Things are not looking good for Michael Avenatti. His ex-girlfriend Mareli Miniutti says he violently dragged her out of bed and called her a 'f--king bitch.'Mareli Miniutti, 24, is described as an “aspiring actress” by CNN. A Los Angeles judge today granted Miniutti a restraining order against celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti, whom she claims physically and verbally assaulted her. Miniutti says she was in a relationship with Avenatti, who is 47, and that they lived together. She accuses him of hitting her face with pillows, shouting that she was an “ungrateful fu**ing bitch,” and dragging her across the floor.Avenatti was arrested last week by police in Los Angeles as a suspect of felony domestic violence, and released on bail the same day. He denies having been violent against “any woman,” “ever.” He has not been charged with a crime.CNN and other news organizations today confirm that Miniutti is the woman who is the alleged victim in last week's much-covered arrest. Avenatti would probably claim that he's the victim, but I digress.I also spoke with Mareli Miniutti’s husband, Michael Miniutti. He told me: "In Mareli's defense, she was never aggressive. She never put me in an aggressive state of mind or anything like that. She’s a very calm, well-mannered, respectful individual. Very polite. Classy woman."— MJ Lee (@mj_lee) November 20, 2018Excerpt from CNN:In a declaration filed as part of the request for a restraining order in Los Angeles Superior Court, Miniutti, 24, said she and Avenatti had been dating since October 2017 and living together since January of this year. Read the rest

I love the clothes from Volante Design ("Superhuman Streetwear"); their latest is the "Starfleet 2364" line of men's and women's jackets inspired by Star Trek: The Next Generation uniforms.The jackets are made of heavy denim and are basically extremely well-styled/tailored biker jackets (like Volante's excellent Hacker jackets), partially or fully unzipping them and folding down their lapels takes them from "cosplay" to "cosplay adjacent" in an instant. They've got loads of interior and exterior pockets, and are double-stitched and come in "Command Red, Operations Gold, or Sciences Blue," sized 37 - 51, 55 (men), and 33 - 45 (women). They're made in New York City, retail for $315, and will ship by December 14th. Read the rest

Film theorist Laura Mulvey coined the term "male gaze" to describe the "masculine, heterosexual perspective that presents and represents women as sexual objects for the pleasure of the male viewer": in a paper for the Harvard Journal of Law and Gender, Southwestern Law School professor John Tehranian applies Mulvey's idea to the complex and often nonsensical way that copyright determines who is an "author" of a work and thus entitled to control it, and shows how the notion of authorship reflects and amplifies the power imbalances already present in the world.Copyright law presumes the existence of an "author" in whom copyright can be vested, but the concept of an author is complicated, especially as media have become more bound up in the cooperation of multiple parties (photographers and subjects, actors and directors, etc). The actual rules of copyright tend to follow industry practices: that is, the industry arrives at a certain way of doing things, and then there's a dispute, and the courts usually look at how the industry is doing things, and declares that to be the law (or sometimes Congress enshrines into law the existing practices of industry). In industry, there are always power imbalances that reflect underlying social conditions: the person who owns a movie studio has more power than the actors they hire, the record label usually has more power than the musicians it records.So as courts were asked to develop a theory of authorship, they arrived at the idea that the "author" is the person who commits the work to some tangible medium: the photographer, not the model; and where there are complex processes involved in that tangible fixation, the "master mind" orchestrating the production becomes the author (the director, not the camera operator). Read the rest

Researchers at Melbourne, Australia's RMIT University devised these bizarre "third arm" chest-mounted"robots to experiment with what they call "playful eating." For science. Video below. From RMIT University's Exertion Games Lab:In this experience, all three arms (the person’s own two arms and the “third” arm, the robotic arm) are used for feeding oneself and the other person. The robotic arm (third arm) is attached to the body via a vest. We playfully subverted the functioning of the robotic arm so that its final movements (once it has picked up the food), i.e. whether to feed the wearer or the partner, are guided by the facial expressions of the dining partner...Mapping of the partner’s “more positive” facial expression to the feeding of food to the partner (via the wearer’s third arm) we hoped would elicit joy, laughter, and a sense of sharing based on the knowledge of feeding one another that is associated with positive emotions, however, this could also result in the perception of a loss of agency over what one eats. Through to-and-fro ambiguous movements of the third arm in the air (when sensing a “neutral” facial expression of the dining partner), it gave an opportunity to the diners to express their reactions more vividly, as we know that facial expressions become a key element to engage with a partner while eating."Arm-A-Dine: Towards Understanding the Design of Playful Embodied Eating Experiences" (PDF)More at IEEE Spectrum: "Feed Your Friends With Autonomous Chest-Mounted Robot Arms" Read the rest

The Intercept has published slides from Partnership for America’s Health Care Future -- a lobbying group representing the for-profit health-care sector -- detailing the organization's plan to kill Medicare for All.The slides and the accompanying reporting paint a picture of party establishment figures who have cycled into the lobbying industry -- former staffers for Obama and both Bill and Hillary Clinton -- and are now guns for hire, taking for-profit health industry money to try to scuttle the idea of extending universal health care to everyone in America.The effort to reframe the debate has two prongs: a set of messages crafted for elite DC policymakers and another set aimed at heading off the mounting public approval for Medicare for All, now supported by 70% of Americans including a majority of registered Republicans.As you might expect, given the stiff opposition, the Partnership's playbook hints at some pretty dirty tricks.In one planning document circulated over the summer, the Partnership suggested a series of messages to wean Americans away from supporting single payer. The talking points emphasize that the current system provides “world-class care,” and that any move away from the Affordable Care Act would be “ripping apart our current system.”The strategy exploits familiar themes that have long been used by business groups against new government health care programs, calling for allies to say lines such as “bureaucrats in DC have no understanding of a person’s medical situation and will be making decisions about your health care instead of doctors.”The Partnership plans to form a speakers bureau of former Democratic elected officials who can leverage the media to make the case that expanding Medicare is bad politics and policy. Read the rest

