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Scotland’s Plastic Bag Ban Saved 650 Million Bags In Its First Year : environment
Scotland’s Plastic Bag Ban Saved 650 Million Bags In Its First Year https://t.co/mU5oGsXxcQ https://t.co/RLJuJfrYkl via /r/environment
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Scotland’s Plastic Bag Ban Saved 650 Million Bags In Its First Year
Scotland’s Plastic Bag Ban Saved 650 Million Bags In Its First Year https://t.co/mU5oGsXxcQ https://t.co/RLJuJfrYkl via /r/environment
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Text Messages Prevent Deaths by Elephants in India
In India, millions of people live alongside Asian elephants. Generally, they interact peacefully. But sometimes encounters can turn deadly. The stakes are particularly high in the southeastern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
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Stars pay tribute to Motorhead’s Lemmy – BBC News
Music stars and celebrities have paid tribute to Motorhead frontman Lemmy, who has died at the age of 70. Lemmy died at home in Los Angeles on Monday, two days after learning he had cancer.
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Iraqi PM visits liberated Ramadi – BBC News
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
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Refugees meet the best and the worst of us in Idomeni – Al Jazeera English
There were roughly 2,500 to 3,000 refugees crossing that border on each of those days, though the number fluctuates. The suffering of refugees you see on television is not the full picture. The reality is much worse and the absolute helplessness is …
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“Money is no object in this relief effort,” came the passionate anti-austerity cry. “Whatever money is needed for it will be spent. We will take whatever steps are necessary.
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Tables and chairs were floating around everywhere’ says Sue Hardy as she describes how her restaurant in York was affected by the flooding. Water levels are receding and the Environment Agency says the pumps are now working at the Foss barrier. Howe…
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There’s a Place That’s Nearly Perfect for Growing Food. It’s Not California. | New Republic
California is by far the dominant US produce-growing state—source of (large PDF) 81 percent of US-grown carrots, 95 percent of broccoli, 86 percent of cauliflower, 74 percent of raspberries, 91 percent of strawberries, etc.
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Reading Everything Aaron Swartz Wrote | New Republic
The title of a new posthumous collection of Aaron Swartz’s writing is tricky: The Boy Who Could Change The World. It could refer equally to a boy who changed the world and one who could have but did not.
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How to Be a Five-Star Uber or Lyft Passenger
You probably check your Uber and Lyft drivers’ ratings before you hop in their car, but those drivers pay attention to your rating as well. And a bad rating can make grabbing a ride a lot harder in the future.
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My Adventures in Soviet Cuisine | New Republic
In the CCCP Cook Book, Olga and Pavel Syutkin showcase the bounty of Soviet cuisine through the lens of social realism. Many of the images from the book are from menus for Intourist, the Soviet travel agency begun by Stalin in 1929, which managed fo…
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Burkina Faso arrests over ‘plot to free coup leader’ – BBC News
About 20 soldiers have been arrested in Burkina Faso for plotting to free the leader of September’s coup, Gen Gilbert Diendere, officials have said. The 20 were arrested during a raid in the capital, Ouagadougou, on Monday, Prime Minister Isaac Zida…
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New Zealand: Bidders vie for ‘unwanted’ $100 banknote – BBC News
A New Zealand man has poked fun at the practice of selling unwanted Christmas presents online by auctioning a $100 note to the highest bidder.
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La Familia Mexican drug cartel founder killed – BBC News
Carlos Rosales Mendoza, the founder of one of Mexico’s most violent drug cartels, has been killed. Rosales Mendoza’s body was found along with three other bodies by a motorway in western Mexico.
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The image of a tiny, inflatable Greenpeace boat circling Shell’s Brent Spar became a defining moment in corporate activism. That was 1995.
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Islam as partisan profit: An Egyptian epic – Al Jazeera English
As Brazil faces a rapid economic downturn, we travel to Rio de Janeiro to find out how everyday citizens are coping. We visit Havana to find out how politics affects food and how recent changes are being reflected in Cuban cuisine.
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“According to Mohamed Magid, a Virginia-based imam who has advised the administration on radicalisation, 42% of the jihadist plots rumbled since 2001 were reported by suspicious Muslims.” (economist.com)submitted 8 hours ago by loading…
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What a difference a year makes. : aww
What a difference a year makes. via /r/aww https://t.co/CX980T6NHE https://t.co/V5S88nCIpG https://t.co/AqSnrplhGh
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What a difference a year makes. via /r/aww https://t.co/CX980T6NHE https://t.co/V5S88nCIpG https://t.co/AqSnrplhGh
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Shahadat Hossain: Bangladesh cricketer charged with torturing maid – BBC News
Police in Bangladesh have charged the cricketer Shahadat Hossain and his wife with torturing their former domestic servant, an 11-year-old girl. If found guilty, the couple may face lengthy jail terms. They are currently on bail and deny charges of …
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Have you been affected by flooding in the north of England? | Environment | The Guardian
Communities in Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Yorkshire were flooded over the weekend after downpours caused river banks to burst Saturday. Thousands of people were evacuated and others were left without power.
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Labour calls for long-term cross-party flood protection plan | Environment | The Guardian
John McDonnell has challenged the government to agree to a bipartisan long-term plan on flood protection, as Conservatives struggled to respond to accusations that they slashed the budget for defences in the last parliament.
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A Tech Boost for the Aging Iowa Caucus – The Atlantic
Caucus Night 2012 was not exactly a banner evening for the Republican Party of Iowa. Reporting problems plagued the vote-counting during the crucial first-in-the-nation presidential contest.
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Abel Maldonado Stands by California’s Top-Two Primary System – The Atlantic
In 2009, Abel Maldonado, then a state senator, brought the top-two open primary to California. The change allowed the two leading finishers in a primary to proceed to the general election regardless of party affiliation. It set into motion a system …
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2015 Year in Review: Race Relations – The Atlantic
Every December, The Atlantic looks back on the previous year—to highlight not just the “big moments” but the progression of “big ideas.” Below, the second of three installments looks at the year in race-relations coverage. U.S. race relations were o…
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What We’re Following on Wednesday, December 29 – The Atlantic
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Who really pays for American students to go to colle…
Individually, Americans spend a lot on higher education. Most undergraduates finish with about $30,000 in debt. It’s an average that calls into question how much voters, educators and policymakers have done to support the country’s colleges and stud…
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Getting drunk and getting laid: LA rock fans raise a glass to Lemmy | Music | The Guardian
If you’re a recovering miscreant or just generally put off by bad behaviour, the Rainbow Bar and Grill on Los Angeles’ Sunset Strip is probably not for you.
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December 29, 1922: William Gaddis Is Born | The Nation
William Gaddis was born on this day in 1922. Three decades later his sprawling novel The Recognitions, one of the landmark works of postmodern American fiction, was published.
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Why Planned Parenthood Had an Even Worse Year Than You Think | Mother Jones
On July 14, anti-abortion activist David Daleiden and his nonprofit Center for Medical Progress (CMP) released a series of secretly recorded and deceptively edited videos purporting to show Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of fetal t…
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Motherboard’s Favorite Instagram Accounts This Year | Motherboard
Instagram is often painted as the social media channel of selfies, party shots, and pictures of people having drinks by the pool—a shallow collection of snaps where the user tries to create the picture of an aspirational, fun-filled life.
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What are the world’s deadliest countries for reporters? – Al Jazeera English
A total of 110 journalists were killed around the world in 2015, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) have said, noting that while many died in war zones the majority were killed in “countries at peace”.
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Intersection Episode 12: Why Is Santa’s Helper Wearing Blackface? | New Republic
When you think of Santa Claus, what comes to mind? A white bearded fat man? Reindeer? A big sleigh? How about a man in blackface with big red lips? If we lost you at that last one, it’s probably because you haven’t yet heard of Zwarte Piet, or “Blac…
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Greek anarchists cook in solidarity for refugees – Al Jazeera English
Athens, Greece – The walls of the Greek capital’s Exarcheia neighbourhood are cloaked in political graffiti, with slogans denouncing authority and others pledging solidarity with new arrivals as the refugee crisis continues to shake Europe.
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Carbon Democracy: Political Power in the Age of Oil by Timothy Mitchell | Books | The Guardian
How much do you know about energy? How much do you care? I learned about electricity at school, and the Victorians and their coal mines. But A level history and half a history degree went by without, so far as I remember, a single minute’s discussio…
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Nothing says Christmas like another Flash exploit | The Verge
Flash is basically dead, but like a rotting corpse full of disease and bacteria, it’s still capable of doing harm.
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Misty mountain top in Iceland [1024×640] [OC] : EarthPorn
Misty mountain top in Iceland [1024×640] [OC] via /r/EarthPorn https://t.co/l7AAg1FV2y https://t.co/Z4J8i36wCh https://t.co/kyNmJ2zTtN
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Misty mountain top in Iceland [1024×640] [OC] via /r/EarthPorn https://t.co/l7AAg1FV2y https://t.co/Z4J8i36wCh https://t.co/kyNmJ2zTtN
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Rolling Stone magazine pays tribute to Motörhead’s Lemmy – video | Music | The Guardian
‘Lemmy to a lot of people really embodies rock ’n’ roll’, says Rolling Stone magazine’s editorial director Brandon Geist, on hearing the news of Ian ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister’s death.
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Deaths as bomber hits government office in Pakistan – Al Jazeera English
At least 18 people have been killed and many others wounded in a suicide attack outside a government office in Pakistan, police told Al Jazeera. The attack happened on Tuesday at an office of the National Database and Registration Authority in the t…
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Two Suspects in a New Year’s Eve Attack Plot Have Been Arrested in Belgium | VICE News
Two people suspected of plotting an attack in Brussels on New Year’s Eve were arrested in Belgium on Sunday and Monday, according to federal prosecutors. Police found military clothing and Islamic State propaganda material but no weapons or explosiv…
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Sikhs Suffer Wrath of Islamophobia | Al Jazeera America
LONG BEACH, Calif. — Shah Noor, a recent transplant to California from Maryland, was driving through a nearby community one evening with his wife and stopped at a 7-Eleven to get some milk. A police car pulled up with lights flashing. Officers walke…
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TS Eliot: beyond commentary? – books podcast | Books | The Guardian
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Entertainment quiz of 2015: Film – BBC News
Do you think you know what happened this year in the world of film? Have a go at the third of our 2015 quizzes and see how much you remember about the past 12 months.
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Pakistan suicide blast ‘kills 12’ – BBC News
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
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Topping lift – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The topping lift (more rarely known as an uphaul) is a line which applies upward force on a boom on a sailboat. Part of the running rigging, topping lifts are primarily used to hold a boom up when the sail is lowered.
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MY patient, a man in his 60s, whispered “Gracias, God bless” over and over as I moved his legs during an exam. Our palliative care team had been called in to help manage his pain after his liver cancer recurred.
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IDF admits spraying herbicides inside the Gaza Strip : environment
IDF admits spraying herbicides inside the Gaza Strip https://t.co/CzuPjRosEz https://t.co/ahjOmj8Xyq via /r/environment
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IDF admits spraying herbicides inside the Gaza Strip | +972 Magazine
IDF admits spraying herbicides inside the Gaza Strip https://t.co/CzuPjRosEz https://t.co/ahjOmj8Xyq via /r/environment
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Why Did Bobby Shmurda Spend Christmas Behind Bars? – The Daily Beast
The case of Ackquille Jean Pollard, better known as rap star Bobby Shmurda, is a strange story framed by the media as one of fast fame, felonious friends, and failed promise. But when one peels back the layers, there’s a more frustrating and confoun…
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Louis Vuitton gains +10 charisma by enlisting Final Fantasy’s Lightning | The Verge
The overlap between Final Fantasy XIII fans and people who splash out on Louis Vuitton handbags might be a slim one, but modern marketing is all about exploiting those profitable niches.
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Samsung builds SmartThings control into every 2016 smart TV | The Verge
Samsung just announced that its entire lineup of smart TVs will be SmartThings-ready in 2016. Better yet, every one of its premium SUHD TVs will also feature IoT hub technology that Samsung developed with SmartThings after its purchase in 2014.
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China publisher pulls ‘racy’ Tagore poems translation – BBC News
A Chinese publisher has pulled a translation of Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore’s poems after it sparked controversy for racy content.The translation of works from one of India’s most famous poets was by Chinese novelist Feng Tang.
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IDF admits spraying herbicides inside the Gaza Strip (972mag.com)submitted 8 minutes ago by loading…
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Gentrification threatens Chinatowns across the US – Al Jazeera English
Washington, DC, United States – When Jenny Tang first moved to the United States from China in 1999, a stroll in Washington, DC’s Chinatown meant having breakfast at an old porridge stall, buying traditional ingredients such as Chinese cabbage at th…
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Belgium arrests two over suspected New Year’s Eve plot – Al Jazeera English
Belgian authorities have arrested two people suspected of plotting attacks on landmark sites in Brussels on New Year’s Eve. The arrests on Tuesday morning took place after multiple police raids in the capital, the Brabant region and Liege on Sunday …
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The Overlook Hotel from The Shining Recreated with Gingerbread & Rice Krispies | Open Culture
From “eudicotyledon” on Reddit comes a holiday project you, too, can maybe try at home. He says: “My family made a gingerbread rendition of the Overlook Hotel from Kubrick’s “The Shining,” complete with a Rice Krispies treat maze and interior rooms …
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Charlie Hebdo attack puts France among deadliest for press – BBC News
The Charlie Hebdo murders in January have catapulted France to second place in an annual list of the world’s most deadly countries for journalists. The nine journalists killed in the attack left France second only to Syria, where 13 journalists were…
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Turkey’s Erdogan condemns Kurdish autonomy plea as ‘treason’ – BBC News
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has condemned as “treason” a call by prominent Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas for Kurdish autonomy. At the weekend the HDP and other pro-Kurdish groups called for self-rule in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish so…
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Tapping into the thirst for wine in China – BBC News
China’s thirst for wine continues – with spending on wine rising by 37% this year. The drink has traditionally been seen as a luxury, but the growth in imports from South Africa could be changing that, as wine trader William Wu explains.
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In a year of many kings, Steph Curry’s shadow loomed large over the NBA | Sport | The Guardian
This was supposed to be the year of a king but it ended up being about the band of Warriors who took him out. That’s the thing about the new NBA, where old powers are in decline and new ones are on the come-up. Change came fast in Adam Silver’s firs…
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Australia wrapped up a comfortable 177-run victory over the West Indies in the second Test in Melbourne to win the three-match series 2-0 on day four. An overnight declaration on 179-3 set the tourists an unlikely 460 to win.
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Top 10 political books to inspire action | Children’s books | The Guardian
From The Hunger Games to To Kill a Mockingbird, it’s easy to think about how fictional reads can be catalysts for change – yet there are also many mesmerising true stories that can inspire action and amazing non-fiction works that can help expose pr…
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I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai – review | Children’s books | The Guardian
This is the story of Malala told from the perspective of a normal girl who just wanted to go to stand up for beliefs. It’s haunting how normal and ordinary her life was whilst still being so chaotic and different. Im sure we’ve all heard of Malala a…
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Picture books grow up for an older audience | Books | The Guardian
As e-readers and tablets challenge print books to prove their worth, asking what exactly paper can do that screen can’t, illustration for young readers – apparently well beyond picture-book age – is having a quiet revolution.
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Tech 2015: BBC News Online’s biggest technology stories – BBC News
Part of the fun in following the tech scene is that there’s always so much new stuff to read about. And 2015 has been a very busy year indeed.
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Beckett’s Friendship by André Bernold review – a bizarrely charming memoir | Books | The Guardian
It is one of literature’s most exquisite ironies that Samuel Beckett was the most sought after, photographed and pestered author of the 20th century.
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Nevada has all but killed the retail solar industry in favor of the utility industry. (latimes.com) Protecting a monopoly power company owned by Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett’s organization.
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Warm Weather Extends Maine’s Lobster Season : environment
Warm Weather Extends Maine’s Lobster Season https://t.co/H5UKO5IsSC https://t.co/HiaoXyife0 via /r/environment
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Warm Weather Extends Maine’s Lobster Season : The Two-Way : NPR
Warm Weather Extends Maine’s Lobster Season https://t.co/H5UKO5IsSC https://t.co/HiaoXyife0 via /r/environment
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As communities continue to clean up after the Boxing Day floods, gales and downpours are forecast from this evening, with Cumbria and southern and central Scotland most at risk of more disruption from Storm Frank.
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Bernie Sanders’ campaign is releasing four new TV ads that will air in primary states Tuesday. (politico.com) Primary states meaning Iowa, NH and SC. The rest don’t matter.
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Warm Weather Extends Maine’s Lobster Season (npr.org)submitted 11 minutes ago by loading…
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By the end of the night browsing Reddit just becomes a game of Which Unclicked Link Sounds the Least Shitty. (self.Showerthoughts) That’s true to OP. I clicked “rising” off the front page. This post made the top 5!
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A distraught wife begged me to write about the importance of good posture. “My husband sits for many hours a day slouched over his computer,” she said. “I’ve told him repeatedly this is bad for his body — he should sit up straight — but he pays no a…
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Worf is ready for the snow. : cats
Worf is ready for the snow. via /r/cats https://t.co/tYqLpq1dT6 https://t.co/cVTz3CCFyq https://t.co/UzcpUD5HJo
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Worf is ready for the snow. via /r/cats https://t.co/tYqLpq1dT6 https://t.co/cVTz3CCFyq https://t.co/UzcpUD5HJo
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Cuban migrants stuck in Costa Rica allowed US passage – Al Jazeera English
An estimated 8,000 Cubans have been stuck in Costa Rica after Nicaragua shut its borders in mid-November. Under current US policy, any Cuban who reaches US soil is allowed to stay and pursue permanent residency.
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Israel’s top court reduces ex-PM Olmert’s sentence – Al Jazeera English
Israel’s Supreme Court has reduced former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s jail sentence from six years to 18 months after partly overturning a 2014 conviction for bribery.
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I think the cat wants something via /r/aww https://t.co/3q78QSzlbM https://t.co/AEKWZqHzQq https://t.co/LRpgq0EfPV
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I think the cat wants something : aww
I think the cat wants something via /r/aww https://t.co/3q78QSzlbM https://t.co/AEKWZqHzQq https://t.co/LRpgq0EfPV
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I’m all four. I don’t know what’s about to happen but I got a gun and a shit ton of bullets so let’s die trying Combat in L4D sometimes suspiciously reminds me of the barfight scene in Shaun of the Dead.
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A happy new year for Europe? – Al Jazeera English
As the European Union prepares to enter the new year, it faces an almost perfect storm of political challenges. The strategy it has used in the past – barely muddling through a series of calamities – may no longer be enough. Of course, the EU is no …
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Is help on the way for Tunisia’s cancer hotspot? – Al Jazeera English
Gabes, Tunisia – Fisherman Sadeg Ghauma, 64, shakes his head as he points to a dead bird in a puddle of dirty seawater. He is standing on the Chott Esselam beach next to a phosphate plant in the southern Tunisian city of Gabes. “When I was young, th…
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The Problem of Shakespeare’s Sister: Virginia Woolf on Gender in Creative Culture – Brain Pickings
Half a century before Ursula K.
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Timelapse shows huge ash plumes from Mexican volcano – BBC News
The Colima volcano in Mexico has been spewing out large columns of ash into the air, with two major eruptions within an hour and a half of each other. Also known as the “fire volcano”, the Colima is one of the most active volcanoes in Mexico.
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meow_irl via /r/MEOW_IRL https://t.co/uUNSbR0y5o https://t.co/qb3c9zORBc https://t.co/yMbziqP0XP
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meow_irl via /r/MEOW_IRL https://t.co/uUNSbR0y5o https://t.co/qb3c9zORBc https://t.co/yMbziqP0XP
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Rare giant squid sighting in Japanese harbour – BBC News
Giant squid prefer the deep sea, so it was a rare treat for onlookers in Toyama Bay harbour when one swam in. Though imposing, the 3.7m (12ft) cephalopod was much smaller than the 13m they can grow to.
