The Utah Governor Signs New Laws Requiring Parents To Give Their Consent Before Their Children Can Use Social Media

Utah’s governor signed into law two bills this week that regulate social media use for children and minors and put more power into the hands of their parents and caregivers.

On Thursday, Governor Spencer Cox signed H.B. 311 and S.B. 152 which requires parental consent for minors to create profiles on social media sites and gives parents access to their child’s accounts.

Governor Spencer Cox said on Twitter Thursday afternoon that they’re no longer willing to let social media companies continue to harm the mental health of their youth.

H.B. 311 goes one step further when it comes to social media regulation, prohibiting companies from using addictive features or designs and enforcing curfews.

The new laws come as TikTok’s CEO testified before US Congress about the app and as at least four other states consider similar legislation concerning online platforms.

In a tweet Thursday, Cox said it was his responsibility as a parent and lawmaker to protect the children of the state from toxic social media platforms.

The Republican governor stated that youth rates of depression and other mental health issues were on the rise because of social media companies.

He continued in a tweet with a video of him talking about the new laws, saying that as leaders, and parents, they have a responsibility to protect their young people.

The new laws prohibit social media companies from displaying ads, showing accounts held by minors in search results, and gathering data on children.

The apps will also be unable to suggest or target content and ads to children.

One of the most notable features is the curfew which automatically locks children out of their accounts at 10.30 pm and doesn’t allow them back in until 6.30 am.

The locks are triggered by the location of a user’s phone and the feature can be changed with parental permission. Platforms like Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook now have until March 1, 2024, to comply, and if they don’t adhere to the new law, they may be punished in civil or criminal court.

While speaking with NBC News, one of the co-sponsors of one of the bills said he hopes to see the trend spread across the states as a way to address what some health officials have deemed a mental health crisis, and Utah state Senator Michael McKell said that he didn’t think they’ve seen a time in American history where mental health had been so problematic.

Of course, in this day and age where the streets of the US can be extremely dangerous, a child needs some form of communication to contact someone if they were in trouble. Back in the day, it was a pager or a walkie-talkie, and of course, there were no social media. Just a cell phone that was very basic, calls and text messages to friends and family, and children survived just fine. A child with a cell phone and social media is not a good idea, so they’re doing the right thing – 100 per cent!

Numerous manufacturers brand some excellent dumbphones, although the coverage on them isn’t especially great, so they might think about upgrading for better cell phone coverage because as a parent, it would be nice to know where your children are and how they’re doing. After all, imagine having no way to contact your child during a school shooting or something similar.

Children should not be left alone on social media full stop because everything on there is manipulated just perfectly. Children are at risk and it’s all danger, danger, danger. In fact, social media sites should be shut down for good because they’re more trouble than they’re worth.

Back in the day we just had good old MSN chat, AOL chat and Yahoo chat, and even those needed to be monitored to a point. Bring these back and shut down Facebook, Twitter and all the other social media sites that now exist.

An Update On The DNA Test For The I Am Madeleine McCann Girl Is Issued As Dr Fia Vows To Get ‘Justice’

An update on a DNA test with ‘I am Madeleine McCann’ girl Julia Wandelt has been issued by Dr Fia Johansson.

In an Instagram Live post, Dr Fia Johansson shared details of Julia’s search to discover her identity.

Last month she shot to worldwide importance when she posted on social media to claim that she could be missing Madeleine.

Since then, she’s travelled to America, where Dr Fia Johansson lives, and has taken a DNA test.

Julia is also undergoing medical tests after doctors communicated their fears that she may have leukaemia.

Dr Fia Johansson revealed that Julia was awaiting the results of her DNA test.

She then went on to claim that, once they were back, they would be checked against Madeleine’s. However, Dr Fia Johansson explained that there was no necessity for Madelein’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann to be involved in the process because, she alleged, the DNA needed to check it against was already held on file.

Dr Fia Johansson said that at this moment they don’t know if Julia is Madeleine McCann or not. All the other facial apps are not really valid and legit until the DNA test comes back.

