Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, current leader Neon Vincent, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, wader, Doctor RJ, rfall, JML9999 and Man Oh Man. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse, ek hornbeck, ScottyUrb, Interceptor7, BentLiberal, Oke and jlms qkw.
OND is a regular community feature on Daily Kos, consisting of news stories from around the world, sometimes coupled with a daily theme, original research or commentary. Editors of OND impart their own presentation styles and content choices, typically publishing each day near 12:00AM Eastern Time.
Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments.
From the Los Angeles Times: Bizarre fake police force included Kamala Harris aide, prosecutors say
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Capt. Roosevelt Johnson thought it was odd when three people — two of them dressed in police uniforms he didn't recognize — strolled into the Santa Clarita station in February.
One man introduced himself as chief of the Masonic Fraternal Police Department and told Johnson this was a courtesy call to let him know the agency was setting up shop in the area.
They met for 45 minutes, Johnson said, but he was left confused and suspicious — so much so that he immediately ordered deputies to pull station surveillance video so they would have images of the visitors. He also assigned detectives to check them out. “It was an odd meeting,” the captain recalled. “It just raised my suspicion level.”
This week, the three people were charged with impersonating police officers. They are David Henry, who told Johnson he was the police chief, Tonette Hayes and Brandon Kiel, an aide to state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris.
It turns out Henry, Hayes and Kiel had allegedly introduced themselves to police agencies across the state, though it is unclear why. A website claiming to represent their force cites connections to the Knights Templars that they say go back 3,000 years. The site also said that the department had jurisdiction in 33 states and Mexico.
From the
Washington Post:
DeflateGate: ‘More probable than not’ Patriots violated rules, Tom Brady aware
An investigation commissioned by the National Football League concluded that the New England Patriots most likely circumvented league rules regarding the air pressure in game balls on their way to their fourth Super Bowl championship — and their celebrated quarterback, Tom Brady, probably knew all about it.
Citing the actions and text messages of two team employees, the report by attorney Ted Wells concluded that it is “more probable than not” that the Patriots deliberately used under-inflated footballs during their AFC championship game victory over the Indianapolis Colts.
The report is the culmination of a highly unusual situation in which the NFL, for the second time in less than nine years, investigated whether one of its most successful and highest-profile teams circumvented rules to gain a competitive advantage. In 2007, the league found the Patriots had improperly videotaped opposing coaching signals. These most recent accusations dominated discussion in the two weeks leading up to February’s Super Bowl, raising scrutiny of Brady and the Patriots’ competitive integrity even as they were pursuing their fourth title.
It remains unclear what — if any — punishment awaits.
The report’s most compelling evidence are colorful and frequently profane text messages between John Jastremski, a Patriots equipment assistant, and Jim McNally, the offcials’ locker room attendant at Gillette Stadium. McNally, in a text message to Jastresmski in May 2014, referred to himself as “the deflator,” according to the report.
From
ESPN:
Tom Brady sacked like never before by Deflategate findings
No neutral observer needed to run this 243-page report under the nearest available microscope, not after Tom Brady had already drawn up the X's and O's in the dirt for everyone to see. The January day the pocket passer scrambled around questions about deflated footballs while wearing that funny hat and fearful gaze was the day this fact became clear:
As much as Spygate belonged to the head coach of the New England Patriots, Bill Belichick, this one belonged to his quarterback.
It turns out that a pair of low-level Patriots staffers were the two-bit Watergate burglars in this case, and that Brady -- not Belichick -- was the tragic Nixonian figure who allowed his unyielding drive to win to blur the line between right and wrong. Appointed by the NFL to find out if New England had intentionally deflated footballs used in its AFC Championship Game rout of the Indianapolis Colts, Ted Wells concluded it is "more probable than not" that Jim McNally, the officials locker room attendant for the Patriots, and John Jastremski, an equipment assistant for the team, did tamper with game balls after they were examined by officials.
From
CNN:
Tornadoes, flooding hit Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska
Severe storms tore through the Midwest on Wednesday, bringing tornadoes, flooding and heavy winds to parts of Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska.
There were reports of tornado damage southwest of Oklahoma City, Capt. Paul Timmons of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said. A semitruck blew over in the storm, he said, and low visibility was making it difficult to reach the hardest hit areas.
