Fill 'Er Up

A team of Chinese researchers say they managed to convert actual lunar regolith samples into a source of rocket fuel and oxygen — a potential gamechanger for future space explorers hoping to make use of in-situ resources to fuel up for their return journey.

The researchers found that the lunar soil samples can act as a catalyst to convert carbon dioxide and water from astronauts' bodies and environment into methane and oxygen, as detailed in a paper published in the National Science Review.

"In situ resource utilization of lunar soil to achieve extraterrestrial fuel and oxygen production is vital for the human to carry out Moon exploitation missions," lead author Yujie Xiong said in a new statement about the work. "Considering that there are limited human resources at extraterrestrial sites, we proposed to employ the robotic system to perform the whole electrocatalytic CO2 conversion system setup."

That means we could have a much better shot at carrying out longer duration explorations of the lunar surface in the near future.

Set It, Forget It

According to the paper, which builds on previous research suggesting lunar soil can generate oxygen and fuel, this process can be completed using uncrewed systems, even in the absence of astronauts.

In an experiment, the team used samples from China's Chang'e-5 mission, which landed in Inner Mongolia back in December 2020 — the first lunar soil returned to Earth since 1976.

The Moon soil effectively acted as a catalyst, enabling the electrocatalytic conversion of carbon dioxide into methane and oxygen.

"No significant difference can be observed between the manned and unmanned systems, which further suggests the high possibility of imitating our proposed system in extraterrestrial sites and proves the feasibility of further optimizing catalyst recipes on the Moon," the researchers conclude in their paper.

Liquified

But there's one big hurdle to still overcome: liquifying carbon dioxide is anything but easy given the Moon's frosty atmosphere, as condensing the gas requires a significant amount of heat, as New Scientist reported earlier this year.

Still, it's a tantalizing prospect: an autonomous machine chugging away, pumping out oxygen and fuel for future visitors. But for now, it's not much more than a proof of concept.

READ MORE: Scientists investigate using lunar soils to sustainably supply oxygen and fuels on the moon [Science China Press]

More on lunar soil: Bad News! The Plants Grown in Moon Soil Turned Out Wretched

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Scientists Use Actual Lunar Soil Sample to Create Rocket Fuel

A team of neuroscientists at the University of Wisconsin claim to have found a way to control how high mice can get on a given amount of cocaine.

And don't worry — while that may sound like a particularly frivolous plot concocted by a team of evil scientists, the goal of the research is well-meaning.

The team, led by University of Wisconsin neuroscientist Santiago Cuesta, was investigating how the gut microbiome can influence how mice and humans react to ingesting the drug.

The research, detailed in a new paper published this week in the journal Cell Host & Microbe, sheds light on a vicious feedback loop that could explain cases of substance abuse disorders — and possibly lay the groundwork for future therapeutic treatments.

In a number of experiments on mice, the researchers found that cocaine was linked to the growth of common gut bacteria, which feed on glycine, a chemical that facilitates basic brain functions.

The lower the levels of glycine in the brain, the more the mice reacted to the cocaine, exhibiting abnormal behaviors.

To test the theory, the scientists injected the mice with a genetically modified amino acid which cannot break down glycine. As a result, the behavior of mice returned to normal levels.

In other words, the amino acid could curb cocaine addiction-like behaviors — at least in animal models.

"The gut bacteria are consuming all of the glycine and the levels are decreasing systemically and in the brain," said Vanessa Sperandio, senior author, and microbiologist from the University of Wisconsin, in a statement. "It seems changing glycine overall is impacting the glutamatergic synapses that make the animals more prone to develop addiction."

It's an unorthodox approach to treating addiction, but could be intriguing — if it works in people, that is.

"Usually, for neuroscience behaviors, people are not thinking about controlling the microbiota, and microbiota studies usually don't measure behaviors, but here we show they’re connected," Cuesta added. "Our microbiome can actually modulate psychiatric or brain-related behaviors."

In short, their research could lead to new ways of treating various psychiatric disorders such as substance use by adjusting the gut microbiome and not making changes to the brain chemistry.

"I think the bridging of these communities is what's going to move the field forward, advancing beyond correlations towards causations for the different types of psychiatric disorders," Sperandio argued.

READ MORE: How gut bacteria influence the effects of cocaine in mice [Cell Press]

More on addiction: Study: Magic Mushrooms Helped 83% of People Cut Excessive Drinking

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Scientists Found a Way to Control How High Mice Got on Cocaine

Cat Burglar

Cats are known for not really minding their own business, getting their furry paws on just about anything they can.

And it turns out, this makes them effective vectors for DNA evidence, according to a study published last month in the journal Forensic Science International: Genetic Supplement Series.

Researchers collaborating with the Victoria Police Forensic Services Department in Australia found detectable human DNA in 80 percent of the samples collected from 20 pet cats, with 70 percent of the samples strong enough that they could be linked to a person of interest in a crime scene investigation.

"Collection of human DNA needs to become very important in crime scene investigations, but there is a lack of data on companion animals such as cats and dogs in their relationship to human DNA transfer," said study lead author Heidi Monkman, a forensic scientist at Flinders University, in a statement.

"These companion animals can be highly relevant in assessing the presence and activities of the inhabitants of the household, or any recent visitors to the scene."

Here Kitty

One possible takeaway is that cats — and other companion pets like dogs — could be harboring DNA that could help solve a case.

The bigger issue, though, is that pets could introduce foreign DNA that muddles a crime scene, possibly leading to an innocent person being implicated. A pet could be carrying the DNA of a complete stranger, or it might bring the DNA of its owner into a crime scene that they had nothing to do with.

Monkman's colleague and co-author of the paper, Maria Goray, is an experienced crime scene investigator and an expert in DNA transfer. She believes their findings could help clear up how pets might tamper a crime scene by carrying outside DNA.

"Are these DNA findings a result of a criminal activity or could they have been transferred and deposited at the scene via a pet?" Goray asked.

It's a question worth asking — especially because innocent people have been jailed off botched DNA science far too often.

More on DNA evidence: Cops Upload Image of Suspect Generated From DNA, Then Delete After Mass Criticism

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Cats May Be Tampering With Crime Scenes, Scientists Say

Core Dump

Scientists studying a group of stars made an astonishing but "serendipitous" discovery when they realized that Gamma Columbae, a fairly average celestial body, might actually be the "stripped pulsating core of a massive star," according to a study published this week in Nature Astronomy.

If true, that means Gamma Columbae is missing the envelope, or vast shroud of gas, that hides a star's nuclear fusion powered core.

What caused the stripping of this atmospheric envelope is not definitively known, but the scientists posit that Gamma Columbae running out of hydrogen could've caused its envelope to expand and swallow up a nearby star, likely its binary partner. But in the middle of that relatively common process, something appears to have horrifically gone wrong and ejected the envelope — and possibly even led to the two stars merging.

Naked Core

Before the disaster, the scientists believe Gamma Columbae could have been up to 12 times the mass of our Sun. Now, it's a comparatively meager 5 stellar masses.

Although a naked stellar core missing its envelope has been theorized to exist, it's never been observed in a star this size.

"Having a naked stellar core of such a mass is unique so far," said study co-author Norbert Pryzbilla, head of the Institute for Astro- and Particle Physics at the University of Innsbruck, in an interview with Vice.

