As a prosecutor, Kamala Harris’s doggedness was praised. As a senator, she’s deemed ‘hysterical' By simple viral news

Austin Jones, a 24-year-old singer popular on YouTube and social media, has been charged with two felony counts of production of child pornography for allegedly persuading underage fans to prove their devotion to him by sending graphic videos shot to his specifications. 

Jones, of Bloomington, Ill., was arrested Monday at O'Hare International Airport and charged in federal court Tuesday in Chicago, the Chicago Tribune reported. The singer's videos have been viewed millions of times on YouTube, and he has more than 200,000 followers on Twitter. He was returning to O'Hare after an international tour. 

According to a charging document unsealed Tuesday and posted online, Jones' home was searched Monday and he was interviewed by Homeland Security Investigations. 

"He admitted that he had used Facebook to have sexually explicit chats with the girls," the document said, "that he directed them to make videos of themselves dancing in a sexually explicit way and instructed them on what to wear, say, and do in the videos, including performing sexual acts, knowing that they were 14 to 15 years old; that he requested that they send the sexually explicit videos to him, either via Facebook or Apple’s iMessage service; and that he received the videos, viewed them, and masturbated while watching them."

The victims were encouraged to state their accurate ages multiple times in the videos while "clapping" the cheeks of their buttocks, the document said. In 10 of 15 videos sent by Victim A and eight of 25 videos sent by Victim B, the victims were sexually exposed, the document said.

"[Do] you realize how lucky you are?!?!," Jones told Victim B in a Facebook chat, the document said. "I seriously shouldn't even be talking to you...."

Jones' Facebook account was shut down May 15, according to the document. 

This isn't the first time videos the singer solicited from fans have been problematic for him.

Two years ago, a petition on change.org sought to have Jones removed from a concert tour because he asked his young fans to send him videos of themselves twerking. In an apology video that year, Jones admitted asking for the videos and said he was "embarrassed" by the accusations that he had young fans do the suggestive dance.

"I'd have conversations online with girls that would involve me asking them to create a video of themselves twerking," Jones said. "Sometimes I’d make videos of myself doing some twerk moves in return. Here’s the truth: I NEVER asked them to do anything more than send a twerking video. Nothing EVER went beyond that."

In explaining why he had asked for the earlier videos, he also talked about considering killing himself, said he had been hospitalized for "suicidal tendencies" after that scandal broke, and spoke extensively about his troubled childhood.

"Asking fans for those things, it was because I was desperate for attention," Jones said in the 2015 video, embedded below. "I was desperate for reassurance. I wanted to feel good about myself. At the time, I thought it was just fun and goofy. I was young. I was stupid. I wasn't thinking clearly.

"Over time, I've began to see it was wrong and I shouldn't have done it."

Source:http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-entertainment-news-updates-june-internet-singer-austin-jones-charged-1497465891-htmlstory.html

As a prosecutor, Kamala Harris’s doggedness was praised. As a senator, she’s deemed ‘hysterical' By simple viral news

During Sen. Kamala D. Harris’s 25-year career in law enforcement, she has established herself as a formidable presence in the courtroom, on the campaign trail and ultimately in government.

She grew up watching her Jamaican American dad and Indian American mother protest for civil rights in Berkeley and took that fierce fight for justice with her to law school. She served two terms as San Francisco’s first female district attorney and was the first woman elected as California’s attorney general.

It’s the résumé of hard-charging legal advocate, not unlike many others in Congress, where she is now a freshman senator from California. Those who know her also know she doesn’t back down.

While such attributes are often rewarded in Washington, they’re not going over so well for Harris — at least with some male colleagues and cable commentators. As a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee responsible for investigating Russian interference with the 2016 election and connections between the country and Trump campaign officials, Harris has landed a star role in the country’s political drama.

She has used her prosecutorial background to ask pointed, tough questions — and for that she is being admonished. One former Trump campaign adviser on CNN called her “hysterical.”

To those who have observed hearings on Capitol Hill, especially high-visibility televised hearings involving partisan subjects, there has been little or nothing unusual about Harris’s behavior. Members get a small amount of time to ask questions and make their points. Unfriendly witnesses are inclined to string out their answers and let the clock run.

The result, one side rushing, the other stalling, is never pretty. The phrase, “just give me a yes or no answer,” is so often heard it ought to be engraved on the Capitol portico.

But twice now, Harris has been interrupted and chastised by male senators for her style of questioning during the hearings. It happened first last week during questioning of Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein and then again Tuesday when Attorney General Jeff Sessions was testifying.

Each member of the committee had a limited number of minutes to question Sessions, who was forced to recuse himself from the Russia investigation after it was revealed that he had failed to disclose his contacts with Russian diplomats during the campaign.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions testifies on Tuesday on Capitol Hill. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

Sessions and Harris spoke over each other throughout the interaction; Sessions seemed eager to slowly and thoroughly deliver his response, and Harris seemed just as eager to push him along, especially when his responses weren’t addressing the answers she sought.

