The Daily Populous

Russian Trolls Denied Syrian Gas Attack—Before It Happened

Russian conspiracy propaganda and truther chum have been a staple of official discourse whenever Moscow wants to cover up bad behavior by its allies in Damascus.

But this time, the propaganda campaign got a head start—and they’ve even tried to remix old children’s plays and spy novels to make their point.

The anticipatory claims about rebel chemical weapons provocations coincided with mounting frustration in the Trump administration over the Assad regime’s continued use of chlorine gas attacks in and around East Ghouta.

In the wake of the attack, pro-Russian, pro-Assad and general conspiracy enthusiast social media trolls have joined the fray to make Moscow’s case—with a little help from Russian state media.

Twitter trolls grabbed the footage from YouTube, edited it down and circulated it blaring “LET'S PLAY FAKE SYRIAN CHEMICAL ATTACK children's party!”.

By and large, though, social media propaganda in the wake of the alleged Douma chemical attack has closely resembled that seen after the Khan Sheikhoun nerve gas attack.

Discussions focused on a series of common themes accusing White Helmets volunteers of being members of al-Qaeda and staging the deaths of civilians in attacks following Russian bombings or the Syrian military’s use of chemical weapons. »

Ready Player One DeLorean Contest Winner Announced | Giant Freakin Robot

Authored by giantfreakinrobot.com

At the beginning of the summer Ernest Cline, bestselling author of the novel Ready Player One, announced a contest for his readers to win a DeLorean.

In the spirit of the novel, the contest was to find an easter egg hidden inside of the book.

Three months later and after three difficult videogame challenges, hundreds of entries were whittled down to one lucky prize winner. »

'Everything-repellent' coating could kidproof phones, homes

Authored by ns.umich.edu

Called "omniphobic" in materials science parlance, the new coating repels just about every known liquid.

It's the latest in a series of breakthrough coatings from the lab of Anish Tuteja, U-M associate professor of materials science and engineering.

The team's earlier efforts produced durable coatings that repelled ice and water, and a more fragile omniphobic coating. »

Dead sperm whale found with 30 kilograms of trash in digestive system

Authored by smh.com.au

A young male sperm whale that was found dead off the coast of Spain had 30 kilograms of garbage in its digestive system.

The carcass of the 10-metre whale surfaced in February near a lighthouse in Cabo de Palos on Spain's south-eastern coast.

The amount of human trash in its system had become so enormous that the whale was unable to expel the garbage from its digestive system. »

Pastor Who Celebrated Orlando Massacre Found Guilty Of Child Molestation

Authored by patheos.com

Anti-gay pastor who claimed Orlando massacre victims got “what they deserve” is found guilty of eight counts of child molestation.

Pastor Ken Adkins, who had congregations in Atlanta, Jacksonville, and Brunswick, Georgia, was arrested late last summer on eight charges of child molestation and aggravated child molestation.

Immediately after the horrific attack at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, Pastor Adkins tweeted the following:. »