-life Squid Game game show on Netflix
• Netflix 'Squid Game' injures 3 players who seek medical care — 2 threaten to sue
• Why is Squid Game such a huge international hit?
• Squid Game actor Lee Jung-Jae just made history
• If Danny DeVito had a role in 'Squid Game'
• Squid Game's second season to film this summer
Band People: the artistry and economics of supporting musicians
Thom Dunn / 9:08 am PT Tue Sep 17, 2024
Image: AnnaStills/shutterstock.com
Band People: Life and Work in Popular Music is a new book from writer and musician Franz Nicolay that turns the spotlight on the unsung heroes of rock & roll: the backing band. Specifically, the people who have made careers for themselves as supporting musicians, often for a multitude of different bandleaders.
Basically, the middle-class laborers who produce the goods that make rockstardom possible.
Nicolay himself may be considered one of these "band people," having performed as a regular member (but never frontperson) of acclaimed acts, including the Hold Steady, Guignol, and the World / Inferno Friendship Society; he has over 100 recording credits to his name, according to Discogs. But rather than focus on his own personal journey—which was already chronicled somewhat in his earlier book, The Humorless Ladies of Border Control: Touring the Punk Underground from Belgrade to Ulaanbaatar—Nicolay uses Band People as an opportunity to speak with other Band People, combining their interviews with academic excerpts from other texts about the working relationships between collaborators in the performing arts.
But those other texts from which Nicolay draws are largely based on jazz music, which has a longer history and much different rules from the world of rock & roll. Nicolay acknowledges this difference but smartly uses these excerpts to create a sense of juxtaposition—and to remind the reader that, well, rock & roll is a weird sort of industry. People—often teenage friends, at least initially—self-associate together and loosely form a group, often building the airplane as they fly, as it were. These autonomous collectives of rockers typically imagine themselves as some sort of anarcho-communist collective, even as one or more personalities tend to take on leadership roles. That creates an inherent tension, which can get even more difficult once money gets involved.
Nicolay speaks to a wide range of band people throughout the book's roughly 300 pages, from career bassists who've toured with people like Madonna to founding members of groups like Against Me! and Hole and even people who may seem like a central part of their band but still play a supporting role to another, larger personality. These musicians share their stories of struggles and successes; of when they learned to take feedback (or learned to push back); and how they figured out how to make a (sort of) stable life out of the whole thing, sometimes even with a family (or not). Some of them were musicians I was already a fan of; some were people I'd never heard of. But the book isn't concerned with fan service of any kind—it's focused more on labor and relationships.
Nicolay does not shy away from pointing out that every band faces an almost constant conflict between Marxist and Capitalist instincts and that the balancing act can be a tricky one. Similarly, the text itself sometimes struggles with the balancing act between anthropological or sociological analysis and quirky rock & roll anecdotes. But even that tension is something that will be all too familiar to anyone who's ever made a career doing creative things. Are you working in service of the art or the paycheck?
Why not both?
You also lose interest in the behind-the-music drama because of the relatability of the cast of characters featured in the book. Every time you think you're getting a glimpse of some dark secret between collaborators, Band People will have you flashing back to your own similar creative-professional relationships instead. The book drudged up things for me of past collaborations that were never healthy, articulating the problems that I knew were always there in better ways than I had ever managed to do myself. It also frequently reminded me why I keep going back to certain collaborators and why those relationships work. By illustrating other people's successes in creative relationships, the book allowed me to better understand and articulate my own similar successes.
While Band People is an intimate examination of the working relationships of rock groups, Nicolay smartly avoids turning the book into juicy behind-the-music gossip. Sure, there are plenty of critical moments where musicians say, "Yeah, this relationship with so-and-so was shitty for XYZ reasons." But Nicolay thoughtfully edits these moments to keep the focus on the tensions of labor and artistry instead of letting someone's personal grudge overwhelm the pages. This is an impressive feat and one of the real unique values of the book. A reader may themself trying to read between the lines in search of the drama (as I even found myself doing a few times). But that's not the point. The point is that people do make mistakes, and some working relationships clash or simply don't work out, and there's value in reflecting on those moments and learning from them.
