Brian Wheeler, for BBC News out of Washington DC reports Why US liberals are now buying guns too. In one word: Trump. Clara, a 28-year-old nursing student, grew up in the Mid-West, where “the folks that had guns were seen as hicks” or were just “culturally different”, she says. But since the election of Donald Trump in November she has started going to a gun range for the first time and is shopping around for a semi-automatic pistol. “It’s been seeing the way that Trump’s election has mobilised a lot of the far right and given them hope,” she says, citing a rise in reports of hate crimes and neo-Nazi activity.According to the story, gun sales in the U.S. had risen in October as conservatives feared Hillary Clinton was going to impose strict gun controls. Gun manufacturer stock prices dropped after Trump won the election and their fears eased — but Black Friday saw gun sales soar.
Daily Archives: December 21, 2016
BBC Report: Liberals Are Now Buying Guns
Proud Islamic Mother Releases Video of Young Daughters She Sent To Die As Suicide Bombers
Reblogged on WordPress.com
Source: Proud Islamic Mother Releases Video of Young Daughters She Sent To Die As Suicide Bombers
Snow falls in Sahara Desert – first time in 37 years
From Wire and Twitter reports:
We know the northern hemisphere has been getting colder, for example we reported earlier this week that the USA was colder than any time last year with an average temperature of 16 degrees F. It isn’t just the USA, in northern Africa, reports suggest that it is only the second time in living memory that snow has fallen on the Sahara desert. The last record is for February 18, 1979, when the snow storm lasted just half an hour.
Snow falling on the Saharan mountain ranges is very rare, let alone on the sandy dunes of the continent’s largest desert.
Photo by Karim Bouchetata of Meteo Algerie
Amateur photographer Karim Bouchetata says he took the incredible pictures of snow covering the sand in the small Saharan desert town of Ain Sefra, Algeria, on December 19. The unforgiving red dunes looked pristine and picturesque.
“It looked…
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Multimillionaire Says His “Genius” Entitles Him To Greater Share Of Divorce Settlement
One American multimillionaire now argues that his self-proclaimed “genius” should entitle him to keep more of the fortune he was ordered to give his ex-wife following their bitter divorce.Financier Randy Work, who earned $7 billion for his employer — a U.S. private equity firm in Japan — while taking home a multimillionaire dollar annual salary, wants to overturn an English court order that awarded his estranged wife, Mandy Gray, half of the couple’s $173 million fortune last year.Work’s lawyers will appeal the judgment this February, claiming that his success as an investor means the court should give him more of the couple’s assets. His lawyers will argue that the court failed to recognize Work’s “special contribution” to creating that wealth, and have now deprived him of his fair share.
‘Elf Porn’ Is Just One Of The Searches That Has Increased On Pornhub Thanks To The Holidays
Ah, the holidays are here, and they are all about eggnog, Christmas movies, gifts and of course, elf porn. Wait what? Yep, that’s right, thanks to the holidays people are really rushing to get their fill of elf porn and other holiday-related porn. Now that’s hard-hitting news.So if you’ve already colored in all of that Pornhub coloring book, you may want to sit back and enjoy some of Pornhub’s festive porn. You know, just to get in the holiday spirit. The popular porn website has once again issued a release showing the most popular search trends that users have been into recently. And no surprise, all of them are holiday related, because if there is one way to release your holiday stress, it’s through good old porn.Let’s first take a look at some of those top searches.
