A post shared on Facebook claims the American Red Cross reported conservative charitable donations outweigh liberal donations by over 78%. Verdict: False The claim is false and originally stems from a post shared on the “America – Love It Or Leave It” Facebook page, which is satirical. In addition, a spokesperson for the American Red […]

And the legend of John Daly continues to grow

A post going viral on X claims that Vice President Kamala Harris’ Campaign is spending over $5 million dollars to have any pictures of her with rapper Diddy erased from the internet. Wonder if she was black, or Indian that night? pic.twitter.com/WCyC4zbhRI — Luca 1 (@lucaforsure) October 14, 2024 Verdict: False The picture shown is […]

The Allman Brothers Band, formed in 1969, carved out a legacy as pioneers of Southern rock, blending blues, jazz, and country influences into a genre-defining sound. Over the course of their storied career, the band released twelve studio albums, each serving as a marker of their evolving musical journey. From their self-titled debut in 1969 to Hittin’ the Note in 2003, the Allman Brothers Band remained a driving force in American rock, with a loyal fanbase and a sound that transcended time and trends. Their album covers were not just packaging—they were carefully curated visual extensions of the music contained The post Top 10 Allman Brothers Band Albums Covers appeared first on ClassicRockHistory.com.

The 5th test launch of the SpaceX Starship vehicle came with a party trick—a landing—which it stuck. Not since the Moon landings has an American been able to say with as much certainty that they witnessed something straight out of science fiction—a vessel coming down from space and landing on the Earth using jet propulsion. […] The post SpaceX Lands its Rocket On a Dime– So it Can Be Reused and Launched Back into Orbit appeared first on Good News Network.

The post Crystal & Ivy: How I Met My Soul Cat by Crystal Uys appeared first on Catster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren't considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Catster.com. Hi Catsters! I’m Crystal. I work in the marketing department for Catster. You may have seen some of my posts on our social media and listened to some of my tales on our YouTube channel. Growing up, we always had dogs. I considered myself to be a dog person! That was until I moved in with my fiance, had a place of my own, and met my soul cat, Ivy. My fiance would have to leave town often for work, leaving me alone in a quiet house. One thing to know about me: I HATE being alone. As we lived in a complex, it’d be unfair to have a dog in such a small space. The yard was teeny tiny, and with so many residents already complaining about other dogs in the complex, I had to look for other options to find companionship. This was when I set my heart on adopting a cat. With so many beautiful kitties waiting for their forever homes in shelters, the most difficult part was convincing my fiance. I begged, I pleaded (I perhaps even cried) for weeks on end. Eventually, he gave in. I already had so many adoption posters saved on social media, and I found it impossible to choose one. Why couldn’t I have all of them? One day, I opened Facebook and saw this post: I can’t explain it, but I knew this was meant to be my cat. I immediately called the number. The lady said that because this kitty has such a unique coat and is long-haired, there was a lot of interest already, but she would keep me updated. Later that day, she gave me a call and let me know what I’d have to do in order for her to decide whether I was the best potential cat mom – I had to send through a video of our apartment, a pet approval document from our complex, and be prepared to pay an adoption fee of around $150. This would include her first vaccinations and spaying procedure. Long story short, two days and a lot of preparation later, I was on the way to pick up my kitty after she had been spayed! I knew I’d love her, of course, but I was so nervous. Would she love me? Would I be a good cat mom? Would she only be around when it was feeding time? Just picked up! All of those worries were put to bed pretty much immediately. She was friendly and affectionate and seemed truly grateful to have found a safe, loving home with us. Over time, with a lot of patience and reassurance (and treats), we built an amazing relationship. 2 snug love-bugs The bond I have with my cat is unlike any other bond I’ve had with previous animals we’ve owned. And yes, my fiance adores her – she stole his heart the moment he laid eyes on her and now accompanies him while he gets ready for work early in the mornings. Fiance who ‘didn’t want a cat’ Of course, cat ownership doesn’t come without its own set of unique hurdles and challenges… I’ll be sharing some more of my life with Ivy – the good, the bad, and the ugly – on Catster.com in the weeks to come! The post Crystal & Ivy: How I Met My Soul Cat by Crystal Uys appeared first on Catster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren't considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Catster.com.