On November 18, 1978, more than nine hundred members of the Peoples Temple, under the guidance of cult leader Rev. Jim Jones, killed themselves or were murdered in the jungles of Guyana. Five years before the mass suicide-murder though, Jones was a pillar of the San Francisco community, hobnobbing with government officials and other big-shots while leading his adoring congregation in religious, social, and political activism. It was during those sunny days that Jones and the Peoples Temple released "He's Able," a soulful gospel album featuring the congregation's choir, band, and of course their fearless leader. Rolling Stone's David Chiu shares the history of this private press LP that took on a whole new life after its creators' tragic deaths:In a way, the Temple choir and the band were a microcosm of the church: a group of performers of different races, age groups and social backgrounds who came together to advance progressive and social causes, such as helping the underprivileged. “These are voices that no longer are here,” says Leslie Wagner-Wilson, a former Temple choir member, of the album. “And they were singing because they had hope. They had a hope for a better world.”..Jim Jones himself appeared on the record, singing lead on the hymnal “Down From His Glory,” a reworking of the Neapolitan song “O Sole Mio.” (Listen below.) “He came in with a couple of his guards that were with him,” (music director James) Beam recalls of that particular session with Jones. “Everybody in the recording studio that worked there looked at this guy and went, ‘Whoa, what’s going on with this?’ He had his sunglasses on at 12 at night. Read the rest

If you are looking to improve your Fortnite performance this video tutorial may prove supremely helpful.I had not messed with my sensitivity settings in months. A quick tweak led to a few multi-kill games last night!I also enjoy the target practice carnival games that Epic has set up in Playground mode.Thanks, Reddit! Read the rest

The End of Trust (previously) is a special issue of McSweeney's, produced in collaboration with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, on the themes of technology, privacy and surveillance: it's in stores today, and free to download under a Creative Commons license.The collection features writing by EFF’s team, including Executive Director Cindy Cohn, Education and Design Lead Soraya Okuda, Senior Investigative Researcher Dave Maass, Special Advisor Cory Doctorow, and board member Bruce Schneier.We also recruited some of our favorite thinkers on digital rights to contribute to the collection: anthropologist Gabriella Coleman contemplates anonymity; Edward Snowden explains blockchain; journalist Julia Angwin and Pioneer Award-winning artist Trevor Paglen discuss the intersections of their work; Pioneer Award winner Malkia Cyril discusses the historical surveillance of black bodies; and Ken Montenegro and Hamid Khan of Stop LAPD Spying debate author and intelligence contractor Myke Cole on the question of whether there’s a way law enforcement can use surveillance responsibly. The End of Trust (McSweeney's 54) [EFF] Read the rest

Like the billions in public money destined for Amazon's benefit and that of the world's richest man, it's all perfectly legal.The two employees decided to the buy units just before the first press reports surfaced that Amazon was likely to choose Long Island City for its new headquarters, Mr. Aguayo said. The buyers now live in New Jersey and Queens, he added.While employees aren’t permitted to buy and sell stocks based on nonpublic information, several real estate lawyers said they were aware of no such prohibition for real-estate transactions.The WSJ reports no "reliable figures" on sales in the area since Amazon's announcement (and immediately before it, evidently) but it's explosive. One brokerage says it sold 150 condos in the last four days, 15 times its normal volume. Read the rest

Fantasy and science fiction author and political activist Steven Brust (previously) was this year's Guest of Honor at Philcon, an excellent Philadelphia-area science fiction (I have also had the privilege to be Philcon's GoH, and it's a great con); his guest of honor speech is entitled Truth as a Vehicle for Enhancing Fiction, Fiction as a Vehicle for Discovering Truth, and he's posted a transcript to his blog.It's a fascinating examination of how philosophy and fiction mesh, and particularly how "pulp" forms of fiction like fantasy and science fiction both convey philosophical ideas and benefit from their inclusion -- and how people who claim not to have a philosophy or to adhere to "isms" are in fact, espousing a philosophy.So now we turn it around, because yeah, we really can can discover truth, understand reality better, through fiction, and that’s how we create fiction that hits hard, that punches, that stays with us. But now the question is, what sort of truth do we find in our made-up worlds?I call a book successful insofar as people who read it are glad they did. But that’s only because I’ve learned that it’s easier to meet my standards if I set them low. In other words, “a good story well told,” as the saying goes, is worthwhile, but not all that challenging. We all know a story can do more than that. We’ve all read books that gave us new ideas to play with, or made us reconsider things we thought we knew. Read the rest

$5 from the $17 purchase price of each hand-painted Trumpturd squishy is directed to the charity of your choice, from among the ACLU, Greenpeace, Planned Parenthood, or the Institute for Free Speech. (Thanks, Jared!) Read the rest

