Once this Harvey Weinstein debacle is completely finished, Hollywood will be a haven of racial, gender and financial equality. Ha, ha — right. The ongoing saga of Harvey Weinstein’s downfall continues with news about the former mogul possibly being stripped of his Oscar. As police in New York and London investigate the many complaints against him of sexual assault, rumours persist that Weinstein will be booted from the Producers Guild of America. Meanwhile, the name of The Weinstein Company will be changed and Weinstein’s name will be taken off future projects. Even the man’s political contributions are being returned or handed over to women’s charities. Other industry bigwigs and political leaders are being pilloried for not condemning Weinstein fast enough. His wife has left, his adult daughter feared he was suicidal, and people are lining up to savage the guy. Soon, he’ll be drawn and quartered in a public place, no doubt. On the business side, it’s been reported that The Weinstein Company is a shambles, with agents and talent trying to get themselves and their projects away from the bad smell, and upcoming films such as The Current War and The Upside in release limbo. The Financial Times says that Goldman Sachs is “exploring options” for its small stake in The Weinstein Company — and really, people, if the Goldman Sachs is taking the moral high ground, consider yourself toast. So why — just out of interest — is a 30-year problem coming to light now? Did we reach a tipping point? Was Mr. Weinstein’s career in decline? Is there a power struggle nobody knows about in the offices of the company? Have we reached some sort of landmark in the ongoing saga of sexual impropriety and the war between men and women? Doubtful. Still, it’s interesting that several formerly untouchable guys have been taken down recently, including Bill Cosby, Bill O’Reilly, Roger Ailes and Donald Trump, that last dude being just a bit tougher to get rid of than the others. Why is the Weinstein case different? It’s not as if Harvey Weinstein varies much from all the other handsy creeps in his business — oohhh, the names we’d insert here — and casting couch stories have plagued the industry since Florence Lawrence first fluttered her eyelashes circa 1906. Some of the more interesting fallout from the Weinstein case involves the support weasels — every Weinstein staffer who knew things were rotten is under a cloud, and so is every agent, manager, casting agent, publicist or assistant who knowingly sent some poor girl to talk to Weinstein in a hotel room. And how about the lawyers who handled the hush money all those years? Be interesting to see who gets tackled next. Since Weinstein is no doubt just a difference in degree, not in kind, it’s tough to say if this uproar will change anything on a permanent basis in his industry. Still, it would be interesting to know why Hollywood is such a sleazy place. The movie industry really is a cesspool of sexual harassment and bullying; hard to know how so many people go to work every day in such an atmosphere of fear and loathing. Many an analyst has decreed that vast amounts of money and power will do it every time, and maybe that’s true — look at Dominique Strauss-Kahn, or Silvio Berlusconi, or even l’il old home-grown Jian Ghomeshi. People will risk a lot to get anywhere near rich and famous, and an industry that allows ordinary people — capable of memorizing dialogue and playing make-believe — to be treated like gods is an industry in which every sort of predatory behaviour will no doubt thrive. How to explain the sexually predatory behaviour of men in every other industry is a bit more of a mystery. Play Video Play Loaded: 0% Progress: 0% Remaining Time -0:00 This is a modal window. Foreground --- White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan --- Opaque Semi-Opaque Background --- White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan --- Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window --- White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan --- Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Default Monospace Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Sans-Serif Casual Script Small Caps Defaults Done Riley Fleming and Wes Heffernan have been going back and forth all year, so why wouldn’t you expect them to do the same thing in the PGA of Alberta Championship? “We’ve been so close, it’s… Answer: smooth
The killer left a cryptic note on a table in his room the night of the attack. There are now reports that the cryptic note was full of random numbers. The Metro reported: A cryptic note full of random numbers has been found in the Las Vegas shooter’s hotel room, police say. Authorities are still trying to find out what drove Stephen Paddock to launching the worst mass shooting in US history. The mystery piece of paper was found near his dead body and Sheriff Lombardo said it’s been sent off for analysis. It is not believed to be a suicide note. The 64-year-old to killed 58 and injured 489 when he opened fire on people at the Route 91 Harvest Festival off the Las Vegas strip on Sunday night. Investigators are looking into whether Paddock also planned a car bombing. Investigative journalist Laura Loomer noticed something interesting. The killer targeted the Harvest 91 festival on October 1 or 10-1. I was thinking about the numerology surrounding the #LasVegasShooting at Harvest 91 on October 1. 91 10-1 That would be 9/11/01. Eerie. pic.twitter.com/NExJJHQi8S — Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) October 7, 2017 Sponsored Sponsored Answer: smooth
TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Attackers have mounted simultaneous gun and suicide bomb assaults on Iran's parliament building and the tomb of the republic's revolutionary founder in Tehran. At least seven people were killed and 35 others injured in the twin assaults, the semi-official Fars agency reported. The attacks were the most audacious State media reported that gunmen stormed the parliament building in Tehran and went on a shooting spree. At least one attacker detonated a suicide bomb. Five people died and at least 25 were injured there, Fars reported. At the same time, a gun and suicide bomb attack targeted the Ayatollah Khomeini mausoleum on the southern outskirts of the Iranian capital. Two people died and 10 were injured at the shrine, Fars said. A woman was arrested after the attack at the tomb, Fars reported, adding that another attacker has been surrounded by security officers. CNN has not independently verified the number of victims and it was not immediately clear whether the number of dead included the suicide bombers. The attackers were holding a number of hostages inside the highly-fortified parliament building, Press TV reported, as Iranian officials scrambled to establish who was behind the attacks or whether they were coordinated. A picture from semi-official Fars news agency shows a man lowering a young boy from a window of the parliament building onto the street as another man holding a gun watches over them from another window. The man with the gun is reportedly a policeman helping with the evacuation. Attacks of this nature are extremely rare in Iran, particularly in the highly-controlled capital where tourist and government sites are tightly policed. Gun ownership is heavily controlled in Iran, raising speculation that the attackers' guns were smuggled into the country. Symbolic attack Iran's parliament, also called the Islamic Consultative Assembly or Majlis, has 290 members. It has female members and has representatives for religious minorities including Christians, Zoroastrians and Jews. It is currently unclear how the attacker or attackers entered the parliament building, which has multiple security checkpoints. The location of the mausoleum attack is symbolic, targeting the tomb of the Islamic Republic's founder and first supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. He led the revolution that overthrew the Shah in 1979 and was Iran's leader for 10 years. The mausoleum is located around 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the parliament. Attacks rare Such attacks in Iran are rare, but the country -- with its largely Shiite population -- has been involved in military actions against Sunni terrorist groups such as ISIS, who regard Shiites as apostates. Last year, Iran's government said it thwarted "one of the biggest plots" by terror groups targeting Tehran and other major cities during the month of Ramadan. This year's holy month started almost two weeks ago on May 26. The last major attack in Iran was in 2010 when a Sunni extremist group carried out a suicide attack against a mosque in Sistan-Baluchistan killing 39 people. Kurdish groups have carried out small scale attacks against Iranian security forces in the north-west of the country. Print this article Back to Top Answer: tree
Stephen C. Paddock has been identified as the lone shooter in the Las Vegas shooting that occurred at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, as reported by USA Today. The shooter is currently dead and suicide has been reported as the probable cause of death. Since news of the shooting broke, Paddock’s family has begun to speak out and his brother Eric, from Orlando, Florida, has been talking to the media. Get to know more about the shooter through his brother Eric, the incident itself, and how Eric Paddock views the tragedy. “Not an avid gun guy at all…where the hell did he get automatic weapons? He has no military background,” gunman’s brother says pic.twitter.com/EMSKLQGYFM — CBS News (@CBSNews) October 2, 2017 In an interview with Daily Mail, Eric Paddock said that his brother had no political or religious affiliation of which he was aware. Paddock added that: He was just a guy. Something happened, he snapped or something. Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo also told FOX News that a motive is not known, explaining: We have no idea what his belief system was. Right now, we believe he was the sole aggressor and the scene is static. Unfortunately, ISIS accounts online are claiming Stephen C. Paddock actually converted to Islam months ago and the shooting was on their behalf. It is unclear if this is coming from actual ISIS propaganda accounts or random supporters, though Good Morning America has begun discussing the possibilities of this as well. The Associated Press has posted the above tweet, announcing this news. Brother Eric Paddock tells Daily Mail that their family is confused and shocked. He explained: We know absolutely nothing, this is just, we are dumbfounded … We have absolutely no idea. Our condolences go to the victims and all their families. The Orlando Sentinel reports that, according to public records, much of Stephen C. Paddock’s family resides in Florida. Eric Paddock says that his 90-year-old mother, who lives close to him, is struggling to cope with the news and is “in shock”. Paddock told Daily Mail: Our family is OK, we’re sitting in here in our house hoping that everyone doesn’t attack us. My mother is 90 years old, lives down the street from me, we’re just completely dumbfounded. Like his brother was reported to be, according to his Facebook page, Eric Paddock is retired, like several of his family members in Florida. Stephen C. Paddock was