Quantcast
Channel: Gawker
Viewing all 24829 articles
Browse latest View live

Florida, Prepare to Be Underwater

0
0
Florida, Prepare to Be Underwater

The climate is changing. The earth is warming. Sea levels are rising. We know all of these things to be true. Today, we have a clearer picture of who could soon be inundated by the mighty oceans, and where they might go ( to a watery grave).

A new study in Nature Climate Change examines how sea level rise over the remainder of our century will affect America on a granular county-by-county basis, taking into account changing population trends and specifics of geography. The study finds that a sea level rise of 1.8 meters by the year 2100—near the high end of current estimates—would put more than 13 million people at risk, meaning that “the absence of protective measures could lead to US population movements of a magnitude similar to the twentieth century Great Migration of southern African-Americans.”

And where, exactly, can we find the vast majority of these millions of people at risk of being flooded out of their homes? In the great state of Florida, of course: the home of Marco Rubio, a climate change-denying presidential candidate.

Florida, Prepare to Be Underwater

Miami and its surrounding areas in South Florida are one of the most at-risk places in America for devastating consequences from rising seas. Tampa-St. Petersburg, Charleston, SC, and Cape May, NJ could also experience “serious levels of population impact” from such a rise, the study says.

In conclusion: climate change is causing sea level rise that could displace millions of people, particularly in Florida.

What can we do about it? Carbon tax, carbon tax, carbon tax. And don’t vote for any climate change deniers. And, maybe, start packing anyhow.

[Photo via Flickr; Chart via Nature]



China on Donald Trump: Have Fun With Your “Democracy,” Idiots

0
0
China on Donald Trump: Have Fun With Your “Democracy,” Idiots

The Global Times, China’s state-run newspaper, used this morning’s editorial space to weigh in on the farce that is our current electoral spectacle. The 500-word smirk essentially boiled down to: How’s that whole democracy thing working out now, dumbfucks?

http://gawker.com/trump-rally-ca...

Because unlike China, with its glorious and strong single-party system, the United States and its ilk are subject to Democracy’s inevitable bickering. Bickering that can—and has—become dangerous:

Fist fights among voters who have different political orientations is quite common in developing countries during election seasons. Now, a similar show is shockingly staged in the US, which boasts one of the most developed and mature democratic election systems.

Trump’s mischief has overthrown a lot of conventional norms of US political life.

What’s more, elections are pointless anyway—so why not let your benevolent government choose for you? They do know best after all.

That’s when Trump emerged. Big-mouthed, anti-traditional, abusively forthright, he is a perfect populist that could easily provoke the public. Despite candidates’ promises, Americans know elections cannot really change their lives. Then, why not support Trump and vent their spleen?

http://gawker.com/how-we-fooled-...

The paper goes on to explain how democracy, though occasionally a force for good, has given to some of history’s darkest periods: “Mussolini and Hitler came to power through elections, a heavy lesson for Western democracy.” A lesson that we’d be smart to heed.

After all, it sure is a beautiful country we have here. It’d be a shame if something were to... happen to it.

The US had better watch itself for not being a source of destructive forces against world peace, more than pointing fingers at other countries for their so-called nationalism and tyranny.

I wonder which countries they’re talking about.

[h/t The Washington Post]


Contact the author at ashley@gawker.com. Art by Jim Cooke.

Ask Your Doctor For More Information About John Kasich

Look Who's Finally Fed Up With Donald Trump: The "Humans of New York" Guy

0
0
Look Who's Finally Fed Up With Donald Trump: The "Humans of New York" Guy

Seems like every day a new famous person is waking up and thinking to themselves, This Donald Trump guy is bad news. This week’s revelation comes from the guy who runs the famous “Humans of New York” Facebook page.

Here’s the letter from that guy, Brandon Stanton, writing, perhaps as some sort of creative writing exercise, from the point of view of “a journalist”:

Mr. Trump,

I try my hardest not to be political. I’ve refused to interview several of your fellow candidates. I didn’t want to risk any personal goodwill by appearing to take sides in a contentious election. I thought: ‘Maybe the timing is not right.’ But I realize now that there is no correct time to oppose violence and prejudice. The time is always now. Because along with millions of Americans, I’ve come to realize that opposing you is no longer a political decision. It is a moral one.

I’ve watched you retweet racist images. I’ve watched you retweet racist lies. I’ve watched you take 48 hours to disavow white supremacy. I’ve watched you joyfully encourage violence, and promise to ‘pay the legal fees’ of those who commit violence on your behalf. I’ve watched you advocate the use of torture and the murder of terrorists’ families. I’ve watched you gleefully tell stories of executing Muslims with bullets dipped in pig blood. I’ve watched you compare refugees to ‘snakes,’ and claim that ‘Islam hates us.’

I am a journalist, Mr. Trump. And over the last two years I have conducted extensive interviews with hundreds of Muslims, chosen at random, on the streets of Iran, Iraq, and Pakistan. I’ve also interviewed hundreds of Syrian and Iraqi refugees across seven different countries. And I can confirm— the hateful one is you.

Those of us who have been paying attention will not allow you to rebrand yourself. You are not a ‘unifier.’ You are not ‘presidential.’ You are not a ‘victim’ of the very anger that you’ve joyfully enflamed for months. You are a man who has encouraged prejudice and violence in the pursuit of personal power. And though your words will no doubt change over the next few months, you will always remain who you are.

Sincerely,

Brandon Stanton

Brave.


Sarah Palin Shows Up at Florida Trump Rally After Canceling Due to Husband's Serious Injury

0
0

This morning, Sarah Palin canceled her Florida appearances with Donald Trump after her husband was hospitalized in intensive care last night. This afternoon, Palin showed up in Florida anyway.

http://gawker.com/report-todd-pa...