Trump's "Operation Faithful Patriot" was a $200,000,000 exercise in which 6,000 US troops were deployed within the USA, to the US/Mexico border, nominally to repel the migrant caravan of desperate, poor, terrified asylum seekers.At the time, many accused Trump of staging an election stunt to terrorize his base, part of the lies about Middle Eastern terrorists and MS13 gang-members amongst the refugee caravan. Trump supporters insisted that the president was merely fulfilling his duty to ensure the safety of America and Americans.However, Trump has now announced that the troops will be home by Christmas, right around the time the caravan is expected to arrive. The American people are $200 million poorer for it -- that's money we can ill afford, given the record-beating deficit the Trump administration is set to run, thanks to all the corporate welfare and one percenter tax-breaks he's handed out.In other words, the president spent millions in taxpayer dollars on a stunt that failed completely. Despite the withdrawal, Trump insisted on Sunday that the U.S. is basically under siege, tweeting “the U.S. is ill-prepared for this invasion, and will not stand for it,” saying that the caravan “causing crime and big problems in Mexico” and directing the migrants, who we’re sure are checking social media right now to “Go home!”Administration Admits Border Deployment Was a $200 Million Election Stunt [Bess Levin/Vanity Fair] Read the rest

This fancy pigeon showed up on a Glendale, Arizona woman's back patio. She called in rescue organization Fallen Feathers who are now seeking the bird's owner. From AZFamily:"He was in her back patio and he kept coming up to the sliding back door and looking like he wanted to come in," said Kieran.She's convinced the pigeon is someone's pet and not wild. Read the rest

The population of England is said here to be the longest-running data series. The source is the Bank of England and other enterprises of the English state (the Doomsday Book!), but presented here by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.The Black Death was rough. Read the rest

Every year or so I buy another 5 pack of these Pilot Varsity disposable fountain pens.I keep these in my travel bag. Unlike refillable fountain pens, of which I have far too many, these do not dry out if forgotten in the pocket of a jacket. They do not leak when airplane cabins pressurize. My hands stay clean and lack the telltale mark of ink on my middle finger that fountain pen travel usually engenders.They write just fine.Pilot V Pen (Varsity) Disposable Fountain Pens, Black Ink, Small Point Value Set of 5 via Amazon Read the rest

🚨 BREAKING NEWS 🚨 The Verge confirms that "Twitter redesigns iOS app to de-emphasize follower counts". Posted with the subheading "Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has been touting a redesign like this for months", the 400 word-long, anonymously sourced scoop confirms that the font on the following/followers line is now a bit smaller.Twitter has made follower counts appear less prominent on its iOS app by making the font size smaller in a new redesign effort, according to a Twitter spokesperson. The change comes after CEO Jack Dorsey repeatedly said that he wants to rethink how the company could prioritize “meaningful” conversations over numbers like retweets, likes, and follows."By decreasing the font sizes," adds reporter Makena Kelly, "users’ eyes aren’t drawn to the number nearly as much as when it’s larger."The meaningfulness UX revolution is screenshotted above.I can’t stop thinking about this blog post pic.twitter.com/CqwZXT9bv4— Andy Orin (@andyorin) November 20, 2018 Read the rest

There's the "Laser-Induced Plasma Effect" (one laser dislodges atmospheric electrons and spins up plasma; a second blows up the ionizing gas "to release an ear-splitting burst of sound energy"); there's the "Variable Kinetic System" that "fires 180 rounds of micro-­pulverized burning irritant (or stink bombs or inky liquid)" and there's the "Pre-Emplaced Electric Vehicle Stopper" ("emits high-voltage pulses that disrupt the vehicle’s engine").Rebecca Heilwei's roundup of the DoD's less-lethal weapons program is awfully willing to give the DoD and its private-sector contractors the benefit of the doubt, from the use of the term "nonlethal" (a propaganda term used to promote the unrealistic idea that these things won't kill people) to the uncritical repetition of the DoD and its contractors' description of the effects of these weapons (for example, the statement that the Pre-Emplaced Electric Vehicle Stopper "won’t electrocute the passengers" -- but will it stop their pacemakers? Trigger their implanted defibrillators? Short out their cochlear implants? Glitch out their artificial pancreases? Trigger seizures?).The story would be better served with a large helping of the approach of pioneering Wired cover-woman Limor "Lady Ada" Fried, whose Open Source Non-Lethal Weapons project is a critical investigation into how these weapons perform in the real world, under independent scrutiny.2. Carbon Nanotube ThermophoneInstead of a traditional loudspeaker’s array of cones, coils, and magnets, this lightweight projector pushes heat currents through cylinders of pure, finely twisted carbon. Rapidly warming and cooling these tubes creates noise, a technique that, the Defense Department hopes, could one day imbue tiny drones with the power to scream “Drop your weapons, enemy scum!”3. Read the rest

2018 was a big year for 16-year-old singer/songwriter Billie Eilish. Her rise to stardom can be measured in numbers. Last year at this time, she had 257,000 followers on Instagram and she now has 6.3 million. The most people she had performed in front of was just 500, and now that number's at 40,000. The jump to fame has had a price though and I think you'll be surprised at how tenderly she mourns the less-famous, more innocent "Billie" of just last year.On October 18th, 2017, after a busy day of promotional interviews in New York City, Billie Eilish met with Vanity Fair to discuss the 15-year-old’s breakthrough success. On October 18th, 2018, after a long day of pre-tour rehearsals, Billie spoke with VF again to answer the exact same questions and look back at a time capsule of her answers from last year. Read the rest

