Sony's cameras seem to be in a league of their own. So why do professionals stick with bulkier models from Canon and Nikon? One answer is glass—often just as pricey as pro-grade bodies, and you need a lot of it to be in business. DPReview's Dan Bracaglia suggests that Sony's latest full-frame model, the $5,000 A9, is so fantastic that many pros are talking about jumping ship, but should be cautioned by the sheer expense of doing so.Using our example, the cheapest one could go full-on Sony, with most of the same kit is $22,870. After applying the $11,820 discount from having sold off all the Canon equipment, a photojournalist would still have to cough up about $11,050 to make the switch. Or they could simply take that $11,820 and buy a couple of a9 bodies and maybe a lens."Switching systems is a headache," he adds, "and sports photography gear is crazy expensive."

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All you need to make these movable Wolverine claws are 15 popsicle sticks, six rubber bands, a piece of paper, and glue. Here’s a second, slightly more terrifying version that uses actual blades:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHYu3oJEKSY

The Los Angeles punk and skate scenes of the mid-1980s produced a brief, shining moment of total badassery in the form of The Hags, a now-legendary all-girl skateboard gang that prowled Hollywood and West LA. Bust magazine takes a loving look back. (more…)

HirokA1007's youtube channel is a menagerie of enormous insects such as this Hercules beetle pupa. Below, a larva, also the size of his fist. [via JWZ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJ1fuq8rKZQPreviously:

For more than a decade, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has been suing the NSA over its extraordinarily broad interpretation of its powers under Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act -- a law that the NSA says gives it the power to spy on Americans any time they mention a foreigner. (more…)

The Supreme Court heard arguments in Maslenjak v. United States, a case about whether minor omissions or falsehoods in an immigration application can cost a naturalized American their citizenship, decades after the fact. (more…)

I had no idea!Evidently HAL 9000 sang Daisy Bell as a tribute, it is the first song ever sung by a computer. In 1961 an IBM 7094 was the first to raise its voice in song.The vocals were programmed by John Kelly and Carol Lockbaum and accompaniment was programmed by Max Mathews, but the song was written by Harry Dacre, almost a century earlier, in 1892.

(Note to proofreader: I just received this copy and figure it should just go up verbatim. Next time they do something like this remind me to send William Golding instead. — Rob)Later, as he sat in his tent eating the doggo, Robin Laing reflected on the unusual events that had taken place at the Fyre Festival during the previous three hours.Now that everything had returned to normal, with most of the rich kids cowering in the airport and the ostensible proprietors begging Twitter for forgiveness and mercy, he was surprised that there had been no obvious beginning, no point beyond which lunch had moved into a clearly more sinister dimension. In the middle of the field, a girl in an Afhan Whigs tee shirt screamed about gluten in the rye. (more…)

Not all careers are created equal. Take journalism, for example. High stress, low growth, very low pay. Why would anyone choose this field? (You're asking the wrong person.) According to CareerCast, who ranked the 200 most common jobs in America, journalism is a pretty crummy field to be in this year (as in, last place on the list). CareerCast used metrics such as "growth outlook, income, environmental conditions and stress" as their basis in creating this list. Here is the methodology they used. And now (...drumroll...), here are the 10 worst jobs of 2017:1. Newspaper reporter (Median Salary: $37,820)2. Broadcaster (Median Salary: $38,870)3. Logger (Median Salary: $37,590)4. Enlisted military personnel (Median Salary: $27,936)5. Pest control worker (Median Salary: $33,040)6. Disc jockey (Median Salary: $30,830)7. Advertising salesperson (Median Salary: $50,380)8. Firefighter (Median Salary: $48,030)9. Retail salesperson (Median Salary: $22,900)10. Taxi driver (Median Salary: $24,300)And in case you're wondering, the very best job these days is that of statistician (Median Salary: $80,110). To see CareerCast's full list of 200 ranked jobs, click here.Image: Israel Government Press Office

My new novel Walkaway (US tour/UK tour) is set in a world that is being torn apart by out-of-control wealth inequality, but not everyone thinks that inequality is what destabilizes the world -- there's a kind of free-market belief that says the problem is really poverty, not inequality, and that the same forces that make the rich richer also lift poor people out of misery, delivering the sanitation, mass food production, communications tools and other innovations that rescues poor people from privation. (more…)

At a pottery fair in Pittsburgh, I ran into Kimberlyn Bloise, who makes handsome musical instruments that are also mugs, vases and pendants. They sound and look wonderful, and have the strange quality of something both charming and haunting, like remnants of a vanished culture. You can order them from her online shop.I put a lot of testing into my instruments, but none of them plays a full scale, and none are traditionally tuned. The clay changes so much from when I begin to working with it to when I have the finished product. It shrinks and expands, and the pitches change along with it. What I have been able to do is figure out where to place the holes in relation to the size of the resonating chamber (the hollow handle) so that the notes all sound good together on each individual piece. The flute mugs all play parts of a blues scale! Could I figure out traditional tuning on all of them? Probably. But it would take so much planning and effort, and my prices would have to reflect that. I'm sure you've noticed that "real" instruments are quite expensive, and I don't want to make mine that pricey! Plus, I don't intend for anyone to play the flute handle in any professional capacity, so I don't sweat it too much. Here's a flute hidden in a mug handle:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuLztv5XlXAThe large horn vase:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6uS-6HFytkHere is the "complaining husky" horn vase:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrKp30pD-KkAnd the bouncy udu:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6hRxAXdOGQhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnpAlO3WWTg

