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Poker player stays in isolation inside pitch-black bathroom after $100G bet: report
Two professional poker players made a $100,000 bet while playing at a Las Vegas casino in September that required one of them to live in complete isolation for 30 days in a pitch-black bathroom, a report said. (Google images)
Two poker players recently engaged in a $100,000 bet to see if one of them could live for 30 days inside a pitch-black bathroom in complete isolation, a report said Thursday.
Professional poker player Rich Alati accepted Rory Young’s bet while playing at the Bellagio in Las Vegas in September. Alati agreed to pay Young the hefty sum if he failed to stay the entire 30 days inside the room, the Guardian reported.
Alati and Young agreed on the following terms: Alati would be delivered food from a local restaurant at irregular intervals to prevent him from keeping track of time. There would be no television, radio or phone; he would be able to have a yoga mat and massage ball. Alati’s father would also monitor him via video feed and could pull his son out at any time.
Psychologists told the Guardian that living in solitary confinement for a prolonged period of time would be “extremely taxing” on Alati’s mental health. But Alati wasn’t worried—he had been a practitioner of meditation and yoga, a skill he believed would help him remain calm throughout the experience.
At the 10 day mark, Young began to worry he may lose the bet, noting how Alati looked “totally fine.” Young decided to make his rival an offer on day 15: $50,000...
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People Spotted That Robert Downey Jr. And Chris Evans Look Like Iconic Disney Duos And Its Hilarious
Captain America and Iron Man’s fight in Civil War was probably one of the most anticipated clashes in recent cinematic history. And while the two superheroes had a chance to duke it out in a brutal fight on screens, the actors behind these iconic characters only fight with words, and even then, in a joking matter only. Robert Downey Jr. Is known for his jokes, especially funny social media post, so it’s no surprise that every once in a while he crack one at his friend, Chris Evans. Perhaps inspired by Christopher’s enormous love for all things Disney, Downey Jr. sent the Marvel co-star a pair of photos comparing the two to classic characters. And it started a whole trend of trying to find similarities between the Disney superheroes and other Disney characters. So scroll down below to check them out and tell us what you think.
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Original Article : HERE ; This post was curated & posted using : RealSpecific
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Heres How To Find Out If Your Information Has Been Exposed In Massive Data Breach
More than 772 million unique email addresses and over 21 million unique passwords have been leaked and posted to a hacking forum, according to security researcher Troy Hunt. This is a massive breach of data by any estimation. However, there’s no need to panic just yet, there are some simple steps you can take to protect your online privacy.
The data breach was first reported by Hunt, who wrote on his website that multiple people directed him to a large collection of files on the popular cloud service MEGA. Although the data from this service has since been removed, the breach – which Hunt called Collection #1 – included over 12,000 separate files and over 87GB of data.
It’s tough to pin down exactly where this trove of information came from, but it appears to be an aggregation of breaches from thousands of different sources, with 140 million new email addresses that his site “Have I Been Pwned” has never seen before. It’s important to note that much of this data is compiled from old data breaches, which means the information was breached a while ago and you’ve likely been notified or have changed your password since then. If you haven’t, now is definitely the time to do so.
“In terms of the risk this presents, more people with the data obviously increases the likelihood that it’ll be used for malicious purposes,” wrote Hunt on his site.
“In some ways, it’s nothing new,” Hunt added to IFLScience. “It’s a collection of credentials from old breaches that people have been passing around for years....
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Her son died unexpectedly. Today, she’s helping to spare other families the same tragedy.
There is no one that Christy Silva loved more than her son Aidan.
Photo via Christy Silva.
“I thought Aidan was one in a million,” she says. “He was very, very compassionate, considerate, just full of love.”
The six-year-old, Silva recalls, gave the best hugs in the world. Being his mom is how she’ll identify forever. “I feel like that was a responsibility that cannot be taken away from me.”
In 2010, Aidan’s parents lived through something that no parent should ever have to even imagine. Their son died with no warning.
Photo via Upworthy.
It was Labor Day Weekend. Aidan had just started first grade. His mother remembers them being in the house together and suddenly noticing that things had gotten strangely quiet — unusual for a home in which a six-year-old is present.
“It just occurred to me that I hadn’t heard Aidan in a few minutes,” she says. “I looked out in the hallway, and his back was turned to me, he was on his side.” Silva reached over to tickle her child, but received no response. Aidan had died. His passing was attributed to Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA).
Sudden Cardiac Arrest is a life-threatening condition. It’s the third-leading cause of death in The United States.
Photo via Upworthy.
SCA occurs when the heart suddenly stops beating. According to recent research, more than 350,000 adults die of SCA every year. But SCA can affect anyone regardless of heart history.
