"Comedian", Banana Taped To A Wall, Sells For $6.2 Million In New York

11/21/24 9:24 AM

A fresh banana taped to a wall -- a provocative work of conceptual art by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan -- was bought for $6.2 million on Wednesday by a cryptocurrency entrepreneur at a New York auction.

$30 Million Fine For Flouting Australia's Social Media Ban For Under 16

11/21/24 8:01 AM

Social media companies could be fined more than US$30 million if they fail to keep children off their platforms, under new laws tabled before Australia's parliament Thursday.

'An inauspicious day': the landmines ruining Myanmar lives

11/20/24 11:19 AM

It was an unlucky day in the Burmese calendar, farmer Yar Swe Kyin warned her husband in July, begging him not to go out to check on their crops.Hours later he was dead, killed by one of the countless landmines laid by both sides in Myanmar's three brutal years of civil war.In the evening, "I heard an explosion from the field," she told AFP at her home in the hills of northern Shan state."I knew he had gone to that area and I was worried."She had urged her husband to stay home because the traditional Burmese calendar, which is guided by lunar cycles, planetary alignment and other factors, marked it out as inauspicious."He didn't listen to me," she said."Now, I only have a son and grandchild left."Decades of sporadic conflict between the military and ethnic rebel groups have left Myanmar littered with deadly landmines.That conflict has been turbocharged by the junta's 2021 coup, which birthed dozens of newer "People's Defence Forces" now battling to topple the military.Landmines and other remnants of war claimed more victims in Myanmar than in any other country last year, according to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), with the Southeast Asian country overtaking war-ravaged Syria and Ukraine.- 'Trees were spinning' -At least 228 people -- more than four a week -- were killed by the devices and 770 more were wounded in Myanmar in 2023, it said in its latest report Wednesday.In eastern Kayah state, a short journey to collect rice to feed his wife and children left farmer Hla Han crippled by a landmine, unable to work and fearing for his family's future.He had returned home after junta troops had moved out from his village and stepped on a mine placed near the entrance to the local church."When I woke up I didn't know how I had fallen down and only got my senses back about a minute later," he told AFP."When I looked up, the sky and trees were spinning."Now an amputee, the 52-year-old worries how to support his family of six who are already living precariously amidst Myanmar's civil war."After I lost my leg to the land mine, I can't work anymore. I only eat and sleep and sometimes visit friends -- that's all I can do," he said."My body is not the same anymore, my thoughts are not the same and I can't do anything I want to... I can eat like others, but I can't work like them."His daughter Aye Mar said she had begged him not to go back into the village."When my father lost his leg, all of our family's hopes were gone," she said."I also don't have a job and I can't support him financially. I also feel I'm an irresponsible daughter."- 'Nothing is the same' -Myanmar is not a signatory to the United Nations convention that prohibits the use, stockpiling or development of anti-personnel mines.The ICBL campaign group said there had been a "significant increase" in anti-personnel mine use by the military in recent years, including around infrastructure such as mobile phone towers and energy pipelines.The church in Kayah state where Hla Han lost his leg is still standing but its facade is studded with bullet wounds.A green tape runs alongside a nearby rural road, a rudimentary warning that the forest beyond it may be contaminated.Some villagers had returned to their homes after the latest wave of fighting had moved on, said Aye Mar."But I don't dare to go and live in my house right now."She and her father are just two of the more than three million people the United Nations says have been forced from their homes by fighting since the coup."Sometimes I think that it would have been better if one side gave up in the early stage of the war," she said.But an end to the conflict looks far off, leaving Hla Han trying to come to terms with his fateful step."From that instant you are disabled and nothing is the same as before."

'Blueprint of destruction': Experts outline 'chillingly clear' view of Trump's next term

11/15/24 12:29 PM

Donald Trump's political career has closely tracked the trajectories of autocratic leaders Viktor Orban and Vladimir Putin, whose rise to power offer a "chillingly clear" picture of where his second term could lead, according to historians.The former president and his supporters are tremendously hostile to civic institutions like the judiciary, the media, universities, many nonprofits and even some religious groups, and Trump will likely follow the lead of those autocratic leaders in Hungary and Russia by sidelining experts, regulators and other civil servants, wrote New York Times columnist M. Gessen."When Orban was re-elected, he carried out what [Hungarian historian Balint] Magyar calls an 'autocratic breakthrough,' changing laws and practices so that he could not be dislodged again," Gessen wrote. "It helped that he had a supermajority in parliament. Trump, similarly, spent four years attacking the Biden administration, and the vote that brought it to the White House, as fraudulent, and positioning himself as the only true voice of the people. He is also returning with a power trifecta — the presidency and both houses of Congress. He too can quickly reshape American government in his image."ALSO READ: A second reign of terror: Inside Trump’s blueprint for home raidsMagyar described the disorientation that accompanied Orban's return to power after eight years spent consolidating support from his base, and said he quickly unleashed an agenda that gathered autocratic powers for himself – which Gessen expects Trump to attempt from the start."We all remember it from Trump’s first term, this sense of everything happening all at once and the utter impossibility of focusing on the existentially threatening, or distinguishing it from the trivial — if that distinction even exists," Gessen wrote. "It’s not just what the autocrats do to stage their breakthrough, it’s how they do it: passing legislation (or signing executive orders) fast, without any discussion, sometimes late at night, in batches, all the while denigrating and delegitimizing any opposition."Trump starts his second term with a sprawling road map for transforming the U.S. government to reflect his priorities, even if many of the policies conflict one another."Much has been written about Project 2025 as a sort of legislative blueprint for the second Trump presidency," Gessen wrote. "Consistent with Magyar’s theory of autocracy, the document is more a reflection of the clan of people who empower Trump and are empowered by him than an ideological document. It is not a blueprint for coherent legislative change, but it is a blueprint still: a blueprint for trampling the system of government as it is currently constituted, a blueprint of destruction."

