The latest issue of Metal Hammer magazine comes with two gifts and 28 pages of Slipknot

Anthony S. Ferraro is blind, but he doesn’t let that stop him from doing anything. You might recognize his familiar face from Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and X. He posts various videos about being blind and doing stuff like skateboarding (he’s an avid boarder) and raising his new daughter. His resume includes motivational speaking, athletics, being a musician, and advocating for disabled youth. He recently toured a factory to show us how Braille is made. @asfvision How Braille is made ‍‍ ♬ original sound – Anthony S. Ferraro Braille is an innovative system of raised dots that allows blind people to “read” with their fingertips. Raised signs help blind people navigate in a sighted world. Louis Braille, a French educator, invented Braille in 1824. After suffering an eye injury early in his life, he was completely blind by age 5. The raised, six-dot coding of Braille is in use worldwide. When Anthony toured the printing factory, he was excited to learn that they print 30 million pages of Braille yearly and hire blind people to proofread all the published material. His tour begins at the zinc plate press with a man who has been working at the factory for 30 years. He goes through the process, showing Anthony each step and allowing him to feel the machinery, the zinc plate, and the finished product. He even let Anthony push the start button to get the machine rolling. Image from TikTok. The factory uses “impact” printers or embossing machines. Machines create raised dots by imprinting them on thick-grade paper. One of the larger presses is a Heidelberg Braille press. The factory produces written material such as novels, magazines, and menus. If you can print it in a book, you can print it in Braille. Image from TikTok. Anthony’s enthusiasm can be infectious. You can find the source of this story’s featured image here. The post How Braille Is Made: Tour Braille Facility Who Hires Blind Workers appeared first on InspireMore.

“Must have been a little too 'undercooked' for the indigo snake.”

Also, if you want to live to 100 your best shot is to be born somewhere without reliable birth certificates.

In August 2024, two female tourists, Jessee Clauson and Camille Avarella, embarked on a 15-day climbing adventure in the Longs Peak area of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. Their usual routine of posting scenic climbing photos on social media took an unexpected turn when they captured a bizarre image that quickly went viral. The photo, initially intended to showcase a beautiful morning landscape with a gray cloud hanging over the mountain, featured something unusual in the center—a strange, squiggly shape. When the image was enlarged, this “squiggle” revealed itself to be a thin, humanoid-like figure, seemingly clinging to the side of a steep cliff. Two hikers have been left stunned after encountering a frightening anomaly (a zoom on the specimen is pictured). Standing in stark contrast to the natural surroundings, the figure appeared to be around 20 feet tall (6 meters). Nothing similar had been seen in any other photos taken by Clauson and Avarella. The duo was left baffled, unable to determine if what they saw was something supernatural or simply a case of pareidolia. Pareidolia is a psychological phenomenon where people see familiar shapes, like faces or human figures, in random objects or patterns. In this case, it refers to the possibility that the strange figure in the photograph is just an illusion created by shadows, rocks, or other natural features. To resolve the mystery, the pair turned to the internet for opinions, but online users were equally divided. Some speculated that the figure might be nothing more than the tangled roots of a creeping plant, while others believed it could be something more sinister, like a wendigo—a mythical creature from Native American folklore. Other suggested that the climbers return to the location to investigate, but both Clauson and Avarella hesitated. Despite their curiosity, they admitted they weren’t keen on undertaking another grueling 15-day trek into the mountains. Avarella recounted how the figure was first noticed: “We were watching the mountain photos on our TV, and suddenly my dad asked, ‘What’s that hanging there?’ And we all just stared, saying, ‘What the hell is that?’ It could be a piece of rock, but the anatomy is so human-like—it’s freaky.” Clauson added with a laugh, “I like to think it was an alien.” The post Supernatural or Pareidolia: 20-Foot “Alien” Spotted in Rocky Mountains appeared first on Anomalien.com.