People snore because they've lost throat muscle tone, says Dr. Mike Dilkes, an ear, nose and throat surgeon in London. In an interview with CBC, he offers an exercise to rebuild your throat muscles:MD: There's a quick [exercise] you can do: Opening your mouth as wide as you can. Poking your tongue out as far as it'll go, so it hurts. You got to really strain your tongue out. Then you touch tip of your nose with your tongue. Then go south and touch your chin with your tongue. Then go side to side as far as you can. Then, as you're doing this, in a loud voice, sing something familiar like your national anthem.CO: So if someone does this workout, four or five minutes a day, they'll stop snoring?MD: If there's no other mechanical obstruction i.e. it's just an age-related problem, then yes — this is a good treatment.

Three million Americans have Type-1 diabetes. If they don't get insulin every day, they will slip into a coma and die. The price of rapid-acting insulin, needed by diabetics who can't take slower-acting insulin, has increased 1,123 percent since 1996. Many insurance companies won't cover the costs, forcing desperate parents to look for insulin on the black market.From NBCNews:Gabriella is allergic to the kind of insulin her insurer covers at a $25 out-of-pocket cost. She can only take Apidra, but her insurance only covers 25 percent of the price, leaving the family to pay hundreds of dollars a month they can't afford.So her mom has turned to the black market, trading for the medication with other families with diabetes she meets online, a tactic that regulators and health experts warn is a health risk. And she cut a back-end deal with a sympathetic drug rep: If she bought one vial he would give her 10 vials from his sample kit, nearly a one year's supply. Gabriella's grandmother covered the cost.

All airlines have their share of customer service problems, and Southwest is no exception. But they seem to be better than most (two free checked on bags, no charge for changing flights), and they just announced that they will no longer overbook its flights, bucking a widespread airline practice.From CNN Money:Southwest is taking it one step further and plans to end overbooking outright by May 8, spokeswoman Brandy King said. The carrier joins JetBlue, which has long advertised that it doesn't overbook flights.It's standard practice for airlines to sell more tickets than there are seats in anticipation of no-show fliers.When a flight is overbooked, federal rules require that airlines first check to see whether anyone will give up his or her seat voluntarily. Airlines control how much they offer to pay, though they usually shell out a travel voucher toward a future flight or a gift card.Image by aeroprints.com, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

Lego just announced its new NASA Apollo Saturn V model rocket set. It's based on a Lego Ideas submission by a builder named saabfun, it's a 1:110 scale model of the real thing. Of course the Saturn V was the workhorse rocket that took astronauts to the moon beginning in 1969 and delivered Skylab to orbit in 1973. and The 1,969 piece set will sell for $120 starting in June. It looks fantastic but I'll wait (and hope) for a Voyager Mission set complete with the Golden Record!

Yesterday Elon Musk took delivery of his second-hand boring machine for his Boring Company. It's in a parking lot next to the SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. Musk says he's going to take it apart, figure out how to improve the design of boring machines, and start testing by coring out an underground pedestrian tunnel from his offices across (or rather under) the street to the parking lot. He'll certainly need good boring machines to build his Hyperloop system. From the San Jose Mercury News:Last week, a tunnel-boring machine used by L.A. Metro to carve out 2 miles of earth for the new Crenshaw/LAX line was removed from the future Leimert Park Station in South Los Angeles in three pieces.No one confirmed whether the 950-ton, 400-foot-long steel grinder would go to SpaceX. Metro had dubbed the machine “Harriet,” in honor of Harriet Tubman, an American abolitionist instrumental in the Underground Railroad, after a student contest.The day Harriet finished work for Metro, Musk submitted plans to Hawthorne officials to build an underground pedestrian tunnel from SpaceX headquarters to its parking garage across Crenshaw Boulevard.A vertical tunnel shaft already has been dug in the SpaceX parking lot.Now, The Boring Co. machine will dig – cheese grater-style – a 500-foot-long, horizontal pedestrian tunnel that is 20-by-150 feet and 13.5 feet in diameter, according to interim Hawthorne City Manager Arnie Shadbehr.