View this post on InstagramA post shared by Jason Weisberger (@jlw) on Nov 18, 2018 at 1:39pm PST Peanut butter and jelly on a warm pizza crust is pretty darn incredible.Hidden in the bowels of Disneyland's old Disneyland Hotel lies Goofy's Kitchen. This character dining experience is unremarkable in the world of character dining experiences, except for one amazing item found on the smorgasbord: Peanut Butter and Jelly Pizza.Years ago this amazing treat became a fabled delicacy for my daughter and I. We encountered PB&J pizza the very first time we went to Goofy's Kitchen, however later visits always found the pizza plate empty. While my darling kid had only enjoyed PB&J pizza once, the dish was imprinted on her as a magical-yet-unobtainable treat.I loved the pizza too! As a youth pb&j in my dad's proto-George Foreman Grill was highly regarded. Lightly toasted bread on the outside with packets of hot gooey peanut butter and jelly in the middle? Honestly, sometimes jelly wasn't required! As a young adult, toasted or microwaved peanut butter sandwiches were also a staple. View this post on InstagramA post shared by Jason Weisberger (@jlw) on Nov 18, 2018 at 1:25pm PST Last weekend we wanted a treat worth the calories. I couldn't remember exactly what the pizza looked like and after many years of joking, we checked the internet...Naturally, there is a forum!Goofy's Kitchen PB&J Pizza was so popular that Disney either did, or does, offer the recipe to plain folk like us! Read the rest

This is cute. To promote their new animated movie Ralph Breaks the Internet, John C. Reilly and Sarah Silverman answered the internet's most-asked questions about themselves in the latest WIRED Autocomplete Interview video. Read the rest

On January 1st, 2019, Washington State will be rolling out some of the toughest gun laws in the United States. If you want to buy a semi automatic rifle in Washington next year, you'll have to be 21 years of age, instead of 18. You'll have to store that puppy safely, too: According to the Seattle Times, in some circumstances, gun owners will be criminally liable if an unauthorized individual uses their boom-stick to commit a crime. It's a move that should make everyone in the state feel just a little bit safer, what with all of the gun violence of late.Provided the cops are willing to enforce the new laws.From The Root:Republic, Washington, Police Chief Loren Culp, whose name makes him sound like a placeholder villain in a crime procedural, has announced that his police force, comprising all of him and his deputy, will not enforce the law when it goes into effect in January 2019.Culp has proposed an ordinance to his city council—supposedly based on the Second Amendment—essentially saying that gun regulation laws like Initiative 1639, the one in question, infringe on citizens’ constitutional right to bear arms and through the ordinance would be “hereby declared to be invalid in the City of Republic,” per the Times.In an interview with the Seattle Times, Culp made it clear that he thinks that having to be accountable for your firearm by reporting it stolen within five days of the theft is unreasonable bullshit. Making sure that folks under 21 years of age aren't allowed to bop around with a semi-automatic weapon? Read the rest

Chelsea G. Summers' beautiful article about a beatiful place recalls its ugly history: the murder of 91 "witches" in Vardø, Norway, part of a century-long persecution against which the Salem witch trials pale in comparison.There’s no easy way to describe Vardø’s extreme, compelling weirdness. It’s hard to believe that Vardø once held a population of 5,000 in the many buildings that squat on concrete haunches around the harbor. Vardø’s hotels once burst with rich Russians who traded rubles for cod. The wharf once slapped with the sounds of fish being beheaded, gutted, skinned, salted and dried. The harbor once rang with the sounds of ships — at first small with sails, then larger with motors, then metal monsters — coming and going. Just 70 years ago, sailors swaggered in and out of Vardø’s bars and shops; just 25 years ago, more than 350 Sri Lankans staffed the fish processing plants. Now Vardø is a fraction of its former size, and its ghosts seems to hug you close.Photo: Chelsea G. Summers Read the rest

In the Washington Post, Eli Saslow profiles Christopher Blair, a 46-year-old "liberal" hoaxter whose Facebook group, "America’s Last Line of Defense," is full of far-right hoaxes that he creates and then reveals, in order to humiliate the Trumpist "taters" who spread them; and Shirley Chapian, a 76-year-old retiree who believes and repeats all the racist hoaxes Saslow creates and will not disbelieve them, even when Saslow reveals the gag.Saslow's portraits are full of contradictions: Blair and his friends use the hoaxes to push Trump supporters into making racist statements that violate Facebook's Terms of Service and then get them kicked off (the same tactic the dictator of Cambodia uses to get opposition leaders kicked off the service), and they also get Macedonian hoax-sites shut down for plagiarizing their own hoaxes. But at the same time, they turn a real profit from allowing ads to run against their hoax stories, which are repeatedly labeled "satire" but whose satirical nature is lost on the right-wingers who repeat them.Chapian is also a complicated figure who once belonged to the National Organization for Women and campaigned for wage equality, but who is so willing and eager to repeat the racist hoaxes that Blair creates that it's obvious where her credibility springs from -- that is, which of her beliefs is being confirmed by Blair. But Chapian is also a tragic figure, someone whose bad decision to retire to Pahrump, NV has taken her far from the movie theaters she loves, and whose obsession with keeping up with all the bad news about the rise of Sharia law and the invading waves of immigrants has supplanted the needlepoint she once found such satisfaction in. Read the rest

Sausage brand Jimmy Dean is offering wrapping paper that smells like their product line as part of a promotional "recipe gift exchange." To get some of this sausage-scented wrapping paper, you just have to cook up a recipe using their sausage and submit it to their exchange. You can then pick the wrapping paper, or one of the other branded things they offer, as your gift. Then you can enjoy the magic of huffing the meaty-smelling presents under the tree. Or not.(Brandflakes) Read the rest

Werner Herzog is responsible for many strange, wonderful things. Everything he's involved in is kissed by a brutal beauty--even that first Jack Reacher movie, starring Tom Cruise. In this video from Future States, Mr. Herzog gives voice to the odyssey of a plastic bag: once loved and then discarded by its maker. For a video that runs just under 19 minutes, it runs through a full gauntlet of emotions, weirdness and existential questions. Read the rest

