| Biden urges caution about policies of 'way left' Democrats, Ocasio-Cortez Posted: 05 Jul 2019 06:07 PM PDT ![Biden urges caution about policies of 'way left' Democrats, Ocasio-Cortez]( "Biden urges caution about policies of 'way left' Democrats, Ocasio-Cortez") The former vice president has continued to tout his more moderate proposals as some other 2020 Democrats are supporting more left-leaning ideas.
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| Melania Trump: ‘Disgraceful’ wooden statue of first lady prompts complaints in Slovenia Posted: 05 Jul 2019 11:35 AM PDT  A wooden statue of Melania Trump has reportedly been erected in the first lady's home country of Slovenia, despite criticism from locals. The conceptual statue — which depicts Ms Trump standing in the blue outfit she wore to her husband's inauguration in 2016 — was commissioned by US artist Brade Downey and created by artist Ales Zupevc, known as Maxi, according to ITV.The life-sized statue is planted atop a wooden plank with shrubbery in a field near her hometown of Sevnica, according to photographs released this week.Locals complained about the statue, not due to the first lady's affiliation with Donald Trump, but rather because they say the wooden sculpture does not look like Ms Trump at all. "It doesn't look anything like Melania," one local told the outlet. "It's a smurfette. It's a disgrace."Another local reportedly echoed those comments, telling the reporter, "It's not okay. It's a disgrace. That's what I have to say."Mr Downey reportedly did not include any instructions with his request for the artist to build the conceptual design of the first lady — except that it must feature the same dress she wore to the inauguration. The first lady has become one of her home country's most famous exports ever since her husband became the US president.Businesses and storefronts in Slovenia began selling Melania slippers, cake and even honey, branding their products with the first lady's image.Ms Trump reportedly hired a local law firm in 2017 to prevent shops from using her likeness to sell products. The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
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| Buttigieg hits back at ‘black people’ question: ‘Racism is not going to help’ Posted: 04 Jul 2019 02:09 PM PDT  "Sir, I think racism is not going to help us get out of this drama," Buttigieg said.
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| Southern California Rocked by 7.1-Magnitude Earthquake, Strongest to Hit Area in 20 Years Posted: 05 Jul 2019 09:07 PM PDT  David McNew/ReutersSouthern California residents rattled by a 6.4-magnitude earthquake on the Fourth of July holiday were hit by an even stronger earthquake on Friday night that sparked fires, triggered rock slides, and inundated emergency services with frantic calls for help. And it may not be over. Experts say there is a 1 in 10 chance that another quake of the same size could hit the Mojave Desert community in the coming days.The U.S. Geological Survey said the 7.1-magnitude quake was centered near Ridgecrest, California, where some homes were damaged in Thursday's earthquake—the strongest to hit the area in 20 years until the one that struck Friday. The city is about 112 miles from Bakersfield and 150 from Los Angeles. "The cars started dancing. The dogs were freaking out. The cattle behind us started going nuts," one Ridgecrest resident told CNN.The shaking could be felt all the way to Sacramento and Las Vegas, and even in Mexico. A game between the New Orleans Pelicans and the New York Knicks in Vegas was postponed after the court was rocked by tremors, prompting players to freeze mid-game. Kern County fire officials said there were "multiple injuries and multiple fires" in Ridgecrest, though no reports of deaths. First responders scrambled to handle an influx of emergency calls about gas leaks and fires, though authorities said no major building collapses had been reported."There are a lot of medical aid calls out there. We know of no fatalities at this time. However, there have been a lot of ambulance calls," Kern County Fire Chief David Witt said at a late-night press conference. Witt said authorities were doing a "systematic search… for life and property" throughout Ridgecrest. Residents fled their homes and took shelter in their cars or at a relief center until structural damage could be assessed."Many people are sleeping outside tonight," Ridgecrest Mayor Peggy Breeden said.Marshella Taylor, a 39-year-old behavioral specialist, told The Daily Beast that she felt the quake while walking in downtown Bakersfield with her boyfriend. "One building had a bunch of chandeliers shaking," Taylor said. "People came out and were like, 'Did you feel that?' We just kept holding hands. We didn't even move."But Marshella said she was more concerned about her mother, Valerie Taylor, who lives in Ridgecrest, where the quake hit hardest. Marshella hasn't heard from her mom since the tremors started."Yesterday, maybe an hour before the big one, I asked [my mom] if she had a survivor packet just in case something was going to happen," Marshella told The Daily Beast. "She said, 'Oh I'm fine, I'm good. We've been through these earthquakes before.' Then, all of a sudden, the earthquake hit. I looked at my phone and it said it was a 7.1. I still haven't gotten in contact with her."State Route 178 was closed for several hours after the quake cause rock slides.Retired USGS seismologist Lucy Jones said Friday night's earthquake happened on the same fault system as the one that jolted the area on Thursday. "The fault is growing," Jones was quoted saying by the Los Angeles Times. "We ruptured a piece in the first earthquake, we ruptured a piece in the 5.4 [the aftershock], and we've ruptured more now." The U.S. Geological Survey noted that many people who felt the quake around Southern California did not get an alert from Los Angeles ShakeAlert app.The USGS estimates the quake will cost a billion dollars, and Gov. Gavin Newsom requested President Trump issue an emergency declaration for federal aid.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Beloved female football player, 17, killed by drunk driver in Florida Posted: 05 Jul 2019 12:00 PM PDT  A beloved member of a Florida high school football team who planned on joiningthe Marines after graduating was hit and killed by a drunk driver while ridingher bike last weekend
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| China locks down Xinjiang a decade after deadly ethnic riots Posted: 05 Jul 2019 05:43 PM PDT  A decade after deadly riots tore through his hometown, Kamilane Abudushalamu still vividly recalls the violence that left him an exile. On July 5, 2009, Abudushalamu was hiding with his father on the 10th floor of an office tower in Urumqi, the capital of China's Xinjiang region that is home to the Turkic Uighur ethnic minority. Hours later, when he and his father stepped out to sprint home, he saw crowds of Uighurs stabbing Han Chinese in front of a middle school.
