Pop stars rarely cut their teeth in anarcho-punk and jazz-fusions bands, but then Björk isn't like other pop stars

The System Of A Down vocalist also reveals the artists that inspired his early style before he found his own voice

8 Ways to Handle Your Teen’s Mood Swings with Grace

Paul and Ananias: Trusting God’s Plan in the Unknown

3 Ways to Keep Your Love Alive through the Years

Days before the 2022 midterm elections, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon brought criminal charges against an executive of an election software company, saying Konnech Corporation’s election worker management software, PollChief, sent data to China. But after the action attained praise from Donald Trump and other conservatives, the far-left Gascon dropped the charges, and arranged to pay the executive, Eugene Yu, $5 million. He also placed the deputy prosecutor who spearheaded the probe, Eric Neff, on leave for 18 months, implying that he had bungled the case. Neff has been gagged from discussing the case while he was on leave — an order which has now been lifted with the closure of the investigation into him. In an interview with The Daily Wire, he said his former employer’s claims just don’t add up. “The official story on my leave they would tell you is to sort out whether I bungled the investigation,” Neff said. “They can’t say that now because they cleared me. Especially after they paid one of the top law firms in the country to investigate me.” Neff said that after conservatives concerned with election integrity praised Gascon for pressing the case, the far-left DA felt compelled to do the opposite. The New York Times said the case provided “fodder for election deniers” despite the fact that it did not alleged that votes were changed. Yu’s arrest came the day after the New York Times mocked concern about Konnech Corporation as “conspiracy theories.” Gascon’s backtracking restored the narrative. The LA Times ran the headline for the story pushed to it by three anonymous sources: “L.A. prosecutor put on leave over questionable case sparked by election conspiracy theories.” Los Angeles went on to pay Yu $5 million, Neff says, “in order to create a media narrative that there was something wrong with the case.” Neff spoke before the board in his personal capacity, asking if the investigations were even complete, and if the county lawyers had read them and were familiar with the facts before approving the settlement. The board approved the payment without any public discussion. A lawyer for Yu said at the time that the charges were “utterly false” and that in addition to paying $5 million, LA had agreed “to publicly proclaim Mr. Yu’s innocence.” Neff, of course, was still bound by a gag order. The felony arrest warrant complaint said that although Konnech’s contract with LA required only Americans to have access to the data, “based on evidence recovered from a search warrant executed October 4, 2022,” employees sent personal identifying information of LA election workers to third-party developers based in China. On August 18, 2022, the papers said, “Luis Nabergoi, project manager for Konnech’s contract with the County of Los Angeles, confirmed via the messaging app DingTalk that any employee for Chinese contractors working on PollChief software had ‘superadministration’ privileges for all PollChief Clients. Mr. Nabergoi described the situation as a ‘huge security issue.'” Yu’s lawyer, Dean Pamphilis, did not return a request for comment from The Daily Wire asking whether these assertions were false, and how Los Angeles came to be persuaded of their falsity. Last month, Neff filed his own claim for damages, in which he says that after reviewing evidence that indicated that Konnech’s servers were resolving to a Chinese address, DA investigators “recovered several explosive pieces of evidence,” including statements from an employee who cooperated, and that “it was immediately clear that Konnech’s deception of LA County with regard to its practices with poll worker information was even worse than initially feared. Konnech was sending sensitive PII data to Chinese-owned and operated third-party contractors through Chinese-owned and operated messaging applications.” Neff’s grievance said that after Trump praised Gascon in October 2022, each manager up to Chief Deputy District Attorney Sharon Woo, the top non-elected prosecutor, reviewed the evidence, and approved the filing of a criminal complaint October 13. But in November, after the case continued to get attention from those perceived as conservative, management ordered the complaint dismissed, it said. Neff registered his objection in an email, saying that although prosecutors have discretion on what cases to bring, under California law “a prosecutor cannot use political gains as a basis for dismissing a prosecution.” Two days later, he was placed on “administrative leave pending an internal investigation.” Gascon announced the dismissal of the criminal case publicly on November 9, 2022, saying, “We are concerned about both the pace of the investigation and the potential bias in the presentation and investigation of the evidence… As a result, we have decided to ask the court to dismiss the current case, and alert the public in order to ensure transparency.” More than a year later, in March 2024, Neff “was informed that the investigation was completed and that no disciplinary actions would be taken against him” — though he was reassigned to a less desirable position. Gascon’s office did not return a request for comment from The Daily Wire, including which facts in the indictment were wrong, and how it could be that the case was so egregiously wrong that the defendant was paid millions of dollars yet Neff did not do anything warranting punishment. It is rare for prosecutors to pay lawsuit settlements to people who are charged with crimes even if the criminal cases brought against them are flimsy. In September 2022, Konnech sued the Texas-based group True the Vote, which has made allegations about widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election, for defamation and computer fraud, and claimed its accusations against Yu stemmed from “racism and xenophobia.” True the Vote said it played a “small role” in the LA case. In December 2022, Konnech employee Grant Bradley sued Yu and the firm, alleging that he “witnessed customer’s data (specifically poll watcher information) being made accessible to foreign nationals from China,” and that managers instructed him not to worry about it because “everyone” was using Chinese programmers. He also said Yu solicited him to violate campaign finance law by making a donation to a politician for which he would be reimbursed by Yu. The case was dismissed “with prejudice and without costs or fees” in February 2024, according to court records, suggesting a possible settlement.

