Month: October 2018

After the Salem Witch Trials, There Was the New England Vampire Panic

After the Salem Witch Trials, There Was the New England Vampire Panic:

On March 17, 1892, a group of local men dug up the three deceased members of the Brown family in search of a sign that one of them was rising from the grave at night to suck the energy from the living. After nearly 10 years, Mary Olive and Mary Eliza were almost entirely decomposed. But Mercy, buried only a few months previous in the cold New England weather, was almost perfectly preserved. The vampire hunters of Exeter had found their target.

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“When a ghost shows up in a story, it is often a way to talk about what cannot be said, what cannot…”

“When a ghost shows up in a story, it is often a way to talk about what cannot be said, what cannot be acknowledged — whether that is a repressed desire, a family secret, an unpunished crime or a genocide that some do not want to reckon with.”

– Kaitlyn Greenidge  writing in the NEW YORK TIMES, “I BELIEVE IN GHOSTS”

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German ex-nurse admits killing 100 patientsThe BBC’s Jenny Hill in Berlin says the case is…

German ex-nurse admits killing 100 patients

The BBC’s Jenny Hill in Berlin says the case is sensitive for German health authorities which are accused by relatives of turning a blind eye to Högel murderous activity.

Investigators say he may have killed even more but potential victims have been cremated.

“I hope he will be found guilty on each count so that the loved ones can finally find some closure,” said Petra Klein, who runs a victims’ support group.

Relatives of his alleged victims packed the court.

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For more than a month now, a European orbiter circling Marshas…

For more than a month now, a European orbiter circling Marshas been watching a long, plume-like cloud on the Red Planet.

The cloud has remained in place over a mountain called Arsia Mons near the Martian equator since Sept. 13, according to a statement released by the European Space Agency (ESA). But that location is just a coincidence, the agency adds. No volcanic process is producing the cloud — the volcano hasn’t been active in about 50 million years, scientists believe.

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20 MINUTES OF TERROR IN PITTSBURGH

This is how the AFP is reporting on Robert Bowers’ horrific crime in Squirrel Hill:

Gunman Robert Bowers only needed 20 minutes to sow terror at the Tree of Life synagogue in the US city of Pittsburgh, where congregants had gathered peacefully for Shabbat services marking a day of rest.

Shortly before 10 am (1400 GMT) the 46-year-old Bowers – who had penned virulent anti-Semitic messages on social networks – burst into the synagogue armed with an assault rifle and three handguns.

Stephen Weiss, a member of the congregation who was inside the building, told the Tribune-Review newspaper he heard dozens of shots coming from the front lobby.

“We had services going on in the chapel when we heard a loud noise in the lobby area,” he said. “I recognized it as gunshots.”

Like any other Saturday, people from three different congregations were scattered throughout rooms in the building, located in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood that is historically the heart of Jewish life in greater Pittsburgh.

Bowers entered a room where a baby-naming ceremony was taking place. He rained bullets, killing 11 people, all of them adults.

As he attempted to leave the synagogue, he found himself face-to-face with a uniformed officer calling for reinforcement.

He barricaded himself on the building’s third floor and was taken into custody after a shootout with police.

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On Gab, an Extremist-Friendly Site, Pittsburgh Shooting Suspect Aired His Hatred in Full

On Gab, an Extremist-Friendly Site, Pittsburgh Shooting Suspect Aired His Hatred in Full:

THIS IS DISGUSTING

Early Saturday, moments before the police say he barged into a Pittsburgh synagogue and opened fire, Robert D. Bowers’s anti-Semitic rage finally boiled over and he posted one last message online.
But he didn’t turn to Facebook or Twitter. Instead, the man accused of killing at least 11 people went to Gab, a two-year-old social network that bills itself as a “free speech” alternative to those platforms, and that has become a haven for white nationalists, neo-Nazis and other extremists. There, he posted a signoff to his followers.
“I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered,” Mr. Bowers wrote. “Screw your optics, I’m going in.”
The shooting in Pittsburgh came on the heels of another violent episode involving social media extremism. Cesar Sayoc Jr., the suspect in the pipe bomb mailing campaign, had a history of posting hateful and violent messages on Facebook and Twitter that were laced with misinformation and conspiracy theories.

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‘Star Trek’ animated comedy series ordered from ‘Rick and Morty’ writer

‘Star Trek’ animated comedy series ordered from ‘Rick and Morty’ writer:

The new project will bring to mind Fox’s The Orville, a dramedy from Family Guy‘s Seth MacFarlane which is clearly inspired by Trek.

The new show is the latest Trek project by the CBS All Access streaming service, which also has Star Trek: Discovery, which returns for its second season in January, and a new show with Patrick Stewart reprising his TNG character Jean-Luc Picard in the works.

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