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Georgia Senator David Perdue claims his attack ad, in which the nose of Democratic Challenger John Ossoff is enlarged, was simply a graphic design error.Ossoff said the ad employed “the oldest, most obvious, least original anti-Semitic trope in history.”Senator David Perdue just ran an attack ad that artificially enlarged the nose of his Jewish opponent, Jon @Ossoff.The ad claims that “Democrats are trying to buy Georgia.”This is blatant antisemitism. It’s not an accident. It’s their platform.@Perduesenate, apologize now. pic.twitter.com/h0sOpllgHe— Bend the Arc: Jewish Action (@jewishaction) July 28, 2020From Huffington Post:Perdue’s campaign claimed that “in the graphic design process handled by an outside vendor, the photo was resized and a filter was applied, which appears to have caused an unintentional error that distorted the image.”“Obviously, this was accidental, but to ensure there is absolutely no confusion, we have immediately removed the image from Facebook,” a spokesperson said in a statement sent to multiple media outlets. Perdue himself hadn’t seen the ad before it was released, they said.“Anybody who implies that this was anything other than an inadvertent error is intentionally misrepresenting Senator Perdue’s strong and consistent record of standing firmly against anti-Semitism and all forms of hate,” they added.Ossoff wasn’t buying the explanation, however.“Senator, literally no one believes your excuses,” he tweeted Monday.Image: Senator David Perdue. A filter was applied, which appears to have caused an unintentional error that distorted the image. Read the rest

Last year, Leonardo was on offer. Today, it's Raphael, his dead glass eyes staring bleakly from his rotting latex form. The bidding estimate starts at $3,000.This costume includes a zip-up green turtle bodysuit constructed of foam latex cast elements over a Spandex base affixed with dense-foam chest and shell elements, leather knee and elbow pads, and a leather sheath for Raphael's signature sai. The removable head features foam latex skin with cast resin teeth, urethane eyes, a red fabric eye mask, internal padding, and a zipper closure.The costume is in fragile and fair to poor overall condition. It exhibits significant breakdown to its foam latex elements from age and may require restoration to preserve it from further deterioration.As with Leonardo, I have created a nice video (embedded above) of this decaying latex fursuit accompanied by the TMNT theme tune, respectfully slowed in solemn remembrance. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle suit from 1993 movie hits the auction block Read the rest

“Many powerful companies that drive environmental injustice are also backers of the same police departments that tyrannize the very communities these corporate actors pollute,” write the authors of a newly released investigation by the Public Accountability Initiative. The report is titled "Fossil Fuel Industry Pollutes Black & Brown Communities While Propping Up Racist Policing" and it's a damning indictment of corporate giants who protect their astronomical wealth by exploiting the vulnerable.From the report:Shell, one of the biggest fossil fuel companies in the world and a major global emitter of carbon pollution. It is building a huge ethane cracker plant near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that some feel could start to turn Appalachia into the next “Cancer Alley” – the nickname for the New Orleans-to-Baton Rouge corridor of Louisiana refineries, where Shell is also a major polluter. Cancer Alley runs through several Black communities that face extremely high rates of pollution and cancer – largely believed to be caused by refining and petrochemical operations. Shell is a “Featured Partner” of the New Orleans Police & Justice Foundation and a sponsor of the Houston Police Department’s Mounted Patrol.Entergy is a publicly-traded, Fortune 500 company headquartered in Louisiana that also services parts of Arkansas, Mississippi, and Texas. Entergy is arguably the most powerful corporate force in Louisiana, with presences on prominent chambers, business associations, philanthropic organizations, and even charter school advocacy groups across the state. Entergy is a “Featured Partner” of the New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation with top billing on the foundation’s sponsors page. Read the rest

More than 30 years ago, Mauro Morandi was attempting to sail from Italy to Polynesia when he ended up on Budelli, a small private island off Sardinia. Morandi, now 81, never left and eventually became the island's official caretaker. Above is a Great Big Story about Morandi from two years ago. Soon though, Morandi may get the boot. La Maddalena's National Park, owner of the island since 2015, plans to renovate Morandi's shack into an environmental observatory. From CNN:"Our priority is to intervene against all illegal constructions inside the park, including Mauro's hut, a former World War II radio station which has undergone modifications which aren't in accordance with the rules. We need to set the example, protect our environment by first restoring this illegal structure ,and then move on with a new project which will likely be a scientific center for the spreading of environmental awareness," La Maddalena Park president Fabrizio Fonnesu tells CNN in Italian.[...]"Nobody wants to chase him away, but what title does he have to stay since the island is no longer private?," says Fonnesu. "If in future there is the need to have a caretaker, we could reconsider his position, but when the works will start he must leave." [...]Morandi, meanwhile, says that although the mere thought of leaving hurts him, he's more worried about the fate of the "pink atoll," so-called because of the rosy hue of its unique coral sand beach."Just the other day I chased away two tourists who were trespassing on the off-limits pink beach," he says. Read the rest

