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When I was a kid, Superman was my favorite comic book hero. I never imagined Id see a picture published by DC Comics in which he kisses another man, but that was then and this is now: Jon Kent, the son of Clark Kent and Lois Lane, is officially bisexual. Mondays announcement of the news was timed to coincide with National Coming Out Day.

Dean Cain, who starred as Superman on television in the 1990s, pointed out that this is nothing new: Robin was already bisexual, the new Captain America is gay, and his Supergirl daughter in his TV series was gay.

Of course, targeting children and youth with the message of LGBTQ normalization is nothing new, either. Last June, the Walt Disney Company unveiled the Rainbow Disney Collection featuring T-shirts, Mickey Mouse ears, mugs, and even baby apparel adorned with rainbows. Three years ago, Cartoon Network featured a same-sex wedding proposal on the animated series Steven Universe.

Earlier this year, the Nickelodeon series Blues Clues and You! unveiled a song teaching children the alphabet while promoting LGBTQ advocacy. The series also released a Pride parade video narrated by an animated version of drag performer and activist Nina West. Kelloggs introduced LGBTQ-themed cereal for Pride Month; the childrens cartoon Rugrats now features a lesbian single mom.

And a new California law requires retailers to have gender neutral toy sections. A critic warned that the legislation will impose a de-gendered ideology and viewpoint on retailers.

Some problems have obvious solutions. For example, when nearly ninety rattlesnakes set up a den beneath a California womans home, she called a reptile rescue team to remove them.

Other problems are more intractable. For instance, capybaras are swarming a wealthy gated community in Argentina. They are the worlds largest rodent, reaching 140 pounds in size. They are destroying lawns, attacking pets, and colliding with people. No one is quite sure what to do.

Several asteroids larger than the Great Pyramid of Giza will approach our planet in coming months; fortunately, none are on a collision course with us. However, a meteor may have exploded over New Hampshire last Sunday, causing a prolonged boom that shook homes. And a small plane crashed into a San Diego neighborhood, killing two people and demolishing a home newlyweds had just finished remodeling.

When we face intractable problems, we can ignore them, worry about them, or try to solve them ourselves. Or, as with the California woman whose home was infested by snakes, we can seek help from those who can do what we cannot.

Yesterday we discussed Satans temptation strategies and the importance of seeking Gods power over our Enemy each day. Today, lets focus on a very practical way to do so.

Seth Small kicked the game-winning field goal for Texas A&M last Saturday in their upset win over No. 1 Alabama. However, he told reporters after the game that this did not top his list of best moments: It was probably the third-best moment of my life, right after I accepted Jesus into my heart as my true Lord and Savior, and then after getting married to my wife this summer.

Before his kick, Seth said, I was just repeating Psalm 23:1 to myself all night, which is The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not be in want. That kind of comforted me.

According to Gallup senior scientist Frank Newport, 55 percent of Americans say they trust themselves, while only 37 percent trust the legislative branch. Author and speaker Jordan Peterson is enormously popular in large part because he calls us to take accountability for our lives, friends, families, and community through what one reviewer calls heroic responsibility and self-sacrifice.

By contrast, when the greatest example of heroic responsibility and self-sacrifice in history faced his wilderness temptations, he responded to each by quoting Gods word (Matthew 4:110). When Peter faced skeptics of the Pentecost miracle, he quoted the prophet Joel to the crowd (Acts 2:1421). When he faced critics of his ministry with Cornelius, he quoted what the Lord had revealed to him about the Gentiles (Acts 11:118).

God has a word for you every time you face temptation and trials. This is why memorizing Scripture is so important, as this discipline gives the Spirit tools he can use in our minds and hearts. And it is why turning to God as soon as we face difficulty is so vital. His Spirit will empower us, lead us, and use us to the degree that we are willing to be empowered, led, and used.

Heroic responsibility and self-sacrifice may well be required in defeating our spiritual enemy, but their ultimate source is in the One who said, In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world (John 16:33).

Those of us who believe in biblical morality are becoming more countercultural with each year that passes. From comic books to toys to TV, movies, and social media, unbiblical messages surround us all day, every day.

The good news is that we can look up for the strength to look around. We can choose the vertical in confronting the horizontal. We can find in heaven the resources we need to live authentically and victoriously on earth.

