In 2024, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) was among 17 AGs who contended there is no right to carry a gun at political rallies and protests. The AGs did this in a January 26, 2024, filing

[View Article at Source]Informed Dissent with Dr. Jeff Barke and Dr. Mark McDonald Jeff and Mark speak with the founder of America Out Loud. Malcolm Out Loud tells his story about his early career

[View Article at Source]The Other Side of the Story with Tom Harris and Todd Royal California families face soaring electricity costs as millions struggle to pay energy bills. Jason Isaac explains

Their breakup may have started a meteor shower!

Magic mushrooms put a lot of energy into producing the psychoactive compound psilocybin. But why?

Luca Kis/ScienceThe skull of a medieval Hungarian man with a cleft palate who was given a stately burial.A conference in Berlin that drew more than 130 paleopathologists, bioarchaeologists, geneticists, and rare disease experts has challenged long-held notions that those born with rare physical disabilities such as dwarfism or cleft palates worldwide were treated harshly in the distant past.According to Science, the line of research involved here is called the bioarchaeology of care and researchers in this field have found sufficient evidence that those born with various disabilities long ago were actually supported by their communities around the world far more than previously thought. In addition to receiving care and support from their communities, these people were also buried alongside their able-bodied peers, lived well into adulthood, and werent cast out or marginalized which has long been the assumption.This is really the first time people have been confronted with this subject, said Michael Schultz, a paleopathologist in Germanys Georg-August University of Gttingen.Wikimedia CommonsThe sarcophagi of the Chachapoyas people in northern Peru.Time and time again, researchers have excavated the bodies of brittle-boned people that died of rare diseases and found that they were buried in culturally significant gravesites or among those held in high esteem by society.When physical anthropologist Marla Toyne of the University of Central Florida in Orlando discovered a mummy buried around 1200 C.E. by Perus Chachapoyas people, for instance, she immediately noticed the bodys surprising combination of physical disabilities and burial location.The man had a collapsed spine and extreme bone loss, which pointed toward late-stage adult T-cell leukemia yet he had been buried at a respectable cliffside site, and his bones suggested hed had years of light work before his death.He had fragile bones, pain in his joints he wasnt walking a great deal, she said. We begin with the individual, but they never live alone. The community was aware of his suffering. And they most likely had to make some accommodations for his care and treatment.Bioarchaeologist Anna Pieri, meanwhile, argued that the disadvantaged werent merely treated kindly and supported, but often even admired, revered, and thought of as having a connection with the divine. Textual evidence from Ancient Egypt, for instance, showed that rulers preferred to have dwarves as their courtiers because of this.They are not considered people with disabilities they were special, she said. Wikimedia CommonsSeneb the dwarf with his wife and children, who lived in ancient Egypts fourth or fifth dynasty.Pieri recently supported her theory with two 4,900-year-old cases of dwarfism in Egypts Hierakonpolis. The two burials, a man and a woman buried in the middle of two separate royal tombs, clearly showed a reverence of dwarves that seemingly dated even farther back than the first pharaohs.The man appeared to be in his 30s or 40s, one of the oldest burials in the cemetery, and seemed to have lived a life of ease. X-ray analysis of his bones led Pieri to believe the dwarves in Hierakonpolis had pseudoachondroplasia a disease that only occurs once in every 30,000 modern-day births.The cleft palate a condition often looked at as a socially debilitating deformity today and one for which standardized surgeries are common seemed to have been culturally accepted in ancient times as well.University of Szeged paleopathologist Erika Molnar reported on a man born with a strong cleft palate and complete spina bifida around 900 C.E. in central Hungary and that even though breastfeeding and eating became difficult for him, he lived well past his 18th birthday and was buried with treasure.Was his survival a result of high social rank at birth, or was high rank the result of his deformity? Molnar asked. His unique position could have been a consequence of his uncommon physical characteristics.Wikimedia CommonsA stele hieroglyph depicting the court dwarf Hed, found in the tomb of the Egyptian Pharaoh Den. 2850 BCE. Meanwhile, last years Trinity College Dublin study was a prime example of how invaluable sharing these cases across the archaeology, biology, and history communities can be. When geneticist Dan Bradley published an analysis of ancient DNA from four Irish people buried in disparate locations showing that they all carried the same gene one that causes hemochromatosis, a rare condition that causes iron to build up in the blood it suggested these genes had biogeographical benefits.To protect against a poor diet, for example, ancient Irish people may have developed this otherwise rare mutation. The country currently has the highest rate of it, with Bradley arguing that understanding why these conditions appear may help researchers today to better understand this genetic burden.Organizers of the conference in Berlin, paleopathologist Julia Gresky and bioarchaeologist Emmanuele Petiti of the German Archaeological Institute, couldnt agree more and they plan on constructing a database to share data on ancient cases. Its the same problem physicians have today, said Gresky. If you want to work on rare diseases, you need enough patients, otherwise its just a case study.After learning about dwarfism and cleft palates possibly being revered in ancient times, read about three revered historical civilizations that embraced pederasty. Then, learn about ancient ruins older than the pyramids discovered in Canada.The post Dwarves And Disabled People May Have Been Worshipped By Ancient People, Researchers Say appeared first on All That's Interesting.