While most businesses suffer through the pandemic, Wham-O is raking in the sales with Slip 'N Slide. Even three months ago, "the company enjoyed 10 consecutive days in late April where sales doubled each day," says TMZ. Now the water toy, which made its debut in 1961, is out of stock. And it's not just Slip 'N Slide that is keeping Wham-O fat. Frisbee sales are up 500%, according to TMZ, and Boogie Boards are up 300%. Wham-O's timeless toys, which also include Super Ball, the Hula hoop, and Hacky sack, are perfect for bored kids during long hot stay-at-home days, so it makes sense that they were first created by, well, "bored kids on a hot day." Here's the Slip N Slide origin story, posted by Andrea a few weeks ago. Read the rest

The president of the United States, folks.So disgusting to watch Twitter’s so-called “Trending”, where sooo many trends are about me, and never a good one. They look for anything they can find, make it as bad as possible, and blow it up, trying to make it trend. Really ridiculous, illegal, and, of course, very unfair!Here's the original.So disgusting to watch Twitter’s so-called “Trending”, where sooo many trends are about me, and never a good one. They look for anything they can find, make it as bad as possible, and blow it up, trying to make it trend. Really ridiculous, illegal, and, of course, very unfair!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 27, 2020 Read the rest

“Texas is investigating Facebook for possibly running afoul of state laws on the collection of biometric data, according to June documents uncovered by a tech watchdog group,” reports Ashley Gold at Axios.And the attorney general of Texas may just be on to something.Facebook users in Illinois recently secured a major settlement over the issue of biometric data collection.Excerpt:The Texas AG is investigating Facebook for possibly violating its Texas Deceptive Trade Practices — Consumer Protection Act by improperly collecting biometric identifiers, according to the documents, obtained by the Tech Transparency Project through a public records request and shared with Axios Monday. The documents show the Texas AG issuing a civil investigative demand to Facebook, asking for many pages of information related to Patel v. Facebook, the case that led to the settlement in Illinois in February, when Facebook agreed to pay $550 million (recently bumped to $650 million).Between the lines: The latest documents don't make clear exactly what the Texas AG's office is looking into, but the Illinois case centered on Facebook's use of facial recognition tech to identify people in photos uploaded to the platform and suggest tagging them. That violated Illinois law on biometric privacy, argued the plaintiffs in the case. The settlement still has to be approved by the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California.Where it stands: The documents Texas is seeking include discovery materials, responses to requests for interrogatories, the identity of experts retained by Facebook in the matter, unredacted transcripts of depositions, and a copy of all motions and pleadings. Read the rest

In an attack on the New York Times' 1619 project tracing slavery in America to its origins, Republican senator Tom Cotton described it as “the necessary evil upon which the union was built”. “We have to study the history of slavery and its role and impact on the development of our country because otherwise we can’t understand our country. As the Founding Fathers said, it was the necessary evil upon which the union was built, but the union was built in a way, as Lincoln said, to put slavery on the course to its ultimate extinction.” Cotton write.Nikole Hannah-Jones, who was awarded this year’s Pulitzer Prize for commentary for her introductory essay to the 1619 Project, said ... “If chattel slavery – heritable, generational, permanent, race-based slavery where it was legal to rape, torture, and sell human beings for profit – were a ‘necessary evil’ as Tom Cotton says, it’s hard to imagine what cannot be justified if it is a means to an end.Cotton concedes a claim, often denied by conservatives, that slavery was central to the founding of the American republic. That said, Cotton now insists he was merely attributing the remark to the Founding Founders.The text of his editorial, however, plainly poses him in agreement: "As the Founding Fathers said, it was the necessary evil." Cotton attempted a similar "clarification" after his "Send in the Troops" op-ed was interpreted as a call for a general crackdown on rowdy protestors. Once again, he set out to sound like a no-nonsense strongman of the right, poured cement around his own feet, didn't like how fast it set, and ended up bleating about "fake news" on Twitter. Read the rest

Several US state departments of agriculture report that people are receiving unsolicited packets of seeds in the mail, apparently from China. Don't plant them, the officials warn. From USA Today:The agriculture departments in Washington, Louisiana, Kansas and Virginia have recently issued statements warning residents that the seeds may be invasive or otherwise harmful to local plants or livestock. People in Utah, Arizona and Ohio have also reported receiving the mysterious packages, local news outlets reported.Some of the packages were labeled as jewelry and may have Chinese writing on them, according to agriculture officials[...]Police in Whitehouse, Ohio, said the seeds appear to be connected to an online scam and are not "directly dangerous." “A brushing scam is an exploit by a vendor used to bolster product ratings and increase visibility online by shipping an inexpensive product to an unwitting receiver and then submitting positive reviews on the receiver’s behalf under the guise of a verified owner," the department said in a statement. Read the rest