In this sense, William Shatner got it exactly wrong yesterday. After making history as the oldest person ever to go into space, the ninety-year-old actor was ecstatic upon his Blue Origin flights return to earth, telling Jeff Bezos: Everybody in the world needs to do this. . . . Im so filled with emotion about what just happened. I just, its extraordinary, extraordinary. I hope I never recover from this.

Shatner was especially impressed with the atmosphere through which he traveled: This air which is keeping us alive. Its thinner than your skin. Its a sliver. Its immeasurably small. Speaking of the sky into which he traveled, he said, Fifty miles and . . . youre in death. Then, referring to our fallen planet that lies in the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19; cf. 2 Corinthians 4:4), he said, This is life.

Where will you point to for life today?

Read the original:
A bisexual Superman and William Shatner's return from space - Denison Forum

Every October I binge watch scary movies. Id never describe myself as a horror movie fan, but you can bet that when the autumn colors are in full bloom and pumpkins begin popping up around the neighborhood, Im watching Silver Bullet, The Shining, The Exorcist, and maybe even some hokey slasher films like Friday the 13th. I dont remember when this tradition started, or why.

A perennial favorite is Scream and its three sequels (and an MTV series that ran between 2015 and 2019 that was actually pretty good).

Now, when the original movies dropped in the late 1990s, I thought they were dreadful. (It was hard to get past the killer walking around in a cape in broad daylight.) I dont feel this way today, which is why I fully intend to go see the latest installment: Scream 5, which is slated for a January release. The trailer for the newest film just dropped, and it will give horror fans goosebumps.

The movie looks amazing and appears to feature many of the same characters, plot elements, and themes as its predecessors. This is encouraging, because the themes found in the original films tell an important story about good and evil, strength and weakness.

A few nights ago I once again found myself watching the Scream movies into the wee hours and noticed a theme I hadnt noticed before. Two themes, actually: self-empowerment and the toxicity of victimhood. The killers in these movies . SPOILER ALERT

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..

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. Billy Loomis, Debbie Salt, Roman Bridger, and Jill Roberts all suffer from what wed today call a victim mentality. The world took something from them, and they plan to extract their due in returnby slicing and dicing innocent people.

Throughout the films we see characters toy with a question: who is to blame for the carnage we witness on screen? What made the killers what they are and do what they do? During the big reveal in Scream, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), the hero of the films, raises this issue with Loomis and his annoying, drooling accomplice, Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard).

Sidney Prescott: You sick f***s. You've seen one too many movies!

Billy Loomis: Now Sid, don't you blame the movies. Movies don't create psychos. Movies make psychos more creative!

The topic comes up again in Scream 2 when Sarah Michelle Gellars character, Cici, challenges the idea that a murder in a movie theater was the result of a horror movie that depicted the Woodsboro slayings.

Film Teacher: You could say that what happened in that theatre was a direct result of the movie itself.

Cici: That is so Moral Majority. You can't blame real life violence on entertainment.

Film Class Guy #1: Yes you can. Don't you ever watch the news?

Film Class Guy #2: Hello? The murderer was wearing a ghost mask just like in the movie. It's directly responsible.

Cici : No, it's not. Movies are not responsible for our actions.

Its a surprisingly philosophical question for a horror movie: who is responsible for our actions (in this case, murder)? To what extent are people who were not involved culpable for an act? The second film doesnt quite give us the answer to these questions. Not until Scream 3 do we get to see in no uncertain terms who is to blame.

In this film, we hear the sad story of killer number three. Roman Bridger, the director of the latest Stab movie (fictional movies based on the fictional slayings), was abandoned by his mother, Maureen Prescott (ne Roberts)Sidneys mother. After tracking Mrs. Prescott down, Bridger was told by his mother that she wanted nothing to do with him. She had a new life, and her old life was history. In retaliation, we learn, Bridger got Billy Loomis (the killer in Scream) to kill Maureen Prescott by revealing that she was having an affair with Billys father, precipitating the subsequent carnage.

This plot might sound like a bad soap opera, but thats not the point. The point is that Bridger believes he is a victim and blames Sidney Prescott for his pain.

Bridger: Youre going to pay for the life you stole from me, Sid. For the mother, and the family, and the stardom, and g***ammit for having everything that should have been mine!

Sidney: Oh, why dont you get on with it and stop your whining. Ive heard all of this s**t before. Do you know why you kill Roman? Do you? Because you choose to. There is no one else to blame!