Palin, who was breathless and tripped over her words, cited her husband’s snowmobile injury— “real life issues that happen”—as evidence of how necessary a Trump presidency has become. She also accused the media of supporting the “petty, punk-ass little thuggery stuff” propagated by “these quote-unquote protestors.”

Her speech was an introduction for Chris Christie.


Three proposals for how to make Albany less corrupt: Andrew Cuomo wants to limit lawmakers’ outside

Marco Rubio Insults the Only Voters Who Can Save Him From Career Embarrassment

0
0
Marco Rubio Insults the Only Voters Who Can Save Him From Career Embarrassment
Marco Rubio in Melbourne (via Getty)

Today at a campaign stop in Melbourne, Fla., Marco Rubio compared the Republican presidential race to an internet comment section:

This is a thing that writers like to say about the election because comment sections are often our closest points of contact for bad faith readings, unhinged arguments, and anonymous racism. It isn’t the worst line, but it’s far from the most creative.

It also happens to be a very weird thing for Marco Rubio, Republican presidential primary candidate, to say. Writers can make this comparison because the readers of our Twitter feeds—our peers—understand the exact type of person we’re talking about when we say “internet commenter.” But normal people—i.e. most of the millions of voters in Florida—probably don’t understand the profile of the internet commenter, and if they do, it might mean they’re an internet commenter themselves, in which case they have been directly insulted by Marco Rubio, who desperately needs their votes so that he isn’t forced to immediately exit the Republican primary in shame.

Also, the commenters of this website are great and its writers never make derisive remarks about them.


Contact the author at jordan@gawker.com.

500 Days of Kristin, Day 415: Everything I Know I Know About Kristin

0
0
500 Days of Kristin, Day 415: Everything I Know I Know About Kristin

Four hundred and fifteen days ago, Kristin Cavallari—you know, Kristin Cavallari—began writing a book called Balancing on Heels. That book, now titled Balancing in Heels, comes out tomorrow.

Before I started following Kristin on her memoir-writing journey, I knew a few things about her: She starred on the MTV reality TV shows Laguna Beach and The Hills; she briefly appeared on Dancing With the Stars; she married Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler; and she later revealed, on Fox News, that she did not vaccinate her children due to autism fears.

I learned on January 23, 2015, that Kristin got a book deal. At the time, she described the project to E! News:

It’s basically an intimate look at my life. It’s going to be a lot of fashion and beauty. Because I’m such a big health nut, it’s also going to be health and fitness. And then a lot of recipes because I love to cook and a lot of mommy and wife stuff. So really just everything in my life...

I know so much everything about Kristin, now.

I know that she is a nominal designer of both shoes and jewelry and that her jewelry line is called Emerald Duv. I know that Duv is pronounced “Duhv,” and that Kristin and her business partner chose the name because “we both have babies born in May and wanted to come up with a name that resembled both of us. We used their birthstone—emerald—and doves come in a pair, or twos.”

I know that the common emerald dove is actually just a pigeon, which isn’t a fact about Kristin, but it applies.

I know that Kristin considers herself to be “petite.”

I don’t know what Kristin does all day, exactly, but I do know that she frequently posts ads for various products on social media. In the year-plus that I have followed her, she has promoted, among other things, Hoover® cordless vacuums, Wonderful Halos, the NFL’s Pinterest account, and her own business ventures.

Recently, Kristin posted an Instagram ad for Reebok’s new Zprint sneakers.

Shortly thereafter, a PR person emailed me about the ad and offered to send me a pair. And so I walked a short distance in Kristin’s sponsored shoes:

500 Days of Kristin, Day 415: Everything I Know I Know About Kristin

I know that Reebok Zprints are significantly more comfortable than the shoes from Kristin’s line, because I have a pair of those, too. Former Gawker editor Leah Beckmann graciously sent me the Kristin Cavallari for Chinese Laundry “Light” sequined peep toe pumps last year:

500 Days of Kristin, Day 415: Everything I Know I Know About Kristin

I know that after one exciting wear, most of the sequins fell off.

I know that Kristin likes to cook, or alternatively, she likes to say she likes to cook.

I know that she named her three children Camden and Jaxon and Saylor, spelled just like that.

At least one mystery about Kristin remains, and that is, what happened to the Secret Bangs™? Kristin promoted this product—a headband with fake bangs attached—for several weeks last year. She even starred in an informercial about them.

500 Days of Kristin, Day 415: Everything I Know I Know About Kristin

But when I ordered a pair, I received an email notice that Secret Bangs™ were on “backorder,” and then they never arrived. All traces of the Bangs have been removed from Kristin’s accounts, and www.secretbangs.com has been deleted.

If I could ask Kristin one question it would be: Secret Bangs™????????

I have no further questions about Kristin’s eating habits, however. From reading many original articles on her app, I know that there are several foods and food-like products that Kristin will not eat: sour cream, agave, additives, “parabins,” egg whites, and shrimp—unless she knows where the shrimp is coming from.

(I know that Kristin has an app, but I do not know why.)

Perhaps the thing I know the most is that some people do not know Kristin.

500 Days of Kristin, Day 415: Everything I Know I Know About Kristin
500 Days of Kristin, Day 415: Everything I Know I Know About Kristin
500 Days of Kristin, Day 415: Everything I Know I Know About Kristin
500 Days of Kristin, Day 415: Everything I Know I Know About Kristin
500 Days of Kristin, Day 415: Everything I Know I Know About Kristin
500 Days of Kristin, Day 415: Everything I Know I Know About Kristin
500 Days of Kristin, Day 415: Everything I Know I Know About Kristin
500 Days of Kristin, Day 415: Everything I Know I Know About Kristin
500 Days of Kristin, Day 415: Everything I Know I Know About Kristin

The reason is clear.

