ANALYSIS: Tiny number of ‘supersharers’ spread the vast majority of fake news

An analysis of people who have spread conspiracy theories and their own wacky view of "news" was surprising. I would have thought they would be younger men, which couldn't be farther from reality. Here's the surprising Analysis from Science Org.

Tiny number of ‘supersharers’ spread the vast majority of fake news

Less than 1% of Twitter users posted 80% of misinformation about the 2020 U.S. presidential election

 30 MAY 2024   BY KAI  KUPFERSCHMIDT, SCIENCE NEWS

About 7% of all political news shared about the 2020 presidential election by a sample of 660,000 U.S. users of X (formerly Twitter), came from fake news websites.SPENCER PLATT

Did you see the article claiming Kamala Harris joked about killing Mike Pence and Donald Trump? Or the one about large numbers of Trump votes being secretly switched to Joe Biden? If stories like this, run by fake news sites such as Infowars or Gatewaypundit, popped up in your social media feed about the 2020 U.S. presidential election, they probably came from a tiny group of people with a massive impact.

A mere 2000 or so “supersharers” spread 80% of content from fake news sites in a sample of more than 600,000 U.S. voters on X (formerly Twitter), according to an analysis published today in Science. The posters were more likely to be women and older—challenging the stereotype of social media manipulators as young, alt-right men—and they had a huge reach: More than one in 20 users in the data set followed at least one of these supersharers.

The research “is a valuable addition to our understanding of who shares unreliable news on social media,” says Brendan Nyhan, a political scientist at Dartmouth College who was not involved in the work. It also points to a possible solution, he says: “Simple limits on retweets would constrain the spread of this information while having little effect on the vast majority of users.”

The new findings back up previous studies. In 2019, for example, Nir Grinberg, a computational social scientist at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and colleagues showed that in a sample of more than 16,000 Twitter users taken around the 2016 U.S. presidential election, 80% of tweeted news from untrustworthy websites came from just 16 users. But who were these superspreaders?

To find out, Grinberg’s team dove into a far bigger data set comprising 660,000 U.S. X users who used their real name and location, allowing the researchers to match them with voter registration data. About 7% of all political news shared by these users on any given day came from untrustworthy websites such as Infowars and Gatewaypundit, the researchers found. And just 2107 users were spreading 80% of the fake news.

The average supersharer was 58 years old, 17 years older than the average user in the study, and almost 60% were women. They were also far more likely to be registered Republicans (64%) than Democrats (16%). Given their frenetic social media activity, the scientists assumed supersharers were automating their posts. But they found no patterns in the timing of the tweets or the intervals between them that would indicate this. “That was a big surprise,” says study co-author Briony Swire-Thompson, a psychologist at Northeastern University. “They are literally sitting at their computer pressing retweet.”

“It does not seem like supersharing is a one-off attempt to influence elections by tech-savvy individuals,” Grinberg adds, “but rather a longer term corrosive socio-technical process that contaminates the information ecosystem for some part of society.”

The result reinforces the idea that most misinformation comes from a small group of people, says Sacha Altay, an experimental psychologist at the University of Zürich not involved with the work. “Many, including myself, have advocated for targeting superspreaders before.” If the platform had suspended supersharers in August 2020, for example, it would have reduced the fake election news seen by voters by two-thirds, Grinberg’s team estimates.

Another way to limit supersharing would be to cap users’ daily number of retweets. If set at 50, a cap would affect close to 90% of the fake news supersharers in the study, the researchers found, whereas only 1% of users overall would run into this limit. “I do not see a lot of benefit in allowing people to send unrestricted amounts of retweets in a day,” Grinberg says. And the limit would not have to not be absolute, says Stephan Lewandowsky, a psychologist at the University of Bristol who was not involved in the work. Instead, X could simply ask users whether they really want to retweet something, making the process a little bit more cumbersome.

Whether that kind of intervention works will depend on how motivated these misinformation spreaders are. “After the [2019] paper, the big question was: ‘Who are these supersharers?’” Swire-Thompson says. “Now the big question is: ‘Why are they doing what they’re doing?’”

History in Kennebunkport, Maine: The Shipbuilder's House and Old Jail

The Kennebunkport Historical Society manages several buildings that have been brought together from different parts of the town and have different histories. Last week, I took you to the old Town School House. Two smaller buildings flank the school, one on the right is from a shipbuilder, and the other is a jail. Today's blog will explore both.

(Photo: Clark Shipyard Office. Credit: Tom W.) 

WHAT IS THE CLARK SHIPYARD OFFICE?  The small one room Shipyard Office now sits next to the Town School in Kennebunkport, Maine previously stood adjacent to the South Congregational Church along the ocean, until Charles S. Morgan rescued it in 1952.