She claimed that a lot are asking why are they not asking Kate and Gerry McCann. Because there’s no need because Madeleine McCann’s DNA is already there and they don’t need to get involved, and Dr Fia Johansson added that they have teenagers, and they need to protect them and their privacy.

Dr Fia Johansson then went on to explain what will happen once she gets Julia’s DNA results back.

She said that when the DNA test comes in, which she was really badly waiting for and checking every day, they will match with the DNA of Madeleine McCann or anyone else out there that’s looking for their children that went missing at that time.

Dr Fia Johansson then addressed the possibility that perhaps Julia wasn’t Madeleine, and said that a lot of people were saying what if she’s not Madeleine McCann, what if she’s not anyone’s child and what if she is her mother’s real child?

She then declared that she would feel sorry for Julia to have such a heartless mum.

Some might say that it’s just one big scam and that they know the DNA is going to come back negative in regard to Madeleine McCann, and that plan b will be a terminal illness gofundme page to raise money.

As fellow human beings, we should never be in a rush to judge other folks, and we should never make a judgment based on assumptions, and we should always explore all possibilities first.

Let’s just wait for the DNA results before being judgemental because there are a lot of people’s emotions and feelings being impacted by this case.

A New Study Says Vapers Are Inhaling 240 Chemicals

Vaping has become one of Australia’s biggest public health problems, with children as young as 14 taking up e-cigarettes.

New research by the Australian National University is being used to back a call for a government crackdown on access to e-cigarettes.

Vaping is frequently framed as a better option than smoking cigarettes but the report identified a throng of risks, including unintended poisoning.

Lead research Professor Emily Banks said that our lungs are designed to breathe fresh air and that people using vapes were inhaling a complex cocktail of chemicals.

More than 240 chemicals were found in the toxicological analysis of non-nicotine e-cigarettes. That compares to about 7,000 chemicals in traditional cigarettes.

The report said that users of nicotine e-cigarettes could also be poisoned by the nicotine itself.

According to Cancer Council Victoria, nicotine poisoning can cause seizures and respiratory depression, which can result in death.

Australians can only legally access nicotine vapes if they have a prescription to use the products for the purpose of stopping smoking, but the absence of strong law enforcement against the illegal sale of e-cigarettes is threatening Australia’s hard-fought tobacco control successes, a Cancer Council spokesperson said.

Council chair Anita Dessaix said that every state and territory government must crack down on the hundreds of retailers illegally selling e-cigarette products outside of pharmacies, under the noses of authorities.

The report also found that most uses of e-cigarettes were not for smoking cessation, since most smokers who vape continued to smoke, and most uses in young people weren’t about stopping smoking.

More than one-third of e-cigarette users in Australia are under 25, with 11 per cent of the population aged 14 and over-reporting e-cigarette use in 2019.

The Australian Medical Association is urging the government to clamp down, giving the increasing use of vapes by children.

AMA president Professor Steve Robson said that Australian governments need to act now and that this would help them start to tackle the issue of vapes being marketed and sold to children.

At least 32 countries prohibit the sale of nicotine e-cigarettes, 79 countries permit them to be sold while fully or partly regulating them and the remaining 84 countries do not regulate them at all.

The study was published in the Medical Journal of Australia.

Of course, the science is there, but apply a bit of common sense because breathing anything into your lungs other than that rare commodity of fresh air isn’t going to be beneficial to your health, including car fumes and other harmful substances that we breathe in every day on our travels.

Eventually, hospitals will be plagued with people suffering damage from these chemicals.

What should happen is that people should be armed with information on what’s in the vapes and then let people decide if they want to poison their bodies because to be honest, in the real world everything that we breathe in and eat is bad for us.

Every human will die of something or another, whether it be nicotine, alcohol or drugs as an alternative to boring natural causes.

