Hasta La Gadget!

A Republican state legislator who has previously found himself in hot water over his Facebook posts about domestic violence, black women and mental health doesn’t seem to have refined his social media filter.

On Wednesday, New Hampshire Rep. Kyle Tasker expressed his disbelief that the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council had hosted the National Black Caucus of State Legislators at ALEC’s annual meeting in Dallas this week.

“How do I join the white caucus of state legislators?” Tasker asked, in response to a post by Jordan Ulery, a fellow Republican in New Hampshire’s state house.

“Caucuses are merely groups of people with similar likes/dislikes,” Ulery helpfully explained in response to Tasker. “Personally I long for the day of character, not color being again the guiding principle.”

“Yea that was kind of my point,” Tasker replied. “So what are the likes/dislikes of the black caucus that precludes white people from joining? I’m fond of rap music…”

Tasker then posted a link to a music video for “Country Grammar,” a Nelly song.

When The Huffington Post reached Tasker on his cell phone to discuss his comments, he quickly said “No, thank you” and hung up.

A New Hampshire progressive advocacy group said Tasker’s latest comments indicate he is “too immature to serve as an elected official.”

“Kyle Tasker has proven time and again that he is unfit to represent New Hampshire values,” Zandra Rice Hawkins, Granite State Progress’ executive director, said in a statement to HuffPost on Friday. “His latest racist remark only continues his pattern of blatant racism and sexism, and his decision earlier this year to make a sexually explicit joke about victims of domestic violence shows he is too immature to serve as an elected official. Tasker’s comments have been fodder in the national news more than once, but voters can put an end to this embarrassment by voting him out of office in November.”

See the discussion thread below:

Vin Diesel appeared on “Live with Kelly and Michael” on Friday to promote his voice role in “Guardians of the Galaxy,” and the actor used the platform to discuss Paul Walker, Diesel’s friend and “Fast and Furious” co-star, who died last year in a car accident.

“It’s a heavy thing, Michael. You know?” Diesel said to co-host Michael Strahan when he asked about Walker. “I grew up in the bouncer world, and we lost people while we were bouncing. But the brotherhood in Paul Walker was something completely different. It was someone that we … we grew up in the business together, and we became famous together, and we represented the biggest franchise together. He was my partner, and it’s a strange thing to … I’ve been acting all my life and they don’t teach you in acting, how to mourn someone and simultaneously pretend they’re in a scene with you.”

Walker died during production on “Fast and Furious 7.” The filmmakers used both computer-generated effects and Walker’s own brothers to complete the actors work in the film, which is due out in April of next year.

“It’s one of the darker moments in this, in my journey,” Diesel said. “Yeah. Yeah guys, you know it’s a rough one. You all had people you love that passed away.”

Watch Diesel discuss Walker, and the danger inherent with making “Fast and Furious 7,” in the video below.

Here’s something you probably haven’t heard of: the protest that never really came to be, nipped in the bud, killed before it was even born. On July 29, 20 Palestinians in Gaza were reportedly executed by Hamas for treason, making a total of over 30 in two days. If you’re wondering what “treason” means — it means they protested against Hamas because of the destruction Hamas’ repeated refusal for ceasefire was causing. Hamas calls it treason, but daring to speak and protest is the real reason.

Real data as to public opinion in Gaza is scarce. Still, there are a few hints of true voices coming out from the dark. An anonymous poll taken in Gaza just before Hamas started firing rockets into Israel, was aired by the Washington Institute on July 15th. It shows that the people of Gaza are worn out, sick of the Hamas brutal regime. More than 70% said they support a nonviolent resistance, and think Hamas should maintain a ceasefire with Israel. When asked who in their opinion should lead Gaza, a solid majority favored Abbas and PLO, and only 15% named Hamas leaders, Mashaal and Haniyeh. In this piece, a Palestinian journalist, who preferred to stay anonymous for obvious reasons, said the only reason Hamas is still in charge is because of its iron fist and ruthless military regime.

