Social media famous squirrel seized, euthanized by New York officials
A squirrel named P’Nut who found social media fame was recently seized an euthanized by New York state officials last week. The animal had amassed more than a million followers across platforms like Instagram and TikTok, where his owner, Mark Longo, shared videos of the squirrel’s daily antics.
“They just took my best friend for the last seven years,” Longo told TMZ. “The firefight has just begun. This needs to be used as an example of how this state uses their resources and their power.”
Longo had raised P’Nut since rescuing the animal after its mother was hit by a car in a busy downtown Manhattan street.
Longo said attempts to release P’Nut into the wild were unsuccessful due to repeated attacks from other animals. That led to Longo keeping the squirrel in his home, where he filmed P’Nut’s daily activities and shared them online.
The squirrel was put down following a raid by New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). According to Longo, the DEC carried this out with a full search warrant. Officers seized both P’Nut and a pet raccoon named Fred, which was also euthanized.
“They got a search warrant, signed off on a squirrel and a raccoon, and then they took them and killed them,” Longo said. “DEC officers raided my house as if I was a drug dealer. I was sat outside my house for five hours. I had to get a police escort to my bathroom.”
The agency claimed the raid was prompted by concerns voiced to them by other citizens. They claimed P’Nut was ultimately euthanized in order to test the animal for rabies after it allegedly bit one of the state officials involved in the raid.
“Following multiple reports from the public about the potentially unsafe housing of wildlife that could carry rabies and the illegal keeping of wildlife as pets, DEC conducted an investigation,” the agency said in a statement. “DEC’s investigation is ongoing and additional information will be provided as it becomes available.”
However, despite the statement, Longo said he doesn’t believe this to be the true reason P’nut was taken from his home. He alleges that officials targeted him due to his and his wife’s involvement in adult content on OnlyFans.
They believe this was the case since no citation or other violation of law has been issued since the raid was carried out.
“I think there’s an ulterior motive here, and it seems it has to do with my spicy social media presence,” Longo said. “Especially since other than taking the animals, they took no action against me.”
Revenue from the animal’s social media helped fund P’Nut’s Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary. The sanctuary is a nonprofit animal rescue organization Longo founded.
He described P’Nut as the “cornerstone” of the organization. Longo also expressing uncertainty over how the sanctuary will continue without the funding generated from P’Nut’s online presence. He did confirm that potential legal action may follow.
“You just put the entire organization in jeopardy,” Longo said. “You came to a case that had animals in good possession, and you took them and killed them. I don’t know how we’re going to fund this organization anymore without P’Nut’s social media. I haven’t a clue.”
Harris, Trump look to win the West with 4 days until Election Day
As the presidential campaign heads into the final weekend, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris swing through the western U.S. to sway undecided voters. And crews in Spain search for survivors after a year’s worth of rain fell in just hours. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Friday, Nov. 1, 2024.
Harris, Trump look to win the West with days until Election Day
With just four days to go until Election Day and more than 65 million ballots already cast, the candidates are making their final stops on the campaign trail. On Thursday, Oct. 31, both nominees visited the western United States to make their case.
Republican nominee former President Donald Trump spoke at campaign events in New Mexico, Nevada and Arizona, while Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris held rallies in Arizona and Nevada.
At an event in Glendale, Arizona with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Trump repeated his stance of there being “an enemy within” the United States — a comment Harris has criticized in her speeches.
“If you have a smart president, somebody that knows what’s happening, you’re going to be fine,” Trump said, “But we do have an enemy from within. We have some very bad people, and those people are also very dangerous. They would like to take down our country. They’d like to have our country be a nice communist country or a fascist in any way they can, and we have to be careful of that.”
In Henderson, Nevada, Trump said Harris would not be able to handle the presidency, calling her “a child” when it comes to understanding the economy. He also announced former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would be working on “health and women’s health” if he’s reelected.
While in Reno, Nevada, Harris continued her warnings to supporters about another Trump presidency, calling trump “increasingly unstable” and “obsessed with revenge.”
“In less than 90 days, either he or I will be sitting in the Oval Office, and listen, here’s what we can imagine, right, we’ve all seen on TV — you’ve seen the Oval Office — just visually imagine what that day will be,” Harris said. “Because, if elected, Donald Trump on day one would walk into that office with an enemies list. When I am elected, I will walk in with a to-do list on behalf of you.”
The vice president told the crowd that people are “exhausted with Trump’s rhetoric.” She also appealed to female voters, criticizing Trump’s comments that he would “protect women” saying, “Trump does not respect the freedom of women.”
