Arizona Governor Signs Controversial Abortion Bill Into Law

PHOENIX, March 30 (Reuters) – Arizona’s Republican governor, Doug Ducey, said on Monday he has signed into law a controversial measure blocking women from buying insurance that includes abortion coverage through the federal healthcare exchange.

The fiercely debated bill also requires doctors to tell women they could possibly reverse the effects of a drug-induced abortion, a claim that critics have called “junk science.”

The measure cleared the Republican-controlled state legislature last week, largely along party lines.

“The American people overwhelmingly oppose taxpayer funding of abortions, and it’s no different in Arizona, where we have long-standing policy against subsidizing them with public dollars,” Ducey said in a statement after signing the measure on Monday. “This legislation provides clarity to state law.” (Reporting by David Schwartz in Phoenix, Arizona; Writing by Eric M. Johnson; Editing by Eric Beech)

John Boehner Reveals His Absolute Ignorance About the Middle East

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“It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.” This quotation has been attributed to Mark Twain, Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, and Socrates. It’s too bad John Boehner doesn’t seem to have taken it to heart. Here’s what Boehner said on Sunday about the peace process in the Middle East.

“Well, [Netanyahu] doesn’t have a partner,” Boehner said. “How do you have a two-state solution when you don’t have a partner in that solution, when you don’t have a partner for peace, when you’ve got a — when the other state is vowing to wipe you off the face of the earth?”

Really, Mr. Boehner? The Palestinian Authority, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, is vowing to wipe Israel off the face of the earth? That would be the same Palestinian Authority that has recognized Israel as a state since 1993, and which has renounced violence as a method of resistance.

To say the least, Hamas is a different story, not to mention groups like Islamic Jihad. However, without going into the complexities of an incomparably complex situation, John Boehner made a blanket statement about “the other state.” That means the government officially recognized as the representative of the Palestinians. That’s the government led by President Abbas. Boehner’s statement wasn’t an oversimplification, or a slight exaggeration, or a misperception. It was a flat-out falsehood. John Boehner has decided that he wants to conduct American Mideast policy–despite, you know, not actually being president–and yet he makes a statement as absurdly incorrect as this? It’s simply unconscionable.

And we know why he did it. Unblinking, blind support for Benjamin Netanyahu appears to be the one issue best able to excite the Republican base. We see this in the blowback that hit James Baker after he criticized the Israeli prime minister, even as he added that the United States would “never, never, never abandon Israel.” None other than Baker’s best buddy’s son, Jeb Bush, slammed him. Netanyahu is so untouchable among Republicans that Bill Kristol mused that “Bibi would probably win the Republican nomination if it were legal.” Apparently, Ted Cruz receives his “biggest standing ovation at each event” when he proclaims his devotion to Bibi.

In the same interview with CNN, Boehner criticized President Obama as well, stating: “I think the animosity exhibited by our administration toward the prime minister of Israel is reprehensible.” Never mind the fact that the Speaker of the House seems to be more supportive of a foreign government–key ally or not–than our own. Boehner knows that if there’s one thing the Republican base likes from its politicians as much as declaring fealty to Benjamin Netanyahu, it’s going after Barack Obama.

UC-Berkeley Soccer Player Killed By Car On Highway After Leaving Party

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A University of California, Berkeley soccer player who disappeared after leaving a weekend party was killed by a car as he ran across a Los Angeles freeway, police said Monday.

The 19-year-old freshman, Eloi (eh-loy) Vasquez, died early Saturday on eastbound Interstate 10 about a mile from the University of Southern California after he was seen leaving a fraternity party, the California Highway Patrol said.

A woman said a man ran in front of her and she was unable to avoid hitting him, said Officer Edgar Figueroa, a CHP spokesman. The man was struck just east of Vermont Avenue. The investigation is ongoing.

Vasquez was pronounced dead at the scene. He was not carrying identification, which set off a missing persons search until the coroner could identify him.

Vasquez, who was on spring break in Los Angeles, had left the party to take a walk with no money and no wallet, family and police said.

His mother, Wendy Margolin, said he later called a friend, telling her he was lost and in trouble.

The family had offered a $100,000 reward for information about his whereabouts.

“Needless to say, we are heartbroken, we are devastated upon finding out this news,” Wesley Mallette, associate athletic director at the Berkeley campus, said at a news conference.