Astronomers had an idea of what the cores of massive and low mass stars looked like, Pryzbilla continued, but there wasn't "much evidence" for cores of masses in between.

Star Power

It's an exceedingly rare find because the star is in a "a short-lived post-stripping structural re-adjustment phase" that will only last 10,000 years, according to the study.

That's "long for us humans but in astronomical timescales, very, very short," Przybilla told Vice. "It will always stay as a peculiar object."

The opportunity to study such a rarely exposed stellar core could provide scientists an invaluable look into the evolution of binary star systems. And whatever astronomers learn from the star, it's a fascinating glimpse at stellar destruction at a nearly incomprehensible scale.

More on stars: Black Hole Spotted Burping Up Material Years After Eating a Star

The post Scientists Spot "Stripped, Pulsating Core" of Star Caused By Horrific Accident appeared first on Futurism.

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Scientists Spot "Stripped, Pulsating Core" of Star Caused By Horrific Accident

Advertisers are fleeing Twitter in droves now that Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has taken over control.

Ever since officially closing the $44 billion deal, Musk has been busy gutting the company's executive suite and dissolving its board. Senior executives, as well as Twitter's advertising chief Sarah Personette, have departed as well.

After all, Musk has been very clear about his disdain for advertising for years now.

The resulting uncertainty has advertisers spooked — major advertising holding company IPG has already advised clients to pull out temporarily — and the billionaire CEO is in serious damage mode.

Now, Reuters reports, Musk is spending most of this week meeting with advertisers in New York, trying to reassure them that Twitter won't turn into a "free-for-all hellscape."

According to one of Reuters' sources, the meetings have been "very productive" — but plenty of other marketers are far from satisfied.

Advertisers are reportedly grilling Musk over his plans to address the rampant misinformation being spread on the platform, a trend that Musk himself has been actively contributing to since the acquisition.

And if he's succeeding in ameliorating advertisers in private, he's antagonizing them publicly. On Wednesday, Musk posted a poll asking users whether advertisers should support either "freedom of speech," or "political 'correctness'" — a type of false dichotomy that echoes the rhetoric of far-right conspiracy theorists and conservative pundits.

"Those type of provocations are not helping to calm the waters," an unnamed media buyer told Reuters.

Some are going public with the same sentiment.

"Unless Elon hires new leaders committed to keeping this 'free' platform safe from hate speech, it's not a platform brands can/should advertise on," Allie Wassum, global media director for the Nike-owned shoe brand Jordan, wrote in a LinkedIn post.

So far, Musk's plans for the social media platform remain strikingly muddy. In addition to the behind-the-scenes advertising plays, he's also announced that users will have to pay to retain their verification badge, though he's engaged in a comically public negotiation as to what the cost might be.

He's also hinted that previously banned users — former US president Donald Trump chief among them — might eventually get a chance to return, but only once "we have a clear process for doing so, which will take at least a few more weeks."

The move was seen by many as a way to wait out the impending midterm elections. After all, Twitter has played a huge role in disseminating misinformation and swaying elections in the past.

While advertisers are running for the hills, to Musk advertising is clearly only a small part of the picture — even though historically, social giants like Twitter have struggled to diversify their revenue sources much beyond display ads.

Musk nodded to that reality in a vague open letter posted last week.

"Low relevancy ads are spam, but highly relevant ads are actually content!" he wrote in the note, addressed to "Twitter advertisers."

Big picture, Twitter's operations are in free fall right now and Musk has yet to provide advertisers with a cohesive plan to pick up the pieces.

While he's hinted at the creation of a new content moderation council made up of both "people from all viewpoints" and "wildly divergent views," advertisers are clearly going to be thinking twice about continuing their business with Twitter.

With or without advertising, Twitter's finances are reportedly in a very deep hole. The billions of dollars Musk had to borrow to finance his mega acquisition will cost Twitter around $1 billion a year in interest alone.

The company also wasn't anywhere near profitable before Musk took over, losing hundreds of millions of dollars in a single quarter.

Whether that picture will change any time soon is as unclear as ever, especially in the face of a wintry economy.

But, of course, Musk has proved his critics wrong before. So anything's possible.

READ MORE: Advertisers begin to grill Elon Musk over Twitter 'free-for-all' [Reuters]

More on the saga: Elon Musk Pulling Engineers From Tesla Autopilot to Work on Twitter

The post Elon Musk Meeting With Advertisers, Begging Them Not to Leave Twitter appeared first on Futurism.

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Elon Musk Meeting With Advertisers, Begging Them Not to Leave Twitter

Droning On

Someone thinks it's a great idea to fly 500 drones over New York City to create a huge ad in the sky on Thursday evening. Because New Yorkers certainly don't have any historical reason to mistrust unknown aircraft over their skyline, right?

As Gothamist reports, the drone swarm is part of a "surreal takeover of New York City’s skyline" on behalf of — we shit you not — the mobile game Candy Crush.

Fernanda Romano, Candy Crush's chief marketing officer, told Gothamist that the stunt will "turn the sky into the largest screen on the planet" using the small, light-up drones.

Though this is not the first time the Manhattan skyline has been used as ad space — that distinction goes to the National Basketball Association and State Farm, which did a similar stunt this summer during the NBA draft — local lawmakers are ticked off about it nonetheless.

"I think it’s outrageous to be spoiling our city’s skyline for private profit," Brad Hoylman, a state senator that represents Manhattan's West Side in the NY Legislature, told the local news site. "It’s offensive to New Yorkers, to our local laws, to public safety, and to wildlife."

Freak Out

Indeed, as the NYC Audubon Society noted in a tweet, the Candy Crush crapshoot "could disrupt the flight patterns of thousands of birds flying through NYC, leading to collisions with buildings" as they migrate.

Beyond the harm this will do to birds and the annoyance it will undoubtedly cause the famously-grumpy people of New York, this stunt is also going down with very little warning, considering that Gothamist is one of the only news outlets even reporting on it ahead of time.

While most viewers will hopefully be able to figure out what's going on pretty quickly, the concept of seeing unknown aircraft above the skyline is a little too reminiscent of 9/11 for comfort — and if Candy Crush took that into consideration, they haven't let on.

So here's hoping this event shocks and awes Thursday night city-goers in a good way, and not in the way that makes them panic.

More drone warfare: Russia Accused of Pelting Ukraine Capital With "Kamikaze" Drones

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Huge Drone Swarm to Form Giant Advertisement Over NYC Skyline

Chinese scientists are reportedly planning to send monkeys to its new Tiangong space station for experiments that will involve the animals mating and potentially reproducing, the South China Morning Post reports.

It's a fascinating and potentially controversial experiment that could have major implications for our efforts to colonize space: can mammals, let alone humans, successfully reproduce beyond the Earth?

According to the report, the experiment would take place in the station's largest capsule, called Wentian, inside two biological test cabinets that can be expanded.

After examining the behavior of smaller creatures, "some studies involving mice and macaques will be carried out to see how they grow or even reproduce in space," Zhang Lu, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, said during a speech posted to social media earlier this week, as quoted by the SCMP.

"These experiments will help improve our understanding of an organism’s adaptation to microgravity and other space environments," he added.