Another research by Orit Perlov for the INSS that was aired last week, set out to find the Palestinian voices that seep through the social networks. Her findings were very similar to the Washington Institute’s, and surprised many, Israelis as well. According to her study, the Gazans do not want the Hamas leadership, but feel protesting won’t get them anywhere after seeing where it’s gotten protesters in Syria, Iran, Bahrain and Iraq. The Gazans want to survive, and it seems that protesters everywhere simply end up getting shot.

Another voice that’s been heard lately belongs to the Green Prince, Son of Hamas – the New York Times bestseller written by the son of one of Hamas’ co-founders. Mosab Hassan Yousef could not bear to continue taking part in the fanatic brutality, destruction and lies. He was disowned by his family, exiled to the west, threatened by savages and lost everything he had. Years later he wrote a book in which he tells the truth about Hamas’ destructive goals, and its merciless system which exploits Palestinians for its leaders’ selfish needs, while feeding Palestinian children from the age of 5 with the twisted ideology that worships death.

But these voices are few, especially during these horrific days in Gaza. Right now, the voices coming out of Gaza are filtered by Hamas. One can assume the story of the execution, although tweeted by some, was not voiced by too much media for lack of ability to get confirmation. Hamas, a terror organization which uses torture and ruthless violence not only against Israel but against its own people, doesn’t have a big moral problem about lying or keeping information from the international press. And what about the Palestinians? They gravely understand what happens to those who think it’s wise to protest.

It’s easy to see that the Palestinian anguish is only directed at Israel, never at Hamas, although Hamas is the official regime in Gaza. Hamas is the one calling the shots, refusing ceasefires and promising to fight to the death, although its leader doesn’t fight. He’s comfortably hiding with his family in Qatar, sacrificing Palestinian blood from a fancy hotel.

The Gazans are suffering beyond comprehension, but Hamas is counting on their photos to regain the legitimacy it has nearly lost completely in the Arab world. It only allows the Palestinians to speak of the Israeli occupation as their problem, relying on the fact that people tend to forget that Gaza has not been occupied by Israel since 2005. Gazans have been free from Israeli occupation for nine years, but as long as Hamas remains in control and calls the shots, they will be very far from being peaceful or free.

A woman has given birth to quadruplets in Gaza, bringing a moment of joy amid the sorrow of the current conflict.

The quadruplets were born at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, BuzzFeed reported. Dr. Bassel Abuwarda announced the news on Twitter Thursday morning and shared a photo of the beautiful newborns.

Dr. Qadoura: Despite the pain, Palestinian mother gave birth to quadruplets last night in #Gaza. pic.twitter.com/QVfDRWOCG2

— Dr.Bassel Abuwarda (@DrBasselAbuward) July 31, 2014

The mother, who is from the Palestinian city of Rafah, gave birth to three boys and one girl, according to ABC News.

Abuwarda has been live-tweeting updates from the hospital where many of those injured in the conflict are being treated. On Friday, he reported the hospital was being evacuated due to an alleged Israeli bomb threat.

Al-Shifa Hospital’s outpatient clinic was hit by an airstrike on Monday, the Associated Press confirmed. Several people were wounded. At least 10 Palestinians, including children, were killed by a strike at a nearby park minutes later. It’s still unclear who was responsible.

The death toll in Gaza surpassed 1,400 as of Friday, according to Reuters. The death toll includes at least 1,410 Palestinians, 56 Israeli soldiers and three civilians on the Israeli side.

Last year we featured Carl Merriam’s LEGO Microscope. It turns out he actually made an improved version shortly after making that one. His LEGO Microscope Mk. II provides up to 10x magnification and even has an LED light. Carl then submitted his creation to LEGO Ideas. It still doesn’t have 10,000 supporters, which is needed for LEGO to evaluate the toy, but that’s where we can all help.

The Mk. II uses four LEGO magnifying glasses and has two magnification knobs – one for coarse adjustments and one for fine adjustments. The microscope’s stage is also adjustable. Finally, Carl added a Power Functions LED to make it easier to see the subject.

Here’s Carl presenting the microscope at an episode of the Beyond the Brick podcast:

Vote for the LEGO Microscope Mk. II on LEGO Ideas. If it becomes an official set it could inspire kids to become scientists. Or LEGOlogists.