High-speed cinematographer Darren Dyk turns his lens on a solitary kernel of popcorn to impressive effect. Bonus pareidolic creature in profile opening its mouth at 1:32. Read the rest

In 1991, scientists discovered a strange form of fungi growing at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The organisms seem to feed on radiation, converting gamma rays into energy for growth. Now, researchers from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Stanford University are exploring whether these "radiotrophic fungi" could protect astronauts living on the Moon or Mars. A big benefit is that the fungus self-replicate so the material could be grown upon arrival rather than having to be carried into space from Earth. Experiments conducted on the International Space Station suggest that growing a layer of fungus on top of Mars rock could result in a sufficient shield for people stationed on the Red Planet. From their technical paper in bioRxiv:In search of innovative radiation-shields, biotechnology holds unique advantages such as suitability for in-situ resource utilization (ISRU), self-regeneration, and adaptability. Certain fungi thrive in high-radiation environments on Earth, such as the contamination radius of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Analogous to photosynthesis, these organisms appear to perform radiosynthesis, using pigments known as melanin to convert gamma-radiation into chemical energy. It is hypothesized that these organisms can be employed as a radiation shield to protect other lifeforms.[...]Estimations based on linear attenuation coefficients indicated that a ~ 21 cm thick layer of this fungus could largely negate the annual dose-equivalent of the radiation environment on the surface of Mars, whereas only ~ 9 cm would be required with an equimolar mixture of melanin and Martian regolith. Compatible with ISRU (in-situ resource utilization), such composites are promising as a means to increase radiation shielding while reducing overall up-mass, as is compulsory for future Mars-missions. Read the rest

The price of gold is at an all-time high, fueled by the unchecked spread of Covid-19 in the U.S. and deepening tensions at home and abroad.In the morning of Asian trading hours on Monday, spot gold traded at about $1,931.11 per ounce after earlier trading as high as $1,943.9275 per ounce. Those levels eclipsed the previous record high price set in September 2011.In a note circulated before the new highs, Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s Vivek Dhar said the fall in U.S. 10-year real yields has been the “most important driver.” Meanwhile, Johan Jooste of The Global CIO Office told CNBC’s “Street Signs” on Monday that there’s a “horrible feeling of chasing it a bit after the fact” if investors enter the gold market now.Gold doesn't pay dividends or bear interest, but interest rates are near zero and the economy is in ruins, so... Go Go Gadget Gold. Prices are up 28%. CNN posted this chart, drawn by Julia Horowitz:Also alarming is President Trump's coy disinclination to leave office as November's general election approaches. Read the rest

According to the Lobster Institute at the University of Maine, there's a one in 2 million chance of catching a blue lobster. The very rare crustaceans have a genetic defect that causes the unusual tint. In Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Red Lobster employees noticed a blue lobster in their daily delivery and contacted the Akron Zoo. They named it Clawde after the restaurant mascot. From the Akron Beacon Journal:Zoo spokeswoman Elena Bell said a conservation partnership called Seafood Watch run by the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California helped to coordinate the donation of the rare American lobster.The lobster has been put into isolation in a so-called Man Cave tank at the zoo before it can join its new friends who call the Komodo Kingdom building home.(Thanks, Charles Pescovitz!) Read the rest

Utopia was a short-lived BBC black comedy/thriller series about a few fans of a cult graphic novel, whose search for original manuscript pages brings them into the orbit of a massive conspiracy that involves unleashing a man-made "Russian Flu" pandemic to cull the population and carefully cultivate human eugenics. With just 12 episodes spread across two seasons, it's succinct and consistently exciting, with stunningly gorgeous cinematography.So naturally, Amazon Prime is making an Americanized adaptation of it, during a pandemic when conspiracism has reached fever heights. Gone Girl writer Gillian Flynn is a co-writer and executive producer on the new series, which, judging by this new comic-con trailer, looks fine. I'll watch it. And then I'll probably go back and re-binge the original again.There's no release date yet, but here's the official synopsis:‘Utopia’ centers on a group of comic fans who meet online and bond over their obsession of a seemingly fictional comic called ‘Utopia.’ Together, Ian (Dan Byrd), Becky (Ashleigh LaThrop), Samantha (Jessica Rothe), Wilson Wilson (Desmin Borges), and Grant (Javon “Wanna” Walton) unearth hidden meanings cloaked within the pages of ‘Utopia,’ predicting threats to humanity. They realize these are not just the makings of a conspiracy; they are very real dangers coming alive right now in their world. Read the rest

