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http://www.cnbc.com/2015/08/24/caitlyn-jenner-halloween-costume-sparks-social-media-outrage-.html

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ne...een-costume-labeled-817515?utm_source=twitter

It's nowhere near October, but one ensemble is already on track to be named the most controversial Halloween costume of 2015.

Social media users were out in full force on Monday criticizing several Halloween retailers for offering a Caitlyn Jenner costume reminiscent of the former-athlete's Vanity Fair cover earlier this year.

While Jenner's supporters condemned the costume as "transphobic" and "disgusting" on Twitter, Spirit Halloween, a retailer that carries the costume, defended the getup.

"At Spirit Halloween, we create a wide range of costumes that are often based upon celebrities, public figures, heroes and superheroes," said Lisa Barr, senior director of marking at Spirit Halloween. "We feel that Caitlyn Jenner is all of the above and that she should be celebrated. The Caitlyn Jenner costume reflects just that."
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This is a good interview with Frank Luntz, a Republican pollster and strategist. You may have seen him on Fox news doing focus groups during election coverage. It was posted about 9 months ago but it's got a lot of good insights about Sarah Palin, Trump, Obama et al. It was worth the watch, about an hour long.

 

EcoTrends: Netizens Surprised With Bright Yellow Colour of Rare Turtle Rescued in West Bengal​

weather.com

#EcoTrends: Netizens Surprised With Bright Yellow Colour of Rare Turtle Rescued in West Bengal | The Weather Channel - Articles from The Weather Channel | weather.com

This is the second such incident, while the first one was spotted in Balasore district, Odisha back in July 2020. - Articles from The Weather Channel | weather.com
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Ignore the annoying term "netizens" but it's a pretty damn neat turtle. I thought it looked like he had some American cheese melted on him.

Article states, The rare colour of the turtle is attributed to the deficiency of pigment called tyrosine, which is present in high amounts in reptiles including crocodiles. Experts say that the absence of colouring pigment is probably due to genetic mutation or congenital disorder. In her post, Wildlife Biologist Sneha Dharwadkar commented that the rescued turtle is the yellow morph of albino Indian flapshell turtle. Moreover, it's not just that specific parts of the turtle are yellow but the whole shell and body of the appear to be of the same colour.
 

ANOTHER BIG SUNSPOT: A new sunspot group is rotating into view over the sun's southeastern limb--and it's a big one. At least three dark cores the size of Earth are inset in this magnetic map from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory:

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The +/- polarity of the sunspot group marks it as a member of Solar Cycle 25. This comes as no surprise. Almost every sunspot this year has belonged to the new solar cycle. Solar Cycle 25 is taking a firm hold on the sun.

Earlier today (Nov. 3rd at 0703 UT) the sunspot produced a minor C1-class solar flare. A pulse of UV radiation from the flare briefly ionized Earth's upper atmosphere, causing a low-frequency radio blackout over the Indian Ocean: map. Mariners and ham radio operators in the area may have noticed unusual propagation effects at frequencies below ~5 MHz.

Using an H-alpha filter tuned to the red glow of solar hydrogen, Apollo Lasky photographed the sunspot from his backyard observatory in Naperville, Illinois:

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"The sunspot looks menacing," he says.

This sunspot, if it holds itself together, will face Earth for the next two weeks as it rotates across the face of the sun, potentially setting the stage for a sustained stretch of solar activity. Amateur astronomers with safely-filtered telescopes are encouraged to monitor developments.
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Billionaire Bill Gross accused of blaring 'Gilligan's Island' theme song on loop at his neighbor

By Jazmin Goodwin, CNN Business


New York (CNN Business)Bond billionaire Bill Gross is involved in a legal battle with his tech entrepreneur neighbor over a $1 million sculpture and allegations that Gross blasted the "Gilligan's Island" theme song on a loop from his house.