"There's debris just everywhere, and there's a lot of water on the roadways," he told CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront."
A photo from CNN affiliate KFOR showed a storm ripped off parts of an exterior wall of The Norman Hotel in Norman, Oklahoma, leaving the parking lot filled with insulation and debris. The front desk clerk said she called guests as the storm approached and moved them into a storm shelter.
From
USA Today:
United Kingdom election highlights shrinking role as U.S. ally
Britain's election Thursday is highlighting how the once-dominant player on the world stage is turning inward and dissolving its long-time role as the United States' most vital ally.
Voters are heading to the polls here amid dramatic spending cuts by Prime Minister David Cameron, who over the past five years has slashed military funds and the nation's diplomatic corps. Those cuts are unlikely to change even if the other main party candidate — Labour's Ed Miliband — comes out the victor.
"The U.K. really isn't pulling its weight on the world stage in a manner that we've come to expect," said Raffaello Pantucci, of the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies, a London-based think tank.
From the
New York Times:
Netanyahu Forms an Israeli Government, With Minutes to Spare
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel barely met the legal deadline to form a new government on Wednesday night, and will start his fourth term with the slimmest of parliamentary majorities, made up of right-leaning and religious parties.
Mr. Netanyahu and his Likud Party celebrated a surprisingly strong victory in the March 17 elections after a divisive campaign, but ended up scrambling to scrape together 61 of Parliament’s 120 members into a coalition — and hold on to his premiership. He was forced to make major concessions to the more conservative Jewish Home party, and emerged weakened to lead a government that Israeli experts said was unlikely to last long or do much.
“Netanyahu simply miscalculated,” said Eytan Gilboa, a professor at Bar-Ilan University who specializes in politics and communications. “What you see here is a big political mess that, I think, shows Netanyahu has been too confident.” Of the new coalition, he added, “Nobody in his right mind believes that this will hold for even a short time.”
From
BBC News:
Canadian lawmakers vote to expand spy powers
The House of Commons on Wednesday approved the Anti-Terror Act, which was spurred by last year's attack on parliament.
The act would give the spy agency the ability to operate overseas and make preventative arrests.
Dominated by the Conservative party, the Senate is expected to approve the act before June.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been a staunch supporter of the bill, which criminalises the promotion of terrorism, including via the internet.
"There is a high probability of jihadist attacks from within," Canadian Defence Minister Jason Kenney said. "The threat of terrorism has never been greater."
The bill also makes it easier for police to arrest and detain individuals without charge.
From
Reuters:
US-Iran Tensions Appear to Ease in Strait of Hormuz
Iran said on Wednesday a legal settlement could be reached soon over its seizure of a Marshall-Islands flagged container ship, and the U.S. military said it stopped accompanying commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, at least for now.
The Maersk Tigris was diverted on April 28 by Iranian patrol boats in the strait, one of the world's major oil shipping lanes, prompting the United States to send vessels to monitor the situation and to accompany U.S.-flagged vessels passing through the strait. Danish shipping giant Maersk has insisted on the release of the vessel and its 24 crew members. Iran says the Maersk Tigris would only be let go once a years-old debt case is settled.
"The negotiations between the private complainant and the other party are going on and possibly the issue will be resolved in a day or two," Iran's official IRNA news agency quoted Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham as telling a news conference. "The 24 members of the crew are free and they are benefiting from consular assistance," she said.
At the Pentagon, spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said the U.S. Navy had quietly stopped accompanying commercial ships on Tuesday, noting that the original order to carry out the mission had only been for a brief period, which had ended.
From
Slate:
A Cancer Survivor Designs the Cards She Wishes She’d Received From Friends and Family
Los Angeles–based designer Emily McDowell was diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkin’s lymphoma at age 24, enduring nine months of chemo and radiation before going into remission.
“The most difficult part of my illness wasn’t losing my hair, or being erroneously called ‘sir’ by Starbucks baristas, or sickness from chemo,” McDowell writes on her website. “It was the loneliness and isolation I felt when many of my close friends and family members disappeared because they didn’t know what to say, or said the absolute wrong thing without realizing it.”
The 38-year-old designer has been cancer-free ever since. But the emotional impact of the experience lingered, inspiring her to design a newly launched series of Empathy Cards—emotionally direct greeting cards that say the things she wanted to hear when she was ill.