Enjoy this trippy kaleidoscopic ultra-HD short film posted by Michael Shainblum.I am proud to share my latest abstract mirror timelapse video “The Wormhole”. I knew after creating Mirror city I wanted to keep exploring the idea of kaleidoscopic imagery in timelapse. This time I wanted to expand upon the idea, creating scenes that feel like new worlds in alternate universes. I utilized camera techniques such as hyperlapse and aerial video to further showcase the surrealism in the video. Cities showcased in this video are Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, New York City, Dubai, Doha, Singapore, Shanghai. I really hope you enjoy the video! Read the rest

To show kids that she was just a nice person playing a wicked witch, Wizard of Oz actress Margaret Hamilton dropped by Mister Rogers' neighborhood in 1975. Hamilton, a former kindergarten teacher, talked with Rogers about how she dreamed of being a witch when she was a girl and was "thrilled" when the part was offered to her as an adult. "Sometimes, Mister Rogers, I'm a little unhappy because lots of children are quite scared by her and that always makes me feel a little sad."(Rusty's Electric Dreams) Read the rest

YouTube is (legally) hosting a full-HD copy of Hackers, the seminal 1995 movie introducing mainstream America to the world of amateur logging and hack-and-drag tree poaching in the old Yukon. Read the rest

Republican state AGs were in the majority...until this months election, when the majority flipped, with the most climate-denying AGs (in Michigan, Colorado, Wisconsin and Nevada) losing their jobs to Dems who ran on strong environmental platforms.The outgoing climate-deniers pioneered a strategy of coordinated lawsuits and legal action (such as amicus briefs) to hold back action on climate and liability for fossil-fuel companies. Now that Dems hold those offices, they could deploy the same tactics to grind the climate-wrecking looters' plans to a halt -- for example, Michigan's new Democratic AG Dana Nessel has vowed to shut down the Enbridge pipeline that carries Canada's planet-destroying, filthy tar-sands oil to US markets. In addition to the New York suit, which relies on a 1921 anti-fraud act aimed at curbing Wall Street excesses, and a suit by Rhode Island, which uses its anti-nuisance laws to hold 14 oil and gas companies liable for pollution, Massachusetts is using consumer protection laws to argue that the industry’s failure to alert the public to the long-term risks of its products amounted to false and unfair advertising.“One thing that’s really interesting in working with Democratic attorneys general across the country is that every office is a little bit different in how it’s structured, what powers they’ve been given, what their budgets are, what sort of authority they have,” Ulmer said. “When it comes to issue-specific questions, it truly is going to depend on the state.“But I can tell you a number of these candidates have talked about the importance of climate change, protecting the environment, protecting natural resources, making sure that the citizens of their states have clean water and really clean air and protecting the future during their campaigns. Read the rest

No one's ever satisfied with what they have. If you're given a piece of cake, chances are, you'd be happy with another helping. You've got a job, but you'd like a better one. You can enjoy the view from the valley, but the scenery would be better at the top of the mountain.Canada has legal cannabis. Now the cops are worried about Canadians making their own hash oil using dangerous methods.From the Kelowna Daily Courier:Alberta law enforcement officials say they are worried that the legalization of marijuana could lead to potentially explosive consequences for users taking a do-it-yourself approach to making cannabis derivatives at home.Just over a month ago, Canadians were given the right to purchase dried and fresh cannabis and unconcentrated forms of cannabis oil.It is likely to be another year before concentrates will be legalized."What's going to happen — and this is just my prediction — is that people are going to do a butane hash extraction at home and they're going to blow themselves up," said Sgt. Guy Pilon, clandestine lab co-ordinator with the Edmonton Police Service."We've had a number of those in the recent past. People blow themselves up trying to make this weed oil."According to Sgt. Pilon, in the days before dope was legalized in Canada, the Edmonton Police Service dealt with only a handful of homemade lab setups designed to extract oil hash oil, using butane. The oil extracted is wicked potent. Unfortunately, using butane to extract it is wicked dangerous: a single spark with butane in the air will ensure you have a bad day. Read the rest

The key to learning any new language is feedback. When you're immersed in conversation, it's easy to pick up key phrases and pronunciation, but not all of us have the means to jet off to Spain, France or wherever we can learn to speak like a local. The next best thing: The Mondly app.Mondly is packed with thorough dictionaries and verb conjugators for 33 languages, plus lessons that will have you picking up basic conversation fast. Plus, it acts as your private tutor, correcting your pronunciation through speech recognition. Combine that with examples from a roster of professional voice actors, and it's like having a new international friend to show you the ropes.Why not learn a new language today? Your excuses are dwindling: The price has just dropped on a one, three or five language lifetime subscription to Mondly.Mondly: Lifetime Subscription (1 Language): $19.99 (normally $39.99)Mondly: Lifetime Subscription (3 Languages): $39.99 (normally $59.99)Mondly: Lifetime Subscription (5 Languages): $49.99 (normally $69.99) Read the rest

Editor's note: We love this one-stop spreadsheet of women-led businesses created by Krystal Plomatos, and encourage you to share it with friends and family. Give women your money, this holiday season and beyond.I SPEND A LOT OF TIME OBSESSING about two things: how more women can get more money and power, and brands. I’m a brand strategist by day. “Give Women Your Money” is my way of making it easier for women to find, shop, and help scale women-led businesses. It’s a “shoppable spreadsheet” with more than a hundred companies I’ve identified and collected here, with a simple form that anyone else can use to make suggestions.Give Women Your Money is also for the fellas! A lot of men are looking for ways to be a productive ally. Nudging them to shop from women anytime they need to get a gift for a significant other, mom, sister, friend, niece, etc., is one easy way they contribute towards the push for a more equitable business environment. (And some of the companies on the spreadsheet make unisex products, as well.)The numbers associated with women’s economic impact are staggering in terms of raw purchasing power (estimated at $7 trillion+ in the US), our dominance in gift-buying decisions (68%), our influence on entire household purchase choices (90%). When you take a moment to reflect on just how much power we collectively wield, it becomes exciting to actively shift your spending so it can benefit women from different backgrounds. At this point there is almost always a woman-led option for every category; from deodorants, to toothpaste, skincare and beauty, handbags, shoes, jewelry and, of course, clothes. Read the rest