Some simpler organisms, including nematodes and Japanese rice fish, have been observed reproducing in space.

But more complex life forms have struggled. In 2014, a Russian experiment to see whether geckos could produce offspring in space failed when all the critters died.

And the failure rate for mammals, so far, has been total. Soviet Union scientists got mice to mate during a space flight in 1979, but none of them gave birth after being returned to Earth.

In other words, getting monkeys to reproduce on board a space station will be anything but easy. For one, just dealing with living creatures in space can pose immense challenges. The astronauts will "need to feed them and deal with the waste," Kehkooi Kee, a professor with the school of medicine at Tsinghua University, told the SCMP.

Then there's the fact that astronauts will have to keep the macaques happy and comfortable, something that experts say will be challenging since long term confinement in the spartan environments of space habitats could cause immense stress for the simians.

And even if astronauts successfully set the mood for the monkeys, the physics of sex in space are predicted to be challenging.

"Firstly, just staying in close contact with each other under zero gravity is hard," Adam Watkins, an associate professor of reproductive physiology at University of Nottingham, wrote in a 2020 open letter highlighted by the SCMP. "Secondly, as astronauts experience lower blood pressure while in space, maintaining erections and arousal are more problematic than here on Earth."

With its new space station in nearly full operation, China isn't shying away from asking some big questions — but whether these experiments will play out as expected is anything but certain.

READ MORE: Chinese scientists plan monkey reproduction experiment in space station [South China Morning Post]

More on sex in space: Scientists Say We Really Have to Talk About Boning in Space

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China Plans to Send Monkeys to Space Station to Have Sex With Each Other

Spying @ Home

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic drove a wave of working from home, companies have been relentless in their efforts to digitally police and spy on remote employees by using what's known as "bossware." That's the pejorative name for software that tracks the websites an employee visits, screenshots their computer screens, and even records their faces and voices.

And now, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), an agency of the federal government, is looking to intervene.

"Close, constant surveillance and management through electronic means threaten employees' basic ability to exercise their rights," said NLRB general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, in a Monday memo. "I plan to urge the Board to apply the Act to protect employees, to the greatest extent possible, from intrusive or abusive electronic monitoring and automated management practices."

Undoing Unions

In particular, Abruzzo is worried about how bossware could infringe on workers' rights to unionize. It's not hard to imagine how such invasive surveillance could be used to bust unionization. Even if the technology isn't explicitly deployed to impede organization efforts, the ominous presence of the surveillance on its own can be a looming deterrent, which Abruzzo argues is illegal.

And now is the perfect moment for the NLRB to step in. The use and abuse of worker surveillance tech in general — not just bossware — has been "growing by the minute," Mark Gaston Pearce, executive director of the Workers' Rights Institute at Georgetown Law School, told CBS.

"Employers are embracing technology because technology helps them run a more efficient business," Gaston explained. "… What comes with that is monitoring a lot of things that employers have no business doing."

Overbearing Overlord

In some ways, surveillance tech like bossware can be worse than having a nosy, actual human boss. Generally speaking, in a physical workplace employees have an understanding of how much privacy they have (unless they work at a place like Amazon or Walmart, that is).

But when bossware spies on you, who knows how much information an employer could be gathering — or even when they're looking in. And if it surveils an employee's personal computer, which more often than not contains plenty of personal information that a boss has no business seeing, that's especially invasive.

Which is why Abruzzo is pushing to require employers to disclose exactly how much they're tracking.

It's a stern message from the NLRB, but at the end of the day, it's just a memo. We'll have to wait and see how enforcing it pans out.

More on surveillance: Casinos to Use Facial Recognition to Keep "Problem Gamblers" Away

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US Gov to Crack Down on "Bossware" That Spies On Employees' Computers

Observatory Offline

The Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) Observatory in Chile has been hit with a cyberattack that has taken its website offline and forced it to suspend all observations, authorities there said.

Even email services were limited in the aftermath, illustrating the broad impact of the hack.

Nested high up on a plateau in the Chilean Andes at over 16,000 feet above sea level, ALMA is one of the most powerful and advanced radio telescopes in the world. Notably, ALMA helped take the first image of a black hole in 2019, in a collaborative effort that linked radio observatories worldwide into forming the Event Horizon Telescope.

Thankfully, ALMA's impressive arsenal of 66 high-precision antennas, each nearly 40 feet in diameter, was not compromised, the observatory said, nor was any of the scientific data those instruments collected.

In High Places

What makes ALMA so invaluable is its specialty in observing the light of the cooler substances of the cosmos, namely gas and dust. That makes ALMA a prime candidate for documenting the fascinating formations of planets and stars when they first emerge amidst clouds of gas.

Since going fully operational in 2013, it's become the largest ground-based astronomical project in the world, according to the European Southern Observatory, ALMA's primary operators.

So ALMA going offline is a distressing development, especially to the thousands of astronomers worldwide that rely on its observations and the some 300 experts working onsite. Getting it up and running is obviously a top priority, but the observatory said in a followup tweet that "it is not yet possible to estimate a date for a return to regular activities."

As of now, there's no information available on who the hackers were, or exactly how they conducted the attack. Their motivations, too, remain a mystery.

More on ALMA: Astronomers Think They Found the Youngest Planet in the Galaxy

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Hackers Just Took Down One of the World's Most Advanced Telescopes

Jeff Bezos' former housekeeper is suing the Amazon founder for workplace discrimination that she says forced her to literally climb out out the window of his house to use the bathroom.

In the suit, filed this week in a Washington state court, the former housekeeper claimed that she and Bezos' other household staff were not provided with legally-mandated eating or restroom breaks, and that because there was no "readily accessible bathroom" for them to use, they had to clamber out a laundry room window to get to one.

In the complaint, lawyers for the ex-housekeeper, who is described as having worked for wealthy families for nearly 20 years, wrote that household staff were initially allowed to use a small bathroom in the security room of Bezos' main house, but "this soon stopped... because it was decided that housekeepers using the bathroom was a breach of security protocol."

The suit also alleges that housekeepers in the billionaire's employ "frequently developed Urinary Tract Infections" that they believed was related to not being able to use the bathroom when they needed to at work.

"There was no breakroom for the housekeepers," the complaint adds. "Even though Plaintiff worked 10, 12, and sometimes 14 hours a day, there was no designated area for her to sit down and rest."

The housekeeper — who, like almost all of her coworkers, is Latino — was allegedly not aware that she was entitled to breaks for lunch or rest, and was only able to have a lunch break when Bezos or his family were not on the premises, the lawsuit alleges.

The Washington Post owner has denied his former housekeeper's claims of discrimination through an attorney.

"We have investigated the claims, and they lack merit," Harry Korrell, a Bezos attorney, told Insider of the suit. "[The former employee] made over six figures annually and was the lead housekeeper."

He added that the former housekeeper "was responsible for her own break and meal times, and there were several bathrooms and breakrooms available to her and other staff."

"The evidence will show that [the former housekeeper] was terminated for performance reasons," he continued. "She initially demanded over $9M, and when the company refused, she decided to file this suit."

As the suit was just filed and may well end in a settlement, it'll likely be a long time, if ever, before we find out what really happened at Bezos' house — but if we do, it'll be a fascinating peek behind the curtain at the home life of one of the world's most powerful and wealthy men.