However, we as a society believe it’s okay to tell others what to do. Nonetheless, as long as you’re not breaking the law, people should be allowed to just get on with it, but governments won’t allow that and the world is turning into the Truman Show, or even worse, Hunger Games.

Manufacturers know they’re adding addictive substances to vapes, just like they do with cigarettes, so why aren’t they held accountable for essentially poisoning people?

It Is Possible That Vladimir Putin Will Be Toppled From Within The Kremlin As A Result Of The Arrest Warrant Issued By The International Criminal Court

The international criminal court (ICC) in The Hague has issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin for overseeing the abduction of Ukrainian children, sending Russia another significant step on the path to becoming a pariah state.

But enraged Vladimir Putin has criticised the International Criminal Court’s outrageous decision, but one expert said it could quicken Putin’s removal as Russian leader.

The ICC on Friday called for Vladimir Putin’s arrest and accused the dictator of perpetrating war crimes by abducting Ukrainian children from their homes and deporting them to Russia to be given to Russian families.

It also issued a warrant on Friday for the arrest of Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, Russia’s ‘Children’s Rights Commissioner, on the same charges.

The Kremlin criticised the court’s decision to issue an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin, saying that it was outrageous and unacceptable, but in contrast, Ukraine hailed the decision and said the wheels of justice were turning.

The Kremlin insisted that any decision of the ICC was null and void with regard to Russia as Moscow didn’t recognise the court’s jurisdiction.

Sir Geoffrey Nice, who was the lead prosecutor at former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic’s trial, said it was particularly important that the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin.

He suggested that Vladimir Putin being labelled and treated as a criminal could inspire a change in the regime or encourage the process of replacement and that there was enough information seeping out to show that there were some that were dissatisfied with his leadership.

He added that it was important because this man was now, as many would say he should have been a few weeks after the war started, labelled as a criminal.

Sir Geoffrey added that the war in Ukraine is now a ‘right, just war’ that is being ‘criminally led’.

Alexander Bastrykin, the head of Russia’s Investigative Committee, reacted to the ICC’s decision by proposing to create an ‘international court’ for ‘Ukrainian war criminals’, following similar comments from Vladimir Putin’s associates on state television.

The ICC’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan said hundreds of Ukrainian children had been taken from orphanages and children’s homes to Russia.

He said that many of those children, they alleged, had since been given up for adoption in the Russian Federation.

Vladimir Putin, the poisoner should do the honourable thing and hand himself in and clear his conscience, although Putin’s cards are marked, and his people should give him up.

I wouldn’t even be surprised if a price has been put on his head – he needs to be stopped nonetheless because he’s transformed Russia into a kleptocracy where he and his friends have robbed everything, and conscripted people to die in senseless wars. The Russian state is basically a mafia, and he’s the leader.

Now they can style Vladimir Putin’s child snatcher Ms Lvova-Belova as Mary Poppins.

If they can’t arrest him, they could still convict him without him even being present, either way, Vladimir Putin is finished outside of Russia and a few rogue states, although I don’t think he was planning on visiting Disneyland anytime soon.

Thousands Of People’s Phones Will Flash And Set Off Alarms As Part Of A Frightening ‘Armageddon Alarm’ Being Tested In The United Kingdom Within Weeks

The United Kingdom is set to test a terrifying ‘Armageddon alarm’ within weeks which will see thousands of people’s phones flash and set off warnings.

Millions will hear an alarm sound from their phone and will receive warning text messages as part of the government’s new emergency alert system trial.

The system is designed to alert people if there’s a danger to life nearby, with the imminent testing to focus on flooding and severe weather conditions.

The phone owner will then be given details of the emergency along with guidance on what to do and how to seek help.

Labour has been pushing for the system for more than a decade and ministers have been promising to introduce it since 2013.

Cabinet Office minister Kit Malthouse revealed at the time that the new system would permit the government to alert people much more thoroughly about imminent dangers such as floods, storms, wildfires or terror attacks.

The National Resilience Framework published by the government in December then said the system would be launched in early 2023, but up until now, there have only been local tests in Reading.

