Monday Morning Breakfast For The Brain

That weekend just flew by and here we are being whipsawed by another Monday.

2018 Holiday Gift Guide

By Ben Garrison

For your Christmas cartoon pleasure, we offer you our annual Holiday Gift Guide.

A Trump wall toy might hold the attention of the kiddies for a while, but not Congress. It has been two years and funding has not been secured to build the wall, which was a cornerstone of Trump’s campaign. Obama Care also remains and Hillary isn’t locked up, but maybe those gifts will arrive by next Christmas. At least there is some progress on investigating Uranium One and the Clinton Foundation. An orange jumpsuit won’t look out of place on Hillary.

The Ocasio-Cortez nutcracker is free, but we don’t expect much demand for it. Free things usually have little value and quality. With a little pressure, Cortez and her flimsy philosophies will fall apart.

Before you send me hate mail, bear in mind that Michelle Obama being a ‘tranny’ is a common Internet meme. My book cover variation is meant to prompt a chuckle and that’s all. Yeah, yeah…I know. The sensitive snowflakes are humorless nags due to an overdose of political correctness and they can no longer laugh at themselves or their heroes. Regardless, Obama is thought by many to be our first gay president in addition to being our first black president. (He treated black citizens badly, though). He’s called Michelle ‘Michael’ several times. Buy her book if you must, but you may want to avoid her lunch menu.

Finally, there’s an Eric “Nuke ‘Em!’ Action Figure. The militantly ignorant congressman from California wants to ban our guns and he has even threatened the use of nuclear weapons against American citizens who believe in their Second Amendment. Big government has big firepower and the dangerous Swalwell wants his statist finger on the trigger!

Check out all of Ben’s great cartoons and commentary HERE.

1,400 Arrests in France as Yellow Vest Protests Spread Across Europe…

By Sundance

French President Emmanuel Macron may have maneuvered to block the growing uprising, but it’s quite possible he’ll lose his presidency in the process. French police took a much more aggressive posture this weekend. The violence is disturbing.

In an effort to stop a replay of last week’s violence, French police moved in pre-dawn raids to round up those they identified as leaders of the Yellow Vest protest movement. In the city of Paris over 800 arrests were made by Macron’s forces and the French military were deployed. Overall, throughout France more than 1,400 arrests were made so far.

As the sun set, less organized protests continued as frustrated French set fire to cars, burned barricades and smashed windows in isolated geographic pockets within the city. Police forces were boosted to around 8,000 across Paris, with EU armored vehicles deployed in the city of lights for the first time in modern history. The pictures are stunning.

Read the entire article HERE.

France Is Investigating Russia’s Supposed Role In Promoting Yellow Vest Riots

France is investigating Russia’s alleged role in promoting the so-called Yellow Vest movement after recent reports suggest Moscow-linked news outlets spread false information about the protests.

French security services are looking into whether Russian outlets boosted hashtags promoting the protests, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in a Sunday local radio interview. His comments come after reports showed that 600 Twitter accounts pushed the anti-carbon tax protests.

The protests “have been at or near the top” of the list of accounts that Alliance for Securing Democracy monitor, the group’s social media analyst, Bret Schafer, told reporters. “That’s a pretty strong indication that there is interest in amplifying the conflict” for worldwide audiences.

Read the entire article HERE.

‘Leave our nation be’: France tells Trump not to interfere with country’s politics after US President used riots to attack Paris climate change agreement

Via The Daily Mail

France’s Foreign Minister has urged Donald Trump not to interfere in French politics after the US president posted tweets about the protests rocking the country and attacked the Paris climate agreement.

‘We do not take domestic American politics into account and we want that to be reciprocated,’ Jean-Yves Le Drian told LCI television.

‘I say this to Donald Trump and the French president says it too: leave our nation be.’

Trump had on Saturday posted two tweets referring to the ‘yellow vest’ anti-government protests that have swept France since mid-November and sparked rioting in Paris.

Read the entire article HERE.

How To Be Invisible On The Internet

By Visual Capitalist

Everywhere you look, concerns are mounting about internet privacy.

Although giving up your data was once an afterthought when gaining access to the newest internet services such as Facebook and Uber, many people have had their perspective altered by various recent scandals, billions of dollars of cybertheft, and a growing discomfort around how their personal data may be used in the future.

More people want to opt out of this data collection, but aside from disconnecting entirely or taking ludicrous measures to safeguard information, there aren’t many great options available to limit what is seen and known about you online.

It may not be realistic to use Tor for all online browsing, so why not instead look at taking more practical steps to reducing your internet footprint?

Read the entire article HERE.

Children who spend seven hours or more on smartphones and tablets are changing the structure of their brains and risking lower IQs and declining memory and cognitive function

Via The Daily Mail

Children who use screens for seven hours or more a day are showing signs that their brain cortex is thinning prematurely.

The findings show that children are at risk of deteriorating memory function, perception skills and cognitive abilities, according to new major US study.

The ongoing $300 million (£236mn) research is funded by the National Institute of Health and shows results of the effects of technology on children.

Researchers made the early findings by scanning the brains of 4,500 children.

Scientists are in the process of following more than 11,000 nine to ten-year-olds over the course of a decade.

The aim of the study, called Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development, is also to show how screen time affects emotional development and mental health.

The researchers also determined that children who spend more than two hours of daily screen time score lower on thinking and language tests.

Read the entire article HERE.

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