Michael Jordan truly is the GOAT

'If you run into a white person who says they’re an empath, run the other way'

The footage has been created with the use of artificial intelligence (AI), plugging the video into Hive Moderation reveals. 

Gang of Four was formed in Leeds, England, in 1976. The band was known for their edgy, sharp guitar-driven sound and socio-politically charged lyrics, which both critiqued and reflected the tumult of their times. They are often credited with pioneering the post-punk movement alongside other bands like Wire and the Pop Group. Over their career, Gang of Four released nine studio albums, several live albums, and a number of compilations. The band experienced various lineup changes throughout their career with guitarist Andy Gill being the only constant member until his death in 2020. Their debut album Entertainment! is frequently listed The post Complete List Of Gang Of Four Albums And Songs appeared first on ClassicRockHistory.com.

Passed back in 2021, a law in Washington state that bans single-use polystyrene food and drink containers has come into effect. Made from tiny hollow beads of different plastics that are extremely friable, polystyrene is arguably the most damaging form of plastic in the environment. Still permitted to be used in packaging and other applications […] The post Washington State Bans Single-Use Foam That Breaks up and Pollutes Waterways for Orcas and Salmon appeared first on Good News Network.

Books Front Lines and Frontiers Flat-Out Fun: Circumpolar! by Richard A. Lupoff A rollicking alternate history asks what would happen if Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindbergh, and Howard Hughes were to team up for a pulpy aviation adventure… By Alan Brown | Published on June 11, 2024 Comment 0 Share New Share In this bi-weekly series reviewing classic science fiction and fantasy books, Alan Brown looks at the front lines and frontiers of the field; books about soldiers and spacers, scientists and engineers, explorers and adventurers. Stories full of what Shakespeare used to refer to as “alarums and excursions”: battles, chases, clashes, and the stuff of excitement. The belief that the Earth is flat is among the most foolish and easily disproven conspiracy theories that exists in our current age. Anyone who has ever observed a ship disappear over the horizon, or the land disappear behind a ship, clearly sees that the surface of the Earth is curved. But just because an idea is impossible doesn’t mean a science fiction author can’t have fun with it. And that is exactly what Richard A. Lupoff did in the retro-pulp adventure story Circumpolar! He used an alternate history setting to send aviation pioneers on a trip to the far side of a disc-shaped Earth, in a tale full of the energy and contrivances that filled the pulp magazines of the early 20th century. I’m not sure why I passed on reading Circumpolar! when it first came out from Berkley Science Fiction in 1984. I expect I saw it in a store, as the chain bookstore business was exploding in the Northern Virgina area where I lived at the time. It looked like the kind of neo-pulp adventure I’ve always enjoyed. I’d read Lupoff’s 1978 novel Space War Blues, and found it entertaining in the same vein as Harry Harrison’s Bill, The Galactic Hero. Perhaps it was the impossibility of the premise that put me off. Or perhaps it was a muddy and indistinct cover painting that made an aerial battle between aviators on atomic-powered mechanical flying horses look dull (although taking a snapshot of the cover, which looked better immediately, made me think the main problem was a poor reproduction rather than the original painting itself). In any event, it was only recently, at my favorite local used bookstore, where I came across a copy of Circumpolar! and found myself ready to give it a try. About the Author Richard A. “Dick” Lupoff (1935-2020) was an American author of fiction and non-fiction. He was also a long-time science fiction fan, creating and contributing to a number of fanzines. He was a historian of the science fiction genre, focusing on the work of authors such as Edgar Rice Burroughs and H.P. Lovecraft. During times when he was unable to support himself with his writing, he worked in the computer industry. He authored or edited dozens of books, and received Hugo nominations for both his science fiction and fan writing. A Flattish Earth Since Lupoff was a student of the work of Edgar Rice Burroughs, it is no surprise that Circumpolar! owes its clearest inspiration to Burroughs’ Pellucidar series, which took place on the inner surface of a hollow Earth (a theory discussed here). I have already visited those books in this column, reviewing the main series here, and the related adventure Tarzan at the World’s Core here. And while an Earth