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| Hong Kong Protester Who Defaced the City Emblem Is Still Angry Posted: 06 Jul 2019 02:29 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Of all the dramatic visuals to emerge from the protests that rocked Hong Kong in recent weeks, one stands out: the defaced city emblem left by demonstrators who stormed the legislature on July 1.The image of Hong Kong's iconic bauhinia flower covered in black paint has become a symbol of the frustrations that sent hundreds of thousands of protesters onto the streets and drove some to vandalism. The masked 20-year-old behind the graffiti, who would only give his last name as Lau, said he targeted the bauhinia because it would be "meaningful."As Hong Kong gears up for another round of demonstrations this weekend, interviews with Lau and others who broke into the legislature that evening suggest their anger with the government and its backers in Beijing is deeply entrenched. While Lau is wary of becoming a police target after images of him spray-painting the city emblem were broadcast around the world, he said he still believes what he did was right."Hong Kong people are very stressed," Lau said. "The problems are endless."The protesters interviewed by Bloomberg spoke of the underlying frustration and dissatisfaction toward the government that have accumulated among young adults over the years -- from wealth disparity to out-of-reach home prices in the world's most expensive property market, and a sense of eroding democratic norms.Read more: Why Hong Kong Is Protesting (and May Do So Again)Lau's lack of regret also underscores the persistent divide between protesters and Hong Kong's government. Carrie Lam, the city's chief executive, suspended the extradition bill that sparked the initial demonstrations last month but has refused to completely withdraw it or meet protesters' other demands. This week, Hong Kong police began arresting suspects on charges related to the July 1 demonstrations.Meanwhile, Chinese authorities have mounted a campaign of criticism, describing the invasion of Hong Kong's legislature as a threat to the rule of law. A front-page editorial in the Communist Party's flagship newspaper, the People's Daily, blasted the protesters as "extremists" whose actions threaten to "ruin Hong Kong's reputation as an international business metropolis."A protest planned for July 7 illustrates how demonstrators are increasingly targeting China's overall influence on the city, rather than just the extradition bill. Participants will march from Salisbury Garden, an area frequented by Chinese tourists, toward the high-speed rail station that connects Hong Kong all the way to Beijing.People want to "protest against the regime," said Wayne, a 29-year-old design freelancer who was among the first demonstrators to enter the legislature on July 1, the anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China from Britain. He declined to give his full name for fear of being targeted by authorities."Anti-extradition is only one of the trigger points," he said. "Hong Kong hasn't had genuine democracy in the 20 or so years since the handover of sovereignty."One of the reforms protesters are calling for relates to direct elections for the city's top office. Hong Kong's chief executives are currently chosen by a 1,200-member committee of mostly Beijing supporters. For Lau, that's why a replacement for Lam -- who started her third year in office this week -- wouldn't be enough."The next one would be the same," he said. "We've seen how they're like."The now-suspended extradition law, which if passed would allow such transfers to China, had added to a list of worries that Beijing is encroaching on the "high degree of autonomy" promised for Hong Kong.The Hong Kong Immigration Department in 2018 refused to renew a U.K. journalist's work visa after he hosted a talk by pro-independence activist Andy Chan at the city's Foreign Correspondents' Club. The government also banned Chan's party after that speech. An exhibition featuring an artist critical of China was canceled due to what the organizer called "threats" by Chinese authorities.K.T. Li, an unemployed 23-year-old, said he may escalate his own actions in future protests because the government has failed to address his concerns, which includes the fear that Hong Kong will be a city that's highly monitored by Chinese authorities. At the same time, he stressed that he doesn't want to harm anyone, including the police."If they want to name me a rioter, I accept that," Li said. "But I've been forced to become one. Whether what we do is right? It's for later generations to decide."To contact the reporters on this story: Shawna Kwan in Hong Kong at wkwan35@bloomberg.net;Natalie Lung in Hong Kong at flung6@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Tracy Alloway, Michael PattersonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| AD's Favorite Finds For Green Thumbs and Garden Lovers Posted: 06 Jul 2019 05:00 AM PDT |
| Venezuela Independence Day marked by rival rallies, UN rebuke Posted: 05 Jul 2019 11:19 PM PDT  Venezuela's Independence Day was marked by rival rallies Friday, led by opposition leader Juan Guaido and President Nicholas Maduro, who waged a war of words even as the UN warned of eroded rule of law in the country. The crowd that gathered to hear the center-right leader, who in January declared himself acting president in a direct challenge to Maduro's authority, was markedly smaller than those at the beginning of the year. The country was observing the July 5 holiday celebrating its 1811 Declaration of Independence.
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| Starbucks barista asks police officers to leave because customer 'did not feel safe,' police union claims Posted: 06 Jul 2019 08:27 AM PDT ![Starbucks barista asks police officers to leave because customer 'did not feel safe,' police union claims]( "Starbucks barista asks police officers to leave because customer 'did not feel safe,' police union claims") The barista allegedly asked the officers to move out of the customer's line of sight or to leave.
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| Border patrol agents mock migrants with racist messages in Facebook group Posted: 05 Jul 2019 11:14 AM PDT  A second secret Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Facebook group has been exposed for its derogatory depiction of migrants in a series of vulgar and inappropriate posts. The group, called "Real CBP Nation", was discovered after two individuals familiar with the page sent screenshots to journalists at CNN. The page contained posts mocking the separation of migrant families, racist and racially divisive comments about Asian and African American people, and memes mocking congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.The group had around 1,000 members. In one post, a meme posted of a border patrol agent apprehending someone was captioned: "Felt kinda cute, might separate some families today idk."The immigration authority said: "CBP received screenshots of social media posts allegedly by CBP employees and has shared those posts with the office of professional responsibility, the office charged with investigating potential employee misconduct". It added it planned to launch an investigation. The spokesperson continued: "If the investigation verifies that employees posted content in violation of CBP's code of conduct, the findings will inform management decisions regarding appropriate disciplinary action." The news of this CBP Facebook group comes after another page, called "I'm 10-15", was exposed by ProPublica for mocking dead migrants, posting sexist and sexually suggestive imagery of Ms Ocasio-Cortez, and using offensive and dehumanising language concerning asylum seekers.These posts included accusations that the picture of drowned migrants Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and his daughter Valeria, who died while trying to cross the Rio Grande in June, was faked by "dems and liberal parties" because the migrants were "so clean". The picture of the father and daughter was taken by a Mexican journalist, Julia Le Duc.One member posted doctored images of Donald Trump pushing Ms Ocasio-Cortez's head towards his genitals, captioned: "That's right b*tches. The masses have spoken and today democracy won."The "I'm 10-15" group had over 9,000 members, and several posters had been reported to CBP higher-ups. The two groups are now undergoing internal investigations.
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| Kamala Harris raises nearly $12 million in second quarter Posted: 05 Jul 2019 11:44 AM PDT  Harris raised $2 million alone in the 24 hours after the first presidential debate last week.
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| Rustic sculpture of Melania Trump unveiled near Slovenian hometown Posted: 05 Jul 2019 01:52 PM PDT ![Rustic sculpture of Melania Trump unveiled near Slovenian hometown]( "Rustic sculpture of Melania Trump unveiled near Slovenian hometown") A life-size rough wooden sculpture of U.S. first lady Melania Trump was unveiled near her hometown of Sevnica in southeastern Slovenia on Friday. Commissioned by Berlin-based American artist Brad Downey and carved with a chainsaw by local folk artist Ales Zupevc, the statue serves as a - perhaps wry - accompaniment to Downey's exhibition in the capital Ljubljana exploring Melania's roots in the small Alpine country. Although the statue's face is rough-hewn and unrecognisable, the figure is shown clothed in the pale blue wraparound coat that Melania wore at Donald Trump's inauguration as U.S. president.
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| AOC releases plan on Twitter to address immigration crisis Posted: 05 Jul 2019 02:45 PM PDT  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Wednesday released a plan to address the increasing numbers of migrants crossing the southern border, calling among other things for decriminalizing illegal border crossings.