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This cat who will do anything for your attention : aww
This cat who will do anything for your attention via /r/aww https://t.co/sJhB6MfjKV https://t.co/XEKrbtgg45 https://t.co/T6r1OSKzBy
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This cat who will do anything for your attention via /r/aww https://t.co/sJhB6MfjKV https://t.co/XEKrbtgg45 https://t.co/T6r1OSKzBy
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Grand master Catloaf : Catloaf
Grand master Catloaf via /r/Catloaf https://t.co/gF7ZtT3XQM https://t.co/3VrMxJvpWm https://t.co/KPXnFsuURa
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Grand master Catloaf via /r/Catloaf https://t.co/gF7ZtT3XQM https://t.co/3VrMxJvpWm https://t.co/KPXnFsuURa
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Samsung Pay Will Launch Online Payments In the U.S. | TechCrunch
Samsung Pay plans a major expansion in the United States next year. Users will be able to make purchases on websites with Samsung Pay, which puts it into more direct competition with services like Paypal, Reuters reports.
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Israeli ex-PM Olmert to serve jail term – BBC News
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
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Exclusive access inside Boko Haram’s stronghold in Nigeria – BBC News
BBC Hausa’s Jimeh Saleh was granted exclusive access to Boko Haram’s stronghold in the Sambisa forest in the north east of Nigeria.
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Kierkegaard on Ideals, Happiness, and the False Allure of the Extraordinary – Brain Pickings
“Compared with what we ought to be, we are only half awake,” William James wrote in contemplating how to be extraordinary. “We are making use of only a small part of our possible mental and physical resources.
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Aged 18 and living in the suburbs of Seattle, Carrie Brownstein answers an ad in a local music paper: “Girl guitarist wanted, no wanky solos”. It turns out to have been posted by the Washington riot grrrl band 7 Year Bitch.
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‘Destructive and deadly’ extreme weather hits US states – BBC News
Severe weather has destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses across southern and western parts of the US. The National Weather Service has issued tornado warnings across five states, and the governors of Missouri, Oklahoma, and New Mexico have decl…
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Ai Wei Wei’s photos from Lesbos capture refugee life – Al Jazeera English
Rubber dinghies making their way to the shore, freezing children warming by a night fire, piles of abandoned life vests, long queues at a registering centre.
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Belgium holds two over ‘New Year plot’ – BBC News
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
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Only baffling question I’ve ever come across on Facebook : funny
On the right. Pants cover your ass and junk, the one on the left neglects the ass. Check out my ass bitches!
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US ‘affluenza’ teenager Ethan Couch arrested in Mexico – BBC News
A Texas teenager who avoided jail over a fatal drink-driving crash by claiming he suffered from “affluenza” has been detained by police in Mexico.Ethan Couch, 18, and his mother Tonya were taken into custody in the west coast resort town of Puerto V…
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See Before-and-After Photos of the Changing Environment
From the ice sheets of Greenland to the deserts of Arizona, many of the world’s landscapes have been dramatically transformed as their climate grows warmer and drier. At the same time, water use and other human activities have altered many landscape…
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How can the UK prepare for the floods to come? | Environment | The Guardian
The government formally identified flooding as the greatest climate change related threat to the UK in 2012, a warning amply illustrated by the current floods devastating the north of England. The 2012 report said up to 3.6 million people could be a…
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Cassetteboy remix the news: 2015 review special – video | News | The Guardian
Mash-up maestros Cassetteboy present a special review of this year’s news events, with guest appearances from the May general election, the Volkswagen scandal, the Labour leadership contest, a shrinking Nick Clegg, Nigel Farage on the EU referendum,…
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2016 will be the year of victory over ISIL: Iraq PM – Al Jazeera English
A buoyant Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has said his forces will defeat the Islamic State of the Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the coming year, after the military claimed its first major victory since it was sent fleeing by the group 18 month…
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To sleep, you have to pretend to be asleep until you actually are : Showerthoughts
Fake it till you make it. Bake it till you cake it.
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Poetry used as ‘a perfect weapon’ for recruiting violent jihadis, study finds | Books | The Guardian
Poetry may be a potent tool in recruiting militant jihadis, a new study by Oxford academic Elisabeth Kendall has found.
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A question of faith – with a lower case ‘f’ – Al Jazeera English
The sofa was a murky green and too soft. Across from it was a mantle with several statues – figures of saints whose stories I had learned: Joseph the Carpenter; St Francis, the protector of animals. On the wall was a large portrait of Christ, his he…
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Switzerland has warmest December ever as average temperatures rise 3.4C | World news | The Guardian
Switzerland has experienced its warmest December since the country that founded winter tourism began keeping records 150 years ago. Clear skies and dry ground have seen the Alpine nation end the year 3.
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The Tao of Lemmy: 18 Great Quotes From the Motorhead Frontman | Rolling Stone
Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister died on Monday, December 28th at the age of 70. The band confirmed his death on its Facebook page. “There is no easy way to say this … our mighty, noble friend Lemmy passed away today after a short battle with an…
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Sulphuric acid ‘may have leaked’ after Australia train derailed – BBC News
More than 30,000 litres (6,600 gallons) of sulphuric acid may have leaked from a freight train that derailed in Australia on Sunday, police say. Carrying 819,000 litres of sulphuric acid, the 26-wagon train derailed 20km (12.4 miles) east of Julia C…
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How Anakin Skywalker and the Prequels Factor into ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ – The Daily Beast
With the exception of Darth Vader’s mask and a shout-out or two for the Empire, Star Wars: The Force Awakens largely ignores the events of the dreaded prequel trilogy and all the midi-chlorians and Jar Jars that came with it.
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The 1950s zombie apocalypse, in folk song · Hear This · The A.V. Club
In Hear This, The A.V. Club writers sing the praises of songs they know well. This week: Songs our families made us listen to repeatedly.
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Let’s remember all of 2015’s “12th questions” · 11 Questions · The A.V. Club
For the past year or so, The A.V. Club has used its 11 Questions feature to ask celebrities about their first jobs and worst living situations.
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In We’re No. 1, The A.V. Club examines a song that went to No. 1 on the Billboard charts to get to the heart of what it means to be popular in pop music, and how that concept has changed over the years. In this installment, we cover Haddaway’s “What…
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Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Tuesday, December 29. All times are Eastern. Girlfriends’ Guide To Divorce (Bravo, 10 p.m.): As 2015 rushes forward to a much-needed conclusion, we’re left with precious few shows to accompany us into the new …
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When WWE turned out a profoundly dull Monday Night Raw last week, they admittedly had a pretty good excuse. In fact, they had two: it was only a few days before the holidays, and the show was largely dedicated to the Slammys.
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Ashley Judd and Luke Perry are Bonnie and Clyde, suburban-Chicago-style · Watch This · The A.V. Club
Every day, Watch This offers staff recommendations inspired by a new movie coming out that week. This week: It’s the final week of the year, so we’re dispensing with themes and just recommending some movies we love. John McNaughton’s Normal Life tel…
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How ‘Anomalisa’ Made Stop-Motion Love Feel Real – The Daily Beast
In your standard celebu-profile, he knows, every single minute observation is laden with import.
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Meet Wish, the $3 Billion Shopping App That Sells $15 Smartwatches | Re/code
As the words poured out of Peter Szulczewski’s mouth, I thought he must be pulling my leg. “We think we’re going to be the second or third trillion-dollar-a-year marketplace,” Szulczewski, the CEO of shopping app Wish, told me.
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A cargo ship longer than the Empire State Building just arrived in LA | The Verge
The CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin is longer than the Empire State Building is tall, dwarfs the largest aircraft carrier in the US Navy, and can carry the volume of 235 Olympic swimming pools.
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Social ScienceJohns Hopkins University study reveals that American combat veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan with undiagnosed brain injuries often experience a “downward spiral” in which they downplay their wounds and become detached from friends an…
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Scandals see Australia ministers Mal Brough and Jamie Briggs resign – BBC News
Two Australian cabinet ministers have resigned over unrelated scandals. Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Jamie Briggs quit after a public servant complained about his behaviour at a Hong Kong bar.
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A ghost in the garden: winter gnats dance in the evening gloom | Environment | The Guardian
Anyone who ever put in a hard stint of gardening knows the moment. The tasks are at a natural end. Tools are all stowed. There is even a satisfying link between your heavy limbs and the sense of rough order pulled out of the hedge and lawn and gathe…
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APOD: 2015 December 28 – Falcon 9 First Stage Landing
Explanation: The booster has landed. Spaceflight took a step toward the less expensive last week when the first stage of a Falcon 9 rocket set down on a landing pad not far from its Florida launch.
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Guinea declared free from Ebola after 2,500 deaths – Al Jazeera English
Guinea has been declared Ebola free after more than 2,500 people died from the virus in the West African nation, leaving Liberia the only country still counting down for an end to the ruinous epidemic.
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Ware spirits Denver Broncos to overtime win over Cincinnati Bengals | Sport | The Guardian
DeMarcus Ware beat AJ McCarron to a fumbled snap in overtime, sending the Denver Broncos into the playoffs with a 20-17 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night.
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What do you have an irrational hatred for? : AskReddit
What do you have an irrational hatred for? (self.AskReddit) This weird transitional period in the US between magnetic strip cards and chip cards. Half of the stores I go to have the new readers but don’t have the chip reader enabled, and the other h…
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The Lena Dunham of 1815 – The Daily Beast
In February 2016, when the fifth season of Lena Dunham’s Girls begins, I don’t imagine Jane Austen’s Emma, which marks its 200th anniversary this month, figuring in the conversation of the opening episode.
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Two of the world’s largest technology firms, IBM and Microsoft, are vying to tap the fast-growing market for forecasting air quality in the world’s top carbon emitters.
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Trump’s NH Leftovers: Angry, Amped and Anonymous – The Daily Beast
Hundreds of Donald Trump supporters received terrible news just moments before he took the stage in the gymnasium of a Nashua, New Hampshire middle school: the event was over capacity.
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ISIS of Nazareth: Terror Group Arrives in Jesus’s Hometown – The Daily Beast
NAZARETH, Israel — At the Basilica of the Annunciation Church in Nazareth, on the site where it is believed the Angel Gabriel told the Virgin Mary she would carry the next messiah, Jesus Christ, both Christian and Muslim residents of the city are re…
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This Is the Italian Porn Star Warning Kids Off Porn – The Daily Beast
Rocco Siffredi of Buttman’s Big Tit Adventure 3 and The Ass Collector wants young Italian men to learn about sex through ‘dialogue, listening, and openness’ at school—not porn.
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Hillary Clinton’s Tone-Deaf Racial Pandering – The Daily Beast
Hillary Clinton’s minority outreach over the last week has rekindled the idea that she is a candidate who is out of touch, particularly when it comes to minorities.
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Dior Divorces, and Penises on the Catwalk: The Year That Fashion Shocked – The Daily Beast
Fashion was more restless than ever in 2015. There were hires and fires, insults and reconciliations, and enough shocking announcements to keep fashionistas on their well-clad toes. People strutted their stuff in glorious gowns…and took it all off.
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Woman and Mosque Image, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – National Geographic Photo of the Day
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From GOP Operative to Anti-Semitic Iranian Stooge – The Daily Beast
A former Republican operative and fringe U.S. Senate candidate has found himself a new role—as a gay-hating, anti-Semite on Iranian state TV. Texan Mark Dankof has parlayed his failed, largely forgotten 2000 run for the U.S.
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The Great Hypocritical Muslim Cover-Up – The Daily Beast
Many of my fellow Muslims have been encouraging non-Muslim women to wear a headscarf in solidarity with Muslims. They call it “World Hijab Day.
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Yes, Your Doctor Is Overcaffeinated – The Daily Beast
True fact: I once drank a vaseful of coffee. In my defense, the vase was rather small as vases go, and could (if one squinted) have been mistaken for an especially large novelty mug. And it was sitting in the cupboard alongside many other mugs.
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My uncle fighting Jackie Chan in the ’70’s : OldSchoolCool
Your uncle is Cory yuen? For those that don’t know he has worked on hundreds of Hong Kong action films and did some fight choreography in Hollywood too. I know, right? I’m kind of freaking out. Fong Sai Yuk, man! He directed Fong Sai Yuk!!
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Emotional moment Alan Kurdi’s relatives arrive in Canada – BBC News
The relatives of the three-year-old boy who drowned off the coast of Turkey, triggering an international outcry about the migrant crisis, have arrived in Canada as refugees.
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Texas ‘affluenza’ teenager Ethan Couch detained after going missing | US news | The Guardian
A Texas teenager on the run after allegedly breaking his probation sentence for killing four people while driving drunk has been taken into custody.
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Affluenza Teen Ethan Couch Detained in Mexico : news
He and his mother will spend years in prison for this. They got away so clean. They fucked the justice system. All he had to do was not be a fucking piece of shit while on probation. He couldn’t help being his true self.
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This scene from Pan might be the weirdest scene to make it into a major motion picture in 2015. (youtube.com) I…can’t believe that’s a real scene.
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Open thread for night owls. Feingold warns against another rush to an invasion of Iraq and Syria
Displaced women, fleeing violence in Aleppo city and from Islamic State-controlled areas in Raqqa and Deir al-Zor, sit at a school in al-Mabroukeh village in the western countryside of Ras al-Ain, Syria, Monday, December 28, 2015.
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What It Feels Like to Be Adopted at 17 | Narratively | Human stories, boldly told.
Earlier this year, I legally became an Esparza, five years after they took me in. It took five years for me to realize that these people were serious about being my parents; five years of doubting their love, but yearning for what they claimed to of…
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Iraqi PM vows defeat of IS after Ramadi recapture – BBC News
Iraqi PM Haider al-Abadi has said Islamic State (IS) will be ousted from the country, after government forces recaptured the city of Ramadi. In a televised address, Mr Abadi vowed to retake Iraq’s second city of Mosul, saying it would be “the fatal …
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Guinea to be declared free of Ebola virus – BBC News
Guinea is to be declared free of Ebola by the World Health Organization (WHO), two years after the epidemic began there. Guineans are expected to celebrate the landmark with concerts and fireworks.
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What Everyone Should Know About The Police Killing Of Tamir Rice (2002-2014) | ThinkProgress
Today, prosecutor Tim McGinty announced that he would not seek criminal charges against the officers involved in the fatal shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback.
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Boko Haram battle: On combat patrol with Nigeria’s army – BBC News
Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari won elections in March partly on a promise to crush the militant Islamist group Boko Haram – and gave his military chiefs until the end of the year to beat the insurgents.
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This Is Officially The Worst Wi-Fi Password Of All Time – Digg
2 diggs Funny Technology Verbally transmitting wi-fi passwords is a commonly held pain in the ass. RocketJump takes this frequent annoyance to its furthest degree to create a true nightmare scenario.
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MIRAGOÂNE, Haiti — In Greece, Max Hardberger posed as an interested buyer, in Haiti as a port official, in Trinidad, a shipper. He has plied guards with booze and distracted them with prostitutes; spooked port police officers with witch doctors and …
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Brazil Rio: An education clouded by violence – BBC News
Samir wants to be a veterinarian and Samira wants to be a dentist. The 11-year-old Brazilian twins have just finished the school year but before they can set out on their dream careers they have to overcome some hurdles in their education.
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How The Danish Girl captured the zeitgeist – BBC News
Few movies capture the popular zeitgeist quite like King’s Speech director Tom Hooper’s The Danish Girl.
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RIP Lemmy Kilmister, finally killed by death | The Verge
In retrospect, we all should have known the end was nigh when Lemmy switched from Jack Daniels and Coke to screwdrivers. It was for health reasons, he told The Guardian in August; though it’s debatable how much better vodka and orange juice might ha…
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Of the roughly one million migrants who arrived in Europe by sea this year roughly a quarter, according to the UN refugee agency, were children.
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Rare ‘corpse flower’ blooms in Australia – BBC News
South Australia’s Mount Lofty Botanic Garden has been growing the Amorphophallus Titanium, more commonly called the Corpse Flower, for 10 years. About two weeks ago the plant’s famously pungent flower began to grow, before finally opening on Monday.
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Motörhead Founder Lemmy Dies at 70 – The Atlantic
Lemmy Kilmister, the Motörhead founder and frontman perhaps best known for the heavy metal anthems “Ace of Spades” and “Born to Raise Hell” and who inspired dozens of rock musicians over the years, has died, the band announced Monday. He was 70; the…
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Lemmy Kilmister, Motorhead Singer and Heavy Metal Legend, Dead at 70 | Rolling Stone
Lemmy Kilmister, the lead singer and bassist of Motörhead and a heavy metal icon for six decades, passed away Monday after a battle with cancer. Kilmister turned 70 on Christmas Eve.
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Stranded Cuban migrants to be allowed passage to the US – BBC News
Central American nations have reached an agreement to allow several thousand Cuban migrants stranded in Costa Rica for over a month to continue their journey towards the United States. The migrants will be airlifted to El Salvador and put on buses, …
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The street children who run a newspaper in India – BBC News
They are bound by a shared passion to bring out Balaknama (Voice of Children), an eight-page quarterly newspaper which focuses on children living and working on the streets. It proudly calls itself the “world’s unique newspaper for and by street and…
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This is the crossover we never knew we wanted!
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US bans tiny beads in cosmetics to avoid environmental damage | The Verge
President Barack Obama signed into law today the Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015, banning the manufacture and sale of tiny pieces of plastic found in soaps, toothpastes, and body washes in the United States.
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Of the roughly one million migrants who arrived in Europe by sea this year roughly a quarter, according to the UN refugee agency, were children.
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Donald Trump Isn’t a Fascist; He’s a Media-Savvy Know-Nothing – The New Yorker
With Donald Trump ending 2015 well ahead in the Republican primary polls, the debate about what his candidacy represents is intensifying. Pointing to favorable remarks about Vladimir Putin that Trump made recently, Michael Gerson, a former speechwri…
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R.I.P. Lemmy Kilmister, Motörhead frontman and heavy-metal icon · Newswire · The A.V. Club
Lemmy Kilmister, legendary Motörhead frontman and poster child for the heavy-metal lifestyle, has died.
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Scorned Trump Team Turns On Man They Once Loved – The Daily Beast
Donald Trump found a new least-favorite person this weekend: Rep. Trey Gowdy, after it appeared the Benghazi Committee chairman was set to endorse Marco Rubio. But Gowdy, the chairman of the House Benghazi Committee, wasn’t always on the outs with t…
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In the Studio of an American Great: The Day I Met Ellsworth Kelly – The Daily Beast
When I visited Ellsworth Kelly at his upstate New York studio in the hamlet of Spencertown in late 2011 for the London Times, he was then 88. After our introductions, the first thing I noticed were the thin rubber tubes in his nose, connected, via s…
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These Actual Tin-Foil Hats Are for Hip Millennials Who Hate Government Mind Control – Mic
Tin-foil hats — DIY headwear that supposedly protects wearers from mind reading — are the classic apparel of conspiracy-obsessed paranoids who believe the government is out to trap them.
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Why gangland Los Angeles wasn’t all bad – BBC News
What was gangland Los Angeles of the 1980s and 90s really like? Thousands of people are following an Instagram account that tells a different story about that period of history.
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Samsung’s new processor is meant for building much better fitness trackers | The Verge
Samsung thinks it’s about time that fitness trackers did more than monitor your pulse.
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Environmental Peace Ecology is out! https://t.co/B4pVToNo9H
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Updated, 6:50 p.m. | Donald J. Trump and Bill Clinton used to be golfing buddies and occasional telephone friends. Mr. Trump donated to the former president’s charitable foundation. Mr. Clinton attended the billionaire developer’s lavish third weddi…
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South China Sea: China anger at Filipino disputed island protest – BBC News
China has expressed anger after Filipino protesters landed on a remote island controlled by the Philippines in the disputed South China Sea. It comes after about 50 protesters, mostly students, landed on Pagasa in the Spratly archipelago on Saturday.
