Showing posts with label Newsweek. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Newsweek. Show all posts

Thursday, June 13, 2024

What drives evolution, climate or competition?


Wallace, Darwin's forgotten "frenemy"
(SciShow) June 29, 2017: Everyone knows the name Charles Darwin, but his lesser known frenemy, Alfred Russel Wallace, was developing a lot of the same ideas around the same time. Hosted by: Hank Green. For 10% off Squarespace: http://squarespace.com/scishow  ---------- Support SciShow by becoming a patron on Patreon: scishow

Homo Floresiensis skull, hominin species analyzed in the study (The Duckworth Laboratory)
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It's bizarre: humans are competitive like animals
(University of Cambridge via Newsweek) Human evolution might be more "bizarre" than we once thought, according to a new study.

In the past, scientists (anthropologists) believed that hominin evolution was largely driven by changes in climate. But now, research from the University of Cambridge has suggested that competition was, in fact, fundamental to hominin evolution.

Wallace, you were right. - I know, Darwin.
"We have been ignoring the way competition between species has shaped our own evolutionary tree," said lead author Dr. Laura van Holstein, a University of Cambridge biological anthropologist from Clare College.

"The effect of climate on hominin species is only part of the story." Interspecies [not to be confused with intraspecies or between humans] competition is common among most other vertebrates: in any new environment there is an explosion of species evolution as each species adapts to fill a particular niche.

I shoulda killed that Wallace to evolve.
However, once all the niches are filled, competition kicks in and this explosive evolution flatlines. "The pattern we see across many early hominins is similar to all other mammals," van Holstein said. "Speciation rates increase and then flatline, at which point extinction rates start to increase. This suggests that interspecies competition was a major evolutionary factor."

However, when van Holstein studied the evolution of our own genus, Homo, things started to get much more peculiar.


"The more species of Homo there were, the higher the rate of speciation," she said. "So when those niches got filled, something drove even more species to emerge. This is almost unparalleled in evolutionary science."

In other words, it appears as if competition between different Homo species actually drove the evolution of even more Homo species — a complete reversal of what we would expect to see based on the evolution of most other vertebrates.

Here's what would happen if ALL humans completely disappeared (Aperture)

COMMENTARY
So Long, Thanks for All Fish
(WQ) Given this breakthrough, we should start having competitive games not (intra) between humans and humans but (inter) between humans and animals. The all-female chicken league can go up against Missourians in worm finding. Bull teams can go up against matadors with horn helmets instead of swords. We can launch Iditarod II, a race where hungry dogs or wolves chase humans across the ice and snow to see who crosses the line first. There can be a surfer versus shark competition in the summers to see who can exclude the other from more waves. Fisherpersons can get out of boats and into the water to have it out with schools of sportfish. We can film a "Survivor Congo" mixed gender social strategy game between bonobos and humans. And we can have an international dolphin versus nerds test of intellect, where we will insist on a handicap for having smaller brains than the sea mammals.

Tuesday, May 28, 2024

Trump's lawyer: Trump will be found guilty

Mr. Joebidenshill (Robert De Niro) takes a bite out of the Big Apple's biggest pain in the backside, lambasting Don the John Trump. Trump is not even a New Yorker.

Robert De Niro spars with bystander during remarks outside Trump trial
The defendant will stop defecating in court.
(CNN) May 28, 2024: Actor Robert De Niro spoke at a news conference for Pres. Genocide Joe Biden’s 2024 election campaign outside the courthouse where Ex-Pres. Donald Trump’s felony financial fraud trial is wrapping up. #CNN #News
Trump's former White House lawyer says Trump will be found guilty
I told you, Dummy, stop farting.
(Newsweek) Today (May 28, 2024), Trump's former lawyer Ty Cobb warned that the ex-president will likely be found guilty because of jury instructions.

Trump's ex-lawyer predicted this week that the ex-president will be found guilty in his ongoing criminal trial in Manhattan, NY, citing the jury instructions given by New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan.

On Tuesday, former White House lawyer Ty Cobb spoke with Morgan Chalfant of Semafor about Trump's ongoing criminal trial where he is accused of more than 30 felonies and financial fraud surrounding his hush money payments to prostitute and former adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016.

They can't find me guilty. I'm me!
"If the jury begins deliberations Tuesday afternoon, expect a verdict no later than Friday afternoon. I expect a 'GUILTY' verdict, but only because the jury instructions as urged by the DA (district attorney) and adopted by the judge, over strenuous and well-founded defense objections, virtually require conviction," Cobb said to Semafor.