HISTORY:  The Clark Shipwright Office was built circa 1850. For many years it was used as a shipyard office, standing in the shadow of the South Congregational Church on Temple Street. It served the firms of Crawford & Ward, Crawford & Perkins, and finally David Clark who took over the shipyard property about 1880. After the shipyard closed with David Clark’s death in 1902, the building remained largely unused but intact long after all the other shipyard buildings had been razed.

 

(Photo: Original location of the Clark Shipwright Office. It was built circa 1850 and is pictured above directly at the base of the church steeple. Credit: Kennebunkport Historical Society ).

The little building, a rectangular one-room clapboard structure is the last building in existence that is directly associated with the wooden shipbuilding industry of the Kennebunk area. Shipbuilding was the lifeblood of Kennebunkport in the 19th century and early 20th century. 

HOW IT WAS SAVED AND MOVED:  A 1977 fund drive made it possible to accept the little building as a gift from maritime historian Charles S. Morgan. The Clark Shipyard Office is now an integral part of the Kennebunkport Historical Society’s maritime history collection housing many artifacts donated to the Society by Morgan. The Clark Shipyard Office is now located at 135 North Street, Kennebunkport, Maine.

(Photo: An inside look at the small cells. Credit: Tom W.) 

THE OLD JAIL CELLS

HISTORY:  The specially designed Old Jail Cells building contains the actual twin jail cells that served for years as the town lock-up on Ocean Avenue, downtown Kennebunkport, Maine. 

(Photo: The building that houses two small jail cells. The building was moved from the downtown area to this campus. Credit: Tom W.) 

If you are standing on North Street looking at the Town House School Campus at 135 North Street,  the property left to right are the Old Jail Cells, the 1899 Town House School and the Shipyard Office. All are managed by the Kennebunkport Historical Society.  

FOR MORE INFORMATION: It's managed by the Kennebunkport Historical Society and is located at 135 North Street, Kennebunkport, ME. Phone 207-967-2751. Website: https://kporths.com/the-town-house-school/ 

(Photo: Schoolhouse (left) and Clark Shipbuilding office building (right). Credit: R.G)

 

Idiots of the Week: Kansas GOP Fundraiser Let People Kick And Punch A Biden Effigy

This week is an entire Party of Idiots. What has happened to the Republican party? 

In March, the Republican fundraiser in Kansas displayed a mannequin that looks like President Biden, so GOP supporters could beat and brutalize it. 

     They support violence against people,  a leader who lies, commits sexual assaults, bribery, payoffs, insults everyone, uses hatred to motivate his followers, mocks people with disabilities, defrauds states in taxes, reveals national intelligence and brainwashes people.  The Republican party should be ashamed and needs to clean up its act. The party and all who support it are truly now Deplorable. Here's the story.

 

A Kansas GOP Fundraiser Let People Kick And Punch A Biden Effigy

By David Moye, Huff post, Mar 11, 2024, 05:17 PM EDT

Officials for the Kansas Republican Party are crying foul after a fundraiser for the Johnson County GOP featured an effigy of President Joe Biden that attendees could pay to physically assault.

Video from Friday’s “Grand Ol’ Party” event in Overland Park, Kansas, shows people punching, kicking and swinging a bat at a Biden mannequin wearing a “Let’s Go Brandon” shirt.

“This booth was hosted by a Karate school to promote their self defense class,” Maria Holiday, who chairs the Johnson County Republican Party, told The Kansas City Star.

Video of people kicking the Biden dummy was uploaded to the video platform Rumble, but later deleted. 

Below, however, you can see video of the event that Democratic commentator and attorney Kaivan Shroff uploaded to X, formerly Twitter. WATCH SOME OF THESE DEPLORABLES HERE: https://x.com/KaivanShroff/status/1767001978792444396?s=20

Kansas GOP officials condemned the effigy attacks.

In a Facebook post, former Kansas GOP chairman Mike Kuckelman wrote: “This conduct is shameful, and it is wrong.” He called for the resignations of Holiday, Kansas Republican Party chairman Mike Brown and Johnson County Sheriff Calvin Hayden.

Kuckelman reminded his fellow Republicans that they were outraged “when Kathy Griffin engaged in similar shameful conduct against President Trump” and “rightfully demanded she be cancelled.” He insisted that party members “must speak equally as loudly in our opposition now.”

Kuckelman said that while he didn’t agree with Biden’s policies, “he is a fellow human being” and “no one should condone or defend this horrific and shameful conduct.”

Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins (R) said he couldn’t speak to the specifics of Friday’s event, but told the Star that “what may seem like a joke for many will be seen by some as an expansion of acceptable behavior with potentially tragic consequences.”

Republican congressional candidate Dr. Prasanth Reddy, a research oncologist in Johnson County, criticized the effigy attacks on X, saying that “ridiculous, thoughtless actions like this one distract from those trying to deliver solutions.”

In a statement to HuffPost, Holiday admitted the “events last weekend [were] tarnished by a brief incident where a mask depicting President Biden was added to an outside exhibitor interactive self defense display.”

Holiday said “the mask was regrettable and removed” and said “no one collected or solicited any funds or donations in exchange for hitting the training device.”

But plenty of people on social media had strong opinions on the matter ― and, yes, many of them mentioned Griffin’s 2017 photo with a fake bloody Donald Trump head.

Hero of the Week: Student hands superintendent banned book at graduation

Newly graduated high school student Annabelle Jenkins is the hero of the week. She stood up to bigotry and book bans. The book bannings in this country are out of control, and the Republican Party is behind all of them. First it was books about LGBTQ kids and families, then it was classics like Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" and Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale." The latter hits the Republican Party close to home because their celebrations of denying abortion rights and women's health care are a very scary part of Handmaid's Tale. But in the book, they're allowed to carry that thinking much farther, eliminating all women's rights and making them living "birthing" forms of life. It's horrifying and that's what their party seems to be heading towards. One Teen in Idaho was fed up with book bans and she wanted to let the School Superintendent know, by handing him a copy of "Handmaid's Tale" during her graduation. Of course, the idiot refused to take it, so she dropped it in front of him. BRAVO to Annabelle Jenkins!!! Here's her story.

Student hands superintendent banned book at graduation

 During graduation at the Idaho Fine Arts Academy, a student tried handing a copy of "The Handmaid's Tale" to the superintendent.

Author: Brian Holmes May 31, 2024 

MERIDIAN, Idaho — Because of a national agenda, and far right outrage, dozens of "questionable" books have been removed from library shelves in Idaho over the last couple of years.

More than twenty in Nampa schools, ten in West Ada Schools, to name a couple high-profile instances.

This was before Idaho lawmakers decided to put a possible fine on libraries. Where a child who checks out such material, or if it's not removed, they and their parents could sue the library for $250, plus damages. In both public and school libraries. So, to avoid any hassle, a lot of libraries just removed a lot of books.

One recent high school graduate said they had enough of not having a say as a student about what books would be available in her library.

Which is why she decided to make a statement. One that would have likely remained among the small gathering for the Idaho Fine Arts Academy Graduation, were it not for social media.

The graduation ceremony at the academy for the class of 2024 was a lot like dozens of others taking place around Idaho these last couple of weeks. A lot of the same pomp, just smaller circumstances.

At this small school, only 44 seniors would walk across the stage to get their diploma. One of those students had something up her sleeve. Annabelle Jenkins said she has always been into books.

"In middle school I spent a lot of time in the teen space back there," she said. "The rule was I could only bring home as many books as my age."

Jenkins said at her local library she volunteers more than anyone who isn't retired.

"So, this place means a lot to me and libraries in general, I realize these are the types of spaces I want to spend my life protecting and curating," Jenkins said. She picked up this crusade in earnest last fall, when, she said, she heard a teacher arguing with the school librarian.

"It was over the graphic novel the handmaid's tale and I was just so shocked because I had never seen school staff behave that way in a school setting," she said.

She said she was also shocked, because the book was so important to her and her classmates.

"It is a book with a lot of heavy themes and it has some very difficult scenes to get through it deals with a lot of sexual themes. I believe the word I heard being tossed around that book is pornographic which I very strongly disagree with," Jenkins said. "My main issue is the teacher that was contesting it had not read the book."

She said that she read the book during her sophomore year of high school.

"I think the graphic novel is a tasteful way of adapting it and that's not to say there aren't scenes in there that may be difficult for some students or some readers I don't think it's a reason for it to be banned," Jenkins said.

Removed is the word the West Ada School District uses. They "removed" ten books last December, including "The Handmaid's Tale (Graphic Novel)." The books were pulled after a private meeting of administrators. In an email the district said their decision aligns with the recent library law passed by the Idaho legislature.

Jenkins said what she did at graduation was because of how she and her fellow students were not allowed to be part of the removal process.

"How we've been treated and ignored, I realize that I did not want to walk across that stage and get my diploma and shake the superintendent's hand I just did not want to do that," she said.

So instead, she decided to do this.

"When I got up there and I got the book out, and he wouldn't take it," she said.