like a hollow sphere might appear different than a flat Earth, both settings give the adventurers a chance to visit a whole new world without having to travel to another planet. The idea that the Earth is flat is an ancient one, and Wikipedia discusses those discarded theories here. Contrary to modern fables, these ideas did not persist until the voyages of Columbus disproved them, and the idea of a spherical Earth was common even in the time of the ancient Greeks, as discussed by Aristotle and various other astronomers and mathematicians. You can find a Wikipedia article that discusses the modern persistence of anti-science flat Earth ideas here. Lupoff’s creation is not exactly flat. It is a flattened torus, with no North Pole, but a North Hole in its center, named after a scientist called Symmes (who in the real world was a hollow earth theorist of the early 19th century). The fact that it spins on its side once a day, like a giant coin upon a tabletop, implies to me the existence of an East and West Pole, locations that have fascinated me since I read about them in a Winnie-the-Pooh tale during my youth. But alas, that topic is not addressed by Lupoff. The North Hole is a hellish permanent storm, and the world is rimmed by a gigantic wall of ice that keeps the oceans in their appointed bounds. And no adventurer has ever returned from either—at least none with any reliable tales to tell. The Alternate History of Circumpolar! The history portrayed in the book is similar to that of our world, with a few important differences, mostly centered on a Great War that followed a very different path than the grinding conflict of our world. It was triggered by overly eager Germans, who attacked before they were ready, and was ended early by the quick and decisive entry of the United States into the war, under the direction not of President Wilson, but bellicose President Theodore Roosevelt. The shortness of the war prevented the Russian Revolution that occurred in our world, and a Tsar still rules there. The story follows the efforts of two teams to earn a prize offered by Victoria Woodhull (who in our world was a famous social activist, as well as an early patron of aviation). The prize will be awarded to the first team that can fly to either the north hole or southern seawall, across the world of the other side, and then return to their point of origin. The American team consists of aviation pioneers Charles Lindbergh, Howard Hughes, and Amelia Earhart. While a specific date for the adventure is not given, I would guess that it occurs sometime in the late 1920s, as Lindbergh is not married, Hughes has not yet succumbed to the behavioral issues that marred his later years, and Earhart is still early in her aviation career. The three are flying the Spirit of San Diego, a single engine seaplane sponsored by the San Diego Union newspaper. The plane is built by Ryan Aircraft, who built Lindberg’s Spirit of Saint Louis in our universe (although I could find no record of them building a seaplane in the real world as described in the book). Later in the book, Lupoff also introduces Eugene Bullard, a Black American aviator who flew for the French in the real world, having left the US to escape the prejudices of the era, and who plays a heroic role in the narrative. The other team consists of Great War ace aviator Manfred von Richthofen, who was saved from the death in combat that he suffered in our real-world timeline by the short duration of the war. He is supported by his younger brother Lothar, who was also a pilot in our world, although overshadowed by his brother. Their team also includes a Russian princess, Princess Irina Lvova, who I couldn’t find record of in our world, although her father is mentioned in Russian history. They are flying the Kondor, a huge four-engine monoplane built by Ernst Udet, which also existed in our reality. There is a risk to using real-world characters in a fictional tale, as their characterizations can clash with what readers already know about them. But this tale does not linger too much on personalities of the American team, with all of them filling fairly generic “plucky aviator” roles. The other team fares worse in this department, with the Richthofens and other German characters all being devious stock pulp villains, and Princess Irina being insufferable; demanding and always complaining. Circumpolar! Lupoff starts the book with a quote that quickly introduces the idea of a flat Earth: Anything is possible. Everything is possible. Somewhere in God’s infinite universe there may be a system of planets sharp-edged and square-faced as ice cubes. There may be a solar system where worlds are hollow and illuminated by tiny interior suns. There may even be a family of spherical planets as round as baseballs! Who can say? All we know