Gross, the co-founder of investment firm PIMCO, and his partner Amy Schwartz installed a large lighted glass art installation on their Laguna Beach property along the property line shared with their neighbors, Mark Towfiq, CEO of data center development company Nextfort Ventures, and his wife Carol Nakahara, according to a lawsuit filed by Towfiq and Nakahra. Gross and Schwartz then installed larger poles and a protective net above the installation, and Towfiq and his wife allege the art installation partially blocked their ocean views.

After several months of unsuccessful attempts to discuss the matter with Gross, according to Towfiq and Nakahara, they filed a complaint with the city of Laguna Beach in June. The complaint prompted an investigation by the city that determined the installation, netting and lights were a violation of city code and did not have the proper permits, according to the lawsuit.

Shortly after, Towfiq and Nakahara allege Gross began retaliating against them by harassing and disturbing them with "loud music and bizarre audio recordings at excessive levels" during various hours of the day and night -- including pop or rap music, and often a series of television theme songs, according to the lawsuit, including the "Gilligan's Island" theme on a loop.

Gross and Schwartz sued Towfiq first -- on October 13. Towfiq and Nakahara filed their own suit the next day, on October 14.

Gross accused Towfiq of "peeping" on him and Schwartz, and Gross's lawsuit asks for a temporary restraining order, according to court documents. Towfiq and Nakahara's lawsuit alleges Gross and Schwartz executed a "targeted campaign of harassment and abuse" that ensued after a dispute over an art sculpture installation in Gross' property.

"Mr. Towfiq has harassed and invaded the privacy of Mr. Gross and his life partner Amy Schwartz," said Jill Basinger, the attorney who represents Gross, in a statement to CNN Business. "We reluctantly brought a complaint against the defendant because of his unneighborly behavior, which goes back many years within this community and with other neighbors."

Basinger called Towfiq "bullying" and "vindictive," and said he has "been the aggressor toward Mr. Gross and Ms. Schwartz."

But Towfiq and Nakahara's lawyer said the opposite.

"Mr. Gross is an entitled billionaire who is used to getting his way by bullying coworkers, family and neighbors," said Jennifer Keller, the attorney who represents Towfiq, in a statement to CNN Business. "Gross filed his own complaint merely as a preemptive strike after learning my clients intended to seek relief from the court."

The couple alleged Gross and Schwartz's actions were attempts to get them to drop their complaint with the city. During one incident, when Towfiq "respectfully requested" the music be turned down, Gross responded, "Peace on all fronts or well [sic] just have nightly concerts big boy," Towfiq's complaint alleges.

Towfiq's complaint says the alleged abuse was so distressing that it forced Towfiq and Nakahara to leave their home and stay elsewhere. The two were granted a temporary restraining order on October 16.

Gross and Schwartz have lived at their Laguna Beach property since 2018 and typically stay at their home during the weekends, Towfiq's lawsuit states. Towfiq and his wife have lived at their home since 2009.

A hearing is scheduled for November 2, representatives for both Gross and Towfiq said. The hearing is to determine if civil harassment restraining orders will be issued.

Gross has been given an extension until November 16 to obtain the proper permits. He is "in the process of getting it permitted," according to Gross' lawyers.
In 2014, Gross said he was fired from PIMCO, the firm he co-founded in 1971. He filed a lawsuit against the company in 2015 for wrongfully removing him, in which both parties reached an $81 million settlement in 2017.

Gross has an estimated net worth of $1.5 billion, according to Forbes.
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2020 the gift that keeps giving & this looks terriable johnny :story: :story:
 

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Xbox Series X Has Too Many Horrifying Holes

As reviews for the Xbox Series X arrive, I’m here to talk about one aspect of the console that could impact your desire to buy one, as it has mine. I am a trypophobe, and I cannot own an Xbox Series X because of all its damn holes.

[Since this post discusses a phobia, we won’t include any triggering imagery. Please be respectful and don’t share any similar imagery in the comments.]

