Boing Boing

It's hard to wrap one's head around the fact that, this year, Black Sabbath's eponymous debut album turns 50. It's also hard to wrap one's head around the seismic impact this record and this band would have on modern music.“We knew instantly that ‘Black Sabbath’ was very different to what was around at the time,” guitarist Tony Iommi says of the piece that gave the group its name.“We always wanted to go heavier than any other band,” bassist Geezer Butler says.“I thought the song would be a flop, but I also thought it was brilliant,” drummer Bill Ward says. “I still think it’s brilliant.”“When we played that song for the first time, the crowd went nuts,” Butler says.Half a century has passed since Black Sabbath first scared the bejesus out of rock fans with their eponymous anthem. The song opens with the sound of a powerful thunderstorm and ominous church chimes before crashing into its lumbering, iconic riff. The guitar chords lurch seismically, each one like a gut punch before quieting down just enough for Ozzy Osbourne to paint his own vivid portrait of fear — “What is this that stands before me/Figure in black which points at me?” It’s a scene so unnerving that he eventually pleads to the heavens, “Oh, no, NO, please God help me,” before the guitar riff and church bells come around again to strike him down. “Is this the end, my friend?” he wonders aloud. The six-minute horror vignette was spooky yet thrilling, and the song, “Black Sabbath,” would serve as the prototype for a genre poised to captivate the world. Read the rest

Tom the Dancing Bug, IN WHICH the spunky little boy president Donald gets away with being a very bad boy, and his imaginary publicist John helps him plot revenge and much more authoritarian naughtiness.

Pipe smoking is in a weird place culturally. Even while smoking restrictions fall nationwide and companies produce tobacco flavors of every variety, there remains a stigma around conventional pipes that can be problematic in the wrong places.For those who want to smoke without all the attention, the Genius Mini 5.0 Pipe is a smart 21st-century smoking alternative, sleek and stylish, yet very subtle and a lot more efficient than those old school means.The Genius has an all-aluminum finish with a discreet sliding smell-proof cover that shields your smoking material. In fact, the whole unit is so compact and unassuming that most users could hold it in their hands without anyone even knowing what it is.While the Genius is amazing portable, it’s drawing the ravest reviews from users for how well it works. Inside the Genius are hundreds of tiny dimples on the interior, which serve to cool and filter the smoke before it reaches the user without ever diluting the taste.Users get cooler, mellower draws that not only accentuate that taste but actually smooth out the smoke, which eliminates coughing and choking. Instead, you just get a pleasant smoking experience anywhere you go.You need to be at least 21 years old to purchase and the Genius is for tobacco use only.Right now, the Genius is $10 off its regular price at just $64.99. Read the rest

What is Bill Barr about to do for Roger Stone on behalf of Donald Trump?Whatever it is, that seems to be what's behind the “Tuesday Afternoon Massacre.”More AUSAs resign from the Roger Stone case on the same day the DoJ intervened on Trump's behalf. Earlier today, top Mueller prosecutor Aaron Zelinsky resigned from his position as AUSA in the DC office, but still works in MD... for now.Jonathan Kravis became the second -- in a statement he said he "has resigned as an Assistant United States Attorney and therefore no longer represents the government in this case." A third AUSA, Adam Jed, another Mueller veteran, just withdrew.And a new DOJ attorney, John Crabb Jr., has entered his appearance.These are the ones we know about, from court filings. At the least, three AUSA have resigned so far. Are there or will there be more?And John Crabb, the acting chief of the DC US Attorney's Office criminal division, enters his appearance in the case. pic.twitter.com/kIm3GXgXFQ— Andrew Prokop (@awprokop) February 11, 2020Adam Jed becomes the third Stone prosecutor to withdraw, days before sentencing. pic.twitter.com/P1gT1LUlqL— Andrew Prokop (@awprokop) February 11, 2020Trump says he did not ask the Justice Dept to change the Roger Stone sentence recommendation but says he would be allowed to do so pic.twitter.com/5AI2cCjFvy— Jeff Mason (@jeffmason1) February 11, 2020Another one out: Adam Jed, who joined Mueller's team in 2017, withdraws from the Stone case— Betsy Woodruff Swan (@woodruffbets) February 11, 2020Third prosecutor, Adam Jed, seeks to withdraw from Roger Stone case amid fight with superiors over sentencing recommendation https://t.co/RR05M63kIl Read the rest

If youâre one of the millions who regularly trudge down to a laundromat to clean all your clothes and other washables, then youâve undoubtedly wished for your own washing machine. Unfortunately, folks in apartments, mobile homes, dorms, tiny houses and other confined or restricted living situations donât always have the luxury. And to say the laundry visit is often a chore doesnât do it adequate justice.However, you might be surprised at the ability and usefulness of some mini washing machines like the ZENY Twin Tub Washing Machine, a unit that can go where its full-sized brothers never could. And before you dismiss the idea, consider that the notoriously trollish Amazon reviewers pretty firmly support the ZENY, offering 4 out of 5 stars from more than 330 reviews.At just two feet across and 26 inches high, the unit can fit almost anywhere, washing up to eight pounds of laundry per load in its tiny footprint. Of course, the real game-changer here is the Twin Tub dual design, which allows you to wash and spin dry separate loads at the same time.But it isnât enough to do a job -- it has to be done well. The ZENY is powered by a silent 1300RPM motor with rotary controls for a better cleaning effect and a water-efficient design that leaves your laundry clean, fresh and ready to be worn.And at 23.5 pounds, this washer is so portable you can even throw it in your vehicle to use during camping trips. Read the rest