is that there’s no reason to assume the planets of other suns are flattened toroids just because our sun’s planets are so formed. Think of it! Somewhere, an earth like our earth, complete with a Minnesota and a Morocco, a Pennsylvania and a Peru, an Emperor of Australia and a President of Japan. And yet that world is as round and as solid as a baseball! Everything is possible!” The quote is attributed to Stanley Grauman Weinbaum, who in our universe was a science fiction writer, taken from us by cancer at far too young an age in 1935. But this universe finds him still alive to make this observation on December 14, 1946. This is just one of many clever little twists that fans will notice (and I am sure there were far more literary references that went right past me). The book opens in San Diego, with Lindbergh flying into town, and being introduced to Earhart by Hughes. From the very start, Lupoff fills the tale with details that show he has done extensive research on the aviation technology of the era, which adds a sense of realism to the otherwise unbelievable flat-earth narrative. The Americans will by flying south toward the edge of the world, first refueling in Ecuador. And here they face their first challenge, a poisoning attempt by German agents foiled only by a hungry goat who steals the contaminated candy and dies. The Germans, on the other hand, are headed from Germany toward the Symmes Hole in the Arctic. The conditions they find there are intense, with fierce storms and gravity anomalies as they make their way to the other side of the world. The Americans, after refueling from an American naval vessel, travel though a passage in the immense ice wall at the south edge of the world, surviving by the skin of their teeth. The Germans arrive on the other side, and their secret plan is revealed to the readers. To overcome fuel problems, they carry a small airship in their craft, which they will use to transit the other side of the world. Then they will switch to another, identical Kondor that will take them home to Germany, cheating their way to winning the prize. The Americans find their valley through the ice wall lined with mysterious sphinxes and sculptures (which I think is a reference to the work of H.P. Lovecraft, although I am not sure of that). And soon they find themselves flying over tropical lands and a city of giant pyramids, inhabited by people with bright red skin. Their aircraft is captured by mysterious force fields which bring them in to a landing on one of the giant buildings. Meanwhile, the German airship crashes in a primitive castle in the north and explodes. They find themselves the captives of medieval warriors who speak a primitive blend of German and Nordic languages. But there appear to be underground regions inhabited by people with more advanced weapons, and female Valkyries who soar on mechanical flying horses powered by some sort of atomic powerplants. The Americans befriend their captors, who speak a language that uses words from many languages on the other side of the world, and appear to be descendants of Mayans who found a subterranean passage between the two sides of the planet. The American aviators are helped to outfit the Spirit of San Diego with advanced technology that includes anti-gravity generators, and an engine that requires no fuel, drawing its power from the magnetic field of the Earth. While with so many possible paths for their journeys, it would take a preposterous coincidence for the two expeditions to meet…and that is precisely what Lupoff gives us. After all, how much fun would a tale be that realistically kept the expeditions on separate paths? But I won’t describe that meeting, which involves all sorts of reversals of fortune, and an airborne battle on flying mechanical horses, leaving it for readers to discover the ending for themselves. The tale not only has a satisfying ending, but the existence of a new world right next door offers intriguing possibilities for future adventures. Final Thoughts If you are willing to accept some preposterous worldbuilding, Circumpolar! has much to offer to a reader looking for an exciting tale. It captures the fun of the old pulp aviation adventure magazines and mixes it with some wild speculation about lost civilizations. Because it is not rooted in real history, the story has aged very well, and is as readable today as it was when it was written four decades ago. And now I’d like to hear from you: If you’ve read the book, I’d love to hear your impressions of the adventure, and especially the fantastic worldbuilding that underpins it. And I’d enjoy hearing about any other stories you’ve read that feature fantastic and improbable alternate history settings…[end-mark] The post Flat-Out Fun: <i>Circumpolar!</i> by Richard A. Lupoff appeared first on Reactor.

