Donald Trump reportedly asked some top oil industry executives last month to donate $1 billion to support his election campaign and also promised the executives that he would reverse President Biden's green energy policies and stop new ones from being enacted if he is reelected. The donation request, first reported by Washington Post, was made when he met the oil giants at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, for a dinner last month and one executive complained about not getting...

Some California Democrats are turning on their Golden State leader after Gov. Gavin Newsom's homelessness council failed to track whether billions of dollars spent on curbing the homelessness crisis were successful in the last five years.  "You come to a budget committee, and there’s no numbers," Democratic Assemblymember Phil Ting said to Newsom's housing and homelessness officials during Monday's budget committee hearing. "How many people have we helped? How many...

On the week of her due date, Elibexis Alvarez, a Venezuelan migrant, was preparing to give birth to her first child far away from her parents and the home country she never thought she’d leave. She and her husband, Johan Jose Medina, have spent the last four months living in temporary shelters in Chicago after fleeing escalating violence in Venezuela. They are part of the tens of thousands of migrants and asylum-seekers who have been bused north after being processed at the southern border...

A new bipartisan bill would direct US assistance to countries that face economic backlash from China for attempting to forge ties with Taiwan. The proposal, which leaders of the House select committee on China plan to introduce on Friday, aims to encourage other countries to strengthen bonds with Taiwan and to aid those who have done so and who are facing economic pressure from Beijing. In recent years, countries like Nauru have severed ties with Taiwan in favor of China. The...

"I wish Pooh were here. It's so much more friendly with two." — Piglet Winnie the Pooh creator A.A. Milne was onto something when he wrote that line, and not just because he tapped into the common human experience of boredom and loneliness. As a viral X thread shows, things are not just more friendly with two, but also more productive. Eli McMann shared how his husband started scheduling his friends to come visit him in shifts while he gardens, and people are praising it as a genuinely effective life hack."My husband has been doing gardening all afternoon and he has been scheduling his friends in shifts to come and sit with him while he does it so he has company," McCann wrote. "He is not asking for their help. He just wants them to be present. He has given each a watermelon popsicle." — (@) He then shared photos of what he means, with his husband doing yard work and a friend just sitting nearby chatting with him. They moved to the backyard. — (@) It's such a brilliantly simple concept that serves multiple purposes. For one, it allows a person to get things done that need to be done while also having some social time. How often do we lament not having time to get together with friends because we have too much to do? Adding friends to our "things to do" that require mostly physical work and not focused attention and brain engagement is a great way to do both.But there's also the idea of "body doubling," which people with ADHD use to help them stay on task. Body doubling might sound like a sci-fi/horror term, but it simply means having another person present while you do something you might normally struggle to stay engaged in. While there's no research yet to prove that it works, people with ADHD swear by the effectiveness of simply having another person present while you work at something. Commenters on Instagram shared:"As someone with ADHD, I feel this so much. I can accomplish so much when someone is around, or when I find out someone's coming over unexpectedly. ? It's true, we need a village.""Body doubling for the win! It’s awesome that he has willing friends too.""Body doubling is the best way to get things done. My ex-husband often asks if I need him to come over and double for me. It’s the best. ?""I love this! I’ve needed to go through a costly storage unit for years, but it’s creepy to go alone. So I haven’t done it. I don’t even want help. Just company ?""We do this in our house. Don’t need help with the chores, just moral support and company for a chat. ♥️"Other people shared how they've used this habit themselves to both get things done and nurture friendships. "Growing up in Vermont my friends and I had a rule—each of us would do our own chores, then move on to the closest house of the friend still doing chores - this way we all got to hang out together while getting things done. We always jumped from house to house until we landed on the friend who was still bogged down in chores - that was Leighton, who lived on a small family farm, and had the heaviest workload tending to stock. We would power through his work until he was free and we could all fish together as group in the nearby stream. 35 years later and those guys are still my closest friends.""My mum in Aus and I in London, clean our kitchen together while on video call... Another way a mum can be there for her child ❤️??""Yes! I’ve asked mom friends to come hang out while I fold so much laundry. Makes it so much more enjoyable.""This is why I talk to my best friend for about an hour a few times a month. Usually one of us has an annoying chore to do and need exactly this. Used to do it with my grandmums but they’ve passed ?""I do this too. Ask friends to hang out with me while I garden, or sometimes other tasks. It's nice to have the company even if they're just sitting there and chatting with me."Here's to friends who make everything easier just by being there.

A particular skill set. The post The best festival band ever, according to Charlie Watts first appeared on Far Out Magazine.

Not doing right by the original. The post The song Eric Clapton didn’t want to release: “I didn’t think it was fair” first appeared on Far Out Magazine.

A significant moment for music. The post Eddie Van Halen on his favourite album by The Beatles: “Those monster riffs seem to go on forever” first appeared on Far Out Magazine.

"A Pee Wee Herman trip" The post The influential musician Keith Richards compared to The Monkees: “I don’t see anything of any depth in there” first appeared on Far Out Magazine.

Have you ever grilled a steak that made your taste buds tremble with trepidation? If so, then you may have made this big but avoidable mistake.