Sunday, March 25, 2018
The 90 Miles Mystery Box: Episode #206
You have come across a mystery box. But what is inside?
It could be literally anything from the serene to the horrific,
from the beautiful to the repugnant,
from the mysterious to the familiar.
If you decide to open it, you could be disappointed,
you could be inspired, you could be appalled.
This is not for the faint of heart or the easily offended.
You have been warned.
Saturday, March 24, 2018
A group of deep state whistleblowers called ‘Joint Task Force Make America Great Again', Reports On Deep State Abuse..
A group of deep state whistleblowers called ‘Joint Task Force Make America Great Again’ or JTF MAGA has produced a report detailing abuses of national security monitoring programs for corrupt or political purposes. One America’s Neil McCabe has more from Washington.
5 LEGENDARY DUELS: WHEN DISPUTES ENDED IN BLOODSHED
ENGAGED IN A TWITTER BRAWL? BE GLAD YOU WEREN’T BORN TWO CENTURIES AGO.
For hundreds of years, the ancient practice of dueling was a common method people used for settling their disputes. Though it may seem barbaric to many people now, challenging a person to a duel was often essential for men and women as a means of proving their courage and defending their honor. Here are five of those legendary duels, many of which ended in bloodshed.
1. ALEXANDER HAMILTON VS. AARON BURR (1804)
ILLUSTRATION SHOWING THE DUEL BETWEEN ALEXANDER HAMILTON AND AARON BURR, 1804. PHOTO BY BRIGGS CO.The most famous duel in American history happened during Thomas Jefferson’s administration: Vice President Aaron Burr vs. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. Though political and personal tension had been rising between the two for years, most of the anger seems to have stemmed from the fact that Hamilton had a crucial role in preventing Burr from winning the presidency. Hamilton also actively campaigned against Burr during his failed 1804 bid to become governor of New York. Whatever the cause, rumors that Hamilton had been slandering Burr eventually led Burr to issue a formal challenge. On July 11, 1804, the day of the duel, Hamilton reportedly completed his will and settled his affairs before boarding a barge (accompanied by Dr. David Hosack) and setting sail from Manhattan to the New Jersey shore. The conflict officially took place at the dueling grounds near Weehawken, New Jersey. According to historical accounts, Hamilton intended to end the affair peacefully by firing a symbolic shot into the air; however, after the shot was fired, Burr aimed at Hamilton’s torso and returned fire. The bullet lodged in Hamilton’s spine, and he died the following morning. Charges of murder were later levied against Burr, and though he was arrested, he was eventually acquitted on a technicality.
‘PETTICOAT DUELLISTS,’ PUBLISHED IN 1792. PHOTO BY HULTON ARCHIVE / GETTY IMAGES
This duel resulted after a hostess (Mrs. Elphinstone) made a seemingly harmless comment about the age of another woman (Lady Almeria Braddock). The Petticoat Duel, as it came to be known, began with the ladies meeting at Hyde Park armed with pistols. The first shot came from Mrs. Elphinstone, who blew a hole through Lady Almeria’s hat. Convinced their hostility wouldn’t be adequately expressed with pistols, the women drew swords. The duel came to a quick end, however, when Lady Almeria managed to inflict a wound on Mrs. Elphinstone’s sword arm, after which Mrs. Elphinstone agreed to write a letter of apology. While some researchers dispute whether the duel actually occurred, primarily because no account of a woman named Lady Braddock can be found, there is evidence that a Georgian actress named George Anne Bellamy not only played Almeria in Congreve’s The Mourning Bride but was a close acquaintance of a man named General Edward Braddock. Coincidently, she also knew a woman named Mrs. Elphinstone and fought a duel in Hyde Park using both swords and pistols.
3. SASAKI KOJIRŌ VS. MIYAMOTO MUSASHI (1612)
ILLUSTRATION BY YOSHITOSHI (1839–1892)
One of the most prolific duels in Japanese history involved the two best Japanese swordsmen of their time, Miyamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kojirō. Kojirō had developed a reputation for implementing a very effective Kenjutsu style based on the movement of the tail of a flying swallow. He had gained considerable notoriety for his innovative fighting techniques. Unlike traditional samurai, who used the traditional katanahis, Kojirō used a no-dachi (an extremely long, two-handed sword). Though the sword’s unusual length and weight may have presented problems for most skilled swordsmen, Kojirō somehow managed strikes with the weapon that were unusually quick and precise. According to legend, after hearing of Kojirō’s fame, Musashi asked an intermediary to arrange a duel. Kojirō agreed, and the two men met on April 13 on the remote shores of Ganryu-jima Island, located in the Kanmon Straits, just off the coast of the Bizen Province. Transported to Ganryu Island by boat thanks to the kindness of a local fisherman, Musashi reportedly arrived several hours late, in hopes of angering Kojirō, sporting a giant wooden sword he’d fashioned from the oar of a boat. As the duel began, both attacked simultaneously; however, Musashi quickly gained a reach advantage and wounded Kojirō’s head. During his second approach, Musashi exacted a fatal wound, slicing Kojirō’s throat and killing him instantly. Interestingly, before returning to his boat, out of respect, Musashi bowed to the officials and to his dead opponent. Later, a boat-shaped stone memorial was constructed on the island as well as statues depicting a scene from the duel.