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The head of the Environment Agency (EA) is under pressure to defend his handling of Britain’s worst flooding crisis for years amid reports that he has left the country to spend time at his luxury Caribbean home.
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Motorhead frontman Lemmy dies aged 70 – BBC News
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
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Scorecard: 2015 Digital Media Predictions | TechCrunch
Last year on TechCrunch I made eight predictions about digital media. This post compares those predictions to the reality that is digital media in 2015. Reality: 2015 was the year when the media world’s new digital realities hit home on a mass scale.
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Most Popular Interviews of 2015
Face it: Most of us don’t know what we’re doing. We’re making it up as we go along, and any guidance offered by more experienced people can be precious. We’ll take any help we can get. That’s why, every week, we ask notable people how they work.
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Vox Sentences: “We don’t second-guess police officers” – Vox
The police officers who killed Tamir Rice won’t face charges; Japan and Korea reach a historic agreement on “comfort women”; and the Obama administration’s rumored plan to deport thousands of Central American families. Vox Sentences is written by Dy…
Vox Sentences: “We don’t second-guess police officers” https://t.co/mlpSLHCqkc https://t.co/eEQFRUZ0FR -
Never has the smell of a rotting corpse been met with so much joy.
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Remembering Omar Sharif, Batgirl and Yogi Bear’s namesake – BBC News
Best-selling authors, Hollywood stars, pioneering scientists, and sporting greats – 2015 has seen the death of many internationally familiar figures. Click play above – and spend a few minutes remembering some of them – and then scroll down to see m…
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Asian markets dragged down by falling oil prices – BBC News
Asian shares were mostly lower, following the global trend as markets were dragged down by oil prices.
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Lemmy from Motorhead has passed away at age 70. : Music
ArticleLemmy from Motorhead has passed away at age 70. (en.m.wikipedia.org) God damn it man. Lived one hell of a life.
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RIP: Metal legend Lemmy of Motörhead has died at the age of 70 – Vanyaland
Pour one out tonight for a true legend: Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead. Word is starting to circulate online that the metal icon has died, just days after celebrating his 70th birthday. “Lost one of my best friends, Lemmy, today,” wrote Ozzy Osbourne …
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Infrared video of huge Southern California methane leak makes plume visible | Ars Technica
Southern California Gas Company had been trying to plug a massive natural gas leak for more than two months, and now we have some new perspective on the scale of the leak.
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Crisis after crisis: Europe’s 2015 rollercoaster ride – BBC News
“I have no doubt that this is the most critical moment in our history,” declared European Council President Donald Tusk, about half-way through this tumultuous year.
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Twitter Hires New VP Of Diversity And Inclusion From Apple | TechCrunch
Twitter has hired Jeffrey Siminoff to replace Janet Van Huysse as the company’s new vice president of diversity and inclusion. The news was announced on, yep, Twitter, by its head of human resources, Brian Schipper. Siminoff, who starts in January, …
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Common payment processing protocols found to be full of flaws | Ars Technica
Credit card users could have their PINs stolen, and merchants could have their bank accounts pillaged, in a set of attacks demonstrated by researchers Karsten Nohl and Fabian Bräunlein at the Chaos Computing Club security conference.
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Sir Bradley Wiggins’ seven-point guide to winter cycling – BBC News
For many amateurs, it’s hard to find the motivation to ride a bike in the gloomier months. How does the UK’s first Tour de France winner force himself outdoors when it’s cold and wet?
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Harlem Globetrotters’ Meadowlark Lemon dies at 83 – BBC News
Meadowlark Lemon, the Harlem Globetrotters player known as the “clown prince” of basketball, has died at the age of 83. Lemon played for the side for 24 years, delighting fans with his trick shots and hijinks.
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BBC Sport – Barcelona’s Sergi Guardiola sacked after offensive tweets
It is the stuff of dreams for any player to join Barcelona. Yet within hours of signing for the club’s reserve team, forward Sergi Guardiola was sacked after officials were alerted to “offensive tweets” he had posted two years ago about Barca and Ca…
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The dark side: Recording backs up Al Jazeera report – Al Jazeera English
An Al Jazeera investigation into performance enhancing drugs is still in the spotlight. The investigation includes the claims of a pharmacist who previously interned at an anti-aging clinic in Indiana.
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Ethical spending rose in 2014 but solar cuts could hit this year’s figures | Business | The Guardian
Stronger sales of solar panels, electric cars and free-range poultry helped to grow the UK’s overall “ethical market” by 8% in 2014, a new report claims.
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Samsung Pay will support online shopping in the US next year | The Verge
Samsung’s mobile payments system will add support for online shopping in the US next year, according to a report from Reuters. That means customers will be able to make purchases on their phone, likely through retailers’ mobile apps, with only their…
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Jellyfish flourish but wasps wobble in year of climate confusion | Environment | The Guardian
It was a good year for picnickers, but a bad one for sea swimmers: in the National Trust’s annual survey of how the weather and climate has affected Britain’s flora and fauna, jellyfish were judged to have flourished while wasps suffered a sharp dec…
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Milan tries a temporary ban on cars to reduce pollution | The Verge
In an attempt to reduce smog, Milan, Italy has ordered private cars off the city’s streets between 10 AM and 4 PM for the first three days of this week. The AP said that motorists largely respected the ban, which was enforced with heavy fines.
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Cool Your Mouth from Spicy Foods with Acid
Just like adding acid can temper a dish that’s too spicy, you can also soothe your mouth after eating super spicy food by eating something acidic. Out for Thai or Tex-Mex? There’s probably a lemon or lime on the table already.
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Scientists Reveal The Science Fiction Stories That Inspired Them
Great works of science fiction can help us become more aware of real science, and more curious about the wonders of the cosmos. But for some people, they can actually help inspire a career in the sciences.
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Here’s Our First Look at Bran Stark in Game of Thrones Season Six
When we first met Game of Thrones’ Bran Stark, he was a tower-climbing scamp who had a most unfortunate encounter with Jaime Lannister. As Entertainment Weekly, which unveiled this photo, points out, actor Isaac Hempstead-Wright is now 16 years old …
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The Opening Credits Of ‘Spectre’ Fit Surprisingly Well With Radiohead’s Rejected Bond Theme – Digg
13 diggs Movies Music While Sam Smith ultimately recorded the movie’s theme, Radiohead was first commissioned to make their own.
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Argentina police searches prominent fugitive convicts – BBC News
The security forces in Argentina have launched a major operation to arrest three prominent convicts who escaped from a high security prison on Sunday. Victor Schillaci and brothers Cristian and Martin Lanatta were serving life in prison for kidnappi…
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American parents have become obsessed with their children being good at sports – Quartz
Nearly 40 million kids play organized team sports in the US. For many of them, that means practice multiple times a week (sometimes late into the night), weekend games, and stiff competition to win a coveted spot on the local travel team or private …
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How Did They Make Ice Cream in the 17th Century?
History’s first confirmed ice cream graced the court of Charles II in 1671. It was made using a special flavor, orange blossom, and one very special chemical ingredient that made ice cream without refrigeration possible in the first place.
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If California is such a hostile business climate, why is it kicking everyone else’s ass (like Texas)
So to hear conservatives talk, California is beset by job-destroying regulations, and intolerably high taxes. And yet when looking at historical job growth, we see this:
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Watch Kyle Mooney Awkwardly Interview Bieber Fans in Cut ‘SNL’ Skit | Rolling Stone
Watch Kyle Mooney Awkwardly Interview Bieber Fans in Cut ‘SNL’ Skit Comedian aims for the awkward and uncomfortable in hilarious interviews
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Black Lives Matter Activist Weighs In On Tamir Rice Investigation : NPR
Audie Cornish speaks with Black Lives Matter activist Elle Hearns, after a grand jury declined to indict the two Cleveland police officers involved in the 2014 shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice.
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Short Film About a Computer’s Insistent Reminders Is Our Real Dystopia
There are a lot of films that purport to show us our depressing future. The aftermath of nuclear bombs. Overpopulation. Climate change. And yet, Carmel Joy’s “Final,” with its multiplying computer reminders, is a grim reminder that the dystopia is n…
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Killer Mike’s Supreme Court Brief – The New Yorker
Last week, a group of hip-hop artists, including T.I.
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A California Gas Leak Is the Biggest Environmental Disaster Since the BP Oil Spill
The largest natural gas leak ever recorded is jeopardizing health and causing evacuations for thousands of Southern California residents. And two months into it, scientists and engineers still can’t figure out a way to contain the seeping gas.
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Inside the city liberated from IS after week-long battle – BBC News
The Iraqi prime minister has declared that 2016 will see the total defeat of so-called Islamic State in Iraq. Haider al-Abadi was speaking after Iraqi forces, backed by coalition air strikes, recaptured the city of Ramadi from IS.
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Government warned about funding cuts weeks before Yorkshire floods | Environment | The Guardian
The chair of the body expected to plan for floods in Yorkshire warned about the potential impact of a revenue funding gap just weeks before the deluge this Christmas, official documents show.
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“Auld Lang Syne” and Four Generations of My Family – The New Yorker
Every year, as the hour grows late on Christmas night, my father’s eyes become misty. He sits at the dining table after our holiday feast and stares off in the direction of the CD player, holding the remote in his hand.
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The Pope Wants the World to Pay Attention to the Cuban Migrants Stuck in Costa Rica | VICE News
Kenya has been living in limbo in Costa Rica for six weeks along with thousands of other Cuban migrants. She is not happy about it.
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Did a single hacker—not Anonymous—cripple Turkey’s Internet?
BY AHMET A. SABANCI Many suspected Russia, after tensions rose between the two countries. Then Anonymous-branded social media accounts claimed responsibility, saying it was part of their attack on the Islamic State and its supporters.
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Seafloor Features Are Revealed by the Gravity Field : Image of the Day
It has been said that we have more complete maps of the surface of Mars or the Moon than we do of Earth. Close to 70 percent of our planet is covered by water, and that water refracts, absorbs, and reflects light so well that it can only penetrate a…
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Whole Foods to pay $500,000 to New York City for overcharging allegations | Business | The Guardian
Whole Foods said Monday it will pay New York City $500,000 to settle allegations it overcharged customers for prepackaged foods.
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10 Billionaires Who Got More Billionaire-y in 2015 | Vanity Fair
Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (effective ) and Privacy Policy (effective January 2, 2014). Your CA Privacy Rights.
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Christopher Nolan’s next film will be a WWII drama called Dunkirk · Newswire · The A.V. Club
Despite a distinct lack of Batmen or unrealistic sci-fi technology, it looks like Christopher Nolan’s next film will be a good, old-fashioned war movie.
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Resolve Complicated Negotiations With the “Indaba” Technique
Some negotiations are simply too difficult and complicated to solve traditionally. If the negotiations you’re involved with have come to a stalemate, the “indaba” technique makes it easier for all parties to find common ground and resolve things fai…
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Surreal photos of crashing waves caught in motion on Lake Erie – The Washington Post
Canada-based photographer David Sandford has been making pictures for more than 18 years. During that time, he has mostly been able to pay his bills by shooting sports. But his true passion lies in making photographs about anything to do with water.
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What’s in Patti Smith’s bag? / Boing Boing
Legendary poet and high priestess of punk Patti Smith posted photos and details of what she packed for a recent tour. Smith is on tour right now, playing her iconic album Horses in its entirety (and then some), and I hope to catch one of her always-…
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Nuclear deal: Iran’s uranium ship reaches Russia – Al Jazeera English
Iran sent a major shipment of low-enriched uranium materials to Russia on Monday, a key step in Tehran’s implementation of this year’s historic nuclear accord with world powers. According to ISNA’s report, Iran sent 8.
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Pie in the sky: Wood-fired pizza and air quality issues | Grist
No matter how attached we might be to that super-heated crust, the traditional ways aren’t automatically the healthiest. How the internet of things will get hacked by the companies that are building it, and other tales of sustainable (and unsustaina…
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Weather and climate are, of course, very different things.
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It’s been a strange year for technology, startups, and clean energy businesses | Grist
The long slog toward gender equality needs everyone, and it’s not going to complain about your cracks and blemishes. Can’t drink it all? Here’s how to finish off that ’nog.
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A ship carrying 25,000lb (11,000kg) of low-enriched uranium left Iran for Russia on Monday, welcoming one of the most vital steps yet in its high-stakes deal to deny Iran a nuclear weapon.
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18 *More* Female Founders Who’ve Had a Very Good 2015 | TechCrunch
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How the Computer Revolution Changed U.S. Cities – CityLab
The rise of computer technology led to all sorts of winners and losers in the modern labor force. Some jobs (bank tellers, telephone operators, typists and the like) became easier to replace with machines; others (programmers, engineers, data analys…
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FedEx blames ‘unprecedented’ online shopping surge for Christmas gift delays | The Verge
After a week of holiday deliveries that didn’t all make it on time, FedEx is talking about what went wrong — and it’s not taking all the blame for itself.
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Beauty Cabinet Reviews: Latest Reach | Vanity Fair
Too Cool for School Egg Mousse Body Oil: Can you say ’’dreamy?’’ This is one of those products you try and realize that you simply won’t be able to live without it. Being that it’s a mouse, it adheres to your skin, for quick and fast application.
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‘Clown Prince of Basketball’, Meadowlark Lemon, dies – BBC News
Meadowlark Lemon, long-time star of the Harlem Globetrotters, has died at age 83. His awe-inspiring hook shots and on-court gags were a staple of the team’s travelling show during his 24 year career.
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Move Past a Breakup With the “Must Have-Can’t Stand” Exercise
Breakups are tough, but they’re also the perfect time to start fresh. The “must have-can’t stand” exercise can help you move on with a clean slate and avoid any past mistakes.
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Jamstik Wireless Smart Guitar | Digg Store
Apply vibrato, bend a string, fingerpick—Jamstik feels and performs like a normal guitar, but also conveniently connects with all the Apple music apps and software you could ever need. Jamstik is perfect for all-level guitarists, and is ultra-portab…
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Before getting started, we have a few basic requirements.
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Citigroup Embraces Hot-Desking, Open Floor-Plan With No Offices – The Atlantic
Anti-cubical backlash might be close to peaking, as yet another American company is embracing the idea of an office-less office: Citigroup announced that its downtown Manhattan office will, in addition to having better coffee and faster elevators, f…
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The best Australian books of 2015 – writers pick their favourites | Books | The Guardian
I gobbled up Charlotte Wood’s The Natural Way of Things (Allen & Unwin) in a sitting – it’s incredible, very chilling. The novel opens somewhere in rural Australia where a group of 10 young women wake up, having been drugged and taken from their hom…
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New videos prove crows can make complex tools that only humans have made before | Ars Technica
Though we’ve long known that crows use tools to get food (and occasionally to amuse themselves), scientists have lacked definitive evidence. Which is why two intrepid researchers invented the crow tailcam, to record the inventiveness of these birds …
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The amazing “Jodorowsky’s Dune” on Blu-Ray and DVD for $10 / Boing Boing
I loved this documentary about Alejandro Jodorowsky’s quixotic quest to make a movie based on Frank Herbert’s Dune in the mid-70s.
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No Politico, the Democrats didn’t just vote to destroy Obamacare
Here’s a quintessential Politico headline for you: Are Democrats crippling Obamacare? The tagline: “The president’s party helped deliver a key blow to his signature program” reinforces their very favorite themes of all—Democrats in disarray and Obam…
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It May Be 70 Degrees Fahrenheit Above Average This Week in the North Pole | VICE News
VICE News is closely tracking global environmental change. Check out the Tipping Point blog here.
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Guyer Institute says Peyton Manning’s accuser was not employed in 2011 | Sport | The Guardian
The founder of an Indianapolis medical facility said Monday that a former unpaid student intern who claimed Peyton Manning used a banned substance in 2011 didn’t even work at the clinic until two years later, long after the NFL star was undergoing t…
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Where to Land SpaceX’s Recovered Falcon 9 Rocket Stage for Display
SpaceX’s recovered Falcon 9 first stage rolls up to the horizontal integration facility at the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A in Florida on Dec. 24, 2015.Credit: Shannon Gordon via collectSPACE.
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A Cleveland grand jury and Cuyahoga County prosecutor Tim McGinty decided Monday not to indict police officers in the 2014 killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was playing with a toy gun in a park.
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Calculating the Value of Time: How Much is Your Time Really Worth?
Not all uses of time are equal and this simple truth can make a big difference in life. Understanding how to get the most out of your time starts with knowing—in exact terms—what your time is worth. Here’s how to methodically find out the value of y…
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Preview Alabama Shakes’ Fierce ‘Austin City Limits’ Set | Rolling Stone
Preview Alabama Shakes’ Fierce ‘Austin City Limits’ Set Band performs “Don’t Wanna Fight” and “Gemini” from Grammy-nominated ‘Sound & Color’
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WILLIAMS, Calif. — Four dusty miles off State Route 20, around a curve on a dirt road once used by stagecoaches, a scattering of barns and dilapidated buildings sits hidden among rolling hills speckled with oak trees. There is no electricity or cell…
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Bozeman, Mont. — PERHAPS, like me, you were among the tens of millions who visited one of our national parks this year. If you did, you most likely shared my appreciation for the foresight of previous generations to set aside treasures like Yellowst…
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San Francisco’s city attorney is demanding that Justin Bieber’s music publisher help determine who is responsible for sidewalk graffiti promoting the pop star’s latest album.
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Would ending the “War on Drugs” reduce gun violence? — Hopes&Fears
For the first time in over 60 years, firearms are killing as many people as motor vehicles in the US. A polarizing debate about gun ownership in the America endures.
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Game of Thrones: Embrace Your Own Mortality in This First Look at Bran from Season 6 | Vanity Fair
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Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s Christmas: The Most Over-the-Top Details | Vanity Fair
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West have many enterprising attributes that have gotten them far in their respective careers.
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R.I.P. cinematographer Haskell Wexler · Newswire · The A.V. Club
As confirmed by a post written by his son on his official website, legendary cinematographer Haskell Wexler has died. He was 93 and reportedly “died peacefully in his sleep.”
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The U.S. Has Cleared the Way for Commercial Asteroid Mining | Inverse
Here’s some news you can use to unite your conservative and liberal friends. Barack Obama may have sealed part of his legacy by limiting the government’s ability to regulate a burgeoning industry.
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Here’s Everything Science Knows About How You Developed Your Taste in Music – Mic
On the surface, “What kind of music are you into?” seems such an innocuous question. It’s tossed around as small talk at parties, pops up on our first dates; it’s actually one of the most frequently asked questions people resort to when to trying to…
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Disappearing coastlines and rising seas: How the GOP is killing Florida | Grist
Solar was facing a rough end to 2015 — until Paris, Wall Street, and Congress gave it a Christmas miracle.
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Helix Sleep Review: 7 Nights On A Custom-Made Mattress | Popular Science
Helix Sleep customizes your mattress to account for how you sleep, your body type and more. Here’s how it compared to our old mattress. We spend a third of our lives sleeping. That’s a truism we all accept—and neglect.
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Peanuts Every Sunday: The 1950s Gift Box Set / Boing Boing
See sample pages from this book at Wink. On October 2, 1950 a boy named Charlie Brown first appeared in American newspapers. Peanuts popularity grew steadily and on January 6, 1952, the strip’s first Sunday edition debuted.
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There’s a run on cauliflower, friend of the paleo diet, enemy to flavor | Grist
Solar was facing a rough end to 2015 — until Paris, Wall Street, and Congress gave it a Christmas miracle. As the holidays wrap up, don’t throw away your decorations: eat them.