Wikimedia CommonsDennis Wilson, pictured in 1970, was the wild child of the Beach Boys.It was Christmas Day of 1983, and instead of spending the holiday with family and loved ones, Dennis Wilson was in the detoxification unit of St. Johns Hospital in Santa Monica.Wilson had co-founded the Beach Boys, the California surfer-rock group that topped the charts in the 60s and 70s. But his abuse of alcohol and drugs like cocaine and heroin led to his band members, including his brothers Brian and Carl, to give him an ultimatum: clean up his act or get kicked out of the group. That ultimatum came in September 1983, after what would ultimately be his final performance.It seemed, at least at first, that Wilson was serious about getting sober. He did a couple of short stints in treatment centers between September and December that year. But on December 25, he checked himself out of the hospital and immediately began drinking again.Three days later, Wilson drowned in the waters of Marina Del Rey, California after spending the day out on a friends boat. His blood alcohol level was .26.Sadly, it did appear that Wilson was on the verge of a serious attempt to get clean.He said, Were going to the boat; were going to have a good time. And tomorrow Im going to go to detox,' Wilsons friend Colleen McGovern said in an interview with Rolling Stone.But he never got that chance. The Beach Boys wild child drummer Dennis Wilson died at the age of just 39.The Early Life Of Dennis Wilson And The Beach BoysWikimedia CommonsBrian, Carl, and Dennis Wilson.Dennis Wilson was the middle brother of Brian and Carl Wilson, with whom he founded the Beach Boys. The brothers didnt have a particularly easy childhood, as their dad was violently abusive to them. But Dennis, the self-proclaimed black sheep of the family, seemingly got it the worst, becoming his fathers punching bag.Dennis had to keep moving all the time. If you wanted him to sit still for one second, hes yelling and screaming and ranting and raving. Hes the most messed-up person I know, said Brian, according to author Keith Badman in The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of Americas Greatest Band On Stage and In the Studio.The Wilsons mother forced Brian and Carl to include Dennis, who his friends nicknamed Dennis the Menace, in their band, which would in 1961 become the Beach Boys. While Dennis had been taking piano lessons, he initially wanted to play bass, before pivoting to picking up drumming, which he deemed more exciting.The Beach Boys had their first local hit with the release of Surfin' in 1961, and their first national hit in Surfin Safari in 1962. With that, the group entered the mainstream of American rock music.Wikimedia CommonsThe Beach Boys pose for a Billboard advertisement in 1963, with Dennis Wilson in the center.Although the members all came from California, Dennis was the only surfer in the group. He was the one who suggested the theme of surf rock for the bands sound.Dennis was the only one who could really surf, Carl said, according to Badman. We all tried, even Brian, but we were terrible. We just wanted to have a good time and play music.The Peak Years And Wilsons Downward SpiralThe Beach Boys were at the height of their popularity in the mid-1960s. But the fame and the money started to go to Dennis Wilsons head. He stopped showing up to recording sessions, and by 1966, he had started using drugs.I think as soon as the checks started rolling in, Dennis had other things, said Hal Blaine, a drummer that repeatedly replaced Dennis in the studio, in an interview with Rolling Stone. He was buying things; he was appreciating his motorcycling and hobbies and so forth. When youre sixteen years old and youre literally handed millions of dollars, you get crazy.Dennis was the wild child of the band, and he was the most popular with audiences especially with the girls, which Brian said was sometimes hard to handle.The girls would be going Dennis, Dennis and run right past us to get to him, Brian said, according to author Jon Stebbins in Dennis Wilson: The Real Beach Boy. Wikimedia CommonsDennis Wilson in the studio in 1966.But despite Dennis unreliability and the tensions between the brothers, the band continued to be successful, and Dennis was given more singing leads on later albums. Do You Wanna Dance?, released in 1965, was the first A-side single with Dennis singing lead, and it peaked at 12 on the Billboard Hot 100.[Dennis] showed for the first time an awareness that his voice could be a blunt emotional instrument His erratic croon cut straight to the heart, with an urgency that his more precise brothers could never have matched, wrote journalist Peter Doggett in 1997.Dennis Wilsons Surprising Ties To The Manson FamilyThe Beach Boys popularity faltered in the late 1960s with the rise of British rock groups like the Beatles, and Dennis Wilson continued in his downward spiral, abusing alcohol, cocaine, and heroin. Wilson was even associated with Charles Manson and the Manson family for about a year. After he picked up two girls that were hitchhiking in 1968, they introduced him to Manson. Wilson and Charles Manson even wrote some songs together.When I met [Charlie] I found he had great musical ideas, Dennis Wilson said, according to Far Out. Were writing together now. Hes dumb, in some ways, but I accept his approach and have learnt from him.Wilson introduced Manson to some of his