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| The Latest: Trump asks Americans to 'stay true to our cause' Posted: 04 Jul 2019 07:29 PM PDT  President Donald Trump celebrated the story of America as "the greatest political journey in human history" in a Fourth of July commemoration before a soggy but cheering crowd of spectators on the grounds of the Lincoln Memorial. Trump called on Americans to "stay true to our cause" during a program that adhered to patriotic themes and hailed an eclectic mix of history's heroes, from the armed forces, space, civil rights and other endeavors of American life. The U.S. Secret Service says two people were arrested during a Fourth of July flag-burning incident on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House.
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| Strongest earthquake to hit Southern California in 20 years rattles region, rumbles residents Posted: 05 Jul 2019 06:06 AM PDT  A preliminary magnitude 6.4 earthquake rocked Southern California on Thursday, shaking an area for hundreds of miles.
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| Thousands protest amid outcry over Myanmar child-rape case Posted: 06 Jul 2019 12:06 AM PDT ![Thousands protest amid outcry over Myanmar child-rape case]( "Thousands protest amid outcry over Myanmar child-rape case") Thousands of protesters marched to a police office in the north of Myanmar's largest city, Yangon, on Saturday, demanding speedy and transparent justice in a child-rape case that has sparked national outrage. Police said this week they had arrested a suspect in the rape of a toddler - nicknamed Victoria - at a private nursery school in the administrative capital, Naypyitaw, in May. A government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi took power after sweeping elections in 2015, but key institutions such as the police remain under military control and efforts to strengthen the rule of law have floundered.
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| Families file suit in bizarre US mistaken identity case Posted: 05 Jul 2019 01:16 PM PDT  Alfonso Bennett's sisters agreed to take him off life support after doctors at Mercy Hospital in Chicago told them there was no hope for recovery. Turns out it wasn't their brother Alfonso Bennett who was dying in the hospital but an entirely different man, Elisha Brittman. The Bennett and Brittman families filed a lawsuit this week against the Chicago Police Department and Mercy Hospital in Illinois' Cook County Circuit Court claiming negligence.
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| Fox News Anchor Julie Banderas Thinks It’s Illegal to Burn the American Flag Posted: 05 Jul 2019 11:21 AM PDT  Fox News anchor Julie Banderas is apparently unaware of Texas v. Johnson. Towards the end of a discussion on the seemingly never-ending Nike/Betsy Ross flag controversy during Friday's broadcast of chat-fest Outnumbered, the conversation shifted to the arrest of two men who burned an American flag outside the White House on July 4."There was a video of somebody who stopped burning of the protest—I think it was yesterday—with his hands," co-host Carley Shimkus said. "It means a lot to a lot of people."Banderas, meanwhile, noted that two people were arrested after the protest before adding a bit of commentary."And it's a crime to burn the American flag," she declared. "That's how much we respect our American flag."While it is true that two men were arrested following the flag-burning, the U.S. Secret Service noted that one person was arrested for "felony assault on a police officer and malicious burning." As they pointed out, while the burning of the American flag is not illegal, the burning occurred outside the parameters of the protesters' permit issued by the National Parks Service.Ironically, one of the men arrested was Gregory "Joey" Johnson, who was the defendant in the landmark Texas v. Johnson Supreme Court case in 1989 that ruled flag-burning was protected speech under the First Amendment, invalidating then-current laws on the book prohibiting flag desecration.Despite tossing out this explicit falsehood, she went unchallenged by her colleagues, including guest host Dean Cain, who bragged during the broadcast that he majored in history.Later in the day, filling in for Fox News anchor Shepard Smith, Banderas introduced a segment on Johnson's arrest by noting that "it is not technically illegal to burn a flag due to free speech and the Constitution." She did not, however, mention how she had incorrectly labeled flag-burning a crime earlier that afternoon. Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Is the United States Ready for a Tech War? Posted: 05 Jul 2019 02:12 PM PDT  A global "technology war" that will likely shape U.S. economic and national security well into the twenty-first century is emerging. Many technologies have become the focus of this war, with winners and losers are already beginning to emerge. At this point, the United States finds itself at a distinct disadvantage.Ironically, the seeds of this emerging conflict were inadvertently sown by the United States. The world has seen the impact of technology—how it has led to the buildup of significant wealth and overwhelming military capacity with global reach. With approximately one-quarter of the global gross domestic product and military spending that exceeds the spending of the next seven nations combined, the United States became what some have labelled the world's "hyperpower." And others want in, which has meant growing competition and now an emerging tech war.Today, important technology development changes are underway that could dramatically affect world order. The continued shift in global research and development spending highlights how far U.S. dominance has eroded. In 1960, when considering federal, industry and academia, the United States accounted for 69 percent of the global R&D.; By 2016, the United States accounted for only 28 percent of the global R&D.; With such a shift, it is no wonder that U.S. technology leadership and superiority can no longer be assured.
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| President Trump calls out some members of Congress for treating Border Patrol 'badly' Posted: 05 Jul 2019 01:48 PM PDT  Arizona Republican Rep. Andy Biggs says that Border Patrol agents are being treated unfairly by some on the left.