'Disillusioned' Ellen DeGeneres, Portia de Rossi to 'get the hell out' of U.S. after Trump's win

11/20/24 9:09 PM

Actresses Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi reportedly have decided to never come back to the U.S. after Mr. Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris on Nov. 5.

'Literally got goosebumps': Ex-GOP insider blasts 'breaking news' about Trump's plans

11/17/24 1:28 AM

NBC on Saturday reported that Donald Trump is putting together a list of current and former military officers and exploring whether they can be court martialed, and the news gave one former Republican insider goosebumps.Tara Setmayer, a former senior advisor for anti-Trump group The Lincoln Project and a former Republican congressional staffer, appeared on MSNBC over the weekend.Host Jonathan Capehart asked Setmayer, also a co-founder of the Seneca Project, about the reported development.ALSO READ: Why Trump voters should be held accountable for their choice"You know, when you read that in the breaking news, I, literally, got goosebumps, because those of us who have been warning about this, we are apoplectic," Setmayer said. "We don't want to say, we told you so, but we told you so!"She continued, saying, "I mean, this is what Donald Trump said he was going to do.""This is what he has been telegraphing for years, and it is just so frustrating that now, all of a sudden, there is pearl clutching about this, as if we did not know this is what was coming," Setmayer added. "Now, this is an example of what we have seen in other authoritarian regimes, where they want to trot out military officers, or anyone that stands up to them, and makes an example of them. It happened with Pinochet. It has happened in other regimes in the past. Yes, I'm calling it a regime." Watch below or click here.

'Out here running toilet scams': Spectators dump on Trump's newest administration pick

11/20/24 5:29 PM

President-elect Donald Trump's decision to select a former Rose Bowl tight end embroiled in a masculine toilet scandal to represent the nation abroad was received with the all the decorum such an announcement could expect. "UPDATE: Trump picks Matthew Whitaker for NATO ambassador," the news outlet Tennessee Holler told readers Wednesday. "You may remember him as the acting attorney general who was on the board of a company that boasted toilets for 'well-endowed men.'"Whitaker was indeed acting attorney general during Trump's first administration and, as multiple reports show, subjected to intense media scrutiny for pedaling toilets purportedly designed to keep large penises from touching human waste, as a "MASCULINE TOILET" press release explained in 2014. But as Vanity Fair, the Washington Post, Miami New Times, the Wall Street Journal and GQ reported in 2018, the former federal prosecutor ran a Florida-based invention company that the news outlets, customers and investigators described as "a scam.""Whitaker was also a cartoonish, grifting dope who shilled for a company that hawked time-travel cryptocurrencies, Bigfoot dolls, and toilets specially designed for men with big d----," GQ reported at the time. "[It] was shut down for good and paid a $26 million fine to the Federal Trade Commission earlier this year for its alleged wrongdoing."The Post added, "The FTC alleged in a 2017 complaint that the company bilked customers with fraudulent promises that it would help them market their invention. The FBI has also investigated World Patent Marketing."It appears political spectators have not forgotten these reports, as responses to Trump's latest appointment pick show. ."Everything old and disastrous is new and disastrous again," replied writer Polly Sigh. "Trump’s former inept acting-AG and 'masculine toilet' salesmen, Matthew Whitaker, will be Trump’s NATO Ambassador.""The guy who ran a major toilet scam is now Trump’s nominated US Ambassador to NATO," wrote American public health scientist Eric Feigl-Ding. "That is all."ALSO READ: A giant middle finger from a tiny craven man"Trump's choice for Ambassador to NATO was out here running toilet scams and intimidating people who complained," wrote Brandon Weathersby, of the anti-Trump political group American Bridge. "Another [poo emoji] pick." "This isn’t a nomination—it’s a sabotage mission," Democratic activist Chris D. Jackson replied. "This move is a direct attack on the foundation of our global partnerships." "He has no foreign policy experience of any kind that I can find in his bio, announcement or wiki," added NBC News reporter Garrett Haake, "but appears to be the only NATO ambassador who would have played in a Rose Bowl."However Brooke Rollins, of the influential conservative political group America First Policy Institute, said she was thrilled."FOR THE WIN! Strength. Smarts. Dedication. MAGA. All the qualities in our own [Whitaker] that will make him an outstanding United States Ambassador to NATO," Rollins wrote. "Congratulations, my friend!!! You are the right man to represent America in a continent at war and under threat."