Because you choose to.

The idea that people are responsible for their actions is hardly novel. Yet its one that today is falling out of fashion, as people increasingly seek to blame external forces for their circumstances.

This is why Dr. Jordan B. Peterson, the best-selling author of 12 Rules for Life, makes it clear the most important rule for life is a simple one: take control of your life.

This is something Sidney has clearly learned, and the antagonists of the films have not.

In Scream 4, Sidney, now a successful self-help author promoting a book, confesses that for years she blamed others for her pain and saw herself as a victim.

That was unacceptable to me, she tells a small bookstore crowd. So I sat down and began to write a new role that would be my own. A role for a woman who leaves the walls of fear behind and steps outside of darkness.

Its a clear message of self-empowerment. This is not to deny that Sidney was wronged. She was. Her mother was murdered. Then her best friend. And her boyfriend tried to kill her (the first of several people to attempt this). But she refuses to let these things define her, which is the key to empowerment.

Adversity can create resilience, and trauma often inspires personal growth, writes Stanford University psychologist Kelly McGonigal.

Sidneys publicist takes a different view of things. Encouraged by a new rash of slayings in Woodsboro, she tells Sidney her book sales will go through the roof if she can just play her role: the victim.

Sidney, accept your situation. Youre a victim, for life. Embrace it. Use it, the publicist says.

Sidney is incredulous. Did you read my book?

She fires the publicist, who moments later receives her comeuppance: an ill-fated end in a dark parking garage at the hands of a masked killer.

The next time you watch the Scream movies, keep an eye out for how the charactersheroes and killers alikeconfront adversity and approach personal responsibility. In addition to a high body count, youll find a lesson in how self-reliance empowers and how victimhood consumes.

We dont know for certain if Scream 5 will maintain this message of personal empowerment, but judging from the trailer, its a pretty safe bet.

At one point in the trailer, Dewey (David Arquette) tells Sidney its happening again.

Three attacks so far, Dewey tells her. Do you have a gun?

Im Sidney Prescott, she responds. Of course I have a gun.

See the original post:
The Hidden Message of the Scream Movies: Victimhood Is Toxic - Foundation for Economic Education

October 18, 2021

PRESS RELEASE

Introducing the next generation of AirPods: The worlds most popular wireless headphones just got better

The new AirPods feature spatial audio and industry-leading sound, longer battery life, and an all-new design

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIAApple today announced the third generation of AirPods featuring spatial audio, delivering advanced features and a magical experience in a new contoured design. By combining the power of the H1 chip with an Apple-designed acoustic system, the new AirPods use computational audio to deliver breakthrough sound with Adaptive EQ. Users can enjoy spatial audio featuring Dolby Atmos in Apple Music, movies, and tv shows, along with dynamic head tracking, across Apple devices. The new AirPods are resistant to sweat and water, and feature a force sensor for easy and intuitive control of music and phone calls. The extended battery life enables up to six hours of listening time1 and up to 30 hours of total listening time with the convenient charging case. AirPods (3rd generation) join the worlds most popular family of headphones and are available to order starting today, and in stores beginning Tuesday, October 26.

AirPods forever changed wireless headphones with their groundbreaking design, incredible sound, and magical experience, said Greg Joswiak, Apples senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. We are excited to introduce the next generation of AirPods, featuring unrivaled sound through Adaptive EQ and spatial audio with dynamic head tracking, along with seamless interaction between Apple devices making the worlds best-selling headphones even better.

All-New Design

The new design of AirPods is lightweight and contoured, sitting at just the right angle for comfort and to direct audio into the ear. For a more subtle appearance, the stem is shorter than the previous generation and features the same intuitive force sensor as AirPods Pro for media control. The new AirPods are resistant to both sweat and water, with an IPX4 rating for both the earbuds and the charging case.2

Breakthrough Audio Features

AirPods (3rd generation) build on the great sound quality that AirPods are known for, starting with a custom driver and a high dynamic range amplifier that together produce powerful bass with crisp, clean high frequencies. The microphone is covered by an acoustic mesh to help reduce the sound of wind, so the speakers voice comes across distinctly on calls. AirPods also feature AAC-ELD, a superior speech codec that offers full HD voice quality, providing clear, natural communication for FaceTime calls.

