We’ve been working towards nuclear fusion, a near-limitless source of clean energy, for the past six decades, and now scientists have made a major breakthrough. A new article published in Physical Review Letters details how to solve a dangerous issue…
Logitech is well known for their range of peripherals, and this time around, it would be the home security camera which would be their device of choice that will grace your home. It will not be a gaming peripheral, but rather, something that offers you added peace of mind whenever you are on the move. It could be that you are living alone or have a family, it does not matter. The Logitech Circle 2 will allow you to feel more connected to both home and family, where this home security camera has been specially designed to work just about wherever you want, whether indoors or outdoors. You might want to keep tabs on your pet, or just see whether anyone is snooping around your bedroom, the Circle 2 gets the job done.
The Circle 2 is a natural evolution of Logitech’s original Circle camera, where it delivers best-in-class features such as unlimited 1080p HD streaming, night vision, 180 degree wide-angle lens, and two-way talk and listen. Each Circle 2 camera will arrive with 24-hours of free, secure bank-level encrypted cloud storage, and if you feel that this is not enough, fret not. Logitech offers two other Circle Safe plans.
Circle Safe Basic will deliver 14-days of storage while Circle Safe Premium offers 31-days of storage, in addition to other features like custom Motion Zones and Person Detection. The Circle 2 sports both Wired and Wire-Free options, and you can also use it on its own or have it paired with accessories that have been customized to fit different use cases or locations. Mounts include a Window Mount and a Plug Mount, and if you would like the Circle 2 to monitor the outside area, there is the Weatherproof Extension. This Weatherproof Case would make sure that all of the cables are safe from outside weather conditions, and the Wire-Free camera’s battery can be swapped with a Rechargeable Battery that is able to last for up to three months.
[ Logitech Circle 2 home security camera copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Ketamine, a drug with its fair share of recreational users, is also a controversial hit when it comes to treating severe depression. The drug is finding increased use in some clinics as a way to deal with treatment-resistant depression, giving patients a possible solution to the damaging condition. Ketamine itself isn’t without its own side-effects, though, and that has led … Continue reading
Are you currently the president of the United States and so not under investigation that you need to hire a lawyer? Well, Conan has the lawyer you’ll want working for you! Investigation shmestigation!
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
The recent case of man in a powerful position making a sexist comment — during a company meeting aimed partly at addressing discrimination against women — raises the question of why gender issues in the workplace are so difficult to quash.
During an Uber staff meeting on June 13, board member Arianna Huffington said that having one woman on a company’s board often leads to more women joining the board.
David Bonderman responded, “Actually, what it shows is that it’s much more likely to be more talking,” according to The New York Times.
Bonderman resigned from the board that evening, and said in a statement that he understood “the destructive effect” his comments had, according to The New York Times. [6 Ways Sexual Harassment Damages Women’s Health]
Though he apologized, it seems unclear to many how Bonderman could have made such a comment. Many people don’t understand what sexism actually is, said Philip Cohen, a professor of sociology at the University of Maryland.
“It’s amazing how often men are surprised to hear that their remarks are interpreted as sexist,” Cohen told Live Science. One reason men may not realize that a remark is sexist is that they’re not “properly socialized,” Cohen said. That is, they may work in a very segregated work environment, for example, or they’re just not aware of how women experience that same working environment.
This surprise — that someone took a man’s comment to be sexist — can often turn into defensiveness and resentment, Cohen said.
And fixing the problem goes far beyond simply addressing the comment. There’s a need to address the underlying issues of power and inequality that give rise to this sort of behavior in the first place, said C.J. Pascoe, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Oregon.
Companies don’t talk about things such as masculinity and the role it plays in gender inequality, Pascoe told Live Science. But dominance over women is a “central part of the contemporary understanding of masculinity,” and that extends beyond the workplace, she said.
“This is something that’s threaded throughout a society, and that isn’t limited to any one company or one school or any one family,” Pascoe said.