Comic legend George Carlin died in 2008 but his 2005 stand-up bit/rant "The American Dream" has been made even more poignant than ever in "America Wake Up." Portland-based Pattern Integrity Films are behind the powerful new short that uses modern footage to illustrate Carlin's timeless message. Read the rest

Flipping through the pages of Los Angeles magazine this morning I came across this advertisement with a photo of a woman in an empty field, transfixed by a slot machine. The advertising copy reads "Welcome to Freedom."If I saw this in a dystopian science fiction movie I would think it was too over-the-top. Read the rest

@jslade88 Deleted but here is the OG video all over the news...#americanairlineskaren #fyp #foryou #karen #dailymail ♬ original sound - jslade88 American Airlines mandates that all passengers wear masks during the coronavirus pandemic, but this lady wasn't having any of it. Unfortunately for her, the passengers weren't having any of that, and she was asked to deboard the flight. She took her time about it, leading to a ripple of applause when she finally began hauling her bags down the aisle. NY Post:“You can clap all you want!” the woman snaps back angrily.In the background, two masked American Airlines employees can be seen waiting to escort her off the aircraft.Along with refusing to wear a mask — which is required for all adults on American Airlines flights amid the worldwide coronavirus pandemic — Slade said the woman demanded to be boarded first and caused other problems.“She was argumentative from the gate,” Slade told the outlet. “She demanded to be boarded first and was causing an obvious scene. Once boarded, she was making phone calls and arguing with the attendant when asked to put her phone away.” Read the rest

Even as something of a Beatlephile, I learned a few things reading this Rolling Stone article from 2018 about The Beatles' most "open-hearted masterpiece," Hey Jude.Cynthia and Julian thought “Hey Jude” was for them. John heard it as the ballad of John and Yoko. But neither side was wrong — countless people around the world have heard this homily speaking to them. “The movement you need is on your shoulder” — John was so right about that line, and as Paul says, he thinks of John every time he sings that part. “Hey Jude” is a tribute to everything the Beatles loved and respected most about each other. Even George, who plays the most low-profile role in this song, tipped his cap with the na-na-na-na finale of “Isn’t That a Pity,” which you can hear as a viciously cheeky parody, an affectionate tribute or (most likely) both. The pain in “Hey Jude” resonated in 1968, in a world reeling from wars, riots and assassinations. And it’s why it sounds timely as our world keeps getting colder. After more than 50 years, “Hey Jude” remains a source of sustenance in difficult times — a moment when four longtime comrades, clear-eyed adults by now, take a look around at everything that’s broken around them. Yet they still join together to take a sad song and make it better.Image: YouTube Read the rest

From The Verge:President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign is reportedly fighting cellphone carriers over the right to send Americans unsolicited texts. According to Business Insider, the campaign’s lawyers are in active talks with phone companies after a third-party screening tool blocked Trump texts in early July. The campaign alleges that screening the texts amounts to suppressing political speech, while carriers fear allowing them will result in fines for violating anti-spam rules.The 2020 election has brought a wave of text messages from across the political spectrum, particularly with the pandemic limiting in-person outreach. Many users didn’t opt in to these missives, and it’s unclear whether they violate federal laws meant to curb unwanted texts. The Trump administration, meanwhile, has imposed steeper fines for spammy and illegal robocalls. That’s reportedly put carriers on edge despite Trump’s campaign contending it’s not illegally automating texts.Naturally, this whole screw-up is being blamed on Jared Kushner, who's supposed to be mediating the campaign's (and/or the President's?) relationships with the major telecom companies.Trump reportedly clashes with AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile over spam texts [Adi Robertson / The Verge]Image: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons Read the rest

When I'm not writing here on BoingBoing (or anywhere else, for that matter), I also play guitar and sing in a rock band called The Roland High Life. Today we announced our new record, Songs About Comic Books and Mid-30s Malaise, and released the first single, which is kind of a Cars / Green Day mashup about ADHD and Hawkeye from the Avengers called "My Life as a Weapon."I'm pretty proud of the work we did on this, considering that we wrote, engineered, and recorded it all by ourselves in our moms' basements (in fitting with the album theme) over just 2 weekends.You can watch the lyric video above, or listen to it on your preferred music service."Songs About Comic Books and Mid-30s Malaise" by the Roland High LifeImage: Pat Loika / Flickr (CC 2.0) Read the rest

Truth in the tabloids is like the weather in New England: constantly changing and rarely to be trusted.

