text stringlengths 9 72.5k |
|---|
Comedy Central’s The Daily Show announced last week comedian Jessica Williams will be joining the show’s cast of correspondents. |
The midterm elections were weeks ago — Nov. 6 — and Thanksgiving has come and gone. So the election results for the U.S. House of Representatives should finally be complete, right? Well, almost. |
WASHINGTON — The midterm elections were weeks ago — Nov. 6 — and Thanksgiving has come and gone. So the election results for the U.S. House of Representatives should finally be complete, right? |
With Republican Mia Love’s concession on Monday to Democrat Ben McAdams in Utah’s 4th Congressional District race, Democrats will have a 234-201 edge over Republicans when the new class of the House of Representatives convenes in January. That’s a pickup of at least 39 seats for Democrats. |
But one congressional race in California is still not quite over. The tight 21st District race between Republican Rep. David Valadao and Democratic challenger TJ Cox was called by media outlets for Valadao after election night. But the race isn’t settled. |
Election officials are still counting ballots and Valadao’s election night lead of nearly 5,000 votes has shrunk into the hundreds. That’s out of well over 100,000 cast. |
Whatever happens in that race, Democrats have made major gains in the House, picking up the most seats for the party since the election after Watergate in 1974. Their gains are still not as large as the 2010 midterm Republican wave, in which the GOP picked up 63 seats. Republicans gained 52 seats in 1994. |
And while Republicans lost dozens of seats in the House, they remain in control in the Senate. The 51-49 margin they held before the midterms is now 52-47, heading into Tuesday’s special election in Mississippi between GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democrat Mike Espy. |
Republicans will control the House and Senate for just a few more weeks, as lawmakers rush to complete spending legislation before a Dec. 7 deadline. |
Newly-elected House members are continuing their orientation this week. And on Wednesday, Democrats will carry out a caucus vote, to consider whether Rep. Nancy Pelosi will become the next House Speaker. Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-MD is seeking to return as House Majority Leader and Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-SC, in the No. 3 positi... |
Before the holiday break, 16 Democrats signed a letter saying they would not vote for Pelosi. But some have reversed their position, and no one has stepped up to run against her. |
Pelosi is expected to get majority support from her party this week, ahead of a final House floor vote in January. |
Now that it is clear that Donald J. Trump has fairly become the presumptive nominee, most understand that it is high time we ALL coalesce around him to beat Hillary. |
It is amazing to me, and many others in the conservative movement, that there are still “hold outs” in this primary election. |
It has come to reason that they are just like the candidate that they support! Ted Cruz. Petulant, jealous and delusional. Okay, so your guy didn’t win. Now, it’s time to THINK about what you are proposing to do……vote third party or stay home. |
So, you think that Mr. Trump is lying about what he promises to do to fix the incompetence, corruption and sheer idiocy in the republican party. Why on earth would he do this? He has an amazingly beautiful, mutually respectful relationship with his family, and you think he is LYING to the whole country? To accomplish w... |
He has promised EVERYTHING that we want to be done. He says it the way we want and need him to. But all because you are angry and bitter that your guy didn’t win, you pout and dig your heels in and refuse to give in, even with the possibility of a murderous, lying, devious woman possibly becoming the next president. Yo... |
Another thing I don’t understand it how you can see your conservative friends, some being celebrity, support Mr. Trump and you STILL think you are so right! |
Again, all it shows me is that this is about a personality type, not “PRINCIPLES” as you all say. You are Cruz. You cannot handle the fact that you didn’t win. You cannot accept the fact that Cruz can never win a general election. You are Cruz. Delusional, stubborn and petulant. |
So, it is my opinion that we leave you behind. We move on and get Mr. Trump elected and you will miss the party. You will not be a part of the great celebration we will have when he beats Hillary and when he builds the wall, strengthens our Military, repeals Obamacare…etc., etc. |
I will never stop telling you how unpatriotic and un- American you are, but I will leave you behind for the celebration. |
passed away on Thursday (August 15) at the age of 76. |
Details surrounding the star-studded events held in honor of the singer's life have been officially confirmed. |
According to the Detroit Free Press, the schedule begins with a public viewing at Detroit's Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History from 9 a.m. - 9 p.m. Tuesday, August 28 and Wednesday August 29. |