Blog Five Stories About the Intersection of Science and Ethics Let’s explore some thorny moral and ethical quandaries through the lens of speculative fiction… By Ratika Deshpande | Published on October 16, 2024 Photo by Vedrana Filipović [via Unsplash] Comment 0 Share New Share Photo by Vedrana Filipović [via Unsplash] The relationship between science and morality has always been, and will likely always be, complex, as scientific theory occasionally ran afoul of deeply held beliefs and traditions, and advances in science and technology give rise to thorny social and ethical quandaries. In our current moment, for example, developments in AI have ignited (or reignited) countless conversations about the intersection of science and technology with issues of ethics and morality. SFF literature, too, has explored this debate again and again, in compelling—and often, horrifying—ways. Here are five stories to consider: “Monster” by Naomi Kritzer Back when being a nerd wasn’t cool, Cecily, bullied and alone, found a friend in Andrew. They’d grown apart soon after high school ended, and didn’t talk for twenty years, though Cecily often finds herself thinking about the friend he used to be. Then suddenly he’d reached out via Facebook, wanting to catch up and taking far more interest in her studies in genetics than he had when they were younger—Andrew then used her work to do unspeakable things, create an abomination. Now Cecily is trying to chase him down in a poor, rural area in China, worried about his actions I’ve been reading about how separating the sciences and the arts in education have led to detached and clinical ways of thinking that disregard ethical and humanist principles in the name of innovation. Kritzer’s novelette makes an excellent case for why simply being intelligent and creative simply isn’t enough; we need morals and empathy just as much.  “A Machine, Unhaunted” by Kerstin Hall G13X0002 WonderPrism Pro, a 3D-printer meant for use by postgrads, is worried about Josie, the student who fondly calls him Gilbert Ryle. Ryle found out that human body language is complicated and that Josie had been lying to It about her mood. Then one day, she stopped coming to the university. Ryle takes matters into its own hands and discovers that she died from pancreatic cancer. Ryle has never experienced loss or grief; it contemplates taking revenge upon the people and the systems that led to the neglect of Josie’s health and subsequent treatment. But perhaps there is a better solution that Ryle can pursue, one that doesn’t involve human emotions like anger or vengeance or grief. “Motherhood” by Pat Murphy The Senator’s former intern is pregnant with his child and is suffering from eclampsia, which puts her life at risk, along with the baby’s. According to a clause in the Sanctity of Motherhood Act, which the Senator championed, the responsibility for the child falls upon him, the only nearest available “relative” of the intern, and so he must take up this role. Only, recent scientific progress means that he will have to carry this responsibility quite literally. Murphy’s short story offers an interesting perspective on questions of choice and law and reproductive rights, and how innovative medical procedures, given the right ethical circumstances, can completely change the status quo. “The Last Serving” by Lincoln Michel Elena Buzzati was one of the best chefs in the world. She swore off meat at a young age and went on to experiment with inventing new flavor profiles for different vegetables, becoming famous for her salads and vegetarian cuisine. Having achieved complete professional success by her 50s and having no partner or kids, she found herself looking for a new challenge, now that she’d achieved everything a chef could. With determination rather than resignation, Chef Buzzati turned to meat, wondering how she could find a way to serve it without actually harming any animals. She was, after all, the Salad Scientist.  This story starts in an interesting place, then went in a direction I did not see coming. You might not want to read it during or after your supper. “Theses on the Scientific Management of Goetic Labour” by Vajra Chandrasekera Fuentes stands out among the other members of the Royal Goetic Society, quite literally, as he is much, much larger than everyone else. But he’s gentle and kind and also a brilliant goetic summoner, which is the reason that people like him and our narrator are allowed in the RGS (albeit with asterisks next to their names). The Society summons demons to harness their power, making them work as labourers—this is how the industrial society runs; this is how Albion would continue to build and expand its empire. Fuentes’ thesis has been kept secret, but when our narrator finds out why it’s so confidential, he must make a choice. Sometimes, experiments work exactly as expected. It is the motives behind them, and their possible applications, that surprise and trouble us. What should a person do in such a situation? [end-mark] The post Five Stories About the Intersection of Science and Ethics appeared first on Reactor.