https://youtu.be/mz5kY3RsmKoFyre Festival was advertised as a luxury music festival on a private island in the Bahamas. But promises of a private chartered flight to the island, gourmet meals, private glamping tents, yacht cruises, gourmet catering, and an all-star concert performance line-up "quickly turned into a terrifying B-movie, with flocks of Instagram models forced to seek shelter in an airport after arriving to discover a lack of food, violent locals, appalling accommodation and feral dogs roaming the grounds," reports The Telegraph.Snip:As a result, social media has exploded overnight with tales of Instagram-filtered terror and disappointment, with beautiful festival-goers arriving on the island to discover half-built tents, their luggage being thrown out of the back of a truck, muggers and thieves laying in wait to steal wallets from trust fund kids, unhelpful staff, and "gourmet cuisine" that turned out to be nothing but ham and cheese sandwiches.From iBankCoin:The “chartered flight from Miami” turned out to be severely delayed coach seats, and upon arrival shocked concert-goers were met with partially constructed USAID disaster relief tents.Heres a drive by tour of the tents:Early report is that many of the tents aren't assembled. Here's their tropical private island owned by Escobar! #FyreFestival pic.twitter.com/TNzBDbNAUJ— FyreFestivalFraud (@FyreFraud) April 27, 2017Angry attendees have flocked to social media to express their disappointment:The $12K Music Festival Promoted by Supermodels Is Already a Mess: #Fyre_Festival, promoted by Kendall… https://t.co/QcVCK3WeFr #nyc #royer pic.twitter.com/OVXQCpRhQ1— Kevin Royer (@isellbrooklyn) April 26, 2017The luxury festival tents are left over disaster relief shelters from @USAID Fyre Festival scammed us! https://t.co/kW4olVKgzY #fyrefestival pic.twitter.com/8QYkQ3jIPR— FyreFestivalFraud (@FyreFraud) April 25, 2017More deliberate lies by #fyrefestival. Fyre Festival makes it appear to be its own island...marketing says private island...it isn't! Scam. pic.twitter.com/E4Gz8o3X0z— FyreFestivalFraud (@FyreFraud) April 20, 2017This is how Fyre Fest handles luggage. Just drop it out of a shipping container. At night. With no lights. #fyrefestival pic.twitter.com/X5CdZRyJWo— William N. Finley IV (@WNFIV) April 28, 2017The "gourmet cuisine" this weekend was included in the ticket cost. We are being fed salads and ham and cheese sandwiches out of this tent pic.twitter.com/MRv7U0RiyM— dylan (@DylanACOP) April 28, 2017When I showed Carla these photos, she said "Why did the promoter even bother to put *anything* there?"Sad & Snoozy says he found an event planners notes sitting on the ground:The Notebook: Fyre Festival edition. pic.twitter.com/gjUvDvUKhW— William N. Finley IV (@WNFIV) April 28, 2017So, Jonestown with worse logistics, basically.Fyre Festival's website has gone offline, save for a cryptic, unhelpful, unapologetic message:Imagine being stranded and reading that.

In a federal complaint against Fox News, former Outnumbered host Andrea Tantaros claims that after she filed a sexual harassment claim against the former CEO Roger Ailes, Fox News contracted with a psyops team to set up a "black room" to run a hate campaign that targeted her by cyberstalking her, implanting malware on her computer, and libeling her on "fake news" sites. (more…)

Tim Wu, the Colombia University law professor and anti-trust/competition expert who coined the term "Net Neutrality," has published an open letter to Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the web and director of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). (more…)

Bamboo has lots of uses beyond just being panda food. Things like bikes, roads, scaffolding, and musical instruments are made from the fast-growing grass. But unless you are participating in a tropical-themed LARP, you probably wouldn’t want a shirt made from bamboo stalks. So why do bamboo bed sheets make any sense? Because yarn extracted from bamboo fibers is actually super breathable aside from its sturdiness. It's the yarn, dummy!These sheets combine eco-friendly bamboo rayon with ultra-soft microfiber to give you a luxurious sleeping surface. You definitely won’t encounter any of the rough, plastic-y feeling you get from cheap hotel beds.You can get these 2000 Series Bamboo Fiber 6-Piece Sheets in a variety of colors here for $39.99.

Earlier this month, landslides in Manizales, Colombia killed 17 people and devastated the city. As emergency workers and citizens responded to the tragedy, some people reportedly noticed the clouds part and a beam of sunlight form into the figure of Jesus. "‘Jesus’ Appears Over Landslide-Stricken Colombian City" (Mysterious Universe)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJweHsPVOcA

Flashlight fish, also called lanterneye fish and scientifically photoblepharon (light-eye), are strange and wondrous creatures best viewed during a night dive in the Pacific. (more…)

Nuno Dias shot this absolutely insane surfing footage that looks more like a snowboarder out in front of an avalanche than a surfer on a wave. (more…)

In this video for Mental Floss, linguist Arika Okrent and illustrator Sean O’Neill share the keys to understanding commonalities between languages.[via Laughing Squid]

In their quest to celebrate all things junk food, HellthyJunkFood hosts JP Lambiase and Julia Goolia construct a truly supersized Egg McMuffin.