At one point, Sessions said he was “not able to be rushed this fast.”

“It makes me nervous,” he told Harris.

Sessions refused to answer numerous questions from the panel, citing what he called a long-standing Department of Justice policy that prevented him from commenting on private communications with President Trump.

Harris asked if the policy was written down, to which Sessions gave no clear answer but instead explained the “principle” of it.

“Sir, I am not asking you about the principle,” Harris interjected. “I am asking — when you knew that you would be asked these questions and you would rely on that policy, did you not ask your staff to show you the policy that would be the basis for your refusing to answer the majority of questions we are asking you …”

At that moment, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) cut in and appealed to the committee chairman, Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.)

“The witness should be allowed to answer the question,” McCain said.

“Senators will allow the chair to control the hearing,” Burr said, pointing to McCain. “Senator Harris, let him answer.”

Sessions then went on to describe the principle, at length.

Before Harris got her “yes or no” answer, Burr cut her off and said her time had expired.

After the exchange, Harris tweeted: “It was a simple question. Can Sessions point to the policy, in writing, that allows him to not answer a whole host of our questions today.”

The scene Tuesday was nearly identical to one that played out during a hearing last week, when Harris was questioning Rosenstein.

From him, Harris also asked for a simple “yes or no” answer to her question, a phrasing that is routine in hearings as members rush to ask as many questions as they can.

Would he sign a letter giving Special Counsel Robert Mueller full independence from the Justice Department during his own Russia probe, she asked.

“Senator, I’m very sensitive about time and I’d like to have a very lengthy conversation and explain that all to you,” Rosenstein responded.

“Can you give me a ‘yes or no’ answer?” Harris asked.

“It’s not a short answer, Senator,” Rosenstein said.

“It is,” she said, cutting him off. “Either you are willing to do that or you are not.”

The exchange felt like a contentious courtroom battle between a prosecutor and a key witness, one that apparently irritated McCain.

He interrupted Harris and told the chairman Rosenstein should be able to answer the question.

Harris continued interrogating the deputy attorney general, again pressing him to give a “yes or no” answer.

Then Burr interjected.

“Will the senator suspend?” Burr interjected. “The chair is going to exercise its right to allow the witnesses to answer the question, and the committee is on notice to provide the witnesses the courtesy, which has not been extended all the way across, extend the courtesy for questions to get answered.”

As with Sessions, Harris never got her answer before time expired.

 Play Video 2:49

Kamala Harris admonished by GOP senators

The Republican chairman of the Senate intelligence committee admonished Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) during her questioning of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on June 7. (The Washington Post)

Harris spokesman Tyrone Gayle told the Associated Press that the senator “has run countless investigations, and will follow the facts wherever they may lead to get the truth for the American people. That can only happen when witnesses answer questions,” he said.

Both hearing exchanges have prompted women to discuss aloud and online how Harris’s experiences with her fellow senators are only highlighting the treatment average women, especially women of color, experience every day.

Women of color “understand what Kamala Harris is dealing with,” Tanzina Vega, a CNN reporter who covers race and inequality, wrote on Twitter. “Raise your hand if you’ve been shushed, silenced, scolded, etc.”

Her words were retweeted nearly 2,000 times and garnered more than 3,000 likes.

“I thought so,” she responded. “Thanks ladies.” 

Source:https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/06/14/as-a-prosecutor-kamala-d-harris-doggedness-was-praised-now-shes-hysterical/?utm_term=.d241ec65b8c6

Jeff Sessions' explanation for firing Comey just doesn't make sense By sim,ple viral news

Washington (CNN)Attorney General Jeff Sessions tried to have his cake and eat it too when it came to his explanations during congressional testimony Tuesday for the firing of FBI Director James Comey.

On the one hand, Sessions didn't feel like he needed to stay in the Oval Office on February 14 when President Trump said he wanted to speak privately with Comey. And he didn't feel the need to do anything following a meeting the two men had in the days that followed in which Comey expressed his discomfort with these one-on-one conversations with the president.

Sessions' justification in both instances was that Comey was a total pro, that he knew his stuff and that Sessions trusted him to handle his business.

"I felt (Comey), so long in the department -- former deputy attorney general, as I recall -- knew those policies probably a good deal better than I did," said Sessions at one point. At another, Sessions said: "Our Department of Justice rules on proper communications between the department and the White House have been in place for years. Mr. Comey well knew them, I thought and assumed, correctly, that he complied with them."

On the other hand, Sessions told the Senate intelligence committee that he and deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had discussed removing Comey as FBI director and agreed that it was time for a "fresh start" at the bureau before either man was confirmed to their current positions.

Huh?

Either Comey was the ultimate pro who could be trusted to handle his business or he was someone who Sessions had decided months before needed to go because he had badly mismanaged his role in the 2016 election. Comey can't simultaneously be highly competent and a bungling, bumbling fool depending on what image suits Sessions' needs at the moment.