“Eloi Vasquez was a wonderful young man, a fantastic student athlete, dedicated and devoted to everything he did.”

Vasquez’s soccer teammates at Cal were informed of his death at a more than hour-long meeting.

Vasquez had traveled with other teammates to Southern California for the break and was supposed to return Monday for the start of second semester, coach Kevin Grimes said.

“Eloi was a wonderful teammate. He was very close to all of his players. Our guys are grieving pretty hard right now,” Grimes said.

Vasquez, a freshman midfielder, had hurt his knee during the year and was still recovering from surgery in December.

His coach described him as one of the hardest workers on the team, who always stayed after practice. His youth soccer coaches would have to change the lock on the equipment shed to ensure he didn’t work too hard on his own, Grimes said.

“When you combine his talent level with that mentality it was a safe bet that he was headed to the MLS” – the U.S. professional soccer league, Grimes said.

Ask JJ: Maintaining Steady, Sustained Energy

Dear JJ: Even though I begin with the best intentions, some mornings I crash and feel like I’m running on empty all day. How can I create and maintain all-day energy without staying constantly caffeinated?

As a single mom raising two teenage sons and running two businesses, I understand how draining juggling multiple duties can become.

As a huge coffee fan, I also get how an organic dark roast can become just your ticket for days when you’re running on empty and desperately seek a second wind.

“According to the FDA, 80 percent of U.S. adults consume caffeine each day, with an individual intake of 200 mg,” writes Laura Schocker. “To put that in real world terms, the average caffeine-consuming American drinks two five-ounce cups of coffee or about four sodas.”

Some people consume much more, particularly as high-sugar impact energy drinks, and such caffeine crutches coupled with lack of sleep and other obstacles can contribute to long-term energy crashes.

Many issues underlie our our-caffeinated, constantly tired modern-day energy crisis. I’ve found addressing these five things can make the difference between crashing and steady, sustained energy.

1. Sleep. I don’t need to describe the caffeinated aftermath of a crappy night’s sleep to zap your energy, make you feel lousy, and start the day’s caffeine cycle. Even one night’s poor sleep can adversely affect your hunger hormones and set the stage for cravings, lethargy, and a miserable day at the office. When your energy levels lag, lack of sleep might be your primary culprit. Aim for seven to nine hours of quality, uninterrupted sleep every night. If getting or staying asleep becomes a struggle, apply these seven shut-eye strategies.

2. Breakfast. Start your morning with a gargantuan dark roast and a high-sugar impact muffin or cereal and you’re set for a mid-morning energy crash. “[S]ugary foods may seem like a good idea, as they may give you a quick burst of energy, but they’re actually not as your blood sugar will wind up lower than before you ate the sugar,” writes Shelley Emling. “Ultimately this ‘crash’ will sap you of energy.” Instead, make breakfast a protein shake, which helps steady blood sugar to keep you full, focused, and full of energy for hours.

3. Caffeine. Coffee becomes a dose-dependent beverage: Whereas a cup gives you a boost, refills can create a jittery, wired-and-tired aftermath. Especially become aware about how that late-afternoon java pick-me-up affects your long-term health. “Caffeine is a known stimulant, and like any stimulant we take into our body, when it is no longer active we feel tired,” writes Judith J. Wurtman, Ph.D. “It is possible to recharge our mental energy by consuming more caffeine, but doing so comes with a cost, namely a sleepless night.”

4. Exercise. Exerting energy creates it, as you’ve likely discovered when a good workout gave you a second wind. Especially when you’re running on empty, you don’t have hours to spend at the gym. That’s why I love burst training, or high-intensity interval training (HIIT), which you knock out in minutes a day. “When you do HIIT, you create an oxygen debt thereby elevating your metabolism,” writes Jenn Zerling. “You also improve the production of growth hormone and testosterone, which directly lowers cortisol levels, allowing your body to mobilize fat out of your cells for energy. Isn’t that the goal? Steady state training, such as walking or jogging steadily, does not achieve this.” Keep exercise to morning or afternoon. Working out too close to bed can give you a second wind when you don’t need it.

5. Stress. “The underlying cause of feeling fatigued, drained, lacking energy may really be ongoing STRESS,” writes Helen Marie Loorents. “Stress is the worst toxin in the entire body — worse than sugar! If you really knew what was happening to your body when you are stressed, you would do whatever it takes to keep stress at bay.” Yoga, meditation, deep breathing, or just a green tea date with your bestie: Find what works for you to control stress and prioritize it.