Tragically, that means that children and teens who have otherwise been deemed healthy may...
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John Coughlin, champion US figure skater, dies after sport suspension
(CNN)John Coughlin, a champion American figure skater recently suspended from his sport, died Friday, his sister and figure skating groups and personalities said.
A day before his death, Coughlin, 33, was temporarily suspended from US figure skating by the US Center for SafeSport amid a pending grievance, US Figure Skating officials said without disclosing details of the matter. The center is a US Olympic Committee agency with oversight of sexual misconduct and other abuse allegations reported to national governing bodies.
Coughlin’s death coincided with the start of the 2019 US Figure Skating Championships in Detroit.
“We are stunned at the news of the death of two-time US pairs champion John Coughlin,” US Figure Skating said Saturday in a statement. “Our heartfelt and deepest sympathies are with his father Mike, sister Angela and the rest of his family. Out of respect to the family, we will have no further comment until a later time.”
A US national pairs champion in 2011 and 2012, Coughlin represented the United States at the world championships during those years. He was from Kansas City, Missouri, CNN affiliate WDAF reported.
The skating world mourns
His former coach, Dalilah Sappenfield, wrote on Facebook: “Yesterday I received the most numbing, devastating, and heartbreaking call!… My heart aches incredibly to know John took his life yesterday. His family, the skating community, and I lost a very special man who lived his life with integrity and kindness.”
The International Skating Union said it is “shocked and saddened by the unexpected passing of John Coughlin, Chair of the...
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John Coughlin, two-time US pairs skating champion, dies by suicide day after being suspended
John Coughlin, seen here with Caydee Denney, has passed away at the age of 33. (Reuters)
A former pairs champion took his own life Friday, just one day after he was suspended by U.S. Figure Skating.
John Coughlin’s sister, Angela Laune, wrote in a Facebook post that her brother took his own life.
“My wonderful, strong, amazingly compassionate brother John Coughlin took his own life earlier today. I have no words. I love you John. Always Always Brother Bear,” she wrote.
U.S. Figure Skating released a statement on Twitter regarding Coughlin’s death.
“We are stunned at the news of the death of two-time U.S. pairs champion John Coughlin. Our heartfelt and deepest sympathies are with his father Mike, sister Angela and the rest of his family. Out of respect to the family, we will have no further comment until a later time,” U.S. Figure Skating tweeted.
MIRAI NAGASU MAKES OLYMPIC HISTORY WITH FIGURE SKATING TRIPLE AXEL
Coughlin, 33, of Kansas City, won his titles in 2011 and 2012. He won with his partner Caitlin Yankowskas in 2011 and then with Caydee Denney in 2012. He retired from competitive figure skating, the Kansas City Star reported. He also coached and was a commentator for skating competitions. The Kansas City Star reported he was integral with bringing the U.S. Figure Skating Championships to his home city in 2017.
Coughlin was suspended Thursday by U.S. Figure Skating and U.S. Center for SafeSport. USA Today reported a “matter concerning him” was presented to SafeSport. The details were not immediately disclosed.
In December, SafeSport...
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Jeffrey Toobin: Mueller Pushback On BuzzFeed Report Is ‘Bad Day’ For News Media
CNN’s chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said Friday was a “bad day” for the news media.
Toobin said the calling into question by special counsel Robert Mueller’s office of a BuzzFeed article that alleged President Donald Trump told his former fixer and personal lawyer Michael Cohen to lie before Congress “reinforces every bad stereotype about the news media.”
BuzzFeed Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith said it stood by its reporting.
Toobin also claimed “the larger message” that many people may take away was that the news media is “a bunch of leftist liars who are dying to get the president and they’re willing to lie to do it.”
Check out the clip here:
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Original Article : HERE ; This post was curated & posted using : RealSpecific
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IG Influencer Caroline Calloway Un-Canceled Her Tour Betches
The best scammers never stay out of the game for long, and Caroline Calloway is clearly one of the best. Just 48 hours ago, I told you all about her canceled tour of creativity workshops. She apologized to all her fans and followers, and said that the whole experience was humbling. She even acknowledged that the tour was fueled by greed!
Well, that was 48 hours ago, and that’s practically a lifetime in the world of a grifter. You guessed it: THE TOUR IS BACK ON. On Wednesday, after a day of silence on her Instagram story, she fired off three long messages, explaining that everyone else was really wrong the whole time.
If you’re thinking to yourself “Dear God, who puts that much text in an Instagram story???,” then welcome to the world of Caroline Calloway. She exclusively posts stories (she recently deleted all of her grid posts back to 2016), and she claims she was the first to use this format. That’s the kind of genius that warrants a $165 ticket!