Maybe next time you’ll see it.


This has been 500 Days of Kristin.

[Photo via Getty]


Snake Oil Biotech CEO Will Fundraise for Hillary

0
0
Snake Oil Biotech CEO Will Fundraise for Hillary
Photo: Getty

Last October, the Wall Street Journal popped the reputation of Theranos, a much buzzed-about biotech startup that claimed to have revolutionized blood testing. As it turned out, their claims were not true—they simply hadn’t done what they’d claimed they’d done. Now, the mildly disgraced firm’s CEO is stumping for the Clinton campaign.

http://gawker.com/u-s-government...

Elizabeth Holmes’ star has fallen, but Recode reports she’s teaming up with Chelsea Clinton at Theranos HQ on March 23rd:

CONVERSATION WITH CHELSEA CLINTON

Monday, March 21st

11:00 AM

Hosted by Elizabeth Holmes

Offices of Theranos

Palo Alto, CA

(Address available upon RSVP)

Participation Levels:

+ Co-host: $2,700 – contribute or raise $2,700 includes host reception with Chelsea Clinton

+ Friend: $1,000

+ Supporter: $500

+ Friend: $250

+ Student: $100

Theranos, through it’s exceptionally well-connected CEO and founder, has always cultivated political ties: Former secretaries of state George Shultz and Henry Kissinger sit on the company’s board, along with former defense secretary William Perry, former senators Sam Nunn and Bill Frist. Holmes also, perhaps not coincidentally, is running a highly (over) valued corporation that could face complete ruin because of government regulation—it sure could help in the years ahead to have a friend in a very high place.


Today's Best Deals: Flash Storage, Chromebook, French Press, and More

0
0
Today's Best Deals: Flash Storage, Chromebook, French Press, and More

SanDisk flash storage, a cheap Chromebook, and a $15 french press kick off Monday’s best deals. Bookmark Kinja Deals and follow us on Twitter to never miss a deal. Commerce Content is independent of Editorial and Advertising, and if you buy something through our posts, we may get a small share of the sale. Click here to learn more, and don’t forget to sign up for our email newsletter.

Top Deals

Today's Best Deals: Flash Storage, Chromebook, French Press, and More

Today only, Amazon’s offering big discounts on dozens of flash storage solutions from SanDisk, including all-time low prices several truly unique products.

For starters, SanDisk’s 200GB microSD card, the largest in the world, is marked down to an all-time low $60. You’ll also find deals on Lightning and wireless flash drives, the best portable SSD prices we’ve ever seen, normal SSDs to add to your computer (including 1TB for $200!), and a lot of standard flash drives, SD cards, and the like.

Like all Gold Box deals, these prices are only available today, and the best stuff could very well sell out early. [SanDisk Gold Box]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...

http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Ultra-...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...


Today's Best Deals: Flash Storage, Chromebook, French Press, and More

If you can’t start your day without a morning cup of coffee, but you’re still using an electric drip coffee maker, or even (gasp) a Keurig, you might want to try out a flavor-extracting french press. This inexpensive X-Chef model looks nearly identical to the excellent Bodum Chambord, but is significantly cheaper at $15.

If you’re not convinced, know that french press took the #1 spot in Lifehacker’s coffee-making Hive Five, and many coffee aficionados swear by it. And with no disposable filters or pods to buy, this machine could pay for itself over time.

http://lifehacker.com/most-popular-c...

Today’s Amazon deal is a match for the best price we’ve ever seen this model, but we don’t know how long it will last, so perk up and lock in your order while you can. [Heat Resistant Glass Coffee French Press Tea Maker Pot, $15 with code YJCX2EPH]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B012FOZZ8A?...


Today's Best Deals: Flash Storage, Chromebook, French Press, and More

The slightly smaller sibling of your favorite headphones is on sale for $65 today from Adorama, one of the best prices we’ve ever seen. [Audio-Technica ATH-M40X Headphones, $65]

http://co-op.kinja.com/the-best-headp...


Today's Best Deals: Flash Storage, Chromebook, French Press, and More

Nothing beats a massage after a tough day at work, and this $25 pillow includes four rotating massage nodes and infrared heating to knead your aching muscles. Now you won’t have to drive yourself to the mall to sit in the Sharper Image massage chairs.[Ohuhu Shiatsu Deep Kneading Massage Pillow with Heat, $25 with code WZYO6VF9]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AFLDIRK?...


Today's Best Deals: Flash Storage, Chromebook, French Press, and More

The UE Boom Bluetooth speaker is the best you can buy, according to Gizmodo, and it’s available again refurbished for just $85 right now, the best price we’ve ever seen. [Refurb UE Boom, $85]

http://gizmodo.com/the-best-bluet...


Today's Best Deals: Flash Storage, Chromebook, French Press, and More

If you aren’t happy with your current vacuum, Bissell’s 9595A has a stellar 4.4 star review average on over 5,000 reviews, and Amazon will sell you one for just $67, today only. That’d be a good price for a barebones stick vacuum, but it’s a great price for one that includesan accessory hose with its own rotating brush.

Just note that this is a Gold Box deal, meaning this price is only available today, or until sold out. [BISSELL 9595A Vacuum with OnePass, $67]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AZBIZTW/...


Today's Best Deals: Flash Storage, Chromebook, French Press, and More

Vent-mounted magnets might be the hot new thing in smartphone car holders, but if your CD slot is lying dormant, or if you just don’t want to block a vent, this would also be a great option. [Mpow Grip Pro 2 Universal CD Slot Car Mount, $9 with code NMDR2VWW]

http://bestsellers.kinja.com/bestsellers-mp...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PC29ETE?...