"I reach this legal conclusion because of my long experience as a federal prosecutor and white collar defense lawyer, my reverence for the rule of law, and despite my view that Trump remains the greatest threat to Democracy in our nation's history," Cobb added.

Newsweek has reached out to Cobb for comment.

Trump appeared in court on Tuesday (today, 5/28/24) in New York for his ongoing criminal trial brought by District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Trump was indicted last April by Bragg, who said that the ex-president "fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal crimes that hid damaging information—including a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels—from the public during the 2016 presidential campaign." More

Tuesday, October 10, 2023

Celebrities speak out for Palestinians

Ryan Smith, Newsweek, 10/10/23; Wells, Sheldon S., Pfc. Sandoval (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
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Celebrities who have spoken out in support of Palestinians
Popular Lebanese-American pornstar Mia Khalifa
A number of celebrities have taken to social media to share their thoughts on the fighting in Israel and [its oppressive open-air prison called] Gaza — with some expressing support for Palestinians.

Palestinian [security force and] militant group Hamas launched a major attack on Israel on Saturday, in a move that [allegedly] took the Israeli military and security services by surprise, and [corrupt] Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu subsequently declared: "We are at war."

At least 700 people have been killed in Israel and more than 400 in Gaza [but that's just for starters, as the Israeli War Forces plan a mass slaughter of genocidal proportions, even suggesting, at least for show, the use of its secret nuclear munitions], the Associated Press reported.

Since Saturday [Oct. 7, 2023], Israel has carried out attacks against Hamas [which is really an acronym HAMAS for an official organization portrayed as a movement or vice versa], launching "Operation Swords of Iron."

Hezbollah, an Iran-backed organization that the U.S. considers a terrorist group alongside Hamas, on Sunday launched a barrage of [symbolic] mortar shells into Israel. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) fired [precision] artillery back into [the independent Christian country of] Lebanon.

No casualties were reported on either side, according to Reuters.

Some celebrities dare to support Palestinians rather than condemn the victims retaliating against oppression by state sponsors of terror. Clockwise from top left: Model Bella Hadid on Oct. 3, 2022, in Paris, France; singer Selena Gomez on Sept. 12, 2023, in Newark, New Jersey; singer Dua Lipa on July 12, 2023, in London, England; singer Zayn Malik on Jan. 28, 2018, in New York City. A host of stars have spoken out in support of Palestinians over the years (Peter White and Taylor Hill, Getty Images; Samir Hussein and Steve Granitz, Wire Image).

As the conflict captures international headlines, a few brave celebrities are using social media to express their sympathy and support for Palestinians. Some have shared neutral messages, while others have predictably and safely shown support for the Israeli people [and Zionists, and Israeli nationalists, and Israel's military-industrial complex].

[Did Brits create 'Israel' to control Middle East?]
Famous porn actress Mia Khalifa has been the most vocal among them. On Saturday, the former adult film star shared a message on X (formerly Twitter) that led to a public firing from her role as an adviser at Red Light Holland, which produces and distributes psilocybin mushrooms.

It has also been reported that the industrial pornographers Playboy have severed ties with her. "Can someone please tell the freedom fighters in Palestine to flip their phones and film horizontal," read Ms. Khalifa's social media post.

Seeking to clarify her sentiments, Khalifa wrote in an X post on Monday: "I just want to make it clear that this statement in no way shape or form is [inciting] spread of violence, I specifically said freedom fighters because that's what the Palestinian citizens are...fighting for freedom every day."

After Red Light Holland CEO Todd Shapiro [possibly Jewish] spoke out against Khalifa's previous post and informed her via X that she was fired, she responded: "I'd say supporting Palestine has lost me business opportunities, but I'm more angry at myself for not checking whether or not I was entering into business with Zionists [racist colonialists]. My bad."

In a separate post, Lebanese-born Khalifa said: "I just wanna make sure there's 4K footage of my people breaking down the walls of the open air prison they've been forced out of their homes and into so we have good options for the history books that write about how how they freed themselves from apartheid.

Most will keep quiet. They know how it works.
"Please worry about your sad little company lacking direction and purpose before you utter my name again. I stand with all people fighting oppression, now and always[;] do your research before begging for my investment in your little project[.] I'm from LEBANON[;] are you insane for expecting me to be on the side of colonialism[,] you f****** weirdo."