You also lose interest in the behind-the-music drama because of the relatability of the cast of characters featured in the book. Every time you think you're getting a glimpse of some dark secret between collaborators, Band People will have you flashing back to your own similar creative-professional relationships instead. The book drudged up things for me of past collaborations that were never healthy, articulating the problems that I knew were always there in better ways than I had ever managed to do myself. It also frequently reminded me why I keep going back to certain collaborators and why those relationships work. By illustrating other people's successes in creative relationships, the book allowed me to better understand and articulate my own similar successes.
Even if you're not a creative professional, I think Band People holds a lot of value in the way it explores the inherent tension of trying to do anything passionately while living in a capitalist society.
Previously:
• David Byrne's How Music Works
Hillary Clinton on the press failing to actually cover Trump
Jason Weisberger / 8:49 am PT Tue Sep 17, 2024
Evan El-Amin / shutterstock.com
The Trump Campaign, having nothing good to talk about that'll appear to voters, keeps up a constant clammer of outrage and calamity to keep us distracted.
In an interview on Rachel Maddow's show, former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton explained how the media swings from dangled outrage to dangled outrage, never focusing long enough on the stories that matter or on what Trump says he intends to do for people to pay attention. Trump is keeping attention where he wants it, which is away from what he intends to do.
Previously:
• JD Vance lies about lying
Adorable tiny hippo in danger because humans are the worst
Gail Sherman / 8:35 am PT Tue Sep 17, 2024
Moo Deng is a two-month-old pygmy hippo in an "open zoo" in Thailand. Her name means "bouncy pig," but moo deng is also, unfortunately, the name of a Thai pork dish. She has become internet famous thanks to the crack social media at the zoo and the fact that she is objectively adorable. She runs around with her mouth open a lot, so in photos, she looks like she is always screaming, which is, as they say, relatable.
Of course, with the crowds her celebrity status has brought to the zoo comes the inevitable bad behavior. Zoogoers have thrown objects at her and splashed her with water if she has the nerve to try to get a little sleep or otherwise fail to please them.
Zoo life is not ideal for Moo Deng, but pygmy hippos are endangered, with fewer than 2500 surviving in the wild, so despite people being inconsiderate jerks, she is probably safer there.
Previously: Penelope the pygmy hippopotamus enjoys a special "snow hippo" treat
JD Vance lies about lying
Jason Weisberger / 7:28 am PT Tue Sep 17, 2024
JD Vance (lev radin / shutterstock.com)
JD Vance has admitted to CNN's Dana Bash that he'll tell whatever stories he thinks will advance his goals. Here, he lies about the lies he has been telling.
What does JD Vance have to say to the legal asylum seekers he has cast as some horrible mob eating our pets? Pretty much the response is "fuck off." The bomb threats and civil disruption Vance and his addled leader have inspired is obvious. Springfield, Ohio, leaders have been begging them to stop; the father of a young boy who died in a car accident is asking them to stop lying about his son's death, and Vance is still on the "many people have said" stuff.
A former U.S. Senator is calling out Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) over his weekend comment that he "creates stories" to illustrate his point, even if they aren't true.
Speaking on Nicolle Wallace's "Deadline: White House," Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, said that Vance is a wordsmith and his book makes it clear. So, when he alleged they "create stories" like what happened in Springfield, Ohio, it says a lot.
Wallace noted that while stories of "eating Labradoodles" are false, the consequences are not. Children now can't go to school.
Keep on digging JD.
Previously:
• Trump and Vance's Haitian rhetoric causing real harm
Message from Titan submersible before implosion: "All good here"
Rob Beschizza / 7:03 am PT Tue Sep 17, 2024
OceanGate Expeditions
It was all good on board the Titan submersible, with its compromised materials and joypad control system, before it was all bad.