More on billionaires: Tesla Morale Low As Workers Still Don't Have Desks, Face Increased Attendance Surveillance

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Jeff Bezos' Housekeeper Says She Had to Climb Out the Window to Use the Bathroom

Latest Feud

Another day, another Elon Musk feud on Twitter — except now, he's the owner of the social network, and he's beefing with a sitting member of Congress.

The whole thing started innocently enough earlier this week, when firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY, and better known by her initials, "AOC") subtweeted the website's new owner.

"Lmao at a billionaire earnestly trying to sell people on the idea that 'free speech' is actually a $8/mo subscription plan," the New York Democratic Socialist tweeted in a post that, upon Futurism's perusal, appeared to load only half the time.

Sweat Equity

Not one to be shown up, Musk later posted a screenshot of an AOC-branded sweatshirt from the congressperson's website, with its $58 price tag circled and an emoji belying the billionaire's alleged affront at the price.

In response, Ocasio-Cortez said she was proud her sweatshirts were made by union labor, and that the proceeds from their sales were going to fund educational support for needy kids. She later dug in further, noting that her account was "conveniently" not working and joking that Musk couldn't buy his way "out of insecurity."

Yo @elonmusk while I have your attention, why should people pay $8 just for their app to get bricked when they say something you don’t like?

This is what my app has looked like ever since my tweet upset you yesterday. What’s good? Doesn’t seem very free speechy to me pic.twitter.com/e3hcZ7T9up

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 3, 2022

Bricked

To be clear, any suggestion that Musk personally had anything to do with any Twitter glitches on AOC's part would seem ludicrously petty. But then again, this is a guy who once hired a private detective to investigate a random critic.

Occam's razor, though, suggests that it was probably AOC's mega-viral tweet that broke the site's notoriously dodgy infrastructure. Of course, that's not a ringing endorsement of the site that Musk just acquired for the colossal sum of $44 billion.

More on Twitter: Twitter Working on Plan to Charge Users to Watch Videos

The post AOC Says Her Twitter Account Broke After She Made Fun of Elon Musk appeared first on Futurism.

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AOC Says Her Twitter Account Broke After She Made Fun of Elon Musk

Spaceplane Buddy

After launching into orbit roughly three months ago, China's top-secret spaceplane has released a mysterious object, which is now circling the Earth behind it, SpaceNews reports.

There's very little we know about China's "reusable experimental spacecraft," except that it launched atop a Long March 2F rocket back in August. We don't know its purpose, what it looks like, or what cargo it was carrying during launch — but it's an intriguing development, nonetheless, for China's reusable launch platform.

Mysterious Object

The object was released between October 24 and October 31, according to tracking data being analyzed by the US Space Force's 18th pace Defense Squadron.

We can only hazard a guess as to what the mysterious object's purpose is. According to Harvard astronomer and space tracker Jonathan McDowell, it "may be a service module, possibly indicating an upcoming deorbit burn."

Based on the size and weight of payloads Long March rockets usually carry, China's mysterious spaceplane is likely similar to the Air Force's X-37B spaceplane, which is similarly shrouded in mystery and currently on its sixth mission.

We also don't know when the Chinese model will make its return back to Earth, but given recent activity at the Lop Nur base in Xinjiang suggests, it may land there in the near future, according to the report.

It's a puzzling new development for China's secretive spacecraft — but it does raise the possibility of a renewed interest in spaceplanes, a potentially affordable and reusable way to launch payloads into orbit.

More on the spaceplane: China Launches Mysterious "Reusable Test" Spacecraft

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Chinese Spaceplane Releases Mystery Object Into Orbit

You know that "research" going around saying humans are going to evolve to have hunchbacks and claws because of the way we use our smartphones? Though our posture could certainly use some work, you'll be glad to know that it's just lazy spam intended to juice search engine results.

Let's back up. Today the Daily Mail published a viral story about "how humans may look in the year 3000." Among its predictions: hunched backs, clawed hands, a second eyelid, a thicker skull and a smaller brain.

Sure, that's fascinating! The only problem? The Mail's only source is a post published a year ago by the renowned scientists at... uh... TollFreeForwarding.com, a site that sells, as its name suggests, virtual phone numbers.

If the idea that phone salespeople are purporting to be making predictions about human evolution didn't tip you off, this "research" doesn't seem very scientific at all. Instead, it more closely resembles what it actually is — a blog post written by some poor grunt, intended to get backlinks from sites like the Mail that'll juice TollFreeForwarding's position in search engine results.

To get those delicious backlinks, the top minds at TollFreeForwarding leveraged renders of a "future human" by a 3D model artist. The result of these efforts is "Mindy," a creepy-looking hunchback in black skinny jeans (which is how you can tell she's from a different era).

Grotesque model reveals what humans could look like in the year 3000 due to our reliance on technology

Full story: https://t.co/vQzyMZPNBv pic.twitter.com/vqBuYOBrcg

— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) November 3, 2022

"To fully realize the impact everyday tech has on us, we sourced scientific research and expert opinion on the subject," the TollFreeForwarding post reads, "before working with a 3D designer to create a future human whose body has physically changed due to consistent use of smartphones, laptops, and other tech."

Its sources, though, are dubious. Its authority on spinal development, for instance, is a "health and wellness expert" at a site that sells massage lotion. His highest academic achievement? A business degree.

We could go on and on about TollFreeForwarding's dismal sourcing — some of which looks suspiciously like even more SEO spam for entirely different clients — but you get the idea.

It's probably not surprising that the this gambit for clicks took off among dingbats on Twitter. What is somewhat disappointing is that it ended up on StudyFinds, a generally reliable blog about academic research. This time, though, for inscrutable reasons it treated this egregious SEO spam as a legitimate scientific study.

The site's readers, though, were quick to call it out, leading to a comically enormous editor's note appended to the story.

"Our content is intended to stir debate and conversation, and we always encourage our readers to discuss why or why not they agree with the findings," it reads in part. "If you heavily disagree with a report — please debunk to your delight in the comments below."

You heard them! Get debunking, people.

More conspiracy theories: If You Think Joe Rogan Is Credible, This Bizarre Clip of Him Yelling at a Scientist Will Probably Change Your Mind

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That "Research" About How Smartphones Are Causing Deformed Human Bodies Is SEO Spam, You Idiots

Vystekimages/Getty Images/Photononstop RF

Vystekimages/Getty Images/Photononstop RF

It's a simple schoolyard insult.

For eons, people often men hurled "mama's boy" at each other as an emasculating put-down. To be called the son of a mother suggested an essential unmanliness. "Mama's boys" were comically inept, even pathological, in movies and television shows ranging from the pathetic Buster Bluth in Arrested Development to The Waterboy's Bobby Boucher to Norman Bates in Psycho.

Looking way, way back, Beowulf's Grendel could even be called the mother of literary mama's boys.

But a new generation of men seems to be rejecting the toxic masculinity inherent in the phrase and radically reinventing it.

"I am a proud mama's boy," declares Sahil Bloom. The glamorous 31-year-old tech entrepreneur is now awaiting the birth of his own infant son. "I expect him to be a mama's boy, in the same way. In the old sense of the phrase, it was about being a wuss or weak. But there's nothing more powerful than a mother's love."