'Putin's puppet': Trump family member sends expletive-laden statement to president-elect

11/20/24 12:34 PM

Ukraine is having a tough time as its neighbor Russia wages war against it and "it’s going to get so much worse under the Trump administration," according to a Trump family member.Donald Trump's niece, trained psychologist Mary Trump, on Wednesday wrote about the war in Ukraine. Specifically, she talked about all the terrible things Ukraine has already gone through, and then issued a warning about what could come next."Of all the unthinkable scenarios we’ve been forced to consider since Donald won the election on November 5th is the possibility that all of this will have been for naught," Mary Trump wrote. "After all, the fate of Ukraine and Zelesnkyy may rest with Donald Trump, Putin’s puppet, a man who is enamored of and beholden to the very autocrat who wants to destroy our ally."ALSO READ: A giant middle finger from a tiny craven manMary Trump went on to note that Trump ally Elon Musk has been on calls with foreign leaders, including Zelesnkyy and Putin. Musk has also mocked Zelesnkyy."As unthinkable as it may be, we must contemplate how the world will react if, as seems likely, Donald withdraws the United States’ support from Ukraine in order to appease Vladimir Putin, his puppet-master—and our enemy. What will happen to Ukraine and Zelenskyy when one of their staunchest allies betrays them?" she asked."Ukraine has been through hell, but they remain an example of how to beat extraordinary odds. Remember this?" Mary Trump wrote before reminding readers that Ukraine once said, "Russian warship, go f--- yourself.”She added, "It’s going to get so much worse under the Trump administration so we must continue to support Ukraine in whatever way we can."She then continued, "And we can start by saying to my uncle, “Go f--- yourself.”

'Real concern': Foreign officials sending warnings to Trump about boycott on intel sharing

11/20/24 12:47 PM

On Wednesday morning, MSNBC's Jonathan Lemire reported that current and former domestic and foreign intel officials are expressing extreme alarm over the nomination by Donald Trump about his choice of former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as his Director of National Intelligence (DNI).Following a discussion on other problematic nominees, including ex-Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Fox News personality Pete Hegseth, Lemire stated there is a growing consensus that Gabbard is completely unacceptable and key U.S. allies are sending out warnings they will not share intel with her."What do you hear in talking to your sources in Washington at the edge of the intelligence community?" Morning Joe regular Mike Barnicle asked. "Do you hear the same thing that a lot of other people are hearing: that the British, the French, the Israelis, are coming in with hints that, you know, we're not going to share intelligence, our intelligence with Tulsi Gabbard?"ALSO READ: A giant middle finger from a tiny craven man"Yes. Current and former intelligence officers have expressed that fear and have heard that from their colleagues overseas saying there is going to be real reluctance to share some of their, those nation's, top secrets and intel with the United States," Lemire replied. "There are some concerns about Trump who, as we know, revealed intel, but Tulsi Gabbard in particular –– someone who voiced talking points that emanated from Moscow, has cozied up with the Syrians.""There is real concern here that the nation will be less safe because allies aren't going to trust us with their intel," he added.You can watch below or at the link here. - YouTube youtu.be

'This is seriously big and bad': Foreign relations experts stunned by Trump's intel pick

11/15/24 1:00 PM

Foreign diplomats and international relations experts are watching Donald Trump's slow roll-out of his proposed cabinet with a mixture of cautious relief and utter horror, according to a report from Politico.According to the report, the choice of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) as secretary of state was greeted with faint praise because he has a proven history as the senior Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee.On the other hand, Trump's selection of former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is causing no small amount of alarm due to her past cozying up to authoritarian strongmen both while she was serving in Congress and after.ALSO READ: A second reign of terror: Inside Trump’s blueprint for home raidsAccording to Politico's Nicholas Vinocur and Clea Caulcutt, diplomatic observers were lulled into a sense of relief by the president-elect's early picks until he announced Gabbard at which point alarm bells went off."Gabbard, a former congresswoman who is known for amplifying conspiracy theories, meeting with Syrian leader Bashar Assad and embracing Russian President Vladimir Putin, was viewed as a particularly stunning choice," the report stated with Nathalie Loiseau, former French Europe minister under President Emmanuel Macron, commenting, "This is really terrifying."Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, who heads the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Security and Defence, issued a bleak warning, "The time of European restraint and the hope that the USA would protect us is over."Viewing Trump's overall picks, one European diplomat offered, "I’m not sure whether it’s really possible to make any sensible predictions about the direction of this administration based on the staff picks."Politico is reporting there is "little optimism" over Gabbard handling sensitive intel while heading DNI.François Heisbourg, senior adviser for Europe at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, wrote, "This is seriously big and bad. I hope the Senate will block her confirmation — but I don’t expect that to happen.”You can read more right here.