A video shared on X purports to show Israeli army vehicles advancing towards Lebanon. ?‼️#BREAKING – Israel: The Israeli army is advancing north towards Lebanon, the passage of military vehicles is occurring for more than 48 continuous hours in escalation of tensions with Hezbollah. pic.twitter.com/kIN1x9gcZc — MonitorX (@MonitorX99800) June 24, 2024 Verdict: False The claim […]

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One of the culinary world’s most prized fish, and one of the sea’s fastest most accomplished predators, has left regulators stunned at its powers of recovery. A target for the pan-Pacific stock of bluefin tuna has already been reached a decade in advance, with one federal fisheries policy analyst suggesting the world isn’t far away […] The post Recovery of Pacific Bluefin Tuna Achieves Major Goals–A Decade Ahead of Schedule appeared first on Good News Network.

The post Why People Love to Talk About Their Cats: Olga’s Entertaining Nature by Christopher Bays appeared first on Catster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren't considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Catster.com. Hi, I’m Christopher! Read my introduction to learn more about me and my silly Russian Blue cat, Olga. I try not to bore my dog-loving friends with too many cat stories, but it’s challenging since I live with an amusing goofball who never ceases to surprise me. Cats are fascinating subjects, and I doubt I’ll ever have trouble writing about Olga’s antics. Although, like most cats, she dislikes change and enjoys following a routine, she can be unpredictable. I can count on her to glare at me and whine when dinnertime is a few hours away, but she doesn’t initiate the begging process at the same time every day. After several naps, she’s glued to the window and can’t keep her eyes off the birds and squirrels in my yard. She spends more time there since the temperature has increased and a new visitor caught her attention. Window Watching A field mouse, or more likely several field mice, has been hopping across the lawn in the late afternoon. I understand that mice spread disease and carry parasites, but I’m glad to see the rodents as long as they do not inhabit my house or take over my backyard. They distract Olga and allow me to spend my last hours of work in a calmer state. I’m sorry; it’s time for me to interrupt your work. She gets so excited that she attacks the blinds and scratches the windowpanes. I don’t get upset since she’s taking her frustration out on inanimate objects instead of my legs or back. When she’s not distracted by the wildlife and thinks I’m waiting too long to serve dinner, she usually finds something else to attack before becoming violent. Hunger Attacks I haven’t trained her to practice restraint when handling her afternoon hunger, but she seems more patient than a year ago, when she would chew on my shoelaces, dive on my back, or claw up my legs. However, she still attacks me occasionally or runs to the other side of my house and howls in the laundry room. I’m impatiently awaiting my supper. Some people hate cats because of their unusual or unpredictable behavior. They’re worried about a surprise attack, but I look forward to them. When Olga runs up to me after hiding behind the couch, paws me in the back of the leg, and fluffs up her fur to look more menacing, it cracks me up. Demonic Behavior I keep the door closed when I’m in the shower so that she can’t tear into the shower curtain, but besides that, I’m pretty tolerant when she morphs into a demon. I like watching her run laps around my house and leap from the couch to the recliner. Her eyes are dilated, and she looks like a cat possessed. I have a rocking recliner, and when Olga dives on it, the back slams into the drywall. Stop saying I look demented. It sounds like someone hit the wall with the sledgehammer, and the first time she did it, the noise scared her, but now, it doesn’t phase her. She ignores it and continues to run at full speed until she slows down a bit and attempts to climb the wall molding in the hallway. Sometimes, she scratches my antique desk or tears into the headboard of my bed. I tell her to stop or chase her away, but it’s hard for me to get mad at her. She’s an amusing little creep, and that’s why I think some pet owners love talking and writing about their insane felines. The post Why People Love to Talk About Their Cats: Olga’s Entertaining Nature by Christopher Bays appeared first on Catster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren't considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Catster.com.