From
CBS News:
Tesla results speed past Wall Street estimates
Electric-car maker Tesla Motors (TSLA) delivered a quarterly record of 10,045 cars in the first quarter, and its results beat Wall Street's expectations despite investment in new products and factory capacity and the impact of the strong dollar.
Tesla's net loss widened to $154 million. The loss of $1.22 per share compared to a loss of 40 cents per share in the January-March period a year ago.
Palo Alto, California-based Tesla said North American and European orders for the Model S sedan were up, but orders in China continued to lag expectations. Tesla said it remains confident it will sell 55,000 Model S sedans and Model X SUVs this year.
The company said it remains on track to deliver the Model X SUV by the end of the third quarter. Tesla is currently building prototypes of the Model X, and in the first quarter it invested in an expanded body shop and paint shop for the Model X at its California factory.
From the
New York Times:
Cody Wilson, Who Posted Gun Instructions Online, Sues State Department
When is a gun not just a gun? When it’s also constitutionally protected free speech.
That is the legal argument being made by Cody Wilson, a Texas man who gained attention two years ago by posting what are believed to be the world’s first online instructions for how to build a 3-D printable gun. Mr. Wilson’s files for what he called the Liberator, a single-shot pistol mostly made of plastic, were partly a statement about freedom in the digital age and partly a provocation — and provoke they did.
A few days after the plans for the Liberator were put online, the State Department ordered Mr. Wilson to remove them, threatening him with jail time and million-dollar fines for having possibly broken rules that govern the export of military data.
Now, with a high-powered legal team behind it, Mr. Wilson’s company, Defense Distributed, has filed suit against the State Department, claiming that its efforts to stop him from publishing his plans, which are no more than computer code, amount to a prior restraint on free speech. The 25-page suit, filed on Wednesday in Federal District Court in Austin, Tex., is an innovative and apparently unprecedented effort to use the First Amendment in support of the Second.
From
NBC News:
Nearly 17 Million Americans Covered Under Obamacare
Nearly 17 million Americans got health insurance under the Affordable Care Act after the new insurance exchanges opened up, according to an independent analysis published Wednesday.
The goal of the law, known widely as Obamacare, was to increase the number of Americans who have health insurance, put an end to industry practices such as cutting off care when it gets expensive, and to lower medical costs.
It's worked to get more people covered, the Rand Corporation found in its study.
Between September 2013, right before the exchanges first opened, and February of this year, 22.8 million people who did not have health insurance before got coverage, the Rand team reports in the journal Health Affairs. And 5.9 million lost coverage. That makes for a net gain of 16.9 million people.
From
Al Jazeera:
Great Recession foreclosures fueled racial segregation, study finds
The widespread home foreclosures that devastated families at the height of the Great Recession also exacerbated racial segregation in communities across the United States, according to a new study.
From 2005 to 2009, segregation between Latinos and whites grew by almost 50 percent, and segregation between blacks and whites grew by about 20 percent as a result of families moving into or abandoning areas hit hard by home repossession, researchers estimated.
The gap was fueled by white families leaving homes in racially and ethnically integrated neighborhoods hit hard by foreclosures while blacks and Latinos moved into those neighborhoods, seeking affordable housing, according to the report, “Neighborhood Foreclosures, Racial/Ethnic Transitions and Residential Segregation.”
“Among its many impacts, the foreclosure crisis has partly derailed progress in achieving racial integration in American cities,” said the demographer who led the study, Matthew Hall, an assistant professor of policy and management at Cornell’s College of Human Ecology.
From the
Chicago Sun-Times:
City Council approves $5.5 million in reparations for Burge torture victims
If there is such a thing as closure for torture victims, it happened Wednesday for those allegedly tortured by convicted former Area 2 Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge and his cohorts.
To the cheers of the victims, their attorneys and City Council allies, Chicago became the nation’s first major city to dole out reparations — $5.5 million, to be exact — to police torture victims.
To say it was a cathartic exercise would be an understatement. It’s the boldest step the city has taken to remove what Mayor Rahm Emanuel has called “this stain” on the Chicago Police Department.
From
Salon:
“The south will rise again,” apparently on prom night: The giant parenting fail behind this viral flag-waving photo
I wish I was in Dixie, Hooray! Hooray!