Today's Best Deals: Flash Storage, Chromebook, French Press, and More

If you’re pressed for kitchen space, Cuisinart’s popular Griddler is actually a griddle, a contact grill, and a panini press all rolled into one compact package. It normally sells for about $85-$100 new, but today on eBay, you can get a refurb for just $50. I bought one for $85 last year, and I love the thing. [Refurb Cuisinart GR-4N 5-in-1 Griddler, $50]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1315051904...

Plus, you can pick up some waffle iron plates to give it even more versatility.


Today's Best Deals: Flash Storage, Chromebook, French Press, and More

You know all of those little Apple USB charging bricks sitting in your drawer? The clever NomadPlus USB charger can transform one into a travel-friendly portable battery pack, and it’s back down to just $15 today.

While undoubtedly clever, the NomadPlus has always been a tough sell at its usual $40, but you can grab one on Amazon right now for $15 shipped. That’s still a decent price premium over a standalone battery pack, but if you appreciate good design, and only want to carry around a single charging solution, it’s a fantastic deal. It would also make a great gift for your less tech-savvy friends who would never remember to charge a standalone battery pack. [NomadPlus iPhone Charger, $15]

http://amazon.com/gp/product/B01...


Today's Best Deals: Flash Storage, Chromebook, French Press, and More

To celebrate Pi Day, Uniqlo is shipping everything for free right now, with absolutely no minimum order. If you aren’t lucky enough to have a Uniqlo in your town (or even if you do), this is a great opportunity to grab some high quality, affordable clothes. [Uniqlo]


Today's Best Deals: Flash Storage, Chromebook, French Press, and More

Because your teeth deserve the best, Amazon’s offering a $15 coupon on a variety of Philips Sonicare toothbrushes today, including the top of the line DiamondClean. Just note that the listed prices do not take the $15 discount into account; you won’t see the final price until checkout. [$15 off Sonicare Toothbrushes]


Today's Best Deals: Flash Storage, Chromebook, French Press, and More

The MacBook is too slow. The MacBook Air has a bad screen. But the 13” MacBook Pro lacks any glaring weaknesses (and even has the new Force Touch Trackpad), and you can save $300 on the 256GB model today on eBay, with no sales tax for most buyers. I bought this exact model the day it was announced, and couldn’t be happier with it. If you have any questions about it, hit me up in the comments. [13" MacBook Pro 256GB, $1200]


Today's Best Deals: Flash Storage, Chromebook, French Press, and More

You only really reap the benefits of Qi wireless charging if you scatter the pads all around your home and office for quick charges throughout the day. Luckily, you can afford to do just that with this deal. [TechMatte PowerPod 2 Qi Wireless Charging Pad, $10]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0144QDB7Y/...


Today's Best Deals: Flash Storage, Chromebook, French Press, and More

If you’ve been meaning to add a Chromebook to your computing lineup, $129 is about as cheap as they get. As far as specs go, this is about as barebones as they get, but it’s tough to argue with the price tag. [Lenovo IdeaPad 100s 11.6" Chromebook, $129]


Today's Best Deals: Flash Storage, Chromebook, French Press, and More

If you need a lot of extra computer storage, this spacious 4TB Western Digital My Book is marked down to $110 today, one of the best prices we’ve seen on any 4TB drive to date. [WD 4TB My Book Desktop External Hard Drive, $110]

If you don’t need that much space, here’s a 1TB drive for $50. [Western Digital My Passport Cinema, 1 TB, $50]


Today's Best Deals: Flash Storage, Chromebook, French Press, and More

In case you missed out on last week’s identical deal, Staples is now offering $100 iTunes gift cards for just $80. If you ever pay for iOS apps, movies, music, or iCloud storage with your credit card, this should be a no-brainer. [$100 iTunes Gift Card, $80]


Today's Best Deals: Flash Storage, Chromebook, French Press, and More

There are plenty of internet-connected security cameras on the market, but Canary is the only one that includes a 90db alarm, air quality sensors, and temperature sensors to monitor every aspect of your home. You can also set it to automatically record when it detects motion, and unlike many competitors, you get some cloud DVR space for free. [Canary All-in-One Home Security Device, $179]

http://gizmodo.com/canary-this-mi...


Today's Best Deals: Flash Storage, Chromebook, French Press, and More

With a few rare exceptions, $4 is about as cheap as Lightning cables ever get, so stock up before these sell out. [RAVPower 3' Lightning Cable, $4 with code VSLDMVJH]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PFKOU56?...


Today's Best Deals: Flash Storage, Chromebook, French Press, and More

You just can’t beat 15,000mAh of battery capacity for $13. [KMASHI 15000mAh External Battery Power Bank, $13 with code 5MMDPK5C]

http://bestsellers.kinja.com/bestsellers-km...

http://www.amazon.com/KMASHI-15000mA...


Today's Best Deals: Flash Storage, Chromebook, French Press, and More

Aukey’s newest Bluetooth speaker is tire-shaped, water resistant, and only $15 today. That’s a good price for any Bluetooth speaker, let alone one that you can take into the shower with you. [AUKEY Rugged Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker, $15 with code FB7I6554]

http://www.amazon.com/Aukey-Waterpro...



Today's Best Deals: Flash Storage, Chromebook, French Press, and More

Playing a game of Star Wars Risk is a far better use of six hours than watching the prequel trilogy, and Amazon will sell you a copy of the game for an all-time low $30 today. [Star Wars The Black Series Risk Game, $30]

http://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Blac...


Today's Best Deals: Flash Storage, Chromebook, French Press, and More

You guys buy boatloads of IR thermometers whenever we post a deal, and it’s easy to see why. They’re a ton of fun to mess around with, and can come in handy for everything from cooking to home energy savings.

http://lifehacker.com/how-to-check-y...

http://gizmodo.com/whats-your-fav...

