Forum: General/Chat
-
A recent NPR report on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's public Ramadan events exemplifies a broader media pattern: portraying Islam as a neutral, purely spiritual faith while obscuring its civilizational and political dimensions. The story portrays public prayers and communal iftar meals as harmless cultural inclusion, portraying them as efforts to "normalize Muslim life" in the city. The Political and Military Significance of Ramadan In NPR's coverage, Ramadan appears merely as a tradition of communal meals and a marker of diversity. Large iftar events organized alongside the government, including one held in a prison complex, are described as gestures...
-
Content warning: Sensitive content The author labeled this post as containing sensitive content. 2024 New Orleans armed robbery gone real.................
-
According to a statement released by the University of South Florida, a mass grave containing the remains of victims of the Plague of Justinian (A.D. 541–750) has been identified at the site of Jerash in northern Jordan by a team of researchers led by Rays H.Y. Jiang of the University of South Florida. Hundreds of people were buried within several days in this mass grave dug in the city's hippodrome. "By linking biological evidence from the bodies to the archaeological setting, we can see how disease affected real people within their social and environmental context," Jiang said. Examination of the...
-
The X-59 soared over California’s Mojave desert as it prepares for quiet supersonic flight. NASA’s X-59 performs a bank-to-bank auto roll maneuver during a test flight over California’s Mojave desert. NASA / Lori Losey NASA pilots recently put the X-59 supersonic aircraft through the wringer—performing roller-coaster-style climbs and descents, among other actions, as part of its ongoing test campaign. The space agency released a video of its experimental aircraft performing a series of maneuvers as it soared over California’s Mojave desert. The X-59, built by aerospace contractor Lockheed Martin, is designed to break the sound barrier without the explosive, thunder-like...
-
BRAKER hitting its target - US Army One of the biggest hitters in the conventional arsenal merged with drone technology, as the US Army tested a bunker-buster warhead combined with an expendable Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) for field testing at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama. Bunker busters are a classic example of using brute force to overcome a seemingly impossible obstacle. There is something audacious about responding to the challenge of an impregnable fortress with what amounts to the arms equivalent of “hold my beer.” The idea is to deal with a heavily armored or deeply buried target by dropping a...
-
Omega-3 supplements are popular among many older adults to help combat age-related issues. They are often marketed as supporting cardiovascular health and reducing the risk of cognitive decline and dementia. However, a new study published in The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease suggests that these oral capsules may actually be linked to a faster decline in cognitive function. Many senior citizens swear by oral supplements and the benefits they bring. However, the scientific evidence is mixed. While animal and observational studies have indicated possible protective effects on the aging brain, controlled trials with humans have not shown such cognitive...
-
The Columbia-class submarine program encountered early setbacks. The United States Navy’s effort to build its newest class of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines is now expected to reach a key milestone in 2028, according to General Dynamics. The lead vessel, currently under construction, has faced schedule adjustments but is showing signs of steady progress as production challenges are gradually resolved. First submarine was planned for delivery earlier Reports revealed that the first submarine in this class was initially planned for delivery earlier, but complications during construction led to a revised target. Issues involving the supply of critical components, along with delays...
-
1:24 VIDEO at link................... Hilarious..................
-
According to a statement released by the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, an international team of researchers compared models for the distribution of three major mosquito complexes, paleoclimate models, and places where early humans lived in sub-Saharan Africa between 5,000 and 74,000 years ago. The resulting map indicates that people avoided or died out in areas where Plasmodium falciparum-induced malaria, a disease transmitted by mosquitoes, was likely prevalent. "The effects of these choices shaped human demography for the last 74,000 years, and likely much earlier," said Andrea Manica of the University of Cambridge. "By fragmenting human societies across the landscape,...
-
The album artwork for Duran Duran’s Rio is an iconic part of ‘80s history. But despite its status as one of the era’s most recognizable covers, the band never got to meet its creator. It was Patrick Nagel who came up with the distinctive image. Duran Duran was introduced to his work by their manager, and Nagel's vivid pop art style immediately caught their attention. “[Our manager] was an avid reader of Playboy magazine,” Duran Duran keyboardist Nick Rhodes recalled during a recent appearance on the Rockonteurs podcast. “Because Nagel used to do all the early illustrations around then, the...
