Asimo was always a toy, but Atlas consigns it to the clearance bin. (previously)

The Republican tax plan will exempt the 0.2% of Americans who pass on estates of $5.49 million (each) to their heirs, a tiny elite that includes most of the Trump cabinet of one-percenter plutocrats; under the Senate proposal, that exemption would double. (more…)

The Trump administration will reverse the Obama-era prohibition on importing taxidermied elephant heads and tusks from endangered wild African elephants from Zimbabwe and Zambia. (more…)

The FRESHeBUDS Pro wireless headphones make a perfect workout companion, and you can get them in the Boing Boing Store today for a special $23.95 price (normal: 29.95 / MSRP: $199.95) as part of doorbusters week.To prevent you from accidentally losing half of your stereo sound when you’re out on a run, the FRESHeBUDS Pro Magnetic Bluetooth Headphones feature a tethered design. When not in use, they easily snap together with integrated magnets — and pair automatically with your device when you pull them apart.https://www.youtube.com/embed/X_cY3j-JAhgThese earbuds also resist sweat and water, and stay securely in your ears with help from some flexible silicone hooks. They get up to 6 hours of battery life on a single 90-minute charge, so you can keep your music playing nearly all day long.The Boing Boing Store usually stocks the FRESHeBUDS Pro Magnetic Bluetooth Headphones for $30, but you can get them for $23.95 today only as part of our Doorbusters week.

The hairy-faced gents of the Newfoundland and Labrador Beard and Moustache Club are raising money for a mental health charity by posing as mermen for this 2018 MerB’ys calendar.CBC reports:

Over the years, we've seen many advent calendars geared for grown-ups. They're filled with things adults appreciate: booze, beer, and of course, Star Wars LEGO bricks.Now it's weed's turn. To fill that niche, Coast to Coast Medicinals, a mail-order medical marijuana shop in Vancouver, Canada, has created a cannabis-filled advent calendar. The product's description reads, "Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house everyone was smoking, even the mouse."Their special countdown to Christmas calendar can be filled with 24 days of edibles, flowers, or a combination of both (the current top seller). Coast to Coast's owner Lorilee Fedler shared with Boing Boing that they're anticipating selling out. She writes, "We are selling them so fast that we might have to cut sales off if we can't find more boxes."As for the inspiration behind it, Fedler explains, "We loved the booze calendar and thought, 'Why not do a weed one?' Something fun for adults."For those of you who are dreaming of a green Christmas, the calendar is available to pre-order until November 20 (to ensure December 1 delivery), in Canada only. Prices range from C$200 to C$230. For comparison, a gram of the shop's flowers cost between C$9 to C$13 and the flower-only box contains a full 26 grams.Previously: Cannabis ad brilliantly parodies prescription drug commercials

Using common objects like socks, tennis balls, wooden spoons, and even potatoes, Jim Henson and his assistant Don Sahlin show children how to make basic puppets and bring them to "life" in the 1969 Iowa Public Television show, "Volume See."Previously: These over-the-top Muppets shoes are downright inspired(swissmiss)

Today a Twitter user who goes by @ProudResister tweeted:“The solution is simple… Roy Moore: Step down from the race. Al Franken: Resign from congress. Donald Trump: Resign from the presidency. GOP: Stop making sexual assault a partisan issue. It’s a crime as is your hypocrisy.”And then oops, the Pentagon retweeted it: They immediately recognized their mistake and deleted the tweet.According to Politico:

Al Franken, Democratic senator from Minnesota and a former comedian, admitted groping radio host Leeann Tweeden who wrote of her experience at his hands for 790 KABC. He apologized to Tweeden and invited the Senate to place him under investigation, but claimed no recollection of her more serious claim: that he forced a kiss on her during rehearsals for the 2006 USO Tour performance.(more…)

Watch this little boy ask aid workers to give his littler friend a meal after Sunday's 7.3 earthquake in Iran that killed over 530 people. As he walks her over he gently pats her on the back. He then says, "You didn't give her any food!" The most heartwarming video I've seen in a long time.Via Daily Mail

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClR9tcpKZec&t=In 1942, Hitler paid a secret visit to Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, Marshal of Finland and Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish Defence Forces in honor of Mannerheim's 75th birthday. (more…)

In this unsourced video that hit Reddit's front page this morning, a man who appears to be Chinese funnels a handful of wrigglers (minnows? eels? loaches?) into a bottle of beer, tops it with a flaming shot of hooch (baiju?) that he's seasoned with a lungful of cigarette smoke, then impressively chugs it in a matter of seconds, all with an air of showmanship; it's a video that combines self-abuse, animal cruelty, dubious intoxicants, and implausible biological feats.