The debate debacle hosted by ABC underscored why the conservative half of America is hostile to “fact checkers.” Object to them, and the Left decrees it’s because you’re hostile to facts. But what conservatives actually oppose is leftist argumentation that’s poorly disguised as nonpartisan and devoid of opinion. “Fact checking” is often an exercise in spin-spoiling. The most obvious example from the ABC debate was the Democrat position on abortion. It is, as plainly stated in the 2020 DNC platform, for the woman’s “right to choose” without exception. That is what congressional Democrats have pushed in legislation, to repeal every limitation states have imposed. Donald Trump routinely turns to the 2019 comments of then-Governor Ralph Northam of Virginia on the radio as he discussed a bill by state legislator Kathy Tran to make third-trimester abortions easier. She admitted it was so extreme it would allow a baby to be killed as they were about to be born.   So Northam explained how a baby that was born could be “kept comfortable” while the parents decided if they wanted abortion. After this clip went viral, Northam’s team said he didn’t mean abortion. That’s not credible, but the spin spoilers will quote it like it’s rock-solid. In response to Trump, ABC moderator Linsey Davis made a face like she was smelling rancid meat and said “There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it's born.” Kamala Harris happily piled on: “Well, as I said, you're going to hear a bunch of lies. And that's not actually a surprising fact.” That fact check is false. Just look at Minnesota under her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz. A state law that was on the books since 1976 required “responsible medical personnel” to use all “reasonable measures consistent with good medical practice” to “preserve the life and health of the born-alive infant.”  The legislation Walz signed in May 2023 disposed of the word “preserve” and replaced it with a revised requirement “to care for the infant who is born alive.” Conservatives can detect the spirit of Northam in that verbiage. Leftists already use the term “abortion care.” That could apply to this. At the very least, the knee-jerk reflex to “fact check” should be suppressed. “Fact checkers” all over the media descended on Trump over his latest citation of Northam, as they have for years now. They spew in outraged protest that late-term abortions are “rare,” like that somehow makes the extreme Democrat stance untrue. ABC had carefully prepared to pounce on this. After the debate, Linsey Davis admitted to Stephen Battaglio at the Los Angeles Times that the decision to attempt to correct the candidates was in response to the CNN debate between Trump and Joe Biden, “whose poor performance led to his exit from the race.“ They claimed to have researched the speeches of both candidates, and Davis said she fully anticipated that Trump's “erroneous” abortion claim would come up when she questioned him. "That was an obvious thing to get on the record," Davis said. But there was no attempt, after all this apparent research on both candidates, to question anything Harris said to “get on the record.” Not one thing. Let’s guess that shameless zero occurred because on the Left, any attempt to fact-check a Democrat opposing Trump is objectionable, because it suggests that a Democrat’s falsehoods might be made equivalent to Trump’s. Every anti-Trump journalist acts on the belief that any measure of neutrality is an atrocity. But they don’t think late-term abortion is an atrocity.

The PBS News Hour relished the presidential debate between Vice-President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump, who they believe was fact-checked into oblivion and who succumbed to Harris’s baiting tactics. Co-anchor Geoff Bennett loved that “the former president was repeatedly fact-checked for inaccuracies” by ABC News’s hopelessly hostile moderators, before throwing the story to PBS's Harris campaign reporter/cheerleader Laura Barron-Lopez. After relaying the Trump-Harris debate’s back and forth over the economy and Harris’s closeness to Biden, PBS ran clips of Harris having successfully “baited Trump” over what the reporter called Trump’s “fondness of dictators” and crowd size at his rallies.  Barron-Lopez: For much of the night, Trump was on defense, not answering whether he'd sign or veto a national abortion ban. That's not true. Harris claimed Trump would sign a national ban, and Trump said: "Well, there she goes again. It's a lie. I'm not signing a ban. And there's no reason to sign a ban." She portrayed Trump as on defense two more times in similar fashion, with the help of ABC moderators Linsey and Muir, regarding Ukraine and January 6. Meanwhile, Harris was merely expanding her appeal to “undecided voters.” When PBS did eventually address the obvious bias of ABC’s moderator duo of David Muir and Linsey Davis, it was to make Republicans’ justified complaints look desperate. Barron-Lopez: Trump and Republicans were quick to attack the moderators for