BREAKING NEWS: Top Robert Mueller prosecutor Aaron S.J. Zelinsky resigns from the Roger Stone case, effective immediately, he tells the court in a filing.[READ THE FILING: PDF LINK]Zelinsky's filing includes this footnote:"The Court is advised that the undersigned attorney has resigned effective immediately after this filing as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for District of Columbia."He isn't quitting the DoJ, but rather resigning from that role.Wonder if this whole mess has anything to do with the DoJ, under pressure from Trump, stepping in in an unprecedented and lawless move today to shorten Roger Stone’s prison sentence (which has yet to be announced)?Hmm.So does Amy Berman Jackson have any discretion over Zelinsky's withdrawal?https://t.co/QCKTdP9Uvw pic.twitter.com/sI2J2A4crc— emptywheel (@emptywheel) February 11, 2020BREAKING In a one sentence court filing, former Mueller team prosecutor Aaron S.J. Zelinsky withdraws from Roger Stone prosecution in apparent protest to DOJ reversal/intervention in Trump prosecution sentencing. https://t.co/WKpyXEuw2B pic.twitter.com/93lL5Le4Bo— Spencer Hsu (@hsu_spencer) February 11, 2020Top Mueller prosecutor Aaron S.J. Zelinsky resigned from Roger Stone’s case, effective immediately, he told the court in a filing, after the Justice Department announced that it planned to change the recommendation to give Stone a lighter sentence, per @kpolantz— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 11, 2020Wow, Mueller prosecutor Zelinsky withdraws from the Stone case AND includes this footnote(!): "The Court is advised that the undersigned attorney has resigned effective immediately after this filing as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for District of Columbia" pic.twitter.com/TrNSo9qXeB Read the rest

I grew up in Virginia, and we used Old Bay Seasoning like folks around the country use salt and pepper. We really did put it on and in everything -- definitely stuff like crab cakes, fried fish, chicken, steaks, and of course, boiled crab ("crab bawl!").I buy it in a 24-oz institutional size can. I am not even kidding.Recently, Old Bay Seasoning teased a new hot sauce on social media. 🔥 #OLDBAYHOTSAUCE IS COMING 🔥 Less than 1 day until you can get your hands on a bottle (or 10) of this LIMITED EDITION product, available on https://t.co/bgVkhHJlOx. Tag someone who NEEDS this. 🌶️ pic.twitter.com/O80iJNmRqH— OLD BAY (@OLDBAYSeasoning) January 28, 2020🔥 #OldBayHotSauce is HERE🔥 Get your hands on a bottle (or 10) of this LIMITED EDITION product, available online. 🌶️ https://t.co/P7WQvM4ja2 pic.twitter.com/DWBCHn9M5I— OLD BAY (@OLDBAYSeasoning) January 29, 2020Evidently, so many other people love both Old Bay AND hot sauce that the response was just too much. The company's website crashed. The limited edition product sold out in 30 minutes.I have but three words for whoever is running things over there at McCormick (which owns Old Bay).PLEASEMAKEMORE.The Old Bay social media account is apologizing to sad fans like me who didn't manage to place an order before it sold out.Hi Scott,We are working hard to restock ASAP! You can visit the Old Bay website and sign up for updates about the restock here: https://t.co/Y1ArCrFqQ4 ~Cara— OLD BAY (@OLDBAYSeasoning) February 10, 2020Hi @PeteMacc51, We apologize for this experience with our Old Bay Hot Sauce. Read the rest

A California lawyer was arrested by federal authorities who say she was also selling guns and distributing methamphetamine. Sadly, neither are covered under attorney-client privilege. On Monday, feds arrested Orange County lawyer Melinda Romines, 41, for allegedly illegally selling firearms-- including to an undercover agent. The Anaheim resident was charged with conspiracy to engage in the business of dealing in firearms without a license, and with possession of an unregistered firearm, as well as two counts of distributing the illegal drug. ATF worked with local law enforcement to carry out the bust.[READ THE INDICTMENT]The federal indictment, returned last week, says Romines "found guns available for purchase from black market firearms dealers." Feds say Romines served as a broker between black market dealers and paying customers, and conducted business from various parking garages in Los Angeles.She wasn't messing around. Check out the size of the transactions.From Ashley Ludwig, Patch Staff writer with the Los Alamitos-Seal Beach, CA Patch.com:In May 2018, Romines was suspected of selling two firearms in a Los Angeles parking lot. Both a .40-caliber pistol and an AR-type .45-caliber rifle, each missing serial numbers, were sold in that exchange.Officials suspect also suspect Romines of selling a silencer and a high-capacity magazine with approximately 20 rounds of ammunition at that time, officials say. That transaction that netted her $2,600.In October 2018, in another Los Angeles parking lot, she sold a .45-caliber pistol and ammunition to a buyer for $900, the indictment alleges. Read the rest

Michaem Schmitt's (very) short film Hiccups was featured in Clive Barker's half-hour TV special "Short Screamers" (2003) and won on America's Funniest Home Videos in 2005. It reminds me of Albert Brooks and Dan Aykroyd's excellent prologue from Twilight Zone: The Movie, below. (via r/ObscureMedia) Read the rest

Remember 'Friday,' the internet-propelled pop hit everyone loved to mock in 2011? Yeah. Rebecca Black became a star overnight, and she says it sucked. Oh, and: She's back, and she's not 13 anymore."I'm trying to remind myself more and more that every day is a new opportunity to shift your reality and lift your spirit," she wrote. "You are not defined by any one choice or thing. Time heals and nothing is finite. It's a process that's never too late to begin."pic.twitter.com/lcua4H076t— Rebecca Black (@MsRebeccaBlack) February 11, 2020From CNN:Black was only in middle school when she filmed the infamous video. She paid a company called Ark Music Factory to write her a song and film a music video for it, starring her and her friends. It's not an artistic achievement, but it's fitting for the young star at its center. In it, Black sways and sings her way through a Friday -- she wakes up, she eats cereal, she can't decide which seat in a convertible to take. Typical teen stuff.The negative comments rolled in almost immediately, and nearly all of them lambasted Black."It's not that I was protecting this thing as, like, my prized most beautiful creative thing I've ever made in my life," she told Buzzfeed in 2019. "But it was me. And that was my face. And that was my name people were making fun of."Watch the video and read more at CNN:'Friday' almost ruined Rebecca Black's life. Read the rest

Would you guess the sound of ricocheting bullets on a Saturday morning cartoon? When isotopic geochemist, John Andrew Higgins, posted this to Twitter, people thought it was fake, a joke. He had to assure them it was not.IT NEVER GETS OLD! Ice drop 2020! N(ice)ly done.🧊🕳️💥🔊 https://t.co/5kx5UnCyYj— Peter Neff (@peter_neff) February 7, 2020Image: Screengrab from Twitter Read the rest