One of the last messages sent from the doomed Titan submersible during its June 2023 voyage to the Titanic wreckage was "all good here," according to a presentation from a U.S. Coast Guard hearing on the deadly implosion.
The Marine Board of Investigation for the U.S. Coast Guard's two-week hearing into the incident began on Monday, 15 months after the OceanGate vessel catastrophically imploded during its deep-sea voyage, killing all five people aboard.
It was all good at 2,274 meters; the last message was "dropped 2 wts"—weights—at 3,341 meters. Communications and tracking was lost at 3,346m. ABC News:
Tym Catterson, a former contractor for OceanGate, testified during Monday's hearing that there were "no red flags" on the day of the incident. He said he believes the intention of shedding the two 35-pound weights was to slow the vessel down as it approached the ocean floor. He thought the weight was dropped a little early than is typical — not due to any emergency but to ensure a smooth landing, he said.
New images of the debris on the ocean floor were published yesterday.
More credible simulations make clear that the implosion took place within 30-50 milliseconds. If they suspected it was coming, they didn't experience it.
Previously:
• One of the many terrible things about the Titan submersible is the bizarre seating arrangement
• Debris found was from the Titan submersible. All aboard are dead, says OceanGate
• Titan submersible creator added to Wikipedia's 'List of inventors killed by their own invention'
• A Titan sub documentary has already aired and viewers had 'uneasy reactions': 'Too soon'
Packages of suspicious white powder sent to election officials in 6 states
Carla Sinclair / 6:29 am PT Tue Sep 17, 2024
Election and state officials in at least six different states opened up mail containing "suspicious packages" of white powder yesterday. Fortunately, so far, tests have found the substances to be non-hazardous.
The threatening mail was sent to offices in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Tennessee, Wyoming and Oklahoma, just seven weeks from Election Day.
At least one of the packages of white powder, in Oklahoma, turned out to be flour. In Wyoming, however, officials haven't yet disclosed what the substance was, or if it was hazardous.
In Kansas, which was gifted with at least two suspicious packages, one looked like the suspicious mail sent to the other five states. But a second larger package was also sent to the Kansas Secretary of State's Office and Attorney General's Office, and according to KCUR, "the state fire marshal was on scene and requested the FBI respond to collect the package."
From AP News:
"We have specific protocols in place for situations such as this," Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said in a statement after the evacuation of the six-story Lucas State Office Building in Des Moines. "We immediately reported the incident per our protocols."
A state office building in Topeka, Kansas, was also evacuated due to suspicious mail sent to both the secretary of state and attorney general, Kansas Highway Patrol spokesperson April M. McCollum said in a statement.
Topeka Fire Department crews found several pieces of mail with an unknown substance on them, though a field test found no hazardous materials, spokesperson Rosie Nichols said. Several employees in both offices had been exposed to it and had their health monitored, she said.
In Oklahoma, the State Election Board received a suspicious envelope in the mail containing a multi-page document and a white, powdery substance, agency spokesperson Misha Mohr said in an email to The Associated Press. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol, which oversees security for the Capitol, secured the envelope. Testing determined the substance was flour, Mohr said.
State workers in an office building next to the Wyoming Capitol in Cheyenne were sent home for the day pending testing of a white substance mailed to the secretary of state's office.
In February, envelopes filled with a mysterious white powder were sent to Judge Arthur Engoron and AG Letitia James. Fortunately, those menacing packages turned out to be non-hazardous.
Ryan Routh: former Trump-supporting Hawaii handyman with a criminal past
Ellsworth Toohey / 6:09 am PT Tue Sep 17, 2024
Ryan Youth in a 2010 mugshot
Ryan Routh was arrested in connection with an apparent attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida. NPR describes the 58-year-old as having a lengthy criminal record dating back decades, including a 2002 felony conviction for possessing a weapon of mass destruction.
Key takeaways from the article:
Routh has lived in North Carolina for most of his adult life before recently moving to Hawaii.
He graduated from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University with a mechanical engineering degree in 1998.