She said when he wouldn't take it she dropped the book at Superintendent Derek Bub's feet. She believes it may have added more fuel to the fire.

"It was a gesture, if you want to make a bigger show of it be my guest," Jenkins said.

How much of a show was it? That night, she posted her gesture on TikTok, thinking it would only be shared by friends and family. However, that 12 second video has been seen and liked by many millions of people.

"I wake up in the morning to my dad shaking me and saying your TikTok has a million views and I went what do you mean it has a million views," she said. "It has blown up."

She said she is not usually one to stir the pot and that she is not particularly outspoken.

"I don't like to be the center of attention or do things to get a reaction. I want people to know it is very important to me," Jenkins said. "This is something deeply, deeply important to me." Her video is the only one of the graduation that is still up. The West Ada School District removed their video blaming Jenkins. Claiming her gesture, "overshadowed the celebratory occasion for the class of 2024."

Jenkins doesn't see it that way.

"My goal was never to be disruptive or mess up the ceremony and I really don't believe that I did," she said. "At the end of the day I think that was my time on stage and that was my moment and that was something important for me to do."

She said she is just glad that people are talking about it.

"This is an issue that we can no longer ignore," Jenkins said. "Because if we do it's just going to silently move along until it's at a worse place than we can imagine."

KTVB reached out to see about asking Dr. Bub about what happened last week. We were told he wasn't available. We were also told the video of the graduation will be available by the end of the week at the latest. Not sure if it will be an edited version or not.

"So what happened to the book? Jenkins told us she has no idea.

If you happen to stumble upon "The Handmaid's Tale (Graphic Novel)" in a used book store, she told us she wrote an inscription on the inside cover.

She wrote, she hoped Dr. Bub enjoyed the book and added a quote from New York Times' best selling young adult author Ellen Hopkins:

"Torch every book, burn every page, char every word to ash. Ideas are incombustible and therein lies your real fear."

Remains of a Soldier killed in 1943 were just identified

It's encouraging to see that remains of soldiers who were never found or returned from wars, continue to be found. Here's an amazing story of people working together to bring back the remains of a World War 2 soldier. His remains were finally interred on Memorial Day of this year.

(Photo: Sgt. Richard Hammond. Credit: U.S. Army Human Resources Command)

New England soldier killed in WWII to be buried during Memorial Day week

Sgt. Richard Hammond was killed in 1943, but his remains were just identified last year

 WMTW l-TV, May 24, 2024

 

NORTHWOOD, N.H. — A native of Northwood, Hammond enlisted before the United States entered the war and was later assigned to Company A, 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion, in the North African Theater as a crew commander of an M3 Gun Motor Carriage “half-track.”

On Feb. 17, 1943, when he was 24 years old and had been in the Army for about two and a half years, his unit was engaged in battle with German forces near Sbeitla, Tunisia, when his half-track was struck by an enemy high-explosive tank shell. The explosion disabled the half-track and threw Hammond several yards from the wreckage.

The area immediately came under heavy fire, forcing the surviving crewmembers to retreat. Witnesses maintain that while egressing from the area, they looked back several times and did not see any movement from Hammond. He was declared missing in action, but the Germans never reported him as a prisoner of war. On June 1, 1949, with no evidence Hammond survived the fighting, he was officially declared non-recoverable.

Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Africa. On Sept 9, 1943, AGRC personnel recovered a set of remains from an isolated grave near a destroyed half-track in the vicinity of Sbeitla. At the time, AGRC personnel could not conclusively identify the remains, designated X-5137 El Alia (X-5137), and they were interred in the U.S. Military Cemetery, Constantine, Algeria.

While studying unresolved American losses in Tunisia, a DPAA historian determined that the M3 half-track information gathered by AGRS in the area potentially belonged to Company A, where Hammond was assigned.

The remains were exhumed in 2022, and Hammond was identified by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency on Sept 5, 2023.

New Podcast!! Afraid of Nothing Podcast: Talks Ghosts of Ireland w/ Rob

It's a BRAND NEW podcast!  This month I got to talk with my good friend Bob Heske, the host of the famous Podcast (and documentary of the same name) "Afraid of Nothing."  And we talked about my latest book, the "Ghosts of Ireland on a Medium's Vacation."  It was a really fast-moving 1 hour podcast where we talked about those Irish ghosts, past life experiences, and other hauntings. There were also a few EVPs (audio voices) from spirits interjecting during my interview, as they tend to do when I'm talking with Bob (I've been on his show a few times!).

