It’s been a long day away from outlets, so I reach into my pocket and fish around for a battery module. The zoom camera pack clips out easy, making room for the added battery capacity, which should give me enough juice to get through the evening. I slip the camera module back into my pocket; I won’t need it, since at the party I’m headed to (a six-year anniversary party… Read More
A 5.6 magnitude earthquake shook parts of the US Midwest earlier this morning, rattling homes from Nebraska to North Texas. The unusually strong quake will likely draw further scrutiny to the practice of disposing oil and gas field wastewater deep underground.
Apple has a press event scheduled for this upcoming Wednesday, and there’s no doubt that we’ll finally, once and for all, get to see the new iPhone 7. It’s also very likely we’ll see EarPod headphones in the form of Lightning connector-equipped models, and possibly a wireless version. What wasn’t so expected was new products from Apple’s headphone brand Beats, … Continue reading
By Cat DiStasio
Cell phone technology continues moving forward year after year, but many of the developments are incremental—a better camera, more storage space, or a faster processor. Those are just the improvements that make it to the mass m…
Even though I wasn’t ready to accept it that day, I knew that once I boarded that plane – my life was going to be very different. I was moving back home after having lived abroad for seven years. And after having been married for almost two. I told myself that if we moved to a new place, things would be different for us. And that meant me going first, since it was my Home and not his.
All I knew was that I couldn’t live the life I had, for one more day. Because it was a lie. But I wasn’t ready to admit it. I wasn’t ready to admit that it was over. What would my family think? What would my friends think? I feared social judgement even more, as I was walking away. And I still wanted to believe that this would be a shift that would “bring us a better future”.
So as I was walking towards security at the airport, after saying goodbye to my sister, mother and now, ex-husband, all I kept saying to myself was: “Vanessa, what are you doing? What are you doing?”
It’s as if up until that very moment, I felt a sense of relief for being brave enough to make one of the most difficult decisions of my life but my angst and fear only grew stronger. Why was I still questioning my decision when every ounce of me knew that it was right? It was the first time I was following my Inner Voice and listening to my instinct. But I didn’t want to trust it. Because it had always been easier not to.
All I knew was that I needed to keep moving forward, even if my mind was clouded with doubt.
And as soon as I landed in Philadelphia seven hours later, fear and doubt started to transform into excitement and hope. It was as if I was telling myself that it was okay to let go and look forward to new experiences. That there was more to life than what I had known.
Hope fueled me in the midst of turmoil, especially over the next couple of months. All I could do was cling onto it when it showed up to say Hello. My marriage had been over for quite some time but I had been in too much denial to even realize it. I see that now.
When the divorce was final, I promised myself something. I said it quietly to myself, on my futon in my studio apartment. “Vanessa, you will never NEED to be with another man in your life because you will know how to take care of yourself emotionally and financially”.
As a friend of mine once said: “It’s time to put my “big girl” pants on”. And you know what? I did. Because I had to. I learned how to zip up my dresses in the morning, all by myself. There was a technique to it but I had always found it easier to just ask someone else to help me.
I bought myself a refurbished GPS at the time and made sure that every weekend was an “adventure”. Anything new to me was an adventure – a new neighborhood, restaurant or coffee shop. I would just love to drive and then have my GPS guide me home. I focused on feeling fearless, instead of fearful. And I would just take it all in. The little things. Every breath. And I saw so thankful – for all of it.
It was time to take care of myself.
And I kept that promise.
I was determined to rise after my fall. It was that little piece of my Ego that I kept feeding every day, when Hope occasionally drifted away.
So what is the one thing you want most, right now? Is it getting a better car, moving out of your current home and/or moving to a new city? Well, that’s what I did. But what I will say is that a car, home or new location is what I consider to be a push. A push that shows you that you are capable and builds your confidence.
But only you can allow yourself to heal. To rise again.
Now, what has been holding you back from being the woman you always were? The woman you know you are. Really think about this and don’t lie to yourself.
Now say it out loud in your gentle voice.
Then take a moment to pause and reflect.
That was your Inner Voice and you just gave it permission to speak up.
***
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right.” – Henry Ford
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The Federal Election Commission today announced a $7,150 fine against a shady super PAC that seemingly scammed nearly $50,000 from “James Bond” actor Daniel Craig as well as additional funds from scores of lesser-known donors.
The super PAC, known as Americans Socially United, was launched in 2015 to support Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who had denounced super PACs — and Americans Socially United in particular — during his primary bid against Hillary Clinton.