Password Of The Day describes itself as a sort-of "Internet Treasure Hunt." Sign up for their list with your phone number, and they'll send you one text message every day with a random username and password. The login credentials themselves are (supposedly) real; they just won't tell you where that particular combination will work. The discovery part is up to you. But if you're lucky, you might land access to a free account on Spotify, or Steam, or Pornhub, or Headspace, or any other sites. Even if it is technically someone else's account. As they explain in an FAQ on the site:Every day we are releasing one valid username+password combo to a mystery account. It could be Disney+, Creative Cloud, a bank account with $1000 in it - every day is different. So we give you the login info, but it’s up to you to discover what the account is; it’s like having a key, but not knowing what door it opens. Scour the internet, try your login on all the services you can think of. If you successfully log in, the account is yours!It's not clear where they're getting this data from, or who's paying for it. But if you want to take the gamble — hey, go for it.MSCHF, the company behind the list, is a pseudo-internet-performance-art-collective founded by ex-Buzzfeed employees that specializes in viral pranks. Sometimes these function as promotional material for other companies; sometimes they just exist, and maybe go viral, or don't. Read the rest

In 1952, New Zealander Tom Neale set out to establish a solitary life for himself on a remote island in the South Pacific. In all he would spend 17 years there, building a fulfilling life fending entirely for himself. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe Neale's adventures on the island and his impressions of an isolated existence.We'll also revisit Scunthorpe and puzzle over a boat's odd behavior.Show notesPlease support us on Patreon! Read the rest

Nearly 200 Americans who were evacuated from the coronavirus outbreak zone in China might be released soon from quarantine at a U.S. Air Force base in California. All Americans returning from Hubei province, where Wuhan city is located, were required to undergo a mandatory 14 day quarantine, and when that's up, they can go if determined to be healthy, a leading U.S. health official said. The fast-spreading outbreak has killed over 1,000 in China, where nearly 43,000 cases are reported. Another 319 confirmed cases have been confirmed in 24 other countries, 13 of which are in the United States. From Reuters:The first group of U.S. citizens to be evacuated from the coronavirus-stricken Chinese city of Wuhan are mostly U.S. State Department employees and their families. They were flown by government-chartered cargo jet to March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County about 60 miles (97 km) east of Los Angeles.“They are being assessed to make sure they remain symptom-free and we hope they’ll be released to travel home today,” Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington.Read more at Reuters:Nearly 200 Americans evacuated from China set to be freed from quarantine[February 11, 2020]FILE PHOTO: The ultrastructural morphology exhibited by the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV), which was identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China, is seen in an illustration released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Read the rest

Lest we forget, the Dancing Baby of 1996 was one of the first viral videos online and became an iconic meme of the early Web. Now, creative programmer Jack Armstrong has brought the Dancing Baby (aka the Oogachaka Baby) back to life in high definition and ported it to Garry's Mod (GMod) sandbox game. Armstrong posted a fascinating Twitter thread detailing his quest for the original 3D model of the character and how he re-rendered it into an HD form fit for today's uncanny valley. Read the rest

This is a horrible and very unfair situation. The real crimes were on the other side, as nothing happens to them. Cannot allow this miscarriage of justice! https://t.co/rHPfYX6Vbv— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 11, 2020Trump has pardoned at least a couple of cartoonishly repugnant people in recent years, so it's likely Roger Stone will be the next one to get his blessing.Replying to a tweet that said prosecutors are seeking a sentence of up to 9 years for the convicted felon, Trump tweeted: "This is a horrible and very unfair situation. The real crimes were on the other side, as nothing happens to them. Cannot allow this miscarriage of justice!"From National Review:Federal prosecutors said in a court filing Monday that Stone, who was found guilty in November of obstructing justice, witness tampering, and lying to Congress over alleged Russian contacts, should face seven to nine years in federal prison.“Investigations into election interference concern our national security, the integrity of our democratic processes, and the enforcement of our nation’s criminal laws. These are issues of paramount concern to every citizen of the United States. Obstructing such critical investigations thus strikes at the very heart of our American democracy,” the prosecutors stated.After that, Flynn?Image by The Circus on SHOWTIME - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVRmVlNFEa0, CC BY 3.0, Link Read the rest

I use a password manager to deal with my hundreds of different passwords, and it's pretty convenient to use on my phone and laptop. But the Fido (fast identification online) Alliance thinks getting access to your online accounts could be even more convenient and secure by replacing passwords with your trusted devices. From 9To5Mac:For example, if you try to login to a website on your iPhone, you would enter only your username and it would then send an authentication request to one of your other registered devices, such as an Apple Watch. You could simply tap to authorize. Similarly, when accessing a service on your Mac, you would be able to approve it on your iPhone – and so on.Although this might sound like weaker security, it’s actually secure. Only one of your own trusted devices can make a request for authentication as you, and only a different one of your own trusted devices can approve that request. An attacker wanting to impersonate you would need physical possession of two of your trusted devices, and to be logged in to both. For example, they would need to have your iPhone and its passcode, and your Mac and its password.While Apple’s system is limited to its own devices, the alliance wants all manufacturers to sign up to this approach, so you’d also be able to authorize a login on an Android smartphone, Android tablet, Chromebook, Windows PC or any other trusted device.Image: YouTube Read the rest

For nearly forty years, master Nyabinghi percussionist Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah has collaborated with dub magician Adrian Sherwood/On-U Sound and friends in a psychedelic reggae ensemble called African Head Charge. (In the 1980s, their first album, My Life in a Hole in the Ground (1981), was the go-to soundtrack for my own personal journeys into inner space.) On March 6, they're following up a series of vinyl reissues with Drumming Is A Language: 1990-2011 a CD box set or vinyl bundle containing five essential albums along with "Churchical Chant Of The Iyabinghi," a collection of unreleased version mixes from the early 1990s. For a taste, immerse yourself in the gorgeous expanse of "Peace and Happiness" above. The way out is the way in. (via Dangerous Minds) Read the rest