The new AirPods use computational audio to bring the breakthrough experiences that customers love on AirPods Pro and AirPods Max like Adaptive EQ and spatial audio with dynamic head tracking to even more people.

For an optimal listening experience with rich detail, the new AirPods feature Adaptive EQ that tunes sound in real time based on how AirPods fit in the users ear. An inward-facing microphone monitors for sound, and then Adaptive EQ, powered by computational audio, tunes the low and mid frequencies to account for what may be lost due to variances in fit.

Spatial audio creates a three-dimensional theater-like experience, placing sound virtually anywhere in space, and with Dolby Atmos, AirPods have never sounded better. Users can also enjoy this multi-level experience with dynamic head tracking, so music, video, and even Group FaceTime calls feel more immersive than ever before. Using advanced spatial audio algorithms, and by applying directional audio filters to subtly adjust the frequencies that each ear receives, the new AirPods can place sound all around the user.

Magical Experience

With one-touch setup that automatically pairs AirPods with other Apple devices, users can effortlessly enjoy music throughout the day. Audio Sharing allows listeners to share the audio stream between two sets of AirPods, AirPods Pro, or AirPods Max, while using iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Apple TV.

A new skin-detect sensor accurately discerns if AirPods are in the ear versus in a pocket or on a table and pauses playback when removed. To help with sound clarity, beamforming microphones block out ambient noise and focus on the users voice, while users can also enjoy a hands-free experience by simply saying Hey Siri for requests.

Longer Battery Life

AirPods (3rd generation) offer an extra hour of battery life over the previous generations, with up to six hours of listening time and up to four hours of talk time. Just five minutes of charging provides about an hour of battery life, and with four additional charges in the case, users can get up to 30 hours of total listening time.3 AirPods are now also part of the MagSafe ecosystem for convenient wireless charging.

AirPods with iOS and iPadOS

AirPods offer exceptional convenience and sound quality, and with iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, users can enjoy the following features:

Apple and the Environment

AirPods are designed with numerous materials and features to reduce their environmental impact, including the 100 percent recycled rare earth elements used in all magnets. The case also uses 100 percent recycled tin in the solder of the main logic board, and 100 percent recycled aluminum in the hinge. AirPods are also free of potentially harmful substances such as mercury, BFRs, PVC, and beryllium. For energy efficiency, AirPods meet US Department of Energy requirements for battery charger systems. Apples Zero Waste program helps suppliers eliminate waste sent to landfills, and all final assembly supplier sites are transitioning to 100 percent renewable energy for Apple production. In the packaging, 100 percent of the virgin wood fiber comes from responsibly managed forests.

Today, Apple is carbon neutral for global corporate operations, and by 2030, plans to have net-zero climate impact across the entire business, which includes manufacturing supply chains and all product life cycles. This means that every Apple device sold, from component manufacturing, assembly, transport, customer use, charging, all the way through recycling and material recovery, will be 100 percent carbon neutral.

Pricing and Availability

About Apple

Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV. Apples five software platforms iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, and iCloud. Apples more than 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

Press Contacts

Lance Lin

Apple

lance_lin@apple.com

(408) 974-5036

Nikki Rothberg

Apple

nrothberg@apple.com

(408) 974-4427

Apple Media Helpline

media.help@apple.com

(408) 974-2042

See the original post here:
Introducing the next generation of AirPods - Apple Newsroom

Police will have to check someones medical history before giving them a firearms licence and should also scour their social media history, under new rules issued by government after the Plymouth gun attack.

Jake Davison shot dead five people before killing himself after the attack in August.

He discussed his mental health online and his social media showed misogynistic views. He also described himself as an involuntary celibate, or incel.

The new statutory guidance will mean doctors agreeing to pass on health concerns to police before a licence is issued, when it is renewed five years later, and to flag any concerns that emerge in between that may represent a threat to public safety.

Those applying for a licence will have to agree to their confidential information being shared as a condition of getting permission to hold a firearm.

The statutory guidance comes from the Home Office, and police will be expected to follow it. They will also be asked to check any history of domestic violence and financial worries.

There has been a longstanding reluctance by doctors to hand over confidential medical information about patients for fear it would deter them from seeking help. Talks after the massacre have led to an agreement between the government, doctors and police.

Davison, 22, shot dead his mother, a three-year-old girl and three other people on 12 August. He used a gun he had held a licence for since 2017. It was taken away after he got into a fight in September 2020, only to be returned by police weeks before the killings.