The best part of the uncancellation note is when she says that she’ll be requesting that people return their refunds for last weekend’s workshops. Girl, why?? If you want to start over, that’s one thing, but quit harassing people for the money you already gave them back. According to her stories, Caroline and two of her friends (employees?) were hard at work on Wednesday planning the Tour 2.0, which we still don’t actually have any details about. Given her track record...
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Illinois Officials Deny Permit For R. Kelly-Hosted Concert, Citing Security Concerns
In the wake of the sexual misconduct allegations against R. Kelly and ensuing protests that have erupted in Chicago and elsewhere, Illinois officials said they’ve denied a permit for a planned springtime concert that was supposed to be hosted by the embattled R&B singer.
Illinois Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Denise Albert told the Chicago Tribune on Friday that the organizers of the Spring Break Jam concert, which had been scheduled to take place on April 6, applied to the department to lease space for the event at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield.
She said officials denied the permit application because of security concerns after recent protests outside Kelly’s Chicago studio,
Kelly, a Chicago native, has come under renewed scrutiny since the premiere of “Surviving R. Kelly,” a Lifetime documentary series that details numerous allegations of sexual misconduct against the singer.
Famous collaborators, including Lady Gaga and Future, have since distanced themselves from the 52-year-old “Ignition” star. Chicago radio station 95.1 FM Clubsteppin said last week that it would no longer play Kelly’s music.
On Friday, women’s rights activists commissioned a plane to fly over the Sony Music offices in Culver City, California, with a sign demanding the company “drop sexual predator R. Kelly.” RCA Records, which is owned by Sony, has represented Kelly for years.
Kelly’s daughter, Buku Abi, lambasted her father on social media, describing him as a “monster.”
He has repeatedly denied the allegations. An attorney for the singer told NBC News on Wednesday that the people accusing Kelly of sexual misconduct are “just haters trying to...
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Facebook is secretly building LOL, a cringey teen meme hub
How do you do, fellow kids? After Facebook Watch, Lasso and IGTV failed to become hits with teens, the company has been quietly developing another youthful video product. Multiple sources confirm that Facebook has spent months building LOL, a special feed of funny videos and GIF-like clips. It’s divided into categories like “For You,” “Animals,” “Fails,” “Pranks” and more with content pulled from News Feed posts by top meme Pages on Facebook. LOL is currently in private beta with around 100 high school students who signed non-disclosure agreements with parental consent to do focus groups and one-on-one testing with Facebook staff.
In response to TechCrunch’s questioning, Facebook confirmed it is privately testing LOL as a home for funny meme content with a very small number of U.S. users. While those testers experience LOL as a replacement for their Watch tab, Facebook says there’s no plans to roll out LOL in Watch and the team is still finalizing whether it will become a separate feature in one of Facebook’s main app or a standalone app. Facebook initially declined to give a formal statement but told us the details we had were accurate. [Update: A Facebook spokesperson has now provided an official statement: “We are running a small scale test and the concept is in the early stages right now.”]
With teens increasingly turning to ephemeral Stories for sharing and content consumption, Facebook is desperate to lure them back to its easily-monetizable feeds. Collecting the funniest News Feed posts and concentrating them in...
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Facebook urged to give users greater control over what they see
Academics at the universities of Oxford and Stanford think Facebook should give users greater transparency and control over the content they see on its platform.
They also believe the social networking giant should radically reform its governance structures and processes to throw more light on content decisions, including by looping in more external experts to steer policy.
Such changes are needed to address widespread concerns about Facebook’s impact on democracy and on free speech, they argue in a report published today, which includes a series of recommendations for reforming Facebook (entitled: Glasnost! Nine Ways Facebook Can Make Itself a Better Forum for Free Speech and Democracy.)
“There is a great deal that a platform like Facebook can do right now to address widespread public concerns, and to do more to honour its public interest responsibilities as well as international human rights norms,” writes lead author Timothy Garton Ash.
“Executive decisions made by Facebook have major political, social, and cultural consequences around the world. A single small change to the News Feed algorithm, or to content policy, can have an impact that is both faster and wider than that of any single piece of national (or even EU-wide) legislation.”
Here’s a rundown of the report’s nine recommendations:
Tighten Community Standards wording on hate speech — the academics argue that Facebook’s current wording on key areas is “overbroad, leading to erratic, inconsistent and often context-insensitive takedowns;” and also generating “a high proportion of contested cases.” Clear and tighter wording could make consistent implementation easier, they believe.
Hire more and contextually expert content reviewers — “the...
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Molly Ringwald crowns a new teen queen
(CNN)Molly Ringwald’s name is synonymous with the ’80s and teenage angst.
