Technology meeting set
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announces a meeting with the aim of finding an appropriate set of technological solutions to protect the coastal ecosystems of the Gulf of Mexico that is under pressure both by the concentration of ship traffic and the forces of nature (storm damage).
It’s imperative that we strike a balance between industrial expansion and the health of our ecosystem, working to ensure it can withstand and recover from future disasters, while identifying research and development needs to enable the Corps to deliver innovative solutions to meet these challenges and opportunities. The key for us is understanding and planning for sustainable community resiliency, risk reduction to life and property, and ecosystem restoration at integrated systems scale across multiple water resources management objectives, driven by our partners and stakeholders.
Refuses to issue licenses
Davis denies marriage licenses to gay couples in direct defiance of the federal court order. After denying a license to April Miller and Karen Roberts, David Ermold and David Moore, 17 years a couple, demanded to talk to Davis:
Ermold: We’re not leaving until we have a license.
Davis: Then you’re going to have a long day
Later she says:
It is not a light issue for me. It is a heaven or hell decision.
Apologises to Elba
Horowitz apologizes to Elba for saying he is ‘too street’ to play James Bond.
I'm really sorry my comments about Idris Elba have caused offence [full statement attached] pic.twitter.com/UD6ouA45Uv
— Anthony Horowitz (@AnthonyHorowitz) September 1, 2015
Invites burger collaboration
Burger King says it will collaborate with multiple companies, including McDonald’s, on the one-day-only pop-up restaurant featuring “The Peace Day Burger.”
Although they [McDonald’s] haven’t yet agreed to come on board our original proposal still stands. McDonald’s take your time. We’re totally at peace with that. Meanwhile, an incredible thing has happened. We’ve received a significant number of unexpected responses from other restaurants, large and small, each expressing an appetite for peace and enthusiasm to help spread the Peace One Day message…Naturally, peace is inclusive to all. So Denny’s, Wayback Burgers, Krystal, and Giraffas, we’d like to build on your individual proposals to collaborate on Peace Day, September 26. Our ide would be that we all come together to create a burger that combines a key ingredient from each of our signature sandwiches.
Will participate in CNN debate
CNN changes its rules so that Fiorina can participate in the second GOP debate on September 16. The original rules discounted Fiorina because the average of polls conducted between July 16 and Sept. 10 minimized the significant rise in Fiorina’s numbers since her performance of the first non-prime-time “undercard” debate of longshot contenders.
Claims 100K users last week
The Company claims that, despite reports, women are actively using the site.
Recent media reports predicting the imminent demise of Ashley Madison are greatly exaggerated. The company continues its day-to-day operations even as it deals with the theft of its private data by criminal hackers. Despite having our business and customers attacked, we are growing…Last week, a reporter who claimed to analyze the stolen data made incorrect assumptions about the meaning of fields contained in the leaked data. This reporter concluded that the number of active female members on Ashley Madison could be calculated based on those assumptions. That conclusion was wrong…Last week alone, women sent more than 2.8 million messages within our platform. Furthermore, in the first half of this year the ratio of male members who paid to communicate with women on our service versus the number of female members who actively used their account (female members are not required to pay to communicate with men on Ashley Madison) was 1.2 to 1. These numbers are the main reason that Ashley Madison is the number one service for people seeking discrete relationships.
Reminds fans of Potter’s son first school day
Rowling reminds Harry Potter fans that today would be the first day at Hogwart’s School for Harry’s oldest son, James Sirius Potter.
I'm in Edinburgh, so could somebody at King's Cross wish James S Potter good luck for me? He's starting at Hogwarts today. #BackToHogwarts
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) September 1, 2015
Have just heard that James S Potter has been Sorted (to nobody's surprise) into Gryffindor. Teddy Lupin (Head Boy, Hufflepuff) disappointed.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) September 1, 2015
Call for abortion pardon
Francis calls on priests to pardon women who have abortions during the upcoming Jubilee year — overruling hardline traditionalists within the Catholic Church.
I have decided, notwithstanding anything to the contrary, to concede to all priests for the Jubilee Year the discretion to absolve of the sin of abortion those who have procured it and who, with contrite heart, seek forgiveness.
Francis says he knew that while “abortion is experienced by some with a superficial awareness” many others “believe that they have no other option” and that he has “met so many women who bear in their heart the scar of this agonising and painful decision”. He also calls for amnesty for prisoners in jails across the world who have repented.
The Jubilee Year has always constituted an opportunity for great amnesty, which is intended to include the many people who, despite deserving punishment, have become conscious of the injustice they worked.