On Thursday August 30, there will be a viewing held at New Bethel Baptist Church, the place where Franklin began singing as a child. This viewing is scheduled for 12 p.m. - 4 p.m. |
On Friday, August 31, Aretha Franklin's official funeral service will commence at 10 a.m. at the Greater Grace Temple in Detroit. |
Almost 20 of Franklin's beloved friends and collaborators are slated to perform in her honor at the funeral service. Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, Jennifer Holliday, Jennifer Hudson, Fantasia, Yolanda Adams, Shirley Caesar, The Clark Sisters and Marvin Sapp are among the entertainers slated to pay homage through the gift ... |
After the funeral services conclude, the Queen of Soul will be buried at Detroit's Woodlawn Cemetery. Franklin's father Reverend C.L. Franklin; her brother Cecil Franklin; her sisters, Carolyn Franklin and Erma Franklin; and her nephew Thomas Garrett are all buried at Woodlawn. |
There will also be an Aretha Franklin tribute concert at Detroit's Chene Park Amphitheatre on Thursday, August 30. Gladys Knight, The Four Tops and Johnny Gill are among the guests slated to perform. Ticketmaster is reportedly waiving service fees "in honor of the Queen," according to the Detroit Press. |
Jacque Petroulakis takes a photo inside a “zero net energy” house in Brentwood. |
The taupe stucco house at 317 Bougainvilla Drive looks like any other — which is part of the point. |
No outward sign distinguishes it from the other homes taking shape on this street of new construction teeming with work crews. Two stories, with a two-car garage; a shaded front porch offers shelter from the blazing sun. |
But this particular house is an experiment. And it could represent California’s future. |
If all goes as planned, the home will generate as much electricity as it pulls from the grid over the course of a year, achieving a status known as “zero net energy.” Within four years, California officials want all new residential construction in the state to consist of zero net energy homes — a tall order. |
Designed by the Pulte Group development company, the Brentwood house uses two small solar arrays to generate electricity and highly efficient lights and appliances to conserve it. But the house looks and feels like a typical three-bedroom, two-bath home, rather than a test bed for new technology. |
It was also designed to be mass-produced. Although some of its technologies are new, it is a model that can be replicated again and again — or “scalable,” in a term the builder is borrowing from Silicon Valley. |
“Everything we put into the house, we put here because it’s scalable,” said Brian Jamison, Pulte’s national purchasing director. |
For now, it’s still a rarity. Although interest in zero net energy buildings — both residential and commercial — has been rising for years, fewer than 200 had been built nationwide by last year, according to a list compiled by the New Buildings Institute. |
And yet, California is counting on zero net energy buildings as part of the larger fight against climate change. |
The state has set a nonbinding goal that by 2020, all new single-family homes and new apartment buildings three stories or smaller will be able to produce as much energy as they consume over the course of a year. All new commercial buildings should meet the same standard by 2030. |
“We’re not going to solve our climate and resources challenges if we don’t start building homes like these,” Bohan said. |
The Brentwood home generates electricity through a pair of solar arrays supplied by San Mateo’s SolarCity. On a typical summer day, those arrays produce more electricity than the house needs, feeding the excess to the grid. At night, the house relies on the grid for power. Pulte chose not to equip the home with a batte... |
The house relies heavily on sensors and automated systems to trim energy use. When direct sunlight strikes the windows, shades lower automatically, although the resident can choose to raise them again. |
A smart thermostat from Lennox learns the resident’s habits and, when synced with a smartphone, automatically turns down the air conditioning when the resident leaves the house. The thermostat can also tell when the resident, and his phone, is approaching the home at the end of the day and turn up the AC accordingly. |
A tank-less water heater from Rinnai, combined with a pumping system, saves energy and water. The resident activates it by pushing a button in the bathroom or kitchen. Within about 10 seconds, the system will heat the water and pump it to the faucets. Cold water sitting in the pipes gets pushed back to the heater. Ther... |
“You’re not wasting one drop of water waiting for it to get hot,” Jamison said. |
One of the home’s biggest energy-saving features may also be one of the simplest. Instead of placing insulation on the floor of the attic as builders typically do, the insulation is “cathedralized” — installed under the roof. That keeps the attic from heating up. And because the air-conditioning ducts run through the a... |