In this fun series, visual artist Andhika Muksin edits animated Disney character heads onto celebrity photos and film stills. It sounds like it would be eerie, but the photos are perfectly edited and strangely compelling. Some of my favorites are below and you can see even more on Muksin’s Instagram.https://www.instagram.com/p/BR7Lj8CD-fU/https://www.instagram.com/p/BRuUbrBDFEh/https://www.instagram.com/p/BRACrvQj8hl/https://www.instagram.com/p/BTAs0rpDDFU/https://www.instagram.com/p/BRZr6CUDV8x/https://www.instagram.com/p/BSuqnZ5j1zL/https://www.instagram.com/p/BRmnS9sDI8v/https://www.instagram.com/p/BTDQbyAj6I2/https://www.instagram.com/p/BTF2JSgj7Uf/https://www.instagram.com/p/BSPxtWWjjqn/https://www.instagram.com/p/BSID4YEj3Kq/https://www.instagram.com/p/BRws2NdDdxA/

It's good to see this week's tabloids getting back to the really important news."Aliens Nuked All Life Off Of Mars!" proclaims the 'National Examiner,' which also brings us the more earth-bound revelation that disgraced President Richard Nixon, while happy to meet with Elvis Presley, "ordered hits on Hendrix, Joplin and Morrison."It's important news like this that distracts us from the 'National Enquirer' cover this week, which with characteristic restraint screams: "World War 3 Is Coming!" But fear not - the 'Enquirer' brings us a "step-by-step" guide to "How Trump will crush our eight enemies!" Eight, indeed. No slouch, our Commander in Chief will "launch a coordinated campaign across five continents that will wipe out America's enemies in one fell swoop!" And those are the best kind of swoops.It's the sort of bombast we've come to expect from North Korea, but it's troubling to find such bellicosity (yet again) in the pages of a publication that boasts better connections to the White House than 'The New York Times.' Our enemies? North Korea and ISIS, naturally. Syria will be nuked - that'll put Trump in the history books, if there are any that survive the ensuing global conflagration.But then the 'Enquirer' battle plans get a little hazy. Iran will be hit by severe sanctions. U.S. troops will maneuver along the border with Russia to prevent their intervention. Boko Haram in Nigeria and al-Shabaab in Somalia will be targeted. ISIS and al-Qaeda cells in Spain, France, Germany and Italy will be hit. (By this point, we might be wondering if any nation's sovereignty is to be respected.) And while they're at it, U.S. forces will destroy the drug cartels' narcotics operations "throughout Mexico and South America." I can't wait to hear Donald Trump announce that he'll achieve all that within his second 100 days in office.The 'Enquirer' seems to be having a special homophobia edition this week, with three major gay-shock-horror stories in its first seven pages. 'Gay Travolta New Squeeze' yells the grammatically-challenged headline above a story that amounts to John Travolta being photographed giving a thumbs-up sitting next to another man, in what looks like every fan photo ever taken with a celebrity, and nothing more. Ellen DeGeneres, Portia de Rossi and Drew Barrymore's 'Love Triangle Exposed!' declares the 'Enquirer,' which claims that the former 'E.T. - The Extraterrestrial' cutie has come between Ellen and her gal. Oh sure, Ellen and Drew are partners working together on a new TV series - but that can only be a front for lesbian sex, right? The 'Enquirer' team of trained psychics know these things. And then there's "Oprah & Gayle's Gaycation With The Obamas!' Because being on a yacht with the former President and First Lady, along with Bruce Springsteen and Tom Hanks, screams lesbian, because two women couldn't possibly just be friends, could they?'Dying Queen Collapses!" yells the 'Globe' cover, with a series of photographs that appear to show her fall, helpfully captioned "Going . . . Going . . . Gone!" You have to credit the 'Globe' for its extraordinary photojournalism, capturing images of a Royal collapse that was missed by the entirety of the British media. Of course, 'Globe' editors probably don't expect their readers to do the research to find that these photos of the Queen were actually taken in July 2015 at the christening of Her Majesty's great-granddaughter Charlotte, at the Church of St Mary Magdalene in Sandringham, England. Nor do they expect readers to find that the photo of the Queen bent double as she apparently collapses is actually Her Majesty bending down to greet great-grandson Prince George outside the church. Look closely and you can see Royal nanny Teresa Borallo standing right next to the Queen. And the photo of a handful of soldiers standing around looking down at the ground - supposedly at an unconscious monarch, though we'll never know because she's not in the camera frame - could easily be looking at one of the Royal Guardsmen who routinely faint after standing to attention for hours during major public ceremonies. But not that day, when nobody collapsed, least of all the Queen.Fortunately we have the intrepid investigative team at 'Us' magazine to tell us that Kourtney Kardashian wore it best (which I suspect has something to do with the fact that she was naked and bra-less under her Saint Lauren dinner jacket, while Emma Watson opted for an elegant shirt), that NBC anchor Lester Holt "could eat Mexican food every day," that 'American Housewife' actress Katy Mixon carries a teasing comb and hair spray in her Gucci bag, and that the stars are just like us: they spray on sunscreen, walk their dogs, and play golf. Extraordinary. The magazine devotes its cover to "20 Slimdown Diet Tips Stars Are Using,' featuring a slew of stars who barely have a spare ounce of body fat between them, so their diets must clearly be working.'People' magazine devotes its cover to TV's ever-popular 'Bachelorette' series, under the headline: "Life After Bachelorette." But the headline seems to be missing the question mark I would have added at the end of that sentence. The feature story tells how six former Bachelorettes found love, and are raising new babies (no doubt because it's just no fun raising old babies). Admittedly, only two of these six have married men they actually met on the show, so that doesn't speak well for the program's ability to bring loving couples together. And fulfilling their dream of finding a husband seems to have had an unexpected dark side. "We used to stay up late and party," says former Bachelorette Ashley Rosenbaum. "Now we all have bags under our eyes, pushing strollers!" Who could have guessed?Onwards and downwards . . .