LISTEN!   https://www.afraidofnothingpodcast.com/afraid-of-ghosts-of-ireland/ 

SCIENCE! Egyptian pyramids mystery solved: Just add water

I've always wanted to visit Egypt and see the pyramids because I am fascinated with the pyramids and ancient Egyptians. I love the Egyptian Gods and folklore, and would love to know how to translate hieroglyphics  (of course, now you can do it online to a point). So much fascinating culture, not to mention lots of shirtless muscular guys... but that's a different story! Seriously, if you've ever wondered how the Egyptians were able to transport the stone to build the pyramids, science now has the answer... and it was to do with climate change.

 

(The Great Pyramid, 2005. Photo credit: By Nina - Own work, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=282496)

Egyptian pyramids mystery solved: Just add water

4EarthSky May 23. 2024

It's long been a mystery: how did the ancient Egyptians transport tons of heavy stones to the middle of a desert to build their most famous pyramids? Research published last week suggests that a now-dry river known as the Ahramat played a key role. It was once a branch of the Nile, connecting the major city of Memphis to the site of the Giza pyramid and beyond. But a major drought, some 4,200 years ago, might have led to its disappearance. Read the new findings on how the Egyptians built the pyramids.

• A mystery: How did the ancient builders of Egypt transport the heavy stones found today in Egyptian pyramids?
• New research suggests a now-dry river played a role in the building of the pyramids. Scientists call this river the Ahramat. It was once a branch of the Nile. A major drought, some 4,200 years ago, might have led to its disappearance.
• Satellite imagery, geophysical surveys and sediment cores confirm the existence of the Ahramat branch and its usage by ancient Egyptians, with many pyramids having causeways ending at the riverbanks of the Ahramat.

SHORT VIDEO EXPLAINER: https://youtube.com/shorts/qyx7Z9SL17k?si=2dXik_vPe6achDOC

Now, according to a new paper from the peer-reviewed journal Nature – published on May 16, 2024 – the answer is simple. A chain of pyramids was built where, once, there was a river. We now call that ancient river the Ahramat, and it was a branch of the famous and very necessary Nile River.

It’s well known that civilizations settle where there are sources that will let people thrive. And to be sure, one of our most valuable sources is water. So, why would this advanced civilization build the famous pyramids in a desert? The answer, in fact, could well be this branch of the Nile, which has now disappeared.

There are thousands of pyramids in the world. Notably, around 100 are located in Egypt. And 31 of the Egyptian pyramids – including the Giza pyramid complex – were built along this 40-miles-long (64-km-long) stretch, called the Ahramat. These pyramids are concentrated in what is now a narrow, inhospitable desert. But when the ancient Egyptians built them over a nearly 1,000-year period, starting approximately 4,700 years ago, that area of the Western Desert – part of the Sahara – wasn’t entirely dry, scientists say.

(Photo: The water course of the ancient Ahramat branch borders a large number of pyramids dating from the Old Kingdom to the Second Intermediate Period. Image and caption via Eman Ghoneim.)

Formerly, the Nile River used to have several branches. And the Ahramat branch was also close to the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis. This means that the pyramids were concentrated near the city and the river. Indeed, the pyramids would have been easily accessible via the river branch at the time they were built.

In addition, the authors of the paper found that many of the pyramids had causeways, which ended at the riverbanks of the Ahramat branch. This is evidence that the ancient Egyptians used the river for transporting construction materials, among other things.

How do researchers know? 

Also, sedimentary evidence suggests that the Nile used to have a much higher discharge, with the river splitting into several branches.

With this in mind, the authors of the paper used satellite imagery to look for a former river branch running along the foothills of the Western Desert Plateau, very near to the pyramid fields.

In addition, they also used geophysical surveys and sediment cores to confirm the presence of river sediments and former channels beneath the modern land surface.

What happened to the river? 

Over time, this branch of the Nile River became buried beneath farmland and desert. The authors suggest that an increased build-up of windblown sand, linked to a major drought which began approximately 4,200 years ago, could be one of the reasons for the Ahramat’s eventual silting up.

And, just like it happens to Venetians with their channels and gondolas, this now-dry river was an extremely useful source for Egyptians.

The results emphasize the significance of the Nile as a vital route and cultural lifeline for ancient Egyptians, while also shedding light on the historical impact of environmental changes on human society.

Moreover, further exploration to uncover additional extinct branches of the Nile could assist in prioritizing archaeological digs along its shores and safeguarding Egyptian cultural legacy.

7 Surprising Benefits of Reading 20 Minutes a Day

I'm an avid reader. It turns out that reading has a lot of benefits as you'll learn in today's blog. I love good stories because they take you away, make you think, teach you words you may be unfamiliar with and inspire you. As a kid, my dad inspired me to read by buying me comic books, and as I got older I began reading novels. I love mysteries, thrillers, paranormal stories, true ghost stories, some biographies and anything with science or dogs.