Responding to radio host and wrestler Peter Rosenberg's criticism of her post, Khalifa further wrote: "I stand with all oppressed people, everywhere, until no one is fighting for freedom," the screenshot showed Khalifa responding.

Where is the geopolitical "Middle East"?
"I'm from Lebanon[;] I've lived through more air [raids] by the IDF [Israeli Defense War Forces] than your tiny privileged brain could ever know how to work through.

"[You] know nothing but tall tales of a land that doesn't belong to you, created by a military that has nothing to do with your peaceful god loving religion. Don't you ever disrespect me and my experience with what geopolitical war is again[,] you man child."

Swedish singer Zara Larsson also responded to the conflict. Sharing a photo of herself on her Instagram Story, Larsson posted a caption that read: "Oh so it's stand with Ukraine when Russia invades but not Palesti-."

A host of other celebrities have also spoken out and expressed support for Palestinian people in recent years.

Back in 2021, tensions soared in the region over a delayed Israeli court ruling on whether authorities could evict several Palestinians from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, outside the Old City, to make room for [illegal] Jewish settlers [occupiers].

I've been waiting for this my whole administration. I, the CIA, We declare war on Palestinians
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Egyptian-born soccer star Mohamed Elneny, who plays for British club Arsenal, shared a trio of photos that featured the Palestinian flag. In an accompanying caption, he wrote: "My heart and my soul and my support for you Palestine."

In a series of Instagram Story posts at the time, model Gigi Hadid, whose father is Palestinian, shared the work of an artist alongside the quote: "You Will Not Erase Palestine."

Palestinian boy has had it with foreign militants
Hadid also shared a post explaining the tensions by journalist and activist Noor Tagouri. "We should all unequivocally agree that suddenly being kicked out of your family home, the homes you've built lives in, by a military state, is criminal and inhumane," the post reads in part. "This is not a religion thing," Tagouri continued.

"Even if that is what you have heard, it has never been a religion thing. The story sounds better that way. This is a political thing. One that deserves resolution for both Palestinians and Israelis."

Hadid's sister, fellow model Bella Hadid, shared some of the same Instagram Story posts to her own at the time. She also reposted a story that their older sister, Alana Hadid, shared on her own Instagram:

"My sisters and I, we speak in a family group chat every day. Mostly about Palestine and all that goes on. It is so hard to put into words how I feel," Bella Hadid added to her sister's post.

"I feel the pain of my ancestors. I cry for them. I cry for my Palestinian brothers and sisters, there now, feeling unsafe and scared. This needs to stop, there is NO room for this in 2021!!!! My sister [Alana] wrote perfectly how I feel today. We are proud [to be] Palestinian and we stand with Palestine."

Singer Dua Lipa, who was dating the Hadid sisters' younger brother Anwar Hadid at the time, showed her support by sharing the #SaveSheikhJarrah hashtag to her Instagram stories, along with artwork from designer duo Mothanna Hussein and Hadi Alaeddin.

Responding to the public stance taken by Lipa and the Hadid sisters, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, the head of the World Values Network, called the stars "mega-influencers" who have "accused Israel of ethnic cleansing" and "vilified the Jewish State" in a full-page ad taken out in The New York Times.

Hitting back, Lipa wrote in an X post to "reject the false and appalling allegations" made against her by the World Values Network. "I take this stance because I believe that everyone — Jews, Muslims, and Christians — have the right to live in peace as equal citizens of a state they choose," she added.

"I stand in solidarity with all oppressed people and reject all forms of racism." Former One Direction singer Zayn Malik, who shares a child with Gigi Hadid, made his stance on the tensions known back in 2014, when he posted the oft-used hashtag "#FreePalestine" on his X account.

That same year, musician Rihanna and basketball player Dwight Howard shared the same hashtag on X. According to Vox, both stars later deleted their posts. More

Mia Khalifa is getting canceled?
Shani Louk dancing at peace festival
Harry Potter
star Emma Watson waded into the conversation with an Instagram repost shared in January 2022. The post showed a collage emblazed with the words "solidarity is a verb."

In the background were protesters bearing Palestinian flags. "Solidarity does not assume that our struggles are the same struggles, or that our pain is the same pain, or that our hope is for the same future," read an accompanying quote attributed to feminist scholar Sara Ahmed.