But, time and again, Sessions tried to hold those totally oppositional thoughts in his head -- and insisted that they weren't at all contradictory.

As Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, noted in Tuesday's hearing, in July and again in October -- following Comey's initial announcement that Hillary Clinton had been "extremely careless" in her handling of her private email server and his decision to re-open the case in October -- Sessions praised the then FBI director.

This exchange between Reed and Sessions is telling:

REED: So, in July and November, Director Comey was doing exactly the right thing. You had no criticism of him. You felt that in fact he was a skilled professional prosecutor. You felt that his last statement in October was fully justified. So how can you go from those statements to agreeing with Mr. Rosenstein and then asking the President, or recommending he be fired?

SESSIONS: I think, in retrospect, as all of us begin to look at that clearly and talk about it, as perspectives of the Department of Justice, once the director had first got involved and embroiled in a public discussion of this investigation, which would have been better never to have been discussed publicly, and said he -- it was over. Then when he found new evidence that came up, I think he probably was required to tell Congress that it wasn't over, that new evidence had been developed.

Uh, what?

If you get what Sessions is driving at in his response to Reed, you are a better -- and smarter -- person than me.

(Also worth noting: Comey testified, under oath, that Trump called him several times in the first part of this year to tell him how great a job he was doing.)

Then there was the fact, revealed in Sessions' testimony yesterday, that he had never met with Comey to discuss what he took to be his poor performance.

This back and forth with Mark Warner, D-Virginia, the vice chairman of the intelligence committee, gets at that oddity:

WARNER: So you were his -- his superior, and there were some fairly harsh things said about Director Comey. You never thought it was appropriate to raise those concerns before he was actually terminated by the President?

SESSIONS: I did not do so. A memorandum was prepared by the deputy attorney general, who evaluated his performance and noted some serious problems with it.

Take one giant step back. We know, because Donald Trump told us, that the real reason he fired Comey was because of the former FBI director's approach to the Russia investigation. Trump said that after his administration had tried to sell the same case Sessions was selling on Tuesday: That Comey was removed because of a memo from Rosenstein.

That's the fact. Everything else -- including Sessions' attempts to spin his views on Comey and the circumstances surrounding his firing -- are simply post-action spin.

Source:http://edition.cnn.com/2017/06/14/politics/jeff-sessions-james-comey/index.html

London fire latest: Whole families unaccounted for amid search for Grenfell Tower victims By simple viral news4u

Leon Watson 

15 JUNE 2017 • 9:55AM

Twelve dead, 18 in critical care after 79 taken to hospital

Fire chiefs say no more survivors are expected to be found

Six-month-old baby​ missing along with her parents

Labour MP David Lammy: 'This is corporate manslaughter'

Grenfell Tower inferno a 'disaster waiting to happen' 

'The whole building has gone': Witnesses tell of horrific scenes

'Blitz spirit': Community centres overwhelmed with donations

What caused the blaze? The theories fire chiefs will examine

Police number for concerned relatives: 0800 0961 233

There are still "unknown numbers" of bodies in Grenfell Tower following the devastating inferno, London Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton has said.

At least 12 people died after the huge fire destroyed the block in north Kensington, west London, where flames could still be seen burning more than a day on from the disaster.

The commissioner told Sky News: "Tragically now we are not expecting to find anyone else alive. The severity and the heat of the fire would mean it is an absolute miracle for anyone to be left alive."

She said there are still "unknown numbers" of people in the building.

Ms Cotton said the upper floors of the building are still to be searched.

"Sadly we do anticipate the death toll will rise - we haven't done our searches of the top floors yet," she told reporters at the scene.

Watch: Facebook live video from inside blazing tower

01:51

More than £1 million has been raised to help those affected as fire tore through the 24-storey building while volunteers and charities helped feed and shelter people who could not return to their homes overnight.

A wall of condolence was put up near the scene with photographs showing dozens of messages left for loved ones.

Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to visit the scene of the tragedy later on Thursday to speak with emergency services and ensure that they have the resources they need to deal with the situation.

She has promised a "proper investigation" after the building went up in flames early on Wednesday morning amid growing concerns about how the fire could have spread so rapidly.

Residents' groups have claimed they voiced concerns about the safety of the building, which had been recently refurbished, while those who escaped complained their fire alarms had not been set off by the blaze.

One focus for the investigation will be the building's cladding, which TV architect George Clarke said may have accelerated the blaze.

Mr Clarke, who lives locally and appears on Channel 4's Amazing Spaces, told BBC's Newsnight: " I saw those cladding panels, the cladding on the outside and the insulation was just peeling off, like you'd peel a banana.