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| Biden Begins Drawing Contrasts With His Democratic Rivals Posted: 04 Jul 2019 10:33 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Joe Biden returned to the campaign trail with a new drive to contrast his views with those of other Democratic presidential hopefuls after a rough debate performance last week highlighted his tenuous grasp on front-runner status.After spending the first two months of his campaign focused on attacking President Donald Trump, the former vice president turned his attention to rivals in his own party. He began a two-day swing across Iowa to make his case for moderation as other leading candidates pull the party leftward.Biden zeroed in on health care Wednesday, arguing that Democrats should be concentrating on improving the Affordable Care Act instead of replacing it with an entirely new system such as Medicare for All. "I fundamentally disagree with anyone who says, 'Scrap Obamacare,'" he told voters in Waterloo, at his first public appearance since last Thursday's debate. "I'm against any Republican who wants to scrap it, I'm against any Democrat who wants to scrap it."At a campaign stop in Iowa on Thursday, Biden said he wouldn't respond to attacks from rivals by digging up controversies from their pasts. During the debate last week, California Senator Kamala Harris criticized him in deeply personal terms about his record of opposition, when he was in the Senate, to federally mandated busing to desegregate schools."I'm not going to go back and use the same tactic they're trying to use," he said in Independence, where he walked in a Fourth of July parade. "I'm not going to go back and talk about the record of anyone from 10, 20, 30 years ago. There's a lot out there that a lot of people would like to do differently than they did but everything is lost in context."Asked if he understood that the conversation about race has changed, he said: "Absolutely, positively I do. As much or more than anyone."On Wednesday, members of Biden's communications team had dueled with Harris's campaign on Twitter about the busing issue.Pressed on whether she'd support such a mandate for busing now, Harris told reporters in West Des Moines, "I believe that any tool that is in the toolbox should be considered by a school district."Biden deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield tweeted in response that "it's disappointing that Senator Harris chose to distort Vice President Biden's position on busing — particularly now that she is tying herself in knots trying not to answer the very question she posed to him!"Harris's national press secretary Ian Sams responded by saying that Biden had called busing an "asinine concept" and the back-and-forth continued with Sams later adding that he and Harris both thought Biden is "a good guy" and "That's why a simple 'working with segregationists to stop busing 40 years ago was wrong, and I shouldn't have done it' would be welcome."He was referring to Biden's comments from last month about two fellow senators in the 1970s who were advocates of segregation.Praising ObamacareOn Wednesday, Biden pointed out that many presidents before Barack Obama had tried to pass a health care bill and not succeeded. "We have to finish the job and make health care a right not a privilege," he said.He has not yet rolled out his full health care plan, but suggested that he would favor a hybrid public-private system that could help the uninsured get coverage."We can't start over. There's no time to start over in my view," he said. "Building on what we've got, not starting over. Allowing people to keep their employer-based insurance or their private insurance or any insurance they have if they want. But if they don't, allowing them the ability to buy into a public option, a health care plan like Medicare."Biden's shift to a more direct comparison with other candidates for the Democratic nomination comes as his poll numbers have fallen.A Quinnipiac national poll released Tuesday found Biden slipping to 22%, just 2 percentage points ahead of Harris at 20%. Senator Elizabeth Warren was next with 14% then Senator Bernie Sanders with 13%. A CNN national poll found Biden slipping 10 percentage points in one month — to 22%. Behind him was Harris with 17%, 9 percentage points higher than in CNN's previous poll, and Warren with 15%, an 8-percentage-point gain, and Sanders with 14%, a 4-percentage-point drop.And a Focus on Rural America poll released on Wednesday showed a significant drop for Biden in Iowa and that he was essentially tied with Warren and Harris. David Binder Research, which conducted the survey, also works for Harris's presidential campaign but began the poll before it was hired by Harris's team.Biden's campaign said Wednesday that it raised $21.5 million in the second quarter, second to Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, who took in $24.8 million.Biden's team was quick to note that he entered the race on April 25, nearly a month into the quarter, meaning that he took in more per day than any other candidate. Sanders said that his campaign raised $18 million during the second quarter. Harris and Warren have not yet disclosed their fundraising totals.(Adds Biden campaign stop Thursday in fifth through seventh paragraphs.)To contact the reporter on this story: Jennifer Epstein in Waterloo, Iowa at jepstein32@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Max Berley, Scott LanmanFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Paris Couture Week: Fendi's homage to Karl Lagerfeld and to the city of Rome Posted: 05 Jul 2019 02:45 AM PDT  Well after Paris Couture Week wrapped up on Wednesday in Paris, Fendi kept the festivities going on Thursday, July 4, with an exceptional runway presentation at the Temple of Venus, on Rome's Palatine Hill. The iconic fashion house took the opportunity to pay tribute to Karl Lagerfeld, who passed away in February, but also to its native city of Rome, hosting its guests in a historical location. The evening was Silvia Venturini Fendi's occasion to pay homage to the late, great German couturier in her way, through a number of elements subtly inserted throughout the Fall-Winter 2019 collection, such as draped dresses and geometric necklines.
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| Trump blames rain and teleprompter for his July 4 speech gaffe Posted: 05 Jul 2019 09:09 AM PDT  President Trump on Friday blamed inclement weather and a malfunctioning teleprompter for his odd riff on air travel during the American Revolution.
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| Police break up huge 'modern day slavery' ring in UK Posted: 05 Jul 2019 07:53 AM PDT  Details about what prosecutors have called one of Britain's largest-ever modern day slavery rings have emerged with the conviction of eight people originally from Poland. Prosecutors say more than 400 victims were forced to work for minuscule wages while their masters earned some 2 million pounds ($2.5 million) and lived a luxurious lifestyle. Reporting restrictions were lifted Friday, allowing details to be published.
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| The Overreach of LGBTQ Activism Posted: 05 Jul 2019 03:30 AM PDT  In his History of Sexuality, Foucault noted that it was only in the 19th century that we began to define people by their desires. That's when "homosexual became a personage," "a type of life," a "morphology." Foucault -- yes, that Foucault -- thought this reductive and distracting. What would he say now, I wonder?Consider all the additional "personages" that have appeared in the last few decades. By no means an exhaustive list, these include transgender, pansexual, bisexual, asexual, demisexual, neutrois, agender, non-binary, polysexual, polyamorous, genderqueer, and genderfluid. Many have their own flags -- an interesting trend in itself. And all identities, we are told, belong to non-geographical and quasi-mystical "communities."Many Americans, especially young ones, find such frenzied categorization troubling, as recent figures indicate: The annual GLAAD Accelerating Acceptance report shows a noticeable drop in the number of 18- to 34-year-olds who feel comfortable interacting with LGBTQ people, from 63 percent in 2016, to 53 percent in 2017, to 45 percent in 2018. But the genius of "LGBTQ" politics -- and the principal reason for its speedy success -- is that its branding has shielded it from criticism, mainly by convincing critics to stay silent. (Because who would want to die on that hill?) The idea is that challenging the ontological assumptions of LGBTQ etc., -- even à la Foucault -- is to