Yes, irony is dead. The Washington Post reports that Presidential Daddy Daughter Ivanka Trump used a personal email account to receive and send emails about her work for the government of the United States. The emails were sent using the domain 'ijkfamily.com,' which Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner had a tech assistant set up in 2016, reports the Post.Ethics officials learned last year that Ivanka sent hundreds of emails from a personal account. Some of President Trump's advisers feared his daughter’s practices were all too similar to the personal email use of Hillary Clinton. Sources inside the Trump White House say when Ivanka was confronted with the conflict inherent in her email practices, she replied that she was not familiar with all of the rules.Will the White House release Ivanka's emails to prove that nothing sensitive was contained therein? Don't hold your breath.Excerpt:Some aides were startled by the volume of Ivanka Trump’s personal emails — and taken aback by her response when questioned about the practice. Trump said she was not familiar with some details of the rules, according to people with knowledge of her reaction.The White House referred requests for comment to Ivanka Trump’s attorney and ethics counsel, Abbe Lowell.In a statement, Peter Mirijanian, a spokesman for Lowell, acknowledged that the president’s daughter occasionally used her private email before she was briefed on the rules, but he said none of her messages contained classified information.“While transitioning into government, after she was given an official account but until the White House provided her the same guidance they had given others who started before she did, Ms. Read the rest

A brass plaque memorializing Iraqi tyrant Saddam Hussein was spotted Sunday on a park bench in London. No-one's exactly sure how long it's been there, but it was gone by Monday evening. Victoria Richards took the photo and spoke to the BBC.So this has just appeared on a bench on my local high street pic.twitter.com/Je9lvNsZX8— Victoria Richards (@nakedvix) November 19, 2018Victoria questioned the motive of whoever fixed the plaque on the bench: "Was it a prankster? What's the message? Was it a frivolous, dark thing to do?"Reaction on social media has been mixed. Some thought it was funny while others were shocked.Adds the BBC: "Some came to the conclusion there must have been another person called Saddam Hussein who was born and died on the same dates as the dictator, and lived locally in Wanstead." Read the rest

A Chicago police officer was shot and multiple victims are reported in an active shooting situation near Chicago's Mercy Hospital. Shots were fired both inside and outside the hospital.It is not known how many people are injured from gunfire. At least one police officer is said to be in critical condition, and a man identified as a suspected shooter is also said to be injured. Details are limited. "At least one possible offender is shot," a Chicago Police spokesperson said. Regarding the police officer, “He is in critical condition but receiving excellent care,” Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi tweeted. “Please send your prayers.”A #ChicagoPolice officer has been shot in the active shooter incident at Mercy Hospital. He is in critical condition but receiving excellent care. Please send your prayers. pic.twitter.com/kFfMY1ZmF7— Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) November 19, 2018“Officers are doing a methodical search of Mercy hospital,” Guglielmi said on Twitter.NotifyChicago: Please avoid the area of Mercy Hospital 2520 S Prairie due to Police Activity. Seek alternate route. Tune to local media for more information.— Chicago OEMC (@ChicagoOEMC) November 19, 2018From WALB:Police said a suspect was shot and there are multiple victims injured near Mercy Hospital and Medical Center on the South Side of Chicago.Shots were fired both inside and outside the hospital between 3 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. CT, police said.One of the injured is a Chicago police officer who is in critical condition.People evacuate a hospital in Chicago, where police say there are multiple victims, including a police officer, injured in a shooting. Read the rest

From Eastside Long Beach Crip to rapper to celebrity chef, there's pretty much nothing the Dogg can't do. Today, the entertainer and Los Angeles icon Snoop Dogg received a long-deserved star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.The performer born in Long Beach as Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. was feted by Dr. Dre and other hip-hop royalty in Los Angeles today. Here's the live feed, rewatchable in entirety.This week marks the 25th anniversary of his debut album "Doggystyle." Tweets and live video clips from the event follow.The guest of honor is here 🙌🏾 #SnoopDogg about to receive his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame 🌟 pic.twitter.com/7A7kTb9iTX— Big Boy (@BigBoy) November 19, 2018Quincy Jones takes the stage at Snoop Dogg's Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony https://t.co/NhwqManzAW pic.twitter.com/E4PU82gVM8— Variety (@Variety) November 19, 2018Dr. Dre pays tribute to Snoop Dogg: "That record completely change the course of my life" https://t.co/NhwqManzAW pic.twitter.com/0xiKcsJD0m— Variety (@Variety) November 19, 2018Celebrating @SnoopDogg’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame with @drdre pic.twitter.com/DCynUGJnLr— Big Boy (@BigBoy) November 19, 2018Congrats @SnoopDogg! The legendary rapper is getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today, just days before the 25th anniversary of his debut album "Doggystyle." https://t.co/SIXdZfl87C (w/ @VanessaBorge @TheRitaGarcia) pic.twitter.com/7csdHBor12— FOX 11 Los Angeles (@FOXLA) November 19, 2018WEST COAST LEGEND #SnoopDogg getting his Star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame! 🙏🏽⭐️🏆 @SnoopDogg pic.twitter.com/oPMgRWq7Qc— Power 106 (@Power106LA) November 19, 2018Pure joy from @SnoopDogg as he makes his way to see his Hollywood Star. Read the rest