Nearly three-quarters of all the rental properties in the U.S. are owned by private individual investors. And while around two-thirds of all investors were primarily focused on the stock market in 2007, that number is down to just 50 percent now, with many investors, particularly millennials, choosing to invest in real estate instead. Meanwhile, 91 of the 100 top housing markets have seen rent increases over the past year. The numbers don’t lie. Even against a backdrop of financial uncertainty, demand for residential and commercial spaces keeps rising and investors are increasingly buying properties to feed that demand.If that sounds like a lucrative area for you to make some money, it should. But wading into the real estate game without the background is like bringing a knife to a gunfight. You’ll be outmatched quickly. Instead, know the game from all angles with training like The Fundamentals of Real Estate Investment Bundle.This collection features five courses designed to help even real estate newbies understand what factors investors need to consider in evaluating, purchasing or selling properties. Like we said, it’s important to know the lay of the land before you put down a penny, so the training truly begins with the Pre-Investing: Before Investing in Real Estate course. Designed for first-timers, students here learn everything they need to know before making your first investment, from correctly evaluating a property’s value to critical risk factors to watch for to knowing what to charge in rent, this course is a proper introduction to the practice. Read the rest

Awesome dad of the year goes to this little stinker's poppa.“I recorded my son making baby noises, figured out the notes he made, and arranged them into "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC.”Unmute this one: Baby Ryan "Sings" Thunderstruck. Read the rest

Gav of The Slow Mo Guys demonstrates the visually amazing moment where 2000° thermite lands in a tank of 20° water. Video: [Slow Mo Molten Thermite in Water - The Slow Mo Guys] Read the rest

So tiny! So cute!A very small puppy gets groomed for the first time at 3 months of age. This is a toy poodle puppy.[video: Lovely Grooming] Read the rest

“Watch this cat very slowly fall in love with his new baby sister ❤️.”[The Dodo] Read the rest

The Swamp is an anthology of Yoshiharu Tsuge's early manga and gekiga work, published by Drawn & Quarterly.From the publisher:Yoshiharu Tsuge is one of the most influential and acclaimed practitioners of literary comics in Japan. The Swamp collects work from his early years, showing a major talent coming in to his own. Bucking the tradition of mystery and adventure stories, Tsuge’s fiction focused on the lives of the citizens of Japan. These mesmerizing comics, like those of his contemporary Yoshihiro Tatsumi, reveal a gritty, at times desperate post-war Japan, while displaying Tsuge’s unique sense of humor and point of view. The Swamp is a landmark in English manga-publishing history and the first in a series of Tsuge books Drawn & Quarterly will be publishing.The following essay was written by Mitsuhiro Asakawa and translated by Ryan Holmberg. It's an abridged version of the essay as it appears in the book. -- MarkGekiga’s new frontier: the uneasy rise of Yoshiharu Tsugeby Mitsuhiro AsakawaYoshiharu Tsuge’s contributions to the development of gekiga and manga are immense. Tsuge was not only the first manga artist who used his personal life as story material, he was also the first to make his characters’ internal conflicts the center of his stories. Previously these techniques had been limited to literature and the “I-novel”—a type of autobiographical fiction popular in Japan since the early 20th century. Against the mad rush of Westernization of Japanese daily life after World War II, Tsuge also employed comics to revisit and find new value in native Japanese customs and modes of living, and without lapsing into nostalgia. Read the rest

Earlier this week, Victoria Price, a reporter on WFLA TV news in Tampa, Florida, received an email from a concerned viewer:"Hi, just saw your news report. What concerned me is the lump on your neck. Please have your thyroid checked. Reminds me of my neck. Mine turned out to be cancer. Take care of your self."The viewer was right to be concerned.From CNN:In a story for WFLA's website, Price said she didn't know whether to panic or disregard the email."My lovingly-pushy boyfriend, who is well aware of my predisposition to shrugging things off and pretending I'm invincible, forced a phone into my hand and I called my primary care physician to schedule an appointment," she wrote.Her doctor agreed that was something was wrong and an ultrasound found a nodule growing on her thyroid. Price then saw cancer specialists at Tampa General Hospital and the viewer's suspicions were confirmed: Price's lump was thyroid cancer and it was spreading to her lymph nodes.Price will have surgery to hopefully remove the tumor next week. She emailed a thanks to the viewer but apparently has not heard back. Read the rest

