Texts revealed
Investigators say Fryberg sent a series of text before the shooting, including his funeral plans. At 10:25am, he sent via Facebook Messenger a photo of a pistol between his legs and asking that an unidentified person call him ‘before he did “this thing”.’ At 10:27 a.m., he spoke with a friend for two minutes and then sent a message to his father saying
read the paper on my bed. Dad I love you.
Four seconds after that he sent a group text with his funeral plans.
I want to be fully dressed in Camo in my casket. I don’t want my family to cancel there (sic) trip in December. Put my hat with the S on it on me in my casket. Make sure all of my trust money or whatever goes to my brother. Also apologize to Andrews fam and xx fam for me taking them with me. But I needed to ride or dies with me on the other side…Make sure everyone’s family goes to grams for dinner….You guys need to cook all that deer meat gram canned and the meet (sic) that’s in the downstairs freezer at our house.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
Next flyby target selected
NASA determines the next likely target destination for a flyby by New Horizons, a small object in the Kuiper Belt called 2014MU69. It orbits almost a billion miles away from Pluto. A full proposal about the mission will be evaluated by NASA experts before the go ahead is officially given. NASA Science Mission Directorate Chief Grunsfeld:
Even as the New Horizon’s spacecraft speeds away from Pluto out into the Kuiper Belt, and the data from the exciting encounter with this new world is being streamed back to Earth, we are looking outward to the next destination for this intrepid explorer. While discussions whether to approve this extended mission will take place in the larger context of the planetary science portfolio, we expect it to be much less expensive than the prime mission while still providing new and exciting science.
Campaign claims over 130 superdelegates
Senior Clinton campaign officials claim that she has already secured about 130 superdelegates publicly backing her, but a person familiar with recent conversations in Minneapolis says that officials are telling supporters and the undecided in the last few days that private commitments increase that number to more than 440—about 20 percent of the number of delegates she would need to secure the nomination. It is estimated that 4,491 delegates will attend the convention, meaning that a candidate would need 2,246 to win. Clinton says her campaign’s attention to delegate totals is about ensuring that her support from voters translates into the nomination.
This is really about how you put the numbers together to secure the nomination. As some of you might recall, in 2008 I got a lot of votes but I didn’t get enough delegates. And so I think it’s understandable that my focus is going to be on delegates as well as votes this time.
Comes out of coma, describes attack
Gardner wakes from her medically-induced coma and tells her husband that she couldn’t see Flanagan approaching in front of her because of the bright lights of the camera. She says that Flanagan first targeted Parker, before turning to shoot Ward. She remembers seeing him wearing body armor. Husband:
Then he shot three times at my wife, and she was trying to dodge everything. He missed twice, and then she dove to the ground and curled up in a ball, and that’s when he shot her in the back. I don’t think she ever felt like she was in danger after she got up and walked to the ambulance after being shot, but she didn’t know the extent of her injuries at that point, but the surgeon told me that a couple of centimeters and she wouldn’t be walking and a couple of centimeters more and she wouldn’t be alive.
Once Flanagan left, Gardner started walking away in search of help – despite suffering a bullet wound in her back. An ambulance took her to Roanoke Memorial Hospital where she underwent emergency surgery, followed by additional surgery to her abdomen, where a kidney and part of her colon were removed. She is expected to make a full recovery.
Drops nuggets supplier after animal cruelty video
McDonald’s and Tyson Foods both sever ties with T&S Farm in Dukedom, Tennessee, which was under contract to Tyson Foods, after an undercover video, released by Mercy For Animals, by showed workers stabbing, beating and stomping on chickens in an undercover video shot by animal rights activists. Tyson supplies the chicken meat to McDonald’s. Tyson:
Animal well-being is a priority at our company and we will not tolerate the unacceptable animal treatment shown in this video. Members of our animal well-being team are investigating, however, based on what we currently know, we are terminating the farmer’s contract to grow chickens for us.
McDonald’s:
[We] find the behavior depicted in this video to be completely unacceptable. We’re committed to working with animal welfare and industry experts to inform our policies that promote better management, strong employee education and verification of practices.
Invites audience member to inspect hair
During a speech in Greenville, SC, Trump says his hair is real.
I don’t wear a toupee – it’s my hair. I swear!..[motions to audience member]…Come here – come here. We’re gonna settle this… You have to do an inspection here…This is crazy, just real quick. We don’t wanna mess it up too much, because I do use hair spray, that I do…Is it mine, look? It is? Say it, please.
The woman inspects the hair:
I believe it is.
.@realDonaldTrump summons attendee to stage, asking her to confirm authenticity of his hair: http://t.co/2b2fWMVU3F http://t.co/64B1RxHCEQ
— CBSN (@CBSNLive) August 27, 2015
Flanagan’s family statement
Flanagan’s family makes several statements to the media.
It is with heavy hearts and deep sadness we express our deepest condolences to the families of Alison Parker and Adam Ward. We are praying for the recovery of Vicki Gardner. Our thoughts and prayers at this time are with the victims’ families and the WDBJ television station family….Words cannot express the hurt that we feel for the victims. Our family is asking that the media respect our privacy…It’s a shock to everyone.