Mark Zuckerberg has handed $1m (£790,000) to Donald Trump’s inauguration fund, just months after the president-elect threatened to imprison him for life. The billionaire Facebook founder made the donation ahead of a private dinner with Mr Trump at his Mar-A-Lago club last month in a sign of thawing relations between the pair. Facebook suspended Mr Trump’s account for two years in 2021 in the wake of the Jan 6 riots on Capitol Hill. Mr Trump has repeatedly suggested he...

Meta Platforms has donated $1 million to president-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural fund, the latest step by CEO Mark Zuckerberg to bolster his once-fraught relationship with the incoming president. The donation, confirmed by the company, is a departure from past practice by Zuckerberg and his company, and comes after an election campaign in which Trump threatened to punish the tech tycoon if he tried to influence the election against him.  The contribution and efforts to court the...

Meta has donated $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural fund, the company confirmed to CNN. The news comes two weeks after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg met with Trump privately at Mar-a-Lago. The donation was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. CNN has reported that Zuckerberg is angling for a more active role in shaping the upcoming administration’s tech policy. It’s a major reversal from nearly four years ago when Meta banned Trump from its platforms...

Stevie Wonder is a musical virtuoso who can play just about any instrument you put in front of him, whether it’s a piano, harmonica, drums, or the harpejji, a cross between the piano and drums. But he is also an innovator who, after achieving success as a teenager, became an adult artist keen on breaking out of the “soul” genre and making incredible albums that combined jazz and rock.In 1972, at 21, he showed off a new instrument, the talkbox, that most people had never heard on “The David Frost Show." At first, the audience found it funny, but once he began to play it with the soul and virtuosity he’s known for, people saw the talkbox as a new way for musicians to express complex emotions. Wonder’s performance with the instrument is believed to have been the first time it was played on national TV.The talkbox is an effects pedal attached to a tube you place in your mouth. The box combines the sounds of the instrument you plug in, whether a guitar or synthesizer and the voice sung into the tube. The result is a sound that sounds like a robot is singing. The talkbox would later become famous for being used in songs such as “Do You Feel Like We Do?” by Peter Frampton, “More Bounce to the Ounce” by Zapp and “Livin' on a Prayer” by Bon Jovi.Its space-age sounds helped create the adorable squawks and squeaks of BB-8 in the “Star Wars” films.In his legendary introduction of the instrument, Wonder plays the talkbox on “Close to You” by The Carpenters and then transitions into a soulful version of “Never Can Say Goodbye,” made famous by The Jackson 5. - YouTube youtu.be What’s so interesting about the performance is that Wonder uses humor to introduce the funny-sounding instrument to the audience. Juxtaposing the saccharine sounds of The Carpenters with an other-worldly-sounding instrument was a definite clash of styles in 1972. But once the audience gets comfortable with the instrument, Wonder takes it in another direction, using it to create soulful, sincere sounds that create a unique atmosphere most people had never heard before, especially on prime TV.It takes an incredible amount of talent to take something that sounds so strange and to be able to move people emotionally with it.Wonder’s performance struck Frank Ocean, who sampled it on his song “Close to You” on his critically acclaimed 2016 “Blonde” album. However, in this version, Ocean changes lyrics to talk about a tough break-up with an ex-partner.In his live performances, Ocean has blended “Close to You” with “Never Can Say Goodbye,” just like Wonder did in 1972. - YouTube www.youtube.com The talkbox became a big part of pop music in the '70s and ‘80s, most notably in 1980 with Zapp’s “More Bounce to the Ounce,” in which Roger Troutman played the talkbox, hooked up to a synthesizer with incredible agility. Troutman would use the talkbox throughout his career, having another major hit with the instrument in 1996 with Tupac and Dr. Dre’s “California Love.”Sadly, Troutman was murdered by his brother outside of a recording studio in 1999. - YouTube www.youtube.com