Tech entrepreneur and proud mama's boy Sahil Bloom poses with his mom. Sahil Bloom hide caption

Tech entrepreneur and proud mama's boy Sahil Bloom poses with his mom.

"I am definitely a mama's boy because I love my mom," agrees college soccer star Shaquan Reid. The 21-year-old Chicago State University sophomore says he owes everything to his mother's encouragement and care. "I like having her around, motivating me, consoling me."

Reid adds that plenty of athletes are self-proclaimed mama's boys, and that's certainly true of such NFL stars as Victor Cruz, John Elway, Terrell Davis, Kurt Warner, Donovan McNabb and Michael Strahan. All starred in mama's boy-themed ads for Campbell's soup. Not long ago, Miami Dolphins linebacker Jerome Baker went viral when he couldn't find his mother in the stands during a 2019 game.

"It's OK to be a mama's boy. There's nothing wrong with it," Baker told NPR. "Everybody knew I was a mama's boy [growing up]. People did try to make fun of me. But I was different. I was proud. Lots of people wasn't proud to be a mama's boy."

"I don't see anything wrong with being a mama's boy," says Shaquan Reid, a soccer star and accounting major at Chicago State. The 21-year-old is pictured with his mom, Jenese Anglin. Shaquan Reid and CSU Athletics hide caption

These days, plenty of strong, loveable male characters who are confidently close to their moms populate screens and pages. Proud fictional mama's boys range from Percy Jackson, of Rick Riordan's young adult series, to Detective Jake Peralta in Brooklyn Nine-Nine to Luke Smith in The Sarah Jane Adventures. Mama's Boy pride is the subjects of songs and speeches.

All this is a far cry from when psychologist and bestselling author Harriet Lerner, the bestselling author of books such as The Mother Dance, first started her practice.

"During my career, mothers received the message, including from therapists, that her closeness to her sons, her failure to 'separate' and to 'let go' of her son, especially around his adolescence and then onward that that would be a danger to the boy," she says. "That could turn him into a mama's boy and damage her son in his journey to manhood. Another false belief that shamed mothers and made mothers even more anxious was the belief that single mothers or households without a man could not raise sons. Because who would teach that boy to become a man?"

Such sexist double standards, Lerner suggests, can also be gleaned from comparing long-held cultural assumptions about "mama's boys" and "daddy's girls."

"Being a daddy's girl is seen as a good thing," she observes. "It means you're adorable and loved, and know how to flirt with men."

Back in the 1980s, when Lerner's two sons were children, Lerner often saw cute little girls wearing t-shirts reading 'Daddy's girl.'

"I didn't know why there weren't any t-shirts that said 'mama's boys,' " she says dryly.

These days, such shirts for boys are easy to find. In fact, Google searches for "mama's boy shirt" have notably climbed for the past few years.

Men who include 'momma's boy' on their profiles have a 7% higher probability of exchanging phone numbers with another user.

Michael Kaye, OkCupid

It wasn't difficult to find data proving we've evolved in our use of the phrase "mama's boy." After all, this is 2022. Every single thing is tracked by some major company, it seems, and "mama's boy" is no exception.

"There's been over 3 million mentions of terms like 'momma's boy' on people's profiles over the past few years," wrote Michael Kaye, the associate director of global communications at OkCupid, in an email. "Between December and April there was a 20% increase in these terms being mentioned. Men who include 'momma's boy' on their profiles have a 7% higher probability of exchanging phone numbers with another user."

Kaye (who also was quick to identify himself as a proud mama's boy in a phone interview) said sure, seven percent might not seem like much. "But when you think about there being millions and millions of people on dating apps like OkCupid, it's actually a pretty high success rate," he points out.

"It's a very clever strategy," agrees Helen Fisher. She's chief science advisor for Match.com. Fisher did not crunch any numbers specifically for the term "mama's boy," but she checked Match.com data about men who reference their moms in their profiles.

"It's only 1.4 percent of men who actually used the terms 'my mother,' my mom' or 'my mamma' but those 1.4 percent of men had a 26 percent increase in the likelihood to resign from the site because they had met somebody," she announced.

That sounds about right to Garret Watts, a 32-year-old YouTube personality and proud mama's boy. When he sees guys using that self-descriptor on dating apps, there's really just one word that comes to mind: honest.

After all, Watts points out, the vast majority of men are technically mama's boys, including himself. "Go ahead and call me a mama's boy," he says. " You're just calling me a human. You're just calling me a base-level emotionally responsible human."

Watts is pleased more people are reclaiming the expression "mama's boy" as a point of pride, but he says fundamentally, it's antiquated. "Let the stigma go," he says. "I say, let the phrase 'mamma's boy' burn. That belongs in the past."

Read this article:

'Mama's boy' is a flex, not an insult, for a new generation of men - NPR

Bruce Schroeder, the longest-serving circuit court judge in Wisconsin, is presiding over the homicide trial of Kyle Rittenhouse.

At times during Mr. Rittenhouses testimony on Wednesday he took a strict line with prosecutors, clashing with them over a reference to Mr. Rittenhouses silence in the months before the trial and an attempt to introduce testimony on a previous incident that the judge had ruled inadmissible.

The problem is this is a grave constitutional violation for you to talk about the defendants silence, Judge Schroeder told prosecutors.

Judge Schroeder, 75, who has said he believes that he has seen more homicide trials than any other judge in the state, graduated from Marquette Law School in 1970, worked as a prosecutor and began serving as a circuit judge in 1983.

His longevity is a subject of frequent conversation in the courtroom. As he said during jury selection in the trial, he has been in this business for 50 years.

In Kenosha legal circles, Judge Schroeder has a reputation for strictness in sentencing. He is known for delivering lectures to prospective jurors about their civic duty, which in this trial he likened to serving as an American soldier in Vietnam.

He frequently complains about media bias and the impact that news coverage can have on prospective jurors. As Judge Schroeder quizzed prospective jurors, he said that he has read news articles on the Rittenhouse case and has asked himself whether he was in the same courtroom that was described in the articles.

He has also acknowledged that some of the topics raised in pretrial hearings are new to him. Until this case, Judge Schroeder said in a hearing, he had never heard of the Proud Boys, a far-right group that offered support to Mr. Rittenhouse after the Kenosha shootings, and was unfamiliar with the O.K. hand sign as a gesture that has been co-opted by white supremacists.

The first time I saw it, or a version of it, was Chef Boyardee on a can of spaghetti, the judge said.

In one of the judges highest-profile cases, the 2008 murder trial of Mark Jensen who was accused of poisoning his wife, Julie, with antifreeze and then smothering her in their garage a conviction was overturned when appellate courts and the state Supreme Court ruled that Judge Schroeder had improperly allowed evidence in the trial.

The judge allowed the prosecution to present a letter that Julie Jensen had written and given to a neighbor, as well as voice mail messages she left for a police officer, suggesting that if anything happened to her, her husband would be responsible. Mr. Jensen will face a new trial next year.

The rest is here:

Who Is the Judge in the Kyle Rittenhouse Trial? - The New York Times

KALAMAZOO, MI When the far-right Proud Boys clashed with counterprotesters in downtown Kalamazoo last month, police were not in sight.