For Ringwald, who currently stars in the film “All These Small Moments,” there’s a current movie that she feels truly encompasses those beloved Hughes’ classics.”
“[The John Hughes movies] were really unique and really fun and he basically got that whole teen ‘thing’ in a way that nobody has gotten since, except for a movie that I really love that I think is the inheritance of John Hughes,” Ringwald told CNN in a recent interview. “To my mind, I think ‘Eighth Grade’ completely gets it. Elsie Fisher’s performance is incredible. I think what it really shares with the John Hughes films is the fact that it’s really funny and yet it’s really moving.”
Fisher recently won a Critics’ Choice Award for her role as Kayla Day in the film, which was directed and written by Bo Burnham.
“I watched part of it with my husband and he was like, ‘I don’t know if I can watch this.’ It was so emotional because it’s a father and his daughter and we had just gone through that,” Ringwald, who has three children, explained. “My daughter is now in ninth grade, so we’ve kind of gone through that year. I really do think it’s so perfect to make a movie about eighth grade because it’s really the pinnacle. It’s like the worst year possible. I really think that if you can get through eighth grade you can get through almost anything.”
Ringwald’s latest role in “All...
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Mom wins largest individual Powerball in Australian lottery history
(CNN)A mom from Sydney won Australia’s biggest individual prize in history on Thursday, cashing out with more than $107 million.
“I don’t understand — is this actually real? Wait — are you telling me I’ve won $107 million?! Oh my god! That is just so much money!” the statement reports she said.
The mother, who works in health care, said she doesn’t plan to retire, but instead will “do more health work for causes important” to her. She also said she will share her winnings with her family.
“All the win gives me is a chance to go and do the things I have always wanted to do,” the winner said.
The Lott confirmed the winning ticket was bought online, and the winner said she picked the winning numbers of 20, 18, 33, 22, 11, 26 and 4, plus the Powerball number 9, randomly.
“I’m not sure how I will be able to sleep tonight, but for now I’m going to go have a cheap glass of chardonnay.”
Australia’s Powerball is modeled after the US version, but players can win by only matching one number.
The Lott said a total of 3,856,275 prizes worth more than $68.4 million were also won in the drawing, including two winning entries that each took home a prize of $94,792.90.
Original Article : HERE ; This post was curated & posted using : RealSpecific
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Michigan woman confronts ex in court: ‘There’s a monster inside him’ that God released
Samantha Sonntag, in a Michigan courtroom on Wednesday, emotionally relived what she claims were an emotionally and physically abusive seven months with her ex-husband. (Courtesy of Samantha Sonntag)
A Michigan woman emotionally confronted her ex-husband in court on Wednesday, reliving his alleged assault against her.
Samantha Sonntag, of Macomb County, told the court that her ex, Andrew Sonntag, to whom she was married for seven months, brutally attacked her dozens of times, according to Fox affiliate WJBK.
TAD CUMMINS, TENNESSEE TEACHER CONVICTED IN TEEN STUDENT’S KIDNAPPING, SENTENCED TO DECADES IN PRISON
“There’s a monster inside him that only God can release and this monster was released upon me,” she reportedly said. “I still think any normal person would want to know why their husband would try to kill them.”
Original Article : HERE ; This post was curated & posted using : RealSpecific
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Are grey cars really just silver?
Image copyright Getty Images What does the colour of your car say about you?
Half a million Britons bought a grey car last year – and in 2018, for the first time, it was the most popular car colour, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
Silver, meanwhile, had its heyday in the early 2000s, topping the chart every year between 2000 and 2008.
In 2018, however, it didn’t even make the top five.
But is there really a difference between grey and silver?
Silver is just metallic grey isn’t it? Not in the car world it isn’t.
The second most popular car model sold last year, Volkswagen’s Golf, comes in “grey metallic” and “silver metallic”.
A company spokesman explained that a lot of their colours are just translations from their German equivalent.
All newly-bought cars are registered with the DVLA – and the colour is recorded according to the car manufacturer’s description.
However, that doesn’t extend to distinguishing between cherry red and scarlet – in the DVLA’s eyes they’re both just red.
So why the difference between metallic grey and silver?
A spokesman from Nissan, which offers a “gun metallic” and “blade silver” finish to its Qashqai, said: “Silver aims to replicate the finish of silver the metal, whereas grey is the colour grey.”
What are the least popular car colours?
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Sprinter Usain Bolt helped auction off a gold Nissan in 2012 Black, white, and silver have been firm favourites since the turn...