It emerged that he had engaged with extremist ideology including the incel movement. The renewed focus on gun laws unearthed concerns about the checks police carried out and inconsistencies between forces.

Some forces would check social media histories of applicants while others would not.

A Home Office spokesperson said that members of the public could also trigger a review of someone who had a firearms licence if they had concerns.

Priti Patel, the home secretary, said: The UK has some of the toughest firearms laws in world, but we must never become complacent about these high standards.

This new guidance prioritises public safety above all else and we have taken considerable care to ensure it is comprehensive and enforceable, having worked closely with the medical, policing and shooting sectors.

Dr Mark Sanford-Wood, of the British Medical Association, said: Firearms must be in the hands of only those who are deemed safe and responsible.

This guidance states that doctors are responsible for providing medical evidence, with the police force making the final judgment on the issuing of the firearms licence. Our close collaborative working with the National Police Chiefs Council has resulted in unilateral agreement on this point.

Existing checks will ontinue to be carried out, including on criminal convictions, domestic turmoil, dishonesty or out-of-control debt.

The Home Office on Wednesday also announced new police powers against unauthorised encampments, which is being widely seen as a crackdown on Traveller communities.

Those committing intentional trespass and occupying land that, for instance, stops local residents using school sports fields, parks and car parks, will commit a criminal offence if they refuse to move when ordered to do so. An offence, says new guidance, is committed if the environment is damaged, including excessive littering, fly tipping, excessive noise and smells from waste or smoke due to bonfires.

The guidance says: The unauthorised encampments provisions do not seek to lead to action against rough sleepers, nor to those looking to access the countryside for leisure, such as ramblers and other groups, providing they do not meet the conditions for the offence.

Go here to see the original:
Police to check medical and social media history before issuing gun licences - The Guardian

Could Alexa kill the radio star? The government is considering introducing legislation to ensure that Amazon and other tech companies do not abuse their growing power over UK airwaves.

Millions of Britons have bought voice-controlled devices in recent years, principally Amazons Echo and Googles Assistant. Most are used for listening to audio, with many households using them as replacements for traditional standalone radio sets in kitchens and bedrooms.

British radio broadcasters including the BBC and the main commercial radio groups now fear they have inadvertently handed control over their output to large technology companies who make smart speakers. They fear the US-based technology companies will hoard data on users listening habits, could be tempted to slip their own adverts into radio broadcasts, and may ultimately make it harder to find UK-produced content.

The BBC is particularly concerned by research suggesting that when BBC material is consumed through a smart speaker or other third party device, audiences are substantially less likely to mentally associate it with the BBC. This has potentially enormous implications for the future of the licence fee and convincing audiences to pay for the BBC in the future.

The government-commissioned digital radio and audio review, which asked industry voices for their views on the future of radio, has now asked the government to propose legislation to force Amazon and other companies to carry UK radio services on a free-to-air basis. A similar lobbying battle is currently being fought by UK television channels to secure so-called prominence on the home screens of modern television sets.

Radio stations also want a law to prohibit technology companies from inserting their own advertisements without the radio broadcasters consent, as well as legislation requiring car manufacturers to continue to prominently display radio stations on car dashboards.

The newly appointed media minister, Julia Lopez, said the government would reflect on the findings and consider new rules to protect the future of the British radio industry as part of forthcoming broadcasting regulation.

The radio report also concluded that FM radio services should be maintained in the UK until 2030, 15 years later than originally planned. The analogue signal serves some rural areas that are not reached by digital broadcasts and is still popular with older people and for local and community stations.

However, the writing is on the wall for medium-wave broadcasting, even though 6.5million adults still use AM signals to listen to stations such as BBC 5Live, talkSport, and Absolute Radio every week. The report concluded that the gradual turning-off of medium-wave broadcasts should accelerate in the next few years.

The British radio industry is facing a demographic timebomb. In the new report, it has renewed calls to scrap regulations that limit the ability to rebrand stations and change formats, as well as asking for continued government financial support for the Audio Content Fund to produce material for under-served audiences.

Though overall radio listenership remains high, it is much lower among younger listeners and people from ethnic minority backgrounds, many of whom feel they are not represented by existing stations and are instead switching to podcasts and streaming music services.

Read more here:
Radio industry calls for government protection from smart assistants - The Guardian