Hasta La Gadget!

WASHINGTON — The Senate Conservatives Fund posted record fundraising numbers in September as it backed the congressional campaign to defund Obamacare that ultimately forced a 16-day government shutdown.

In the month leading to the Oct. 1 shutdown, Senate Conservatives Fund raised more than $2.1 million, a record for the group in a non-election year and the second-highest monthly total it has ever reported. The majority of the fundraising, $1.9 million, came from small donors. The group posted similarly big fundraising numbers in August as the defund Obamacare campaign gathered steam.

Small donor contributions are often driven by appeals to partisans. The Senate Conservatives Fund “Don’t Fund Obamacare” website, supported by tea party favorite Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), attracted more than 2 million signatures to an anti-Obamacare petition. After signing the petition, visitors were directed to a donation platform and asked to make a $25 contribution.

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The Ohio University student who tweeted a photo of a sexual encounter in public that was later reported as a sexual assault told the student newspaper he regrets snapping the picture.

Vance Blanc, a freshman at OU, saw his photo go viral this week after BuzzFeed posted an edited version of it Monday, picking up on a report from the Post that the woman in the image told police the encounter was non-consensual. The man was performing oral sex on the woman, an OU student, outside of a bank close to campus.

“It was obvious that both the man and woman were very, very drunk,” Blanc told the Post. “I guess the thing that put everyone there at ease was that she never said stop, she never struggled and she never asked for help. She put her hand on the back of his head. She seemed like she was enjoying it, so I guess for everyone there it was like ‘OK, it’s not assault. It’s not rape.'”

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A new report is shedding light on the growing number of individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender in the black community.

According to a recent study, there are more than one million African-American LGBT adults in the U.S. Of those individuals, 84,000 are in same-sex households with about 34 percent of couples raising children. These numbers come about a year after a Gallup report that found African-Americans make up the largest share of the LGBT community.

The report highlights some key findings, including the fact that 58 percent of African-American LGBT couples are female, and the economic challenges many LGBT African-Americans face.

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It looks like Christmas came early! There is a magical weed fairy making special stops in Brooklyn to spread some early holiday cheer. @TheGardenBreath aka the Weed Fairy has been taping posters all around the BK with the message, “These are tough times, take this week and keep your spirits high” — and included with the poster comes your very own marijuana nug.

The Weed Fairy joined us on HuffPost Live to talk weed cupcakes, Megan Fox and where all this weed comes from. Hint: It isn’t the North Pole.

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Who knew Disney movies could mimic real life so perfectly?

Photographer Neil Agate captured this scene, reminiscent of “The Lion King,” during a 2008 safari in Tanzania, though it’s only now starting to gain popularity on the internet. In the pic, a young cub and proud lion (complete with Mufasa-style mane), clamber to the top of a vantage point in the Serengeti National Park. The location where they’re standing is named, fittingly, “Simba Kopje,” or “Lion Hill.”

“I was close enough to hear them breathing and the tiny attempts at roaring from the little one were cute,” said Agate in a statement accompanying the photo. “I’ve been on safari in Africa 4 or 5 times and this remains the most special moment I’ve had.”

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