Bemoans isolation of wealth
Persson writes a series of tweets about the disconnect he feels as a new billionaire.
The problem with getting everything is that you run out of reasons to keep trying, and human interaction becomes impossible due to imbalance…Hanging out in Ibiza with famous friends and partying with famous people, able to do whatever I want, and I’ve never felt more isolated…In sweden, I will sit around and wait for my friends with jobs and families to have time to do shit, watching my reflection in the monitor…When we sold the company, the biggest effort went into making sure the employees got taken care of, and they all hate me now…Found a great girl, but she’s afraid of me and my lifestyle and went with a normal person instead…I would Musk and try to save the world, but that just exposes me to the same type of assholes that made me sell minecraft again…People who made sudden success are telling me this is normal and will pass. That’s good to know! I guess I’ll take a shower then!
Bryant, O’Neal clear the air
Bryant and O’Neal discuss their relationship on O’Neal’s The Big Podcast with Shaq. O’Neal and Bryant were teammates on the Lakers from 1996 to 2004, winning titles in 2000, 2001, and 2002. However, a constant feud between the two led to O’Neal’s eventual departure from the team in 2004. O’Neal:
It’s time to clear the air, because I’ve said many times that we were the most enigmatic, controversial, most talked-about, dominant one-two punch. I just want people to know that I don’t hate you, I know you don’t hate me. I called it today a ‘work beef,’ is what we had.
Bryant:
Here’s the thing — what we did, our disagreements, what made those things special is we said them to each other’s face. We didn’t go behind each other’s back and whisper to our teammates about this, that and the other, because that does nothing but create friction and it’s cancerous to the team.
Denny’s wants peace burger
Denny’s places full-page ads in USA Today and The New York Times saying it wants to collaborate with Burger King to make a mashup ‘Peace” burger, inserting itself into the discussion between Burger King and McDonald’s. Denny’s wants to combine elements of its 880 calorie Bacon Slamburger (a hamburger topped with hash browns, a cooked-to-order egg, bacon and pepper jack queso) with the iconic Whopper.
We can name it the Whamper, the Slamopper, The WhopaSlam…Well, we can figure that out later.
hey @burgerking …or the Whoppaslam©? The Slopper©? The Slamopper©? wouldn't that be whopperslamalicious?!https://t.co/t1FACtBhgv
— Denny’s (@DennysDiner) August 29, 2015
State: 150 emails upgraded to ‘classified’ status
The State Department says 150 of 7000 pages of emails it will release today from clinton’s server have had their status upgraded to ‘classified’. Spokesperson:
The information we’ve upgraded was not marked classified at the time the emails were sent…That’s our estimation right now.
Apologizes for racial slur
Hogan apologizes on Good Morning America, for calling his daughter’s boyfriend a “nigger”.
I’m not a racist but I never should have said what I said. It was wrong. I’m embarrassed by it…If anybody should have disowned me it should have been her,’ said Hogan. ‘I was upset about something that happened between her and her boyfriend…Please forgive me.
He says he was suicidal:
I was to the point where I wanted to kill myself, you know? I was completely broken and destroyed and said, ‘What’s the easiest way out of this?’ I mean, I was lost. I’ve worked for the WWE for almost 30 years off and on… and then all of a sudden, everything I’ve done my whole career and my whole life was like it never happened.
Hogan also says he inherited racial bias from growing up in Port Tampa
People need to realize that you inherit things from your environment. And where I grew up was south Tampa, Port Tampa, and it was a really rough neighborhood, very low income. And all my friends, we greeted each other saying that word…I would say that is very fair [that I inherited a racial bias]. ‘I think that was part of the culture and the environment I grew up in and I think that’s fair to say.
Renames Mt McKinley to ‘Denali’
Obama renames North America’s highest peak from Mount McKinley — after the 25th president — to its traditional Alaska Native name, Denali. White House statement:
In 1896, a prospector emerged from exploring the mountains of central Alaska and received news that William McKinley had been nominated as a candidate for President of the United States. In a show of support, the prospector declared the tallest peak of the Alaska Range as “Mt. McKinley”—and the name stuck. McKinley became our 25th President, and was tragically assassinated just six months into his second term. But he never set foot in Alaska—and for centuries, the mountain that rises some 20,000 feet above sea level, the tallest on the North American continent, had been known by another name—Denali. Generally believed to be central to the Athabascan creation story, Denali is a site of significant cultural importance to many Alaska Natives. The name “Denali” has been used for many years and is widely used across the state today.
Urges Egypt to overturn convictions
Clooney, who represents Fahmy, urges the Egyptian President to overturn the Cairo convictions.