What strategy would you add to this list to maintain energy and focus? Share your idea below. And please keep those fab questions coming at AskJJ@jjvirgin.com.

The State of Masculinity in America and the One Film Every Man Must See

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This week I had the great privilege of attending a screening of Jennifer Siebel Newsom’s latest film, The Mask You Live In, which embarks on a powerful exploration of the truth and consequences associated with modern masculinity in America. If you are unaware of this remarkable filmmaker, make note, as she is on course to becoming one of the great filmmakers of our time. This film is the second in a trilogy series that Siebel Newsom and her team have embarked upon. Her first film the groundbreaking Missrepresentation, widely acclaimed at Sundance, sparked a global education and empowerment conversation on the impact of pervasive media stereotypes and distorted messaging that negatively impacts the development of girls and young women. Both films are harrowing documentaries that artfully intertwine expert commentary layered with thoughtful images and deeply personal narratives, in what is becoming Siebel Newsom’s signature style.

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In peeling back the layers of what brings us to the current state of masculinity in America, Mask begins with the pain so many young boys and men experience and carry in isolation starting very early on in life. Legendary coach and author Joe Ehrmann‘s story and unmistakable voice fill the opening scenes with an all too familiar narrative of his five year old self being told by his father, “Don’t cry, be a man.” One of the most damaging phrases in our culture and yet an all too common socialization tool that is inflicted upon generation after generation of young men. The story then details Joe’s journey and numerous others from every race and ethnic background dealing with similar boyhood experiences of shame, fear, isolation and shunted emotions.

“He wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it.” —
George Orwell

The systemic internalization and blocking off of all emotion as the film warns inevitably leads to pent up frustration, anger and oftentimes violence against oneself and others. The stats Mask weaves in throughout are shocking and detail the dramatic rise in the just the past few years in bullying, rape, murder, and in particular mass murder by young men should be warning enough that we as a society aren’t doing enough. As a society we are failing our boys and young men.

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And though there are so many elements of this film that haunt you, there is much hope weaved throughout that Siebel Newsom deftly uncovers and brings home by showcasing the amazing efforts of extraordinary teachers and mentors who work with the kids everyone has given up on. They are some of the most remarkable human beings I have ever witnessed captured on film. They are providing safe spaces, camaraderie and the tools to help adolescent men not only share their emotions but a safe space to connect with one another, a brotherhood of sorts that will shape them in a positive way for the rest of their lives. When I look at the amount of money we in America spend on our prisons compared to programs like this I wonder where the hell are our priorities? We should be embracing, elevating and compensating extraordinary local leaders like these teaches and mentors Siebel Newsom highlights so they not only never stop what they are doing but so that their efforts can be replicated and scaled in every city across America. We need an army of these teachers, mentors and coaches engaged in a massive collective effort if we are ever to right this ship.

Where We Take The Conversation From Here

When I asked men who attended the screening what their main takeaways were and if anything surprised them, they universally said that while they weren’t surprised by what they saw the real revelation was in the new awareness they now have that this is something that needs to be surfaced and talked about. Men don’t talk about these issues and as a society we’ve looked the other way. That has to stop. This film is the perfect way to initiate the conversation in your home, community, and workplace.

The Mask You Live In is the first comprehensive film study on the state of masculinity in America. It is a film every young man and grown man, everywhere, must see. Especially if they are fathers, coaches, teaches, and mentors. This film, like Missrepresentaion, makes you think for days and weeks thereafter. They are stark warnings that compel the audience to look inward, have a conversation and then be part of the solution in whatever way you can. You are compelled to action. And when I say compel, I mean anyone who watches either of these films cannot walk away unchanged. And for that I am personally grateful and hope Seibel Newsome and the The Representation Project never stop what they are doing.

What You Can Do Now

Join & Support the Movement — Learn more at TheRepresentationProject.org; Sign up to receive updates, insights and new learnings.

Host a Screening — in your home, community, and/or workplace and start the conversation

Read and Buy Extra Copies of Joe Ehrmann’s brilliant book, Inside Out Coaching, and give one to every young man, father, coach, and teacher that matters in your life.