The confrontation turned violent before police got there.

Being on the scene and keeping protesters and counterprotesters separated is one of the most important tips for police agencies handling these sorts of encounters where tensions run hot between competing groups, according to national experts and various studies.

When police are in a position of trying to catch up and stop violent acts from occurring, that just makes for a bad situation, Frank Straub, director of the Center for Mass Violence Response Studies at the National Police Foundation, told MLive.

Policing experts, contacted by MLive this week, said police can take several steps, while affording First Amendment rights, to discourage violence in these situations.

Among them:

Experts in policing protests and riots say keeping opposing groups separated is among the most important goals for police.

This was the key lesson learned in Charlottesville, Edward Maguire, associate director for the Center for Violence Prevention and Community Safety at Arizona State University, told MLive.

He was referring to the 2017 confrontation in Charlottesville, Virginia, pitting white nationalists and neo-Nazis against counterprotesters and civil-rights activists. Early on, police stayed on the sidelines as fights broke out.

Before it was over, a woman was killed and 19 injured when a man drove into a crowd of counterprotesters.

Those same experts also point out that policing these clashes is not easy.

Protesters, experts say, appear to be more willing to engage in violence than in years past. Pop-up groups are springing up all over. The country is so polarized, there is little middle ground.

Some groups try to hide information about themselves as well as communication among members.

These types of events are orders of magnitude more difficult for police for a variety of reasons, Maguire said in an email exchange.

Many of the counterprotesters seem to come from outside the communities where these events take place, so it is difficult for police to establish relationships with them ahead of time . The fact that some of them are armed with less-lethal or lethal weapons makes these events more dangerous and anxiety-promoting for police.

Sometimes, groups try to outflank police or take unpredictable routes that make it difficult for police to anticipate where they are going to be and when, he said.

Police are reasonably concerned about threats to their own safety during these very chaotic events where extremists on the left and the right can easily end up triggering violence.

He said it is critical that police have good intelligence on when and where events are going to take place.

Kalamazoo police had been tracking Proud Boys since July. The night before the rally, police determined that Proud Boys were in town, staying at area hotels.

The Proud Boys were thought to be planning to show up at 2 p.m. Aug. 15. A Kalamazoo pastor obtained a permit for a prayer vigil for that morning at Arcadia Creek Festival Place to counter their presence.

The Proud Boys showed up a half-hour early. Marching down East Water Street, they were met by protesters. Both sides had armed participants as fighting began.

Police had surveillance from officers in an unmarked car and the seventh floor of a building for an aerial view. Someone radioed that 200 Proud Boys members were headed toward the other group. An investigator said in a police report that a counterprotester with a club ran at the Proud Boys, as if to incite a violent response.

Fighting ensued.

Public Safety Chief Karianne Thomas has said 111 officers from five police agencies were ready to respond but they were minutes away when the trouble started.

Police had expected that Arcadia would be the scene of any trouble but had surveillance in several areas. The operational plan called for police to stay in the background - be less visible - and respond if trouble broke out. Thomas said that a large-scale police presence on its own can lead to a contentious situation.

She said the tactic, begun after a June 1 protest that ended in civil unrest, has worked at protests until the Proud Boys came to town. The department also faced criticism for how it responded to the June protest, held in the wake of George Floyds death in Minneapolis, with some in the community questioning the use of tear gas and other tactics used to disperse protesters.

Such gatherings are unpredictable, Thomas said.

Its human dynamics and people are trying to make it seem like it was a simpler situation than it was, she said previously. It was anything but that.

The Proud Boys early arrival was a factor in how events played out, Thomas said.

She has observed similar incidents across the country. No response is perfect. What works one day might not work another, she said earlier.

Thomas could not be reached for comment specifically for this story.

This is a new era for us in responding to such events and we are continually learning from them and trying to listen and make change so we can keep this community safe, Thomas said previously.

On the day of a protest or rally, police need a plan to keep the sides apart to prevent violence, experts say. Police also have to ensure the law is applied equally.

In Kalamazoo, police arrested 10 people, including an MLive reporter and legal observer, though charges were dismissed in most cases. Thomas later apologized for the reporters arrest.

Critics were upset that no one associated with the Proud Boys was arrested.

There is a growing narrative in the U.S. right now that police are aligned with right-wing groups, Maguire said.

That perception is harmful for police legitimacy. Police must ensure that they are perceived as content neutral to establish or preserve legitimacy. That content neutrality is required under the First Amendment.

The 2015 Presidents Task Force on 21st Century Policing addressed police response to mass demonstrations after rioting followed police shootings of unarmed Black men. It was part of an overall strategy to improve relations of police and the communities they serve.

Among the recommendations: Law enforcement agencies should create policies and procedures for policing mass demonstrations that employ a continuum of managed tactical resources that are designed to minimize the appearance of a military operation and avoid using provocative tactics and equipment that undermine civilian trust.

When police look like theyre in a military formation with riot gear, it can have a dramatic influence on how they are perceived and how events turn out, the report said.

Straub, the director of the Center for Mass Violence Response Studies and former Spokane, Washington, police chief, has conducted critical incident reviews for events such as the San Bernardino terrorist attack and Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting.

He said many cities are having to prepare for fringe groups, protests and counterprotests.

Its really a very difficult dynamic going on across the country, he said.

Back in 1998, the Ku Klux Klan held a rally in Kalamazoo. An 8-foot chain-link fence and a line of police officers in riot gear kept the Klan away from others who showed up. Former City Commissioner Zadie Jackson recalled it turned into a non-event because no one really reacted to the Klans presence.

In a sense, it was easier to prepare for groups like the KKK, Straub said.

So many almost pop-up groups have been created that the rules and understanding have gone by the wayside. Some of these groups there are no rules and theyre not going to follow any rules, he said.

Now were seeing pop-up protests, with disparate groups showing up, with a much higher level of violence. It is really challenging for police, and I would say incredibly dangerous for the community. In a heated situation, police are caught in the middle. Not just in Kalamazoo, but across the country.

He said demands that a police chief be fired or city commissioners be recalled which has happened in Kalamazoo are not helpful. Rather, he said, residents should push for better policies. It is a challenge. Community members can be traumatized. Police officers, too.

Straub said police and city leaders should be very transparent about what they did and why they did that. Share what worked and didnt work and what they will do in the future.

Read more:

Kalamazoo police chief responds to criticism of handling of Proud Boys rally

City review of police response to Kalamazoo Proud Boys rally finds areas for improvement

None of them saw a single repercussion, counter-protester says of Proud Boys who rallied in Kalamazoo

Army veteran says Proud Boys broke his nose and hand in Kalamazoo

Activists say Kalamazoo blew it with preliminary report on police response to Proud Boys rally

More here:

Police need to keep opposing protest groups separated, experts say after Proud Boys rally - MLive.com

A prominent Vancouver member of the right-wing Proud Boys group appeared Monday morning in Clark County Superior Court on a fugitive from justice charge.

Tusitala Tiny Toese, 24, who was booked late Friday into the Clark County Jail, is wanted in Oregon for allegedly violating the conditions of his probation related to a misdemeanor assault conviction.

