Saturday, June 15, 2019
The Future Is Here: Watch Robot Cop Pull Over Driver And Issue Ticket (VIDEO)
Engineer Reuben Brewer and SRI International, a nonprofit scientific research institute based in California, developed a police robot for traffic stops. This new robot is expected to act as a buffer between the officer and motorist during an encounter, reported The Washington Post. The project began several years ago in Brewer’s garage but has since been in development at SRI International’s facilities in California. The robot, dubbed GoBetween, is designed to make it safer for both the officer and the motorist. “The main advantage of a robot over a human is that physical danger no longer matters,” Brewer wrote after being reached by email by The Post. “The robot is purely defensive, so it can’t hurt the motorist. If the motorist damages the robot, it’s only...
Pew: Illegal Alien Population Booms in Red States Ahead of 2020 Election
Pew Research Center analysis finds that in Louisiana, North Dakota, and South Dakota — three states that went overwhelmingly for Trump over failed Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election — the illegal alien population has increased over the last ten years.
Between 2007 and 2017, Louisiana — which went nearly 60 percent for Trump in the 2016 election — has an illegal alien population that has grown by 15,000.
(Pew Research Center)
In North Dakota, where Trump won with 63 percent of the vote, the illegal alien population has grown by 5,000 over the last decade. This is a sizeable increase for the state that has one of the smallest resident populations in the country with just 760,000 residents.
For South Dakota, a state that voted 61.5 percent for Trump, the illegal alien population has also grown by 5,000 over the past ten years. This, too, is a significant increase as the state only has a resident population of about 883,000 residents.
The illegal alien population — with an estimated 11 to 22 million illegal aliens living across the U.S. — has grown in the Democrat-controlled states of Massachusetts and Maryland. In Massachusetts, there are 60,000 more illegal aliens than there were ten years ago. In Maryland, the illegal alien population has grown by 45,000 since 2007.
Increases in illegal alien populations across red states have electoral consequences where American voters’ votes are diluted in elections due to counting illegal aliens in...
Mexico publishes Trump's 'secret deal' on migration
Trump theatrically waved the one-page document in front of reporters Tuesday, fending off critics who said his use of tariff threats to force Mexico into a deal on curbing migration had in fact extracted little in the way of new commitments from the Mexican side.
Photojournalists managed to capture a few sentences of the document, but the full contents had not previously been revealed.
The document is a "supplementary agreement" to the deal the US and Mexico signed last Friday, and outlines additional measures the two sides agree to take.
The two countries "will immediately begin discussions to establish definitive terms for a binding bilateral agreement to further address burden-sharing and the assignment of responsibility for processing refugee status claims of migrants," it says.
Under that "binding bilateral agreement," the countries "would accept the return, and process refugee status claims, of third-party nationals who have crossed that party's territory to arrive" in the neighboring country, it says.
That language appears to resemble Trump's demand for a "safe third country" agreement in which migrants entering Mexican territory would have to seek asylum there, not the United States, and be immediately deported to Mexico if they entered the US.
The document adds that the agreement would be "part of a regional approach" to dealing with undocumented migrants and refugees.
"Mexico also commits to immediately begin examining domestic laws and regulations with a view to identifying any changes that may be necessary to bring into force and implement such an agreement," it says.
Under last Friday's main deal, Mexico agreed to deploy 6,000 National Guardsmen to reinforce its southern border, and to expand its policy of taking back migrants as the United States processes their asylum claims.
If after 45 days the US decides, "at its discretion and after consultation with Mexico," that those measures are not enough, Mexico "will take all necessary...
10 Offbeat Stories You Might Have Missed This Week (6/15/19)
A lot of strange stuff happened this week. Don’t worry if you missed it because this list is here to catch you up. You can also click here to take a look at last week’s happenings.
This week, we examine two bizarre crimes, one of them involving an avocado grenade. We also learn about our ancient ancestors’ penchant for making “Cheerios” and smoking cannabis. Lastly, if you are a multimillionaire, you can start planning your space vacation aboard the ISS.
This week, we examine two bizarre crimes, one of them involving an avocado grenade. We also learn about our ancient ancestors’ penchant for making “Cheerios” and smoking cannabis. Lastly, if you are a multimillionaire, you can start planning your space vacation aboard the ISS.
10All Aboard The International Space Station
Photo credit: NASA
NASA announced plans to open the International Space Station (ISS) to tourists starting in 2020. According to Robyn Gatens, deputy director of the ISS, there will be up to two missions per year which will carry multiple private astronauts to the station for up to 30 days at a time.As you might expect, a space vacation will still be incredibly expensive, so it will not be available to your average Joe anytime soon. “Booking” the ISS will cost $35,000 per night, and this does not take into account the greatest expense, which is journeying to and from the station. NASA says that private companies like SpaceX and Boeing will be in charge of traveling arrangements. They will also be responsible for the composition of the crew on each flight, as well as ensuring that the space tourists meet the medical and training criteria for such a journey. It is probable that these companies will charge private customers around the same as NASA astronauts for a two-way trip to the ISS, which is around $60 million per flight.[1]
9World’s Most Considerate Criminal
Photo credit: GMP Trafford North
Police from Manchester, England, took to social media to thank a considerate drug dealer who left behind his stash alongside his name and address.In the online post, cheeky authorities announced plans to reunite the hapless individual with the backpack that he forgot on the Bury line while traveling on the tram. Inside his rucksack were 25 tablets, large amounts of white powder and white rocks, and some scales.[2]Fortunately for police, it should prove relatively easy to get in touch with the owner of the backpack because he also left behind his Community Payback card, which had his name and address.