living in Nevada at the time of the shooting. Stephen C. Paddock and his brother’s relationship was not strained, but they were not very close. Eric Paddock said that he and his brother lived on different coasts and that they did not speak very often. Eric Paddock said his brother was a regular at Las Vegas casinos, according to Good Morning America, and Stephen used to work as an accountant. In an interview with Las Vegas Review Journal, Paddock also said: We have no idea how this happened. It’s like an asteroid just fell on top of our family. He then added: There is no reason we can imagine why Stephen would do something like this. All we can do is send our condolences to the people who died. Just no reason, no warning … As far as we knew, he had enough money to live the rest of his life in comfort. Paddock said that, as much as he knew, his brother had no known health or financial problems at the time of the shooting. With over 50 people dead and over 400 injured in the shooting, this is reported to be the deadliest shooting in American history. Country star Jason Aldean was on stage performing at the time of the shooting and he ran off stage once aware of what was happening. Shooter Stephen C. Paddock opened fire from a 32nd floor hotel room at the Mandalay Bay Hotel &amp; Casino. Answer: tree
As the GOP divides at the rate of human cells, and a self-destructive President Trump causes his own supporters to question how he can succeed, Democrats have refused to fill the leadership void with a better vision of governance. Instead, they are partnering with the flailing Republicans and their president in failure. Democrats are leaning indulgently on the politics of race and gratuitous opposition to Trump, and they appear content to be the party of sanctuary cities, safe spaces and single-payer health care. Weeks ago they released an “agenda” designed to offer voters “A Better Deal,” but who would know what’s in it since all they talk about is Trump? Meanwhile, if Trump’s trajectory doesn’t improve, the party may face the weakest, most unpopular president in modern times in 2020 -- but with who? Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are running, or think they are. Why are they being encouraged? Sounding like a garden-variety conservative, liberal New York Times columnist Charles Blow asked last week on Twitter: “Serious question: What is the Dem party now in addition to anti-Trump? What does it stand for now? Also, who’s leading? #GhostParty.” The last two weeks have been Trump’s worst in office, yet it seems the lower he sinks, Democratic leaders do likewise. The president’s pathetic and irresponsible response to a white supremacist demonstration in Charlottesville -- where a protester was mowed down by a driver and killed -- has prompted not only fellow Republicans to criticize Trump but now his own National Economic Council director, Gary Cohn, as well. Still, Democrats went overboard. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is calling on Congress to censure the president for the “repulsiveness of his words and actions,” adding that “every day, the president gives us further evidence of why such a censure is necessary.” Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, which is investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election and any potential ties the president and his campaign had to those activities, responded Friday, saying in a Twitter post that he will co-sponsor a censure resolution because Trump “expresses views inimical to our values.” Rep. Jackie Speier, another member of the committee, has called for Trump’s removal under the 25th Amendment. Speier tweeted that “POTUS is showing signs of erratic behavior and mental instability that place the country in grave danger.” Rep. Keith Ellison, deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said on CNN Monday that POTUS has “sympathy” for white supremacists. He’s not just a congressman anymore but a party official -- no wonder the DNC’s fundraising is at a record low. Rep. Maxine Waters, whose late-in-life internet fame recently landed her on “The View,” tweeted the day after Charlottesville that “Trump has made it clear - w/Bannon &amp; Gorka in the WH, &amp; the Klan in the streets, it is now the White Supremacists House. #Charlottesville.” Should Democrats win back the House next year, Waters would be chairman of the Financial Services Committee, an influential voice at the leadership table. Former Vermont Gov. and DNC Chairman Howard “The Scream” Dean said last week, “If you want to vote for a racist in the White House, then you better vote for Republicans.” The party elder recently declared he would stop contributing to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee because it will consider recruiting pro-life candidates. After all these years, eight of them during President Obama’s two terms, Pelosi is now calling on the House Speaker Paul Ryan to remove Confederate statues -- which “have always been reprehensible” -- immediately from the halls of Congress “if Republicans are serious about rejecting white supremacy.” Polling after the events in Charlottesville show that while a majority of Americans disapprove of Trump’s response, 62 percent said monuments to Confederate leaders should remain. Yet these monuments are suddenly a pressing federal issue to national Democrats. Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, who enjoys great respect across aisle, has gone a step further than his party’s left, saying the statue removal is “not a matter of political correctness,” but “of public safety and homeland security.” This from the man who never made the issue a priority as head of DHS. While countering Trump is essential -- after all, Republicans are doing the same -- the focus should remain on even more fundamental matters: guarding the Constitution and the separation of powers; stressing facts over falsehoods; preventing a government shutdown that Trump’s lobbying for; defending the right to a free press to hold him accountable; urging him to pay cost-sharing reduction payments under the Affordable Care Act to provide more certainty to the fragile exchanges; and pushing for any bipartisan cooperation possible on health care, tax reform and infrastructure projects. Democrats must leave the fight to stop him and his family from running a kleptocracy, an issue the GOP remains silent on, to outsiders who have filed lawsuits. Leave the statue debate to the states. Leave the questions of his stability to Republicans like Sen. Bob Corker. Leave the Russia investigation to special counsel Robert Mueller. Let the media report on West Wing dysfunction or how much Trump television watches. Democrats should leave all that alone. Democrats must also decide whether they want President Obama back in the spotlight. Rudderless and leaderless, some party operators long for him swoop in and right the ship, yet they still blame him for sinking it with epic election losses from 2009 to 2016. As they attempt to plot a path forward and regain seats in state legislatures, governorships, the U.S. House and Senate -- and someday the White House -- Democrats need new faces and leaders and can’t lean too heavily on the 44th president. Yet some are calling for him to be a loud voice: “None of the potential Democratic presidential candidates have the visibility or credibility to be effective,” party strategist Brad Bannon told The Hill. Finally, as Democrats like Reps. Brad Sherman, Al Green and Gwen Moore continue to push for impeachment, party leaders must avoid what Obama’s onetime senior adviser David Axelrod warned would likely be a costly mistake. “Remember: A third of the country supports this president," he said on CNN. "That's a very dangerous road to go down. And if you ever did go down that road, you’re opening a Pandora’s box that will never end." What’s already in that box is widespread voter disgust. People are turning away from both parties and the pool of gettable voters is shrinking, which means base politics will be less and less effective in the years to come. Democrats must convince voters they take governing more seriously than partisan politics and will focus on economic growth instead of statues, tweets and Russia. Or they can stay in the minority a lot longer. A.B. Stoddard is associate editor of RealClearPolitics and a columnist. She is also host of "No Labels Radio" on Sirius XM's POTUS Channel. Answer: smooth
On 'Hannity,' Republican lawmaker from South Carolina says he wants to give John McCain the send-off he deserves. Answer: smooth
Emails leaked from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s private email account Friday by WikiLeaks addressed using executive privilege to keep the emails between Hillary Clinton and President Obama from being released, a 2008 survey testing reaction to then-Sen. Obama’s Muslim father and use of cocaine, and a suggestion from former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm on how to take Clinton out of the “bubble.” March 2015: Podesta wrote to Cheryl Mills about withholding emails between Clinton and Obama Six days before Hillary Clinton spoke to reporters at the United Nations about her private email server, Podesta wrote to Cheryl Mills, “Think we should hold emails to and from potus? That’s the heart of his exec privilege. We could get them to ask for that. They may not care, but I seems like they will.” In September, Politico reported that the State Department would not release emails exchanged between Clinton and Obama to the public, citing the “presidential communications privilege,” which is another name for the executive privilege. Claiming the privilege enables the president to withhold certain information that has been requested by other branches of government or by the public. This means that the emails the two wrote to each other won’t be released until 5 to 12 years after the end of the Obama administration, as dictated by the Presidential Records Act. January 2008: Clinton pollster proposed message testing lines on Obama--including reference to his Muslim father, past cocaine use An email referring to “McCain Survey-3” from Greenberg research listed a number of survey questions with “negative facts” about Clinton’s primary opponent, then-Sen. Obama. Kristi Fuksa, of Greenberg Research, sent the email to Democratic operatives including Podesta, Paul Begala, Tara McGuinness and Susan McCue The statements floated included subjects like his upbringing among Muslims, his father’s Muslim faith, his referring to past cocaine use as “a little blow” -- here’s the survey: * 1 Obama (owe-BAHM-uh) was the only candidate at a recent event not to cover his heart during the national anthem and he has stopped wearing an American flag pin. * 2 Obama (owe-BAHM-uh) benefited from a land deal from a contributor who has been indicted for corruption. * 3 Obama (owe-BAHM-uh) would personally negotiate with the leaders of terrorist nations like Iran and North Korea without preconditions. * 4 Obama (owe-BAHM-uh) voted against allowing people to use handguns to defend themselves against intruders. * 5 Obama (owe-BAHM-uh) plans to raise taxes by 180 (one hundred and eighty) billion dollars a year to pay for his government-run health care plan * 6 Obama (owe-BAHM-uh) voted repeatedly against emergency