Harris’ Nevada rally was interrupted by protesters at times, but the vice president said it was “OK” and “we’re fighting for the right to be heard.”
Friday, Nov. 1, both candidates will hold rallies in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as the final weekend of the 2024 election cycle begins.
‘Avengers,’ LeBron endorse Harris; Jake Paul backs Trump
Some famous faces put their names behind their pick for president on Thursday. Members of the cast of Marvel’s “Avengers” film franchise assembled to show their support for Vice President Harris while YouTube star Jake Paul backed former president Trump.
Actors Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo and others gathered together in a social media video supporting Harris. NBA superstar LeBron James also backed Harris in a post on X saying, “When I think about my kids and my family and how they will grow up, the choice is clear to me. Vote Kamala Harris.”
Social media influencer turned boxer Jake Paul put his endorsement behind the Republican nominee. In a video posted to his YouTube channel, Paul laid out his reasons and asked his followers to do their own research.
“Regardless of your emotion, I’m just presenting you with facts,” he said. “Do I think Donald Trump is a perfect human being? No. I don’t think anybody on this planet is a perfect human being, myself included. To be frank, I’m not concerned with Donald Trump’s ‘character flaws’ or what he’s done in the past. What I’m concerned with is how good a president is he, because that is his job and that’s what’s going to affect the people of this nation.”
Why I Am Not Suspending My Campaign Let me be clear: Despite the immense pressures and intense assaults on my campaign and character, I intend to hold the torch and finish this race – to and after November 5th! The escalating corruption of the US political system and the… pic.twitter.com/CQrcOTX9vi
West accused the Pennsylvania secretary of state of improperly keeping him off the ballot for not filing all the required paperwork. The state’s top court agreed with the secretary of state, but a federal judge said while it does seem like Pennsylvania’s rules make it harder for third-party candidates to get on the ballot, it’s too close to Election Day to re-print ballots and re-test election machines without increasing the risk of error.
Flash floods claimed the lives of at least 158 people, with 155 deaths confirmed in the eastern Valencia region alone. Spain’s minister for territorial policy said Thursday dozens of people are still missing but they don’t have an exact number of how many.
Army specialist charged in female soldier’s murder at Missouri base
Her body was found in a dumpster at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri last week. Rancy, who’s with the 5th Engineer Battalion, is also charged with obstruction.
The Department of Army Criminal Investigation Division, which is the primary federal law enforcement agency of the United States Army, is overseeing the probe.
The department has not specified a motive for the killing. It is also unclear if Rancy and Roque knew each other.
OpenAI adds search and summary function to ChatGPT
Google has some new competition. OpenAI has added a search function to its artificial intelligence bot ChatGPT.
Paying subscribers are now able to activate a mode on ChatGPT that makes it respond to queries by searching the internet for the latest information and summarizing what it finds. The search capabilities are powered by Microsoft’s Bing search engine and will draw information from articles by publishers OpenAI has deals with, including The Wall Street Journal owner News Corp. and the Associated Press.
While this function is only for paying subscribers for now, OpenAI said it plans to bring search to all users eventually.
X’s community notes failing to fact-check posts: Report
X’s Community Notes is failing to fact-check posts containing inaccurate information, according to a new report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate. According to X, “Community Notes aims to create a better-informed world, by empowering people on X to collaboratively add helpful notes to posts that might be misleading.”
The Center for Countering Digital Hate conducted an analysis of election posts on the social media platform. It found 209 out of 283 misleading posts in their sample had accurate Community Notes that aren’t shown to all X users. This equates to about 74%.
The report states some of the inaccurate claims include allegations Democrats are importing illegal voters and false claims about former President Donald Trump. Other claims assert voting systems are unreliable and claim the 2020 presidential election was stolen.
Misleading posts about election information have garnered 2.2 billion views. That’s 13 times more views than their Community Notes, the report states.
X’s owner, Elon Musk, hasn’t yet publicly commented on the report. In the past, he has said X’s Community Notes feature isn’t perfect. However he claims it’s the best fact-checking he’s seen on the internet.
Musk describes himself as a free-speech absolutist. He has stated several times that free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy.
Nerds Gummy Clusters rack up $500M in 2024 before Halloween
Straight Arrow News reported earlier this week that M&M’s have been named the most popular candy for this year’s Halloween, according to Candystore.com. But Nerds, a brand more synonymous with 1984 than 2024, is making a case for itself with its newest creation, Nerds Gummy Clusters, taking over the confectionery world.
The clusters, consisting of a chewy ball surrounded by crunchy little Nerds candies, have become so popular that they’ve been recently featured in articles for The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.