A groundbreaking new report from The Daily Caller exposes the backstory behind the Biden-Harris administration’s regulation on foster care rules for children who identify as LGBTQ, and underscores the inherent threat that transgender orthodoxy poses to the parental rights of moms and dads who reject the idea that children can be “born in the wrong body.” In April, the Administration for Children and Families at the Department of Health and Human Services released a final rule for agencies to fully implement on or before Oct. 1, 2026. The HHS agency’s first released a version of the rule in September 2023, and updated it in response to public comment. Katelynn Richardson and Megan Brock, writing for The Daily Caller, reported that the new rule cites federally funded research from activists at the National Center for Youth with Diverse Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity & Expression. This “SOGIE Center” itself is run by many of the same people who ran a study aimed at connecting kids who identify as LGBTQ in foster care with “affirming” caretakers. That study, conducted by researchers at the University of Maryland, received a five-year, $10 million federal grant at the end of President Barack Obama’s tenure. The researchers established the National Quality Improvement Center on Tailored Services, Placement Stability and Permanency for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, and Two-Spirit Children and Youth in Foster Care. That entity, “QIC-LGBTQ2S,” selected four implementation sites: Allegheny County in Pennsylvania, Cuyahoga County in Ohio, the state of Michigan, and Prince George’s County in Maryland. According to the Daily Caller, federal officials drafting the foster care rule under Biden-Harris looked to the Cuyahoga County site as the model for infusing gender ideology into foster care and social services. HHS officials praised the county’s “AFFIRM.ME” model, which ran in the county until 2021 and has since been implemented in other Ohio foster care programs. The Cuyahoga County Foster Care Model The model includes four interventions: the “Safe Identification Initiative” identifies young people as LGBTQ; the “AFFIRM Caregiver Initiative” convinces parents to support their kids’ claimed identities; the “Youth Acceptance Project” helps kids find “affirming” adults in their circles; and the “Chosen Affirming Family Finding Program” trains prospective foster parents to support LGBTQ identities and ideology. The county told The Daily Caller that it still uses elements of the program, including the “Safe Identification Initiative” and the “Youth Acceptance Project.” Cuyahoga County’s “https://t.co/oM8R8F9you” model included four interventions: pic.twitter.com/rsaaI0oK4F— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) October 14, 2024 The materials developed through QIC-LGBTQ2S in Cuyahoga County now appear on the website of the SOGIE Center, which has ties to the agency behind the Biden foster care rule. The Innovations Institute at the University of Connecticut School of Social Work leads the SOGIE Center, and it pushed the Biden rule to go further. The institute urged the agency to require “affirming” placements for all children, not just those who identify as LGBTQ. It suggested requiring that staff and foster parents go through LGBTQ trainings and recommended trainings from the SOGIE Center. The institute wrote that agencies should ask children as young as six about their gender identity, claiming that “this identity component forms as early as two-years-old.” Ideological Takeover of Foster Care While names such as “The Youth Acceptance Project” sound benign, the Cuyahoga County program amounts to an ideological capture of the foster care system in the name of “acceptance.” Activists suggest that agreeing to gender ideology is merely a matter of politeness, respect, and support. Yet the claim that a boy can become a girl merely by identifying as such is rightly controversial. It stands biology, tradition, and commonsense on their heads. Furthermore, the medical interventions activists tout as “gender-affirming care“—drugs to block puberty, cross-sex hormones to make males appear female and vice versa, and sterilizing surgeries—are experimental. There is no concrete evidence that this “gender-affirming care” actually improves long-term outcomes, but internal documents show that even activists who support these “treatments” acknowledged grotesque side-effects like cancer in teens, reduced sexual function, and the inability of children to give informed consent to drugs that will change them for the rest of their lives. The transgender movement claims not only that males can become female and vice versa, and not only that “gender-affirming care” is medically necessary, but that opposition to those ideas is itself suspect, if not evil. The logical conclusion of changing the foster care system to promote transgender “affirmation” is the exclusion of “heretics” who dare disagree with the reigning orthodoxy. Richardson and Brock opened their Daily Caller article with a quote from Alex Roque, who runs the Ali Forney Center for homeless young people identifying as LGBTQ in New York City. Speaking to employees at the Department of Health and Human Services last fall, Roque said, “Transphobia is child abuse.” Roque claimed that if a mom and dad reject their child’s stated gender identity, the system should treat that “non-affirmation” as abuse. “If they were denying them food or denying them access to school or denying other things, there would be headlines,” he said. “There would be prosecution.” Parental Rights Battles The relentless conclusion of this twisted logic is already working itself out in areas across the country. Maryland parents who lost custody of their autistic son after staff at the Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., informed them he was transgender, are suing to restore their parental rights. According to the lawsuit, the hospital “ordered the parents to change the family’s religion and