Apple is in talks to launch its own Venmo, reports Recode, also asking “Could the money-transfer service be called Apple Cash, perhaps?” (more…)

Someone has already bid $80,000 on a near-mint copy of Suspense Comics #3 from 1944, with a cover by Alex Schomburg. This is the type of comic book that led to the moral panic resulting in a senate hearing on the rampant sexual perversion and violence in comics and the collapse of the comic book publishing industry, as chronicled in David Hadju's excellent book, The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America.In 2015, a copy of Suspense #3 in similar condition sold for $173,275.Here's a complete scan of the issue, in case you are interested. There's nothing lurid inside, other than some light homoerotic bondage.From Heritage Auctions' website:Suspense Comics #3 Mile High Pedigree (Continental Magazines, 1944) CBCS NM- 9.2 White pages. This white-hot Golden Age issue, driven by the "classic" Nazi bondage/torture cover by Alex Schomburg, has been climbing the list of Overstreet's Top 100 Golden Age Books for years. It's currently at #26, up from #38 in 2012, and #63 in 2007. It's no surprise that the Mile High Copy is the finest known, but that there is a Mile High Copy at all will be a surprise to some. Until recently the common opinion was that a Mile High Copy of the iconic issue didn't exist! Overstreet rates it "scarce", and Gerber goes even further, assigning it a "9" or "very rare"! CGC hasn't certified a higher grade than VF 8.0 for the book, although we have been fortunate enough to have offered the impressive Pennsylvania Copy in 2015, a CBCS VF/NM 9.0, which realized a record-setting $173,275! But the Mile High takes it up even another notch! L. B. Cole provided interior art. Overstreet 2016 NM- 9.2 value = $100,000. CGC census 4/17: 0 in 9.2, none higher.

In honor of the great director Jonathan Demme who died yesterday, please enjoy this bloopers reel from his classic film Silence of the Lambs.More horror film blooper reels at TVOvermind.

It starts off innocently. A Wisconsin woman texts her daughter, Jess: "Hunny please grab milk and lunch meet on your way home." But she accidentally sent the text to a 35-year-old man, who was innocently relaxing at home with his wife on his day off. He replied, "I'm pretty sure you have the wrong number. I'm already at home." But the woman didn't believe him. She told "Jess" to "stop playing." The man tried very hard to convince the woman that he was not her daughter, even offering photographic proof. This only made the woman angrier. When she finally realized the man was telling her the truth, she got furious with him and blamed him for tricking her. When he said he was going to post screenshots of the exchange she said, "Post it after u watch your porn u sick pos... do you treat your mother like this?" He replied, "My mom knows my phone number..."

Photographer Harry Israelson has a long-running series of photo essays called For Pleasure. For a recent set, he headed to beautiful Covina, California for a Renaissance Faire. Pictured: Ye Olde ATM. (more…)

Here's a demonstration of sharpener:https://youtu.be/375D7tPfQvEI also use a sharpening steel to keep the knife edge straight every time I'm about to cut food:https://youtu.be/SBn1i9YqN1k

Nintendo programmer Masahiro Sakura coded the Game Boy classic Kirby's Dream Land on a cartridge-based Famicom console and Disk System that lacked a hardware keyboard. According to a recent presentation given by Sakura, "values had to be input using a trackball and an on-screen keyboard." Sakura, who was 20-years-old at the time, said he just thought that was "the way it was done."From Game Watch's report in Japanese, translated by Source Gaming:At the time, the development tool that HAL Laboratory was using was the Twin Famicom, a console that combined the Famicom and the Famicom Disk System. A trackball made specifically for the Twin Famicom was used with the machine, which read and wrote data to a floppy disk and uploaded data to the floppy disks [during development].Essentially, they were using a Famicom to make Famicom games. Sakurai told the crowd, “It’s like using a lunchbox to make lunch”. However, because of that, they were able to create a functional test product before the project plan was even completed. (via Ars Technica)

The only thing that would make this video of Chinese firefighters jumping rope would be a Yakety Sax soundtrack.