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A Rundown Of Arie And Lauren’s Wedding In Maui Betches
This past weekend, The Bachelor‘s Arie Luyendyk Jr. and Lauren Burnham got married. (Really thought I’d never have to spell “Luyendyk” again. Pretty mad that I do.) While some fans are annoyed that the wedding wasn’t aired on live TV, I’m sort of grateful we were spared a six-hour episode of The Bachelor on Monday night. (My liver couldn’t handle it.) And luckily, an anonymous source gave PEOPLE all the details of their wedding. So I, personally, feel like I was there and intend to judge the whole affair as though I was.
The Ceremony
We already knew they were getting married in Maui, at an old “processing factory for sugarcane” (according to Wikipedia) called Haiku Mill. If they did not write their vows in haikus, I will be simultaneously relieved and very disappointed. (“Once I met Lauren / I was like, ‘nah, Becca K’ / Then I changed my mind”.) An old processing factory doesn’t sound the most romantic, but pictures of the venue are actually pretty stunning. Very real-life fairytale, which, if Lauren’s Instagram captions are any indication, is exactly what she’s going for.
View this post on Instagram
Fairytales do come true🧚♂️. . . . . . 📸 @nvmauimedia
A post shared by Lauren Luyendyk (@laureneburnham) on Jan 11, 2019 at 9:40am PST
PEOPLE’s coverage continues by reminding me that Arie and Lauren have a 10-year age difference, and that they only got engaged 10 months ago. (Ten. Months. Doesn’t it feel like a f*cking decade has passed?) As for the...
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Crush death boy injuries ‘like car crash’
Image copyright Family handout Image caption The court has heard Alfie Lamb cried out “mummy” when a car seat was pushed back into him A three-year-old boy who was crushed by a car seat had trauma injuries similar to those of a victim in a car crash, a court has heard.
Alfie Lamb died after his mother’s boyfriend allegedly reversed his seat into him during a car journey in 2018.
A paediatric pathologist told the Old Bailey the toddler’s death was “unnatural” and appeared to have been caused by an “increase in pressure.”
Adrian Hoare, 23, and Stephen Waterson, 25, both deny manslaughter.
Alfie was found unresponsive as the pair arrived at their home in Croydon following a shopping trip to Sutton with two others on 1 February.
The court has heard the toddler had been in the back footwell during the journey and cried out “mummy” when Mr Waterson pushed back his seat.
‘Ruptured veins’
Dr Andreas Marnerides, who carried out a joint post mortem examination on Alfie’s body, told the jury the three-year-old had been “healthy” and there was no “natural explanation” for his death.
“We had positive findings it was unnatural, it was trauma related,” he said.
Dr Marnerides said the toddler’s injuries were similar to those seen in road traffic collisions and there was “positive evidence” they were caused by an “increase in pressure in the body.”
Lots of external petechial haemorrhages – tiny red spots caused by ruptured veins – were found on Alfie’s head and body as well as inside his...
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Killings of transgender people in the US saw another high year
(CNN)For decades, every year she’s been active in the transgender community, Isa Noyola has attended a funeral for a friend.
Despite an all-time high in trans-visibility, with celebrities such as Caitlyn Jenner and Laverne Cox now mainstream media stars, violence against the community is getting worse, community advocates say.
“You have this incredible pivotal moment of media visibility with pop culture, but it comes without education and deeper learning about the transgender community,” Noyola said. “Too many places remain unsafe.”
More than two dozen transgender people were killed last year, according to information gathered by CNN, the New York City Anti-Violence Project and the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ civil rights advocacy group.
It’s impossible to know an exact count. Federal statistics are limited.There’s also “serious under-reporting,” according to the Williams Institute, a public policy think tank focused on sexual orientation and gender identity issues.
Another issue is that police, media and even family members will often misgender the victims, describing the person using the name and gender with which they did not identify. Of the 28victims CNN found, the majority were misgendered initially, and in some cases, police and media continue to do so.
It was the second year in a row that more than two dozen members of the trans community were known to have been killed; 2017 was the deadliest on record. At least 29 transgender people were killed in 2017, according to the Human Rights Campaign. By the group’s calculations, there have been 128 killings of trans people...
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Watchdog report finds former VA secretary violated ethics rules with security use
(CNN)An inspector general report faulted former Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin with violating ethical rules by allowing security agents to drive his wife around, and also found larger long-standing ethical and management flaws in the department’s security program.
The inspector general cleared Shulkin of allegations he had abused his authority by having agents protect him when not on government business, because he relied on advice from department staffers and “no one raised any concern that his use was inappropriate.”
But the inspector general found that the security force responsible for protecting the secretary and deputy secretary has for years operated without clear policies, which has created security vulnerabilities. Salary and travel for the 13-member team have cost upward of $2 million in recent years, the report stated.