We have a large tree in our front yard. For the holidays I usually wrap a couple of strands of colored LED bulbs around its trunk. I can't put lights into the branches because my ladder isn't long enough, and even if I did have a taller ladder, I would be too scared to climb much higher.Last year I tried one of those laser landscape projectors. It has a red laser and green laser that shines through a piece of film that breaks the light into hundreds of beams. I put the projector near the tree and pointed it up at the branches. At night the effect was amazing. It looked like the tree branches were filled with hundreds of colored lights that would have taken hours and hours of dangerous work to install. I called out Carla to look. She didn't know I bought the projector. I told her that I had climbed the tree and strung the lights in the branches forty feet overhead. She even believed it for a second, until she remembered that I don't like climbing trees. I bought a second one to shine on the front of our house, too.

Cyclists in the Dutch city of Nijmegen had a traffic challenge in a popular part of town every day during rush hour. A small road for bikes at the busy Keizer Karelplein intersection was in constant chaos with heavy congestion, and bikers wanting to turn right were often forced off the main path, making it a dangerous turn. But a few creative citizens fixed the problem with a simple solution: duct tape.Watch how they use the tape to make two lanes on the bike path, one with a straight arrow and one with an arrow pointing to the right. And more interestingly, watch how bikers obey the duct tape. Ahhh, order is restored.In the YouTube comments, we find out that the folks who came up with this brilliantly simple solution ended up removing the tape for fear of pollution, but happily, the city of Nijmegen announced they will paint new traffic lines and arrows this week.

Gary Cohn is Donald Trump's top economic advisor; while on stage this week at the Wall Street Journal's CEO Council meeting, he called for a show of hands from CEOs who were planning to invest more if their tax bills were slashed in the new GOP tax plan. (more…)

In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, London Business School organizational behavior scholars Niro Sivanathan and Hemant Kakkar used empirical methods to find the socioeconomic circumstances that predict when voters will elect "dominance-style" strongman leaders like "Donald Trump, Viktor Orban, Rodrigo Duterte, Nicolás Maduro and Recep Erdogan." (more…)

A survey of 1,500 Zurich canton doctors reported in the Swiss Medical Weekly found that out of the respondents, 23% had prescribed homeopathic "remedies" but only 42% actually believe in homeopathy (a discredited medieval quack remedy that involves giving water to patients that is supposed to "remember" having been in contact with molecules of allegedly helpful compounds that have been diluted out of the dose); 35% of the rest prescribe on the basis that the placebo effect might help their patients. (more…)

Crain's New York Business has moved Donald Trump's family business from spot number 3 to spot number 40 on it ranking of largest privately held companies in New York.From the UK's Independent:

In Deloitte's new 2017 Global Mobile Consumer Survey, the company notes that "connected home systems—a category that includes home security, thermostats, and lighting—continue to lag behind other connected devices such as entertainment systems and connected vehicles," which the report attributes to "concerns about security and privacy." (more…)

Singer Sherine Abdel-Wahab was on stage when a fan asked her to sing one of her hit songs, “Have You Ever Drunk from the Nile?” She instead of singing it, she told the audience that drinking from the Nile can cause schistosomiasis, a parasitic worms infection. Egypt has been trying to eradicate the worms for decades. “Drink Evian, it’s better,” she said. Now she is going to trial for for incitement and “harming the public interest.”From The Washington Post:

One thing you can always rely on in Japan is punctuality, so much so that a train line sent out an official apology this week for leaving a station 20 seconds early. No, not minutes, but seconds.The Tsukuba Express line – which travels between Tokyo and Tsukuba – regrettably left a station at 9:44:20, rather than 9:44:40. The staff was to blame for not properly reading the schedule."We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused to you by our customers," the apology letter said. And later in the letter: "The crewman handled the passengers on board after opening the door. After that, when departing at 9:44:40 on time, I closed the door without checking the departure time sufficiently and departed (departure operation) at 9:44:20."By the way, not one passenger complained of the mishap. Phew!Via TimeImage: Rsa