The Trump administration continues to bumble nearly every time they mention Judaism or the Holocaust in public. Orange Julius claims to love Jews, but the anti-Semites in his cabinet are here to stay Salon sheds some light on exactly why Trump can't seem to wash his hands of his white supremacist supporters.Via Salon:Let’s put aside the president’s trademark bluster and take him at his word — he loves his daughter, and he has a handful of individual Jews in his life that he cares about. But the issue isn’t what Trump believes in his heart of hearts. What really counts are his actions and the company he keeps — including once fringe figures like Steve Bannon and Sebastian Gorka. In that sense, tragically, he has been a godsend to anti-Semitic movements and ideologies once relegated to the margins of society.All the while, alt-right trolls, white nationalist activists and conspiracy theorists have cheered on President Trump from the virtual sidelines. They’re cheering because this administration has carried the stain of anti-Semitism from the campaign into the White House and federal government. Sadly, the longstanding taboo in the GOP against overt anti-Semitism has begun to fall, and ties to anti-Semitic figures and thought — once considered to be automatically disqualifying by the Republican mainstream — are no longer an impediment to serving in the executive branch.But across the GOP and among too many establishment Jewish organizations, no one wants to name the depth and breadth of this pattern. Top administration officials like Jeff Sessions, Sebastian Gorka, Steve Bannon, Michael Anton, Rick Perry and, until recently, Mike Flynn, have deep ties to fringe elements of the extreme Christian Right, the white nationalist alt-right, the European far right and the anti-immigration movement. These ties have played a key role in normalizing anti-Semitic bigotry and advancing political alliances with those who promote or are sympathetic to anti-Semitism. This is dangerous for the Jewish community but it is also perilous for immigrant communities, communities of color, and all religious minorities whose safety is jeopardized by white nationalism.

Bonobo (aka Simon Green) just released this beautiful new music video for the track "Bambro Koyo Ganda" from his album Migration out now on Ninja Tune. The track features Innov Gnawa, a fantastic Moroccan music collective formed in New York City. Stylewar directed the clip.Bonobo is currently on tour around the US and Europe.

Cristina and Benno Kaiser were happily divorced after 12 years of marriage. Even though they are together, they are no longer a couple. They are a trio. They both have the same girlfriend, 21-year-old Sierra Kuntz, who they met working at a reptile pet store at the local mall in Nevada. Sierra plans to marry either Cristina or Benno.

Haha! Lucky riders on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland were treated to a live Jack Sparrow animatronics performance yesterday by Johnny Depp. He made a surprise visit to the park as part of a PR stunt. It's fun to hear the passengers as they realize that the real Johnny Depp is standing right in front of them.

Former MIT physics professor Walter Lewin (who the university ultimately fired for sexual harassment) was a master of the chalkboard. Video below. Inspired by Lewin's skills, Mike Boyd explains how to draw dotted lines on a chalkboard.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raurl4s0pjU