Many new Triumphs were added to Destiny 2 in The Final Shape expansion. Some of these additions are brutally difficult, so here’s how to complete the Monster Hunter Triumph in Destiny 2. What is the Monster Hunter Triumph in Destiny 2? You can find the Monster Hunter Triumph in the Pale Heart section of the Triumphs page. This task is as challenging as it is cryptic, and it simply reads the following: Defeat the giant beast within 30 seconds. You’re given no clue as to what that giant beast is or where to find it. Fortunately, locating the beast is easy. Head to the Slayer Cyst Mission in the Blooming area of the Pale Heart and into the Seclusion cave system. Screenshot: PC Invasion Defeat the enemies nearby and check the Hive Runes on the sealed door in the picture above. This Hive riddle is easy to solve. There are Runes on the walls near the door, and you must shoot the ones that match the locks on the door from top to bottom. If you screw up, rein...

The first question on many people’s minds when playing Dark and Darker will concern the movement to some capacity. Especially when they die from only being able to walk out of harm’s way. Can you sprint, dodge, or roll in Dark and Darker? When I first started playing Dark and Darker, I was incredibly surprised to see that the universally agreed sprint button, left shift, caused me to go even slower than I already was. My surprise turned into confusion when I found out that you can’t sprint at all. For the most part, at least. Only the Fighter class can sprint, but it’s a skill that has a cooldown. Apart from that, no other class can sprint. Screenshot: PC Invasion Also, rolling, dodging, strafing, and even back-stepping are not features at all in Dark and Darker. You physically cannot do any of those actions that we’ve taken for granted from other titles. Not even mobile classes, like the Rogue, can do these actions. This is incredibly li...

Are cities required to allow the homeless to sleep on public property? This month, the Supreme Court is expected to rule in a case that examines whether it’s unconstitutional to impose penalties for street camping.    My colleagues have written about the legal details of the case, explaining that the Constitution does not provide a right to sleep on public property, nor does it include a right to shelter for the homeless. City governments have the authority to determine how a city’s public property is used. Of course, local governments are also faced with the challenge of how to help those who do end up on the streets. Cities across the country have seen homelessness rise, but government solutions have been mostly unsuccessful. So, what’s to be done to help those who languish on the streets? Number of Homeless More than 653,000 people were homeless on a given night in 2023, the highest number recorded since the federal government began collecting data in 2007. Homelessness in the U.S. has been climbing since prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, including both “sheltered homelessness” (the homeless who are staying in shelters) and “unsheltered homelessness” (those residing on the streets or other places not meant for human habitation). Government spending on homelessness has also been increasing at all levels. In 2017, the federal government spent $7.4 billion on homelessness programs (adjusted for inflation), which jumped to more than $9 billion as of 2024. More spending on homelessness programs is proposed for the upcoming fiscal year. And this is just a tiny fraction of total government spending on all anti-poverty programs, which currently amounts to more than $1 trillion annually. These 90-plus means-tested programs provide cash, food, housing, medical care, and social services to those with low incomes (or no income). For nearly two decades, the general approach to homelessness has prioritized providing permanent housing without barriers to entry; that is, no requirements to participate in programs such as for drug rehab, mental health treatment, or job training. But this “housing first” approach does not reduce overall rates of homelessness or improve problems such as drug addiction, mental illness, or unemployment. Permanent housing is also costly, takes a great deal of time to build, and can be occupied for many years, meaning it isn’t as available for others who might need it. What Can Be Done? The underlying causes of homelessness vary, so approaches to helping the homeless should also vary. Sometimes a family might just need temporary rental assistance to get through financial hardship. In other cases, people face severe challenges that can require intensive intervention.   To address homelessness, the government should first stop focusing on “housing first.” Instead, funding should favor programs that improve well-being and self-sufficiency, measured by outcomes such as reduced drug abuse, increased employment, and transitioning people to private housing. While permanent supportive housing may be appropriate for the direst cases, temporary housing, paired with requirements to participate in programs like drug rehab, mental health treatment, and job training is most optimal. That approach addresses the need for shelter, but it requires personal accountability and promotes self-reliance.   