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British health experts warn of unstoppable gonorrhea | Ars Technica
In a letter to the nation’s general practitioners and pharmacies, the pair urged doctors to use the strongest pharmaceutical weapons available to combat the health threat. The letter follows news in September of an outbreak of 15 cases of “super-gon…
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Rihanna Collaborator Glass John Thinks She Needs to Be Rescued from Travis Scott – The Daily Beast
Songwriter and alleged Rihanna collaborator Glass John created a stir Monday when he took to Twitter and launched into a tirade about the pop superstar, calling her his “wife” and blaming her “boyfriend” Travis Scott for delaying her album and hurti…
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Wall Street knocked by oil price slide – BBC News
The main Dow Jones index was down 84.78 points, or 0.5%, at 17,467.39. The wider S&P 500 was down 0.6%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq was 0.7% lower. Both Brent and US light crude oil were down about $1.30, or 3.5%, a barrel.
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Judge dismisses lawsuit from SeaWorld patrons over alleged deception | US news | The Guardian
The federal judge last week said that the plaintiffs didn’t meet the standard to bring the lawsuit on behalf of an entire class of patrons of SeaWorld parks in San Antonio, San Diego and Orlando.
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Iran nuclear deal: Tehran on track, says John Kerry – BBC News
The US says Iran has taken a “significant step” towards meeting its nuclear commitments, by sending a large quantity of uranium abroad. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke after Iran dispatched a shipment of more than 11 tonnes of low-enriched urani…
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This Week’s TV: It’s Sherlock, But Not As We Know Him
Sherlock returns for one night only! Galavant is back for season two! And all Hell is finally unleashed in the season finale of Ash vs Evil Dead! There’s also a ton of New Year’s marathons. And just what the heck is Yokai Watch, anyway? All this, an…
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Show Off Your Favorite Albums With These DIY Vinyl Record Frames
Why put all that effort into collecting amazing vinyl records when nobody can see the beautiful artwork? These easy-to-build frames will show off your favorite albums in style. This custom build, from Jonathon Odom at Instructables, is easy to put t…
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Enrique Fans Anger Sri Lankan Officials – The Daily Beast
Things got a little steamy at Enrique Iglesias’ concert in Sri Lanka after female fans started passionately hurling their underwear at the Latin pop star during his performance. BBC reports that at one point the crowd got so carried away a lust-craz…
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‘Light at the End of the Tunnel:’ Alan Kurdi’s Family Has Arrived in Canada | VICE News
Tima Kurdi broke out into a jog, towards glass doors at Vancouver’s international airport and the last thing that separated her from the family that has been on its own run, from the chaos that has consumed Syria.
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Low Oil Prices and the War in Yemen Have Left a Huge Hole in Saudi Arabia’s Budget | VICE News
Predicting a record budget deficit of $87 billion in 2016, Saudi Arabia announced a decrease in fuel subsidies on Monday and said it could sell off state assets in the future as the kingdom struggles with plunging oil prices and the cost of its war …
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Britney Spears’s Instagram Has Become a Fascinating Journey Through Her Mind
In its infancy four years ago, Britney Spears’s Instagram was a boring place filled with overly filtered photos of her posing with The Wanted (remember The Wanted?), filming The X Factor, and performing during her Femme Fatale tour.
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The Year in Anonymous: Everything Hacktivists Accomplished in 2015, for Better or Worse – Mic
It’s been almost eight years since Anonymous first came to prominence for declaring war on the Church of Scientology. And while the large, loose, amorphous collective may not be the small, focused band of talented hackers they once were, Anonymous i…
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Alex Kingston Was Glad to See River Song Get Some Proper Closure on Doctor Who
Last Friday’s Doctor Who Christmas special was a fascinating look at the contradictions of River Song. But it also gave her some much-needed closure, and her pairing with Peter Capaldi finally made the Doctor’s relationship with River feel like it h…
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One of my long-running gripes about much discussion of current economic issues is about what I consider the long-run dodge. By this I mean the attempt to change the subject away from unemployment and inadequate demand toward supposedly more fundamen…
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What’s behind the falling oil prices? – Al Jazeera English
Saudi Arabia announced its budget for next year on Monday with a huge deficit that reflects the sharp fall in oil prices. The deficit is the highest in the history of Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter. The average price of Brent crude i…
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What Horrible Things Did We Do To Our Penises Last Year?
Ah, the penis. That most comical and vulnerable of body parts. It was a bad year for all of us, but for the approximately 1.2 billionth year in a row since the emergence of sexual differentiation, it was a particularly rough year for groins.
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Curiosity scared the puppy / Boing Boing
We should all be this happy on Christmas Day. Crank it up and freak out your dogs, people!
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Reminder: Donate to win swag in our annual Charity Drive sweepstakes | Ars Technica
Back in 2012, my first year at Ars, I was extremely gratified to help raise $28,700 in donations in the first-ever charity drive I organized for the site, a total that surpassed every other annual charity haul we brought in since 2007.
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Listen to the best whistler in the world / Boing Boing
Christopher Ulman is the four-time national and international whistling champion. Among other tricks, he does not kiss anyone 24 hours before a performance because kissing “makes your lips mushy. We cannot have mushy lips and be a champion.”
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Ohio grand jury clears Cleveland police in death of Tamir Rice – video | US news | The Guardian
Cuyahoga County prosecutor Timothy McGinty confirmed that a grand jury in Cleveland, Ohio has cleared two police officers in the fatal shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in November 2014, adding that there was not enough evidence to charge them
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Aleister Crowley and Jimmy Page’s former home gutted in blaze / Boing Boing
Boleskine House, the infamous Loch Ness estate previously owned by occultist Aleister Crowley and later Led Zeppelin guitarist (and Crowley enthusiast) Jimmy Page, was mostly destroyed in a fire last week.
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Download Old Versions of iOS Apps with a Clever Workaround
Ever get an update to an iOS app that just completely destroyed the app and made it terrible? There’s a way to roll back to older versions if you’re willing to jump through some hoops. The process for downgrading apps differs slightly between OS X a…
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A grand jury in Cleveland has declined to indict a city police officer in the fatal shooting last year of 12-year-old Tamir Rice.
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Jane Sanders, the wife of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, marched with her husband this month through the Baltimore neighborhood of Freddie Gray, the man fatally injured in police custody, and took notes while they met with African-American pasto…
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New Google Glass model hits the FCC website, images included | Ars Technica
Google Glass is not dead. A brand new model of Google’s face computer has popped up on the FCC website (first spotted by 9to5Google), complete with rather high-res images of the device. The pictures show a Google Glass unit with the FCCID “A4R-GG1″…
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More And More Twins Are Being Born In The U.S. | Popular Science
Identical twins, shown at 15 weeks old in an ultrasound. In 2014, 33.9 sets of twins were born per 1,000 births in the United States, according to a new report on birth data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s a very slight i…
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To Some, Lahore’s Food Safety Director Is A Queen. For Others, A Tyrant : The Salt : NPR
As soon as the pink-clad Ayesha Mumtaz steps out of her car, word of her arrival spreads along the street like a forest fire. Storekeepers begin shooing away customers, hauling down the shutters, and heading into the shadows in the hope that Mumtaz’…
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Globetrotter Star Meadowlark Lemon Dies At 83 : NPR
The man known as the “clown prince” of basketball has died. Meadowlark Lemon was a star for with the Harlem Globetrotters for two decades.
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First Mention: Who Used ‘Global Warming’ First? : NPR
Our occasional feature “First Mention” finds the phrase “global warming” was used for the first time on NPR in 1989.
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After A Wild Weekend, More Severe Weather Hits Parts Of U.S. : NPR
Christmas-weekend tornadoes in Texas and Florida, deadly flooding in Missouri and heavy snow in the Great Lakes — a wild weekend of weather in the Southwest has spread north and east.
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Furor Over Police Shootings In Chicago Continues : NPR
Today, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced police department reforms in the aftermath of the deaths of two people shot by police just a few hours after Christmas.
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How Will The Community Respond After Tamir Rice Grand Jury Decision? : NPR
Audie Cornish speaks with activists about their reaction after a grand jury declined to indict the two officers involved in the 2014 shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice.
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Revisiting 3 Important Pieces Of Longform Journalism From 2015 : NPR
The website Longform is a popular curator of lengthy journalism. Host Audie Cornish talks with site creator Max Linsky about three articles you may have missed in 2015, and why they’re notable.
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Buying A New Car Can Trim Your Carbon Footprint, But There’s More To It : NPR
If you drive an older, less efficient vehicle, ever think about swapping it for a new, more efficient one? It’s a good way to reduce your carbon footprint. But there are a lot of factors to consider.
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He Was Born Republican Royalty, But ‘Jebcito’ Is From Miami : NPR
In the encore airing of the series “Journey Home” we learn why Jeb Bush embraced Hispanic culture and put down roots in south Florida.
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Iraqi Forces Retake Center Of Ramadi From ISIS : NPR
Iraqi forces have taken most of the territory that had been held by ISIS in the city of Ramadi, taking the town’s center today. Host Audie Cornish speaks to NPR’s Alice Fordham.
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South Korea, Japan Reach Major Deal On Wartime Sex Slaves : NPR
Japan and Korea have struck a breakthrough deal on the issue of comfort women, which dates back to World War II. Host Audie Cornish talks to NPR’s Elise Hu about the deal.
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What Artist Did You Fall In Love With In 2015? : NPR
What artist did you fall in love with in 2015? NPR’s Audie Cornish invited three members of NPR Music’s staff to tell her about one artist each discovered this year.
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No Indictment For Police Officers In Tamir Rice Shooting : NPR
A grand jury in Cleveland today declined to charge two police officers in the 2014 shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice. Audie Cornish talks with reporter Nick Castele of WCPN.
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Are hospitals doing everything they should to make sure they don’t make mistakes when declaring patients brain-dead? A provocative study finds that hospital policies for determining brain death are surprisingly inconsistent and that many have failed…
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Gene Editing Tool Hailed As A Breakthrough, And It Really Is One : Shots – Health News : NPR
Every once in a while a technology comes along that completely alters the way scientists do their work. It’s hard to imagine astronomy without a telescope or high energy physics without an accelerator.
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Get a five year subscription of online protection from ZenVPN for 90% off / Boing Boing
Surfing the Web on a public Wi-Fi connection can be dangerous business. Steer clear of hackers with protection from ZenVPN. You’ll be free to access any of their servers located in 32 locations around the world, and can rest easy knowing your activi…
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What Will The Internet Of Things Be When It Grows Up? | TechCrunch
An old proverb advises, “Keep a thing seven years, and you’ll find a use for it.” Well, it’s been about seven years since there were officially more “things” connected to the Internet than people. It looks like they’re keepers, and we’ve found count…
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Report: Apple Devices, “Phablets” Dominate Holiday Sales | TechCrunch
More consumers were unwrapping new “phablet” devices this holiday season, according to a report out this afternoon from Flurry.
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Watch this video for proof that wildfires are truly terrifying | Grist
If you’ve ever wondered what hell is like, here’s a pretty good jumping-off point: This truly insane video taken from a car driving (accidentally) through a wildfire. Over the holidays, arcing power lines outside of L.A.
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The 5 Biggest Wins For America’s Public Lands And Wildlife In 2015 | ThinkProgress
Despite dozens of failed attempts by one of the most anti-environmental Congresses in history to roll back conservation laws, the Obama administration and lawmakers were able to secure several victories for America’s public lands in 2015. Below are …
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io9 13 Story Ideas That Were Dropped from Star Wars: The Force Awakens | Kotaku Guy Beats Fallout 4 Without Killing Anyone, Nearly Breaks The Game | Deadspin The PEDs Debate Is Over | The Slot Ranking the Shittiest Local Powermongers in America: The…
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Tamir Rice Decision Shows: You Can Get Away With Murder – The Daily Beast
You can get away with murder. You can shoot a child in an open park. You can lie about the incident. You can refuse to cooperate with investigators. You can, if a Cuyahoga County prosecutor and grand jury is to be believed, escape indictment even wh…
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Gizmodo A California Gas Leak Is the Biggest Environmental Disaster Since the BP Oil Spill | Gawker The Brilliant Simplicity of a Guaranteed Minimum Income | Truck Yeah Trucker Destroys Historic Bridge Because She Didn’t Know How Many Pounds Six Ton…
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Donald Trump, Pope Francis Tie in ‘Most Admired Man’ Gallup Poll | Rolling Stone
Donald Trump tied Pope Francis for the title of second most admired man in the world, according to a Gallup poll released Monday. Both men lost the title to Barack Obama; Hillary Clinton was voted the world’s most admired woman.
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Israel Increases Pressure on Brazil to Accept Settler Leader as Ambassador | VICE News
A diplomatic impasse over the Brazilian government’s reluctance to accept a former leader of the Jewish settlement movement as Israeli ambassador appears to be reaching a head. Dani Dayan was named as Israel’s next ambassador to Brazil in August to …
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This Was the Year the Media Started Doubting the Web | WIRED
In 2015, news on the Internet no longer belonged to the web alone. This was the year that Snapchat, previously best known as a messaging service for ephemeral photos, launched its own version of the news called Discover.
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How the Internet of Things Got Hacked | WIRED
There was once a time when people distinguished between cyberspace, the digital world of computers and hackers, and the flesh-and-blood reality known as meatspace. Anyone overwhelmed by the hackable perils of cyberspace could unplug and retreat to t…
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As the United States struggles to begin a serious discussion about how best to deal with the threat posed by terrorist groups in general and Islamic State militants in particular, Russ Feingold is offering answers based on decades of experience and …
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Cleveland Officers Won’t Be Indicted in Death of Tamir Rice | Vanity Fair
An Ohio grand jury declined to indict the Cleveland police officer who fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice last year, the Cuyahoga County prosecutor’s office announced Monday.
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Game of Thrones is the most-pirated TV show of 2015 | Ars Technica
Game of Thrones was illegally downloaded more than 14 million times in 2015, according to TorrentFreak’s annual compilation of the most-pirated television shows. It’s the fourth year in a row that the HBO show has sat atop the most-pirated chart.
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Venomous Sea Snake Washes Up on California Beach, Surprising Scientists – Scientific American
A venomous sea snake washed up on a Southern California beach recently, striking fear in the hearts of beachgoers but eliciting excitement from the scientists who study these marine reptiles. The stranded snake, which was dead when it was discovered…
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Brendan Jordan has appeared in ads for American Apparel, been photographed by Miley Cyrus, and strutted down the runway at a Marco Marco fashion show. Not bad for a kid whose initial 15 minutes of fame could’ve ended with a local news segment. On Th…
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Bill Belichick’s Call Wasn’t Entirely Stupid | FiveThirtyEight
Every so often, Bill Belichick seems to get a little too cute in a high-leverage situation for his own good. At a glance, Sunday’s loss to the Jets, in which the Patriots won the coin toss and elected to kick off to begin overtime, seems to be a maj…
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Throughout the day, a clock ticks inside our bodies. It rouses us in the morning and makes us sleepy at night. It raises and lowers our body temperature and at the right times, and regulates the production of insulin and other hormones.
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2015: Apple’s year in beta | The Verge
The Gizmodo headline last week was blunt, in the way that the best Giz headlines are blunt: Everything Apple Introduced This Year Kinda Sucked.
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Honduras eyes return of thousands facing US expulsion – Al Jazeera English
Honduras says it is preparing for the return of thousands of its citizens following reports that the US is planning a mass deportation of Central American migrants who have fled violence and poverty back home.
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‘Lunartic’ Snaps Awesome Photo of Airplane Crossing the Moon
Living right on the flight path to Los Angeles International Airport delivers stunning night sky shots of the moon for astrophotographer Raul Roa. Roa takes photos of the moon as airplanes cross its face from his home in Whittier, California.
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People really do still watch black and white televisions / Boing Boing
Forget 8-bit videogames, the vinyl revival, and the resurgence of cassette tapes. Hundreds of households in Scotland are watching black and white television. The data comes from the organization that handles the mandatory licenses required to operat…
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The US Food and Drug Administration has finally lifted its ban on gay men donating blood—but a lot of gay men will still be unable to donate. Under the new rules, men can only be cleared to give blood if it’s been a year or more since the last time …
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BBC Sport – Manchester United v Chelsea
Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney could be recalled after he was only named as a substitute against Stoke. Midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger returns from suspension and defender Matteo Darmian could be available following a hamstring injury.
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ISFAHAN, Iran — Saffron, an ancient medicinal plant and the most expensive of spices, has always had a magical, addictive power. Cleopatra took saffron-infused baths to enhance her allure. Alexander the Great used it to heal the wounds of battle.
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New quantum record as ball of atoms ends up in two spots at once | New Scientist
Try to imagine a tiny ball sitting on one fingertip yet also on your shoulder at the same instant. Are you struggling? Most of us can’t conceive of an object being in two places at once – yet physicists have just demonstrated the effect over a dista…
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Grand Jury Won’t Charge Officers Involved in Shooting of Tamir Rice – The Atlantic
Tim McGinty, the Cuyahoga County prosecutor, announced the decision on Monday, saying the two officers who were involved were reasonable in their belief that Rice had a weapon. He called it a “perfect storm of human error.”
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Why It’s Hard to Poop on Vacation – The Atlantic
More than 100 million people in the U.S. are expected to travel at some point between this Christmas and New Year’s Day—and each and every one of them will take roughly 100 trillion intestinal microbes along for the ride.
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Ancient DNA sheds light on Irish origins – BBC News
Scientists have sequenced the first ancient human genomes from Ireland – shedding light on the genesis of Celtic populations. The work shows that early Irish farmers were similar to southern Europeans.
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Here’s a first look at the new foldable Google Glass for the workplace | The Verge
The division of Google responsible for wearable technology, Project Aura, has been hard at work on numerous iterations based on the original Glass headset. Now we’ve got a glimpse at what one of those devices may look like.
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Grand jury says police shooting of Tamir Rice was legally justified. That’s the problem. – Vox
It seemed impossible that the police shooting of a 12-year-old boy could get worse, but over the weekend the release of two independent reviews managed to worsen the situation.
Grand jury says police shooting of Tamir Rice was legally justified. That’s the problem. https://t.co/E9V3Bv3GyU https://t.co/dNLFdYyzFf -
Here’s How Many People Police Killed In 2015 | ThinkProgress
Despite public protests, occupations, direct action, and increased public scrutiny, U.S. police killed more people in 2015 than in 2014. While numbers vary from source to source — the Washington Post cites 975, while the Guardian puts the tally at 1…
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Retro rockabilly gangs of Tokyo|Dangerous Minds
For the past 30 years (if not more), you can see a re-creation of leather jackets, greased-back pompadours, and lollipop dresses, just like something out of the movie Grease, if you go to Tokyo’s famous Yoyogi Park near the Meiji-Jingumae station, f…
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Christopher Nolan is using 65mm film and IMAX to tell his first World War II story | The Verge
In the world of Hollywood blockbusters there’s arguably no bigger proponent of shooting on film than Christopher Nolan, and the director is turning to both 65mm and IMAX film for his next project.
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Read Courtney Love’s Heartfelt Christmas Letter to Kurt Cobain | Rolling Stone
Courtney Love recently shared a vintage holiday photograph of herself, then-husband Kurt Cobain and daughter Frances on Instagram, thanking the Nirvana frontman for giving her their daughter, “the gift that makes life worth living.
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Quick Hit: Bombs Kill Dozens in Syrian City Homs | VICE News
Two bomb explosions in the Syrian city of Homs on Monday have killed more than 30 people, injuring a further 90, according to the monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The explosions are the second major attacks in the city since…
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Canine Rabies Imported into America – Body Horrors
This past spring, a street dog and her puppy were captured in Cairo, Egypt. Her vaccination certificates were forged, and she was shipped to the United States by an animal rescue organization in a shipment that included seven other dogs and 27 cats.
