The video appears to paint a different picture. What do you think?

She was arrested on numerous fraud and theft charges

Florida sheriff’s deputy apprehended a murder suspect after playing a dead man to lure him into a trap.

A fat cat that weighs more than double his healthy size has been thrown into the deep end on a mission to lose weight by swimming. Moses, who weighs as much as a French bulldog, started the unusual hydrotherapy sessions in a bid to slim down in much the same way that people with bad […] The post Flabby Feline Has Taken to Swimming Lessons for Losing Weight–And it’s Working appeared first on Good News Network.

News This Blue Is Mine Dennis Quaid Joins Psychosexual Sci-Fi Film This Blue Is Mine Somehow, this film lives up to its logline. By Vanessa Armstrong | Published on May 23, 2024 Screenshot: 20th Century Studios Comment 0 Share New Share Screenshot: 20th Century Studios This Blue Is Mine, the English-language debut film from Brazilian-born director Iuli Gerbase, is expanding its cast. We already knew that Zazie Beetz (Deadpool 2) and Elizabeth Debicki (Widows) were in the feature, and Variety broke the news today that Dennis Quaid (pictured above in 2004’s The Day After Tomorrow; other credits include Strange World and Wyatt Earp) will also be on the call sheet once the movie begins shooting. Quaid will be playing Arthur, a “guilt-free bon viveur” who introduces his two adult daughters to his is decades-younger girlfriend, Ivy (Debicki), while they’re all vacationing on a lush, tropical resort. His two daughters—Connie (Beetz) and her older half-sister Laura (casting still to be announced)—are thrown off by Ivy, at least in part because she does some odd things. She’s so odd, in fact, that she tells Connie one night that she’s actually an extraterrestrial. Laura writes her off as a wannabe trophy wife but Connie is intrigued and becomes seduced by Ivy, who invites her to come back to her home planet. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I heard the phrase “psychosexual sci-fi film” (say that three times fast!), but this description seems to fit the bill. This Blue Is Mine is set to start production this fall. No news yet on when it will make its way to a screen near you. [end-mark] The post Dennis Quaid Joins Psychosexual Sci-Fi Film <i>This Blue Is Mine</i> appeared first on Reactor.