In Dixie Land I'll take my stand
to live and die in Dixie.
We are deep in the throes of prom season, and with it, the annual deluge of viral-ready prom related news stories. There are the sweet ones — like the straight kid who asked his gay best friend to go with him. And there are the “Oh my God I can’t believe this is happening in 2015″ ones — like the Wisconsin school that wanted prom to be “a night to protect her character,” or the plus-sized student who faced suspension for her dress because, she says, the assistant principal told her, “You have more boobs than other girls. The other girls have less to show.” And then there’s a group of students from Chaparral High School, and their stunningly retro prom picture.
As Fox 31 in Denver first reported, when a photograph of a group of local prom-goers showed up in the Facebook feed of local CU Boulder student Mairenn Digeorge, she was stunned at the image — five teen females and three males posing with rifles and surrounding a large Confederate flag. The caption was, “The south will rise again.” While reporter Chris Jose notes that the photo depicted no law-breaking, the wisdom of flaunting a message with such racist and threatening implications, surrounded by guns, is questionable to say the least.
But one of the parents of the kids in the photo was surprised about the picture too. Speaking on condition of anonymity, she said, “When he got out there he was surprised that guns were brought out and the Confederate flag was brought out. There were other parents there fully supporting it and taking pictures.” She added, “I think in their immaturity they kind of think it is a cowboy thing, but to have parents feed into it and support it is really upsetting to me.” You have to wonder why, then, she didn’t speak up at the time and say she’d prefer her son opt out. But the compassionate thing is also to remember that it’s hard to be the lone voice in a crowd, when everyone else seems to take something you object to as totally normal.
From
NBC News:
The Confederacy lives on in Brazil
The U.S. Civil War ended 150 years ago, but once a year, deep in the sugar cane fields of southern Brazil, the Confederate battle flag rises again.
It would be an unlikely scene in the United States, where many consider the flag a symbol of racism, slavery and segregation. Public outcry over those connotations has led to the steady withdrawal of the flag from public display in recent years.
In Brazil, though, the banner is an integral part of the Festa Confederada, an annual gathering to celebrate the history of the roughly 10,000 Confederates who migrated to this South American country after their side lost the war.
From
The Atlantic:
Was the Germanwings Crash Premeditated?
On Wednesday, French authorities released the initial findings of an investigation on the Germanwings flight that crashed in March, killing all 150 people on board. The report adds new and alarming details about Andreas Lubitz, the plane's co-pilot, whom investigators suspect deliberately crashed the aircraft.
The 29-page report was compiled from data and audio taken from the black box recordings, which showed the extent to which the plane's pilot as well as those on the ground sought to reach Lubitz as the plane began its descent. "As the jet steadily lost height," Reuters noted, "Marseille air traffic controllers tried 11 times to contact the Germanwings jet."
The report also noted that during the nine-month interruption in Lubitz's pilot Lufthansa training, "flight doctors twice refused to certify Mr. Lubitz as fit to fly, citing his depression and the medicine he had been prescribed to treat it."
But perhaps the most chilling aspect of the report is the chronicle of the hours prior the crash when Lubitz apparently practiced adjusting the plane's altitude to 100 feet before quickly changing them back. These maneuvers, which some have characterized as "dry runs," were said to have taken place when Lubitz was alone in the cockpit on an earlier flight.
From
Wired:
The World’s First Self-Driving Semi-Truck Hits the Road
“AU 010.”
License plates are rarely an object of attention, but this one’s special—the funky number is the giveaway. That’s why Daimler bigwig Wolfgang Bernhard and Nevada governor Brian Sandoval are sharing a stage, mugging for the phalanx of cameras, together holding the metal rectangle that will, in just a minute, be slapped onto the world’s first officially recognized self-driving truck.
The truck in question is the Freightliner Inspiration, a teched-up version of the Daimler 18-wheeler sold around the world. And according to Daimler, which owns Mercedes-Benz, it will make long-haul road transportation safer, cheaper, and better for the planet.
“There’s a clear need for this generation of trucks, and we’re the pioneers who are willing to tackle it,” says Bernhard.
From
CNBC:
Most millionaires say they're middle class
Billionaire David Tepper once called himself a "middle-class dad trapped in a rich man's body." Most millionaires, it turns out, have similar feelings of wealth denial.