Toese agreed to waive extradition, meaning he will be turned over to authorities in Oregon. In the meantime, he is being held without bail.

According to reports from The Columbians media partner KATU-TV, Toese is known to engage in violence at ongoing protests in Portland and Seattle, where he was arrested after allegedly participating in an assault near the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone.

He was on supervised probation for a fourth-degree assault charge out of Multnomah County, Ore., when he was recently seen participating in a brawl between Black Lives Matter protesters and those demonstrating in support of police and the Trump administration, KATU reported.

Toeses probation agreement had barred him from taking part in any protests in Multnomah County and required that he get permission before leaving Clark County, according to KATU.

After he was spotted participating in the brawl, an updated warrant for Toeses arrest was issued. Toeses supervising officer has recommended the court revoke his probation and sentence him to a year in jail, KATU reported.

Continue reading here:

Proud Boys member from Vancouver appears in court - The Columbian

KALAMAZOO, MI Activists who came out to oppose a Proud Boys rally in Kalamazoo last month say a recently released city review of the police response failed to acknowledge the mistakes that prompted a surge of criticism.

Kalamazoo City Manager Jim Ritsema and Public Safety Chief Karianne Thomas were among a handful of city leaders who discussed the preliminary report earlier this week.

Both said there were several areas for improvement as the city plans for the possibility of future public protests, demonstrations and rallies high among them accountability.

Related: City review of police response to Kalamazoo Proud Boys rally finds areas for improvement

The lack of specifics in the preliminary report of where police could have done better exemplifies just how far the city and public safety department have to go when it comes to accountability and transparency, some of the activists said.

Were supposed to trust that they are going to do the right thing every time in every scenario, no matter how unrealistic that may be, but they cant even acknowledge to the public that some of their officers during the last event may have acted inappropriately whether it be from their own personal implicit bias or whatever the case may be? asked Tyrone Burnett, 42, who attended the rally to observe and protest the presence of the Proud Boys.

Community activist Quinton Bryant echoed Burnetts sentiments.

I think they need to be transparent on what they are saying they need to improve on, Bryant said. Anybody can say, I need to learn and figure out what I can do better, but if you are not bullet-pointing actions, its kind of hard to know what you are talking about.

Thats part of the frustration in the community. We keep hearing the same words transparency and accountability but where is it? You need to show us what you mean by that. Because, without action, they are just words.

Burnett said aside from adjustments to communications and media relations there was a complete lack of specifics in the report and that many of the key issues that arose Aug. 15 appeared to be flat-out ignored.

I want to know who gets to police the police, he said. I want to see my local department be the model across the country and build a true relationship with the community.

If you have that, if you know the people down there, they are going to be less apt to try to get in fights with people down there and more apt to do their doggone job and protect the people who had a permit. They completely blew it.

Related: None of them saw a single repercussion, counter-protester says of Proud Boys who rallied in Kalamazoo

The lack of arresting of Proud Boys and arrest of an MLive journalist gave the impression to Burnett that police didnt want the media showing who was coming out of the parking garage.

And while public safety officials have discussed how there was over-watch on the event and numerous details given about an assault involving a counterprotester, he questioned where the over-watch was for the Proud Boys and why no assaults were mentioned involving Proud Boys, despite ample time to review videos and reports.

Where was the information on how 200-plus people came into town, how did they move in, where did they move from? Theres complete silence on that and as a community member thats what leads to distrust, Burnett said.

Im not buying the Were being transparent and open part, he said. It seems like spin, and covering your own behind to me.

Burnett said it is easier to forgive someone when they specifically acknowledge where they failed and where they need to do better.

You have to acknowledge your mistakes, own your mistakes, move forward and do better, he said.

Bryant said he was still upset over how Kalamazoos Black Lives Matter protests were handled by police on June 1.

He said peaceful protesters were treated like the bad guys by police then. At the same time, the Proud Boys, defined as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, did not get the same treatment when they came to town.

There has been no ownership of that, Bryant said, which is a problem.

The impression that I got is that the police did not protect and serve the residents of Kalamazoo, Bryant said. It seemed like they were more interested in protecting the Proud Boys and making sure that they were safe. They got to terrorize the town safely. They got to leave the town safely, without any of them getting arrested.

Related: Police chief says Proud Boys completed their mission by causing chaos in downtown Kalamazoo

Terror was a key word missing from the report, said the Rev. Nathan Dannison of Kalamazoos First Congregational Church.

Dannison, who organized and sought a city permit for a prayer vigil at Arcadia Creek Festival Place held to counter the presence of the Proud Boys, has served as the vice chairman of the citys police oversight board for the past three years.

In that role, Dannison said, he has become intimately familiar with the activities of KDPS and their capabilities.

From over here, where I stand, it seems that they used none of those capabilities to enforce the laws of our city, and I want to know why, he said. I think the city needs to start addressing the issue of domestic terror and riots. Those are the main words that were missing from that report.

Dannison said he was confused as well as to why the report did not address any facts of what occurred on the ground that day.

He also expressed concern at the city attorneys office being directed to look into potential changes to the citys permitting process or ordinances to help legally deter groups like the Proud Boys from selecting a city like Kalamazoo for their next march.

I dont know why we need new laws, Dannison said. I feel like we just need to enforce the laws that we already have on the books no parades without permits, no traveling across state lines with the attempt to incite a riot. And if people are driving around without license plates, you should stop them and ask them for identification.

The pastor said he was also alarmed the report suggested potential vetting of legal observers and members of the press that would be allowed to cover events, which could prevent members of independent news media from being able to cover events.

Most of all, the pastor said, he is still upset about why a cordon was not set up to separate the unlawful assembly of Proud Boys from his prayer vigil.

It just looks bad, Dannison said. It looked like they were protecting the Proud Boys.

Dannison said he asked Thomas in June to do an internal investigation of her department and to his knowledge it is yet to be done.

What I want to see is an investigation into white supremacy in the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, he said. I want to know 100% that there are zero known affiliates of white supremacy groups in KDPS.

I dont know why that is a hard ask.

Also on MLive:

Kalamazoo police chief responds to criticism of handling of Proud Boys rally

Kalamazoo City Commission forms committee to guide police force in response to protests

$300-per-week in federal unemployment to Michigans jobless wont last long

I have never and will never run, says Kalamazoo pastor sought by police

Coronavirus in local schools is inevitable, Kalamazoo County health director says

Excerpt from:

Activists say Kalamazoo blew it with preliminary report on police response to Proud Boys rally - MLive.com

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Officers investigating the scene following the shooting of suspect Michael Forest Reinoehl. Nathan Howard / Getty News

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Michael Forest Reinoehl, the man suspected of fatally shooting Aaron "Jay" Danielson at a pro-Trump rally in downtown Portland last Saturday, has reportedly been killed by officers assisted by US Marshals in Tanglewilde, a town just northeast of Lacey, Washington. According to various reports, officers came in contact with Reinoehl outside of an apartment building, and "40-50 shots" were fired as he tried to escape. As if this couldn't get any weirder, Vice News broadcast an interview with Reinoehl just hours before, where the suspect seemingly admitted to the killing, claiming that Danielson was brandishing a knife, and he fired in self-defense to protect a "friend of color." Our Blair Stenvick has more.