 7 Surprising Benefits of Reading 20 Minutes a Day 

 By Ashly Moore Sheldon • May 21, 2024 Thriftbooks

Reading is more than just good entertainment. Research has shown that it's actually good for us, improving not only our minds, but also our health. It even makes us nicer people! This is true at any age, but it's particularly important for kids. And it doesn't take long to reap the benefits. Reading just twenty minutes a day has been shown to have a tremendous impact. Helping our youngsters develop this habit can also help adults incorporate more reading time into their lives.

Here, we go over the transformative effects of reading just twenty minutes a day. Plus, we share tips on how to make the time and book recommendations for everyone.

1. Improved vocabulary People who read twenty minutes a day are exposed to an estimated 1.8 million words each year, enriching your vocabulary. At any age, improving our vocabulary leads to even more benefits. For kids and adults alike, vocabulary development will lead to improved communication and writing skills.

2. Relief from stress Anxiety is on the rise for everyone these days, but it has become especially prevalent in children and teens. Studies have shown that reading every day significantly reduces anxiety and stress, which leads to all sorts of improvements in our health.

3. Boost mental health Just like the muscles in our bodies, our brain needs exercise to stay strong. Research using MRI scans has shown that reading improves our brain function. Just think of reading as your daily brain workout.

4. Build empathy Reading stories about all walks of life helps us to understand where other people are coming from. Gaining knowledge about other cultures, lifestyles, and circumstances allow us to put ourselves in another person's shoes. Studies have shown that readers of literary fiction have greater ability to empathize with others, leading to more friends, stronger relationships, and a happier life.

5. Strengthen critical thinking Just as reading can make us more understanding of others, it can also help us learn how to ask important questions and gain a better understanding of, well, everything. Reading twenty minutes a day has been shown to improve analytical skills, leading to greater success in all areas of life.

6. Improve your sleep Doctors recommend reading as part of a healthy bedtime routine because, as previously mentioned, it reduces stress in our bodies. It also helps calm our minds and alleviate insomnia. Turn off your screen twenty minutes earlier and put a book in front of your face instead. You'll fall asleep more quickly and sleep more soundly.

7. Reduce mental decline Studies have shown that reading slows the effects of mental deterioration in older adults. Again, this can be thought of in the same way as exercise for our brains. As we age, our brains need stimulation and strength-building activities like reading to stay sharp and agile.

Visited the Historic Town House School, Kennebunkport, Maine

We love historic places, and we had the opportunity to visit a historic schoolhouse in Kennebunkport, Maine. The Town House School operated as a school beginning in 1900. Today's blog will explain about the school and give you a look into some of the things inside.

(Photo: Schoolhouse   Credit: TW)

INSIDE - The entire structure has been refurbished, and bathrooms were installed in an attached side room. The schoolhouse can comfortably fit up to 75 people on chairs facing the back area. The back area has a raised floor and they also have a large television screen for presentations.

(Photo right: A class photo from the early 1900s in front of the school. Credit: Kennebunk Historical Society. Photo: Tom W.)

A couple of photos of classes of school children with their teachers from the 1900s adorn the walls, and there's also a wooden desk from the 1900s. 

HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL: Local children in Grades 1 through 8 were educated at the Town House School from 1900 until 1951. This is an example of a typical one-room New England schoolhouse.

In 1955, it was acquired by the Kennebunkport Historical Society and used as its headquarters until 1999. Over the years it fell into disrepair and had to be closed. Thanks to the fundraising efforts of “Friends of the Town House School” and the building expertise of Gary Martin, the school has been totally restored. It re-opened in August 2019 and once again became a gathering place for the community.

(Photo: One of the antique desks. Unknown if this is a recreation of the desks from the early 1900s or a replica. Photo: Tom W.)

TWO SMALL BUILDINGS ON EITHER SIDE - To the right of the schoolhouse was a small building with a sign near the door that read "Clark Shipbuilding Office," and the other was a small jail. Next week's blog will highlight the history of the Clark Shipbuilding office." 

HOW IT IS USED TODAY - It's now a place for historic and other lectures and gatherings. The Historical Society also rents it out for small to medium-sized private functions by the hour, day, weeknights or weekdays.

 INFORMATION: It's managed by the Kennebunkport Historical Society and is located at 135 North Street, Kennebunkport, ME. Phone 207-967-2751. Website: https://kporths.com/the-town-house-school/ 

(Photo: Schoolhouse (left) and Clark Shipbuilding office building (right). Credit: R.G)

Idiot of the Week: NC man gets 6 years in prison for attacking police during Insurrection

 Just like last week, this week's idiot is another insurrectionist from Trump's minions whom attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Although arrested and jailed, this guy said he did the right thing for Trump.  He shows no remorse at all. 