Huge plumes of smoke pour from Grenfell Tower as the blaze rages

Huge plumes of smoke pour from Grenfell Tower as the blaze rages CREDIT: JEREMY SELWYN/EYEVINE

"It was fully on fire. I could see the flames behind - there's a new cladding system put on the outsides that looks like a new skin, there's an air gap an insulation behind that, to me that looks like a fantastic chimney for the fire to rage around."

Grenfell Tower, which built in 1974, was recently refurbished at a cost of £8.6 million, with work completed in May last year.

Kensington and Chelsea Council admitted it had received complaints over the works, after a residents' action group said its warnings about safety had fallen on "deaf ears".

Watch live: Fire engulfs tower block in West London

A blog post from Grenfell Action Group in November said "only a catastrophic event" would expose the concerns residents had.

The group said there was one entry and exit to the tower during improvement works and it had issues with evacuation procedures.

Concerns had also been raised about exposed gas pipes weeks before the devastating blaze.

Rydon, the firm that carried out the refurbishment work, said the project "met all required building regulations", in its latest statement following the fire.

But a line stating that the project had met all "fire regulation and health and safety standards", which was included in an earlier release, had disappeared.

When questioned about residents' worries about fire safety at the block, the council's deputy leader Rock Feilding-Mellen told the BBC: "My understanding is that their concerns were looked at and officers and the TMO (tenant management organisation) made inquiries and felt we had done what was necessary."

Smoke continues to pour from the upper floors of Grenfell TowerSmoke tower

Smoke continues to pour from the upper floors of Grenfell Tower CREDIT: PAUL GROVER FOR THE TELEGRAPH

Meanwhile, work is continuing to tackle "pockets of fire" in the block, with the operation now in the "recovery phase" while many people are still unaccounted for.

Commander Stuart Cundy of the Metropolitan Police said: "This is going to be a long and complex recovery operation and I do anticipate that the number of fatalities will sadly increase beyond those 12."

Witnesses described hearing screams for help from people trapped on the upper floors of the block as flames engulfed the building, which contains 120 flats thought to be home to between 400 and 600 people.

Children and a baby were seen being thrown out of the windows to be caught by emergency workers and members of the public below.

London Fire Brigade said it had rescued 65 people as flames engulfed the block, and had managed to reach all 24 floors, though a full search of the building has not been completed.

NHS England said 74 patients were treated in six hospitals across London. Thirty-four remain in hospital including 18 who are in critical care.

Source:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/15/london-fire-latest-death-toll-set-rise-amid-grim-search-grenfell/

Lobbyist Matt Mika identified as one of those wounded By simple viral news4u

Three congressmen came to George Washington University Hospital around 10:30 a.m. to visit Matt Mika, a lobbyist they said was wounded in Wednesday’s shooting.

“Matt Mika, one of the guys who helps us, is here at the hospital,” said Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Tex.). He said they had been unable to get much information about Mika’s status. “He’s been a big part of the team for a number of years and just a great athlete, helps us frankly at second base and at shortstop. He’s a great guy.”

Mika has worked as a lobbyist for Tysons Foods for more than six years and is director of government relations in the company’s D.C. office.

“We’re awaiting word on his condition,” the company said in a statement. “We’re deeply concerned about him and his family.”

The hospital said it is treating two patients from the shooting who remain in critical condition.

Brady was joined by Reps. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) and Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.). All three are roommates of Rep. Steve Scalise, who was also wounded in the shooting. The three were planning to visit Scalise at another D.C. hospital where he underwent surgery Wednesday morning.

“We know Steve is in stable condition. We just want to be there to lend him support,” Brady said. He described the surreal nature of the day: “I was at practice and had just left two, three minutes before the shooting began. Steve was out taking some grounders at second. It’s the day before the game. It’s a great, relaxed … you know what I mean? You’re getting ready for the game, taking hitting practice and then this happens.”

Source:https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/2017/live-updates/public-safety/updates-shooting-at-congressional-baseball-practice-in-virginia/lobbyist-matt-mika-identified-as-one-of-those-wounded/?utm_term=.80d8e81c8737

Marissa Mayer, Yahoo's ex-CEO, says she's looking 'forward to using Gmail again' by Simple viral news

ormer Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer resigned on Tuesday after running the company for about five years. 

She resigned because Verizon's $4.48 billion acquisition of Yahoo has officially closed, netting her a $23 million payout. 

At a conference in London, Mayer said one of the things she was looking forward to in her post-Yahoo life was using Gmail again, adding that she was faster at using tools she had designed herself.

Presumably, as CEO of Yahoo, she had to use Yahoo Mail. 

Before joining Yahoo, Mayer worked at Google for over 13 years, leading several products such as search and Gmail. 

In tweets sent after this story published, Mayer said she would continue to "use the excellent Yahoo Mail too."

Source:http://www.businessinsider.com/marissa-mayer-yahoo-looking-forward-to-using-gmail-again-2017-6

California Today: Division Among Democrats By simple viral news 4u

LOS ANGELES — The Democratic Party is so dominant in California that there are barely enough Republicans around for even the most rudimentary political brawl. So state Democrats are turning to the next best thing: Democrats.