4. ISABELLA DE CARAZZI AND DIAMBRA DE POTTINELLA (1552)
Fabio de Zeresola, a handsome gentleman and highly sought-after bachelor who was very popular among the ladies of 16th century Naples, was the subject of the duel between two Neapolitan noblewomen named Isabella de Carazzi and Diambra de Pottinella. Hopelessly love-struck by Fabio, Isabella and Diambra agreed to meet in a field in Naples to fight for his affection. The event was an elaborate affair: Isabella wore blue and a helmet with a diamond in the crest, and Diambra wore green and a helmet emblazoned with a serpent of gold. When the trumpet sounded, the women charged at one another on horseback. Amid the clash of shields and the whinnying of horses, Isabella fell. Noticing this, Diambra quickly dismounted and demanded Isabella surrender. Rather than concede, Isabella quickly took up her sword and charged at Diambra, knocking her to the ground, surprisingly surrendering and proclaiming Diambra the victor. Rumors of the duel quickly spread across Italy, and the legend of the duel continued to be told for generations.
5.
A Star Grazed Our Solar System 70,000 Years Ago, and Early Humans Likely Saw It
In 2015, a team of researchers announced that a red dwarf called Scholz's star apparently grazed the solar system 70,000 years ago, coming closer than 1 light-year to the sun. For perspective, the sun's nearest stellar neighbor these days, Proxima Centauri, lies about 4.2 light-years away. The astronomers came to this conclusion by measuring the motion and velocity of Scholz's star — which zooms through space with a smaller companion, a brown dwarf or "failed star" — and extrapolating backward in time.
Scholz's star passed by the solar system at a time when early humans and Neanderthals shared the Earth. The star likely appeared as a faint reddish light to anyone looking up at...
How A Law That Will Allegedly Help Stop Online Sex Trafficking May Undermine The Internet
With the prospective swipe of a pen from President Donald Trump — the imminence of which is not clear — websites could soon be held liable to any activity or content that is found on the platforms. Law enforcement could even make sites retroactively responsible for failing to comply with the law before its possible passage.
“Any tool or service can be misused. We can’t take such risk without jeopardizing all our other services, so we are regretfully taking craigslist personals offline,” Craigslist wrote in a simple blog post. “Hopefully we can bring them back some day. To the millions of spouses, partners, and couples who met through craigslist, we wish you every happiness!”
The Senate passed the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) on Wednesday in a landslide 97-2 vote. The only two to vote against the bill were Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon.
“History shows that politicians have been remarkably bad at solving technological problems,” Wyden wrote in February. “I take a backseat to no one when it comes to fighting sex trafficking and locking up the monsters who prey on the defenseless. However, the bill … will make it harder to catch bad actors and protect victims by driving this vile crime to shadowy corners of society that are harder for law enforcement to reach.”
The House passed the pending bill in late February in similar fashion, with 388 representatives for, and only 25 against.
“Online trafficking is flourishing because there are no serious, legal consequences for the websites that profit from the exploitation of our most vulnerable,” Republican Congresswoman Ann Wagner of Missouri, who introduced the first version of the legislation, said before it was set to hit the floor for debate.
Not all federal institutions were originally enthusiastic about the legislation. The U.S. Department of Justice sent a letter to Republican Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, in late February arguing that a provision, Section 2421A of title 18, in FOSTA is counterproductive “because it would extend to situations where there is a minimal federal interest, such as to instances in which an individual person uses a cell phone to manage local commercial sex transactions involving consenting adults.”
That language was altered to only include operators of an “interactive computer service” — in all likelihood to appease the larger law enforcement community.
Still overall supportive of the legislative effort, the DOJ also stated that while “well intentioned,” Section 4 includes “new language” that creates “additional elements that prosecutors must prove at trial,” therefore making it more difficult to hold perpetrators accountable. That language, which defines “participation in a venture,” is unnecessary, according to...
Vatican Cracks Down on Critics of Communist Tyrant, Pope Francis
On Thursday, the Rome-based Sovereign Order of Malta, which reports directly to the Holy See, suspended historian Henry Sire after he was revealed to be the author of the bestselling book The Dictator Pope: The Inside Story of the Francis Papacy, a critical examination of the pontificate of Pope Francis.
Meanwhile the Vatican has hired the international law firm of Baker McKenzie to force a small Spanish website called InfoVaticana.com to close its doors, allegedly for its sometimes critical tone toward aspects of the Francis papacy. The firm recently threatened a lawsuit if Infovaticana isn’t shut down and “its internet domain transferred to the Vatican.”
The Order of Malta announced its decision Wednesday to suspend the British historian Henry Sire, a member of the order, calling his book a “vile attack” on Pope Francis.
“Following the press articles reporting the name of the author of the book ‘The Dictator Pope’ the Grand Magistry of the Order of Malta has taken the decision to suspend Henry Sire, author of the book and member of the Order of Malta. The provisional suspension from membership has immediate effect and an investigation is being launched,” it said in a statement.
In January, 2017, the Vatican took control of the Knights of Malta after ousting its Grand Master Matthew Festing for his “defiance of papal authority.” The pope asked Festing to resign following a dispute over sovereignty with the Vatican, replacing him with papal delegate Archbishop Angelo Becciu as interim leader of the order.
Under the pen name Marcantonio Colonna, Sire published The Dictator Popeelectronically in November of 2017, first in Italian and then in English, after spending a four-year residence with the Knights of Malta in Rome from 2013 to 2017, during which time he conducted his research for the book. Only on Monday did Sire acknowledge that he was the author of the book.
In it, Sire portrayed Francis as an authoritarian leader who does not brook opposition or criticism. Contrary to his public persona as a jovial man of the people, Sire wrote that Francis has turned out to be “a papal tyrant the like of whom has not been seen for many centuries” and under his administration, “the Vatican is systematically silencing, eliminating and...
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