If you still don’t own one, you can rectify that for just $12 today! [Nubee Temperature Gun Non-contact Infrared Thermometer MAX Display & EMS Adjustable, $12 with code NUB8500H]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...


Today's Best Deals: Flash Storage, Chromebook, French Press, and More

Between Netflix, Sling TV, Hulu+, and HBO Now, it’s easier than ever to declare cable independence, but even if you subscribe to ever streaming service under the sun, you’ll still want a good HDTV antenna to pick up your live local stations.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...

The Mohu Leaf 30 should be perfect if you live fairly close to your local transmitters, and its design is about as subtle as unobtrusive as it gets. Hell, even if you already have cable, the crystal clear, uncompressed pictures you get from OTA TV might make this worth picking up anyway. [Refurb Mohu Leaf 30, $15]

http://lifehacker.com/five-best-indo...

http://lifehacker.com/how-to-choose-...


Today's Best Deals: Flash Storage, Chromebook, French Press, and More

As far as PS4 bundles deals go, getting two bonus games for free is about as good as you can hope for. [PlayStation 4 500GB Console - Call of Duty Black Ops III Bundle + Gravity Rush Remastered + Deadpool, $349]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CTECDEU/...


Today's Best Deals: Flash Storage, Chromebook, French Press, and More

If you hurry, here’s a rare opportunity to save on PSN credit. While you can frequently find better deals on full games from other retailers, this would be a great deal if you like to buy DLC. [$50 PSN Gift Card, $43]

Tech

Storage

Power

Audio

Home Theater

Computers & Accessories

PC Parts

Mobile Devices

Photography

Home

Apparel

Beauty & Grooming

Kitchen

Camping & Outdoors

Fitness

Tools & Auto

Media

Movies & TV

Books

Gaming

Peripherals

PC

PlayStation 4

Xbox One

PS3

Xbox 360

Wii U

3DS

Vita

Board Games

Toys


Commerce Content is independent of Editorial and Advertising, and if you buy something through our posts, we may get a small share of the sale. Click here to learn more, and don’t forget to sign up for our email newsletter. We want your feedback.

Send deal submissions to Deals@Gawker and all other inquiries to Shane@Gawker

Accused Kalamazoo Gunman Told Police He Was Possessed by Uber App at Time of Deadly Spree

0
0
Accused Kalamazoo Gunman Told Police He Was Possessed by Uber App at Time of Deadly Spree
Photo: AP

According to a police report released on Monday, Jason Brian Dalton, the Uber driver accused in the apparently random shooting spree that left six people dead in Kalamazoo, Michigan, last month, told officers that the Uber app on his phone was controlling him at the time of the spree.

http://gawker.com/the-ultimate-l...

When he opened the app, Dalton told police, a symbol would appear that “would literally take over your whole body,” Det. William Moorian of the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety wrote in his report, obtained by the Kalamazoo Gazette and MLive.com through the Michigan Freedom of Information Act. The app “literally took over his mind and body,” Moorian wrote.

Dalton has been charged with six counts of murder, two counts of assault with intent to commit murder, and eight counts of felony firearm use. Authorities have struggled to discern a motive for the shooting, which Kalamazoo Public Safety Chief Jeff Hadley called “baffling.”

“I asked Dalton what was going through his mind tonight at Don Seelye Ford and he said he didn’t want to say,” Moorian wrote in his report. “I informed Dalton that the entire incident is on video at Don Seelye. Dalton said that if we only knew, it would blow our mind.”

“Dalton then explains how when he opens up the Uber taxi app a symbol appeared and he recognized that symbol as the Eastern Star symbol. Dalton acknowledged that he recognized the Uber symbol as being that of the Eastern Star and a devil head popped up on his screen and when he pressed the button on the app, that is when all the problems started.”

Dalton—whose mental competency will be determined no later than May 2—reportedly told detectives that he had only begun driving for Uber the previous Thursday, and that the “devil figure” would give assignments. From MLive.com:

That remark from Dalton, according to Moorian’s report, prompted McGehee to ask what assignment the Uber app gave him on Feb. 20, to which Dalton responded that he didn’t remember anything from the time he logged onto the app earlier in the day.

“Dalton was asked if he recalled shooting some people tonight and he said he did recall that, but other than that, he doesn’t remember anything,” Moorian wrote. “Dalton said that it starts out that you have to follow the navigation, but it gets to the point where you don’t have to drive at all, the car just goes ... Dalton said he was seeing himself from outside of his body.”

“Dalton said that he understands now how the other mass shootings take place,” the detective wrote. “Dalton explained how he has experienced a full body takeover, that is how he can understand the other mass shootings.”


Bernie Sanders Is Running as a Democrat for "Media Coverage"

0
0
Bernie Sanders Is Running as a Democrat for "Media Coverage"

Asked by a voter on Monday why he is running as a Democrat, the senator from Vermont, who is an independent but has historically caucused with Congressional Democrats, conceded that “in terms of media coverage, you have to run within the Democratic Party.”

Chuck Todd, who was hosting the town hall-style event, “would not have me on his program” if he’d run as an independent, Sanders joked. (Even so, Politico reported earlier this month, Sanders was initially resistant to affiliating himself with the party, and had to be convinced of its necessity.)

“To run as an independent, you need—you could be a billionaire,” he said. “If you’re a billionaire, you can do that. I’m not a billionaire. So the structure of American politics today is such that I thought the right ethic was to run within the Democratic Party.”