funding bills for U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. * 7 Obama (owe-BAHM-uh)‘s father was a Muslim and Obama grew up among Muslims in the world’s most populous Islamic country. * 8 Obama (owe-BAHM-uh) is ranked as one of the ten most liberal members of the Senate because of his support of issues like gay adoption. * 9 (Other) * 10 (All) * 11 (None) * 12 (Don’t know/refused) * 13 Obama (owe-BAHM-uh) voted against requiring medical care for aborted fetuses who survive the procedure. * 14 Obama (owe-BAHM-uh) supports giving driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants * 15 Obama (owe-BAHM-uh) described his former use of cocaine as using “a little blow.” Begala told the Washington Post that the survey was named for John McCain because “it was designed to test attacks that might come in the general election.” He also pointed out that “every campaign and every PAC tests potential negatives against the candidate they support...that’s all it was.” July 2015: Jennifer Granholm’s suggestion on how to get Clinton out of the “bubble” The former Michigan governor suggested Clinton could dispense with the idea that she’s “out of touch” by doing “work days,” in which she’d pick “8 occupations that she is willing to spend one day working at. She humbles herself, but gives dignity to the workers whose salaries she wants to raise.” Some of Granholm’s suggestions included working as a janitor in a school cafeteria, at a daycare center, making beds in a hotel, bussing tables at Denny’s or working “behind the counter at McDonalds or Chipotle’s!” CBS News’ Steve Chaggaris and Donald Judd contributed to this report © 2016 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Answer: tree
President Trump took a shot at Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Monday, describing him as "beleaguered" in a tweet about the Russia investigation. "After 1 year of investigation with Zero evidence being found, Chuck Schumer just stated that "Democrats should blame ourselves,not Russia," Trump tweeted. "So why aren't the Committees and investigators, and of course our beleaguered A.G., looking into Crooked Hillarys crimes &amp; Russia relations?" read his follow-up tweet. Trump disclosed in a New York Times interview on Wednesday that he would not have hired Sessions if he had known that Sessions would recuse himself from the Russia probe. "Should have never recused himself and if he was going to recuse himself he should have told me before he took the job and I would have picked somebody else," Trump said. The president's comments prompted speculation that Sessions would resign from his post. However, a day after the interview was published, Sessions said he plans on continuing in the role. "I’m totally confident that we can continue to run this office in an effective way," Sessions said. Answer: tree
That black adolescents receive harsher disciplinary punishments at school than their white peers for the same offenses is troubling enough. But federal data showing that even at the preschool level black students are nearly four times as likely to be suspended as their white peers is especially shocking. What it suggests is that racial biases are creeping into classrooms filled with 4-year-olds and that schools are effectively criminalizing black children, particularly boys, when they are barely out of diapers. Two years ago, federal civil rights officials issued guidance calling on school districts to train their teachers to overcome this problem and showing districts how to recognize and avoid discriminatory practices. But researchers are just beginning to understand the psychological mechanisms that lead teachers who see themselves as loving, supportive figures to discriminate against minorities. Chief among these mechanisms, according to a new reportfrom Yale University’s Child Study Center, are racial preconceptions that shape the way the teachers view black boys in particular. These preconceptions were found to exist in black as well as white preschool teachers. In the study, the Yale researchers showed teachers a dozen brief video clips of four well-behaved preschool-aged children, two boys, one black and one white, and two girls, one black and one white, working and playing together in a classroom. Though the children were behaving calmly, the teachers were asked to look for signs of behavior that might become problematic. A computer program that tracked the eyes of the teachers as they watched the video showed that both black and white teachers watched the black children, especially the boys, longer when looking for signs of trouble. And when the researchers asked teachers which child had commanded the most attention, 42 percent of them chose the black boy, 34 percent the white boy, 13 percent the white girl and 10 percent the black girl. In other words, the black boy in this study received far more scrutiny from teachers than his behavior warranted. This brings to mind the “driving while black” phenomenon, in which police officers stop African-American motorists without cause, or stop-and-frisk practices that predominantly single out blacks. The Yale study is consistent with previous research suggesting that teachers tend to see “acting out” by black children as more threatening than similar behavior in white children, and thus deserving of disproportionately harsher punishments. This is counterproductive on a number of counts, but what’s really at stake here is the future of these children, whose early disciplinary problems put them at greater risk later on of falling behind, dropping out and eventually getting caught up in the juvenile justice system. Answer:
tree