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (previously), the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, has proposed abolishing Columbus Day (which honors a raping, murdering, enslaving, genocidal pedophile) and replacing it with a day off for voting (which most other developed democracies give their citizens).Ocasio-Cortez first mooted an Election Day holiday, then replyied to Daily Mail’s U.S. political editor David Martosko, who tweeted that "AOC hasn't even started the job yet and she's already angling for more vacation days," by saying, "While I would disagree with your complaint that Americans get too much vacation time (we work some of the longest hours of any dev country & have no Fed required paid leave), I am willing to compromise by eliminating Columbus Day to give Election Day off. See? I can be pliant."The idea that Election Day should be a national holiday was proposed by independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, for whom Ocasio-Cortez was an organizer, when he pursued the Democratic primary for the 2016 presidential election.After a turnout of only about 36 percent in the 2014 elections, according to the University of Florida’s United States Elections Project, Sanders co-sponsored a bill to establish “Democracy Day” to make it easier for Americans to vote.“Election Day should be a national holiday so that everyone has the time and opportunity to vote. While this would not be a cure-all, it would indicate a national commitment to create a more vibrant democracy,” Sanders wrote on his website. “We should not be satisfied with a 'democracy" in which more than 60 percent of our people don't vote and some 80 percent of young people and low-income Americans fail to vote.”Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Wants to Replace Columbus Day With Holiday for Election Day [Jessica Kwong/Newsweek] Read the rest

Got a 3D printer? Britt Michelsen Deadpool Knife Block Instructable will show you how to modify a 3D mesh of Deadpool, print it, paint it, and make the greatest kitchen-counter accouterments you could possibly want. (via Geekologie) Read the rest

A lot of airports have filtered water stations, but even if they don't I will just refill a bottle from the drinking fountain. This collapsable water bottle is better than the plastic bag style water bottle I was using, and right now Amazon has a 20% off coupon that applies at check out. Read the rest

Zeynep Tufekci (previously) says that Big Tech's "engagement maximization" algorithms meant that any time you talked about Alex Jones critically, the algorithms would start relentlessly recommending that you watch some Alex Jones videos, because they were so well designed to please the algorithms by sucking up our attention.The combination of attention-maximization algorithms and Jones's perfect playing of them meant that any talk about Jones was a way to drive support to Jones. But now that Jones has been banished from the super-concentrated Big Tech platforms, it's once again possible to talk about him without causing algorithms to barf up his autoplaying videos.Tufekci's argument is different from "don't feed the trolls" -- the idea that merely discussing the ideas of attention-seeking monsters is a bad idea because it gives them the attention they thrive on (and require, to reach their audiences). Rather, Tufekci is saying that the platforms' attention-maximization systems made the "don't feed the trolls" rule of thumb into something that was literally true: simply mentioning the troll would increase the spread of their videos by autosuggested, autoplaying algorithms that wanted you to spend more time on the site.The tech platforms have arbitrary power to decide what to amplify, and thus what to bury, and they have the power to banish as they wish. There is nothing aside from backlash to stop them from deplatforming, say, tech critics or politicians who call for shutting tax loopholes for massive corporations. Without due process or accountability, a frustrated public is left with appealing to a few powerful referees—and crossing our fingers. Read the rest

Concealed Online is an anonymously owned (the owner won't divulge his identity due to fear of reprisals) company whose customers complain scammed them by tricking them into taking its online curriculum for Virginia's farcical easy concealed carry permits, without divulging that these permits are useless in the rest of America.During the 2018 midterm season, Concealed Online bought $2,000,000 worth of ads on Facebook that warned Republicans that a coming Blue Wave would result in Democrats "coming for their guns" and urging them to get their concealed carry permits before that happened (again, without prominently divulging that these permits were useless outside of Virginia).We know about the ads because of Facebook's voluntary transparency measures about political ads. Concealed Online gets an F from the Better Business Bureau. Concealed Online completed Facebook's "political advertiser" registration, and Facebook says that its ads did not violate Facebook's standards.Instead, they feature urgent warnings, like, "The election is just DAYS AWAY and Gun Control Lawmakers could do a FULL STOP 🛑 on your 2nd Amendment rights! FAST-TRACK your Concealed Carry Certification ONLINE! It’s FREE, EASY, and STILL LEGAL! IGNORE AT YOUR OWN RISK." And yet, Concealed Online's owner rejects the idea that this is in any way a political ad. "It all depends on the intent of the ad. What’s the call to action? 100 percent of the time our call to action is: Click here to buy our product," he says. "The intention is to cause a sense of urgency to achieve more sales."An Obscure Concealed Carry Group Spent Millions on Facebook Political Ads [Issie Lapowsky/Wired] Read the rest

We've featured the stunning work of filmmaker Ron Risman before. His latest time-lapse video captures the changing sky above the plains.Image: Courtesy Ron Risman Read the rest

Donald Trump says that the reason California's forests are on fire is that Californians don't rake their forest floors to clear potential fuel, the way the Finns do.There are a lot of things wrong with this statement, including the fact that ground cover is key to maintaining wildlife habitats.But perhaps more importantly, people in Finland don't rake their forests. The Finnish President Sauli Niinisto denies telling Trump that Finns rake their forest floors (Trump claims he learned about Finnish forest-raking from Niinisto). Finns are posting memes of themselves raking the forest floor, calling the whole thing "rake news" and "raking America great again.""I was with the president of Finland, and he said: 'We have a much different [sic]..., we're a forest nation.' And they spent a lot of time on raking and cleaning and doing things, and they don't have any problem," he added.But Sauli Niinisto told the Ilta-Sanomat newspaper raking had not come up when they talked."I mentioned [to] him that Finland is a land covered by forests and we also have a good monitoring system and network," he said.The forestry director of the Finnish Forest Association, Heikki Savolainen, told the newspaper that raking was not usually a forest-management measure.California wildfires: Finland bemused by Trump raking comment [BBC](Image: @aspfors) Read the rest