deny the right of millions, not only to live and love as they please, but to exist. The reality is quite different. As James Kirchick in The Atlantic explains, "starved of real enemies," and "guided by a moral absolutism resembling the religious zeal of those they oppose, some gay activists and their progressive allies have taken a zero-sum approach to the issue of antidiscrimination."This is evident in three key areas.LGBTQ history. Without a doubt, sexual minorities in the United States have, collectively, been ill-treated, stigmatized, discriminated against, and denied basic rights (especially during the AIDS crisis). This is shameful, but it does not justify the simplification and falsifying of historical accounts.This year New York City hosted the WorldPride festival, and the 50th anniversary of the 1969 police raid at the Stonewall Inn in Manhattan was remembered. The revisionist accounts of this event have been telling. As Chadwick Moore at The Spectator wrote recently, "Stonewall is a legend, and the mythology keeps evolving." He recalled that the clubs were owned by the Mafia and that employees trafficked prostitutes. "What is clear is that Stonewall was not targeted simply because gays hung out there," he concluded.Trans activists have been promoting their own revisionist history of the Stonewall riots. A monument honoring Marsah P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, two transgender activists, is to be built in New York City. The new thinking holds that they played a "vital role in the Stonewall riots and the gay rights movement it launched." But this account is dubious. First, Johnson and Rivera were transvestites, not transgender (a term that appeared only later). In other words, they were cross-dressing men. In The Spectator, Moore explains another problem with this version of events: "Rivera was blacked out on heroin 30 blocks north in Bryant Park as the riots unfolded, and Johnson admitted in interviews he wasn't there when it started." These differing interpretations have caused major upset within the LGBTQ bracket. "Long-simmering tensions between transgender women of color and white gay men" came to a head last Saturday at Stonewall Inn, when a black trans woman "arrived unannounced and disrupted a drag show, drawing an unfriendly response," Reuters reported.LGBTQ economics. Writing for the New York Times about the general leftward lurch of the Democratic party, David Brooks noted:> American progressives have a story to tell, and they are not afraid to tell it. In this story global capitalism is a war zone. Free trade is a racket. Big business and Big Pharma are rapacious villains that crush the common man.But how do progressives square this with LGBTQ activism? Big Pharma has a significant monetary interest in transgender transition treatments -- especially for children -- that make patients dependent on cross-sex hormones for life. In Buying Gay, the historian David K. Johnson makes a convincing case that the gay political movement was the direct result of consumer capitalism. As for big business, Pride month has seen a whole host of corporate sponsors from Wells Fargo to T-Mobile. Even Google maps and Uber joined in, having rainbow-colored pins and cars on their apps. Indeed, it is difficult to think of a political movement with comparable corporate investment.There has been some resistance on the left to the increasingly corporate nature of the pride movement. For instance, the Queer Liberation March by Reclaim Pride was something of a small sideshow at this year's Pride march. But, overall, the dissent has been minimal. Corporatization of gay rights is not just an American phenomenon, either. In the U.K., "the sponsorships are all corporate or governmental, there are huge amounts of money coming from banks, utilities, and governmental bodies as well as funding bodies right into LGBT organizations," Miranda Yardley, a Marxist transsexual blogger, told me. "And as most of the L and G battle has been fought and won, money for LGBT generally means it goes to the T." (Yardley takes a somewhat old-fashioned view of sex, that it cannot literally be changed.)LGBTQ politics. In October, Democratic presidential candidates will participate in a special debate exclusively focused on LGBT issues. If candidates' comments on LGBTQ issues at the primary debates are anything to go by, they will all be tripping over each other to bolster their woke credentials without any real knowledge or understanding of the complexity of the issues.During the Democratic-primary debates, Tulsi Gabbard reiterated her apology to the "LGBTQ community," stating that "maybe many people in this country can relate to the fact that I grew up in a socially conservative home, held views when I was very young that I no longer hold today." But she is wrong to assume that this is a left–right issue. In fact, many on the left, especially lesbians and feminists, are concerned about the overreach of trans rights. And many more gay people do not place themselves under the LGBTQ umbrella at all.Julian Castro said he believed in "reproductive justice" (i.e., abortion access) for not only women but also trans females (who are male). He is either biologically illiterate or, more likely, not quite au courant with LGBTQ terminology.Kamala Harris went seamlessly from the legacy of civil rights into "that's why we need to pass the Equality Act." This suggests she either hasn't read the bill she's promoting, or she doesn't care about women and girls. Among other things, the Equality Act would devastate women's sports by allowing males to compete and displace them and remove their right to sex-segregated spaces, from prisons to locker rooms, across the country.My prediction is that as LGBTQ overreach continues, it will backfire, and the culture will reorient. My hope, then, is that the obsession with identity will die down. And a day will come when people are finally judged by the content of their character -- not by the object of their desires. I hope. But I don't hold my breath.
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| The 11 Most Scenic Bike Routes in the World Posted: 05 Jul 2019 05:00 AM PDT |
| Why the Navy SEALs Loved the Sig Sauer P226 Gun Posted: 04 Jul 2019 08:30 PM PDT  While the Sig Sauer P226 is used by many militaries and agencies worldwide, one of the most famous users of the pistol is the U.S. Navy SEALs, which used the P226 up until they switched to the Glock 19 around 2015. But the pistol has constantly evolved throughout its service with the Navy SEALs: there are three practical generations of P226s that have been used by the SEALs.The first generation of P226 was adopted by the Navy SEALs following some embarrassing issues that happened during the XM9 pistol trials that resulted in the adoption of the Beretta 92 by all services. A slide on a Beretta failed and hit a Navy SEAL in the face, causing him minor injury. While Beretta would address this flaw in the issued version of the M9, the damage was already done, and the SEALs chose the P226, a runner up design, as their primary service pistol.However, poor experiences with 9mm ball ammunition would lead special units to develop the Mk 23 Offensive Handgun Weapon System, chambered in .45 ACP. These hulking pistols would go on to be used by the Navy SEALs, under the designation Mk 23, but was soon found to be too big and heavy for practical use. So, in the late 1990s, the Navy decided to buy more P226s, but designated them Mk 24, as they were the next pistol adopted after the Mk 23.The Mk 24 differed from earlier P226s as it was purpose built for the SEALs and the demands for their environment, featuring a chrome lined chamber and barrel, a proprietary Sig rail and a new finish on the slide. The characteristic anchor was also present on the slide, indicating that the pistol was purpose-built for Naval Special Operations Forces.
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| Harris clarifies stance on federally mandated school busing Posted: 04 Jul 2019 02:44 PM PDT  Sen. Kamala Harris on Thursday clarified her position on federally mandated school busing, saying it's only necessary in cases where local governments are actively opposing integration. Harris said that in the 1960s and '70s, institutions "were literally working against integration of our schools." That's why she supported busing then, she said, but now thinks it should just be a "tool" available to local governments and school districts to address segregation. "Today it is very rare that we require the courts or the federal government to intervene," Harris told reporters Thursday before a campaign event in Indianola, Iowa.