International – Facebook’s secret rules of deletion
Facebook refuses to disclose the criteria that deletions are based on. SZ-Magazin has gained access to some of these rules. We show you some excerpts here – and explain them. Introductory wordsThese are excerpts of internal documents that explain to content moderators what they need to do. To protect our sources, we have made visual edits to maintain confidentiality. While the rules are constantly changing, these documents provide the first-ever insights into the current guidelines that Facebook applies to delete contents.imageAccording to our sources, the logo on the bottom right – the heart with a globe – is the symbol for the Facebook department that sets the rules of deletion. These rules are then often applied by external service providers, such as the Bertelsmann subsidiary Arvato in Berlin. Employees attend internal training workshops where they learn what should be deleted and what shouldn’t.This image aims to show why Facebook takes action against hate speech: “because it creates an intimidating and exclusionary environment in which people don’t want to share”. This goes against Facebook’s business model: the company wants to offer people a space in which they will share contents and interact with one another as much as possible – all the while looking at a lot of advertising. imageHate speech not allowed (but only for certain groups of people)The chapter on hate speech starts with an explanation of the criteria that need to be met for a post to be considered hate speech and deleted: namely, a verbal attack on a “protected category”. Facebook determines these categories itself and they currently include the following:SexReligious affiliationNational originGender identityRaceEthnicitySexual orientationDisability or serious illnessAttacks based on one of these categories are deleted. There are also sub-categories that enjoy extra protection. These are listed in the same chapter:Age – youth, senior citizens, teenagersEmployment status: e.g. unemployed, teachers, doctors, pilots, and astronautsContinent of origin: e.g. European or South American. Here, special risks are listed for the following terms: Asians (protected in the race category); American or Australian (protected in the national origin category)Social status: e.g. rich, poor, middle classAppearance: e.g. blonde, brunette, tall, short, fat, skinnyPolitical affiliation: e.g. Republican, Democrat, socialist, Communist, revolutionary.Religions such as Islam, Catholicism, and Scientology. The following applies here: while members of religious groups are protected, religion itself is not. The same applies to countries. While speaking badly about France or Germany is allowed in general, condemning people on the basis of their nationality is not.imageA number of combinations are possible: A protected category (PC for short) combined with another protected category results in yet another protected category. Take Irish women, for instance. Here, the “national origins” and “sex” categories apply. So if someone were to write “Irish women are dumb,” they would be breaking the rules and their post would be deleted.However, combining a protected category with an unprotected category results in an unprotected category. Irish teenagers are the example. While they are protected under the national origin category, the term teenager does not enjoy special protection (the same applies to terms such as “retiree” or “youth”, for instance). For this reason, the sentence “Irish teenagers are dumb” does not need to be deleted.imageAn overview of sentences that are either allowed or not allowedThis overview at the end of the hate speech chapter illustrates a number of rules. The rules about migrants are especially interesting. For instance, saying “fucking Muslims” is not allowed, as religious affiliation is a protected category. However, the sentence “fucking migrants” is allowed, as migrants are only a “quasi protected category” – a special form that was introduced after complaints were made in Germany. This rule states that promoting hate against migrants is allowed under certain circumstances: statements such as “migrants are dirty” are allowed, while “migrants are dirt” isn’t.imageBullying not allowedCreating a ranking of private individuals based on their physical appearance or personality traits is considered bullying and is not allowed. This rule stipulates that pictures of three women at the beach must be deleted if captions such as “Which one is hotter? Please comment!” appear underneath. If this Facebook guideline were consistently applied, statements that Donald Trump has made rating women’s appearance with sentences like “a small-chested woman has a hard time getting ten out of ten points” could be deleted.imageAllowed: self-destructive behaviorNone of these pictures have to be deleted. Self-destructive behavior (apparently including tattoos and extreme piercings) can be posted if they are uploaded without a caption and do not encourage people to “try th
Meet the ‘Raccoon Whisperer’ of Pictou County – Nova Scotia
When Jim Blackwood’s doorbell rings at 10:45 p.m. on a Friday and he sees a masked bandit staring through the glass, he shuffles over to the bucket of peanut butter sandwiches and opens the door.Ten or 11 creatures rush inside, deftly grab sandwiches, and race back out. “No, you’re not going to eat that there,” Blackwood tells one as he shoos it outside his rural Pictou County home.”I am known on YouTube as Raccoon Whisperer,” the Churchville, N.S., man says. “I take care of raccoons and get them ready for their winter sleep.”
Source: Meet the ‘Raccoon Whisperer’ of Pictou County – Nova Scotia – CBC News
“Students of Color” Meeting Fights Over Who’s Most Oppressed
The University of California holds an annual “Students of Color” conference, and this year the event became an “oppression olympics” as participants argued over whose minority group was the most oppressed.The College Fix reported: UCLA student Jacqueline Alvarez told The College Fix as much in a recent telephone interview, standing behind an op-ed she wrote in the Daily Bruin campus newspaper detailing the same. She described the conference not only as an “oppression Olympics” but also “a safe space gone wrong” in her opinion article. Ralph Washington, president of UC Student Association, which organized and hosted the conference, confirmed there were “tensions” at the mid-November gathering, and that its schedule was altered. “The Students of Color Conference is always a space when tensions get a little high,” he said in a phone interview with The College Fix. “This mirrors that nature of our lived experiences. But this year there was a lot of harm thrown around to the various organizers, and some people came into the conference without understanding what the theme of the conference was. There are constructive things that we can do to prevent this happening in the future.”