Excerpts Fantasy Read an Excerpt From Caitlin Rozakis’s Dreadful Killer moat squid, toxic masculinity, an evil wizard convocation, and a garlic festival. All at once. All in all, Dread Lord Gavrax has had better weeks. By Caitlin Rozakis | Published on May 23, 2024 Comment 0 Share New Share We’re thrilled to share an excerpt from Caitlin Rozakis’s debut high fantasy farce Dreadful, out from Titan Books on May 28th. It’s bad enough waking up in a half-destroyed evil wizard’s workshop with no eyebrows, no memories, and no idea how long you have before the Dread Lord Whomever shows up to murder you horribly and then turn your skull into a goblet or something. It’s a lot worse when you realize that Dread Lord Whomever is… you. Gav isn’t really sure how he ended up with a castle full of goblins, or why he has a princess locked in a cell. All he can do is play along with his own evil plan in hopes of getting his memories back before he gets himself killed.  But as he realizes that nothing—from the incredibly tasteless cloak adorned with flames to the aforementioned princess—is quite what it seems, Gav must face up to all the things the Dread Lord Gavrax has done. And he’ll have to answer the hardest question of all—who does he want to be? Now that he suspected what to look for, the mirror’s purpose felt more obvious. Of course he’d want to block anyone from looking in. He threw the cloth back with some reluctance and took a deep breath. The words tickled the back of his teeth. When he tried to think about them, they skittered away. He closed his eyes, forced himself to relax, and let them flow out. Lightning chased across the mirror for a moment before it settled to a dim glow. Now what? Zarconar apparently outranked him. The other wizard would make him wait, he realized. How petty. Effective, though. He couldn’t go do something else. Or maybe he should. Hoping he could get settled in time, he grabbed a sheaf of papers and dragged the chair across the floor. It shrieked horrifyingly as the heavy wood skidded across the stone. He hoped he hadn’t left scratches, but he couldn’t check now. He threw himself into the chair, studiously casual. One leg over the armrest? He tried it. No, too casual. He straightened up just enough to look dignified. Preoccupied, not bored. The words on the paper swam before his eyes. He tried to focus, failed. Instead, he just flipped idly through the papers, over and over again. The mirror flashed. He tried not to jump. Instead, he made sure to finish pretending to read the sentence, and then set the paper down very deliberately, a small and pleasant smile on his lips. Zarconar’s skin smoldered, a red so dark it was almost black. Not the color of darker skin, like (it came to him on one of those useless flashes he was quickly becoming accustomed to) was common among the southern traders. Actual red and black, as if he’d mixed dried blood with a touch of ink and painted it on. Or maybe he’d spelled it to that color. It looked like nothing human. A stiffened collar of black velvet rose from his shoulders to above his ears, framing his gleaming bald head. The cloak clasped with a small skull, seemingly human but smaller than a baby’s. Fetus? Monkey? Shrunken? Disgusting, whatever the origin. The whole effect was ridiculous. But Zarconar’s eyes burned with a menace that killed the laughter in Gav’s throat. Buy the Book Dreadful Caitlin Rozakis Buy Book Dreadful Caitlin Rozakis Buy this book from: AmazonBarnes and NobleiBooksIndieBoundTarget “You have the princess?” Zarconar’s voice rumbled deep from his chest. Gav felt a burst of envy. His own tenor could never convey that level of malevolence. Gav swallowed, his mouth gone suddenly dry. “I do.” “Good.” The other wizard’s eyes narrowed. “Any resistance?” “The… the king is attempting a ransom,” Gav offered after a pause. He had no idea what the other wizard expected, and the small frightened mammal part of his brain was insisting that he meet those expectations. Right now. He didn’t know what Zarconar would do if he didn’t. He didn’t want to find out. That seemed to amuse the other wizard. One lip curled up in a smile. “Anything appealing?” “A small fortune? No land, though.” He forced a smile of his own. “A little insulting, really. You’d think he barely cared for the girl.” Zarconar’s laughter boomed. It didn’t make Gav feel particularly reassured. “Feeling bold today, are you?” Gav could feel the blood rush out of his face, leaving him dizzy. Zarconar could tell something was wrong. How should he behave? Obsequious? Terrified? No, he’d made his choice and had to bluff it out. “I did my part.” The gleaming eyes narrowed. “The first part, at least. Now we must wait for Valevna and Xaxus to complete theirs.” Without any other ideas, Gav nodded. Another smile played around Zarconar’s lips. It promised things, things Gav did not want to see delivered. “For the moment, you need merely hold her. And not get any foolish ideas. You can do that much, can’t you, Gavrax?” “No foolish ideas,” Gav repeated faintly. “Excellent,” said Zarconar. “We’ll speak again in three days.” Gav nodded, still dizzy. The mirror winked out. He collapsed back into the chair. Then he sat bolt upright again, speaking the words that would close his side of the connection. He pulled the cloth back over. Then he collapsed back into the chair again. So the plan in question hadn’t started with him. Not good. No, it was being masterminded by a man with ensorcelled skin who should have been ridiculous but instead turned his bowels to water. Even now, his insides were spasming, demanding that he find himself a privy and soon. Worse and worse. And there were at least two more parties involved, probably also Dark Wizards, going by those ridiculous names. They couldn’t be named normal things, like Bo or Trevan. They had to have named themselves that. He wondered what monstrosity Zarconar slept in at night. Probably a bed carved to look like a dragon’s mouth. Or maybe on the backs of a dozen weeping virgins. What was he going to do? Any thoughts of releasing Princess Eliasha fled out the window. Definitely not an option. He felt bad; he didn’t actually wish harm on the girl, but a quick consideration revealed he was not going to risk Zarconar’s wrath for some stranger, no matter how pretty. He’d have to do more research, he realized. This was just the first part of Zarconar’s plan, and he could not afford to disappoint him in parts two through whatever. What he was not going to do was admit to Zarconar that he couldn’t remember the rest. Zarconar seemed like the type who only valued people as long as they remained useful. The last thing Gav wanted was to become a liability. Liabilities got eliminated. And Gav very much wanted to survive. Excerpted from Dreadful, copyright © 2024 by Caitlin Rozakis. The post Read an Excerpt From Caitlin Rozakis’s <i>Dreadful</i> appeared first on Reactor.