Labour’s Shadow Paymaster General Fleur Anderson said the trial was long overdue and the government had been haphazard in preparing for emergencies, and that this saga had dragged on for far too long and had left our country lagging far behind on keeping the public safe.

She added that Labour had a plan for a more resilient Britain to ensure government is alert to threats our country faces.

A Government spokesman said that Emergency Alerts would be a vital tool in helping us better respond to emergencies, both nationally and locally, and said that they’ve worked closely with the emergency services to develop this and carried out extensive trials ahead of its national rollout.

The government has been contacted for further comment by a newspaper outlet.

They have these alerts in places like Taiwan when there’s an earthquake, but the room would probably start shaking before the signal, but I believe that we’re all savvy enough to know that this has nothing to do with floods and weather and that there is something much more ominous afoot.

And I really do hope that this software that they will be using hasn’t been created by the same people who did track and trace. I mean what could possibly go wrong? And is this just another fear tactic to keep us, people, in order and to scare the pants off us?

The government always pretend that there’s a benign motivation for tracking people, like the warning of localise dangers, but then the reasoning for tracking starts being expanded more and more, and it just demonstrates just how much control they have if your phone can sound even if on silent, and you all thought you were safe!

So, is this alarm going to give us a four-minute warning? What if you don’t have a smartphone, which numerous elderly people don’t? What if your battery is flat? Or does the government expect us to keep our smartphones welded to our bodies 24/7 – what an absolute clown world we live in!

Turn off your smartphone tracking, use money as much as possible, protect privacy by using tech companies that facilitate privacy, close down your social media accounts and have conversations with people in real life, instead of through tech.

Or switch to an old non-smartphone and stop being spied on. Then no one knows where you are, you can’t be pestered by emails when you go out, and you’re free from pervasive internet, and the battery will last so much longer and the phone will easily fit in your pocket.

There’s Something Wrong Here!

A former Amazon warehouse employee has sued the internet retail colossus, arguing he was fired in retribution for seeking bereavement leave after both of his parents passed away less than a week apart.

In the suit filed on Tuesday in Kern County, California, 53-year-old Scott Brock accused Amazon of wrongfully firing him from his position at the Bakersfield fulfilment centre in early February.

Scott Brock told a newspaper outlet in a phone interview that he was stunned to be fired after he says Amazon rejected his request for bereavement leave when his parents, both in their 80s, died six days apart from natural causes.

Scott Brock said he was just shocked, and that they were more concerned about numbers than they were about people and that it wasn’t right.

Scott Brock’s attorney, Ronald L Zambrano of West Coast Trial Lawyers, concurred, telling the newspaper outlet that it was just heartless.

Amazon spokesperson Alisa Carroll denied the allegations in a statement to the newspaper outlet, saying that while they were very sorry for the loss of Mr Brock’s parents, it was unrelated to why he was no longer working at Amazon and that Mr Brock’s employment was terminated after an investigation found that he threatened a coworker and violated Amazon’s policies against workplace violence.

Mr Brock’s attorney Zambrano disputed that account, saying the workplace issue in question was well before Mr Brock’s parents died, accusing Amazon of using it as a pretext in his firing.

Zambrano said that Amazon, based on their own behaviour, appears to care more about efficiency and the bottom line versus reacting to real life and that somebody saying that their parents were dying should be that they should have let Mr Brock take some time off, and then let him back to work, but instead, they’ve punished him for it.

Mr Brock said his parents had both suffered from congestive heart failure and other medical problems, and that the couple seemed to go into a downward health spiral together in their final days, after more than six decades of happy marriage.

His father, 87-year-old Harold, was a Navy veteran who served as a mechanical specialist in aircraft carriers in the Korean War, before working as a truck driver for many years to support his wife and five children, who grew up in Bakersfield.

According to an obituary, he officially retired in 1989, but continued driving for independent trucking companies until he was 80, and then kept working as a crossing guard.