From CBS News:A national monument in Arizona, home to rare species and sacred Native American burial sites, is being blown up this week as part of construction for President Trump's border wall, Customs and Border Protection confirmed to CBS News. "Controlled blasting" inside Arizona's Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument began this week without consultation from the Native American nation whose ancestral land it affects, according to the congressman whose district includes the reservation."There has been no consultation with the nation," said Congressman Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, who is the chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources and whose district contains the reservation and shares 400 miles of border with Mexico. "This administration is basically trampling on the tribe's history — and to put it poignantly, it's ancestry."Unfortunately, the burial grounds are not technically part of the land that the US government had designated as property of the Tohono O'odham Nation. They are adjacent to the reservation; but under US law, that puts them onto public property.The glaringly obvious issue here is the complete and utter disrespect for the religion and culture of non-white, non-Christian people — in this case, people with roots in this country that far pre-date any white or Christian roots here. In fact, shortly before construction began, archaeologists artifacts and bone fragments at the site that were 10,000 years point.But then, at this point, I'm honestly not sure if there would be any backlash if the Trump administration blew up a white Evangelical cemetery, or if they'd all cheer him on in the name of White American Jesus. Read the rest

Behold the smooth disco of Kirinji. The director is Eisuke Shirota, but the perfectly exquisite dance routine is choreographed and performed by Reijiro Kaneko. Read the rest

Why did Jeff Bezos recently sell $4.1 billion in Amazon shares, in a single week?His stake in Amazon.com Inc., the company he founded and serves as CEO, stayed more or less the same over the last 10 years, but like everything else involving Bezos -- things have changed.“Bezos sold 2 million shares, worth $4.1 billion, as part of a pre-arranged trading plan between Jan. 31 and Feb. 6,” reports Tom Metcalf at Bloomberg News, citing SEC regulatory filings. “That’s the largest seven-day selldown by any executive tracked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which began in 2012.”Excerpt from the Bloomberg News piece:WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum sold $4 billion of Facebook Inc. shares in 2016, but that took months. Laurene Powell Jobs divested more than $6 billion of Walt Disney Co. shares in 2016, though it wasn’t part of a trading plan.For Bezos, it’s a sharp reversal from years of relative restraint even as the value of his Amazon stake eclipsed 12 figures in 2017.His increased pace of sales this year might be a result of his 2019 split from MacKenzie Bezos. The pair divorced in the state of Washington, where Amazon is based and the couple lived. It’s a community property state, meaning all assets and debt acquired during a marriage “will be divided equitably by the court if the couple cannot negotiate an agreement,” according to the website of McKinley Irvin, a family law firm in the region.Read more:Jeff Bezos’s Record $4.1 Read the rest

"You are not samurai!" yells murder defendant Todd Winkler, jabbing his finger at the judge presiding over his murder trial in Placerville, Calif. Winkler, a former fighter pilot and pharmaceutical executive, was ultimately found guilty of murdering his second wife with a pair of scissors. His conviction brought new attention to the death of his first wife in a 1999 car wreck, but no charges were ever filed. CBS News produced a documentary highlighting his dubious claims to mental illness, The Two Faces of Todd Winkler. The general conclusion from acquaintances and experts seems to be that he's faking it. Read the rest

For those in certain professions like teaching or public safety, employees are almost always required to pass a few benchmark certification courses. However, there are even more job sectors like IT, where premium level, industry-recognized CompTIA certifications are not always a prerequisite for hiring.So, why bother getting certified, right?Hold up there for just a second. Core certifications, such as those earned in training like The Total CompTIA Core Certification Prep Bundle ($39, over 90 percent off) may not be demanded by a top-notch employer, but they go a long way toward rounding out how your new boss sees you.Certifications prove:You’re qualified. Get a CompTIA ITF+ (FC0-U61) certification in basic IT knowledge and skills like software and hardware, networking, security, and mobile devices and it shows you at least understand the core principles of the job.You’re committed. Nobody’s going to just take certification courses like CompTIA A+ Core 1 (220-1001) or CompTIA A+ Core 2 (220-1002), developing expanded skill sets in system configuration, troubleshooting and more unless they plan to make a true career of their abilities.You follow through. It’s one thing to take a CompTIA Network+ N10-007 course, learning about current and upcoming networking technologies. It’s another to pass the exam. That kind of sticktoitiveness is a spotlight on personal character that quality companies recognize.You’re promotable. Earning a CompTIA Security+ SY0-501 certification as a system threats and vulnerabilities specialist says an employee is interested in growing as a professional and ready to take on increased responsibilities.Plus, it never hurts anyone’s self-esteem to know they’ve been certified as an expert by one of the premier IT oversight bodies in the world. Read the rest

This audio recording shows that Democratic presidential hopeful Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, remained an advocate of racial profiling long after a federal judge ruled that his use of it in office amounted to unconstitutional racial harassment. Bloomberg has attempted to prevent the leak of his 2015 speech at the Aspen Institute, somehow preventing them from releasing official video of him explaining why blacks need to be policed harder than whites. But it turns out at least one audience member had tape rolling.Here's a transcript of Bloomberg's evidence-free rangefinding on black crime, as posted by Daily Kos:95% of your murders -- murderers and murder victims fit one MO. You can just take the description, Xerox it and pass it out to all the cops. They are male. minorities, sixteen to twenty-five. That's true in New York. That's true in virtually every city. And that's where the real crime is.You've got to get the guns out of the hands of the people that are getting killed. You want to spend the money on a lot of cops in the streets. Put those cops where the crime is, which means in minority neighborhoods. So, one of the unintended consequences is people say, "Oh my God, you are arresting kids for marijuana that are all minorities. Yes, that's true. Why? Because we put all the cops in minority neighborhoods. Yes, that's true. Why do we do it? Because that's where all the crime is.And the way you get the guns out of the kid's hands is to throw them up against the walls and frisk them. Read the rest

James Floyd Kelly runs the excellent Tabletop Engineer channel on YouTube and Bexim's Bazaar, a monthly tabletop gaming magazine (to which I often contribute a game-crafting column). Like me, Jim was a lover of 80s roleplaying game fanzines. Unlike me, he's decided to use Kickstarter's Zine Quest 2 campaign as an excuse to try his hand at creating one of these homemade, old school zines. His zine, entitled Tavern Tales #1: Lair of the Battle Mage, will be a 32-page mini-adventure delivered in the format of the classic gaming zine (5.5" x 8" size).To honor the fun and uniqueness and rarity of the handmade, old school fanzines that have survived from the 70s and 80s, no more than 300 physical copies of Tavern Tales #1: Lair of the Battle Mage will be printed and mailed to backers. I'm going old school -- I'll be printing them, folding them, stapling them, and mailing them. I've created the 300 limit because I can only print, assemble and ship so many in the month of October. (Yes, more of Niloshis' tales may make an appearance in future zines, but not this one. Read it, play it, and then tuck it away for someone to discover in a few decades or more.)If you haven't checked out the Zine Quest 2 campaign, do! There is an embarrassment of retro-gaming riches here.Image: Kickstarter Screengrab Read the rest