A majority of millionaires polled describe themselves as middle class or upper middle class despite being among the wealthiest 10 percent of Americans, according to the results of the third CNBC Millionaire Survey.
Fully 44 percent described themselves as middle class, and 40 percent said they were upper middle class. Only 4 percent described themselves as wealthy or rich, and 5 percent described themselves as upper class.
Even those Americans worth $5 million or more—among the wealthiest 5 percent—still think of themselves as more middle class than wealthy. According to the survey, 49 percent of those worth $5 million or more define themselves as upper middle class, while 23 percent define themselves as middle class. Only 11 percent of the $5-million-plus millionaires define themselves as rich or wealthy.
From
TIME:
‘Shawshank’ Fugitive Arrested 56 Years After Escape
A fugitive who spent time at the penitentiary featured in prison-escape film The Shawshank Redemption was finally apprehended in Florida after 56 years on the lam.
Authorities arrested 79-year-old Frank Freshwaters, who also used the name Williams Cox, on Tuesday after receiving a tip from U.S. Marshals that he was living in Melbourne, Fla., News13 reports.
“[We] approached him, showed him the 1959 picture, asked if he’d seen that person. He said he hadn’t seen him in a long time,” Major Tod Goodyear of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office said of the confrontation at Freshwaters’ isolated mobile home. Freshwaters went by aliases since escaping in 1959, but authorities said he had a Florida driver’s license, stayed out of trouble and was even collecting Social Security.
From
Buzzfeed:
Joss Whedon Calls “Horsesh*t” On Reports He Left Twitter Because Of Militant Feminists
When filmmaker Joss Whedon decided to delete his Twitter account on Monday, the day after his movie Avengers: Age of Ultron scored the second-highest domestic opening weekend ever, it prompted a flurry of speculation about what, or who, might have driven him away. Whedon found one theory — that he left Twitter due to militant feminists angered over the film’s depiction of Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) — particularly galling, so much so that he decided to break his silence.
“That is horseshit,” he told BuzzFeed News by phone on Tuesday. “Believe me, I have been attacked by militant feminists since I got on Twitter. That’s something I’m used to. Every breed of feminism is attacking every other breed, and every subsection of liberalism is always busy attacking another subsection of liberalism, because god forbid they should all band together and actually fight for the cause.
“I saw a lot of people say, ‘Well, the social justice warriors destroyed one of their own!’ It’s like, Nope. That didn’t happen,” he continued. “I saw someone tweet it’s because Feminist Frequency pissed on Avengers 2, which for all I know they may have. But literally the second person to write me to ask if I was OK when I dropped out was [Feminist Frequency founder] Anita [Sarkeesian].”
From
Variety:
Mark Ruffalo on Joss Whedon Backlash: ‘He’s a Deeply Committed Feminist’
The ever-affable Ruffalo, who plays Bruce Banner/the Hulk in the series, took to Reddit to discuss water usage, but of course he was asked about the backlash against the film’s director, Joss Whedon. Whedon’s decision to pair Ruffalo’s character with Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow along with other creative decisions he made regarding the super-spy were the subject of much heated social-media discussion. The director deleted his Twitter account on Monday.
When asked for his thoughts on the criticism against Whedon, Ruffalo replied: “I think it’s sad. Because I know how Joss feels about women, and I know that he’s made it a point to create strong female characters.” Ruffalo went on to defend Whedon’s interpretation of Black Widow, positing that the backlash is unfounded.
“I think it’s a misplaced anger,” Ruffalo said. “I think that what people might really be upset about is the fact that we need more superhuman women. The guys can do anything, they can have love affairs, they can be weak or strong and nobody raises an eyebrow. But when we do that with a woman, because there are so few storylines for women, we become hyper-critical of every single move that we make because there’s not much else to compare it to.”
Ruffalo ended his reply on a positive note, suggesting that conversations about gender in film are important to have. “The fact that this is a debate that’s coming out of this movie is probably a positive thing,” Ruffalo said. “I just don’t think that people should get personal with Joss, because he really is — of anyone — an advocate for women. He’s a deeply committed feminist,” Ruffalo said of Whedon.