But talk to some people who have worked for or still work for Amazon and they’ll probably tell you the same thing – that Amazon doesn’t consider you as a person, and that as soon as Amazon can replace humans with robots, they will!

Awful conduct from an employer, but then I guess that’s why they’re so rich, but I do feel for this poor man, he must have had a week from hell – what doesn’t Amazon have bereavement leave? Talk about kicking a man when he’s down, it’s just not right.

Amazon evidently wanted to get rid of him and this was their excuse, and I would guess that working at a fulfilment centre must be the worst nightmare. I would imagine the definition of hell on earth where you’re dehumanised to the point of being a slave.

This man should find a better job because clearly, Amazon doesn’t value their workers.

Then you have the man that died working at Amazon who had a heart attack and wasn’t discovered for twenty minutes and then given treatment before the ambulance arrived and then staff were told to go back to work, they didn’t even have enough time to decompress, and that’s because Amazon expects their employees to work like robots.

The Prospect Of Being Arrested And Fingerprinted Makes Donald Trump ‘Deeply Anxious’

Donald Trump is extremely worried about the prospect of being arrested and fingerprinted as legal sources claim the New York City district attorney still has one more witness to question, suggesting his arrest could occur thereafter.

The former president claims he will be arrested on Tuesday over claims he paid porn star Stormy Daniels to keep silent about their alleged liaison, and if Donald Trump’s assertions about an imminent arrest are true, it would make him the first former president ever to face criminal charges.

A source told journalists from The New York Times, including Maggie Haberman, who broke several exclusives on Trump during his presidency that Donald Trump’s first legal encounter occurred in the 1970s and he has reportedly been deeply anxious about the prospect of being arrested since.

His concerns increased after his former Chief Financial Officer, Allen Weisselberg was arrested in 2021 and he was mainly covered in the media being escorted to court in handcuffs, and seeing his former close confidante in cuffs and flanked by officers shocked him to his core and those close to him said he couldn’t believe what they were doing to Weisselberg.

However, prosecutors inside DA Alvin Bragg’s office told a newspaper outlet that they didn’t know why Donald Trump thought his arrest would happen as early as Tuesday. Insiders said there’s still one more witness to testify before a grand jury, which could potentially delay his potential arrest.

A source close to Donald Trump’s advisors told the newspaper outlet that their best guess was Tuesday and that someone must have relayed that to the Republican before he took to Truth Social to make his claims, and that there had been no notification, other than illegal leaks from the Justice Department, and the DA’s office, to NBC and other fake news carriers, that the George Soros-funded Radical Left Democrat prosecutor in Manhattan had chosen to take his Witch-Hunt to the next level.

And that Donald Trump was rightfully highlighting his innocence and the weaponisation of the injustice system, and that he would be in Texas next weekend for a giant demonstration.

His claims come more than six years after Donald Trump’s lawyers paid Daniels a sum of $130,000 to keep quiet about the affair, with New York prosecutors considering if he should face charges. Donald Trump denies the affair and knowledge of the payments.

There’s no doubt that even if Donald Trump isn’t charged, this will hound him to the grave, but most Trump supporters, they don’t care that he paid most of his taxes in China and only paid an average of $750 in the United States the year he got elected.

They don’t care that he supposedly embezzled millions from a children’s cancer charity and his own charities to finance his election and other things that satisfied him.

They don’t care that he perpetually lied, and they don’t care that the obese malignant egomaniac can’t even string a coherent sentence together – in fact they don’t care about any of these facts. They just believe in the Chinese whispers and unproven allegations.

This orange stain isn’t deeply worried about anything. They’ve been trying to bring Donald Trump down for an extremely long time, but it never pans out, and Trump thought he had it bad, well he’s not, and for the life of me, I can’t understand why Trump voters have been doing everything to protect and shield Trump’s criminality – perhaps they all live in an alternate reality where morals are long gone and out of the window.