Pulte won’t say how much the house cost to build, noting that it’s a prototype. |
“We’ll start talking about pricing once we’ve built more of these,” Jamison said. |
The company will, however, put the Brentwood house up for sale at the end of the month. And Pulte plans to stay in touch with the buyers after the sale, gathering details about how well they like the energy-saving appliances and home features. Their feedback will help refine the next zero net energy homes that Pulte bu... |
The state, meanwhile, may have a hard time meeting its 2020 goal. But Bohan said it’s not impossible. The technology to make zero net energy homes exists and is getting cheaper with time. |
Katrina Kaif is probably not the most lenient fitness coach you can hope for, in fact, she seems like the exact opposite 'lenient.' Tough luck, Alia Bhatt. Katrina, 34, posted a video on Instagram, in which she can be seen coaching Alia Bhatt in the gym, in the absence of their fitness trainer and from Alia's angle it ... |
Some Instagram users, who sympathized with Alia Bhatt, posted comments like, "Kat is savage" and "bachche ki jaan loge kya." Other tagged their gym buddies and said: This is you and me." |
Alia Bhatt, last seen in Badrinath Ki Dulhania, recently completed filming Meghna Gulzar's Raazi, in which she co-stars with Vicky Kaushal. She will soon start filming Karan Johar's Brahmastra, co-starring Amitabh Bachchan and Ranbir Kapoor. The trilogy will be directed by Ayan Mukherji and the first part will release ... |
Katrina Kaif is awaiting the release of Tiger Zinda Hai, co-starring Salman Khan. She has Aanand L Rai's film with Shah Rukh Khan in the pipeline along with Yash Raj Films' Thugs Of hindostan, also starring Aamir Kha, Amitabh Bachchan and Fatima Sana Shaikh. |
New USDA CIO Jonathan Alboum has a wide range of experience in government and industry. |
Jonathan Alboum was named CIO at the Agriculture Department. He replaces Cheryl Cook, who retired in March. Joyce Hunter had been interim CIO for the past three months. |
Alboum will assume the CIO duties on June 29, according to USDA. |
"I welcome Jonathan into his new role as chief information officer, where his vast experience in formulating IT strategies, policies and initiatives will help USDA continue to modernize its tools and resources, innovate our digital services, improve the way we deliver results and technology to our many customers, and p... |
Alboum has a lengthy resume with the federal government. He has held several positions at the General Services Administration and was CIO position at USDA's Food and Nutrition Service. Before joining the government, Alboum worked as a management consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ventera. |
The Defense Department has named Claire Grady director of defense procurement and acquisition policy in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. Grady was previously the Coast Guard’s deputy assistant commandant for acquisition and director of acquisition services. |
Australian drone startup Flirtey will beat Amazon to the punch by being the first to use aerial drones to deliver products in the U.S. |
The company, based in Sydney, retweeted June 18 Australian news reports about the Federal Aviation Administration's approval of its first product-delivery flight, which will take place on July 17 in Wise, Va., in partnership with NASA and Virginia Tech. |
The reports said two unmanned aerial systems will deliver as many as 24 packages of pharmaceuticals and other medical supplies to a free clinic in the area to illustrate how aerial drones can deliver urgent supplies in a quick, efficient and cost-effective manner. |
The company's delivery drone is a hexacopter fashioned from carbon fiber, aluminum and 3D-printed parts to be lightweight and durable. Each vehicle has a range of more than 15 miles and lowers its cargo via tether, according to the company. |
You’ve probably heard by now: Tyson Beckford is physically flawless. |
Would you just look at that? That is a work of art. Jeez. |
Our friends at Cocktails and Cocktalk just unearthed an artifact that’s kind of priceless: a still from the supermodel’s full-frontal shoot for Playgirl in 1999. |
For those keeping track, Playgirl has been out of print for two years. I grew up in the 1990s, and I tried to get my hands on these things as much as possible. |
It’s hard to find high-quality snaps of Beckford’s shoot—and several great Playgirl shoots, sadly. This is gold! |
Check out the amazing, full-frontal and totally NSFW snap at Cocktails and Cocktalk. |
Inside a local steakhouse yesterday, a cameraman for MTV's show "MADE" turned his lens on the workplace of Hopkinton's Chris Barry, a soon-to-be college freshman hoping to shed his social awkwardness through the makeover program. |
"I want to be made from geek to chic," he told his Bugaboo Creek co-workers in a made-for-TV moment. "What do you think of that?" |
The camera panned over to Herve Laplame, the chain's regional manager. |