Looking Local: Addressing Hunger, Poverty and WASH

Why does hunger persist in a world of plenty? In a world that has made so much progress in achieving many of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), cutting extreme poverty in half by 2010, why has it not yet cut hunger in half? Most people are surprised that it has virtually nothing to do with food supply, and far more to do with sexism, open defecation and weak local government.

India has the world’s largest share of hunger — more hungry people than all of Africa combined. Experts estimate that half of that hunger is a result of water-borne disease caused by open defecation. With 17 percent of the world’s population, India has 61 percent of the world’s open defecation. And the greatest reason this practice persists is that women have been denied voice in decision-making.

Hunger is a violation of human rights, and human rights are built on the concept of human dignity. There is perhaps nothing more fundamental to our human dignity than water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). When that human right is secure, we might take it for granted. But for the millions of children whose nutrition is destroyed by water-borne diseases, and for the billion-plus women and girls who risk sexual assault daily simply for lack of access to a toilet, it is a critical political issue.

WASH politics are local. If the pipes are broken, you shouldn’t have to travel to your national capital to get them fixed. You need someone within reach to hold to account. This is why I am such a passionate advocate for strong, participatory local democracy. When you visit communities where the water doesn’t work, you can bet that underneath that problem is a lack of local democracy.

The good news is that the long-standing issues of sexual assault, nutrition and open defecation are finally getting public attention in the media. India has elected a prime minister famous for his pledge “toilets before temples.” Yet fulfilling this pledge requires local action.

Fortunately, an earlier prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi, championed a constitutional amendment reserving 1/3 of all seats in local government for women. In deeply patriarchal rural India, which suppressed women’s voice for thousands of years, women are now discovering their voice and learning to flex their political muscles. My Hunger Project colleagues in India have worked with 100,000 of these elected women representatives to build their leadership skills and advocacy networks. Our work is based on an innovative, holistic approach, which empowers women and men living in rural villages to become the agents of their own development and make sustainable progress in overcoming hunger and poverty, including through WASH.

Twenty-four-year-old Nepura Mahji, a tribal woman from the impoverished state of Odisha, was a rare high school graduate from her village and one of the few whose home had a toilet. She was elected to be the village council president in 2012 and made it her mission to protect the women of her village: “I know that women without toilets at home are vulnerable while walking miles in the dark to find a private place to relieve themselves. I could well imagine their painful situation particularly during menstruation.” She educated her community on diseases caused by open defecation and helped people understand how toilets will improve their lives. She ran into bureaucratic obstacles, however, and even had to file a Right-to-Information request to find out what funds were allocated for water and sanitation. After repeated efforts, she secured funds for 222 household toilets and has repaired broken water pumps.

Rekha Devi, from the even poorer state of Bihar, had been dependent on making hand-rolled cigarettes (Beedi) for a living before running for local election in 2011. She, too, took up the challenge of sanitation — seeking to clean up the open sewage drains in the village. Her council president stonewalled her. She went to the local newspapers and made the filthy conditions a front-page issue. The council president caved, granting the $200 required to solve the problem. Rekha is now taking on securing a clean water supply for everyone in her community.

Women like Nepura and Rekha are making a difference in hunger and poverty in their communities by tackling the issue of WASH through the local government system. Their efforts are improving the nutrition of the children of their communities, allowing other women to study or engage in livelihood activities, and creating an environment where women’s voices can be heard.

Twenty years ago, my colleagues in The Hunger Project-India studied whether water projects launched by NGOs or the state government were more effective. They frankly thought the evidence would favor NGOs. But they found that both failed equally — the only determinant of success was the engagement of local government.

When I visited my Midwestern parents after my first visit to India, they asked what it was like. I was at a loss for words. I simply asked them to be grateful that they had a metropolitan sewer district — people locally accountable for a thankless but essential responsibility.

More stories like those of Rekha and Napura can be found at thp.org/water.

This blog post is part of the “WASH and the MDGs: The Ripple Effect” blog series, in partnership with WASH Advocates, addressing the importance of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) to global development. To see all the other posts in the series, click here. To learn more about WASH, visit the WASH Advocates website, and for more information about the Millennium Development Goals, click here.

Don't Worry About the Robots, The Fed Might Take Your Job

It is rare that a week goes by when we don’t hear a story warning us that robots are going to be taking our jobs. (For example, here , here, here .) This is bizarre even as measured by a standard of economic reporting that allowed an $8 trillion housing bubble to grow largely unnoticed.