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Gallery of excellent gravestones / Boing Boing
Try this graveyard simulator and imagine your own epitaph Matthew Ritter’s interest in epitaphs began in junior high, when a history book displayed the haunting message on the grave of an ancient Roman: “What I am you soon shall be.
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Calling 911 should not be a death-wish. On Saturday, police were called to Quintonio LeGrier’s home because he was suffering from a mental health episode which frightened his family.
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The State of Things: Climate Change and Conservation – The Atlantic
The two words “climate” and “change” are so routinely strung together that just saying them as a pair—“climate change”—seems to somehow obscure the full weight of the phenomenon they describe, to say nothing of its consequences.
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Does anybody really want a virtual reality music visualizer? | The Verge
Do I need drugs for this? Occasionally, a VR experience comes up that I don’t really know how to deal with. Not because it’s difficult or particularly weird, but because it offers something I don’t understand wanting.
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Get ready for the X-Files mini-series with this 21-minute featurette | The Verge
After 13 years off the air, Fox is bringing The X-Files back for a six-episode mini-series next month. And while a number of set photos, teasers, and trailers have been released this year, series creator Chris Carter has kept the new episodes under …
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Paddling an inflatable boat down Walmgate in York on Monday, the rescuers called out to Pat Harrington. “You OK up there, love?” they asked, having spotted her head poking through the net curtains of a first floor flat. “I’m absolutely fine!” trille…
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Apple may be preparing for new Beats radio stations | The Verge
Beats 1 is perhaps the best part of Apple Music, and Apple’s venture into live radio could get even bigger. Apple has applied for trademarks on the phrases Beats 2, Beats 3, Beats 4, and Beats 5, as well as matching B2, B3, B4, and B5 logos.
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Cost of UK floods tops £5bn, with thousands facing financial ruin | Environment | The Guardian
The cost of the UK’s winter floods will top £5bn with thousands of families and businesses facing financial ruin because they have inadequate or non-existent insurance, a leading accountant has warned, as the government defended its record on flood …
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Here’s the first look at Benedict Cumberbatch as Marvel’s Doctor Strange · Newswire · The A.V. Club
Most comic book characters look a bit silly when taken out of their usual context. That’s why a lot of superhero movies feel the need to insultingly wink at the audience and make a joke about someone looking goofy.
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The Latest: Authorities in Georgia confirm 2 more deaths
The latest developments on the severe storms across the U.S. (all times local): More than 1,400 flights have been canceled across the U.S. and 2,600 have been delayed due to the large storm system moving through the middle part of the country.
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Christopher Lee Really, Really Wanted to Play Gandalf in Lord of the Rings
One of the big cinematic losses of 2015 was Christopher Lee, whose decades-long career was filled with iconic performances. But the role that Lee played so memorably in Lord of the Rings wasn’t his first choice.
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OpenEmu, the All-In-One Game Emulator, Adds Support for PlayStation, Nintendo 64, and More
Mac: OpenEmu is easily the best classic game emulator for Mac, and today it gets even better by adding support for PlayStation, Nintendo 64, and others alongside a ton of new features.
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Aurora Borealis over Iceland. Photographer: Jon… – Just Space
Aurora Borealis over Iceland. Photographer: Jon Hilmarsson js https://t.co/sMDFHdpk5A https://t.co/1dFzx28LSx https://t.co/mMdUTMBVge
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Aurora Borealis over Iceland. Photographer: Jon Hilmarsson js https://t.co/sMDFHdpk5A https://t.co/1dFzx28LSx https://t.co/mMdUTMBVge
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Star Wars: The Force Awakens: One key takeaway from the film’s $1 billion haul – Vox
Star Wars: The Force Awakens cannot be stopped. Over the holiday weekend, the movie crossed the $1 billion box office mark thanks to a $153.5 million domestic gross this weekend and a $49.3 million Christmas day haul. Internationally, the movie made…
Star Wars: The Force Awakens: One key takeaway from the film’s $1 billion haul https://t.co/QEWIaW4aQI https://t.co/DK1AYLi0Vi -
Gravestone of Ouija board inventor / Boing Boing
This is the back of Elijah Jefferson Bond’s gravestone. Bond patented the Ouija board in 1891. In 1907, Bond trademarked another oracle game called “Nirvana the Magic Swastika Talking Board,” which is now exceedingly rare.
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The problem with treating true crime villains like fictional villains | The Verge
In the wake of Serial and HBO’s The Jinx, Netflix’s true crime series Making a Murderer was the definition of a sure bet.
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Former nurse helped instruct man on how to commit suicide, court rules | US news | The Guardian
An appeals court on Monday affirmed the conviction of a Minnesota man in the assisted dying of a British man, but reversed his conviction for attempting to assist a Canadian woman’s suicide.
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No charges made in Tamir Rice case – BBC News
A Cleveland grand jury has declined to bring charges against police officers who shot and killed a 12-year-old black boy armed with a toy gun.Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Prosecutor Tim McGinty called the events that led to the death of Tamir Rice “th…
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Please buy this Fast & Furious Jetta from Frankie Muniz | The Verge
Spotted by Car and Driver, I give you Barrett-Jackson Lot 793, a heavily decorated 1995 Volkswagen Jetta that will be going up for auction at the firm’s Scottsdale, Arizona event toward the end of January.
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Open carry laws didn’t stop cops from killing Tamir Rice or John Crawford – Vox
Police officers in Ohio shot and killed John Crawford in a Beavercreek Walmart and 12-year-old Tamir Rice outside of a Cleveland recreation center largely on the belief that they were carrying real guns.
Open carry laws didn’t stop cops from killing Tamir Rice or John Crawford https://t.co/cmo6RoD33z https://t.co/uSm4H2C6mk -
Putin has turned Russia’s space agency into a state-run spaceflight corporation | The Verge
Russian President Vladimir Putin is dissolving the country’s Federal Space Agency, known as Roscosmos, and turning it into a state-run corporation, according to a statement by the Kremlin.
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When is it legal for a cop to kill you? – Vox
Grand juries in two recent, high-profile cases have declined to indict police officers for killing unarmed men. On November 24, a St.
When is it legal for a cop to kill you? https://t.co/Vlea8Rm8aV https://t.co/gzWQahI3Ln -
‘Perfect storm of human error.’ Grand jury declines to indict officers who killed Tamir Rice
Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Tim McGinty announced today that a county grand jury has declined to indict officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback in the 2014 shooting death of Tamir Rice.
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Jennifer Lawrence’s Starpower Just Passed a Major Test | Vanity Fair
Sure, she can open a Hunger Games movie, but it’s based on a beloved book and is part of a massively successful series of movies. And yeah, Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle did well, but those were ensemble casts full of stars.
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Officer Who Fatally Shot Tamir Rice Will Not Face Criminal Charges
The Cleveland police officer who gunned downed 12-year-old Tamir Rice will not face any criminal charges prosecutors announced today. The officer, Timothy Loehmann, fatally shot Rice seconds after arriving at at park on November 22, 2014. Rice was c…
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The Year in Mexico’s Drug Wars: A Jailbreak, a Chocolate Cake, and a Washed-Up Strategy | VICE News
The moment a short and stocky figure disappeared through a hole in his prison cell shower and into a mile-long tunnel that took him to freedom this past July, 2015 instantly became an iconic year in Mexico’s war on its drug cartels — and an embarras…
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BBC Sport – Arsenal 2-0 Bournemouth
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger could make changes following the crushing defeat at Southampton. Substitutes Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Calum Chambers and Alex Iwobi all impressed Wenger during that game.
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Gonorrhea may soon be untreatable, Britain’s chief medical officer warns – The Washington Post
Dame Sally Davies, Britain’s chief medical officer, has reportedly written to doctors and pharmacies in Britain sounding the alarm on antibiotic resistant gonorrhea. The sexually transmitted infection is increasingly caused by strains of Neisseria g…
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Is the Brain Gendered? A Q&A with Harvard’s Catherine Dulac – Scientific American Blog Network
A lingering question asked by neuroscientists has to do with what, if anything, makes the male and female brain distinctive, whether in mice or (wo)men. There is still no concise answer.
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Pennsylvania’s “Porngate” Scandal Keeps Getting Weirder | Vanity Fair
In the seamy world of political scandals, this one ranks as particularly strange.
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Anti-vaccine Californians are rich, white, but not necessarily highly educated | Ars Technica
At this point, it’s well documented that affluent, educated white communities are behind the surge in unvaccinated kids—and by extension the increase in vaccine-preventable diseases, including measles and whooping cough (pertussis).
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Syria war: Rebels evacuated in besieged villages deal – BBC News
Hundreds of fighters and civilians in three besieged parts of Syria have been evacuated under a truce deal brokered by the United Nations. Buses and ambulances ferried at least 120 Sunni rebels and civilians from Zabadani into nearby Lebanon.
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Poland enacts court reforms despite opposition – Al Jazeera English
Poland’s president has enacted controversial legislation that reforms the country’s top court despite mass protests over the changes that the opposition says could undermine its independence.
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13 Story Ideas That Were Dropped from Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is absolutely bursting with cool set pieces. But you didn’t see half the insane stuff the movie’s production team came up with. Early versions of the story were full of Darth Vader’s ghost, an underwater Death Star, and …
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Cleveland police shooting of Tamir Rice: what we know about the 12-year-old’s death – Vox
Cleveland police shooting of Tamir Rice: what we know about the 12-year-old’s death https://t.co/isEu7iZ6nE https://t.co/ORebB8r5qJ
Two outside reviews suggested the Cleveland police shooting of Tamir Rice, a black 12-year-old boy, was justified, the New York Times reported. Rice was throwing snowballs and playing with a toy pellet gun in a Cleveland park on November 22, 2014, w… -
Breaking: Cleveland Grand Jury Declines to Indict Cops Who Shot Tamir Rice | VICE News
VICE News is closely watching policing in America. Check out the Officer Involved blog here.
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BREAKING: No charges for Cleveland police officer who shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice in November 2014. Officials say they will make an announcement Monday afternoon in the grand jury investigation into the 2014 shooting death of 12-year-old …
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The crude reality of Arctic oil drilling | Al Jazeera America
When Royal Dutch Shell recently announced the company will halt plans for exploratory drilling in the arctic, there was no denying a mixed bag of reactions. Despite this move by Shell, there are still many parties interested in delving beneath the i…
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Tamir Rice shooting was ‘reasonable,’ two experts conclude – CNN.com
(CNN)An Ohio grand jury has decided not to return an indictment in the 2014 police shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, prosecutor Tim McGinty said Monday. A witness called 911, reporting there was “a guy with a pistol,” adding that the weapon …
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A Grand Jury Just Decided Not to Indict the Cop Who Killed 12-Year-Old Tamir Rice | Mother Jones
On Monday, more than a year since a 12-year-old Tamir Rice was killed by a Cleveland police officer, a grand jury decided not to indict the cops involved, Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback.
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Wildcat Drilling in the Arctic | Al Jazeera America
Two drill vessels officially left Arctic waters after Royal Dutch Shell announced that the company would cease exploration in the Chuckchi and Beaufort seas.
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Growing up in postwar Leeds, you always knew where the Yorkshire Post stood on the issues of the day. You knew where its sister paper the Yorkshire Evening Post stood, too. The clue was in the name of the Victorian-era company that owned them both –…
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Dealmaster: Get a 1000VA uninterruptible power supply for $94.99 | Ars Technica
Greetings, Arsians! Courtesy of our partners at TechBargains, the Dealmaster is back with a bevy of post-Christmas deals. The top item today is an APC 1000VA uninterruptible power supply. It retails for $119.99, but for you, it’s only $94.99.
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The 13 Best New TV Characters of 2015 | Vanity Fair
Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk in Daredevil Vincent D’Onofrio has made a career out of skating the razor’s edge between vulnerability and menace, and his Wilson Fisk is no exception.
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The white police officer who fatally shot Tamir Rice, an African American 12-year-old, will not face criminal charges, it was announced on Monday – more than a year after the shooting in Cleveland.
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Fire Breaks Out in Converted Saturn V Stages at Rocket Center
A fire broke out inside the former “Mission to Mars” ride at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Alabama on Dec. 26, 2015.Credit: Gerrit Burke via collectSPACE.com View full size image A fire broke out at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, …
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Eerie composite face made from things without faces / Boing Boing
These photos were taken at a crossing in South Devon. The junction is locally known as “Dead Man’s Cross” and is reportedly the former site of a gallows.
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Molotov Cocktail Thrown At A California Mosque Triggers A Hate Crime Investigation | ThinkProgress
Authorities are investigating a firebomb attack on a mosque in Tracy, California that took place on Sunday as a hate crime.
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Chicago mayor under increasing pressure after latest police shooting | US news | The Guardian
Pressure mounted on Chicago’s Mayor Rahm Emanuel to resign on Monday after police shot and killed two black citizens at the weekend, putting further scrutiny on the nation’s third-largest police force which is already under federal investigation ove…
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Lights Over Tahoe: Milky Way Glimmers Over Emerald Lake
Photographer Justin Majeczky captured this stunning image of the Milky Way over South Lake Tahoe in June and shared it with Space.com. “However after we set up camp and watched the once blue sky slowly fill with stars it sunk in that this trip was w…
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Two years ago, the south of England experienced its wettest period for almost 250 years as tidal surges battered East Anglia, threatening the country’s most productive farmland.
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Old Sport Finds Cocktail Recipes Based on Ingredients You Already Have
iOS: Cocktails can be expensive, but making them at home is a fun, affordable alternative. Old Sport tells you what you can make with the ingredients you have on hand.
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Ramadi: ‘Hidden devices and booby traps all around’ – BBC News
The Iraqi city of Ramadi has been “liberated” from so-called Islamic State, the Iraqi military has declared. Spokesman Brig Gen Yahya Rasul said forces had achieved an “epic” victory. TV pictures showed troops raising the Iraqi flag over the governm…
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Latest flooding brings calls to extend Flood Re scheme to businesses | Environment | The Guardian
Traders are pressing insurers to extend the scope of Flood Re, the not-for-profit fund to help households at high risk obtain affordable flood insurance, as small business owners hit by the Christmas storms battle to keep their firms alive.
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TSA may soon stop accepting drivers’ licenses from nine states | Ars Technica
The citizens of several US states may soon find that they can’t use their drivers’ licenses to get into federal facilities or even board planes. Enforcement of a 2005 federal law that sets identification standards, known as “Real ID,” has been long-…
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The Librarians Didn’t Really Need to Solve Its Last Puzzle
Anyone else feel like The Librarians could have focused on standalone episodes this season and been better off? “And the Final Curtain” did nothing to justify Prospero’s existence as a villain and was really an excuse to travel through time and meet…
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Floyd Mayweather Drops $10 Million on Jewelry, Because Life Isn’t Fair | Rolling Stone
You didn’t think we’d be able to make it through the final days of 2015 without one last Floyd Mayweather story, did you?
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Producer Dave Cobb Talks Compiling New ‘Southern Family’ Album | Rolling Stone
Southern Family, the new compilation album from producer Dave Cobb, is already one of the most anticipated releases of 2016. The record unites country radio stars like Zac Brown and Miranda Lambert with Americana favorites Jason Isbell and John Paul…
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Hear Mac Miller’s Creepy, Soulful Billy Joel Cover | Rolling Stone
Hear Mac Miller’s Creepy, Soulful Billy Joel Cover Rapper offers sparse, pitch-shifted take on Joel’s 1977 ballad “Vienna” under Under Larry Fisherman alias
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Milan Bans Cars to Combat Horrible Smog
Beijing and Delhi are both planning major initiatives to kick cars off their streets, at least part of the time. Now even cities that aren’t famous for their pollution are taking drastic measures to clean up their air.
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Watch Essential 21-Minute ‘X-Files’ Miniseries Preview | Rolling Stone
Watch Essential 21-Minute ‘X-Files’ Miniseries Preview Featurette serves as sneak preview for diehards, refresher for old fans and introduction for uninitiated viewers
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BAGHDAD — Iraqi forces said on Monday they had seized a strategic government complex in the western city of Ramadi from the Islamic State after a fierce weeklong battle, putting them on the verge of a crucial victory following a brutal seven-month o…
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Let’s back up this garbage truck. In 2011, we had a 36-year-old quarterback who could not grip a football properly. His triceps had withered, and his right arm had turned into a frail reed.
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Cow dung patties selling like hot cakes online in India
NEW DELHI (AP) — Like consumers around the globe, Indians are flocking to the online marketplace in droves these days. But there’s one unusual item flying off the virtual shelves: Online retailers say cow dung patties are selling like hot cakes.
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Database configuration issues expose 191 million voter records | CSO Online
A misconfigured database has led to the disclosure of 191 million voter records. The database, discovered by researcher Chris Vickery, doesn’t seem to have an owner; it’s just sitting in the public – waiting to be discovered by anyone who happens to…
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Tom Lehrer earned a BA and MA in mathematics from Harvard during the late 1940s, then taught math courses at MIT, Harvard, Wellesley, and UC-Santa Cruz. Math was his vocation. But, all along, Lehrer nurtured an interest in music.
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Giant Comets Can Smash Earth Just Like Asteroids, Scientists Say
Giant comets that originate in the planetary fringes of the solar system pose a greater threat of colliding with Earth than do asteroids, which originate closer to the sun, a new review paper argues.
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No Podemos coalition deal with Spain PM Rajoy – BBC News
Spain’s left-wing Podemos (We Can) party has refused to join any coalition led by the centre-right Popular Party (PP), which won the 20 December election but fell short of a majority. Podemos was launched nearly two years ago, based on mass anti-aus…
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The Biggest Spaceflight Moments of 2015
We hope you kept your head up this year, because there was a lot of spaceflight action in 2015.
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Everlance Automatically Tracks Your Mileage to Optimize Your Tax Deduction
iOS/Android: If you’re self-employed, you can deduct mileage expenses from your taxes. But most of us don’t think to keep up with our mileage during the year, and that leads to a rough, likely inaccurate estimate at tax time.
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This Week’s Night Sky: New Year’s Comet and a Meteor Shower
Lion’s Heart and Luna. In the morning twilight of Tuesday, December 29, look toward the western sky for the bright waning gibbous moon hanging below the constellation Leo, the celestial lion.
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Trademark Filings Point To More Beats Radio Stations Coming To Apple Music | TechCrunch
Just-spotted trademark applications from Apple-owned Beats Electronics, LLC point to Apple’s plans to introduce more live streaming radio stations to its Apple Music service to accompany its 24-hour station, Beats 1.
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ISS Astronauts Send Endearingly Awkward New Year’s Greetings | Motherboard
Astronauts are supposed to be really cool. After all, they’re the badass, fearless individuals all five-year-olds aspire to be.
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The Battle of Enfarinats – The Atlantic
The Battle of Enfarinats (23 photos) https://t.co/a0eZUZs5lx https://t.co/aNWJPW4xop https://t.co/t98q6dcPgZ
In a tradition that dates back more than 200 years, the town of Ibi, Spain, celebrates the festival of Els Enfarinats on December 28 with a mock battle taking place outside the town hall. Participants attack each other with eggs, flour, firecrackers… -
The Battle of Enfarinats (23 photos) https://t.co/a0eZUZs5lx https://t.co/aNWJPW4xop https://t.co/t98q6dcPgZ
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Behind the Scenes: on a Polar Icebreaker | Al Jazeera America
Safety first, for science TechKnow’s Director of Photography Maurice Roper Phil Torres tunneling through the Healy Launching the Puma, an unmanned aircraft system US Coast Guard running search and rescue tests in the Arctic The Coast Guard has its o…
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The ice under polar bears’ paws is not only melting, but also moving | Grist
Solar was facing a rough end to 2015 — until Paris, Wall Street, and Congress gave it a Christmas miracle.