He has a history of political involvement, initially supporting Trump but later becoming a critic. He donated to Democratic causes between 2019 and 2020.
He is an avid supporter of Ukraine in its war against Russia and even traveled to Kyiv in an attempt to join the fight or recruit others.
Routh self-published a book titled Ukraine's Unwinnable War in 2023, expressing his views on global politics and the Ukraine conflict.
His family members have defended him, describing him as a loving father and honest, hardworking man.
Previously: Kari Lake turns the horror of the Paul Pelosi attack into a laugh riot (video)
"The flour tastes like acid." Cuba cuts daily bread rations amid food shortage crisis
Ellsworth Toohey / 5:13 am PT Tue Sep 17, 2024
oliverdelahaye / Shutterstock.com
Cuba's government has reduced the daily ration of bread for its residents from 80 grams to 60 grams. A typical slice of bread weighs about 40 grams, report Reuters. What's more, the flour is of such poor quality that it reportedly "tastes like acid."
Cuba is facing shortages of food, fuel, and medicine. Its economy is controlled by the government, which issues ration booklets for essential items.
From Reuters:
Cuba's ration book, or "libreta," as it is known among island residents, was once considered a hallmark of Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution, providing a range of deeply discounted products to all Cubans, including bread, fish, meat, milk, and cleaning and toiletry supplies.
Today, the crisis-racked government offers just a fraction of those products, and often, they arrive late, in poor quality or not at all.
Cuba previously received significant economic support from Venezuela, which has decreased due to Venezuela's own economic crisis. This, combined with the long-standing U.S. trade embargo, has limited Cuba's access to many international markets and financial systems, resulting in severe shortages of products and raw materials.
Previously:
• What it's like to use the Internet in Cuba
Arizona removes 1864 abortion ban from books
Rob Beschizza / 4:52 am PT Tue Sep 17, 2024
Arizona's ban on abortions, enacted during the Civil War and revived when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, is finally off the books there. Arizona's Supreme Court allowed the state to enforce the long-dormant 1864 law, obliging state lawmakers to put their names to its repeal.
Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs signed the bill in May, declaring it was just the beginning of a fight to protect reproductive health care in Arizona.
"I will continue doing everything in my power to protect reproductive freedoms, because I trust women to make the decisions that are best for them, and know politicians do not belong in the doctor's office," Hobbs said in a statement.
Arizona nonetheless has sharp restrictions on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, allowing it only to save the life of the mother. Women and children raped and subjected to incest are out of luck.
Tito Jackson, of the Jackson 5, dead at 70
Rob Beschizza / 4:46 am PT Tue Sep 17, 2024
Tito Jackson was a member of the Jackson 5, brother to Michael, and lately a jazz star of his own. The three-times Grammy winner died at 70 over the weekend.
"It's with heavy hearts that we announce that our beloved father, Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Tito Jackson is no longer with us. We are shocked, saddened and heartbroken," his sons posted on Instagram. "… he will be missed tremendously. It will forever be "Tito Time" for us."
Just a few days ago, Tito visited a memorial to Michael with his brothers and posted: "We're deeply grateful for this special place that honors not only his memory but also our shared legacy. Thank you for keeping his spirit alive."
Previously: Jackson 5ive animated series on DVD
RFK Jr investigated for beheading whale with chainsaw
Rob Beschizza / 4:31 am PT Tue Sep 17, 2024
rfk jr photo shoot
Former presidential candidate and newly-minted MAGA man Robert F. Kennedy Jr. once beheaded a whale with a chainsaw. He says he is now under federal investigation for this act, despite it having occurred long ago and having been a lovely family trip.
"I received a letter from the National Marine Fisheries Institute saying that they were investigating me for collecting a whale specimen 20 years ago," he said at a rally. "This is all about the weaponization of our government against political opponents."
His daughter disclosed the incident in a 2012 interview with Town and County magazine, which resurfaced after Kennedy admitted that he was the person who dumped the corpse of a bear in Central Park.