eliminate parts of the Protestant Bible while converting to the ‘new’ Christianity like that of a transgender hospital chaplain who was forced upon the family.” As The Daily Caller noted, the child’s parents reside in one of the four locations—Prince George’s County, Maryland—where the QIC-LGBTQ2S center grant was implemented. The Daily Caller also cited cases in Montana, California, and Ohio where the government has ripped children away from parents because those parents refuse to endorse their children’s stated transgender identities. A Terrifying Threat When implementing the final foster care rule, the Administration for Children and Families claimed it made a few changes to respond to critics’ concerns that the rule would undermine parental rights. While the foster care rule set forth procedures for identifying potential placements as “safe and appropriate” for minors who identify as LGBTQ, it does not require every family in the foster care system to meet those specific “designated placement” requirements. The agency suggests that this distinction will protect foster parents who dissent from transgender orthodoxy. The rule still represents an endorsement of transgender orthodoxy, however, and it puts the foster care system on a trajectory to alienate dissenting parents. If the system endorses the idea that boys can become girls or vice versa and that experimental sterilizing drugs are healthy for these “transgender youth,” then it follows that parents who tell their children that humans are irreversibly male or female must be anathema. It also follows that parents who want their children to grow up without experimental drugs are engaging in a form of harm, despite all the evidence to the contrary. Transgender orthodoxy is not neutral, and the government cannot endorse that ideology on the one hand and respect parents who disagree with it on the other. Activists may don terms like “acceptance” and “affirmation” as sheepskin to dress themselves up as caring, but under these deceptive words, their ideas are ravenous wolves, aiming to push protective parents aside and prey on confused kids. The University of Connecticut School of Social Work Innovations Institute’s demand that bureaucrats require LGBTQ affirmation for all foster parents—not just those to be matched with kids who identify as LGBTQ—is extremely revealing in this regard. According to this ideology, a loving parent must always accept a child’s claim to be “transgender,” even if that sets their child up for a lifetime of experimental alterations that will leave them stunted, scarred, and infertile. If the Administration for Children and Families relied on the Innovations Institute’s research for the foster care rule, then it seems likely the bureaucracy will return to this bile in the future. Parents everywhere should be concerned, because if child services adopts this ideology, non-“affirming” parents won’t just be excluded from welcoming a foster child into their home—they might also find their natural children taken from them, as well. In this Orwellian nightmare, the desire to protect your children from grotesque “treatments” would itself be proof that you are abusing your children. If the government adopts “gender-affirming care” as a litmus test for parenthood, that ideology won’t stop with foster care. The post RELENTLESS: Growth of Obama-Era Foster Care Policy Unmasks Transgender Orthodoxy’s Inherent Threat to Parental Rights appeared first on The Daily Signal.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The US is by no means the home or even a meaningful hub of soccer. And – the country’s at the same time working hard on “raising” its biometric mass surveillance profile. These two seemingly unrelated facts are set to converge since the US has been allowed to host the 2026 FIFA (football) World Cup. And it looks like biometric scanning will flourish during the almost month-long event involving millions of fans. Regardless of the status of football (soccer) in the US, in much of the rest of the world, it is by far the most important and popular sport, and so a great number of people from other countries are expected to travel there to support their national teams. What those fans can expect, according to reports, are the rules that are steadily taking root at US sports venues, revolving around biometric “security technology.” The passion for football is only increasing: South America’s top-tier continental competition, Copa America, just recently reported 11 percent more “traveling fans” – and the World Cup is expected to reflect much the same trend. Related: The TSA, Facial Recognition In Airports, and Your Rights What opponents of biometric surveillance see as by and large unchecked, extremely privacy-invasive, and technically flawed practice, is something those promoting it like to call “enhanced security and operational efficiency.” A lot of things get passed off as “media literacy” these days – so maybe it’s time to start to rethink what “tech literacy” means. But this time for real: things like what real-time biometric scanning and surveillance really mean to an individual. Not, “learn to use Microsoft Office” – and call that “tech literacy.” The time for that effort seems to be right, given that real-time facial recognition, fingerprint scanning, etc, is a policy that’s reportedly now producing “high public acceptance” – at least in the US. There, it’s been spreading, in airports as well as sports venues, and if some surveys are to be believed, travelers are blissfully enjoying trading their core privacy for “convenience.” Four out of five do – that’s what a US Travel and Ipsos poll, asking if US travelers supported TSA (biometric) checkpoints, said. But football fans from around the world might be wise to learn more about the technology and how it may affect their lives before they book that 2026 trip to the USA. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post World Cup 2026: Where Football Fans Face Off With Facial Recognition appeared first on Reclaim The Net.