Impeached President Donald Trump was musing to Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports, about how his life was better before he announced his presidential candidacy.Just like he did in March, Trump then went on a riff about an an incident he claims (falsely) took place at a New York City charity gala after he announced he was becoming a politician in 2015.Trump keeps saying he'd never been booed during his great easy life before he became a candidate in 2015. Not even close to true. https://t.co/fXGiZc4gBn pic.twitter.com/zlsghhMAId— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) July 24, 2020So Trump says he was booed for the first time in his life at a charity gala after he launched his candidacy in 2015......though he'd been booed multiple times in previous years and hasn't attended that gala since 2011: https://t.co/fXGiZc4gBn— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) July 24, 2020From CNN:"One thing that happened: I was going into a thing called the Robin Hood Foundation. I'll never forget it," Trump said in the interview, which Portnoy released on Friday."It was just about the night I announced or whatever. My wife looked at me, she said, 'You know, I hear people booing.' And she was with me for a long time, we've been together a long time, she said, 'Some people are booing.' I said, 'Yeah, but some people are also clapping. Wildly.' I said, 'No.' She said, 'You know what, I've been with you a long time. I've never heard anyone boo you.' Read the rest

Infinite Potential, The Life And Ideas of David Bohm is a gem of a documentary (and you can watch it for free. Directed and produced by Paul Howard, it pays homage to one of the unsung intellectual heroes the 20th century. David Bohm was a physicist, philosopher, and explorer of consciousness—the man Einstein called his "spiritual son.", and the Dalai Lama his “science guru.” His search at the crossroads of science and spirituality led to new insights into the profound interconnectedness of the universe and our place within it.An intellectual dissidentQuestioning the orthodoxy of this time, Bohm tried to reconcile the two main distinct paradigms within the world of physics, namely, classical Newtonian physics (explaining "reality" as directly tied to our sensory experience of it, grounded in a three dimensional space, and time being a singular linear progression), and the new paradigm of Quantum Mechanics (describing the bizarre world of subatomic entities which, simultaneously wave-like and particle-like, form the underlying structure of the whole universe, a place where "ordinary reality" and linear time cease to be). Physicists have been wrestling for decades—without success—to reconcile these two seemingly incompatible and contradicting models, respectively accounting for the realms of the macro and the micro. Bohm's maverick intelligence sought a larger framework of interpretation to do the job. The Holographic UniverseOne of Bohm's most dazzling leap of the imagination is his Holographic Theory of the Universe.A hologram is a two-dimensional photograph of a three-dimensional object. When a laser is used to illuminate the hologram, the stored three-dimensional image appears. Read the rest

The freakish robotic corpselike appearance of these animated singers are a good match for the psyches of Trump's swamp-dwelling sycophants.Back in 1987, the song “We Are the World” raised millions to support Africans in need. On the flip side of that, in 2020 Founders Sing created an original song, “We Are the Worst,” bringing together a gang of greedy, power-hungry miscreants in song as they finally tell the truth. You‘ll recognize the usual cast of characters, whose names are listed in the end credits. Read the rest

Directed by and starring Canadian actor Jay Baruchel (Goon, This Is The End, How To Train Your Dragon), Random Acts of Violence is based on the 2010 comic of the same name by Jimmy Palmiotti. Comic book creator Todd Walkley (Jesse Williams), his wife Kathy (Jordana Brewster), assistant Aurora (Niamh Wilson) and best friend, Hard Calibre Comics owner Ezra (Jay Baruchel), embark upon a road trip from Toronto to NYC comic con and bad things start to happen. People start getting killed. It soon becomes clear that a crazed fan is using Todd’s “SLASHERMAN” comic as inspiration for the killings and as the bodies pile up, and Todd’s friends and family become victims themselves, Todd will be forced to take artistic responsibility...The film will be available in theatres and digital platforms in Canada on July 31st, and on 20th August 2020 in the UK/US via Shudder. Read the rest

The Tonight Show demonstrates that Trump is cognitively there.Can you say… Person! Woman! Man! Camera! TV! #FallonTonight pic.twitter.com/9dHIMedoIx— The Tonight Show (@FallonTonight) July 24, 2020 Read the rest

From the Lincoln Project. Read the rest

Therapy sessions for families of Mario addicts? "Nintendpendent"? OK boomer, 1991. (r/ObscureMedia, thanks UPSO!) Read the rest

Enjoy this amazingly satisfying video of a contractor using magic to measure a door jamb then cutting a tile to fit it, freehand, with an angle grinder. It slides in nice and kentucky. Read the rest

The U.S Senate yesterday voted to rename bases currently bearing the names of Confederate officers, as part of a sweeping defence spending bill.The renaming amendment was added by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and only a handful of senators opposed it, resulting in a veto-proof 86-14 "blowout", as The Washington Post put it.The Senate passed its version of a $740 billion defense bill Thursday by a veto-proof majority, in the latest sign that Congress is undeterred by President Trump’s threat to reject legislation mandating that the Pentagon rename bases honoring Confederate generals.The 86-to-14 Senate vote follows the House’s 295-to-125 vote earlier in the week on parallel legislation. Both bills instruct the Defense Department to come up with new names for the problematic bases; the Senate gives the Pentagon three years to make the changes, while the House bill instructs officials to finish the process within one year.The White House objected to the inclusion of any mandate earlier in the week in a 13-page memorandum threatening that Trump would veto the House bill if it passed in its current form. The House and Senate will have to negotiate a compromise between the two versions of the defense bill before sending it to the president’s desk.1. Psalm 86:14: "O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul; and have not set thee before them." Read the rest