In Western cultures, masculinity is predicated on dominance, both in terms of men dominating other men and dominating women, Pascoe said. Part of what men are doing when they talk over women, interrupt women or make sexist jokes is exercising their dominance over women to “prove” their own masculinity.
Pascoe noted that this understanding of masculinity isn’t limited to older men; there’s evidence that younger men think this way too. Although younger men and teens may have learned to avoid expressing sexist ideas in front of women, they haven’t necessarily changed their perspective on sexist jokes, she said. “I’m not sure that’s a sign of success,” she added. [Busted! 6 Gender Myths in the Bedroom and Beyond]
It’s become more common for people who witness events like what happened at the Uber meeting to bring shame on the offender, Cohen said. And though this can be useful for highlighting a problem, “it might not be as corrective as it feels,” he said. Instead, it could just drive the problem underground, he said.
In many cases, companies respond to incidents like the one at Uber by holding a workshop or requiring people take an online training course, Cohen said. But research shows that these measures don’t work unless they’re coupled with concrete measures with identifiable actions to reduce sexism, and unless people in positions of authority are held accountable for carrying out these measures.
Pascoe noted that online training courses often focus on one thing: sexual harassment. Companies could instead focus on training people to recognize the ways that men exercise dominance over women, and show how to avoid that, she said. For example, training could include data on how men interrupt women more than men interrupt men, and how men talk more than women do in mixed-gender groups.
Companies should take a step back when thinking about workplace training and avoid focusing on just one type of bad action. Instead, they should “think about how gender inequality weaves itself throughout our relationships and think about ways that we could combat that,” Pascoe said.
Cohen stressed that it’s important that companies set clear goals to eliminate workplace inequality and communicate that those goals are important. “You can’t just react when something unpleasant happens and expect the climate to change,” he said. [5 Misconceptions About Sexual Assault]
One way a company can show that it is really behind a goal is to include that goal in performance evaluations of managers and executives. In some cases, people don’t make the connection that something they do or say could be sexist, or it’s just not taken seriously, Cohen added.
Of course, each company faces unique challenges, Cohen said. It’s hard to address the issue of sexism in the workplace in a blanket way, but the “bottom line is you’ve got to be specific and you have to hold people accountable for meeting objective goals.” For a company with a track record of problems like Uber, that might mean setting a goal of having no reports of sexism for six months or people will be fired, he said.
Despite the increased attention that sexist incidents have gained in the media and cultural environment in recent years, Cohen noted that gender equality trends are not very favorable at the moment. Rather, there are indicators that things are stalling in this area.
Though companies may be embarrassed by these incidents and feel like they have to react, the underlying culture doesn’t change, Cohen said.
Originally published on Live Science.
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
The Congressional Black Caucus announced Wednesday that it would not accept President Donald Trump’s request for a follow-up meeting, citing concerns that such a gathering would not be helpful.
Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.), chairman of the CBC, said in a letter addressed to Trump that he and his colleagues had “seen no evidence that [the] Administration acted on our calls for action” after a previous meeting with the president. In fact, he added, the White House had taken steps that would “affirmatively hurt Black communities.”
“While we agreed to explore future possible discussions when we first met, it has become abundantly clear that a conversation with the entire CBC would not be entirely productive, given the actions taken by your Administration since our first meeting,” Richmond wrote. “While you can solicit the engagement of individual members of our caucus, the CBC as a caucus declines your invitation to meet at this time.”
CBC leaders last met with Trump in March, amid concerns from members that the president would try to use the session as a photo-op to boost his support among black Americans. The group’s six-member executive board presented the president with a 130-page policy document titled “A Lot to Lose” ― a reminder that Trump, during his campaign, had asked African-Americans “what the hell” they had to lose by voting for him.
In a letter earlier this month, the White House asked to schedule another meeting to “continue the discussion.” The CBC’s rejection was largely expected.
“No one wants to be a co-star on the reality show,” one senior Democratic aide told Politico in a report published earlier Wednesday.