From
/Film:
‘Magic Mike XXL’ Trailer: Channing Tatum’s Still Got Some Magic in That Mike
Steven Soderbergh’s Magic Mike was a thoughtful examination of the American dream, but of course the real draw was the gyrating hardbodies on stage. So far, Magic Mike XXL seems to be leaning into that raunchy appeal, with a marketing campaign heavy on half-naked torsos and naughty puns. Not that we’re complaining.
The newest Magic Mike XXL trailer continues in the same vein, commenting on how hard (wink wink) it was to resist showing off all the best parts (nudge nudge) of the movie. Even so, there’s plenty to enjoy here ... The sequel is intended to be more of a comedy than the first movie was, and that shines through in these trailers. The plot sends the Kings of Tampa (Channing Tatum, Joe Manganiello, Matt Bomer, Adam Rodriguez, and Kevin Nash) on the road, heading toward a stripper convention in Myrtle Beach where they can bring the house down one last time. But really, it’s all an excuse to watch the guys bro out without their shirts.
From
The Hollywood Reporter:
Natalie Portman Sounds Off on Israel, Netanyahu, French Anti-Semitism and the "False Idol" of Oscar
On Benjamin Netanyahu, newly re-elected as prime minister of Israel, the country of her birth: "I'm very much against Netanyahu. Against. I am very, very upset and disappointed that he was re-elected. I find his racist comments horrific. However, I don't — what I want to make sure is, I don't want to use my platform [the wrong way]. I feel like there's some people who become prominent, and then it's out in the foreign press. You know, shit on Israel. I do not. I don't want to do that."
On her first film as a producer, Jane Got a Gun, whose initial director, Lynne Ramsay, reportedly left just days before the shoot: "I'm as mystified as I think everyone was, and it was pretty devastating. I mean, maybe she'll speak to it one day. I don't know. I got there one week before we were supposed to start, in Santa Fe, and it seemed like there had been stuff going on that I had sort of been sheltered from. And yeah, it was really, really difficult, and we were lucky that [director] Gavin [O'Connor] came on so quickly. She didn't come on [set]. I saw her like the week before, but on the first day, no. I can only imagine something very difficult was going on for her, and it was devastating."
On Relativity CEO Ryan Kavanaugh, who included her name and private email address in a chain of hacked emails about the Gaza conflict and "Jews being slaughtered for their beliefs" (which circulated among Hollywood names such as Sony's Michael Lynton and Ryan Seacrest): "I was very unhappy to be included in those emails, and I told [Kavanaugh] so. I wrote to him that I didn't want to be part of that group. I didn't want to be receiving those emails at all. I find them very disturbing."
From the
New York Daily News:
Fox cancels ‘The Mindy Project,’ show reportedly moving to Hulu
Bad news for fans of the show "The Mindy Project."
Fox has decided not to renew the romantic comedy for a fourth season, EW first reported.
To make matters worse, the third season left viewers on the edge of their seats, as Danny began his journey to India to mend things with Mindy and meet her folks. Although a speed bump, this might not be the end for the show. Universal Television, the show's producer, is in talks with Hulu about additional seasons and they are reportedly interested.
From
Entertainment Weekly:
Supergirl officially gets CBS series order
It’s a bird. No, it’s a plane. It’s Superman. No wait, it’s Supergirl! And she’s officially landing a series order at CBS.
The new series stars Glee alum Melissa Benoist as Kara Zor-El, who escaped Krypton amid its destruction years ago. Since arriving on Earth, she’s been hiding the powers she shares with her famous cousin. But now at age 24, she decides to embrace her superhuman abilities and be the hero she was always meant to be.
Supergirl hails from Arrow and Flash executive producer Greg Berlanti and The New Normal’s Ali Adler, who will write and executive-produce with Arrow and Flash boss Andrew Kreisberg and Sarah Schechter.
From
The Guardian:
JJ Abrams considers killing off Jar Jar Binks in 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens'
JJ Abrams is considering killing off Jar Jar Binks in the new Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens, according to a new interview in Vanity Fair.
Abrams said he had generally decided to leave out “Easter Eggs” – referential markers designed to reward fans of previous movies – from the final cut of the seventh official film in the long-running space opera. But in a comment which may not please Star Wars and Jar Jar Binks creator George Lucas, now retired from the film series, he said he was considering making it clear that the jabbering Gungan from the oft-derided prequel trilogy was no longer with us.