Not that many animals have pets of their own, but this bulldog somehow seems to have acquired a family of baby groundhogs! While living under a woman’s deck, these tiny critters became infatuated with her pooch, named Eggnog. They’ve been wistfully peering in at the dog through the window. Eggnog’s owner shared the cutest video of the animals staring at their new “mom.” In the clip, the bulldog was watching the baby groundhogs from her bed while they gathered on the steps outside. One of these creatures even looked like they were trying to figure out how to get inside the house! After watching the fuzzy brood for a while, Eggnog turned to give her mom a petulant look. Obviously, this pooch is not ready to take on that kind of responsibility! @eggnogthebulldog I want a DNA test…. #dogsoftiktok #funny #foryoupage ♬ original sound – Eggnog The Bulldog “When you have 6 baby groundhogs living under your deck and they think that your chubby dog is their mom…” wrote the owner over the footage. In the caption, she joked, “I want a DNA test…” Eggnog the bulldog is not ready to be a groundhog mom! Some commenters thought that the bulldog’s unhappy expression after viewing the baby groundhogs was too funny. Eggnog certainly didn’t seem to be a huge fan of being “adopted” by these creatures! “The look,” wrote one user. “No they are not mine uh.” “That side eye the dog gave,” said another. Screengrab from TikTok Based on other videos on her social media account, Eggnog is clearly used to being the baby of the family. Many of her posts feature the pampered pup wearing a cozy outfit and enjoying a snack on the couch. This bulldog isn’t quite prepared to give up her life of luxury in order to raise a bunch of groundhogs! Of course, if Eggnog doesn’t want these adorable little critters… can we take them home? You can find the source of this story’s featured image here. The post Bulldog Inadvertently “Adopts” Group Of Fluffy Baby Groundhogs appeared first on InspireMore.

She coulda just answered the question

The Final Shape has plenty of spicy Exotics, and the Titan armor is among the best. With this in mind, let me answer the question: Should you choose Wishful Ignorance or Hazardous Propulsion in Destiny 2: The Final Shape? What is the best Titan Exotic armor in The Final Shape? There are two Titan Exotic armor pieces up for grabs from The Final Shape, and you can pick what you want if you beat the campaign on Legendary. You can also get them from Master Rahool when you reset his rank at level 16. Titans are eating well in the Final Shape, as both Exotic options are strong enough to build around. If you just want a quick answer, go with the Wishful Ignorance. Strand Titans have been a force to be reckoned with since Lightfall dropped, and Wishful Ignorance is a perfect addition to the play style. Both Exotics are fantastic, so let’s weigh their pros and cons. Should I use the Wishful Ignorance Titan Exotic in Destiny 2? Image: Bungie The Wishful Ignorance gaunt...

A man in Mexico has died after contracting the first lab-confirmed human infection with H5N2 bird flu. It’s unclear how the man was exposed to the virus, but this type of avian flu has previously been found in poultry in the country. The risk to the general public is still considered to be low.The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed a report of a fatal human case of H5N2 influenza, filed by the Mexico International Health Regulations (IHR) National Focal Point (NFP) on May 23, 2024. The 59-year-old man was a resident of the State of Mexico and had been treated in hospital in Mexico City after developing symptoms including fever, shortness of breath, and diarrhea. He had been unwell previously and had multiple underlying conditions, including chronic kidney disease and type 2 diabetes, but had sought medical treatment for the new symptoms on April 24.PCR testing confirmed that he was suffering from influenza type A, but further testing by Mexican health authorities was required to confirm the subtype as H5N2.Influenza subtypes are categorized according to two surface proteins that pepper the outside of each virus particle. There’s hemagglutinin, responsible for the “H” number, and neuraminidase, which gives the “N” number. The swine flu pandemic of 2009 was caused by an H1N1 virus. Other rare subtypes circulate in pig or bird populations and very occasionally make the jump to humans.We’ve heard a lot recently about outbreaks of H5N1 bird flu across the United States and around the world, with wild birds, dairy cows, cats, and alpacas being just some of the species affected. There have been three reported human cases of H5N1 directly linked to outbreaks on dairy farms, but all three patients have recovered.H5N2 – the virus that infected the man in Mexico – is also an avian flu virus and has the same hemagglutinin type as H5N1, but a different neuraminidase protein. These two proteins help the virus invade cells and are targeted by the immune system as it races to build an antibody response.The WHO reports that no further cases have been detected so far. Seventeen of the man’s close contacts were monitored in hospital, and all tested negative for the flu and COVID-19 between May 27 and 28. Additionally, 12 of the patient’s neighbors have been tested, seven of whom have shown some symptoms. As of May 28, however, all 12 have tested negative for influenza A, influenza B, and COVID. There have been three outbreaks of H5N2 strains on poultry farms in Mexico this year. “Thus far, it has not been possible to establish if this human case is related to the recent poultry outbreaks,” the WHO explained.The Mexican government also said in a statement that there was no risk to the wider population.While the H5N2 virus is not the same as the H5N1 highly pathogenic influenza that’s currently hitting headlines, influenza expert Andrew Pekosz from Johns Hopkins University told Reuters that the case underscores the potential of H5 viruses to jump into other mammals.“So it continues to ring that warning bell that we should be very vigilant about monitoring for these infections, because every spillover is an opportunity for that virus to try to accumulate those mutations that make it better infect humans,” Pekosz said.