The basic point is a simple one: there is no real evidence that robots are displacing workers on any substantial scale. The other part of the story that makes the robot discussion so annoying is that the Federal Reserve Board is actively debating policy that has the explicit purpose of taking away people’s jobs and almost no one seems to care.

Starting with the robot part of the story, we do have a measure of the rate at which robots and other technologies are displacing workers. It’s called “productivity growth.” This measures the rate of increase in output for each hour of workers’ labor. If robots were displacing workers on a large scale then we should be seeing very rapid productivity growth since it would mean that we are able to produce the same amount of output with many fewer workers.

In fact the data show the opposite. Productivity growth has actually been very slow in this recovery. Since the recovery began in the summer of 2009 productivity growth has averaged 1.2 percent a year. In the last two years productivity growth has been less than 1.0 percent annually.

By comparison, productivity growth averaged 3.0 percent annually from 1995 to 2005. In the post-war Golden Age from 1947 to 1973 productivity growth also averaged almost 3.0 percent annually. Given the recent rates of productivity growth, it is hard to imagine that we will have to worry about productivity growing too rapidly any time soon.

Furthermore, we used to think that productivity growth was a good thing. In the Golden Age years of rapid productivity growth the unemployment rate averaged less than 5.0 percent. Unemployment averaged less than 4.0 percent in the four years at the end of the 1960s.

Workers shared in the benefits of rapid productivity growth with rapid wage increases. Higher wages meant increased consumption, which created demand for the greater levels of output made possible by productivity gains. Workers also took some of the gains in the form of more leisure, as workers got more and longer vacations.

At this point, the data indicate that we should be more concerned about slow productivity growth than fast productivity growth. But even if productivity growth were to speed up, this should allow for higher wages and an improved standard of living for workers, not the sorts of things we ordinarily fear.

The robots may not be likely to take our jobs, but there is a real risk that the Federal Reserve Board will. There is a regular drum beat in the business press about the need for the Fed to start raising interest rates. In fact the Fed itself is telling us to expect higher rates, the question is how much higher and how fast we get there.

The ostensible rationale for a rate hike is that we face a danger of the economy growing too rapidly and pushing the unemployment rate down too low. Lower rates of unemployment increase the bargaining power of workers, especially those at the bottom of the wage ladder. More bargaining power would lead to more rapid wage growth, which in turn could lead to higher rates of inflation. So the Fed would effectively be preventing workers from getting jobs in order to ensure that wages don’t rise more rapidly.

In short, the Fed is quite explicitly threatening workers’ jobs with its rate hikes. Unfortunately, due to the state of economic reporting, there are probably few people in the country who recognize this fact. The media has not been telling people that the Fed might take away their job, or at least has not put the issue in a way that most people would understand that this is the point of a Fed policy of raising interest rates.

This failure by the media is especially unfortunate since the Fed’s interest rate is a policy decision that can be easily controlled: the Fed has the option to set a higher or lower interest rate. By contrast, it’s not clear what we would do about robots, if it turned out to be the case that robots were actually leading to mass unemployment.

So next time you hear someone blabbing about how robots are going to take away our jobs tell them to can the science fiction and get back to the real world. The immediate threat to jobs is the folks are the Federal Reserve Board who want to raise interest rates. And as far as we know, none of them are robots.

'Cards Against Humanity' expansion benefits women's STEM scholarship

Cards Against Humanity, the naughty fill-in-the-blank card game, today launched the $10 Science Pack, an expansion offering 30 cards written in collaboration with Bad Astronomer Phil Plait and Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal creator Zach Weinersmit…

Stakes are High for Iran Nuclear Negotiations

This week, the U.S. has a chance to lead an international coalition into an agreement that would guard against any attempt by Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon. However, the decades since the Iranian Revolution in 1979 are littered with missed opportunities to resolve differences between the U.S. and Iran, including on the nuclear issue. With political capital expended to keep the negotiations afloat, particularly in Washington, and the list of issues to be resolved shrinking, these negotiations have steadily risen in importance. As a result, failure or the rash rejection of a breakthrough by Congress or Iranian hardliners could result in irreparable damage to the diplomatic track, with profound consequences for an already chaotic region.