Source: “Students of Color” Meeting Fights Over Who’s Most Oppressed | The Federalist Papers
How to Enable Two-Factor Authentication on Dropbox
As the 12 Days of 2FA continue, we wrap up the week with a guide to enabling two-factor authentication on Dropbox. Dropbox supports 2FA over SMS or over one of several popular authentication apps.On a cloud storage and sharing service like Dropbox, protecting shared files often means working with others. Protecting your account with 2FA gives your documents and files the best security when the people you share them with do the same. For a more comprehensive list of cloud services that support 2FA, check twofactorauth.org.See below for steps to enable 2FA on Dropbox, and share this tutorial so your friends and colleagues can learn how, too. Click on your name in the top right corner and choose “Settings.” Your settings page will open in a separate tab. Click the “Security” tab. Under “2-Step Verification,” click “Click to enable.” Click “Get started.” At this point you’ll be asked to enter your password. Enter it and click “Next.” Now you have a choice between using text messages or an authenticator app as your primary 2FA method. Using text messages is selected by default. Authenticator apps are more secure and avoid a lot of the downfalls of SMS. However, text messages can be more practical if you do not use a smartphone. Consider your threat model and choose the best mode for you. If you want to use an authenticator app, select “Use a mobile app” and click “Next.” Open your authenticator app on your mobile phone, scan the QR code, and click “Next.” Enter the code from your authenticator app (without any spaces) and click “Next.” If you want to use text messages, select “Use text messages” and click “Next.” Enter a mobile phone number at which you can receive texts and click “Next.”Shortly after you click, you will receive a text message with your verification code. Enter it and click “Next.” Regardless of the method you chose, you can finish up by choosing an (optional) backup phone number at which you can receive texts if you can’t access your authenticator app or primary phone number. Finally, you’ll get backup or recovery codes. Write these down or print them and keep them in a safe place. Click “Next” and you’re finished.Back at your security settings, you can view your recovery codes and generate more, enable a hardware security key, and edit your primary and backup 2FA modes.Stay tuned for more posts on two-factor authentication during the 12 Days of 2FA.
Source: How to Enable Two-Factor Authentication on Dropbox | Electronic Frontier Foundation
Mysterious ‘Ghost Shark’ caught on film for the first time
This beautiful, eerie creature has been captured on film for the first time.
Source: Mysterious ‘Ghost Shark’ caught on film for the first time
Obama Scolds Media ‘Obsession’ Over Wikileaks Emails
President Barack Obama scolded the media for their coverage during the presidential campaign, pointing out that they had an “obsession” with the Democratic emails released by Wikileaks.
“I’m finding it a little curious that everybody’s suddenly acting surprised that this looked like it was disadvantaging Hillary Clinton, because you guys wrote about it every day, every single week, about every little juicy tidbit of political gossip,” he said, adding that even John Podesta’s risotto recipe was news.
Obama lectured the media for losing sight of the issues that faced the country, instead allowing their news coverage to be “dominated” by Wikileaks releases.
He tried to dismiss the emails as “routine stuff” that obviously embarrassed some Democratic officials, but “took off.”
“That concerns me and that should concern all of us,” he said.
Obama was defensive of his own response to the hacks, including his reluctance to call out Russia and blame them for being responsible. He also argued that he was “obsessed” about cyber security during his administration.
Obama Scolds Media ‘Obsession’ Over Wikileaks Emails
Source: Obama Scolds Media ‘Obsession’ Over Wikileaks Emails – Breitbart
Directly Transfer Files Between Two Desktops From Your Web Browser
File sharing is a heavily saturated market but most file sharing apps and services work with an intermediate server. Your file is uploaded to an online server or ‘cloud drive’ and you share a link to it. The file is then downloaded from said server by your recipient. This method of sharing files has its advantages e.g., your recipient can download a file whenever they have time and you aren’t bound to be online to send it to them. That said, many people still prefer a P2P transfer whereby your file is sent between two desktops. Take A File is a simple P2P file transfer service that lets you send files between two desktops all from your web browser.Visit Take a file and click the ‘Drag and drop a file to start’ button. You can select a single file or you can hold down the Ctrl key to select multiple files.Once you’ve selected the files, the app generates a link for you to share with whoever you want to send the files to. The files do not upload to an intermediate server.