The Department of Justice gives out grants to groups to help fight human trafficking. That's good!But this year, the DOJ decided to ignore the expected recipients, who both received high marks from grant application reviewers, and gave around $500,000 each to the Lincoln Tubman Foundation, a new organization founded by the daughter of a prominent Trump-supporting South Carolina Republican, and the Nevada-based Hookers for Jesus.Here's what Reuters, who broke the story, had to say about Hookers for Jesus:Hookers for Jesus, which received $530,190 over three years, is run by a born-again Christian trafficking survivor who has lobbied against decriminalizing prostitution, a policy position aligning with many in the Republican Party.Hookers for Jesus operates a safe house for female adult trafficking victims that, in 2010 and in 2018, maintained a policy of requiring guests to participate in religious activities, internal program manuals obtained by Reuters through public records requests show.The safe house’s manuals had rules that included a ban on reading “secular magazines with articles, pictures, etc. that portray worldly views/advice on living, sex, clothing, makeup tips.” Other rules limited everything from who victims could call to banning them from bringing their purses with them on weekly shopping trips. Rule-breakers could be penalized by being assigned chores such as washing windows.There are major issues here. First, that the policies around this particular grant forbid the government from funding any activity that is explicitly religious — that whole separation-of-church-and-state thing. Second, that the organizations that have received the grant in the past, and expected to receive it once again, were both involved in activities that were decidedly opposed to the Trump agenda. Read the rest

The Dancing Baby was an early viral GIF, emerging from a place where new and old media first found a common audience, a place that is now filled with darkness and anxiety but then seemed to promise wonders and new horizons. The dissolving of things was both anticipated and embraced; just not the dissolving of all human bonds before the graceless and impassive crush of technology. Anyway, someone found the original 3D model and uploaded it to the internet! Yay! Dancing Baby 2020.HOW I RE-DISCOVERED THE MODEL FOR 'THE DANCING BABY', RE-RENDERED THE ORIGINAL MEME IN HD, AND PORTED IT TO GMOD: A THREAD (1/11)(Mod: https://t.co/aE6Wse2tWN , YT: https://t.co/6fOjisXXMz) pic.twitter.com/J0ASNxncdB— JArmstrongArt (@JArmstrongArty) February 7, 2020JArmstrongArty [via Metafilter] Read the rest

Governor Thomas Johnson High School in Frederick, Maryland, sported new colors during a recent basketball game: the Nazi Swastika. School officials have apologized for the flag, hung in plain sight in a school window, and promised to find out who put it there.Serenity Bush Moore:Last night at one of the biggest games in FCPS, Thomas Johnson High School had this hateful flag prominently displayed in the window in the front of the school where everyone entered! As a graduate of FCPS, I am so regularly disappointed by their poor decisions. The idea that a school system has made a decision to exist in the destructiveness and incapacity dimensions of the cultural continuum demonstrates a total inability to protect all students. Please miss me with it’s a social studies class. What culturally proficient educator has a “life” size Nazi flag in their tool kit and then has the audacity to hang it OVER THEIR CLASSROOM WINDOW IN THE FRONT OF THE SCHOOL BUILDING BY THE MAIN ENTRANCE. Staff and administrative parking is directly in front of this window, so this was seen by a school leader. Irresponsibility and privilege at its highest levels.You just never know when it's time for a WWII history class in America. Read the rest

Yesterday, Christian Mosco of Volusia County, Florida was sentenced to ten years in prison after impersonating two assistant state prosecutors and attempting to use a fake court document to drop charges against himself. Mosco had previously been busted for extortion. According to the Daytona Beach News-Journal, the new charges include "two counts of falsely impersonating an officer, practicing law without authority, two counts of fraudulent use of personal identification and criminal process under color of law and uttering a forgery." From ClickOrlando:The Volusia County Clerk of Court’s office thought the document seemed suspicious and contacted the state attorney. After an investigation, the two offices determined the document was fraudulent.“The defendant employed threats, scams and theft in an attempt to further his criminal plans," State Attorney R.J. Larizza said in a news release. "Had he used his talents for positive and law-abiding activities, he would not be on his way to the State Prison System.” Read the rest

And you thought that the Reveal fake sunlight-through-trees projector that I posted about last month was spendy at $320! Mitsubishi's new LED faux skylights will sell for $6000-$7000 depending on the model. The LEDs change color to simulate "morning glow and sunset." From Mitsubishi Electric, translated via Chrome:Mitsubishi Electric Corporation uses a unique structure that combines a panel that imitates an open and deep blue sky with a frame that expresses the natural feeling of sunlight, creating a deep blue sky and natural light in indoor spaces...• A panel that mimics the blue sky using a light scatterer that generatesRayleigh scattering*, expressing an open and deep blue sky• Simulates natural sunlight by illuminating the three sides of the frame and making the remaining side look like a shadow• Natural light from the frame ensures the same brightness as general lighting equipment * A phenomenon that occurs when molecules enter the atmosphere when sunlight enters the atmosphere. The daytime sky looks blue because blue light with a short wavelength is more strongly scattered than red light with a long wavelength Read the rest

For 60 years, the itty-bitty town of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire has cast some of the very first ballots of the presidential primary election at The Balsams resort. The town's five registered voters cast their ballots at midnight and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was the surprise winner with 3 write-in ballots; 2 from Democrats and 1 from a Republican. Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigeig each received 1 vote.Two other teeny towns, Hart's Location and Millsfield, also voted at midnight. In Hart's Location, Sen. Amy Klobuchar came in first with 6 votes, followed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren with 4, Andrew Yang with 3, Sanders with 2, and former VP Joe Biden, Tom Steyer, and Tulsi Gabbard with 1 each. Impeached President Donald Trump received 15 votes on the Republican side, and former MA governor Bill Weld and Concord resident Mary Maxwell each received 1.Klobuchar won again in Millsfield, capturing 2 votes and Buttigieg, Biden, and Sanders each receiving 1 vote. Trump also won Millsfield with 15 votes.That put Amy Klobuchar in first place in New Hampshire, followed by a tie for second place between Warren and Sanders. The rest of the state will vote today and most polls will close at 7:00 PM.If you're looking to kill some time before results start coming in, I highly recommend the podcast "Stranglehold" from New Hampshire Public Radio. It's a deep dive into how New Hampshire became the first state in the nation to vote and if it deserves to keep that distinction. Read the rest