“The OIG concluded that VA’s executive protection services are governed by entrenched informal practices without due regard to principles of executive protection, such as calibrating the security provided in response to a well-conceived threat assessment,” the report said.
Pay and other disputes have persisted between the agents and management for years, the inspector general said. Changes to address management’s concerns about complacent agents were halted because agents could complain directly to the secretary and his chief of staff.
Among the security vulnerabilities discovered by the inspector general:
Agents stored keys to the motorcade vehicles inside the gas caps “rather than returning the keys to a secure location.”
Agents did not wear their protective vests because they were uncomfortable.
The panic button in...
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Guess Which Vanderpump Rules Costar Jax Taylor Unfollowed Betches
Every teenage girl has their petty moment where they unfollow someone on social media. I remember mine quite vividly: I was caught drinking a mixture of Vitaminwater and three different types of liquor in the bathroom during winter formal with a couple of girls. Obviously we got in trouble. Then a certain SOMEONE *cough Annie cough* said she had no idea that I handed her a bottle that was actually full of alcohol even though she yelled “LET’S GET WHITE GIRL WASTED” before she chugged most of it. So Annie aired me out to the headmaster of our school and said I got her drunk without her consent. She got three days suspension, and I got an entire quarter off from school and had to be homeschooled Cady Heron style. Obviously, I unfriended her and she friended me a million times until I finally gave in. So not only do you betches get to witness another tile in the rich mosaic that is my troubled teen years, but I also get to air out the girl who aired me out. Karma isn’t just a Waka Flocka Flame banger, my friends. It’s a legitimate concept with consequences.
(Also P.S. Annie and I are cool now.)
All that is to say, Jax Taylor is known (at least among the members of my group chat and secret Vanderpump Rules Facebook groups) for his social media activity that rivals that of a teenage girl. So in case any of you haven’t noticed (which is probably most of you...
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‘Incredibly rare’ find in prehistoric forest
Image copyright Scape Image caption Prehistoric wood preserved in peat at Lionacleit Archaeologists have found evidence of early human activity at a submerged prehistoric forest in the Western Isles.
Lionacleit in Benbecula is one of more than 20 recorded sites of ancient woodland that once grew in the islands.
The remains included an early butchery site and stone tools used for preparing food.
Archaeologists have described the discoveries at Lionacleit as “extra special”.
They found the remains of the area where animals had been butchered for food during studies of the site last year.
Image copyright Scape Image caption An aerial view of local volunteers mapping and recording the submerged forest Bone was also found with a piece of quartz from a stone tool and a quern stone, which was used for grinding food.
The Scottish Coastal Archaeology and the Problem of Erosion (Scape) Trust, a charity that works out of the University of St Andrews, was alerted to the remains by local resident Ann Corrrance Monk.
Joanna Hambly, a research fellow at Scape, said: “An unexpected discovery during the fieldwork was the realisation that archaeological remains survived in the intertidal zone.
“These include a wall, the possible remains of sub-circular stone structures which could be houses, a quern stone and butchered animal bone associated with struck quartz tools.
“To find the remains of a butchery site is incredibly rare – the survival of a single action in prehistory preserved in intertidal peats.”
Image copyright Scape Image caption ...
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‘Vanderpump Rules’ Recap: The Annual Birthday Meltdown Betches
Hi friends! I’m taking over the Vanderpump Rules recap for two weeks while Sgt. Olivia Betchson is out living her best life. I’m so excited to be writing these recaps, but I have to be honest and say that I’m a recent VPR convert. After resisting for many years, I finally binged the show this summer, and realized just what I had been missing. And now I ask anyone who has gone remotely near LA if they’ve been to SUR. It’s cost me a lot of friends, but I do not regret it.
As a reminder, last week James Kennedy got fired from SUR yet again, Jax, Brittany, and their limited knowledge of business-ownership tried to start a beer cheese company, and Stassi and Ariana planned their first-ever joint birthday party where definitely nothing will go wrong and zero lives will be torn apart. Let’s begin!
We kick off the episode at Vanderpump Dogs aka my actual Heaven, where Lisa is enjoying a delicious dog biscuit with her tea. Rich people are weird, y’all. Our crew has all shown up to take pictures with their dogs to post on Instagram, which will somehow stop the torture of dogs in another country. A noble cause, and also how very smart of Lisa. All she had to do was whisper the words “more Instagram followers” in a dark corner of Villa Rosa and her staffers came running to support her.
Jax is telling everyone that James got fired, while barely managing to...
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Stunning shots from horse racing’s photographer of the year
(CNN)His father was a legendary royal correspondent, but when young Edward Whitaker tagged along to watch Prince Charles play polo he was more fascinated by the phalanx of photographers.