A Missouri school district spent more than $61,000 on a new math curriculum that prioritizes “cultural, racial, and gender diversity.”  Webster Groves School District plans to roll out a new elementary math curriculum from Imagine Learning Illustrative Mathematics this fall. The school board approved spending $61,450 on the change at an April 25 meeting, according to a PowerPoint presentation posted on BoardDocs and reviewed by The Daily Signal.  The district chose the program for its “balance of images or information about people, representing various demographic and physical characteristics.” The district, in the wealthy suburbs west of St. Louis, has 10 schools and 4,409 students. The selection criteria for the kindergarten through fifth-grade curriculum included that the “materials prioritize cultural, racial, and gender diversity and supports the Webster Groves School District Equity Resolution.” The equity resolution, adopted in 2017, advertises Webster Grove’s commitment to “confront issues of bias and social injustice.” The district used EdReports’ research in making the choice, which helped Webster Groves determine the curriculum encourages teachers to “draw upon student cultural and social backgrounds to facilitate learning.” The curriculum “represent[s] different races and portray[s] people from many ethnicities in a positive, respectful manner, with no demographic bias for who achieves success in the context of problems,” according to Susan Bergman, the district’s math curriculum director, citing EdReports’ review.  “Characters in the program are illustrations of children or adults with representation of different races and populations of students,” the EdReport review continues. “Problem settings vary from rural to urban and international locations.” EdReports, a nonprofit that reviews instructional materials, is partially funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  Illustrative Mathematics touts its commitment to “culturally responsive pedagogy” on its website, saying its materials encourage students to bring “their whole selves” to math class. “Materials are designed to affirm students as they build positive mathematical identities,” the website says.  The $61,000 cost includes teacher’s editions, online student licenses, professional learning for staff, and unit-planning guides for Webster Groves’ six elementary schools. The district will spend additional funds on the recurring student handbook cost.  Webster Groves has evaluated its math curriculum for the past year. Last April, Bergman announced the district’s plans to include the personal pronouns “they/them” in math problems and hire certified teachers as “math interventionists” to fight racism and gender bias in math classes.  “A persistent myth within math education is that since ‘numbers are universal,’ math classrooms are objective and free of bias,” Bergman said in her presentation.  “Research shows clearly that any space where learning occurs is neither free of bias, nor resistant to oppressive systems, such as racism, sexism, classism, or xenophobia,” she added.  The district did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment by time of publication. The post School District Spends $61K on Curriculum to Boost ‘Cultural, Racial, Gender Diversity’ in Math appeared first on The Daily Signal.