This video contains excellent albeit unspoken advice regarding door chains: Don't use them. Peepholes, people, peepholes. Read the rest

The bummers of adulthood are too many to count, but one of our least favorites is the inability to sit down and enjoy a nice bowl of cereal. When you've got a long commute ahead, let's face it: That extra time it takes to pour the milk and chow down is too precious to spare.That's why we're recommending the CrunchCup™ Portable Cereal Cup to you today.The simple genius behind this thing is pretty impressive. It consists of two cups—one nested inside the other. You pour your milk into the bigger one, then your cereal of choice into the smaller one. Screw on the top, then take it on the road.The cover on the lid gives you enough space for a hearty bite with every sip, and it combines the two on the way to your mouth. It might even be a better solution than the traditional bowl if you're the type of eater who likes to keep their cereal crispy.The CrunchCup™ Portable Cereal Cup is on sale now for 33% off the original price. Read the rest

Imaging walking into the Toby Jug Pub in Tolworth, England on February 10, 1972 expecting to see a folkier, more mellow David Bowie and encountering Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars instead. The world didn't know it yet, but it shifted on its cultural axis that night.This video is from later in the year, stitched together from various bits of footage and synced with the audio from Bowie's Oct 20th Santa Monica show.Image: YouTube Read the rest

Impeached American president Donald John Trump wants a 25% reduction in the military fund designed to deter Russian aggression against the U.S., no reason, why are you asking, no really, why, you seem kind of obsessed.According to Defense Department budget documents unveiled Monday, Trump plans to cut a military fund designed to offset Russian aggression in Eastern Europe by 25%.From U.S. News:Budget proposals for fiscal 2021 released Monday afternoon call for $4.5 billion for the European Deterrence Initiative, a fund started by the Obama administration in the aftermath of Russia's 2014 invasion of parts of eastern Ukraine and annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, which sparked a conflict that continues to inflict casualties on both sides. The latest proposal represents a precipitous drop from the $6 billion enacted for the current fiscal year and $6.5 billion the year before. Congress approved funding in line with administration requests for those years.Trump has repeatedly expressed criticism of U.S. programs like the EDI that provide training, resources and money for foreign governments throughout Europe, calling on other U.S. partners to do more. The president has previously raided this fund as a workaround to pay for a wall along the southern U.S. border after Congress refused to allocate those funds. Defense Secretary Mark Esper is expected to make an announcement later this week on how the military will pay for additional border wall construction, CNN reports, after Defense budget officials on Monday said that decision was not yet final. Read more:Trump Proposes 25 Percent Drop in Fund Designed to Deter Russia[usnews.com, Read the rest

This essay on the Wuhan coronavirus by Xu Zhangrun, translated from the original Chinese and annotated by Geremie R. Barmé on Chinafile.com, is absolutely amazing. I'm grateful it is now available for English-speaking audiences."rage against this injustice; let your lives burn with a flame of decency." Tsinghua professor Xu Zhangrun's passionate essay on the coronavirus epidemic is out in English, translated by Geremie Barmé. https://t.co/CNNyI6BzRr @chinaheritage— Chris Buckley 储百亮 (@ChuBailiang) February 10, 2020Excerpt first from the translator's notes:In July 2018, the Tsinghua University professor Xu Zhangrun published an unsparing critique of the Chinese Communist Party and its Chairman of Everything, Xi Jinping. Xu warned of the dangers of one-man rule, a sycophantic bureaucracy, putting politics ahead of professionalism and the myriad other problems that the system would encounter if it rejected further reforms. That philippic was one of a cycle of works that Xu wrote during a year in which he alerted his readers to pressing issues related to China’s momentous struggle with modernity, the state of the nation under Xi Jinping and the mixed prospects for its future. Those essays will be published in a collection titled Six Chapters from the 2018 Year of the Dog by Hong Kong City University Press in May this year. Although he was demoted by Tsinghua University in March 2019 and banned from teaching, writing and publishing, Xu has remained defiant. His latest polemical work—“When Fury Overcomes Fear”—translated below, appeared online on February 4, 2020 as the coronavirus epidemic swept China and infections overseas sparked concern around the world. Read the rest

The death toll from the Wuhan virus has officially passed 1,000, according to China's health commission.Here is a snapshot on the global reach of Novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV, including today's update from the Chinese government:• 42,729 confirmed cases worldwide• 23,589 suspected cases worldwide• 1,013 people have died• 7,463 are in serious or critical condition• 3,752 people who became sick recovered• Most 2019-nCoV cases are in China• 25 countries have reported casesAn additional 2,097 cases of coronavirus and 103 deaths were reported in central China’s Hubei Province. The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Hubei, where the virus origin city of Wuhan is located, has now reached 31,728.#China health commission announces 103 new recorded #coronavirus deaths on Monday in Hubei province.— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) February 10, 2020China's Hubei province confirmed an additional 2,097 coronavirus cases and 103 deaths on Feb. 10, the health commission said. The current death toll is at least 1,011 pic.twitter.com/wXwcHDN7NV— QuickTake by Bloomberg (@QuickTake) February 10, 2020 Read the rest

“I mean, just see the flash of him rolling over me and in a straight line, and he was gone,” the deer-trampled gentleman told WSOC-TV.‘It was absolutely nuts,’ said Ken Worthy, a retired detective in North Carolina who was randomly plowed over by a startled deer in a McDonald’s parking lot the other day. From WSOCTV.com in North Carolina:“It was just a bit of brown, and then I saw his face, I was down on the ground -- that quick,” he said.Worthy is a retired detective and has seen some things, but the encounter caught him off guard.“I mean, just see the flash of him rolling over me and in a straight line, and he was gone,” Worley said.He was with his wife at McDonald’s for lunch.“We were walking out with our Cokes,” he said.[IMAGES: McDonalds surveillance video screengrabs, courtesy Ken Worthy][via Associated Press] Read the rest