In his letter, Richmond specifically called out a number of Trump’s actions and policy proposals, saying they served as proof that their concerns had fallen “on deaf ears.”
Richmond pointed to Trump’s budget proposal, which includes steep cuts to social safety net programs and Pell Grants, as well as calls for the elimination of low-income heating assistance. He also expressed alarm over Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ recent move to reverse Obama-era sentencing reforms, which had pushed back against decades of aggressive drug war policies that fueled mass incarceration. Sessions, Richmond noted, has also appeared skeptical about the federal government’s involvement in police reform. And Trump’s Education Department has already strained its relationship with historically black colleges and universities, with a number of moves critics fear could lead to lost funding.
“These aforementioned policies alone will devastate Black communities, not to mention your effort to dismantle our nation’s health care system,” Richmond added. “The CBC, and the millions of people we represent, have a lot to lose under your Administration. I fail to see how a social gathering would benefit the policies we advocate for.”
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
It’s been nearly 20 years since Carlos Santana made us fall in love to the sound of his guitar as we learned about Maria. But the essence of the 1999 hit was recently revived by DJ Khaled just in time for the summer.
Khaled dropped “Wild Thoughts” on June 16, featuring Rihanna and Bryson Tiller. The new single samples heavily from Santana’s own “Maria Maria.”
The Mexican guitarist and music icon gave his thoughts on Khaled’s single in a statement to Billboard on Tuesday.
“There is a reason that the infectious groove/theme that Wyclef [Jean] and I created on ‘Maria Maria’ still resonates today,” Santana told the site. “It speaks to the heart. DJ Khaled, Rihanna and Bryson take that vibe and bring it to a new dimension with ‘Wild Thoughts,’ but the groove and essence of the song is still intact.”
Khaled’s new single will be a part of his upcoming album “Grateful,” which is set to be released on Friday. As “Wild Thoughts” begins climbing the charts, some fans on Twitter have pointed out that younger generations may not be aware of the single’s roots.
Selena Gomez is another artist to recently sample from a classic in her new music. The singer’s new single “Bad Liar” uses the bass line from the Talking Heads’ 1977 “Psycho Killer.”
With Santana’s blessing on “Wild Thoughts,” now all that’s left to decide is who did it best?
Watch the two videos below and decide:
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
Nabra Hassanen was laid to rest Wednesday, after a funeral service at her mosque where she was remembered as a bright, generous and energetic young woman.
Thousands of mourners attended the Islamic prayer service, called a Janazah, at the All Dulles Area Muslim Society mosque in Sterling, Virginia.
Before the prayer, the mosque’s Imam Mohamed Magid spoke of how this was the most difficult funeral he had ever presided over.
″[Hassanen was] so loved by so many people,” Magid said, standing in front of a crowded room in the mosque’s main hall. “May Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala) make her legacy of loving and caring to be a legacy that is carried for generations to come.”
Magid described how just hours before her death, the 10th grader was hosting an iftar, or evening meal, for her friends at her home.
“That’s how generous she was,” Magid said.
Magid also said he believed that those who lost their lives to violence in the way that Hassanen did would enter paradise, “with not any questions asked.”
“May Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala) compensate her for the frightening, for the fear she had before she died,” Magid added. “Because Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala) on the day of judgment brings security for people who have felt insecure in this life.”
The 17-year-old girl was killed early Sunday morning, while walking back to ADAMS after eating a pre-dawn suhoor meal with her friends at a local IHOP restaurant. A male driver who was passing by reportedly got into a confrontation with the group. The suspect exited the car, chased Hassanen down, assaulted her with a bat, and then kidnapped her. Investigators later found her body in a nearby pond.
Fairfax County Police have charged 22-year-old Darwin Martinez Torres, an El Salvadorian national, in her death.
Police have said that there was no indication that the killing was a hate crime. Instead, police believe Hassanen was a victim of a “road rage” incident.
Hassanen’s parents, and Muslim rights groups, are skeptical about the claim that the teen wasn’t targeted for her faith.