Treatment for Mental Illness Cities and states should also make psychiatric care for those with severe mental illness more available. One study estimates that 78% of those living on the streets struggle with a mental health problem. But there’s a major shortage of public psychiatric beds available. State policymakers should also review their involuntary commitment laws to ensure such laws don’t make it overly restrictive for those with severe mental illness to get treatment. Some individuals present significant harm to themselves or others and may not even be healthy enough to recognize they have a mental illness.   Assisted outpatient treatment is another option states can use to help those with severe mental illness who need supervised care, but don’t necessarily need institutional care. Researchers find that assisted outpatient treatment participants are less likely to become homeless, be arrested, be hospitalized, or use illicit drugs. Ex-Cons Especially Vulnerable Former prisoners are at high risk for homelessness, and more than 15% of the prison population have experienced homelessness. Former inmates often face challenges finding housing and employment due to their incarceration record. Programs that work with ex-prisoners to reintegrate them into the community can help individuals avoid homelessness, not to mention avoid prison recidivism. Hope for Prisoners, a program in Las Vegas, is an example of a program that provides “life skills and leadership training, long-term mentoring, and ongoing support” to the formerly incarcerated. Strengthening Families Strong family and community connections are significant protectors against homelessness. Helping people overcome challenges, such as drug abuse, that stand in the way of healthy relationships will help reduce homelessness. Some cities also have programs to help the homeless reconnect with family they have lost contact with due to strained relationships or lack of steady contact information. San Diego and San Francisco have kinship programs, where volunteers help the homeless find family members and contact them. Those are just a handful of reforms cities and states can implement to help the homeless. But any solutions to assist should focus on addressing the underlying causes of poverty and building self-reliance and reconnection with the community. Tent encampments on American streets have become all too common, and city leaders have the responsibility to maintain order on their streets. Coupling policies that protect public order with those that promote self-sufficiency will help increase the well-being of the entire community. The post Better Homelessness Policies Needed to Restore Order on Streets—and in Individuals’ Lives appeared first on The Daily Signal.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. NewsGuard is fully a product of a particular era – co-founded in 2018 by Steven Brill, and there to provide “a rating system” for news websites. Opponents of what NewsGuard, Brill, et al. stand for would say that era unfortunately continues. Critics sum it up as NewsGuard (a browser extension and app) turning censorship into a business model, with a clear political bias, while working with governments, intelligence communities, and corporations. “Anti-misinformation” and “brand safety rating for advertisers” is the business NewsGuard insists it’s in, and just this week Brill had the opportunity to speak for C-SPAN and rail against anything from a lack of internet gatekeepers deciding who can become a publisher, to branding as “dangerous” people’s right to express different opinions on issues like health and election results. Brill appears to like the idea of the internet providing unprecedented reach (and therefore influence) – but only when that power of publishing online is to his liking. “Someone who has a crazy opinion about the Covid vaccine can reach as many people as Dr. Fauci can,” Brill lamented, as he and the C-SPAN host agreed about the need for internet gatekeepers who would decide who can, and must not, be allowed to become an online publisher. Other statements made by Brill reek of elitism, and why wouldn’t they – his company counts former CIA, NATO, and DHS chiefs among its advisers. And so Brill doesn’t like it at all that on the internet, (theoretically at least) everyone has the same chance to express opinion and be heard. That’s “dangerous,” he claims, using the issue of health-related information and expertise to “soften the blow” of the very idea that free speech represents danger. People in a democracy having misgivings about an election process and expressing that doesn’t sit well with Brill, who seems to suggest that whatever is served as fact to the masses should just be consumed that way, no questions asked. And then there’s Elon Musk, and, basically – what to do about him. How about blaming Section 230 because of the protections it provides to online platforms? Brill does, but curiously, mention only X and Musk in a negative context, despite the fact there are much bigger and more powerful companies that benefit from the same rules – the only difference being that they censor content, instead of exposing censorship. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post NewsGuard Co-CEO: Lack of Internet Gatekeepers Allows Dangerous Opinions appeared first on Reclaim The Net.