-
According to a statement released by Antiquity, analysis of skeletal remains recovered from a seventeenth-century hospital cemetery in Basel, Switzerland, suggests that young laborers were the people most likely to die during an outbreak of plague. As a trade center that drew people in from abroad, the city of Basel was vulnerable to the spread of Yersinia pestis bacteria and outbreaks of plague. The last recorded outbreak of the disease in Basel occurred between 1665 and 1670. Researchers led by osteoarchaeologist Laura Rindlisbacher of the University of Basel examined skeletal remains recovered from the hospital cemetery dated to this period,...
-
According to a statement released by the University of Copenhagen, analysis of the remains of 132 individuals unearthed near a megalithic tomb in northern France suggests that the site was initially used by one group of people, but that population declined around 3000 B.C. and was eventually replaced by another group. "We see a clear genetic break between the two periods," said Frederik Valeur Seersholm of the University of Copenhagen. Genetic testing revealed that the earlier group was composed of early farmers from northern France and Germany, while the later group was linked to people in southern France and the...
-
Horrors! The latest atrocity in Gaza, reports Al Jazeera, is a wave of “luxurious” cafes and restaurants that have sprung up, “revealing a new genocidal reality.” That’s right: Israel-haters have yet another new definition of “genocide,” wherein “fancy” restaurants “built with expensive materials, carefully painted, furnished with tables, sofas, and elegant chairs, with glass facades and shining lights,” giving off a “luxury feel” are fresh proof of the “genocidal abnormality” that Israel has inflicted on the people of Gaza. It’s genocidal, you see, because not everyone in Gaza can afford to go there: “The expensive new establishments reflect the deeply...
-
Charlize Theron recently told The New York Times she thought it was “very reckless” for Timothée Chalamet to claim that “no one cares” about the opera or ballet... During “A CNN & Variety Town Hall Event,” Chalamet said that he doesn’t want theatrical movie going to end up like “ballet or opera,” where artists want to “keep this thing alive” even though “no one cares” about it anymore... Interviewer Lulu Garcia-Navarro then alluded to Chalamet’s now infamous statement, to which Theron replied, “Oh, boy, I hope I run into him one day. That was a very reckless comment on an...
-
The idea to unite New York and New Jersey’s busiest railroads has long been dismissed by elected officials on both sides of the Hudson River for logistical and political reasons. But now the time may finally come. As President Donald Trump pushes ahead with a federally run renovation of Penn Station and crews build a new set of rail tunnels beneath the Hudson River, supporters say there’s a rare opportunity to reorganize the entire rail network. Most of the attention to Trump’s redevelopment of the nation’s busiest train station has focused on converting its labyrinthine layout into an architectural marvel...
-
American attack helicopters sank six Iranian small boats in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday — as the Trump administration works to back the regime into a corner — forcing it to choose between allowing ships through the strait or attacking them and provoking a return to war. Two US-flagged cargo ships successfully passed through the strait as part of a new American initiative, “Project Freedom.” Frustrated by the lack of progress with Iranian negotiators, Trump is allegedly forcing Iran’s hand by deploying US warships directly into the Strait of Hormuz to escort neutral vessels that have been trapped in...
-
Shocking video footage captured the moment when a small plane smashed into a residential building in Brazil. The airplane, which had four occupants, crashed into a building on Monday in the city of Belo Horizonte, southeastern Brazil. Watch below: VIDEOS AT LINK............ Reuters confirmed: The pilot and co-pilot died, while the remaining passengers were in serious condition, the fire department added. “A single-engine EMB-721C aircraft (1979 model) crashes into a building in a residential area in the Northeast region of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, where four people were being transported on 04 May; according to a initial information,” aviation news page...
-
Live Science reports that Joachim Burger of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and his colleagues examined more than 250 sets of human remains of people who lived in what is now southern Germany, on what was the frontier of the Roman Empire, between A.D. 400 and 700. The researchers analyzed DNA samples from the bones, performed strontium isotope analysis to look for chemical signatures in the bones, and compared the results of the tests with 2,500 ancient and 379 modern genomes. The study suggests that many people engaged in monogamy, and nearly one-quarter of the children lost at least one parent...
-
This is absolutely mind blowing! When Karin Bass was in Ghana as Los Angeles burned, the deputy mayor she left in charge was at home on house arrest. For phoning in a bomb threat. We are indeed governed by criminals. From @spencerpratt on @joerogan
-
|
|
|