fact-checking him in real time, including on abortion. Trump: Her vice-presidential pick says abortion in the ninth month is absolutely fine. He also says execution after birth. It's execution, no longer abortion, because the baby is born. Moderator Linsey Davis: There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it's born. Gov. Tim Walz's state of Minnesota is extreme, allowing abortions at any stage of pregnancy. Barron-Lopez: And on a debunked conspiracy theory about Haitian immigrants in an Ohio town eating pets, one that's been peddled by far-right activist and 9/11 truther Laura Loomer, who traveled with Trump to the debate. No one likes a 9/11 Truther, and neither should Trump. Loomer is being called one based on an old Twitter post in which she forwarded another user's gross video about 9-11 being an “inside job.” But a Nexis search suggests PBS never mentioned Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman touting his very own 9-11 conspiracies (and a truly ghastly poem meditating upon them) on his personal blog, which he maintained up to 2014. If being a Truther is bad for a Republican gadfly, surely it’s bad for an actual elected Democrat. Barron-Lopez: Katie Sanders of PolitiFact defended the moderators. (PBS News Hour has partnered with Sanders and her left-leaning PolitiFact for the 2024 campaign, with predictable results.) Katie Sanders, Editor in Chief, PolitiFact: When a candidate is lobbying conspiracy theories, that's kind of a softball for a moderator, and it's particularly glaring if you don't address that. Barron-Lopez: She said Harris was not immune from critique for leaving out finer details, but it was Trump who required more immediate fact-checking. Sanders: I think one candidate, former President Trump, was repeating conspiracy theories that are pretty well-known to be false at this point and so it's almost easier to call those out in real time. Anchor Geoff Bennett seemed pleased with how the campaign was going for Harris, post-debate. Bennett: So, Laura, the Harris campaign feels good about how last night went both in terms of Harris' performance and the degree to which Donald Trump lost his composure multiple times last night. How does the debate in their view help her position in this campaign moving forward? Barron-Lopez: Well, the campaign feels as though it helps her immensely, that essentially the momentum she has had since she jumped into the race, they feel as though it's only going to be furthered by the debate. And that's what a lot of Democrats that I spoke to said. They feel as though it's totally different than how they felt after that June debate between President Biden and Donald Trump….. In another segment Wednesday about accusations that recent Haitian immigrants are eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, PBS reporter William Brangham tracked down show favorite and hard-left academic extremist-hunter Cynthia Miller-Idriss, who understood the assignment: Cynthia Miller-Idriss, American University: There's always been this idea of a threat from the other, from immigrants, from people of color to the nation, to white families, to civilization itself, right? This idea that there's some terrible threat coming that has to be defended against, and then, as evidence of that….It demonizes and it dehumanizes. Miller-Idriss once linked going to the gym with far-right extremism, which sounds extreme in itself. This segment was brought to you in part by Consumer Cellular. A transcript is available, click "Expand." PBS News Hour 9/11/24 7:03:03 p.m. (ET) Amna Nawaz: Tens of millions of Americans tuned into last night's consequential presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. Geoff Bennett: The contentious debate may be the only face off of the campaign season. Vice President Harris tried to walk a fine line between being both an incumbent and a change candidate all while fending off attacks from Donald Trump. And the former president was repeatedly fact-checked for inaccuracies. Laura Barron-Lopez reports. Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States (D) and U.S. Presidential Candidate: Kamala Harris. Donald Trump, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate: Nice to see you. Have fun. Laura Barron-Lopez: The night began cordially before the gloves came off. Kamala Harris: World leaders are laughing at Donald Trump. I have talked with military leaders, some of whom worked with you, and they say you're a disgrace. Donald Trump: She got zero votes, and when she ran, she was the first one to leave because she failed. Laura Barron-Lopez: It was their first face-to-face meeting, and their first head-to-head clash on the issues, like on the economy. Kamala Harris: I have a plan, $6,000 for young families for the first year of your child's life to help you in that most critical stage of your child's development. I have a plan. Donald Trump: She copied Biden's plan, and it's like four sentences, like run, Spot, run. Four sentences that are just, oh, we will try and lower taxes. Laura Barron-Lopez: The