Trypophobia (Google at your peril lest you suddenly and violently discover you too are afflicted) is described as the “fear of small holes.” (Shout out to the American Psychiatric Association for at least waiting a few paragraphs before including images that caused me to yeet my laptop; most online explanations of trypophobia unfortunately include pictures.) Trypophobia is not included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, so it’s not an officially recognized mental disorder, but it’s estimated that 16% of people suffer from it. I am, unfortunately, one of them.

Any uniform arrangement of small holes or spaces induces revulsion in me, accompanied with a slight “flight” response. Common triggers for me are usually organic but can include man-made things, such as certain manhole covers, those lotus pods that can come with Korean BBQ or dried in potpourri, pinecones, sunflower heads, gauze or bandages, any liquid mixture that bubbles like cooking pancakes or blooming yeast , this map of election results, and the grate at the top of the Xbox Series X.

I knew the Series X was going to be trouble the minute its design was revealed. The holes are just big and prominent enough to trigger a response. The Series S is a bit better, since the holes on its speaker are small enough to be obscured when viewed at a distance. Up close, it’s still slightly unsettling, but the annoyance factor is more negligible. My response to all these holes is not very strong, so I can continue to work at Kotaku without gagging every five minutes as our coverage of the cursed console increases as we get closer to release date. But I don’t think I could keep the new Xboxes in my home without prolonged exposure making me want to throw the console away.

In the realm of video games and phobias, I could do a lot worse than trypophobia (see: spiders). But the insidious thing about trypophobia and video games is that it can manifest suddenly and in weird, innocuous places. My new desktop computer has a vent at the top, and the first couple of days with it, I was okay. But seeing the holes in my periphery every time I sat at my desk was enough to make me cover the grate up with a sheet of paper.

I get skeeved out in games too. Older games sometimes feature certain triggering textures in objects or on walls. For more modern games, a recent example for me is Resident Evil 7: Negative spaces that look like holes can freak me out, and there are a ton of maggots in that game. (Believe it or not, actual maggots don’t bother me; it’s the space between a swarm of them that sets me off. Humans are weird.) D’vorah from Mortal Kombat 11 is also a problem: She’s one of my favorite new characters, but she has a move that unleashes bugs from her chest, and the holes, man… I can’t do it.

My trypophobia manifests unevenly—small holes don’t always send me over the edge. So I’m okay with things like speaker grates or the metal mesh of my Blue Yeti Microphone. In fact most electronics and their penchant for using small holes to vent heat don’t bother me at all—except this mouse (thanks a lot, Fahey) and the Xbox Series X.

I could employ similar strategies for the Series X that I did for my computer. I could try to hide it in my entertainment console. Standing the console vertically would also obscure the vent. If I absolutely had to have a Series X, I could make it work, but why should I suffer having a triggering object in my home when I could just own a hole-free PlayStation 5 instead? Your move, Microsoft.
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Waterfowl killed after mistaking wet Iowa roads for wetlands

Wildlife officials say hundreds of ducks and other migratory waterfowl were hit and killed by cars in northwestern Iowa when they mistook wet pavement for wetlands.
www.kcrg.com www.kcrg.com

Waterfowl killed after mistaking wet Iowa roads for wetlands

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Wildlife officials say hundreds of ducks and other migratory waterfowl were hit and killed by cars in northwestern Iowa when they mistook wet pavement for wetlands.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says the deaths began Monday night in Woodbury County. State Conservation Officer Steve Griebel says he started getting phone calls and messages about ducks on roads and parking lots Monday night into early Tuesday.

Griebel went to investigate after sunrise and says he counted more than 200 dead ducks on the highway. Officials say the waterfowl, including bluebills, mallards, buffleheads and teal, were migrating from the Dakotas and Canada.
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So like my bay windows, but on a massive scale? I'm not one for eating roadkill but isn't fowl a delicacy? So many tasty duckies just sitting out there, waiting to be roasted.
 