Just as the death of Reinoehl became public, around 200 protesters showed up at the Penumbra Kelly Building shared by Portland police and Multnomah County deputies on the 99th consecutive night of protests. Officers switched tactics from previous nights, moving in quickly to arrest one person in the crowdthough it's unclear why this protester was chosen. Other than a driver threatening protesters by speeding past them, the night was relatively calm.

A lawsuit is being filed against a Trump supporter after he struck a woman with his truck during last weekend's Trump caravan. Portland Policewho took no major action to stop or interfere with the caravanwere reportedly told about the hit and run, and refused to do anything about it.

Expect more of the same on September 26, when members of the racist and misogynist Proud Boy organization say they're going to hold a rally at Terry Schrunk Plaza in Portland.

Fourth time's the charm! Mayor Ted Wheeler just appointed his fourth communications directorthe person who issues all communications from the mayor's officeand the VERY CHALLENGING job's going to Jim Middaugh who worked comms for Metro for the past 11 years... and may god have mercy on his soul. Our Alex Zielinski has more.

IN NATIONAL NEWS:

The Atlantic published a wildly damning report that Trump routinely disparages veterans, service members, and those who died in war, calling them "losers" and "suckers." He also reportedly wanted to keep wounded veterans out of parades, because "nobody wants to see" amputees. Rightly, people are losing their goddamn minds.

More scientists are demanding to see the data behind the alleged coronavirus vaccine that the Trump administration is trying to push out to the public right before the election, fearing that politics are taking precedence over safety.

Meanwhile, Russia's coronavirus vaccine is showing promise, as it has reportedly produced antibodies in all its participants during early trials, according to results published in The Lancet medical journal.

Seven cops in Rochester, New York have been suspended following a killing in March in which a Black man in their custody died of suffocation after they put a "spitting hood" over his head.

Police are looking for the driver of a car who plowed through a crowd of protesters last night in Times Square in New York City.

Filming for the new movie The Batman has stopped just days after it resumed after it was announced that star Robert Pattinson reportedly tested positive for coronavirus.

Now let's crane our necks skyward for a look at the WEATHER: Cooling ever so slightly today with sunny skies and still a hot high of 92.

And finally, 2020 needs more rubber chicken musicians.

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Good Morning, News: Portland Protest Shooting Suspect Killed by Officers, Proud Boys to Return, and Trump Insults Vets & Amputees - The Portland...

That we are in a time of great political divide is not news.

That those divides are turning physical, and sometimes dangerous, is developing as a major theme before the elections, perhaps predictably.

That we have a bunch of loose words from our candidates for president is neither calming the streets nor helping to establish credibility in government to consider the grievances of the public. Indeed, all it seems to be doing is to give the candidates platforms for more sloganeering.

Worse, the candidates don't seem to be getting at who is responsible for now nightly fighting that witnesses report are more between leftist anarchists and right-wing white supremacists than warring with police.

There are agrowing number of reported clashes, real and imagined. The real ones have included the incidents in Kenosha, Wis., of course, where a white teen committed to defending police, has been charged for killing two protesters and a shooting overnight of a man in a Portland caravan who was wearing a Trump hat, and the less real one of note this week involved Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who reported that he was assaulted by a "mob," which turned out to be 100 people shouting at him and his wife.

Facts are overly short, and slogans are ruling the day. Meanwhile, ought we not be concerned that whatever violence there is in localized single blocks of different U.S. cities is spreading to fistfights over mask-wearing in stores or protests that are meant to be vocal, but specifically not violent?

Violence real and imagined

For Donald Trump, peaceful protests that turn violent in the early morning hours are all from one side:"You know what I say? Protesters your ass," Trump said to cheers at an airport rally in New Hampshire on Friday. "I don't talk about my ass. They'renotprotesters, those aren't protesters. Those are anarchists, they're agitators, they're rioters, they're looters."

Opponent Joe Biden, who is seen as decrying violence in too general a manner,told CNN thatTeam Trump is"rooting for violence" in American streets because it allows them to drive fear for political gain.Biden cited a quote from Kellyanne Conway that "the more chaos and anarchy and vandalism and violence reigns, the better news for the very clear choice on who's best on public safety and law and order."

Trump seized on the footage of protesters near the White House who gathered around Sen. Paul, who was escorted away by police.

Butvideoof the incident appears to show a much smaller crowd that didn't touch Rand Paul or his wife, and they seem to have sustained no injuries. Actually, several videos of the incident were posted to social media; oneshowsa denser crowd while anothervideoby reporter shows a smaller crowd shouting "Breonna Taylor," a Paul Kentucky constituent who was killed in a mistaken police raid into her Louisville home, and "say her name."

In any event, there was no violence here.

Growing violence

By contrast, nightly violence is continuing in Portland, Ore., "between a core of pro-Black Lives Matter and anti-fascist protesters and law enforcement,"reports The Guardian.There is a pattern of politically polarized street violence with broadly leftwing and anti-fascist activists sometimes facing off against far-right groups.

Last weekend, a right-wing "Say No to Marxism in America" rally including members of far-right groups like the Proud Boyssaw serious, widespread violence directed not only at leftist counter-protesters, but also reporters.One right-wing protester drew a firearm, others carried knives and guns, some had wooden shields with nails driven through.

The Washington Post recordedexchanges from Kalamazoo, Mich., and Bloomington, Ind., to Chicago and Portland, withpeople on both sides of the divide punching and beating each other,often with police appearing to be little more than observers.Some of the violence has been linked to pro-gun groups and far-right extremist organizations.

In Weatherford, Texas, heavily armed protesters, including members of several far-right Texas-based groups, clashed with demonstrators seeking removal of a Confederate statue from the grounds of the Parker County Courthouse.The next day, brawls erupted at a local campaign event in Tyler, 100 miles east of Dallas. A week later, police were called to break up a gathering of hundreds of motorists, many flying Trump and Confederate flags, who descended on a historical Black church in Dallas that displays a two-story Black Lives Matter sign.

This week, in central Pennsylvania, a man marching from Wisconsin to D.C. for this week's anniversary of the 1963 March on Washingtonwas shot and wounded. Protesters have also been shot, in some cases fatally, A group of peopleberated customers at D.C. restaurantsthis week who refused to raise their fist in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, though the confrontations were nonviolent.

What to do

Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have made much of spreading fear of violence in Joe Biden's America but taking no responsibility for violence in Trump's America. More, they are pointedly singular-focused on violence that arises from protest from Black Lives Matter and other left causes, without seeing participation by right-wing groups.

As president, Trump's remarks in New Hampshire underscore that he is not even distinguishing between peaceful, lawful protest and "looting." He is more focused on protecting the rights of gun-toting thugs than he is on whether there is any intelligent discussion of policing abuses, systematic racism or the dozens of questions raised by street protests.

Biden and Vice Presidential candidate Kamala Harris are getting hit by not being vocal enough, while winning some political points for actually paying attention to what the protests are about.

"We are not just a polarized society we are increasingly a confrontational society now,"Mark Pitcavage, a historian and senior research fellow at the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism told The Washington Post.

As voters, we ought to be doing more, and demanding that leaders do more to make the divide more debate than physical confrontation.

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Violence in the streets politics, 2020-style - Salon