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Stale mate in search for Burundi peace deal – BBC News
The government of Burundi has rejected a proposed date of 6 January 2106 to resume talks aimed at ending the deadly violence in the country. Discussions have been held in neighbouring Uganda with more talks originally planned for early in the new ye…
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More than 190 million US voters might have had their personal data exposed | The Verge
Yet again this year, US voter data is at risk of being compromised. Cybersecurity researcher Chris Vickery uncovered a publicly available database of 191 million voter records online earlier this month, CSO reports. The database is not protected by …
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Quintonio LeGrier, 19, and Bettie Jones, 55, both black, were killed as police responded to a domestic disturbance call, which neighbors and family said began when LeGrier threatened his father with a baseball bat.
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Get Ready for the Big Ash vs Evil Dead Finale With a Marathon Binge-Watch
Ash vs Evil Dead ends its glorious first season on Saturday night.
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Ramadi Victory: Don’t Screw It Up – The Daily Beast
Iraq’s security forces made their biggest advances yet against the self-proclaimed Islamic State on Monday, taking back much of the city of Sunni-dominated city of Ramadi. But the significance of the victory, and what it means for the longer-term go…
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Watch Chris Young Honor Keith Whitley at the Grand Ole Opry | Rolling Stone
Watch Chris Young Honor Keith Whitley at the Grand Ole Opry Country star shines a light on his influences with spot-on cover of “When You Say Nothing At All”
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Polish President Signs Court Reforms Into Law | Al Jazeera America
Poland’s president on Monday signed into law an amendment to how its constitutional court makes rulings, a move critics say will erode checks and balances in government powers and paralyze the highest judicial body.
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Italians Blame Pizza Ovens and Vespas for Deadly Smog – The Daily Beast
ROME — This has been a bad year for Italians in large cities who like to breathe. Milan has been under a blanket of thick yellow smog, topping the international bad air quality level, known as particulate matter 10 or PM10, more than 97 times in 201…
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An amorphous group of well-connected bankers and economists—and the politicians they support—run global economic policy. On Wall Street, its members are called Smart Money, and they usually come in the form of a hedge fund manager who lives Manhatta…
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Missouri engulfed by flash floods after three days of rainfall | US news | The Guardian
Three days of near-constant rain sent creeks pouring into St Louis-area homes over the weekend, and area rivers are expected to approach, or even surpass record levels set during 1993’s massive flood as the rain continued into Monday.
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Forest fires spread in northern Spain – BBC News
Firefighters are battling more than 120 forest fires in northern Spain, some of which may have been started deliberately, officials say. The regions of Cantabria, Asturias and the Basque Country are worst affected, with high winds spreading the flam…
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Doctor Strange director wonders if the movie might be too weird for Marvel | The Verge
Entertainment Weekly just published a small but exciting first look at Marvel’s upcoming film Doctor Strange, giving fans their first real glimpse at Benedict Cumberbatch in full costume as Dr. Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme.
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2015 was the year we learned Silicon Valley is coming after the transportation industry | The Verge
Is it time to rethink the car, an iconic symbol of 20th-century economic prosperity? The notion of disrupting Detroit certainly isn’t new — there’s been a rising tide of interest in transportation from Silicon Valley pillars and newcomers alike for …
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SK, Japan Reach Landmark Deal on WWII Sex Slaves | Al Jazeera America
An apology from Japan’s prime minister and a pledge of more than $8 million sealed a breakthrough deal Monday in a decades-long impasse with South Korea over Korean women forced into Japanese military-run brothels during World War II.
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The best movies of 2015: Mad Max, Inside Out, Carol, and 15 others – Vox
The best movies of 2015: Mad Max, Inside Out, Carol, and 15 others https://t.co/Mk3Axoqd2Z https://t.co/S8FHqHgoRM
My favorite thing about going to the movies in 2015 was just how unexpected many of the year’s best titles were. Two of my favorite movies were belated, big-budget sequels in franchises that were most popular in the 1980s. Another was shot on an iPh… -
The Best Nintendo 64 Emulator for Windows
Sure, Mario Kart 8 may have 30 characters and hovercrafts, but there’s something nostalgic about the now-classic Mario Kart 64. If you want to relive the games of your childhood, an emulator is a decent way to go.
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Methane gas has been leaking from a storage facility in California’s Aliso Canyon since October 2015 at a rate of 110,000 pounds per hour. You can see the plume in this infrared video shot on December 17, 2015. So far, 1,700 homes have been evacuate…
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The Mystery of the Hamptons’ Vanishing Libertarian | New Republic
When Old Man McGumbus first began appearing in the police blotter ofDan’s Papers, a news weekly covering the East End of the Hamptons, he was in trouble. Naked, intoxicated, and unconscious on the side of the road, McGumbus was not found alone.
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Dwarf Planet Ceres’ Stretched-Out Surface Revealed in New Photos
NASA’s Dawn probe took a series of stunning new images of Ceres’ chain of craters called Gerber Catana, from an altitude of just 240 miles (385 kilometers) – the closest the spacecraft has ever come to the dwarf planet.
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The X-Files: behind the scenes of the new series / Boing Boing
Ah, the power of music. Original trailer below. Steve Harvey announced Miss Colombia as the winner of the 2015 Miss Universe pageant. But Miss Colombia was not the winner of the 2015 Miss Universe pageant. Miss Philippines was.
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The Science Behind This Winter’s Deadly Tornadoes
Spring and summer may be the most dangerous tornado seasons in the United States, but twisters can still wreak havoc in winter.
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Image of the Day: “Previously Unknown Part of the Milky Way”
This past fall, astronomers using the VISTA telescope at ESO’s Paranal Observatory discovered a previously unknown component of the Milky Way. VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV) is one of six ESO Public Surveys for the 4-meter VISTA Telescope.
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WorthFM, Ellevest, Cleaning for a Reason: Services for Women – The Atlantic
America is going through something of a reckoning, struggling—loudly, publicly, constructively—with the concept of gender. Giant retailers such as Target, for example, are knocking down the artificial distinctions between so-called boys’ and girls’ …
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Look, It’s Way Too Easy to Get PEDs – The Daily Beast
A bombshell report by Al Jazeera’s Special Investigative Unit, The Dark Side: Secrets of the Sports Dopers, alleges that Peyton Manning procured large quantities of human growth hormone in 2011.
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Give Amazon $10, and They’ll Store All Your Files in the Cloud For a Year
This was only $5 on Black Friday, but if you missed out, it’s tough to complain about a year of unlimited cloud storage for $10. [Amazon Cloud Drive – 1 Year, $10]
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Four Must-Have Accessory Looks for New Year’s Eve | Vanity Fair
MIAMIYou’ve escaped to the beach! Celebrate 2016 with a calmer color palette than everyone else at the fiesta—but with a nod to the sparkle.
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China Adopts First Anti-Domestic Violence Law | VICE News
Activists in China have welcomed the country’s first law to specifically address domestic violence, although some said it fails to protect gay couples or include acts of sexual violence.
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There Is No Such Thing as a New Dive Bar | MUNCHIES
Stop it. Stop what you’re doing. Can’t you see that you’re hurting us? We’ve been coming here for years—well, not here of course. Sure, we’ve been coming to this building, but ever since you claimed ownership, it’s all changed.
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Live Studio Turns Your Videos And GIFs Into Live Photos | TechCrunch
Primarily, the app is intended to help you make Live Photos that you can use as an animated wallpaper on your iPhone’s lockscreen, explains developer Aaron Satterfield.
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Harlem Globetrotters’ Meadowlark Lemon, RIP / Boing Boing
The world’s most famous basketball prankster, George “Meadowlark” Lemon of the Harlem Globetrotters, has died at age 83. I was fortunate to see Meadowlark perform with the Globetrotters several times in the 1970s.
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This Calculator Estimates Your Home Closing Costs, Based on Your Location
You probably already know home closing costs can add up quite a bit. The actual amount will vary depending on a number of factors, including where you live. This tool gives you an estimate of what you can expect to spend, based on your location.
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Better with age: The year’s best video game DLC | Ars Technica
Not all that long ago, you used to be able to make a list of the year’s best games, confident that those titles would remain relatively static as time went on. That’s not the case anymore.
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Saudi Arabia hikes petrol prices by 40% at the pump – Al Jazeera English
Saudi Arabia has raised domestic energy prices by as much as 40 percent after the world’s leading oil producer announced a record $98bn budget deficit on Monday citing rock-bottom global petroleum prices.
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Once again, Game Of Thrones is the year’s most-pirated TV show · Newswire · The A.V. Club
For the fourth year in a row, Game Of Thrones has received the prestigious honor of being named TorrentFreak’s most-pirated show of the year. An estimated 14.
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Dark Horse’s Lobster Johnson one-shots and miniseries have delivered consistently excellent stories heavily inspired by the pulp narratives of the ’20s and ’30s, teaming writers Mike Mignola and John Arcudi with artists that bring considerable style…
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What the hell is happening in Chicago? Police kill 55-year-old woman and mentally ill student
Of course, Chicago’s police department reflects the worst of the standard tyranny of American policing as its campaign of violence against black people—especially mentally ill black people—persists despite upheaval at its highest ranks, federal inve…
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UK floods 2015: York suffers phone and internet outages | UK news | The Guardian
Thousands of York homes and businesses have been left without phone and internet services, after flood damage created a “ghost town” where shops and bars are reportedly only taking cash.
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‘SNL’ Skewers Justin Bieber Fans in Cut for Time Sketch – The Daily Beast
In yet another pre-taped, cut for time sketch, Saturday Night Live’s Kyle Mooney gets real awkward with Justin Bieber fans. Kyle Mooney has become the king of the cut for time sketch on Saturday Night Live.
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How Alexander Graham Bell Pioneered Li-Fi With the Photophone in 1880 | Inverse
A mere four years after patenting the telephone, inventor Alexander Graham Bell was already looking for ways to improve on his new technology. Specifically, he wanted to go wireless.
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Uber-like snow plow service set to launch in Canada – BBC News
Sean Griffith, of New Brunswick province, is connecting customers with a dozen snow plough operators, who can click on his site to accept a job. Canada’s Atlantic provinces see as much as 322cm (127in) in the average winter.
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Samsung will reportedly release the Galaxy S7 in two different sizes | Ars Technica
A report from the Economic Times of Korea claims to have the skinny on Samsung’s launch strategy for the Galaxy S7.
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Which Cities Share The Most Crime Data? | FiveThirtyEight
Open data has contributed to dramatic improvements in a wide array of fields over the past few decades, affecting how we look at astronomy, genetics, climate change, sports and more.
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Even In The Face Of Ebook Hegemony Used Bookstores Are Still Popular | TechCrunch
In an article that should bring you and yours a bit of holiday warmth, the Washington Post has found that despite Amazon used bookstores are still thriving – for now.
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Astronaut Tim Peake’s concern for UK floods – BBC News
British astronaut Tim Peake has expressed his concern from the International Space Station for those affected by floods in his home country. The former Army pilot also took a picture of the UK as he passed overhead, posting it on his Twitter account.
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New York is finally installing its promised public gigabit Wi-Fi | The Verge
Today, workers began installing the first LinkNYC access points in New York. First announced in November 2014, the hubs are designed as an update to the standard phone booth, using upgraded infrastructure to provide gigabit Wi-Fi access points.
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In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Rep. Peter King (R-NY) defended a previous call he made for the sort of “24/7 surveillance” of mosques that has already proved ineffective in his home state, because he said, “that’s where the threat is comin…
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Agent Carter Lays the Serious Smackdown In New Teaser
Peggy and Jarvis may be in a brand new city, but the action seems to have traveled with them. If there is one thing Peggy Carter does everywhere she goes, it’s kick ass.
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SEOUL, South Korea — More than 70 years after the end of World War II, South Korea and Japan reached a landmark agreement on Monday to resolve their dispute over Korean women who were forced to serve as sex slaves for Japan’s Imperial Army.
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What We’re Following on Monday Afternoon, 12/28 – The Atlantic
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Letter: What Julian Broadhead’s postal orders meant for prisoners’ morale | Books | The Guardian
I met Julian Broadhead at the beginning of my time as writer-in-residence in HMP Maghaberry, Northern Ireland (1997 to 2015). At that time Julian was the co-editor with Laura Kerr of Prison Writing magazine, which became Prison Writing International…
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Congratulations To The 9th Annual Crunchies Finalists | TechCrunch
After a multitude of worthy nominations, TechCrunch is proud to announce the 9th Annual Crunchies Awards finalists. Take a peek below at the full list of finalists for each award category.
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Letter: Peter Dickinson obituary | Books | The Guardian
Peter Dickinson was a staunch supporter of authors’ rights. In the 1980s he was on the executive committee of the then fledgling Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society, which had been set up by authors to protect their collective rights in publis…
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The second-deadliest drug in America is legal — and it’s getting deadlier – Vox
As the country deals with a rise in opioid painkiller and heroin overdose deaths, a drug that already kills more people is causing more and more deaths each year: alcohol.
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Here’s a Video Showing the Very Worst Anti-Science Bullshit of 2015 | Mother Jones
In 2015, science was a favorite punching bag for many of America’s politicians. While leaders of nearly 200 nations met in Paris to hammer out a historic deal to combat climate change, the US Senate held a hearing—hosted by presidential hopeful Ted …
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As a wave of labor organizing rolls across college campuses around the country, Loyola University Chicago now faces the challenge of putting its Jesuit principles into practice as frustrated professors push for a union.
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Flashback: Watch the Judds Roar Through a Live ‘Have Mercy’ | Rolling Stone
Flashback: Watch the Judds Roar Through a Live ‘Have Mercy’ Paul Kennerley-penned tune was the mother-daughter duo’s fifth Number One
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Don Komarechka has spent more than 2500 hours photographing snowflakes. Over the past five years, the 29-year-old Canadian has dedicated his winters to obsessively capturing their geometric peculiarities and tiny asymmetries—which means he has to ge…
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Guy Beats Fallout 4 Without Killing Anyone, Nearly Breaks The Game
Fallout 4 expects you to commit murder. While you can occasionally avoid killing others, the wasteland is ruthless and demands violence. That’s how Bethesda intended the game to be played, anyway—but clever players are finding ways around it.
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The Quest To Make New York City Stop Killing Birds | Atlas Obscura
Recently, in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, two red-tailed hawks were spotted swooping and diving above one of the meadows, screaming in agitation. They appeared to priming themselves to attack, although at first, it wasn’t clear who or what.
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As I write this, I realize you are at a disadvantage. You can’t see my facial expressions or gestures, or hear the inflections of my voice that convey so much meaning. You have only my words.
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Chicago Mayor Orders Police Training Review | Al Jazeera America
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has ordered the city’s police department to review training on crisis intervention in the wake a weekend shooting in which two people were fatally wounded by police gunfire during a domestic disturbance call.
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Christmastime Storms and Tornadoes Wreak Havoc in U.S. – Scientific American
* Thirteen killed in Midwest flooding, at least 11 in Texas * Emergencies declared in Missouri and New Mexico * Almost 1,500 flights canceled nationwide (Adds detail on Texas homes damaged, snow totals in New Mexico, flight cancellations, paragraphs…
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Daily Cartoon: Monday, December 28th – The New Yorker
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The most interesting things about Jeb Bush and his candidacy are who he is not – and this election cycle, we’ve learned a whole lot about it. He’s not a guy who “can fix it” or this summer wouldn’t have seen Republican chaos and the rise of Donald T…
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Sad, sadder, and saddest mail truck : pics
I’ve never felt such a strong desire to hug a mail truck. These emotions are too confusing…
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In the 1960s, Adult Coloring Books Were Radical Texts | Atlas Obscura
From the New Frontier Coloring Book, 1962. (Photo: The New York Times archive) As the trend wore on, the books’ targets became more predictable. Publishers ridiculed occupations and lifestyles that already looked ridiculous without their help.
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German man dies after blowing up condom machine – BBC News
The 29-year-old and two accomplices attached the bomb to the vending machine in a quiet street before taking cover in their vehicle. But the victim did not close the door in time and was struck in the head by a steel shard from the explosion.
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Comanche wins Sydney-Hobart yacht race after comeback – BBC News
A dramatic finale to Australia’s Sydney to Hobart sailing race saw the American yacht Comanche mount an unlikely comeback to claim victory.The race was held in terrible weather conditions, with almost a third of the yachts forced to retire.
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How to Be a Good Listener When Someone Needs to Vent
Letting someone vent off their frustrations makes you a good friend, a caring family member, and a comforting significant other. Being a good listener, however, often requires a little more effort than nodding your head while they rant.
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Instant film and a record player were top sellers on Amazon for the holidays | The Verge
You’d think that in 2015 — a year in which virtual reality, autonomous cars, and personal drones were major stories — all the holiday gifts people are buying through the world’s top digital storefront would be, you know, high tech. But that’s not en…
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Boulders on a Martian Landslide | NASA
Boulders on a Martian Landslide via NASA https://t.co/HuR8jtKyhP https://t.co/hG9Ca3SZoP https://t.co/d7xCLBiOac
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Boulders on a Martian Landslide via NASA https://t.co/HuR8jtKyhP https://t.co/hG9Ca3SZoP https://t.co/d7xCLBiOac
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Best of VICE News: Polar Bears Are Now Eating Dolphins in the Arctic | VICE News
VICE News is closely tracking global environmental change. Check out the Tipping Point blog here. The good news: Polar bears, imperiled by climate change, appear to have found something new to eat.
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Everything You Think You Know About Vermouth Is Wrong | VinePair
So: vermouth. Maybe you’ve heard of this stuff in passing, as part of a laundry list of ingredients for some old-timey cocktail. Maybe you have a bottle at home…somewhere…behind the crème de menthe, next to the Chambord? How long has it been there? …
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New York and London Replicate the Palmyra Monument That Survived Islamic State | VICE News
Amid the Islamic State’s continued destruction of cultural landmarks in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, archeologists and scholars are replicating one of the city’s surviving monuments in London and New York, in a gesture of defiance.
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Are You Surprised by Who Star Wars Fans Have Voted as Their Favorite New Character? | Vanity Fair
Rotten Tomatoes is currently running a poll letting fans pick their favorite new addition to the Star Wars universe. The results are a little surprising. You might think BB-8, the adorable and highly-merchandisable droid would win this one hands dow…
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We all have some vision of what the good life should look like. Days filled with reading and strolls through museums, retirement to a tropical island, unlimited amounts of time for video games…. Whatever they may be, our concepts tend toward fantasy…
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The major health research funding charity the Wellcome Trust has defied fossil fuel divestment campaigners and increased its investments in coal, oil and gas over the last year.
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How Do Tornadoes Form? – Scientific American
Every year tornadoes rip through the U.S. Midwest, leaving death, injury and billions of dollars of damage in their wake. Where do these twisters come from, and just how nasty can they get? Scientific American editor Mark Fischetti reports.
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Israel warns Brazil to accept its settler ambassador – Al Jazeera English
Israel has threatened to downgrade its relations with Brazil if it does not accept its choice for ambassador to the country.
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Israel’s armed forces shocked at dismissal of missile defence chief | World news | The Guardian
Israel’s defence ministry remained tight-lipped on Monday following the instant dismissal of the country’s missile defence head amid reports he was found with classified information on his personal laptop.
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China Anti-terrorism Law Requires Decryption | Al Jazeera America
China passed a controversial new anti-terrorism law on Sunday that requires technology firms to help decrypt information, though not to install security “backdoors” as initially planned, and allows the military to venture overseas on counterterror o…
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Medicaid expansion fight reflects larger rift in Republican Party
The latest Republican governor to flirt with Medicaid expansion is South Dakota’s Gov. Dennis Daugaard. Sen. John Thune, the number three Republican in the Senate, voted last month to repeal Obamacare all the way down to Medicaid expansion.
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Meeting Manila’s Crystal Meth Dealers (Excerpt from ‘The Shabu Trap’) | VICE News
At the start of 2015, Mexican national Horacio Hernandez Herrera, allegedly third in command of the infamous Sinaloa Cartel, was arrested in the Philippines’ capital, Manila, at the center of a 12 million peso ($255,000) drug bust.