Troy E. Nehls is the sheriff in Fort Bend County, Texas. Troy here thinks that it's illegal to have a "Fuck Trump" sticker on your truck, and called on the public to track down the owner so they could be threatened with a disorderly conduct charge."I have received numerous calls regarding the offensive display on this truck as it is often seen along FM 359," he wrote on Facebook. "If you know who owns this truck or it is yours, I would like to discuss it with you. Our Prosecutor has informed us she would accept Disorderly Conduct charges regarding it, but I feel we could come to an agreement regarding a modification to it."The easily-offended Nehls, himself reportedly considering a run for political office, has a problem: the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees the right to upset the delicate feelings of public officials like him and president Trump — even if the words are naughty.Moroever, the truck belongs to a former employee, whose wife Karen has more words for her sweet summer sheriff, and for a cop who pulled the vehicle over in hopes of finding something to charge them with."It's just our freedom of speech and we're exercising it," she told the Houston Chronicle.Worse for Nehls, the local district attorney, John Healey, publicly rejected his assertion a prosecution was on the cards.

In a pair of open letters to Letter to The Honorable Elaine C. Duke, Acting Secretary of Homeland, a coalition of more than 100 tech liberties groups and leading technology experts urged the DHS to abandon its plan to develop a black-box algorithmic system for predicting whether foreigners coming to the USA to visit or live are likely to be positive contributors or risks to the nation. (more…)

Dr Ben Maruthappu, a senior public health researcher from University College London is the lead author on a forthcoming peer-reviewed paper in the BMJ Open which attempts to quantify additional deaths attributable to the UK Conservative Party's austerity measures under the 2010-2015 coalition government and the Tory governments since; Maruthappu and his co-authors attribute 120,000 deaths to austerity, and call them "economic murder." (more…)

NASA published an animation depicting this years' rough hurricane season in two smooth minutes. It's beautifully wispy and liquid, a fascinating contrast to the radar machine-vision we usually get of weather patterns. From the press release:

This made me laugh. It's a quirky video by YouTuber Kevin Parry where his fingers and hands play "miniature action sports," like skateboarding and surfing.Here's his behind-the-scenes video:https://youtu.be/iE1-UAWTt7Y(Viral Viral Videos)

Washington-based remix master John D. Boswell, aka melodysheep, describes his latest tribute song and video as a "magical musical adventure through the land of Oz." It's called "Oh my!" and it uses vocals and footage from the 1939 film, The Wizard of OzThe song's mp3 is here.Previously: Bruce Lee remix

Everyone got the memo. This is the year when big food behemoths like Taco Bell and Hidden Valley came out with their own gimmicky line of personally-branded clothing (and gifts).Well, now there's a new contender and it's stranger than the rest. Stove Top, Kraft's stuffing brand, has come out with Thanksgiving Dinner Pants.Watch this and weep: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ypa6rP5T9qUAlas, you won't be able to stuff yourself into these fugly $19.98 stretchy-waisted fat pants because they have already sold out. Wah wah.Side note: I'm reminded of Betabrand's Gluttony Pants from a few years back.(CHOW)

David Lynch's Dune, though unsuccessful in theaters, has gained a more positive reputation over the years for its spectacular visuals and memorable one-liners. But Denis Villeneuve, directing a new movie of Frank Herbert's SF classic, says he'll be taking pains not to let it influence his own vision.From an interview with Yahoo:

Charles Manson, the mass murderer and musician, is reportedly close to death at a California hospital. USA Today:

This 1106 piece LEGO BB-8 will be my daughter and her cousins' Thanksgiving Day project.I am clearly thrilled with my daughter's LEGO addiction and her dedication to Star Wars. Her slightly younger cousin is also a giant Star Wars aficionado, although he does not yet know that word, and a fantastic LEGO builder. I'm pretty sure this kit will only take them a few hours.I would love the largest C1-10P kit LEGO will make.LEGO Star Wars VIII BB-8 75187 Building Kit (1106 Piece) via Amazon

Tina Johnson was 28 when she says Roy Moore assaulted her in his legal office in 1991.Excerpt from the full story at AL.com:

What does it mean to be a Republican "values voter?" Well, for sure, it means hating abortion and coming up with grotesque, rapey, lethal, cruel, absurd, unconstitutional (very, very unconstitutional), racist, regulations; tricking women into unwanted pregnancies; turning a blind eye to terrorism, and targeting vulnerable teens, while charging women with murder and defunding programs that prevent unwanted pregnancies (and thus reduce abortions), while spinning fairytales about the big profits realized by the doctors who risk their lives to help women choose when to become mothers. (more…)

San Diego Etsy seller Cutting Boredom makes retrogame-inspired cutting boards shaped like old NES cartridges ("the grooves are able to serve as functional juice grooves"); they're made to order and can feature custom etched messages, Zelda logos and more, though I prefer the plain ones -- available in 12"x13" or 9"x10", and in maple, cherry, mahogany and walnut. (more…)

At my house, we've started storing leftovers in mason jars, glasses, and bowls. It's more convenient than buying separate food storage containers. To cover them, we use these silicone stretch lids. They even fit square shaped containers. Amazon has them on sale: 7 for $14.