Donald Trump Continues to Humiliate Chris Christie at Every Turn

0
0
Donald Trump Continues to Humiliate Chris Christie at Every Turn
Photo: AP

In an appearance Monday at Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in Vienna, Ohio, Donald Trump, in the course of criticizing John Kasich for abandoning his duties as governor in order to campaign for president also took a swipe at his friend and hostage Chris Christie for the very same thing.

Trump specifically criticized Kasich for his efforts in New Hampshire. “Where’s Chris? Is Chris around? Even more than Chris Christie he was there,” Trump said of Kasich. “I hated to do that, but I had to make my point,” he said to Christie.

The New Jersey governor skipped the funeral of a New Jersey State Trooper to campaign with Trump on Monday. (This is the third police funeral he’s missed since December.) Earlier in the day, the two participated in a farcical interview in North Carolina, in which Christie asked Trump soft-ball questions and looked on approvingly as Trump encouraged security staffers to eject protesters.

“It was surreal. Trump is sitting there goading the crowd, Christie is next to him nodding his head,” Matt Katz, who covers the New Jersey governor for WNYC, said today. “But he was also looking uncomfortable. To see Christie appear publicly in front of a crowd with Trump, at this moment, takes Christie’s endorsement much further. The governor is now putting his face on the Trump campaign, warts and all.”

Later, Sarah Palin joined the pair for an event in Tampa. There, Christie recounted his experience as U.S. attorney for the state of New Jersey. “I’m convinced that’s exactly the kind of attorney general Donald Trump is going to appoint,” the governor said. He’d better hope so.

Update – 1:12 am


New Anti-Trump Ad Is Just Verbatim Repugnant Things He's Said About Women 

0
0

A new anti-Trump ad is just things that candidate has said about women, read aloud by women. “A person who is very flat-chested is very hard to be a ten,” a brunette actress with glasses says thoughtfully.

Trump, a sentient wig possessed by an ancient evil, is also a veritable repository of vile thoughts about women, a group of people he openly despises. That’s the simple and effective premise of the ad, produced by Our Principles PAC, a conservative anti-Trump group that’s spent over $12 million so far in this election. The new ad was just uploaded Monday and has fewer than 1,000 views so far. It’s unclear whether it will also run on television; some of the language would make it, er, difficult.

“Women,” another actress-as-Trump declares. “You have to treat them like shit.” (The expletive is bleeped.)

The only listed donor on Open Secrets.org to Our Principles is Uline Inc., a shipping supplies company owned by Richard Uihlein, a major conservative donor who’s previously given to Scott Walker, Ted Cruz, and the anti-Trump Club for Growth. (Update, 4:45 p.m.: Fact Check.org notes that Our Principles was founded by Republican strategist Katie Packer, who previously worked with the 2012 Romney campaign, and says the majority of its funding comes Marlene Ricketts, co-owner of the Chicago Cubs baseball franchise.)

Our Principles’ previous ad, produced just two days ago, focused on violence at Trump rallies, including the assault of then-Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields by Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski:

Donald Trump: his own best anti-Trump ad.


Nobody Understands Political Corruption Like Donald Trump Does

0
0
Nobody Understands Political Corruption Like Donald Trump Does
Photo: AP

On Monday, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi endorsed Donald Trump for president. In 2013, Bondi’s office declined to investigate Trump University after Trump donated $25,000 to her re-election effort. “I know the system far better than anybody else and I know the system is broken,” Trump said last week.

“Donald and I have been friends for many years,” Bondi said Monday, praising Trump’s qualities as a family man. Whether anyone can be friends with Donald Trump is probably an open question, but it is certainly true that the pair are friendly. The Miami Herald recalls:

In the fall of 2013, Bondi was preparing for a re-election bid and a for-profit college called Trump University had just been sued by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. The lawsuit alleged that Trump University had “scammed” more than 5,000 people out of more than $40 million by falsely promising to teach them the tools to Trump’s real estate success.

With media scrutiny mounting, the Donald J. Trump Foundation that September contributed $25,000 to And Justice for All, a political committee controlled by Bondi.

Florida never followed New York’s lead. Although there were complaints in Florida, the state never opened an investigation.

At the time, Trump wouldn’t answer questions about why he was contributing to the Florida attorney general’s race, but he did call Bondi “a fabulous representative of the people” and Schneiderman “a political hack.”

Meanwhile, in last week’s debate, Trump criticized his rivals over their dependance on Super PACs. “There is total control of the candidates,” he said. “I know it better than anybody that probably ever lived. And I will tell you this: I know the system far better than anybody else and I know the system is broken.”

“I know it so well because I was on both sides of it. I was on the other side all my life and I’ve always made large contributions. And frankly, I know the system better than anybody else and I’m the only one up here that’s going to be able to fix that system because that system is wrong.”

Initially known as “Trump University,” the real-estate scam is now facing at least two multimillion dollar lawsuits—one in California and one in New York—after splitting into two organizations: the Trump Entrepreneur Initiative and the Trump Institute of Boca Raton.


H/T The Intercept. Contact the author at brendan.oconnor@gawker.com.


NFL Official Admits For First Time There Is "Certainly" A Link Between Football And CTE

0
0

A top NFL official acknowledged for the first time a link between playing football and suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), responding, “the answer to that question is certainly yes” when asked if there is a link. It’s akin to tobacco companies finally admitting that nicotine is addictive and smoking leads to cancer, and comes years after virtually every independent observer concluded that playing football and suffering from CTE are related.

The historic concession was uttered by the NFL’s senior vice president for health and safety, Jeff Miller, during a U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Energy & Commerce roundtable discussion on concussions. The NFL has previously walked up to the precipice of such a statement, admitting in 2009 that “it’s quite obvious from the medical research that’s been done that concussions can lead to long-term problems. ”

In the intervening years, the work of Dr. Ann McKee at Boston University—who also attended the roundtable—has shown how widespread CTE is in certain former NFL players, and football players from all levels more generally.