Have you ever people say that only children are lonely? One family from Tifton, Georgia would like to respectfully disagree! Mom, nurse, and TikTok creator Blair recently sat down with her family for Thanksgiving and just had to capture the scene. All the grandparents, aunts, and uncles at the table decided to put on a show for her baby, Jax. As the only baby in the family — the only grandkid and only nephew — everyone was excited to chip in and show him a good time at the table.You've just got to see all seven adults going absolutely nuts to Chappell Roan's Pink Pony as a bewildered Jax looks on from his high chair. Eventually, even he can't resist getting in on the action, and he breaks out a few sweet torso-only dance moves of his own. I'd say they successfully kept him entertained! @blair.bear.rn My boy has some MOVES. ?? #happyturkeyday #thanksgiving #happythanksgiving #turkey #onlychildlife #onlygrandkid #nephew #son #momsoftiktok #momlife #family #familytime #ivf #ivfsuccess #fyp #nursesoftiktok Blair's video went unexpectedly viral, racking up over 2 million views and thousands of comments. People were blown away by the pure joy and love radiating off the screen in the short clip."He really said 'ya know what, hell yeah. These people are crazy and I love it' ?" the top comment read."You can feel the love that everyone has for that baby through the screen," wrote one commenter.Others couldn't help but share their own stories of everyone in the family showering attention on one baby. "My 4yo is the only grandchild and only neice and we spent 3 hours after dinner watching her 'perform' her original songs and dances for the family ?There are a lot of reasons, the cost of having kids being a big one," said another user."This is my entire family with my daughter ? she’s the only granddaughter, great granddaughter, and niece and gets ALL the attention ???," someone wrote.It seems Blair's family isn't the only one who loves letting the only-babies be the center of attention.Whether it's an intentional choice or just temporary, there's something really magical about only having one kid. Photo by Picsea on Unsplash Something called "one-and-done parenting" has become more and more common in recent years; that is, having one child and then calling it a day. There are a lot of reasons for the rise in only-child households — the high cost of childcare and other expenses, for example — but there are a lot of upsides as well.With one kid in the family, you (and your extended family) get to shower them in love and affection (just like in Blair's video), give them all of your resources and support, and still have a little time leftover for yourself. That gets a lot harder to do when you have multiple children.It also gives you time and space to be a more intentional parent. It's a lot easier to plan and execute the type of parent you want to be, the lessons you want to teach, when you can focus your energies on one, versus running around in a panic trying to wrangle multiple kids at once.When my firstborn was little, I remember things being so different. She'd get full attention from both me and my wife at bedtime, and sometimes from grandma, too, if she happened to be visiting. We'd read books, sing songs, and play games — two on one! Bedtime now that I have two girls is a lot more frantic and chaotic. There are still books and lots of laughters, but those early days had a special kind of magic to them.Some might look at this clip and think that the baby will end up spoiled by all the attention. Survey says? Not likely! Stereotypes about only children (lonely, spoiled, maladjusted) are just that: Stereotypes. And they're typically not true. There's no amount of love that's too much. So feel free to go absolutely nuts, all you grandparents and aunts and uncles out there!Blair says Jax is so especially meaningful to her and her family because of her experience with IVF:"My husband and I spent 8 years trying to have a baby before we were able to pursue IVF. We only had one embryo that survived the process, and when we finally transferred it, we were blessed with our little Jax. So when I take videos like this, I get to cherish every single second of our family loving our little boy as much as we love him. I think the people of TikTok saw a family that is willing to do whatever it took to make a little boy smile and it put a smile on everyone's face that was watching too."Having a big family with a bunch of kids is a ton of fun, but it's so cool to see how Blair's video captured how special and magic it is the first, and maybe, only time around, and how much it means to everyone in the family when an amazing new person gets added to the mix.

He detailed the sweet story in his new book.

General Flynn, Elon Musk, and Mel Gibson Sound the Alarm at Mar-a-Lago: ‘The Wolves Are Preying on Our Children’—The Truth About Trafficking and Global Corruption You’re Not Supposed to Know! – Gazetteller https://t.co/wzZ3oBjo0u — Lara Logan (@laralogan) December 12, 2024

by Martin Armstrong, Armstrong Economics: The International Monetary Fund is willing to provide El Salvador with a $1.3 billion loan, but the nation must meet two demands. First, El Salvador must commit to reducing its budget deficit to 3.5% of GDP over the next three years. The second requirement is for El Salvador to begin […]