The state party here has been enmeshed in what seems to be an unending battle over who is its new leader. Eric Bauman, the Los Angeles County Democratic leader, appears to have won — in the actual vote May 20 and in a recount — but the challenger, Kimberly Ellis, has not conceded, contending that there were voting irregularities.

She is facing growing calls to accept the results; so far she has said she will not. Mr. Bauman and his supporters have rejected her call for an independent audit of the vote by the California Democratic Party, or C.D.P.

“The party cannot go back in time and alleviate the storm of suspicion that surrounded last year’s presidential primary campaign,” the Ellis campaign said in a letter disputing the outcome. “But, in this instance, the C.D.P. has the ability to do the right thing and subject our chair’s election to independent scrutiny.”

California would seem to be the last place where there should be trouble in the Democratic family. The party controls all the major statewide offices and has overwhelming majorities in the Legislature. President Trump lost by more than four million votes here.

But the battle suggests the challenges Democrats face here and across the country as the party seeks to unify and rebuild after November. Ms. Ellis enjoyed considerable support from voters who supported Bernie Sanders against Hillary Clinton.

This is a fight with national implications: Democrats are looking to capture seven Congressional seats held by Republicans next year.

“If there’s a path to the Democratic Party regaining control of the House it starts in California,” Mr. Bauman said. “Division is never helpful. But moving forward is critically important. Letting people be assured that their opinions and their requests and desires are considered is critical.”

John Burton, the outgoing party leader, said that Democrats were hardly strangers to intramural battles and that he was optimistic this would pass. “We’ve been through this before,” he said. “We went through it during the war in Vietnam. We always come out stronger.”

• Uber’s co-founder, Travis Kalanick, said he would take a leave of absence as chief executive as the company announced a sweeping reorganization. [The New York Times]

• David Bonderman resigned from Uber’s board after he made a disparaging remark about women at a company meeting on Tuesday. [The New York Times]

• To encourage a better Uber, it’s time to play the only card you’ve got: If it fails to live up to the promises it’s making now, stop using Uber. [Farhad Manjoo | The New York Times]

• Senator Kamala Harris, Democrat of California, was cut off by Republican senators for the second time in a week as she questioned Attorney General Jeff Sessions. [The New York Times]

• New data released by state regulators provide a detailed snapshot of California’s battle against global warming. [Los Angeles Times]

• Over the next 20 years, Treasure Island in the San Francisco Bay will be transformed by the construction of 8,000 residential units, housing an estimated 20,000 people. [San Francisco Chronicle]

• State water agencies have set a September goal to decide whether they’re going to pay for the biggest water project California has undertaken since the 1960s. [The Sacramento Bee]

• Investigators say that the owners and managers of an East Bay buffet committed $4.5 million in wage theft from 2009 to 2013, while forcing workers to live in racially segregated dorms. [East Bay Times]

Photo

• Charles P. Thacker, an electrical engineer who played a central role in some of the most important ideas in personal computing, died Monday at his home in Palo Alto. [The New York Times]

• After reports surfaced that the Golden State Warriors would not be visiting the White House, the team clarified that it had yet to be invited. [The New York Times]

• The Warriors’ Andre Iguodala assembled one of the finest games of his career to help close out the Cavaliers. [The New York Times]

And Finally ...

Photo

Male coqui frogs issue a high-pitched shriek when vying for females. Credit Cory Lum for The New York Times

The coqui frog is only about an inch or two long. But its mating call is so loud — and so irritating — that some Californians have called the police after mistaking it for a car alarm.

Reports of the frogs, which are native to Puerto Rico, have been cropping up in the state over the last several years, causing concern among scientists. A recent article in Scientific American urged authorities to eradicate the animals “immediately.” (In Hawaii, where the frogs have gained a firm foothold, they are considered such a nuisance that their presence has to be disclosed when a house is sold.)

Andrew Hughan, a spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said on Tuesday that the department was “aware of the potential for the coqui to become a problem.” Members of the public could help limit the frog’s spread, he added, by reporting any sightings, and by purchasing native, drought-tolerant plants for their yards.

Not everyone is so averse to the frogs. In a 2001 interview with The Times, Kenneth McClintock, then the minority leader of the Puerto Rican Senate, expressed appreciation for their calls.

“Obviously, it’s something that requires getting used to,” he said. “But after some time, it becomes music to your ears.”

— Nicholas Bakalar

Want to submit a photo for possible publication? You can do it here.

California Today goes live at 6 a.m. Pacific time weekdays. Tell us what you want to see: CAtoday@nytimes.com.

California Today is edited by Julie Bloom, who grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from U.C. Berkeley.