It’s important to put Miller’s response in context, which he attempted to do after answering yes:

“I think the broader point, and the one that your question gets to, is what that necessarily means, and where do we go from here with that information,” Miller said, noting that little is known about the prevalence of the disease or the risk of incurring it.

CTE can currently only be diagnosed post-mortem, and those who have had their brains studied by Boston University are mostly a self-selecting population that already believed they suffered from football-related head trauma. There is still much more that we don’t know about CTE, and it is unknown how prevalent it is compared to the numerous other brain trauma-related illnesses NFL players can suffer from.

Miller’s admission is an important one, but doesn’t change the fact that bullshit helmets are being promoted as worthwhile safety devices, that an infamous quack is intimately involved in the league’s concussion program, and that the league is reportedly using its money and influence to shape head trauma research towards conclusions favorable to the league.

There’s still a long way to go.

[C-SPAN]


Fracking King Aubrey McClendon Hit 89 MPH Without Braking Before Fatal Crash, One Day After Being Indicted

0
0
Fracking King Aubrey McClendon Hit 89 MPH Without Braking Before Fatal Crash, One Day After Being Indicted
Photo: AP

According to a report issued by the Oklahoma City Police Department on Monday, Aubrey McClendon, the fracking magnate and right-wing power broker, hit speeds of 89 miles per hour just before fatally crashing his SUV into a concrete bridge earlier this month.

McClendon, who once claimed that “I have a fossil fuel that makes other fossil fuels obsolete,” wasn’t wearing a seat belt, police said, and his Chevy Tahoe crossed the centerline more than 60 yards before the crash. Oklahoma City Police Chief Bill Citty said McClendon tapped his brakes several times but did not appear to have made an attempt to stop, hitting the bridge at about 78 mph.

According to the Wall Street Journal, police are still looking into McClendon’s phone records and speaking to those who knew him about his state of mind.

The day before, McClendon had been indicted on federal antitrust charges, accused of conspiring to rig bids in drilling-lease auctions with a competitor while still working as CEO of Chesapeake Energy, the oil-and-gas giant he co-founded. He was forced out of Chesapeake in 2012 after Reuters published a series of articles on “The lavish and leveraged life of Aubrey McClendon,” exposing his decadent lifestyle and unsavory business practices.

“No individual is without flaws, but his impact on American energy will be long-lasting,” T. Boone Pickens, chairman of BP Capital, told Bloomberg Businessweek. “He was a major player in leading the stunning energy renaissance in America. He was charismatic and a true American entrepreneur.” Unlike Pickens, who is actually a self-made man (so far as anyone is), McClendon came from an Oil Family: His great uncle was Robert Kerr, the Oklahoma governor and senator who in 1929 co-founded the energy giant Kerr-McGee, which was eventually sold for $16 billion.

But it wasn’t just McClendon’s personal life that was leveraged: “To be able to borrow money for 10 years and ride out boom-and-bust cycles was almost as important an insight as horizontal drilling,” he said in 2012. “If something didn’t work for a little bit of time, we could regroup and find something that did work.” In fact, some have disputed that fracking was McClendon’s real business at all. From Rolling Stone:

Fracking, it turns out, is about producing cheap energy the same way the mortgage crisis was about helping realize the dreams of middle-class homeowners. For Chesapeake, the primary profit in fracking comes not from selling the gas itself, but from buying and flipping the land that contains the gas. The company is now the largest leaseholder in the United States, owning the drilling rights to some 15 million acres – an area more than twice the size of Maryland. McClendon has financed this land grab with junk bonds and complex partnerships and future production deals, creating a highly leveraged, deeply indebted company that has more in common with Enron than ExxonMobil. As McClendon put it in a conference call with Wall Street analysts a few years ago, “I can assure you that buying leases for x and selling them for 5x or 10x is a lot more profitable than trying to produce gas at $5 or $6 per million cubic feet.”

According to Arthur Berman, a respected energy consultant in Texas who has spent years studying the industry, Chesapeake and its lesser competitors resemble a Ponzi scheme, overhyping the promise of shale gas in an effort to recoup their huge investments in leases and drilling. When the wells don’t pay off, the firms wind up scrambling to mask their financial troubles with convoluted off-book accounting methods. “This is an industry that is caught in the grip of magical thinking,” Berman says. “In fact, when you look at the level of debt some of these companies are carrying, and the questionable value of their gas reserves, there is a lot in common with the subprime mortgage market just before it melted down.” Like generations of energy kingpins before him, it would seem, McClendon’s primary goal is not to solve America’s energy problems, but to build a pipeline directly from your wallet into his.

“He was a risk taker beyond most people’s comfort level,” former Chesapeake executive Mike Stice recently told Reuters. (“He loved navigating back roads,” his son, Will McClendon, said at the funeral. “He was definitely not a Google Maps kind of guy.”) But McClendon—who reportedly made a habit of driving around back roads in rural Oklahoma well over the speed limit, without wearing a seatbelt, and multitasking—did not really consider himself a risk taker.