The best video I ever captured. #NewYork #WeatherChannel #NYC pic.twitter.com/cOBqTqJ9LO— Mikey Cee (@_Mikey_Cee) July 22, 2020Twitter user @_Mikey_Cee of Staten Island captured this amazing footage of lightning striking really close (just behind?) to the Statue of Liberty. It's aptly captioned, "The best video I ever captured."screengrab via @_Mikey_Cee/Twitter Read the rest

If you’re a regular visitor to Boing Boing, chances are you’re into cool stuff. So when you’re looking to pick up something fairly generic like a toaster oven or a clock or a lamp, you’re probably also looking for something that brings with it a little personality, a little pizzazz, and a little personal style that signals you as its owner are not cut from the ordinary cloth.So if you’re looking for cool and off the beaten path, there’s no excuse for not taking a serious look at the Marangoni Electromagnetic Light. Because... damn, this thing is cool.This lamp can sit in your office, hallway, bedroom, or other space and look entirely at home...because it doesn’t even look like a lamp. It doesn’t even have an on or off switch. Point it out to a visitor and they might be hard-pressed to tell you what it is beyond a piece of trippy home or office decor.But the trick is when this sleek, modern design gets a touch of electromagnetism thrown in. The lamp features two magnetic spheres positioned at opposite ends. When the two spheres are moved close enough together for their magnetic properties to kick in, the spheres lock together, and the LED light ring springs to life. To turn the light back off, all you have to do is break the connection.The LED bulbs are virtually invisible, casually positioned inside the lamp’s frame, so rather than a harsh blast of light, you get a warm, more subtle, indirect light that casts an off-kilter vibe to any room. Read the rest

It turns out that the U.S. military never closed down its investigations into unidentified flying objects. Not only that, but it plans to release its findings presently, reports The New York Times.While retired officials involved with the effort — including Harry Reid, the former Senate majority leader — hope the program will seek evidence of vehicles from other worlds, its main focus is on discovering whether another nation, especially any potential adversary, is using breakout aviation technology that could threaten the United States. ...Eric W. Davis, an astrophysicist who worked as a subcontractor and then a consultant for the Pentagon U.F.O. program since 2007, said that, in some cases, examination of the materials had so far failed to determine their source and led him to conclude, “We couldn’t make it ourselves.”The constraints on discussing classified programs — and the ambiguity of information cited in unclassified slides from the briefings — have put officials who have studied U.F.O.s in the position of stating their views without presenting any hard evidence.Mr. Davis, who now works for Aerospace Corporation, a defense contractor, said he gave a classified briefing to a Defense Department agency as recently as March about retrievals from “off-world vehicles not made on this earth.”I was just reading The Socorro Saucer, one of the more convincing run-ins, and marveled at how much it reads as a panic-memory recollection of NASA landers, escape modules and the like, some of which had then just begun testing at White Sands Missile Range, 13 miles from Socorro. Read the rest

Australian illustrator Steven Rhodes' art has an unmistakable retro-kid-book-creepy aesthetic that's both dark and hilarious. You're probably familiar with his work through his line of t-shirts (the "Easy-Bake Coven" one is a personal favorite). Well, now he's announced an actual book based on his parody children's book covers (the preview pages literally made me laugh out loud). My Little Occult Book Club is available for pre-order now ($14.95). The humorous fake titles include Sell Your Soul! (Economics for Children), Necromancy for Beginners, and Caring for Your Demon Cat, and much more.-- Written in a playful voice that parodies subscription book catalogs-- Features puzzles, activities, and even a free fold-out poster-- Funny fake mail order offers for gifts such as "Cursed Videocassette"Steven Rhodes, previously on BB Read the rest