Nerds hit it big in the 1980s. The Willy Wonka Candy Company debuted its iconic dual chamber packaging in 1983. Nerds was named “Candy of the Year” by the National Candy Wholesalers Association in 1985.
But while being seen with Nerds was popular in the 80s — Nestle acquired the brand in 1988 — the candy lost some of its luster in the 90s and 2000s.
In 2018, Nestle sold Nerds and all its U.S. confectionary business to Ferrera Candy for $2.8 billion. The Nerds brand at the time had around $40 million in sales and was seen as a candy from a bygone era. Then, Nerds returned to the spotlight in 2020 with the invention of Nerds Gummy Clusters.
After years of testing and research groups, it was an Instagram review by influencer Kylie Jenner about the clusters that turned them into a candy sensation.
The company said Nerds Gummy Clusters brought in nearly $100 million in sales in 2021. This year, Nerds Gummy Clusters have already garnered $500 million in sales – and this is before Halloween.
The renewed love for Nerds led Ferrera to nearly double its marketing budget. The company placed its first Super Bowl ad in company history, featuring TikTok star Addison Rae.
Ferrara told The New York Times it plans to release a second Super Bowl ad next year. A TD Cowen analyst told The Wall Street Journal that Nerds sales are now rivaling those of chewy competitors Starburst and Skittles.
Halloween 2024: Early shopping, billions in sales, skibidi costumes
Is ‘gentle parenting’ really the better way?
The concept of “gentle parenting” has become more and more popular in recent years. It’s the practice of moving away from the more traditional discipline-oriented style known as “authoritative parenting,” but what exactly does that entail and does it work?
A pair of researchers set out to learn more on gentle parenting and shared their findings.
The researchers found gentle parenting tends to focus on three things. The first is parents regulating their own emotions — like always staying calm even if they’re angry. The second is helping their children identify and manage their emotions. The third is a strong emphasis on physical and emotional affection.
This study is the first of its kind to see if the concept of gentle parenting actually works. It turns out, gentle parenting tactics may actually make things harder for parents in the long run.
The study’s researchers found more than 40% of self-proclaimed gentle parents they spoke to said they were experiencing burnout and self-doubt over the pressure to meet these parenting standards. When paired with the constant flood of advice from social media – where many parents turned amid the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic – it can ultimately do more harm than good.
In fact, parents are so stressed, the U.S. Surgeon General just released an advisory over it in August. According to the advisory, there are 63 million parents living with children under 18 in the United States. About 1 in 3 of them (33%) reported high levels of stress compared to 20% of other adults
When stress is severe or prolonged, experts say it can impact every aspect of life. It can cause physical symptoms, like headaches and digestive issues, mental symptoms such as irritability and difficulty concentrating, behavioral changes, like avoiding people or places, sleep issues and can lead to substance use and abuse — to name a few.
So, if gentle parenting is not effective, what should take its place?
Recently, there’s been a spike in interest in what’s called “lighthouse parenting.” It’s a concept that proponents say is the middle ground between being overprotective and overindulgent.
Judge rules school districts can sue tech giants over claims of harm to kids
A federal judge ruled that Meta, Google, TikTok and Snap must face lawsuits brought by school districts that claim the platforms are addictive to kids and harm their mental health. The school districts argue the companies designed their platforms to addict children with algorithms and features like the “like” button. The schools liken the tech companies’ societal harm to the damage done by cigarette manufacturers.
School districts in 19 states claim these social media companies fail to enforce age verification, parental controls and session timeouts on their platforms. They said this leads to kids endlessly scrolling through targeted algorithms.
According to the schools, these “addictive algorithms” are creating a mental health crisis among youth. School officials said they have to address these issues with their limited resources.
Meta, Google, TikTok and Snap have all fought to get the lawsuits thrown out. However, the judge will allow roughly 150 cases to proceed.
The judge noted that the social media companies are protected under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which shields online companies from being held liable for content posted on their platforms. Because of this federal law, these social media giants will likely avoid liability for more than 600 other cases.
Meta, Google, TikTok and Snap haven’t yet commented on the judge’s ruling.
CNN alleges Fox edited Trump’s controversial barbershop remarks
CNN accused Fox News of selectively editing a recent segment featuring former President Donald Trump’s visit to a Bronx barbershop, where he interacted with patrons and answered questions. The network aired a condensed 15-minute version that omitted several of Trump’s controversial remarks, according to CNN.
CNN claims several exaggerated statements about immigration in Ohio, crime in Colorado and praise for Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The network also claimed the edits were aimed at presenting Trump in a more favorable light.
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Fox News stated that all barbershop interviews are pre-taped and edited for time and clarity. Officials noted the Bronx segment ran nearly an hour in its original form. The network maintains that segments were edited to streamline Trump’s responses.