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| Did You Have Fun on the 4th? J.Lo, Chrissy Teigen, John Legend, and Gwyneth Paltrow Sure Did Posted: 05 Jul 2019 12:48 PM PDT  Over 250 years ago, our founding fathers took over the airports and signed the Declaration of Independence, promising life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to future Americans. This year, a bevy of celebrities have honored that mission by having tons of fun on vacation—and gleefully documenting it online for us all to see. Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, and More Stars in Stars and Stripes for July 4th!Not every star-studded Fourth of July is created equally. From the Italian Riviera to Wimbledon seats, there is no one right for the rich and famous to have a good time. While some opt to go the plebeian route of cookouts near a lake, others spare no expense to romp in far away locales. Whether this Independence Day weekend finds you cashing in on a few days vacation or stuck at a desk dreaming of a pool, take a mental escape by snooping on some celeb getaways.Irina Shayk Perhaps no one is having a better—or more performative—holiday weekend than the model Irina Shayk. Though her breakup with Bradley Cooper dominated tabloid headlines earlier this summer, it has not put a damper on her Instagram game. See Shayk's latest photo, a shot of the 33-year-old hair flipping with abandon atop a pile of logs. Predictably, fans mentioned her newly single status in the comments section, leaving notes like, "That feeling when you're finally single again." Happy Independence Day, indeed!Meghan MarkleThe American-born Duchess of Sussex rolled into Wimbledon to cheer on her good friend and baby shower co-host Serena Williams. Markle also used the game to catch up with old college friends from Northwestern. She stuck to the tennis competition's all-white dress code (sort of) in a $550 linen pinstripe blazer and jeans. Though her newborn son Archie Harrison stayed at home, she did rep the little prince with an "A" necklace. The initial also can stand for "America." Patriotic! TygaThe rapper wore his American spirit on his sleeve, and collar, and pants leg—and everywhere, really in a flag printed jacket and trousers. Truly nothing says "celebrate freedom" quite like showing off your collection of SVUs. J.Lo and A-RodThough J.Lo's fist-sized engagement ring stayed out of the shot, the star and her fiancé shared a photo of their blended family, all in impressively-coordinated outfits. Alex Rodriguez wished his followers a "safe and happy" Independence Day in the caption of the photo. Thanks, A-Rod!Kristin Cavallari Though the former Laguna Beach star is noticeably absent from this summer's The Hills reboot, she was very present at her July 4th party. Cavallari donned flag-printed overalls and accessories with two German shepherds while standing in front of her grill. Chrissy Teigen and John LegendAmerica's chosen first family shared a portrait from Porto Venere, Italy. Though the pair eschewed flag-printed clothing for florals, they gave a nod to the States through a pair of red and blue balloons artfully held by their daughter Luna. Gayle KingFrom outside Rockefeller Center, King confessed she was "craving a cheeseburger AND a hot dog." The hardworking CBS host truly deserves both.Drew BarrymoreWhile many of us took the day off, Drew Barrymore was hard at work. In the caption of an Instagram video that showed the actress boogieing from behind a flag-printed towel, Barrymore directed fans to a Spotify playlist she had made. Later, she shared a selfie promoting a patriotic red lipstick from her makeup line. Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake"Do you think we have enough flags?" Biel captioned two photos of her family. Indeed, the flag-to-human ratio was staggering (6 to 3, by this writer's count). The actress, who has recently lobbied against mandatory vaccinations, also shared an aerial video taken over Yellowstone National Park, where she called "Mother Nature" a "BOSS."Lance Bass, Joey Fatone, and JC Chasez While Timberlake spent the day with his family, his former boy bandmates hit West Hollywood with RuPaul's Drag Race winner Yvie Oddly. Lil Nas XThe rapper brought his festivities to London, riding a fake horse down the street as his hit song "Old Town Road" played. Just go with it. Bethenny FrankelThe Real Housewives star got artsy, sharing a candid snap while boating in Nantucket. She hid underneath a thick velvet blanket, which is probably great sun protection. January JonesThe Mad Men actress went full Betty Draper vintage as she cheesed from behind a polka-dot tulle skirt.Padma LakshmiLakshmi's dessert got topical, as the Top Chef host spelled "Close the Camps" out on her pie crust. She urged her followers to contact their representatives after vacation to demand they shut down the border facilities at the center of the current migrant detention crisis.Gwyneth PaltrowGwyneth Paltrow sees your hotdog and beer, and raises you a martini at the Paris Four Seasons. Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Trump administration admits that the threat of Huawei spying was enough for a ban Posted: 05 Jul 2019 07:05 PM PDT  It seems the Trump administration has finally explained the rationale for its actions against Huawei that culminated in a sweeping ban of US companies doing business with the Chinese consumer electronics giant. A ban that also led to a series of newsworthy consequences, including FedEx making headlines several times for its confusion over how to handle Huawei-related packages, Huawei acknowledging that its phone sales this year will be off by millions and Google moving to cut off Huawei from Android updates, forcing the Chinese company to ratchet up plans to make a mobile operating system of its own.Huawei is challenging in federal court here the government's ban of the firm, which Huawei says was groundless and that the US has no proof to support its national security concerns. Meanwhile, the government's position, outlined in a new court filing per The New York Times, basically amounts to: So what? More specifically, that even just the potential for Huawei to act as a proxy for China's state security apparatus is reason enough for the US to ban the company's phones and other technology here.Said another way, that a potential end justifies the actual means.Huawei has filed a lawsuit challenging the legislative implementation of the US' Huawei ban, saying that it amounted to Congress passing a so-called "bill of attainder" against Huawei even though such a bill is prohibited. Congress is not supposed to use its power to single out companies or individuals for punishment.In the court filing this week, though, the US claims that the point of the action was not to punish Huawei but instead to keep US consumers safe. Also, per the NYT, the filing says that Congress enacted the Huawei ban because close ties to the Chinese government made "Huawei's products particularly susceptible to the prospective threat of wrongdoing by the Chinese government."Adding even more complexity to this whole thing, President Trump in recent days met with his Chinese counterpart, president Xi Jinping, at the G20 and reportedly backed off the Huawei ban a little. While everyone is still trying to sort out what that means and where the fault lines still lie in this dispute, Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei gave a recent interview to the French publication Le Point, in which he said that notwithstanding any reversal of the actions that led to Google cutting off Huawei, Huawei is still going to press full steam ahead on the mobile operating system it's been working on as an Android replacement.
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| Iran breaches nuclear fuel stockpile allowed under accord, UN says Posted: 05 Jul 2019 05:47 AM PDT  Iran exceeded a limitation on how much nuclear fuel it can possess under the terms of the 2015 international nuclear accord, the U.N. says.
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| Alaska heat wave shatters temperature record in largest city Anchorage Posted: 05 Jul 2019 10:22 AM PDT  Temperatures in Alaska's largest city Anchorage have soared to a sweltering all-time record of 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 centigrade) as a heat wave grips the US state which straddles the Arctic Circle. "At 5pm this afternoon, Anchorage International Airport officially hit 90 degrees for the first time on record," tweeted the National Weather Service (NWS) late Thursday. The average high temperature for July 4 in Anchorage, located in southern Alaska, is a far cooler 65 degrees.
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| U.N. council pushes Libya truce, tells other countries to stay out Posted: 05 Jul 2019 11:55 AM PDT  The United Nations Security Council on Friday condemned a deadly air strike on a migrant detention center in Libya, called for the warring parties to commit to a ceasefire and urged other countries not to intervene or exacerbate the conflict.