Source:https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/14/us/california-today-california-democratic-party.html

VidAngel is Back in Business with New Streaming Filtering Service by Simple viral news 4u

Provo—Almost a year after VidAngel got sued by some of the biggest studios in Hollywood, the video-filtering service is back in business.

While the lawsuit, filed by Disney, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Fox and Warner Brothers last July, is still ongoing, VidAngel announced Tuesday night that it will now offer filtering to streaming services on Netflix, HBO and Amazon. Somewhat ironically, that lawsuit, which has effectively halted VidAngel’s business for the last 11 months through a court-ordered injunction, is what allowed the company to make this latest step, said VidAngel CEO Neal Harmon.

“We’ve always wanted to make this possible, and we fortunately had the resources to turn all of our efforts to solve this problem we’ve always wanted to solve,” he said.

Subscribers can use VidAngel’s filtering system to remove language, nudity, violence and other content from the movies and TV they watch on streaming services. In the future, Harmon said they hope to expand to iTunes and Hulu, as well.

“To be frank, there’s a lot of opposition to what we’re trying to achieve, but we know there’s a large market out there for us,” he said, noting a recent study that said 40 percent of Americans said they would like to filer content from their media. “That’s a big market, and we’re going to give it to them.”

In the pending lawsuit, which is over VidAngel’s past service filtering DVDs and Blu-Rays, Disney et al has alleged that VidAngel doesn’t have the rights to change or distribute the material. Unlike unaffiliated and bygone services like CleanFlix, VidAngel didn’t change or burn new copies of the movies it offered viewers. When the service started in 2015, VidAngel notified the litigious companies of the service to no response, Harmon said in a statement at the time the suit was filed.

VidAngel will file a motion with the court to ask whether the injunction applies to the new technology, and if not, VidAngel will immediately begin filtering the plaintiffs’ content with the new service, according to a press release. Either way, the service is currently available for the streaming services.

Harmon also said the new service should obviate the plaintiffs’ complaints because it filters content without having to decrypt it, it eliminates VidAngel’s previous buy-sellback model (in which users bought a filtered movie for $20 and returned it for $19) that allowed studios to argue they were losing money they might make from streaming, and it eliminates the concern that VidAngel could make content available before streaming services. The service also ensures users can only watch filtered content from the streaming services they already have subscriptions or other rights to.

The new service works using a crowd-sourced tagging tool that allows viewers throughout the country to tag shows for different kinds of content, as well as using machine-learning algorithms. Users then provide their login information to Netflix, Amazon or HBO accounts through the VidAngel app on iPhone, Android or Netflix, choose their filter settings, and select what they want to watch. The filtered version of that show is sent to the user’s device for viewing.

Because of the change in offered services, the length of time VidAngel had been under the injunction and the surprise nature of the announcement, Harmon said it was tough to anticipate how users would react. They prepared their servers for typical use before the injunction, he said, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

“We’re trying to keep our servers online and working because we knew how much traffic we received before we were enjoined, so we planned for that—we didn’t think we would. But we got three times the traffic we expected. That’s the short-term goal, keeping it online and letting people have their filtering back. There’s been a lot of pent-up demand for this,” he said.

One of the key arguments, inside and out of the courtroom, hinges on the rights of content creators verses the rights of the consumer. Harmon said VidAngel believes those two things aren’t mutually exclusive.

“Our position is that directors should have the right to create content how they choose and publish it, so it’s published in the public sphere. As soon as they sell that content to the private user, as soon as they’re paid for it, that family should have the right to see that however they want. It’s common sense that you can use the remote to fast forward, or only watch part of it—that’s their choice,” he said. “Everybody’s rights are balanced.”

VidAngel isn’t alone in its efforts to provide family-friendly content. Sony’s plan to include television-edit movies—that is, versions of movies edited of content to conform to network television or basic cable standards—with the theatrical versions of films bought through services like iTunes, was met with harsh blowback from creators like Seth Rogan and Judd Apatow. On Wednesday, Sony announced it would not offer “clean versions” of movies whose directors disapproved.

Harmon said Sony’s offering is both a reflection of audiences’ increasing demand for more control over their media and proof that the conversation about that demand is becoming more public.

“We’re really cheering Sony on. We’re glad they’re changing the conversation and delivering what people are asking for. The key distinction between Sony and us is with Sony, ultimately the argument the directors can make is they decide the content and where it is possible. With VidAngel, the family pays for the content and then changes the [filtering],” he said.

VidAngel is happy to be back in business, he said, and they’re excited to be able to carry on their mission in a new way. There’s a silver lining in the lawsuit, as well as the challenges up ahead, said Harmon, and the industry as a whole will be better for it in the end.

“Over a million Americans were streaming movies on VidAngel before we got enjoined and this whole saga, for lack of a better word, is changing the conversation. It’s changing the industry,” he said. “It’s changing the way people think about one another’s rights and we think ultimately we’re landing in a better place where people can enjoy this kind of technology.”