Do you like Flaming Hot Cheetos? Well, heck. Why not enjoy a Flaming Hot Cheetos Thanksgiving turkey dinner with the whole family this year.Reynolds Kitchens shared a "Hot Turkey in an Oven Bag" recipe online, where you basically roast your bird in a spicy cheezy puffy crispy coating.All you have to do is crush "hot puffed cheese sticks," spread them all over the turkey with butter or oil, wrap the whole thing in a Reynolds oven bag, and bake it in the oven as directed.Come on. You can't deny it's authentically American.FLAVOR BLASTED TURKEYS [reynoldskitchens.com, via] Read the rest

Apple CEO Tim Cook has stated that the free market "is not working" and as a result, regulation of the tech sector is "inevitable."Cook made it clear that he was referring to the welcome and long-overdue noises that Congress is making about surveillance capitalism and the nonconsensual harvesting of compromising personal information from technology users.He was notably silent on all the other areas where tech may come under regulation, such as: right to repair and the use of technical countermeasures to thwart independent repair and drive customers to high priced, deceptive repair services; the misuse of US Customs to control the market for refurbished parts, and attempts to monopolize the refurb market for whole systems, the use of dubious profit-shifting and stock buybacks to starve the taxman and enrich shareholders, environmenally catastrophic "recycling" practices, and an overall shift from selling things to seeking rents.“This is not a matter of privacy versus profits, or privacy versus technical innovation. That’s a false choice,” he said.Cook told Axios that while he believes technology is not inherently good or bad, companies must be aware that their products can be misused.He also said that while Silicon Valley has embraced diversity in general, it “has missed it” when it comes to closing the gender gap.Apple’s Tim Cook says tech regulation ‘inevitable’ because free market isn’t working [Mike Murphy/Marketwatch] Read the rest

In 1971, "DB Cooper" hijacked a plane from Portland, Oregon and eventually parachuted into the Pacific Northwest wilderness with $200,000 strapped to his body. He was never seen again. The D.B. Cooper tale continues to thrive in popular culture while sparking a seemingly endless stream of theories about the mystery man's identity. In fact, a new suspect was put forward just this week! You can celebrate Saturday's anniversary of this captivating crime at the free DBCooperCon in Portland:Please join us at the 2018 DB Cooper Conference and hear experts discuss all aspects of America's only unsolved hijacking. In addition, see a real Cooper $20 bill from the ransom money found, a parachute just like the one Cooper used, a tie clip just like the one Cooper left behind on the jet, and much more. Read the rest

The FBI describes the group Proud Boys as an “extremist group with ties to white nationalism” in a document provided to reporters by law enforcement in the state of Washington. This marks the first time the American public has seen the nation's top law enforcement agency officially call the self-described “western chauvinist group” an extremist organization.Finally.'Proud Boys' is most recently best known for running around Manhattan terrifying people who aren't white. The hate group was founded by Vice Media co-founder Gavin McInnes, who keeps saying they're not white nationalist, white supremacist, or “alt-right,” despite ample evidence to the contrary. From the Guardian report on the Washington state police document:The document also says: “The FBI has warned local law enforcement agencies that the Proud Boys are actively recruiting in the Pacific north-west”, and: “Proud Boys members have contributed to the recent escalation of violence at political rallies held on college campuses, and in cities like Charlottesville, Virginia, Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington.”The report, and the FBI’s warning to south-west Washington police agencies about the Proud Boys’ role in escalating violence at these events came in August, two months before the group was involved in an infamous weekend of street violence in New York City and Portland, and not long after they participated in street violence in downtown Portland on 30 June.The document, provided to the Guardian by the government transparency non-profit Property of the People, was part of an internal affairs investigation into a probationary deputy in the Clark county sheriff’s department. Read the rest

Here's Stan Lee on a 1970 episode of To Tell The Truth, a fun game show where a panel of celebrities had to identify an individual with an unusual profession (in this case, comic book creator) among a group of impostors.Excelsior! Read the rest

It's not your imagination. The big cable news networks like CNN, MSNBC, and Fox pay way more attention to hurricanes and extreme weather on the east coast than they do to major firestorms in California, like the recent Camp and Woolsey fires. But why?More than a thousand people are still missing from those firestorms, which struck over the last two weeks and received scant attention, compared with archival records of the time devoted to big weather events closer to New York and Washington, DC.The Camp Fire is the deadliest fire in California state history.“On Fox News and MSNBC, the peak density of coverage through Sunday has never matched the lowest density of coverage on those networks in the first two weeks after the formation of Hurricane Irma in 2017,” writes Philip Bump at the Washington Post, in a great piece that tracks how coverage of wildfires and hurricanes compares on cable news -- and why discrepancies exist:In the wake of the Camp Fire in Northern California, which has killed at least 76 people, with hundreds missing, there has been a common criticism on social media that the wildfire — and wildfires in general — receive much less coverage than hurricanes on cable news. Analysis of closed-captioning data collected by the Internet Archive makes clear that this perception is accurate.Looking at four hurricanes — Harvey, Irma and Maria in 2017 and Michael this year — we pulled data on the density of hurricane coverage on every day following the formation of the storms. Read the rest

Berkeley County, South Carolina police are seeking the easter bunny and an accomplice for a rash of stolen trail cameras. "We know some-bunny knows them," say the police.(MyFox8) Read the rest