Mohmoud Hassanen Aboras, Nabra’s father, is convinced that the teen was attacked because she was visibly identifiable as a Muslim. The young woman was wearing a headscarf and an abaya (a long traditional robe) on the morning she was killed.
Her father told The Guardian that the suspect “killed my daughter because she is Muslim. That’s what I believe.”
Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, believes there is a strong possibility that the crime was linked to Hassanen’s faith.
“You can’t just say, ‘Oh, [the suspect] didn’t say anything against Islam, so no hate crime,’” Hooper told The Associated Press.
CAIR is representing the teenager’s family and has pledged to watch the investigation closely to “ensure a thorough examination of any possible bias aspects of the case,” CAIR National Litigation Director Lena Masri said.
At ADAMS mosque on Wednesday afternoon, Magid encouraged his community to remain strong and resilient ― particularly the young people in the community who knew Hassanen well and have been deeply affected by the crime.
“We have to always encourage our youth not to have them get frightened or scared,” Magid said. “I want our youth to be in this [mosque]. This [mosque] is open for them.”
The Associated Press estimates that about 5,000 people showed up at the mosque to show their support for Hassanen and her family.
The burial will be followed by a public vigil at Lake Anne Plaza in Reston, Hassanen’s hometown. Magid and Fairfax Police Chief Edwin C. Roessler Jr. will be attending the vigil, according to the AP.
Vigils honoring Hassanen also took place across the nation, in cities like New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
Scroll down to see images from vigils honoring Hassanen’s life below.
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
Ben’s Chilli Bowl in D.C. is a restaurant known for its famous cooking and brick mural that features famous black stars including Bill Cosby ― that was, until Wednesday.
The restaurant unveiled a brand new mural during a special ceremony Wednesday morning that showed 15 other famous black stars where Cosby used to be. The original mural, which debuted in 2012, also featured local musician Chuck Brown, local radio personality Donnie Simpson and then-President Barack Obama but the painting of Cosby drew heavy criticism, and had even been defaced after dozens of women came forward with allegations of sexual assault against the comedian. (Cosby was charged with three counts of aggravated indecent assault in a case involving Temple University employee Andrea Constand which ended in a mistrial last week.)
The mural, by artist Aniekan Udofia, now includes First Lady Michelle Obama, Muhammad Ali, abolitionist Harriet Tubman and singers like Chuck Brown, Gladys Knight, and Prince as well as contemporary artists like actress Taraji Henson, comedian Dave Chappelle and rapper Wale.
Chapelle attended the ceremony to celebrate the new artwork and to express how honored he felt to be included.
Those selected to be featured on the new mural were chosen through an online voting process that attracted more than 30,000 votes from across the world, according to Washington City Paper. It is expected to stay for at least the next five years.
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
Like what you read below? Sign up for HUFFPOST HILL and get a cheeky dose of political news every evening!