Elon Musk Says He’s Open To Buying Crisis-Hit Silicon Valley Bank And Turning Twitter Into A Digital Bank

Twitter and Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in a tweet that he’s open to saving the crisis-hit Silicon Valley Bank and even using Twitter as a digital bank.

The sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank has set financial markets into a frenzy, as experts warn it may not be a one-off and brace for the next domino to fall.

Elon Musk, one of the world’s wealthiest men who already bought Twitter for $44 billion last year, was responding to a Twitter user asking if Twitter should buy SVB and become a digital bank.

The chief twit, who frequently responds to questions involving current events, wrote: ‘I’m open to the idea’ on Friday.

California regulators shuttered the bank on Friday after a run on deposits pushed it into crisis, causing the largest US bank failure since the 2008 Great Recession.

Elon Musk also bought the struggling social media app in a protracted negotiation in 2022.

He agreed in April to buy it for $44 billion but attempted to back out of the deal to get a better price.

Finally, after legal threats, he ended up going through with the acquisition and completed his takeover on October 27, 2022.

According to CNBC, had he not completed the deal, he would’ve encountered action in Delaware’s Court of Chancery.

The ripple effect has already hit similar institutions, such as New York’s Signature Bank, which saw its share price plunge 23 per cent before trading was halted when the news of SVB’s demise came in.

The share price of First Republic, the 16th largest bank in America, also crashed by 14.8 per cent and Pac West fell by 37.9 per cent.

University of San Diego finance professor Dan Roccato warned that while SVB was a niche bank, more firms were likely to encounter troubling times ahead.

He told Fox News that he didn’t think they were going back to where they were in 2008 necessarily, but that these things weren’t one-offs’, and he said that his suspicion was that they were going to see a few more of these things creep up.

Silicon Valley Bank’s massive downfall is the second-largest bank failure in US history.

Its death on Friday, which has left customers terrified of losing deposits totalling tens of billions of dollars, is eclipsed only by the failure of Washington Mutual in 2008, which had assets of $307 billion when it went into receivership.

You’ve got to hand it to Elon Musk though, he’s always brainstorming and always getting himself in the news, and he certainly likes to share every brain fart he has with the general public in the hopes everyone gasps with each declaration, but then his brain farts are more brilliant than most people’s efforts.

Elon Musk is a brainiac, although we don’t want his head to get too big, but he will probably turn this around and make a fortune, not that he needs more money, but he is always forward-thinking, but people seem to be making a God out of this mortal man, and they seemingly idolise him. Perhaps Elon could govern America because it’s obvious the democrats don’t have a clue what they’re doing.

Digital currency is what they want, but is it actually a good idea?

Presently, we’re at a bit of a crossroads when it comes to digital currency.

Physical cash is still widely circulating, and governments and banks are still yet to make the leap to issuing a central bank digital currency. At the same time, more people are living a cashless life, which is what they want, and the cryptocurrency boom is very much happening.

This means that digital currencies are under more scrutiny than ever as governments, financial authorities, global corporations, and banks that make decisions start to take them seriously as a solution for the future.

Of course, digital currency could offer a wide range of advantages over conventional methods of payment, including faster payments and greater transparency, but there are also some disadvantages to take into account as well, like security problems and how explosive some currencies can be.

Of course, digital currency offers faster transactions. There are no fees. There’s better payment tracking and better protection against fraud.

There’s better accessibility and no inflation.

So, what are the drawbacks of digital currency?

Presently, most digital currencies are decentralised, so they’re not backed by a government or central bank.

This means that they’re not stable and open to a lot of volatility, which means they can lose or gain value very quickly, and those who trade in digital currencies can possess something worth a lot in one moment, but if the value falls, they can lose value rapidly.

If CBDCs backed by banks or governments were issued in the future, then they could be a much more secure solution, but then there is the security issue because while digital currencies remove the need for storing your personal details online, the currency you own may still be vulnerable to hacks, and there have been a number of cases of companies holding currency having it stolen in an attack. Traditional banks offer a wider range of protection and compensation for those that have their funds looted.