Last year Whitaker won racing’s photographer of the year award for the eighth time as well as picture of the year with his stunning image of a horse in front of a super blue blood moon.
The lunar occurrence is rare — happening every 150 years or so — and so Whitaker was determined not to miss his moment.
He recruited the help of trainer Nicky Henderson’s secretary Carolyn Harty to pose on her horse, and they set off before dawn for the Mandown gallops in Lambourne, England on January 31, 2018.
“I knew a place where the moon set and where the angle would be right, so I was at the bottom of the hill shooting up to the top,” he told CNN Sport.
“It’s about the moon, isn’t it, but the way the horse is arching his neck — there is something very pleasing about it.”
The image was part of a portfolio of six which earned Whitaker the photographer of the year award as well as the main picture prize, the first time anyone has done the double.
“Photography is very subjective, you do what you can and you just hope people enjoy your work. It’s nice when it’s acknowledged and you’re recognised by your peers,” said Whitaker, whose father James was a well known royal writer and broadcaster.
READ: The world’s richest horse races:...
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Skripal spy house roof to be replaced
Image copyright Reuters/BBC Image caption Sergei Skripal, 67, and his daughter Yulia survived the attack The roof of the home of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal is to be dismantled by military teams in the wake of the Novichok attack.
Detectives believe Mr Skripal and his daughter Yulia first came into contact with the poison when it was sprayed on the property’s door handle.
The replacement of the roof timbers is a “precautionary measure”.
It will ensure there is no chance of residue contamination from police searches, say Wiltshire Council.
The clean-up at Christie Miller Road, Salisbury, has been taking place ever since they collapsed on 4 March.
The authority has warned neighbours of about four months of disruptions as it replaces the roof timbers.
‘Low risk’
Speaking to BBC Radio Wiltshire, Alistair Cunningham, the chair of the recovery coordination group, said: “the whole house had to be searched, including the roof space.
We want to be sure no contamination was taken from the door into the roof space.
It’s a timber structure and when it comes to wood it’s more difficult to clean. It’s easier to remove.”
Contractors will cover the house and garage with a “sealed frame”, according to a letter written by the council’s director of public of health, Tracy Daszkiewicz.
A military team will then dismantle and remove the timbers, before removing them from the site.
“When that work is completed, contractors will move on site to build a replacement roof for the house and adjoining garage.”
She said the risk to public...
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Sikh Americans are giving free food to thousands of workers affected by the government shutdown.
Vegetables, lentils and tortillas … sounds delicious. But what’s on the menu in San Antonio is a greater act of kindness.
According to multiple reports a local Sikh temple has been helping to feed federal workers affected by the partial government shutdown.
“The least we could do is support them with a hot meal for the next three days,” Balwinder Dhillon, President of the Sikh Center of San Antonio, said in a statement given to the media. “The Sikh Community appreciates their services and believes in giving gratitude to those men and women for doing a wonderful service for the nation.”
This small act of kindness has resonated across social media as the already record long federal government shutdown closes in on a full month.
Though most government agencies remain open during President Trump’s fight with Congress over funding for a border wall, the shutdown has had a major impact on agencies like the TSA.
According to Dhillon, some of the volunteers have been showing up at early as 4am in the morning to begin prepping the food.
“We don’t worry about one community. We all belong to one race, which is the human race. We think we are all brothers and sisters and we need to support each other no matter who we are,” he told local NBC affiliate News4SA. “We may have different color, different class or religion, or social and economic status, but at the end of the day, we are all brothers and sisters.”
“This is our faith,”...
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Serena & Venus through at Australian Open, Djokovic and Halep also win
Melbourne, Australia (CNN)During Serena Williams‘ first-round, straight-sets win over Germany’s Tatjana Maria at the Australian Open, one question kept surfacing: How would you describe her green, one-piece Nike outfit?
Williams set the record straight after her convincing 6-0 6-2 victory, achieved in just 49 minutes. “It’s a Serena-tard,” Williams said in her post-match press conference, drawing laughter from journalists.
Elsewhere on day two in Melbourne, world No. 1 Simona Halep was sure to be in good spirits after gaining revenge over Kaia Kanepi — her first-round conqueror at the 2018 US Open — fighting back to win 6-7 (2-7) 6-4 6-2.
Novak Djokovic and Venus Williams also progressed, while the ever watchable Nick Kyrgios fell in straight sets at home to 2016 Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic.
Visit cnn.com/sport for more news and videos
Serena’s health concerns
Not so much of a light-hearted matter for Williams is why she continues to sport compression stockings.
The American revealed she almost died after giving birth to daughter Alexis Olympia in September 2017 due to a pulmonary embolism, a condition she had previously suffered from.