This image from U.S. Capitol Police video, contained and annotated in the Justice Department’s statement of facts in support arrest warrant for David Joseph Gietzen, shows Gietzen, circled in yellow, pushing at a officer’s shield at a police line on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. The North Carolina man who became a fugitive after a federal jury convicted him of assaulting police officers during the U.S. Capitol riot has been sentenced to six years in prison. (Department of Justice via AP)

North Carolina man sentenced to 6 years in prison for attacking police with pole at Capitol

BY MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, April 23, 2024, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A man who became a fugitive after a federal jury convicted him of assaulting police officers during the U.S. Capitol riot was sentenced on Tuesday to six years in prison.

David Joseph Gietzen, 31, of Sanford, North Carolina, struck a police officer with a pole during a mob’s Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Gietzen told U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols that he didn’t intend to hurt anybody that day. But he didn’t express any regret or remorse for his actions on Jan. 6, when he joined a mob of Donald Trump supporters in interrupting the joint session of Congress for certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.

“I have to make it explicitly known that I believe I did the right thing,” he said before learning his sentence.

The judge said Gietzen made it clear during his trial testimony — and his sentencing hearing — that he clings to his baseless beliefs that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump.

“Mr. Gietzen essentially was unapologetic today about his conduct,” Nichols said.

Last August, a jury convicted Gietzen of eight counts, including assault and civil disorder charges. After his trial conviction, Gietzen disregarded a court order to report to prison on Oct. 20, 2023, while awaiting sentencing. He missed several hearings for his case before he was arrested at his mother’s home in North Carolina on Dec. 12, 2023.

“This pattern of flouting rules and laws and doing what he wants, regardless of the consequences, is how Gietzen operates,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing.

Defense attorney Ira Knight said Gietzen apparently remained at his house, “just waiting to be picked up,” and wasn’t on the run from authorities or trying to hide after his conviction.

Prosecutors recommended a prison term of 10 years and one month for Gietzen, who worked as a computer programming engineer after graduating from North Carolina State University in 2017 with bachelor’s degrees in computer engineering and electrical engineering.

“Clearly, Gietzen is bright and able to get something done when he puts his mind to it – be it a college degree or assaulting officers as part of in a violent mob,” prosecutors wrote.

Gietzen’s attorneys requested a four-year prison sentence.

“David’s current philosophy is that he no longer wishes to be engaged with the political process,” defense attorneys wrote. “His involvement with politics has concluded and should be an indication to the Court that he is no longer interested in being a threat to the public or political process.”

Gietzen traveled to Washington, D.C., with his brother from their home in North Carolina. He attended then-President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House on Jan. 6 before marching to the Capitol.

As the mob of Trump supporters overwhelmed a police line on the Capitol’s West Plaza, Gietzen shoved a police officer, grabbed another officer’s gas mask and struck an officer with a pole.

“And all of Gietzen’s violence was based on a lack of respect for law enforcement and the democratic process — its goal was to get himself and other rioters closer to the building so they could interfere with the certification of the election,” prosecutors wrote.

Gietzen later bragged about participating in the riot in messages to friends and relatives, saying he had “never been prouder to be an American.”

More than 1,350 people have been charged with Capitol riot-related federal crimes. Over 800 of them have been sentenced, with roughly two-thirds getting terms of imprisonment ranging from a few days to 22 years.

Heroes of the Week: Many Rescuers Free a Stuck Maine Moose!

What do you do if a moose gets stuck in your backyard? In Maine, you call the police and other experts! This week's heroes worked together to free a stuck moose in a Maine backyard. The Auburn Police and Public Works, the Maine Warden Service and the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife were joined by some neighbors to help free a trapped moose. Here's the story!

(Photo: Young moose stuck behind garage in Auburn SOURCE: Auburn Police Department)

Young moose rescued after getting stuck in Auburn neighborhood 

  WMTW- tv May 31, 2024 Kerry Brookes

AUBURN, Maine — "We moose tell you a tale (tail?) of a special rescue mission that took place this morning," Auburn police said in a Facebook post from Friday afternoon, May 31, 2024. Officials say a young moose got stuck between a tree and the edge of a residential garage on Josslyn Street overnight.

"At first, we thought this might be a wild moose chase, but it was very real," officials said.

A crew of moose wranglers with members from Auburn Police and Public Works, the Maine Warden Service and the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife as well as a few helpful neighbors worked together to safely free the moose.