Source: http://www.utahbusiness.com/vidangel-back-business-new-streaming-filtering-service/

Attack Tests Movement Sanders Founded By Simple viral news 4u

WASHINGTON — The most ardent supporters of Senator Bernie Sanders have long been outspoken about their anger toward Republicans — and in some cases toward Democrats. Their idol, the senator from Vermont, has called President Trump a “demagogue” and said recently that he was “perhaps the worst and most dangerous president in the history of our country.”

Now, in Mr. Sanders’s world, his fans have something concrete to grapple with: James T. Hodgkinson, a former volunteer for Mr. Sanders’s presidential campaign, is suspected of opening fire on Republican lawmakers practicing baseball in Alexandria, Va.

That shooting on Wednesday, which wounded four people, may prove to be an unexpected test for a movement born out of Mr. Sanders’s left-wing, populist politics and a moment for liberals to figure out how to balance anger at Mr. Trump with inciting violence.

“Both sides need to look in the mirror,” said Nina Turner, a former Ohio state senator who campaigned for Mr. Sanders and is working on a new think tank started by the senator’s wife. “We have to decide what kind of language we are going to use in our political discourse.”

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Mr. Sanders has advocated what he has called a peaceful political revolution. On Wednesday, he acknowledged that Mr. Hodgkinson, 66, of Belleville, Ill., had been a volunteer on his campaign and said he was praying for the recovery of Representative Steve Scalise, Republican of Louisiana, and the other victims.

“I am sickened by this despicable act,” Mr. Sanders said in a statement. “Let me be as clear as I can be. Violence of any kind is unacceptable in our society, and I condemn this action in the strongest possible terms. Real change can only come about through nonviolent action, and anything else runs against our most deeply held American values.”

His most prominent followers said that blaming all of Mr. Sanders’s supporters for the actions of one was akin to blaming all Muslims for the actions of the Islamic State.

U.S. & POLITICS By BARBARA MARCOLINI, MALACHY BROWNE and SARAH STEIN KERR 1:38

The Virginia Shooting: The Scene and Reaction

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The Virginia Shooting: The Scene and Reaction

Witnesses describe the scene of the shooting that injured Representative Steve Scalise and others Wednesday morning. President Trump and Senator Bernie Sanders made statements. By BARBARA MARCOLINI, MALACHY BROWNE and SARAH STEIN KERR on Publish Date June 14, 2017. Photo by Al Drago/The New York Times. Watch in Times Video »

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“It doesn’t make sense to me, not with this shooting and not with blaming an entire Black Lives Matter movement when a random black man shoots a police officer,” said Shaun King, a columnist for The New York Daily News who campaigned for Mr. Sanders.

He added that violence would not help move liberal policies forward: “If 20 Republican congressmen were shot and killed, it would not improve the chances of us having a better health care system. It’s nonsensical.”

To be sure, supporters of Mr. Trump, as well as Mr. Trump himself, have assailed opponents and the news media.

But long before the shooting on Wednesday, some of Mr. Sanders’s supporters had earned a belligerent reputation for their criticism of Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party and others who they believed disagreed with their ideas. Sanders fans, sometimes referred to derogatorily as “Bernie Bros” or “Bernie Bots,” at times harassed reporters covering Mr. Sanders and flooded social media with angry posts directed at the “corporate media,” a term often used by the senator.

The suspect in the shooting in Virginia put a new spotlight on the rage buried in some corners of the progressive left.

Mr. Hodgkinson filled his Facebook page with photographs of the senator and quotes from his speeches. Mr. Hodgkinson also wrote messages filled with expletives directed at the president, and a post in March said: “Trump is a traitor. Trump has destroyed our democracy. It’s time to destroy Trump & co.”

On Tuesday, Mr. Hodgkinson posted a cartoon on Facebook explaining “How does a bill work?” “That’s an easy one, Billy,” the cartoon reads. “Corporations write the bill and then bribe Congress until it becomes law.”

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What Happened at the Shooting at a Congressional Baseball Practice

Five people were shot at a morning practice about five miles from the Capitol, the police said.

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“That’s Exactly How It Works. ....” Mr. Hodgkinson wrote.

That is not far from Mr. Sanders’s own message. On Saturday, during a conference in Chicago filled with Sanders supporters, he thundered, “Today in the White House, we have perhaps the worst and most dangerous president in the history of our country,” to cheers from thousands. “And we also have, not to be forgotten, extreme right-wing leadership in the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate.”

Adam Lassila, 30, of Athens, Ga., who attended the conference, said Mr. Sanders’s criticism of Mr. Trump was justified and illustrated that the senator represented “the kind of politicians that we want in this society, those who describe things how they are actually happening and not speak around them in platitudes.”

For conservatives, Wednesday’s attack was a moment to say, “Enough.” In 2010, as the Tea Party movement rose, often with violent messages, Democratic lawmakers lamented the threats they faced. Republicans are feeling a similar lash as the left rises to confront a Republican president.