Prosecutors released one of the make-believe athletic resumes that Lori Loughlin, aka Aunt Becky, manufactured to get her daughters into USC. Although neither daughter ever rowed a boat for any team, both pretended to be on crew teams when applying to college. The resume (below) says that one of her daughters (whose name is blacked out) had won many a medals, two gold, dating back to 2014. And her impressive coxswain skill-set includes "awareness, organization, direction, and steering." Check out Loughlin's (and husband Mossimo Giannulli's) handiwork:Source: InsiderTop image: pxhereResume image: District of Massachusetts/DocumentCloud Read the rest

Know Yourself is a set of 60 cards to prompt you to examine your beliefs. Example card: “List five things that are important to you in your life. How much of your time do you give to each of these?” The back of each card offers advice to make sure you answer the questions in a useful way. You can use their cards on your own or with another person you feel close to. Be prepared to surprise yourself. These could be good prompts for people interested in keeping a journal or writing a memoir. Read the rest

We all know sleep is important. But once you dig into the facts, you might be surprised at just how important it is. People who get adequate sleep each night tend to weigh less, exhibit better concentration and productivity, show fewer signs of heart disease and stroke and even suffer fewer mental health issues like depression than those who toss and turn every night.Meanwhile, how well you sleep could link back to one incredibly basic factor: your pillow. In addition to comfort, your pillow is supposed to be offering your neck and upper back support during your sleeping hours. Without the right support, you may be more restless, sleep-deprived and prone to all that ugly stuff above.We can’t have it. So check out these three options for replacing your current pillow with one ready to do the nocturnal work you need.Aloe Ice Pillow Gel - $81.99 (Originally $109)If you ever felt a memory foam pillow left you a little too warm to sleep comfortably, then welcome to gel foam. The Aloe Ice contours to your head and neck like memory foam, but the water expanded gel infused with soothing aloe vera essential oil offers 3,000 times more airflow than other foam pillows. The result of all those breathable and heat-dissipating materials is the coolest, most comfortable night’s sleep imaginable.Refresh Memory Foam Pillow - $73.99 (Originally $99)Adapting to the natural shape of your body, the soft to the touch, pressure relief Refresh pillow is the pillow of choice for stomach and back sleepers as well as those that prefer a lower loft. Read the rest

'Marijuana Moment' publisher Tom Angell tweeted today about the impact of impeached president Donald Trump's new budget on marijuana law in America.Tom points out that the new Trump budget would:• End state medical cannabis protections• Keep blocking DC from legalizing marijuana sales• Gut White House drug czar’s office• Fund FDA “regulation of cannabis and cannabis derivatives”• Support hemp implementation.Here's an excerpt from Kyle Jaeger's analysis for marijuanamoment.net:President Trump proposed ending an existing policy that protects state medical marijuana programs from Justice Department interference as part of his fiscal year 2021 budget plan released on Monday.The rider, which has been renewed in appropriations legislation every year since 2014, stipulates the the Justice Department can’t use its funds to prevent states or territories “from implementing their own laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.”This isn’t the first time that an administration has requested that the rider be stricken. Trump’s last two budgets omitted the medical cannabis protections language, and President Obama similarly asked for the policy to be removed. In all cases, Congress has ignored those requests and renewed the protections in spending bills.Read more:Trump Budget Proposes Ending State Medical Marijuana Protections And Blocking DC From Legalizing[marijuanamoment.net] Read the rest

Leaked emails reveal that Amazon.com is stockpiling products made in China over fears that coronavirus will harm its supply chain — after the company said the outbreak will cause 'no interruptions' to operations. Business Insider reports that Amazon reached out to a number of suppliers last week to quickly increase its inventory of products made in China.In the email, Amazon said the move is to "prepare for possible supply chain disruptions due to recent global events originating in China,” and told third-party sellers they should be taking "precautions" to protect their seller account performance ratings.Novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV originated in Wuhan, China, and has killed over 900 people and infected more than 40,000 as of today. The outbreak is causing economic shock and closed factories throughout the country.“The move shows the urgency Amazon is working with to prevent any potential supply chain disruptions it could face due to the coronavirus outbreak in China, where the bulk of its products are sourced from,” reports Eugene Kim for Business Insider:"Amazon issued off-cycle orders to you last night in order to prepare for possible supply chain disruptions due to recent global events originating in China," Amazon said in one of the emails viewed by Business Insider.Amazon told these suppliers that the new orders are for products sold in the US but made in China, and that the change is in response to the coronavirus outbreak. In one of the emails viewed by Business Insider, Amazon said it's placing "stock-up purchase orders for several weeks of supply," and that it's giving the suppliers 5 extra days to ship the products to Amazon's warehouse. Read the rest

Biden tackles a ‘mean question’ about electability after Iowa. pic.twitter.com/mhDaSHbXqU— Cleve R. Wootson Jr. (@CleveWootson) February 9, 2020At Biden's campaign event in New Hampshire yesterday, a 21-year-old student asked him: "How do you explain the performance in Iowa, and why should voters believe that you can win the national election?"Joe Biden dealt with the question by calling her a "lying dog-faced pony soldier."Apparently, he thought is was OK to call her that because he thinks a cowboy movie actor said it 67 years ago.Image by Digital Campaign Manager Doug Jones for Senate - Doug Jones for Senate Committee, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link. Modified. Read the rest

After 12 days out of sight while the coronavirus death toll surged, Chinese President Xi Jinping finally made a public appearance on Monday. He wore a face mask and a medical worker took his temperature at a “front-line” coronavirus facility in the Chaoyang district of Beijing.For the last two weeks, Xi has been out of public view. He briefly met with Cambodia’s autocratic leader, Hun Sen, but was otherwise off camera while his country faced a crisis that has now killed more people than the 2002 SARS outbreak.Video: Chinese President Xi Jinping inspected the #novelcoronavirus pneumonia prevention and control work in Beijing on Monday afternoon. Xi visited residents and staff in a community in Chaoyang District to learn about the situation of the frontline work. https://t.co/n2zr4Ckifs pic.twitter.com/fYLk7DqIzs— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) February 10, 2020From the Washington Post:It was unclear whether Xi’s appearance Monday was connected to the proliferation of signs of frustration among some Chinese citizens, but the president’s message was clear: Trust the Communist Party with confronting the outbreak.According to state television, Xi acknowledged that the situation remains serious. But he added that the Chinese leadership would take further measures to contain the spread of the virus and prevent mass layoffs as a result of the economic fallout.China, he said, would prevail over the virus.Mask-clad Xi Jinping emerges from conspicuous absence to visit coronavirus ‘front line’[washingtonpost.com, Rick Noack Feb. 10, 2020] Read the rest