"Solidarity involves commitment, and work, as well as the recognition that even if we do not have the same feelings, or the same lives, or the same bodies, we do live on common ground."

The post was met with condemnation from some Israeli officials, who accused Watson of antisemitism.

Watson was subsequently defended by a host of [Hollywood] stars that included Susan Sarandon, Mark Ruffalo, Gael García Bernal, and Viggo Mortensen — all of whom joined forces for a letter made public days after the Instagram post.

Organized by Artists for Palestine UK, a cultural network that describes itself as "standing together for Palestinian rights," the letter read:

"We join Emma Watson in support of the simple statement that 'solidarity is a verb,' including meaningful solidarity with Palestinians struggling for their human rights under international law."
Jewish American comedian Sarah Silverman condemns Hamas

Beloved American princess is weary of the world
In an X post, American comedian Sarah Silverman condemned Hamas, while also speaking about the complexities of the issues affecting the region. [Like what? Israel's war crimes, attempted ethnic cleansing, and constant oppression of innocent Palestinian civilians?]

"My sister and nieces and nephews are there," she wrote. "They've been protesting BIBI [corrupt, CIA-groomed, would-be dictator and again after being thrown out of office Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu] for months. Fight for a two state solution. Israelis are Jews and Arabs and all colors.

"There is so much complexity to this," Silverman continued. "But make NO MISTAKE Hamas [the security force in the Gaza Strip, Israel's open-air prison holding more than 2,000,000 human beings] is a terror organization [whose] mission statement is kill all Jews. This f****** world breaks my heart."

Sunday, June 14, 2020

How police get away with their crimes

The Guardian, 6/12/20; former prosecutor David Henderson (newsweek.com, OPINION, 6/12/20); NBC News NY; Huff Post; South Park; Ashley Wells, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly


Qualified immunity is helping police get away with murder — and so are prosecutors
Prosecutor David Henderson
I vividly remember the first time I saw a white woman "Maya," whose name is changed here to protect her privacy, with her two black eyes at the hands of the San Antonio Police Department.

One eye was so beaten, it could no longer open. Responding to a 911 call from a bar that had overserved her, three male police officers allege that Maya had become unruly.

During the arrest, they cuffed her hands, shackled her legs, then delivered multiple bone-breaking blows to her head while straddling her chest.

[Sexual? Vengeful? Sadistic?] The police officers claimed their violence was necessary "for everyone's safety." In 2007, there were no police body cameras to capture the beating. It was her word against theirs.

Here's how police "handle" and lie about an 11-year-old girl at school.
You're free to resign, avoid prosecution, and get hired by other agency.

We have to respect Cartman's authority, or else.
The details are horrifying, and the only reason why we even know them is because Maya is white. Had she been black, like me, things likely would have been even worse.

At the time, I was a young prosecutor at the Bexar County District Attorney's Office in Texas. Police brutality was a regular occurrence. Sadly, years later, it is no better.

Given the normalized culture of violence and the frequency of violent acts on civilians in the police force, Maya's case didn't shock me. Ultimately, no officer was charged. I was left thinking: If the police will do this to a white woman, what will they do to someone who looks like me?

The cases of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and many other others we do not know provide a heart-wrenching answer to that question. And in the case of Mr. Floyd, we can watch the answer in a viral video.

I left my job as a prosecutor to become a civil rights lawyer, so I see even more clearly how and why police have exploited legal doctrine and the system to shield themselves from any accountability for criminal acts (felonies) of brutalizing their own neighbors and communities.

"Qualified immunity"
Cops and courts do what?
Police hide behind a nebulous doctrine that protects them from prosecution -- so long as their acts of violence do not violate "clearly established law." What's that?

Qualified immunity -- which is a judicial doctrine not a law, given that it was invented by the Supreme Court -- holds that victims cannot sue police for excessive force if victims can't find a nearly identical case to theirs that previously resulted in prosecution.

[Nearly no cases previously resulted in prosecution, so fewer and fewer will in the future. Is that what the Supreme Court was hoping for?]

Unsure of what that actually means? This ambiguity is the point.

Nationwide protests have for decades (or centuries) demanded justice so that something be done about systemic and, to a lesser degree, interpersonal racism.

(HuffPost) How many times will felons in uniform act with impunity?

Social activists and political leaders are finally drawing attention to this harmful and opaque doctrine that continues to rob victims and their families of justice.