"[He] ran down to the beach with a chainsaw, cut off the whale's head and then bungee-corded it to the roof of the family minivan for the five-hour haul back to Mount Kisco, New York.
"Every time we accelerated on the highway, whale juice would pour into the windows of the car, and it was the rankest thing on the planet. We all had plastic bags over our heads with mouth holes cut out, and people on the highway were giving us the finger, but that was just normal day to day stuff for us."
Whale juice. When it comes to New England royalty with New York City pieds-à-terre, "I have collect a whale specimen" is the new "I need to return some video tapes."
Previously:
• Photographer spills tea on nightmare photo shoot with RFK Jr: 'My experience was at the top of the worst I've had professionally'
• It can't just be the brain worm: what the hell is wrong with RFK, Jr?
MAGA supporter denies child gun death stats in cringe-worthy interview
Mark Frauenfelder / 4:17 am PT Tue Sep 17, 2024
The Good Liars
Jason Selvig of The Good Liars talked to a Trump supporter to learn his thoughts on abortion and gun control. The MAGA gentleman was wearing a T-shirt with a "Trump 45" pistol on it. Here's how the interview went:
Jason Selvig: What are your thoughts on abortion?
Trump Supporter: On abortion? I'm pro-life, so.
Jason Selvig: And if there could be more gun control that could save children's lives, would you want to pass that gun control?
Trump Supporter: How would that save children's lives? [Scratches his arm and looks a bit queasy]
Jason Selvig: The mass shootings. Guns. Guns are the leading cause of death for children in America.
Trump Supporter: [Closes eyes and shakes head before smiling nervously] Yeah… [Snickers] No, it's not. [Turns as if to make a getaway from the uncomfortable interview]
Jason Selvig: No, it is. It is.
Trump Supporter: No, it's not.
Jason Selvig: Guns are the leading cause of death for children in America.
Trump Supporter: Okay, but that's… [woman approaches to hand him a flyer]. Okay. [shrugs]
Watch the full video here:
As Trump blames assassination attempts on Kamala Harris, video shows Alex Jones saying, "Please, kill him!" (video)
Carla Sinclair / 4:16 am PT Tue Sep 17, 2024
Image: Vic Hinterlang / shutterstock.com
Donald Trump tried to blame the two assassination attempts on him — by two Republicans — on Kamala Harris and Tim Walz yesterday. But if the unhinged cult leader had a working mind (and an ounce of integrity), he would know that the dangerous rhetoric he's talking about stems from far-right extremists like Alex Jones, who earlier this year said about Trump: "Please, kill him!"
In the resurfaced video below, posted by Patriot Takes (which they've posted several times before), Jones and his guest, Ivan Raiklin — a self-proclaimed "secretary of retribution" for Trump — gushed about how great it would be for the extreme right if someone assassinated Trump.
"If they kill him, that's best case scenario from a sick level. From a sick-level medium, oh, please kill him! I mean, it's so good after that," Jones said.
"Oh, it's going to be the best cleansing and the fastest cleansing that we've ever seen in my lifetime," Raiklin, who has compiled a "deep state target list," enthused. "I guarantee…with almost certainty, with the highest level of confidence, that if they assassinate Trump, it is so game over for them."
The giddy pair also chuckled over a video Raiklin shared that lists some of the "targets" that would follow a Trump assassination, including President Biden, Bill and Hillary Clinton, former Vice President Mike Pence, Speaker Hakeem Jeffries, George Conway, Sen. Lindsay Graham, Rep. Adam Schiff, former U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton, and hundreds more.
"Let's roll it!" Jones hollered. "Here it is." (See second video below).
Previously: Rep. Raskin sounds alarm on extensive "target list" from Trump's "secretary of retribution"
National Review editor Rich Lowry blurts out "Haitian █████r migrants" in interview with Megyn Kelly
Rob Beschizza / 2:38 pm PT Mon Sep 16, 2024
A right pair. Screenshot: Sirius XM
If recent New York Times contributor Rich Lowry's guise as a foe of the former president has been threadbare for years, he today uttered the one thing even l'orange has managed to avoid saying near a hot mic. If you want to hear Lowry blurt out "Haitian █████r migrants" (and God knows one might not want to hear his voice say anything at all) here it is on Bluesky.
He's bristling at the suggestion he said it, but if he tried to catch himself he surely did not succeed. I hear a hard happy N and a hard happy R. N for Nationalism. N for Naked. N for No he did not mispronounce migrants as "Migger." It's reasonable to assume, all the same, that it was an unintentional brainfart; here is a relevant and extremely similar example. If you watch the video closely, you can see Lowry closing his mouth to say the word, which undeniably suggests intent to form an M, not an N. On the other hand, you'll hear him say "M" several times right afterward, it sounds nothing like what he claims was also an M, and it isn't followed by "igger."
What you intend to say and what you do say are different things. We are responsible for the words that escape us.
Consider a comical if mirthless hypothetical: you're a white fella who is very racist indeed, but in the heat of the moment the word you intended to say somehow comes out as "migrant." Really? I swear on Woodrow Wilson's grave that was an N. Nigh Grant? Yeah. I caught myself halfway through. But the end made it worse. Shut up!
Fairness and good faith are noble impulses, but how much grace should be offered? Besides, the equivocating and excusing mainstream of journalists and pundits are already giving him plenty at the site they will never, ever leave.
Many wingnut welfarites are more voluble racists in private and the words of power inch closer to their lips because they think 2025 is a zero sum game that they may lose. The "then suddenly" stage after a decade of "gradually" is upon their imaginations and they are readying their acts. Who would be surprised if a man who writes things like "Yes, Fight Anti-White Racism" turns out to be among them?
If you're in any doubt as to your voter registration status, if you haven't received any paperwork lately from your state on the matter, go to Vote.org and register to vote, then vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.
Kremlin's favorite candidate Jill Stein refuses to call Putin a war criminal during interview
Mark Frauenfelder / 2:03 pm PT Mon Sep 16, 2024
Jill Stein, Green Party presidential candidate, carries a sign in the Poor People's March as it approaches Fiserv Arena, site of the Republican Convention. (Vic Hinterlang / Shutterstock.com)
There's the famous picture of perennial Green Party Presidential candidate Jill Stein and Michael Flynn seated at a cozy table for eight at a gala dinner in Moscow in 2015 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Russian state-funded television network.
There's the Senate report that found that the Kremlin's Internet Research Agency campaign attempted to siphon votes from Hillary Clinton by tweeting Stein's name over 1,000 times during the 2016 election, often using the campaign slogan, "Grow a spine and vote Jill Stein."
And now there's this interview with journalist Mehdi Hassan where Stein can't bring herself to call Putin a war criminal. Here's the transcript:
Mehdi Hasan: We looked at your social media, and you haven't done that many posts specifically calling out Russian attacks on civilian areas. You haven't called Vladimir Putin a war criminal, but you have called Benjamin Netanyahu a war criminal.
Jill Stein: No, actually, we did. Yeah. In my very first remarks about the Ukraine war, we condemned —
Mehdi Hasan: Vladimir Putin is a war criminal?
Jill Stein: Yes, we did condemn —
Mehdi Hasan: And Bashar al-Assad is a war criminal?
Jill Stein: Yes, in so many words, yes, we have said as much.
Mehdi Hasan: So you called Netanyahu one, which I think he is.
Jill Stein: Oh, absolutely.
Mehdi Hasan: Is Putin a war criminal?
Jill Stein: So what we said about Putin was that his invasion of Ukraine is a criminal and murderous war.
Mehdi Hasan: And he's a war criminal who should be on trial?
Jill Stein: Well, by implication.
Mehdi Hasan: You're struggling here to say something very simple. This is why people have their doubts about you with Russia. Why is Benjamin Netanyahu a war criminal but not Vladimir Putin?