Books Five Books 5 Books Where the Devil Plays a Central Role Do you feel up for some devilish fun? By Ananda Lima | Published on July 1, 2024 From The History of Witches and Wizards, 1720 (Credit: Wellcome Collection) Comment 0 Share New Share From The History of Witches and Wizards, 1720 (Credit: Wellcome Collection) The embodiment of evil, an irresistible charmer, a trickster, a misinterpreted pitiful soul: I have been obsessed with the many faces of the Devil. In the beginning, I wasn’t exactly sure why I was gravitating to it. Sure, the Devil is a popular recurring figure in the folk culture of the Brazilian Northeast, where my family is from, appearing in woodcut stamp prints, long poems and stories, and as I grew up, that exposure to folk devils added to those occasionally shown or implied in Brazilian soap operas, stories I was told, and American movies like Legend. But in the past few years, my interest grew. Maybe it is something about the complicated logic of his damnation or the concept of damnation itself. Maybe it was recognizing how the Devil is sometimes offered as something to blame (just as specific groups of humans are). But there is also just plain fun. The devil can be such an entertaining character to watch: whether it is his cunning, his ability to instill fear or make people confront their worst selves, or his ultimate demise. I love how it shapeshifts through its many depictions. How much fun it can be to discover a new devil as a reader (and as a writer: I ended up writing a whole book with my own version). Do you feel up for some devilish fun? Here are five books with imaginative, surprising Devils who end up playing a central role in their stories. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue  by V. E. Schwab In this delicious read spanning over 300 years, we follow Addie LaRue who, out of desperation when faced with a forced marriage, makes a deal with the Devil. She asks for freedom and time. The Devil gives her both, but of course, not in the way she would have chosen. She becomes immortal, but freedom comes as a curse: no one is able to remember her or say her name. She is “freed” from forming bonds or a shared past with anyone. Anyone but the Devil himself, that is. The story alternates between the timeline following the deal in 1714 and a later one in the 2010s, when something changes in her circumstances. The Devil here is first referred to as the Dark, and later christened by Addie as Luc. I love these two characters, their loneliness in their immortality, their twisted, complicated relationship (it is toxic, but also feels real on the page). This is a Devil that uses his power and holds his promised souls captive without any mercy, but it is also not a character whose aims are simply to be evil. A complex character that adds a lot of emotional weight to the book. I loved following him over the three centuries in this story. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov Another favorite Devil is in one of my favorite books: Woland in The Master and Margarita. This book is wild, a maximalist meta feast, involving satire, the supernatural, humor and a moving portrait of the absurdity of life in Russia in the 1930s. Woland waltzes into Moscow right in time to insert himself into a philosophical conversation on theism between two writers. From there, he and his entourage (which includes a giant cat and a redhead succubus) run amok as agents of chaos, building up to a hilarious but terrifying ball. Like in The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, The Master and Margarita also involves two timelines. One follows Woland’s visit to Moscow in the 1930s (including the love story between the couple in the title: the Master, and Margarita). The second thread follows Pontius Pilate as he deliberates whether to crucify Yeshua (Jesus). (It is implied that Woland is also present in the Pontius Pilate timeline, though his appearance there is not made obvious). Woland is another complex character, who can be ruthless but generous, resisting the expectation of a purely evil Devil. And he is a lot of fun. The Devil in Silver by Victor Lavalle I love how this book lingers on the question of what is real or true for a while, before giving us more clues. Like in another book I love by Lavalle (The Changeling), those who first encounter the supernatural here are not usually believed (in The Changeling it is postpartum women, here it is the patients of a psychiatric hospital). The main character, Pepper, is brought to the hospital after getting himself into a fight with undercover police who bring him in to avoid having to do paperwork themselves. He ends up trapped in the hospital for months, due to the many institutional failings that permeate the novel. The devil terrorizes the patients, who have no one to help them. This devil was both terrifying and sympathetic, a monster cobbled up from neglect and helplessness in the face of institutions which do not care for him or the patients it terrorizes. This is a book full of love and compassion for its characters, who are trapped in an institutional setting that victimizes them all, including the Devil. (It is apparently being adapted to the screen too, and I am very excited). A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens by Raul Palma A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens is another novel where the devil is paired with even more terrifying social horrors. The protagonist, Hugo Contreras, is a spiritist who is hired to banish spirits who haunt his clients, though he himself doesn’t believe in spirits. Hugo is overwhelmed by medical debt, an eerie presence that is always with him, affecting all aspects of his life. The debt is heart-breakingly tied to his grief for the loss of his wife (whose medical expenses are the debt’s origin). Hugo is contacted by the owner of his debt, debt collector Alexi Ramirez. Alexi proposes a deal: he will forgive the debt, if Hugo successfully banishes a ghost who is haunting him. The myth of the devil is wonderfully layered and dispersed through this novel: the deal, the debt, as well as a Bolivian Devil, El Tío, whose haunting follows Hugo to America. Everything comes together in an impactful climax. But the real horror here is debt, and the way it weighs heavy on people’s souls. The debt collector who keeps calling, the contract that feels eternal to many people. That oppressive presence is really felt in this book.  Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki I went into Light From Uncommon Stars cold, following a recommendation. I loved it from the get go: the writing is wonderful, and I was delighted to find it was a deal-with-the-devil story. Then doubly delighted to also find that in addition to the Devil plot, it was an aliens-on-Earth story. SFF lovers will find a surprising mix of both the supernatural and science fiction, where both sides hold their own and come together beautifully. The devil here is a pesky guy who is closing in on Shizuka Satomi, a violinist turned elite violin teacher, who made a deal where she would deliver seven souls to spare her own. Her 7th candidate turns out to be Katrina Nguyen, a talented though untrained musician, who is also a young transgender woman with nowhere to go. The devil here is a looming presence who puts pressure on the caring apprenticeship between Shizuka and Katrina, as well the budding love story between Shizuka and a woman called Lan Tran. There is much more, including intergalactic donut shops, cut-throat music competitions and generations of skilled instrument makers. The passages about music and instrument making, and the relationships were very moving. The devil lurks as a constant threat in the background, as their three women live and love music, life and one another. The result is a complex, generous and beautiful book. [end-mark] The post 5 Books Where the Devil Plays a Central Role appeared first on Reactor.