Photo: Staff from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife use an electric saw to free the moose. Credit: Auburn Police Dept.

Staff from the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife were able to tranquilize the moose to keep him calm and allow them to work safely, according to officials.

Photos show them using a small electric saw to cut parts of the building away to make space for the moose. Once freed, it took most of the group to carry the moose into a Warden's truck.

Auburn police say that after the male moose is evaluated for any injuries requiring treatment, he will be either released or taken to the Maine Wildlife Park in Gray.

Historical & Events Dictionary Presents: What is Pride Month?

 Dictionary Com provided an in-depth look at Pride Month that includes the meaning of it, the historical significance, and associated words. It's all about welcoming everyone no matter how different or similar they are to you. We're all in this life together and we need to care and support each other. Today's blog provides Dictionary Com's look at Pride Month: 

HISTORICAL & CURRENT EVENTS DICTIONARY PRESENTS PRIDE MONTH

 Dictionary . Com June 6, 2024

Pride Month or LGBT Pride Month, LGBTQ Pride Month, LGBTQ+ Pride Month, Pride [ prahyd muhnth ]

WHAT IS PRIDE MONTH? A month-long observance in celebration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people—and the history, culture, and contributions of these people and their communities.

It is not limited to people with these sexualities or gender identities. Pride Month also celebrates and is celebrated by those with a range of other identities considered outside of the cishet mainstream, including people who are intersex, nonbinary, asexual, pansexual, aromantic, two-spirit, or who identify in other ways or are questioning their sexual or gender identity or expression.

Different abbreviations often precede the name of the month, including LGBT, LGBTQ, and LGBTQ+, among others that are intended to be as inclusive as possible.

Pride Month is commonly called Pride for short, as in I can’t wait for Pride! The word Pride (note the capitalized P) is also used as a noun to collectively refer to events during this month or as an adjective in terms like Pride parade.

Pride Month is commonly celebrated with parades and other large, celebratory gatherings devoted to individual displays of pride and expression, including displays of the rainbow Pride flag and other flags representing people with different identities.

Such events also often serve as protests against the discrimination and marginalization targeted against people who identify in these ways. Pride Month traces its roots to such protests and specifically commemorates the event known as the Stonewall Riots or the Stonewall Uprising, which is often considered the start of the movement for gay, queer, and transgender rights.

When is Pride Month? Pride Month takes place every year in June.

HISTORY:  WHERE DOES PRIDE MONTH COME FROM?

The observance of Pride Month (and earlier events like Gay Pride Day) traces back to a parade held in New York City in 1970 to mark the one-year anniversary of what became known as the Stonewall Uprising. This event, sometimes referred to simply as Stonewall, started on June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, a New York City bar frequented by gay and gender-nonconforming people (at a time when terms like LGBTQ didn’t yet exist).

It began with a police raid on the bar—which at the time was a common occurrence supported by discriminatory laws. Police arrested several people, including gay people, drag queens, and transgender activists Marsha Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. Many of them resisted, sparking protests that lasted for the next several days, during which there were many incidents of police violence against the protesters. Though such resistance had occurred before, the Stonewall protests are widely thought to have increased the momentum of the movement for equal rights for members of LGBTQ communities.

Today, many Pride Month events are a combination of celebration and activism during which people show pride in identities that have made them and continue to make them the target of marginalization and oppression, including through discriminatory laws.

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WHAT DOES "CISHET" Mean? The term cishet (pronounced sis-het) refers to a gender identity as well as a sexual identity. This two-part identity means that a person is both cisgender and heterosexual. A cishet person identifies with the gender they were assigned at birth, and they choose romantic partners of the opposite sex. 

“Should straight people attend Pride?”  Yes. Of course!   Cishet people are often welcomed to attend Pride events in a way that’s supportive and recognizes the history and ongoing struggle of LGBTQ communities and the individuals in them.  Many cishet people are in relationships with or are the family members of the people that Pride Month celebrates and naturally attend with them.  

MORE INFORMATION AND CONTEXT ON PRIDE MONTH 

Did you know … ?

The first Pride march was organized in part by Brenda Howard, a bisexual woman sometimes known as the Mother of Pride. One of the largest Pride parades in the world takes place in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Marsha Johnson and Sylvia Rivera are remembered for their role in the Stonewall Uprising but continued to be leaders in the movement for equal rights and justice in the years after it.

What are other words used in discussion of Pride Month?

• Pride
• lesbian
• gay
• bisexual
• transgender
• queer
• sexuality
• gender
• nonbinary
• pansexual
• asexual
• aromantic
• intersex
• two-spirit
• gender-nonconforming