“I have a thought about putting Jar Jar Binks’s bones in the desert there,” said Abrams, adding: “I’m serious! Only three people will notice, but they’ll love it.”
From
Rolling Stone:
David Letterman's Top 10 Musical Moments
When David Letterman permanently signs off the airwaves later this month, it won't just be the end of one of the greatest comedy institutions in TV history — it'll also close out an amazing showcase for musical talent. Nearly every episode of NBC's Late Night With David Letterman and CBS's Late Show With David Letterman had a musical guest, and it was the place where many Americans first saw everyone from R.E.M. and Weezer to Future Islands. We've put together 10 of the greatest musical moments from the shows' history, and though the list is by no means complete — we could easily have gone to 100 — these are the performances we keep returning to over and over again.
From
People:
Miley Cyrus: Not All of My Relationships Have Been 'Straight, Heterosexual' Ones
Miley Cyrus doesn't like labels.
In an interview with the AP, the "We Can't Stop" singer said that not all of her previous relationships have been "straight" or "heterosexual."
Cyrus recently split from Patrick Schwarzenegger after several months of dating. In 2013, she and Liam Hemsworth called off their engagement after a 4-year on-and-off relationship. Prior to that, she most famously dated Nick Jonas when the two were teenagers.
The 22-year-old – who is launching the Happy Hippie Foundation, an organization to help homeless and LGBT kids – has long been an advocate for social causes, from the Free the Nipple campaign to marriage equality.
From
Billboard:
Sony Pulls Hozier, Adele, Miguel, Others From SoundCloud In Licensing Impasse
Sony Music has removed original recordings from the SoundCloud pages of more than a half-dozen artists -- including Adele, Hozier, Miguel, Kelly Clarkson, Passion Pit, Leon Bridges and MS MR -- as part of a breakdown in negotiations between the major music group and the Berlin-headquartered streaming-audio platform. Spokespeople for Sony Music and Columbia Records, the label with the most impacted artists, declined comment, but an executive familiar with negotiations says the recent takedowns are due to “a lack of monetization opportunities” on the platform.
The Sony impasse comes at a transitional time for SoundCloud, which until recently was a completely free service to more than 350 million monthly users. Though its content was unlicensed, the platform has played an influential role in helping developing artists like Lorde and, ironically, Bridges get discovered and ultimately signed by major labels - as well as a destination for established acts like Beyonce, Miguel and Drake to debut new material. “[It’s] been a good place for exposure,” says one notable artist manager. “At the same time, artists and labels need to get paid for music. Until that can be worked out, we’re going to have situations that are incompatible with artist development.”
From the
A.V. Club:
Prince is going 2 B playing a “Rally 4 Peace” N Baltimore
Just days after announcing his plan to release the song “Baltimore” in support of people in the beleaguered city, Prince is doubling down on showing his commitment to those challenging recent violence. The New York Times reports that the musician is set to play a “Rally 4 Peace” concert at Royal Farms arena on Sunday. Here’s a statement from promoter Live Nation:
In a spirit of healing, the event is meant to be a catalyst for pause and reflection following the outpouring of violence that has gripped Baltimore and areas throughout the U.S. As a symbolic message of our shared humanity and love for one another, attendees are invited to wear something gray in tribute to all those recently lost in the violence.
From
Cosmo:
I'm Dating a New Guy, and His Ex Attacked Me on Social Media
I've been dating a guy for about a month. During this time, his ex has "attacked" and gotten other girls to "attack" me all over social media. After he told her to stop, she did, but he still wants to be friends with her and texts her all the time. Should I be worried that there's more to the friendliness?
You should be worried — both about the friendliness and about how much this guy likes such dysfunctional attention. I don't know exactly what you mean by "attacked," but it seems suspect that he'd still want to be friends with someone who behaves like that. I don't know if he's flirting with her or cheating on you or just protective of an ex, but please pause and step back for a second: This relationship sounds like such a circus — and it's only been a month.
You should ask yourself if this relationship really justifies all this drama, so early and over so little. I mean, aren't you exhausted already? Whether or not he's hooking up with this woman, doesn't it sound like he's attracted to some unstable friends? Do you need this much cray-cray in your life?