Jill Stein: Well, as John F. Kennedy said, "We must not negotiate out of fear and we must not fear to negotiate." So if you want to be an effective world leader, you don't start by name calling and hurling out that.
Mehdi Hasan: So how will President Stein negotiate with Israel then, if you've called Netanyahu a war criminal?
Jill Stein: Well, because he very clearly is a war criminal.
Mehdi Hasan: Oh, so Putin clearly isn't a war criminal?
Jill Stein: Well, we don't have a decision, put it this way, by the International Criminal Court.
Mehdi Hasan: Yes, we do. Yes, actually, actually, you're wrong. There's an arrest warrant for Putin and there isn't an arrest warrant for Netanyahu, so why is Putin not a war criminal, but Netanyahu is?
Jill Stein: Yeah. Well, let me say this. We are sponsoring that war. We are sponsoring Netanyahu. He is our dog in this fight. That is why we have a responsibility to pull him back.
Mehdi Hasan: No disagreement from me at all. It still doesn't answer my question. Whether we sponsor them or not is irrelevant.
Jill Stein: With Russia it's far more complicated.
Mehdi Hasan: Either you're a war criminal or you're not. Is Vladimir Putin a war criminal?
Jill Stein: In so many words, yes he is.
Mehdi Hasan: I don't know "what so many words" — Butch [Ware, Stein's running mate], is Vladimir Putin a war criminal?
Jill Stein: Let me say that whatever you think he is —
Mehdi Hasan: It's not about what I think. I'm asking you. You're running for President.
Jill Stein: If you want to pull him back, if you are a world leader, you don't begin your conversation by calling someone a war criminal unless you have a…
Mehdi Hasan: So why have you called Biden and Netanyahu war criminals?
Jill Stein: Because we have a clear strategy and we have very strong support across the world.
In Stein's world, 'strong support across the world' apparently stretches from Mar-a-Lago's golden toilets to Moscow's Red Square.
Ancient psychedelic wisdom for modern medicine
Allan Rose Hill / 1:49 pm PT Mon Sep 16, 2024
image: ConstanzaMartinez/Shutterstock
There's a psychedelic Renaissance underway as psychoactive substances like psilocybin, DMT, and MDMA are making headway into the medical mainstream as tools for the treatment of depression, OCD, PTSD, substance abuse, and other mental health challenges. But for Indigenous peoples around the globe, psychoactive plant medicines have been used for healing, and much much more, for millennia. And interestingly, unlike many of the self-improvement and self-actualization psychedelic "retreats" of today, the focus was less about the self and more helping about the community.
At the BBC News, Dr. David Cox explores "What Western medicine can learn from the ancient history of psychedelics":
…[UC Berkeley Indigenous studies scholar] Yuria Celidwen says that while psychedelic use in the West focuses on the individual, much of the use of psychoactive substances in ancient cultures across the Americas and the Global South has always been based around interacting with the natural and spirit worlds.
"In most of these traditional cultures, we don't have that sense of division between what is human and the natural world," Celidwen says. "We believe we are always interacting with living, responsive consciousness all around us, and when we use spirit medicines, we're looking for communication and to restore balance with that world. So the context is never individual wellbeing or mental health, but the collective wellbeing of the environment as a whole," she says.
[Johns Hopkins University psychedelics and consciousness professor Albert] Garcia-Romeu agrees, saying that among indigenous communities in Colombia, Brazil and Mexico, psychoactive substances are used to communicate with their ancestors, access other realms of being, and gain information about the world around them[…]
Celidwen says that one of the key limitations of the Western approach is that it focuses on psychedelic substances as akin to pills that can be patented. She says that if we can learn anything from the many thousands of years of use among ancient cultures, it is that the real power of psychedelics lies in their ability to encourage bonds between people and communities, as part of a collective experience.
"It's not the molecule itself, it is the larger constellation of relationships that are created that brings the healing," says Celidwen.
Previously:
• Drug-taking gorillas may hold secrets of future medicines
• Plant explorer Richard Evans Schultes' Amazonian Travels interactive map