"He's the perfect specimen for this show," Laplame said. |
Barry, a waiter nicknamed "Big Country" for his size and inadvertent habit of getting in the way, had a brain tumor, nerve disease and several strokes growing up before finally getting a clean bill of health at age 8. His past, however, did not hold him back from successfully auditioning for MTV two months ago, nor has... |
"He needs to stop dancing until he learns how to," server Kristina Creonte of Milford told the camera, likening his moves to a "spastic Michael Jackson." |
Other colleagues mentioned Barry's habit of tucking his shirt into his underwear, not just his pants, and telling awkward jokes. With the "geek" assessment completed, the cameraman asked Barry to nod his head in agreement and laugh. The good-natured Big Country complied, since he was the one who decided to audition for... |
According to his MTV contract, Barry could not speak about his future appearance on the program, the broadcast date of which could not be determined. But Bugaboo Creek management and their employees were happy to discuss their colleague. |
"He tries too hard," said manager Brian Maguire of Worcester. "(And) he's got to stop singing." |
But staff also realize Barry is generally well-meaning. |
"He's a big kid," said Christine Crevier of Milford, a "smiling guest greeter" at the restaurant. "We can't really take him seriously." |
Maguire noted his dedication to the job and his "big heart," as well as the staff's awareness of Barry's past medical struggles. |
"They appreciate who he is and what he's been through," he said. |
As part of the program, MTV will assign Barry a mentor or coach and follow him to Rhode Island's Johnson & Wales University, where he will soon join the freshman class and study to become a hospitality manager. |
"He wants to be successful," Bugaboo Creek managing partner Brian Libby told the camera. "He wants to grow." |
Nice 3 bdrm, 2 bath manufactured home in town. Kitchen with oak cabinets open to dining area with patio doors leading to deck. Large living room 15’ 10” x 12’ 8”, master bdrm 12’ 4” x 15’ 5” with his and her closets and master bath with garden tub. Two additional bdrms 12’ 3” x 11’ 5” and 12’ 3” x 10”. Updates include ... |
Walla Fest returns this weekend and for the first time since its inception four years ago it will not be held at Norristown's Centre Theater. Creators Keba Robinson, Yesenia Bello, and Ant Bui decided to make the geographical move in the name of progress but the concept of the event and the overall vibe of the experien... |
This weekend's festivities will take place at PhilaMOCA in Philadelphia which is a great venue for this laid back gathering. The Centre Theater was a perfect incubator for Walla which has grown significantly over the years and tried various combinations to arrive at the current format. Many artists who've played at ear... |
SEE ALSO: Walla Fest Announces Summer Dates and Move To Philly's PhilaMOCA! |
4PM: ART SHOW OPENING with Cal Fish, Elliot Bech, Anonymous Mad Villainy (Krispy Feldman, Andrew Vickery, Thor Kimmel, Manny Mables) Lydia AD, Madeline Babuka Black, Michelle Krysztofiak & Stu Olshevski. The show will be on view through August 9th. |
In mid-October, a gay Russian man became the first to officially accuse authorities in Chechnya of jailing and beating him as part of a broad crackdown on LGBT people. |
Maxim Lapunov said during a news conference that unidentified people detained him on a street in the Russian region’s provincial capital, Grozny, in March and drove him to a detention facility. |
Lapunov's story came almost ten full days before a leading Russian human rights group announced it “seriously fears” that Zelimkhan Bakayev, 26, a gay pop star, was killed as part of Chechnya’s deadly crackdown. According to the Guardian, Bakayev went missing in August when he left his home in Moscow to visit the capit... |
“When a person disappears and the police force refuse to investigate his disappearance, we have serious fears for the life of that person,” Oleg Orlov, from Memorial, Russia’s oldest civil rights group, told AFP on Friday. |
Lapunov's chilling account of guards beating him with sticks during the nearly two weeks he was kept in custody, and forcing him and his partner, who also was detained and beaten, to fight each other add weight to the concerns surrounding Bakayev. |
“Day after day, they were telling me how precisely they want to kill me,” he said. |
Lapunov is the first person to file a complaint with Russian authorities over a wave of arrests of gay people earlier this year that human rights defenders and media outlets say have taken place under Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov. |
Lapunov said other people in the same detention facility were tortured and beaten for being gay. He was let go after he signed a statement acknowledging he was gay and was told he would be killed if he talked about his time in detention, he said. |
Lapunov, a resident of the Omsk region in Siberia, had a job in Chechnya. |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.