However, CNN contends that the edits altered the perception of Trump’s responses. The network cited a now-deleted Instagram video from an audience member that showed Trump taking longer, unedited pauses and answering repeated questions more indirectly.
CNN alleges that Fox condensed Trump’s answers to offer more straightforward sound bites that made him appear direct and on-topic. In one case, Fox cut Trump’s lengthy response about eliminating federal taxes.
The original video showed Trump discussing unrelated topics before finally answering the question after being prompted multiple times. The video has since been deleted by the audience member who posted it on Instagram.
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This controversy mirrors Trump’s recent accusation that CBS similarly edited an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris on “60 Minutes“. Trump claimed CBS cut certain responses to enhance Harris’ image. Trump demanded that CBS release the unedited footage, accusing the network of bias.
Critics, however, argue that the CBS edits were intended for promotional snippets. They said Fox’s approach removed portions from the primary segment, potentially misrepresenting Trump’s full dialogue with barbershop patrons.
Media analysts are now raising questions about how network editing choices might impact public perception of political figures. Fox’s cuts, they argue, could create a skewed narrative of Trump’s responses, while the incident underscores broader concerns over transparency in network television. Fox has yet to release the full unedited footage from Trump’s barbershop visit to clarify CNN’s claims.
DHS official promotes illegal immigration, tips for border crossers on TikTok: Report
A new report by a conservative watchdog group alleges that a U.S. immigration official has been “actively promoting illegal immigration” through social media videos posted on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. The American Accountability Foundation published a report detailing the activities of Wilson Osorio, an associate counsel at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a branch under the Department of Homeland Security.
The report is part of a larger “DHS Bureaucrat Watchlist” that highlighted members of the Biden administration the foundation believed were not enforcing immigration policy. It was funded in part by the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank behind the controversial Project 2025 proposal.
The report claims that Osorio has been posting videos on his personal social media pages, where he interacts with migrants who crossed the border illegally, promoting their success stories and describing life in the U.S. Since July, dozens of such videos have reportedly been shared.
Other videos highlight the earnings of migrants in construction jobs, with one Venezuelan migrant stating he has saved enough money to build a home in Honduras and plans to move back soon, according to the watchdog group’s translations.
While the foundation links to Osorio’s videos, the original sources are no longer available to the public. Following the publication of the report, Osorio reportedly took down some social media accounts and made others private.
The American Accountability Foundation expressed concern over Osorio’s social media activity.
“Even as he collects his taxpayer-funded salary, Osorio pushes his radical open borders agenda that is endangering the safety, stability, and livelihoods of millions of Americans,” Thomas Jones, president of the American Accountability Foundation, said. “It is an utter betrayal of the American people. He must be fired immediately.”
The Department of Homeland Security has not commented on the allegations made by the foundation.
Meta shuts down Jack Sweeney’s private jet tracking accounts
Meta has banned several Instagram and Threads accounts that tracked the private jet movements of high-profile individuals, citing privacy concerns and risks of physical harm. The accounts, run by college student Jack Sweeney, monitored the flights of figures like Mark Zuckerberg and Taylor Swift.
Sweeney’s work has drawn legal attention in the past from Elon Musk and other celebrities.
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Tracking private jets became more challenging for Sweeney after the Biden administration passed the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, which allows private aircraft owners to anonymize their registration data. Despite this, Sweeney has continued using alternative methods to track flights, relying on public tips and research.
Meta’s move comes amidst a broader debate about the balance between privacy and public transparency.
Sweeney claims his accounts do not violate any platform rules and maintains that all the data he shares is publicly accessible. However, he has yet to receive a clear explanation from Meta about the ban.
New X terms will allow all user data to train AI services
X, formerly known as Twitter, has updated its terms of service, allowing the platform to use user posts for artificial intelligence training. The changes, effective Nov. 15, have sparked concerns over data privacy and content ownership.
The new terms grant X a worldwide, nonexclusive license to analyze and use all content shared on the platform. That includes personal posts and artwork, and the data will be used to further train its AI models.
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Users and creators are worried their work may be used to fuel AI systems that could eventually replace human creators, while others are concerned about personal data being included in the training process.
While users could previously opt out of sharing data for AI purposes, the updated terms no longer make it clear whether that option will remain available, leaving some unsure if their private posts will still be protected.
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X’s AI chatbot, Grok, has already faced controversy for spreading misinformation and generating fake images, raising further concerns about how the platform’s AI models are being developed.
Despite the backlash, users who continue to use X after Nov. 15 will automatically agree to the updated terms.