We’ve UNLOCKED an episode of our Patreon exclusive 90’s Super Cinema podcast to celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Shadow which was released on July 1, 1994 starring Alec Baldwin, future Magneto Ian McKellan, the CONTINUE READING... The post WIZARDS The Podcast Guide To Comics | 90’s Super Cinema UNLOCKED! The Shadow (1994) appeared first on The Retro Network.

Trump was convicted of 34 charges of falsifying business records with intent to conceal another crime. Alvin Bragg and his allies defend the prosecution as just, but their defenses are poor. It is a poor defense of Bragg’s prosecution to say, as a New York Times columnist did, that it was based on a “mountain” of evidence, because more than evidence is required to make a prosecution just.  Likewise, it is a poor defense of Bragg’s prosecution to say that a jury of Trump’s peers handed down the verdict because more than a jury verdict is required to make a prosecution just. We would not say, for instance, that the prosecution of Richard and Mildred Loving for violating Virginia’s 1924 law outlawing interracial marriage was just even though there was ample evidence that Richard was white and Mildred black. Neither would we say that the conviction of Percival Coffin was just when the judge refused to tell the jury that Coffin was innocent until proven guilty. A prosecution cannot be just unless the law and the process used to enforce it are just. Evidence and jury verdicts are only two parts of a process that delivers justice, and if any part of that process is tainted, its outcome is tainted too. The first step in this process is writing and publicizing laws. Laws are unjust if they are enacted unconstitutionally, are not made known to the people they govern, fail to identify what they forbid, or require people to do the impossible. No jury can pronounce a just verdict under an unjust law no matter how much evidence it sees. The second step is enforcement. Enforcement is unjust if the government claims power it does not have, wields the law not at bad actions but at people it thinks are bad, selectively spares its friends and targets its enemies, or fails to tell its target how he has violated the law. No jury can issue a just verdict against a man dragged unjustly into court no matter how much evidence it has against him.  The third step is the trial. A trial is unjust if due process is denied. If the judge is not impartial, the trial is unjust. If the judge allows the government to introduce unduly prejudicial or otherwise inadmissible evidence, the trial is unjust. If the man is denied the opportunity to present his best defense, the trial is unjust. If the judge instructs the jury wrongly about the law, the trial is unjust. Only after all of this does the jury come in. The jury may be open-minded, impartial, and fair, but none of that can cure an injustice that occurred before the jury deliberated.  Here, Bragg and Judge Juan Merchan tainted the process before any evidence was introduced and before the jury reached its verdict.  While campaigning, Bragg made a promise to get his man and, once elected, kept it. To do so, he twisted and warped the law to create a crime previously unknown to anyone and failed to notify Trump what that crime was until the end of the trial when, even then, he offered not one, but multiple theories that the jury could choose from. Merchan is biased; he allowed Bragg to introduce irrelevant and highly prejudicial evidence; denied Trump the right to call a witness necessary to rebut one of Bragg’s legal theories; declined to sequester the jury; and failed to properly instruct the jury about a central element of Bragg’s case. In Trump’s prosecution, we can’t say that the law was just because we do not know what the law was. And we can’t say that the enforcement and trial were just without lying through our teeth.   The criminal justice system aims at procedural justice, the best sort of justice you can get on this side of eternity. For it to hit its mark, it must remain a process that transcends any of the individuals—judge, prosecutor, defendant—that participate in it. The moment a judge or prosecutor undermines the process, even to get just one man, it ceases to be a process that transcends the people in it and becomes, instead, a tool no better than the person who wields it. Worse, in that form, its power to work injustice will be inversely proportional to its former ability to work justice. A great system of justice, once broken, will become a tool of great injustice.   Bragg and Merchan ignored procedure, took justice into their own biased and fallible hands, and, inevitably, delivered injustice. They deny it, of course, claiming to be faithful defenders of the rule of law, but it’s now clear that they pay lip service to the rule of law only to destroy it.   They were not the first to take a hammer to it, but they hit the hardest. It is not clear that the damage they did to the rule of law can be repaired, at least not while so many Americans support and defend their error.   