The verdict today sends a very dangerous message in Egypt. It sends a message that journalists can be locked up for simply doing their job, for telling the truth and reporting the news…[Every third party who has weighed in on the lengthy case says] there is no evidence to sustain any of the charges….It sends a dangerous message that there are judges in Egypt who will allow their courts to become instruments of political repression and propaganda.
Memorial service
Friends and colleagues pay tribute to Parker and Ward at a memorial service at the Jefferson Center in Roanoke. Station manager Jeff Marks:
Adam and Alison saw it as their mission to awaken us to what was good and fun in life…I want to play softball with Adam again. And I want to see Alison dance. And I will, in the wonderful memories they gave me and gave us.
Blames sexual assault on inappropriate clothing
In an extract from her autobiography, Reckless, published in The Sunday Times, Hynde says she was to blame for being sexually assaulted when she was 21 because of the way she dressed. She was picked up by a motorcycle gang who promised to take her to a party but instead took her to an empty house and sexually assaulted her.
If I’m walking around in my underwear and I’m drunk? Who else’s fault can it be? – Er, the guy who attacks you? Oh, come on! That’s just silly. If I’m walking around and I’m very modestly dressed and I’m keeping to myself and someone attacks me, then I’d say that’s his fault. But if I’m being very lairy and putting it about and being provocative, then you are enticing someone who’s already unhinged — don’t do that…You know, if you don’t want to entice a rapist, don’t wear high heels so you can’t run from him. If you’re wearing something that says ‘Come and —- me’, you’d better be good on your feet I don’t think I’m saying anything controversial am I?”
Hynde also calls performers who use sex to sell products “prostitutes”.
A pop star who’s walking around, parading themselves as a porn star and saying they’re feminists. They’re prostitutes. I’m not making a value judgment on prostitutes, but just say what you are.
Calls Cyrus a ‘bitch’
Minaj calls Cyrus a bitch at the VMAs.
And now, back to this bitch that had a lot to say about me the other day in the press, Miley what’s good?
The taunt is in reference to Cyrus’ New York Times interview where she said Minaj’s Twitter spat with Taylor Swift was about herself as opposed to the real issues.
You made it about you. Not to sound like a bitch, but that’s like, ‘Eh, I didn’t get my VMA’…If you want to make it about race, there’s a way you could do that. But don’t make it just about yourself. Say: ‘This is the reason why I think it’s important to be nominated. There’s girls everywhere with this body type’.
Cyrus replies:
We’re all in this industry. We all do interviews and we all know how they manipulate shit. Nicki, congratu-f-ckin-lations.
The camera cuts back to Minaj who seems to mouth back, “Bitch.”
Daily Mail interview
Horowitz talks about James Bond and his book Trigger Mortis.
I remember seeing Dr No in the cinema at the age of eight. It was one of the most significant moments of my life…This is something I have wanted to do all my life.
On the assignment:
I am unlikely to earn as much as from an Alex Rider book, but I have never written with money in my head…The Fleming estate gets involved in what is going to happen and it was clear from the start there were going to be very strict guidelines for writing this book. Part of the recruitment process was to demonstrate to them that I wasn’t going to write something embarrassing or wrong.
On the films:
Daniel Craig is a terrific Bond. Casino Royale is probably my favourite. Of the films after Connery, it is easily the best. Fantastic. A total return to the gritty seriousness of it. Quantum Of Solace just went wrong. Skyfall is my least favourite. I know it is heresy to say so, but it is the one Bond film I have never liked. Bond is weak in it. He has doubts. That’s not Bond. Secondly, the villain wins.
On candidates for the next Bond:
Idris Elba is a terrific actor, but I can think of other black actors who would do it better. For me, Idris Elba is a bit too rough to play the part. It’s not a colour issue. I think he is probably a bit too “street” for Bond. Is it a question of being suave? Yeah.
Claims he’ll be ‘droned’ if he leaves embassy
Assange claims it has become too dangerous to even poke his head out the Ecuadorean embassy’s balcony doors.
There are security issues with being on the balcony. There have been bomb threats and assassination threats from various people. It’s not likely [that I’ll be shot] but I’m a public figure and a very controversial one, including in the United States. As a result, there have been quite a number of threats by unstable people…I’m a white guy. Unless I convert to Islam it’s not that likely that I’ll be droned, but we have seen things creeping towards that.
He also says he advised Edward Snowden on where he should go after his disclosures:
He preferred Latin America, but my advice was that he should take asylum in Russia despite the negative PR consequences, because my assessment is that he had a significant risk he could be kidnapped from Latin America on CIA orders. Kidnapped or possibly killed.