producers, and while Manson never got a record deal himself, Wilson reworked a song they wrote together for the Beach Boys, and it was released as Never Learn Not To Love in late 1968:But as Manson got into heavier drugs and crime, Wilson distanced himself. Then, when Manson orchestrated the Tate-LaBianca murders in 1969, Wilson became terrified that he was next after receiving death threats from the Family. He refused to testify against Manson.I know why [he] did what he did, Wilson said in the 1978 biography The Beach Boys and the California Myth by David Leaf. Someday, Ill tell the world. Ill write a book and explain why he did it.Some attribute [Wilsons] subsequent spiral of self-destructive behavior particularly his drug intake to these fears and feelings of guilt for ever having introduced this evil Wizard into the Hollywood scene, wrote Mark Dillon in the National Post in 2012.The Events Leading Up To Dennis Wilsons DeathBy the mid-1970s, Dennis Wilson was deep into drug and alcohol abuse, especially after injuring his hand so he could no longer play the drums.Now, during concerts, the impulsive, physically aggressive Dennis would be reduced to sitting behind a keyboard or standing off to one side behind a microphone, wrote Stebbins. It hurt him deeply. He felt like a caged animal. His drinking became worse and his participation in the band became erratic.Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy Stock PhotoDennis Wilson in 1976, after he recovered from his hand injury.Wilson was constantly quitting the band or getting kicked out and then rejoining a few days later. By 1983, Wilsons drug abuse had gotten so extreme that he lost his normal speaking voice and could hardly sing. That was when his band mates gave him the ultimatum.He gave a half-hearted attempt to get clean, doing short stints in treatment centers. But they never lasted, and he would begin drinking again immediately after leaving.On Dec. 25, 1983, he checked out of the hospital for the last time. He got in a drunken fight with his estranged wifes friend within hours of checking out, and his friends attempted to get him back into the detoxification unit. The head of the program, however, saw Wilson as a lost cause.Hes just too much trouble, Dr. Michael Gales allegedly told Chris Clark, a friend of Wilsons, according to Rolling Stone.He may die, you know, Clark told Gales.He might have to, the doctor allegedly replied.The Shocking Death Of Dennis WilsonOn the morning of Dec. 28, 1983, Wilson was out on his friend Bill Osters boat, The Emerald, drinking and partying with his friends and a new fling. Wilson reportedly starting drinking vodka at 9 a.m. but Oster said that was normal for him, People Magazine reported.That afternoon, Wilson started diving into the water around the boat, looking for possessions from his ex-wife he had thrown overboard on his own boat during his divorce three years prior. It was odd, but not especially concerning to his friends.He was in and out of the water, getting a kick out of all the stuff he was finding, said Skip Lahti, the yacht manager.He was just being Dennis, entertaining everybody, being his lovable self, goofing around, Oster said.But after an hour of going in and out of the water, Wilson didnt come back up. After a few minutes, his friends suspected something was very wrong.At that point, I saw him go straight down and back out of sight, Oster said. I said to myself, That suckers playing a game on me, hes trying to hide. That was my fatal error. Because that was the last time he went down.Remembering Dennis Wilsons Fast Life After His DeathWikimedia CommonsThe Beach Boys perform circa 1964, with Dennis Wilson on the drums.Dennis Wilson left behind four ex-wives and five children after his death. He was laid to rest at sea by the U.S. Coast Guard in a ceremony usually reserved for Coast Guard and Navy veterans after President Ronald Reagan, an avid fan of the Beach Boys, intervened and gave permission.By all appearances the happy-go-lucky Beach Boy, Dennis Wilson lived out the proverbial live-fast-die-young motto, wrote Tony Sclafani in PopMatters in 2007. But his wild side masked an underside that was, by turns, brooding, self-loathing, sensitive, and anxious.Wilsons drumming can be found on some of the Beach Boys greatest hits, including I Get Around, Fun, Fun, Fun, and Dont Worry Baby. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.Dennis Wilson himself acknowledged the reckless nature of his life and foreshadowed his early death in the sleeve notes of the Beach Boys 1964 album All Summer Long:They say I live a fast life. Maybe I just like a fast life. I wouldnt give it up for anything in the world. It wont last forever, either. But the memories will.After reading about the tragic death of Dennis Wilson, learn more disturbing facts about his former friend, cult leader Charles Manson. Then, read the story behind the shocking death of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain.The post The Tumultuous Life And Tragic Death Of Dennis Wilson, The Fast-Living Beach Boys Drummer appeared first on All That's Interesting.

Last week, I had the opportunity not only to attend a hands-on preview of Highguard, the upcoming raid-shooter from Wildlight Entertainment, but also to interview 2 senior members of its development team, Carlos Pineda (Lead game designer) and Jason McCord (Design and Creative Director).