https://youtu.be/4MTMfblDYsohttps://youtu.be/7z1XH5L8Jx4There have been times when I've had a strong urge to pee while sitting on a plane that's waiting for takeoff. Fortunately, I wasn't punished for it. But one poor guy on Delta flight wasn't as lucky. He urgently had to pee. The plane had been sitting motionless on the runway for 30 minutes. He got up to go to the restroom, but a Delta airline attendant told him to get back in his seat. He obeyed the order, but his bladder wasn't happy about it. He got up again, and this time he used the restroom. Shortly after that, the pilot announced that he was pulling the plane back to the gate. Everyone had to get off, and then everyone except the man who peed was allowed back on. The FBI then arrived to speak with the man. Delta allowed the man to purchase a very expensive same-day ticket to fly home to see his kids.I guess Delta would rather have let his bladder burst.From YouTube description:After waiting on tarmac with no foreseeable information that we would take off anytime soon, passenger quickly used bathroom (less than 1 minute). Delta determined to return to the gate (not too far away!) and remove the passenger. This is the first Delta employee who came on (Horatio) speaking not very kindly to the passenger.One fellow passenger on the flight has created a blog called Frustrated Passenger, to express he displeasure with Delta for the way they treated the man:Dear Delta: On Delta flight # 2035 this week, I observed the most outrageous treatment of a paying customer that I have seen in my two decades of flying. I trust that you will investigate this matter and see that similar situations are handled better in the future. Not only did your staff truly harm and humiliate one person who was forced to pay hundreds of dollars for a new same-day flight, but you forced the rest of us passengers to endure a 2 hour saga of watching a man being targeted for having a bathroom emergency. I am disappointed and horrified at how Delta Airlines staff treated their customers/passengers. I was a passenger on DL 2035 on April 18, 2017 from Atlanta to Milwaukee (2:55 pm departure time). I was seated with my husband and with my infant in my arms across the aisle from another passenger, a stranger to us, but clearly a nice gentleman (“Nice Gentleman”), who played hide and seek with my child as we waited to takeoff.When the flight attendants commenced the security instructions, the Nice Gentleman was on the phone, and the attendant told him (in a very harsh manner) to end his call. He apologized and promptly did so. This was my first insight into how the flight attendants viewed the Nice Gentleman. We were then told that we were third in line to take off; however, we waited and waited and barely moved. Nice Gentleman got up, went to the back, and returned to his seat very quickly. Some more time passed, and my husband commented that we had already been waiting for 30 minutes to take off. Nice Gentleman got up again and went to the back, and very quickly returned to his seat. At that point, the pilot stated that we needed to return to the airport to remove a passenger. Everyone was shocked – what could have happened? Nice Gentleman quickly spoke up and apologized, saying he thought it was him, and he explained to those of us nearby what had happened. The first time he stood up, he went to the back and told the flight attendant he had to use the bathroom because it was an emergency. The attendant (Katherine S) told him that he needed to sit down or he would make the plane lose its place in line because the plane could not move if he was in the bathroom. He apologized, said he didn’t want that to happen, and quickly sat back down. He waited some more. Finally, he couldn’t wait any longer and returned to the back to use the restroom. He used the restroom very quickly; I would estimate less than a minute. When he came out of the restroom, he was told that he caused the plane to lose its place in line, and the pilot would have to talk to him. He was apologetic for causing any delay, but it was an emergency … because he is a human and these things happen to everyone. Our plane returned to a gate (which wasn’t far because we had not moved much this entire time). A Delta employee (Horatio) came on and asked Nice Gentleman to gather his things. Horatio talked to him in a rude and harsh manner, demanding that he leave the plane; Horatio wouldn’t explain why and wouldn’t give any assurance he could still travel to Milwaukee. Nice Gentleman said he wouldn’t get off the plane. Then Delta employee Bryant R. [full name redacted] then came on and treated Nice Gentleman in a somewhat more appropriate manner and listened to him a little; he would only tell Nice Gentleman that he would get him on a later plane. Nice Gentleman explained that he needed to get back for a school field trip the next day. He explained that he understood what happened, but that he needed to use the restroom and it was an emergency. Bryant R. claimed that Nice Gentleman broke the rules and that this requires that Delta staff talk to him. Nice Gentleman said he would explain his situation to everyone who needs to hear it but does not want to leave the plane to do so. Bryant R. claimed that Delta had never encountered an issue with someone using the bathroom during taxi/waiting takeoff (REALLY DELTA?!?!). Nice Gentleman stated he would not leave the plane because he is afraid he won’t get on another flight out. Bryant R. then left the plane. Next we heard the plane engines turn off, and the pilot indicated that it would be getting warm in the plane. Apparently Delta was trying to sweat us and Nice Gentleman off the plane!Then a flight attendant announced that Delta was making everyone get off the plane. The seat neighbors around us were all astounded and visibly angry at Delta. There was a general talk of no one leaving the plane in support of Nice Gentleman and in rebellion for the terrible treatment by Delta of this man. We eventually deplaned and, in the airport, Nice Gentleman was kept apart from everyone. While we were waiting, I spoke with another Delta Airlines passenger from a different flight, DL566 from Melbourne, FL to Atlanta. The same thing happened on her flight: while waiting to taxi, TWO people used the restroom. However, that situation was handled very differently. The flight attendant informed the pilot not to move because two people were using the restroom; when the two passengers returned to their seats, the flight attendant informed the pilot that the people had returned to their seats… and the plane continued to taxi and eventually take off. No return to the gate. No removal of a passenger. We were eventually allowed to reboard the plane, sans Nice Gentleman. Delta staff claimed that he was not criminally charged, because he was not aggressive, which is not nearly the legal description of probable cause. But, here’s the kicker – Delta staff refunded his flight (but only from Atlanta to Milwaukee – and they kept the taxes and fees) and refused to transport him to Milwaukee! Delta wouldn’t return his gate-checked bag to him and told him he could get it when he finds a way to Milwaukee. I doubt that Delta paid him the cancellation fee that it surely would have charged if he had attempted to cancel his flight that day. Once back on board the plane, imagine our surprise when a woman arrives on the plane with the seat assignment for the Nice Gentleman’s seat! Delta used the 2 hour delay that IT created to bump someone onto our flight. The final event of this horrifying saga occurred when, after the plane was airborne, the pilot announced his apologies for the delays and explained that the situation was due to a security concern/issue. My husband and I observed the entire event (my husband accompanied the Nice Gentleman when he was taken aside in the airport), and there was never any hint of a security risk or concern… unless an emergency need to use the bathroom after unpredictable delays is now considered a “security risk/issue”.Delta, what was Nice Gentleman supposed to do? Here are the options as I see it: 1) Urinate in his seat. This would be unpleasant for him, everyone around him, and the airline staff member who has to clean it up. 2) Urinate in a vomit bag or some type of device he could have possibly found. Again, same issue with being uncomfortable for him, those around him, and anyone cleaning up later. 3) Do what he did—wait as long as humanly (remember, we are humans?) possible, and then go to the bathroom as quickly as possible. As evidenced by what happened earlier in the day on Delta #566, the flight attendant can tell the pilot someone is using the bathroom, and then the flight process proceeds as usual. In the worst case, perhaps we have to wait a little longer to get back into line—no one wants that…especially not the Nice Gentleman who doesn’t want to hold everyone up! I am racking my brain to think of other options that would have been a better solution for this Delta customer’s unfortunate situation. Yes, Nice Gentleman may have broken the rules when he stood up to use the bathroom. Yes, flight attendant Katherine S. may have had her authority questioned when he used the restroom quickly. However, the situation was resolved in the 1 minute he was out of his seat. I don’t believe the plane moved an inch during that time. Why did Delta have to continue this saga by returning to the gate to remove him? What about him made you want to remove him from the plane? Was it the color of his skin that you didn’t trust? Or the color of Katherine S.’s skin that made you trust her version of the story? When did using the bathroom become a security risk? Do you truly claim that this is Delta’s policy EVERY TIME this happens? Because, based on the events on Delta #566, we know that it doesn’t happen this way every time… and, regardless of what Bryant R. says, I am sure that this occurs on a daily basis. My take-away from this experience is that I will not be flying Delta again. Who treats a person like this? Have you forgotten that the people that pay to fill the seats are actually human beings who sometimes have emergencies (like having to use the bathroom when you have been waiting on the plane for an hour)? Nice Gentleman was faced with an emergency that I’m sure nearly every passenger has faced before; no one wants to be “that person” who needs to use the bathroom while awaiting takeoff. I think you may have forgotten that your passengers are people too, who sometimes have to go to the bathroom when they can’t wait any longer. These same passengers are your paying customers… or maybe they won’t continue to be your customers if this is the “new standard” of customer treatment by Delta. I hope you will repay Nice Gentleman for the expense he had to go through to find a new flight, and remember to treat all of your customers as human beings in the future. Sincerely,Krista R.