I had family in town and thought we ought to try Los Angeles marijuana-friendly restaurant. A good time was had by all!The OG Cannabis Cafe is LA's new spot where you can eat lunch while smoking out or vaping. When my sister and brother-in-law told me they were coming to town for a visit, I booked a reservation.We took an entertaining ride-share to the restaurant, located on La Brea in West Hollywood. The driver almost missed the place as it resides inside a well-walled garden. We were greeted in the parking lot by two guys who checked ID to confirm we were over the age of 21 and then allowed in. It was a good thing we had reservations as the Saturday afternoon wait for a table without one was over an hour. We were seated almost immediately, however, in their lovely patio. There is also an indoor seating area, but it was a beautiful day and outside seemed much nicer.Every seat was filled and folks were smoking joints or vaping up a storm. We were not, however, overwhelmed by the smell of weed as the patio uses a pretty effective air filtration system -- even outdoors. The tables around the perimeter are covered by fairly cyberpunk looking hoods that do a great job of capturing the secondhand smoke and removing it. We were never bothered.Upon being seated the process for ordering both food and weed was explained. Both are ordered at the table. You pay for marijuana as you go and they will take cash or run your carb before delivering it to the table. Read the rest

Esta es la “obra” por la que en estos momentos el mundo del arte esta de luto pic.twitter.com/4jDyIZnK3E— Pedro Damian (@PedroDamianMA) February 9, 2020Art critic Avelina Lésper wanted to demonstrate her feelings about a work of art by Gabriel Rico on display in Mexico, so she approached it and set a can of soda next to it. Somehow Lésper's action allegedly caused the artwork to shatter, according to The Guardian.“It was like the work heard my comment and felt what I thought of it,” Lésper said in a video statement for Milenio, a Mexican media group that publishes her columns. “The work shattered into pieces and collapsed and fell on the floor.”Lésper said she was then told the piece was valued at $20,000.Accident or not, the gallery displaying the work criticised Lésper’s behaviour as unprofessional.“Lésper coming too close to the work to place a soda can on it and take a picture as criticism without a doubt caused the destruction,” OMR gallery said in a statement on Instagram.Photo of shattered glass by Orane Thomas on Unsplash Read the rest

In new court filings, AWS (Amazon Web Services) claims it wants to depose Donald Trump about his involvement in the JEDI bidding process, and “efforts to harm Amazon or AWS.” The lawsuit filed by Amazon's cloud computing division cites a history of the president's public attacks of Amazon, including allegations he told Mattis to “screw Amazon” out of the deal. As covered here on Boing Boing last November, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos was none too happy about the matter.From CNBC:Amazon is seeking to depose President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and former Defense Secretary James Mattis over a $10 billion Pentagon cloud contract awarded to Microsoft.In court documents unsealed and filed Monday, Amazon’s cloud computing arm said it’s looking to depose seven “individuals who were instrumental” in the JEDI source selection and “played pivotal roles” in the ultimate awarding of the contract. Aside from Trump, Mattis and Esper, Amazon Web Services is also seeking to depose the Defense Department’s chief information officer, Dana Deasy, and the source selection authority, which awarded the contract to Microsoft, as well as the chairpersons of the SSA, according to the documents.A spokesperson for AWS told CNBC in a statement: “President Trump has repeatedly demonstrated his willingness to use his position as President and Commander in Chief to interfere with government functions – including federal procurements – to advance his personal agenda. The preservation of public confidence in the nation’s procurement process requires discovery and supplementation of the administrative record, particularly in light of President Trump’s order to ‘screw Amazon.’ Read the rest

• The Equifax breach was disclosed in 2017, exposed financial records of 150M Americans • FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich: “This is the largest theft of sensitive PII by state-sponsored hackers ever recorded.”The U.S. Department of Justice today announced charges against four intelligence agents of the Chinese government for the legendary Equifax hack. Disclosed in September 2017, the breach exposed sensitive financial records of nearly 150 million Americans and many other foreigners.Read more about the charges here at justice.gov.More: Politico, The Verge, The New York Times.Twitter reactions below, followed by the full announcement from the Department of Justice.DOJ announcement of Chinese hackers ties together whole series of state-sponsored data thefts: OPM, Marriott, Anthem, and Equifax. Huge pool of data, will take decades to undo damage to US intelligence.— Garrett M. Graff (@vermontgmg) February 10, 2020Equifax statement. (It would've been nice had Equifax at least acknowledged its own massive fuckups that led to the breach in the first place.)A House report in 2018 that the breach was "entirely preventable" had Equifax bothered to patch its systems. https://t.co/8tyVTwaUlY pic.twitter.com/zmFj09lljv— Zack Whittaker (@zackwhittaker) February 10, 2020DOJ Indicts 4 members of PLA for Equifax hack (part of 54th Research Institute).One of the few publicly disclosed cyber actions from PLA since 2016 Cyber Agreement. Most activity in recent years has emanated from MSS and their contractorshttps://t.co/7wjhTidYv6— Dmitri Alperovitch (@DAlperovitch) February 10, 2020I can't believe that Equifax is still in business https://t.co/Q5g8NJaAYQ Read the rest

It appears that a county in Kansas has found a way to make people overburdened by medical debt struggle more.CBS News:That law was put in place at Hassenplug's own recommendation to the local judge. The attorney uses that law by asking the court to direct people with unpaid medical bills to appear in court every three months and state they are too poor to pay in what is called a "debtors exam."If two hearings are missed, the judge issues an arrest warrant for contempt of court. Bail is set at $500.Hassenplug said he gets "paid on what's collected." If the bail money is applied to the judgment, then he gets a portion of that, he said."We're sending them to jail for contempt of court for failure to appear," Hassenplug said.In most courts, bail money is returned when defendants appear in court. But in almost every case in Coffeyville, that money goes to pay attorneys like Hassenplug and the medical debt his clients are owed."This raises serious constitutional concerns," said Nusrat Choudhury, the deputy director of the ACLU. "What's happening here is a jailhouse shake-down for cash that is the criminalization of private debt." Read the rest