The Motherboard Guide To Not Getting Hacked is an excellent adjunct to existing guides (I like EFF's Surveillance Self-Defense and The Cryptoparty Handbook) to defending yourself against criminals, stalkers, cops, and other potential intruders into your digital life. (more…)

This is called "Gettin' Wet on Wet with Deadpool 2" and it's the slick new, and wonderfully bizarro, teaser trailer for Deadpool 2. It shows Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds (we assume) dressed in the superhero's costume and then dressed like the late TV painter Bob Ross, giant white fro and all. You have to sit through a minute and a half of weird, and hilarious, banter and "painting" just to see flashes of the film.Even the description is off the wall:

A London Times investigation revealed that Russia employed a large army of Twitter accounts to "sow discord" before the Brexit vote. And it appears to have been quite successful, as newspapers like The Sun and Mail Online published tweets from the bogus accounts.

Trump supporters are more confused than ever. As you can see from these Jimmy Kimmel interviews, they think Hillary Clinton is the president of the United States. When you think of all that's been accomplished since January (nothing), no wonder they're so upset with her!My favorite line from the clips above comes from a passionate Hillary hater, who, when asked why Clinton should be impeached, says "I'm not a political person at all, so I really have no clue." And yet she then goes on to say Hillary Clinton is worse than guns and as bad as ISIS and should definitely be impeached. Yeesh.

Actor and former pro football player Terry Crews went on Good Morning America to share the story of how he was assaulted at a party by Adam Venit, head of the Motion Picture Department at William Morris Endeavor.From ABC News:

Mich from ha.cking bought a $25 "S8 data line locator" device -- a cellular spying tool, disguised as a USB cable and marketed to the general public -- and did a teardown of the gadget, offering a glimpse into the world of "trickle down surveillance" where the kinds of surveillance tools used by the NSA are turned into products and sold to randos over the internet for $25. (more…)

Sharp eyed Massachusetts police officers spotted a man driving a car with a strange-looking license plate. After pulling him over for a closer look, they discovered the license plate was made from a cardboard pizza box and magic marker handwriting.From the Hopkinton, Massachusetts Police Department Facebook page:

This golden retriever tried not to appear upset while its human companion stroked a plush toy dog, but it eventually snapped, seizing the toy by the neck and slamming it repeatedly on the floor.

Renee DiResta is part of an interdisciplinary group that has tracked disinformation campaigns online for years, advising the Obama White House on the use of social media to spread conspiracy theories; she helped brief Congress in advance of the current hearings on the use of the internet to spread misinformation to influence the 2016 election. (more…)

Two leading European consumer groups -- the UK's Which? and Germany's Stiftung Warentest -- have published an advisory with the results of their lab tests on the security of kids' connected toys, warning that these toys are insecure and could allow strangers to listen in and talk to your kids over the internet. (more…)

The only way to survive on the battlefield of the web is to know your enemy as well as yourself, which is why ethical hackers play such a critical role in information security. To teach you how to think like your unseen opponents, we are offering the Super-Sized Ethical Hacking Bundle in the Boing Boing Store for $25 (normally $43) as part of our doorbusters week.In this collection, you’ll get familiar with penetration testing, social engineering, and a variety of other cyber attacks. By learning how to recognize and exploit known vulnerabilities, you can make a mint helping organizations harden their systems, as well as cash in on bug bounty programs. With nearly 80 hours of video content, you can build a solid foundation of InfoSec knowledge before attempting professional certification.The following courses are included in the bundle:

Luke O'Brien writes about The Making of an American Nazi, Andrew Anglin. Founder of The Daily Stormer, Anglin is a white supremacist whose trolling morphed into abuse, threats and harassment as Trump's political fortunes (and his own bitcoin donations) rose.Now facing court action,

Mother should I run for president?

Lars Leber shot this timelapse of "low clouds over Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs. Cheyenne Mountain is visible in the background." (more…)