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| Nike Fans the Flames of the Culture War Posted: 05 Jul 2019 03:30 AM PDT  Nike is doing it wrong.I don't mean the shoemaking, though that thing with Zion Williamson was pretty bad, I have to say.No, Nike is doing it wrong because it managed to do something that all the neo-Nazis, Klansmen, alt-righters, and other denizens of the lowest coprophagic phylum of our political life could never do: It turned the Betsy Ross flag into a racist symbol.By now you've probably heard that Nike decided to take the advice of Colin Kaepernick, the former NFL quarterback who ignited so much controversy by refusing to stand for the national anthem. Nike was all set to release a line of sneakers for the Fourth of July featuring the original Betsy Ross American flag with 13 stars in a circle.According to reports, Kaepernick took offense because a handful of extremist groups like to brandish the original American flag to make some sort of point about something no one should care about. (I gather it has something to do with how this was "their" country before the federal government was formed. Or maybe, like many gibbons, they just like the sparkly stars and bright colors.)The thing is, most Americans — and when I say most, I mean, like, nearly all of them — had no idea white supremacists were doing this. In countless news stories, reporters contacted experts who either didn't know about it or were only vaguely aware that this is one of the things these groups like to wear as capes during dress-up time."If all these historians didn't know [the relationship between white supremacy and the Betsy Ross flag], then Nike shouldn't be expected to know it," Mary Beth Norton, an American history professor at Cornell University, told CNBC.The Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism has a database with more than 150 "hate symbols." The Betsy Ross flag isn't among them."The Betsy Ross flag is a common historical flag," Mark Pitcavage of the ADL told CNBC. While it's been used by white supremacists "from time to time," he has "never once thought about" adding the Betsy Ross flag to the list.Nonetheless, it's true that if you search through enough old photos of Klan rallies and neo-Nazi pageants, you can spot a Betsy Ross flag from time to time.Do you know what else you can probably spot if you look long and hard enough? Nike sneakers. Does that make Nikes symbols of white supremacy?Of course not. But what if these groups started wearing T-shirts with the Nike "swoosh" on them?Frankly, I think it would be a brilliant move by these hate groups to do just that. Nike would freak out, giving these attention-seekers a bonanza in free publicity.Innocuous or even noble symbols can be appropriated for evil purposes. The swastika is an ancient symbol in various Asian cultures. It was adopted in Europe as a symbol of good luck until the Nazis made it their own. The KKK's pointy hoods may have been inspired by the Catholic capirote of medieval Spain and Portugal, which looks dismayingly similar.But here's the thing: When evil people acquire symbols for their own ends, the only guarantee of success is when everyone else validates the acquisition.If Nike had gone ahead with the special-edition sneakers, it would have been, in marketing terms, the equivalent of Godzilla versus Bambi. A few neo-Nazis and a few more social-justice warriors would have complained, and everyone else would have gone about their day totally unconcerned.Instead, Nike followed the advice of a man whose business model is to stir grievance and controversy for its own sake. Suddenly, millions of people who once thought the Betsy Ross flag was just an admirable bit of Americana now associate it with hate groups. Worse, other entirely decent and patriotic Americans will now likely start brandishing the flag to offend people who, until recently, had no idea some hate groups adopted the flag in the first place.The ranks of the perpetually offended will misread this trolling-to-own-the-libs effort as an endorsement of hate speech, and the culture war will have yet another idiotic fight on its hands, and a symbol of the country's founding that should be a uniting image for all Americans will now be reduced to a weapon in that war.Thanks a lot, Nike.(C) 2019 TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, LLC
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| Three sisters who killed abusive father charged with murder in Russia. Outrage ensued Posted: 05 Jul 2019 06:07 AM PDT  The Khachaturyan sisters were charged last month with premeditated murder in a case that has shone a light on the Russian justice system.
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| Fourth of July celebrations take violent turn in Chicago Posted: 05 Jul 2019 11:03 AM PDT  Chicago police say three people were stabbed, several trampled at annual fireworks show; Mike Tobin reports.
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| The 30 Best Video Games of 2019 (So Far) Posted: 05 Jul 2019 06:00 AM PDT |
| Jury to consider death penalty in Chinese scholar killing Posted: 05 Jul 2019 07:23 AM PDT  A federal jury that convicted a former University of Illinois doctoral student of kidnapping, torturing and killing a young scholar from China now must decide if Brendt Christensen should be put to death. While the state of Illinois, where she was killed, does not have the death penalty, the case was brought under federal law, which does allow capital punishment. The jury returned a guilty verdict on June 24 after deliberating for less than 90 minutes, in part, because the 30-year-old Christensen's own lawyers told jurors from the outset that he did kill 26-year-old Yingying Zhang, saying their sole objective was to persuade jurors to spare his life.
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| Fed Should ‘Take Back’ Rate Hike, White House’s Kudlow Says Posted: 05 Jul 2019 07:26 AM PDT ![Fed Should 'Take Back' Rate Hike, White House's Kudlow Says]( "Fed Should 'Take Back' Rate Hike, White House's Kudlow Says") (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve should reduce interest rates even though the economy is strong and the latest payrolls report was positive, said Larry Kudlow, President Donald Trump's top economic adviser."They should take back the interest rate hike," Kudlow said in an interview on Bloomberg Television Friday. "With a weak global economy, taking out an insurance policy is not a bad thing."U.S. payrolls increased by 224,000 in June, topping all economist estimates. That led traders to scale back their more aggressive bets on Fed rate cuts this month, though a reduction is still expected by the market.The Fed raised interest rates four times last year, with the last increase in December drawing especially heavy criticism from the Trump administration. Fed officials have shifted their outlook since then, and in June they opened the door to a rate cut."I'm not encroaching on Fed independence," said Kudlow. "I'm reading the market tea leaves."To contact the reporter on this story: Ryan Haar in New York at rhaar3@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Margaret Collins at mcollins45@bloomberg.net, Ben HollandFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| History Made: Last Year, Israel's F-35 Were First Ever to a Launch Attack Posted: 05 Jul 2019 03:30 AM PDT  The F-35 stealth fighter has seen its first ever combat action, flying in an operation for the Israeli Air Force (IAF).On May 22, 2018 in fact Maj Gen Amikam Norkin, IAF chief, told heads of 20 foreign air forces meeting in Israel at the International Air Force Commander Conference that "The 'Adir' (F-35I) aircraft are already operational and flying combat missions. In fact, we have performed the first operational F-35 strike in the world. We attacked twice in the Middle East using the F-35 (and) we are the first in the world to do so. The Israeli Air Force is a pioneer and a world leader in operating air power." He did not specify the targets."Israel launched world's first air strike using F-35 stealth fighters," IAF chief says"You know that we just won the Eurovision with the song 'Toy.' Well, the F-35 is not a toy," he said.According BBC, Israel's claim to have used it in an operational strike even before the Americans may be designed as a further show of military strength, since it is believed that elite Iranian forces are trying to entrench themselves in Syria to threaten Israel.Israel said its recent air strikes inside Syria targeted Iranian military infrastructure, in response to rocket fire aimed at Israeli military positions in the occupied Golan Heights.