“Definitely still concerned,” said Williams. “I have had some issues, and they’re not done. So it’s just something I just have to do for pretty much probably the rest of my career, we’ll see. But I’m always at the doctor.
“With DVTs, it’s very scary,” she added, referring to the condition, deep vein thrombosis. “A lot of people have them. Especially for me it’s incredibly frightening.
“I lay on the side of precaution as opposed...
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'Not enough young people getting mental health treatment'
A council could take over running mental health services for young people after becoming worried the current NHS service is not up to scratch.
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Ex-Alabama QB Jalen Hurts transferring to Oklahoma
FILE – In this Jan. 5, 2019, file photo, Alabama’s Jalen Hurts answers questions during media day for the NCAA college football playoff championship game, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)
Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts has decided to transfer to Oklahoma.
Hurts made the announcement Wednesday in a story in the Players’ Tribune. He will be available immediately as a graduate transfer.
Hurts was a two-year starter who led Alabama to a pair of national championship games and was Southeastern Conference offensive player of the year as a freshman.
Tua Tagovailoa replaced Hurts at halftime against Georgia in the national title game after the 2017 season, then beat him out for the starting job heading into this past season and finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting.
Hurts left Alabama with 5,626 yards and 48 touchdowns passing and 1,976 yards and 23 touchdowns rushing.
Hurts could have transferred earlier, but he stuck it out and rallied Alabama past Georgia in the SEC title game this past season after Tagovailoa was injured. As Oklahoma prepared to play Alabama in the College Football Playoff, Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley had praise for Hurts.
“Could not be more impressed with Jalen Hurts, how he handled that just from afar,” Riley said. “Big fan of that kid and how that entire situation was managed.”
Oklahoma has a good history with transfer quarterbacks. Baker Mayfield transferred from Texas Tech before winning the Heisman at Oklahoma in 2017 and being drafted No. 1 overall in 2018. Kyler Murray transferred from Texas A&M...
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Our national parks are mired in human feces and garbageis this what ‘great’ looks like?
The government shutdown is having some disturbing—and disgusting—consequences for our beloved public lands.
For decades, the U.S. national parks have been a strong point of pride for our nation. Tourists come from all over the world to witness the diverse majesty and beauty preserved and maintained in 59 American national parks. More than 330 million people visited these wonders in 2017.
However, that point of pride is quickly becoming a source of embarrassment as the government shutdown has hampered the parks’ ability to keep up with this year’s holiday wave of visitors. With no one to clean bathrooms or empty trash cans, people have resorted to doing their business out in the open and leaving their messes behind. Reports of garbage and human feces littering the parks have been pouring across the media, much to the dismay of nature lovers everywhere.
#governmentshutdown #shutdown Quick pic on my bike ride in. That’s the White House in the background. The National Park can’t empty trash cans next to the Washington Monument. pic.twitter.com/qC93aPVkq5
— Nick Schwellenbach (@schwellenbach) January 2, 2019
A report from an anonymous Ranger at Yosemite highlights the problems facing National Park Service employees.
The Alt National Park Service posted a report from an unnamed ranger at Yosemite National Park on their Facebook page:
National Alert:
The government shutdown is destroying our parks! Words from a Ranger in Yosemite National Park. Name of…
Posted by Alt National Park Service on Tuesday, January 1, 2019
It reads:
“Today I worked. We held Yosemite open to 4th of July-level traffic with no...
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The LA teachers’ strike has cost $97M. Now both sides are negotiating again
(CNN)After an apparent dayslong game of “chicken,” the Los Angeles teachers union and the school district went back to the negotiating table Thursday.
“We are having an impact,” said Alex Caputo-Pearl, president of the United Teachers Los Angeles union. “That impact is being felt across the city. And we’ve just got to keep it up.”
But while teachers demand millions more dollars in school funding, the Los Angeles Unified School District said it has already lost $97 million during the strike.
That’s because the state funds schools based on daily attendance, and the number of kids going to school has plunged during the strike. On Thursday, for example, about 84,000 of the district’s 600,000 students went to school, LAUSD said. That’s a 37% drop in attendance from Wednesday.
Parent Karen Goldman is well aware of the money lost by lower attendance. That’s one reason she’s keeping her fifth-grade son out of school.
“I feel like the message I am sending by not sending him and creating a budget loss is better than if I send him, because that will hopefully bring the strike to a conclusion faster,” she said.
But don’t expect teachers to end their strike anytime soon, the union president said Thursday.
“After 21 months of negotiations, I think it’s an unrealistic expectation to say that this is going to be over after today,” Caputo-Pearl said.
The teachers on strike are not getting paid. But the union leader said it’s critical for them to outlast Superintendent Austin Beutner, a former investment banker...