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3-D Printing Will Disrupt the World in Ways We Can Barely Imagine
In the last few years, additive manufacturing, also known as 3-D printing, has transformed from an interesting hobby to an industry producing a wide range of products. It is on the path to causing major disruptions in global trade — and changing the…
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Harlem Globetrotters’ ‘clown prince’ Meadowlark Lemon – a life in pictures | Sport | The Guardian
Meadowlark Lemon shows off his large hands on arrival in London in May 1959, for a week of games at the Empire Pool in Wembley Photograph: AP Facebook Twitter Pinterest Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Pinterest close
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The Ugly, Offensive Year in Immigration Politics | New Republic
The year in immigration politics began badly and finished up even worse. On a warm Saturday in late January of 2015 (warm for January, anyway), 1,500 of Iowa’s most committed right-wing activists descended on the Hoyt Sherman Place hotel in Des Moin…
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RoboFisher Will Let You Fish In Even The Harshest Of Storms | TechCrunch
Blow, blow, thou winter wind, thou art not so unkind as man’s inability to fish in thee! In northern, colder claims, fish, as we all know, tend to freeze right in place and take nutrients in through their skin because they have their pores open all …
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‘Comfort women’: Japan and South Korea hail agreement – BBC News
The leaders of Japan and South Korea have welcomed the agreement between their two countries to settle the issue of “comfort women” forced to work in Japanese brothels during World War Two. Japan has apologised and will pay 1bn yen ($8.3m, £5.
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Japan Apologizes to South Korea For the Wartime Use of ‘Comfort Women’ – The Atlantic
Japan has apologized to South Korea and will pay about $8.3 million as compensation for its use of Korean “comfort women” who were forced to work in Japanese brothels during World War II.
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After Sanders criticism, Donald Trump flip-flops: US wages ‘are too low’ | US news | The Guardian
Donald Trump, billionaire Republican presidential frontrunner, has changed his mind about wages: Americans aren’t earning enough. “Wages in are [sic] country are too low, good jobs are too few, and people have lost faith in our leaders.
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Former KKK Leader: Trump Speaks ‘A Lot More Radically Than I Talk’ | ThinkProgress
Former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke spoke candidly about Donald Trump recently, saying the Republican presidential candidate speaks “a lot more radically” than he does.
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Photographing Domestic Violence – The Atlantic – The Atlantic
Next video in seconds Share “Photographing Domestic Violence” Presented by
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ISTANBUL — When Alan Kurdi’s tiny body washed up on a beach in Turkey, forcing the world to grasp the pain of Syria’s refugees, the 2-year-old boy was just one member of a family on the run, scattered by nearly five years of upheaval.
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As soon as next year, a driver’s license may no longer be enough for airline passengers to clear security in some states, if the Department of Homeland Security has its way.
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Concussion tries to build a strong case. It should have had a strong character. – Vox
There can be little doubt that Concussion is a movie with an agenda.
Concussion tries to build a strong case. It should have had a strong character. https://t.co/eNBmAtn9O1 https://t.co/hV1fCs5z1M -
Myanmar Facebook: Woman gets six months’ jail – BBC News
Burmese activist Chaw Sandi Tun has been jailed for six months for mocking the country’s army on Facebook. She was found guilty of insulting the army chief by suggesting he wrap Aung San Suu Kyi’s sarong round his head.
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20 Dumbest Things Republican Candidates Said in 2015 | Rolling Stone
This was the year Donald Trump held the Republican Party hostage. In poll after poll, GOP voters said they loved him in large part because he speaks his mind.
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Shannon Szabados registers 1st shutout in men’s pro hockey – Hockey – CBC
Shannon Szabados made history Saturday night in leading the Columbus Cottonmouths to a 3-0 win over the Huntsville Havoc in Alabama, marking the first time a female goaltender has registered a shutout in a men’s professional hockey match.
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The New X-Files Featurette Reveals New Monsters
As a teaser for the X-Files revival, which premieres January 24, Fox has put a 21-minute featurette online called “Re-Opened” which gives a primer on the original series for new viewers and a tantalizing look at the six new episodes for the old fans…
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How Psychology Is Adapting To The World Of Tech | TechCrunch
With the increased use of online therapy and wellness-based mobile applications, the field of mental health is following in the path of physical health initiatives in the design of more accessible and convenient platforms. Online programs, such as M…
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BMW thinks the future of car UI is gesture control | Ars Technica
BMW has just given us a brief teaser ahead of CES next week. The German automaker will be bringing a new concept car that shows off the company’s latest thinking when it comes to interior design and the future of the car user interface.
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Wash-off reflective spray paint for cyclists / Boing Boing
Volvo’s pitching LifePaint, a supposedly easily-washed off reflective spray paint for cyclists and other at-risk road users to cover themselves in at night. LifePaint is a unique water based reflective safety spray. Invisible by daylight, it glows b…
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Ethiopian journalists should be freed, says CPJ – BBC News
Two journalists arrested in Ethiopia this month should be freed, an international press freedom group says. The detentions come amid deadly protests over a plan to expand the capital’s administrative control into the Oromia region, the Committee to …
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Joe Root hit 60 not out as England tightened their grip on the first Test against South Africa in Durban. The tourists are 172-3 in their second innings – a lead of 261 – and will aim to declare on Tuesday, then set about bowling the hosts out.
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No, Getting Married Doesn’t Make You Liable for Your Spouse’s Old Debt
Many people assume that marrying someone automatically makes you responsible for their past debt. This is absolutely not the case, but it’s a myth that won’t seem to die.
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Today’s Best Deals: Backup Power, $3 Novels, Starbucks E-Gift Card, and More
A discounted UPS, $3 novels, and a Starbucks gift card highlight today’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 o…
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Iraqi Military Advances in Battle for Ramadi | Al Jazeera America
Iraqi military forces on Monday retook a strategic government complex in the city of Ramadi from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) which has occupied the city since May, military officials said — a symbolic victory that could help lift…
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Star Wars Lego Sets Exploding at 3,000 Frames per Second Is the Best Guilty Pleasure
Accidentally dropping an elaborate Lego set and having it smash to thousands of pieces can be heart-breaking—unless you did it on purpose with a high-speed camera filming. But why rely on gravity when explosives make Lego slow-motion destruction eve…
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Oberlin Students and Alumni Reflect on Activism at the College – The Atlantic
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Verizon will give you up to $650 to switch from another carrier | The Verge
Is the biggest US wireless carrier starting to feel some pressure from its rivals? Perhaps. Today, as the next part of the company’s “better matters” campaign, Verizon announced that it will pay up to $650 to help you switch away from AT&T, T-Mobile…
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BMW’s AirTouch concept turns your entire car into a touchscreen controller | The Verge
Last CES, BMW teased the future of its human-machine interface with a gesture control demo — a capability that debuted later in 2015 on the new 7 Series.
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Exotic Chemistry of Super-Earths “Defies Classical Rules”
Using mathematical models, scientists have ‘looked’ into the interior of super-Earths and discovered that they may contain compounds that are forbidden by the classical rules of chemistry — these substances may increase the heat transfer rate and s…
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Republican congressional leaders promise return to pointless, symbolic fights in the new year
How, you may have wondered, did Republican leaders Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan get their conferences of crazy people to go along with funding the government without all the drama of shutdown threats over ideological issues? Why of course, by promi…
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Poland court reforms signed into law despite protests – BBC News
The president of Poland has signed a controversial reform of the constitutional court into law despite mass protests against the measure. The changes require the 15-strong court to reach a two-thirds majority with at least 13 members present, in ord…
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Author of The Revenant source novel banned from talking about film | Film | The Guardian
The author of a novel on which the Oscar-tipped western The Revenant is based is unable to discuss the film due to his job with the US federal government, it has emerged.
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Korean comfort women agreement is a triumph for Japan and the US | World news | The Guardian
The landmark agreement between Japan and South Korea over the so-called comfort women dispute represents a significant success for Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister, and indirectly for the US, which has been urging its north-east Asian allies to bu…
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Find out if movie is “safe” to watch w/ parents and avoid that awkward sex scene with cringeMDb app. (cringemdb.com) Nothing showed for ‘Anti-Christ’ so I should be good, right?
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Who Killed Paper Clothing? | GOOD
You’re feeling groovy.
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David Cameron defends flood prevention funding as he tours York – video | Environment | The Guardian
UK prime minister David Cameron visits the flood-hit city of York on Monday. Wading through floodwater in his wellies, he met emergency service workers and soldiers who have been deployed to help with the relief operation and volunteers filling sand…
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Milan local government bans traffic from city due to poor air quality | World news | The Guardian
The city of Milan was brought to a standstill on Monday after the local government barred all traffic within Italy’s fashion and business capital because of persistent poor air quality.
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Death Toll From Severe Weather Rises to 43 – The Atlantic
More bad weather is being predicted for the Midwest and South after a week of severe storms left at least 43 people dead, communities devastated, and thousands without power.
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Autopsy Reveals Chicago Police Shot ‘Mentally Ill’ Teen Multiple Times | VICE News
Preliminary autopsy results for two people fatally shot by Chicago police over the Christmas weekend reveal that Bettie Jones, 55, received a gunshot wound to the chest, while 19-year-old Quintonio LeGrier died from multiple bullet wounds.
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Harlem Globetrotters legend Meadowlark Lemon dies aged 83 | Sport | The Guardian
Meadowlark Lemon, the “clown prince” of basketball’s barnstorming Harlem Globetrotters, whose blend of hook shots and humor brought joy to millions of fans around the world, has died. He was 83.
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Pope Francis and Donald Trump Tie for Second-Most Admired Man | Vanity Fair
In what must be the first and last time the two men are held in equal esteem, Donald Trump and Pope Francis tied as the second-most admired men in a new nationwide poll.
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It Takes More Pressure to Shoot a Cork From a Bottle of Champagne Than to Raze a Concrete Building
Physical stress can operate in unexpected ways. For example, it takes more pressure to shoot a cork from a bottle of champagne than to raze a concrete building. If that seems counterintuitive, keep in mind that you don’t need a lot of pressure to ge…
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A plate originally from The Image of Irelande, by John Derrick, published in 1581. Note the flatulentists on the right side (h/t the Lavatory Reader). (Photo: Public domain) Roland, court minstrel to 12th century English king Henry II, probably had …
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The 17 Most Unforgettable Movie Moments Of 2015
You know that moment. The moment in a movie that you geek out over as soon as you walk out of the theater. The one that gives you goosebumps, or makes you whisper “Holy crap” as it’s happening. Those are the “wow” moments, and we’ve collected the be…
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NASA: Probes Deadly Solar Eruptions That Could Impair Future Space Missions
Among the most feared events in space physics are solar eruptions, massive explosions that hurl millions of tons of plasma gas and radiation into space.
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Saudi Arabia budget deficit swells on oil price fall – BBC News
Saudi Arabia’s budget deficit soared to $98bn (£65.7bn) this year as the world’s biggest oil exporter counted the cost of falling crude prices. In the first budget under King Salman, the kingdom said revenues reached 608bn riyals (£108.7bn; $162bn),…
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This Is The First Picture From Michael Fassbender’s Assassin’s Creed Feature Film | TechCrunch
If you play video games, chances are you’ve played Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed. After all, it’s one of the most popular video game franchises in history, with over 73 million copies sold.
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North-south divide cited as factor in Yorkshire flooding devastation | UK news | The Guardian
The government has been accused of neglecting its duty to protect northern England from flooding, with one Yorkshire newspaper claiming it would be “unthinkable” that the floods that have affected Leeds, York and Manchester in recent days could ever…
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Watch the first teaser for Orphan Black’s fourth season | The Verge
BBC’s Orphan Black leaps into its fourth season next spring, and it’s about time fans got a teaser for what’s ahead. This brief peek, which debuted online over the Christmas holiday, is cryptic to say the least. What looks like someone’s left eye bl…
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2015 was the year big tech companies all started to look the same | The Verge
This year, in lieu of the traditional Best Of Lists, we thought it would be fun to throw our editors into a draft together and just have a conversation. For our kick-off chat, Lauren Goode and Dieter Bohn discuss how tech’s biggest companies have es…
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The Water Horse by Holly Webb – review | Children’s books | The Guardian
The Water Horse is a lovely book about an 8-year-old girl called Olivia. Olivia isn’t just an ordinary girl, she is the daughter of the Duke of Venice, which means she is the Princess of Venice and next in line to rule the city.
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NASA In 2015 – Year In Review | Video
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What a drag: Amazing behind the scenes photos from the set of ‘Some Like It Hot’|Dangerous Minds
Chicago: It’s 1929 and you’re a down on your luck sax player called Joe, when you and your buddy—a bass player named Jerry—witness a mob slaying—the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, no less.
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It is a neat calculation: the first estimates of the end-of-year flood damage in the north of England suggested a bill of a little over £1bn. Or, as sections of the rightwing press maintained, pretty much the same as the UK spends on help for the wo…
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Cartoon: Year in review, part two
On a personal note, 2015 was the year in which I was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and in which I held an overwhelmingly successful Kickstarter to fund a comprehensive, thousand-page career collection.
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Burundi opponents meet for talks in Uganda – Al Jazeera English
Ugandan mediators launched talks between Burundi’s government and the opposition on Monday to halt a spiral of violence that has claimed hundreds of lives in recent months.
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Hello From the Same Side – The New Inquiry
AS 2015 draws to a close, among the two biggest US media spectacles that are not mass shootings are Adele’s single “Hello” and presidential candidate Donald Trump’s stump speeches. As of December 15, “Hello” has topped the Billboard hot 100 for seve…
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Meadowlark Lemon, whose halfcourt hook shots, no-look behind-the-back passes and vivid clowning were marquee features of the feel-good traveling basketball show known as the Harlem Globetrotters for nearly a quarter-century, died on Sunday in Scotts…
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The Hustlers at Scores — The Cut
In another life, Roselyn Keo might have liked to work on Wall Street. “I’m smart enough, I know,” she told me, sitting in the immaculate white kitchen of her suburban home. She’s organized, she pointed out, and good at math, and there is little doub…
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BBC – Future – Here’s how climate change will affect what you eat
Earlier this year, scientists warned that one in six animal species could go extinct due to climate change. Could the same thing happen to our crops and other foodstuffs too? It’s clear that farmers in many parts of the world are going to find thing…
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Scott Kelly unable to science the @$!# out of space veggies | Ars Technica
Scott Kelly is no Mark Watney, the potato growing botanist in The Martian. On Sunday, the NASA astronaut spending a year on the International Space Station tweeted a photo of the latest crop of plants from the station’s space garden, saying, “Our pl…
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Price Out Sightseeing Tickets Before Buying Tourist Passes
Museum passes seem like a great deal since you get one ticket for multiple sites, but they have plenty of drawbacks. They may not cover everything you want to see, and can be more expensive than just buying tickets for the sights you want to visit i…
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Best Science Writing, December 2015 – The Atlantic
I know, I know, the Internet is saturated with lists right now. The best overlooked science writing of the year, the best books of the year, the best podcasts, the best television, the best movies—and that’s just The Atlantic!
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2015: The year that Microsoft started getting the benefit of the doubt | Ars Technica
Windows 10 was Microsoft’s most important product launch of the year. It shored up the desktop platform, it introduced a new approach to delivering and updating the operating system, and it created the opportunity for Windows to be everywhere.
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England’s Hour: A Review of ‘The English and Their History’ by Robert Tombs – The Atlantic
Which is the largest nation in Europe to lack a state of its own? The Catalans? The Walloons? Wrong and wrong. It is the English: population 50 million-plus, all of them under the government of a multinational entity, the United Kingdom of Great Bri…
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Aesop’s fables as written by a computer / Boing Boing
In this week’s episode of the Futility Closet podcast we’ll share seven oddities from our collection, from Arthur Conan Doyle’s encounter with a perceptive Boston cabbie to a computer’s failed attempts to rewrite Aesop’s fables.
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Cam, Eric Church Lead Best Country Songs of 2015: The Ram Report | Rolling Stone
Cam, Eric Church Lead Best Country Songs of 2015: The Ram Report Cam’s “Burning House” and Church’s “Mr.
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Fitzy and the Jets Bomb the Pats – Up Next? Rex Ryan | Rolling Stone
The New York Jets went into the preseason with plenty of aspirations for the future, but little hope for the present.
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Meadowlark Lemon, Harlem Globetrotters Great, Dead at 83 | Rolling Stone
Meadowlark Lemon, the Harlem Globetrotters great dubbed the “Clown Prince of Basketball,” passed away Sunday in Scottsdale, Arizona. His wife Cynthia Lemon confirmed his death to the New York Times. Lemon was 83. No cause of death was given.
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Another year, another stretch of devastating violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories — with more than 100 people killed in just the last three months.
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Obama’s plan to deport Central American immigrants, explained – Vox
The Obama administration has quieted down its immigration enforcement over the last couple of years. But according to an article published just before Christmas by the Washington Post’s Jerry Markon and David Nakamura, that’s about to change: the ad…
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Next time someone tells you “all lives matter,” show them this cartoon – Vox
One of the most common responses to “Black Lives Matter” is “all lives matter.
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Behold, The First Look At Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange
By the hoary hosts of hoggoth, it’s the Sorcerer Supreme! We’ve had set pictures, and teasing glimpses through concept art, but this is it: our first official look at how Benedict Cumberbatch will appear as the master of all things mystical in the M…
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German man dies after blowing up condom machine – BBC News
A German man died on Christmas Day after blowing up a condom dispenser with a homemade bomb in a botched robbery, police say.The 29-year-old and two accomplices attached the bomb to the vending machine in a quiet street before taking cover in their …
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BBC Sport – Bolton Wanderers 1-0 Blackburn Rovers
Gary Madine scored the only goal as Bolton Wanderers ended a run of 17 games without a win by beating Blackburn Rovers in the Championship.
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Analysis of North Korea’s computer system reveals spy files – BBC News
The first in-depth analysis of North Korea’s internal computer operating system has revealed spying tools capable of tracking documents offline. The system, Red Star OS, was designed to superficially mimic Apple’s OS X but hidden features allow it t…
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This Two-Ingredient “Cocktail” Is as Festive as It Is Easy
I like to keep the festive cocktails flowing until January first, but I don’t want to spend a ton of time playing bartender. This two-ingredient creation from FWx feels fancy without requiring a lot of work.
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Doctor Strange’s Benedict Cumberbatch Makes His Superheroic Debut | Vanity Fair
Though it’s not too different from the fan-created art that’s been floating around the internet for the past year or so, we finally have the first official look at Benedict Cumberbatch as the titular superhero Doctor Strange. Is the Cumberstache eve…
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Game of Thrones Is Pirated Twice as Much as TV’s Most Popular Show | Vanity Fair
Game of Thrones still has a major piracy problem—and from the looks of it, it’s not going away any time soon.
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After Topping The App Store On Christmas, Fitbit’s Stock Shoots Up | TechCrunch
It looks like Santa delivered a lot of Fitbits for Christmas this year. After topping the App Store just after Christmas morning, Fitbit’s stock has shot up by around 5 percent in pre-market trading on Monday morning.
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Meet The Flying, Swimming Drone – The Daily Beast
It had to happen, right? Once we conquered the skies with our now-ubiquitous unmanned vehicles, the obvious next step was to send them plummeting beneath the waves as well.