When Chandro Tomar was 65, she took her granddaughter, who was interested in learning how to shoot, to a rifle club. Tomar, from a small village in northern India, decided to try it herself, and fired some shots with a pistol. A coach noticed her natural skill, and since then Tomar has won more than 25 national championships.When she first began practicing, her family made fun of her, since women in their village are expected to stay home all day to do household chores. But once Tomar started winning medals they became impressed. She then began knocking door to door, recruiting girls in the village to learn the sport. The girls would ask their parents, "If this old granny can do it, why can't we?" And so she now teaches the girls how to shoot. "It will be useful to them," she says. Tomar, who has 8 children and 15 grandchildren, never plans to retire from her sport. "I'll keep shooting until my last breath."This video is part of Great Big Story's "Human Condition" series of short "microdocs".

Rogue archivist Rick Prelinger writes, "Oakland students planned to paint a mural on a dark freeway underpass in their city. The project is stalled because Caltrans asserts copyright to murals on its property. The details are a bit sketchy, but there's a petition here. (more…)

You may have seen the Wainwright Training videos on Boing Boing's in-flight entertainment channel on Virgin America.While they probably won't be offering sensitivity training, Mark Fite and Jim Turner, one-half of Los Angeles' best sketch comedy troupe 2 HeadedwDog, will be appearing at Beyond Brookledge this May, in Riverside, CA.Beyond Brookledge is a fantastic three-day magic and variety extravaganza thrown by Erika Larsen and Bob Self at Riverside, California's unbelievable Mission Inn May 19-21st. Once a year those two curate a weekend of dazzling entertainment, and amazing community, around the acts from Erika's private shows at the theater in her home, Brookledge. You'll instantly feel like you are among friends, and spend a weekend hanging out with some of the most amazing magicians, makers and variety performers on Earth.The Amazing Jonathan will probably make fun of you.Previously:Beyond Brookledge, May 19-21st at the iconic Mission Inn

Seungmo Park used clipped squares of wire mesh to create this portrait. See more examples of his work here.https://youtu.be/u7wxwe4ftAQ?t=2m4s

Kevin Kelly argues that the core premises that underlie the belief that artificial intelligence will overtake human intelligence are "more akin to a religious belief — a myth" than a scientific theory. (more…)

There have been many Slinky theme songs, but when the Slinky theme song gets stuck in my head this is the Slinky theme song I sing.My daughter was given a large plastic rainbow slinky for her birthday. None of the kids understood why I immediately broke into song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dANsqfqwRXQChandro Tomar, 84, lives in Uttar Pradesh. After picking up a gun in her sixties, Tomar became of India's best shots, winning many competitions and teaching countless women to shoot straight.