We may never see a pair of U.S. and Iranian Presidents more willing to expend the political capital necessary to reach a nuclear deal. President Obama famously distinguished himself on the campaign trail in 2008 by vowing to sit down with any world leader without preconditions, including Iran, and has turned an Iran nuclear deal into what could be the chief foreign policy goal of his second term. Secretary of State John Kerry and other top U.S. diplomats have also spent countless hours doggedly pursuing a deal that balances between the political imperatives of Washington and Tehran.

In Iran, President Rouhani campaigned on a platform of moderation and outreach to the West. Rouhani was the lead nuclear negotiator for Iran between 2003-2005, which resulted in Iran freezing its enrichment and implementing the IAEA’s Additional Protocol. Rouhani’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, also has a successful track record of negotiating with the West, playing a critical role in the effort to form a new government for Afghanistan at the Bonn conference in 2001. Over the past year and a half of intense negotiations, Rouhani and Zarif have kept Iran’s skeptical Supreme Leader united behind their efforts to reach a deal, preventing counterproductive divides in Iran’s political elite.

Now, with the political scales tilted heavily in favor of diplomacy, failure could eliminate diplomatic prospects for the foreseeable future. Escalation will be the name of the game if negotiations fail, as lead U.S. negotiator Wendy Sherman articulated in October. Congress would pass sanctions and President Obama might not put up much of a fight. Iran would expand its nuclear program and limit the access of international inspectors. The sanctions regime would fray or potentially collapse, diminishing U.S. leverage over Iran. Tacit cooperation in Iraq to counter ISIS militants could end, with dangerous consequences.

If diplomacy fails, President Obama would likely resist the reinvigorated calls from neoconservative circles to attack Iran, but he has less than two years remaining in office. Prominent Republicans weighing Presidential runs have already staked out a hardline position by warning Iran that they would undo any potential multilateral nuclear agreement “with the stroke of a pen.” Democrats, as well, could be scarred by failure and rush toward a hawkish position. Whereas a multilateral agreement would constrain the next President from returning to the escalation route, an advancing Iranian nuclear program and the lack of diplomatic prospects would tempt many of Obama’s potential successors to consider the military option, regardless of the consequences. Those who have dreamed of attacking Tehran ever since the fall of Baghdad are banking on such an opportunity to renew their case for yet another disastrous war.

It has been ten years since the European 3 (the United Kingdom, France and Germany) had a golden opportunity to constrain Iran’s nuclear program. Those talks fell apart largely due to the George W. Bush administration’s insistence that any agreement result in Iran eliminating its entire centrifuge program. As a result, Iran went from hundreds to 20,000 centrifuges as economic pressure escalated but failed to achieve any strategic goal. Now, diplomacy has once again halted the Iranian program’s advance and could lead to a historic breakthrough that reshapes the U.S.-Iran relationship, cuts off Iran’s pathways to a nuclear weapon and averts a disastrous war. If an agreement falls through, however, getting through another ten years without a war, an Iranian nuclear weapon, or both would likely prove more challenging than reaching the diplomatic inflection point that the parties now face in Lausanne.

Sony Xperia Z4 Makes An Appearance On GFXBench

sony-xperia-z4-leaked-pictureWe have seen flagships from Samsung and HTC at MWC 2015 earlier this month, which means that as far as the major OEMs are concerned, we have yet to see Sony’s, LG’s, or Motorola’s just yet. Now the Sony Xperia Z4 has been pegged for a launch before September 2015 and we’re sure some of you guys are wondering about its specs.

Well, wonder no more as the Sony Xperia Z4 has recently made an appearance on GFXBench. Considering that device benchmarks can be faked, it’s best taken with a grain of salt for now but the specs listed on GFXBench seem to be similar to the ones from last month that came from Geekbench, so perhaps they are indeed the same device.

That being said, as expected the Sony Xperia Z4 will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chipset and will come with 3GB of RAM. It will sport a 19MP rear-facing camera, a 5MP front-facing camera, and interestingly enough its display is said to be of the 5.1-inch Full HD variety. Considering that many companies are going QHD, it seems odd that Sony would stick to Full HD.

However a rumor from earlier this year suggested that we could be looking at FHD and QHD models, although it does seem a bit out of character for Sony to release two flagship models at the same time. Admittedly the FHD display would also mean better battery life, but what do you guys think? Would a FHD resolution put you off from buying the handset?

Sony Xperia Z4 Makes An Appearance On GFXBench

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