House Republicans might release a budget next week with sharp spending cuts to aid programs, though states will be given flexibility to provide hobos and tramps with train rides out of town. In the wake of the Karen Handel’s win in the Georgia special election, Republicans and Democrats have found common ground by concluding the outcome proves all their previously held beliefs on everything. And Jared Kushner has popped over to Israel to solve that whole peace problem by repeatedly yelling, “Do you know who my father is??” at Palestinian officials. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Wednesday, June 21st, 2017:
JARED KUSHNER BRINGS PEACE TO MIDDLE EAST – His qualifications for this duty include marrying up and looking stupid in flak jackets. Luke Baker: “President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Wednesday, beginning a new U.S. effort to revive long-fractured Middle East peace efforts. Kushner, a 36-year-old real estate developer with little experience of international diplomacy or political negotiation, arrived in Israel on Wednesday morning and will spend barely 20 hours on the ground ― he leaves shortly after midnight.” [Reuters]
HEY MAYBE THE HOUSE WILL PASS A BUDGET – Three cheers for possibly achieving the bare minimum of governing. Sarah Ferris: “The House Budget Committee is planning to unveil a long-awaited budget resolution next week calling for a spending boost to the Pentagon alongside cuts to domestic programs, despite lingering disputes within the GOP conference. House budget writers reached a tentative agreement this afternoon to move ahead with a resolution that would set spending levels at $511 billion for domestic programs and $621 billion for defense, two lawmakers confirmed. Compared to current law, that would amount to a $72 billion boost for defense and a $4 billion cut for domestic spending.” [Politico]
SEE YOU IN COURT, COURT! Lawrence Hurley: “The Trump administration on Wednesday made its final plea to the U.S. Supreme Court to allow its proposed ban on travelers from six Muslim-majority countries to go into effect as the justices weigh how to handle the hotly contested dispute. The court papers filed by President Donald Trump’s administration complete the briefing on the government’s emergency application asking the justices to block lower court injunctions in favor of challengers to the ban. The Supreme Court could now act at any time. [Reuters]
REMEMBER THAT TIME A FOREIGN COUNTRY SABOTAGED OUR ELECTIONS? This actually happened! And we aren’t really doing anything about it! Dustin Volz: “Russian hackers targeted 21 U.S. states’ election systems in last year’s presidential race, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security official told Congress on Wednesday.” [Reuters]
SO TIRED OF LOSING – Igor Bobic: “The outcome is especially painful for Democrats who viewed Ossoff’s candidacy as a prime opportunity to land a blow against President Donald Trump. Handel, a 55-year-old former Georgia secretary of state, replaces Republican Tom Price, who left Congress to become Trump’s secretary of health and human services. Ossoff, a 30-year-old documentary filmmaker and former congressional aide, was ultimately unable to peel away enough anti-Trump Republicans or mobilize enough new Democratic-leaning voters to overcome the district’s deep-seated Republican leanings. ‘It was really all about the Republican candidate Karen Handel getting her Republican base to show up in force,’ said Kerwin Swint, chair of the political science department at Kennesaw State University, just outside Atlanta.” [HuffPost]
MORE: Democrat Archie Parnell also fell short in his bid for Mick Mulvaney’s South Carolina seat. Jonathan Chait says Dems should stop freaking out because these are really Republican districts. Matthew Yglesias thinks Dems should try having an agenda.
DEMOCRATS GETTING TIRED OF SEEING PELOSI’S FACE IN THEIR OPPONENTS’ ADS – Good thing they’ve got young leaders to succeed her, like Steny Hoyer, who ― oh, he’s actually older than she is. John Bresnahan, Heather Caygle and Kyle Cheney: “There is no challenge to Pelosi’s leadership, and none is going to happen at this point, said numerous Democrats. But it’s clear frustration is growing with the longtime Democratic leader following the extensive losses Democrats have suffered over the past half-decade…. Some Democrats want to replace Pelosi atop their caucus, as they have since last November’s poor showing at the polls; they say there is no way to get back in the majority with her as their leader. And others who backed her in last year’s leadership challenge have now flipped their stance.” [Politico]
Like HuffPost Hill? Then order Eliot’s book, The Beltway Bible: A Totally Serious A-Z Guide To Our No-Good, Corrupt, Incompetent, Terrible, Depressing, and Sometimes Hilarious Government
Does somebody keep forwarding you this newsletter? Get your own copy. It’s free! Sign up here. Send tips/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to eliot@huffpost.com. Follow us on Twitter – @HuffPostHill