“If I wanted to always do the most popular thing, then I’d be a follower,” he told Bloomberg Markets in 2012. “The funny thing is that I don’t consider myself a gambler at all. A gambler is somebody who just closes their eyes and rolls the dice. We don’t do that.” Still, by the time the federal indictment came down, his lavish life was in tatters. As Reuters reported on Sunday:

  • McClendon no longer controlled the bulk of his most bankable venture, the one that helped make him a billionaire while he was CEO of Chesapeake: his stake in thousands of company oil and gas wells awarded to him during his tenure. Records show he was in the process of transferring the last of these interests to a company controlled by a close friend, Clayton Bennett of Dorchester Capital.
  • His largest investor was halting all new business with him. The backer, Energy & Minerals Group of Houston, informed its investors just before his death that McClendon no longer held any leadership roles in related firms.
  • McClendon had recently reached an undisclosed, tentative agreement to pay at least $3 million to Chesapeake to settle a legal dispute in which his former company had accused him of taking confidential data with him when he left in 2013 to set up his new company.
  • By fighting the U.S. criminal indictment, he faced a potential public airing of his business tactics. McClendon’s own emails were expected to represent the bulk of the government’s evidence against him, say two people familiar with the matter.

The morning that McClendon died, the $17 billion Houston investment group, EMG, sent a letter to its investors informing them that the Oklahoma City executive had been cut off, effectively depriving McClendon of the resources he needed to do what he did—buy and sell land. “These are serious allegations that have been made against McClendon (and could have equally serious implications across the industry) and EMG takes this matter very seriously,” managing partner John Raymond wrote.

According to Reuters, however, it’s not clear whether McClendon had read the letter or was aware of its contents at the time of his death. For his part, Oklahoma Police Chief Citty would not speculate about whether McClendon committed suicide. “You don’t know, one, what was going on in his mind at that point in time. You don’t know what was going on in the cabin of the vehicle,” he said. “Anything is possible. You don’t rule it out, but we can’t say it is, either.”


Contact the author of this post: brendan.oconnor@gawker.com.

Anonymous Chicago Cop on His Black Colleagues: "Typical Fucking Niggers"

0
0
Anonymous Chicago Cop on His Black Colleagues: "Typical Fucking Niggers"

The federal investigators who are tasked with determining whether Chicago Police Department cops are enforcing the law in a racially biased manner might start by listening to a police radio recording which surfaced online recently, in which a (presumably white) cop can be heard referring to his (presumably black) colleagues as “typical fucking niggers.”

The clip was apparently pulled from a police radio scanner by a local radio station, then made its way to the wider internet via the Daily Beast. At about 30 seconds in, a male cop flirts with a female dispatcher, asking her, “How many boyfriends do you have?” She responds with “Why you all in my Kool-Aid?”

About 10 seconds later, a third cop weighs in: “Typical fucking niggers.”

The other cops on the radio are clearly distressed: one cop says, “Find out what radio that comment came from,” and the dispatcher answers, “We don’t get radio numbers but I’m already hollering for my supervisor.”

Then, someone else says, “All black lives matter, man. Fucking nigger.” As the Daily Beast notes, it’s unclear if the comment was made by another cop being racist or a black cop lamenting what was just said over the air.

Will Calloway, a leading activist in the battle to release the Laquan McDonald video, told the Daily Beast that the offending cop should be identified and fired.


Watch Day Seven of the Hulk Hogan v. Gawker Trial 

0
0

Day seven of the Bollea v. Gawker Media jury trial in St. Petersburg, Fla. starts right now. Watch the livestream here—don’t watch the livestream here—that’s really your call, man, and no one else can make it for you.


Live stream via Wild About Trial. Contact the author at gabrielle@gawker.com.

Trump Staffers Planned Secret Coup Against Asshole Manager Lewandowski Before Breitbart Incident

0
0
Trump Staffers Planned Secret Coup Against Asshole Manager Lewandowski Before Breitbart Incident

It turns out that Corey Lewandowski, the Donald Trump campaign manager whose alleged manhandling of a female Breitbart reporter caused an utter meltdown of that organization, is just a great guy whose temper flared up in an isolated incident. Just kidding—he’s always been a toxic shithead.

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/...

Politico has a detailed and gossipy report on Lewandowski’s pre-Trump days, and it turns out that he’s exactly the aggro caricature that the Michelle Fields incident suggested he was. Ex-cop? Check. Chugs Red Bull? You bet he does. Described by his buddies as “kind of a cowboy” with a real “cool factor”? Shit yeah.

The most glaring incident on Lewandowski’s record is the time he loudly called a female coworker “cunt” in front of colleagues during his stint at the Koch Brothers’ Americans For Prosperity group:

But some of his most fiery clashes came with a female official who ran one of the states under Lewandowski’s control. The relationship ― and patience for Lewandowski within AFP ― reached a tipping point in October 2013. On the sidelines of a meeting of the group’s board in Manhattan, Lewandowski loudly berated the employee for challenging his authority, getting in her personal space and calling her a “c—-” in front of a group of AFP employees, including some senior officials, according to three sources who either witnessed the exchange or dealt with its aftermath.

And that’s not the only time he was a dick to women. Politico also describes, in vaguer terms, Lewandowski’s “rough” behavior with reporters other than Fields and sexually suggestive remarks made to female journalists.

Even Trump staffers can’t stand him. Once, they wrote a secret letter to be hand-delivered by the candidate’s security chief—because Trump doesn’t use email and because Lewandowski couldn’t be trusted—outlining their desire for change.

A group of current and former high-ranking members of the campaign last month planned to deliver Trump a letter outlining concerns with Lewandowski’s management, according to multiple sources familiar with the planned mutiny. Complicating matters, the businessman is not directly reachable by email and frequently has Lewandowski at his side. So the plan was to deliver the letter in an envelope to Trump’s head of security, Keith Schiller, in the days between the South Carolina primary and the Nevada caucuses, with instructions to give it to Trump and no one else.

How did such a knob end up getting the job in the first place? According to Politico, he simply told Trump he’d be the best and hardest-working campaign manager around. Heavy on bravado, light on specifics—sounds just like his boss. No wonder they get along so well.


Viewing all 24829 articles
Browse latest View live




Latest Images