The post Bad Defenses of Bragg’s Trump Prosecution appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Few artefacts encapsulate the potent fusion of power, propaganda, and currency like Henry VII’s gold sovereign. As a coin both tangible and symbolic, the gold sovereign of Henry VII not only reflected the economic stability of his era but also served as a formidable instrument in shaping his propaganda and consolidating his grip on power as England’s first Tudor monarch. An original specimen is held at The Royal Mint Museum. Henry VII’s reign, commencing in the tumultuous aftermath of the Wars of the Roses, was characterised by the urgent need for stability and legitimacy. Amidst the political turbulence, the gold sovereign emerged not merely as a means of trade but as a meticulously crafted tool of statecraft, bearing the weight of monarchic authority and projecting an image of prosperity and control. Here we explore how and why Henry VII used English coinage to help convey his power across his kingdom. Henry VII’s rise to power After defeating his Yorkist adversary Richard III, last of the Plantagenets, at the Battle of Bosworth Field, Henry Tudor was officially crowned King Henry VII on 30 October 1485. His coronation heralded the end of the bloody Wars of the Roses and brought in a new line of monarchs, with Henry VII being the first of the Tudor dynasty. Henry VII was the last king of England to win his throne on the battlefield, and his coronation brought much-needed peace to the country after three decades of conflict. With it came the end of the medieval period. Such a monumental achievement spelled an equally monumental shift in power and – much like the monarchs that came before him – Henry VII was keen to convey this power and establish his authority. Currency and its conveyance of power Henry did this in part through the currency of his kingdom. As well as reintroducing more realistic portraiture on English coinage, a practice that had not been seen consistently since the Romans, Henry VII also brought several new coins into the English currency, including the iconic gold Sovereign – the first £1 piece in English history. Introduced in 1489 when Henry VII demanded a ‘new money of gold’, whilst the gold Sovereign wasn’t the first gold coin to be struck, it was the largest and most valuable English coin ever issued at that point. The original design featured an image depicting Henry VII sat on his throne – complete with a crown, orb and sceptre – whilst the reverse displayed the Royal Arms atop a backdrop dominated by the unmistakable Tudor rose. This new coin symbolised power, and reinforced Henry VII’s authority as a new monarch.  This Sovereign features a huge Tudor rose that covers the whole of one side (tails) of it – a symbol of Henry VII, his house and his reign. Everything about this coin is hugely symbolic, and all trying to solidify Henry VII’s power. On the head’s side of the coin is Henry himself, sat on the throne wearing all the royal regalia – including the crown and holding an orb and sceptre. Everything about this coin is trying to cement Henry’s power as the new king, which was particularly important given the country had been in civil war for the past 30 years. Henry VII gold Sovereign, front and backImage Credit: The Royal Mint Henry VII’s impact on the exchequer Indeed Henry VII’s reign was characterised by his success at restoring the power and stability of the English monarchy after the civil war, as well as his talent for replenishing the fortunes of an effectively bankrupt exchequer. When Henry VII ascended the throne in 1485, he faced the immediate challenge of securing his reign – and the Tudor Dynasty – against political and economic rebellions. Recognising the pivotal role of revenue in establishing stability, he sought to finance a robust royal army.  Historically, the Crown had relied on the slow-moving Exchequer for its financial needs, and initially Henry reverted to using this. However, audits could take years to complete, meaning the Crown was always short of money. By 1487, Henry’s financial struggles prompted him to modernise royal income collection by appointing the King’s Chamber as the principal institution managing royal revenue.  This relatively new institution had previously been utilised by the Yorkist family, when Edward IV used it to run his finances. Whilst the Chamber lacked fully-established operating procedures, its comparatively more informal processes actually gave it greater flexibility. The Chamber went on to take charge of nearly all aspects of royal income, and effectively oversaw the national treasury, while the Privy Chamber handled Henry’s personal expenditure. Henry was one of the few monarchs to process his own accounts, keeping meticulous records, and even counting bags of coins himself to scrutinise finances and balance the books. Henry ensured he appointed expert advisors with financial acumen, with two men, Sir Thomas Lovell and Sir John Heron, holding the post of Treasurer of the Chamber. However Henry also worked alongside both men, checking the accounts they had already gone over, and personally signing-off each page. Rather than this being a miserly act, Henry’s scrutiny reflected his focus on wealth accumulation for control, influence and power. Bronze medallion of Sir Thomas Lovell in Henry VII Chapel, Westminster Abbey, 1911 – by Arthur Irwin Dasent.Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Arthur Irwin Dasent / Public Domain Henry VII’s tenure marked a departure from medieval financial systems, and he is credited with shaping the modern English Exchequer. As well as maximising tax revenue, Henry also gained wealth from an illicit trade in the dye-fixed alum, and benefitted from the peace facilitated by the end of the Wars of the Roses. His resulting substantial wealth accumulation and financial prudence meant Henry was able to leave a considerable inheritance to his son and successor, Henry VIII. However, Henry VIII would not turn out to be as prudent.