More than 400 civil rights organizations recently urged congressional leaders to end [the fiction of] "qualified immunity" protections, given that it "has been interpreted by courts so broadly that it allows officers to engage in unconstitutional acts with impunity."

It's just for show! We love how policing's done.
One week later, congressional Democrats introduced a bill that would eliminate the doctrine.

This is a significant step forward, but it's only one piece of a complex, multifaceted puzzle that enables and defends police brutality. A comprehensive review and reform of all law enforcement practices, policies and patterns is imperative to reducing -- and eventually eliminating -- police violence.

[They still have a lot more abusing and killing before we get there.]

The universal police attitude is "Comply now, complain later." If an arrested person does not obey any officer's command, regardless of whether the command is illegal or unjustified, police often feel entitled to respond violently and severely, in disproportion to the matter.

Police may say they're sensitive, but isn't it still all about macho culture?

[Perhaps this is why disrespect from blacks and browns and females is dealt with so harshly, as implicit bias, racism, sexism, and machismo come into play.]

The darker a person's skin, the more violently police typically respond. And to compound the problem, officers then get leeway to [falsely] charge arrestees they assault with "resisting arrest."

I witnessed how prosecutors, who routinely work with the police and often have personal relationships with them, are incentivized to aggressively pursue cases where police officers are the accusers and complainants.

Floyd was just the fuse. Police abuse is the TNT
Successful criminal prosecutions nullify civil lawsuits against police, which is what happened in Maya's case. More

ABOUT: David Henderson is a civil rights attorney and former prosecutor who currently lives in Dallas, Texas (Twitter handle @OakCliffLawyer). The views expressed in this article are those of the author and Wisdom Quarterly but not necessarily the original publisher, Newsweek. We stand behind him.

Thursday, April 2, 2020

Corona is ALMOST everywhere. Why? (video)

Tom O'Connor @ShaolinTom; Dr. Cowan, MD; Pfc. Sandoval, S.Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly

Here's the latest COVID-19 coronavirus map by @Newsweek @StatistaCharts @JohnsHopkins. Confirmed cases top 960,000 with nearly 50,000 dead, over 200,000 recovering. USA is #1 in sickness. Spain may pass Italy for the #2 spot behind the US. And businessman Trump says Russia and Saudi Arabia will deal [i.e., collude to drive the price up] to make the oil business wildly profitable again. China denies underreporting coronavirus morbidity and death rates.

Friday, January 19, 2018

Trump cheated on pregnant wife with pornstar

Newsweek.com; Seth Auberon, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

President Donald Trump's legal team reportedly paid a former porn star, Stephanie Clifford, $130,000 for her silence after an alleged sexual encounter while he was married to Melania Trump. 
"Just be a 'good' wife, you st*pid b*tch."
Clifford, 38, who goes by the adult-film name Stormy Daniels, said she had a sexual encounter with Trump in July 2006 at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
 
No, we're perfectly happy and Christians.
In October 2016, Trump lawyer Michael Cohen organized a payment to prevent Clifford from discussing the alleged encounter with Trump, according to the report. It is unclear whether Trump was aware of the payment.
Cohen told the Journal that Trump and Clifford deny that the incident occurred and called the allegations "outlandish" and a "false narrative." More

Monday, July 11, 2011

Madame President: Bachmann vs. Palin

Ashley Wells (Wisdom Quarterly)
Hopeful Michele Bachmann vs. has-been Sarah Palin, it's no comparison (latimes.com)

Whether it's narcissism, megalomania, or delusion, somewhere Donald Trump is combing his hair, and elsewhere Sarah Palin is telling Newsweek she can win the presidency. However the Tea Party, which is not a grassroots movement but an AstroTurfed one, is backing Michele Bachmann. After all of Palin's emails were released, embarrassing a misled and heavily manipulated mainstream media, who would be willing to back Caribou Barbie? And good ol' Hillary, who is probably not running, says she'll quit if Obama is re-[s]elected. Most people would sooner vote for the more honest, more endearing Bristol Palin, even if she drank during pregnancy while looking after her Downs Syndrome sibling. Oh that Sarah Palin, fighting Bristol on who she dates. If she's [s]elected to the White House, Washington will be business-as-usual, but reality TV will never be the same! I guess that leaves the US with a simple choice: more debt and war with Barack Obama...or even more debt and war with Herman Cain. In that case, maybe Palin wouldn't be so bad? It might seem that way, but according to the Los Angeles Times: