Three historic cemeteries, designed as refuges of the dead, are bringing their landscapes back to life for native plants and animals.

Walmart to Bypass Credit Cards. America Heading for Retirement Crisis. Crossroads 10-18-2024 - WHY THE HELL WOULD WALMART PHASE OUT CREDIT CARDS? Is it a Trend Where Credit Cards Will No Longer Work? A means to Financially Attack the Increasingly Broke Public? A Preparation for CBDC? Universal Basic Income? Either Way, it is EXTREMELY SUSPICIOUS... - 6,791 views October 18, 2024 Crossroads with Joshua Philipp - Americans are facing a new crisis: many don’t have a plan for retirement. Democrat and Republican voters have been in agreement on this issue, noting that there’s a retirement savings crisis already brewing. - The issue ties into a broader problem in overall quality of life. And in other news, Walmart is announcing a new payment system. It's going to start bypassing the use of credit cards by letting customers pay directly through their bank accounts. We’ll discuss these topics and others, and answer questions from the audience, in this episode of Crossroads. - ? Subscribe to our newsletter so you never miss an episode! ? https://ept.ms/CrossroadsExclusiveNew... ⭕️ Watch more Crossroads? https://bit.ly/46BJmxn ? Donate to support our work: https://donorbox.org/crossroads ⭕️ Follow us on GAN JING WORLD: https://www.ganjingworld.com/channel/... ? Stay informed. Stay Free. Join us: https://www.joshphilipp.com - FAIR USE FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES Mirrored From: https://www.youtube.com/@CrossroadsWithJoshuaPhilipp

(Australian political meme)... I've Been So Busy #20. Support me here: Better value than the ABC. My Patreon / itsdangerdan Shout me a beer https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dangerdan

Not sure how true this how couples met study is but it makes sense in 2024. We need to bring back the natural way in person through friends and social gatherings outside in public not online ?❤️

"Vocal Fry" is a term for the glottal, creaking sound of lower-register speech oscillation. You know, like that raspy Zooey-Deschanel-type thing where your voice has that little "GuUuUuUuUuUuUuUh" crackle, instead of the smooth, consistent "Guuuuuuuuuuuuuuh."That really didn't help at all, huh?OK, it's this:We've noticed women using "vocal fry" for a while now...A scientific study was reported in a 2011 issue of Science magazine that's generally credited with adding the phrase "vocal fry" into the popular lexicon. Before this point, according to the magazine, apparently vocal fry did not exist, although Britney Spears anachronistically employed it in the first line of her debut single, "Baby One More Time" all the way back in 1998. And she wasn't the only pop star to do so.The study from Science purported that women are often different than men (groundbreaking!), and thus, women talked less good with their mouth-sounds. (I'm paraphrasing, but that was the gist.) (Please excuse my rolling eyes.)Specifically, vocal fry was said to be a trend among college-aged women of a certain social standing. "Young students tend to use it when they get together. Maybe this is a social link between members of a group," noted one female researcher....but recently it's been recognized that us dudes have been getting in on the action for a while too. All right, guys! We're finally getting closer to true gender parity! But the question remains: How come no one noticed that men have been using vocal fry for years? "This American Life" host Ira Glass recently admitted that he uses vocal fry. But in a conversation with Chana Jaffe-Walt (who is not a dude), Glass also admitted that no one notices his vocal fry. And it's not that no one notices — women are criticized for using vocal fry while men have been getting away with it for years."I get criticized for a lot of things in the emails to the show," Glass said. "No one has ever pointed this out."Noted academic and anarcho-syndicalist advocate Noam Chomsky has also been known to employ vocal fry (presumably as a means of dismantling capitalism). Chomsky certainly has his detractors, but none of them seem to take issue with his vocal quality either. And even The Hairpin noted over 6 years ago that male vocal fry has become "a thing."In reality, associating the vocal fry trend only with women — both in practice and in naming — is a really just another way of trying to define gender roles.It's certainly interesting to observe the trends in human social interactions in the same way we observe a pack of wild capuchin monkeys. But the way that vocal fry gained traction in popular culture was, well, kind of weird.After that Science magazine article came out, women were suddenly being judged for the supposedly abrasive way in which they spoke when they used vocal fry, even though both women and men had probably been talking that way since well before 2011. There are many legitimate reasons — beyond gender — for why a person might develop vocal fry.The simple truth is that vocal fry is just one way that people talk, regardless of their gender. Some people employ it as a means of being heard, as differentiating their voices from the rest of the masses. Other people really do just talk that way!And it's another example of the way we treat women like Goldilocks ("This one's too sexy, and this one's too prude, and..."). If a woman uses a higher register to speak, then it's classified as ditzy, valley-girl uptalk. If a woman uses her lower register, it's vocal fry. If she speaks in the middle (modal range), her words often get lost entirely.Maybe, just maybe, we should all try to worry less about the way people speak (or dress or...) and instead try to actually listen to and hear what they're saying.So vocal fry? Don't vocal fry? Do what you want! Because if our crappy earbud headphones have taught us anything, it's that content matters more than the quality of delivery.This article originally appeared on 07.28.15

Looking at what was happening on the streets. The post ‘What’s Going On’: The power of Marvin Gaye’s missing question mark first appeared on Far Out Magazine.

At the 79th Alfred E. Smith charity dinner in New York City last evening, the elites set aside political differences for a good cause and shared laughs often by being the butt of jokes by Donald Trump. Trump was the dinner’s featured speaker, and he used his moment to poke fun at his critics and mock his own shortcomings. In his opening remarks, Trump addressed the crowd, saying, “It’s a true pleasure to be with you this evening … it’s really a pleasure [to be] anywhere in New York without a subpoena for my appearance. Anytime I don’t get a subpoena, I’m very happy.”  Before Trump’s address, a pre-recorded message by Kamala Harris was played. Harris skipped attending the dinner, which Trump capitalized on during his speech as “disrespectful to the Catholic community” and for breaking presidential tradition. “If you really wanted Vice President Harris to accept your invitation, I guess you should’ve told her the funds were going to bail out the looters and rioters in Minneapolis. She would’ve been here — guarantee, she would’ve been here,” Trump said. Harris’s video message was interrupted by actress Molly Shannon, reprising her Saturday Night Live role as Mary Katherine Gallagher, a Catholic schoolgirl. The interruption portrayed Mary Katherine advising Harris on what to say to the guests, harkening to have Harris as president due to her femininity. (READ MORE: Kamala Smart to Skip Al Smith Dinner) Mary Katherine does a dramatic monologue for Harris, stating that “a woman brings more heart, more compassion, and think how smart she must be to become a top contender in the field dominated by men. It’s time for a woman, bro!”  Harris continues after Mary Katherine’s appearance, commenting on the good work the Catholic church does for the community. Quoting a passage from Luke, she expressed hope that the night’s dinner would “recommit to reaching across divides, to seek understanding, and common ground. In honor of the great Al Smith, let us fight to build a better future with faith in God, our country, and in each other.”  Comedian Jim Gaffigan, who notably plays the role of Tim Walz on Saturday Night Live skits, emceed the night. Gaffigan snubbed Harris’s absence: “Twenty-two percent of Americans identify as Catholic. Catholics will be a key demographic in every battleground state. I’m sorry, why is Vice President Harris not here?”  The crowd had a mixed reaction to Gaffigan’s comment, to which he responded, “I mean, consider this: this is a room full of Catholics and Jews in New York City. This is a layup for the Democratic nominee.”  Compilations of Trump’s roasts are trending across various social media platforms. Colin Rugg, a political personality and co-founder of Trending Politics, praised Trump’s speech and compiled some of his top jokes, which included snubs at Doug Emhoff’s past affair with his children’s nanny.  Donald Trump held nothing back at the Al Smith dinner in New York, even joking about Kamala Harris’ husband’s “nanny issue.” Here are his top jokes of the night: 5. Trump said he didn’t realize men could get periods until he saw Tim Walz. 4. Trump says he has to wrap up his… pic.twitter.com/tQq9Hu5143 — Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 18, 2024 Since 1946, the Al Smith dinner has hosted a “who’s who” of current political, business, and cultural figures. The night honors Smith for his contributions as one of three New York governors elected to serve four terms. Smith was also the first Roman Catholic to run for president in 1928 but lost to Republican Herbert Hoover.  The Al Smith dinner has in the past featured prominent figures including former Presidents Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Dwight D. Eisenhower. The post Trump’s Roast Session at the Al Smith Dinner appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