Then there’s the lack of regulation. 

The conventional financial industry is laboriously controlled, which helps to add stability and ensure there’s no improper activity.

Digital currencies presently exist outside of this regulation for the most part, which provides the user with freedom but also means they’re predisposed to more unsavoury practices.

While digital currencies are more accessible, there are also downsides. Most worrying is that this increased access can open the currency up to criminal elements looking to manipulate it for their needs, and authorities are most concerned about digital currencies being used for money laundering or to fund criminal activities.

Digital currency for the time being and most definitely in the future is a bad idea because unlike traditional forms of payment that have stood the test of time and look to have a solid future, digital currency is still new and very much in the early phases of development. Because of this, the outlook is uncertain, and there’s no guarantee that the funds you hold digitally will continue to be usable or retain value.

Let’s Pour One For Purim!

These pictures aren’t exactly what you might envision when you think of a religious festival, but among Jewish communities, the annual celebration of Purim can result in intoxicated lightheartedness as it’s celebrated with parties, fancy dress, amazing food and for the guys, a lot of booze.

The scenes in Mea Shearim were characteristic of the holiday, which marks the deliverance of the Jewish people from a plan to eliminate them in the Persian realm 2,500 years ago.

According to the tale, the plot was thought up by Haman, an official of the Achaemenid Empire. Haman was the advisor to Persian King Ahasuerus, but the plans were thwarted by Mordechai.

The story is told in the biblical book of Esther, which is publicly recited in the synagogue, known as the reading of the Megillah, as part of the annual celebrations.

This festive holiday is observed with the exchanging of mouthwatering food, drink and presents, consuming a sumptuous celebratory feast and contributing to the needy.

According to religious law, each adult must give at least two different foods to another person, and at least two charitable donations to the poor during the holiday. The giving of these food parcels, called mishloach manot, has become a huge part of the festivities.

To satisfy the aspect of charity to the needy, either food or money equal to the amount of food that’s consumed at a regular meal can be donated. In Synagogue, collections are also taken.

It’s a holiday which has been embraced by ultra-Orthodox Jewish people, who are known to throw enormous parties, complete with fancy dress and popular dishes such as three-cornered pastries called hamantashen, which are traditionally filled with raspberry, apricot, date or poppy seeds.

Seeds, nuts, legumes and green vegetables are customarily consumed on Purim, as is Kreplach, a dumpling filled with cooked meat, chicken or liver and served with soup.

Special breads are also generally consumed, and a dessert consisting of fried dough balls and vanilla custard, called Arany Galuska is customary for Jews from Hungary and Romania, as well as their descendants, but arguably the wildest part of the celebrations is the drinking of alcoholic liquids to the point of drunkenness.

The custom is said to originate from a statement in the Talmud, attributed to a rabbi named Rava, who allegedly states that men should drink during the celebrations until he can no longer distinguish between Arur Haman (Cursed is Haman) and Baruch Mordechai (Blessed is Mordecai).

It’s believed that consuming wine stimulates the experience of spiritual blindness, in that a person is unable to distinguish between good and evil while inebriated. However, men have had to restrain their drinking in recent years because, during the pandemic, senior ultra-Orthodox rabbis were forced to urge moderation as the enormous parties resulted in a coronavirus spike.

Although, I’m not entirely sure what to make of this splendour. Is that child smoking in the photograph, or do my eyes mislead me?

The festivities look amazing if you want to get plastered, but quite frankly they look downright medieval, and it looks like there will be some extremely aching heads after an evening like that, although it looks like they were having fun, just wondering where all the women were – perhaps they weren’t allowed to enjoy themselves? But it does prove that they’re human after all, just like most other people.

I must confess, it did look like fun, although I wouldn’t have wanted the headache the following morning, and can you imagine all of the collective heartburn of all those Jewish men after consuming hamantashen and kreplach, among other Jewish edibles? Oy Vey!

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