It was operated by alleged fraudster Cary Lee Peterson, a self-described “congressional lobbyist and election campaign guru” who the FBI arrested earlier this year in connection with a securities fraud case.
Peterson’s super PAC failed to file a mandatory campaign finance report earlier this year that would have detailed its financial activity between July and December of last year.
That’s the period during which Craig — a British actor who is also a U.S. resident legally able to make political donations — gave $47,300 to Americans Socially United. (Around the same time, Craig also donated the legal maximum of $2,700 to Sanders’ official campaign committee.)
“It’s nice to see that the FEC is keeping an eye on these things,” Brad Deutsch, who served as Sanders’ campaign lawyer, told the Center for Public Integrity. “I would hope the FEC doesn’t stop at this.”
Last year, Deutsch authored two letters to Peterson, accusing him and his super PAC — which operated a number of purportedly pro-Sanders websites, including BetonBernie.com, BetonBernie2016.com, PledgeSanders2016.com and SociallyUnited.org — of being “illegal” and “causing harmful confusion for supporters of Senator Sanders’ campaign.”
Craig, the actor known for playing James Bond, hasn’t said how he initially came across Peterson or Americans Socially United. But other Sanders supporters have told the Center for Public Integrity that they discovered the super PAC by mistake.
It’s long been unclear how much money Peterson, who did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and Americans Socially United raised.
The super PAC has only filed one mandatory campaign finance report with the FEC. It did so last year nearly seven weeks after it was first due, after multiple inquiries from the Center for Public Integrity.
In this sole report, which is riddled with discrepancies, Peterson states that Americans Socially United raisedabout $100,000 from its formation in February through June 2015 — including about $28,000 from small-dollar donors who had each contributed $200 or less.
According to the filing, Americans Socially United wasabout $50,000 in the red on June 30, 2015. It has not filed a campaign finance filing since.
In March, Peterson was arrested by the FBI and then spent nearly three months in federal custody in California and New Jersey. He was released in June into the custody of his mother, who lives in Arizona, after posting a $200,000 secured bond.
The government has alleged that Peterson engaged in “wholly fictitious” business deals. Peterson has pleaded not guilty.
Within days of his release, Peterson registered two new political groups with the FEC: the Alliance Against Disabled Inmate Abuse and Democrats Socially United, a super PAC that is purportedly backing Clinton in the 2016 White House race.
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A 5.6 magnitude earthquake hit Oklahoma early Saturday, causing damage and tremors that were felt from Kansas to Texas.
The United States Geological Survey reports that the quake hit just after 7 a.m. in the north-central region around Pawnee, 74 miles from Oklahoma City. The earthquake ties the strongest in Oklahoma’s history. The previous record was set on Nov. 5, 2011, according to the USGS.
Early reports show some damage to buildings, but there were no initial reports of any injuries.
Pawnee Mayor Brad Sewell told Reuters that the quake lasted nearly a minute, far longer than previous tremors that have lasted only a second or two.
Part of the façade of an early 20th-century bank building had fallen into the street downtown, but that was the only damage he knew of.
“We have had a spate of quakes over the last several years, but nothing like this,” he said. “It was a long, sustained quake. … Clearly it was felt far and wide.”
READ MORE: The Arrival of Man-Made Earthquakes
The Associated Press attributes a recent increase in Oklahoma quake magnitudes to underground disposal of wastewater from oil and natural gas production. Environmentalists have long been concerned about the side effects of fracking in the area, which has already been blamed for tremors in the region.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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Come on, come on, ride that bicycle around!
Sia’s “Cheap Thrills” gets a wonderful two wheeled reworking in a new viral cover.
YouTube musician Kurt Hugo Schneider and singer Kina Grannis ditched traditional instruments to play a bike for their mesmerizing interpretation of the Australian singer’s smash hit.
Grannis sang and pedaled, while Schneider and another unidentified musician rang the bicycle’s bell, plucked its brake cable and drummed on the wheels’ spokes to recreate the track.
Their version is enough to send you spinning. Check it out in the clip above, and see how it compares to Sia and Sean Paul’s original effort below:
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In what’s being seen as a huge step forward in the effort to curb climate-warming emissions, the United States and China have ratified the Paris global climate agreement. Other countries are now expected to follow suit.
If you haven’t heard about it yet, there’s a new sci-fi thriller movie coming called Morgan, which focuses on a robot with advanced artificial intelligence (AI) that — to no surprise — rebels against its human creators. Appropriately, movie studio 20th Century Fox turned to IBM’s Watson, a supercomputer AI capable of analyzing human personalities and emotions, researching cancer, and … Continue reading
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