A new Congressional Research Service report brings harsh scrutiny to the Marine Corps’ Force Design 2030, with many in Congress and the Department of Defense reportedly having buyer’s remorse. What they thought was a modernization effort has rapidly become an embarrassment — with the Marine Corps’ preparedness hanging in the balance. When former Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. David Berger unveiled his radical new vision for the Corps in 2019, many in the administration and Congress hailed it as a bold step toward confronting China. Berger’s Force Design vision was to place small groups of Marines armed with anti-ship missiles on islets and shoals in the South China Sea where Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines have territory. The same territory is now claimed by China. The commandant believed that the U.S. Marine Corps had wandered from its traditional mission and legal directive to conduct amphibious operations in support of naval campaigns. Berger was concerned that 20 years of land warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan had reintroduced the “second land army” stigma that followed the Corps after World War II and Vietnam. He wanted to get the Marines back to their naval roots and prepared for conflict on small islands in the Indo-Pacific region. In order to pay for the anti-ship missiles and associated sensors needed to implement Force Design, Berger divested the Marine Corps of all its tanks, heavy engineering equipment, much of its cannon artillery, and numerous combat aviation capabilities. In addition, Berger dropped the number of amphibious ships the Navy was required to maintain from 38 to 31, reducing the fleet by nearly 20 percent. In a perfect world, this might still be enough to keep a nimble, sea-based presence in the three most dangerous global hotspots — the Mediterranean, the Persian Gulf, and the Western Pacific — but this is not a perfect world. The Navy’s current atrocious repair and maintenance capabilities have reduced amphibious readiness rates to just 40 percent. We now have only about 12 amphibious ships operational worldwide at any given time. Berger shifted resources away from these capabilities in order for the Navy to build a new class of shallow draft vessels called Landing Ship Medium. These new vessels would, theoretically, resupply the Marines across small, widely scattered island garrisons. Interestingly, independent war-games conducted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies have determined that Force Design would be of marginal use in a war with China over Taiwan. Despite these lackluster findings, Berger’s successor, Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Eric Smith has doubled down on Force Design. Smith’s steadfast devotion to Force Design ignores the advice from all eight of his and Berger’s living predecessors, as well as the former four-star Marine Corps theater commanders. Worse yet, not one of the nations potentially in danger from China, which was the catalyst for this redesign of the Corps, has signed on to the concept. Even the Philippines, the U.S.’s closest ally in the region, has told us that it will not allow U.S. forces to use its territory as a staging base in a conflict with China over Taiwan — much less staging offensive missiles. (RELATED: China Attempts to Intimidate Philippines with ‘Monster’ Coast Guard Ship) Apparently, Berger created a product that has no market. Military leadership is not solely responsible for this mess. Ultimately, Congress and the president have oversight. Civilian control of the military assumes that the civilians should know something about the military, or at least hire people that do. As with Afghanistan and naval readiness, the Biden administration and Congress have failed in that basic function. If you are a member of Congress from East Cupcake, Indiana, with no knowledge of military affairs, and are told by a service chief that he will reduce his force structure, save money, and still confront the Chinese, what’s not to like? But the recent Congressional Research Service report should jolt both into action because the nation has lost key capabilities that Americans, rightfully, assume the Navy and Marine Corps possess. They can no longer perform large peacetime sea-based contingencies like the 1975 evacuation of Saigon. They cannot execute large humanitarian operations such as the 1991 Sea Angel effort in Bangladesh or the 2005 response to the devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunami in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. They cannot conduct brigade-sized amphibious operations, much less division-sized assaults similar to Guadalcanal, Tarawa, and Inchon. Even worse, the Corps can no longer be a meaningful participant in major regional conflicts such as Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom — it lacks the tanks, armored personnel carriers, and heavy engineering assets that broke through Iraqi lines in both conflicts. In the half decade since the launch of Force Design, not one Marine Corps missile unit is operational and not a single Landing Ship Medium has been launched. Essentially, the nation has lost its emergency response force and traded it for no additional gains in capability elsewhere.  By the end of his tenure in 2023, for the first time in history, Berger had to tell the president and secretary of defense that the Marine Corps could not respond to missions in the NATO and African command regions. The bottom line: the Navy can no longer perform the same functions that they have for the last 85 years. There are two types of incompetents, active and passive. Active incompetents don’t know they are incompetent. They are dangerous because they don’t know they are incompetent. They are dangerous because they act on the zany ideas. Passive incompetents know that they don’t know what they are doing. They are dangerous because they tend to defer to the active incompetents. Berger and Smith are active incompetents. Biden and Congress have been passive incompetents. Shame on them. If Congress acted today to repair the Navy and Marine Corps and return it back to 2018 capabilities, it would take at least a decade to recover. Our civilian leaders were sold snake oil, and the rubes bought it. Gary Anderson is a retired Marine Corps Colonel. He retired as Chief of Staff of the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab and served as a Special Advisor to the Deputy Secretary of Defense READ MORE from Gary Anderson: It’s Time to Fix Incompetence in the Pentagon What Will Replace the Marine Corps? Biden Has Allowed the Marine Corps to Become Irrelevant The post The Marine Corps Has Gone Off the Rails appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.