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A look at cheeky 70’s London fashion boutique ‘Mr. Freedom’ (NSFW)|Dangerous Minds
For a few short years back in the late 60s and early 70s, a clothing boutique called Mr. Freedom ruled the streets of London with its cheeky styles and glammy duds that were worn by everyone from Twiggy and Mick Jagger to Elizabeth Taylor.Kleptomani…
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The weird workouts that uniquely obsessed your state – Vox
The weird workouts that uniquely obsessed your state https://t.co/DvQNhZCVo0 https://t.co/hWvKbEyQMx
Americans are always looking to improve their fitness. But a peek at what workouts people in each state were uniquely searching for on Google this year suggests an incredible diversity in the potential paths to better health. -
What makes a truly great logo – Vox
What makes a truly great logo https://t.co/L7H3Jl4aSK https://t.co/IK9j2wnSaY
About once a month, there’s a new logo to fight about on the internet. The biggest one in recent memory was the highly controversial Hillary Clinton logo, which did not escape scrutiny from Vox.com either. -
Flood defences row: UK paying price for David Cameron’s broken promises | Environment | The Guardian
“There are always lessons to be learned and I will make sure they are learned,” said David Cameron after severe flooding affected thousands of people across the country. But that was in February 2014, when the prime minister was visiting the submerg…
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UK flood costs ‘could be higher than £5bn’ | Environment | The Guardian
The cost of the winter floods across the UK will breach £5bn, with around a fifth of the bill falling on those with inadequate or non-existent insurance policies, a leading accountant has warned.
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Letter from Africa: Has the African Union grown some teeth? – BBC News
In our series of letters from African journalists, Ghanaian writer and former government minister Elizabeth Ohene explains why she has had a change of heart about the African Union.
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A magic mirror powered by a raspberry pi. Best Christmas present I’ve ever put together. Detailed tutorial in comments. (imgur.com) It was a blast putting together this project, if you have any questions on building your own I’d be glad to help. The…
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How quickly Star Wars Episode VII is achieving escape velocity is the obvious thing, but look how fast most of these movies made their money then plateaued. He felt his presents. (via r/jokes)
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It is one of the most hallowed precepts in modern constitutional law: Freedom of speech may not be curbed unless it poses a “clear and present danger” — an actual, imminent threat, not the mere advocacy of harmful acts or ideas.
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Deaf Mental Health AMAScience AMA Series: I am Wyatte Hall, Ph.D., a Deaf scientist studying how early language exposure can affect health outcomes. Ask me anything! (self.science) Hi Reddit!
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WASHINGTON — They are taking on a larger combat role in Afghanistan, where the war was supposed to be over. They are headed to Syria to help fight the Islamic State in its stronghold.
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Zuckerberg compares free internet services to public libraries and hospitals | The Verge
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has written a forceful defense of the company’s plans to offer limited, free internet access in India, comparing Facebook’s Free Basics service with libraries and public hospitals.
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HILLARY CLINTON has vowed not to raise taxes on the middle class. It’s a pledge that has worked well for others on the campaign trail before her, a resonant assurance to voters who saw themselves as middle class or aspired to be. But it’s a bad prom…
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2015 was, of course, the year of Donald Trump, whose rise has inspired horror among establishment Republicans and, let’s face it, glee — call it Trumpenfreude — among many Democrats. But Trumpism has in one way worked to the G.O.P.
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NASA’s Commercial Crew – 2015 Year In Review | Video
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What It’s Like to Attend a Jewish Singles Dance on Christmas Eve
Two weeks earlier, I had asked my friend Dana to come with me. The prospect of rolling up to Capitale solo sounded terrifying, and I figured even if the night was a bust, we’d have each other. But a few hours before the dance, Dana texted with me ba…
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The Root of All Evil · thewalrus.ca
The white-coated scientists and employees of every hue look buff and industrious. Click through the website, and you’ll find a “corporate responsibility” report filled with upbeat articles about civic engagement, flanked by photos of men scaling cli…
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The Fifteen Most-Read Blog Posts of 2015 – The New Yorker
Every year, I compile the list of the most-read blog posts we ran on newyorker.com, as measured by the total time spent reading. And every year, I realize the same thing: the stories our readers like the most are terrific. They’re important, funny, …
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The Radical History of 1960s Adult Coloring Books | New Republic
In 1962, Barbra Streisand channeled all the emotional turmoil and lyric despair of an abandoned lover into what must be the strangest four minutes of pop music ever written. “Crayons ready?” she croons, “Begin to color me.”
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How to ship a 6-inch neodymium magnet / Boing Boing
This $14, 100-second hourglass is filled with magnetized iron filings that form beautiful fans and other shapes as the sand drains into the bottom bulb. (via Canopy)
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Tenth of December by George Saunders – a book to make you love people again | Books | The Guardian
The first time I finished Tenth of December was in a cafe in Notting Hill over a quite ordinary breakfast, and I cried. This is the only time, apart from childhood scrapes and relationship woes that I have ever wept in public – and this time, it was…
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What is a Mary Sue, and does Star Wars: The Force Awakens have one? – Vox
Star Wars: The Force Awakens has only been out a week, but it’s already tearing some fans apart. Depending on whom you talk to, director J.J. Abrams’s update has either brought the franchise roaring back to life, or echoed the original Star Wars in …
What is a Mary Sue, and does Star Wars: The Force Awakens have one? https://t.co/ulhlZjlwEG https://t.co/XEDtqAoWGf -
NASA In 2016 – Music Video Highlights Space Agency Agenda
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The Piha Stays in the Picture – Roads & Kingdoms
The Mapari Creek is a cacophony of life. A tributary of the wide and muddy Rupununi River, the creek’s mouth marks a stark border between Guyana’s southern Savannah and the densely forested Kanuku Mountains, home to 60 percent of the nation’s bird a…
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Marvel Could Be Adding Another Comic Hero To Its Movie Roster!
There’s even more rumors about Robin’s role in Batman v Superman. Has the X-Force movie lineup been revealed? Legends of Tomorrow casts a love interest for Sara Lance. Plus the first still from Assassin’s Creed, a smidgen of extra Deadpool footage, …
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Trump says Hillary Clinton is ‘playing the woman’s card’ for pointing out his sexist garbage
Donald Trump truly is a slimy pig. Trump, the leading contender for the Republican nomination for president, continues to refuse to accept responsibility for the vile, sexist comment he made about Hillary Clinton last week and is now accusing her of…
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Why the egg industry is scrambling to set hens free | Guardian Sustainable Business | The Guardian
Americans eat about 265 eggs per person per year, according to the American Egg Board, and roughly nine in 10 are laid by hens confined in cages with little room to move. That’s changing.
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Life near coal mines: Kosovo’s dying villages – Al Jazeera English
Kastriot, Kosovo – Sixty-four-year-old Avdullah Selimi-Raci breathes through a hole in his throat.
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If You Work From Home, Create a Daily Commute Anyway
Working from home is awesome. You can work without constant supervision, and you don’t need to worry about that pesky commute. However, you should probably find something to commute to anyway.
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Polar Bears Must Work Harder On Faster Sea Ice Treadmill – Scientific American
Polar bears live on floating rafts of sea ice, hunting for seals. But in the Arctic Ocean north of Alaska, the cold polar wind constantly blows that ice from east to west. Which means that the polar bears there are on a kind of treadmill.
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Evolution simulator runs in browser / Boing Boing
In Cary Huang’s evolution simulator, one first generates 1000 random geometrical beasties. Then one watches them iterate until equilibrium prevails, commanding the most successful to reproduce and decimating the failures.
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Iraqi army declares Ramadi ‘liberated’ from ISIL – Al Jazeera English
Iraqi forces claimed victory over the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Ramadi as clearing operations were under way to flush out the armed group’s remaining fighters in the key city.
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Is Your Teenager an Evil Hacker Mastermind? | Motherboard
That’s kind of a lot to unpack. It’s hilarious, of course, and out of touch in a way that you have to think that whoever actually wrote it knows it’s out of touch.
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Die Gstettensaga: a science fiction movie about the Google Wars / Boing Boing
Johannes writes, “‘Die Gstettensaga: The Rise of Echsenfriedl’ — our award-winning feature-length post-apocalyptic agitprop nerd comedy extravaganza — is finally online on Vimeo! Free (as in lunch)! Enjoy!”
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North Korea’s paranoid GNU/Linux watermarks every file / Boing Boing
Florian Grunow and Niklaus Schiess downloaded the sourcecode for Red Star OS, North Korea’s homegrown, paranoid fork of Red Hat’s Fedora, a flavor of GNU/Linux. The researchers analyzed the OS and presented their findings to the thirty second Chaos …
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Used bookstores making a comeback / Boing Boing
The death of the bookselling as a big-box business has a positive side-effect: the return of smaller, more specialized retailers.
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Storm Frank to bring more heavy rain to north and west UK | Environment | The Guardian
Storm Frank will batter the north and west of the UK on Wednesday with heavy rain and gale-force winds, including parts of northern England already hit by the Boxing Day floods.
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Texas counts cost of deadly tornadoes as floods sweep midwest | World news | The Guardian
As residents of north Texas surveyed the destruction from deadly weekend tornadoes, the storm system that spawned the twisters brought winter storm woes to the midwest on Monday and amplified flooding that is blamed for more than a dozen deaths.
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SpaceX Rocket Factory Hosts Supermodel Photo Shoot (Video)
SpaceX opened its doors recently for a supermodel photo shoot. Model Karlie Kloss got access to the private spaceflight company’s manufacturing facility in Hawthorne, California, in September to take pictures for a profile in the current issue of th…
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UK Home Secretary rejects request for her browsing history as “vexatious” / Boing Boing
UK Home Secretary Theresa May has introduced the Snoopers Charter, through which your ISP will be required to retain a record of everything you do on the Internet and make it available to government and police without meaningful checks and balances …
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Parenting and sysadminning are remarkably similar / Boing Boing
Six years ago, I wrote a column comparing IT managers’ prohibitions on using your own devices and applications to abstinence-only sex ed: a high-handed approach that leaves its audience ignorant and resentful, and dedicated to undermining you behind…
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The First Trailer For HBO’s Sesame Street Is 60 Seconds of Pure Joy
Sesame Street is moving to HBO for the next few seasons starting in January and the first trailer is now out. And it’s basically delightful. All your favorite characters are back, plus plenty of pop culture references, celebrity cameos (Jon Hamm, an…
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Yandex worker stole search engine source code, tried selling for just $40K | Ars Technica
An employee of Russia’s Internet giant Yandex, Dmitry Korobov, stole the source code of its search engine and tried to sell it on the black market to fund his own startup, according to a report by the Russian newspaper Kommersant.
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Daily Kos Radio is OUT SICK at 9 AM ET!
Guess what I got for Christmas! I know, I know. I was off for the holiday last week, and I promised to be back today. But seriously, as much as there is to talk about, you might not be able to hear much of it in between the sniffling and sneezing!
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Get Rid of “Reactive” Habits to Improve Your Focus
You call them “distractions.” Maybe you call them your to-do list. Whatever word you use, they’re the things that keep pulling you away from what you should be doing right now. These habits require your reaction, and they get in the way of real prod…
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Mysterious collector opens world’s largest private Apple exhibition in Prague | Ars Technica
Although the official Apple Store is yet to come to the capital of the Czech Republic, it has recently seen the launch of the Apple Museum, which claims to host the largest private exhibition of its kind.
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Just How Realistic is Fallout 4’s Post-Apocalypse Anyway? | Motherboard
The first time you step out of the protective vault and into the irradiated wasteland of Boston in Fallout 4, taking in the devastation can be overwhelming. For two decades, the Fallout series has explored life after the bombs fell.
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How much money top movies made charted by days since release / Boing Boing
What Is EFF Reading? Books, Movies, and TV Shows of 2015 : a media diet for Internet freedom activists. In 1968, I think, my grandmother offered to take me to the movies.
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CHICAGO — GQ, the men’s magazine, just named Mayor Rahm Emanuel to its list of “The Worst People of 2015.” In Springfield, the Illinois capital, a fellow Democrat is pressing for a measure to permit Mr. Emanuel’s recall from office.
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Digging in on Mars! How Astronauts Will Survive and Thrive on the Red Planet
Artist’s concept: One small step on the Red Planet, with many footfalls to follow.Credit: Bob Sauls/XP4D/M. Wade Holler, director, Digital Content and Media Strategy, Explore Mars Inc. (Used with permission) View full size image GOLDEN, Colo.
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‘New Girl,’ ‘Broad City,’ ‘The X-Files,’ and More: A 2016 TV Preview – The Atlantic
2015 may have spawned the phrase “Peak TV” thanks to an onslaught of shows in every format imaginable, but 2016 isn’t going to offer much respite.
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Education as Told By Charts, Graphs, Videos, and More – The Atlantic
Education issues can be difficult to grasp; they can feel overwhelming, intangible, or even irrelevant. Sometimes, the best and most effective means of conveying education stories are through charts, graphics, images, and videos.
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Arsenic Contaminates India’s Drinking Water [Video] – Scientific American
Josh is a senior editor at Scientific American, covering biology, chemistry, and earth science. He has written and edited about science and health for Discover, Science, Earth, U.S.
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Walt Disney World 2015: a keen-eyed design themepunk critique / Boing Boing
Passport to Dreams Old in New is the absolute king-hell best Disney design criticism blog, written by Foxxfur, a former cast member who is thoughtful, encyclopedic, and razor-sharp in her observations of the Disney theme parks, especially Walt Disne…
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‘Rivers where there used to be side streets’: caught in York’s flood | Environment | The Guardian
You always think, when you hear about people who ignore the warnings and go out in hurricanes, or who refuse to be evacuated from fires, that you would never be so reckless and would get right away at the first sign of danger.
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Massive sulphuric acid spill as train derails in Queensland – video | Australia news | The Guardian
Aerial footage shows the aftermath of the complete derailment of a 26-carriage freight train carrying 200,000 litres of highly corrosive sulphuric acid, in Queensland, Australia. All 26 carriages overturned after the train came off the tracks on Sun…
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Game of Thrones tops list of 2015’s most pirated shows – BBC News
For the fourth year running, fantasy series Game of Thrones has topped a list of the most pirated TV shows. According to Torrentfreak, the season five finale was illegally downloaded 14.4m times. More than half of those came in the week after its US…
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Rhianna Pratchett remembers her father, Terry / Boing Boing
The long-dreaded death of Terry Pratchett finally arrived in 2015, years after his inital prognosis predicted it would come. Pratchett spent his last years on Earth working his guts out, leaving behind a literary legacy of enormous breadth and depth.
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I became a millionaire overnight — and quickly realized that extreme wealth is overrated – Vox
I grew up lower middle class on the outskirts of Copenhagen. Anywhere outside of Scandinavia, the socioeconomic label would probably have been “poor,” but Danish safety nets and support systems did their best to suspend the facts and offer better. T…
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Kotaku Boy Opens Christmas PlayStation 4, Finds A Block Of Wood With A Dick On It | Deadspin Here Is The Full Documentary That Accuses Peyton Manning And Others Of Doping [UPDATE] | Jezebel David Spade Thinks President Obama’s Reality TV Appearances…
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Bring Back Touch to Search in Chrome For Android With This Setting
Chrome for Android had a neat little feature that allows you to tap a word to do a Google search for the word without leaving the page you’re on. It’s gone missing for some, but here’s how to bring it back.
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The film begins much like the real story, with number 52: Iron Mike Webster. The day he was inducted into the NFL hall of fame, Webster, a Pittsburgh Steelers legend and stalwart center of one the greatest dynasties in league history, was at the beg…
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Blocks from the World Trade Center, there’s an unassuming street just like so many in New York. Nestled between a Holiday Inn and a vacant lot that will soon house another skyscraper, three buildings weathered with age are dwarfed by their surroundi…
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How Large Companies Are Exploiting a Loophole in Obamacare | New Republic
In June 2014, Mary Gass, a 55-year-old employee at a nursing home in Inman, South Carolina, was lifting an elderly resident out of his bed when she felt a sudden, sharp pain in her neck followed by what she described as a burning numbness.
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The DMCA poisoned the Internet of Things in its cradle / Boing Boing
Bruce Schneier explains the short, terrible history of the Internet of Things, in which companies were lured to create proprietary lock-ins for their products because the DMCA, a stupid 1998 copyright law, gave them the power to sue anyone who made …
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Comment from the January 4, 2016, Issue – The New Yorker
In “In With the New,” Adam Gopnik writes about Stonehenge and the holiday season. You can read previous Comments published in the magazine, as well as our online Daily Comment and Cultural Comment columns.
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Kotaku Boy Opens Christmas PlayStation 4, Finds A Block Of Wood With A Dick On It | Deadspin Here Is The Full Documentary That Accuses Peyton Manning And Others Of Doping [UPDATE] | Jezebel David Spade Thinks President Obama’s Reality TV Appearances…
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Abbreviated pundit round-up: Addicted to fear; lawsuits against cop misbehavior in Chicago
What will it take to bring the foot-draggers into reality? Jonathan Chait at New York Magazine writes—Karl Rove: Obama Should React to Terrorism Like Bush Did: The typical leitmotif of a Karl Rove column weaves together some combination of delusiona…
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An Impossible Experiment Shows How Black Holes Might Burp Back Information | Motherboard
Physicists at Caltech have devised a way to coax information back from the so-far unknowable depths of a black hole.
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Why Not: A Sorting Algorithm Based on the Fake-Theory of Intelligent Design | Motherboard
Sorting algorithms are among the most fundamental algorithms in computer science. Sorting is at the very heart of data or even just information in general. Search algorithms usually grow from sorting algorithms, for one thing, and that’s about the m…
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Swingdo and Swingmail Combine to Manage Your Email and To-Dos
iOS: Email and to-do apps on the iPhone aren’t difficult to come by, but Swingdo and Swingmail work together really well. The apps support multiple email and calendar services to give you one place to manage your email and to-dos, and to see what ap…
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“I met a girl at the British Museum once,” a fellow said to me at a party last weekend. “Her name was Rosetta. Rosetta Stone.
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That story may be apocryphal. Dick Rowe went to his grave denying it anyway. Decca also offered them a deal, but it just wasn’t a very good one. Interesting read, hate when the facts get in the way of a good story.
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Worst floods for 70 years swamp northern England – Al Jazeera English
Parts of northern England are suffering their worst floods in more than 70 years with weeks of heavy rain leaving vast areas under water on both sides of the Pennines mountains. British Prime Minister David Cameron has sent in 500 soldiers to help t…
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Our New Anti-Terror Law Is No Worse Than Yours, Says China | VICE News
China has passed a controversial new anti-terrorism law that critics say will legitimize and worsen the persecution of dissidents and religious minorities.
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2015: the top news stories of the year in numbers | News | The Guardian
In 2015, the fight for same-sex marriage right was won. Volkswagen became embroiled in scandal. Caitlyn Jenner became the most famous transgender person in the world. Here are the numbers that made some of the biggest stories of the year so memorabl…
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Floodwaters are hampering efforts to clean up a remote site in north-east Australia where a freight train carrying sulphuric acid derailed on Sunday.
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Arizona Cardinals, not Carolina Panthers, looking like the NFC’s team to beat | Sport | The Guardian
The Panthers’ undefeated bid fell Sunday, and with it, their aura of invincibility. Carolina were stunned by the Falcons on the road, 20-13, as they sought to match the Patriots’ perfect regular-season record of 16-0.
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Carbon Capture May Be Too Expensive to Combat Climate Change – Scientific American
Tim Pinkston has built a massive chemistry set in the middle of a longleaf pine forest in eastern Mississippi. “I’m so happy to see it come to fruition,” says Pinkston, a rangy engineer with owlish eyes, during a tour of the Kemper County Energy Fac…
Love Everyone Often 12/29/2015
Scotland’s Plastic Bag Ban Saved 650 Million Bags In Its First Year : environment Scotland’s Plastic Bag Ban Saved 650 Million Bags In Its First Year https://t.co/mU5oGsXxcQ https://t.co/RLJuJfrYkl via /r/environment tags: IFTTT Delicious via:packrati.us Scotland’s Plastic Bag Ban Saved 650 Million Bags In Its First Year Scotland’s Plastic Bag Ban…
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Gatlinburg Garden Castle Rainbow Tower Library Imagination Station Temple Water Spirit Guardian Labyrinth Treasury Magic Healing 
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