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| California has the biggest earthquake in 20 years: is it getting close to 'The Big One'? Posted: 05 Jul 2019 11:59 AM PDT  Southern California residents awoke on Friday morning to a strong aftershock from the most powerful earthquake to hit the region in 20 years, which was felt by more than 20 million people. There have already been more than 80 smaller aftershocks since Thursday's 6.4 magnitude quake near the city of Ridgecrest, which was felt from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, seismologist Lucy Jones said. The 5.4 magnitude aftershock, the biggest so far, struck the same desert region as Thursday's earthquake. Its epicentre was about 11 miles west of Searles Valley, at just after 4am, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. The aftershock was felt as far as Los Angeles, about 150 miles to the south. But it is the fear of what comes next that has really rattled people. The southern section of the San Andreas fault that runs near the city has not had a "mega-quake" of more than magnitude-7.5 since 1680 and "the Big One", according to seismologists, is more than a century overdue. Seismologists are collecting data from the quake site to try and establish when the next might hit Credit: Rex Ms Jones, widely known as the "earthquake lady" for her informative TV appearances, has taken a lead role in preparing the state for the "Big One" and warned there could be a bigger quake soon. Ms Jones' predictions immediately after the quake have already proved prescient. "We should be expecting lots of aftershocks and some of them will be bigger than the 3s we've been having so far," Ms Jones told reporters on Thursday. "I think the chance of having a magnitude 5 ... is probably greater than 50-50." Sure enough, a 5.4 magnitude aftershock hit the area on Friday. California earthquake So what does Ms Jones think this means for the Big One? "This does not make [the Big One] less likely. There is about a 1 in 20 chance that this location will be having an even bigger earthquake in the next few days, that we have not yet seen the biggest earthquake of the sequence," she told the LA Times. Ms Jones put it another way for 42,000 Twitter followers prior to Thursday's earthquake: If the daily probability of the Big One was 50/50, then the chance it would happen in the next week would be >99%. Real probability is about 2% per yer, or 1/20,000 each day. Your change of being in a car accident today is ~1/7,000. I still wear my seat belt every day. https://t.co/3ovnAfiPFV— Dr. Lucy Jones (@DrLucyJones) July 3, 2019 Thursday's quake is the largest in Southern California since the magnitude 7.1 Hector Mine quake struck the Mojave Desert in 1999. Water gushed from zigzagged cracks in the pavement from busted water lines. Deep fissures snaked across the Mojave Desert, with passersby stopping to take selfies while standing in the rendered earth. The quake hit the edge of Death Valley National Park about 113 miles northeast of Los Angeles at about 10.30 am on Thursday. It was very shallow, only 6.7 miles deep, amplifying its effect, and was felt in an area inhabited by 20 million people, the European quake agency EMSC said. The aftershocks to the SearlesValley earthquake show that two faults are involved. One strikes northwest and the other northeast. You can see the aftershocks at https://t.co/BwTOi7AGG2pic.twitter.com/gkDzPh4I9G— Dr. Lucy Jones (@DrLucyJones) July 4, 2019 It remains difficult for scientists to predict when the next major quake will hit. But the USGS says its models suggest "there is a small chance (about 2 percent) that [a 7.9 magnitude quake] could happen in the next 30 years". "However, this does not mean that the San Francisco Bay region will not experience damaging earthquakes in the next hundred years," the agency says. The agency also said its models for the Hayward fault, the Rogers Creek fault and the Peninsula section of the San Andreas fault suggest that smaller earthquakes - around a magnitude 7 - are also expected, and are in fact much more likely to cause serious damage than a repeat of the Great 1906 San Francisco earthquake which registered a 7.9 magnitude. "If the 19th century is an example, then we can expect one or more M7 earthquakes on Bay area faults...over the next several decades," it says.
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| China denies U.S. accusations of South China Sea missile tests Posted: 05 Jul 2019 08:10 AM PDT ![China denies U.S. accusations of South China Sea missile tests]( "China denies U.S. accusations of South China Sea missile tests") China's Defence Ministry on Friday denied U.S. accusations that the Chinese military had recently carried out missile tests in the disputed South China Sea, saying instead that they had held routine drills that involved the firing of live ammunition. The Pentagon said on Tuesday the missile launches were "disturbing" and contrary to Chinese pledges that it would not militarise the strategic waterway. A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said China tested multiple anti-ship ballistic missiles over the weekend.
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| He was abducted and forced into a deadly scheme to extort marijuana from his father Posted: 05 Jul 2019 06:32 AM PDT  Young entrepreneur Curtis Jenkins III from Camden was kidnapped and killed after being lured to Fairview address, authorities say.
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| Shiseido unveils intelligent skincare system based on Internet of Things Posted: 05 Jul 2019 05:59 AM PDT  Japanese beauty behemoth Shiseido is raising the stakes in skincare technology with the launch of a new pay-monthly app and skincare system named Optune, which promises consumers picture-perfect skin -- for 10,000 yen (about $92) a month. Offering as many as 80,000 combinations, the product's software -- available as an iPhone app -- works by taking photos of the user's face in order to detect skin conditions. The data is then analyzed together with sleep rhythms and menstrual cycles taken into consideration, as well as external factors such as weather and air pollution, in order to concoct the right mix of serums which are then delivered via the accompanying cylindrical device, dispensed as a personalized formula twice a day.
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| Marathoner Accused of Cheating Found Dead in L.A. River Posted: 05 Jul 2019 11:40 AM PDT  Jerod Harris/GettyA veteran marathoner who had been dogged by accusations of cheating that he steadfastly denied was found dead in the Los Angeles River on Thursday, according to authorities and his family.A cause of death has not been determined for Frank Meza, 70, a doctor who had been disqualified from the Los Angeles Marathon just days earlier.His wife, Tina, told The Daily Beast that he had been devastated by the allegations that he had cut the course in several races."Running was very important to my husband. He had been running marathons for the last 30 or 40 years. He was very fast, quite fast, and now unfortunately he won't run marathons anymore," she said.She said that on Thursday morning, Meza told her he was going out for a run. "I said, 'It will be good for you,' and he said, 'I'll see you later,'" she said.At around 10 a.m., according to KABC, rescue workers found Meza in the river. "That's all we know," she said.His death brought a tragic end to a months-long controversy over his record-setting time in the March marathon and in numerous other races.In L.A., Meza crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 53 minutes, winning his age category and setting off alarm bells for armchair marathon sleuths.In May, Derek Murphy published an analysis of a slew of races run by Meza, including photos that raised questions about whether he was a course-cutter—someone who jumps out of the race and uses a faster mode of transportation before sneaking back in toward the end.Meza denied it. In an interview with Canadian Running magazine, he admitted leaving the course but said it was innocent."What I can tell you is that I did not cut. My last few marathons I have had to step off the course, looking for a place to pee. I didn't know this was against the rules, I was not aware of that," he said. "I've done this several times. I've realized my problem is that I don't hydrate properly. I have never cut the distance but I have stepped off of the course."His case became the subject of heated debate in the running community. Then on July 1, the organization that runs the L.A. Marathon completed its review and disqualified Meza."The video evidence is confirmed by a credible eyewitness report and our calculation that Dr. Meza's actual running time for at least one 5K course segment would have had to have been faster than the current 70-74 age-group 5K world record," it statedMeza continued to deny cheating, telling the Los Angeles Times that he hoped to run the marathon again in 2020 to vindicate himself.On Thursday, Murphy's site posted new evidence against Meza, a photo of what he said was Meza riding a bike on the sidelines of the 2014 San Francisco Marathon. The picture was blurry, but Murphy noted that the biker was wearing the same hat, sneakers and bright socks as Meza was when he finished the race first in his age group.The marathon runner was found dead on the same day.In a statement, Murphy said was "deeply saddened" to learn of Meza's death."My heart goes out to his family and friends, and I wish for everyone to be respectful and to keep his loved ones in mind," he said. "There will be a time for comment and a broader discussion, but at this point, I feel that we should all allow those close to Frank the space to grieve."Meza's wife said the accusations were so damaging to her husband because his identity was so wrapped up in running."They were all manufactured lies," she said. "And he couldn't figure out why people were willing to listen to this.""We don't understand why he was attacked," she added. "He was just a soft-spoken, nice person. It hurt him deeply. I still don't understand it."She said that he ran two hours a day, often through the hills. He also taught his patients how to run. "He loved the freedom of it," she said.She said neighbors in South Pasadena filled their house today, and friends were flying in from all over the country."He has two children and three grandchildren who will miss him very much," she said.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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