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Model alleges she was 'banned' from Tinder for being 'too hot': 'There's so many fake profiles out there'​

Katie Mather
Thu, November 12, 2020, 2:05 PM PST
https://sneed.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/LT4QxMhPK9RvEYwS7vwisw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTY0MA--/https://itk-assets.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/2020/11/Screen-Shot-2020-11-12-at-3.54.43-PM-1620x911.jpg
A 21-year-old model is claiming that Tinder “banned her” from the popular dating app for being “too hot.”
Luna Benna said she signed up for Tinder three years ago after ending a relationship and so many people stole her photos that her profile got flagged.
“People were stealing my photos and making money using my images. Catfishing, basically,” she alleged. “There’s so many fake profiles out there, whenever I start a legit account I get reported and Tinder has me taken down.”
“Catfishing” refers to when someone creates a fictional persona online, typically using photos of other people.
Benna also claimed that “being too good looking” led her to be harassed by a lot of men on the app. Although, it wasn’t all bad.


“People offered me vacations, proposed to me — even offered money if I agreed to meet up with them,” she said, before adding that she never actually took up anyone on these offers.

But even while on the app, Benna said she had a really tough time dating people.
“I definitely matched with people I liked. Did lots and lots of texting and FaceTiming, phone calls — the whole thing,” she explained. “One was a super awkward experience — the dude said my presence was so powerful it made him uncomfortable … He said it honest-to-God temporarily paralyzed him and he’d never met a woman like me before.”
While Benna makes a living from platforms like Instagram and OnlyFans, she said she still felt uncomfortable seeing people use her image on fake Facebook fan pages or Tinder accounts with inappropriate bios.
“At first I tried confronting [the impersonators] but it never ended well. The outcome would typically be a block,” Benna claimed. “It would motivate the catfishers to look even more ‘real’ and ‘authentic’ now that they knew I was aware [of them].”
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Model alleges she was 'banned' from Tinder for being 'too hot': 'There's so many fake profiles out there'

A 21-year-old model claims she was "banned" from the popular dating app, Tinder, after a bunch of people stole her photos.
www.intheknow.com www.intheknow.com
 
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Fatal assault of 73-year-old in Arnhem linked to “pedo-hunters”
Police urge “pedo-hunting” to stop
Police have confirmed that the death of a 73-year-old man in Arnhem last month was related to “pedo-hunting”, reports De Gelderlander.

This is when civilians attempt to take justice into their own hands by hunting down people they believe to be paedophiles.

The man was left badly beaten after being attacked by a group of youths on Wednesday, October 28. The attackers fled the scene and the man later died from his injuries.

To meet a 15-year-old boy
The group of teenagers who attacked the man apparently pretended to be a 15-year-old boy in a chat room for homosexuals. The man responded to a call to meet the boy for sex, however, it is unclear at this time whether or not the man was actually a paedophile.

Once the man arrived at the agreed meeting point he was met by the group of youths. Jamil Roethof, the lawyer for a 15-year-old suspect, tells AD that things then “got out of hand.”

“They wanted to confront him with the fact that he wanted to have sex with an underage boy. No more. Then it got out of hand. The victim also fell badly. I don’t think there was a preconceived plan to abuse him.”

The lawyer’s client was not involved in the assault, however, he was present when the group made the call to the man and when the man first arrived.

Police urge “pedo-hunting” to stop
The Police Chief Oscar Dros has urged the public to stop hunting down people they believe to be paedophiles, AD reports. “Our message to citizens is: stop pedo-hunting. Stop persisting. Stop provoking. Leave this to us.”

He says that while civilians may believe they have enough evidence to convict a person, in reality much more work is needed. “I don’t know of an example in my police unit that led to the conviction of a child molester,” says Dros.

A common occurrence
According to Dros, there have been 250 incidents involving “pedo-hunters” since July of this year. “That varies from underrun to assault, threats and publicly pillorying people on the internet. These are only the incidents of which we know. There are probably many more.” As a result, the police have had to help known paedophiles to go into hiding.

Dros says that the time spent investigating “pedo-hunters” should be put to better use. “We have hundreds of vice detectives who are passionate about their work. The criminal behaviour of “pedo-hunters” takes a lot of time, which we prefer to invest in preventing child abuse.”
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