Using the European Southern Observatory (ESO)'s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in northern Chile's Atacama Desert, astronomers created this dramatic image of two giant planets in orbit around a star. About 300 light years from Earth, this is the first multiplanet system to be photographed that includes a star similar to our own Sun. The outer planet is six times more massive than Jupiter while the outer planet is 14 times heavier. The researchers published their work today in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. From ESO: “Even though astronomers have indirectly detected thousands of planets in our galaxy, only a tiny fraction of these exoplanets have been directly imaged,” says co-author Matthew Kenworthy, Associate Professor at Leiden University, adding that “direct observations are important in the search for environments that can support life.” The direct imaging of two or more exoplanets around the same star is even more rare; only two such systems have been directly observed so far, both around stars markedly different from our Sun. The new ESO’s VLT image is the first direct image of more than one exoplanet around a Sun-like star. ESO’s VLT was also the first telescope to directly image an exoplanet, back in 2004, when it captured a speck of light around a brown dwarf, a type of ‘failed’ star.“Our team has now been able to take the first image of two gas giant companions that are orbiting a young, solar analogue,” says Maddalena Reggiani, a postdoctoral researcher from KU Leuven, Belgium, who also participated in the study. Read the rest

The Airbus A400M Atlas is a large military transport plane. Here's one in service with the Royal Air Force making a touch-and-go landing on a Welsh beach, then looping around to make a full one. Dafydd Phillips captured the beast in motion:An airbus A400M from RAF Brize Norton making a rare visit to Pembrey sands to conduct natural surfaces operations. With the weather being wet prior to the aircraft arriving the pilot conducted some low approaches then some touch and go’s before the all clear to land the 76 tonne aircraft on the beach. Read the rest

Animator Takahiro Shibata made this delightful facemask that turns fogged-up eyeglasses into a fun feature of the design. "I made a mask for people with glasses," reads Shibata's translated tweet. "The more clouded your glasses are, the hotter you can see the ramen."眼鏡の人専用マスクをつくりました。眼鏡が曇るほど、ラーメンが熱々にみえます。使いにくさ、この上なし。 pic.twitter.com/rSV0tmlleA— しばたたかひろ | Takahiro SHIBATA (@iine_piroshiki) July 13, 2020(via Laughing Squid) Read the rest

Recommendations released by the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control include using glory holes to minimize the likelihood of coronavirus transmission, among other sage tips. [via]• Choose sexual positions that limit face-to-face contact.• Use barriers, like walls (e.g., glory holes), that allow for sexual contact but prevent close face-to-face contact.• Using condoms, lubricant, and dental dams may help to further reduce the risk by minimizing contact with saliva, semen and feces during sex. Read the rest

Commie Hunting Season (1980) - Considered one of the worst SNL sketches, it was part of the disastrous sixth season and aired during the Malcolm McDowell episode, often deemed as one of the worst episodes of the series from r/ObscureMediaThis 1980 SNL sketch, called "Commie Hunting Season," is noteworthy for a few reasons. First and foremost, it was shocking to hear the N-word uttered. Second, the audience didn't laugh once because nothing is remotely funny in the sketch. Third, the way the men are lined up in front of the sporting goods store (some coincidentally wearing red caps) reminds me of the armed racists who show up at racial inequality protests to protect Confederate statues.This episode of SNL also had a performance by Captain Beefheart:[via r/ObscureMedia] Read the rest

Chuck Woolery is best known for being the host of The Love Connection, a dating game show that ran from 1983 to 1994. In recent years he forged his reputation as a far-right Twitter troll who argued that scientists and epidemiologists were part of a conspiracy to hype the dangers of Covid-19 as a way to make Trump look bad. He quit Twitter soon after his son sadly contracted the virus. But I just learned that in the late 1960s Woolery was a founding member of The Avant-Garde, a psychedelic pop group that released three singles, including "Naturally Stoned" (1968), which reached number 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Above, The Avant-Garde lip-syncs "Naturally Stoned" on Playboy After Dark.Here's "Yellow Beads" (1967):and "Fly With Me! (1968)"[via r/ObscureMedia] Read the rest

A reporter went to the 2020 Border Security Expo in San Antonio, TX to interview the vendors who sell cages and technology to worsen the lives of desperate people. I didn't agree with much of what they had to say, but couldn't agree more with the guy who declared he would only eat meat grilled on charcoal, not gas. Read the rest

It took mere seconds for this pair of famished waterfowl to devour a bowl of peas. I wonder if there was a tragedy of the commons writ small thing happening here? Like, if only one duck was present, maybe it would have slowed down to savor the delicate flavor of the viridescent legumes.Image: YouTube Read the rest

It's hard to imagine what an obscene amount of wealth $1 billion is, so Tom Scott demonstrates via travel times. Basically, a tall stack of a million $1 bills laid on its side would take about a minute to walk from end to end. A stack of a billion $1 bills would be a 75-minute car ride from end to end.There are ways to make the visualization more comparable, like walking both distances or driving both distances at a consistent speed, but the basic idea that a billion is a LOT more than a million is pretty clear.This one with rice that originally appeared on TikTok also shows a billion, as well as Jeff Bezos' billions:Image: YouTube / Tom Scott Read the rest