WHAT A TERRIBLE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS – Matt Fuller and Igor Bobic: “Senate Republicans are speeding toward a vote next week on their Obamacare replacement bill, even as GOP lawmakers can’t answer simple questions about the legislation, express frustration with the brazenly secretive and closed process, and don’t appear to have the votes yet for passage…. When Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was asked whether this bill should be a template for lawmaking in the future, he sarcastically answered that ‘this is exactly the kind of legislative process our Founding Fathers had in mind,’ going on to explain that he was obviously concerned the Senate may be voting on a health care bill next week that members won’t have seen.” [HuffPost]
Steve Scalise is doing better. ”House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) has been upgraded from being in a serious condition to a fair condition, his official Twitter account announced, adding he ‘continues to make good progress.’” [HuffPost’s Jenna Amatulli]
The shooter had a ton of ammo stored up. “The gunman who opened fire on a GOP baseball team in Virginia had a local storage locker with more than 200 rounds of ammunition that he visited daily, including less than an hour before he shot more than 60 times at the team during a morning practice June 14.” [WaPo’s Ann E. Marimow and Dana Hedgpeth]
Attempted assassinations of members of Congress not terrorism, feds say. “The FBI said in a press release that James T. Hodgkinson ‘made numerous posts on all of his social media accounts espousing anti-Republican views,’ although all of the posts they reviewed were protected First Amendment speech. Hodgkinson did not make any specific threats against members of Congress on his social media accounts, according to the bureau. But despite the apparent political motivations of the shooter, the FBI did not refer to the attack ― which severely injured a high-ranking Republican member of Congress ― as terrorism.” [HuffPost’s Ryan J. Reilly]
ALL HAIL THE NRA, STALWART GUARDIAN OF WHITE PEOPLE’S’ RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS – Andy Campbell: “The National Rifle Association loves to beat its chest after shootings in America. A day after the mass shooting last year at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, Chris Cox, executive director at the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, took aim at ‘radical Islam.’ … But don’t expect the same kind of treatment from the NRA if you’re a black man in America ― even if you’re a registered gun owner like Philando Castile, who was exercising his Second Amendment right like an NRA poster child when a police officer shot him to death during a traffic stop in Minnesota last year. Castile’s story is emblematic of the NRA’s hypocrisy.” [HuffPost]
The White House makes a lot of empty promises about answering questions. “Below, our list of all of the times someone from the White House communications office promised to get back to the American public with more information — and, to the best of our ability to determine the answer, whether they did.” [WaPo’s Philip Bump]
WHEN THE MAN WHO ABUSES YOU IS ALSO A COP – Chilling investigation by Melissa Jeltsen and Dana Liebelson: “It is nearly impossible to calculate the frequency of domestic crimes committed by police — not least because victims are often reluctant to seek help from their abuser’s colleagues. Another complication is the 1996 Lautenberg Amendment, a federal law that prohibits anyone convicted of misdemeanor domestic abuse from owning a gun. The amendment is a valuable protection for most women. But a police officer who can’t use a gun can’t work — and so reporting him may risk the family’s livelihood as well as the abuser’s anger. Courts can be perilous to navigate, too, since police intimately understand their workings and often have relationships with prosecutors and judges. Police are also some of the only people who know the confidential locations of shelters. Diane Wetendorf, a domestic violence counselor who wrote a handbook for women whose abusers work in law enforcement, believes they are among the most vulnerable victims in the country.” [HuffPost Highline]
BECAUSE YOU’VE READ THIS FAR – Here is video of a driverless New York City bus rolling backwards on a Brooklyn street making a big mess.
CELEBRATE LOSERS WITH HUFFPOST – The new season of “Candidate Confessional” podcast is out! Sam Stein, Jason Cherkis and Zach Young: “This season, we talk to the risk takers, the near-glass ceiling breakers, the hopeless and a self-described ‘hip-hop conservative.’ We talk to a key Hillary Clinton strategist and to Jason Kander, a Missouri Democrat who lost a Senate run despite having the best ad of 2016. All reaffirmed the fact that losing still sucks. But they also underscored the layers of humanity that are often obscured in our nation’s rough-and-tumble political system.” [HuffPost]
COMFORT FOOD
– Behold what’s probably the first cat video in history — from 1894!
– Earn $64,000 a year as a nanny in this creepy, haunted Scottish house.
– The president of Costa Rica ate a live wasp.
TWITTERAMA
Got something to add? Send tips/quotes/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to Eliot Nelson (eliot@huffpost.com)
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