China launched a series of military drills Thursday around Taiwan as “punishment” for the swearing-in of the island’s new president, Chinese state media reported. Lai Ching-te, inaugurated Monday, is a member of Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party and won the island’s presidential election in January. China’s People’s Liberation Army initiated joint naval and air drills around the island in an act of intimidation and retaliation for Taiwan’s continued claim to independence.  The “Taiwan question” is one of Beijing’s most sensitive issues. China views Taiwan as a rogue territory that needs to be reunited with the mainland and demands other countries view the issue similarly. Some in the international community are concerned that China eventually will invade Taiwan and take the island by force if it doesn’t surrender peacefully. The CCP’s military exercises, which highlight its hegemony mindset, have undermined regional peace and stability. The ROC Armed Forces stand ready to defend our country. We seek no conflicts, but we will not shy away from one. pic.twitter.com/6F3imAsi3u— ??? Ministry of National Defense, R.O.C. ?? (@MoNDefense) May 23, 2024 “Those like Lai Ching-te have betrayed their nation and ancestors. What they have done is simply disgraceful,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Webin told reporters during a press briefing Wednesday, warning that Taiwanese independent forces “will be left with their heads broken and blood flowing” if they challenge China, according to the Hindustan Times. “No matter what gimmicks they play, they will not stop China’s complete reunification and Taiwan’s return to the embrace of the motherland,” Wang said. “All ‘Taiwan independence’ separatists will see their names written on the wall of shame.” The PLA’s Eastern Theater Command began the drills early Thursday and was expected to continue the drills until Friday, PLA spokesman Li Xi told Chinese state media. The Chinese army also is conducting mock “precision strikes on key targets” as part of the operations to test the “real combat capabilities of the forces of the command.” Taiwanese security forces detected 42 Chinese fighter jets, 16 coast guard vessels, and 15 naval vessels around the island and smaller neighboring islands Thursday, according to The New York Times. None of the Chinese aircraft or vessels had entered Taiwanese territory or airspace. “The Armed Forces stand ready to defend our country. We seek no conflicts, but we will not shy away from one,” Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said in a tweet Thursday. The drills are some of the largest China has conducted since then-U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., hosted then-Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in Washington in April 2023, prompting anger from Beijing given its opposition to bilateral relations between Taiwan and other nations. Even larger drills were held when then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a visit to Taiwan in August 2022. The ongoing tensions between China and Taiwan have raised international concern that China is preparing for a full-scale invasion that could prompt a war with the West. The U.S. maintains a “One China” policy and doesn’t recognize Taiwanese independence, but considers the island a strong ally and has defense agreements to provide military equipment. The U.S. also keeps a position of “strategic ambiguity” when it comes to Taiwan, not revealing whether it would defend the island militarily in the event of a Chinese incursion. The White House on several occasions has had to walk back President Joe Biden’s claims that the U.S. would involve itself in a conflict with China if it decided to invade Taiwan. Originally published by the Daily Caller News Foundation The post China Launches ‘Punishment’ Drills Around Taiwan After President’s Inauguration appeared first on The Daily Signal.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. EU governments might soon endorse the highly controversial Child Sexual Abuse Regulation (CSAR), known colloquially as “chat control,” based on a new proposal by Belgium’s Minister of the Interior. According to a leak obtained by Pirate Party MEP and shadow rapporteur Patrick Breyer, this could happen as early as June. The proposal mandates that users of communication apps must agree to have all images and videos they send automatically scanned and potentially reported to the EU and police. This agreement would be obtained through terms and conditions or pop-up messages. To facilitate this, secure end-to-end encrypted messenger services would need to implement monitoring backdoors, effectively causing a ban on private messaging. The Belgian proposal frames this as “upload moderation,” claiming it differs from “client-side scanning.” Users who refuse to consent would still be able to send text messages but would be barred from sharing images and videos. The scanning technology, employing artificial intelligence, is intended to detect known child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and flag new images and videos deemed suspicious. The proposal excludes the previously suggested scanning of text messages for grooming signs and does not address audio communication scanning, which has never been implemented. The proposal first introduced on 8 May, has surprisingly gained support from several governments that were initially critical. It will be revisited on 24 May, and EU interior ministers are set to meet immediately following the European elections to potentially approve the legislation. Patrick Breyer, a staunch opponent of chat control, expressed serious concerns. “The leaked Belgian proposal means that the essence of the EU Commission’s extreme and unprecedented initial chat control proposal would be implemented unchanged,” he warns. “Using messenger services purely for texting is not an option in the 21st century. And removing excesses that aren’t being used in practice anyway is a sham.” Breyer emphasizes the threat to digital privacy, stating, “Millions of private chats and private photos of innocent citizens are to be searched using unreliable technology and then leaked without the affected chat users being even remotely connected to child sexual abuse – this would destroy our digital privacy of correspondence. Our nude photos and family photos would end up with strangers in whose hands they do not belong and with whom they are not safe.” He also points out the risk to encryption, noting that “client-side scanning would undermine previously secure end-to-end encryption to turn our smartphones into spies – this would destroy secure encryption.” Breyer is alarmed by the shifting stance of previously critical EU governments, which he fears could break the blocking minority and push the proposal forward. He criticizes the lack of a legal opinion from the Council on this fundamental rights issue. “If the EU governments really do go into the trilogue negotiations with this radical position of indiscriminate chat control scanning, experience shows that the Parliament risks gradually abandoning its initial position behind closed doors and agreeing to bad and dangerous compromises that put our online security at risk,” he asserts. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post “Upload Moderation” – The EU’s Latest Name For Messaging Surveillance appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The EU’s European Council has followed the European Parliament (EP) in approving the AI Act – which opponents say is a way for the bloc to legalize biometric mass surveillance. More than that, the EU is touting the legislation as first of its kind in the world, and seems hopeful it will serve as a standard for AI regulation elsewhere around the globe. The Council announced the law is “groundbreaking,” taking a “risk-based” approach, meaning that the EU authorities get to grade the level of risk from AI to society and then impose rules of various levels of severity and penalties, including money fines for companies deemed to be infringing the act. What this “granular” approach to “risk level” looks like is revealed in the fact that what the EU chooses to consider cognitive behavioral manipulation “unacceptable,” while AI use in education and facial recognition is “high risk. “Limited risk” applies to chatbots. And developers will be under obligation to register in order to have the “risk” assessed before their apps become available to users in the EU. The AI Act’s ambition, according to the EU, is to promote both the development and uptake, as well as investment in systems that it considers “safe and trustworthy,” targeting both private and public sectors for this type of regulation. A press release said that the law “provides exemptions such as for systems used exclusively for military and defense as well as for research purposes.” After the act is formally published, it will within three weeks come into effect across the 27-member countries. Back in March, when the European Parliament approved the act, one of its members, Patrick Breyer of the German Pirate Party, slammed the preceding trilogue negotiations as “intransparent.” But what was clear, according to this lawyer and privacy advocate, is that participants from the EP, initially saying they wanted to see a ban on real-time biometric mass surveillance in mass places, did a 180 and in the end agreed to “legitimize” it through AI Act’s provisions. Breyer said that identification relying on CCTV footage is prone to errors that can have serious consequences – but that “none of these dystopian technologies will be off limits for EU governments” (thanks to the new law). “As important as it is to regulate AI technology, defending our democracy against being turned into a high-tech surveillance state is not negotiable for us Pirates,” Breyer wrote at the time. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post European Council Approves the AI Act — a Law Accused of Legalizing Biometric Mass Surveillance appeared first on Reclaim The Net.