Harlan Hill, a political consultant based in New York who supports Mr. Trump, said people should not blame Mr. Sanders personally, but he said the senator’s description of the president as “dangerous” illustrated the “apocalyptic terms” and “melodrama” that have created a combustible political atmosphere.

“It is a passive justification for the kind of violence we saw,” Mr. Hill said. “If you don’t believe that, and you’re just casually using these words, then you should accept the consequence of those words because you are empowering the people that follow you to take whatever sort of action that they deem necessary to avert what is being described to them as a potential genocidal leader.”

While Mr. Trump was restrained in his remarks about the shooting, other figures on the political right let loose. Michael Savage, a radio host, wrote on Twitter, “I warned America the Dems constant drumbeat of hatred would lead to violence!” Bill Mitchell, a radio host who supports Mr. Trump, said on Twitter, “The Left in this country is ushering in a new #CultureOfViolence where violent hate is the new normal.”

RoseAnn DeMoro, the executive director of National Nurses United, a union that campaigned heavily for Mr. Sanders and continues to work with him, said some were hoping to discredit Mr. Sanders to slow down the continuing success of his brand of politics. She called it a “boldface lie” to connect the shooting to Mr. Sanders’s push for opposing Mr. Trump’s proposals.

“He’s the most popular politician in America,” Ms. DeMoro said of Mr. Sanders. “That doesn’t sit well with establishment Democrats or Republicans. They are trying to delegitimize and discredit anyone who is speaking out for a better society. That’s what’s happening.”

Source:https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/14/us/politics/bernie-sanders-supporters.html?_r=0

Gabby Giffords "heartbroken" over congressional baseball shooting By Simple viral news 4u

Former Rep. Gabby Giffords, who was nearly killed by a gunman during a 2011 shooting that claimed six lives, said in a statement Wednesday that she is "heartbroken" about the shooting at a congressional baseball practice session that injured one congressman and several others who were present.

"It doesn't matter if you're a Democrat or a Republican, nor if you're a senator or a representative, nor a staffer or a sworn officer," Giffords said. "If you serve the institution of Congress, you're connected to your colleagues, current and former, by a shared sense of service to ideals far greater than yourself. This shooting is an attack on all who serve and on all who participate in our democracy."

 Rep. Tom Rooney "in shock" after Alexandria shooting 

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Rep. Tom Rooney "in shock" after Alexandria shooting

The shooting in Alexandria, Virginia was carried out by James T. Hodgkinson, 66, who died of his injuries after being shot by Capitol Police. Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-Louisiana, the third-ranking House Republican, was injured, as were a congressional staffer, a lobbyist, and two police officers. The hospital where Scalise is being treated said the congressman is in critical condition.

"I am heartbroken for the pain of Congressman Scalise, the other victims, and their family, friends, and colleagues who survived," Giffords continued in her statement. "I am thankful for the great courage of the Capitol Police, who were my protectors after I was shot and became my friends. I also know the courage it takes to recover from a shooting like this, and I know Steve and everyone there this morning have such courage in great supply."

Giffords nearly died after being shot in the head on January 8, 2011 during a public event in the parking lot of a Safeway outside of Tucson. In the wake of that incident, she and her husband, former astronaut Mike Kelly, founded "Americans for Responsible Solutions," a group dedicated to reforming gun laws and reducing violence.

 Video shows Alexandria shooting 

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Video shows Alexandria shooting

Kelly spoke with Face the Nation on April 14, 2013, several months after a massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut claimed 26 lives, including 20 small children. At the time, a push was underway in the Senate to pass a bill that would strengthen background checks for gun purchasers, among other reforms. The bill ultimately failed to clear the Senate, but while it was still under consideration, Kelly explained why he believed the effort was so important.

"Right now, 40 percent of guns are bought at gun shows or…over the internet without a background check," Kelly explained. "So it's very easy for the criminals, the dangerously mentally ill to get a gun. So closing those loopholes I think is the number one thing we can do to reduce gun violence in this country."

Kelly compared the push to strengthen gun laws to past reforms that have improved the health and safety of Americans.

"In the 1970s, you know, we had the Clean Air Act that addressed pollution," he recalled. "We didn't get rid of all pollution in our country, but it did make our water cleaner and our air cleaner. And gun violence legislation can do the same thing. We're not going to stop every murder from a gun. We're not going to stop every mass shooting, but we can reduce gun violence with commonsense legislation."

CBS News' Bob Schieffer also asked Kelly about how his wife was doing.

"Gabby's doing great," he replied. "You know, she works really, really hard at her rehab. She does physical rehab, occupational, speech therapy. She's now reenergized by, you know, being involved in something that's going to improve people's lives. So she's doing great."

Source:http://www.cbsnews.com/news/gabby-giffords-heartbroken-over-congressional-baseball-shooting/