8On Your Mark, Get Ready, Sit
Photo credit: Reuters/Issei Kato
The small Japanese city of Hanyu kicked off the annual Isu Grand Prix, where competitors form teams of three and take part in endurance races while sitting in office chairs.Inspired by Le Mans and Formula One, Tsuyoshi Tahara created the first event back in 2009. It proved to be pretty popular, and now, ten years later, 55 teams participated in the Hanyu Grand Prix, traveling from as far away as Wakayama, 600 kilometers (372 mi) to the south. Moreover, this was just the first of ten events that will take place across Japan this year.[3]The teams used ordinary office furniture and had two hours to complete as many laps as possible of a 200-meter (656 ft) course. Although they were free to employ any method of propulsion they wanted as long as it used their own force, all racers relied on their legs to push the chairs backward. Many teams used a Le Mans-style rotation to keep each other fresh.Last year’s winners, Kitsugawa Unyu, took first place again. Their prize was 90 kilograms (200 lb) of rice, which the racers struggled to lift due to fatigue.
7Toilet Trouble For Plane Passenger
Photo credit: @HistoryofPIA1/Twitter
A flight from Manchester to Islamabad was delayed for almost eight hours after a passenger opened the emergency exit because she thought it was the toilet.The Pakistan International Airways (PIA) flight was sitting on the runway, getting ready to depart, when the confused passenger had to use the restroom. She reached for the wrong door and triggered the emergency evacuation slide. Now, because the evacuation capacity of the plane had been reduced, 38 people had to voluntarily disembark and take a later flight.[4] And, of course, the mix-up had a domino effect that caused several other departures to be delayed at Manchester Airport.Pakistani officials blamed the incident on a shortage of airline staff, which allowed the emergency exit to be opened.
6A Generous Toe-nation
Photo credit: Nick Griffiths/Twitter
The Downtown Hotel in Dawson City, Canada, recently received a peculiar delivery: two human toes. Normally, this would be cause for concern, but the proprietors “couldn’t be happier.” That’s because the digits will be used in the hotel’s infamous “sourtoe cocktail.”It is a tradition that started almost 50 years ago. Travelers who go to the hotel and visit the Sourdough Saloon can order the drink and join the “Sourtoe Cocktail Club.” Basically, it is an amputated toe floating in their alcohol of choice, typically whiskey. The rule is that the lips must touch the toe while drinking; otherwise, it doesn’t count.The original toe is long gone, and the hotel relies on donations. They recently received two digits from Nick Griffiths, a British endurance athlete who lost three of them to frostbite during the Yukon Arctic Race.[5] His plan was to travel to the hotel with his toes, but his trip was delayed by months of rehab. Eventually, he got tired of keeping his toes in jars inside his bedside drawer and mailed them to Canada. He kept one as “insurance.”
5The Avocado Robber
A man was arrested in Israel after robbing two banks and walking away with NIS 28,000 ($7,800). His weapon of choice was an avocado.The 47-year-old robber first targeted a branch of Postal Bank in...
The 90 Miles Mystery Box: Episode #653
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.
Friday, June 14, 2019
Facebook Bans ‘Dysfunctional Veterans’ Page That Raises Money For Homeless Veterans
Facebook banned the popular veterans page for the second time this week.
Dysfunction Veterans, a Facebook page run by Michael Rivers, himself a veteran, was banned from Facebook for allegedly violating its content policies regarding firearms.
Speaking to Big League Politics, Rivers explained that his page was banned for buying ads on Facebook to promote a contest where entries could win an AR-15 rifle, even though according to the letter of Facebook’s community guidelines, his promotion was following Facebook’s rules.
“We do try to stay within Facebook’s guidelines, they just make them up as they go along,” said Rivers. “We ran a contest, a promo to give away an AR-15. It was a licensed firearms company, and we are an online retailer. According to Facebook rules, it’s okay because we are two online retailers that follow all applicable state and federal guidelines.”
He went on to explain that 8 days into the advertisement, which was approved by Facebook, they removed the advertisement and banned the staff member who posted it for 30 days. Rivers immediately ended the advertisement and removed all reference of it from the page, but Facebook proceeded to ban members of his staff two more times for the same, deleted advertisement.
“They banned us again for the same exact thing,” said Rivers. “So again, we appealed it, and then yesterday the page was unpublished and they cited the same thing again.”
“We had ended the promo last month, midway through it. After two or three weeks of not running it, they banned us for the same advertisement.”
Rivers says he appealed the latest ban and supplied Facebook with relevant excerpts from their own community guidelines as evidence his page did nothing wrong. He is currently waiting to hear back from the big tech platform.
In addition to selling merchandise via the Dysfunction Veterans online store, Rivers also runs a non-profit organization focused on providing housing to homeless veterans, DV Farm, that sometimes receives cash injections from the profits made from the Dysfunctional Veterans retail operation. Rivers provides housing and support to up to five homeless veterans at a time, and says his organization focuses on the “problem child” cases that are ignored by the Veterans Administration and...
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