Source: Directly Transfer Files Between Two Desktops From Your Web Browser
Swiss Company Creates Chocolate That Makes Menstruation More Comfortable
In an effort to make women’s period more comfortable, Swiss confiseur Marc Widmer has come up with a special chocolate that he claims can ease cramps and has a calming effect on consumers.Called Frauenmond (German for “women’s moon”), the Swiss chocolate created by Widmer’s company, Chocolate with Love, contains 60% cocoa and 17 different herbs from the Swiss mountains. Widmer, a famous pastry chef with loads of experience at top hotels in Switzerland, says he came up with the idea for Frauenmond three years ago, after meeting a peasant family from Grafenort who brewed a tea to alleviate female period symptoms, from the same 17 plants he uses. Interestingly, their tea was also called Frauenmond.frauenmond-chocolateWidmer then teamed up with aromatherapist and phytotherapist Claudia Juma-Hotz and spent several months perfecting the formula for Frauenmond chocolate, which he calls “the first healthy chocolate made especially for women”.
Telling truthful lies is a distinct type of deception and it can be just as harsh as blatant lies
Jim Lehrer: “No improper relationship” – define what you mean by that. President Bill Clinton: “Well, I think you know what it means. It means that there is not a sexual relationship, an improper sexual relationship, or any other kind of improper relationship.” Jim Lehrer: “You had no sexual relationship with this young woman?” President Bill Clinton: “There is not a sexual relationship—that is accurate.” —“NewsHour” With Jim Lehrer, January 21, 1998This is one of the most famous exchanges in modern history and the subject is then-President Clinton’s sexual relationship with Monica Lewinski. Later, after this interview, it was proven that Clinton had sex with Lewinski. However, Clinton didn’t tell a lie straightforward. His statement is technically true by using the present tense “is”. You see, his sexual relationship with Lewinski had ended months prior to the inteview.That doesn’t make Clinton any less deceiving, however. What he did is was tell a truthful lie — this is known as paltering and a new study has identified it as a distinct form of deception, along with lying by commission and lying by omission.Lying by commission is the active use of false statements and is by far the most common type of deception. Lying by omission is the passive act of misleading by failing to disclose relevant information. These two forms of deception have been the focus of most academic research, while paltering has been more or less ignored.
Source: Telling truthful lies is a distinct type of deception and it can be just as harsh as blatant lies
Woman can’t leave her house because of an allergy to Wifi and mobile phones
A woman says she is permanently housebound because she’s allergic to Wifi and phone signals.Kim De’Atta can rarely see friends and family because electromagnetic waves from modern technology give her migraines, fatigue and even infections.Ikea begs teenagers to stop having sleepovers in its storesThe former nurse has to wear a shielded bed net on the rare occasions she leaves her home and can only visit places with poor mobile phone reception.The debilitating condition has forced her to move home twice due to phone masts being built nearby and she now sleeps under a special net.She hopes that speaking out about electrosensitivity will help people understand her unusual condition and be more sympathetic.Kim said: ‘Most of the time people think I am mad. It is so difficult because people are not feeling it themselves.‘I have not seen friends and family for so long. I have had two visitors for half a day each this year. It’s heart-breaking really.
Source: Woman can’t leave her house because of an allergy to Wifi and mobile phones | Metro News
Large portions of beef and pork can do wonders for blood pressure, new study insists
Red meat has been condemned as a cancer-causing, blood pressure-raising no-no. Indeed, nutritional guidelines in both the UK and the US advise eating no more than 70g of beef, pork, or steak per day. But a new review of clinical trials from Purdue University has found quite the opposite. According to the study, eating more than the recommended daily amount of red meat does not affect short-term heart disease risk factors, such as blood pressure and blood cholesterol.In fact, they found unprocessed red meat to be a good source of nutrients for patients. A new study has found red meat, such as unprocessed beef and pork, is not dangerousA new study has found red meat, such as unprocessed beef and pork, is not dangerous’During the last 20 years, there have been recommendations to eat less red meat as part of a healthier diet, but our research supports that red meat can be incorporated into a healthier diet,’ said Wayne Campbell, professor of nutrition science. ‘Red meat is a nutrient-rich food, not only as a source for protein but also bio-available iron.’
Black Man Burned African-American Church, Blamed On Trump
A black man has been arrested and charged with burning an African-American church in Greenville, Miss. last month and defacing its outer walls with “Vote Trump” graffiti.The Mississippi state police arrested Andrew McClinton, 45, on Wednesday and charged him with first-degree arson of a place of worship, Warren Strain, a spokesman with the Mississippi Department of Public Safety told The Daily Caller.McClinton allegedly set first to Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church, where he is a member, on Nov. 1, a week before the election. The fire destroyed 80 percent of the church. A GoFundMe account raised more than $240,000 to repair the facility.Hopewell Baptist Church is damaged by fire and graffiti in Greenville, Mississippi, U.S., November 2, 2016. Courtesy Angie Quezada/Delta Daily News via REUTERSHopewell Baptist Church is damaged by fire and graffiti in Greenville, Mississippi, U.S., November 2, 2016. Courtesy Angie Quezada/Delta Daily News via REUTERS“We do not believe it was politically motivated. There may have been some efforts to make it appear politically motivated,” Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney, who also serves as the state fire marshal, told The Associated Press.
Source: Black Man Burned African-American Church, Blamed On Trump | The Daily Caller
USAF Selects Boeing to deliver podded High Energy Laser
The Boeing Company has been awarded an estimated $90 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract for the development and delivery of an experimental laser pod. The contractor will provide research and development of high energy laser technologies through the next five years.The laser pod referred to in this award is likely to be the Self-Protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD). In August Northrop Grumman was selected to develop the laser beam director turret for this high energy laser weapons system designed to protect tactical fighter planes from incoming missiles.
Source: USAF Selects Boeing to deliver podded High Energy Laser | Defense Update:
‘Refugee’ resettlement accelerates in Obama’s final months
Through the first 11 weeks of fiscal year 2017, the United States welcomed 23,428 individuals as “refugees,” according to the Refugee Processing Center. At this rate, the U.S. will resettle roughly 110,580 this fiscal year, which would exceed President Obama’s target of 110,000.Contrast that with last year, when the U.S. welcomed only 13,786 “refugees” through the first 11 weeks of FY 2016. The country would end up welcoming 84,995 by fiscal year’s end.Leo Hohmann, a veteran journalist and WND news editor, sees this as part of a “concerted effort” by the Obama administration to admit as many as possible before Donald Trump becomes president.“Get them here before Trump takes office on Jan. 20, because you don’t know exactly what Trump will do with regard to this controversial program,” is how Hohmann summarized the current administration’s attitude. “The left is in panic mode because this program has run on autopilot for 35 years, and now for the first time we have a president who has expressed an interest in taking a hard, critical look at how it is run and the effects it’s had on our cities, states and country.”The program to which Hohmann refers is the U.S. State Department’s Refugee Admissions Program, which he writes about extensively in his brand-new book “Stealth Invasion: Muslim Conquest Through Immigration and the Resettlement Jihad.”
Source: ‘Refugee’ resettlement accelerates in Obama’s final months
Sex evolved to help future generations fight infection, scientists show
Why does sex exist when organisms that clone themselves use less time and energy, and do not need a mate to produce offspring? Researchers at the University of Stirling aiming to answer this age-old question have discovered that sex can help the next generation resist infection.Populations that clone themselves are entirely female and do not need sex to reproduce. As sex requires males, and males do not produce offspring themselves, an entirely clonal population should always reproduce faster than a sexual one.Yet while some animal and plant species can reproduce without sex, such as komodo dragons, starfish and bananas, sex is still the dominant mode of reproduction in the natural world.Scientists know that sex allows genes to mix, allowing populations to quickly evolve and adapt to changing environments, including rapidly evolving parasites.However, for sex to beat cloning as a reproduction strategy, there must be large-scale benefits that make a difference to the next generation. The theory has been difficulty to test as most organisms are either wholly sexual or clonal so cannot be compared easily.
Source: Sex evolved to help future generations fight infection, scientists show
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