former president tried to link Harris to President Biden. Donald Trump: She is Biden. She's trying to get away from Biden. I don't know the gentleman she says. She is Biden. Kamala Harris: Clearly, I am not Joe Biden, and I am certainly not Donald Trump. Laura Barron-Lopez: And Harris, a former prosecutor, repeatedly baited Trump. Kamala Harris: They're so clear they can manipulate you with flattery and favors. Laura Barron-Lopez: From highlighting his fondness of dictators to needling Trump about the crowd size at his rallies. Kamala Harris: I'm going to invite you to attend one of Donald Trump's rallies, because it's a really interesting thing to watch. You will see during the course of his rallies, he talks about fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter. He will talk about windmills cause cancer. And what you will also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom. Donald Trump: People don't leave my rallies. We have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics. That's because people want to take their country back. Laura Barron-Lopez: For much of the night, Trump was on defense, not answering whether he'd sign or veto a national abortion ban. Linsey Davis, ABC News Live "Prime" Anchor: If I could just get a yes or no, because you're running mate, J.D. Vance, has said that you would veto if you did come to your desk. Donald Trump: Well, I didn't discuss it with J.D., in all fairness. Look, we don't have to discuss it. Laura Barron-Lopez: Refusing to say if he thought defending Ukraine against Russia was in America's national security interests. David Muir, "World News Tonight" Anchor and Managing Editor: I want to ask you a very simple question tonight. Do you want Ukraine to win this war? Donald Trump ® Former President of the United States and Presidential Nominee: I want the war to stop. I want to save lives that are being uselessly — people being killed by the millions. It's the millions. David Muir: Just to clarify in the question, do you believe it's in the U.S. best interests for Ukraine to win this war, yes or no? Donald Trump: I think it's the U.S. best interests to get this war finished and just get it done. Laura Barron-Lopez: And taking no responsibility for his role in the January 6 attack on the Capitol. David Muir: Is there anything you regret about what you did on that day, yes or no? Donald Trump: I had nothing to do with that, other than they asked me to make a speech. Laura Barron-Lopez: Vice President Harris used that moment to appeal to undecided voters. Kamala Harris: It's time to turn the page. And if that was a bridge too far for you, well, there is a place in our campaign for you to stand for country, to stand for our democracy, to stand for rule of law, and to end the chaos. Laura Barron-Lopez: Moments after the debate ended, Harris picked up a superstar endorsement, Taylor Swift. And in a rare move for a presidential candidate, Trump went to the spin room afterward. Over the last 24 hours, in multiple FOX News interviews, Trump questioned whether he'd do another debate, and said ABC should lose its license. Donald Trump: It was three to one. It was a rigged deal, as I assumed it would be. I think ABC took a big hit last night. I mean, to be honest, they're a news organization. They have to be licensed to do it. They ought to take away their license for the way they did that. Laura Barron-Lopez: Trump and Republicans were quick to attack the moderators for fact-checking him in real time, including on abortion. Donald Trump: Her vice presidential pick says abortion in the ninth month is absolutely fine. He also says execution after birth. It's execution, no longer abortion, because the baby is born. Linsey Davis: There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it's born. Laura Barron-Lopez: And on a debunked conspiracy theory about Haitian immigrants in an Ohio town eating pets, one that's been peddled by far right activist and 9/11 truther Laura Loomer, who traveled with Trump to the debate. Donald Trump: In Springfield, they're eating the dogs, the people that came in. They're eating the cats. They're eating — they're eating the pets of the people that live there. David Muir: ABC News did reach out to the city manager there. He told us there had been no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community. Donald Trump: Well, I have seen people on television. David Muir: Let me just say… Laura Barron-Lopez: Katie Sanders of PolitiFact defended the moderators. Katie Sanders, Editor in Chief, PolitiFact: When a candidate is lobbying conspiracy theories, that's kind of a softball for a moderator, and it's particularly glaring if you don't address that. Laura Barron-Lopez: She said Harris was not immune from critique for leaving out finer details, but it was Trump who required more immediate fact-checking. Katie Sanders: I think one candidate, former President Trump, was repeating conspiracy theories that are pretty well-known to be false at this point and so it's almost easier to call those out in real time.